alignment

The Cacao Journals: Wo-Manifestation

~ nicole

Unlocking your intuition means that you can stop chasing your desires and allow them to freely flow to you. – The Alchemy of Miracles

Last December, I was sitting in meditation and suddenly a “voice” dropped into my awareness out of nowhere that said, “You need to go to the Modern Elder Academy.” I paused and wondered why this message was coming to me now. I first had heard about MEA when an acquaintance mentioned it in the spring after she had attended their beta program. At the time, she said, “Nicole, you would absolutely love it there and you could offer cacao ceremony.” I was intrigued, looked up MEA and the founder, Chip Conley, and was impressed; and then pretty much forgot about it until my meditation many months later.

Surprised by the message, I checked in that I actually wanted to go, and then said, “Okay, Spirit, I would love to go, and I need your help financially. If you want me to go, then help make it happen.” I’m not even sure if I said “Please.” I gave it over to spirit and released any expectation. Two days later, I received an email from a women’s co-working space where I’m a member saying that they had been approached by MEA, which wanted to offer a full scholarship to one of its members. A written application and 5-minute video on why I wanted to attend had to be submitted by the NEXT day! I jumped on it. Long story short, I was accepted and was invited to share cacao ceremony (without me even asking). I was overjoyed and so grateful, especially to spirit for her guidance and assistance.

I told this story to a friend, an intuitive and clairvoyant, and she said, “That’s how manifestation is showing up now. It’s more feminine, a more receptive way of manifesting.” This way of manifesting requires opening to intuitive guidance, acknowledging the message that comes into our awareness, asking for help, releasing any expectation of how it might show up and acting when something does. It feels softer and more guided than conscious, intentional manifestation.

When I shared this miracle of manifestation at one of my cacao medicine journeys, one of the conscious men, who had bravely joined a room full of soul sisters, coined it, “wo-manifestation.” Everyone laughed and loved it (and him). Manifestation has gone all feminine on us….

Since then, my wo-manifestation powers seem heightened. In my most recent experience, again in meditation, I felt guided and found myself saying, “I’d really like to work for that company in some capacity.” Two days later, their business manager contacted me and asked me to join their team on a part-time contract basis, which was in perfect alignment.

When we open to the “suggestions” of our intuition and higher guidance, we become co-creators of our lives and come into alignment with our highest self. We always have the option to say “No, thank you” if the suggestion is too far beyond where we are or what we want to bring into our lives. Or we can say, “Yes, I trust that this is meant to come through me.” It doesn’t mean there won’t be challenges along the way to test our commitment and faith.

Eventually, the more we come into full alignment with our higher self, manifestation begins to takes on a whole other evolutionary design, but that’s for another post…. In the meantime, what wants to come through you into the world?

Copyright ©2019 Soulscape Coaching LLC.

Cacao Journals: Opening to Synchronicity

~ nicole
I am open to the guidance of synchronicity and do not let expectations hinder my path. –Dalai Lama

After I shared my last Cacao Journal post about the Eagle and the Condor, a friend, who read it, reached out and said she had something sacred to share with me for the cacao altar that simply was too synchronistic to pass up.

Then another friend, who had not read my blog (!), called and said I needed to come to an event with her the night before cacao ceremony. She didn’t know why it was coming through to her, but it was. That event was the final ceremony, after three days of workshops and luncheons, of the Pachamama Alliance, which, you got it, is all about fulfilling the prophesy of the Eagle and Condor and dreaming a new world.

In shamanic cultures, synchronicities are recognized as signs that you are on the right path. – Daniel Pinchbeck

You see what I mean about synchronicity? This is how cacao works beyond ceremony. She brings you beautiful and meaningful coincidences that only require that you accept and follow them. When I shared this story in cacao ceremony the next day, those who had journeyed with cacao with me before, nodded their heads vigorously. Clearly, this had happened to them too.

Spirit wants to support us on our journey in this life. She wants to bring us exactly what and who we need. She wants our lives to flow with more ease. Synchronicity is always there; we just don’t always allow ourselves to open to it, to see it, to follow it. We fly right by it in our rush to beat time, in forcing things to happen, not realizing that the key to flow and ease is in slowing down, opening and receiving.

Synchronicity happens when you align with the flow of the universe rather than insisting the universe flow your way. – Akemi G

Opening to synchronicity requires the following: 1) remembering you have an internal compass called your intuition, 2) actually listening to your intuition  and acting on it, and 3) if you’re attuned spiritually, asking your guides a simple “yes” or “no” question. The key is listening.

I’ll give you an example. A few weeks ago, a friend was holding a free yoga class in a park close to my home. Now, I’m not the biggest yoga devotee, but I wanted to support her and it was free after all…. However, there was some other reason I was being called, so I checked in with spirit. She said, “Yes!” which surprised me. I went because I trusted that spirit had something waiting for me there….

And sure enough, I met a lovely friend of the yoga instructor there, who asked what I did. When I mentioned cacao ceremony, she smiled and said, “I just heard of that the other day at Soulstice, and I really want to go, but I’m away the day it’s happening.” I smiled knowingly, and said, “Oh, that’s me. That’s my cacao ceremony. And I’m offering it at another studio this weekend.” Of course, she came to that one, and then another, and is deepening beautifully into this medicine.

She too wasn’t sure why she was being called to that particular yoga class because she only was able to stay for 20 minutes, but came anyway. She listened to the call and received what she needed too.

Listen to what’s calling you. Deepen your relationship with your intuition and with spirit. And your life will flow with more ease and grace.

Oh, and come do cacao with me! It’s the mama of all openers to synchronicity….

Copyright ©2017 Soulscape Coaching LLC.

The Cacao Journals: Jaguar Medicine

~ nicole
In times of renewal, it is the Black Jaguar who rules. – Arkan Lushwalla

Have you ever held onto something or someone too long out of habit or comfort or even fear of change, and then suddenly the decision is made for you? That’s black jaguar medicine. She brings you just what you need, even when it hurts.

My encounters with the black jaguar in cacao ceremony showed me the range of her sacred power: her love (lots of purring and cuddles), her force and grace (running as her was the most ecstatic experience I have ever had) and her fierce compassion (like a mama cat swats her kittens for their own good). Her power is a sacred one that awakens, purifies and renews life when it becomes stuck or sick.

Real, profound change according to Arkan Lushwalla in his book, The Time of the Black Jaguar, happens in three ways: 1) through a gift of grace or Spirit, 2) by connecting to our Munay, the will of the heart, and 3) when the black jaguar says, “Enough!” and makes the decision to protect and keep life in balance. These are black jaguar times….

…be like the graceful jaguar, the balancing force of the rainforest who serves as the internediary between the seen and unseen worlds…. –Alberto Villoldo

The black jaguar sees beyond this world as she walks between all three: the middle world (what we know as earth), the lower world (where plant and animal spirits reside), and the upper world (where our ancestors and spirit guides live). Her power is often associated with shamans, who are able to walk among these worlds, and bring knowledge and wisdom back from these realms to heal. She brings us her medicine, her “fast healing.”

When we aren’t “seeing” life with her eyes and making the necessary changes fast enough, she’s going to make them for us. It’s what we know as having the rug pulled out from under us. Only now there are rugs upon rugs upon rugs. The floor beneath us is pretty bare and slippery, isn’t it?

When the black jaguar gets to this point, there’s no turning back, no negotiation. It’s all about living in alignment with who we truly are at the deepest level–believe me, it’s way deeper than you think and can even imagine. She will adjust you and adjust you and adjust you until you are there. Resistance in any form–whether it’s procrastinating or struggling–is futile against her.

So, what are the necessary changes we need to make? Letting go of old, unhealthy patterns in our minds and our behaviors; looking deeply at old wounds that are keeping us stuck; shedding things, people, titles, opinions, beliefs that are not in alignment with truth; trusting our inner guidance and our wisdom guides and bravely walking into the unknown.

None of this is easy. But it can be done. Be your own witness. Catch yourself when you say something that doesn’t feel right and ask yourself, “where did that come from?” More than likely you are speaking with someone else’s voice, not your own inner one. The only way to trust yourself and your response is to connect to your inner voice, which means you first need to recognize it. It takes practice and persistence, and forgiveness when you slip.

Resource yourself with your spirit team. Wisdom lies in those who have gone before us. Through journeying with cacao or other plant medicines or with shamanic drumming you can connect to your animal spirit guides, who have so much deep knowledge to share; and with our ancestors and spirit guides, who are wise beyond this world. Find someone to lead you through a journey process. Once you have developed a relationship with your guides, they will always be there for you and will bring you answers based in Truth. Trust them to guide you.

It may be hard to see and accept, but the black jaguar is taking us through a time of purifying chaos into a time of renewal where life will be based on truth. If we wake up and do the Work now, we can dance and co-create with her and with Spirit.

Copyright ©2017 Soulscape Coaching LLC

 

 

The Cacao Journals: Rescue Remedy for the Soul

~ nicole
Final and complete healing will come from within, from the Soul itself, which radiates harmony throughout the personality when allowed to do so. – Dr. Bach, maker of Rescue Remedy

I have come to call cacao ceremony, Rescue Remedy for the Soul, because it naturally and gently heals us from the inside out. Every cacao ceremony brings you just what you need in that moment. There’s no amount of planning that will make your journey what you think it should be; it will just be…. One will bust you wide open; another will fill you with light; others will allow you access to deep wisdom. An infinite variety of experiences are available, and they are always illuminating.

The one thing you can do is set an intention for ceremony. Before each ceremony, I always check in to see where I need guidance or healing and set my intention based on that. Almost always, I receive what I ask for, and when I haven’t it’s only because Spirit has decided She has something even better for me or I’m so caught up in my head that nothing much can get in. Even then, despite my hard headedness (if I’m in my head, then I can’t fully be in my heart, can I?), She still finds a way to deliver a gentle message and lesson, which usually is about “letting go.”

In rereading my journals–wow, that was a trip unto itself–I realized just how much Spirit has not only healed me through cacao, but has transmitted knowledge that I am being called to share with you. And I have little say in this; the more I resist, the more She persists. In a shamanic journeying session (without cacao) that I participated in awhile back, my spirit animal guide, the Jaguar, told me, “Everything cacao.” I laughed about it when I shared it in circle. And believe me, I tried to ignore it, but it has become abundantly clear that I am a cacao guide who coaches, rather than a coach who does cacao ceremony every so often.

Spirit has brought me not just deep, meaningful messages in ceremony, but paths to follow that allow my soul to fully emerge. I must admit that I haven’t always followed her wise counsel as sometimes She has asked me to do something I didn’t feel would be fully embraced by others (at least not yet) or I didn’t feel equipped to make happen like a documentary film about cacao ceremony. And yet, here I am, just a bit farther down the road, bringing those messages to you…. (By the way, if anyone knows a documentary film maker who might want to do this, just let me know. I have a proposal all ready to go :)).

Cacao enabled me to answer the question of “Who (or What) am I?” I brought this particular intention into ceremony wanting to understand my gifts, the ones I am meant to bring to the world. I was tired of not knowing and admitted to myself that “I do not know,” not just this, but so much about the mystery of life. I felt very alone and humble as I entered that ceremony a few years ago.

Almost immediately, I felt myself glowing, my light filled the loft. I realized that I was very much not alone, that I was surrounded by love and my spirit guides and that they are always with me and they know. I felt such a rush of bliss, energy, love, truth, joy and purity that I cried with joy. At the close of ceremony, I captured these powerful words in my journal: “I am without fear; I am luminous; I am.” Right now, I am feeling very vulnerable sharing these words with you. And, at the same time, I’m feeling that you may need to hear them for your own healing.

We are all meant to come to self-realization on our own path, and yet we cannot do it wholly on our own; we need assistance and guidance. That assistance comes in the form of some kind of structure (a practice of some sort), which enables a depth of discovery (being willing to question and receive guidance), which leads to the integration of the lessons (deeply understanding and accepting the guidance), allowing for true embodiment. Cacao ceremony was my deep practice.

So, what is embodiment? It’s living in full integrity. It means that what you practice is what you do. When you leave that yoga class or meditation session or cacao ceremony, the lessons come with you; you don’t get to leave them on the mat or in your cacao cocoon. It means breaking old habituated behaviors that keep us out of alignment with our true selves and allowing new habits to form that heal and fully support us.

Too often, we try a little of this and a little of that, looking for the practice that will feel good to us, when the practice that deconstructs us, that challenges us, and makes us the most uncomfortable is the one that will transform and heal. Or we simply don’t realize that going deep is absolutely necessary to our healing. Or we believe “we’re good” and we don’t have anything that needs healing. We’ve become so disconnected from our feelings and who we are, that we think we know. But we really don’t; we have to learn to feel our way through, literally.

At the end of the day, which is the beginning of your life, you’ve got to do the work. It’s not always all love and light and cacao bliss, but if you allow yourself to open your heart, the light will find you, and fill you, and heal your dark parts until your own light shines radiantly through. I promise, you will glow.

And as this light fills you with its radiance, you will find you depend less and less on those old habits that are not fulfilling you and embrace the new habits that heal your soul and spirit. They are the rescue remedy.

Copyright ©2017 Soulscape Coaching LLC.