Everything has information to help understand the terrain
I arrived at the park a little late because of a tight work schedule, but I was not going to miss this time with Dove. I was wide-eyed and a little overwhelmed with all I had been experiencing. The first words from Dove were:
DOVE: How have you been experiencing things?
JON: People are so caught up doing so many things. At the bank, I was drawn to stand beside their docile parking guard, and I asked him how he was instead of just passing him by. Usually speechless, this time he said “It’s been difficult for me for the first year because nobody noticed I was here, and would park illegally. People are such liars and frauds, pretending they will be just here for a minute.” I acknowledged him and what he said, got into the truck and flipped on the stereo. The Dylan CD “No Ones Here” came on. Both things echoed what I’ve been experiencing this morning, and there has been a lot of that kind of thing happening.
DOVE: You are starting to experience that the universe begins to organize in a co-operative way with your desires and destiny. When one takes a conscious step, the universe cooperates and the soul says ‘well okay!’ and begins to engage. Like chess, there is a sentient consciousness out there responding, eventually for a relationship. It understands you are a toddler, awkward, strange, relaxed and open. You were engaging with your guide.
JON: This instant, I’m having a series of vague flashing memories.
DOVE: You are beginning to suspect there is an intelligence trying to engage as you maneuver your experience – that everything means something and carries information to help understand the terrain. Every aspect can eventually be a communication, which is the connection to the flow. It’s what St. Francis experienced, that the supreme is right there. Being in two worlds will evaporate down the line. It’s the process of waking to the dream we are always in, like thr tuning on the radio, and there’s lots of channels available.
JON: I have been learning about what happens when I cultivate a space for others - learning they might have a message.
DOVE: A definition of a shaman is that they cultivate relationship with real power through relationship with what is manifest. As you cultivate this relationship within the context of relationship, you are graced with access. You are at preschool age. When you act like a jerk, you get a swat on the butt. You are getting your basic under-structure to develop fluency. Eventually you will see that your identity is within that connected relationship.
JON: What I’ve been experiencing in relating to others is to hold a space for them and to not clobber them with my beliefs. I'm learning that they have rich stories. There is such an overwhelming range of people in the world.
DOVE: Think of a loving parent. It becomes normal in the "Evenings for the Soul" to hold a person's hand and hear their voice without getting fingerprints all over them. To see the same levels in others that you yourself are in, orients you. More precision develops a sense of safety and the truth that you can be trusted. Other souls will naturally recognize it. As you become safer, you bring it with you wherever you go. You demonstrate that you know your way around and others feel it and relax as you are more relaxed at your center. But, there are spiritually rough neighborhoods, so you need cultivate fierceness. Rather than letting your soul get slammed by their malevolence, you need the ability to release their energy from your body if you absorbed their negative energy and reactivity. It gives them the opportunity to go elsewhere. It's the compassionate thing to do but takes a lot of transcendent clarity.
JON: With some people, it feels dangerous or hurtful. How do I handle that Dove?
DOVE: There is a game people play that is primal like apes. It’s called ‘Hurt the Healer’. For example, if I have a wounded elbow and can’t talk about it for some reason, I typically get around a bunch of people and figure out which one is capable of healing me. I would get up close to him and hit him on the elbow and then watch how he takes care of himself. Then I retreat into a safe place and do what he did. It's what humans do, like apes. As you become centered, you have the experience of being more and more of a healer. You become targeted because you have the vibe and more experience of being hurt.
JON: So I can expect to get more and more targeted?
DOVE: Yes, so it is important to have this understanding and to have lines of defense. The first is to develop a strong center with an overarching understanding of what’s going on. The second is that you are obliged to see their wound before they do, and then heal it before they can get to you (before they realize you are the healer), and before it turns into anything. For example, when I speak publicly there is always a devil's advocate that thinks things are getting too happy and that it all needs balance. One learns to create and to spontaneously manifest safety wherever one goes. It’s like turning the corner right on time. There is always someone out there to get you, so it's important to create safety wherever you go and to develop the ability to spontaneously manifest safety: to become a soul-level midwife. The subtle body immune system tests things out. There is also a collective immune system, and we are obliged to know and anticipate it before drama begins to unfold. In these economic times, the cultural immune system is compromised and things can devolve. We are learning the mechanics of managing change and creating safety and harmony so that another reality can exist. As you evolve, you learn how to evolve.
JON: This really helps give me some context for all that is happening right now.
DOVE: We are understanding or cataloging the process of waking up, which orients you to what it means to wake up. This allows you to navigate the waking up process when it happens around you. Also, you are understanding the principle of getting targeted, which is a key for facilitating safety. When you are a credible witness, the distress of being lost can go away. The soul has a pounding desire to manifest but has no way and little relief. People ‘zone out’ collectively, not addressing the truth of what the soul is going through. This can lead to addiction in the search for a way to navigate. Being unplugged is Hell – life without meaning, a bunch of unrelated and dissociated events without context. Therefore, we are talking about creating meaning through extreme association: by being present. Asking what can you truly reflect on, or saying yes to it in your space everyday, can lead to profound conclusions. Answers can show up in your waking life, in your daydreams and your dream life.
JON: Talking about being unplugged: I did a regression 15 years ago back to when I was three. I was frequently allowed to wander with a pack of neighborhood dogs which took care of me. I loved it, until one day I had wandered far away. I realized I was lost and freaked out and cried for help, for mommy, and no one came. I had cried myself out 'til I couldn’t cry anymore. You know, to that point a kid reaches where they are simply exhausted with crying. Then a presence that seemed dark showed up to answer my call, and I calmed down, got up and somehow found my way home. I can't remember exactly how, but I was calm and think I just walked back up the street.
DOVE: That was an initiation typical of a vision quest at the age of thirteen; it was your "appointment kept." In this culture, souls are still moving at the same speed and trajectory, but crashing into things without orientation. In a tribal situation there are all kinds of structures and containers for guiding one through.
