The Strange and Wyrd of Turning 60

This week I turned 60, kind of a big, round crone-sized number. Not gonna lie...It's been strange and wyrd—all at the same time. 

First the Strange. Where the hell did the time go? I don’t feel 60. It’s like being caught in a Star Trek time warp. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was a child in Nairobi playing my favourite game in the garden, harvesting giant clover and creating a dish I called “Spaghetti Armour”? I spent hours creating worlds for myself, speaking to unseen friends, the plants, and the Earth. 

When I was older, the Earth visited me in dreams, a matriarch wandering through underground caves singing life into being, leaving living, glowing, iridescent crystals in her wake. I followed her in awe, enjoying our heart connection and a feeling of belonging, stability, sovereignty, joy and safety.

I suppose not much has changed in someways. I’m still doing at 60 what I did at 6—playing in the garden and creating things from what I harvest. I still talk to unseen friends, the plants and the Earth! And I still feel a heart connection to her.

Now the Weird—or Wyrd.

This powerful word has been translated as fate or destiny, implying free will has nothing to do with our lives. Psychologist Brian Bates has another, more powerful understanding: 

 

The Wyrd Sisters from Norse Mythology

 

"All our lives are locked together in the shimmering world of Wyrd in which all things are enmeshed and connected to one another by the threads of wyrd. … The Wyrd Sisters (or the Hopi’s Spiderwoman—my edit) spin the Web of Wyrd and weave the loom of life, they do not thereby determine it … the Wyrd Sisters simply express the Will of Wyrd. And so do we. We cannot control our lives, because we too are inseparable aspects of Wyrd and express its will. But this is not the same as saying our life is determined. Rather, it is saying we live like an ocean voyager, trimming our sails to the winds and tides of Wyrd as we skim across the waters of life. And cresting the waves of Wyrd is something that happens at every instant. The pattern of life is not woven ahead of time, like cloth to be worn later as a tunic. Rather, life is woven at the very instant you live it.
The Way of the Wyrd : Tales of an Anglo-Saxon Sorcerer (1983)

Where we fit in the Wyrd 

I see the weaving of the threads of Wyrd as constant co-creation, something the Creator just does. We are a part of that process, co-creating with the Earth and every other living creature on her surface. We are of her, and she of us. She is nourisher, protector, provider. She is home. 

And we are her feelers and thinkers, wrapping her surface with our Collective Consciousness that, ideally, is supposed to inform and lovingly support her like a warm hug. I see our relationship in much the same way as indigenous peoples see it—interdependent, caretaking, stewardship. From this point of view, our feelings, thoughts and actions matter; what we put into the Collective Consciousness matters. For these are our contributions to the threads of Wyrd that will also be woven into the tapestry of Life on this planet.

Image: Canva
 

This is especially true now more than ever before, in the face of war and other destructive games being played out on the world stage at the moment. 

Like many, I have found myself deeply affected by the current news from the Middle East. At the same time on the personal front, we’ve been dealing with a bullying landlord. Both events have triggered PTSD and trauma in me, which show up as anxiety and an inner dialogue run amok. But ultimately, I am at a choice point that is personal—and that could have global implications.

We are Never Completely Helpless  

There was an experiment done in the 1970’s to see if 1% of a city’s population practicing transcendental meditation could effect the crime rate in that city for a sustained period of time. From the abstract of the study written in 1981: 

“A decrease in crime rate was found in experimental cities. The decrease was evident both immediately after the cities reached the 1-percent level of TM program participation and in the crime rate trend during the subsequent 5 years. The findings imply that persons taking TM will influence others, including the crime-prone population.”

Image: Canva

 The Maharishi Institute repeated similar experiments from 2007-2010. Groups of people practiced Transcendental Meditation in 206 large urban centres in the USA, The study showed a 21.2% reduction in the national homicide rate and a decrease of 28.4% in the murder rate. Neither of these stats could be tied to changes in policing. 

According to Dr. Kenneth Cavanaugh, lead author of the study, “The Transcendental Meditation technique is said to allow the mind to settle down to quieter states and ultimately experience "pure consciousness" or "pure awareness," in which the mind is aware but without an object of thought. EEG research and subjective reports suggest the existence of this unique state. Research has found that experience of this state results in benefits such as reduced stress and increased brain integration…The basis for the hypothesized effect on society is that consciousness in its pure form, pure consciousness, has a field-like character and is a universal field at the basis of everyone's thought and behavior.’

It’s what shamans, yogis, druids, and other wisdom keepers have been teaching since ancient times—that our mental and emotional output affects the collective consciousness. Now Science has joined the chorus. And the good news? It only takes 1% of the population focusing on breath, no-thought, in a peaceful state of being for an hour a day to decrease the levels of anger and violence on the planet. That means it would take 80,000,000 people on this planet with an active meditation practice to calm things down.

So when I feel uncertain of what I can we do in the face of what is happening in the world, I remember this statistic. Then I start paying attention to my breath and quieting my mind. I can’t really sit in no-thought for a full hour. I can manage 10-15 minutes. And that is my contribution. I do other things, too. I spend time in Nature, talking to the earth, connecting with the animals and plants. And I engage in active meditation by automatic writing in my journal—that means I write, don’t think about it, set whatever wants to come through onto the page. My other go to's are knitting and embroidery. When I do any of these things, I become lost in no-thought.

Embroidery meditation

All of this to remind us that we are not helpless in the face of so much aggression, fear and bullying. We can always do this—we can choose, with love and compassion, the thoughts, feelings, inner dialogue and actions we engage every moment of everyday. We can direct our intentions and energies towards experiencing love, peace and understanding instead of fear and panic. Moment to moment. We can be what physicist Amit Goswami calls Quantum Activists.

This brings me to our 12 days of Gratitude and Giving event, which kicks off tomorrow. I've put together some posts to help us get into the flow of the Winter Solstice Season. Each message contains goodies, giveaways or gentle suggestions and resources to help us create the year ahead. I will be uploading each message to the blog for your reference as the year unfolds. 

I’m looking foward to walking this part of the Labyrinth with you.