The Light, the Seed, Oil, and a Wintery Ground... part 2

Dear Pearls,

We left off in the last note with: A quiet place, a seed, white paper and a red crayon, a lit candle, and oil in a jar. I hope that you've been able to imagine into what this might be all about with some good, wintery wonder.

These earthen items represent a first winter bundle for sanctifying a new "hut" space. I am guiding this for now but later you will find all the meanings to bring just the right bundles that you need to fill in some inner spaces as you need to with some inwardly sustaining knowledge out of Anthroposophy. 

1. The Quiet Space.

Some people can't feel quiet in any space. Don't be hard on yourself if you're one of them. We're not taught a lot about finding real quiet in the western world. It goes somewhat against a materialistic, industrial mindset in the West that values endless activity toward the creation of sellable things, with the balance of this activity expected to come from exciting sports, entertainments, and too often chatty walls of words that too often mask any real feelings or truly human values. I'm not saying that this is always the case, but it often is. 

One way to find quiet for a while in a space is to close away from distractions as much as possible and get in some comfortable sitting position, and then put your thinking to your breathing. Don't judge how you're breathing, just notice that you are and how your breathing is working, without intellectualizing in some scientific explanation to yourself about it. This can happen in a different kind of meditative state. This is a quieting-the-mind kind of practice. You may notice your mind jumping all over the place at first. If you stick to the breath for several minutes, watching your discomfort pass like watching scenes of a movie go by as if you're the light coming through the frames of the scenes on the screen with nothing in you but the light, you'll slowly see your distractedness begin to settle down. Make sure that your body is warm enough. 

What thoughts, feelings, needs, or actions arise for you when you practice this? Please feel welcome to offer a comment about it if you like in the Comment section below. 

2. A Seed

The seed represents you in the winter. It also represents many aspects of nature in the winter. You might want to pick it up and really look at it, feeling it's hardness and noticing it's colour. Try thinking into not what is inside it in a material way, but what is inside in a dynamic living way. What is the secret in the seed that allows so much to emerge from it in the spring that can't be seen inside of it to the regular, daily looking. How does so much expand from it when it is so small, hard, contained, and seemingly insignificant? 

Many seeds have fallen and become hidden in the ground or below leaves since the end of summer. Nature finished it's cycle of abundance by creating seeds to carry through the winter and provide for life in the coming spring. Right now, those seeds are transition and transformation. Some may still be somewhat hard on or in the ground. Others may have swelled somewhat with rain. Yet, they all hold new potential for the coming growing season, when the sun is in it's time of coming closer your way in the world. 

Now, let's reframe this last paragraph about the seed as if we're talking about you or people in general: 

Many Pearls have let summer activity fall away, have packed or hidden away certain life-envigorating interests for now, finishing a yearly cycle and looking forward to renewed endeavours in the new year. They are in a natural transition time. All of life works this way. They're enlivened forces from other seasons are not dead, they are quietly contained in some ways for now. Some of the Pearl's feelings or impressions, and of course natural human fears, may have swelled with the rains, or crystalized in the snow, feeling hardened.

Yet, you hold great and sustainable potential inside, and when the sun is a little closer in the spring you'll begin to see and realize your natural potentials more. Right now, you're having to push yourself a bit and it feels straining at times because your inner forces are more asleep in the physical realm. They are not asleep, however, in the soul-spiritual realm. Your psyche is being unconsciously envigorated. You're spiritual "I" is able to see some things in yourself as a result. You're getting previews of your amazing nature but just now it's not time to be fully in that state in a way that others in the practical world can see. But there are people who can see you, your profound human nature, and your potential. Try not to forget that. They are bringing loving sun toward you in a kind of prayerful way to remind you that you're truly not alone. We/they know that kinds of struggles you go through. 

They and you know that you were also once smaller than this seed, so small in fact that you could't been seen with the eye. The very first seeds of the human embryo, from which a baby is born and from which a whole, profound human being like you developed, has only been seen through a microscope. You were once something so amazingly full of potential but also so tiny, you couldn't be seen by the human eye.

Something else though knew of all of your potential. In fact, many beings, human and otherwise, loved you into the stream of human life in the most mysterious way, one that most people still can't fully describe other than in a kind of mechanical, biological way. Yet, here you are with a warm heart that was also one of the first things to develop out of your seed while you were still being carried in the womb by the person who contracted with that great mystery to conceive and birth you. The person who mothered you into existence. That seed also couldn't have become alive without the mystery of the father who also entered into conception. Regardless of how your parents behaved later in your life, they both worked together with the greatest mystery of somewhat unknown love to have you come to this world as a tiny, secretive seed, and become the adult person that you are with all of your mind, body, and soul potential. 

Again, what thoughts, feelings, needs, or actions arise in your awareness when you practice this? Please feel welcome to offer a comment about it if you like in the Comment section below. 

3. White Paper (8"x11") and a Red Crayon. 

Contemplating yourself as the mysterious seed-being that you were and still are, sit with your white paper and red crayon in front of you and draw a swelling seed of red in the middle of one half of the page. Let it swell to about the size of a quarter. Make sure that there is enough light in the room to see everything quite clearly, even if you have to turn on lights for a moment that were turned off for your seed meditation. 

Put the crayon down after you've drawn the seed and then take a full 20 to 30 seconds to look directly at the red seed that you have drawn. (You can count to 20 or 30 if you like.) 

Now, look at the blank other side of the page. Look at it directly, just the white blankness. If the red dot on the other side distracts you, you can carefully fold and tear that side of the page off so you can look just at the white page with no distractions. What do you see there after you stare at the blank page for a few seconds? 

Comment down below if you like about what you saw. You should see something somewhat surprising. If you didn't see anything, try the activity again with a bit better lighting. You don't have to draw the red dot again, just start over looking at that side of the page, at the red dot for 20 or 30 seconds, then look at the blank page again. 

Ask yourself what this image that you see on the white page has to do with how much the universe loves you.  I will discuss that in a the next blog. Ponder it. You can take the wonder and pondering into your sleep.  The next morning, try to see if something came up in your imagination or thoughts early in the morning about that image that you saw on the blank page. 

4.   A Lit Candle. 

Now, light your candle, but first here is an imagination for you to do so. Imagine that  a being from the Sun stands behind you radiating warmth and love. This being gives you forces that create life and light. The Sun truly does give us life forces and light.

The Sun does truly stay with us, even raying toward places in our back that we can't see, that are hidden from our view. In the same way, the Sun rays forces that help us to stay alive even in the dark winter and in the nights. We just don't feel and see the Sun forces with our earthly senses as fully in the winter cloudy, cold, and grey periods yet it is there. We don't see the Sun forces at night since they are on the other side of the earth, but they are there, enlivening other human beings, creatures, and plant life while we sleep. They are also reflected from the moon. So, in essence, the Sun always has our back though we're not so aware of just how much it really does, especially in the winter. 

Now, light the candle with the imagination that the fire of the candle is related to the Sun being standing behind you, giving you the life energy to light the candle. Think also about the sunlight of the summer, in those times in the summer that felt enlivening and welcoming. Take one or two of those memories into your heart. Breath deeply the light of the candle as it relates to the summer sun memory, and with the imagination that a Sun being is standing behind and has helped you to bring this light to the candle. 

Now, ponder, was this just an imagination? 

Feel free to comment in the Comment section below if you care to. There is no expectation that you do so, as this touches some deep inner mystery nature in a person and sometimes, words can't define what we think or feel, or at least not right away. 

5. The Contained Oil

Lastly, look at the oil that you have contained. It needs to be a completely clear oil, without color. We won't do anything with this now. Just wonder.

​I'll speak more to this in part 3 of this blog series.