Hearing Truth in the Time of Covid 19; May Moon is Listening

       May is the month to hear truth.  This new moon came in true to the color of her cycle - black and in the dead of night. Her arrivial marked the beginning of my household's 6th week of sheltering at home.  We had been doing well as a family of three adults manueving ourselves around in our 'cozy' 7 room house.  But, upon entering another week with our lives still in limbo, as Illinois' numbers continued to climb--I felt left in the dark--the dark of  black moon, black night and black mood.
       May Moon invites us to listen, and listen, and then listen ever deeper.  I like to think that the color black, the imagery of a 'black' moon, inviting us to hear intently during these weeks of the waxing moon to what is deep within our own hearts and psyches.  This kind of hearing is the kind of listening that happens in times of  blackness (like this current experience of being in the dark about the path of the pandemic).  If we we are patient enough to learn to listen in this way,  we will be amazed and guided by what we hear.
        This is the truth John of the Cross listened for and finally heard during his Dark Night of the Soul.  Jacob wrestling with the angel in a night so black he could not see his foe, listened and heard his true name. This is the transformation toward truth that happens on Vision Quest, sitting in prayerful silence in dark nights of solitude.
        If we can practice hearing the truth within our own being during these days of the waxing moon, we will be better prepared to hear what is truth in the cacophony of words in media, politics, and promoters.


   

Releasing Old Patterns-Waning Moon

As the Waning Moon moves to the space where only a sliver of her full self is visible, I recognize that I am also revealing only a sliver of my full self. In my case, rather than being comfortably in the rhythm and flow of life, it may be my hiding and shielding of parts of myself that result in 'my sliver'.  

I ask my question where and how I am in shadow? Listening to Guidance that comes, I hear these three simple words in answer: "Dis-ease, In-jury, Dis-order"

Dis-ease:  Where am I not at ease in my life?In-jury:  Where am I judging, making rulings, giving directives, awarding damages or handing out punishments?Dis-order:  What has gotten out of order in my life?

Self Reflection: What is my 'dis-ease', 'in-jury', 'dis-order'?

Practice Listening With the Whole of Your Being

How do we listen with the whole of our being?

Whole being listening is an intentional practice.
First be still in a posture of attention, all senses alert, yet relaxed.
Steady in our stillness, aware in our body, true listening begins to make itself known to us.
A likely first reaction is impatience, our body becoming restless; the quiet is uncomfortable.
Some will hear a pulsing in their ears; some will be distracted by the sound of their breathe.
Some will doze off, impatience overcome by fatigue (or distracted boredom).
Begin again, stay the course, the payoff is worth it.
Overtime, your presence with this way of listening will become comfortable and sustainable.
The ability to hear in this 'remembered' way may take a few days or nights of practice, or it may take weeks, maybe longer. The timing for receiving the gift of whole being listening is not up to us.
It is worth the wait, worth the practice.

Self Reflection:  What is my awareness of how I listen with the whole of my being?

On Becoming Receptive to Hearing the Truth of the Universe (as spoken through a million different voices)

What does it take to become receptive to hearing the truth of Universe spoken through a million different voices?

The waning phase of the May moon cycle enlists us to really listen. This listening is not only to the voice of others human beings, but to other sounds that come to us from our expansive universe. The sounds of animals, insects and birds; their songs, and cries effect us, perhaps awakening a memory, bringing us joy, stirring compassion, instilling fear.  The sound of the world humming, whizzing, crashing, grinding, ringing--an infinite number of words for the kinds of sounds that come to us from our world-all inviting us to respond in certain, usually preconceived, ways.  The natural world,too brings her own sounds for us to hear: the rushing of water over rocks in a river, the rhythm of waves on the shore, the wind rustling the leaves of trees or whistling through the screen of my open window, the thunder of a summer storm.

All these different voices in our universe enter into our consciousness, mixing with our experiences, memories, beliefs, and dreams. How can we be assured we interpret them accurately? How can we know what is the Truth of each?

Receptive hearing (really listening) requires the use of all of our senses. Perhaps that is why in the Truth Cycles, the first five cycles of each  year, teach us consciousness of each of our five body senses-touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. Through our growing awareness of each, we become more conscious of our universe and our place and role in it.  Awareness is a first, necessary step.


Self Reflection:  Practice listening with all your senses.  Notice how different the information you receive is with this practice of 'receptive hearing'.

Fine Tuning Our Listening and Not Multitasking

Patience, commitment and discipline are what is needed to fine tune our auditory skills.
Listen in stillness, listen in silence, listen in vulnerability, in open-heartedness.

Real listening takes time. We can not listen while multitasking. When I was a girl I would work in the kitchen with my mother.  I would often help her prepare the family dinner. It was a good time to talk. One thing I remember is that when I was talking she would often stop peeling potatoes or chopping onions and turn toward me to listen. At those times, I knew I was  heard; one of the gifts my mother passed to me, how to listen.

Self Reflection: I will practice patience, commitment, and discipline in my listening.

Listening is Love

"Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable." David Augsberger

Listening is a gift that is always available to be given.
Listen beyond your small self, deeper than your impressions and judgments.
Suspend yourself and listen wholly.
Listen to the soul-speak of the other.
Listen with your body, your whole perception.
Indeed, make love with your awareness.

Just being heard in this way is healing, and is often the only help someone wants from us. In listening deeply we are also gifted. For when we listen fully to another, we are also most able to hear the voice of our deepest wisdom from within ourselves.

Self Reflection: What is my experience when I consciously listen to others?

Listening to Self First

May moon cycle invites us to listen to ourselves first-our inner voice. Is our inner voice whiny, seductive, open-hearted or compassionate? Does it change depending on who we are speaking to? 

Learn to listen from the metaphor of a ‘blank slate’. The color of the may moon is obsidian or deep black, in this blackness, there is no influence to what we hear-other than ourselves. 

The Celtic medicine wheel for the season of Spring invites us to have compassion for ourselves during this third cycle of spring.  Only with compassion can we know how to really hear ourselves above all the din and distraction of ruminating thoughts, worries, unfounded fears, etc.  All this takes practice, and having enough compassion for ourselves to keep recommitting to the practice of listening. 

Self Reflection: I take time to listen to myself first, listening until I enter the space of an open 'blank slate'. Only then am I in a wise place to listen  to others. 

The Art of Listening

I listen to myself:  What is
it that I am REALLY saying? ...to myself? ...to others? 

I listen to what is really being said. 

I listen to my intuition. 

I listen to my conscience, to the voice of the Divine. 

I listen for the real NEED underneath the WANT from myself, 

and from those with who I am in relationship. 

Am I willing to listen?



Am I willing to hear, and am I willing to take action on what I
hear? 

What are others are saying? There are so many levels of
communication. 




Self Reflection: Can I discern the differences in the voices of my ego, my
spiritual essence and Divine voice? What would I need to change in my life to develop the skill of

discernment and use it in my abilities to listen?  

Listening Like a Prophet

In the silence of our meditation and contemplation what is it we are listening for? We listen to hear guidance for our life, to reach the wholeness of who we are as a human beings.
We listen for messages from our heart,  nature,  the spirit world, our creature relations and other's point of view. All these are voices through whom Great Mystery speaks.
When we become proficient in listening this way, we begin to see what is coming our way, the possibilities of creation. We develop wisdom, discernment and intuition.  All great prophets were first great listeners.

Self Reflection: When I commit to practice listening, I can trust what I hear.

Talking to Myself. Listening to Myself, I Make Amends to 'Me', Feeling Deeply Touched in a Loving Way

Carolyn shares.  
My negative self-talk was pretty loud this week. That part that of me that is fueled by self-doubt.  This tape is so familiar, I can recite it without any cue cards--it's sometimes my go to response pattern. And this pattern often occurs after I have had a time period when I have made some positive change and growth.  I was sharing my self-criticism with an old friend. "STOP!" he said, as I whined on and on.  

This wise elder suggested I write an amends to myself for all my put-down talk--to write an amends to the part of myself that gave years to studying and working for her degrees and her license, and years of practicing and honing her skills; write to the Carolyn that commits to her purpose of supporting others in their quests for growth and health, and to the Carolyn who wakes up with visions for creating websites, and books, and paintings.  I didn't want to follow his guidance, but. I listened, and I wrote.  I wrote pages--and pages. Then, I read my pages out loud to myself and I self-listen. Well, I didn't make myself--after all that writing, I WANTED to listen to what my writing voice had to say. 

I read my amends out loud to myself. I read out loud what was behind all my talk was the need for staying small (so I could be safer) and not getting made fun of, or attacked, or shamed or making a mistake (does any of this sound familiar in your life??).  I read out loud  to myself of recognizing how much all my behavior and attitude had hurt the me over the years. I said I would do my best to stop the bad self talk habit (an addiction?). 

Something has shifted in me.  My willingness to write an amends to my self gave me permission to hear the part of me that puts myself down and holds me back and shames me. She/I got to talk and I/me listened from the heart.  My wise old friend, it seems, is a male incarnation of Talks With Relations. Since then, the negative voice is almost inaudible-just a little squeak now and then-I'm using it as a reminder to wake up and pay attention to myself, to recenter and refocus on the moment. And, with less background noise I can hear (I) inspiration and (G)guidance much more clearly.  

Self-Reflection:  Am I willing to talk with my self and speak ALL my voices?  How might I practice really listening to myself talk?