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| cycles |
Healing is individual ... so it is for many things relating to us as humans. Though there are some very simple common things we can all do to gain higher levels of health etc., we are also very unique in our requirements.
A number of you have expressed dismay at having to face things you imagined you were done with ... having Walked on your Way for some time. As with other things in life and in our experience, healing can occur in cycles. Many of you will be able to reflect on your own journey and see this to be so for you ... perhaps, for others, it is not. Today's blog is about cycles, as some of you have requested that we look into this area a bit more and have asked questions about experiencing cycles not only in your healing but on your spiritual path.... so this is for you! Remember, most things do not come along perfectly in straight lines! Look around at the various forms in nature -- circles and cycles everywhere! We are no different here.
It is true that we will only be able to See and to Heal that which we are ready to. This is why so much emphasis is placed on developing higher levels of consciousness, awareness and the ability to self-reflect. It is beneficial for us to see ourselves clearly and to accept or search out the existing opportunities to heal things and to alter our patterns ... creating a freer life inside and out. It is up to us to have or to develop the inner willingness, dedication and determination to embark on the journey and to See and Work in the areas which will bring us this freedom. Freedom? From What? Now that, too, is a huge topic ... freedom from things like: domination and control by others (if you don't Captain your ship in Life, someone else will); suffering (inner and outer ... meaning mental/emotional and physical); various illnesses; loss of vital energy; zest in life ... doing what we love to do daily work and in leisure; lack of free movement of our body ... which can be like a prison for us without flexibility, strength, relaxation, endurance and general well-being etc.
Some of you write that you have found yourselves repeating patterns in life ... patterns you felt you were done with long ago - or on a previous healing journey. I have certainly experienced this as well along my own journey. This is part of the cycles we speak of.
You may notice that though the pattern you find yourself in is similar, it may or may not be exactly the same. Perhaps you have been able to alter parts of it - or the pattern is not as strong as it used to be. Your pattern may have multiple aspects to it, and so as you learn and heal, you are able to alter these aspects of it a bit at a time until you are finally done with it. Other times, it is simply that you thought you were done with it, but you weren't; the circumstances it needed to reappear were simply not there. At times, you may find that are able to see something and alter it immediately. Over the many years, as we walk along our Path, we Know ourselves better and better, and our ability to Work through these patterns with greater skill and ease increases.
No one ever said that we will arrive in a place that is perfect and that we will stay completely balanced for the rest of our lives while we are here. There are too many random and external factors beyond our control. What we can learn is how to notice when we may be slipping out of balance. We are able to develop the awareness and the skill to bring ourselves back into balance and harmony so that the many challenges we encounter along our journey do not lead us into places where we will unnecessarily create our own suffering through choices of our own (see our page on balance and harmony).
One of the things we can develop over time with consistent Work is mastery of the Self. For the most part, though we have times when our growth is expansive and we have periods where we are in the flow and all is well, spiritual growth and healing occurs in cycles as we Walk our chosen path and encounter many challenges along our way.
Let's move in a little deeper with this......
Our life is flowing and we are connected ... somehow we are in the flow of synchronicity and all is just as we like it. We are in the place we always wanted to be; perhaps we have finally ``arrived'' in the place we dreamed of as children when imagining our future life. Many of us have periods like this in our life. After much diligent work and healing we find ourselves feeling whole, full of developing inner power and potential. Things just seem to flow in the right way. Perhaps we are in love, having a child, in the career we always imagined, in the pinnacle of our achievement we've dreamed of, or have come far and walked many long years on our spiritual journey. Perhaps we have been in this state of flow for many years - or perhaps we have entered this place not long ago.
Those of you who wrote in with your questions, talked about many of the following experiences: Suddenly, it is as though a dark cloud has entered into your life. The spiritual path which has flowed suddenly becomes more challenging and obstacles arise when once the way felt so clear. Suddenly, or slowly over some time, you find yourself in a situation (or situations) you imagined you were somehow now immune to ...
`I thought I was done with this', you found yourself saying ... `I thought I was on my way now and that the light would be always present and after so much healing and work it would just all be so much easier now'. You thought you finally knew how to create the life you always wanted ... or you were living it ... but THIS ... no this was not part of the picture you had in mind. `How did I end up HERE?', some of you have said. You might find yourself ill or in a difficult marriage (that began with much love and bliss) ... or dealing with various issues with your children or family ... or career ... or path of study ... or teacher ... or you find yourself in financial lack and are unable to move forward to do what you desire ... suddenly your parents are ill or people you know are dying and so on. You find yourself entangled in old familial patterns and issues once again ...
For some of you, the ones you thought were your dearest companions turn out to have their own issues and they deceive you ... betray you ... lie to you or cheat you ... Suddenly the synchronicity is gone; the magick you were in touch with disappears and you may find yourself ill and desiring healing once more. Perhaps falling, over time, into despondency or apathy or despair, you may find yourself falling back into old patterns ... old ways ... darkness fills your inner light and your vision - once bright and full of hope ... dims. `Perhaps', you imagine, `the Path I am walking is not for me, after all, and I have failed'. Your stories are not so different after all! The questions I have received on this topic all have the same theme: falling (or I will suggest it is more like `feeling like falling'), from grace after attaining a certain level of benefit from Work done).
Though I am unable to say that this is the way for everyone, I can definitely say with full confidence that this is a very common occurrence for those who embark on the healing journey or a spiritual path. I have certainly encountered periods of loss and personal challenge after committing myself to the path I continue to walk today. It has not always been easy! Periods of major growth along my journey have then been followed by new challenges and though it may feel like I have started over more than once, it is not so ... it is simply movement to another level which also requires Work. I have also worked with many people over the years, and these experiences are common; it's not the first time I have heard these stories.
It is, after all, a lifelong path we remain on. We are not perfect; we can; however, develop our impeccability and determination to stand up and keep moving forward no matter how many times we seem to fall or feel pushed down. We can work at developing inner control (which has nothing to do with suppression or denial!) and mastering ourselves. It does us well to remember that we do not control all things and there are so many factors outside ourselves, that most of us are bound to experience challenges in our lifetime in many ways and at different times. Though our trials and experiences may be very different, we often find that healing and spiritual development and growth is cyclical in nature ... with periods of growth and healing ... followed by what seems to feel like a loss or a spiral downwards.
The interesting point, here, is that if one stays true to one's path and the many practical tools one learns along the Way, these periods which feel like a downward spiral bring us up to higher levels than where we were before we even fell. This is a phenomenon of cyclical spiral growth. Just like the coils of a slinky or a spring, if one looks at the spiral, one sees that it goes down before it springs back up even higher.
So for those who are in this spiral now and are aware of it, remember to keep working ... keep applying .... keep walking the path.
Do you find yourself in a pattern you thought you were done with? Face it newly and rise above once again. There is a reason it is still there and you are facing it ... look for it ... be willing to see what you have to see in order to move forward once again. Healing and spiritual growth comes in cycles; you will clear out what you need to clear out when you are ready to do so. In your own time ... in your own way. This does not mean we get complacent or lazy; it means, rather, that healing does not always occur all at once!! Know that you can overcome ... rise above ... heal this too ... whatever it may be. We are only done when we are done and that, too, is something we can learn to accept and come to peace with ... and no one can do it for us.
The one thing you can do to assist yourself in this process on your path is to stay committed to truth ... be willing to see what you need to see in order to move forward (not being willing to do so is what holds us back and prevents us from moving forward). Clean your mirrors of self-reflection .... apply your tools ... seek out counsel and guidance when required along your journey and at different times in your life as you require it ... do what you find needs to be done and keep walking along your way.
Avoid judging yourself or others and open to the compassion, kindness, understanding, wisdom, discernment, love, peace, acceptance, stillness and beauty all around and inside you. Embrace it and switch perspective when it is beneficial to do so. This also has nothing to do with `using your big voice' when it is appropriate, creating and maintaining boundaries in your life and time and doing what you desire to do in order to take care of yourself and minimize the impact of negative people, environments etc. People confuse being a nice person with foolishness in various situations. People also confuse this with having free license to do whatever they feel like doing. Developed wisdom and discernment makes clear these distinctions!
A person I was working with once said to me ...``I'm doing what I am doing because I am stressed out. '' True, this person is in a very stressful part of his life and is in a pattern that is repeating for him (he has been in this pattern on and off since his teens). When I pointed out that he was falling in the same way as his mother has fallen and that he could end up in the same place, the person became very quiet and then justified his actions with the saying: `well, I am stressed out and this is why I do drugs and drink'. He was very angry, tense and ill. His health had been deteriorating for several years and his relationships and life was chaotic and negative.
Yes, I would agree that people respond to stress in different ways; however, it would be wise not to let this be a scapegoat or justification for allowing one's Self to continue doing things which are harmful to oneself... or harmful to another. When we justify things we do, even if what we are experiencing is very challenging for us and is our greatest Work in this lifetime, we still will not overcome it or grow if we justify and rationalize why we are doing what we do. We also do ourselves no favour by seeking validation from others who tend to agree with our point of view or behaviours - especially if our behaviours are self-defeating. They simply join us in our private hell due to the fact that they are in there too. We are better off seeking out wiser counsel outside our circle of fellow sufferers ... who are all in the same boat.
As to the situation I speak of above, I would agree that this person has quite a bit to deal and cope with; however, I see their potential, their inner beauty and ability to rise above and overcome waiting for them to access it - and no one can do it for them. They simply have to go inwards, face things as they really are, feel the pain, and connect with the part of themselves that lies within ... the part that desires better. Embarking on the healing journey would enable this person to feel better and thus have the energy they require to deal with the challenges they are facing.
No one said the Work we have to do to heal our lives would be easy, though at times it can flow along quite nicely. I tell you as surely as I write this that if you do not embark on the healing journey when you sense and know it is vital for you to do so, there is only more pain and suffering ahead - it does not get better as we engage in things which pull us away from facing it. In the end it will still be there and we may even have a resulting illness to deal with now as a result of the years of denial and suppression into the body where these stresses and tensions accumulate over time.
Our mental/emotional states can also develop patterns, as we learn to cope in ways that are not healthy and we create mental buffers to seeing things the way they really are ... all a protection mechanism in order for the psyche (or our soul) to survive the perceived or very real threat to its survival here. In the end, if we survive, the Work awaits anyway. One very practical aspect of the Warrior training we provide, is being given the opportunity to develop skills over time which assist one in being able to face the inevitable stresses and challenges in life. A Warrior learns how to avoid the unnecessary stressors and also how to deal effectively with the ones that are unavoidable.
Stress is inevitable ... when we look at what it really means (look up the word in a good dictionary), we find that stress is a part of life here. It is, and always has been, our own personal response to things that create the real problems most times, and this we can learn to gain control over with consistent Work over time.
How long will this take? ...some of you asked ... as long as it takes for you ... personally ...
So, for those of you who have found in your own personal life stories, that there are cycles of growth and that your journey has not been a straight and narrow path, know that this is so for many of us on along the Way. Keep working ... avoid losing faith ... learn what your patterns are and bring forth your courage to face them. Over time, if you continue to Work and are willing and able to face yourself, you WILL MASTER THEM .... learn the tools, then apply apply apply your tools ....consistently over time ... Work ... enjoy the lulls when they come ... surf the waves of magick and synchronicity as you attain the inner gifts along the Way - use them wisely .... see that ,indeed, (if you Work in a certain way) that you always gain higher levels of learning how to co-create your life with greater balance ... and harmony.
