Transitions, An Opportunity for being Present

One of my Facebook friends asked for thoughts today on being present with people who are dying, which inspired this post:

As an RN, I've witnessed many deaths. In the practice of Body Enlightenment, I've supported and accompanied many people in their transitions. As a Jew, our tradition is "No one dies alone." As a sensitive being, when you sit with a person who is experiencing a transformation, the space is open for you too, to experience your own personal transformation. Accompanying and being present when people are birthing and dying, coming and going, arriving and leaving, always provides incredible blessings.



Pictured at left is The Star card from the major arcana of the Ryder tarot deck. It is the inspiration for my 8 pointed star logo of Body Enlightenment. In the Star card, the balance and connection between water and land, flowing emotions, earth and human embodiment is portrayed.

The 8 pointed star represents the totality of each of the 7 chakras plus a compendium: the synergy of all of them working together, a representation of the life energy that flows through the human body.

We come from land and we go to land. The phrase is ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we are the Earth. Transitions happen when one is connected to the Earth, whether we are aware of our connection or not. We are all connected to the earth--that's a fact, part of the pattern, the divine design of life on Earth. In the Star card, the woman pours her emotions equally to Mother Earth and to the Universal Sea.

When we are connected to the earth, we become present to the processes inside of us and around us, including transformation and transitions.
The 8 pointed star represents embodied transformation.

---Love, Betty

Angels & Crones, Vision & Listening

As we mature, we have a different way of listening. The ears bring us awareness that nourishes our whole body because the ears lead to our digestive system through our sinuses which connect to the throat.

So when we really listen, we nourish ourselves. That's the power of the oral tradition, to nourish us.

One of the blessings of becoming older is the way that the negativity around us is softened. It's a feeling of serenity and peace and the awareness that THIS is the real world, not the world of suffering, pain and negativity.  The real world is the process and aliveness of nature, and we gain the awareness that we're in the process of Nature, of Life. 
 

I use the Crone Card from the Mother Peace deck to illustrate this feeling. The Crone card is a directional card which symbolizes turning within. It illustrates how we learn to listen with age.

The Crone has traveled over the mountain. Under her elbow (funny bone) is the oroborous, the symbol of enlightenment, the serpent making a circle, its tail in its mouth, and her hand is cupped to her right ear as she actively looks and listens. The Crone has an angel above her with the 8 pointed star, the symbol of my work, which refers to the oneness of all life. The seven directions: north, south, east, west, above, below and within plus the compendium that all is one. Together that makes 8.

Becoming older means we gain an awareness, an enlightenment, that there is a greater power than ourselves, and that gives us more space to be positive about humanity. We can give God space to operate when we feel that we don't have to be in charge.

I shared this with a friend who recently turned 60: "You have completed only half of your possible 120 years.  Rev. David conducted a class recently on Angels. Did you know that there are people here on Earth that are blessed and appointed to intercede for us directly with the Angels? And you are one for me. I now know that the Angels desire everyone to know they are connected that they can talk directly to the Angels and ask for blessings."

Another of my wise teachers, Oscar Ichazo, who founded Arica Institute, shared his awareness: Love is the recognition of oneself in another.

I Love you, 

Betty