Guest Post by Jane Large, Retreat Attendee & Mentor, Circle Member
At the summit of Bealach na Ba, a mountain pass connecting the Applecross Peninsula with the rest of Scotland. The Gaelic name for this area, ‘a Chomraich’, means ‘The Santuary’.
When I was a little kid, one of the things I used to do was look at the map of the world. I spent hours tracing my finger from where I lived, from country to country, tracking the route I would take to circle the globe. When I was just a child, I already heard the call of the Homelands from across the Ethers and from within my own flesh, bone and blood. And even then, even though I had no idea when or how or why, I knew I would go to these places. I was prepared to answer that call because I felt it so strongly – like a pull, a rising of joy within my Beingness, a knowing that was inexplicable. To trace my finger upon the map of the world felt exactly like what I came here to do, to connect with every place on the Earth that called me.
One of the times that stands out when I answered that call was when I went to live in Scotland for the first time. I got the call while at a local theatre during the movie, Braveheart. Mid-way through that movie, I had this intense desire to live in the homeland of Grandmother. She was from the Highlands and came to Canada as a war bride after WW2. Within a week I had looked into universities, applied to them all and bought a plane ticket, without even consulting my parents. I announced to my mother I was going to live in Scotland and was going to tour a few places in Europe beforehand. I left Canada without even knowing if I was accepted to university yet. I just knew deep within I had to go, so I trusted it would all work out. And it did – I got accepted to the University of Edinburgh and spent most of a year living in Scotland, touring around with the varsity running team and visiting family when my time and money allowed. Part of the beauty of this story is in how I got the call – at the movies. Spirit works in mysterious ways, all day long, every day. There is an infinite number of ways in which Spirit delivers messages and an infinite number of ways in which we can sense and receive them. Callings come from every direction and at any moment. Any moment is that Sacred Moment when we can know we are being called to something.
Although I have known since I was a young child I was called to the Homelands, I still needed to be open to receiving each individual calling and then be willing to trust in the call and take action. Each time I have done so, I have had to trust deeply that I would be supported because every time it has been like jumping off a cliff into the unknown. Not once have I known all the details – such financing, day to day itinerary, the full plan – before I committed to a journey to the Homelands. This past summer I was called back to Scotland twenty years after my first journey. At first it was my Grandmother who called me to return her ashes to her Homeland, but there were actually at least 4 Ancestral Timelines that emerged during that journey for me to work with. For that trip I did not arrange any accommodations in advance because I had no idea where I would get to day to day. I had been shown a place to start, but no specifics or daily itinerary. Upon waking each day, I gave thanks for all the support I would be given that day. I asked for what I needed and then gave thanks for receiving it. Then I trusted it was done. One day when I had been traveling for over 12 hours already and had no place to stay and was feeling doubt creeping in, I heard a voice tell me to ‘look for the rainbow.’ After another 2 hours of driving where I was guided to bypass town and after town, I rounded a corner in the middle-of-nowhere to see a B&B ahead. I pulled over quickly and just as I was about to get out of my car, I looked to my left and saw a vertical rainbow come down from the sky to meet the ocean. I went to the door and the propriety told me he had one room left. I have developed this level of trust from the understanding that if I am called, then there is a deep and expansive Divine Purpose to that and following through contributes to the unfolding of the Dream of Creator, the weaving of a Tapestry of Peace on Earth. And this is the Truth for all of us- each one of us is part of this unfolding Dream.
I have also come to understand why many of us are being called to return to Ancestral Homelands, connected to this lifetime and previous ones. It is our physical presence that is needed to unlock and reset the balance of energies that have become constricted, hidden or distorted over time. It is our physical presence that sets our Ancestors free. It is our physical presence that honours the Spirits of the Land that call us. As we hear the song of the Land, we remember our song and our place in the Circle to which we All belong. As we answer the call of that Land, it strengthens the Web of Creation that some tried to break by creating an illusion that we are not eternally connected in Sacred ways to the Land and all of Nature.
Essentially we are the Living Keys that by our return to and presence upon the Lands, resets into right alignment the relationship with our own Self and between us, the Ancestors and all the Relations that live upon those Lands (who in a time not so long ago we spoke and sang to and whom spoke and sang to us). Our return resets the Original Instructions of living in harmony with Creation and with our Sacred Mother Earth and all our Relations that live upon her with us. It reconnects our Hearts to the Hearts of the Ancestors, and reignites the Heartbeat of the Land and anchors that Heartbeat once again into the Crystal Heart Grid of Creation. If I had not answered the call to re-connect the Heart of Alba (Scotland) into the Crystal Heart Grid of Creation, then there would still be that missing link in the Tapestry of Peace.
There are still many places that call to me and I am prepared to answer that call because I also remember that long ago I made the commitment to do so. I know that I stood with many you who are reading this story now and we made the commitment to come together at this time to go to our Homelands to bring back into balance our Beingness and weave the Tapestry of Peace together. The how, why, when and what do not matter. If we each knew the depth and breadth of the support that is available at any given moment, we would easily act courageously and with arrow focus, trusting fully in that support. All we have to know is that we are called and trust the rest is already on the way as we say Yes.
The Ancestral Lands of Algonquin
In the upcoming Algonquin Journey program beginning in March 2017 we will be journeying onto a Sacred Ancestral Homeland that is calling to many us. I have been feeling a calling to do a canoe trip into Algonquin Park for years now, not really knowing why, and every time my plan to do so has fallen through. So when I heard of this program, I was ‘all in’ no matter what because I understood that the aligned timing is now. As a result of saying Yes, the most miraculous things have been unfolding that affirm my commitment. This is what happens when we trust in ourselves, our instincts and in Spirit, it is a Master Key that opens all the Doors to Receiving.
The first step is to know if you are called. If you are called and then trust in that by saying Yes, the Doors to what you need will be unlocked. If you are called, then that means you have the pieces to inform how the program unfolds and you are a Key to this part of the Dream of Creator. If you are called, then you are a precious and valued piece, a Key, to the Big Picture healing that is unfolding as part of this program that continues to weave the Tapestry of Peace on Earth.
Home Practice
In Kabbalah, the energy of Keter is the first energy to the inner Tree of Life. Keter resides slightly above and flows down into the crown of the head, and is the energetic portal that connects us through our Spiritual Essence to the One Tree and the All That Is. Keter is also the energy of Yes, and without the Keter/Yesenergy we are unable to fully live life and rise into our Divine Purpose. The energies of What (Chochman- right side head) and How (Binah-left side head) come after Yes (Keter). It is impossible for Life to provide support for us if we do not first say Yes.
Journey through your Heart and using all of your senses, connect to your Keter energy above and flowing into the crown of your head. What is it like to connect with the energy of Yes? What does it feel like, sounds like, smell like, taste like and look like? How does the Yes of flowing Keter energy feel in your body? What sensations signal a Yes for you?
Through your connection with Keter energy, journey to the Ancestral Homelands within. What do those Lands look like? (feel like, smell like, sound like and taste like?) How are these discoveries informing you of where you are being called to travel to in the world and unlock the freedom there?
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