One cannot help but stand in awe of the natural order that when unimpeded by human interference and greed, seamlessly cycles and evolves. From the tiniest organism to the most majestic animals that populate ocean, air and land, life needs to be taken so that life can be maintained in the ‘eat or be eaten’ order of the natural world.

What does the human witness feel as an observer? Where is the compassion for the sacrificed individual member of the hunted species who make continuance of the life of the hunter possible? Who can feel dread for the hapless seal sunning itself on a floating log as the orcas approach, for the buck being separated from the herd by the hungry pride of lionesses, or the tiny rabbit as the eagle swoops? Without the hunt, predators die. With the hunt, the prey dies. Life and death- those two most mysterious of portals to the world unseen, inextricably connected, one to the other.

As consciousness evolves within the human species, we intuit that perhaps compassion is largely a human trait and one with which we are specifically endowed to bring this loving energy into the Earth’s field. It is a right and a responsibility. As we learn to love unconditionally, do we enlivened the arena in which we find ourselves, fulfilling our piece of the puzzle?

The inner child loves a story; the adult within searches for meaning. Feminine nature responds to the intuitive and masculine temperament to the logical. As individuals, we are composites of the children we were and the adults we become and it is in the tales we share and love, that we grow. As children, all our favorite stories began with ‘once upon a time’ and ended with ‘and they all lived happily ever after.’ In Western culture, the foundational story of how humanity found itself on this beautiful blue planet floating in space, begins in the Garden of Eden, a metaphor for Natures’ verdant setting. We certainly begin with ‘once upon a time’ but as we look at our present clash of world cultures in a natural world that has been gravely abused, can we honestly envision a ‘happily ever after’ for the human family?

With a traditional reading of the biblical Creation story, it is difficult to imagine. Kabbalah and mystical Judaism has always suggested that there are many ways to understand the mystery of our ancient stories if we are willing to delve below the superficial level. Awaiting discovery below the literal interpretation of the Garden of Eden, magical myth and metaphor are the keys that have the transformative power to alter the course of human history for our children and grandchildren. There is the potential for a ‘happily ever after’ – for replacing the fear of our diversity with respect and celebration. Cooperation is possible once we add the missing letter ‘o’ back into the word ‘corporation.’ There is a path to individual empowerment and healing and the possibility of creating a global family living in harmony with the Earth. Are you ready?
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Heather_Mendel

The traditional reading of the Garden of Eden not only sets the stage for the diminishment of women, but also for a misunderstanding of the nature of God. This mystical and mythic telling of the tale intuits Divinity as the Creative Source of All Life, the wellspring of compassion. This God metaphorically plants two trees in the ‘Garden’- the forerunner to the world of Nature that is home to the human family on Earth. The Tree of Knowledge is the symbol for the physical world of duality that allows us to constantly make choices as we learn to use the gift of free-will. This Tree is the gift of our ‘human-ness.’ The Tree of Life awaits. It is the gift of our ‘being-ness’ with which we reconnect as we spiritually evolve and grow in consciousness.

In the deeper reading of the familiar story, we can hear the missing phrase that is written, not in the story as we know it, but rather in the spaces between the letters of the literal text. Humanity is told: “Do not eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge… until you are ready for all that life will bring- the joys and the heartaches, the successes and dashed hopes that are part and parcel of life in the physical. In such a sharing, the curious, intuitive and courageous ‘Eve’- archetypal feminine energy, is willing to take the opportunity offered, to bring human consciousness to the physical realm just as God intended, but only when ‘she’ was ready for the illusionary separation from God and spiritual realm. God does not punish humanity by casting them out; here God, compassionate and unconditionally loving, holds the space for human beings to correct their errors and enjoy their successes as they make the choices necessary to experience this earthly journey.

As we reclaim the revealed Eve from the negative strictures of the traditional image that concealed her beauty and her strength, women are invited to welcome the ‘Eve’ within, and honor her intuitive wisdom, courage and curiosity- part and parcel of our inherent birthright. We have the opportunity of again moving the human story forward at this transformational moment in the new millennium, so full of promise and potential. The implied image of God, ‘I shall be that I shall be’ or ‘I become that I become’ is the evolving, mysterious, multilayered and unifying field and force in whose image we, consciously evolving humanity, are created. Are we ready?

Article Source http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Heather_Mendel

I have personally never visited Petra, but have seen photos and read descriptions such as in Dorothy Atalla’s new book, “Conversations with the Goddess.” Having been to Antelope Canyon and the Anasazi villages of the South West, I do know the powerful energy of such places, transformative energy that may remain dormant, perhaps for years, before we understand the impact of our having being there.

Our digital world is amazing and can transport us in time and space, connecting us as a global family in ways never before imagined. However, digital travel does not allow us to touch and be touched by the magical energy of sacred places. The shared spiritual journeys of those who are fortunate enough to have been there, lifts our imaginative yearning and allows us to soar. Atalla’s journey begins in Petra, Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann, describe mystical Greece in their book, “Traveling with Pomegranates.” We fly with them as we enjoy both books that provide joyful reading experiences for women longing to connect with their spiritual source.

The issue opens with Agi Legutko’s essay on dybbuk possession legends and the creativity let loose in their transformation by contemporary Jewish women writers in the novels of E. M. Broner, Francine Prose, Judith Katz, Pearl Abraham, and Ruth Knafo Setton. These stories of transmigrating souls are followed by stories of the soulless golem and Simone Yehuda’s modern fairy tale of a pregnant golem named Rasa who seeks a “soul voice.” As Yehuda does a riff on the connections between women’s ability/inability to give birth and the Talmudic statement, “A woman [before marriage or childbirth] is a golem,” Heather Mendel’s “Transforming Divinity, Transforming Ourselves” looks deeply into the Garden of Eden story to reveal Eve as representing the innate and necessary curiosity humans need to experience the miracle of life (www.dancinginthefootstepsofeve.com.

From Mendel’s teaching on the mythical Garden, readers move to Darlene Miller-Lanning’s essay on the artist Berenice D’Vorzon’s vibrantly painted divine “gardens” in nature and then to Henrietta Bensussen’s tour of very real gardens in Europe. Berenice Fisher’s family legend of her mother’s visit to a rose garden in Iraq, in 1930, is at the heart of her one women play about women’s agency in war and peace activism. Finally, the ability of folklore and legend to speak to each of us individually is powerfully represented in Zelda Kahan Newman’s short story about a raven visiting a synagogue on Yom Kippur.

“You are desperately needed. We ask you to cast, anchor, and hold the net of light steady for the Gulf of Mexico , This crisis is affecting the entire world, and humanity is asleep. Wake up. Animals are dying, plants are dying, and your Mother (Earth) is writhing in agony. If you hold the net of light steady at this time you will help stave off further catastrophe. You have been lulled into a false sleep, told that others like BP will take care of this problem. This is not so. This is not the time for you to fall into oblivion. Determine now to stay awake, and once you have made that commitment, think of, cast, and hold the net of light. Hold it deep and hold it wide. Amplify its reach to penetrate the waters of the Gulf and dive deep beneath the crust of Mother Earth. Anchor it at the earth’s core and as you hold it there, ask it to unify with the mineral kingdom of this planet.
It will do this and will harmonize with all the solid and liquid mineral states on earth-including oil and gas. The net of light will call these minerals back into harmony. Whatever human beings have damaged, human beings must correct.
This is the law. We repeat: This is the law. You cannot sit back and ask God to fix the mess humanity has created. Each of you must throw your shoulders to the wheel and work. We are asking for your help. Several years ago we gave you the net of light so you would be able to help the earth at times like this. Step forward now. This is the net of light that will hold the earth during the times of change that are upon you.
First move into your heart and call on us. We will meet you there. The net of light is lit by the jewel of your heart, so move into this lighted place within you and open to the net of which you are a part. Bask in its calming presence. It holds you at the same time that you hold it. Now think of magnifying your union with us. We, the Great Council of the Grandmothers, are with you now, and all those who work with the net of night are also with you. There are thousands, even millions now connected in light.
Along with this union, call forth the power of the sacred places on earth. These will amplify the potency of our joint effort. Then call on the sacred beings that have come to prevent the catastrophe that threatens to overwhelm your planet. We will work together. Think of, cast and magnify the presence of the net of light in the Gulf of Mexico. See, imagine or think of it holding the waters, holding the land, the plants, the sea life, and the people. Holding them all. The Net of Light is holding them steady; it is returning them to balance. Let the love within your lighted heart keep pouring into the Net of Light and hold, hold, hold. Calmly and reverently watch as the light from your heart flows along the strands of the net. It will follow your command and continuously move forth.
As soon as you think of it, it will happen. We ask you to practice this for only a few minutes at a time, but to repeat it throughout the day and night. We promise that this work with the net of night will do untold good.
We are calling you to service now. You are needed. Do not miss this opportunity. We thank you and bless you.”

from Shawn Gallaway

http://www.ichooselove.org/dvd.html

Our inner and outer realities mirror each other as part and parcel of one single process. In the midst of the radical transformation that is the present moment, it is fascinating to see the reflection of inner and outer worlds. We have at least two alternatives ways of responding to change. If our inner reality is based on fear, we step back and try to hold fast to the past that, like soft dry sand, is slipping through our fingers. We want to retain the known and familiar. The ‘tea-party’ movement is an excellent example of this phenomenon. If, on the other hand, we are courageous, optimistic and believe in a positive future, we are willing to take a chance and leap into the unknown, with faith that all will be well as a new reality is unfolding.

Life is mysterious and full of surprises. During the height of the apartheid years in South Africa, it was accepted that when the change would come, a bloody revolution was inevitable. A futurist I knew predicted that ‘as went South Africa, so would go the world.’ Miraculously it seems, the change actually came peacefully. Nelson Mandela was the right man for the moment and his efforts were strengthened by the efforts of some 10,000 individuals who helped forge a new culture based on the principles of conflict resolution. Unseen and unknown to most, they worked their magic and the results are incredible. If that futurist was correct, it is auspicious for the world community.

In American public life, transformative change is happening too, despite the apparent polarized divisions. Conflict resolution offers an alternative and new way of finding common ground in areas of dispute. In the personal realm, mediation is becoming a valid alternative to the destructive nature of the power play that is part of divorce. Publicly, the present Obama administration is demonstrating that attempting to reach consensus is a worthy goal, despite some who attempt to thwart the process. New ways of debate and decision reaching are possible. The ongoing specious debate by pro-choice and anti-choice proponents is being reframed. Just as no one is ‘anti-life,’ neither is anyone ‘pro-abortion.’ The issue is about a woman’s right to determine her future and that of her family. A way to bring opposing sides together is to look at what values they share— in this case, neither group wants any unintended pregnancies and so they can come together to focus attention and efforts on pregnancy prevention or adoption advocacy.

Don Beck’s teaching on spiral dynamics is a wonderful basis to start seeing how we function in society. He shows how as individuals and communities we evolve, initially aware only of our basic needs for survival, and then open to the developmental stages of awareness of the magical, followed by an egocentric world view. As we mature we pass from an authoritarian model, to become to community builders, who acknowledge that responsibility is essential to corresponded with rights we claim, and ultimately hope to realize oneness, wholeness and cooperation. We are all at different point on the journey, individually and communally and when hoping to assist others, can respectfully find way to understand what they need in order to find ways to work together to bring about peaceful change.

With a rapidly changing reality influences by climate, technology and access to information, natural evolution offers us the opportunity to awaken to the multilayered nature of reality and in so doing, assist the evolution our own consciousness, finding answers to the perennial questions of the spiritual seeker: who am, why and I here and where am I going?

Are we going to wait for Nature to solve other disputes around the planet that tear peoples apart? In the space of a few short years we have witnessed the changes that can be brought to bear. Katrina, the Indonesian tsunami, Haiti and Chile readily come to mind. These natural disasters plead with us to re-examine our priorities. In the major hotspots of the world where for generations people have died because of human disagreement, powerplay and greed, do we intend to wait for Nature to step in and level the playing field? What, then will we tell our grandchildren, was the purpose of generations of bloodshed? Surely we can find solutions ourselves before it is too late.

Both traditions teach, in their own imagery, metaphor and symbolism, about caring for the human family and the Earth. While there are areas both faith communities share and on which everyone can build, it would seem more credible to hear how Jews interpret their own beliefs than have them filtered through the perspective of any other group and mindset. In so doing, it is possible to find authentic commonalities shared by both traditions, releasing many misconceptions about Judaism. This applies to all religious and spiritual traditions. As responsible spiritual seekers, we need to be careful about our assumptions.

I was able to savor their beauty and watched the bees darting from one deep-throated blossom to the next. It struck me how insignificant human beings are, how unconcerned with with us and our lives are the bees, as they go about their activities, in silence. It reminded me of Yellowstone a couple of winters ago when I had the privilege of being there with my husband — a winter wonderland indeed. A blizzard the previous day left the earth covered with feet of pristine and sparkling snow. We walk over to Old Faithful to watch the eruption, and miraculously found ourselves totally alone with the geyser in all its magnificence— except for a herd of bison, white- faced from foraging beneath the snow. We were overwhelmed with
nature’s majesty, and the over-riding silence of the experience, that was
interrupted only by the occasional snort of a bison, and the bubbling of
the heated water beneath us. As a coyote silently padded through the
snow, seemingly oblivious of both the bison and of us, I was reminded of
the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel:

“There are three aspects of nature which command our attention: power,
loveliness and grandeur. Nature’s power we exploit, its loveliness we
enjoy, and its grandeur fills us with awe. Those who are not affected by
the vision of earth and sky, who have no eyes to see its grandeur and
sense the sublime, however vaguely, are not human.”