From a Sermon given at the Spring Equinox Worship Service on March 24, 2024.

Approximately seven years ago, this community explored the theme of our world’s energy shifting directions in some surprising ways, including downward. We did not know at the time much about these shifting patterns, why the energy that previously had been circulating in the upper atmosphere was increasingly flowing towards the Earth’s surface, or what the ramifications were. We just noticed that the change was profound, involving energy in every part of the globe. At the time I could only discern that this change had something to do with building new kinds of relationships–new relationships between humans; between human and nonhuman animals; and between humans and the planet itself.

If you want, you can read more about this “Part A.” It is still posted here on our website, under Winter Solstice 2017. To bring us all up to speed and take us all into “Part B,” I will reiterate a bit about the ongoing shift, starting from what we know from anthropology regarding human civilizations.

In talking about relationships, I remind you that when humans first embodied on Earth, we tended to come together in hunter/gatherer societies to help each other survive. These early human civilizations were almost always egalitarian in structure. Everyone in these groups had a voice in some form or fashion, and everyone had a role. When decisions about the group had to be made and leadership roles created, they were usually distributed among a mix of experienced elders, carried out by the most skilled and/or strongest clan members, with guidance from the spirit/natural world through shaman, priests, and other religious figures.

About 8,000 to 10,000 years ago when the world’s population grew too large for hunting and gathering, human society evolved into agricultural/industrial societies who organized their members hierarchically. Counsels of elders and clan leaders eventually gave way to leadership by warlords, family dynasties, and theocratic/civil governments who had the authority to intervene in human life, often in every aspect of individual life. Sometimes these new structures worked for the betterment of the group, and often they did not. The experience of any group usually is dependent on the strongest energetic force(s) in that group, the person who “sets the energy.” If this person does not have the intention and/or the skills to work on behalf of the common good, all kinds of evil can show up.

Hierarchies can be efficient, as any military or first responder can tell you. When decisions need to be made quickly, when large numbers of people have to be moved or otherwise helped without delay or hesitation, consolidating the decision-making to a select few becomes vital, even life-saving. But hierarchies also pose obvious real and important dangers. When the people at the top of the pyramid with the decision-making authority have not worked through their own personal issues, have lost themselves to their individual ego(s), succumbed to the temptations of the material world, and forgotten for whom they work, everyone is at risk. Whomever holds these political reins can and will likely advance their social and economic interests to the detriment of others not in power. Additionally, they can do so without having to see, feel or hear from the people affected by their decisions, minimizing the personal consequences for those interventions.

Hierarchies became the standard form of government even as the human population grew. They have gotten taller and the distance between those at the bottom and those at the top has become greater. The pedestals are now so high that the people at the top and the people at the bottom can no longer see or hear each other. Governments and agencies in pretty much every country and geographic location are increasingly making monumental, gut-wrenching, sweeping life-and-death policy changes that impact the lives of their citizens dramatically.

The vast numbers of folks living on the bottom of the pile who feel cut off from the rest of humanity are getting more desperate as their sense of value decreases, and their fears grow as to what this may mean for their survival. Many respond by picking a surrogate in the upper tiers with whom they identify, giving that individual or group their loyalty, aka energy. Some respond by making up their own version of “reality,” one strewn with forces with which they feel more aligned. Giving away one’s power to a despot or dictator; and/or making up a fantasy world within which to live, are somewhat logical steps when one is no longer even able to accurately see what is truly going on with those at the top.

Another life-threatening danger exists with hierarchies because they are intrinsically dependent on social programming, rather than on the moral compass of individuals within the group. Hierarchies requires rules; and enforcement processes for those rules. Most Western societies inherited a system from the Roman Empire, which was updated a bit and codified into laws that are often referred to as “law and order.” As hierarchies grow steeper, the law-and-order foundation that previously keep many conflicts in check has been breaking down. Accordingly, war and strife have increased in magnitude and intensity on every continent.

This breakdown of hierarchies as the way human beings relate to each other is happening everywhere, in the United States and internationally as well. The United States has been on the top of the global hierarchy, economically, culturally, militarily and in all other ways, but much to the chagrin of many, this is in flux. Chief among the groups who are expected to stem the tide of violence is the United States of America. We are currently witnessing the US’s role as “international peacemaker” of the world deteriorating rather dramatically. Certain segments of US forces, including military, governmental and civilian, continue valiantly to try to stem the escalating wars, but our own internal battles have increasingly made these efforts on behalf of peace around the globe less effective, or in some cases not even possible. Much of our federal government has been severely weakened or even destroyed.

Internally, the legislative branch of the US government has been gridlocked by rising conflict and breakdown of law and order, paralyzing international relief efforts and creating a congress who are largely worthless in regards to solving even the problems within our own borders. Even local areas have erupted into interpersonal warfare, such as is happening in our state governments, cities and towns, local schools. etc. The groups who used to play the role of peacekeepers are no longer able to keep up.

Bottom line, folks: Hierarchies as the sole basic structural form of of organization for human society is no longer working. It is going away. This is a key aspect of the real ramification of the energy moving downward. Our relationship within ourselves, between each other, between groups of us, and between humans and all life on the planet are in a major, chaotic, confusing reshuffle. Some hierarchies will and must still exist to address the big picture, assuming human animals remain on Earth. . .but they are going to look very different. Many nonessential hierarchies will die a painful death. And many often more localized, nonhierarchical ways of organizing ourselves are already in the works, and will proliferate, again assuming human animals remain on Earth.

So, I’d like us all to step back now, and take a look at the spiritual picture here. Let’s do Part B of figuring out what it means that the universe has decided on our behalf, to bring the energy closer to ground level; and what it says about the violence that is accompanying these changes. Today we are needing to explore the ramifications of our lived experience within physical bodies which are increasingly feeling what is going on around and through our lower three chakras, particularly our second chakra.

The irony here is most of this particular community deal with emotions extensively. Many of you are highly competent social or mental health professionals, first responders, or others whose work with the public requires a high level of expertise in affect regulation. You have skills up the ying yang about things like recognizing emotions, even the so-called “negative” ones that people like to ignore or deny, and processing them in a constructive fashion. You have a big head start on many in our world who are still learning what we professionals label “basic emotional regulation skills.” Maybe though, you could stand to learn more about the interplay between our individual and collective emotional life and our spiritual journey here on Planet Earth.

As you know, emotions are a vital source of information about out interaction with the world around us and the world within us. An emotional reaction is our body’s primary means of communication, a way of telling us to pay attention to something important. Our body can tell us that there is something going on that is uncomfortable, and it can also signal through a sense of enlivenment, when things are going “right.”

Emotions are neither good nor bad. They are simply an opportunity to pay attention.

Emotions get sent to every other part of our amazing physical system, largely through the central nervous system. If we have not done a very good job of listening to what our body has to say, the message does not go away. It just gets stored somewhere and usually screws up the smooth functioning of our internal organs, tissues and all in that particular body, and indeed, in many or most subsequent physical incarnations. There is a big cultural conversation going on right now about trauma, and the best way to clear old messages stored various places. Folks are beginning to recognize that they have gotten stuck in “fight or flight” mode because they have ignored previous internal messages, which are now screaming at them through the “megaphone” of the adrenaline system. 

Unheard and unprocessed emotions can also make us very vulnerable to manipulation. If we are not paying sufficient attention to our body’s own emotions and sensations, we are more easily distracted by those belonging to other humans, as well as unbodied spiritual forces. The frequency of affect is in the magnetic range, so we bring the emotions of other people into our own system rather easily. To make matters worse, the more we focus on and prioritize the affective messages from outside of our body, the less we can hear what is originating from within us. All great “cult leaders,” those on top of any political, economic, religious, social or other hierarchical pyramid rely on this emotional dynamic to control their “followers.”   

Because vast numbers of people have not done the work of listening and processing individual embodied emotions, we have also not done well at listening to and coexisting with our “collective body,” such as our human societies and Mother Earth. That’s the part that has to change. For everyone’s sake. Individuals are still welcome to be “lost,” if that is what they need for their journey. Groups, not so much.

What is the big picture here when it comes to this downward energetic shift and its accompanying increasing emotional chaos? What does said directional shift potentially do to the quality of our lives? What is the purpose in the grand scheme of things for this cascade of emotions everywhere, which too often is accompanied by war and other forms of violence? God always has a plan.

To answer that question, I want to return us to the invocation with which we started this service, and say a bit from the many words from Jesus of Nazareth spoke about war and peace. After all, Jesus was all about war and peace. For good reason, he is often referred to as the “Prince of Peace.” He was born into a world obsessed with warfare, struggling all his life with the unyielding expectations and ardent desires of those around him that he “free” them from their sense of internal strife by taking on the occupying Roman forces. As his light grew and it became increasingly more apparent that he could “win” any such war over the “occupiers” should he choose to fight with them but that he was not going to be taking this route, the resistance and opposition to his essential message grew. Faced with the realization that Jesus would agree to embody nothing other than love, the unresolved violent energy of those in his community was turned towards him.

The invocation is from Matthew, Chapter 10, Verses 34.

Do not think that I came to send peace on Earth. I came not to send peace, but the sword.

In Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke, the word “sword” is an idiom. It does not refer to a sharp instrument with which to stab and kill. It means division. Jesus was talking about his mission of teaching people to separate their energy from others, something that needs to happen for each individual to find the divine within them. In other passages from the same time period Jesus specifically discusses the preeminent social hierarchies on which his followers relied, that of familial and religious groups. He tells them that he has come to separate sons from fathers, daughters from mothers, and so on. He also warns that in order to follow his example and adhere to his teaching of individuality as the cornerstone of a relationship to God, they must be willing to take up their own individual “cross.”

Some other time as a meditation community we might want to take up the image of the crucifixion; and depack the tremendously triggering religious symbolism of the cross. But let me just say for the purpose of today’s healing, your cross will be wherever your unresolved emotions take you. Wherever you have expressed or repressed the messages of hatred between you and others, there will be your cross. Your personal cross is created by and will be illuminated through your body, with any and all ill will coming towards you or from you. 

Wherever in your fear or confusion or grief or discomfort, whatever is unresolved in your body and your energy system you project onto others, therein is your cross. Whatever gets projected onto you to which you are vulnerable, because of your pain, stored fear, anxiety, uncertainty, distorted sense of responsibility, whatever, therein is your cross. Emotions and other sensations are not the only clues as to what divides you from yourself and therefore from others. Unresolved shared emotions are not the only vibrations that are resulting in world-wide conflict in the present time frame. But they are a MAJOR component.

As to warriors and peacemakers, please know that this is a dichotomy that requires us to find that place of balance in the middle. It is always when one locates and lives in the middle of a dichotomy that one can find true peace. That is another way of talking about taking up your own cross.

Be the warrior that fiercely uncovers (with the help of messages from your body) and subdues your own inner demons, building greater peace within you as you go. The real warrior is not the person who rushes into battle or tries to save everyone based on unexamined emotional stirrings; but the person who stands back, observes, asks for wisdom and patience until it becomes clear with which battles they need to engage and in what fashion. Then, often reluctantly, with quiet determination and utmost commitment to be of service, acts irrespective of personal cost.

The real peacemaker is not the one who avoids conflict at all costs, but the person who will do anything required that they can imagine doing and that is within their power to bring about healing, moving as many as possible towards the will of the Creator-of-Us-All who is on everyone’s side, including engaging in any necessary battle. This path of peacemaking often requires immense creativity, discipline, unexpected twists and turns, great love and neutrality, and a willingness to surrender to divine guidance.

At this time the downward energetic shift is important for the very survival of humans on Planet Earth. Unless we pay more attention to the surface of our shared planetary environment, we cannot remain. The planet is in a life-or-death struggle right now. We must work with the very ground beneath our feet, and the soil, the water that runs through it, and all life that stands upon it. We must recognize, nurture, and encourage these energies to flow freely through our bodies until we have a more profound level of harmony with the entire Created Order. Those who can “go with the flow,” even when it is uncomfortable or uncertain, will weather the changes that continue to present themselves to all.

I pray that each of us does the work. . . and enough of us learn to carry our crosses with grace so we can come together in new, innovative group structures to sustain our presence here on this glorious miraculous space we call Planet Earth.

Copyright by the Rev. Dr. Resa Eileen Raven, 2024.