We’re Waking Up ~ Now What? VOTE!

Have you noticed that people around the globe are waking up? We are all becoming more aware! Now this does not necessarily mean that this awareness is altruistic. Folks are waking up to the notion of expressing themselves, wherever they are in their maturation process… like taking to the streets, toward migrating across continents, expressing their deepest held beliefs and angers, not to mention their tribal alliances. It’s bubbling up everywhere and most times, coming out sideways. But they are taking action!… regardless of the consequences… regardless of who is injured in the process.

We in America are called to rise above such tribal behaviors. Our main tool in doing this is SELF RESPONSIBILITY and THINKING before acting. This includes VOTING with awareness.

One of the facets of living as a mystic is practical self introspection. ~ to face that part of ourselves that needs to grow beyond the familiar. How do we recognize the ways we could be better, before one of life’s hard knocks brings us a painful wake-up call?  It is inevitable that sooner or later, the innocence of a child must eventually give way to maturity and responsibility, right? Well, if we fly higher we might see that humanity also faces the same challenges of maturation. I believe that humanity is experiencing a wake-up call.

If democracies are to function for the people and by the people, every citizen must assume the responsibility of voting as an act of claiming and exercising one’s personal power. TO VOTE is to claim one’s power, IF that vote is the product of making up our own minds.

To vote according to tribal lines, whether it be party or special interest, is to give away… to relinquish one’s power over to another.

Either one claims their own power or gives it away. Individual vote is a testament to individual empowerment unless it is syphoned away in the name of tribal fear. This is  the dirtiest little secret every powerful institution hides. They are not evil; they are opportunists.  We are giving them power over the greater whole simply by taking the path of least resistance!  True leaders do not tell us what to think, but honor our intelligence  to make wise decisions.

However, sooner or later, we all out grow such allegiances, come of age, and begin thinking for ourselves to build a better world. Coming of Age can happen at any time in life ~ Life passages are not limited by time or age. A life event can set off a catalyst of giant proportions, or it can take the form of a gentle wakeup call. We tend to think of the value of life on this earth as precious when a baby is born, or when we attend a wedding or a funeral. But what of the everyday blessings, or even annoyances? Every step we take in walking the earth is a potential wakeup call.

Whether we’re having an identity crisis, or involved in a critical event, the CHANGE  is here. The CHANGE is REAL. Whether society evolves or perishes is up to us as individuals. The collective is comprised of the individual. We are are swimming the same larger celestial and terrestrial stream. I use the word stream, rather than ocean, because humanity’s existence has limitations, bound by the river banks of our emotional filters and perceptions. Our personal experience of life is limited by what we can sense. But there is so much more to the stream than our little boats!

Every creation occupies a rung on that eternal ladder reaching between what we perceive to be heaven and earth. But we pay attention we can see that it actually extends infinitely in both directions. We are part of a continuum of multiple realities! Each reality is perceived from whatever rung you are standing on and which window you’re peering from.

When we look up the ladder, we see the clouds, moon, sun, stars, meteors, galaxies, nebulae, blackholes, and on it goes… all created in the image patterns of the Golden Mean and mathematical mysteries of sacred geometry and the music of the spheres.

Then, if we look down the ladder, from where we have come from, we see our families, pets, goldfish, oceans, campfires, forests, trees, mosses, insects, spiders, frogs, fleas, flowers, ferns, fungi, sea creatures, volcanoes, weather, minerals, metals, crystals, water, molecules, atoms, elements,  quarks, quantum, magnetic fields, light, down, down we go!

Even though we cannot see them, our thoughts are made up of all these same dust, be it star dust or garden dirt; and even so much more than we are yet aware.  This is why the motives behind our thoughts and actions are so important… and maybe even more important than our actions. Of course, every action matters! But problems cannot be resolved at the live they are created. Only with self  awareness can a higher perspective be achieved. Only through ‘sitting with’ a question does the ‘higher good for all’ percolate into our possibilities.

Have you heard anyone say to you…Get Real ~ Grow Up! ~ No more Mamby Pamby ~ ~Either step up or get stepped on ~

Well, maturity is about  becoming ever aware of what is creating the ever present moment. It’s about taking responsibility of one’s personal choices, actions, thoughts, and even emotions. It’s about learning about and loving yourself enough to reach for the stars beyond institutions that we have trusted for millennia. It’s time to reclaim our ownership of our power through self responsibility, so that we can climb Jacob’s ladder, rather than hanging upside down in our self-created limbo!

 

Through the ages, societies have set into place initiations into adulthood. Medieval mystics understood these concepts! Life is filled with opportunities to grow and mature. Sometimes it comes gently, but usually it arises out of necessity.

Characters of all ages in the Häling are faced with changes ~ crossroads choices that press them into a new course in life. The choice resides not in whether to adapt or not, but whether to survive. In any case, their world grows with their awareness.

The characters in my book the Häling and the Scottish Templars are faced with tough crossroads. Their lives depend on making wise choices. Every choice they make shapes their future life, country and destiny. Adam de Dalrymple faces the choices of whether to join the Templar Order or follow in his father’s footsteps. The choice was his to make.

Freedom of choice can be a way of avoiding the inevitable or facing life head on. But what happens to freedom when circumstances are forced upon us? The choice still remains whether to act with self-responibility or avoidance. Both Adam and Hannah work through these issues as the story unfolds.

Hannah’s options differ in external circumstances beyond her control. As a young woman, she follows a different outward path, but there is no escaping the end result of her choices shaping her unfolding life path. She does her best to learn how to take responsibility for her actions. Even James de Douglas, as a younger child, is shaped by his choices, even as a young lad. For, he is destined to become one of Scotland’s historic saviors from English domination.

The adult characters must face their own life passages spurred by critical historic events. War and trauma come to Scotland, with famine, disease and death on its heels. Many of the adult characters revisit decisions made in their youth that shaped their life course. They examine past regrets and unresolved issues. What would their lives like look like if they had chosen differently? Book One of the Temple Chronicles is but the beginning of the journey!  The way is seldom clear. And yet, everyone does their best in any given moment.

The same was true with nations, where crisis presses civilization forward toward maturation. In The Häling and the Scottish Templars, Scotland experienced great upheaval and was pressed into changing ~ waking up from the status quo. The old ways no longer worked; the monarchy was dying and Scotland had to reinvent itself. The kingdom could no longer limp along with in-fighting, on the brink of collapse.

Eventually Scotland was reborn out of its own ashes through the bravery of James Douglas, William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. But in 1296, decades of bickering among nobles had weakened Scotland’s five hundred years of strong governance. Every medieval institution was tested and torn apart to be rebuilt over the coming centuries. Without these destructive processes, the Renaissance might not have happened.

This cascade of event has lead us to where we are today. It is my belief that we are repeating history in many ways; from our complacency, to corruption at many levels. How do we untangle this mess? Deeper study of medieval history can help us understand our conundrums of today.

The same was true of the Templars: crisis of purpose and christianity – loss of the Crusades, disillusionment and weakening infrastructure of Rome rippled across Europe. Kings seized church power. The church fought back with charges of heresy, which lead to the Inquisition.. Of course this is a simplification of a hugely complex and nuanced period of transition which lasted  200 years. But in the year 1296, the redistribution of and destabilization of power was just beginning to be felt. The Templars had choices to make regarding how they could remain relevant.

Reading The Häling and the Scottish Templars can also bring insights. Adam, Hannah, Jamie and Eagan lived at the epicenter of this crisis and traveled through it. We also are living in similar times, where we face hard choices as individuals, as a society and civilization. Will we make wise choices that will serve humanity well? Or will we choose to allow bickering to tear our hard won freedoms apart?

Will the characters in the Häling find their way back to wholeness? Will they master their lower natures and make it to safety? The adventure will be in the living and learning for them and also for us!

So set your alarm to WAKE UP. Be aware of your own thoughts, emotions and actions. Do we take responsibility for how we feel or do we project it on to someone else? Can we recognize our part in a tough situation or do we expect others to fix our own problems? Do we let others do our work or do we chip in for the greater good?

Society as the medieval world knew it virtually collapsed. But the verdict is out on whether we will wake-up for the sake of our 21st century. It’s simple seen through the eyes of love… If we choose love over fear, we will get there eventually. VOTE SMART!