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Field Notes

Heartfelt Prayer

5/26/2021

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Photo credit Stock image: Birds fly in front of a full moon. GETTY IMAGES
The Full Flower Super Blood Moon (on a Wednesday) is the culmination of this science experiment and here we are, dear Adepts! The daily prompts thus far have been leading to this one, so lean in, will you?... 

The end game here (for me) has been to get some important themes in the forefront of my mind via day-resonant writing prompts: abundance, creativity, shadows (fears), shine, mystery, vigor culminating with a well-articulated communication from the heart to move through a challenge in my life. In essence, a heartfelt Prayer. The magic of today, of course, is optimal conditions to merge with the big flow of the “celestial court” and write down in as plain language as I possibly can the Prayer that wants to express itself through me. And then link that Prayer up with the full moon this month, which is also the auspicious lunar holiday to celebrate the Buddha’s birth, death and enlightenment. This is the basic idea anyway. 

And what is the nature of the experiment we have done here? Well, the incredibly simple and obvious hack of tuning in to the days of the week and associated celestial bodies has allowed us to work what is already in motion with an ongoing aspect of modern life that everyone on the planet (for the most part) has a sense of and is an active participation in : the seven day week. By virtue of lining up with this higher order we can actively link up to the “music of the spheres” which is the whirring and spinning and orbiting of the visible planets (plus the sun and moon) in the heavens. Ultimately though, I propose that this experiment serves as a boost in realizing our true nature as a creative, active, divine force in the world.

Naturally, this science experiment can be extended, if you feel called, as a way to diversify your ongoing experience and harness yourself to the larger mystery of the celestial-scape. There are 52 weeks per year of course so find the next week that makes sense to you and have at it! 


Without further chatter, here’s the culminating writing prompt from our time together...

  • Wednesday, theme: Communication / Release - articulate yourself from the heart.
    • Zoom in: Write as clearly as possible your Prayer for your life at this time. Don’t think about it too hard. Just start writing “The Prayer for my life is….”
    • Zoom out: Write as clearly as possible your Prayer for humanity, for all beings. Don’t think about it too hard. Just start writing “My Prayer for all beings is…”
    • MERCURY - this ‘lil planet has an influence! Good to merge with yet can be difficult to manage when in retrograde. (It goes retro starting May 29. Best to get that Prayer in before we go a bit haywire, no?) 
    • Wear green, head to toe if possible.
    • Tune in to your heart space and pull your Prayers out throughout the day and read them aloud. There is power to reading out loud. Feel your heart beating as you read. Feel the vibration of the words in your vocal chords, clearly communicate with the physical elements your prayers throughout the day. 
    • Embody your Prayer in as many ways as possible today - take a salt bath and saturate the waters with your Prayer, get a massage and imagine your Prayer being pressed into your body, dance while you hold the sentiment of your Prayer in your heart space. Embody the Prayer as fully as you can in as many ways as you can throughout the day. Re-read it often in and around all these activities. Out loud. Read it out loud! 
    • Build and Burn a despacho with your written Prayer as the base of the Prayer packet. Make it as beautiful as possible. A despacho “recipe” is below but know you can do what you will. The ingredients are typically found in most homes and yards (or parks). A despacho simply harnesses the physical elements and employs the transformational qualities of fire (or decay) to represent and manifest a Prayer or Intention. Burn your despacho in the evening of the Full Flower Moon and use the other sheets of writing paper from the week as kindling. Take pictures of everything beforehand if you think that will be helpful. Above all, I encourage you to enjoy the process and work with your own Inner Child to create it.  May it be so!

Despacho Instructions: A despacho hails from the Q'ero people in the Andes mountains as a means to create a prayer bundle that one offers to the elements by burning or burying. It's a way to harmonize and align the physical world with inner wisdom and a heartfelt prayer. To construct one, first you need a despacho base. I suggest you use a sheet of paper, folded into 9 squares. In this case I suggest writing the Prayer you develop on 5/26 on the base. (Use the other writing sheets as kindling if possible. Burn it all!)
  • Gather elements of the physical and metaphysical worlds - get creative, make it beautiful and intentional. The idea is to represent as many aspects of reality as you can. These items listed below are a good starting point. But you're encouraged to be creative and channel your own Inner Child. You should ideally resonate with all the objects to be included in your despacho. 
    • Wind/sky – cotton, paper stars (Sometimes I include asteroid material I have access to!)
    • Earth/vegetation – dirt + leaves and flowers from the yard
    • Sustenance of life – bits of food from your most recent meal
    • Sweetness of life – sugar, chocolate
    • Joy of life – rum or other alcohol
    • Masculine – sticks, white rose petals
    • Feminine – shells, red rose petals
    • Purification – sage, rosemary
    • Sacrifice – hair, blood
    • Make the whole thing super pretty – use crystals or stones to hold it down while you build it (you don’t need to burn these items but everything else, yes!)
    • Twine 
  • Construct the despacho in as intentional manner as you can, resonating with each of the elements listed above as you place them onto the base in a beautiful arrangement. Imagine you are latching your Prayer to each of the elements represented. This experience can be as elaborate or as simple as you wish. Once you’re complete, say your prayer once again and gently fold the whole thing up and tie with some twine or a gorgeous ribbon, as you wish. (This is why you pre-folded your paper into 9 squares, make sense?) Burn this prayer packet in a fire pit and 90% alcohol can get it going if necessary. No matter what it’s good to have a big, raging fire in a proper fire pit if you can. Your alternative is to bury your despacho and invite the transformational power of decay to transform your despacho. Sure, this might be a bit witchy poo but I can assure you despachos are 100% legit and I've constructed many over the years. I respect this process very much. 

Thanks for participating with me, Adepts! Over and out for now on this particular science experiment. Time for me to keep movin’. Who knows what will happen next? May it be so.
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Science Experiment Writing Prompts

5/19/2021

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Here goes! Below are the writing prompts for six of the seven days. I have a few things to say above and beyond what’s drafted here about each day when we meet for the Lives as well as the alchemy available to study within this framework. That said, in theory, this is the basic framework of prompts that I suggest in order to co-participate each day at 6:30am whether or not you meet on the internet or not.  Again, the end game here for us (or for me, at least) is to “unstick” some specific areas of our lives and make room for transformation, for spaciousness and peace with a few areas that (for me) are causing anxiety and challenge. I hope that by systematically writing about areas that correspond to the days of the week and then making intentional plans to release and surrender a Prayer that I develop on the full moon might help.  I mean why the f*ck not? This is where I trust and have faith in the processes that downloaded and take action to pursue and share with anyone who also wants to do a little self-inquiry. 

Here are Six of the Seven days of the experiment: 
  • Thursday, theme: Abundance - the universe is abundant. 
    • Zoom in: Think back to times when you felt abundance - in money, in time, in food, in the mood of an event. Where do you pray for abundance to bloom in your life? What areas of your life do you want to see grow? 
    • Zoom out: knowing that the universe is inherently abundant, what do you wish for in humanity? 
    • JUPITER - read about Jupiter! Thursday (Thorsday) is Jupiter's day. It’s a big planet with major influence in our solar system.
    • Wear yellow, orange and/or gold - head to toe if possible.
    • Tune in to your solar plexus chakra for courage, Adepts, courage!
 
  • Friday, theme: Creativity - the universe is creative. 
    • Zoom in: Think back to times when you felt extremely creative - art, work, decorating or simply in a good conversation with a friend. Where do you pray for creativity to bloom? What areas of your life do you want to see be filled with creativity? 
    • Zoom out: knowing that the universe is inherently creative, what do you wish for humanity to create? 
    • VENUS - OMG, read about Venus! It’s a planet with a fascinatingly beautiful and artistic orbit in relationship with Earth and is linked with Friday (Freya).
    • Wear blues, periwinkles - head to toe if possible.
    • Tune in to your throat chakra throughout today to relax any and all tension around speaking your creative truth.
 
  • Saturday, theme: Shadows - the shadows are real, yo. 
    • Zoom in: what can you identify specifically that might be holding you back? What are you scared of? What areas of your life are you willing to see (maybe even for the first time) that are currently in the shadows? 
    • Zoom out: Intuition can feel distant (and shadowy) until you tune in to it. What is your intuition telling you about what’s possible for yourself within the larger context of humanity? 
    • SATURN - this planet is deep in our solar system with deep, oddly mysterious influence. Saturn-Saturday is not a stretch. 
    • Wear black, deep purple and blue - head to toe if at all possible.
    • Tune in to your third eye and “see” what needs to be seen.
 
  • Sunday, theme: Sunshine - the sun shines, the stars shine and so do we! 
    • Zoom in: The sun is essential in growing all living things. What idea needs to be placed in the sunshine for examination? What area in your life needs to be flooded with Light? 
    • Zoom out: knowing that the sun shines no matter what, what do you wish to see in humanity? Be bold like the sun! 
    • SUN - indisputable influence! Sun on Sunday! 
    • Wear red, gold, yellow, sunshine colors - head to toe if possible.
    • Tune in to your crown chakra and feel the subtle radiation in all directions.
    • **REMEMBER - we will NOT meet this morning. This is the part of the science experiment that we set aside for self-reflection and illumination. We will connect at Dusk (8p) on Zoom instead. Email me and I’ll send you the link.  
 
  • Monday, theme: Moonshine - Ah, the mystery. 
    • Zoom in: The moon is linked with the womb and its mysteries. Our blood is liquid and the moon influences not only our wombs but also the tides in the oceans. What’s riding your moon cycle tide that needs to come in? What’s riding your moon cycle tide that needs to go out? Ebb and flow like the Moon. 
    • Zoom out: For all of humanity, what’s riding the tide that needs to come in? What’s riding the tide that needs to go out? Ebb and flow like the Moon. 
    • MOON - our moon reflects the sun’s light on the largest celestial body in relationship to Earth. The influence on the tides (and uteruses and luna-tics alike) is profound. Flower Moon is a traditional term for this Springtime moon. The “blood” part comes from a partial lunar eclipse which can make the moon look reddish-pink. Hm, how appropriate! Moon on Monday. 
    • Wear white, head to toe if possible.
    • Tune in to your lowest root chakra. Realize for yourself that the way out and the way in is also the way through. Literally. 
 
  • Tuesday, theme: Vigor - Rajas! Vitality! Violence! War! Passion! Sex! 
    • Zoom in: Are you horny? Are you filled with rage? Identify what is turned ON in your life right now and is begging for your time and attention. Are you perceiving correctly? Do you need to move it along or do you need to heed its cries? Listen closely. It’s okay to say what you DESIRE!
    • Zoom out: The ripples of your life’s vim and vigor have an impact. This is the butterfly effect. Tune into this mysterious, dynamic action and write about it. 
    • MARS - the red planet is intense as the Mars land rovers show. Look up Mars and be in awe.
    • Wear red or burgundy, head to toe if possible. 
    • Tune in to your sex organs. Feel their immense vitality to create human life. 
    • **OPTIONAL: come early - at 5:30am and I’ll read a devotional battle hymn to the goddess out loud cover to cover. It takes an hour and is a freaking bloody trip. 
Wednesday’s prompt and the culmination of this inner pilgrimage will be posted on Wednesday morning. Hope to see some of you soon on the Instagram Live machine. Thanks for joining this creative writing endeavor that I’m hopeful will unclog a few blocks in my realm. Yours too! May it be so!
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Alignment Pilgrimage : The Practical Details

5/19/2021

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FRAMEWORK, WHAT TO EXPECT & CLARIFYING DETAILS
Thanks for the interest, friends! I’m thrilled to have companionship for this inner pilgrimage I'm starting tomorrow. (Read up on the premise.) Because that’s the nature of a pilgrimage, right? Only YOU can walk your pilgrimage and only I can walk mine. I’m merely volunteering to be our fearless Cruise Director for this particular pilgrimage/sadhana. Below is a clear outline of what to expect and what the guardrails are for our walk together. I think it's helpful to see what exactly the approach will be and how you and I can make best use of the time. 

  • 6:30am - MEDITATE: Starting Thursday, May 20, we’ll gather on Instagram Live (for better or worse) each morning at 6:30am and meditate for 9 minutes. A timer will be set and you can totally do this on your own if you’re not on Instagram Live. I realize Instagram won't resonate with everyone, apologies. Meditating at the beginning does a couple of things: it gives a us time to get settled and link up before we actually start writing and in my humble experience, meditating before writing clears the mind clutter before diving in. (If you do not meet Live at Dawn, please know it is highly recommended that you still meditate for 9 minutes before working with the daily writing prompt.) Why so damned early? you might be asking. Well, Dawn is one of those liminal times where the magic is really real and there’s profound value to the rigorous nature of connecting at Dawn. Besides, I’m confident we can do this together for a week.
  • 6:39am - WRITE: When the timer goes off after 9 minutes, I’ll introduce the day’s prompt and we’ll write.  Important tip: no typing! Write in your own magical handwriting with thoughts flowing through your body and out the pen in your hand. Ideally you’ll do one sheet of paper for each day of this 7-day process. Use front and back if necessary. We will write for exactly 15 minutes, using the daily prompt using a “Zoom In / Zoom Out” method. A timer will be set to be respectful of our time. I'll take responsibility for keeping time and suggesting the pivot from “Zoom In” to “Zoom Out” writing prompts. You can always come back to writing after we part ways. 
    • Zoom In / Zoom Out: This is simply the bodhisattva principle baked into this process. It’s about me and my little life as much as it’s about the whole of all beings. We are all connected so we zoom in and we zoom out. 
    • SHARE: It’s possible we could briefly share one word or phrase that stands out from the writing. At this point there will only be a few minutes left in our 30 minutes. We may simply be complete. The commitment here is only 30 minutes so we can all get on with our day.
  • DAYTIME INVITATION: Wear the color of the day somewhere in your clothing all day plus I’d encourage you to dive into the other prompts about what to pay attention to throughout the day. Why? Because the actual day of the week is an important player in this pilgrimage process. What day of the week it is is one of the few things that most humans on earth agree upon. Think about it: this is how all the world's banks, trains and planes run on time. We’ll be harnessing the power of this fact as we zoom in and zoom out of the writing prompts and the process as a whole. (It's ok if you don't know what I'm talking about yet. All will be revealed.)
  • ANOMALIES: 
    • On Sunday (5/23) there will be no morning meeting and instead we’ll do an evening Zoom check in at 8pm (Dusk!) for exactly 40 minutes (the length of a free Zoom account session). 
    • On Tuesday (5/25) it’s optional to meet earlier at 5:30am for a longer time together to hear the Devi Mahatmayam (it's a trip!) recited or just come at 6:30am like the other days for the regular writing flow. Both anomalies are intentional.

PLATFORMS: 
  • For better or worse I’ll be going with Instagram for the daily writing prompts. It’s the platform that makes the most sense in terms of ease being able to join Live with minimal fuss, accessibility by anyone with an Instagram account. Not on Instagram? You can always join and then delete your account after this science experiment is over. I’ve cleared away the chaff (aka photo history) on my Instagram account and have made the whole thing public in order to start over with humble detachment. I see these actions as helpful and practical to me for this process. You can find me at @aurahtheadept on Instagram.
  • For Sunday night (5/23), we’ll use Zoom. For that reason, please email me with your interest if you have not already so I can invite you to the Zoom. If you’ve already emailed me, I’ll make a note to invite you. 

HOW TO ACTIVELY (or passively) PARTICIPATE: 
  • If this 7-day science experiment speaks to you, I encourage you to actively participate! I’ve been working with the planets, colors and how they connect with the days of the week for a few years now and it’s pretty fascinating. If you’re not on Instagram or can't attend for some reason, you can read the prompts on the Field Notes blog. I’m going to post one master prompt outline. Then you can participate on your own or in person as you see fit from day to day. 
  • If it feels right, again, I encourage you to make time for the writing sessions each morning starting 5/20 through 5/26 from 6:30-7:00am for accountability. Don’t underestimate the superpower of accountability! Attending on Instagram isn’t mandatory but please know that I’m committing to meditate and write with when I say I will and there’s a ton of benefit to doing a disciplined inner pilgrimage like this together, even if just in spirit. 
  • Again, be sure to email me if you want to come to the Sunday 8pm Zoom for a mid-experiment check in. I'd love to connect. And of course, you’re always welcome to pause and reflect in your own way, on your own at Dusk on Sunday. 
  • Be prepared to set aside some personal time on Wednesday evening (5/26) the Super Flower Blood Moon and Buddha Purnima to make and burn (or bury!) a despacho in support of the Prayers we develop during our time together. Don’t worry, it’s not hard to make one and there are as many ways to do one as there are people. Finally, please know that I’ll be making my despacho on behalf of all of us so don’t fret if you can’t build a nice big fire where you are! (There’s also a method where you bury your despacho.)

 ~Showing up for yourself is the sadhana~ 

“See” you tomorrow morning (5/20) at 6:30am. You now know what to do. May it be so. 
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Super Flower Blood Moon Adept Offering

5/17/2021

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Context: If you know me well, you know I have amazing super powers in getting shit done and an uncanny ability to execute (and complete!) very large and complex ideas. Zero shame in my game. Indeed, the momentum and discipline I naturally carry boggles my own mind sometimes. And if you don’t know me well, just know that I’m a quintuple Scorpio born at Dawn on a Tuesday on a Full Moon (Need I say more?) Anyway, I’m super “stuck” in a very particular area of my life. Stuck in terms of being driven by (personally, to me) important powers of responsibility and obligation but also a finicky little tickle that I can’t (and won’t) settle for less. I want to use my superpowers of accountability and tenacity to dislodge this present “stuckness”. So: I hereby propose to myself a living, breathing science experiment. I’m somewhat educated in a number of metaphysical and yogic disciplines that could prove to be helpful here and I’m also a real deal scientist. (A degree'd chemist to be exact.) I’m curious what might happen if I pulled all the elements together in a big focused inhale and then released the pent up energy on the auspicious full moon next week? Why? Well, the timing feels right and besides, I’m motivated by this particular "stuck" area of my life. (I’d rather not say what area, exactly. To each Her own, mkay? You have your own stuck areas, surely.) 

Here goes...

Purpose: To spend the week leading up to the aptly named Super Flower Blood Moon (also the celebrated auspicious day of the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha) developing a heartfelt Prayer and intention that I will offer to the powerful forces of life. This will simultaneously be the most woo-woo-hoo-doo thing I do all week coupled with the most direct, clear, no-bullshit course of action, destined to manifest because I will have harnessed my intentional Prayer to the physical elements and to my own creative, blooming, embodied life force energy. (That, my Adept friends, is magic!) It might feel right for you to join me at this time. Please do! The roadmap is outlined below. See if it speaks to you, I would welcome a companion or two. I'm a bit lost at the moment, tbh. 

Approach: If you’re “in” we will have a “Zoom In / Zoom Out” approach that we perform together through a series of simple morning writing exercises culminating with a Day dedicated to embodying the Prayer: the Super Flower Blood Moon on Wednesday, May 26. Important note to interested Selves: full and rigorous live participation is requested for best results of this science experiment. Because make no mistake: this is a living, breathing science experiment where I bring many things that I have learned into an elongated experience where I can dive deeply into Realizing a fervent Prayer burning in my heart. Do you also have a fervent Prayer that needs some ignition? If so, again, you’re welcome to join me. I would love and welcome companions.

Sadhana: This particular science experiment has its own unique sadhana, or set of rhythmic practices that help keep the Forces “on the rails”. As many are aware “off the rails” is a place where we sometimes can get with these things. And it’s easy to get “off the rails” - so, so easy. So easy to not meditate. To lose focus and get distracted. So easy. A proper sadhana keeps things “on the rails” in the general direction of the Prayer. Or Dream. Or in an arc of human evolution as demonstrated by the Great Teachers of all the world’s traditions. A disciplined sadhana seems to be key in all of these scenarios. 

How: for this particular science experiment, we’ll work with several moving parts, all of which will be outlined in detail over the course of a week:
  • A disciplined daily writing sadhana starting at 7am with about a 30 minutes time commitment per day to help develop a well-articulated unique Prayer. (You will write to develop your own unique Prayer.)
  • Deepening clarity about the science of the moon and the higher order of celestial bodies.
  • The science available to us in the seasonality of Spring, working with a Force I see blooming right there in the yard. 
  • The discipline of spending time literally embodying this Prayer. (You will of course develop and embody your own unique Prayer.)
  • The art and science of despacho-making where we harness the elements in the holy fire of transformation. (Don’t worry, I’ll show you the way - it’s not hard and makes perfect common sense once you sortof see what a despacho is.)
  • Overarching oath to myself: to have faith in the Prayer I develop and the mysterious forces of the universe. Who knows, the universe might even conspire to support and help me? And you too? May it be so! 
  • If interested and want to take some inspired action, just email me (ASAP!) and I’ll get you in the queue for Thursday morning. (Like, in just a few days, this coming Thursday morning.) And hey, it’s okay if we don’t know each other well, I genuinely would like any interested company for this journey. Let’s do it, Adept comrades! 

May it be so.
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    Periodic updates from Aurah in the Field.

    ​(The original Dispatches from the Field blog is still available but 2020's tumult has inspired me to begin again, with a renewed freshness of heart and mind.) 

    May it be so.

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