The Beginning of the World

"To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

~ Auguries of Innocence, William Blake

Have you been feeling a sense of urgency for a while — as though an invisible undertow is pulling you in over your head? The Hopi prophecy about these times begins, "There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and so swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore…"

We are all swimming in an emergent sea of consciousness — and, since this is so new, we may tend to fall back on old models to try to understand what's happening. "Oh! This must be an emergency!" Remember that emergency equates to crisis — and crisis means turning point. Emergence (minus the "y", or "why," of our scrambling, questioning minds) means to come out, to gush forth — like flowing waters. The cosmic comic Swami Beyondananda calls it, "Emerge and see." Let's take a slow, luminous look at where we are now.

September 11, 2001 was a wake-up call, our planetary initiation into a higher way of being. If 9-1-1 was the conception, our global gestation has been underway for the past decade. Because we've never experienced a global birth process before, there's no template for how to do it, or what it might look or feel like. Some of us are responding with hyperactivity; others are exhausted; we may fluctuate between the two. Some people are feeling ravenous all the time; others have little or no appetite. An expectant mother knows that the baby growing inside her affects all aspects of her life for the nine months she carries the being in her womb.

How strange and wonderful to be part of a collective birth, a worldwide rebirth of consciousness, here in the body of our Earth Mother! On October 28, 2011, the 26,000-year cycle of the Mayan Calendar concludes, initiating us into a higher dimension. (This evolution is also affecting animals, especially cats, which are helping to anchor the vibration of transmutation.) The more we can take care of ourselves and of one another as we prepare for our emergence, the more joy-full it can be.

Once again, a subtle shift in perception may help. Consider the word n-o-w-h-e-r-e. It's usually pronounced "no where." If we subtlely shift our focus, however, we arrive at the key to living in the present moment, which is where all gifts reside: now here.

This is a new dawn, our collective inauguration. The word inauguration contains the word "augur," which means to predict, to forecast. What do we want to vote for, as a planetary people, in this ripe moment of rebirth? What augurs well for our growth as a species? Blake's "Auguries of Innocence," quoted above, suggests one positive pathway.

Feeling squeezed? Make juice!

It's August, it's hot, and our planet's going to Light. Everybody's feeling just a little squeezed now — in all ways, not just financially. Yet we don't necessarily envision the squeezing as creating more juice, which it can, and does.

This consciousness upgrade looks different from person to person, making for some strange interactions and a great reminder to take a deep breath before responding from habit when something or someone pushes our buttons. Weird feelings, depression, anger, etc., may not necessarily be "ours". Since we're all being strongly affected by this transition, it's important not to take on energy that is bubbling to the surface to be transmuted — to yield rather than shield.

This is core training in learning to surrender — into strength. In an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, (a reliable source of evolutionary metaphor) a boy is the only survivor of a decimated ship. When the same "enemy" starts firing on the Enterprise, Captain Picard orders, "More power to the shields," yet the assault worsens.

The youngster (who is on the bridge in the hope he'll know something that makes a difference) suddenly pipes up, "Hey! That's what the other captain kept saying just before the ship was destroyed: 'More power to the shields.'" Picard, always a quick study, immediately orders the Enterprise to drop its shields. His crew thinks he's given a suicide command — and it works. Resistance is futile …

This is an example of turning the squeeze into real juice: making courageous choices, strengthening our rapport with our inner voice. Evolution is putting the squeeze on us to expand into the unknown — and we're being "fresh-pressed" as a collective. Where we'll end up is wholly new territory: something we co-create by yielding dried-up beliefs to the extraction process. The more energetically hydrated we are, the more enjoyable the ride, even when the heat is on.