I mentioned last week that I had worked with spiritual transformation with Tanis Helliwell, founder of International Institute for Transformation back in 2000. Tanis chose the image of a butterfly as IIT’s logo. Today we often hear people describe the times we are experiencing as a chrysalis. Personal, spiritual and collective transformation share the experience of shifting into a new way of being, a new form. 

In the last decade, Stephen Dinan has exposed thousands of people from around the world to resources for transformation through The Shift Network. Talk about paradigm shifts, the New Earth, Higher Consciousness or Gaia has become quite commonplace.

Not all growth or change is dramatic. Some is developmental or planned. But transformation suggests the new phase is beyond the present knowing. In transformation, we are asked to let go of the thinking that has brought us to this new zero point-whether deemed successful or not. We are asked to reimagine the future and let it unfold in grand design. This is why the butterfly is such a great symbol of the process. This is what is being asked, if not demanded of us in this moment.

Indigenous cultures like the Celts, did not think of personal, spiritual, religious or communal aspects of life as separate from one another. When they met in community to face a problem or meet a new challenge, the ritual was all-encompassing. From what we can glean from ancient practices, they acknowledged and celebrated the interconnectedness of life and realized their interdependence with Mother Earth and her elements. We can best meet the challenge of today by surrendering our notion of having domain over nature and rekindling that spirit of wholeness.

To undergo spiritual transformation, we are asked to ground ourselves, and then open- open to the uncertainty, the mystery, the awe of what is yet to come. Our quarantine, stay-in-place is our chrysalis. As we begin to emerge into our next phase, we will be transformed.

Ministry teaches the practice of non-anxious presence. All counselors or good communicators know how to actively listen, i.e. to hear not just the words but the emotion, feeling and meaning of the words, without judgment or reaction. Reiki practitioners illustrate how to draw healing energy down to and through them, allowing this energy to pass through them to their clients. Openness then is more than an act of the mind. It is also of the heart and body. Fully opening ourselves to the Universal source by whatever name we deem it is the essence of transformation.

As I work with more and more people who are looking to deepen their spiritual practices or explore healing modalities, I often am asked to clarify terms and phrase used but seldom defined. Often, we understand them through context but find ourselves hard pressed to explain them to those just new to spiritual or energy work. I am working on an e-book that I hope will meet that need. And, those of you who have read my novels, know that I offer examples though the lives of my characters as they travel to Ireland and open to the mystery and wonder of its thin places.

Yes, we are being challenged to shift gears. We all have different paths through the experience. Whatever your path, I send you a blessing from Star Wars (much of it filmed in Ireland):

 May the Force be with you. 

Stay safe everyone.