October 29, 2024! Now I’m here, what do I want to talk about?
One of the fantasy authors I love is Mercedes Lackey. I was with my mother and brother and they were recommending her books to me. She was new to me, because my dad was all about Terry Pratchett. And believe me, there are still tons of TP’s books I need to read again and again, Anyway, a new author who is writing tons, tons of stuff my family like. YES! And what was the one book they decided would be a great introduction? BY THE SWORD. Yep!
If you have gotten to Paragraph Two (this paragraph) with me, the strongest take-away from that book is an essential part of the training: Ground Center Shield. A mantra: Ground Center Shield.
Ground: My feet are on the ground in this here-and-now world. I can hear the traffic, cars driving on rainy pavement. I’m sitting on this chair in this kitchen hands on this keyboard, waiting for the words to come …
Center: I knew this code before I was introduced to Hearth Math, but the centering moment of HEART/MIND COHERENCE is so nice. My take on it? Like this: Put your hand in the heart area and take a few slow breaths. It OK if you count in and out, or if you just slow down your breathing. But I can hear Thomas Huble saying “Let your awareness drop into your body. So Centering includes relaxing your shoulders, straightening your spine and yep! That’s just about it. You didn’t think it could be so quick, but the KEY of course, is finding the minute you need to GROUND AND CENTER.
Whole days go by without me remembering even once GROUND AND CENTER and hey, here I am in the PRESENT.
Shield: ALL HALLOW’S EVE is a very good time to remember to SHIELD. In Japan the season is OBON, when the souls who have passed are here, waiting to move on, and Halloween is the day before ALL SAINTS DAY, so there are similarities. [ex. demons dancing with the devlil] Also invoking the violet light is a shied. Stretching out your inner hand to a trusted companion, grandmother, old friend, someone who had passed. The key point is being with someone you trust and knowing you are not alone. One can say words: Psalm 23, The Lord’s Prayer, or one can use The Litany Against Fear. That is a good shielding:
“I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once.”
The above was something I grabbed from a Google Search for Litany Against Fear. The first citation from website about DUNE. <https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Litany_Against_Fear>
The interesting thing to me is that the moment it takes to remember “Ground, Center, Shield” is the best way to do it and the best time to do it. For example while thinking over what you have to do today. Or getting ready to leave your home, go out the door, and into world out there.
Kindest regards to you to whom I write.
My name is Vandy and my whole long name is Valerie Anne Wilkinson.