Purify with Repetition. Devotion to Flow. You are the Brightness.
Week 7 : Flow into Fire Alchemy Challenge
Distillation
Inner fire clarifies our being with its conscious energetic dance on chakric spinal ladder between above and below. This bonds soul & spirit.
photo by Melissa Robin
Each repetition thru microcycles the alchemical process.
Spirals descend deeper inwards towards oneness.
The Rollercoaster of life becomes less frightening the deeper you go, the higher you get. We learn how to handle edges with more grace. Wisdom, perhaps.
Inner Alchemy operates much like the process of distillation itself where heat is used to condense alcohol spirits by evaporating water + extras, creating as pure a substance as possible. The more times thru distillation, the cleared the end product.
The distilled force of spirit is intense.
If we have not forged strong tools & self-awareness in the fires of the previous 5 stages, distillation will be too much, too soon. These profound experiences with divine-energy have the potential to leave someone unhinged, dangling, wanting more. Or, a powerful being with this taste of ecstasy craves more, but without the grounding and clarity proved through the gauntlet of the alchemical process can become confused or corrupted.
Image by Ole - Sasha Alexander from the Shine Your Light Retreat 2021
This is why it’s a ladder, there are no bypasses.
Guided by the moon here, our internal essence is nourished with source energy. Oneness becomes the goal as other drives and desires fall away. Devotion to becoming an instrument for the universe to work through us becomes top priority.
In distillation we continue to clarify a sense of “why : this is where profound breakthroughs happen in art, sciences, realities.
Gently urged to “Get out of our own way”, larger forces start to work through us.
When devoted to the evolution of consciousness, we realize that we are an intrinsic piece of the big picture. Here, we become the moon silver key to nourish ourselves.
Within the flow, this is the spiral cycling over and over. All flow patterns coalesce. Mastery of living within flow state- finding flow above all even when moving through struggle, release, deep flow, and rest - becomes sweet expression of oneness.
We seek to begin to live in oneness through practice, trust, devotion, + confidence.
And humility.
No one has it all figured out or is on a higher “rung” of accomplishment. There is always more to do, and there is no shame or blame no matter where we are.
For we are in this as one lifeforce, above all.
We rise & We shine brighter together.
Images by Ole - Sasha Alexander from the Shine Your Light Retreat 2021
When oneness prevails and love guides us with grace, rise to see there is no higher work than centering to deep self love so to may emit, inspire, help other beings through the work of purifying our own channels.
Distillation - This stage can feel lonely after the exciting breakthroughs experienced in Conjunction and Fermentation. Though consider the beauty of introspective autonomy and what can be gained through quieting the whole being while your truths float in. This is all leading to the solidification of your essence and your own personal gold via a powerful gust of air. ‘Distillation consists of a variety of introspective techniques that will attempt to raise the content of the psyche to the highest level possible, free from all sentimentality and emotions, cut off even from one’s personal identity. It is the purification of the unborn Self - all that we truly are and can be spiritually.’ - The Emerald Tablet, Chapter 10, Step Six: Distillation.
Excerpt credited to The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation, by Dennis William Hauck.
Distillation may look or feel like:
Repeating spirals over and over
Being ‘level’ when intensity arizes
Uniting the chakras within our bodies.
Becoming more aware & devotedly concentrating your unique essence
Seeking oneness
Clarifying what truly matters to you
Realizing your life’s purpose
Emphasizing being over doing.
Engaging the cycle of above to below & back again without frustration
Musing Questions:
How does mindfulness in flow ignite the inner flames of our spirit?
Where do spirals show themselves in movement?
What are soul & spirit? How are they different?
What actions do you do / how do you BE to concentrate your spirit essence?
Flow with an aware spirit.
My musings :
I ask to go deep.
Desires for deep(er) Oneness.
To be a clear channel.
For pleasure portals in each moment.
Cycles and Spirals.
Once upon a time, I embarked upon a multi-week journey. Preparing the scene by nourishing, assisting, and participating in a Temple Body Arts retreat, we culminated in sitting with the grandmother Ayahuasca plant brew in the Costa Rican mountain jungles with dear sisters.
Images from Sofiah Thom’s Temple Body Arts over the years- images by Brendan Jaffer-Thom, Melissa Robin & Alize Jireh Yaccino
Profound is perhaps the only word that even touches the surface.
Revelations continue to unfold, years later.
The first night we sat, I danced the serpent spine. Energy up, energy down. “As above, so below” echoed in my mind as I undulated space within the deepest crevasses of my body. Winding all around. I didn’t want to purge, wouldn’t release, surrender. I swallowed it in, cycling my energy around. Nourishing. Fascinating.
The next night, I asked to go deep. To explore oneness. To clear my channel.
Ohhhhhh & how.
Tools collected, honed, & trained were of utmost importance.
Mind set to curiosity + no expectations I indulged in breath.
No judgment. Only Self-love + gratitude for this ancient medicine being shared with me in a circle of women, guided by song and desire.
I danced.
Over and over I purged what I no longer needed, tears of pure joy streaming down my cheeks as I gazed at the milky way. Amidst bouts of speaking in giggle tongues with fae sisters, becoming spiders snakes jaguars in turn, and seeing my own body’s golden temple, this heightened realization of embodied oneness permeated.
I am ~ We are ! the golden temple.
I & we reside within it, both.
No separation.
Only layers.
Looking out past the vines to the mountains, a vision of grandmother flew as a white wisp of spirit. As I asked how to be a clear channel with all my being, she became me. I realized I am her. She is me. I am the temple of my ancestors, the temple for forebears as physical matter of the earth herself, and a gem of consciousness seeking unity.
Even now I see the systems of my body working constantly, subconsciously, collectively. Everything we do affects each other, for we are a web of whirling life, inextricably intertwined.
Since then I’ve felt the most profound senses of oneness and consciousness within each moment.
I feel the beauty of refinement sparkling. Constant if I choose to sink into it. JoyFULL.
images by Greg Inda
Giving context to experiences of myself and others, I truly feel the gratitude of being alive in the present moment, being able to BE, to embark upon this great work which has many names for divine, infinite prophets, + exponentially more enculturated systems of learning to love the divine within us all.
Distillation rides like a vertical rollercoaster of infinite spirals. The more trips up and down, the stronger the forged bond of soul and spirit.
So, I’m here for the ride, wherever it takes me.
I hold no attachment to a finality, simply to the gratitude of all this life has to offer.
My mantras for these days:
I am a clear channel. I seek to clarify my channel.
As above, So below.
All is oneness.
Awaken eyes to the sparkle within all things, and breathe to sink into the present.
All in love, and love above all.
<3
Gaea
