Crystal of Peace Mandala - Solstice Journey

The Summer Solstice Journey
The Prism & the Crystal of Peace Mandala

One year ago on the summer solstice of 2008 our community anchored an ethereal Prism of Light across a 65 mile geographic area in southwestern Florida. On that day, we envisioned a crystal city of light forming in Sarasota that would become part of the future earth's 22 cities of light network. This link has the story of that event in case you weren't there:
http://spiritofmaat.com/may09/prism_of_light.html

On the Summer Solstice of 2009 we'll celebrate and dedicate the opening of the Prism through the Crystal of Peace Mandala. The mandala has been in the consciousness of many in this community since it's introduction on the Equinox. It's been blessed by Tibetan monks, Hindustani musicians as well as by many local spiritual leaders and practitioners. It's been honored at a number of spiritual centers' Sunday services. At Wellness Fest more than 150 people recorded their intentions for peace on earth in a notebook then selected a color, imbued their prayer into the color, and then painted one of the many facets of the Mandala.

On that day over a dozen children left smaller colored versions of their Mandalas with us. All of them, some with the help of mom or dad, offered their wishes for the earth. The children's intensity and focus was extraordinary. Some didn't want to leave, insisting their parents go and they'd paint. They did. The Kramer sisters ages 5 and 8 stayed while their parents visited other booths. Each time the parents returned the girls told them they weren't finished their mandalas. Four year old McKenna couldn't understand why she wasn't allowed to paint the "big kids" mandala or use the "big kids colors." Told she could color her own Mandala she insisted her dad "wait over there till I'm done." He did.

Painting this mandala was a community-wide "spiritual happening." Everyone who joined in the effort was reverent and treated the mandala and what it represented with great respect. A few felt such strong emotions that they cried or prayed after they colored their prism. Having the children participate with such sweet devotion was a punctuation mark about the importance of the Mandala.

I watched them all for more than 8 hours. I watched each one ponder the words they wrote in the notebook. I saw the care and time each one took in selecting the colors they wished to use. Some knew immediately which faceted opening they wished to paint, others asked respectfully if they could paint a certain block. Each painter took alot of time applying their words, designs or colors. I realized through the diversity of colors, words, intentions and application was one bigger word - UNITY. The mandala was filled with diverse messages, shades, tones and color. Yet out of that diversity emerged a tapestry of design that created a COMMON UNITY. The feelings evoked around that phrase is what we call our spiritual comm-unity.

On June 21st at Unity's Labyrinth we will formally dedicate the Crystal of Peace Mandala in a Summer Solstice Ceremony. Spiritual leaders from all across the area will offer their prayers and blessings for a lasting peace on earth. We'll light candles, sing, dance and drum around a central fire. We'll honor the work we all embraced with the Prism of Light. With confidence we'll declare the opening of our own inner crystal represented in the Mandala.

This mandala is for the use of the community. It will be made available to our spiritual centers and spiritual leaders after the Solstice for their own ceremonies and sacred gatherings.

Endless blessings and gratitude to all who poured their magnificent grace into the Mandala.

Jo - May 25, 2009

Celebrating Our Shared Journey

Celebrating Our Shared Journey
Summer Solstice June 21

We generally go about our daily lives doing "our thing." Then when the call goes out, we come together as a community in service, or in celebration of a sacred event, or to honor the seasonal, lunar or celestial cycles. We do what we do without realizing how much of an impact it has on one another, on our community or on others in distant places who hear about it and who proclaim what we're doing is very unique.

Last month we celebrated Earth Day at Siesta Key Beach. More than 70 joined remotely with the indigenous tribal leaders and elders from all over the world who gathered for the Return of The Ancestors on Hopi lands in Arizona. This was no normal gathering of elders. They came from every continent to prepare the earth and to plant seeds for the great shift of humanity.

While working with Drunvalo Melchizidek's assistant on the elders schedule we talked about what we were doing locally. One story led to another as she listened intently to what happened here over the last three years. At the end of our last conversation she said it was an incredible story of a community and a city filled with a future vision and promise that needed to be told. She asked if I would write "our story" for the May issue of the Spirit of Maat - Drunvalo's monthly newsletter saying the May issue would be devoted to the Ancestor Gathering and what the people of earth could do from here forward.

This is what she wrote in the introduction: "Our May 2009 issue is dedicated to the thought that the magic pouring out of the April ceremonies has already started to open your hearts. All the articles are meant to bring your attention to what needs to change in your life. Many of them will call you to look at what has value to you. Some are more concerned with helping you understand how to deal with the influx of new feelings and thoughts that all of us are experiencing. Others ask you to ask yourself how much you are willing to see. The thunder that touched down in April will continue to roll long after the ceremonial fires die out. The Elders have done their part; now it's up to us to take whatever came out of the Ancestors Gathering into our lives and into our hearts. May every single one of our May articles give you pause to reflect upon where you stand with all of this and remind you where to keep the focus as we edge closer to 2012."

We think we simply do what we do! We know we live in paradise and we have an inkling that we're doing good work together in a lovely spiritual community. But we don't realize how unique we are until an outsider hears the story and relates it back that we're in an extraordinary place.

Our story is called Prism of Light and the Crystal City of Light. It's tells about our remarkable journey together over the last three years. We live in a sacred place. In numerology, we are a 22 vibration city, in an 11 state, with a 33 quartz crystal beach at our doorstep. The Keys of Enoch shows we're near the "heart of the dove" of the future earth. We've been on a grand journey that's just begun. It's a fine time to be alive on earth.

Read the article at: http://spiritofmaat.com/may09/prism_of_light.html or to sign up for Drunvalo's newsletter.

Jo - May 11, 2009