Summer Solstice 2021

Found at the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, UK.

In Ursula Leguin's Earthsea Novels,  the Summer Solstice is celebrated by dancing "the Long Dance" all night, to watch the sun rise in the morning.  Something many do on this planet as well, and still. I have done so myself.  I wish all the Blessings of the Day, and may we each find a way to  "dance the Long Dance" together in body or in spirit this sacred and most primeval day.  Here (again, and again) is the poem I share on such days, because the words and harp of the poet will always arise as I look out at the rising sun on the Solstice, the "World's Self Seen" in all of Her abundance, no matter where I am. "Every blue yonder Her brass harp rings" for those who can stop, who will listen to the deep throb of the Heartbeat, to the Harp strings sounding.    "She  will seal us with Her seed", the poet tells us, and this, strangely, is the taste of immortality I experience, each Solstice, when I stop to listen to the Song that Walks among us.

Every morning when I rise with the sun to water my garden, and especially this morning, I find myself  talking to all the people that live there.  The tall sunflowers, making seeds beloved by finches and sparrows.  The desert tortoise who has decided to live here.  My cats, and the  green scarab beetles getting drunk on tree sap.  The bees, having a drink at the bird bath, and the hummingbird. All the beings sensed and unseen, but friendly somehow too.  As  a child, the garden was full of "people" for me to visit, and now, an old woman, I seem to have returned again to that happy experience, unconcerned with what others think, and increasingly tired of all my human "identities" at last.  So much is possible by just shifting the way we see things, from an "it" to a "you".  When we "see with a Webbed Vision".  The world becomes again  conversant.  I think (again) of a story by Ursula Leguin called "May's Lion" that speaks so eloquently to that power of naming.  But let the rest of this post belong (again) to the Poet, Robin Williamson.  And the Glory of the Summer Solstice!

Summer Solstice, Brushwood, 2008

Verses from Powis

I am a lover of the steady Earth

And of Her waters.

She says:  “Let the light be brilliant, 

for those who will cherish color.”

What if there be no Heaven?

 She says: “Touch my Breasts - the fields are golden.”

Her Songs are all of love, lifelong.

Every blue yonder, Her brass harp rings.

Unlettered, in Her rivers our cherished sins

Drift voiceless in Her clouds.

She will rust us with blossom

She will forgive us

She will seal us

with Her seed.

Robin Williamson

Invocation

You that create the diversity of the forms:

Open to my words
You that divide it and multiply it

Hear my sounds

Ancient associates and fellow wanderers
You that move the heart in fur and scale

I join with you

You that sing bright and subtle
Making shapes 
that my throat cannot tell

You that harden the horn
And make quick the eye

You that run the fast fox 
and the zigzag fly

You sizeless makers of the mole
And of the whale:  aid me and I will aid you

You that lift the blossom
and the green branch
You who make symmetries more true

Who dance in slower time

Who watch the patterns

You rough coated
Who eat water

Who stretch deep and high
With your green blood
My red blood 

let it be mingled

Aid me and I will aid you

I call upon you

You who are unconfined
Who have no shape
Who are not seen

But only in your action
I will call upon you

You who have no depth
But choose direction

Who bring what is willed
That you blow love
upon the summers of my loved ones
That you blow summers
upon those loves of my love


Aid me and I will aid you

I make a pact with you

You who are the liquid
Of the waters
And the spark of the flame:

I call upon you

You who make fertile the soft earth
And guard the growth of the growing things
I make peace with you

You who are the blueness of the blue sky
And the wrath of the storm
I take the cup with you

Earth shakers

And with you
the sharp and the hollow hills
I make reverence to you

Round wakefulness 

We call the Earth

I make wide eyes to you

You who are awake

Every created thing
both solid and sleepy
Or airy light,
I weave colors 'round you

You who will come with me

I will consider it Beauty

I will consider it

Beauty, beauty

by Robin Williamson 

Published by  WARLOCK MUSIC, LTD.

https://youtu.be/7xvIDX9gKhg

The Solstice, Yule, and.........Wassailing!

Winter Solstice Blessings to All!

I felt like sharing again this post from 2016.....partly, I suppose, because I am about to make Wassail! 

I like this post because it brought back that notion of living in a  “conversant” world as well,  something I've so often thought about as I read about folk traditions, mythologies, and old customs.   Instead of seeing "nature" as "other", or a "resource",  earlier times often had a mythic, even friendly and reciprocal, relationship with the extended community of life. When we talk to the trees, the  animals, even stones………..we might just might begin to notice that we get a response sometimes!  For example, there is the old English custom  of “telling the bees” when someone has died in a farm family, and there are actually documented cases of a swarm of bees turning up at the funeral.  

“Wassailing” has included a tradition of  singing to trees in celebration of Christmas.  Who is  to say that the apple trees don’t enjoy being part of the festivities? How would our world be a different place if we saw apple trees as being our generous friends, or inviting bees to the funeral of those they have lived among for so long?  

Although Wassail is popularly a spiced cider drink, often with brandy added and served hot, originally it included the  Yuletide custom of  singing to the trees, in particular, the orchards  of apple trees from which the celebratory drink came.  The spiced cider was offered in honor to the trees,  and around the time of the Solstice,   traditional wassail would be prepared – soaking pieces of bread, cake or toast in it – and Wassailers would travel from apple orchard to apple orchard singing carols   to the trees, in order to demonstrate appreciation for the harvest being enjoyed.  Wassail-soaked pieces of bread or toast were then left at the trees’ roots or hung in the trees’ branches to appease the tree spirits and feed them well until the next harvest.

Like the Romans'  offerings on small farm shrines dedicated  to the "Numina", the spirits of place that assisted them with their crops and orchards (the indigenous Roman Goddess Pomona, whose name meant "apple",  originated as a Numen of the orchards), this custom, which is still practiced with a lot of good cheer  in some rural areas of  England, reflects that ancient pagan sense of "reciprocity" with an intelligent, spiritually  inhabited natural world.

Here's what goes on in Whimple, England to this very day:  (http://www.whimple.org/wassail.htm)

 Our ritual follows the traditional well-tried and tested ceremony of our predecessors with the Mayor in his robes of office and the Princess carrying lightly toasted bread in her delicately trimmed flasket, whilst the Queen, wearing her crown of Ivy, Lichen and Mistletoe, recites the traditional verse. The original Whimple Incantation has been retained:

Here's to thee, old apple tree,That blooms well, bears well.Hats full,caps full,Three bushel bags full,An' all under one tree.Hurrah! Hurrah!

Her Majesty is then gently but manfully assisted up the treein order to place the cyder-soaked toast in the branches whilst the assembled throng, accompanied by a group of talented musicians, sing the Wassail Song and dance around the tree. The Mulled Cider or 'Wassail Cup' is produced and everyone takes a sample with their 'Clayen Cup'.

I read recently  that our habit of "toasting" may go back to Wassail revelries.  "Waes hael"  revelers would say,  from the Old English term  meaning "be well".  Eventually  "wassail" referred less to the greeting and more to the drink.  The contents of the Wassail bowl varied, but a popular one was known as 'lambs wool'. It consisted of hot ale, roasted crab apples, sugar, spices, eggs, and cream served with little pieces of toast. It was the toast floating on the top that made it look like lamb's wool.  The toast that was traditionally floated atop the wassail eventually became our "toast" -  when you hold up your glass and announce, “Let’s have a toast,”  or  ”I’ll toast to that,” you’re remembering this very old ritual of floating a bit of toast in spiced ale or mulled wine or wassail in celebration.

Wassailing – visiting neighbors (and much appreciated, friendly trees), singing carols  and sharing warmed drink – is a tradition related to the Winter Solstice with ancient roots indeed.  

I found a good Wassail recipe, which I've taken the liberty of sharing at the end of this post.  I don't know if I'll be going out to sing to the Saguaros  this Solstice, being no longer in rural England,  but who knows what I might end up doing if I drink enough Wassail with brandy.  

I'm sure the Saguaros wouldn't mind the attention.  Happy Wassailing!

Photo by Martin Beebee

 Apple Tree Wassailing Chants and Rhymes

Compiled in The Stations of the Sun by Ronald Hutton

From the South Hams of Devon, recorded 1871: 

Here's to thee, old apple tree,
Whence thou mayst bud
And whence thou mayst blow!
And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!
Hats full! Caps full!
Bushel--bushel--sacks full,
And my pockets full too! Huzza!

From Cornworthy, Devon, recorded 1805:

Huzza, Huzza, in our good town
The bread shall be white, and the liquor be brown
So here my old fellow I drink to thee
And the very health of each other tree.
Well may ye blow, well may ye bear
Blossom and fruit both apple and pear.
So that every bough and every twig
May bend with a burden both fair and big
May ye bear us and yield us fruit such a stores
That the bags and chambers and house run o'er.

 

http://www.aspicyperspective.com/2013/09/wassail-recipe.html

Yield: 10-12 servings,  Prep Time: 5 minutes, Cook Time: 4 hours

Wassail Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon Apple Cider
• 4 cups orange juice
• 4 hibiscus tea bags
• 10 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp. whole cloves
• 1 Tb. juniper berries
• 1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, cut into slices
• 1 apple, sliced into rounds
• 1 orange, sliced into rounds

Directions:

1. Place all the ingredients in a slow cooker and cover.
2. Turn the slow cooker on high heat and cook for 3-4 hours, until the color has darkened and the fruit is soft. Remove the tea bags and serve hot.

Wassailing Celebrations

I wrote about a synchronicity involving bees recently, and it brought back that notion of living in a  “conversant” world.  Instead of seeing "nature" as "other", or a "resource", we could see ourselves, as earlier cultures did, as having a mythic, even friendly and reciprocal, relationship with the extended community of life we inhabit.  When we talk to the trees, the  animals, even stones………..we might just might begin to notice that we get a response sometimes!  

For example, there is the old English custom  of “telling the bees” when someone has died in a farm family, and documented cases of a swarm of bees turning up at the funeral.  Or “wassailing”, singing to trees in celebration of Christmas.  Who is  to say that the apple trees don’t enjoy being part of the festiivities? How would our world be a different place if we saw apple trees as being our generous friends, or inviting bees to the funeral of those they have lived among?  

Although Wassail is popularly a spiced cider drink, often with brandy added and served hot, originally it included the  Yuletide custom of  singing to the trees, in particular, the orchards  of apple trees from which the celebratory drink came.  The spiced cider was offered in honor to the trees,  and around the time of the Solstice, wassailers would prepare  traditional wassail – soaking pieces of bread, cake or toast in it – and travel from apple orchard to apple orchard singing and offering to the trees, in order to ensure a good harvest for the coming year.  Wassail-soaked pieces of bread or toast were then left at the trees’ roots or hung in the trees’ branches to appease the tree spirits and feed them well until the next harvest.

Like the Romans'  offerings and small farm shrines dedicated  to the "Numina", the spirits of place that assisted them with their crops and orchards (the indigenous Roman Goddess Pomona, whose name meant "apple",  originated as a Numen of the orchards), this custom, which is still practiced with a lot of good cheer  in some rural areas of  England, reflects that ancient pagan sense of "reciprocity" with an intelligent, spiritually  inhabited natural world.

Here's what goes on in Whimple, England to this very day:  (http://www.whimple.org/wassail.htm)

 Our ritual follows the traditional well-tried and tested ceremony of our predecessors with the Mayor in his robes of office and the Princess carrying lightly toasted bread in her delicately trimmed flasket, whilst the Queen, wearing her crown of Ivy, Lichen and Mistletoe, recites the traditional verse. The original Whimple Incantation has been retained:

Here's to thee, old apple tree,That blooms well, bears well.Hats full,caps full,Three bushel bags full,An' all under one tree.Hurrah! Hurrah!

Her Majesty is then gently but manfully assisted up the treein order to place the cyder-soaked toast in the branches whilst the assembled throng, accompanied by a group of talented musicians, sing the Wassail Song and dance around the tree. The Mulled Cider or 'Wassail Cup' is produced and everyone takes a sample with their 'Clayen Cup'.

I read recently  that our habit of "toasting" may go back to Wassail revelries.  "Waes hael"  revelers would say,  from the Old English term  meaning "be well".  Eventually  "wassail" referred less to the greeting and more to the drink.  The contents of the Wassail bowl varied, but a popular one was known as 'lambs wool'. It consisted of hot ale, roasted crab apples, sugar, spices, eggs, and cream served with little pieces of toast. It was the toast floating on the top that made it look like lamb's wool.  The toast that was traditionally floated atop the wassail eventually became our "toast" -  when you hold up your glass and announce, “Let’s have a toast,”  or  ”I’ll toast to that,” you’re remembering this very old ritual of floating a bit of toast in spiced ale or mulled wine or wassail in celebration.

Wassailing – visiting neighbors (and much appreciated, friendly trees), singing carols  and sharing warmed drink – is a tradition related to the Winter Solstice with ancient roots indeed.  

 I found a good Wassail recipe, which I've taken the liberty of sharing at the end of this post.  I don't know if I'll be going out to sing to the Saguaros  this Solstice, but who knows what I might end up doing if I drink enough Wassail with brandy.   I'm sure the Saguaros wouldn't mind the attention.

Happy Wassailing!

Photo by Martin Beebee

 Apple Tree Wassailing Chants and Rhymes

Compiled in The Stations of the Sun by Ronald Hutton

From the South Hams of Devon, recorded 1871: 

Here's to thee, old apple tree,
Whence thou mayst bud
And whence thou mayst blow!
And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!
Hats full! Caps full!
Bushel--bushel--sacks full,
And my pockets full too! Huzza!

From Cornworthy, Devon, recorded 1805:

Huzza, Huzza, in our good town
The bread shall be white, and the liquor be brown
So here my old fellow I drink to thee
And the very health of each other tree.
Well may ye blow, well may ye bear
Blossom and fruit both apple and pear.
So that every bough and every twig
May bend with a burden both fair and big
May ye bear us and yield us fruit such a stores
That the bags and chambers and house run o'er.

 

http://www.aspicyperspective.com/2013/09/wassail-recipe.html

Yield: 10-12 servings,  Prep Time: 5 minutes, Cook Time: 4 hours

Wassail Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon Apple Cider
• 4 cups orange juice
• 4 hibiscus tea bags
• 10 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp. whole cloves
• 1 Tb. juniper berries
• 1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, cut into slices
• 1 apple, sliced into rounds
• 1 orange, sliced into rounds

Directions:

1. Place all the ingredients in a slow cooker and cover.
2. Turn the slow cooker on high heat and cook for 3-4 hours, until the color has darkened and the fruit is soft. Remove the tea bags and serve hot.

Goddesses for the New World by Lydia and Max

 

Spider Grandmother  and Corn Mother by Max Dashu

"Creation stories of Arizona and New Mexico praise  Spider Woman.  The Keres peoples call her Tse-itsi’nako, Thought Woman, who brought everything into being through the power of her mind. The Hopi remember her as Kokyangwuhti,  who chanted the creation song over the Earth’s twin poles, setting in order stability and circulation.   She created all living beings from earth and her own saliva, then spun shining webs of creative wisdom over them and inspirited them with her chant.  In some traditions, old Spider Woman causes the Corn Mother -- or her daughters -- to emerge from the underworld, and they enliven all beings by singing over their images.   Corn Mother emerges from the Sipapu, the opening of the womb of Mother Earth." 
 
(Copyright 2000 Max Dashu)

Max Dashu is well known for her amazing art and her life long scholarship that has become her "Suppressed Histories" work.  Visit her site and prepare to become enchanted by the world of the Goddess:  Suppressed Histories Archives,  http://www.suppressedhistories.net

  

Lydia Ruhle is an incredible artist (and scholar)  whose Goddess Banners have travelled around the world (I first saw them at the Goddess Conference in Glastonbury).  Here is her "Spider Woman" for the New Millenium.  Visit her website for a wonderful tour into the ancient world:  http://www.lydiaruyle.com/.  Lydia also visited Gobekli Tepe (the name means "Navel" or "belly"), the oldest (12,000 bc) megalithic temple yet discovered,  last summer - I'll write about some of what she discovered there, and the art she made, later. 

Here is Max Dashu's "Wisdom Scroll" (for the New Millenium):
http://users.lmi.net/maxdashu/deasophy/wisdom.html

The Spiritual Significance of 2012

 A friend passed this article  on to me, and I thought it worth sharing here - very insightful.  (This article is from a collection of material gathered from authors of “Transforming Through 2012, A Multimedia eBook about the coming shift.” http://transformingthrough2012.com - republished with permission from Science Of Mind Magazine, November 2011 Issue)

The end of the Hopi calendar, and entry into the "5th World", is thus also about the "Return of Spider Woman", the cosmic weaver who is also, in the Pueblo mythological universe, the midwife who guides the "new people" through the Sipapu in the sacred kiva, (or birth canal) into each next world, offering a thread (or a ladder) to rise up into the New World...... I reflect that in the Circles I've participated in, there are 5 directions: North, South, East, West, and Center. The Center is that which unites everything, the breathe, the dark space, ecological interdependency, the Web.  Integral."

 Nassim Haramein  comments eloquently:  "Every atom of your body is connected to every other atom in the universe, as it exchanges energy and information with the vacuum.".  

The Spiritual Significance of 2012 
by Mead Rose  

Spider Gorget with Cross/Circle

So why all the hubbub around 2012? The answer is that a number of seemingly significant changes appear to center around that date.

• In astronomical terms, 12/21/2012 is the winter solstice occurring simultaneously with crossing over the galactic midline.
• Astrologically, we are also transitioning from the Piscean to the Aquarian Age.
• In addition, it has been put forth as the end date of the Mayan calendar and as the fulfillment date of several other indigenous prophecies.
• Terence McKenna also turned up a pattern of events when he superimposed numerical values associated with the King Wen sequence of the I Ching onto human history, which he referred to as Timewave Zero and which appears to converge on that date as well.

There is both disagreement about and speculation beyond the basic points shown above. While the astronomical and astrological facts remain indisputable, the significance of them is open to interpretation. Additionally, when one examines the prophecies of the Maya and other indigenous peoples one discovers that they refer to a process and are not tied to a particular date.
Regardless of debates about target dates, it seems clear that change is upon us simply as a consequence of living on a planet with a burgeoning population and dwindling resources. It is becoming clear that we need to evolve past obsolete, consumption-heavy economies and competitive social strategies and transition into more resource-friendly, cooperative ways of living.

One fairly consistent theme in all the talk about 2012 is the idea that we are moving into a time when all our ancient notions are challenged. To quote songwriter Emily Kaitz: 

"Uncharted waters, Empty skies, Everything you’ve learned up to this point, No longer applies."

Long cherished notions of “the way it is” are beginning to come under scrutiny. These assumptions include:

• The fundamental nature of time and space
• The notion that we are alone in the universe
• The faith that our elected officials will act in our best interests
• The belief that intercession between individuals and divinity is necessary

For many, this scrutiny is a challenge to their religious faith and points to discrepancies between religion and spirit. One of the difficulties in responding to questions about the spiritual significance of 2012 is that that what defines spirit is changing. In the past, the borderlines between spirit, science, thought and physical existence were quite clear and now those separations are falling away in the light of new understandings.

One way to shed light on the whole question is to examine the ancient prophecies in the regard that spirit is eternal and human beings are fairly constant regardless of external changes. It is noteworthy that prophesies from diverse tribes show thematic congruence, even among tribes who are highly isolated and rarely exchange information with other tribes. For example, we find that when we compare Mayan and Hopi prophecies, the underlying themes are similar:

Scientifically recognized Mayan Calendar expert Carl Johan Calleman reveals that according to understandings gained via conversations with Mayan elders, the December 21, 2012 target date is erroneous and that the Mayan Calendar end date is actually October 28, 2011. Dr. Calleman elaborates on his interpretation of Mayan prophecies explaining that the “descent of the nine gods” refers not to anthropomorphic deities but instead to levels of cosmic consciousness impacting humanity at specific times. He has painstakingly documented historical events correlated to previous impacts to test the validity of his interpretation. He predicted March 9, 2011 as the commencement date of the 9^th Wave, just two days before the Fukushima earthquake, an eerie precursor.

Dr. Calleman offered commentary on the coming spiritual shifts saying, “We’re going into something where there will be no middle man or middle women between ourselves and God; and the Divine. We will be the only authorities in regarding our relationship to God. That’s where it’s going. No intermediate so to speak.” He explained that it was the ‘filters’ upon consciousness that necessitated the need for somebody to convey the experience from spiritual reality. “I believe that this wave is about developing resonance with the cosmos and it is a large thing. In order to do so, in true resonance with the cosmos, it also means that you must do that yourself directly, without any intermediates…It’s all about becoming a citizen of the cosmos, a child of God with out any having to intervene, so to speak.”

This idea of a transformation of consciousness is echoed in the Hopi prophecies.
Author Kymberlee Ruff tells of the Hopi Prophecy Rock, and whether humanity would choose to depart from the “Two-hearted Path” leading to nuclear annihilation: “Up until very recently, many of the Hopi Elders were not certain that we would choose the ‘Path of the One-Hearted.’ Fortunately, I have been told that in the last few years, we have turned a corner. Many Holy and Noble people have performed the sacred rituals and ceremonies, asking Mother Earth to give us another chance. An evolution of consciousness has occurred just in time to save our planet. I have been told to share with you that, in the last few years, we have passed over into ‘The Fifth World.’

With 2012 approaching, there are so many doomsday stories circulating, describing an impending time of catastrophe and destruction. This is why I was asked to tell the story of the ‘Two Paths of the Hopi Prophecy Rock,’ to tell you that the day after December 21, 2012 is actually going to herald a time of great peace…So as chaotic as the world may appear right now, it is an illusion. Something wonderful is happening.”

Or is it? One thing that is becoming increasingly clear is that we as human beings create our own reality. But this creation process goes far beyond the subjective limits of individuated consciousness. With individual transformation comes the realization that all beings are in need of liberation, that to acquire and appreciate the finer things in life also means doing so without subjecting others to undue hardship.

Like it or not, the world we live in is the product of an ongoing collaborative experiment in consciousness. While enlightened personages such as the Dalai Lama exemplify living the simple spiritual life, they are exiled from their homeland by governmental decisions of a totalitarian regime made to accommodate an ever-growing population.

In the midst of our search for new, cooperative solutions to problems for which we have no previous experience, the brute force expedients learned throughout humanity’s history of war and strife contend for dominance. Based in scarcity and fear, old paradigm you-or-me thinking tends to spread by turning otherwise enlightened minds into sharks or shark bait. Deep spiritual conviction is required to avoid falling prey to the fear-based thought patterns.

Furthermore, avoidance is not an answer. Withdrawing from the difficulties of the modern world is to withdraw one’s self as a needed community resource. Past models allowed people to entrust others to take care of difficult problems. Recent economic problems have shown us that this is not a wise strategy. All too often, turning one’s gaze away from complex problems, amounts to letting the fox guard the hen house.

The approaching changes require a new sort of moral courage. Already we are seeing the start of planetary changes from earthquakes to solar flares to floods. People are waking up to corruption and misbehavior on the part of our elected leaders. As spiritual beings, we must be willing to open our eyes and hearts to see and feel the wounds of humanity and mother earth to witness the extent of the healing that must take place. It is then incumbent upon us to put aside fear and hold fast to a vision of universal peace, cooperation and personal responsibility for emancipating people and the planet from the bondage of history.

West Kennet Long Barrow Crop Circle 2009

This moral courage must extend from our innermost hearts into our families, neighbors, organizations, institutions and planet. Beyond that, there are many who believe that extraterrestrial intelligences are waiting for us to complete this key step in our development before admitting us into their galactic associations. Dr Steven Greer of The Disclosure Project and others have revealed that very real economic forces are at work sowing fear and deception to prevent the equally real technologies of abundant energy, telepathic interfaces and gravitational propulsion from being made available. Imagine a Galactic Federation just like Star Trek (complete with a Prime Directive of non-interference). Imagine the Starship Enterprise encountering a planet which attempts to control its citizenry by withholding key technology and making movies about alien invasions. Even if you don’t accept the part about the aliens, consider that there are economic interests with an investment in the status quo of selling fossil fuels and nuclear energy when other technologies are available.

The 2012 experts and indigenous elders indicate that each individual must choose to respond to fear with love and when others are fearful, to do what it takes to bring them into the light of love, peace and understanding. Doing so will eventually cause us to reach a “tipping point” which will shift humanity’s matrix into the new reality so many of us desire.

One of the key abilities we all need to cultivate is the ability to meet new and sometimes bizarre information not with horror or disbelief but instead with the recognition that as with any process of healing or growth, there may be pain and a need to let go of the past. As humanity emerges from millennia of strife, the future may occur as, “being dragged kicking and screaming into heaven.”
Perhaps some of the best spiritual advice for coping with the radical shifts around 2012 comes from mathematician and physicist Nassim Haramein. Dr. Haramein recently won an award for his paper on ”The Schwarzschild Proton,” where he demonstrated the viability of considering the proton to be a quantum black hole containing the entire mass of the known universe. In one stroke, the paper solves discrepancies between Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. At first glance, this seems to carry no spiritual significance, but upon closer examination reveals that the separation between science and spirit is arbitrary. Ever since childhood he had difficulty with Euclidean dimensional concepts and arrived at his unique theories through attempting to understand the structure of the vacuum. Some label his work “sacred geometry” and indeed he has been able to integrate the Kabalistic “Tree of life” and “Flower of life” into his mathematical understanding of the geometry of space.

“I urge you to spend some time in contemplation, realizing your infinite nature, realizing your connectivity to the structure of space, to the vacuum as a whole, realizing your connectivity to all things through the inner self. All the masters who have walked the earth have encouraged us to learn to turn our senses inward because within the atomic level, within the singularity that centers our existence is the infinite potential of creation. This is what connects us to all things.
I believe that spending more time turning your senses inward and connecting with your fundamental nature, and then applying that to the external world in your day-to-day life might be one of the most crucial, the most important, things you can do. When you align with your fundamental nature, with your singularity, with the infinite potential inside yourself, you are fundamentally aligned with your dharma, your mission, your deepest possible recognition of self. Such an exploration can lead to great things in your life.

Every atom of your body is connected to every other atom in the universe, as it exchanges energy and information with the vacuum. This infinite energy and knowledge can infuse your consciousness, and change your life beginning today. Do not be apprehensive about the changes clustering around 2012, for they will force us to make the evolutionary leap into a world of abundance and wonder.”

It is clear we are in a time of transition. The message coming from the 2012 experts is a message to respond to the coming changes with love instead of fear. This requires the moral courage to see things as they are and then to make the choice towards love and responsibility and to help others to do so for themselves.

"Touching Gaia" - A Solstice Ritual of Attunement

We humbly ask  Gaia to be among us.
 
To be with us on this day, the longest day, 
when life is full. Gaia, this shining, white and blue planet

circling, a living jewell
in the Great Dark of space.
Gaia.

Her waters are Her blood,
Her valleys and mountains Her bones,
the forests Her breath,
the Clouds, Her moods,
and we are Her dreams

and the fourlegged,  the ones that swim,
the winged ones,  the two-legged....all,
Her eyes, Her ears,
the mind of Gaia.

I invite you to feel the presence of Gaia,
a living, breathing Being.
Dancing as we are, in union
with the sun, the moon,
the stars:
Gaia's family, Her grove.

Feel your feet on the Earth.
Feel the heartbeat of the Earth.
Feel your own heartbeat
and attune.

Feel your arms like branches,
the crown of your head
the leafy crown of a tree, opening to the sun:
an aspen tree, or a flowering plum,
or a medicine tree, a eucalyptus.
An apple, a poisonous hemlock,
a rowen tree offering fruit to greedy sparrows.

A Boji tree, in the red lands, the dry lands,
a tree of bones
dreaming only of water.
A tall pine in snowy winter
dreaming of the sun's return......

Feel your hands like twigs, your feet like roots.
Feel the sun in your leaves.
Feel Gaia's heart
beneath your feet,
beating like a drum.

And feel your roots
go down from your feet, your hands,
down into fertile darkness,
into secret waters,
past pottery shards
and the bones of ancient antelope,
past cities long forgotten,
past stone and crystal
into the darkness,
into the dreaming Earth.

Go down,  into the heart of  Gaia.

Your roots are a web
of  intertwined roots
that sustain the forest,
strong, keeping you firm. 
Roots that touch all beings.
Go down, feel the fibers that touch each other,
this circle, this land,  the sky, the waters.
Feel the flow of contact, sustaining each other.

And reach out, expand your awareness.

Somewhere in the East a woman rises
to make bread for her family.
Somewhere in the South a child plays in the dust.
Somewhere far west a girl in a red sari
prepares for her wedding.
Somewhere in the far North a painter
stands before an empty canvas,
trying to remember a dream he had the night before.

Follow your roots.  Attune. 

Somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere a forest is burning,
somewhere in the West
poisons are pouring into a river,
and the river is dying, the land is weeping.
Somewhere in the North a song bird is gone
and the fields are silent.
Somewhere in the East acid rain falls into a barren lake.
Feel the sorrow of the land, the pain of Gaia.

And somewhere in the South, winter is beginning.
Somewhere East, the sun is rising. 
Reach out along your roots, feel the beat of life.

Attune, and return.  Follow your roots
back to your heart.  Feel that love, that light.
All one.

As we rise and stand, breathe in the breath of the world.
Take that  light, that pulse, that beat,
and gather it
in your heart, your hands.
Gather from your roots.
Gather and become
a vessel, a tree, a beating heart.
Gather to touch all beings.

And send it down:

Into the Earth, the best of us,
into the Earth, our roots,
into the Earth, our dreams,
into the Earth, our source.
into the Earth, our love.
into the Earth, our light.