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Earth Magic

From Old Shamanism to Modern Ecology

Evolution and Patriarchy

Did the modern society advance since the ancient times? Did this advancement or evolution include humans?

Looking at the situation of the world today, I do not agree that human were included in the evolution process, we find patriarchal led society driven by control and power, where few wealthy “elite” control the masses, we are witnessing a world where equality is still a distant wish, and prosperity is out of reach to many. Evolution created advanced societies where the human race is dangerously disconnected from the Natural and the Spiritual worlds.

Ancient Matriarch in Old Egypt, and the connection to EARTH:

let us look back into ancient times, and reflect on old prosperous matriarchal societies such as old Egypt. Ruling Pharos had no objection recognising the equality between the Sacred Feminine and the Sacred Masculine. The matriarchal consciousness was associated with eternity, cycles of time, ritual, magic, altered states, and arts. The patriarchal consciousness was associated with history, linear time, dogma, rationality, waking reality, and science. Both were of equal value.

Throughout history, strong patriarchal societies existed when the sun was worshiped while matriarchal societies submerged when the moon was worshiped. During much of Egyptian history, people worshiped both the moon and the sun, which gave rise to both . For the most part, both the sun, Ra, and the moon, Konsu, were a vital part of the religion of ancient Egypt.

ancient egyptian paintings
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It is very clear, that the connection to Earth, embodied and embraced by the Sacred Divine Feminine had a huge impact in the prosperity of the matriarch society. The question worth asking here is why and how does Earth play this vital role?

The Human Race Connection to Earth is a Spiritual Connection

Our relationship with the Earth is not merely physical. The Earth is alive; it is spiritual. All living entities of the Earth are an expression of the spirit. The soil of the Earth, for example, consists of minerals and organic matter, holding the roots of plants. There is a mysterious, spiritual and alive quality to it. This gives us an indication to the relationship we have with nature, which is of a communion, the life in us or our spirit, is constantly in communion with the spirit animals, plants, waters, mountains…etc , this is what we call Ecology

Ecology Explained

Ecology is the only conclusion of our high human potential: to find our wholeness , we need to love ourselves, and the context that keeps us alive. Just as the organic, logical relation between the cells of the human body, ecology is the rule that makes everything stay together, connected, working, functioning, surviving. Ecology as the rule of Interconnectedness is our default software as beings. When did we as humanity forget it?

“Shamanism represents spiritual ecology. Shamanism is not about the simple veneration of Nature, it is about a reciprocal spiritual communication that restores the lost connection that our human ancestors had with the amazing spiritual power and beauty of our garden called Earth.”

Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman

In any shamanic tradition around the world the main factor is maintaining balance and harmony within and without!. the concept of balance starts by being in tune with our inner being, and extend it to the community and then to nature. a level of Respect for the ecosystem is also the foundation of the entire ritualistic behaviour of the shaman; the shaman only uses his routines to protect and give forth, from one generation to another, the rules used to live in Sync with nature, to honor it, respect it and express gratitude for it. Rituals of gratitude are part of the ceremonies led by Shamans and the indigenous towards the primordial elements (fire, water, sky, land, wood, metal etc.), animals giving humans food, towards the land, towards the spirits of nature (the wood spirits, spirits of the mountain, oceans etc.), towards ancestors who brought them in this existence and from whom they inherited centuries of wisdom… this profound respect is in fact a constant state of connection with the environment, with all that life is. All this was lost for modern humans, this daily routine of connection, this inner attitude of respect and connection with All There Is, as without our ancestors and without all the environment has to offer… we would not be alive.

Shamans are medicine men/women, healers, seers, (reading signs in the human body but also with the help of the natural elements in the environment). They perform all these activities for the greater good of the community calling for help from the spirit guides. The shamans keep the balance between sky and earth, they balance the body-heart-mind of people and keep the respectful balance between man and nature. They watch out for balance and reciprocity in giving and receiving, by respecting the cycles of nature, they know when to harvest a fruit, when to stop consuming and letting the tree rest and recuperate. Being great observers of life, they feel the subtle signs of change in nature from one season to the next. they know the movement of the main stars in the night sky and if this is going to be a good year for the crops or not. Shamans are the first to understand when ”unseen dimensions” change their harmony (sometimes referring to changes in the electromagnetic field of the Earth reversing its poles, causing the change of the sky routes that birds follow, or the surface water flow used by fish and wildlings to navigate.

a new era of Shamanism

Antony Steven, a psychologist and MD says this two million years old Self, the ordaining centre of the collective unconscious, this continuous chain of experiences called individual life, this Self is a collective character: as Jungians discovered, the particular experience of each and every one of us, counts and influences be it the pathology, or the healing process of everybody. The two million years human understands what it means to be sick and what’s necessary for healing because, as Stevens argues, “acceptance, empathy, attachment and affiliation with this indigenous Self residing in our psyche is the key to adaptation and health”.

(The Two Million-Year-Old Self, Anthony Stevens, 1993)

As per Anthony, there is a resurrection or an awakening of the archetype of the Shaman within each and everyone of us, calling us to reclaim our inner balance and inner union, which will lead us to the union and balance with our community and our nature. each one of us does the mirroring. What is it that psychologists actually do? They mirror and help us in the process of self- resignification. What is it that artists do? They mirror the interior and exterior universe and re-signify it in relation with the Self.

The shaman fulfils some of the transcendental artistic expression, some of the counselling and accompanying done by psychologists and philosophers. Acting as a mirror and also being the creator of the collective dream, he is the storyteller and keeper of the cultural memory, reminding us of the work of a Jungian analyst helping us read and rewrite the ‟circuitry” of our soul. We now live a time when this shaman is showing himself again to the world.

PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT AND KEEPING IT CLEAN AND BALANCED , WHICH IS IN FACT THE FUNDAMENTAL ACT OF RESPECTING THE CYCLE OF LIFE.

Embodying the sacred feminine energy

In shamanic culture there is no distinction being made between the natural world and human world, and this is the reason why the human beings community is constantly conscious of the fact that it always has unlimited access to resources by respecting the simple rule to not overly consume, destroy etc. This identification with the environment informs humans (gives them hope and belief) that they live in abundance, that humans are not alone, that life means continuity and cycles, that passing through various stages of evolution and various sufferings are a given Principle of life, of the great All That Is.

“Our interconnectedness with all that exists is an absolute truth: nothing and no one can exist outside of All There Is, the Universe, the Whole.”

Evelyn Rysdyk, The Norse Shaman 2016

All the characteristics listed above, are none but of the embodiment of the sacred feminine energy, the compassionate, inclusive, empathic part of us, the one that sees the world with an eye of togetherness not of separation, the intuitive one, which is always in tune, & communion with nature and with the Creator, the seeker of balance and peace.

By being conscious, living with Presence & awareness, we can co-create and prosper, we can elevate and inspire those around us to elevate too!

There is only one way! which is the way of LOVE! the way of Feminine.

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You Are Your Biggest Saboteur

how your limiting beliefs can block you from your dreams

A belief, is the attitude an individual cultivates towards what he perceives as truth. In epistemology, philosophers use the term “belief” to refer to personal attitudes associated with  ideas and concepts. However, a “belief” does not require active introspection and circumspection. 

The mind acceptance of the belief is usually underpinned by an emotional and spiritual certainty, this showcase the multi- dimensional nature of a belief, it engages who we are on a mental, emotional, spiritual and physical level, which explains the power of our belief system and the reason it has a strong grip on us.

“For some of our most important beliefs, we have no evidence at all, except that people we love and trust hold these beliefs. Considering how little we know, the confidence we have in our beliefs is preposterous—and it is also essential.”

—2002 Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman
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Your Narrative…Your Life!!

We all love a good story!

Story telling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, they include plots, characters and narratives of different point of views. Storytelling can be seen as a foundation for learning and teaching. While the story listener is engaged, they are able to imagine new perspectives, inviting a transformative and empathetic experience. storytelling has a therapeutic and healing effect on both the storyteller and the listener.

Narrative Psychology

In the realm of narrative psychology, a person’s life story is not a Wikipedia biography of the facts and events of a life, but rather the way a person integrates those facts and events internally—picks them apart and weaves them back together to make meaning. This narrative becomes a form of identity, in which the things someone chooses to include in the story, and the way he/she tells it, can both reflect and shape who she/he is.  A life story doesn’t just say what happened, it says why it was important, and it gives an indication on one’s mental and emotional state, it is one’s perspective and own interpretation of what happened.

“Any creation of a narrative is a bit of a lie.”

THE AHA MOMENt

I consider myself as someone who has a pretty good sense of awareness , very conscious and experienced in shadow work , someone used to the ownership and responsibility of my own life events, however, I realised that the experience of trauma, can make our narration a bit distorted…I mean a lot distorted.

I have been working through past traumatic events using different tools and modalities from psychology and spirituality to energy , breath and sound healing, but as we all know, healing is not linear, we process, we release, and then the same issues circle back again for another round of introspection, forgiveness and letting go.

I was revisiting past events, as part of my morning journaling routine, and for the first time, I felt the veil was completely lifted, Then I had an AHA moment!! I was able to see my life from a completely different space. I saw the truth of past events, without self identification nor emotional attachment.

Fortunately, our story is not written in Ink, its written in chalk, and we own it, we are the writers, narrators and the main character.

How you arrange the plot points of your life into a narrative can shape who you are—and is a fundamental part of being human.

Julie Beck

The Ego Seeks Validation In A Hopeless Place

This was the hidden part for me, while I had the awareness of my own mental challenges, and I was doing my best to move past all the pain and suffering I have experienced, I kept repeating the same stories when I referred to my past … ” I was betrayed by ____”, “I was rejected by _______” , “I felt abandoned by ______”, ” _______made me feel that I am not enough” ” I did not feel heard, seen and understood by____”

I guess we can all recognise few negative patterns here;

There is always a third party involved in our story, it could be anyone, a parent, a partner, a friend, an organisation, a boss. Now if we ask ourselves, is this true? did the person consciously do that? did he have any other choices, considering his cognitive abilities, and his own wounds, and the projection of his pain body? the answer to these questions will always be negative, because no human being wants harm to another just for fun, we all act unconsciously and impulsively ,when our pain body is not healed.

The pain body is the energetic body that holds all our unhealed emotional memories. NOW the Shocking realisation, is the ego’s despair to feel validated, special and better than everyone else, makes us believe that if we could not be special by getting the love and attention , we can feel special by being the one with the most suffering and hurt, the one who had been rejected &…&…

The final truth is, the third party is not involved in our story, we are getting ourselves involved in his story in our attempt to be a HERO, while in fact “THE ONLY STORY WHERE WE SHOULD BE PLAYING HEROES OR HEROINS IS OUR OWN”

Final Thoughts / PRO TIPS

Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself’

jalaludin rumi

As someone who loves Rumi, his poetry, and wisdom, I came across this quote many times but I can say that similar to the Sufi tradition, this quote is multi-dimensional, it carries so much wisdom, on how to heal the self, how to cultivate self love, and how to let go of the illusions and tricks of the wounded ego.

Here are few tips:

  1. Work on cultivating a good healthy self love, give yourself the validation you seek, practice self care, make yourself a priority, be special in your own life because thats the only place you can be special. Everywhere else, work on dissolving your ego, and discipline him to be ordinary, one of billions, “a consciousness” part of the “collective consciousness”.

2. What is yours to carry? honor other people’s journey and level of consciousness, and move on with grace, compassion and love.

3. Don’t take yourself seriously? not everything is personal ! the universe does not evolve around you, and people have plenty to deal with. Not everything about you.

Our life narrative integrates our reconstructed past, perceived present, and imagined future. All three coexist at the same time. Hence, from an experiential standpoint, the past, present, and future are not separate and linear, but holistic and co- past, present, and future are all happening right now—at least in your mind.

When we change the meaning and narrative of our past, we simultaneously change the narrative of our present and future. we form our identity by integrating our life experiences into an internalised, evolving story of ourselves, which gives a sense of unity and purpose to our lives. Choose your narrative wisely, because that’s how you will be remembered! There is always a gain in the gap!

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The Peter Pan Syndrome

A look into the different mind stages

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We All know the story of “Peter Pan” as depicted in one of the most popular Disney movies, Peter Pan’s character is a metaphor that refers to the concept of not willing to grow up, in another word, “a child consciousness trapped in an adult body”

Although the concept is not clinically recognised as a mental illness, it is a pop-psychology term that has been used informally by both laypeople and some psychology professionals since the 1983 publication of :” The Peter Pan Syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up”, book by Dr. Dan Kiley.

How to define if someone suffers from Peter Pan Syndrome?

“All children, except one, grow up,” J. M. Barrie wrote in his 1911 novel “Peter and Wendy.” He was speaking of Peter Pan, the original boy who wouldn’t grow up.

The Peter-Pan psychological type is characterised by immaturity or certain sorts of psychological, social, and sexual problems. The type of personality in question is immature, his characteristics include attributes such as irresponsibility, rebelliousness, pottering about, anger, narcissism, dependency, manipulativeness, and the belief that he is beyond society’s laws and norms.

Most likely people with Peter pan syndrome were raised in a co-dependent dysfunctional family, lacking healthy boundaries.

Permissive and over-protective parenting styles are usually the main cause of this disorder. As the child reaches adulthood, he finds himself unable to cope with responsibilities.

According to Kiley, “Peter Pan” is the adult little boy who, when in a relationship, is looking for mothering.. The “Peter Pan” type partner is emotionally unavailable, he refuses to define or label the relation. He is avoidant to discussing long-term plans and lives for the day.

He also has difficulties with careers goals, a tendency to skip work when challenged or stressed, or to move jobs frequently due to the lack of motivation.

As a character, he is unreliable and flaky, with almost no control over his emotional outbursts, he expects others to take care of him, and shies away from taking decisions or making serious choices, in fact, such individual keeps his options open in relationships and in life. Due to his inability to handle conflicts or hardships, he usually relies on substances to escape his reality.

To summarise, Peter Pan syndrome is the “failing to launch” into adulthood. It is a stagnation of the child’s consciousness due to an emotional trauma, putting a halt on the child’s cognitive process.

A spiritual perspective on the stages of mind

Spirituality looks at individual development through the lens of the ego-soul dynamic: the growth and development of the ego, the alignment of the ego with the soul, and the activation of the soul consciousness. Thus we can define the below levels of consciousness:

  • The Survival consciousness (Root Chakra): the child at this stage is completely dependant on his parents to get his basic needs.
  • The Relationship consciousness (Sacral Chakra): at this stage, the child start relating to his loved ones, he needs to belong, to be loved and protected.
  • The Self-Esteem Consciousness (Solar plexus chakra): this level of consciousness is about feeling secure, feeling accepted and validated by our community, it is marked by social conditioning. 
  • The Transformation Consciousness (Heart Chakra): The fourth level of human consciousness is about finding freedom and autonomy. the need to discover one’s own identity beyond the parental programming and cultural conditioning , questions such as “Who am I?” and “What is important to me?” are the initiation to discover the true (soul) self.
  • Internal Cohesion Consciousness (throat chakra): The fifth level of human consciousness is about finding meaning in your life — finding what your soul came into the world to do. At this level of consciousness, the question is no longer “Who am I?” but “Why am I here in this body?” and “How can I fully express myself?”
  • Making a difference consciousness (Third Eye chakra) : The sixth level of human consciousness is about making a difference in the world — there is an understanding that the ability to fulfil your purpose is strongly conditioned by your ability to connect with others and facilitate the work of those who support you.
  • Service consciousness (Crown chakra): The seventh level is about selfless service to the cause or the work which allows you to use your gifts and talents — the work you were born to do. You reach this level of consciousness when making a difference becomes a way of life — when you surrender to your soul.

The first three stages of development involve establishing the ego as a viable, independent entity in its physical, social and cultural framework of existence. The fourth stage of development involves aligning the motivations of your ego with the motivations of your soul. The last three stages of development involve activating your soul’s consciousness.

The Healing Process

Healing modalities consider three fundamental stages of development of the psyche : 

  • The Child mindset stage , or the Peter Pan syndrome, corresponds to imbalances in the first three chakras, as a result of wounds experienced in childhood, which does not allow a healthy transition to adulthood. A healthy transition to adulthood occurs at the age of 22 for females and 30 for males, if an individual transits to adulthood but still have some unhealed wounds from childhood, he is usually in an over-corrected adulthood, such individuals are workaholics, over-achievers, or wild party animals. Belief and fear work is the way to go here, tackling wounds like safety, security, self-worth, self-esteem, anger, shame, guilt, self reliance allow these individuals to make it to the next stage.
  • The adult mind stage is linked to the heart and throat chakras, individuals at this stage are mature, independent, they discovered the voice of their soul, and they are crafting their self-concept, however, there is a tendency of unhealthy boundaries, and emotional imbalances, which cause them an energy drainage. working on self-love, unconditional love, balance ,releasing attachments and implementing healthy boundaries, facilitate their transition to the next stage.
  • The natural transition to the sage mindset, the last level of development, starts at the age of 40 in both genders. Sage individuals have an expansive consciousness, they are kind, loving and nurturing to others, while maintaining healthy boundaries. They are philanthropists, devoted to serve humanity, they feel a good sense of union with people and with the creator.

Generally! a good way to identify your mind stage, is to reflect on your triggers. additionally Knowing the mind stage of who is triggering you, will will provide an understanding of their wounds , making it easy to forgive and move on without holding grudges or resentment against them.

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A look into Social Behaviours

Social Perception — A Psychological & Spiritual View

Have you ever made a bad judgement call? or misread a person or a situation? if your answer is yes, then this article can be useful for you.

In Social psychology, the process of discerning people, and figuring them out, is called “ social perception”, it is a mental tool people use to form impressions about each other, and make conclusions about these impressions.

Forming impressions on people, is a process we practice daily, consciously or unconsciously. Consider for example the barista who serves you your morning coffee, and the conclusions you draw from your impression on him, even thou you barely know him.

Impressions help us in taking decisions and making judgment calls about people and situations in our lives, however, these judgments can be biased, stereotyped, or even made based on a memory, which make them delusional and not really accurate.

How do we form impressions?

Our first impression about others is a result of a selection of variables. A lots of factors can influence the process of impressions formation such as, the person’s behavior and traits, their physical appearance, the social context, traits, and past experiences.

Social Identity Theory

In 1979, psychologist Henri Tajfel initiated one of the best contribution to psychology, which is the social identity theory.

Social identity is a person’s sense of who they are within their group membership (s). the groups we belong to, are a source of pride and self-esteem and a sense of belonging (Henri Tajfel , 1979)

Social Identity Theory suggests that we divide the world into “them” and “us” (i.e. we put people into social groups), and we use three mental processes to do that.

Social Categorisation

The first mental shortcut we use in forming perceptions. In this process, we mentally categorise people into different groups based on common characteristics. This can occur consciously, but for the most part, social categorisations happen automatically and unconsciously. Some of the most common social categories are age, gender, occupation, , religion and race…etc.

Social Identification

In the second stage, social identification, we adopt the identity of the group we have categorized ourselves as belonging to.

If for example you have categorised yourself as a student, the chances are you will adopt the identity of a student and begin to act in the ways you believe students act (and conform to the norms of the group).

There will be an emotional significance to your identification with a group, and your self-esteem will become bound up with group membership.

Social Comparison

The final stage is social comparison. Once we have categorised ourselves as part of a group and have identified with that group we then tend to compare that group with other groups. If our self-esteem is to be maintained our group needs to compare favourably with other groups.

This is critical to understanding prejudice, because once two groups identify themselves as rivals, they are forced to compete in order for the members to maintain their self-esteem.

Competition and hostility between groups is thus not only a matter of competing for resources like jobs but also the result of competing identities.

Discernment & Judgement in Spirituality

The spiritual perspective always directs us towards a higher understanding, it does promote learning , healing and soul growth. One of the main laws in spirituality is that there is no separation, or “ THE OTHER PERSON IS YOU”. So each time, you judge or form an impression about the other, you are just projecting your own wounds and insecurities on them, otherwise, you will have no motivation to judge, categorise or label anyone.

If you are spiritually inclined, you would be familiar with the word “Inner- authority, which is the ability to judge, people and situations. Having a good judgement is different than being judgmental, it is the foundation of discernment to have the ability to observe and evaluate a situation, while being judgmental is taking the superiority platform, to criticise the other or put him down.

This discernment is a choice to either plug to the high energy and truth of the creator of “all that is”, or plug to the lower vibrations of the lower density of the “Matrix”, and get enslaved by the illusion of separation.

A very powerful meditation to develop inner authority, good discernment, is visualising a royal chair location in the area between your eyebrows (third eye), and picture yourself sitting confidently on this chair, and looking at situations from there, from a higher perspective.

Discernment can be cultivated by taking responsibility of your own life, and stop blaming your misery on people or situations , instead learn to observe your patterns, understand your emotions, they will point you towards the only reason behind your projections and illusional judgment which is nothing other than your own wounds and insecurities.

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THE POWER OF SURRENDER

If you grew up like me, with a disciplined and strict up-bringing, challenged to be self-sufficient from a very young age, to plan for everything in your life, with very little left to fate, this is definitely a very relevant topic for you.

So with such background, I figured out in my childhood, that in order to make it in a competitive and challenging world, I had to develop a central ego, to make sure that I am protected, resulting in a lonely wolf, a warrior, type of personality, the notion of asking for help rarely occurred to me. Of course this doesn’t come without a price, the pressure I put on myself was overbearing, and it led to intense level of anxiety. The irony is until very recently, I had a strong believe that this is who I am, this is my identity, until the illusion was unveiled, and I realised that this was a defence mechanism I have that worked for me, and it kept me safe throughout my challenging days, and my subconscious was holding on to it desperately, that I was in total denial of its shadow element.

In a nutshell, the most frightening situation for me, was anything that involves uncertainty, not knowing what the future holds for me, with such mindset, the most difficult thing to do is to loosen your grip, to let go of the need to control every situation, to SURRENDER!

What is the meaning of Surrender ?

There is a Sufi tale of a man on a quest who finds himself trapped in a huge public bath. The man is alone and knows that if he does not escape he will die. A parrot suddenly appears and tells him that if he can shoot it with his bow and arrow, he will be free. The man has three arrows and quickly fires the first. The parrot flutters into the air, and the man misses. The man turns to stone from the feet to the waist. He fires a second arrow, misses, and turns to stone up to the shoulders. He has one arrow left. What should he do? If he misses a third time he is dead.

This riddle beautifully illustrates the challenge of those times when our conventional ego strategies fall apart and will actually lead to our demise if we go on. The story ends when the man closes his eyes, says, “God is great,” and fires the arrow. This time he hits the parrot and is freed. When faced with no other options, he has to give up to something greater than himself to find a different source of resolution.

What do we surrender?

We surrender the “I”, “the Ego”, the conditioned separate self which operates from a set of beliefs, thoughts…etc together with all attachments to the attachments to the established identity, to our surroundings… in another words, we surrender our need to be individuals.

To understand the psychological meaning of this, it is worth mentioning Carl Jung’ theory on individuation. Jung used the term individuation “to denote a process of becoming a psychological ‘individual,’ that is, a separate, indivisible unity .” To individuate is to gradually actualize our innate capacity to live as a unique individual.

Jung recognized that there would be times on this journey when we are challenged to surrender the central dominance of ego to the deeper significance of what he called the “Self.” For Jung, “Self ” refers to the center of our totality—a deeper seat of wisdom that holds a sense of our innate potential as we unfold in our lives. He was not implying that the Self had some kind of ultimate existence, but that it is nevertheless experienced as a center of wholeness, just as the ego is experienced as a center of consciousness. The Self individuates us—that is to say, its “intention” is that we evolve in such a way that the relationship between the ego and the Self matures. At certain times on our journey, the ego begins to realize that it is not the prime mover, that there are forces at work that have far greater influence. The Self asserts a kind of psychological pressure on us to change and become whole, a pressure that can be extremely disquieting as the ego loses its safe, familiar ground. A major aspect of this undercurrent of change is the need to shift our understanding of what is really at the center of our lives. The shift of emphasis from the ego to the Self has been described as the shift from “I will” to “Thy will be done.”

To whom we surrender?

Surrendering can not be achieved if we do not have faith and trust in a bigger powers, it requires listening to the voice of truth and wisdom residing in our heart, instead of the voice of fear and doubt caused by our Ego, it is basically letting go to some deeper sense of purpose.

Surrender and Spiritual Awakening

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The process of surrender begins with fear, our ego feels threatened by the truth, so the anxiety kicks in, as a defence mechanism to stop us from listening to our intuition, to our instincts, to the voice of our own truth, creating a paralysing fear of the unknown, which can vary from the fear of the future, fear of death, fear of taking a certain decision or following a certain path.

The key to surrender is letting go of control and resistance to what is, and instead accepting and working with the energy of the universe instead of working against it. However, surrendering does not mean sitting back and waiting, but having an active role in your life, but once you put on the work, planted the seeds, and made clear intentions, you can relax, trust and wait for your harvest.\

To wrap up this, I have learnt to differentiate between the energy of surrender and the energy of resistance, when I am in flow, peaceful, breathing easily, my awareness level is pretty high, and I am able to see the bigger picture, I know for a fact that I am in surrender mode. however, I can detect the resistance or forcing mode, when I tend to narrow my mind and go into the nitty gritty details, trying to control the How, when and who? , when the fear and resistance take over, I immediately become anxious, doubtful of self and others, with a very clouded vision, with time I have learnt to bring myself back to the present moment, by grounding, meditation, spending time in nature… I still do that mechanically, practising surrender, like they say fake it until you make it!!

LET GO AND LET GOD IN!!

Be the light!

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THE WARRIOR IN YOU

When I think of courage, the first thing that came to mind is the image of the hero or the prince charming in Disney movies saving his beloved, from the monster or the dark witch, acting life a fool in front of all the challenges and obstacles thrown his way.

Although this might sound like a fantasy, it has lots of truth , the monster is a depiction of fear, while the hero, is the courageous self once liberated from his paralysing fear and the princess can be a desired goal or outcome.

learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

Nelson Mandela

Courage for me, represents the ability to step outside my comfort zone, and confront my fear, the fear of the unknown, of loosing security & stability, the fear of judgment for being different, or for not abiding and conforming to the norm.

It can be applicable to any situation in life, to a Job, a decision, a relationship …etc. Once one is crippled in fear, he let go of his powers, of the leadership of his life, and takes the passenger seat. Instead of setting goals and taking actions, he embodies the passive role and wait for people, organisations, destiny to consider him in their plans.

This realisation although obvious and logical, yet it took me by surprise when I was reflecting on some challenges I was facing at work in the past two weeks, and it shed light on how I was letting go of my role as active catalyst in life and instead of taking the leadership I chose to take the back seat because of the uncertainty of what might happen next.

So what does it take to be brave, to conquer the fear barrier, and own your life? it does take Courage, Faith, Trust in your abilities and in the divine support.

I guess to make things easier on you and me, we should ask ourselves, which one is stronger? the fear of taking the leap of faith? or the fear of what could happen if we do?. what would happen if we fail?, and what living with the feeling of a missed opportunity: to freedom, to a better job, to a better life, to a lifetime of happiness and success?

Life is meant to be lived, and we, as spiritual beings having this human experience, are meant, to explore the unlimited possibilities available to us, to take risks, to fail, pick ourselves up, learn and move on to the next adventure, to succeed, rejoice and celebrate. We are not supposed to have a stagnant life lacking purpose and drive, a dull life with no passion to keep us bright and joyful.

We were unfortunately conditioned to be perfect, and were given a boring road map to how a successful life should look like, but as we are entering the Aquarian age , the age of expansion of the collective consciousness, of awakening and of truth, it is our duty to start leading by example, to show our next generation a new way of being, away from the old paradigms & limiting beliefs that was bestowed upon us, Instead, we should guide them to embrace the magic of life and to look at it with an eye full of wonder and curiosity, just like the child that we were once.

Be the light!

Posted on by ikram0408@gmail.com · 2 Comments

AUTHENTICITY

Are you living as your true genuine self? or do you have a mask on?

WHO AM I ?

Is a vital question which each one of us should be asking, we should be checking our inner truth, and observing if we are acting with integrity, if we really walk the talk. The sad reality, is that most of the time, our actions are influenced by our social conditioning, and beliefs,

To have a better understanding on the real meaning of authenticity, try to watch children play and hear their genuine laughter, it is one of the greatest beauties you can witness in life.

We were all born as children filled with life, a sense of wonder, and the desires to explore or create and live in the moment.  Children have no past baggage or future anxieties so they express what they feel and aren’t afraid to love unconditionally.

At the age of 3, Children start to become more tamed, we start loosing that sense of wander. This process of losing your authenticity and replacing it with thoughts in the form of fears, shameful memories, rules, social values, and beliefs is known as domestication.

Our domestication can turn into a disease if our parents do not have the awareness and wisdom of what they are passing on.  Just like pets, we are domesticated with an emotional reward or punishment system.  If our behavior is desirable we are rewarded with attention and affection.  If our behaviour is not acceptable we are punished by the rejection of our parents.

As Children, we didn’t care about judgement, we did what made us happy without having to worry about what other people may think of us, hence our self-worth was rooted in our authenticity.

However, as adults, our thoughts and behaviour are fear driven, fear of rejection, of judgement…etc, so we unconsciously gave our powers, and put our self-worth in the hands of other people. This new type self-worth forces us to change, to create a false image of ourselves, then slowly, we start realising that people have different expectations from us, teachers, parents, friends , lovers…etc, until we realise that we have lost ourselves in the middle of trying to fit in, to please, and to be accepted. TO BELONG

The False image brings insecurities and anxiety, the insecurities hit you because you expect to externally live up to an image you envision for yourself, but deep down you know the internal image of yourself is different.  The greater the discrepancy between these two images, the more insecure you will feel. this false image is called EGO, it manifest as the need to always be right, in order to protect the illusion you have created, and you spend your life trying to prove people wrong by trying to become successful, rich, famous…etc but this pursuit of physical thing will never give you the satisfaction you seek, there is a void in you that will keep creating suffering and unhappiness until you decide to unveil your true colours and be unapologetically yourself.

WAKE UP TO SEE THE REAL YOU

Authenticity will teach you to see the world as it is, not as you believe it to be.  You are the manifestation of the Divine within this physical body, As you become more authentic you’ll begin to understand this; not with logic and your social personality, but by feeling it at in your core, your very essence. Honour your soul! Honour your TRUTH!

BE THE LIGHT!

Posted on by ikram0408@gmail.com

Re-thinking Rejection

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A Curse or Blessing!!

When was the last time you experienced rejection? Was it a parent who was never present enough for you? was it a guy or relationship you thought was worth investing in, and you were proved wrong? was it a boss who overlooked you for a promotion? or someone who thought you were never good enough, no matter what you did?

Rejection may seem like a curse, an enemy, it is disheartening, it makes you feel you are not good enough, and pushes you to question your self-worth and value, but in fact, if you take sometime to think about it consciously, away from the EGO games, because if you think about it, its the Ego who gets rejected and no one else. So once you calm your emotions, you will realised that Rejection is your best friend, you can use is as a catalyst for success and a proof of your high value. instead of internalising it and making it about you, change your perception and look start looking at it as a development tool, a massive catalyst for your success, instead of a humiliating force.

Rejection as a Projection

Before getting discouraged or start doubting yourself, think that rejection can be a projection of the other person’s own insecurities, and has nothing to do with you. In life we encounter different kind of people, some of them are using projection as a defense mechanism, and defense mechanisms are used to cope with feelings and emotions that we have trouble expressing or coming to terms with,

We attract people into our lives who mirror BOTH extremities within us, so that we can have the opportunity be aware of our own dichotomy. The law of attraction responds to both extremes. We are a perfect match to them, even though they seem to be the opposite of us, because that denied self is still part of us and is still therefore, subject to the law of attraction. But these people tend to be our opposing mirror. They reflect the attribute we suppressed and we reflect the aspect that they suppressed. current concept of projection suggests that someone who is projecting, is projecting their own denied self onto someone who doesn’t have those traits at all. But projection is a two way street. Often what we project onto someone IS actually a trait that they possess as well and we only recognize it because it causes a flare up of the wound of that rejected aspect within ourselves. Also, to have someone project upon us, we have to be a vibrational match to that experience, meaning that the experience of being projected upon is also reflecting something that is being denied within ourselves. So instead of falling into negative thinking, own the situation and transform it into a success a story:

I will share with you a tool I am using when I am experiencing a strong emotion or an uncomfortable situation in my life.

first calm your mind and go inward, then ask yourself the 3 below Questions :

  1. What is this?
  2. why I am experiencing it?
  3. How Can I change it?

  1. What is this ?

This question will help you identify the emotion triggered in you when you experienced rejection, what are you feeling, where is it located in your body, and what physical sensations comes with it.

2. Why I am Experiencing this?

When you ask why, you are now exploring your subconscious mind, you are basically looking for your “STORY” here, everyone of us has a repertoire of stories cultivated based on previous experiences, and we keep on feeding that story, and if we are not able to face it, we dive into the illusion of being a victim of our circumstances.

3. How Can I change it?

Now is the time to take charge of your life, to change the narrative of your story, to understand that the world is not there to get you, and that you are not a victim, but you are an active performer in this play, called LIFE.

So use this opportunity to explore new part of yourself, to call back fragmented parts of your soul that you keep rejecting, embrace them and know that you are WHOLE.

Rejection as a Protection

Sometimes, God or the Universe removes people, or situations from your life because they are not just for you, either you are supposed to be somewhere else, with someone else, or doing something completely different, which is in line with your life path and your destiny. Rather than believing that life is against you, open your heart and trust in what is unfolding for you, Surrender, don’t resist it. And I promise, you will go through a life changing experience and you will be grateful for the journey that leads you to where you are and who you are, you will feel blessed for the rejection which initially was a Protection for your heart and soul.

Be The Light!

Posted on by ikram0408@gmail.com

Addictions and Childhood Trauma

How parenting shaped who we are today?

This article was inspired by a “Youtube Video” shared by my best friend, the video was one of Dr. Gabor Mate lectures about addictions and childhood, Dr. Mate is a renowned speaker, and bestselling author, he is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress and childhood development.

What Blew my mind was The Incredible synchronicity and the timing of this video, as I was fully submerged in my own internal process, and reading one of his books “ In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts” which is basically a close encounter with people with severe addictions as a consequence of a traumatised childhood.

The lecture had a double impact on me; I felt it was both comforting; I had a moment of clarity; I felt the divine heard my prayers, and graced me with answers, my life experiences are finally making sense, and I felt a huge responsibility, to share this and make a difference, it may be insignificant in the ego eye, but if one person benefit from it one day, that is ENOUGH for me, hence I couldn’t fight the urge to write about it.

What is Addiction?

A person with an addiction uses a substance, or engages in a behavior, for which the rewarding effects provide an interesting incentive to repeat the activity, despite detrimental consequences. Substance Addiction may involve the use of substances such as alcohol, inhalants, opioids, cocaine, and nicotine, or behaviors such as gambling, shopping, exercising, gaming, sex, Love, Tv, Internet…etc.

The Difference between Physical and behavioural Addiction?

Addiction can occur in many forms. Often, it is assumed that physical dependence characterized by withdrawal symptoms is required in order for someone to be diagnosed with an addiction disorder, but the fact is that behavioural addiction can occur with all the negative consequences in a person’s life minus the physical issues faced by people who compulsively engage in drug and alcohol abuse.

It is the compulsive nature of the behavior that indicates a behavioral addiction, or process addiction, in an individual. The compulsion to continually engage in an activity or behavior despite the negative impact on the person’s ability to remain mentally and/or physically healthy and functional in the home and community defines behavior addictions. The person may find the behavior rewarding psychologically or get a “high” while engaged in the activity but may later feel guilt, remorse, or even overwhelmed by the consequences of that continued choice.

Why Do we get addicted?

Behavioral addictions exist in a gray area in addiction. Technically, the only medically recognized behavioral addiction is gambling disorder. Formerly classified as an impulse control disorder, gambling disorder was reclassified in 2013 as an addictive disorder in the DSM-5 (the official reference guide for diagnosing mental illnesses).I saw this reclassification as significant because it was the first formal recognition that behavioral addictions exist.

What is alarming here is while addiction to physical substances is treated and also recognized and acknowledged by society? It does not give behavioral addiction that much importance, although they share the same importance and detrimental effect on the brain neurological flow, and to get the situation even worse, the addictive behavior is welcomed and approved in our modern society and is considered NORMAL.

Dr. Gabor Mate links all kinds of addictions to Childhood Traumas, the parenting we received, and the way we were treated, and how we felt in our home environment. So we grew up as dysfunctional insecure, unloved adults, wounded, disconnected from the “SELF”, so addictions a coping mechanism to find pleasure, comfort, to release stress…in other words, to be in AVOIDANCE to look at our wounds.

Most of us have been the fruit of unconscious parenting (no blaming to our parents, they did what they could with the limited emotional maturity and consciousness they had), we have been compared to other kids: siblings, cousins, neighbors…etc as an incentive to be better which affected our confidence, self-esteem, others of us felt guilty for growing in dysfunctional homes, where anger and verbal/physical abuse was the only communication they knew off, and they blamed it on themselves“ Its ME” “It’s because of ME”, and others experienced the emotional and/or physical absence of one or both parents… etc, hence the addictive tendencies of the whole society to obsessive consumption of social media, mobile phones, food, makeup …etc

The Connection to your SOUL

I can’t help but Quote Rumi on one of the closest quotes to my heart

“When the World pushes you to your knees, you are in the perfect position to PRAY”

We all have been through ups and downs in our lives, but it is always the cry of our soul that brings us back to the source, the source of who WE ARE.

Anxiety, Depression, Melangomy are ways our soul is crying for our attention, and calling us back to the path of LOVE and LIGHT, reminding us we are LOVED and BLESSED by the Divine and that all is well if we have the courage to embrace our emotions if we feel our feelings instead of avoiding them. The journey back to the soul is worth it, it is not an easy one, can be painful & lonely but avoidance also is full of shame, fear, and pain.

Be Brave and Never give up hope on yourself or your loved ones, be mindful in your communication with everyone, you don’t know what they have been through, be gentle and kind with yourself, with your fragile inner child, he/she has been already through a lot, give them love and compassion, nurture and hold space for them.

And last but not least, if you are planning on having kids, please be Mindful & Conscious, and make sure you are READY for such responsibility.

Be the Light!