29 January is a bit late to be writing my first blog post for 2012 but it feels important to welcome in this particular year in its first month. Spent yesterday at a workshop on Healing Fear with Chris Luttichau of Northern Drum . Chris introduced the day by mentioning how the course came into being after the July 2005 bombings in London, when his Native American teachers contacted him to say it was important to stop fear spreading out into the world from the UK in the way that it had done in the US after 9/11. This connected for me with something I thought in 2001 when the Times' journalist Hannah Betts wrote in response to the Twin Towers' attack something along the lines that it was 'clearly no longer the case' that the worst fear was fear of fear itself. I felt at the time that she was wrong, and still do.
Many see 2012 as a significant year for the planet. There is clearly much of concern in our current economic and world situation. At the same time we need to maintain our perspective and awareness of what is good about our world. Chris mentioned the Human Security Report Project at the University of British Columbia in Canada, which points to the marked decline in conflicts throughout the world since 1992. Despite this many people remain very fearful. It seems to me that it is essentially a spiritual crisis that we are facing, and that healing fear is a good place to start.
Chris's workshop introduced us to shamanic practices as tools for spiritual healing, both on a personal level and in the world as a whole. This is something practised by the uncontacted tribes who feel a particular responsibility for care of the collective consciousness. The day concluded with all of us participating in a powerful ceremony to send a healing light out into the world.
Imagine the possibilities and potential for a changed consciousness on the planet if we all made a commitment to confront and heal our fears and send love and healing out into the world in 2012. Happy New Year!
