Transmutation News February 2018 Download printable version
I shared in a few monthly columns that I am writing a new book titled The Book of Ceremony which will be published by Sounds True. I write my monthly column in time to send it to our amazing translators who are so generous with their time.
Due to the tight time line on my next phase of editing my book and needing to get the February Transmutation News written by mid-January I decided to post my New Year’s greeting on Facebook for this month’s column.
I know that a majority of readers of The Transmutation News are not on Facebook, and don’t see my solstice and equinox messages.
I hope this has meaning for you. And if you already read it maybe you will see something you missed reading it the first time.
Before I go on I wanted to talk about what I mean about going deeper. I have received multiple inquiries asking me to explain. It is hard to explain with words. Diving deeper is more of a kinesthetic feeling where you feel all the insights you have read and heard are sinking deep into your cells so you are living the work instead of thinking of how to do your practices. It is an organic process that cannot be explained.
You need to work through some of the projections you are placing onto others, work through issues around forgiveness, learn to love yourself and nurture yourself and use your words, thoughts, and daydreams as blessings instead of as curses. You need to stop blaming others for what is not working in your life and in the world and do your practices daily. Then you will sink into the luminous light I have been trying to take you to in the transfiguration work. But the states of consciousness I mentioned above (and these are only a few) must be transformed and worked through before you become “a walking star”.
Below is what I wrote for my New Year’s message on Facebook:
We are cycling in a New Year! I know people are struggling with words of how to greet 2018. For many of us are not comfortable using the cliché wishing everyone a happy New Year. We know we are in the long haul in our current initiation.
I am sure there are very evolved beings who can look past at the traumas we are witnessing in the outer world. Their inner landscape is so rich with beauty that they only see beauty everywhere. We are working on it!!
Words do get tricky. I was interviewed recently for a summit. The interviewer asked me if I believe that shamans believed in positive thinking. His question was based on how I teach that people living in shamanic cultures were diligent about the words, thoughts, and daydreams they spoke silently to themselves or to others.
I responded by saying that shamans were the first people who taught about neuroplasticity. But I said that shamans do not teach or talk about positive thinking. They ask us to reflect on whether the words, thoughts, daydreams we express silently or out loud are blessing or cursing ourselves, others, and the planet.
As we enter 2018 this is an interesting thought to ponder on. Do you use your words, thoughts, daydreams as a blessing or a curse?
I wrote a lot for my solstice post on December 21. And I wrote a lot on my January Transmutation News http://sandraingerman.com/tnjanuary2018.html
As we greet 2018 I wanted to share a few stories with you. They might speak to you on levels. and if they do take in the lesson. If not let it go.
Back in the very early 1970s I had a tiny import business with 2 other friends I lived with in the Haight Ashbury. We would travel to Mexico and bring back just a few clothes and sandals we could sell at the flea market. We were not business people, and we were true hippies in every sense of the term. We did not speak Spanish so we had two people drive with us to help us on our trips. For obvious reasons our business never took off.
One of the men who accompanied us was named Tubby. He was the gentlest soul you would ever want to meet. But he was incarcerated in San Quentin for a long time for a murder I truly believe he did not commit. Whatever happened in his past I cannot prove. But I can say what a beautiful light filled man he was. He got his name Tubby as he was over 300 pounds.
We were swimming in the ocean in Mazatlán and there was a strong undertow. The last words I remember hearing were from Tubby who yelled to me, “Sandy, whatever happens don’t panic.”. I was starting to panic as the waves were so turbulent and the current was pulling me under. I tumbled and tumbled and could not breathe. But I remembered Tubby’s words and kept repeating to myself, “Whatever happens Sandy don’t panic.”. At that point I lost consciousness and swam through a beautiful brilliant tunnel leading me into a non-ordinary garden that I will never have the words to describe. There was a stone bench I sat on. And I heard music that can never be duplicated in this dimension. I was so flooded by unconditional love and peace – words have no meaning to describe the state of consciousness I experienced. But I looked directly into the eyes of God.
Once I did, God, the goddess, the ocean, my own inner spirit, or some divine force threw me out of the water, and I washed up on the sand.
The teaching for me is when we experience a new dimension of consciousness spirit does lead us out of a perilous journey and washes us ashore where we can feel the beauty and warmth of the earth.
One of the teachings Tubby shared with me was about life in San Quentin. Again, this was in I think, 1973 so the world has changed. He told me that how the prison guards controlled prisoners was through creating events that divided the prisoners. The guards knew that if the prisoners stood strong together they could not control them. So they created false fights that divided all the racial communities in prison so that the guards did not have to worry about being in control as the prisoners fought with each other.
I wonder if you have read posts on Facebook from the shamanic community. Many are standing strong together, but the division in the spiritual community is also growing. I wonder if there is a force that is dividing us as we fall into their trance of division. It is so important to look at our projections right now. There is a deep lesson in what Tubby shared. Even if we don’t agree with each other we can stand strong together and make a difference.
One of my students/peers shared this true story with me many years ago, and it is in some of my older books.
In Santa Fe we have a new age book store that community members flock to. It has survived and thrived during the online shopping phase. One day my student was in the bookstore buying something. At the checkout desk was a Tibetan nun who was paying for a book she bought. She was emulating pure light and joy through her eyes and her presence. But some people knew she had immigrated from Tibet where she had once been imprisoned by the Chinese. She was horribly tortured. Someone in the bookstore said you are such a presence of joy and light how did you heal from such torture and pain. She responded by saying she repeated this mantra 24/7:
“I am grateful for everything. I have no complaints whatsoever.”
How does one respond to that?!!! What a teaching!
When we greeted the millennium in 2000, my husband I sat on our lawn at midnight. I played my Tibetan Bowl as we greeted the New Year. While I was playing my bowl, a red fox came and sat no more than two feet from us. It was mesmerized by the sound of the bowl. The teaching is every being in nature loves music! Let’s sing, chant, make music, and dance more!
I absolutely adored my father Aaron Ingerman. He died at 97. His psychic gifts were more advanced than mine, he had the most amazing green thumb, and animals just loved him. He grew up on the lower East Side of New York during the dark days of the depression. He was a little man, but strong. He was my height. I am only 5’3”. You can only imagine how he was bullied. The stories I was told of his father is that he was the barber for some of the mafia. My grandfather died before I was born, and I never got to meet him. But what he passed on to my father who passed down to me is to NEVER stand down. I was taught the power of using my fists, but as I evolved I learned that I could do more with radiating light. First I had to honor and work through my projections before I could tap into the light within that radiates to every living being on this great Earth.
Lastly, I wanted share some advice from my mother Lee Ingerman who died at 98. Her brain was better than mine when she died and blinding light shined from her eyes. She did live a very hard life, and every day I wished she had an easier life as I loved her so much.
She had certain phrases she repeated again and again. So wisdom from Lee Ingerman as we face the joys and challenges as we greet the New Year:
Dance while you can. Do everything while you can because one day it will be too late.
Life is a gift and precious!! Your body is precious don’t abuse it.
Do God’s work.
Eat chocolate.
It will all press itself out (this was an old immigrant expression used by many who immigrated to New York from Russia to escape persecution). This was the wisdom my grandfather imparted to me and my mom.
And finally, my mom’s and my New Year’s blessing to you: “May everything you want in life come easily for you.” Well my mom died before we moved into such a turbulent state. I am glad she did not get to see it. It would have added to her heartbreak.
The part that I did not share in my Facebook post is that I had asked my mother for a message for my students before she died. And the blessing above is what she gave me to share with all of you.
I know her final words don’t have a lot of meaning these days. But our ancestors do care about us and want the best for us. Let’s honor them and let them guide us during these dark times.
We honor earth, water, air, and fire for our life and we continue to pray and bless all in the web of life.
As we greet the New Year as a strong spiritual global community we say we dream a good life for every living being on this great Earth!! We focus on how we bless and how we curse. We travel deep within to our inner divine spirit who says, BE LOVE!
According the Farmer’s Almanac the fact that we experienced the full moon on January 31 there will not be another full moon until March 1. Wow!
Sylvia does send out the Transmutation News early so those who are ready to do your preparation work let’s dive in January 31 and create the most beautiful, stunning, radiant web of light. Join together with our circle of people from all over the world who like you want to see the best for all of life. Transfigure and shine your light and radiate love within and without the Earth touching every member of our circle and all in the web of life.
If you are not ready to join in on January 31 then just pick a date. The transfiguration practice we do each full moon is outside of time and actually should be done as a daily practice. So join in and add exponential energy to our web of light when you can.
For those of you who are new to reading the Transmutation News we welcome you into our circle, and I invite you to read “Creating A Human Web of Light” on the homepage for instructions of our full moon ceremony.
Issues/Comments Shared
I will continue to speak to all the issues people sent me. Here are two very different issues and comments, but I think they are both important to share.
From Heidi:
“One question that continues to bug me since long: In so many articles, workshops, gatherings, teachings we are called to step forward and follow our path of service, to become active warriors, to help to change the attitude and Awareness of our social surroundings, to help Planet Earth to heal from the poisonous impact induced by human race. This is all so very true, but what can an old lady in her seventies like me, not involved in any profession or social circle any more, living a very simple retired life with scarce financial background do to add, to act, to offer real help, to make any difference in this sick world? I meditate regularly, I participated in some of your trainings but still I feel so helpless, so very little, so lost in finding a way to contribute. Can you comment on that? I am sure there are so many of us "silent helpless watchers” in this growing community of active people!”
If you reread the December, January, and February Transmutation News there are a variety of practices I shared that change your state of consciousness and also help to raise consciousness in the world.
We all have our destiny. Some people are called to engage in social activism. And some are called to do their spiritual practices alone or in their communities. The work happens on invisible levels so we have to trust the shamans who have been teaching for 100,000 years that these practices transform every living being in the web of life. We get caught up in wanting to see immediate results manifesting physically. But the true magic of change is what happens in the invisible realms before manifesting into the physical. Keep up your work.
It was such a delight and inspiration to read the email that I received from Carole who is one of our French translators of the Transmutation News. The key phrase I want to read in what Carole wrote is the person in the audience who shared she had no right to keep her work to herself. I believe this message needs to be heard by all of us!
“It is an honor to be of service and assist you in sharing your messages. With the current challenging times, these are needed more than ever to instill hope.
Having been through my own deconstruction and reconstruction this past couple of years, I stand in a new place full of uncertainty but can clearly see it was time for me to step up and share my gifts, instead of hiding behind some lack of confidence in how I can contribute. I have personally realized that I have been afraid to share too much light... and for too long, it felt like there was no place for who I am so I stayed in the background, caring and providing for my family while not speaking up too much as to not upset the status quo. Always feeling like an outsider, I kept my spiritual gifts to myself, communicated with nature and drew much strength for her. All year, I have been challenging myself to break through those erected walls that were preventing me from truly sharing who I am. Piece by piece. A few weeks ago, I had the perfect challenge... I stood up and shared a poem I wrote about doubt, shame and fear to a group of 50 people. I felt completely naked but stood there and by some grace, spoke with a clear and intentional voice. No shakiness or blushing. I was standing in my truth. Later, I received comments from people who felt touched by what I wrote and thanked me. One woman looked at me deep in the eye and said "you have NO right to keep that to yourself". Her words are still resonating within me. It took a while but I finally understood that I was not doing any service if I was using my gift of inspiration and expression and keeping everything to myself out of fear to be criticized or not be well received. My allies made it clear too when I received their message that the soul's qualities I brought here in this incarnation were Love and Expression. I intend to honor these in a more open and meaningful way in 2018. Aho.”