I received a Constellations class as a giveaway in late July from one of my current teachers.  First we were taught to use our body’s physical sensations as a barometer with exploratory exercises to familiarize.  Then our group, 20 of us, were contained tightly (or so it seemed to me) in the corner of a room.  We were to imagine ourselves as our Ancestors onboard a ship, the vessel coming to America – the New Land of promise.  The melting pot where we all belonged.

The interesting experience I had is a tell-tale of what my ancestors felt.  It is a in my own DNA patterning.  It is the ceremonies in my life that allow me to be present with this in a way that doesn’t have any quality of shrinkage – instead I feel humble and bold.  I am carrying my own weight and that of all the others.   Yet it doesn’t feel a burden.  I turn to it, open.  What will it show me of myself, of those who came before me?  Frankly, it wasn’t a pleasant experience on the boat.  Not until many had already disembarked, their own promises in hand, giving me some personal space was I able to breathe.  For me the New Land didn’t feel promising or remotely inviting.  I forced myself to get off the boat, find my way.  I did not feel I belonged.  Nor did I feel welcomed.  The New Land gave me a headache, leaving me nauseated.  The word sequestered keeps coming to mind.  I’ll look at that later.  Now I feel compelled to feel this as a new way of knowing myself and my life – the everyday stuff.  How will that large overview of self lead to discovery  of my walk in the world?  In the places where I bloom and shine or where I drag my feet and cling to the banks of the river, speak up or go mum, demand personal space or offer freely of my time and energies?

A fantastic synchronicity – I was generously gifted with having my DNA analyzed by 23andme at the same time of this Constellations class.  Thank you Lo’ and R3.

A curiosity, we are currently in Leo which is empty in my personal astrological chart.  The 5th house, how do I express myself creatively?  This feels like I’ve drawn the Blank Rune.  The patterns have been delivered.  It is up to me.  What will I do with it?  Like Leo with the Sun as it’s symbol, I am standing at the center.  I am standing at the center of my lineage.  Many generations have come before who now stand behind me.  What will I create with these patterns for the generations to come?

Constellations can be practiced at any time – in our home lives with partners and children, our family of origin interactions, in the work place, at the grocery store.  What the body senses is a barometric touchstone at every moment.  Does it feel inviting?  Does it repelled?  Am I nonplused?   This leaves me to think of the seemingly endless war and the violence we perpetrate on one another.  The teaching is straightforward and elemental, easy to catch onto.  It could be a game changer I feel.  Yet, the patterns are so dangerously ingrained and for so many the act of survival in their current life situation all they can focus on.  Kill or be killed, it’s been happening for centuries, violence is in our DNA.  With this awareness and without a gun or a bomb pointed towards a person – in the Middle East or the streets of Any-City USA, anywhere – could we ALL learn to get along?  Would we understand the patterns and create something new?

It is also true, that in my DNA patterning there is a prayer for peace.  I too, have a dream.   Aho Mitakuye Oyasin!  All My Relations!