While my son went to his preferred section, I headed along the stacks toward the nonfiction section. I really didn't have anything in particular I was looking for. After all, I was at the end of a book recommended by a friend, and I needed to finish it before I fall into another. So, I went with the intention of just browsing anything that grabbed me. (If I'm totally honest, almost everything on a book spine or cover grabs my attention simply because it's a book.)
As I passed the printers and sit-down catalogs, my attention was drawn to the digital catalog several rows in front of me. There were four right next to me, but I went toward this one. Again, I had no idea what I would search for because my spiritual interests are broad and span across genres. But, when I got to the desk and looked at the screen I saw this. . .
I may have laughed out loud when I read it.
My first thought was, Holy shit! Message heard, Universe.
I glanced at the call number and headed to the shelf. There was a woman there, but she was looking at the opposite shelf. Still, I found myself wishing slightly that she would be the person who had searched for the Spirit Hacking book. Alas, she was not. I stooped to the level where the book should be, and when I found where it had obviously resided, I ran my finger along the empty space where the spine would have been.
Here's where it gets a bit, well, weird. (If you didn't already think this was weird.) That empty space spoke to me, and Spirit guided my finger to the left. There was a copy of The Universe has Your Back, by Gabrielle Bernstein. I had literally listened to Oprah interview her on the Super Soul Conversations podcast a day or two before. While the book they were discussing had been Gabrielle's new book scheduled for release this summer, they mentioned this one a few times.
Let me give a breif backstory here. . . Last March, after everyone had been declaring their "word of the year," a gifted woman gave me mine. I wasn't actively participating in such things as it just feels like another form of New Year's resolutions. But this woman, while talking to someone else, said the word TRUST, and I heard it like a chime. Then Spirit said to me, "Yes, trust! Trust in yourself. Trust in the process." In this aspect trust also means surrender, and that is hard. The message hasn't gone away. It's still part of my everyday messages. And over a year later, I am still learning the how of it.
So, back in the library, I pulled the book from the shelf and looked at the cover. Apparently I was going home with this book becasue it's all about trust and surrender. Since I now had one book, I figured I'd look at more. I found two more, one by Brene Brown, and the other a collection of stories about women around the world who were able to overcome the odds and make a difference.
I went back to the catalog. I don't remember what I searched for, but I found another section with more books about meditation, spirituality, and rituals. On the bottome shelf was a small book with a waxy paper cover, Earth Energies Meditations. I pulled it out and opened it to the beginning of Part IV, Rooted in Spiritual Authenticity. I turned the page. . .
BOOM!
Chapter 10. Living Your Truth. Ok, now I'm really listening.
I read that first page and part of the next, closed the book, and added it to my stack. This was meant for me, obviously. You see, I was attending a celebration of Mother Earth at a local spiritual gathering that weekend. Adding that to the message of trust convinced me I was lead to this book, and indeed this page.
When I got home, I went outside and read this prayer aloud.
That Saturday, April 23rd, I went with my good friend to Laughing Stone Hollow for a day of celebrating Gaia with like-minded people. It was a full immersion into a profound experience. We sang the Water Song, gifted by the Algonquin people, while performing a water ceremony. As we walked out to the stream, a bald eagle rested on the ground next to the pond in the next field. I experienced my first sound bath, where I felt my spirit pulled down into the Earth by the deep resonance of the singing bowls and lifted from my body by the windchimes. We closed with a fire ceremony.
It was an amazing experience.
 |
| Ceremony Circle |
I started wrting this entry the week after the ceremony, but I got so far and stopped. Spider came to visit, then, telling me to write. I didn't. I had way too much going on at work and in life. So it sat. For weeks. A constant reminder in an open tab.
That week I started another course in shamanism for the East Direction. In that first class, we were paired up for journeying and gifted a spirit animal guide by our partner. My dear freind gifted me Gorilla, and that is my tale for next time.
Until then. . .
Happy Gardening & Love Your Mother 🌎!
