Guest Blog: What in the World are They Spraying?

Water, Fire, Earth…now Air: What in the World are They Spraying?

This blog was written by my wife, Anyaa. The facts presented here are true and can be fact checked. The question is why? And will we wake up and put a stop to this before it's too late? This must be passed on. - G.
Posted by Anyaa on Tuesday 14 February 2012 at www.goddessontheloose.com

by Anyaa McAndrew: I received a link to a long documentary today, one that my sister~friend sent to me a few days ago, and asked me to watch it and get back to her about what I thought. Her tone in the email caught my attention, as she was evidently upset about the content.  I emailed her back and told her I did not have time to watch it and asked her what it was about. Then on a hunch, I suggested to Gary that we watch it this evening. I was ready for one more documentary on what we are doing to the planet, more info on Chem Trails, something I know very little about. I expected to be better informed and enjoy some popcorn!

Then, as we got deeper into the subject, my mind was blown once again, a regular occurrence in these times! I realized that again, our sacred elements, our elementals, are being hijacked from where they belong, and in this case, sprayed from the air in the form of toxic aluminum, barium and strontium, called GeoEngineering. We have mounds of evidence now that we are being poisoned with these substances in alarming amounts, and it does not matter how clean our diets or environments or habits…it is everywhere in our soil, our food, our water and is coming from our air.

One of the most interesting yet believable phenomena regarding Chem Trails is that everyone sees them but no one really knows what they are or what they do or who sprays the stuff, including our representatives in Washington DC who are oblivious.  Most elected officials seriously had no idea about what the filmmakers were even talking about. Yet the levels of toxic aluminum in our environment and the associated diseases are on a very dramatic rise.

Several folks interviewed pointed out the crazy cloud formations that have never been seen before, the crisscrossed web of  trails in the sky that we all barely notice. What are we doing to ourselves? The official answers are that we are protecting ourselves from global warming, reflecting aluminum into the skies to deflect heat. Wonder how that interacts with the sunspot activity and solar storms that are coming at us from the sun? Some say it is weather manipulation, others say it is population control, making us sterile and sick.  Then there are the Monsanto crops that are genetically engineered to be aluminum-resistant.  All say that you simply have to follow the money to find out where it all starts. And, you guessed it, it all traces back to big money because it is apparently very profitable to spray us.

I personally love the 2nd dimension, the beings, bacteria, minerals, rocks, crystals, microbes, and the roots of all things that lie beneath the surface of the earth. I love the 3D plants, the trees, insects, and animals that interact with the earth and what is beneath it. In the last few years we have seen the horrendous assault on Mother Ocean in the form of the Gulf Oil disaster, which is said to be much bigger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill a few years before that, then the Fukashima nuclear meltdown that is still happening, which some say may also have been the HARP work of the Big Bullies that have been running our planet. These are two of the reported major assaults….most don’t hit the news corporation or the people. But there are many documentaries out there on every form of environmental abuse. All you have to do is Google.

I guess we really have been asleep, or maybe we are all just late teenagers finally hitting our first Saturn Return as a species, and some of us are finally realizing that we cannot ignore these bad-boy shenanigans anymore….we are going to have to get real, get angry and pick an issue! Any issue you like, but it’s time to get off our butts and get involved in some kind of Sacred Activism. Some are already on the streets for us, and some write books and articles, others talk about it and make films and teach and work in the trenches of activist groups like Occupy, and some hold space in meditation and prayer. Others rescue the innocent ones and prevent more needless deaths in the animal world, allowing the innocent ones to teach us about unconditional love. I am personally so proud of the young people, those who are not taking denial for an answer and are demanding to know the truth, to unveil every last stinking bit of it, so we can start to repair the earth and build the new world. What i know is that i have to do more, and more, with my heart and soul passionately involved in what has heart and meaning for me.

So, I plan to purchase this film, which is what the filmmakers suggest, copy it, as they suggest (no marketing, just consciousness-raising!), and distribute the link and the film widely. I also plan to get more intimately connected with my soil this year, my inner terrain too, and get to know more healthy minerals and microbes and 2D elementals that are here to assist us to get through this. I have been taking Diatomaceous Earth for awhile now and am looking into other minerals like Zeolite, as well as greens that attract and bind heavy metals. We must get proactive…think probiotics!

I encourage you to find ways to get more involved with your inner and outer planet….and please take an evening to watch this documentary….it is really important for us to know about this!

To find out more about aluminum poisoning from Chemtrails, click here

To view the documentary, click here

This is The Tipping Point: Giving Death

by Anyaa McAndrew and Gary Stamper

A couple of years ago we lost Anyaa's fifteen year-old Westie companion, Miss Lily, a shamanic healing dog if there ever was one. Miss Lily had already been through a couple of "shamanic deaths" where we almost lost her, but this time there was no saving her. Anyaa felt strongly that Miss lily was ready, and she made the heart-breaking decision to gift Miss Lily, and our community, with consciously "giving death' to her. In a beautiful ceremony at one of Miss Lily's favorite places, we gathered community, many of Anyaa's Priestesses, the circle of men that were at the Cove, and with the help of our vet, Tami Shearer, we all said our goodbyes as we ushered in the conscious passing of this beloved friend, as the painless process took place. There was not a dry eye to be seen.

It seemed as if Miss Lily understood the process and surrendered to it, as we all did. Her passing was her last living gift to us, although her gifts continue to this day for all who hold her memory.

We all now face similar challenges, only on a global scale never before seen.

Classic Shamanism, as opposed to Core Shamanism, is generally entirely involuntary. The individual is chosen by the spirits, often with no warning, and is not allowed to refuse the "gift", or they will suffer illness, and/or insanity, and/or death. Classic Shamanism is nearly always accompanied by a traumatic death-and-rebirth experience, after which the personality is radically changed.

Core Shamanism, on the other hand, is generally entirely voluntary. The individual chooses the path, rather than being chosen for it by the spirits. Although the seeker may feel "drawn" to shamanic practices, they are not in danger of illness, insanity or death for refusing to follow a particular path. They may choose their own human teachers, and they may stop at any time; although their lives may be poorer for it, they will not usually be penalized by the spirits unless they have made specific bargains.

Our "Collapse" will be approached through both paths. We must choose to change or the change can choose us. One is consciously "giving death," and the other is entirely out of our control.

Anyaa and I have chosen the marriage of the two paths to help birth in a new world using a process we're calling "Integral Shamanism." From the Integral path, it requires the widest perspectives possible, which means that we absolutely must step out of denial about what's happening today: the collapse of the industrial age and the battle for control of the planet. From the Shamanic path, it means we must welcome and mid-wife in the death of the old so the new can emerge.

There's a strong tendency around denial to think that if we just envision the future we want to live in, that we can make it happen, and to a degree, that's true. We need a vision of where we want to go, but it cannot happen through reform or incremental change. Because our culture is so death phobic, and because we don’t really relish losing our lifestyles, we don’t want to focus on the death of the old. It's important to understand that we must also die in the process, and that this deathing process is good and right. It frees us from the tyranny of a debt-based, consumerism at the expense of the rest of the world lifestyle that keeps us stuck and far from free. Once we can really get that, we can cheer on the coming demise of the old way, we can re-learn from the shamanic traditions that death has a season and a cycle and is our ally. We can learn from death, and grieve, and then begin to move on into regeneration and rebirth with the new energy that we have gathered in the process.

The time is now and the cycle is complete. We need to "give death" to the old power structure that has controlled the planet, and we cannot give up or stop standing for what we believe. This is where the Integral Warrior lives. The reason we now have the ability to do this is because those power structures are crumbling through their greed and their actions are becoming more and more transparent by the minute: FEMA camps, GMO foods, vaccinations, surveillance, giving up our rights for safety, the outright theft of trillions of dollars going to the elites as they attempt to push the rest of world deeper into global totalitarianism. We recommend the recently released film "Thrive" to see the whole picture from a compassionate and well-informed perspective, although we think the ending and its suggestions are partial, and not from the highest perspective. Those who have bought and sold our country have been openly talking about "The New World Order" for quite some time. Even with all this information that is available to us, because of our denial, we still cannot stop thinking about these things in terms of conspiracy theories. We don’t want to seem ‘crazy’ or like some kind of extremist, and we don’t want to think that the power elite could really be that malevolent, so we put our suspicions away and go back into a semi-sleep. That's their plan: to keep us asleep long enough to implement their plans.

Our job now, men and women, as Integral Warriors, is to fight them with everything we have. We cannot stop with only a vision of the future, we must gift the planet with the death of patriarchy and the power elite. We must be actively giving death to an already dying, but not dead, empire. By consciously entering into our planet’s Dark night of the Soul, we engage the SacredActivist as championed by Andrew Harvey as expressed in his recent book, “TheHope".

The spark was ignited in December of 2010, following Mohamed Bouazizi'sself-immolation in protest of police corruption and ill treatment. A series of protests and demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa has become known as the "Arab Spring" even though not all participants in protests identify as Arab. To date, three governments have been overthrown as a result of the Arab Spring. It's not hard to include the current OWS movement, first in the US, and now spreading across 80+ counties, as part of a greater whole, the hundredth monkey, the tipping point so desperately needed to shift us into the creative power of the next structure of consciousness that wants to emerge on the planet. As the Nation magazine points out, "After decades of exploitation, murder, and fraud, the corporate state is facing a genuine uprising of the people." It's about time.

Now, not all of these movements want the same thing. In the Arab Spring, most people want more freedom, better wages, and a chance at a middle class lifestyle. It doesn't take a genius to understand that 7 billion people are not going to enjoy the same version of the middle class that we in the U.S. are in the process of losing.  In 2004, the United States accounted for 4.6 percent of the world's population and 33 percent of global consumption--more than $9 trillion U.S. dollars.

Our role, as integral thinkers at the Strategic level of consciousness, or higher, is to first mid-wife in the death of the elite power structures, to hold the vision of those corrupt systems crumbling, and do whatever is needed to help them along as quickly as possible. Don't be an observer in this drama. Don’t go back to thinking that we just need some good reforms, some band-aid fixes to help us hobble through to the next crisis. We have gone far beyond that, folks. Instead, if you are not informed, if you are avoiding reality, commit yourself to seeing the biggest possible picture of what is really happening on the planet. The number of information resources out there is staggering. Jump on board this very fast-moving train of consciousness, and don’t get lost in utopian visions of the future just yet. The time is NOW to help the shamanic deathing process. We must engage, because it's only through sheer numbers of consciousness that we can break through to the other side where we have a chance to do everything differently.

We are winning, as is evidenced by the fact that the power elite can no longer hide anything from us, but we have to open our eyes and be willing to look at it. The outcome is not settled, and we can't give up, and we can't yet focus on the rebirth. We must focus first on Giving Death to the old ways. If we act quickly, we may be able to mitigate some of the pain of powering down as opposed to collapsing.

In the meantime, we must remember that we can only help others if we first take care of ourselves. We are reminded of this every time we fly when we get our emergency flight instructions before taking off: "Put your drop-down oxygen mask on first." In other words, give others the gift of your presence and wisdom in the new frontier....whatever that may look like.

Graham Nash and David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, and Nash,  like Roger Waters from Pink Floyd,  are part of the celebrity voices that are starting to speak out. Listen to what they have to say about the #Occupy Movement.

Gary and Anyaa live and work in the Great Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina. Gary's Book, "Awakening the New Masculine: The Path of the Integral Warrior," is scheduled for release in January 2012.

An Integral Approach to Consciously Collapsing

Something is glaringly absent in the Integral Community. As I point out in the introduction of my 2011 book, Awakening The New Masculine: The Path of the Integral Warrior," here is the precipice humanity is teetering on:

 "Never before in human history has humankind been this close to a global psycho-social and spiritual awakening. At the same time, never have we been in such danger of being swept into a global totalitarianism, potentially more oppressive than any system known before. Technology, at the hands of little boys pretending to be men, has led us to this new geopolitical reality."

What's missing is paying attention to and addressing the biggest event that mankind has ever faced: Planetary Overshoot.  As a result of this obvious omission, couched in multiple perspectives of first-tier thinking and shadow, I find it difficult to to think of the Integral Community as...well...integral. Even what might be the first stage of second-tier thinking, Integral, or turquoise in Wilber's model of altitude, or yellow, in terms of Spiral Dynamics, with one of its primary focuses on competency,  lacks the compassion needed to empathize with the depth of pain that the coming changes are going to bring to the planet and the billions of people who will suffer through these times.

While the world, unions like the EU, nation states, and the people contained within these structures begin to feel the pain, and as things are speeding up, looking like a giant sink with the plug pulled with the accompanying whirlpool sucking everything down with it, the Integral Community seems to be mostly ignoring the bigger picture.

There are exceptions, but they are not really being paid attention to. As Andrew McDonald points out in a posting on Integral+Life, "......the integral world seems to be floating above this global problem emerging down there in the lower right quadrant. There are exceptions - Jim Garrison and Steve McIntosh for example and perhaps others - but there's an emphasis on theory out of step with the worry, concern, and genuine suffering in the economic downturn."

I agree completely with Andrew, but things don't just collapse in one quadrant. 

He also says, "Integral sometimes appears as if it's living on a plane that won't be directly affected personally by the implosion of the economy when and if that happens. Are most integralists wealthy or out of touch with where Main St. is. Or in denial of it?"

But collapse is not just financial, although that's where the focus seems to be. It's energy, environment, and economics, and they are all connected.

One of the responses to Andrew's thought-provoking questions was typical of the flawed new-age perspective of "The Secret" and the magical feel-good thinking that says we control our own reality that allows us to disassociate from the pain that's already going on in the world. This perspective is nothing more than an ego-centric worldview that says as long as I'm not suffering, the world is okay. I've said more about this in an earlier posting. What this response is actually saying is that it's someone else's problem (reality), not theirs, and is the kind of spiritual by-passing and up-and-out mentality that infects so many of us.

In stark contrast to what appears to be denial in the larger Integral Community (the denial is actually the fear of death), stands Spiral Dynamics integral, where discussion of what is happening in the world is not being ignored, but openly courted, and the prognosis is definitely leaning toward "some kind of collapse." It's clear that none of us have a crystal ball, but we can, and must, take a memetic approach and specifically tailor and apply our approach to collapse in all four quadrants.

At this time, green is seeing life conditions it cannot solve from it's level of consciousness (hence, the typical lack of a concise message from the Left). The new Republican Party, on the other hand, has a very absolutist approach to how they'd fix the problems we face. Both are reacting to problems they have helped to create. Given the ultra-polarized political environment in the U.S., it doesn't appear that collective second-tier solutions are going to happen.

With this in mind, how are we going to avoid an actual collapse as a result of planetary overshoot? Can we? How does a growing economic disaster impact climate change or energy needs? The news is not good, and it's out there for all to see if we're paying attention.

What second-tier should be doing

If we are going to be able to successfully navigate (whatever that means) the growing chaos, then we must first get out of denial and into acceptance that it's happening. Denial could kill you. This requires that we pay attention to what is actually happening in all four quadrants, in the interior, exterior, individual, and collective quadrants.

In the upper left quadrant - the quadrant of thoughts, emotions, state of mind, and human behavior - we must pay attention to our spiritual and emotional needs. We need to know how to step out of paralyzing fear. Using all four quadrants, determine what you think are the most likely scenarios, and then prepare for them the best you can, given your resources and abilities, and your awareness of what is arising in the other quadrants. This gives us the ability to step into calm acceptance, knowing that no matter how hard we may try, we can't possibly prepare for everything, and then let it go.

We do this in several ways. We find like-thinking others with whom we build community (lower left-quadrant), with shared values and meaning, who can support us as we support them. They don't need to be second-tier. We only need to have more that brings us together than separates us. In our newly forming community, "Conscious Transition WNC: A Network of Grace," we emphasize that we're not concerned about "why" collapse is happening - blame - but that it is happening, upon which we can all agree upon. In other words, we openly encourage - and insist - that everyone brings an openness that is accepting of all viewpoints. This allows multi-perspectivalism to develop, and this emerging process allows everyone to hear other viewpoints without having to defend their own. Community is an absolutely essential part of getting through whatever is coming. Otherwise, you're just a lone-wolf survivalist. Second-tier leadership provides the guidance and context that allows this to happen. Find and form your community.

We're also intensely aware of the geopolitics of collapse: what is happening, and how - the lower right and upper right quadrants, respectively. In the upper right, what is happening? The cold hard facts without interpretation. What can I see, touch, observe scientifically in time and space? What are the physical facts? We have to know because decisions need to be made based on those facts. For instance, watching what's going on in Europe at this time with banks and countries already collapsing gives us insight as to how it might unfold in the U.S. if the global financial markets are as connected as they appear to be. When should I think about withdrawing cash in case there are bank runs here as is already happening in Greece and Italy (and the U.S. as the wealthy flee with their money to what they think are safer havens)? 

In the lower right quadrant, how is it happening, what systems and networks are failing and in what time frame? How do they affect other systems? Technology? Government? Finance? Energy? The natural environment?

We simply must look at these issues through the 4-quadrant lens. As we've heard time and time again, anything less is partial, narrow, and fragmented....and there's already too much fragmentation in the world. That's what got us here. It won't get us out.

What then?

None of this guarantees that any of us will survive through what is coming. People don't want to hear that billions of people could die. Guess what? Millions are already dying and what do you need to see that will convince you that we don't have the capacity - energy and finances - or the political will to stop what is already happening? Collapse cannot be talked about in future tense, it's already happening.

What we can do is approach collapse in the most conscious manner possible. To be present to it as each moment arises, do what we can to improve how we come through this, however long it takes, and be more conscious individually and collectively than when we started. It's obvious that a lot of technology in the form of unbridled capitalism has not made our lives better. Maybe we'll be happier by getting smaller and living in the arms of gratitude. My sense is that it's by developing community, meaning, and sustainable systems that support all life on this planet. Maybe the way up is all the way down.

Where do the Integral leaders and community stand on collapse?

What does a 21st century priestess really want in a man?

A guest blog by Sherri L. McClendon, MA OM

Gary's note: Sherri is a Priestess through Anyaa's Priestess Process, a dear friend, and one of our excellent marketing gurus. Find out more about Sherri at the bottom of this post.

What does a 21st century priestess really want in a man?

First things first, I’d really like to turn in my penis.

I like men, I really do. I enjoy the company of men, and I’ve even been known to adore them on occasion. But there’s a problem. After plenty of life experience, I just don’t trust them as a species.

Yes, I agree with our friend Gary that women as well as men must “heal their own masculine and feminine essences before they can come together in sacred union.” Yes, I’m responsible for balancing and integrating the masculine aspects of my own psyche, hence the need to give up my “penis.” Given what passes for masculinity at the dawn of the 21st century, please forgive me if I have yet to come to full acceptance of this task. Forgive me if I am still working on forgiveness.

The reality is I frequently encounter wounded warriors, an archetype which no longer holds attraction for me.  I’d like men to dress and heal their own wounds, thank you very much, not wait for me to staunch the bleeding of their hearts, or pull marrow from my soul to make them feel whole again. Neither am I the Morrigan to whom the wounded warrior may look to be carried from the field of battle into shadow, nor am I the spoils of war to be pillaged for another’s gain. These are not my roles; please do not ask me to bear this mantle. Women are wounded, too, and some of us are angry.

Back in the heyday of ancient Rome, the eyes of the world were turned toward Capitoline Hill where the goddess Moneta and her sister Minerva, enjoyed equal status to the male godhead, Saturn. Given Moneta’s association with the flow of money and protection of resources, Minerva’s mastery of sustainability through ensuring the cycles of the year, and Saturn’s gift to the two of substance, it seemed a balanced act.

But the Romans had other ideas. The warriors of the day, bent on competition, accumulation, and power over others, dug a secret tunnel to the mint beneath the Moneta temple, where they removed the money created in order to fuel their war machine. Each New Year, they’d visit the temple womb of Minerva and “nail” the ending of the old year above the entry. Thus, they originated the version of the conquering warrior hero that is the dominant figure in Western culture’s coming of age stories for men. Women, it may be noted, do not have a coming of age tradition, and though we are taught the hero’s journey, men are not reciprocally given women’s stories. Instead, our society is left with men who exhibit Saturn’s over-reliance on structures, who cling to old thought forms of authoritarianism and righteous discipline in lieu of a better way of relating with their world. In order to receive Saturn’s gift of substance, many women have found that we must hand over our power to become chattels rather than partners, relegated to trophies, subordinates, or priestess/princess whores. In each of these cases, women have been deliberately disenfranchised to ensure the power of the masculine over and above the feminine. We became punished by our own consent to play by Saturn’s rules.

Those times, thank Goddess, are on the wane. Men and women today call forth a path of service in the evolution of the species on Earth as a living, embodied, divine expression of Spirit. When I read Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath’s Tale,” from the Canterbury Tales, or its modern interpretation in Mel Gibson’s portrayal in “What Women Want,” I understand the need for communication between the masculine and feminine, reconciling across time, space and dimension.

So, what does a 21st century priestess really want in a man? After all, the concept of the new masculine is integrating, grounded, loving. Priestesses everywhere are opening to its emergence.

First, the New Masculine male must be secure enough in his wholeness to hold space for divine feminine evolution.  This means his king, warrior, lover, and magician archetypes reconcile. His path of service through his work and actions aligns heart and mind, and exemplifies purposefulness. Almost certainly, his travel into shadow enables his return to the light. As a partner, he is a loving, present co-creator and able, ready, and willing to step into sacred union with the feminine both within and without.

Essentially, as a 21st century priestess, I seek to be fully partnered, not husbanded; self-determining, not stewarded; mated, not married. Gratefully, I mother a beautiful divine masculine child, now 5, and hope he may evolve consciously, fully into manhood. I celebrate the emergence of the Integral Warrior, the brave transformation for the future.  Finally, I celebrate a world where strong women don’t have to grow penises – or emasculate men - in order to survive the prevailing winds of change.  It’s a new Earth, and a new day. So be it.

Sherri L. McLendon, M.A., O.M., of Professional Moneta™, is known as Your Moneta Marketing Mentor™ and creatrix of the Moneta Movement™. She is a long-time advocate for the evolution of Gary Stamper’s work with the New Masculine and the Integral Warrior process. As a divine feminine marketing coach, she uses co-creative communication strategies, to assist spiritual, holistic and conscious entrepreneurs in the realization of their highest and best potentials. Find out more at http://www.professionalmoneta.com, or check out the done-for-you copywriting and publicity services at McLendon Bylines at http://www.sherrimclendon.com

Whose Fear Is It, Anyway?

I've been accused, more than once, of being in fear.

Wikipedia defines fear as a distressing emotion induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger. In short, fear is the ability to recognize danger and flee from it or confront it, also known as the Fight or Flight response. Fear is a distressing emotion induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger. In short, fear is the ability to recognize danger and flee from it or confront it, also known as the Fight or Flight response.

Fear is a 200,000 year-old finely honed gift of evolution, and when we experience fear, we need to pay attention. Fear can be related to future events, such as a worsening of a situation that is unacceptable, or an instant reaction to something presently happening.

There two types of fear: External fear caused by something outside of you which you are strongly motivated to avoid - like spiders or heights - and internal fear, such as fear developed out of low self esteem.

I've been accused, more than once, of living in fear....and I think it's an unfair accusation. I am also unapologetic. Let me explain.

The accusations of fear directed toward me are in response to all of the events of the world, what appears to be a perfect storm of conditions, mostly induced by ourselves, humanity, all bearing down on us at the same time. I've written and reported about those conditions on this blog several times (here and here).

Here's what I do fear, some of which is already happening: Massive population die-off due to starvation, the collapse of what America could have been, instead of just another nation-state-empire, deepening economic collapse, continued global warming, water, oil, and food wars, and much, much more. It is an external fear.

But even as I own my fear and that I am in fear, I am not fearful.* From an earlier blog:

I struggle for balance in the face of all the negativity thrust upon us as a result of increased awareness through being able to hold the "unholdable" perspective, and as a result, being more conscious than the average comatose individuals who have been intentionally lulled to sleep (the average people I know don't have a clue about what's going on or are in denial).

I look at these events with a belief that these are not random, meaningless events, but, rather, are occurring for the distinct purpose of waking us up, to stretch us into new territories of awareness. For me, that waking up is the profound realization that what we are now doing, as Americans, and as humanity, is simply not sustainable, and that there will be a shift, and things will be very different than they are now.

Things are going to change, and I hold that they will change for the better...but not at first. I believe things are going to get much worse before they get better, and that it's possible that "better" may be decades, or possibly centuries, away, mere specks in time. I don't believe that some magical shift is going to occur and suddenly everything and everyone is going to be "conscious," and that those of us who are able to hold the higher vibration will survive while others will not. That feels like a"new age" version of mythic religion's "end-times," or "rapture." Look up "End Time" on Wikipedia and see how how ingrained these themes are in our collective consciousness.

The term "higher vibration" will be interpreted at the level of conscious of the person using it, and will obviously mean different things to people at different levels of consciousness. For me, that "higher vibration" means being aware and conscious enough to see what is coming, to step out of denial, and to be as prepared as is possible, also knowing that you can't possibly prepare for everything.

When I hear people saying to me that, when I talk of these things, they hear a message of fear, what I believe they are experiencing is not my fear, but their own fear in response to what I'm saying. Where I'm at today is a place of getting as ready as possible by getting out of the city and being as self-sustainable as possible.

Once I've recognized the possibilities and done as much as I can do, I surrender and step out of fear, knowing that whatever happens, I've done what I can do. And surrendering is the key to freedom, regardless of how things unfold. What's coming is an ending...and a beginning, and no one knows what it will look like.

*'Fearful' in its original sense means full of fear in the particular sense of being afraid to do something wrong, almost in a sense of respect. Imagine a situation where you have to be careful about what you say, what words you use because if you say the wrong word, you will be in trouble. This describes the state of being 'fearful' as in: He was fearful of saying the wrong thing and as a result upsetting her.

image credit

Are Women Really Better At Almost Everything?

Dan Abram's book, Man Down, is the latest in a series of articles and books that challenge many of our long-held beliefs about women, and what it means to men. Having not read the book, yet (I ordered it yesterday), I don't know what it means to men in terms of the Abram's research, but I'm beginning to get a picture of how some men are reacting to it, which seems strange, since it's obviously a book meant to amuse, not prove.

Abrams is a legal analyst for ABC News and a former lawyer, and says he approached the topic as a defense attorney, using evidence that already exists to debunk popular myths about women.

“In nearly every field, statistics and studies show that women are better collaborators, are more cautious and more adept at navigating treacherous terrain,” writes Abrams in his book’s opening statement. “I am not convinced that women as a group play basketball or read maps better than men. The evidence here will show, however, that women are living longer and evolving better than men.” It takes a lot for a man to admit his own weaknesses (there’s a chapter on how women tolerate pain better), so we wondered why Abrams would make the case for women. Turns out, it’s a man’s job.

 The book touches on a lot of silly things, but apparently ignores the more serious questions like violent crime and child abandonment, much more stark differences between men and women. It's not a book about who's better.

The feedback I'm getting from men seems to come from two different directions.

The first, an egalitarian and relativistic perspective that seems to say that no one is better than anyone else, and that we are all one, and that comparisons create the illusion of separation. This approach, in my opinion, is a self-permission for men not to look at where they need to do their work. Improve? But we're all perfect just as we are!  It's an unwillingness to look objectively at what's going on and a shadow move to change the subject.

The second approach is defensive and reactionary, all the while making arguments that actually support Abrams' findings. The remarkable part of this approach is that it uses assumptions to argue against what it sees as assumptions. Have you read the book?

But the facts are undeniable: Women are surpassing men in leadership positions, valedictorian addresses, graduation rates, jobs after graduation, and even salaries. Women seem to have found their adaptability muscles, and men seem to be struggling with change. My experience is that women are better at evolving than most men. I've never been approached by a man and been asked, "where are all the conscious women?" On the other hand....well, you get the picture.

One of the reviews on Amazon called this book called it the perfect gift for your favorite male chauvinist.

So to wrap this up, let's move away from the book and take a deeper look at what's going on with men today - especially American men. This isn't about better, or some imagined hierarchy of right and wrong. This is about centuries of patriarchy, where even though most men were also victims of it and not perpetrators, it has numbed us as men. It's time for us to wake up. Those of you who are offended by what appears to be the duality and separation of what feels like a contest-like mentality demonstrated in the book need to back up and take a look at your shadow around this. Instead of Abrams' Man Down, maybe its' a wake up call to New Man-Up.

Here's the full title and a link to where you can buy the book: Man Down: Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt That Women Are Better Cops, Drivers, Gamblers, Spies, World Leaders, Beer Tasters, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About Everything Else.

For a more serious look at what's going on with men today, read the first chapter of my book, "Awakening The New Masculine."

My Father Died This Morning....

 Wayne E. Stamper, 1919-2011

I got the call from my sister on the West Coast, about 9:15 their time. She told me our father had passed away in his sleep between midnight and 1am. We knew it was coming, and soon. He turned 92 last Friday and had been in the care of Hospice for a few months, and took a turn for the worse a couple of weeks ago. The cancer they couldn't find for several years had turned up in his stomach, and it was bad. They had him on heavy morphine for the last two weeks.

I've been calling him almost daily. His voice had been getting more raspy for the past few years, but the morphine had made it almost impossible to make out his heavily slurred words. Our communications over the past couple of weeks had been limited to "I can't hear you" from him, to "I'm sorry, Dad, I can't understand you" from me. There were a lot of silences where we just stayed on the phone knowing we were connecting without having to say anything. It was hard, though.

We thought we were going to lose him a few months ago when the doctors told my sister it was time to call the family in, that his kidneys had failed and he probably wouldn't make it through the night. When he did, I jumped on a plane, flew to Sacramento, rented a car, and got up to Redding where he was in the hospital. He didn't die. Hid kidneys somehow restarted amazing the doctors. We got to spend two days together. He was in and out of consciousness, and we got to talk about life and death. He wasn't afraid to die. I told him how different cultures and religions viewed death and about some of the philosophies around dying. We got to talk about his life, about my childhood, and I got to honor him - deeply - for his gift of great fathering, expressing my deep gratitude to him for being the father so many never get to experience in this world of under-fathered and over-mothered boys.

He  was born in Comers Rock, Virginia, in 1919. The house he was born in, built by my grandfather, Peyton Stamper, a farmer and a Baptist Minister, still doesn't have indoor plumbing and is in pretty bad condition. It's pictured above. We got to visit it on our honeymoon last August, when I took this photo. I found it on Google Earth. He was the second of seven children, and only two survive now. He was a depression teenager and had pleurisy. At 17, knowing he had to get well and out of the Virginia hills, managed to con his way into the Navy. He did get well.

A Pearl Harbor Survivor, he was showering when the klaxons sounded, and he thought, "what a time for a drill." He dressed, and got up on deck just in time to see bullets from a Japanese Zero strafing the deck in front of him. He was a turret captain on the USS St Louis, and they were the first ship out of Pearl harbor after the attack, as a decoy, where they knew the Japanese submarines were waiting for them. The photo below shows the St. Louis, at the right, underway out of the harbor. The St. Louis saw a lot of South Pacific action in WWII and became known as "Lucky Lou, the ship that couldn't be sunk."

He went on to teach naval Science at the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, California, not far from Mare Island Naval Shipyard, before retiring as an honorary Lt. Commander after 20 years in the Navy as a Chief Gunner's Mate. Knowing he had two children to send to college, he became a successful businessman, first owning his own businesses and later in Real Estate.

My dad was always my best friend. We never had the problems many of my friends had with their parents. He was a loving, kind father. He wasn't perfect, but who is? He was perfect for me. He was a great role model while I was growing up and remained the same when I became a man. I could always talk to him, and he to me.

If we are truly able to choose our parents for the lessons we need to learn in this lifetime, then I chose very well. I got to tell him I loved him many. many times over the years and in the past few months and days. I will miss him, and I will always carry him with me. I am disappointed he never got to read the book I'm writing, Awakening The new Masculine: The Path of the Integral Warrior. He would have loved it.

'We do not know where death awaits us: so let us wait for it everywhere. To practice death is to practice freedom. A man who has learned how to die has unlearned how to be a slave." - Montaigne

I love you, dad. Travel well. 

 My sister Suzy, My Dad, and me, 2001

Awakening the New Masculine: The book

Dear Readers and Friends,

I've been writing in this format for five years, and have always had the intention in the back of my mind that it might turn into a book one day.

Well, that day has arrived, and the book is well underway along with the working title, Awakening the New Masculine: The Path of the Integral Warrior, and is based on my workshop, The Integral Warrior." Here's the link to the introduction and the first two chapters. It is a pre-submission in draft form for your review and suggestions. It will be submitted to "The Next Top Self-Help Author" contest along with a short video (coming soon) on the 1st of February, 2010.

Right now, I need your help. Please read it and let me know what you think, do you like it, not like it, what can I do to improve it, any glaring errors you might see (don't worry about proofreading), etc. Please comment by emailing me at garystamper@yahoo.com with the subject line "Top Author."

I also want to elicit your help, as the publisher, Conari press, wants to see how much support I can gather for it, and I will be asking you to vote for it and my upcoming video in February. I'll be sure and send you the link when it's time.

I hope you enjoy it. I'm having a ball putting it together and writing it.

Love,

Gary

Off to Cincinnati, Again....

I leave tomorrow for Cincinnati again, for the The Integral Warrior workshop for men.

This is the 5th weekend in the 6-weekend series. This weekend we re-integrate the King Archetype, after "killing off" the Shadow King the 1st weekend and spending the 3 weekends in between integrating our Warrior, Lover, and Magician archetypes. 

To anchor the cognitive work we do around the healthy King, we will also spend a day with the Shamanic Breathwork Process. You can read more about that here.

In addition, I'll also be facilitating a stand-alone men's Shamanic Breathwork on Friday, before the Integral Warrior workshop resumes on Saturday.

Nice 7-hour drive to get there, and another Sunday night to get home. Good thing I love talk radio and my Sirius satellite radio!

I have a new series of The Integral Warrior firing up at the end of January at our Retreat Center  in the Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina. Click here for more information.

Claiming and Embodying the Magician Archetype

The magician weekend in Cincinnati was the most powerful one, yet. This whole process of The Integral Warrior keeps unfolding, and all I have to do is get out of my own way and be a conduit for what wants to emerge.

After we dive deep into each archetype, we examine and own both the light and dark sides of our archetype. We  anchor the awakening with both cognitive and experiential realms, through gross, subtle and causal states of consciousness, enabling us to fully grasp and comprehend how these aspects play out in our lives.


Only now, they begin to play out consciously, giving us choices around how we respond rather than react.


These initiation statements are where the men claim their ownership and embodiment of the archetype.

I was so blown away by the initiation statements the men wrote for the Magician Archetype, the 3rd Initiation, that I asked for permission to share them anonymously. I was incredibly touched at how deep the men went in their processes and the results show in these statements. They said yes, and although I haven't received all of them, yet, here's a couple of samples....I'll add more as they come in.

"I am the Magician and the Shamanic Priest and I vow to utilize that powerful aspect of my masculine being for the betterment of my global tribe. I will continually refine those magical powers and apply them at every opportunity to increase awareness in others to better understand the magical powers they have. In doing so I will  strive to raise the level of consciousness of the collective – beyond the corporate world and the obsolete and destructive patriarchal rulers of this world. My intent will be to guide where and when I can to demonstrate that we are all one with each other and that it is only in one unified spirit we will be able to transition into a better place."

 "It is with Love, Compassion, Integrity and Honor I enter into this contract and invite the universe to present the opportunities for me to give back. I now welcome those opportunities and will not make excuses to pass them up. It is my time!"

"I claim the Magician archetype.  I claim the knowledge that the Magician has access to and the power to unlock it.  I uphold the power of the mediator and communicator of hidden knowledge, the healer, teacher, and contemplative. I keep my inner eye fixed on the Self and the "Diamond Body" we each have within us.

 

I seek the power of the shaman to obtain my full expression of the Magician archetype, as guardian of esoteric knowledge and technician of sacred power, I agree to accept the powers to solve the problems that arise before me. Like the King I will save space to have the capacity to care, like the Warrior I will have the capacity to fight and like the Lover I will have the capacity to value someone enough to fight for them.

 

When the Magician energy manifests, I will begin to quest for knowledge, growth, expansion for m self and to model myself for others as I go through life and I will claim my rightful place as an elder of the community and teacher."

I acknowledge and embody the archetype of the Magician. The seeker who fearlessly enters the dark place in search of knowledge, truth and transformation. I claim that part of myself that seeks out ever deeper levels of wisdom to transform the unknown into beliefs and ideals, and then moves forward into true knowing by experiencing.

I acknowledge that part of me that discovers my gifts, then immediately employs them for the good of mankind. That guides, and leads, ad initiates others by example and purposeful action.

I vow to more fully explore and develop this magical aspect of my self to know without question that this lifetime made a significant contribution to mankind’s evolution.

I claim the Magician archetype.  I claim the knowledge that the Magician has access to and the power to unlock it.  I uphold the power of the mediator and communicator of hidden knowledge, the healer, teacher, and contemplative. I keep my inner eye fixed on the Self and the "Diamond Body" we each have within us.

I seek the power of the shaman to obtain my full expression of the Magician archetype, as guardian of esoteric knowledge and technician of sacred power, I agree to accept the powers to solve the problems that arise before me. Like the King I will save space to have the capacity to care, like the Warrior I will have the capacity to fight and like the Lover I will have the capacity to value someone enough to fight for them.

When the Magician energy manifests, I will begin to quest for knowledge, growth, expansion for m self and to model myself for others as I go thru life and I will claim my rightful place as an elder of the community and teacher.

 

I am honored  and humbled to carry this work forward...work that is so desperately needed at this time on the planet.

Image from the Arthur Sussman Gallery

Archetypes and the Tea party Women (or, Being Female Does Not make You a Feminist)

I saw a great bumper sticker the other other day: it read, "it's the stupidity, stupid." No where does that seem more evident than the current crop of women Tea Party candidates: Uber-conservative, fanatically religious, most of them completely unqualified to hold office, and dangerous.

The conservative right is happy for 'sexy' female candidates so long as they don't demand abortion rights, maternity leave, equal pay and equal sexual pleasure.  The 2010 Republican campaign is an attempt by the old order to reinstall its rejected program. Key to this effort is the promotion of “sexy” female candidates, the “new” conservative woman, whether Tea Party or Republican. She is a showpiece, a fig leaf, covering the impotence at the heart of the Tea Party’s politics of rage.

When, and how, did it become fashionable for women candidates to start being creepy? Women like the anti-masturbation candidate Christine O'Donnell, Sharron Angle (who tells Hispanic students they might be Asian and encourages Hispanics to stay home from voting), former WWE wrestling Exec Linda McMahon, to name a whacked-out few, and the self-promoting Sarah Palin who broke her vow to the Alaskan people by resigning as Governor so she could make money....lots of money. When did candidates like Meg Whitman, who is spending $140M of her own money on her California Gubernatorial bid, and Carly Fiorina, the ousted HP CEO who left with a $21M severance package suddenly become "outsiders?

What's going on here, and how do these women fit into our collective shadow?

There are a couple of archetypes at play, here. One is the Concubine to the Shadow King, with the female candidates playing the role of the concubine to the Shadow King, who is really the patriarchy. The Shadow King manipulates from the background, and the concubine plays out her role by allowing herself to be manipulated. In David Deida's model, this is the eternal first-stage woman, who models herself after the men she serves, but is only granted power through those men. She may or may not be fully aware of her role, but she has also assumed the mantle of the patriarchy. She does what she is told to hold on to what she thinks is her power. As long as she follows the rules, she can stay in "power."

The second archetype showing up here is the active and passive shadows of the Magician. The active shadow is the manipulator, or the Sorcerer's Apprentice. They have not mastered their technology (in this case, knowledge) or themselves, and their partial development is capable of wreaking havoc (example: Christine O'Donnell's claim of being a constitutionalist, but being unaware of Separation of Church and State). Although the magician archetype is neither masculine or feminine, the manipulator is the epitome of first-stage feminine.

The passive shadow is the Denying Innocent One: one who wants the power but who refuses to accept the responsibility inherent in the role of the magician. The Magician's power needs to be controlled and channeled by the other archetypes: the discipline of the Warrior, the compassion and values of the Lover, and the big-picture capacity of the King. If it isn't, then the magician becomes the charlatan.

This why I believe "men's work" is so important. First stage men, including candidates who are no better, with their hyper-masculinity, is what these women are emulating. Second-stage men, with their overly-feminized masculine are of no use, here, either. Until we have third-stage men embodying and modeling what the mature masculine looks like, in it's many emerging forms, with hearts wide open and their own fully integrated inner masculine and feminine, women will continue to model the only form of masculine they have in front of them: The patriarchy.

And ultimately, we, you and I, are to blame. We fell for this crap. We have successfully been dumbed down. That's why I started this out with the bumper sticker, "It's the stupidity, stupid."

Men's Work Is Dead

"This past weekend 40 men’s leaders and 6 women answered the call to be a part of the Evolving Men’s Conference. The context? Some of us thought it was to “evolve masculinity.” For others, the hope was to plan a bigger conference next year. Others didn’t know what the context was."
So begins the article at the Evolving Men’s Conference blog/website. In it, the author of the article,Jayson Gaddis, declares "mens' work is dead," and goes on to say:

"The old way we have been doing and selling men’s work is toast and no longer sustainable. Some men will continue to “do men’s work” and even call it that. For me, the associations are too linked to the past of “wound worship” and drama. Men’s work has been synonymous with support, therapy, and other “wimpy” stuff most men simply don’t buy, nor are they interested in hearing about it.
Moving forward, most of the men there will be “selling” their product and services with a lot more awareness (see below). To me, this is a huge win because ultimately it will mean more men are drawn to inner work through channels and subjects that actually interest them.

Whether or not men’s work continues, remains to be seen."

I beg to differ with Jayson and am reposting my reply on the Evolving men's Conference website:

I’m sorry I missed what sounds like a great weekend and want to state my intentions to participate next year. I can’t believe I didn’t even hear about it!

About Men’s Work being dead: It’s a great attention-getting headline, but It seems to me that presumes that everyone is at the same place in their evolutionary development – an assumption that just isn’t true! Some men still need the “men’s work” that Robert Bly, John Lee, and others are doing. It feels like saying, “well, women are equal now, we can stop pushing.”

Just because men don’t want to hear about it doesn’t mean they don’t need it.
Plus, if we think we’re done with our shadow work and don’t need to go there anymore, we’d better think again. That sounds like “spiritual bypass.” It’s only by confronting, owning, and bringing (our shadows) to the light that we find our true masculine power, however that might be defined by each individual man.
Instead of shouting “men’s work” is dead, perhaps we need to put it into an evolutionary context and say “men’s work was the first step, and now we need to create the next one.”

And, I really support what Jayson and others are doing here. here's a video of Jayson inviting other men to the conference.
I can't believe I missed it!

The Lover's Relationship to the Other Archetypes

The Lover archetype, one of the four major archetypes (the others are the Warrior, the Magician, and the King), is probably the most misunderstood of all of the archetypes. The Lover, accessed properly, gives us a sense of meaning in our lives. This sense of meaning is, I believe, the essence of Spirituality, no matter where one might fall on a developmental evolutionary scale or map.

The idealist and the dreamer are two examples of The Lover, deeply immersed and connected to the energy of the universe. The Lover is also playful, sensual, tuned into their physical environment, passionate and compassionate, joyous and creative, living in every moment.

The Lover appreciates and surrounds themselves with beauty, whether it's art, music, relationships, food, their home, and their very life, treating it all as art.

The Masculine Lover keeps the other masculine energies human, loving, and related, helping the King, Warrior, and Magician to harmonize with each other and prevents detachment in them. Each of the other archetypes needs The Lover to keep them from becoming sadistic.

The Lover needs the other archetypes, as well:

• The King defines limits and boundaries for The Lover, bringing structure and preventing The Lover from becoming an addict, one of the The Lover's shadow sides;
• The Warrior helps The Lover act decisively so that The Lover can detach from immobilizing sensuality and prevents fixation and obsession, an easy place for The Lover to go to, appreciating beauty as they do;
• The Magician keeps The Lover's emotions in check, brings objective perspectives and helps The Lover see the bigger picture and the reality beneath the seeming.

Accessing the Lover:

If you want to develop your Lover archetype to its fullest possible expression, express appreciation of beauty; open your eyes and your heart to the beauty that surrounds you in everyday life; take dance lessons, do sensual practices, turn sex into art. Listen to music that moves you and move with the music. Make music and art a "practice of presence." Learn to play an instrument....sing.

Most of all, do what you love...or, do more of what you love; Learn to love what you do, or, learn to live with what you do...or, if it comes to this, Leave what you do.

Develop your compassion and Creativity Quotients.

"All of the spiritual traditions of the world agree that compassion is the ultimate expression of our better selves, of human morality" - The Hidden Spirituality of Men by Matthew Fox.

 And always remember: Beauty is immortal but beautiful things are not.

What's the Matter with Men?

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a man on the SeattleIntegral online discussion  list, a group I founded several years ago that is still going strong. Rather than explaining it all, I got his permission to repost his email here. My response can be found below his email.

Hi Gary,

I am not replying to the SI group because I currently do not have time to sustain a discussion that might result. I appreciate very much your making these points about men hurting (Men Are Hurting) in our culture. The fact of the prevailing male population of prisons is a fact of deep significance and I have made this point on several occasions. Men, while supposedly dominating the society, are also profoundly uncomfortable inhabiting it within the full truth of their being.

The thing I do not understand is why ritual and initiation are the keys to the solution. Maybe your materials shed light on this. On first glance I would say that suitable life practices that occur with some regularity would be a solution. Yoga, dance, etc? Our society seems to provide initiations - men are initiated into a sort of career business warrior while in college. It is unbalanced but so it was unbalanced in prior cultures where the warrior was the prevalent archetype - because it was the most productive way of using men for the survival of the group. So the business warrior achieving material success in the world is the dominating archetype and this causes certain men to subjugate others.

Integralism seems to make a value out of balancing the quadrants or you make a value of balancing the 4 male archetypes.  What is the basis for that? What is in your view the genuinely masculine contribution to the value of life - a contribution that women really cannot make? Answering this question would perhaps allow you to solve the problem of men.

The dominance of the mother in upbringing of boys, the fatherlessness of boys is I think a specifically American phenomenon. It is related to women having a take-charge attitude stemming from the settler frontier days of America.

Thanks for posting - i hope to get more active soon within the Seattle integral,

-Thomas

Thanks for this email, Thomas. It gives me a great opportunity to share some more about why I'm so passionate about The Integral Warrior workshop.

It's certainly true that men are profoundly uncomfortable inhabiting our culture while "supposedly dominating the society," and I'm sure there will be many women, and some men, who respond, "Give me a break."

For years, the media  have delivered the direst of prognoses: "Men are in decline." This summer, The Atlantic's Hanna Rosen went so far as to declare that "The End of Men" is upon us. Newsweek followed suit on September 27 with an article entitled "Men's Lib," which addresses the idea of why, "it's time to reimagine masculinity."

I won't go into the statistics addressed in these articles as they are there for you to read. Suffice it say that, indeed, men are hurting.

Ritual and Initiation are not the "keys to the solution:" They are part of the solution, but only a part.  There are many parts that go to making up a more complete "whole," and what initiations our culture does provide are pretty weak. Yes, there's graduation, Bar Mitzvahs, baptism, military basic training and the like, but there's also getting drunk or laid for the first time, Fraternity hell weeks, getting your driver's license, your first hunt, a gang member beaten badly in an initiation, and such, and yet, the perplexing question still remains: What does it mean to be a man?"

"Most men long for the support and nurture of other men to help in the journey toward masculinity, maturity, and a deeper experience of the Divine. Through the ages, many cultures have helped men by means of initiation rites and vision quests." - Richard Rohr, Adam's Return.

In The Integral Warrior workshop, we spend a full weekend on each of the King, Warrior, Magician, and Lover Jungian archetypes, culminating each weekend in a ritual ceremony of the men claiming and owning both the positive and  negative (light and shadow) aspects of each archetype. I call this The Four Initiations. Interestingly, and this is important, this is, as far as I know, the first time in history when men are able to initiate all four of the major archetypes into their being. This assures that all of our archetypal being, and therefore the man, is balanced.

The importance of balancing the archetypes is critical so that none dominates the other - because without balance, the Lover becomes the addict, the Warrior becomes brutal, the Magician behaves as a charlatan,   and the King becomes the tyrant.

Today, with all of the challenges facing us, including our very survival, we need enlightened and transformed Magicians, Lovers of life and beauty, and strong non-violent warriors to produce truly big-picture men - or Kings.

Add in Integral and Developmental systems and the altered-states technology of the Shaman, and the combination of all creates a new paradigm of teaching, healing, and learning.

Lastly, Thomas, to your question, "What is, in your view, the genuinely masculine contribution to the value of life - a contribution that women really cannot make?"

Let me quote what Matthew Fox says in his book, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: 

Soul and Spirit are not the same thing. In Latin, "spirit" (spiritus) is masculine and "soul" (anima) is feminine. An awakened soul seeks spirit, but an asleep soul may distort spirit, so that spirit is all "sky" energy with no "earth" energy."

The contribution men make is Spirit to the Soul and is "holy marriage," or hieros gamus, which includes an intimate union of opposites. And this time on the planet, in the midst of the greatest shift we've ever seen, what could possibly be more important?

Image from Dancing the Divine