Sunday, January 6, 2013

The Epiphany 2012

Winds of Change time began while I was chatting with my sisters Anne and Mary in a fun free-for-all through our shared e-mail, when Anne commented that we were WoC-ing together. I love the sound-play between the acronym WoC and the word walk, as I indeed feel that we walk together during this time.

Once our on-line conversation ended, I lit a candle that has the faintest scent of lilac, and decided to quiet my mind to the 30-minute version of the Aethos Sound Meditation (found near the bottom of the page to this link). What a task that became! I could not position myself comfortably nor the speakers properly, try as I might.

During the course of my discomfort, I observed myself several times, wondering just what it was that was happening. I re-started the recording 7 times - yes, that's 7 - before listening to it without interruption in its entirety. I wanted to take full advantage of the sun that was streaming through the southern windows onto the living room floor, but instead, it turned into a huge production - I was staging the perfect set for WoC time - the sun at a certain angle warming my face, my favorite shawl covering my body just so, the speakers positioned for optimum listening. Though all good, when I real-eyes-ed the distress I was creating by focusing so much on the externals, I smiled, then eased into the simple task before me: lying on the floor listening to the Aethos Sound Meditation in communion with all of you.

Once relaxed, I shifted my focus among my upper chakras, the energy centers of my heart, throat, third eye, and crown. It is my third eye and heart chakras that responded. The third eye created an endless, narrow, glowing filament that extended into what looked to be outer space and my heart chakra glowed, radiating outward in all directions. It is from the vantage point of my heart chakra that I felt as if I was suspended in a pool of energy. In this state, I heard my name being called several times, followed with a question: "Claire... Claire... Claire... Where are you?" to which the response came from the space that was me, "I am everywhere," as, simultaneously, "I" expanded beyond the space that was me and the space of the question, into an ever widening, open space, that was still me and more.

As the sound meditation ended, I remained on the floor, feeling the space that was me become aware, ever so slowly, of my physical body. When I opened my eyes, the expansiveness I had felt lingered, as "I" and Room intermingled. My body felt light and airy and spacious. After acknowledging each of you, I got up and continued with the rest of my day, still feeling your "presents," even as I write this. 

I would love to hear of your own experiences during this time, as would others, so please do comment. Namaste.


7 comments:

  1. FYI: "Many Christians around the world annually celebrate Epiphany on January 6. It is a public holiday in many countries and marks two events in Jesus Christ’s life, according to the Christian Bible. The first event was when the three wise men, or kings, visited infant Jesus. The second event was when St John the Baptist baptized Jesus."

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  2. No revelation, no epiphany...but I loved the peace and slowness of the falling snow today. Brought me back to being a child; brought me back to Charlie Brown's Christmas special which has very fond memories. So, I enjoyed the snowfall. It gave me peace of mind, peace of heart, slowed me down.
    Mary :-)

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    1. What a beautiful present-moment awakening to the simplicity of what is - snow falling, childhood, a Charlie Brown Christmas! My body automatically sighed when I read this. Peace of mind, peace of heart, and slowing down - what a calming ride on these often tumultuous Winds of Change. Thank you!

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  3. My WoC time today was a departure from the usual~~certainly NOT a staging for the perfect event! My husband and I needed to discuss my health insurance options, as the premium on my current policy jumped to over $700 this month. So we needed to talk it through, a discussion fraught with all kinda opportunities for losing a larger perspective. We needed to look into an unknown future and guess what was best, possibly disagreeing strongly about what to do. And this whole thing raises strong feelings about participating in a system that's fouled from the get~go (profit and healthcare...huh?!!) . So with all that in mind, having that discussion during WoC time made a lotta sense~~we needed all the help we could get to stay conscious!

    And as the minutes moved forward, some tense moments did arise, but we managed them mostly in good form. For my part, I kept noticing the light. Not the capital L light, but the rays of that glorious, high altitude, southern Colorado sun streaming through the windows, falling on the wood floor, the coffee table, lighting my husband's face. That light helped keep me from clamping down in tension, helped me zoom out again and again. And we came to a decision we both could live with.

    As we finished, so did the wash. I gathered the wet shirts, hand towels, and one flannel sheet, put on my boots and jacket, and walked through the few inches of old snow to our clothesline. I wish I could say that I settled into the calming simplicity of hanging clothes to dry~~bend, lift, hang, pin; bend, lift, hang, pin~~but alas, my mind was somewhere else. As I walked back toward the house, though, I came to. That's what it feels like sometimes, waking from a dream of being elsewhere. I stopped. Looked up at the clear blue expanse above me. Looked back at the line, clothes swaying now in a light breeze. And I knew myself blessed.

    And again, as I write this. My favorite Anais Nin quote is, "We write to taste life twice." Thank you, Claire, for giving me yet another taste...all the sweeter knowing you were there the first time 'round, and knowing you're there now. Blessings!

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    1. Ah, Loanne. Thank you for appropriating WoC time for the discussion of health insurance. Just as Mary found peace in the falling snow, you were able to make peace with the challenging task at hand, as I was making peace with simply lying on the floor listening to a sound meditation. To me, WoC time is a recognition of our Connection as one big spiritual human family, each of us attending to the present moment, whatever that may be, and choosing to enhance and expand that moment to include our WoC family.

      I love how you were present to the sacredness of the moment,the play of light, indeed imbuing the light with Light! To see the extraordinary in the ordinary is a gift, and to use that extra-ordinariness to center oneself is wise.

      With the onset of 2013, I have chosen to practice Awareness Days everyday, as I need all the practice I can get! What I am discovering for myself is that "my mind is elsewhere" more often than I would have believed. I identify with your sense of "coming to" and "waking from a dream of being elsewhere." Isn't that exactly what we are alive to discover? That we are often elsewhere, in the past or future, as opposed to in the present?

      Thank you!

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  4. Oh, one more thing...After returning from the clothesline, I picked up a book I'm reading, Forest of Visions by Alex Polari De Alverga, and opened to this passage...

    "When the soul opens its shell, it liberates the fundamental center that is the spirit. And once born, the spirit spreads its wings and flies with all the freedom of love, going to nestle in the heart where resides true Divine love. Love is God in full flight, and it is found inside our own selves. It is the bird coming back to its nest, the spirit returning to its reality, and the creature to the Creator, all coming together in the domain of the One who is and always was."

    As I realized I just had to share that with you all, I looked up and saw that WoC had just ended. As does this comment now.

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  5. The truth of this resonated on such a deep level that it brought tears to my eyes. Namaste.

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