|  | presents our spring ceremony instructions |  | The Marriage of the human to divine Being
Date: April 15th, 2023 Duration: a few hours at the start of your day
and a brief closing at the end | | | God is infinite, eternal, Being-ness, the creator and source of everything! Before God created the world, there was nothing but God essence, and it is out of that essence, and by that essence, that the world was created--that essence is the building block of creation. This is why we can state confidently that God is omnipresent; there is nowhere that God is not, whether deep in the heart or on the surface of life, God IS.
And yet, this is not the experience of the vast majority of humanity whose awareness seems totally hypnotized by the surface of life, the physical world, and consequently, see themselves as physical beings rather than spiritual. Actually, what makes the spiritual journey appear as such a difficult task is that most people believe something that isn’t true—we believe we are primarily physical beings! | However, we are not! And, this journey should be an easy one to traverse because the Truth is always True! and always present. 2 + 2 always equals 4, whether you have ever heard of mathematics or whether you believe it equals 5; whether you are in Antarctica or the Arctic. The Truth is always available, always present, whether you look or not, whether you see or not, whether you know or not! Our intent in these ceremonies is to look and to see. | I have long said that my favorite definition of the spiritual path involves merely a “turning away from the evidence of the physical senses and a turning towards the evidence of the spiritual senses”! It is a practical definition that explains what has to be done rather than providing another “airy-fairy” definition that may inspire but does not help the seeker move towards the goal of Oneness with the Divine. The physical senses see only the surface of life, the physical world, while the spiritual senses see eternal things, Divine reality. | | This year, all four of the seasonal ceremonies will center on experiencing this living presence of God. The purpose of them all is to “see” with the spiritual senses, rather than the physical. This will not be some philosophical exploration but will provide some practices that will allow you to activate those spiritual senses and penetrate the veil of the physical. And they will be progressive, with this spring’s ceremony designed to break our “seeing” through the veneer of the superficial and physical and, by the completion of the four ceremonies of this year, to focus solely on the living presence of God both within and without. | This spring ceremony will take place on April 15, beginning as early as practical for each of you. There are five phases of the ceremony; the Opening, the Directions, the Elements, Wander with the new Perspective, and Closing. The first three phases will last about two or three hours, the wandering will last most of the day (if possible for your schedule), and the closing will be short and simple—more a springboard into integrating the new perspective as a permanent part of our experience. But remember, everything that follows has the intent and purpose of breaking the hypnotic trance of the physical senses so we can begin to see through that into the spiritual underpinnings beneath. | | Opening | The opening begins with the building of a prayed-for fire that will produce a small flame (3 to 6 inches or so), then set the four directions as in a medicine wheel around the fire, gather something for the four elements (a small candle for fire-- optional, a small glass bowl for air—optional, and another for water, and something to hold some earth—seeds optional) and set them aside. The central fire is your center for the ceremony, a place to come back to in between each aspect of the ceremony to recenter yourself in yourself and in silence. Light the fire and gather yourself in inner quiet and peace—a prayer is optional. | Directions | East | Step away from the fire and take a few steps towards the first direction, the east. You may sit or stand as is most comfortable. Now, looking east, contemplate for a few minutes the subtle, spiritual significance of the east direction. This is not an exhaustive, intellectual focus, but rather more of a quiet embrace of the power of this direction. You might consider that it is the place of the rising sun, the eagle’s eye seeing all, the sudden insight into something that has troubled you. Let all these aspects flow into your awareness as you appreciate what you are realizing about the east. | Then when you feel a connection to the east direction, close your eyes and appreciate the qualities of the east that live inside you; new insights and sudden enlightenments, new light uplifting or that has uplifted your heart, a broad, less self-centered sense of your life, etc. Actually, look for the presence of the east’s qualities within your body, emotions, mind, and spirit! See them alive inside of you! You are beginning to look below the surface of the purely physical into the spiritual depths within. Spend about 15 minutes, again, not as a hard focus but almost more like dreaming as you explore the presence of these aspects of life within you. | Finally, open your eyes and look east again and “see” the presence of these aspects and qualities in the world around you. You might notice how everything around you has found the space to grow as fully as possible, you might notice how each growing thing has seen how to fill the space they are within, and notice the increase of light in the awareness of all things. Spend a few minutes at this step and allow it all to soak in, allow yourself to notice the presence of the east qualities both within and out. Everyone’s life is in constant change, with new insights emerging all the time, replacing old, worn-out beliefs, sudden shifts in our understanding, greater clarity in something that had been hidden! See these things. Now you are beginning to see below the surface of the physical into the subtler realm of the spiritual senses so don’t hurry this, just be relaxed and let understanding flow. Then, return to the fire to recenter before the next direction. | South | Once you feel centered, step away from the fire towards the south and do the same sequence outlined above. First, mentally contemplate your understanding of the south—place of growing things, the closer look, etc.-- then close your eyes and look inside for the presence of the elements of the south that are an intrinsic part of your inner world, not only mentally and emotionally, but physically as well. And finally open your eyes and see the presence of life and growing things all around you. Everything is in constant change so things are passing away all the time, and things are being born all the time too. And growth is endemic. This vision is the gift of the south! Then return to the fire to recenter. | West | Again, step away from the fire and towards the west and repeat the above sequence focusing on the endings of life and living, both large and small. Begin with the contemplation of the west, then internalize it, and finally open the eyes and see the presence and action of the west directional medicine in everything! And when you are done, return to the fire to recenter. | North | Repeat the above sequence for the north direction, the place of purity and truth, understanding and knowledge. Contemplate it, internalize it, and when you feel rooted in this direction, open the eyes and see its presence all around you. Then return to the fire to recenter again. | Please understand that we are not looking for perfection in this ceremony. We just seek to penetrate, a bit, the hard shell of our purely physical sense of life so we can begin to “see” the vast underpinnings of everything that is expressed on the surface. We live in a multi-dimensional life but we can only appreciate that, and live with the benefits of that, if we see it! | For now we are happy if we can just begin the process, sense that there are vast forces of life that underly and support our every thought, feeling, and action, and that we can use those forces to help us in our life action and understanding. The hardest part of awakening to the action of our spiritual senses is to begin to “see” some of those forces and sense their role in every aspect of life and living. This breaks the hard boundary of the physical to reveal the soft underbelly of spirit. This is the point in the previous aspect of this ceremony and those that follow as well. | The Elements | We have begun the process of peering behind the curtain of the physical to see the action of the directions in life. Now we will turn to the elements as well. Back at the fire, gather the elements you will need for this next part of the ceremony. You can use physical representations of the different elements or connect to each of them directly. But place each item representing an element on the ground between you and the fire. You can use a bowl for water and another for air (though you don’t need anything for air as it is already all around you) the fire is already represented by the central fire, then put some earth in a bowl (seeds are optional in case you want to plant some as part of the ceremony). | In this part of the ceremony, we will follow, essentially, the same pattern as with the directions; beginning with a contemplation of the physicality of each element, then bring our focus on it inside to see its presence and actions there, and finally, look outward to see through the physical and into the presence and action of each element there. This is another way we are going to look through the hard shell of the physical to discern the inner world of spirit working and supporting all of life. | Air | Place the bowl of air in front of you (or just connect with the air all around you) and begin to contemplate the presence and function of the air. We generally relate to air as a physical medium that is everywhere and that which keeps all things alive. Spend a few minutes contemplating the air. We are not looking for original insights but just to bring all you know and sense about air forward in your awareness. After a few minutes, begin to “wash” yourself with the air; scoop some into your hands and bring it up to your head and sweep your hands and the air down over the body, very much like smudging with herbs. (Alternatively, you can actually smudge yourself with herb and coal but don’t lose sight of the fact that we are focusing on the air element.) | Then close your eyes and breathe the air in long, slow breaths and feel it penetrating through your whole body, animating and charging it with energy. You cannot live without this air, and if you want, hold your breath for a few moments to sharpen your attention on the blessing of air to life! The point of this movement is to sense and appreciate air inside of our body—every part of the body! Again, after a few minutes, open your eyes and look around you and focus on the presence of air all around you and in everything that is alive. Now we are not just looking at the ocean of air surrounding you but how that air fills and animates everything that lives. Look at the trees, the flowers, the grasses, the animals and bugs, everything, but focus on the presence and action of air that is keeping them all alive! After a few minutes (less than 15) return your attention to the fire to recenter. | Fire | Next we will focus on the fire. Begin by a simple focus on the central fire and contemplate “all about” fire in life and that all life is the expression of the element of fire. But for the first few minutes, the focus is on the physical expression of it. Then, feel the warmth of the fire on your skin and notice the liveliness of it in its flickering and in the surges and settling of the flame. Now turn your attention to feel the inner fire of life surging through your entire being burning up all that doesn’t belong and enliving all that does. And finally, open your eyes and “see” the action of the fires of life flowing through everything. | Water | Now, return the focus on the central fire to recenter. With the water bowl in front of you. Dip your fingers into the water and wash your hands and face in the water. Feel the cleansing power of water and the way it holds life stable and even. Then close your eyes and focus your attention on the presence and blessed action within our own body. Feel its life-giving influence, the way it carries the nutrients and other elements that are needed throughout the body. Connect with it internally. Then, after a few minutes, open your eyes and look around you at the presence of water in everything you see; the trees, the grasses, the flowers, the animals—everything alive lives on water, is mostly comprised of water. | Earth | Finally, the earth element. Here we will follow the same template as above as well but instead of bathing in the earth, we invite you to simply rest your hand and perhaps your fingers on or in the earth while you contemplate the grace of the earth to each of us (Tom Brown has said that the earth is the greatest gift of the creator to us all!) She is the universal Mother, the source of every good thing in our lives, she supports us, feeds us, nurtures us. From these contemplations, and others, turn your focus within and see in your body the presence of the earth and the action of the earth playing out there. Then open your eyes and see the presence and grace of the earth in everything you see, in the bodies of everything you see. As you finish this part of the ceremony, if you brought any seeds you can plant them in the dirt you have brought to the ceremony, or save them until the wandering phase of the ceremony and plant them in the earth where you feel called to. | We don’t envision these two parts of the ceremony lasting much beyond an hour to complete though some will complete it earlier and some later than others. The key isn’t the time it takes but the quality of your contemplation, inner searching, and outer attention in each of the directions and the elements. Remember the purpose; we seek to activate the spiritual senses and we do that by “seeing” through the veneer of the physical into the spiritual underlying reality, the things that cannot be seen with the physical senses! And don’t skimp on the centering fire! Take time to return to yourself, in stillness, to allow you to digest what you did before and to prepare for the next phase to the ceremony. | Wander in the new Perspective | Once you are complete with the directions and the elements, pause for a few moments to digest all that you have done. It is a lot! Then get up and wander for as long as you have time. It would probably be helpful to wander for a time slowly and attend to everything you see through the lens you have just created. That would be a good transition. However, the suggestion is to wander in this perspective throughout the rest of the day, going about your normal activities but recalling as regularly as possible the morning exercise and the perspective that is beginning to dawn in your awareness. Don’t just dismiss it in the busyness of your day’s activities, at least check in with yourself every half an hour or so | Closing | To close the ceremony, return to the place you began the ceremony and sit and review everything you experienced in the morning and allow new insights and understandings to flow into you from your focus through the day. Make a commitment to yourself to continue to focus some attention to these practices and to continue to develop this perspective. It is the foundation for the rest of the ceremonies for this year and any work you put into it now will be rewarded with each subsequent ceremony. Again, we are not looking for perfection. The habits of our lifetime have made that physical shell (Tom Brown calls it the coffin of the flesh!) as strong as Kevlar, so we will need patience and experience to break it up so our spiritual senses can embrace the spiritual reality of our true essence. | | | Thank you for joining us for this global ceremony. We look forward to seeing you on our pre and post ceremony zoom calls. Please see below for details.
Blessings,
Malcolm and the Ceremony Committee
of the Hearts of Fire Council
| | Zoom Call Information | | Pre-Ceremony Call
Thursday April 13th at 8 PM EST
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82917771832
Meeting ID: 829 1777 1832
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Monday April 17th at 8 PM EST
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