Artwork by Barbara Merlotti

“This moving away from comfort and security, this stepping out into unknown, uncharted, and shaky – that’s called ‘liberation’.” Pema Chodron

What I love about the above quote by this wise, Western woman meditation teacher is that it captures the timeless, universal application of spiritual awakening, and follows a path of conscious evolutionary living. How timely this quote is in the here and now in this reform school known as Earth. We are now officially in the early stages of the New Age and Paradigm of Aquarius. Regardless of your orientation, it’s impossible now not to feel it on some level. Some more than others are really embracing it. Many are clinging to the old world, the old ways, and wishing “things would just go back to normal.” But what does normal really mean? The truth is, there’s no going back, as living life in the rearview mirror prevents you from living in the present moment. Life is transient and change is inevitable. Nature reveals the changing tides through the reflections of the seasons.

Consider how art imitates reality. Do you remember the classic old cartoon, Looney Tunes? As violent as this TV show was, it was easier for a parent to explain to their child that a cartoon character that was blown to smithereens, and then magically came back to life wasn’t real because it was just a cartoon. As such, it was easier for a child to make this connection. Besides, unlike today, the repeated exposure to shows like these was limited, even if an adult wasn’t around to set the limit or offer any supervisory guidance. But TV, movies and video games are so realistic nowadays, not to mention readily accessible at the convenience of your fingertips. Given the pandemic of “fake news” out there, you all know how challenging it is to discern between fact and fiction.  It’s a sign of the times that we all need to do the work to find our own pillars of truth (with love). Are you going to pay purposeful attention to your fears and negative self talk or are you going to be mindful of truth that is in alignment with love?

For assistance in making the quantum leap from old thought forms into new ones, consider meditating on the image and mantra below:

Image and mantra courtesy of Acurda

“Where biology has tuned its antenna, silica crystals, little dendrites, neural pathways and have been restructured in a way that the exact same seed creativity can now be expressed as light, compassion and love. By doing this you are not only changing all the structuring crystals in your pineal gland (Third Eye) and DNA but those of the collective consciousness of this planet. These high multidimensional thoughts create new crystals in the body, the biomineralization of a new human with simultaneously creating biomineralization harmonics to the planet reality.”

Accordingly, Sacred Geometrical Arcturian Positive Self Talk asserts that “The energy of contact allows you to feel that all doors to your inner source will open when you surrender and, like water, go with the flow. Let your strength lead you, and you will find your own way.”

For example, building an everyday positive self talk strategy is a good concrete replacement for negative self talk, like worry. When your worry is targeted toward someone you’re concerned about or even for the general plight of the planet, humanity or endangered species, simply call on these guides or allies in the spirit realm for help. Part of surrender, a leap of faith, and trust is to have an attitude of acceptance of physical and non-physical realities, and intuitively know they are interacting with one another.

Specifically, Arcturians, Archangels and Nature Spirits can all be seen as helping guides/spirits or allies in consciousness. From a shamanic perspective, this is a somewhat conservative, traditional, and foundational approach to spiritual evolutionary wellbeing because it’s been a time tested tradition for over 100,000 years and runnin’. Of course in conventional Establishment terms, this would be considered far out. But if you are open to it, all you have to do is be receptive to the benign, healing energies of the myriad of teachers in the spirit realm that are ready to assist you as needed. If you think of an invisible umbilical cord attached to your crown chakra that is connected to Father Sky, Heaven or the Cosmos, this can be an effective walking meditation to add to your multidimensional tool belt. Refer to the Chakra chart by scrolling further down in this blog entry for a pictorial context.

But what does it mean to be a multidimensional being? It just means that we recognize that there is a physical reality, as well as non-physical realities. The most simple way I can understand this is to picture a triangle consisting of a mind-body-spirit with a circle, or another triangle in the center that represents our soul. It appears to be a fact of life that the body eventually dies, and the mind eventually does too. But there is a growing body of metaphysical and scientific evidence that asserts that our spirits and souls live on. While we are living in this form, our soul can travel. For most of us, this experience happens when we are dreaming. For many, this understanding doesn’t happen until you are dying and getting ready to leave this Earth and return to Source. But it can also happen during various forms of visualization/meditation practices.

Image by Sherry Mosley

Here on the ground, and as a social worker in Public Schools, I get into more conversations with students (and adults) that are inspired to develop their spirituality, and are bringing up their queried stories to my attention on their own volition for further exploration. Indeed the veils between the physical realm and spirit realm are thinning more now than they have been historically. It can be challenging to discern what is spirit or what is physical, just like it is harder to differentiate between fantasy and reality these days, given the advancement in technology, and fluidity of personal boundaries in our connections with each other.

For example, one student I work with told me that she connects with her brother who lives in a faraway state through “astral projection”, and then asked me if I knew what that was. I reassured her that I did, and that some people are oriented in such a way that their soul can travel, but that all people can develop this skill through various forms of mediation. Of course we all do this when we dream. Another student told me that she has experiences where she sees and hears a beloved cat that died recently. Her animal dreams consist of a vibrant “animal heaven” state of consciousness with clouds, mountaintops, trees and rainbows. In dreams like these, the animal friends related that they had crossed over, and communicated that they are alive and well in an alternate reality where their spirits were living harmoniously. When students bring these issues up, we always process the mixed feelings that coexist, in the sense that there is enjoyment in reconnecting with a loved one that is physically gone, but that spiritual connections can be a bit spooky, uncomfortable or difficult to sort through. Part of our human experience includes sitting with the tension of opposites that naturally include entanglements with our attachments.

More importantly, people like me tend to find it helpful to have these experiences normalized. Moreover, folks typically feel empowered to learn about the common language that operationalizes their spiritual experiences, like clairsentience and clairaudience, or psychic abilities that perceive spirit. Part of developing good social skills is to know your audience, and recognize who is safe to share this information with, and who isn’t. Working on boundaries is part of learning how to be human, which of course is a life cycle process. It’s nice that kids can feel safe to talk with a trusted adult about such things. When we all get what we need from the ground up, we’re more likely to give that back from the top down. This is how we heal the illusion of polarity consciousness that we see playing out on the fields of life.

Additionally, many people that work in mental health are expanding their own perceptions of reality through their own personal growth. As helpers, it is dangerous to people when we don’t. While it’s easy to stay in our own boxes and hide behind their judgments, that leaves us susceptible to our own projections onto others, which can be damaging to relationships. Humans have been good at projecting our own experiences with reality onto others, while at the same time assuming that our projections are absolute gospel. While they might be true on some level, clinging to these prejudices are problematic because they block making fluid connections with each other, which is especially harmful when a helping professional does that. It is critical to “meet people where they are at.” Because we all have our humanity, that can be challenging for both support staff and teachers working in schools these days. But that is exactly what we are being asked to do. Meeting someone where they are at does not meant that we condone their unwanted behavior, like work avoidance, learned helplessness, victimhood, or not working to their full potential. It just means that you have empathy for what the person you are concerned about is capable of in this moment in time. And while your student or child might be being manipulative, they probably aren’t doing it on purpose or trying to ruin your day. But if they are, learning how to manipulate the environment is part of adolescent development. How many of us adults are still working out our own dharmic karma in this area?

Specifically, it’s like a kid who tries to come out to their caregiver that they identify as LGBTQ, and the adult responds in a way that is shaming, dismissive or generally non-supportive. Regardless of the age, if this is how the person sees themselves, it is hard to go wrong with a position of empathy and curiosity. For example, the parent could say, “wow, I can see this took a lot of courage for you to share this information with me. How do you feel about that?” Sadly but understandably, many adults struggle, hide behind their judgments, and then might proceed to project their own beliefs onto the child. While some parents wax on about a pro-LGBTQ identity, others do the opposite by citing religious convictions, and perhaps sending their child to a “conversion therapy”, which is thankfully illegal in Maine. The point is, try to be present with your child and keep a healthy conversation alive. Do you value raising a good whole person or a sexual identity that conforms to your expectations based on your own conditioning? Do you value allowing your child to be who they are or who you want them to be? Mixed messages, while a fact of life, are challenging to discern and navigate through.

Check out this short youth empowerment/Civil Rights oriented film about celebrating a Pride event in small town Nova Scotia:

Inspired by May being “Mental Health Month”, I remember a really good psychiatrist coworker who once pointed out in a mental health training that people affected by schizophrenia see things that “normal” people don’t. But it only becomes a problem when it drives the person crazy in a way that is characterized as “ego dystonic.” There’s an old saying that you have to get sick of being sick before you can heal and know liberation. Mother told me about experiences with depression that were so severe she encountered psychotic episodes. I believe Mother suicided to avoid going down that dark rabbit hole again, instead of confronting her inner demons that haunted her. Had she built up more resilience, I feel that she could have stayed alive longer without torturing herself. Mother is now part of my ‘spiritual light team’, and I can access her spirit whenever I ask for Her support.

Given the above nuance, what is really often going on here is that the concerned adult doesn’t like the mirror being held up in their face, and that can be a tough cracker to look at. That’s what happened in the early 60s, when many people were having spiritual awakenings, like Harvard Psychology Professors Timothy Leary and Ram Dass, before he was Ram Dass. To their credit, academics like them were trying to go beyond rat psychology, and understand consciousness. In this process of discovery, they humbly realized that they were out of the woods in their understanding about the nature of reality. Many people took LCD and other psychoactive drugs to expand their minds, and were thought to have lost their minds (of course plenty did). But they were having spiritual awakenings by opening up their ‘doors of perception’. People started waking up to portals into a multidimensional reality beyond a conventional worldview. Like author Joseph Campbell accurately understood, the difference between the mystic and the psychological crackup is that the mystic swims in the waters the crackup drowns in. It’s all about context, and how expansive your worldview is with the ability to pull back and stay grounded in this reality.

“Photo sensitive Transmissions from the New Earth” by Acurda

Furthermore, the mindful moment referenced above is an empowering strategy to feel connected in the present moment, and a simple way to co-create Heaven on Earth one step and one breath at a time. All you are really doing, or being rather, is keeping your power rather than giving it away to some external force. You have superpowers, but without the need to be identified with a superhero or savior complex. We are living in an age where we need to let go of our need to swoop in to rescue and save others. Everyone has equal access to their ‘spiritual light team’ if they so choose. That being said, it does take both the intention, and a commitment to it. The more you play around with your daily practice, the more your daily practice plays around with you. Funny the way that can turn into another form of mindfulness in your everyday doings. All you have to do is look at these beings as teachers in the spirit realm, by seeing them as silent mentors that we can link up with, like “in a zoom conversation.” And if you are feeling unsure, all you have to do is ask, “are you my teacher.” It’s your call who you let in, and you will know by how you feel.

The easiest way to open the doors to this perceptual experience is through your “third eye”, as indicated on the Chakra chart below. As you can see, this Chakra is typically associated with a dark blue or indigo color. This is the realm of intuition, forethought, and visualization. There are many ways to develop this Chakra. One simple strategy is to rub this area with your fingers side to side or in a circular motion. Or you can mindfully eat (ideally healthy) foods of this color, while chewing on how you are feeding your energy, if you’ll pardon the pun. For example, next time you eat a banana, think about nourishing your solar plexus chakra and grounding your self esteem. Also, you can also relax your gaze by slightly blurring your vision without crossing your eyes, as a way to play with your perception. These can be fun, yet practical ways to integrate what I like to call a walking meditation in your everyday doings. Besides, it’s harder to react to someone else’s facial expressions when you relax your gaze in this way.

Daily Chakra Meditation Audio Resource:

Finally, when we talk about Diversity within Unity, the Unity piece involves acknowledging our universal connection to one another, which allows us to feel less alone in the world. Nobody likes feeling lonely, not even hermits. Besides, as romantic as being a hermit might sound, they typically struggle with their own insecurities like the rest of us, and probably just have a harder time learning how to be human than your average bear. The Diversity piece honors our different expressions in form, as well as the unique blueprint of our souls. A shy person should not be seen as lesser than a social butterfly or vice versa. Besides, we all have both of these personality characteristics within our being. Some of the most family oriented, conscientious, kind and caring people I know aren’t necessarily the warm and fuzzy types, and can even come across as curt and rude towards others. We all have our unique blueprints and personality characteristics. Just imagine how boring our world would be if we were all nanotechnological, programmed cyborgs going  around in a singular, monochromatic lockstep with each other, like in the film The Stepford Wives.

Take care of yourselves everyone,

Ari