Archive for May, 2020
Plague, War & Cruelty
The covid-19 plague continues it’s global ravishing. The six month death toll in our United States surpasses 100,000 and continues rising.
According to the National Archive, Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files (2008), 58,220 Americans died in the Vietnam War from 1954-1975 (https://www.britannica.com).
…and, America’s Civil War in which 660,000 people died continues, ripping the veil off of inhumane atrocities, brutality and blatant cruelty.
As I struggle to take in these realities, a Shakespeare sonnet entered my consciousness
“But man, proud man,
Dress’d in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what is most assur’d–
His glassy essence–like an angry ape
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As makes the angels weep; who with our spleens,
Would themselves laugh mortal.”
The angels weep as we covertly and overtly destroy ourselves. The adage that history repeats itself, feels shockingly stark to me; collectively, humanity learns nothing from thousands of years of experience.
Giving Up What No Longer Works
“Burning your way to center
is the loneliest fire of all.
You’ll know you have arrived
when nothing else will burn.”
~Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening Pg.176.
I invite you to strengthen your spiritual tenacity…the path through chaos.
Blessings!
Melannie
Radical Shift
Our global community is in the throes of ‘radical shift’. We are all doing our best to cope with the extreme and undesirable circumstances that the covid-19 plague has brought to our doorsteps.
This radical shift aligns philosophically with the spiritual implications of Thomas Khun’s ‘paradigm shift’. (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago Press, 1962). To successfully navigate the turbulent rapids of change demands that we align with our authentic selves in transforming beliefs and truths that no longer support our way of being; our security.
The Tower card in the Tarot is a powerful representation of radical shift. The Tower’s message is about sudden, unforeseen change; crisis, danger, destruction and liberation.
The lightning bolt that strikes the strong walls of the Tower, representing the fortified foundations of our security, is a stark, shocking revelation of our weaknesses. This is radical transformation! Collectively and individually, we stand solidly in the crossroads, facing decisions about which direction to go; compelled to make choices we never dreamed necessary.
I recently asked a client how he was doing in the midst of this craziness. He responded that, “The craziness has always been here, the virus has just ripped the mask off that reality.” Now we are face to face with radical shift.
Depictions of the Tower card show two falling figures representing radically shifting ideas and beliefs about our sense of security. The Tower is of our own making. It is incumbent on us to learn the lesson it presents. Radical transformation stimulates creativity, experiential wisdom and spiritual tenacity. We are empowered by choosing to live in faith, or dis empowered by choosing to live in fear.
A new cycle has begun. We are presented with the opportunity to re-define our beliefs about security, equality and freedom; an opportunity to collectively unite with greater awareness regarding how we function day-by-day and the impact business as usual has on planet Earth and the heart of civilization. Our behaviors matter.
The push to return to ‘normal’ is a powerful elixir tempting us back into a false sense of control, a false sense of security. We can never go back. Like an enormous global earthquake, covid-19 has shaken our foundations. How we choose to respond, to re-build, will shape the essence of our future.
The way through this crisis on a personal level is through faith. No matter what your belief system, now is the time to profoundly plug-in; to let the light of greater awareness into consciousness, guiding us away from fear and helplessness into personal empowerment and inner peace during this time of peril and upheaval.
“It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.” ~William James
Stay safe and be well!
Many blessings and much love!
Melannie
