Last week I wrote about being in the light and feeling the luminosity of light. Often, I write about the ancient sites that were built to align with the sun, or moon or stars. While modern scholars acknowledge these phenomena, many suggest they were “simply” sundials or places to celebrate the changing of the seasons and know when to plant crops. Walking these places in mindfulness, it is easy to feel that much more was going on in these ancient places or ritual. These places “worked with the light”. These places “anchored the light”. Their alignment focuses the light and drew the observer to a place where the light and energy of the sun connected to the Earth. Later, High Celtic crosses were erected to do much the same. Crosses symbolize the connection of the transcendent to the immanence, spirit to matter, Sky to Earth. In other words, they anchor the Light of Christ to our secular world.

If you have ever walked into a church or temple, you have had the opportunity to experience a modern version of the phenomena. Think of the beauty of stained-glass windows and how they are positioned. The rose windows of medieval cathedrals like Notre Dame are breathtaking examples. In Celtic Spirit, I have Timothy, the Irish bus driver,  exclaim while in the Newgrange inner sanctum “Sure, ‘tis better than any cathedral”. My reaction was the same. It reminded me of the tears that came when I first entered St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC. There are numerous (but not all) churches and cathedrals in Celtic nations that evoke the same awe and wonder. I finally realized that it was the experience of the light that evoked my tears, my sense of being protected and my sense of deep peace.

We are now in a new place in time and space where we are once again realizing that we have a light within ourselves that can be activated to bring us in direct relationship to the LIGHT. Whether one experiences it as the love and light of the Christ, Universal Force or the Sun, it can fill us and bring us peace and comfort whenever we acknowledge its presence. If we add to that awareness that we also can anchor that light, we have unearthed a powerful truth that can help us personally. If we then realize that we also can hold and emanate that light for others to experience, we are assisting the planet in healing. Ever since the Harmonic Convergence of 1987, I have been working with the light. It probably is no accident that this is about the time I was led to Celtic spirituality and my beloved sacred sites.

I was part of the early days of seeking spiritual transformation. In fact, I frequently drove to Toronto (4 hours away) to participate in workshops and spiritual growth groups. Tanis Helliwell, our facilitator, created what she called a network of ‘focalizers”. That is, we were lightworkers who agreed to work with the energies of Light, meditate and do clearings that would anchor the light in our communities throughout North America.

During that time, I recall listening to a tape by Carolyn Myss as I drove across NY to a consultant gig in Albany. She asked a question that challenged me to the bone. I literally pulled off the road to think about it. The question as I remember it was: “What if all you were asked to do (by God or Spirit) was to go to a small community in an unknown place and be the light, nothing more than to hold the light?” My ego was shocked. Here I was having just achieved a career milestone as a sort-after consultant on organizational change and leadership development, doing work I loved and felt was of use to the world. Give all of that up to go to Podunk, USA and hang out? The question followed me for years. Whenever I thought about my purpose or what it really means to surrender, that question came foremost in my mind. It is an amazing question for these times.

May Light and Love surround you and emanate from you as we face these challenging times together.