So many of us started our spiritual paths as solitaries. Our circumstances were all different, some of us may have come from families that did not understand our openness to Spirit, or our search for meaning in life. Maybe we were brought up in religious structures that were more dogma that spirit, or we may have had a curiosity about other cultures and belief systems. But the result was the same - it left us on our own to explore different spiritual practices.

When I started my journey with meditation and tarot as a teenager, there was only one other friend my age who I could talk to about such topics. As I broadened into Wiccan and Goddess wisdom studies in my 20’s, I felt like I couldn’t share that with many friends either, and preferred to keep that part of myself hidden from most other people.  Keep in mind I am a Gen-Xer and when I was a teen and in my early 20’s, we didn’t have household computers or cell phones – there was no internet for the public use then. I did all my exploring and studying with books. Connecting with others meant face to face meetings at bookstores, meditation centers and by synchronicity.

Now thirty plus years later we can study any topic through our screens and can connect to people and groups anywhere in the world in minutes. That can lead to the other end of the spectrum – too much connection that can distract us from our inner work! However it does give us the amazing opportunity to meet with kindred spirits all over the world.

I have a connection with a new friend in another country who is also a shamanic practitioner and visionary. She is around my age and has done much work as a solitary in the past. She and I had a great conversation via Zoom where we both concluded that the time for solitary work is done and now is the time for the shift to working in community.

Some of us who have been solitary for so long and are happily introverted may feel uncomfortable at first switching gears. But we realize that after working on ourselves for so many years, we have gone as far as we can go, we’ve hit a plateau. What takes it to the next level in our inner work is outer work. It means that we take the steps to put ourselves out there to share our gifts with the world.  Maybe some of us have felt the draw to start our own practice to help others.  If we have had the training and the years of experience, we could be feeling nudges from Spirit that points to this being our path. We may be called to start our own business as a practitioner, healer, teacher, life coach, artist, or other service provider. Or maybe we are called to be in service inside our communities by starting a shamanic journey circle, a Reiki share group, a spiritual book coffee chat or other group. Coming together in community to practice, share ideas, and support one another on our spiritual paths fuels our well-being and the well-being of the world.

Covid helped bring this to light for so many people. Even though we were forced into solitary circumstances via lockdown, we now had the technology, time, and motivation to connect. That opened new opportunities for community, friendships, and work groups that could connect from wherever they were. What a gift!

Screens cannot replace the in-person gatherings and circles that feed our souls in such a strong way. Being able to hold hands around a circle and hugging one another is such an important part of human living. But whether we come together online or in person, the important part is the coming together. We know that when we set intentions as a group the energy is amplified exponentially. We have the power to make beneficial change in the world by being weavers that extend a webwork of thriving throughout our communities. We just have to take that first step and pick up the thread.

Do you ever think about what you are radiating?

Right now, I’d like you to take a moment and check in.

How are you feeling inside? Expanded, contracted, neutral? Any particular color? Light, solid, sparkly, flat?

Is there a feeling or an emotion that underlies your automatic mental gears working to read this?

It may be very subtle. This subtle energy state is what we are radiating out from within us. It is not the same as sending (although some of us may be sending or projecting as well).

Now imagine that the brightest star in the universe is shining down on you, moving through space-time into your crown chakra and illuminating your body from within. Do you feel the light inside? Imagine the light permeating every cell of your body. It radiates out of your skin into your energy field. That light is your original soul state, before you took on this body here on earth. It is infinite in its divinity.

What if we radiated this light at will whenever we thought about it?

What if we knew every other being on earth, in the galaxy, the universe was made up of this same light? Yep, I mean everybody – including bullies, crooked politicians, even murderers.

What if enough of us all radiated our light together? Would polluted waters clear? Would soil renew? Would the air over our traffic-clogged cities become clean and fresh?  Would wars suddenly end?

This what one of my teachers, Sandra Ingerman calls “transfiguration”. She and a small circle of friends and practitioners did this transfiguration process in a series of controlled experiments to clear toxic chemicals from water. The experiments adhered to the scientific method and the methods and results were documented in her book Medicine for the Earth.  It probably comes as little surprise to those of you reading this that their experiments showed a marked reduction of toxicity in the water.

When I read her book about 8 years ago, I was so excited by this idea, and the possibilities it sparked in my imagination. I looked at ways I could bring this practice into my life.  I feel like I was only able to scratch the surface, and my practice tapered off as life events took my focus on other things. I also did not have a close spiritual community at the time where we could support one another in this practice.

When I moved to Oregon, I found that Leia Hart, a student of Sandra’s in Eugene was holding monthly Healing with Spiritual Light circles open to the community. And I became friends with a woman who had worked with Leia and liked to go to those circles. I went to one with her and it was so powerful to be in circle with 30 – 40 people all radiating our light together!   It sparked my practice again. I felt my guides on the etheric sidelines around me high-fiving my Higher Self, and they joyfully brought me guidance and support in my journey work to deepen my practice. Last fall Sandra released an online course of Medicine for the Earth through the multimedia publishing company Sounds True. As she guided us through the deepening of the practice and in journey and ceremony, I felt my understanding of the calling of this work refine and expand.

I realized that there is both an active and a passive part in the work. That duality mirrors the natural duality of our 3rd dimensional earth school. The active part is deciding to do the practice and then following through on that with action. Whether we decide to do it monthly, weekly, daily, hourly – it is the action that matters most.
The passive part is the actual practice of radiating. Radiating is not an action, it is just being. I admit this was difficult for me at first. As energy healers and lightworkers in the modern action-oriented world, we are taught to send energy, send light, send love. But in this practice, there is no sending, only radiating. What is the difference? A student in class put it best; a flower radiates its beauty, it does not send it, it is just being a flower.

When we realize the light that we truly are and radiate that light, there is a causal effect, as demonstrated in Sandra’s water transfiguration experiments. We influence the environment immediately around us, but there is no limit to how far our light radiates. Just like stars that are a billion light years away, their light still reaches the earth. 

The great thing about it this practice is that it requires no special training, knowledge or attunements. All it requires is sensing into our body and the intent to connect with our Divine light.

There are ways to work with it and refine it, and Sandra has encouraged us to share this practice with as many folks as we can. My plan is to organize and offer this practice to my local community in Corvallis soon. I may even offer a way to connect via zoom so our circle can be more than local. I’d like to synchronize it with other local or global groups, perhaps Leia’s Healing with Spiritual Light group in Eugene or the Global Coherence Full Moon meditations.  If you have ideas about the implemention of this or would like to be involved, I appreciate hearing from you.

In the meantime… let's all shine on!!

I am passionate about bringing community together. I know that there is power in shared intentions. A few well-known writers and scholars have integrated science and spirituality to prove that point; Lynne McTaggart has demonstrated that with research outlined in her books The Field and The Power of Eight.  But the best way to experience it is to participate in a group that comes together for a shared purpose, like a healing circle.

When community comes together to support one another on their spiritual paths, a solid container is formed for the work.  It is etheric in its essence, but that container holds the energy and amplifies its focus.  When the group consciously calls in the spirits of the directions and the helping spirits of each person present, we can feel them coming in, standing around the circle. We can feel the energy in the space change. Sometimes it’s like an electrical charge waiting to happen. Sometimes it feels like a comforting light blanket that a loved one drapes over our shoulders.

As is the case with our local healing circle, we settle into our seats in the sacred space we created, and each person gets an opportunity to request healing or to offer to facilitate healing for another. Often the people facilitating the healing energy for someone else find that in itself to be a healing catalyst for themselves as well. If we are a conduit for energy, we receive the benefit of the energy as it flows through us. There is also plenty of space for people to be there in a supporting role; drumming, rattling, grounding what needs to be grounded, joining in the intention for the best possible outcome for the highest good. Everyone supports, everyone benefits.

Three summers ago my friend Lawrence brought me along to a shamanic healing circle in Eugene facilitated by shamanic friends of his, Alida Birch and Reid Hart. I felt the power and grace in both the healing that was happening and in their service to the community.

 Afterwards Lawrence and I found we both received nudges from Spirit to facilitate this kind of circle in Corvallis. We teamed up and invited all the people we knew who we thought might be interested and we started meeting once a month. Corvallis is not a large city, with a population just under 60,000, it has a diverse spiritual community with the shamanic portion of that mostly under the radar.  We had no idea how it would go, or if anyone would attend. Now it is with a little awe and a lot of gratitude that I realize that that the Corvallis Shamanic Healing Circle just had its second birthday.

In the two years since we started it, the circle has become a dynamic process. It has changed location several times, and its format flexes to fit the energy of the moment and as Spirit directs. We opened it to the public, and not only do we get shamanic practitioners, but now Reiki, Pranic, Attunement and sound healers attend to be in service.  I feel like we have been able to evolve and grow our practice to become that solid container for healing to happen in our community.

In these chaotic times, we are all being called to shine our light and step into our authentic selves.  When we hear the call that its time to offer our talents and gifts in service to others, we must take that courageous step and answer it, whether we feel ready for it or not. Trust Spirit to know when you, and your community, are ready.