“We have to recognize once more that the individual exists not in himself alone but in the collectivity, and that individual perfection and liberation are not the whole sense also the liberation of others and
of mankind; the perfect utility of our perfection is, having realized in ourselves the divine symbol, to
reproduce, multiply and ultimately universalize it in others.” ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga
The Eighth Direction
In the traditional Native American Directions, a typical reading would include the following: The East, South, West, North, Above, (Father Sun), Below (Mother Earth) and Great Mystery or Kitche Manitou (Wakan Tonka). However, this reading lacks one important element, which I feel is vital to any Spiritual practice. That element is an acknowledgement of our Unity Consciousness, and as such therein is implied All My Relations.
In the Lakota tradition, the ideology of the “underlying connection” and “oneness” with All is expressed as Mitakuye Oyasin, which translates as the afore mentioned All My Relations.
In the Spirit Realms, which these “Extra-Terrestrial” Directions inhabit, time is completely irrelevant. Nevertheless, the following analogies work for me because of the unity of (no)time they suggest.
Time of Year – Dec. 31 – Jan. 1
Time of Day – 11:59 PM – 12 AM
Time of Life – Between Death and Rebirth (when we meet our “Away Team”*)
The Color – The Full Color Spectrum, visible and beyond
The Part of the Plant – The Whole Plant, Root to Bloom
The Totem – The Seven Sisters – The Pleiades
The Element – The Aether – the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere
The Spirit Guide – Hiawatha – It was he who proposed the unification of the five tribes of Iroquois peoples, who shared common ancestry, as the one united Iroquois Confederation.
The Minerals – White Optical Calcite, Rainbow Quartz
The Lessons – Unity Consciousness, Oneness with All
A closer look at what these ideas implies reveals that if indeed we are connected to “all our relations” then that means that we are connected not only to our whole bloodline, through our parents and their parents, etc, as well as to all of our offspring and theirs too, though yet unborn. In other words, we are connected to all those back to the first Mother, as well as to all of our “past and future lives,” throughout all Time and in every Density and Dimension, extending even unto all Interstellar Intelligences. This Direction is also the home field of all the Archetypes, of all ancient mythic Beings of Lore, of astrological and alchemical symbolism each which carry the implicit “as above so below.” Lastly, it extends to our “Away Teams”* with whom we navigate Homeward as we sail upon the oceans of our dreams.
Unity Consciousness
FYI:
Aho Mitakuye Oyasin is a simple yet profound statement. It comes from the Lakota Nation. In their language it means ”all my relations.” It is spoken during prayer and ceremony to invite and acknowledge all “relatives” to the moment. That Lakota, “all my relations” is a prayer of oneness and harmony with all forms of life: other people, animals, birds, insects, trees and plants, and even the rocks, rivers, mountains and valleys.
The Lakota Sioux Prayer of Oneness and Gratitude
Aho Mitakuye Oyasin….All my relations. I honor you in this circle of life with me today. I am grateful for this opportunity to acknowledge you in this prayer….
To the Creator, for the ultimate gift of life, I thank you.
To the mineral nation that has built and maintained my bones and all foundations of life experience, I thank you.
To the plant nation that sustains my organs and body and gives me healing herbs for sickness, I thank you.
To the animal nation that feeds me from your own flesh and offers your loyal companionship in this walk of life, I thank you.
To the human nation that shares my path as a soul upon the sacred wheel of Earthly life, I thank you.
To the Spirit nation that guides me invisibly through the ups and downs of life and for carrying the torch of light through the Ages, I thank you.
To the Four Winds of Change and Growth, I thank you.
You are all my relations, my relatives, without whom I would not live. We are in the circle of life together, co-existing, co-dependent, co-creating our destiny.
One, not more important than the other. One nation evolving from the other and yet each dependent upon the one above and the one below. All of us a part of the Great Mystery.
Thank you for this Life.
So these are some of the attributes of All My Relations, and as you know that YOU are the Wheel, so you know too that they are elements within YOU.
Know this to be so, embrace them in your heart, feel them within, and say: I AM/WE ARE All My Relations!
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* The Away Team This term is borrowed from the original Star Trek television series. When Captain Kirk would “beam down” to a new planet he would routinely take several members of the Enterprise crew with him. This group was always referred to as the “away team.” Like that away team, we too come into this life with a “crew” of spiritual “shipmates” who have agreed to appear at key points along our life’s path, some joyfully, those who we would consciously think of as “soul mates,” and some who have agreed, in our life between lives, to sacrifice our good opinion of them, or in other words, those who would seem to have been, shall we say, less than friendly, but without whom we would never have made the changes that were necessary to have brought us to the very place where we are today. They are all, all, part and parcel, members of our hand picked “Away Teams.”
Do you recognize any of yours?