Julie: So I ask that the work be blessed. I ask to be clear and receive whatever information is most useful for all of us at this moment. I’m very grateful for this opportunity. I’m grateful to do the work, and to be with all of you; and to share

   Micciah: So we greet you dear friends. And we are most pleased to be with you. And as we often say, this room and wherever you are is filled with Spirit and energies of different kinds, different vibrational rates. We would say different places but the idea of place is really an idea of the Earth.
   And we wish to speak with you about asking, which is really Alaina’s request which we have been working with, and about the meaning of promises and commitment. As we have said before there are so many energies. Alaina, you said: the stars, yes; the moon, yes; the sun yes; the oceans, the mountains, the trees, the stones. Everything has energy and wisdom of its own kind. Entities who have never been in a physical body, entities who have never been on the Earth are present with you. Not only are they present, you know, one of the great Bõn teachers said, “The room is almost always filled with spirits.” You can call them.
   Pay attention. This is really important.
   You can call them. And these energies, entities, beings, will respond to your call. To your requests. They are not energies, they are not like intrusive parents. “You see you are not doing the right thing here. You might make another choice.” Different systems. You need to call on them and to find the energies upon whom, or which, you want to call. And then make a habit of it. Dance with them. Various energies… They all have wisdom, they all have… They all carry grace. So you can call on the stars, or one star, on the wisdom of the mother Moon, on the teaching of the trees. (This one [pats herself] is very connected to trees.) On crystals.
   Ask, “Are there entities with whom I might communicate? I need guidance. I am open. I am open.” We have talked about this before and wonder how many of you remember to ask as a practice. And at any time, but particularly in this time, the animals; so many cultures embrace animal teachers. This is not one of them. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. And the animals have particular kinds of guidance, of wisdom, and particular connections to do. [chuckles] One of Julie and Jon’s cats is named Wizard. He is very wise. And sometimes he is puzzled that no one is asking him. So this notion of asking when you are not accustomed to doing it, unless you were perhaps brought up in a faith, for those of you who were brought up Catholic, you do ask the Saints, yes(?) for assistance. In the Hindu teachings you ask the various Gods and Goddesses depending on your needs. We think when the Church moved during the time that the Protestant Church was born, with the exception of probably the Church of England (which is like the Catholic Church, except for the Pope) they stopped asking. So by the time you get to the Congregational Church, there are no Saints and you are not asking anything of them.
   So, think about this. You are not accustomed, unless you have gone into a tradition, a shamanist tradition or a Hindu tradition, or, in some ways the Buddhist tradition, where asking is part of it, you are not accustomed to it. It’s not in your rhythm. So, we encourage you to experiment with it and to bring it in, to make those connections. The connections are already there, really. Making them isn’t correct. The connects are there and available. The steps are taken by you. To ask, to embrace, to learn to feel, or listen, or see what is given to you when you ask. And to remember this is not like asking your parents who may or may not have been generous, compassionate. May have been withholding, and sometimes the wires get crossed psychologically around asking in general, asking for something. These are vital communications. You are meant to have them. A conversation with the moon.
   Jane Roberts in her channeling with Seth talked about the stones. That stones hold stories. That they are the storytellers in this physical universe. So yes, ask and experiment! Remembering that what is available is vast. So that your personality self doesn’t have to go through, “Um, well, hmm. Maybe I shouldn’t ask. Maybe it’s not important enough.” No. No, this is a great and vital web of communication.
   This brings us to our next point and then we will go to your inquiries. We want to talk about promises. Commitment. Let us say you have spiritual practice and what we all work with here together is very open. So, whatever you choose; and you have a commitment to it. So, right here gets into a place very meaningful. Sometimes commitment is understood as this kind of energy. [makes fists] “I’m committed to it.” Look at the secondary process. [claps, makes fists again] So that is a hardening, a stiffening of the body. Yes? Rigidity. Commitment needs to breathe [swaying side to side] and dance, and explore. As soon as rigidity enters (this is complicated) you use genuine life energy, a well of energy of the spirit.
   Commitment is a kind of moving alignment and exploration of your connection to Spirit in whatever way you do it. As soon as there is rigidity you move into orthodoxy. The great psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich said that the two ends of the spectrum, let us say the extreme left and the extreme right, or the extreme anything, orthodox anything, no matter what the content of the orthodoxy is: they share, people in those orthodoxies, share characterological qualities of rigidity. And as soon as you have that, an orthodoxy that contains rigidity, and we will allow, yes is it possible to have an orthodox belief and still be fluid, yes. It’s possible, it’s possible. It’s not ordinarily so, but it’s possible. But as soon as you have that, you have created “the other.” And unless you are very unusual and hold wholeness within the orthodoxy, there appear divisions and splits, arguments. Deep, deep spirituality is flexible, aligned with oneness, (so you may have different beliefs from mine, and we are still part of the one) and breathes. Remember the idea of breathing and dancing. Once you are in that box of, “This is the way to do it and this is the only way to do it.” you have lost something. And then the “other” is created and the “other” becomes your enemy. Possibly. Think of the number of religious wars that have been fought. “You must believe as I do.”
   So, promises, promises. Your promise to your spiritual life moves and dances and changes. The promise doesn’t… The commitment is constant. But within it there is breath. Think of the difference between martial arts and western fighting. Or, we could use a number of examples. So, western fighting… [shows her fists] Well, not any more. [waves her arms] Nameless objects that fall on you. But, a great energy master, or mistress, can move just this much [spreads her fingers a couple of inches a few times] and the other person will be thrown against the wall. Not that that is such a peaceful image. Just this much, and everything changes. So, promises, commitments, alignment, dancing. And you might think about any area where you have gone into rigidity, will ultimately deprive you of life energy.
   So we will stop. We know you have things you want to explore.
   Sue, please.

   Sue: [reads a question from Fred] First question had to do with any insights or tips and tricks about cultivating joy.

   Micciah: [chuckles] We like that. Tips and tricks. Well, one of them is exactly what we’ve been talking about. Your breathing, moving, alignment which allows for the fullness of your life energy and communication with many entities and natural forms. It is joyous! Joyous. Always include the ordinary. The sacred nature of ordinary life. Your breakfast, your tea, touching your face. Recognizing the sacred quality embedded in everything, in ordinary life. When you consciously contact it, it is joyous.
   Nancy Napier was speaking with Julie about David Steindl-Rast who has been a teacher and a spiritual master, mentor for a very long time. And he gave them an assignment to find an object in the room and speak to the spirit of the object. And she chose her wardrobe, you know, wood, and connected with a spirit. She said it was almost like a dwarf, little spritely spirit who then communicated with her about the history of the wood and where it came from. And the nature of the beingness of that armoire. That is a great joy.
   So, what is a tip really, to be conscious. To be conscious and aware and keep your heart open and look around, acknowledging the life, the life force in everything. [picks up a cup] Cup. Water. [drinks] Water, so precious, so precious. Remember, remember the Japanese scientist who blessed the water. Amazing things happened. Magnificent crystals formed when it was blessed and… We don’t want to say deformed, but other kinds of crystals occurred when something… When negative thoughts were put into something. So the tip is be conscious, be aware. Gently. Remember what we just said, not, [shakes her jacket, slaps her cheek] “Get conscious!” [pats her cheek gently] Be conscious, conscious.
   And now, especially when life… What you have all experienced as “ordinary life” has become so constrained. But you are not constrained when you are in a deep awareness. Other things open up. Fred sent Julie a wonderful piece from a Native American Elder woman. So here you are in this situation and either you can think of it as a hole into which you have fallen or a doorway, a portal is what she said, through which you are moving. And you have to remember the wiggle. If you were going to be in that state all the time you would not be here. Well, there are some people who are, but it will go in and out. So, you feel joyful and then you remember something, or listen to the news and it’s terrible, that’s all right. Make room for that, and then you can take yourself back. So easy to slip, slip into rigidity. “Oh now I have to be joyful all the time and conscious all the time. No.
   So let’s go on.

   Sue: There were a couple of questions that were similar about how to bridge the division in this country, in this world…

   Micciah: Yes.

   Sue: …where there seems to be dichotomy right now? And, more closer to home, how do we heal the rifts in our community?

   Micciah: Yes. So, you can begin by holding all of those people with whom you may differ, and differ very seriously, holding them in the light. You don’t have to hold them in your heart, unless you want to. But you can hold them in the light. And remember that no matter, no matter what the splits appear… (And we know we have talked about splits, and they are in some ways very obvious.) The only thing that exists is oneness. So begin by holding them in the light.
   Let us say, your neighbors who have political views very different from yours, holding them in the light. Asking for guidance, “How shall I be with these people?” Acknowledging their humanity, their struggles. Knowing that you and they differ in your perceptions, and probably your actions. Possibly your actions. Holding them in the light, wishing them well. The Dalai Lama said, “There has never been a war that created peace.” And you may want to hold them in the light but not have them much in your life. Stephen Levine talked about holding someone: “I can hold you in my heart, but I do not want you in my house. I wish you well.” So, if you are someone… [points to] Joy, for instance, we know you and your family are very different in your views. And we know you do hold them in the light, and feel love for them. Acknowledging people, smiling. Saying, “Hello. How are you?”
   People who cause pain deliberately do it out of terrible anger and fear. Under anger is always fear. And strong experience [makes a fist] of otherness as exists in racism of all kinds where the group, whatever it happens to be, is perceived as “other” and “less than.” “You are not like me. So you are not even human.” So, go back to oneness. “I can hold you in the light and know we disagree. I can have boundaries and not allow you (if I am in control of the situation) to harm me in any way. I can take actions that are aligned with my beliefs.” But you heal a split by moving into oneness in whatever way you can, in that moment.
   And when we originally, [waves her hand overhead] originally said there would be a split, we meant there would be two apparently wildly different factions in the country. And this has manifested. So you need to negotiate. Is this satisfactory? Do you wish to ask more on this?

   Sue: No, I think that’s OK. Do you think that this is a period of mass psychosis?

   Micciah: [chuckles several times] Probably the people in both worlds think it of the ones in the other.

   Sue: Yeah.

   Micciah: If they are familiar with the concept.
   There’s a period when great… When many things that were hidden, that were not attended to, many wounds that had become infected in the body of consciousness, really out of a need for healing, ultimately, came to the surface. Burst, with the poison coming out causing behaviors that one could easily label as psychotic. And yes, there have been similar periods all through history. And to go back to the Native America Elder who said, “You can see it’s a whole or you see it’s a portal.” Is it possible that out of this will ultimately come compassion, oneness, the wounds cleansed and healed? Is it possible? Yes. And in this realm we say this, we know with regularity, you come into this realm to learn about choice. And you just, just have had a tipping point. To speak in very practical terms, in the state of New York, the governor, whether you like him or not, put in certain restrictions that allowed people to heal and the number of people who were ill would drop. That’s a choice. And the people who are in the other states where that did not happen, could have chosen. Alaina, you were describing earlier your neighbors who were walking with no mask, and, that’s a choice. So, just… there’s just a tipping point. Tipped. Could have tipped the other way. Now you have to tip it back.
   [long pause]
   So, what happens when people who, when there is a disease that can be fatal, has been fatal. Thousands of people have left this realm and you chose to ignore it. Are you in a consciousness of oneness, “Oh, if I ignore this, I could make someone else sick.” No. [long pause] No. And you might say, “How much is it going to take?” Apparently, quite a lot.
   And we would like to suggest while we’re on this subject, not tonight but (next week we don’t meet. Hmm. 2 weeks) that you together do some prayer at the end of each group as you have been doing, healing prayers to call on the energies (to go back to what we were saying earlier) to call on the energies to help the people who are crossing over perhaps unprepared. To help them transition from this realm to the next realm. That is a great service you could offer. We don’t know if it is a tip for joy, but it would be good to do.
   Do we have other questions?

   Jon: Yes, we have more. Right Sue?

   Sue: Yeah. One of them you addressed, really, with the idea of “asking,” but, the question was,” Are we getting assistance from other realms or other beings?”

   Micciah: Yes. And the more you ask, the more you’ll get. Yes. Well, of course we are speaking English, stuck in the structure of the language. But, they are eager to help. Just waiting to be invited. We could not be here with you if Julie had not invited us. And the people who work so brilliantly in the group with entities who have passed (physical entities.) They would not be there unless you had invited them. So yes, absolutely, absolutely. And again, experiment. Ask entities. Ask aspects of the natural world, of the physical world. And yes, Wizard, we will ask you.
   And Barrie’s question, the one about… [Jon reaches across to get the email printout]

   Sue: Why does someone become virulently right-wing and how do we address that?

   MIcciah: So, we have in some ways answered it. People who have become virulently anything are generally frightened. Sometimes frightened with anger underneath, or sometimes angry with fear underneath. Because a virulent attachment to something arises out of fear. Certainly it does not arise out of trust. So, we can assume something in the particular person’s life was either consciously or unconsciously (could have been a collection of things, collection of experiences) frightening enough to seek a kind of rigid rightness, whatever that was and happened to that person. And when you encounter people like that, again, hold them in the light, remember oneness, and as Ram Dass used to say, “Oh yes, this, and this too. It’s all grist for the mill. And that too, that too.” And remember your own healing energies when you open. Many of you use them and know them. Touch. Work with the energies. Dance. Collaboration.
   So, in this time of great transformation, we are blessed to be with you. We share with all of you much love, and much appreciation. And wish you a very good (depending on where you are) evening.