Prayer Expanded

Reminder from Mano: We are not sprightly little men and women. We are wizards who can shape-shift as needed to work in any dimension we are called to serve. We are a light substance, a consciousness within the earth herself.

Week before last Barbara and I had a plan to do the final author/editor read-through of her book. I would read a chapter in Nevada City while she read the same one in Ben Lomand, and then on the phone we would make our changes. On the second day Barbara’s printer jammed and she called early in the morning to say that she had already figured out a solution to the dilemma: I could read the book to her over the phone. I was a little skeptical because the day before I had been able to scurry and make changes online before Barbara called back; it was efficient and I anticipated that by the time we had finished I would have the manuscript all ready to go to the designer. However, I started to read, just to see how it would go. Soon a beautiful thing happened. Time slowed and the words, taking on flow and form, became alive. I loved the way they felt on my voice, and my voice molded itself around the cadences of Barbara’s words. Meanwhile, she was listening intently with two questions: Is the sequence correct, and does it feel true? We shared conversation here and there, about sections that might become a blog, or a passage that struck us as particularly moving, or whether we had successfully soothed a problematic issue.

We also remembered to light candles (on both ends of the line) and do our chant to “still time, space, and motion”—an invitation for the nature spirits and the angels to be with us and for all of us to acknowledge the deed we had accomplished. I felt gratitude for my own journey as witness, editor, compiler and hoped that the steps of Barbara’s dedicated spirit search would shine through clearly, in easy language, with heart.

Patterns began to show through in a new way, and the one I would like to touch on this month is that of prayer. Barbara’s spiritual foundation has been a Christian one, and even though she never seemed to be constrained or boxed in by rigid principles, she has also faithfully held and nurtured certain Christian beliefs she had worked over in her heart early on, certain truths she had experienced for herself. When the family moved to La Canada in the 1960s they became very involved with the Presbyterian church, and Barbara was clear about maintaining this stable family center even as she began to broaden her spiritual seeking. Two experiences during these La Canada years illustrate her holding on to her Christian roots and then, when she felt deep coherence, her letting go into new spaces.

She writes: “I attended for the first time a spiritual gathering called Camps Farthest Out (CFO), and this organization was to become a vital part of my life and of my family’s. The camp program was simple, and it was filled with creative expression. Each day we had singing, body movement, writing, coloring with chalk, prayer group, and morning and evening talks. The two speakers shared their lives of prayer and their personal experiences with God. With two free hours in the middle of the day, I had time to nap, integrate my experience, socialize with other campers, and walk in nature. The program was designed to move our consciousness from inner to outer and back until at the end of the week we emerged with a whole new view of our inner and outer life, creating a balanced heart and mind.”

“One day in prayer group the others were praying for me but nothing was happening. The leader, who had left the room, came back, saying that Spirit had told him to return. Then I began speaking in tongues. After that, even though I didn’t understand the words I was speaking in this state, I knew the feeling. Speaking in tongues opened me to a new spiritual dimension. I heard the Holy Spirit say, ‘I will be your teacher; don’t look for other teachers.’ I was in the prayer group just long enough to have this opening experience. When I returned home I asked Jim, ‘Do I seem any different?’ He said no. I replied, ‘Well, maybe I’m not different on the outside, but I am different on the inside.’ I knew I had changed. I trusted Spirit, now, and I had Spirit’s trust.”

“Also in 1965 I spent a week at Meadowlark Farm, a healing center in the high desert of Southern California. We had daily group meetings, private work with individual counselors, art, body movement, doctor appointments, and free time by the pool. I chose prayer and fasting as my focus for the five days. On the third day of my fast, in my inner clear spacious consciousness, I had a ‘visitation.’ My eyes were wide open, yet it was with my inner sight that I perceived, standing in my room, a small being about a foot tall who resembled two marshmallows on top of each other. He looked at me without speaking, then began to do funny antics to get my attention. On the second visitation he took my bedroom slippers, put them on either side of his head, and said, ‘Look, I’m a bunny rabbit.’ This convinced me that I wasn’t making him up but that he was his own unique being. The next day he told me I had a home within the earth, where he lived. He invited me to accompany him there. Deeply settled in my state of prayer and fasting I had no hesitation, only total trust in God, so I said yes. I liked my house in the earth; it felt like home and I still go there. It is round with dirt walls and has a bed, table, chairs, and an artist’s studio on one side of the room. I now realize that my earth home is in the realm of Faerie.”

Later on, after moving to Ben Lomand and beginning, in 2001, to interact with the Council of Gnomes, Barbara records an expanded explanation of prayer. “The Council has asked me to hold a holy space for them in my heart, to pray for the protection of the elements and for the cleansing of air, water, and earth. ‘Elementals have served and protected you throughout time; now you can do the same for them. Each prayer starts a huge movement within consciousness. This is why the Great Master asked you to pray without ceasing. Your prayers give permission for the cosmic intelligences that guard and guide the planet to more easily influence and inspire people in positions of power to make wise choices regarding nature. To hold your energy in your heart is prayer. To be peaceful, tranquil, and joyful is prayer. To set intentions for the things you want to happen is prayer. We call you and all humanity home to the house of prayer and world service. Amen.’ “