Happy New Year!
We begin 2018 with a new set of themes and influences that can either be supportive or challenging.
2017 was a big year, with strong water and fire energy. Experiences tended to be intense, and in some cases, overwhelming. 2018 has a very different energy, as it is an earth year. We have the opportunity to work closely with Mother Earth, and to ground some of those great inspirations and ideas we came up with in 2017. It is also a year of service; to ourselves and to others.
The Earth has a lot to teach us about service, and observing this from the shamanic perspective can support us in our own experience of service. In keeping these two themes in mind, earth and service, let’s explore how to work with them in a shamanic way so you can take advantage of the support they provide instead of being challenged by their potential negative aspects.
I make a habit of saying hello to the Earth every day by doing a little visualization of a cord or a root extending from the base of my spine (my tail bone.) This root extends down into the Earth, ending right in the very center. Then I say hello to all the earth energy through that cord.
This visualization can also help you to ground, if you are one of those who has trouble grounding. You can also draw energy up from the Earth: creative, nourishing, nurturing, healing and protective earth energy.
Paying attention to how the Earth and nature serve unconditionally, without effort or slavery, gives us an opportunity to expand our awareness to what service is from the shamanic perspective. We can learn a great deal from nature by being attentive to the way Mother Earth serves.
For example, a larger tree serves young vulnerable saplings just by being its shade and protection. The Earth beneath our feet serves us every day as we walk, drive, sit, stand, and sleep. The magnetics of the Earth serve us daily as well, keeping our bodies balanced and stable. The Earth offers its service unconditionally and without effort, simply by “being” the energy that it is.
In the same way, your service both to yourself and to others is based on who you are and not so much on what you do. What you do comes from who you are and the power of your service is rooted in who you are.
This is a year for upgrading our self-esteem which means appointing more value to who you are and therefore acknowledging more value to your service. Grounding your self-esteem in who you are and not what you do will help you and your service to flourish.
So, work with the Earth, observe her “being,” receive her service to you and discover your own service in who you are.
Lena Stevens
Power Path School of Shamanism
For more information or to download TRENDS 2018 for a more complete look at 2018 go to www.thepowerpath.com