_   I joined an unexpected
evolutionary circle
with
three sisters of the
  web of relations,
    the three magi of
      my balcony this summer,
        taking up the place of
          dharma teachers,
           these spider women
                    whose
             ancient symbol
       is being spun daily between
           one or another
     rose, basil, wildflower
   or renegade tomato plant,
   chair arms or balcony railing.

 I move around them
in awe
as these weavers of silk
 offer me
  their teachings daily.
  Witnessing their synchronized
    meditations,
      I follow their lead.

       How long can I sit at the centre of my Being
         breathing in and out,
           slowing everything down,
            allowing ascending and descending
             flow of energy,
                        breath,
                        light
               to move through my
              whole body being,
             allowing for no linear thought,
            no thought of accomplishing anything
           just to be here
         within the stillness?

      How devoted my sisters are to
        staying in the centre of
          this hub,
            even when something
              disengages a central thread
               or half the web is blown back upon itself.
      This teacher holds steady
                to her practice of being
                 in the centre of her web.
             
I witness the regathering of the web
  as the teacher dismantles
    her very design,
      with no attachment to its perfection,
        as she sits with nothing
        other than her primary
          guideline,
        as if she were always in the centre
       of her orb,
     her sphere,
   even when it is not visibly present.
 By the light of the moon
the sisters weave
this circular pattern
  in this nearly 300 million year old
    matrilineal tradition
      tending to its form,
        occupying its centre.

This wisdom spinning
   of the sacred feminine
      illuminating rhythms
        of all of Creation,
          as old as time itself,
            unhurried,
              ever recreating.
                On the morning of the full moon
               I arise to find the three magi
             in unison have each
          respun their webs
        in fine, exquisite lines of symmetry.

      As they sit in the centre of their temples,
    I enter my meditation space
   pondering
  the miraculous appearance and alignment
   of my own moon cycle
    with grandmother moon.
      Can it be the whole purpose of this meditation
        is to synchronize?

          A light breeze moves in,
             the webs stretch,
                I feel as if we can hold Egypt
                   and all the places of tension in this planetary web,
                     absorbing with each breath
                     of our bodies,
                   my air breathing sisters and I,
                 in this intimate meditation
                of holding the centre,
              with webs of relating
             we rebuild daily
              with flexible new strands of love.

_ In this magnetic field
where the sociologist and the shaman meet
where masculine and feminine,
north and south poles,
arts and science
dance
in a dance
of complementary opposites,
the Christ light in Jesus and the Christ light in Mary the Magdalene
telling one another’s story
in the One conversation
now unfolding
on earth
Christ nature and Buddha mind
Self illumination and service to the whole
are joining
are joining
are joining

_ It’s kind of an oxymoron to say
  I’m settling into
    the rhythms of this birthing,
   these alternating
    expansions and contractions,
  As long as I don’t focus on endpoints,
I can breathe into this metamorphosis.

Every day a new day,
Effortlessness might be my closest ally,
  I just can’t hold onto this grace
   I remind myself daily
     the masters I do share company with
        are forever gifting me
           with the nugget
              “nobody knows”
                 not even the All-knowing.           
                 
                 There is a current of mystery
               and improvisation
             built into this game
           that seems to uproot  anything
         planted with permanence in mind
       I can plant with hope
    and Imaginate,
  holding any newly forming assumptions
lightly…

Trusting the impulse 
  to evolve
   that rises in me
     like being on a ride
       in a multidimensional theme park
         with surprises at every turn.
           This self that I am is being transformed.

_       Part One: Water nature

Mindfully walking to the bus stop,
  I am taking in the welcome sounds
     and sightings of
      water fountains
      birdbaths large and small
      sprinklers
noticing newly planted beds,
     animated wildflowers
      boulevard wrap arounds,
      the hues of these flower blossoms
      professing the care
    with which they are being tended,
   soul-uplifting signs of attention to Nature
quietly evolving in the neighbourhood.

While I understand the enthusiasm
   for many days of sunshine this summer,
  my awareness of the rising heat levels
   planetarily
have my eyes and heart focussed
   on water.

My eyes trace cloud formations this morning,
  moving into the centre
      of a mysterious configuration of cloud
         stirring above my head,
           feeling gratitude for this presence.
        Seeing clear skies to the south and west over the ocean,
      I find in my heart a living prayer for rain.
   Seagulls dance with pockets of air current,
as if teasing this possibility forward
  that we could call
    in the rain together.

Less than an hour passes when
  swimming toward the deep end of the pool
    where I do my favorite water ritual,
       the unmistakable sweet smell of rain
          drifts in and my heart soars.
        Walking past the cluster of Long and Short Quill pines,
     the maple and sister trees, the yellow grasses of the park  
   every leaf, needle and blade seem to sparkle
 holding hands with the raindrops
  joining a chorus of sky appreciation that rumbles its affirmation.

_ Part Two: Waiting for the mud to settle

Human nature,
  by far the most curious feature
    of the kinship of Life,
least likely to see
   our own character
     reflected
     in the earth around us,
     in all our relations.

Breathtaking to behold,
  our species can be
    in moments of
  spontaneity.

Today I celebrate another delightful adventure
  weaving its way
    from a transformer
      surprised by a jolt of mysterious lightening
        that brings out all the white jackets
          from the meat and deli departments of the local grocer.
          Like a hive just emptied,
        the air is electric
      with spontaneous  buzz and laughter,
     those on till are out front chatting with would be customers
    in conversations
  of the unexpected.

 Powered down to one operating till,
the store manager opts to conserve the remaining power,
 human and electric,
   this Tao of waiting for the mud to settle,
    sustainability in motion.

     My path north brings a favorite new bus driver,
       whose philosophy of work is a tribute to sanity and love.
         A master of the Tao, his “self-care first and the rest will flow…”
           practice
             is evolution in motion.         

           My return journey
             brings the joy of a spontaneous conversation
               initiated by a woman willing
                 to claim her love of joining 5 year olds
                on waterslides
              and 4 stops worth of sharing
            the magic of strangers becoming familiar
          in the company of all our listening relations.

Part Three: Musing on the expansion of consciousness

Dusk is falling over the water,
  a pair of resident bats
    swoop upriver
      as if racing
        for the indentation
          on the other side of the South Fraser workyard.
            As they come dipping in
          to circle round,
        we catch each other by surprise.
      From my perch on the big rock I am marvelling
    at how they can adjust their flight path
  in a matter of seconds.

I look with admiration at this embodied capacity
 and muse
   on what it would be like
     to be communicating consciously
       with every species,
          extending our sensory range
         and truly sharing our existence
      with all the diversity
    of talents
      the whole Earth species embody.

       What climate could we co-create
          joining our divine nature intelligence
           in partnership with the rest of Nature?

_
There’s a double rainbow over Berlin tonight
   my colleague and friend
      is sharing with our
         weekly evolutionary circle
            the skyscape from her balcony

We are sharing the view
    as if we are all there…

       even though its early afternoon in
       North Rose, Lake Katrine and Washington DC,
       mid-morning in Hawaii,
       midday in Vancouver and Quesnel,
       even though there are open skies in Huntingdon in the UK
       and  Warszawa, Poland,
       and it’s a winter’s eve in Randburg, South Africa.

There is something about evolution,
    that a circle consciously engaging
       can co-create with,
           this shared expansive Universe,
               big enough to hold our diversity,
             intimate enough to nurture
          profound heart connections,
       resonant  enough to allow
    each person’s heart song to sound,
  like the perfect contribution
   within the whole.

What do we share but our humble
   perspective of the divine expressing
      through us,
        as gratitude for Life itself,
           as deep interconnectivity with Nature
              our struggling humanity,
            as self-judgement breaking free of itself,
           as Longing for more.

       We are humanity in the act
     of forgiving ourselves
   for simply being born
to forget
   the beauty we are,
     the Great Source
   we are emanating from.

It’s not that the challenges to our planetary survival
    vanish
    when we come together
  It’s as if we peer through them
  together,
  glimpsing patterns,
     new questions and possibilities,
        some mysterious underlying design
           encoded in the fabric  
     of our Lives on this Earth,
       joining us all
         in the heart,
  like a hush that falls
      where words no longer
            are able
                 to go.

_

_ Can it be that I have participated
   in giving form to this co-creation
      in the realms before time,
        before incarnation?

Can it be I’ve agreed for the purposes of this game,
    this act of this live theatre
       to switch parts,
         to switch roles,
           just for fun.

  This time I’ll be the one who delivers
     who shows up fully pregnant
        saying “guess what…
        I am so full with the Mystery
           that I cannot hold it in any longer”

I feel the contractions
   I sense at times I want to push
      that I want this co-creation
         to just come out
           and reveal itself fully,
   and I wonder if you feel this too…

It has felt like there’s
   all this constriction plugging the entryway
     like clutter
       like boxes of what I no longer need
         one moment it feels I need to slow down
           and breathe,
       and in the next it seems I cannot release
     this pressure fast enough,
  my energy oscillating between
waves that peak in overwhelm and fall in sleepiness,
tracing the floors and pathways along the river
like a pregnant woman
  who cannot sleep
    because this that is preparing itself
      to be born
      is so active within
      my innermost being. 
    It keeps me awake
  wondering
if I will be able to nurture this
emerging mystery.

I find myself feeling like a story
  of the virgin Mary
    who has no idea how its even possible
   that I am so pregnant
     with this Lifeforce
       that my Universal Self
         assures me
           I agreed to carry
             into the world.

This miracle that is birthing itself,
  that is somehow coming through me
    has its own timing
      its own desire to be born.
        It is as if I am in the window
          keeping watch
            looking for signs
          wondering when the due date is,
        yet this is a birthing process
      that seems to want to
    find its rhythm.
  I feel the same protectiveness
over this creative process
as a mother
  who doesn’t wish for a premature birth
    whose heart prays
      please let this co-creation
        come in its own beautiful way
          let me be at peace with this process
           even if it seems to have
         been conceived
       in a dream state
    in a space beyond my ordinary awareness
  within a soul partnering
I am just remembering.

_
A Universe far more vast
   than previously imagined
     is embodying
   within humanity,
     within me.

 

In the simplicity of what I am
   I am so complex
   I intimidate my everyday self,
this I that roars down a canyon
    and changes the course of the weather
       with a flap of my wings
       I am connected to everything
         and I reside in no thing
             in separation.

I appear not to exist yet I am
   ever the wholeness
     a localized me seeks,
         this wholeness
         that breathes life,
     gives life to ideas, releases life from all forms
     this wholeness
   that has the power to transmute
    into new forms and frequencies.

I am the silence
  and that which breaks the silence,
    I am that which leads
       and that which follows,
         I am the space between
   my sense of self and your sense of self.

I am that which loves me
   within my sense of autonomy
   that rejoices in the unique form
      the embodied me takes,
         this personality
that now weeps at the sound of its own
      universal story
      being told
    by the Great Wholeness,
this wholeness who knitted my essence
in the womb of Infinite Imagination,
   weaving threads
     from each incarnation
       into the seams
         of my magnificent personal being.

Like an all knowing Grandmother
   watching over the gestating
    in the womb of Gaia,
smiling at how this one or that one
    turns out,
    nourished and tended,
through humanity’s purpose
in embodying,
this longing
  so deep within our dna,
    to consciously share in co-creating.

I am entering the infinite possibilities
   of an expanding consciousness,
     inviting and  invited
       to explore the depths of the inner cosmos,
       this inner mindspace
     this inner heartspace,
   that echoes with the Creative,
this vibrant Imaginative realm 
    of the Great All That Is.

_
Grandmother tree and I
  began a dialogue
    out of my meditation
       at the river today.

 
I was admiring her
   strong body
   the width of shelter and shade
   her limbs
   offer,

her ability to curve and adapt
    her growth
      over time
        from the uprooting
      of her root system
    by a windstorm years ago.      

Slowly I began to sense
   in my heart an awareness,
   as if she were speaking on behalf
   of the whole ancestry
   of the standing mothers
“dear one,
    can you appreciate
      the softness of this beauty
        in your aging body?
It is wisdom,
    not a reflection of passivity,
    this map of your years is teaching you.
 
Learning to surrender
   to a wisdom beyond
   the achievements
   of your youth
is to let go of what
   the world around you
     assigns
       to the feminine,
       especially as elder.

Your exquisite soul learning
     shines through
     the layers,
     the scars
     of this life
     and many ones before it.

The power of your heart
    is connected
    to the power of
    your womb,
  there are whole
universes to be found
here,
truths denied, but never lost,
  rituals and ceremonies,
   rites of passage
     long forgotten
and yet they are returning.

Let your earth body be soft,
  like your compassion
    for all of life.
Rigidity of form is like trying
   to manage spirit,
     dear one,
   it cannot be done.

You are too beautiful
   to be contained,
      too precious
        to be denied.
Can you embody your sacred centre
    as full and thick
       and expansive
          as you are?

Carry your deep knowing
    forward
    into this world now,
    letting
    yourself
have full permission
    to take up space,
Claim what you dream
   for this beautiful earth
      claim it fiercely
      claim it passionately
      claim it as if you were giving birth to a cosmos,
   for you are fertile with Imagination
     when you let
       the sacred river
         of your passion and intuition
         flow through
         these veins.

If you conduct the divine Mother
     up from your roots,
     anchoring your whole being,
       so the wild winds
         of the earth’s heart
           become your dear kin,
then you too will know my secret".

_
Self-Love love,
   learning to love what is
     as much as what can be

  Finding the beauty
   in this moment
   in this blessed fullness
    this pregnant emptiness
that proclaims “behold me now…


Am I not the most beautiful mystery
you have ever fathomed
the most beautiful bride you have dreamed of
      union with
I who am not yet visible
    yet dwell within you
I who am peeking through the careful constructs
    the collapsing molds of your human doings,
        ever inviting your curiosity.”

What is the nature of evolution
    that here in the stillness
    grandmother moon’s bright face
    radiating the sun
    like a secret
    she wears
as she travels the night sky
   illuminating the body precious
   of her daughter Gaia

what mysteries of the sacred are travelling
     back and forth between them
       that I am so filled
         with awareness
            of this Beauty
that embodies
      all that is unfinished
                       unreconciled
                      unspoken
            in the whole Universe

  Like a prayer
  that rises from out of the
  collective heart
  of humanity
  hallowing our daily life.
Our ancestors and the next 7 generations
   gather at the horizon,
       gardeners and dream seeds,
       keepers of the sacred promises,
          blessing this moon path
            our sense of vision
              our walk in the beauty way.

__ Until now, few but the mystics,                 shamans and spiritual masters
       ever evolved 
           to see beyond
           or within the spiritual practices,
              to see the freedom
      within the discipline
the field of heaven
   beyond the illusion
      of right-doing and wrong-doing.

While the high priests of modern times
    have set about trying to isolate
    or annihilate desire,
    to obliterate,
    or dissolve
       that which is this unique expression
         of passion that belongs to you, that belongs to me,

       the masters are teaching surrender
         to Life,
             to all experience,
              looking for the lessons
                 within every moment
                      until we discover
                       all on our own
                  the gateway
              our desire can be
           to the magnificence of the Universe.

_
This desire that whispers to our suffering
        “come ride on my wings
            as I take you up
        to the eagle’s arc.

     Come, come let us play together
          in the field of your Imagination,
           come dream with me
         of the worlds we could co-create,
       if you but let go
  of the perception
that you are unworthy of this Great Love
   I have for you
     that longs for you,
        aches for you,
          to come join me
           as partners of Creation,
       in this wild abandon,
     this ecstatic entry,
  this unfathomable process
        of healing
           and generating new Life".