So what do we do now?

This year I voted for the first female US presidential candidate and she lost.  She won the popular vote, but we have a fascinating thing here in the US called the Electoral College.  I don't generally like to talk about politics and this blog post will not focus on that much.  It will focus on what we can do as humans now as most people in my circle seem a little lost and are definitely living through the many stages of grief.  I hope this helps in some small way.

It was a very long election season.  It was filled with love and hate, hope and despair, eagles attacking Donald Trump and house finches landing on Bernie Sanders' podium.  Those of us who voted, invested much in the process and expended a lot of energy hoping our candidate would win.  With so much energy expended, it becomes a bit like a volcano and it is so very easy for explosions to happen and for us to settle into a low energetic field.  It is very easy to sink down and spout words like "He's an idiot!" and "He's the Orange Hitler!"  But doing this does not serve us, our families, our country, or the universe at large.  Donald Trump like Hillary Clinton like Bernie Sanders and like everyone else, be they politicians or not, are all children of God.  We all have the light of the Creator within us.  If we're "Berners," we don't like to think that Donald has that light within him.  It's easier to vilify him and curse him.  This brings the trouble right back to us.

I have a wondrous teacher of shamanism in Seattle named Betsy Bergstrom.  She teaches a course in compassionate depossession and also in curse unraveling.  These are miraculous classes and you can palpably see the changes in individuals who do this work and have it done on them.  When we curse Donald Trump and the horse he rode in on, our energy gets tied into that.  We lose a piece of ourselves and give away our power and I am not about to give away my power to Donald Trump.  It's not easy, especially since cursing ourselves and others is a habit we easily fall into and maintain.  I have found though, that once I realized I was doing this, I couldn't get rid of that awareness.  "I'm terrible at math," I'd say and then realize that I had cursed myself into years of unbalanced check books.  Now when I hear myself cursing myself or others - "You jerk!  You don't know how to drive!" - I compassionately forgive myself and ask the universe to cancel my curse.  Sometimes, I need to go a little deeper and clean up my own mess in a shamanic way.  So, the first part of the answer to the question of "So what do we do now?" is to avoid spewing vitriol at someone who so readily sends it our way.   The Bible says, "But I tell you not to resist an evildoer. On the contrary, whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well;" and while I don't subscribe to us being doormats, I do believe in non-violence and non-cursing (of ourselves and others). 

In compassionate depossession work, we are asked to look compassionately at the possessing spirit.  Betsy calls them "suffering beings."  So, the second part of my answer to "So what do we do now?" is to dig deep and look at Donald and his supporters with as much compassion as we can muster.  This is a tall order, but we can call in our guides, allies, angels, compassionate spirits of all kinds and ask them to lend us their vision of the world.  To see the world through the compassionate lens of an angelic being is a mind opening experience.  There is no judgement there.  The world is full of experiences - not good ones or bad ones - just ones.  Also, in compassionate depossession, we are asked to see the light within the suffering being and to ask our compassionate helpers to illumine the heart of the being.  It is beautiful work.  I know I will be seeing a lot of Donald Trump's face in the years ahead and hearing his voice more often then I'd like.  When I do, I will do my best to refrain from cursing him and I will also send love from the depths of my heart to him.  AND I am definitely calling on the help of angels to do this.  I will be ready to forgive myself when that feels like it's beyond my mere human capacities and it's the LAST thing I want to do. 

Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."  The third part of this recipe is to do things which bring light into the world.  Invite friends over for dinner and share stories of hope and peace.  Honor your gay friends by marching with them in the next pride parade.  Sit next to the woman wearing a hijab on the bus who is probably terrified that something horrible could happen to her on that trip.  Sing songs and tell stories of water while supporting the Standing Rock Sioux.  Teach your children forgiveness, compassion, and how to interact with others who do not share the same opinions or ideas they do.  We cannot all be the same and want the same things and love the same things.  We came to the world to experience life and learn and grow.  The people who are not exactly like us are there to help us do that.  Donald Trump is not exactly like me, but we are alike in that we both have the light of the Creator within us, and I am called to honor that.

Very soon I will be embarking on a journey which will take me through many of the southern red states - Trump territory.  As I travel (literally) from the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters, I will be chanting songs of love and light.  I will be staying with friends, sharing delicious food, grieving over what I wanted to happen and didn't, while being open to what the universe has in store for the future.  Sometimes we need to sink to the very bottom of a pit and work all of our muscles to pull ourselves out.  It makes us stronger and helps us to realize all that is wondrous in us and the world.  To those of you who are celebrating, I send you love.  May you be gracious in your victory.  To those of you who are grieving, I send you love.  May your time of healing provide you with what you need at this time to grow and experience the wonder of the world.  I offer gratitude for all that is and all that is not and offer myself as an instrument of peace and love in the world.  Aho.  Amen.