In the previous two parts of this series of blog postings on Aligning with Nature’s Yearly Cycle, I introduced a fair amount of background material on Nature, what a garden is, what the benefits are of consciously aligning one’s personal and spiritual development process to Nature’s Yearly Cycle. I even talked a bit about Free Will and how it is the operational dynamic for Human Consciousness, and gave an overview of the physical manifesting process.

By now you know that in Nature, anything that is in form on this planet Earth -- whether we can detect it with our 5 physical senses or not -- has its own evolutionary process that it is undergoing while in this dimension of reality. This includes the broad scale of human consciousness, the Earth herself, all the plants, animals, rocks, rivers, oceans, ecosystems, as well as anything that is human-made, from nations, to cities, to our families. It includes our personal processes, and the process of everything that we create. The evolutionary process of all this form happens in a yearly cycle, and the “natural” starting point for the each year’s new cycle begins with the Fall Equinox. 

Again, at the moment of the Fall Equinox the call goes out from the Soul-level consciousness that is behind each form for the new cycle to begin to come together at the deepest, and most subtle of energy levels. This gathering process takes place during the period between the Fall Equinox and the Winter Solstice.

A good analogy to describe what’s happening during this first phase of the cycle is that of how an architect first works with a client. At that initial stage of the project, the architect wants to gather as much information as possible, such as what does the client want to build and why; what will the building be used for and by whom, where is the building located, what special features does the client want or need and so forth. All of this information is needed so that architect knows how to direct her creative energies before she starts to put together the actual blueprints for the project.

In other words, this first phase involves a lot of behind the scenes kind of activity between your Soul/High Self and Nature. You most likely won’t have much of a sense of what is happening at these deeper levels. And yet, a lot can be happening in your outer world. There might be key actions that you need to take in order to signify your conscious participation in the process and that will “get the ball rolling,” so to speak.  

I have noticed, however, that as the number of years in which I have consciously aligned my personal process with Nature’s Yearly Cycle increases, the more I am able to sense the quite subtle, but very real shifts and opportunities that come with the birthing of the new cycle.

Some years I can sense that BIG shifts are in the works. Like last year. In the weeks leading up to the Fall Equinox, I had the strong sense that some very significant opportunities were being offered to me on a Spiritual Level and I was being given time to assess whether I wanted to take them or not. Remember, even God honors our Free Will and if we don’t think we’re ready for something Spirit is asking us to do, then we have the full freedom and right to say “no” or “not now.”

Even though I was not clear in my conscious mind about what Spirit was asking of me, I could feel the strong desire of my Soul to say “yes.” So I did and as the year has unfolded, I’ve been on a very intensive path of healing at deep, deep levels. Just to show how intensive it’s been, here’s a comparison. In 2008, I received a TOTAL of 15 healings over the 12 months, 8 were done for me by another Christa Healer and 7 of those 15 I did on myself. In the just the first 8 months of 2009, I have done 27 healings on myself and received 8 from other Christa Healers! THAT’S A LOT by any standard!

Quite honestly, I know this level of intense healing would not have been possible, nor would I have been able to stay balanced throughout such intensive spiritual work, without out support I have received because I chose to consciously align my process with that of Nature’s cycle. This way of living my life has been all the difference. But especially in terms of keeping me balanced and the process balanced. I was able to do it without any adverse effects; even more I was able to do the intensive work in such a way that each piece along the journey prepared me for the next piece.

As I write this, the current year’s cycle is winding down and I have been very aware of the ripening of the fruit produced in this year’s cycle in the Garden of Julia. I experience myself as a more substantial and capable person than I was just a year ago. Certainly much more than I was 11 years ago when I first started receiving Christa Healings! It’s not that I don’t still have doubts or low moments or fears. It’s just that I feel more spiritually equipped and prepared to do my part as in Instrument of Light in the World.

And as the new cycle approaches with this year’s Fall Equinox, I have a very different feeling about what the new cycle will be about. If last year’s theme was about “going inward,” my sense is that this coming year’s theme will be “going outward.” This past year, and indeed the last several years, have been laying the groundwork for the next stage of my life’s journey. (Think of a life stage as a series of yearly cycles focused on bringing about a larger goal or intention.)

For simplicity’s sake, I'll call the current life stage that I am in the process of completing my “Nebraska Stage.” My Nebraska Stage began nearly 8 years ago when, in September 2001, my husband and I made the decision to sell our little 15 acre farm in Southeast Minnesota. I’d like to use the details of the first year's cycle of my Nebraska Stage as way to introduce a fuller picture of Nature’s Yearly Cycle.

Before we get into the specifics of the story, here are the key dates and themes to remember about Nature’s Yearly Cycle:

• Phase One of the cycle starts with the Fall Equinox (on or close to September 21st); the theme of this phase is “Gathering.” Again, this happens at very deep levels and is initiated by the Soul.
• Phase Two starts with the Winter Solstice (on or close to December 21st); the theme of this phase is “Planning” or drawing up the blueprints. This is the speciality of the Devic Level within Nature Intelligence.
• Phase Three starts with the Spring Equinox (on or close to March 21st); the theme of this phase is “Building” or implementing the plans. This is the specialty of the Nature Spirit Level within Nature Intelligence.
• Phase Four starts with the Summer Solstice (on or close to June 21st); the theme of this phase is “Bloom, Grow, Ripen and Harvest.” This when what was initiated at the start of the new cycle comes into full, 5-senses form and celebrates the efforts of all those involved: the partners from Nature and the partners from Spirit, including the Human Souls involved.

Now, I’d been aware of Nature’s Yearly Cycle since about 1994 when I first got my copy of Perelandra Garden Workbook Second Edition. As I’ve said before, I’ve intuitively followed this cycle most of my life, long before I was aware that it was the natural cycle on the planet. But it wasn’t until about 2001 that I really started to consciously and intentionally aligning myself and my process to this Cycle.

Now the circumstances leading up to our decision to sell our beloved little “farm” had been in the works for a long while -- but that’s a whole other story! Suffice it to say, that by the Fall of 2001, the time was ripe for a change. It was as if my life had reached a plateau and I had the choice of either remaining on the plateau and building an ordinary life at that level or moving on to my next level. Well, by this time my Soul was actively awakening and I was feeling a very strong internal push/pull to “open and expand.” And because my husband and I came together to support each other in “becoming the person God intends for us to be,” we were going to be in this piece together!

You might say that the theme of the 2001-2002 Cycle was “Moving to Open and Expand.” The cycle started with the decision that Fall that it was time to move on to our next set of experiences. Our outward action to jump-start this cycle and show our commitment to it was putting our farm up for sale. 

Then, throughout that Fall and into the Winter, we explored many options. Where did we want to move to? What did we want to accomplish? With the coming of the Winter Solstice, we started to get a clearer idea of what we needed and wanted to do.

By the time of the Spring Equinox of 2002, we had settled on a plan. With Phase Three underway, we watched in amazement as our plan started to unfold in tangible, outward ways. We had pin-pointed an area to move to, found a place to live, our farm sold and we were moved and in our new, though temporary, home in the open and expansive landscape of the Sandhills of Nebraska by early May 2002.

Lots of people in our lives thought we were crazy! Why would anyone intentionally move to a town of 1200 people that was the only town in a county with more cows than people and was a good 85-90 miles from any reasonably-sized towns for shopping, etc. But to us, it made perfect sense! Over the course of our planning during the first 3 phases of that year’s cycle, we’d realized that we are ourselves needed to open and expand to new levels spiritually, mentally and emotionally. And given our mutual love for and affinity with the Earth, we knew intuitively that placing ourselves in a landscape such as the Sandhills would enhance our own opening and expansion process. And it did!

The summer of 2002 was an active time for us. I saw myself clearly breaking out of old shells and being willing to look at new avenues for myself. That was also the summer I read Machaelle Small Wright’s story of her own expansion experience, Dancing in the Shadows of the Moon. It was a fitting part of the launching of the Nebraska Stage of my life! I chuckled when I reread the book this past winter at how things that were nearly mind-blowing 7 years ago were now just a normal part of my consciousness and understanding of Life!

Each successive year since 2001-2002 has built upon the foundation laid by that first cycle of the Nebraska Stage of my life’s journey. More and more with each passing year's cycle, my life’s journey has become a truly co-creative effort between my conscious self, Spirit and Nature. And the opening and expansion of my consciousness, of my awareness of who and what I truly am and of my growth into a powerful, substantial spiritual being in physical form is part of what I am now “harvesting” as the Nebraska Stage of my journey comes to an end. All this has been possible in ways that I could never imagined because of my choosing this path of consciously aligning my own personal, evolutionary, spiritual process with Nature’s Yearly Cycle.

Ancient wisdom talks about the Circle of Life and I understand what is meant by that. What intrigues me more, though, is the opportunities that we have to experience Life as an ever-expanding, upwardly-moving Spiral. The Spiral is a form found in many places within the created world, from galaxies to our own muscle fibers. Life lived as a dynamic, upwardly-moving, expanding spiral gives us the opportunity to consciously grow in our understanding of ourselves as persons and as spiritual beings.

I often say to people “we are so much more than we are consciously aware.” So in part, the Journey that is Life is one of discovery of our True Self, which is immense, powerful, capable and loving. And yet, the journey is also about truly growing into that True Self. Because we have Free Will, we have to consciously choose to grow, to move up and outward in the Spiral of Life. No one is going to make us grow. We may receive urgings from God, our High Self or our Spirit Guides to move out of the familiar, recurring “wheel” that our lives can become, but it’s up to each of us to choose to move forward, upward and outward. 

Consciously aligning one’s own process with Nature’s Yearly Cycle is one way to ensure that we don’t get stuck in a rut or spend life chasing our tail round and round. When you choose to align your process with Nature’s Yearly Cycle, Nature, God, your Soul, your High Self and your Spirit Guides will take you seriously! So be prepared to rock and roll a little!  As always, it’s your path to take responsibility for and to govern. But you will find yourself on the receiving end of a tremendous amount of support. And not because it wasn’t there before. But because you are now open to it!

So I invite you to get out your 2009 calendar and put a BIG RED circle around September 22. Write in the time of the Fall Equinox for your time zone: EDT = 5:18 PM; CDT = 4:18 PM; MDT = 3:18 PM; PDT = 2:18 PM. (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/equinox.html)

Plan on being able to spend at least 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after the exact time of the Fall Equinox to be quiet and inwardly focused. Be clear about your intentions. At the exact time of the Equinox state those intentions, either silently to yourself or outloud: 

"I welcome the next cycle of my own evolutionary process and I declare my intention to consciously assist and participate in its unfolding over the coming year and to align myself to the right timing of it's unfolding."

If you like, mark the day in some special way. I like to gather a bouquet of warm-season grasses mixed with fall-blooming wildflowers. Do whatever feels fitting for you and what feels symbolic of this commitment you’ve made to your own evolutionary process.

And, then over the next weeks and months leading up to the Winter Solstice, pay attention to insights or internal stirrings that you might feel. Mark these in some way, either mentally or in a journal. And continue your observing as the rest of the year’s cycle unfolds.

Consciously find ways to develop your own intuitive abilities. This is one of the clearest and loudest ways that Nature and Spirit communicates with us. Using our intuition really is the most natural way for us to live our lives. So,

• learn how to work with a pendulum,
• learn how to correctly use muscle testing,
• pay heed to the little voice that you might otherwise ignore,
• listen to the feelings in your “gut brain,”
• tune into your heart regularly,
• learn how to do connected meditations and receive guidance from your High Self,
• learn how to awaken your Soul.

Be willing to step out of your comfort level by actually taking actions based on your intuitive “hits.” Be willing to tell the judging, critical mind that wants to say that this is all a bunch of new-age phooey to be quiet and stay out of your way! Mostly, be prepared to experience a new level of self-awareness.

Now that you have a foundational sense of Nature’s Yearly Cycle, I’ll continue to include discussions on it in future blog postings as the coming year’s cycle commences and unfolds. As I said earlier, my own sense is that the coming year’s theme for myself has to do with “going outward” from the base established during the Nebraska Stage of my life’s journey.

As you may have guessed, the Nebraska Stage of my life is officially coming to an end with the completion of the current year’s cycle. Sometime in early September, I and my whole family -- husband, dogs, cat and chickens! -- will be moving to West Central Minnesota! As is my policy, whether I’m starting on a new year’s cycle, or a new stage in life, I’ve very curious to see how things will unfold! 

Until next time, Namaste!

Julia