Sacred Space - Containing and Transforming

Let's talk about containers...cocoons, wombs, caves...Circles.  And I'll throw in a little about squares too.

Over the years, in my work and study with dreams, and learning Dreamwork, I have become quite familiar with the idea of sacred space.  That is - space that is designated for doing deep and healing inner work.  The Greek word for this concept is temenos.  That's where the square comes in.  It's why we have square churches and square courtyards, square courtrooms, and square baseball diamonds.  They contain.  (In 2013, when I was beginning the shift in my own work, I wanted to name the business "Temenos."  The name was already taken!)

A few years later, I was reminded of the concept of the Sacred Circle in a Jungian DreamWork class.  It is the same idea, but comes from a different tradition.  "It is an old Goddess ritual to bathe--purify--to don the white gown--the garb of descent to the land of the dead--and to draw a circle of magic protection--sacred thought--around oneself." (from Women Who Run with the Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estes).

In my class, the professor encouraged us to create some type of circle when doing dreamwork, active imagination, or any other type of inner work that would engage the unconscious.  A message to both the conscious mind, and the vast contents of the unconscious, that "I am serious - I want to listen - I want to go deep!"  

So I began gathering my precious items - hunks of rose quartz and other crystals, rosaries, metal crosses, artwork - and forming a Circle around the space that I was doing some type of inner work, creating a program, or writing what I intended to share publicly.  I was creating a Sacred Circle in which to bring that which was coming out of the unconscious, into my conscious mind. (I used to worry that if someone were watching this behavior they would have had some serious questions about my mental stability - but I did it anyway!)

I realized I had been doing this for years!  Building and walking labyrinths.  Turning my round glass top table into an altar.  Painting the Celtic triad in my house.  And beginning to meet in Circle with other women, mostly, under the guidance of Heather Elizabeth of SHE.  

The significance of how I had been tapping into the energy of the Sacred Circle - how it had been holding me, protecting me, providing a container for growth and transformation - was brought to my awareness in such an incredibly synchronistic way! See Dreams, Synchronicity and The Handless Maiden for this story!

Maybe you are beginning to see the back story of how I have come to take this work so seriously.  There is nothing that I ask you to consider investing in - whether that be time, energy, practice, or money, that I haven't done myself.  

My journey continues - I am amazed at what keeps unfolding - and unfolding, like a never ending opening of a beautiful flower!  And I want that for you!  I suspect that you are wanting it for yourself too, or you wouldn't even be taking the time to read this blog.

How do you want to begin?  I have laid out the options for ways I can accompany you on your own journey - the treasure hunt, I like to think of it.  Just click on the link.  Everything you will find there allows you to begin to experience that sacred container, in varying degrees.  

And know this - no matter when you choose to peel back your own layers - The Sacred Circle is always there for you.  We are always and continuously held by the Divine Spirit, where there are such vast and plenteous resources for the drawing on!

with gratitude and love, peace and healing!

Held in Love and Healing Energy

One of our basic human needs is to belong.  We are born into families for a reason!  We naturally are drawn to living in communities.  And we grow and heal and transform within the context of a group of people who are supportive and loving.  Who listen and share.

Would you like to be a part of a group of people with whom you can walk alongside in your journey of life?  Be open with your spiritual experiences and beliefs?  Share the raw and vulnerable times of life?  I invite you to consider Sacred Circles!!

What makes a group capable of holding these valuable, and sometimes, tender, places within us, is the kind of container that is created for it.  

In Sacred Circles, the online InterSpiritual group of Eye of the Heart, it has been my intention to establish a strong and loving container within which you are able to do the heart opening and soulful work of connecting, transforming, growing and healing. 

Although showing up for the Live Circle is definitely one of the aspects that facilitates healing and change for Sacred Circles members, it is only one aspect of the container.  (I will say, though, that it is some kind of powerful when all come for the Live Circle!)

Each member is held in the arms of the sacred container that has been created, regardless of physical presence on the day of the Circle.  There is another energy that is connecting, working, loving, and healing in between.  Yes, the recording that is available helps us transcend time and space.  But it's more and deeper and vaster than that.  You are in the Circle.

I am seeing amazing openings, revelations, and healing, that simply being a part of the Circle has contributed to.  It's like agreeing and committing to it, brings up that THING that is preventing you from really being fully YOU; from fully showing up in the world!

Whether that is the fear of being judged; the fear of expressing emotions in front of others; the fear of going into a painful place inside that you would rather avoid; or the fear of taking the time for a 2 hour group every 4 weeks, when there are so many other demands to meet!  Chances are that whatever the thing that keeps you away from a particular session, or even the whole Sacred Circles process - when really, something deep in you wants to dive in -  that is the very thing to have a relationship with, to listen to, to stretch just a little.

I've watched it happen these past 6 months.  And I've seen the transformation, the old skin sloughing off and the new peaking out from underneath the old.  It is an honor and a pleasure to witness; and to hold this space, this sacred container...that is Sacred Circles.

How is the container held?  How does it work?  Some energetics and prayer.  And some practical, physical boundaries.  First, each Circle is lovingly and prayerfully created by me, with a topic, a theme, questions for reflection, meditation practices, and often art and music.  Remember - we are InterSpiritual, and we are practicing inner work.

We begin each Circle with opening and connecting with each other, with ourselves, and with the Divine Presence in and among us.  All members are spoken by name, whether or not they are able to be Live, their energy is with us.  As I already mentioned, the recorded Circle is available for those not Live to view. 

Each Circle includes a powerful meditation experience, often including energy healing shared by me.  I intend it to be nurturing and healing for all!

Sacred Circles has a private Facebook group.  Only members are invited to participate.

I have an outdoor altar on which is a stone which represents each member of Sacred Circles, symbolizing the container of the Circle, within the broader container of Eye of the Heart.  It receives the wind and the rain, the sunshine, and the energy of the moon.

I periodically, in between Circles, feel a strong nudge to bring each member of Sacred Circles forward in prayer.  Sometimes this is with my singing bowls, sometimes with Oracle cards, sometimes with a chant or a particular prayer.  

And members have agreed to pay monthly for the Sacred Circles experience.  $45 is automatically withdrawn from your account every 4 weeks, unless you decide to save a little and purchase a year (13 Circles) at a time.  You can cancel the regular payment at any time.  But having the payment in place allows a certain level of commitment that contributes to the strength of the container created.  So each person assists in holding that space with me, for each other.

I am witnessing Sacred Circles be in its own state of transformation, taking on a life of its own.  Would you like to come on into the Sacred container??  Do you have some old skin that wants to shed, allowing the new to come through - the YOU that's just waiting to be seen? 

We in Sacred Circles are here waiting for you!!

with gratitude and love, peace and healing!  Alisa