In this first year of a new decade, within the darkness of winter, there is a stirring; something deep and primal within us. It startles us awake in the predawn hours. It populates our dreams. It is the awakening of the seeds of our becoming. These seeds carry the blueprint for our birthright and the codes for our awakened lives.
The Incans referred to these seeds as the Inca seed, the seed of light that was planted inside us before we were born. They lie dormant until given attention and activated.
Like Heirloom seeds which have been passed from one generation to another, carefully tended to, prayed over, protected, cultivated and perfected,our seeds of becoming are part of a universal heirloom crop prophesied to come awake at the crossroads of our planetary destiny. The chaos and deconstruction of the times we find ourselves in have ignited our seeds. The Incan term for these times is the Taripay Pacha, which literally translates to the Age of Meeting Ourselves Again, a new golden era in the realm of the human experience. It is prophesied as a time when humanity will have the chance to consciously evolve in an era of harmony and shift the course of our collective destiny.
In the recesses of our subconscious, we recognize these seeds, but have forgotten their presence within us, their deeper meaning and how to fully cultivate them. We do, however, carry an inner map to guide us.
To activate this map, we first call in our supporters and guides. There are universal gods and goddesses who come to us in this season; Breksta, goddess of twilight and dreams, Mari, goddess protector of dreams; Beira, goddess of Winter and Creation; Nammu, mother of all things. There are countless others. Call them in your native language, from your individual lineage, they are waiting for you. Pray fervently, summon all of your courage and all of your beauty.
As these supporters and guides begin to arrive, ask that they serve as gatekeepers, that the doors and gates and paths to the birthing of these seeds be opened by them, and that for those who would do us harm, distract us, that the doors and gates and paths be closed.
Begin to sing your song of Awakening to your seeds. In Africa, there are tribes where the birth date of a child is counted from the day that the child was a thought in its mother’s mind. When a woman decides that she will have a child, she goes off and sits under a tree that calls to her. She listens until she can hear the song of the child that wants to come. After she’s heard the song of this child, she returns to the man who will be the child’s father, and teaches it to him. When they conceive the child, they sing the song of the child, as a way to invite it in.
So too, do we come into this world with the song of our seeds. Listen deeply and allow your song to emerge. This song space opens us to the roads of dreaming, the place where our seeds reveal themselves to us.
Bring your attention to the cultivation of your soil, the ground of your being. In Biodynamic farming, sustainable growth requires freedom from synthetic pesticides, fertilizers and genetically modified organisms. A biodynamic farm works to grow health and fertility from within to address the life forces of the earth and help restore and maintain harmony.
On the physical level, what we ingest into our bodies creates the container of our growth. We can begin by eliminating GMO’s, processed foods and nourishing ourselves with foods that are dynamically alive, those that are grown local. On the mythic level we extend this nourishment as we look deeply at our life story; where has our story become genetically modified? Where have the places ancestral wounding festered, where did we lose our connection with the forces of nature, created a space which is hostile to new growth? In reflection and prayer, we can see where old stories and old roles must be shed in order to make space for the planting of our seeds.
As we receive our seeds into this transformed ground, it is time to rest. In nature, fields must lie fallow to sustain and support new growth. Samaquy is an Incan practice taught to me by my teacher Maestro Adolfo Tito Condori. It means profound rest. It is not a place of sleep, of meditation or of dreaming; it is a place of deeply letting go for a prolonged period, in silence, daily. We can also engage the universal mantra of Ahhhhhh…; the sound of letting go. Letting go, we create space where our seeds can rest deeply, nourished and supported, free to grow.
The night sky in winter is brilliant, the air crisp and clear. It reveals the essence of the moon, the stars, the planets. Those who study moon gardening note that the practice of cultivating seeds in conjunction with the moon phases allows them to germinate sooner and stronger, for plants to grow faster and healthier. As we gaze upwards, we connect with all that we are made of, as Carl Sagan reminds us- we are all made of star stuff. As we drink in this divine nectar, we receive a most loving cosmic lullaby that lulls us into the dreamstate.
There are no limits in dreaming. Robert Moss, shamanic creator of Active Dreaming, speaks of the realm of dreaming as a place where we can reclaim our magical child, unite with the beautiful dreamer of our soul, receive guidance from divine spirits, and ancestors, visit landscapes of our imagination and orchestrate journeys of our waking life. We can set an intention to be with our seeds in our dreams. We create a sense of spaciousness as we allow the time to capture our dreams when we awaken. In the dream state, we transcend the bonds of critical thinking, ignite our imagination and liberate our creativity. We become the Creators, the Magicians, the Alchemists. Our seeds receive critical information from this realm.
In this place of the liminal, the Voice of Spirit arises. The message of Spirit is clear in its directive. The directive may be totally unexpected and seemingly not connected to our current life course. Nonetheless, the magnitude of the message compels us to say YES from a place of faith and a deep knowing that we are about to undertake a major life course correction.
As spring approaches, our seeds become more active, preparing for germination and the breaking of dormancy which precipitates the simultaneous process of pushing upwards toward the sun while rooting downward into the earth. It is a profound effort requiring courage, strength and clear focus to overcome the resistance of breaking through something solid.
Many of us experience strong resistance and generalized anxiety to a shift that feels life threatening. This reactivity can be transmuted to action, to the tremendous amount of energy required for emergence. With the alchemy we have cultivated, however, we know in our bones that we are about to participate in a rare and collective birthing experience. We are about burst forth as a part of a garden of exquisite and rare blossoms.
Let us honor the courage, creativity and magic of our collective awakening. May we recognize each other for the beauty and miracle of who we are and rejoice in our long awaited emergence.