Healing Is About Integration
A few months ago I had a homework assignment that involved leading a meditation where we connected with all of the stars in the Milky Way and with Archangel Metatron. He is one of the angels who sits at the highest levels of reality, though he can slide up and down the spiritual dimensions to reach us in the physical world.
When I asked my intuition why blend the two, the response was that soul healing runs along two major axes. The archangels help us go up and down a vertical ladder of awareness - much like a piano where we learn to play all of the octaves. The starlight connection helps with lateral integration, or healing of relationships. It's how we get along with the world.
a) Vertical Integration (Spiritual)
If we think of consciousness as a ladder of awareness, we can go upwards to get a sense of a spiritual world - whether we believe in angels, goddesses, or one particular understanding of God. We can also take our awareness down to connect with the natural world, becoming sensitive to the energy and spirit of Mother Nature, which includes trees, rivers, mountains, flowers and crystals. Some traditions emphasize the Heavens, while others focus on Nature and the Earth. Energy Healers spend lots of time grounding because planet Earth gives us the foundations needed to access the upper echelons of the ladder. This is how we activate our psychic abilities and our intuition to connect with angels and teacher guides.
Up isn't better than down. The natural world has plenty of wisdom and magick to share with us. It is also healing and de-stressing. Just think about how it feels to leave your phone behind and go for a hike. Grounding is essential for healers; without it, we can burn ourselves out, or even lose our sense of reality and purpose on Earth. The first chapter of Chakra Healing & Magick focuses on grounding your energy.
>> Vertical integration means feeling just as comfortable with the spiritual world as the physical world - going up, going down, and bringing both together in the Heart. It involves spirituality, including your relationship with nature and any mystical experiences.
b) Lateral Integration (Human)
This is the part that I found most intriguing. We connected with the stars in this clairvoyant meditation, taking our attention to other planets, dimensions and universes (or inwards, to your own universe of feelings, experiences, and associations). In my consumer marketing days, we used to say that every human being was a universe: complete with beliefs, affinities, and unimaginable social interactions.
>> Lateral integration involves healing our relationships: personal (with yourself), individual (friends, lovers, family) and collective (society). It's how we relate to one another.
Ask yourself: How do you get along with people in your life, at work, in school or generally in the world? There are social groups that we feel a part of and others that we see as distant, different or foreign. This is where psychology comes into play; the attributes that we shy away from are often projected onto others. We can shine a light on the unconscious in many ways; tarot, natal astrology and counseling are good options.
In this meditation I visualized a network of stars going out in all directions - a metaphor for healing on a broader level. Take your attention beyond your physical body and channel starlight, intending to heal any parts of your personality that feel separate from or triggered by your surroundings. Starlight flows through you, soothing your mental & emotional body.
It's also about creating a circuit of energy. I felt that starry energy circle through my arms; it went up my left arm, through the heart, and out the right hand to the Universe. Relationships do influence the emotional and mental layers of the Aura, but the healing was in the heart.
When I ask my intuition what we stand to gain by expanding our awareness to include all of the planets & stars in the Milky Way, the answer brings me back to the basics: connect with yourself (inwards) and the people around you (outwards). Healing relationships so that we feel belonging, community and compassion on a global, cross-cultural level. Resolving conflicts and processing emotions is a big part of this.
Lateral integration makes it easier for us to send healing to the collective; this happens when energy healing flows through the transpersonal energy centers in your Aura to people in your community and in the world. Heal yourself, heal the world. I'll come back to this in the future as it involves both vertical and lateral awareness.
c) The Intersection is the Sweet Spot
We heal by integrating the four directions (Up/Down, In/Out). Many personal conflicts come from stumbling blocks in the subconscious; these can be found by going inward. I have often looked to natal astrology for clues. You can work with Energy Healing and with creative tools to shine a light on your inner self. At the end of the day, lateral integration involves working with the psyche and our emotions. My goal is to focus more on energy healing and shadow work.
Spiritual Integration (Vertical) is fun and exciting but the human aspect (Lateral) can be messy, painful and even ugly. It's not uncommon for spiritual types to shy away from it; I have done so myself. This is what I am working on now and it dawned on me that the four directions consolidate our healing efforts.
The concept has given me a framework to work with - I hope it helps you too 💙
>> Awaken your Inner Healer (Books)
No comments:
Post a Comment