The Gift Tree

Natural rhythm sets the stage for opposition: … day > night … hot > cold … up > down … alive > dead … here > there.

From sensory experience, we extrapolate: … love > hate … happy > sad … wise > stupid … just > unjust … good > bad.

Between opposites are the grey scales:
… day > morning - midday - afternoon - evening > night
… hot > all kinds of warm - all kinds of cool > cold
… love > like - indifferent - dislike > hate
… happy > content - hanging out - uneasy > sad.

If something doesn't peg absolute polarity but is related to a given duality, it gets a designated spot on middle ground. Perhaps this pattern has something to do with the cross-cultural underpinning of the number 3. I've got that on my list of things to look into; for now, I want to stick with the subject of opposites.

The notion that we have to experience things in opposition to know the things themselves, makes me wonder. I often hear the admonition ~ we're sad because that's the only way we can know joy ~ as rationale for bad things happening to good people. While (1) I don't find it an especially comforting thought and (2) I perceive an undercurrent of arrogance in it, I have to ask: … is it true?

Could we, for example, be happy and stay happy without knowing sorrow? It makes sense to me we could. Conditioned as we are to evaluate in terms of duality, it's difficult to imagine we could rate our degrees of contentment or appreciate our lack of sorrow in the idyllic state. It's likewise easy to assume, without a sliding continuum of opposites, that it would be static. But would we be at loose ends? Would the state really be static?

Let's look at things that don't require opposites. Take trees, for instance. They don't have polar opposties. Sure, there are places where there are no trees ~ regions where trees once stood, treeless areas where they can't or don't take root ~ but non-tree as a polar opposite isn't a viable notion. We perceive trees; we don't perceive negative trees.

Hmmm … tree - no tree vs. happy - sad … one is physical and the other is emotional. We've got 3d trees that don't depend on duality ~ pecan, orange, maple, willow, etc. We use tree analogies to understand and explain what we cannot see. We've got ordained metaphysical trees ~ the Tree of Life, the Tree of Knowledge. Add to these the archetypal World Tree and we've got ourselves a dimensional forest!

I began this blog planning to shift my earlier astral discussion to its proper etheric footing and, as you can see, I got stuck in the bushes. Because I kept getting hung up on duality and the judgment that comes with it, I couldn't help but think something else was trying to manifest. Time to shift focus.

Judgment is a Tree of Knowledge attribute and it points to a Garden of Eden quest. Now, it's not that Eden is verboten or invalid … rather, it’s a traditional concept with baggage. Since my oveall contention is that we need new eyes as humanity moves forward, the idea of getting snagged in a thicket of same-old thought forms was irksome, frustrating. It was identical, however, to what was happening with my blogging attempt.

I noted the parallel but I was still miffed. The plethora of systematized interpretations dealing with the fall of man, the nature of good and evil, free will and the right of choice, the nature of serpents in mythology, even the ontology the intuitive feminine: … hmmm ... Tree of Knowledge branches keeping vision locked in collective place. They were keeping me from blog progress, as well.

Doctrines bind thoughts. They shape and color notions. They project boundaries that are difficult to transcend. Even propositions rooted with good intentions create barriers. The popular adage ~ think out of the box ~ enjoins us to do what is simply one of hardest tasks we can undertake.

However, thorns of indoctrination ~ accepted interpretations that generate patterns of thought and emotional responses ~ are precisely what we have to recognize and question. We need to do this from a non-polarized perspective. Some baggage has outlived its usefulness. Where is the fresh wind? How does it make itself known?

I was daunted, brain-locked, going in circles in the shade of the Tree of Knowledge … when there was a knock at the door. Talk about synchronicity! It was FedEx with a package from an outfit called The GiftTree.

The box contained all the fixin's for a New Year's celebration … all of the ingredients for a party of beginnings! While it arrived two days late as per the calendar, it was flawlessly timed with its message! The Universe offered … I accepted.

The Gift Tree … a new tree in the Garden? a new name for an existing tree? or a new way to envision? I don't have a firm answer but my plan is to tend the symbolism and keep it in the forefront of my consciousness.

The new wind blows! Next time I'm stuck, I'll be making a bee line for The Gift Tree!

Astral Awareness and Paradigm Tweaking

Calls went out in the fall of 2006 when an astral node blew and a shooter began killing children in a rural school. Healers and facilitators felt the urgency and responded. As mentioned in an August 2007 post, a healer and journey worker friend of mine and I were among those who gathered.

Spiritual disaster work isn't always clear cut and obvious … it certainly wasn't for us that day. Because our customary roles involved interaction with participants, our thoughts focused on tending those in need. What happened was more like watching a movie at a drive-in.

From a distance, we saw concentric circles of protective light surrounding the devastation … within the circles, workers administered to the casualties, their families and community. Except for my friend's tenuous connection to one of the children, we stood back.

Our expectations differing from the reality, we were measurably disoriented. However, we trusted the validity of the call we'd received and we knew the event wasn't trivial. Repeatedly we re-grounded and re-balanced.

Best we could determine, we were called to witness … exactly what we were to see, we didn't know. Lack of an overview was of no consequence; we committed to provide, do, whatever guidance disclosed. It was with acceptance of the unfamiliar and alignment with greater intention that we became aware of the furious, terrible hole in the ground beside us.

It's an understatement to note the hole was an unexpected anomaly. It was a dreadful aberration. It felt as if it contained legions of horrors … some recent, some from times past. We could hear it raging ~ filled with sounds of gale force winds and echoes of screams. We could see it squirming ~ frantically sucking the emotionally charged atmosphere. We caught glimpses of the system's interior … we felt its ferocious greed and determination.

Bizarre as it was, we didn't pause to mull its implications, much less consider why it was on the periphery, where it had been or what it had been doing before we saw it. In the moment, all we knew was that it was a component of the tragedy.

We snapped to: … perception of the astral opening was only a partial task. The system needed to be disengaged from 3d and the hole sealed.

Using an etheric disk equivalent to a massive manhole cover, we severed the connection. It held. The sounds subsided and the quaking ground around the opening calmed. There was no pleasure in our action … truthfully, we didn't know if what we'd done had any affect on the immediate circumstances, on the injured or the healers and workers involved.

We were, at most, only semi-relieved. The disk wasn't a permanent solution … it was an adequate solution for the current incident but it didn't address the fact of the manifest hole or the massive amount of energy the system behind it wielded. What was it? Where did it come from? Why did we see it? Clearly, this experience would require more than a little debriefing.

Altered States of Consciousness and Perception

Normal 3d states of consciousness routinely morph into altered states of consciousness during energy work. ASCs vary in nature and depend most heavily on the natural attributes of practitioners.

Healers, for example, who are medically intuitive may perceive visuals ... images of a person's body with color highlights indicating areas of malfunction. Where one sees in color, another equally adept practitioner may sense via objects or sound … heavy metal contamination may look like an anvil or a frying pan, pinched nerves may sound like fingernails scraping a blackboard.

An intestinal blockage may make a healer feel like s/he is lugging a belly full of golf balls. Yet another may recognize the acrid aroma of dis-ease or catch whiff of an herb the body needs to augment its immune system. Many receive guidance from higher consciousness and angelic helpers.

There's no set standard in ASC perceptions … as a consequence, decoding them is a lot like interpreting dreams. With practice, however, workers become familiar with their personal penchants and develop repertoires for future reference.

My primary bent is toward the visual with auditory assists. What has become evident to me as well is that my role is often on the periphery. I work with environments surrounding subjects ~ which often turn out to be not people but the functional energies manifest in circumstances enveloping them.

One example of this is end of life transitions. In these settings, I am regularly an auxiliary facilitator, tasked with clearing emotional fields, subduing charged energy barbs and providing support in terms the individual as well as his/her relatives and friends accept.

While the calls I receive are sometimes local, the preponderance is non-local. 911 was the pivotal event that made me aware of my general propensity … it was also where it dawned on me that the supporting niche I fill includes assisting others also called to help.

There is no question whatsoever in my mind that many of us experienced analogous epiphanies then. It does not matter whether we are acquainted in 3d or cyberspace ... it's of no import if we are complete strangers from different lands ... the etheric connections created at that time, I have zero doubt, now serve as our operational templates when need arises and calls got out.

~ Namaste ~

Linear Models ~ Trans-3d Realms & Correspondences

In vertical format, energetic flow logically addresses the notions of weight and gravity … heavy thoughts and emotions sink to lower levels while lighter energies rise.

This upright form also parallels standard representations of the chakra system.

Viewed horizontally, the sequence moves left-to-right in the same way prism charts depict long-to-short light/energy wavelengths/frequencies.

In greater context, of course, directions don't matter. Low-to-high and left-to-right are merely constructs that resonate in the Western mind. If the image was flipped upside down and/or turned backward, it would remain accurate because direction is relative to center ... and center is any tiny point of everywhere.

True as that is, reversed or backward would require an extra mental processing step, so I'll stick with the norms ... they're simple and make sense to me! *S*