Releasing the Maiden Ceremony

I remember a few weeks back when I felt a massive tap on the shoulder from Spirit... and this tap told me it was time to release the feeling of not being ready and to fully welcome our baby earth side. 

I must note that I am writing this in retrospect and that when this ceremony occurred I felt baby was coming early due to so many signs.  My intuition and guidance told me. My body's readiness and baby's engagement told me.  My dreams told me.  My pre-labour sensations that ramped up... only to peter out again... told me.  But here I am now at 40 weeks + 4 days and nada... just some super strong medicine for me to process and many lessons continually learned. 

When I felt the tap from Spirit - and I write about it here - I acknowledged that I might be the only thing that was holding up baby from arriving earth side.  It was as if my body and baby were ready and my own nervousness was holding up the show.

So I cleared the decks.  I cancelled all of my Priestess Calls, I told my groups I might be quiet, the birth space was set and all of the last minute things arranged and it was as if I drew a line in the sand.

And naturally we did ceremony.  A beautiful ceremony to release my maiden self and my beloved's pre-papa self (I'm not sure there is a masculine name for it?) and affirm our readiness to meet our magical baby. 

This journey from maiden to mama is massive. I remember bawling my eyes out in India when I discovered I was pregnant not because I was sad to be having a baby (as it was my deep yearning) but because the mourning process of who I had been had already begun.  Along with my blossoming body (which was more nausea and exhaustion back in the early days), life was changing before my very eyes and it felt so hard!  The year of adventures we had planned needed to be rescheduled.  The international festival teaching slots postponed (maybe forever), retreats scaled back and I prepared myself for a very different year than my usual nomadic existence which had been known to consist of being in 15 different countries and on 60+ flights.  

On one hand I was happy for a change in pace as I knew that without the baby's arrival we would probably still be riding the wave of our creativity which was rapidly leading to burnout.  I mean - our life is amazing to any observer but those who live on the road will know how taxing it can be... so on some levels we were both ready for year of a different kind of creativity.  

Then came the fears of surrendering my beloved business that I had worked so hard to create.  Would I be able to teach much or still run retreats?  What will life look like in this brave new world of parenthood? This is still terrain I am navigating but I have to say the deep changes that occur when entering mama-hood takes care of most of this for you.  It is as if the other stuff doesn't really matter any more.      

This maiden to mama journey has been so potent for me it has triggered the birthing of a book that has been tenderly created over my pregnancy.  Like our baby, I'm not sure when it will officially arrive earth side but it is coming soon (I promise).

Back to the ceremony... 

As many of you know I love to create potent ceremonies for all things.  To honour my mystical moon time, the seasons, the portal days and the lunar cycles.  For me there are never any rules when in comes to creating ceremony and I always do what feels best in the moment and simply allow the prayers to pour forth from my being as I know whatever comes is perfect in that moment.  But here is a little idea of what you can do to help welcome your baby:

1. Create an altar - I like to use the medicine wheel and honour all of the elements (Air in the East, Earth in the South, Water in the West, Fire in the North and ether all around) and I place all of my favourite tools (like feathers, crystals, frankinscence, picture of goddesses etc) on my altar to be charged and to help me weave magic.   For our ceremony we created this altar in our birth space and it is still there to this day patiently waiting for baby's arrival.
2. Smudge the space, yourself and each other - I like to use palo santo or sage for clearing but if you do not have it is not necessary.  Just work with what you have got.  I also incorporate clearing of unwanted energies as part of my grounding meditation which you will hear about in a moment.   
3. Anchor your energy with a grounding meditation - this is part of my minute to minute practice these days as I feel it is so necessary in these high energy times.  I get quiet and breath deeply into my belly / womb and open my central channel (prana tube) to be a clear vessel for the energies of earth and the Universe.  I plug my roots all the way into Gaia / Pachamama wrapping around her great central crystal and drinking all of her nourishing energy into my being.  I then open my crown chakra to receive the energy of the stars / sun and galactic centre and feel this potent energy (which will likely feel different to the earth energy) pouring into my being.  I often ask this solar light frequency to cleanse and clear anything that is stuck and unhelpful in my energy field.  I feel these energies of heaven and earth meeting in my heart and from here I begin to expand my field.  This should make you feel more connected, integrated, grounded and ready for ceremony.     
4. Open the space - Once I am grounded - and if I have not done so already - I like to say a few words to cast the spells of intention for the ceremony.  Why we are doing this in this moment.  So for this ceremony it was to welcome our baby earth side and to release and fears and feelings of un-readiness that could be holding us back.  To release the maiden and step into the mama.  As part of this process I also welcome in our Guides, our Multidimensional Selves, the Angels, Ascended Master, our ancestors and keepers of the land, the Galactics all of those beings that love us unconditionally and work with us for our highest good. 
5. Clearing of fear - next we did a fear clearing / purification ritual.  My beloved and I both wrote on paper and spoke our fears and sadnesses of this major transition.  I spoke my fears of birth and the loss of my identity and we had a bowl / vessel ready with a candle to be our sacred fire (even better if you have a roaring fire!).  My husband and I help space for one another to speak from our hearts about what we were ready to released and what had been troubling us and yes - there were tears.  Our writing was offered up to the sacred fire and we sang and drummed as we watched it burn.
6. Calling in our intentions - next we once again held space for each other as we spoke our wishes for the birth of our baby.  We spoke our dreams of the life we are creating together and we went big and there were more tears!  We offered these prayers out to the unified field that they may make manifest in the physical.  Remember our words are spells and we are truly the artists and dream weavers of our reality! 
7.  Singing in the soul of the baby - my beloved and I love to make music together so we sang in the soul of our baby.  One of us was drumming (I forget who), sometimes our songs had words and other times just sounds but it was deeply potent and beautiful.      
8. Closing of the space - once we felt complete in our ceremony we closed the space... but I have to say it was not in the usual way I would as this space was (well still is) to be our home birth space so we asked that the energy and sacredness remain and that all of our energetic team remain with us to support us through this time which is still in process (OMG)!  If I am usually closing a space I would thank the team, thank the energies and call us all back into our hearts to weave the magic, to drink the wisdom into our cells, to integrated what has taken place here. 

But really... I urge you to you to do what feels best for you.  When Joe and I started this ceremony we didn't know what was going to happen, we simply allowed ourselves to be guided by the energy of the moment and our inner wisdom.  Fully receptive ceremonies are always the best kind of ceremonies from my point of view! 

I hope this helps you in some way... perhaps in your own transition from maiden to mama and to welcome in your baby.  I have to say I thought ours was going to come in the days following but this ceremony was over 2 weeks ago - PHEW - so it appears I have some more lessons to learn in patience, trust, letting go and deeper surrender... or maybe our baby needs to be a Libra.

What I do know is that I am doing my best to be present and to affirm to our baby every day that... 

I am ready

I am ready

I AM READY!

xx         

Energy Forecast Sept 15 - 28

Before you ask - yes I am still pregnant.  And it appears that navigating these extreme energies whilst having an embodied experience of birthing the New Earth is rather intense and exhausting.

Right now it is the eve of the Harvest Moon / Full Lunar Eclipse in Pisces (and my baby due date) and I am in a time of reflection of where we have been and pontification of where we are going.  The only conclusion I have come to is that I have no idea what is going on anymore!  

Although I am feeling these energies with some intensity in my being, the tones in my ears are off the hook and I have been once again forced to look at some old patterns that need to be cleared (argh - more purification!!), I have actually been less connected to my Guides and less able to easily sit in meditation and connection.  Perhaps it comes from the waves of hormones I am riding associated with baby coming any minute (and I have been in pre-labour for over 2 weeks now which is a bit confusing and exhausting) or perhaps it is just not required in this moment.  I can feel it all happening on some levels but have had to let go and surrender even deeper into the mystery of the the unknown... both of when our baby will arrive earth side and of what these energies mean for us and our planet.

We made it through the 9.9.9 portal signifying closure and the ending of a cycle but perhaps you do not feel as complete as you thought you would.  I personally was convinced I would have given birth but alas I am still sitting here, massively pregnant and being called into deeper surrender than ever before.  This is what these energies are all about and although these portals are open doorways it is up to us to step on through and - for me - the best way to do this is to stop pushing and fighting and just surrender to all that is (hence I feel grateful to be having such a physical surrender moment as I become a mama coupled with my energetic surrendering - if that makes sense).  The best part of these September energies are that they are so intense they are wearing us out so we are having to throw our hands in the air and say - "OK - I let go of all attachment to the way I thought it needed to be... and I TRUST".

Trust and surrender are a big words for right now.  Trust that however this is unfolding for you is both your choice and exactly what you need in this moment.  There is no wrong, there is no judgement (other than from yourself) if you feel as if you are not moving fast enough in terms of "ascension", and - contrary to many people's beliefs - I do not feel that there is a time limit.  As a Collective we are up-levelling FAST even if most of the work is happening in the Multi-Dimensional realms and you feel a bit stranded and helpless in the physical.  When I feel this hopelessness - or my classic experience is feeling like I am not making the most of these energies - I like to remind myself of how busy my Multi-Selves (our Soul 4-6D / Over Soul 7-9D / Avatar Consciousness 10-12D & Rishi Identity 13-15D)  are in many other dimensions and that whatever is happening to me in this very moment - the HERE & NOW - is exactly what I signed up for.  Hopefully this helps you to come back into the heart and the space of ease, relaxation and joy... as this is truly what this life is all about.

I will tell you more about these key dates we are rapidly approaching in a moment but first I want to remind you why this time is so big.

As the energies shifted and started accelerating since Dec 2012 we have moved into a space we have never occupied before - both as a planet moving in the Galaxy and as souls inhabiting this planet.  This space vibrated much higher than our original position so we were required to purify fast, to ditch the old energies and conditioning and open to the new.  These purifications came from energy waves from the Sun, triggering the removal of layers and the move to a more crystalline state.  This may have felt effortless for many of us (like water off a duck's back) but for others it may have felt more explosive - like the old paradigm was being demolished in a series of wild explosions and maybe you have watched your old life crumble before your eyes - which I have to say can be scary as hell, particularly if you have a tendency to want to hold on!  

Cast you mind back over the past 4 years and look at how far you have come.  Notice the little things like changes in your diet, your physical vessel, your ability to embody new energies, the awakening (or remembrance of your psychic abilities)... and smile to yourself.  We are doing such a stellar job!  REALLY WE ARE!

These weeks since the Lions Gate (8.8.8) have been thrusting us forward at lightening speed and September feels like the crescendo.  Whether we acknowledge it or not we are anchoring these energies into the grid of Gaia and are creating a beautiful evolution of our planet.  Obviously the chaos is still abounding as is usual in times of great shift as this is part of the purification process and I want to warn you a little about focussing too much energy on these happenings.  I have a part-time conspiracy theorist for a husband and we often beg to differ on what is happening / going to happen on our planet.  As always I am open to being proven wrong but what feels true for me is that whatever we are focussing on and calling in will come to be - so be careful what you wish for.  This life is a co-creative experience after all!   I have shared an excerpt from a recent message from my Guides about what is happening on the planet - scroll down to read.

My main recommendation for right now - particularly when you feel the chaos of the world (which I am not saying is specifically going to increase but it certainly could) - is to remember the power of your own frequency.  When you feel yourself pulled into the chaos (as I have been many times lately) do this:

- bring yourself back to your centre by plugging yourself into the central crystal of Gaia

- open your prana tube / central channel to receive the solar frequency / plugging into the Galactic Centre

- amplify your field from your heart by breathing in and out through your heart space

- see your torus field expanding and ask for clearing of any old energies that may be stuck in your field  - you can do a body scan and work with liquid light frequency to help you clear  

- ask your chakras to spin in their correct direction with ease and grace - ask to break any bonds, ties and contracts with old energies of ways of being to help you step into this new world with lightness and clarity

- feel you power in this moment when you are fully plugged in, activated and amplified!

When we are in this space of alignment we are operating at our optimum vibration and this frequency has an effect on all around us.  You can play with this when you are near a friend who is in a space of frenzy or emotional upheaval and use your own energy field to anchor, ground and calm - infusing the moment / their field / the grid with the energy of Christ Consciousness... of love... of compassion.  The more we can all come back into this space of alignment with our Divine Essence and heal our Divine Template the more effective we are at shifting our world to where it needs to be.

If you have any questions please comment or email me as I would love to help...

and you might like this Heart Meditation I recorded near the Solstice

or I also like Sandra Walter's Activation when I am feeling like I need a retune

Important dates:

September 16 - Full Moon/Lunar eclipse and the Triple Eclipse Finale.  More new energies are flooding on in with greater amplification and opportunity for transformation.  As these energies arrive play your part and ground them into Gaia and hold your intentions fully on Ascension for our planet (the whole of our planet).  You may even like to wrap the planet in rainbow light frequency as I love to do.        

September 22 Equinox: The Equinox lands on September 22 at 7:21am PDT (so Sept 23 for those in Australia).  This gateway is a portal for a new wave of consciousness and a union of the Sun and Gaia so if you can, go and be in nature and anchor your intentions for balance, harmony, peace and ascension.

HERE WE GO... I take guidance from Sandra Walter here and I quote: 

September 26 - 29: Our Third Wave of 2016. This is our strongest influx in decades. Be excited, let’s do it right! These photonic frequencies further accelerate the activity of Ascension and will continue to flow in for several weeks. You may have noticed the Light does not step down in between waves any longer. This is a good thing; we are able to maintain higher levels of light without integration periods as in the past. Each wave this year has raised the light level dramatically, and accelerated the Ascension. The purging, revelatory activity continues to build to compliment Source’s command for order, harmony and Ascension.

------------------------------------------------

As I said - this month is BIG so please do not despair if you are feeling a little bashed around or beaten.  I was reading an analogy somewhere of being in a wild sea and needing to find a life raft to cling to.  But rather than this raft hanging out in the deep waves it is actually close to shore and prone to getting bashed on many rocks.  This certainly is my experience right now. But remember we are skilled sailors and excellent surfers and, even if these waves do not dissipate in the near future, know in your hearts that we are all contributing to such a magical cause!    

Here is an excerpt from my recent QHHT session with Arnalisha where I asked for more info on what is happening on our planet:

QU - What’s coming for humanity and the shifts that are happening?

"We are only at liberty to tell you some things, because otherwise you do not have free will to make your own choices. We can only tell you that it is always your choice, whether to be in fear or to be in light, and that nothing is going to go wrong as you say because there is no wrong. You may experience more change, but you are getting good at change. And remember you are ready. Every day is making you more ready. And so many of you have so much here that you need to do. There are caretakers of this earth who will need to remain here to caretake. Even if there are big changes there are some who will have other things they need to do elsewhere, but there is still to be things going on on this planet so there is not an extinction as you may be worried about. There will always be jobs here, and many of you have signed up to be here for a long time. But there are some who have to do something else now, and that is also their choice. But we are excited, and we wish for you to hold that same excitement in your hearts."

++++++++++++++++++

So much LOVE for this powerful time.

Please reach out if you have questions or feedback.

Love SJ x

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The girl who cried labour

Here I am... still sitting in the "in between"... waiting and yet not waiting for baby to arrive. 

The stage has been set and just when I thought the grand finale was coming I was proven wrong..

It appears that this play has many acts.  

and, like the boy who cried wolf, I feel like the girl who cried LABOUR!

only to have to say "err - nope... - as you were people - I'm still in pre-labour!"

I know I open myself to much public feedback by sharing my journey so openly and I have to admit I have felt a bit of "I told you so" coming down the line from other mamas in the comments that remind me that first babies often come past due date and that a watched pot never boils.  I 100% get this but my feelings of having an early baby have come from my intuition which is usually so on the money and the fact that my body and baby's position (of being fully engaged for over 6 weeks now) has supported this theory.   

The funny thing is that I am actually in no real rush here.  

My body may be big and getting more uncomfortable and I do feel a bit like I'm in a house bound holding pattern as walking out in the world is both a pain and very energetically intense as, right now, we live in the city ... but I am truly happy sitting here resting and riding the waves of big womb sensation / cramping and then feeling it all simmer down into peace rather than the grand crescendo I was expecting.  

If anything I have felt a little guilt... 

Guilt that there could be something I am doing to stop this progress.  Maybe it was my Mum arriving and needing to press the PAUSE button whilst I integrated to having a new (although beloved) energy in my space... or the change of midwives I've had last minute due to some unforeseen events.  Whatever it is, I have felt some responsibility that I am trying to shake for not allowing this baby to come.

My innate tells me to be in my bubble... that the tides will turn when I am fully allowed to just be and feel the flooding of oxytocin and endorphins enter my system giving my body and baby the green light.  Like a cat would find a dark corner to birth her kittens I too feel like quietly hiding away from the world.

So this is what I am doing.  Holding my ground, speaking my truth and being sociable and chatty when I feel to be and going deep within when baby and Spirit calls me there.  Such is my guidance in this interesting dance or entering the birth portal.  

As everyone keeps reminding me (and I know in my heart) this baby will make their own decision as to when they need to arrive earth side.  There is the specific vibration of the day and moment to take into account and I know this baby - although he/she keeps affirming readiness - is doing what they need to do and will be here when the divine timing is right.  Such is our co-creative dance of birthing together.   

And I am acknowledging I may remain in this place of pre-labour for sometime (and I have already been here for approx 2 weeks) ... this space of the "in between" and of packing my back pack for the journey ahead with good nourishment and rest... this space of enjoying lots of love and skin to skin intimacy with my husband which really is so delicious.

An old teacher of mine used to remind us of the necessity of "packing our back pack" in preparation for big spiritual initiations.  He would say "would you climb Mt Everest without supplies?  I think not - so make sure you do your preparatory ground work before you rush ahead of yourself."  I bow down to this wisdom every day - thank you Dr Reza.

Really I feel so grateful for this time... and am in no way inclined to do anything to hurry this process along as my due date of September 16 is still coming.  Yes I have eaten some chilli (but I do this all the time) and clary sage has made an appearance in my diffuser (it was quite the moment when we felt ready to release the clary sage as it had been sitting well sealed for this whole pregnancy as my beloved bought it because he liked the smell some weeks ago).  But I am trusting that this whole pre-stage is preparing my body gently and slowly for the deep initiation of birth. 

In no way do I really feel as if I am holding on... my sacrum / pelvis has shifted again and just when I didn't think the baby could get any lower without falling out they have descended again (great for breathing - hard for walking and sitting as I feel as if I am literally sitting on my baby's head and I guess I am) and I sounding and singing this baby down more and more each day.  I feel as if I were checked for dilation I would be a couple of centimetres open now so trusting in this beautifully steady process of deep preparation.

I feel so grateful that is it this way as I know how prepared my body is becoming for birth.  Slowly and gently, rather than kicked into gear for a fast evacuation triggered by my baby's urgent need to be born.  

I am deeply connected to the energy of my baby and this moment.  Deeply connected to the womb of Pachamama and fully backed by the Collective Sisterhood.  And it feels so good! 

But sorry if I keep getting you prematurely excited that the baby is about to arrive.

A dear sister reminded me that whatever happens the baby will come out one day... and I laughed to myself as I acknowledge that I sometimes feel that this pregnancy will go on forever... so I promise this baby will be revealed to you soon...

but until then I will be over here... resting, writing, sharing, listening, snuggling and nesting.   

xx