Thursday 20 December 2012

Winter Solstice 2012 Preparations and Ritual Guide


Tomorrow is the last Winter Solstice of this Great Year and marks the end a 26,000 year cycle of human spiritual evolution. On this special day, we will finally close the door on the Old Way, on Humanity’s long period of separation from the Goddess.

While tomorrow is a day to celebrate this incredible ending, it is also a solemn day. During this period Humanity has been on a huge rollercoaster ride of ups and downs and all souls have experienced great pain and suffering along the way. All that pain and suffering is not going to magically evaporate on the last day of the Great Year, but it does mean that dealing with it will gradually become much easier. In a way, tomorrow is like the end of a huge war that has lasted thousands of years –and like with any war, after the euphoria of ‘victory’ comes the big clean up. So, while we have achieved something momentous that needs celebrating, it is also important that we take a moment during the day to acknowledge the suffering that so many people are still living with.

Many people have been asking me what we can do to ritualise the Solstice and what time the actual event is. Some people will celebrate as the sun comes up, as they do the Summer Solstice but the exact timing of the Solstice is the moment that the Sun enters the sign of Capricorn. This will happen at 11.12am GMT – the last minute being 11.11 to 11.12!

While it would be entirely fitting to have a celebration or party it would be highly beneficial to symbolically ‘close the door’ on the Old Way and to take time to pray for world peace before Humanity moves on to the next 26,000 year cycle.  

 
Solstice Ritual Timings

Sunrise – 11.11am (GMT)

This would be a good time to perform cleansing and purification rituals both for yourself and for Humanity as a whole.

11.11am (GMT)

Symbolically or in your mind’s eye ‘close the door’ on the Old Way. You may even want to visualise the whole of Humanity joining together to close a huge door on pain, poverty and suffering.

Once the door is closed make a silent, spoken or sung prayer for World Peace.

11.12am GMT

Welcome in the new 26,000 year cycle by wishing people a ‘Happy New Great Year!’

Then celebrate to your heart’s content!! : )

 
If you live in another country, work out your Winter Solstice plans according to your time zone, making sure you perform cleansing rituals beforehand then the door closing and minute prayer at the 11.11 am GMT equivalent, and conduct your celebrations any time thereafter.  

 

Cleansing Ritual

If you feel you would like to conduct a cleansing ritual, you can choose any activity that feels meaningful to you. The activity you choose is less important than the intension you use when you do it. Here are some suggestions:
 
1. Write a list of all things you would like humanity to let go of then burn them (please be careful how/where you do this!)

2. Use smudging or incense to cleanse yourself or environment

3. Take a special bath or shower and ask the water to cleanse you

4. If you have crystals, cleanse them in water. It is especially good if you can do this in a fresh spring, stream, river or water fall

5. Have a mini spring clean in your home – hoover, de-clutter, empty rubbish etc.

6. Conduct a short fast from daybreak or midnight on the 20th until 11.12am on the 21st   

7. Light a candle and say a prayer asking Humanity to be cleansed of the past

 
See you on the Other Side!
 
Freja

Tuesday 11 December 2012

The Festival of the Returning Goddess

In 10 days we will come to the end of a remarkable and terrifying 26,000 year long journey which has taken humanity to the heights of creative power and the depths of spiritual despair. Humanity's period of separation from The Goddess will come to a definitive close on Winter Solstice 2012. This is not to say there will be an immediate change or a sudden end to suffering, all it means is that a period of intense learning has been completed and we will now begin our journey back into the Light, here on planet earth.

Many people believe our suffering is a sign that human beings are 'bad' or have made some kind of terrible mistake but we have simply been experiencing the growing pains that come with a developmental stage. Mother Earth is a physical expression of the Divine Feminine and Humanity carries the spark of the Divine Masculine Spirit which seeks to expand, grow and to understand itself as as something separate. Therefore, Humanity is essentially the 'boy child' of the Earth Goddess. (In Biblical terms Mary represents the Mother Goddess and Jesus her human son who must leave her behind so he can Ascend to 'Heaven' and be with his Father God.)

Every boy must break his attachment with the feminine in order to develop into a mature, autonomous man. Boys go through a bewildering and often painful period of separation from their mother (and from girls) in order to define their masculinity. During this period they often differentiate themselves from all things feminine in order to feel more rooted in their masculinity. Separation from the feminine is also marked by power struggles and hierarchical initiation rites which take place between boys as they struggle to define their masculine power amongst peers.

During these years of separation, boys are free to develop their masculine identity, power and their autonomous 'otherness'. Once this process of differentiation is complete, the Divine Feminine pulls them back with intense sexual urges that call them like a siren song. Having successfully broken free from The Mother aspect of the feminine, the masculine then seeks to reunite with the feminine through sexual union with The Maiden aspect of The Goddess. During Humanity's separation, men were trying to leave the Mother but not yet mature enough to join with the Consort aspect of the Divine Feminine as equals. This meant that men's sexual relationships with women were often conflicted and dominated by the mother/ whore complex. (Men who are attracted to other men either identify primarily with the masculine principle and search for 'femininity' in other men or they identify with the feminine principle, even though they are incarnated in a masculine body. The converse is true for women who are attracted to other women.)

Humanity is ready to let go of the power struggle against the feminine because we have successfully defined our 'masculinity'. Humanity has come of age; it has developed its autonomous power and formed an identity which is quite separate from the Mother Goddess. In the last 100 years humanity reached its ultimate 'masculine' power by becoming capable of destroying Earth and being able to leave by going into space. This is akin to a boy reaching the stage where he knows he can physically overcome his once all powerful mother and when he knows he must leave home and find his own way. When he reaches this point, he knows he has left his boyhood behind and become a man. (Check out Space Odyssey 2001 for an wonderfully insightful film about this human/masculine plight.)

The process of separation has been a collective experience that we have all been equally involved in. It is important to acknowledge that every human soul has incarnated on both sides of this power imbalance which means at some point in our journey we have all experienced being both abusers and victims. For any genuine healing to take place, we must eventually develop compassion and forgiveness for our collective suffering. Ultimately, it is the willingness to come out of denial, heal and forgive that will lead us all to an evolved Higher Consciousness. Jesus was able to forgive those who betrayed, oppressed, tortured and murdered him because he understood that his oppressors were spiritual children who did not understand what they were doing.

Masculinity is not innately 'bad', but left unchecked by the balancing feminine counterpart, it will ultimately become destructive. At some point the masculine needs to consciously channel the power it has attained through separation back into the feminine so that balance can be restored. Both feminine and masculine powers are required for a peaceful world based on equality and for this to be made possible, women will need to step into their power and men will need to welcome 'feminine' leadership qualities in women and within themselves. It doesn't mean things should turn into an inverted Patriarchy where women are 'in charge', it is simply that men will have to humbly step down from their pedestal and women will have to rise up to meet them in the middle.

We can go no further in our separation from the Mother Goddess or the Divine Feminine. The process of separation is like an elastic band that eventually stretches to capacity and now it must be released or it will snap. Humanity has reached this 'breaking point' and the next Great Year will be about our path of Return. In many ways we are in a very precarious position and many aspects of our current existence will 'snap' or be lost. However, anything we have created that no longer serves us needs to break so we can be released and begin our journey of return. This 'break down' phase is also part of the plan and is not to be feared because ultimately it will bring new growth.

During the period of separation, The Goddess has taken on the Crone aspect of the Divine Feminine and submerged Herself into darkness. We have been lost to her and She has been lost to us. But as we begin to come back down to Earth, Her inner light is rising up to meet us. The fire festival Imbolc at the beginning of February brings with it the first signs that the Light is returning and the Goddess is stirring beneath the harsh winter landscape. Imbolc 2013 welcomes the Returning Goddess who will bring Light and warmth to us all – not just after this year's winter, but after a winter that has lasted many thousands of years and has caused much human suffering.  

I will be celebrating this auspicous date as the 'Festival of the Returning Goddess' over the whole weekend of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of February and I really hope you will join me... 

Freja

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Death, Rebirth and What Comes Next...


Since I began writing this blog, my understanding of 2012 and the objectives of this website have evolved beyond all recognition. Initially I thought I was going be recording insights and general observations while encouraging others to take on the 2012 ‘spiritual challenge’. However, almost as soon as I committed to writing MissionPossible2012, my personal world began falling apart on a major scale. Suddenly I found myself right in the middle of the 2012 process instead of simply observing it. I wonder if perhaps unconsciously I had committed to writing this blog to help me remain conscious during the challenging process I was about to undertake...

A few weeks after I began this blog, I had a major break up with Mr Wonderful – the ‘spiritually aware’ man I felt I had been waiting for all my life. After two years together, I was devastated to discover our relationship was a long way from ‘conscious’ but rather it was based on mutual dependency which was cleverly covered up with fantasy and illusion. Then soon after we split, I reached breaking point with (most of) my family and finally walked away after years of trying to work things out and find a resolution. Shortly after this I suffered a second severe prolapsed disc that landed me in hospital and required urgent spinal surgery. When I came out of hospital to recuperate in October 2011, I thought I had reached rock bottom in my life and would soon be on the way back up, just in time for the arrival of 2012. I thought there couldn’t possibly be any more for me to have to face up to and deal with. How wrong was I!!! 

I began 2012 with the worst depression and anxiety of my life. I had severe mood swings which went from suicidal to homicidal and I felt complete terror whenever I thought about my future. Though these feelings were triggered by my hospitalisation and all the painkillers, all they had done was lift the lid and reveal the underlying hopelessness and pain I had been carrying deep within me since childhood. I felt like I had fallen off the edge of the earth. I had no sense of security, purpose or direction and I felt completely powerless to do anything about it. I couldn’t believe I had been struggling with my healing for over 20 years only to end up single, childless, jobless and incapacitated the age of 40. Hardly a Beacon of Light for Humanity!

In this sorry state I psychically ‘called’ an ex. Sure enough, 5 weeks later I received an email. We had not had any contact for about three years, but he had searched for me online and found my email address. In 2007 I had resolutely walked away from our (extremely) dysfunctional on-off relationship in search of Mr Wonderful. However, I had not yet reached an inner resolution; I had simply put my intense desire for him in a securely padlocked box and hidden it under the bed for safe keeping. Despite the enormous difficulties in our relationship, I still held onto our ‘special’ psychic bond and believed us to be soul mates that just couldn’t be together in the physical world. 

I would have never psychically called him to me if I hadn’t have been in such a weakened state, but as it turned out, I did need to take that carefully stored box out from under the bed and take another look inside. When he contacted me I wasn’t at all surprised and though I was extremely wary of getting involved again, I made the decision to consciously engage with my desire to find out what it was really made of. When I opened my heart to him without reservation I discovered to my dismay that our special bond was yet another fantasy based on dependency and power struggles that I was no longer interested in. So after eight years of intense attraction, I was finally able to let him go.

In 12 months I had lost the two most significant loves of my life. Once I let them go I found that I also lost the flame of inner desire, something that had been keeping me going all through my adult life. Never had I felt so completely and utterly cut off from the opposite sex. As this second relationship came to a final close, I knew that I had to move house and find a way to sort out my working life and finances, so when my back started to get bad again, I plummeted into an even deeper level of despair. On one level I understood I must still be in the process, it’s just I just couldn't understand what God wanted from me – it was like I was being asked to survive on thin air. I truly felt that if things were to keep going the way they were, I just wasn’t going to make it.

At the end of August 2012 I finally did hit rock bottom, a rock bottom I discovered, that had been following me around like a shadow since childhood. I had spent my life trying to out smart it, but it was always there right beside me. I had to face my deepest fears and I had to have everything in my life stripped away from me before I would be able to do it. I had asked for this experience because I wanted to heal and I was clearly ready for it, but that didn’t stop my terrified ego fighting every step of the way. But on the 23rd of August, I finally gave in to it; I allowed myself to die. I realised I didn’t need to physically die to bring my suffering to a final conclusion, I saw that I could allow myself to die and be reborn on a spiritual level. All I had to do was give up the struggle to survive and control and hand myself and my life over completely to the care of The Goddess.

For nearly 2 years I was gripped in Her birth canal being squeezed with increasingly excruciating, terrifying contractions. Somehow I had managed to survive the re-birthing process and I am sure that being aware of the 2012 Ascension process provided me with an anchor. As soon as I had completed my re-birthing, my life began to move forward again. I still didn’t have any idea where I needed to be or what I needed to be doing, so I asked for guidance and waited. Within three weeks I received three dreams all showing me that I needed to move back to Bristol, so I figured that this was whaty I must do. I had very mixed feelings about doing this but I had put my life into the hands of The Goddess and trusted the guidance I was given. Within two months of my Shamanic death, I was welcomed back to Bristol with open arms and my back was better than it had been in over 3 years.

Though the actual move unfolded perfectly, inwardly I was screaming. I had been holed up by myself in the countryside for months on end spending most of my time connecting with nature, Spirit and myself. Despite my isolation and foreboding about the future, I actually felt extremely comfortable and safe in my cosy flat surrounded by trees and beautiful countryside. I was feeling extremely sensitive, anti social and resistant and yet Spirit was clearly guiding me to move to back to the city. When I first arrived I felt like a new born overwhelmed with the noise and the lights and the people, and like a new born I screamed and cried with the shock. But I knew in my heart that I was exactly where I was meant to be and that in time I would adjust...  
      
All the time I have been writing this blog I have been wanting to get my own process ‘out of the way’ so I could get on with helping other people. What I didn’t realise was that MissionPossible2012 was really all about getting myself through the process – a process I had absolutely no understanding of until I had seen it through to completion. Part of the reason I was in such a hurry was because I believed ‘it’ would all be over by the end of 2012 but now I can see with absolute clarity that ‘it’ will only actually begin after the event, in the Spring of 2013. And I have also come to see that there is absolutely no urgency and no deadline to try to meet, because everything is unfolding exactly as it should

So, it seems this blog has fulfilled its mission 17 days ahead of time as I am already preparing for what comes next, for Imbolc 2013 and the Returning Goddess. It would also seem that the blog MissionPossible2012 is ready to evolve into something new... so watch this space!

Freja 

Sunday 2 December 2012

2012 Event in Bristol

2012: Aliens, Armaggedon or an Almighty Anti-Climax? Come and find out what 2012 is really all about...

Author, Shamanic healer and 2012 blogger Freja Shamanka shares her insights and vision for the future - just in time for the big event!

£3 (Suggested donation)

Talk @ The Arts House, Stokes Croft, Bristol
Wed 12.12.12 at 7.30pm

Refreshments available at the cafe bar; SPECIAL deal mulled wine and veggie hot pot £5

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/events/386143551467013/