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Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel

Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel

Fear can be contagious. Like sex, it sells newspapers. News channel ratings rocket. Do we really have to buy into the collective paranoia?

Three of my closest friends are going through challenging times right now –   ill health, relationship in grid lock, financial fear. Sue called me today, panic permeating her beautiful voice, “What’s this Fifth Night thing I’m reading about? Is Tripoli going to fall? Stock markets going to plummet again?”

Fear multiplies exponentially like germs in Petri dish. Collectively, we seem to swarm like flies to rotting corpse, to things that go “bump in the night”. End of World prophecies abound as 2012 draws nearer… the end of the world as we know it? The “what ifs” that make us strut and fret, worry ourselves literally sick about what might be …

I reminded myself of a quotation from A Course in Miracles, “Only the Mind can create Fear”.  And I thought of all the times in my life when I have scared myself with things that never happened. Terrorized myself in the darkest hours before dawn. Now I know better (mostly!), I do better, and focus on the in-breath and the out-breath, in the  certain knowing that it is only from this moment in time that I create my future.

The symbolism of the astrology at the moment suggests we are, indeed, in the crucible of great change, a death and rebirth cycle. This cycle is a time of break-down, a time of metaphorical, or literal dying, to make way for new birth. In the cycles of Life, nothing truly dies, only changes form. Like the mythical phoenix rising from the ashes, so often the endings in our lives bring new and even more vivifying experiences.

According to Mayan mythology as interpreted by Carl Johan Calleman, on August 19th, we crossed the threshold into the fifth night of the final level of the Tzolk’in, calendar. This fifth night is ruled by Tezcatlipoca, Lord of Darkness, and will bring  destruction, and certainly  change, either in our personal lives, or collectively. The last time we experienced this wave was in 2008, which marked the beginning of the global financial crisis, and the burst of the housing bond bubble. In my own life it was a year of final endings; and a conscious choice to open the door to a new direction for my life journey.

Astrologically, Venus moves into the earthy sign of Virgo today. She is  a celestial signpost that alerts us to be more discerning in our personal lives,  to avoid ingesting “toxins” which  contaminate our psyches. Virgo energy suggests that we get things in order,  clear out the clutter, focus more precisly on what we value in our lives.  On one level this can be as simple as re-organising our email inbox, clearing out the beyond sell-by date food in  our refigerator, decluttering the wardrobe, taking charge of our financial affairs. Changing to a bank that offers better service, better interest rates.

On another level it is about staying in our integrity. Eschewing “junk food” – gossip, toxic relationships, fear-based news stories, all the dramas in your own life or the lives of those around you.  Setting  aside time each day to focus on those things that nourish your spirit. Opening your heart,  embracing changes and challenges in your life with a sense of curiosity and wonder, and an awareness that we are held and supported on a Higher Level.
“Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world.”

A Course in Miracles

Ingrid Hoffman

ingrid@trueheartwork.com
6 Comments
  • Christel Liebenberg

    August 23, 2011at8:56 am Reply

    Hi Ingrid
    Thanks for your message – needed to hear that as I was starting to wonder if it was only me that felt the termoil. Will focus on breathing and using this moment to the best of my ability.
    Blessings
    Christel

  • Beverley

    August 23, 2011at9:14 am Reply

    My darling Ingrid my day has just began!..
    with this wonderful article…thank you for opening my heart and conciously embracing the day without fear!

  • perola

    August 23, 2011at10:17 am Reply

    I agree with the fact that fear is contagious, and what the Course in Miracles says about fear being in our minds. I have made a conscious decision not to get caught up in this, I have changed my radio station in my car from talk radio to music, and am avoiding the news channels on tv, and the newspapers. It is up to the individual to take responsibility for their own thoughts. I find cognitive behaviour therapy good for the out of control thoughts that run riot in my mind. It is the thoughts that create the anxiety.

  • Rachel

    August 23, 2011at4:05 pm Reply

    love the website and the comments – it is true that we sometimes wrap ourselves into this web of fear that permiates down from the media channels and one things leads to another and suddenly we find that it ( our lives) feel like they are all going out of control > the challenge is to be grounded and find focuses away from those bad news article and as Perola says – listen to music….meditation is another way to focus this…

  • michel

    August 23, 2011at4:07 pm Reply

    hmmmm..interesting blog today dear ingrid….what synchronicity….i was at a few clients yesterday and they all mentioned how the NEW recession is upon us and all the signs i picked up from them were about FEAR…FEAR!!!…after seeing them i did feel a slightly dark cloud descend as i was driving away…..i went off to do a qi gong class and we focused on letting go of other peoples baggage and the toxic fears we absorb from our surrounding like other people…..the media..billboards etc…all this MASS CONSCIOUSNESS that we could all get so easily sucked into if we ourselves were unconscious so to speak….we focused on our breathing and various forms and once i left the class and continued to focus on my breathing i felt so much lighter…..so today i continued this practice as i have done for the past year and continued to notice all the beauty around me and all my blessings….and even though it is a cold and grey day in cape town i felt light and sunny within ……so dear ingrid….i love your article and quote……and as Gandhi so wisely said….WE MUST BE THE CHANGE WE WISH TO SEE…..i wish you all peace….

  • Dalene Peacock

    August 25, 2011at4:59 pm Reply

    Fine Music Radio (101.3fm or http://www.fmr.co.za for internet radio)is a fantastic independent Cape Town radio station to tune into permanently. It plays mostly classical music, with some jazz and lovely other genres. It has minimal ads and just snippets of news, weather, traffic and market conditions. Just enough to keep one informed before returning to uplifting musical melodies.

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