Integrating the Feminine Spirit

As mysterious as the dark side of the moon lies a hidden force of nature embedded within us all. It is the nurturing side of our being containing seeds of awareness waiting to be born. It lies within the silent spaces between our thoughts. It is a pregnant silence with infinite possibilities.

Within these seeds of awareness is the womb of creation. It feels like a loving mother whose soul purpose is to unconditionally love what comes into being. Out of this spacious quality of life are invisible bonds. These invisible bonds create a sense of security. A sense of knowing we are loved by a power greater than ourselves. This power guides us and sustains us. And, it is filled with enough love to carry us through each day.

Rooted within this love is a quality of attention. This quality of attention is reflective. It is a glimpse of our Creator. As we observe this pathway into love, our soul is bathed in the very wisdom that created it. This article is about integrating the feminine spirit. At the same time, it is the process of returning to our birthright. Each of us wants to know we are loved. We long for such grace.

All of us know that the world cannot promise us this notion of being loved. Only our soul can carry us into a dimension of living, whereby, the unseen becomes more real than the appearances of our lives. In this regard, we move into the eternal nature of living that fears nothing and has the experience of a thousand lifetimes. Like a child, we are to live each moment as though it was new. When we are open to life's mysteries, we follow the feminine spirit. It is the pathless path of spirit calling us home.

Everyone can remember a time in their life when a mother or a father called them in to eat dinner. Far more than a dinner is being prepared. Together, the children and the loving parent(s) gather at a table to eat a meal. This meal is a communal act. In the act of eating a meal, every person participating is filled with the bounty of mother earth. In essence, it is she that provided the meal we all partake of daily. Within every bite digested is a remembering that we are children of the earth. The bounty of the earth is nurtured by a living presence we cannot see. This unseen presence infuses our lives with the experience of opportunity. Every moment is an opportunity to remember who we are. As we remember who we are, we are integrating our lives, and yes, our souls into the seasons and cycles of living. At the same time, we have a part of us not affected by birth and by death.

Thus, the cycles of birth and death become a symbol to remind us how sacred we are. In this realization, we are integrated into a multitude of possibilities available to us at any given moment. This infinite array of choices carries diverse connections from one moment to another until our choices extend into endless streams of possibilities. This circle that goes on and on connects our humanity to the womb of creation, whereby, we are always cared for by the love of the feminine spirit.

As we move into the 21st century, it will become vital that the feminine spirit flourish. The feminine side of humanity nourishes and encourages active participation of our soul in the world. And, I'm not sure we can keep from moving in this direction. Daily, we can watch the news. People are killing each other for material wealth and power. We fight for higher prices on goods and services. These higher prices are justified by stating we are meeting our external desire to succeed in the world. Often, our desire to flourish in the external world is at the expense of insight and inner reflections on love for others.

In our day, our souls are crying out to be blessed, known, loved, and wanted. The external world cannot guarantee this. The internal world of insight can. Insight means to see from within. As we turn our awareness within, we return to our feminine nature. Our feminine nature turns our attention toward the equalities of purity, hope, and spirit. They are the qualities of our nature that intend goodness and love.

It is my hope and prayer that our society learns to value being in the process of living, more so, than living for the results. Or at least, find a balance between the two. Otherwise, we cannot appreciate living the lives we have been given in the present moment. When "being in process" is given as much attention as "results," there is an opportunity for our actions to mirror our own soul seeking manifestation of peace within our world. In so doing, the feminine spirit is born.

At this point, our daily experiences begin to sustain us at the deepest level of our being. We become grateful for each moment as an opportunity to care for what give us meaning and give us joy. In return, our soul is healed by the very spirit that brings all life into being. When we feel connected to this quality of ourselves, we take on the spirit of a child. In our childlike nature, we trust the forces of nature that has shaped the moon, the sky, and our well-being. It is not a part of us we can easily see, but this part of us becomes more vital to us as we age.

As we mature, we begin to realize that our five senses and physical body will fade. What remains will be what cannot be seen. It is the part of us born into the world, leading us to this moment, and leading us into eternity. The feminine side of our lives is soulful. We are free within our soul. Even death cannot diminish the birth of our soul. For our soul was alive long before we were born into a physical body - created in the minds and hearts of our loving parents.

In the end, we begin to trust our heart as well as our visual perceptions. Then, our soul is at home in the world. When we view our world with the eyes of soul, our external world is bathed in eternal love. What is united becomes an integration of the feminine spirit into the external world from within.

Have you ever thought of the earth as energy, or the air we breathe as being similar to ambiotic fluid breathed during pregnancy? One early morning, I was sitting on my friend's front porch looking at the grass. As the sun was heating up the earth, I saw waves of energy rising from the ground and into the air. It was a blurry mist and fluid causing the steam in the ground to rise into the air. In a similar way, we each enter into the womb of another creation the moment we leave our human mother's womb. It could be said that we never really leave our real mother's womb - the feminine spirit. Each event, circumstance, and experience is an opportunity to integrate a loving presence in our lives. We breathe her in.

This loving presence nurtures us constantly. We are bathed in her womb every day and every night. She is an internal quality of attention within us offering unconditional love. This quality of attention is not bound by any physical form. This quality of attention is limitless. It is the part of us experiencing our world in purity. It is our soul.

Our soul is fluid and without form. It has the capacity to pierce through the veils of flesh and bones. Our soul is soft. This tender part of our existence is not caught up in being the strongest, the richest, or even the most self-righteous. Our soul simply rests in what is. It does not get caught up in one's or another's personality. Our soul sees people and ourselves as children of the cosmos with unique attributes creating our very existences on earth.

Viewing our lives through soul reveals a quality of attention within us not determined by external circumstances. Our soul is the aspect of us hidden behind the conditions or circumstances we find ourselves in. Our soul is the eternal and unconditional quality of our being that will never die.

Samuel Oliver, author of, "What the Dying Teach Us: Lessons on Living"

For more on this author:   www.pathintohealing.com