A Year's Journey of Initiation
Invocation Blessing Song
Behold Great Mystery, Creative Force, Spirit That Moves Through All! We call to the Seven Directions of the Sacred Wheel!
We turn to the Keepers of the East, direction of new beginnings, of inspirations, of illumination and creativity, of the dawn and spring, new births, and childhood. Be with us, teach us, show us your ways!
We call to the Keepers of the South, direction of vitality, of high noon and hot sun, of summer and vigorous growth, of youth and passion. Be with us, teach us, show us your ways!
We invite the Keepers of the West, direction of introspection, of the evening, of autumn and maturity, deepening and ripening. Be with us, teach us, show us your ways!
We respectfully summon the Keepers of the North, direction of the night, of winter, of wisdom and transformation, of dropping inessentials to reveal the core. Be with us, teach us, show us your ways!
We look up to the sky and call to the Beings of the sun, the moon, the clouds, the stars, and the endless blue, and we ask that you bring your spaciousness and mystery to this work. Be with us, teach us, show us your ways!
We put our hands on the ground and ask that the great substance of the Earth give grounding to the work, and that the Earth’s beauties give us beauty and that the entire world—the animals and plants and rocks, mountains and rivers and seas, the elemental forces of Earth and Air and Fire and Water, and all the human beings, all the elders, children, teachers, all the red, yellow, black, and white—join in this blessing. Be with us, teach us, show us your ways!
We call to the Sweet Mystery that is the Sacred Center, to hold us and cradle us in your divine protection. Be with us, teach us, show us your ways!
We claim this work to serve, to bless, and to share knowledge for wisdom building and for bringing wholeness to our hearts and to our world. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
(Note: The beginning prayer and a final blessing appear at the beginning and end of each lesson, respectively. These prayers mark the cycle of energy within that lesson and create a circle of connection.)
PERSONAL CLARITY
Personal clarity is both a goal and state of being in Wheel work. It means you have a solid connection to the world of Spirit and that you can access and are filled with spiritual power. Once these things are established, you will experience signs that you are truly on a Spirit Path. Remarkable coincidences begin to happen, and your sense of connection is heightened even more. You begin to realize what a child of Spirit you really are, and a peaceful acceptance begins to warm your being. You experience awe at this realization and your humility in the face of such wonderment.
As you claim an intention to allow the Universe to work through you, more power will flow to you, and you will take credit for less. You will see the world from a much broader perspective, and things begin to work out without your direct effort as your connection grows even stronger. It is not uncommon to start meeting people at the most amazing and opportune times or to be thinking about someone and have them call on the phone. This happens to everyone, and when you are committed to Sacred Cycles, the magical quality of these events becomes apparent, and the regularity with which they happen is remarkable. You will notice a heightening of your intuition, and you will be able to sense obstacles and know what is the most serving action very early in situations. You will experience fewer times of confusion because you will be more aware, grounded, and connected to the now moment. Your creativity increases, and solutions to obstacles and problems seem to flow out of you. Your sense of amazement increases as you begin to experience how obstacles are really opportunities that challenge you to grow stronger and more powerful. Urges to express yourself artistically emerge, and you feel a longing to express in physical form the richness of the interior life that is developing within you. Your compassion increases, and you can no longer use or abuse yourself or anyone or anything on the planet. You become aware of your deep relationship and love of Mother Earth and of your responsibility of stewardship of Her and Her resources. You find yourself growing in respect for others and their experiences. You will no longer judge them from a place of negativity, rather you will use discernment to know when to stay and when to walk away. Compassion for their experience will be evident. Likewise, your own self-esteem and capacity to love yourself increases. You treat your body with respect and use your personal energy wisely.
These aspects of your relationship to personal clarity come out of the realization that life is a cycle—a process. To understand the processes, cycles, and patterns of the unfolding moment is to be in harmony with the Universe.
“Wave of sorrow,
Do not drown me now:
I see the island,
Still ahead somehow.
I see the island,
And its shores are fair:
Wave of sorrow,
Take me there.”
—Langston Hughes
Sacred Sight
To truly develop personal clarity, you must be able to use Sacred Sight. You must be able to look at and sense another reality. Your perspective must broaden, and the hold that your mind and ego have on what you unequivocally know must loosen. To do this in the physical world, you will want to be able to see both objects and the space around them at the same time. You want to retrain your mind to let more information in about even very familiar things. Likewise, effort is wanted in your emotional, mental, and spiritual worlds. Wisdom arises in observing repeated patterns of mind and action, processing through the larger perspective, and casting out that which is inappropriate. Most of the exercises in this course work on this concept of Sacred Sight in one way or another. It is the fundamental aspect of initiation.
Sacred Sight s you to get in closer touch with inner knowing. It acts like a light or beam of energy that cuts through the layers of uncertainty, misunderstanding, and mistaken beliefs that block you from experiencing and knowing your spiritual responsibility and path.
The confusion for many students is that the kind of information that we receive from inner knowing is tightly bound to image and symbol realms. Our language and its syntax are linear, and it is a product of the rational aspect of us. We all long for a spiritual guide or teacher to tell us in plain words what we must know and do to grow, and it just doesn’t work that way. (In fact, we must be very careful of anyone—whether from the physical or spirit world—who tells us exactly what to do or offers the one “right” way.)
Sacred realms are energy realms, and energy forms patterns. Patterns may group to form complex systems, like sounds grouping together to become the melody of a power song. Patterns can even become so complex as to create life, although most experiences of energy are simpler in the beginning. Also, the images and symbols that we experience when working in these realms are influenced by our own experiences and interpretations.
When people lived in more tradition-based societies, people were all basically part of the same culture and therefore shared the same symbol systems. Today we are not so homogeneous, and we therefore have many ways of interpreting energy. As a result, when several people experience an exercise to generate energy, each may experience the energy in a different form or shape. Do not be concerned or doubt your own experience. Learn to trust yourself. This is another big part of initiation. If your intention is pure, and you protect yourself and your work, you can trust the experience. A touchstone test for certainty is checking to see if you sense underlying unity and connection even if you are a bit afraid.
“Love every leaf, every ray of light.
Love the animals, love the plants, love each separate thing.
If you love each thing, you will perceive the mystery of God in all.
Once you perceive this, you will grow every day
toward a fuller understanding of it until at last
you will come to love the whole world with a love
that will then be all embracing and universal.”
—Fyodor Dostoevsky
We gratefully acknowledge all the elders who contributed to the material in this chapter, especially Fyodor Dostoevsky, from The Brothers Karamazov, and Langston Hughes.
STUDY GUIDE: FROGS RETURN MOON
Week 3: Exercise 4
A Clarity Quest
What you will need: Your journal and a pen.
For the rest of the days of this week, do this exercise at night before retiring for bed.
Ask yourself these questions about your day:
- Did I have clear intention today?
- Did I speak with a good voice (tell the truth without shame and blame)?
- Have I made an offering of my ignorance to the fire of transformation?
- Did my actions serve unto the seventh generation?
- Were my actions regenerative? (The Native American concept of “Unto the Seventh Generation” speaks of sustainability; it means that our actions need to be evaluated for their effects on seven generations.)
- Have I considered the possible futures generated by my actions?
Week 3: Exercise 5
Seeing Beyond Objects to the Spaces Between
What you will need: A few pieces of paper for sketching on and something to sketch with
We are accustomed to looking at objects, and we desire to become accustomed to seeing spaces between and around objects as if they too were solid. Seeing spaces can free us from deadly assumptions, and spaces can support us to understand where connections are made.
This exercise is a repeat from the introductory lesson with some variations added. This time, approach them this time with your deeper awareness of Sacred Sight. Choose an area of your room or the scene outside a window, and draw with elaborate detail the space you see around and through the items of your scene. Do not draw the objects in the area, rather draw the shape of space between the objects. In other words, you are drawing the space that connects the objects together. Spend a good amount of time with this process, and open yourself up to any energies or symbols that you may encounter that occupy the space. Allow your Spirit to sense these subtle realms. (Not all of us use visioning, rather some sense spiritual energies without seeing them.)
On a separate piece of paper draw a representation of any energy patterns you experienced. When you finish drawing, get up and dance the essence of any energies or symbols you encountered as an honoring and acknowledgment. Trust yourself in this process. Again, there is no “right” way to do this. If you are concerned or frightened by something, ask it to present itself in a form that is less upsetting, and then notice what happens.
Week 3: Exercise 6
Sensing a 360-Degree Picture
What you will need: A quiet place that contains objects, and 15 uninterrupted minutes
This exercise is a repeat from the introductory lesson with some variations added. This time, approach them this time with your deeper awareness of Sacred Sight. Breathe deeply and evenly, become quiet, and consciously relax all parts of your body. You can do this by tensing and then releasing each muscle group from head to toe. Next, look at an object or space directly ahead of you. Keep your focus soft, and expand your peripheral vision to take in everything within an arc of 180 degrees in front of you. In addition, place your attention on top of or above your head. Strive for a clear moment when you are empty, and open to things around you. See each object anew; allow your vision to be cleansed, and contact what is there, uncluttered by old thoughts and prejudices. Always be ready to see what you haven’t seen before. Observe everything until you are in a state of Seeing, which means looking everywhere because you don’t know what you’re looking for, and yet when you find it, you know. This practice takes skill and patience.
Now, really stretch and include what is behind you in your field of vision. Keep your eyes open and looking forward, and complete the whole picture as if you also had eyes in the back of your head that were open and contributing to the complete picture of what is around you. Also tune into what the eyes in the front of your head are seeing at the same time.
When you can sense a 360-degree picture of what surrounds you, draw your full attention to what is in front of you, and sharply focus your eyes on an object. Take in all the details of the object: colors, shapes, textures—everything. Now, close your eyes and picture the object clearly in your mind’s eye. If you have trouble clearly picturing the object, open your eyes, concentrate on the object, and close your eyes again.
Repeat this process until you can clearly recreate the object in your mind’s eye. It is important to note that some people See objects behind their closed eyelids, whereas others sense the object, depending on how visually dominant they are. Neither ability is better than the other. Record your observations in your journal.
QUESTIONS FOR FROGS RETURN MOON: WEEK 3
If you are studying for certification, you must return your answers to the questions below, along with a copy of this week’s journal entries, to the Institute via your private account.
- What are some of the benefits of attaining personal clarity?
- Describe your understanding of the word humility.
- How does clarity affect your ability to support others?
- How might clarity factor in to a person’s justification of abuse of others?
- Describe your understanding of the term Sacred Sight.
- Explain the difference between knowledge and wisdom.
- How does the rational mind limit spiritual growth?
- What is meant by the term Seeing (with a capital S)?
- How is Sacred Sight fundamental to initiation?
- What is the relationship between clarity and intention?