All healing begins with the RED ROSE.
--Mary Magdalene from The Way of the Red Rose
I am nervous heading into today’s meditation. I was told that we would be writing about the first chakra, which Mary calls the RED ROSE. The first chakra is at the base of your body, your perineum. My first stop in meditation is meeting with Winslow, my trusted white horse, where I check in before going to the beachfront. I place my hands on his neck to “activate” them. I practice Reiki, both on myself and often with clients that I deal with, both local and remotely. This activation powers me up and is the main channel that allows me to heal.
Winslow tells me to practice my CONNECTION exercise. Before I can be activated, I first check in with my heart space, talk to my body and then see how my mind is doing. When I ask my heart how it is doing, it says it's dry. I take that to mean that it is closed, because my chief metaphor for the heart is a flowing river. Since I was nervous, this made complete sense. My body said, “I don’t know how to move.” I found this curious and I accepted the answer. When I talked to my mind, it told me, “I feel stuck.” Winslow told me, “You are not out of connection. Your body is simply telling you that it is seeking connection.”
We walked out to the beach together, and my eyes were full of tears. Mary gently took my hand and led me back to the porch outside my bedroom. This is the area of the red rose. All the roses and colors are represented on my land, and she told me to sit down and relax.
Mary:
How do you feel?
I remain quiet and look towards the beach. Jesus looks at us, standing on the grass nearby and Gandhi is a few yards behind him, cross legged, tending to the cotton on his spinning wheel. It’s ironic to note that the Indian word for this spinning wheel is charka as we are about to look at my root chakra.
Sally:
I feel angry. I have a lot of free-floating anxiety. I guess I just can’t watch the news anymore. Whenever I hear Trump assigning blame I am just dumbfounded. I want leadership.
Mary:
When you look at Trump, what do you see?
Sally:
I see someone who is a grandstander. Who looks at the surface of things and wants to re-arrange the puzzle so it looks organized, pretty, without lifting the tiles to see what is underneath the surface.
Mary:
Hmmm. I see. Do you know what I see? (Mary turns to look at the waves). I see a man who grew up seeking the approval of his father and never getting it. I see a man who gathered what seemed important at the time to create himself and compartmentalizing the rest. What he didn’t like, he locked behind a door and threw away the key.
Sally:
What about his mother?
Mary:
He loved his mother but he didn’t look up to his mother. He wanted to blaze a trail like his father but he scrambled on how best to do it. People utilize different compasses to create the person they want to be. Some people are able to capitalize on the values that were inherent to their family. The positive ethics.
He grew up with a fundamental instability. Most of us do.
He did the best he could and his yardstick was a balance sheet. (Pause) I guess you could say that his vision was thwarted.
I understand what Mary is saying. This makes a lot of sense to me. We are a product of our roots.
Mary:
Are we?
Sally:
Are we what? (I am forever forgetting that they can hear my thoughts!)
Mary:
A product of our roots?
Sally:
Yes, I believe so. But it is up to us to practice introspection.
Mary:
Now, that’s a good answer. Let’s go ahead and do that.
Uh-oh. What have I done!
Mary:
I would like you to close your eyes. Wait for your vision to go dark. Now take a deep breath. Good. Now when you think about how your feeling, about these frustrations, I want you to tell me what comes to mind.
A memory opens. I hear my bedroom door close. Ahead I see Mary Magdalene in my childhood bedroom in Evergreen Park, Illinois. I run to her and stop abruptly. I realize I am just a very young child.
Sally:
You were there?
Mary:
Yes, I was there. (Smiling) But you didn’t see me like you do now.
I am speaking my adult voice through a 3 year-old body. Mary lifts me up onto my bed and kneels in front of me. Our eyes and hearts are level. I can see the shadow of my Uncle Jules moving in my peripheral vision towards the other bed.
Mary:
Sally, I’d like you to fly out the window onto that branch nearby. Someone special is waiting for you there!
Mary points to the branch of an apple tree just yards beyond my bedroom window. A fuzziness sets in and when I open my inner eyes…I’m tiny and I am looking at a fairy with wings!
Sally:
Wow-You’re beautiful!
Fairy:
Why, thank you! (she curtsies a bit) I am here to keep you company Sally. I am from the world of the nature elements. I am from the shee. I am a shee fairy! (she twirls around on her tippy toes, wings flapping) Come here when you need to escape below.
A moment passes and when I blink, I am back in front of Mary. My uncle closes the bedroom door. I tell Mary what has just happened on the branch. She tells me what just happened in the bedroom in a way that I am able to understand-and not remember. I ask her why this happens.
Mary:
Your uncle is frustrated with his feelings. This is his way of trying to find out how he might be happier.
Sally:
So, I am helping him?
Mary:
Yes.
When I look up I am shocked to see my uncle in front of me on the other bed. His head is bowed down and he says he is ashamed by this. Then the moment is over and I am replanted on the porch with Mary. My face is wet with tears. I don’t remember crying. I don’t know how much time has passed.
Mary:
Sally, your issue isn’t with leadership. It is with authority. You went through an ongoing trial when you were very young with someone you should have been able to trust. Someone who was family.
The work of the red rose is about getting to the heart of the matter.
What are the feelings that keep resurfacing in your life? These feelings are there to teach you. Feelings are attached to a need and if you don’t converse with them, the need will keep reappearing with a different coat on. Everyone has fundamental issues they need to explore or develop. I think of fundamental instability as the part of you that was never properly built the first time around. What is the cornerstone or the bricks that needs placement so that your whole being can come into alignment? Everyone has critical events that need to be revisited. When you go back, face your fears, and feel the feelings, so much can be released.
Sally:
What happens then?
Mary:
Healing. Healing is what happens. Opening. Transformation. Space for new feelings and new experiences that aren’t trapped by the past.
When you face the fundamental instabilities-the trauma and drama from the stories in your past-you create a new future. This is the work of the red rose.
All healing begins with the red rose. It is our inner connection. It is the lens through which we experience our life.
You, and your president, are seeking the same thing. Greater vision. The red rose is your entry key. Each time you make this passage, you heal yourself, and the path eases. The way becomes an easier journey, the finer sand underneath.
Because this is the end of our Lenten pilgrimage, I would like to give you and your readers the gift of the red rose. You have worked hard! I will take you to the heart of the matter. This will open your heart and clear your body and mind. This is a gift of renewal. You have done well!
RITUAL: The Gift of the Red Rose
Recommended Materials:
A candle
A journal or paper and pencil/pen
A private area or space where you feel comfortable-in your home or out in nature
Time:
20-30 minutes
the more involved the event, the longer it will take
How-to:
1. Consider a primary thing that needs healing in your life right now. This might be a recurring feeling, a relationship with someone (or yourself), or a fundamental instability. Whatever comes first to mind is usually it!
2. Write a short statement about this thing. State the feelings it creates in you. Let it flow out of you and onto your paper. No judgment here.
3. Now, reread your words and ask yourself what your intention is here. Is it to let go of these feelings? Accept help from spirit? Transform? All of the above? Write down what you desire. This also can be brief. Let spirit provide the outcome that is best for you.
4. Get comfy! Light a candle, say a prayer or reread the what you have written. Then ask for guidance. Ask Mary to come to you. Relax and close your eyes. Take some deep breaths. Wait till your inner vision goes dark.
5. Relax and let go. Allow what you wrote to penetrate into your heart space and something will surface. What comes up is perfect.
6. Notice and feel. Is it a color (this is common)? Is it a flash of something? Is it a scene from your past? If you notice a pain or something feels off, connect to that part of your body and see if it brings up something from your past. Maybe you can "feel" what is coming is from your childhood, or a vacation, or a person. Try to get a sense of the need that is connected to your feelings right now. If an event comes through, watch the event as a witness and feel the feelings. Talk to Mary would will be present with you. Ask anything you wish.
7. Now ask Mary for her blessing. The golden rule is ask -> believe -> receive. Relax and you will feel her Red Rose float into your mind space and release its essence throughout your body.
Enjoy! When you feel the energetic charge fade away, you are blessed and cleared. Embrace the shift as it reveals itself to you over time. Be sure to thank Mary for her gift. Write down some thoughts afterward if you wish.