Creative Researcher of New Experiences

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Kali. Cerridwen. Sekhmet. Persephone. Morgan Le Fay.
Destroyer. Corpse eater. Fire-breather. Queen of Death.
Wise Woman. Grandmother. Crone.

Regardless of the culture, archetype or myth from whence She originates, there is no doubt that the Dark Goddess is both powerful and commanding. When She appears, everything that has been built on deceit, dishonesty and denial is destroyed and swept away. The Crone is ignored and feared by many. Often people attempt to escape her influence. However, when things become too structured and exclusionary, the Crone inevitably steps in to shake things up and clear a pathway for the new. No one is excluded from her touch.

Nor would we truly want the Goddess in her most awesome form to exclude us. Without her assistance, things never change. Our world stagnates, withers, and dies. The Wise Woman knows that in order for us to create something new, we must first purge and release that which no longer serves us. Being wise Herself, She assists us in deciding what is of true value. Having discarded the things of the past, we are able to move forward at a higher vibration. We understand that now we are truly Light beings without that which weighed us down before.

As we move closer to the year 2012 and the end of the Mayan calendar, there is a polarization in our world. While some struggle to maintain a status quo that no longer works, others are urging massive change with little or no respect or consideration for the old. There is much fear in our world as governments fail to right economic disaster, businesses fail, relationships end, and natural disasters become mega-disasters as the planet Herself moves up the ascension ladder. We would like to go straight to the top of the mountain. However, before we begin our ascent, we must complete our descent to the lowest depths of the valley. Yes, this is a scary thing to do, especially when we look into the depths and see the face of the Crone staring up at us, apparently waiting to consume us. But wait--look a little longer. Soften your gaze, and you will see not the horrible, decomposing face of a monster, but the Grandmother, arm outstretched, beckoning you to complete your descent. If you take her hand, She will guide you through what is to come...

The day my son presented me with my first grandchild, I informed him that I wasn't ready to be a grandmother yet. Of course, seven years ago, with my youngest child still in secondary school, I was still working mainly with the energy of the Mother within myself. Now that I am older, and hopefully a bit wiser and more mature, I see the Grandmother's energy directing my life more and more. Two years ago when a young friend of mine told me she didn't want to insult me but she thought of me as the Crone in her life, I was honored. Can it be that I have wisdom to share that is of value to others? And if so, do I have the intuitive ability to know how to present that wisdom in a manner that is beneficial to others? That's pretty heavy stuff! Do I even want the responsibility??? Arrrrggghh!!!!

On a recent trip with a friend, while visiting a metaphysical shop, I found my friend bent over laughing hysterically. She turned around and handed me a bumper sticker that reads as follows--

Creative
Researcher
Of
New
Experiences

She bought me that bumper sticker, and it sets proudly on my chest of drawers so it's one of the first things I see each day.

We all have the energy of the Crone within us-along with that of the Maiden and the Mother-all the time. Depending on where we are in our lives, we draw on those energies to assist us. When we are young, the energy of the Maiden, full of inspiration and ideas that are fresh and new is the most pronounced energy. The Mother, of course, takes over and is more dominant as we become adults raising families and pursuing careers. She helps us with her creative energy as we work to manifest the ideas of the Maiden. But the Crone-the Creative Researcher of New Experiences-is also waiting for us to slow down and let go long enough to really experience our lives. She shows up whenever we go through endings to walk us through and prepare us for our next beginnings. In this way, every experience is new and exciting.

Yes, the Crone means serious business. Yes, She is the bringer of death and destruction. But She loves us through the purging and releasing, knowing that what we truly desire is to create something new and life affirming. She doesn't come to punish us, but to guide us through the night to the dawn of a bright new day. Join me as I take Her hand and we will co-create the world anew!

There is Only One of Us

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During the last five years of the last century, the BIG message from many spiritual/metaphysical authors was our interconnectedness with all things. This didn't seem to be such a news flash at the time. From the teachings of Jesus Christ to the 1970s when Helen Schucman and William Thetford were transcribing A Course in Miracles and through the end of the 1990s, we have been told that what we do to ourselves we do to others. Are these just pretty words and nice ideas, or are we to take them literally and incorporate them into our everyday lives?

I was definitely part of the "New Age" movement during the 1990s. I read everything I could get my hands on that had anything to do with metaphysics and spirituality. I studied many different religions and philosophies, soaking up all this information like the proverbial sponge until my mind could hold no more. I would rest for awhile and dive back in. The 1990s was a time when I was gathering knowledge, not the least of which was the fact that we are all one and what I do affects the whole. But having knowledge-although an essential component of the individual ascension process-isn't the same as living what you say you believe.

Karen Bishop who has shared inspiration and hope for years on her websites, www.whatsuponplanetearth.com and www.emergingearthangels.com, recently made the observation that humanity as a whole has moved past the "New Age" movement. My observation is that once we passed the century mark, the Universe was pushing us to really practice what we'd been preaching for the last two decades. This was no longer just something to talk about-we were now being asked to walk the walk. Oh, wow! That's never the fun part!

Humanity as a whole has been going through a massive ascension process. Not that we haven't always been ascending. But over the last three years and continuing through 2012, the creative energies available to us is accelerating 100,000-fold each year according to Barbara Marciniak in her book, Path of Empowerment. We have the choice of how we respond and react to these energies, but the one thing we must do is take total responsibility for our creations. The ascension process is not something any of us escapes. We may be on different rungs of the ascension ladder, but each of us is necessary to the process. Even the planet herself is going through the process, as evidenced by the more frequent major natural disasters we are experiencing. And no one gets left behind.

Many years ago I was going through a major transition period in my life. I questioned whether or not I was worthy to be here, and, yes, considered leaving this plane of existence. Fortunately, I had a good friend who was watching me go through this painful period. On a day when I was feeling particularly hopeless and helpless, he said to me, "Martha, you know the Universe is complete only because you're in it." Those few words were a precious gift to me. I saw then that my choosing to leave was a childish, escapist route. And I knew in that moment that I, like everyone else on the planet, have a specific and necessary role to play in the ascension process.

Regardless of how great or small, each of us has chosen to be on Earth during these transitional times. Our lives are a beautiful gift. We meet each other-maybe only for an instant or maybe we spend a lifetime together. But each time we do, we are changed forever.

It is my privilege to be here now with every other person on the planet. You are all my traveling companions and for that I am very grateful. It would be a lonely and sad journey without each and every other who walks this walk. May we be aware that we are all one, that we each have a gift to share and a part to play in the ascension of the planet. May we acknowledge our sameness and celebrate our diversity, for it is through our differences that we create something new.

Namaste!

Looking for the Blessing

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For the second day in a row I've gotten up full of determination and enthusiasm, ready to face the day and accomplish much. I set my intention, ran my errands, made my phone calls, all before 10:00 a.m. Wow this is great, I'm thinking. Then suddenly I feel like I'm moving through quicksand, and the quicksand seems to be hardening into concrete. I'm at a stand still. I am cranky and frustrated and once again I'm having to work really hard at finding that gratitude place.

I realize I am not alone with my feelings of frustration. The cardinal t-square has tightened. We are all being asked to work, work, work through our issues and grow up, become the adults in our world. If nothing else, the t-square will show us just how interconnected we are.

Okay, so where is the blessing in this configuration? This isn't even the chaos with which I deal so well. This is like hitting a brick wall and not accomplishing anything. Ouch! Hitting a brick wall hurts, and it makes me mad. I've sat here all morning with nothing to say-just staring at the wall. Is the lesson in the wall? On the wall? Through the wall?

All I hear is silence. Stillness... Now I vaguely hear a voice, a message coming through. It asks me, "What did you have planned today that was so important? What have you not accomplished that needed to be accomplished today?" Those aren't even hard questions. The answer to both is nothing. There is really nothing pressing right now. "So what is in the stillness that you are avoiding?" Oh, dear, I hate questions like that one! Like, why is it so hard for me to just sit in/with the stillness? Can I just allow everything to be exactly as it is without wanting to change it in any way? Can I be grateful for it??? Now there's a question I don't want to answer!

I know I'm not alone on this transit through the t-square. Friends, family and clients have called asking for explanations and for help. Many hoped I could take their cup away. The truth is that just as they were going through the shifts in their charts, I was going through my own. Nothing and no one was going to save us this time. We all had to face our anger and our fears and take total responsibility for all of our creations.

Now that we are nearing the end of this transit I can look back over the last several weeks and see that I did indeed make the shifts. Much of what used to matter to me just doesn't seem that important any more. I have learned what is truly important in my life and let go of what no longer served me. I am more grown up and wiser than I was four weeks ago, and in the process I've raised my vibration.

I know this has been a hard time for many, but I can honestly say I am grateful for what I've gained by partnering with the t-square. My hope is that you have been able to do the same.

Namaste!

On Being the Parent...(or the Child!)

Some of the most profound lessons I've learned during this lifetime have been those taught to me by my children. My experience has been that the lessons themselves are ultimately quite simple, and children have such a wonderful ability to see things in their most pristine, simple form. I'm sure there have been times when my kids shook their heads and sighed as they watched me try to make things more complicated than they were. Having four children of my own has been quite the learning experience for me, for each one has his or her own unique way of being-and therefore teaching.

The thing about being the parent is that sometimes we simply don't want to be the adult in a given situation. I admit there were times when I thought I couldn't keep going that one of the youngsters would bring me up short, saying, "Mama, what have you always told us?" Uh-oh! Have I been caught and called on the carpet. No, I wasn't walking the walk when that happened (and it happened more than once I assure you!) How humiliating! I was talking a good game, but when push came to shove, I couldn't practice what I preached! (Please forgive all the cliche!) At least I found out when these situations arose that just because their eyes glazed over every time I got on my soapbox didn't mean they weren't paying attention. HA!

I don't think it's necessarily bad for our roles with our children to change from time to time-just so long as it's not a permanent role reversal. It's good for us to find out what it's like to be the child and for them to find out just how powerless and ineffective we, as the adults, feel sometimes. I have personally gained a greater appreciation for each child as an individual as we've gone through these changes in our lives.

I raised my youngest child by myself from the time she was eight years old. This was a very scary thing for me. I was a typically disempowered woman who didn't believe she could raise a child alone. But she and I got through those growing up years a step and a stumble at a time. I remember one Mother's Day in particular when she and I were arguing. I was feeling sorry for myself because I felt that she wasn't honoring me the way I wanted her to. A friend of mine was watching us, and after my daughter walked away in a huff, smiled and said, "You're doing a good job raising each other."

And that's exactly what we were doing-raising each other. I have no doubt that on the soul level she and I agreed to raise each other for those last ten years of her minority. Ours wasn't the ordinary mother/daughter relationship that most families experience. Yes, I was the mom and she the little girl. But we were also like sisters much of the time, and often like roommates and best friends. We were very close to each other and knew that when no one else in the world could be trusted, we could trust each other. I was involved in all of her activities and we were very close.

That's why it was so hard a year ago when she decided to move 1,000 miles away to Orlando, Florida to go to school. Yes, there was a young man involved-she knew better than to try to BS me on that. But the schools there offered training in dance-her first love-that she couldn't get here at home.

I knew when she made the decision to go that our relationship would change in a way that it never had before. I also knew that as close as we had always been, our relationship had to change form for our individual evolution. She needed to strike out on her own and be totally independent. And I had things I needed to do that I couldn't for so long as all my attention was on her.

I didn't sleep much the night before she left. I wanted to hang onto each moment, knowing that it would be a very long time before I saw her again. I asked her that morning if she still wanted to do this. I think I saw the beginning of a tear form in her eye as she nodded her head. We both knew that it was necessary for her to make this journey so far from home-from me. So I helped her pack the last things in her car and watched her back out of the driveway. Watched her drive down the street until I couldn't see her any more. My youngest, my baby, my little butterfly. No matter how it hurt my heart to let her go, I had to let her fly.

It's been a year since my little butterfly few away. So much has changed. We are no longer the same people we were a year ago. She left here without a job and not knowing where she would stay the second night she was there. She found a job and stayed with a family friend until she could move into her own apartment. She continued calling me every time she was frustrated, but she and I were both learning that I can't fix her drama for her. The last few months she's gotten to where she solves her own problems very well without my input. This makes me happy. I must have done something right for her to have grown up the way she has.

I'm awaiting her arrival home. Not the home we shared together-that's no longer there. And that's as it should be. That home no longer served us. I know that she will be surprised at how grown up she is now. We will visit for a week, and when it's time, she will return to Florida, her new home, and I will continue my work as Spirit directs me. I think we have done a great job of raising each other.

I have many labels. I am a Healer, a Lightworker, a Metaphysician, a spiritual guide. I'm told I've helped a lot of people, and I, too, have grown much in this past year. But today as I wait for my butterfly's return, I am just a mother.

Partnering with the Cardinal T-Square

I am not an astrologist. I will tell anyone that I know just enough about astrology to be dangerous. However, there is a celestial event this week known to astrologists as the cardinal t-square that is creating quite a stir for all of us. Several planets are transiting at the same time, and for each of us this represents shifts in different areas of our lives all at the same time.

A lot has been written about this astrological event, and it's easy to find more technical information on the internet. I can only address it from my vantage point. Some of the things I've read about this historical transit is down-right scary. However, I believe that we can work with it and come out of this situation much better than before.

As with anything going on right now, the details of what we are experiencing are not so important as how we move through them. Everyone is being asked to take responsibility for and own everything they have created. If there are unresolved issues in your life, you will be forced to face them and deal with them. We are being asked to be our own parents and to be the adults in our world.

We do have free will now as we always have. We can hide away and ignore what's before us. We can choose not to act-sometimes that seems easier. However, when we do act in a positive way, we are free of that which previously blocked us. We can see more clearly our personal mission and soul's purose. Granted, things may not look the same as they did before. But as we release what no longer serves us, we can create what we desire.

There is no doubt that the energies this week are volatile. The stage is set for all kinds of disasters. Sometimes when the energies are bogged down, it takes an explosion of some kind to get them moving again. This was true when terrorists attacked on 911. The exploding energy from planes being flown into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon shook up a layer of negative energy that had settled around the planet at that time.

People are experiencing this astrological transit in different ways. I've felt like I was being screwed down in a vise, the energy unyielding, while at the same time feeling very nervous. I got a text message from a friend yesterday that said, "I've been t-squared!" She had been moving along on a project and suddenly felt like she'd run into a brick wall. And many of the people with whom I work are having the same experience.

Yet this is not necessarily a bad time. Again, what matters is how we move through this-not the specific details of our challenges. Partnering with the energy of the t-square can move us forward, even though it will definitely shake things up. Partnering with each other-we truly are not alone in this-can help us move through the experience with greater ease. We do have to be responsible for ourselves during this transit. In any area of your life where you tend to sit back and let someone else take care of you, you will be asked to step up to the plate and swing the bat yourself. We aren't being given time to think about the consequences of swinging that bat. However, from what I can tell, failure to swing it at this point is what is detrimental to us. It takes courage, but I'm finding that when I do this, things happen in a positive way.

The world is definitely changing. As several astrologer friends of mine have put it, the world is never going to look the same again. This is what we have asked for on a soul level. May we never be faint of heart as we do our part to move the planet into the New Age and create a New World.

Blessings!

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