Last night I dreamed of a praying mantis with large yellow wings. It landed on my right shoulder as if it wanted to whisper a message from the subtle realms of my sleeping mind. The lore of this delicate creature speaks of meditation, contemplation, dreams and the ultimate silence - death. It also speaks of the space between the dimensions – a place I am deeply familiar with and a parallel reality that exists in between our linear concept of time.
This stillness holds tremendous potential if we can only quiet the outer influences that permeate our walk through each day. It seems to me there is an increasing level of quietude on one hand – as if the keen buzz of my internal wiring is slowing down to a definitive stop. And on the other hand, a fierce sense of urgency to make it happen. Except I don’t really know what “it” is that needs my attention so earnestly.
In the process of growth and change, there’s a liminal moment of neither “this nor that”. I’m acutely aware as I move through this particular time on my journey that the profound sensation of familiarity with my past, my memories, and my story is dissolving. And when I do reach out to grab hold of a recognizable image so that I can find a little comfort in this current fast track into the unknown, it’s fleeting and elusive.
So maybe the praying mantis is communicating something for all of us. Be Still. Wait. Pause. Trust. And I’m hearing as I write this, “It will be so.” Regardless of our efforts, or in my case the desire to effort (but my inner wheel is in the shop for recalibration), we can’t know what we don’t know. We can’t simultaneously do the phenomenal work of releasing emotional density from our deepest core, and stride into the future with a working plan. That’s the point of it all, in my opinion, is to recalibrate to a frequency of greater willingness so that we can work effectively without any compass or frame of reference. It is the unknown after all.
The Great Turning is upon us, literally. We’ve been talking about it, writing about it, thinking about it, waiting for it and holding it at bay when it feels like too much. It. Is. Here. And yet I’m noticing this energetic slowing down that feels a little like floating underwater. In that silence, I can hear the whispered nuances of cosmic messengers giving me encouragement and guidance on how to proceed with effortless grace.
That’s my prayer – from the praying mantis – that we can drink from the potentiality of stillness and move forward with effortless grace.
And so it is. ~