Halloween and All Souls

As the days grow shorter and nights longer here in the Northern hemisphere, there always has been a focus on festivals of light and dark. In modern times the festival of Halloween has become very commercialised and children in particular enjoy dressing up as witches and ghosts, and even bats. My seven year old grandson went off to a Halloween party on Saturday, thrilled with his bat costume and glove puppet.

With the Sun now in Scorpio, the vibration of this time of year, in whichever hemisphere we live, leads our thoughts towards the hidden mysteries of life, death and the hereafter. The traditional Christian festival of All Souls comes at this time too. It brings a good vibration for meditation, for inner contemplation and deeper understanding of the reality of the inner worlds and continuing companionship of family and loved ones who have passed on.

Let’s not think of them as ghostly figures, but open ourselves to the reality of their continued life and love. As White Eagle says often, heaven is not far away; heaven is here in our hearts. We can open our hearts now to our loved ones; open our inner ears to hear his/her voice speaking to us. Some of us may not ‘see’ but we can ‘feel’ their continuing love and companionship.

White Eagle says in White Eagle on Festivals and Celebrations:

‘We pray that your inner vision may open to the company of shining ones, friends, brothers and sisters of your spirit, who draw close to you at the festival of All Souls. We cannot give you any physical proof of our message of the eternal life, but God has given you the power within your heart to receive your own confirmation of its truth. You may search the world over. You may use every scientific instrument human kind can devise, you can seek through the ways of psychic phenomena: yet still this great truth of eternal life evades you when you search only along the earthly path. There is always something beyond all earthly things, something elusive which cannot be caught, trapped and harnessed by the human mind. It is so free, so subtle, that it can only be realised in your own heart. You have been given the gift of God in you; within your own being is the life of God, and it is your work here on earth so to live as to stimulate the growth of this God-consciousness.’

‘If you look deep enough you will see goodness’ White Eagle

Amidst all the often heart breaking news we witness around us there are some heart-warming stories. They remind me of the goodness in so many hearts and the huge efforts being made to uplift our planet and move us all forward into the new era of true brotherhood which White Eagle tells us so clearly is surely coming.

I was recently given a newspaper article entitled ‘No peace deal yet, but Nobel Peace Prize offers hope’. It tells how the President of Colombia has been awarded the prize for his efforts to bring peace to his troubled country. Amnesty International’s Secretary General is quoted as saying: ‘We hope today’s announcement will embolden the parties to continue efforts to reach a definitive peace agreement’. The conflict there has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced around six million people. This inspiring article goes on to remind readers of other notable prize winners—Martin Luther King, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mikhail Gorbachev and Nelson Mandela. I believe reminding ourselves of courageous people working for freedom, truth and brotherhood such as these, can help us all keep positive and hopeful of the triumph of good over so-called evil as White Eagle says very clearly in SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT VOL.2. 

The section about Mikhail Gorbachev reminds us of his part in bringing about the fall of the Berlin Wall—an amazing achievement—if that can happen, nothing is impossible! Then Aung San Suu Kyi, inspired by Gandhi, was eventually able to bring peaceful reform to her country (Burma) and replace the military rule with civilian government. She, like Nelson Mandela, and indeed many others, endured punishment for standing up for truth and human rights (brotherhood in action). With courageous souls like this the negative energies will not prevail and all negativity will be transmuted into positive soul-growth for individuals and the world. This helps me to take heart when I witness the terrible things going on in Syria and the global ‘refugee crisis’. Good will triumph. God’s law is unassailable and the magic of the Star uplifts and inspires so many to work for change and to comfort all who suffer.

I often read these lovely words of White Eagle on page 30 of SEEKING SERENITY:

‘Remember, brethren, that all is working together for the great day of illumination of the whole of humanity!—for the great Brotherhood which is to be. You know, if you could see with your pure spiritual vision, you would see into the hearts of all people, and you would find, beneath all the rubble and the rubbish, a great sweetness every time. If you will cultivate this true vision, if you will learn to see truly from your heart, and if you will look deep enough, you will see goodness everywhere, in all peoples. Moreover, as you receive that blessing into your heart, it will flow through you, through the oneness you feel with all humankind. The light in you will flow to others, to all the world, to bless, to heal and to help stimulate that same beauty in every heart.’

Our Day of Peace

I can remember many years ago my grandmother, Grace Cooke, talking about White Eagle’s ‘white carpet of peace spreading all over the world’. We can read in her book MEMORIES OF REINCARNATION about White Eagle’s work when he was the Chief White Eagle, bringing peace to the warring nations of the Iroquois tribes—just one example of many lives of working for peace.

On Sunday 18th September we held our Peace Day in the Temple here at New Lands. This has become an annual event linking with the United Nations Day of Peace, and White Eagle groups all around the world joining in with their own local gatherings.

This year our focus for our prayers for peace was the war in Syria and the huge refugee crisis. I spoke about the Star symbolising both outer action and the inner action of prayer, and I read a few words from Amnesty International’s latest magazine about ‘Refugees—world on the move’, and the sad statistics that the richest countries of the world are helping the least. ‘The hardest thing about being a refugee is being made to feel unwanted’, was quoted. I then went on to speak about the magical power of the Star to open hearts and minds. For some, the best way to help will be by prayer, but for others there is the possibility for outer action too. But in both cases, we need to be careful not to try to impose our will on any situation about how we think things should turn out. My suggestion is to mentally bring all the suffering into the aura of Jesus, the Great Healer, who shines so brightly with the Christ healing light of the Star.

At the end of our meditation in the heavenly Healing Temple, where Jesus had been powerfully with us, I read these comforting words of White Eagle’s from his beautiful book SEEKING SERENITY: ‘We would help you to rise above the problems of the earth plane into the light of the Sun, to be at peace within. As this purifying light and power flows into your heart you will be able to see with clearer vision the outworking of a plan that is so wise and so good, for all humanity: something not easy to see with the little mind of everyday life. But as you open your hearts to receive this blessing from the heart of the Sun it will help you to see good, to see the outworking of a beautiful plan, in spite of the difficulties which are so apparent at the Earthly level.’

We ended our Day of Peace with a walk around our cross-within-the-circle, symbolic of our prayers embracing our whole planet and every nation joining together, heart to heart, to help one another.

The Star Shines in Nepal

Nepal is a country very dear to my heart. It is poor in material wealth, but rich in spiritual gifts. The first time I visited, nearly thirty years ago now, I experienced the power of the Star shining above the ‘holy mountain’ of Machhapuchhare and during my subsequent trek into the ‘Annapurna sanctuary’ felt sure that (at the etheric level) this is one of the meeting places of Elder Brethren. This feeling was confirmed on my subsequent trek eleven years later, after the passing of my former husband Geoffrey. He did not enjoy physical travel, but freed from his body he encouraged me on this (for me) very arduous pilgrimage. At a particularly difficult time, when I felt almost ready to give up, there he was holding up a shining lantern, encouraging me on.

Those familiar with White Eagle’s teaching will know how often he uses the phrase ‘keep on keeping on’. I believe that over the years he has encouraged hundreds to do just this in many different ways. Pilgrimages are not always about climbing physical mountains.

Just recently I have had the opportunity to return to Nepal—not to trek this time, but to visit our White Eagle group in Kathmandu and encourage them to ‘keep on keeping on’.

It was just over a year ago, in May 2015, that the devastating earthquakes suddenly shattered thousands of lives. Over one year on there are still signs of the earthquake in Kathmandu city itself—crumbling walls and buildings, broken up roads, electricity wires dangling dangerously across the streets. Not all parts of the city were affected, of course, and one of our White Eagle leaders, Keshav, a colleague of Krishna, told me: ‘We were so fortunate! I believe the Star helped protect us and our school. At the time of the earthquake I was on my way to a meeting with Krishna. Fortunately it was a Saturday and no children were in school. After we stayed out in the streets along with many others, not sure what would happen next. There were many aftershocks and buildings tumbling. People were amazing, all helping one another. We learned a lot about faith, and the power of prayer, and the Star.’

Krishna has a clear insight into the main essence of the White Eagle teaching. Introducing me on one occasion he said ‘It is not a religion—it is a way of life’. How true. It is a philosophy which truly changes lives and helps us deal in a serene and wise way (hopefully!) with whatever karmic challenge comes along—whether that be earthquake, flood, illness, bereavement, whatever.

A highlight of this brief visit to Nepal (no trekking in the lovely mountains this time!) was talking with two groups of teenagers from Krishna’s/Keshav’s schools. I talked with them about the power of the Star to help us (and the whole world) no matter what. Most of them were Hindus, with a few Buddhists and Christians, but all had an innate understanding of the inner unity of all religions. One of the many loveable things about Nepal is the religious tolerance, with Buddhists and Hindus often worshipping side by side. We can all learn so much, I think, from this example.

From ‘Healing the World’ p.28

‘Reach towards the heavenly light, remembering that you can be a reflector of that light. Look up to the sun-capped mountain range, the golden city, call it the kingdom of heaven if you like! But remember that the kingdom of heaven is not really a far country, the kingdom of heaven is found within yourself. You can make it a far country, or it can become close, a world of infinite beauty within yourself. People make it a far country, or it can become close, a world of infinite beauty within yourself. People find it such a temptation, so much easier, to go here, there, everywhere, rushing to all kinds of place, to the east, to the west, to the north, to the south, in search of a master—and all the time the Master is within, so close, nearer than breathing, closer than hands and feet. This is simple truth.’