SOUL SOURCE
 
Spring Equinox Newsletter 
Synthesis
 
In This Issue






Recommended Reading

Starseed, The Third Mill ennium
by Ken Carey
 
The Deepest Acceptance, Radical Awakening in Ordinary Life
by Jeff Foster
 
Revelation
by David Spangler
 
Sacred Seed, A collection of Essays
 Introduction by Dr. Vandana Shiva
 
The Return of the  
Feminine and the Soul 
of the World
by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
 
Spiritual Ecology, The Cry of the Earth
by Joanna Macy and Thich Nhat Hanh







Recommended Videos










































































..here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

--e.e. cummings


































































But down deep,
at the molecular heart of life,
the trees and we are essentially identical.
~Carl Sagan







































































































The Universe is saying:
Allow me to flow through you unrestricted,
and you will see the greatest magic you have ever seen.
~ Klaus Joehle

time-lapse-mountain.jpg

Spring is upon us and the Three Spiritual Festivals are approaching.  It is time to embrace the New, to touch into Life and its ever new creation. Silence is always at the beginning of a new creation and always comes at the end.  Sometimes it is hard to know if we are beginning or ending a cycle, as these two are always entwined in Oneness, but if we can be still, and bathe in the depths of Silence, we can sense Life expanding, opening, flowing, dancing.  We can feel both the death and decay that is occurring and the seeds of what is coming, becoming. We will receive impressions in dreams, in our inner vision, in passing conversations, through music, through pain, through broken dreams and broken pottery, through nature, through humor and through terror, through art and through the inner chamber of our heart. Every experience, pleasant and sweet or painful and messy is perfectly designed to awaken us to the oneness of all Life.

 

At this particular moment in time, we are standing on a threshold of a whole new world.  We do not have to sail the ocean blue like Columbus, we simply must let it reveal itself through this moment. We are collectively awakening to the Whole, to the One, to the Synthesis of all. Or perhaps we should say that IT is awakening in us.  This is the New Earth and New Heaven which has always been, and yet, our consciousness has not been awake enough to sense it, to see it, to touch it, to know it and to live it before now.  So we have lived in duality, in conflict, in separation, in suffering. That has been the earthborn path, but now something new is emerging.  A big shift is happening through the earth and we are all coming home to a deeper cosmic order.  It is as though we have been out of our proper alignment and we are remembering collectively our place in the Plan. Are you on your mark?  Truth is breaking out, walls are dissolving, these fabrications of the mind are beginning to fall away and let what is truly Real be revealed, through each of us and through all of us, the One and the Many.

 

This Spring Equinox newsletter celebrates Synthesis, Oneness, the Wholeness that we ARE.  As we bask in the renewal of spring, let us open to an all encompassing renewal. We invite you to open your eyes and ears and surely your Heart to begin to see this Synthesis breaking through into visibility and palpable experience in our world.  Change is afoot. We invite you to perceive all from a vaster whole. To see Beauty in everything. We invite you to invoke Synthesis. We invite you to call it forth and to watch for the curtains to part and Synthesis to be revealed. Revelation is revealing what has always been. Celebration of the revelation...this is the dance of Life.  Enjoy!

 

Joyous Spring Equinox to all!

 

 


Three Spiritual Festivals:
Opportunities and Responsibilities for World Service
from The School for Esoteric Studies
Three Linked Festivals

 


Beginning

In out of the way places of the heart
Where your thoughts never think to wander
This beginning has been quietly forming
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire
Feeling the emptiness grow inside you
Noticing how you willed yourself on
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the grey promises that sameness whispered
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is one with Life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm
For your soul senses a new world coming.

--John O'Donohue
 
Understanding Synthesis

by Henry Guy

 

In trying to understand synthesis, we might see it as a combining or a blending of this and that or more, to create something new and different. Even considering a very common use of the word synthetic, we can see that a synthetic material, such as nylon, is something altogether new and different than the carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms that are synthesized. However, synthesis is more than a blend or a combination and this is what makes it a bit difficult to define and understand simply with the mind. It is something more, something experienced and felt and known through our whole being.  

 

Synthesis is something beyond a sum of parts. When we witness a talented dancer dancing, we are not seeing the sum of the body, feeling nature, and mind, mixing with music; we are seeing something that goes far beyond that sum; we are seeing the synthesis of all these various elements calling forth something entirely new and whole unto itself. Something of a new realm of beauty, inspiration, and genius is revealed.  

 

If we start with the principle that synthesis IS, we can possibly move into a space of greater understanding. All exists in a grand synthesis, a synthesis of all that appears and all that does not. As we become more aware, more conscious, this synthesis progressively reveals itself. In this progressive revelation, it can appear as an achievement of unity from disunity; but in fact, we are only becoming more aware of the synthesis that IS and always was.  

 

In approaching an understanding of this synthesis, most of us are forced to use the mind. The mind is the definer and the analyzer; it takes the whole apart, and lucky for us, it can put it back together. And while it can put the parts back together, it struggles with the true nature of synthesis; it is more comfortable with the whole being a sum of the parts. Realizing that, when we consider synthesis mentally, it helps to remember that to more fully understand synthesis, we need another faculty, one higher than the mind. Call it what you will, the heart, the intuition, the imagination, the soul, this vaster sensing is needed to bring that element into the mix which shifts a sum into a synthesis.

 

Working mentally, we can analyze the parts of the grand synthesis, and there seems to be three. Yet, in the nature of synthesis, they are more like aspects of a whole, rather  than separate parts. Symbolically we can think of a triangle. Each point represents one aspect of the whole, yet the triangle is, and remains the whole. Each aspect displays difference, but is really only a certain way of looking at the whole. Each point, each aspect, is intrinsically all three. 

 

Each aspect could go by a myriad of names, because we see these aspects revealing themselves all through our world: 

 

Aspect One: spirit, cause, the positive pole, Divine Will, purpose.

 

Aspect Two: soul, relationship of cause and effect, the magnetic field, Divine Love, the relation of purpose and its manifestation.

 

Aspect Three: body, effect, the negative pole, Divine Intelligence, manifestation of purpose.

 

Each aspect cannot exist without the other two. Each is defined by the other two. For example, take a common battery. On the side is a + and a - sign, indicating a positive pole (where the electricity comes from) and a negative pole (where the electricity goes). As long as these poles remain unconnected, nothing happens; the energy is there, but only in potential. That is why they can stay fresh in the drawer for quite some time. But when we connect the poles with a wire, one connected to a bulb, instantaneously, we go from the potential, to the actual lighted bulb.  

 

If we take this battery/wire as a metaphor for synthesis, we can see that all the elements or aspects of synthesis can be present without manifesting or demonstrating that synthesis exists. We can also see that it all manifests at once; we did not go from having a functioning positive pole, to the next stage of having a functioning negative pole, to the next stage of connecting them with a wire. Nothing was functioning, nothing manifested, until it all did. The positive pole cannot be the positive pole without the negative pole, and the reverse is equally true. Neither manifests without the connecting wire; and that connector is not a connector without the poles. 

 

We can also see that the synthesis exists, IS, whether it manifests or not. The parts laying around, not physically connected, are just as much the synthesis, because, it is in their nature. Synthesis does not have to manifest to exist. Our consciousness working through perception needed to see the light come on to witness the synthesis; but once seen, we can know with our intuitive faculty of consciousness that it exists with or without manifesting. 

 

We might wonder how understanding synthesis can be of any possible value in our lives? 

 

Considering it, even as a hypothesis can help us to see and experience all from a deeper and more spiritual viewpoint.  For a vast majority of incarnations, the soul identifies with matter and takes on the qualities of matter and is receptive to matter. Using our battery metaphor, the freshly incarnated soul becomes the negative pole. After many such incarnations, at some point, the light of the soul begins to shine. The connection, the relationship of persona to spirit, starts to become more obvious. The negative pole, the persona, is still obviously present, but in that new light, a sense of being something other begins to make itself evident. 

 

At this stage of evolution, the soul begins to realize that it is a spiritual being that includes, but is not limited to, its materiality, body, emotions and mind. This can lead to a sense of loneliness, a sense of being odd, not as interested in and not able to participate in the world in the same way as before.  In the new light, this incarnating soul begins to understand the world like never before, but feels increasingly less understood by the world and others. At the same time, the light is not revealing the world of spirit; in fact, the exposure to more spiritual theory reveals how much is still unknown. In this new light, the incarnating soul can feel as though it is caught between the two worlds, neither really a part of the material world, nor of the spiritual. 

 

Understanding and applying the principle of synthesis, the soul can realize that it is becoming the connection, the relationship between spirit and matter. The light of the soul is shining only because a relationship between the spirit and its manifestation, the persona, is increasing and deepening. It is becoming more conscious.

 

This is where understanding synthesis can help. Realizing that synthesis IS, that it does not have to be created, adds a degree of surety to this becoming business. Spirit IS, and matter IS, the soul is becoming. 

 

At this stage, the soul can also fail to see how others are part of the same grand synthesis. How could a serial killer, a despot causing genocide, a suicide bomber be part of this same grand synthesis? Surely, their actions indicate that they exist outside of it, as members of something other than the synthesis, even against the principles of the synthesis. In relying solely on the senses and logic, we are bound to come to this understanding. 

 

Here is where we cannot deny what the senses are telling us, but we can also hold to the fact that synthesis IS.  Everything, every particle, every person, every soul exists within it.  How, then, could something so ugly be a part of something so grand and divine? The second aspect of the grand synthesis is becoming, and each of the myriads of souls plays its part. That part begins by being impregnated into matter, and for a time growing within the womb of matter. While in that womb, we lose consciousness of our true divine nature, and take on the characteristics of the substance and matter into which we are being born.  We forget our true nature.

 

Evidently, some of the matter of this planet has some characteristics that do not seem very divine, or completely divine. It takes some intelligence, a divine characteristic, to carry out genocide or a car bombing; but there is no love present in this act. So this soul is less conscious, portraying this lack of divine love and divine purpose. If our reaction to a suicide bombing is solely revulsion and separation, then we, too, are portraying some unconsciousness, some characteristics, such as hate or separation or judgment, of the matter we are informed within. If we react from separation, the current of synthesis is not flowing; synthesis cannot manifest.

 

We could, on the other hand, regard that act as evidence of the grand synthesis. We could realize that the great Being who is incarnating into the matter of this planet, plus all of the participating souls, knew exactly what we were getting into before we incarnated. We knew that we would take on such roles. It is easy to say, "I am not a murderer." But we cannot say that in all our incarnations we have never murdered or hated, or even yesterday had thoughts that were not totally loving.  It is in this sense that we are all in this together.  We are all the grand synthesis, the One and the Many, taking on the divinely incomplete qualities, and living them for all to see. As long as those less than divine qualities characterize this matter, some brave soul will lose itself in it. 

 

And why? Why would we go to all this trouble? If our true nature is the soul, and thus so divine, why would we forget our divinity and put on such non-divine substance? That answer lies in the purpose of this planet. The purpose is to bring divine qualities to this planetary matter, to express synthesis, to live the Oneness, and to bring that about most effectively, most beautifully.  The plan is to wake up while in incarnation and bring the divine qualities, our true nature into our everyday livingness and express what we essentially are and have always been, through our every thought, word, feeling and action in the world. And when we awaken, we see and experience everything and everyone as our own being. Every realization we have ever had about our true nature opens a doorway for those divine qualities to infuse and uplift all matter.

 

Of course that looks slower than grass growing, but if we consider the measure of our progress over a couple of thousand years, we can see enormous changes. And we can all tell through our own experience, the pace of change is accelerating. More of us are awakening and freeing ourselves now and are more able to live as our true nature while in incarnation. 

 

So what do we do when we hear of a suicide bombing? Of course, realizing that there is some grand purpose behind it does not mean that we condone it. It simply means that we include it in the synthesis. Most of us would not choose to harm others or commit violent acts. When we witness a suicide bombing, if we feel and witness our revulsion and our feeling of separation or judgment, and not identify with or fall into these thoughts or feelings, we can be the bridge, the connecting point.  We can hold the vision of a better way in our mind's eye, while simultaneously feeling the suffering of the world. We then are the seed, filled with the potential for life beyond this suffering, this separation, this forgetfulness of our oneness. We are the Soul of the world, part of the revelation, the synthesis, the new realm made manifest.

 

There is a kind of pressure moving through our growing relationship with spirit, and this pressure is essentially, love. It is a magnetic field that draws the bomber, those bombed, the families and friends of both, the onlookers, and those watching the news, into a group. The soul is more like a group, and the drastic experience calls for, invokes as a group, spiritual intervention. Each of these repulsive acts is, in fact, a dramatic invocation of love. Most of those involved will react with hate, fear and feeling of separation. But in taking a deep breath, stepping back from our natural persona reactions, we can touch in to our divine nature. Taking a stand there, it is possible to become the most conscious part of that invocation, to become the voice of that invocation, a voice channeling that disgust and fear into a coherent and effective call for more love. The poise that this takes is most attainable as we take our stand in the grand synthesis and know that synthesis IS. 

World Water Day  
March 22, 3 pm EDT
 
Together Our Unity,  Our Intention, Will Ripple to Every Corner of the Earth and Transform our Relationship
to Water Forever


Join the cause this Sunday, March 22
~Global Meditation
~Call to Action
~Live Online Events
 beginning at 3 pm EDT

Learn more and register here.


Synthesis and the Aquarian Age

by Jan Detrich

 

The Aquarian Age will be predominantly the age of synthesis and light.

 

Everything in the universe is perfectly ordered, cyclic and rhythmic. Just as a single day is 24 hours from sunrise to sunrise, or a new annual cycle begins every year on Spring Equinox, there are larger cycles-planetary cycles, solar cycles, galactic and cosmic cycles, happening simultaneously. All of creation is exquisitely and masterfully ordered, rhythmic and cyclic. Just like a human being is organized into many differing coordinating systems that synchronize perfectly with little effort, the cosmos, galaxies, star and planetary systems, are organized and evolving according to natural cyclic law.

 

One of the larger natural Earth cycles is known as an astrological age or Great Month which is one of twelve broad epochs that involve over two thousand years of a resonant culture within an overall grander cycle of 25,800 years or what is called a Great Year. Astrology teaches that each of these Great Months or astrological ages imprint, shape and infuse an era with the legendary qualities and attributes of a specific constellation, and earmark the evolutionary rise and fall of great civilizations. The entire process is called the Precession of the Equinoxes where the northernmost horizon point gradually recedes through each of twelve zodiac constellations sequentially from Aries to Pisces to Aquarius and so on.

 

What is so fascinating and rather astounding in the current transition from the Age of Pisces into the Age of Aquarius is this particular shift in ages is synchronizing with an even larger solar cycle of 250,000 years involving the great sweep of the sun around the greater zodiac. Both the grand solar cycle and lesser planetary cycle are occurring simultaneously, making the advent of the Aquarian Age ultra-significant and an event that has been long awaited by scholars throughout modern history. Consequently, the dawning Aquarian Age is considered a "Golden Age" because it corresponds to this epic synchronization of greater and lesser zodiac cycles.

 

Due to what astrologers call a "cuspal effect" or "orb of influence" a new age gradually rises on the horizon over many hundreds of years before it appears due north on the horizon. Presently humanity is undergoing a transition between the outgoing Age of Pisces and the incoming Age of Aquarius which is an epic turning point in the history of mankind involving a powerful paradigm shift. The new, incoming energies are very stimulating. They vitalize and accelerate innovations and discoveries, and cause significant turbulence and destabilization as the energies and forms of the former age phase out. Historically the years of transition between Ages are critical, defining moments in the history of mankind.  During the last great transition, the onset of the Piscean Age coincided with the rise of five of the modern major religions, and the decline and fall of the Roman Empire-a  passage which dramatically transformed and reoriented society culturally, psychologically and spiritually.

 

Aquarius has long been associated with universal brotherhood, humanity, teamwork, and group relations; hence the Aquarian Age is kindling a new spirit of group consciousness, international dialogue, cooperation and collaboration. The primary keynote of the Aquarian Age is synthesis which is fueling an awareness of group unity, coherence, inclusiveness, interconnection and interdependence, as exemplified in the interconnections of the worldwide web. Uranus, the traditional planetary ruler of Aquarius, is powerfully stimulating, creating an almost frenetic rhythm and pace in today's world, accelerating growth and a major forcing process intent on awakening the world to our essential Oneness. As one author aptly describes, "Uranus is the corrective force of Nature Herself."  

 

By its very nature the Aquarian Age carries the seeds of an enlightened society that is more impersonal, yet genuinely altruistic. Beyond the invigoration of further innovations and discoveries, the ultimate goal of this new era is the conscious realization of the "Brotherhood of Man" and the revelation of the Oneness of all of life. Observing the broad, overarching trends of the past century provides clues to the emerging culture. Much that was envisioned during the Age of Pisces will materialize in the Aquarian Age. Past longings for spiritual connection will consummate in concrete, scientific evidence of our spiritual nature and vital interconnectedness. Self-consciousness and interests will give way to group consciousness and group welfare, and unitedly humanity will serve as a powerful, transformational body in creating a more civilized and humane society and sustainable world.

 

To quote the Ageless Wisdom, the Aquarian Age "...will ultimately produce a synthesis of human endeavor and an expression of the truer values and of the spiritual realities such as the world has never yet seen."  The strength of Aquarian tendencies will eventually fuse all the different major religions and spiritual aspirations of mankind into a universal spirituality based on common principles, while galvanizing large segments of humanity into shared ideals.

 

Aquarius is the sign most related to space-outer space and inner space-thus the Aquarian era will open vistas into outer space and cosmic dimensions that are inconceivable to us at this time. It will move us from the blind faith of spiritual realities toward a scientific understanding of inner spatial dimensions, consciousness, and factual evidence of the existence of the Soul. Increasingly humanity will think synthetically and ultimately focus on the greater good and the value of each Soul's contribution to the overall welfare of the planet.

 

Although the turbulence in today's world is distressing and sometimes even alarming, we can take heart in the fact that these are all quite natural effects of an epic metamorphosis whose sole purpose is "the urge to better conditions."  Every Soul living during these times is intentionally here to usher in the Aquarian principle of love for all mankind. What we can do of a practical nature is join hands and strengthen one another. "The consciousness of universal relationship, of subjective integration and of a proven and experienced unity will be the climaxing gift of the period ahead of us."

 

We can act in small and large ways to embrace this new culture of progress, interdependence and group responsibility. We can cultivate and nurture the seeds of interconnectivity and the essential unity and Oneness of all creation, and in so doing claim our rightful place within the body of Humanity as conscious global citizens on the threshold of a new frontier.   

 

 


Calling everyone home

By resonance we

Are sounding the note
Of home.
The call is going out.
Our Being is
Resounding
And Humanity is
Coming Home.
Home
To Freedom
To Simplicity
To Love
To Synthesis
To Being.
We are in resonance with
The emptiness,
The Oneness
We are the note of
The New Heaven and the New Earth
We have arrived to know the place for the first time
We are the Knower
We are the One and the Many.
We are Life Eternal celebrating, manifesting abundantly through Beauty, through
every form.
Shiva dancing with Shakti,
The Holy Embrace of at-one-ment.
Home on Earth at last.

--Suchitra Davenport