New Year with Openhand (through the ether!)

Submitted by Open on Mon, 12/28/2015 - 07:22

The New Year is always a special time in the Openhand calendar. We see it as a time of transition and transformation. It's a time of reflection upon what happened in the previous year; of integration of lessons learned, then preparing oneself to begin a fresh start, invigorated with positively creative energy into the New Year. If you can look inside and free up consciousness, return it to the source, inside yourself, then you open incredible opportunity and potential for alchemical change. This year, we gather with a group of 20 at the very special Chalice Well in Avalon. Come tune into this running journal of the festivities. Wherever you are, tune into the energy and let it inspire your New Year!...

In the heart of "Avalon"

Avalon is the name we locals give to the area of Glastonbury in South West England. Nestled in extraordinary landscape, it's at the focal point of countless energetic laylines such as the St Michael and Magdalen lines. Many believe for example that the young Jesus was brought here in his youth, and that Mary Magdalen lived here for some considerable time.

We call it Avalon because the veils into higher dimensions are extremely thin. Anyone spending time here and is open to the energy, finds it deeply alchemical and transformational. It's a place of heightened consciousness. Many believe the Tor holds the heart chakra of Gaia herself. Which seemed to be synchronistically confirmed, when in the all important galactic alignment year of 2012, the London Olympics staged a miniature version of the Tor in the stadium during the opening ceremony. The Chalice Well sits at the foot of the Tor, and it's healing waters flow in from under the Tor. People have pilgrimaged here for thousands of years to bathe in the energy. And the Chalice Well has always been one of the most popular destinations, with it's special waters and beautiful gardens harnessing the divine feminine.

So we're thrilled to be back here. Do tune into this running journal. Take time out and work to feel the vibe of what we're doing. To the spirit, space and time is no object. Just tune into the energy of Openhand that you know, and it's sure to inspire positive internal shifts as we move into the New Year. You are most welcome!

Namaste
Open and the Team

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Thanks Joann for sharing such profound shift . I sense clearly a huge shift is gonna happen to myself and others too this year - When or how is not important . What feels important is to keep an open internal space for it to take place on its own accord .
Much love , Jean

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Hey Joann,

It was so beautiful to meet you in person and see your wonderful shining light. You brought a lot of joy out in me and provided a great mirror and inspiration and it is lovely to read your sharing here.

One of the explorations for me from the mirror you provided was how wonderful it is that we celebrate each tiny step along the path. The top of the mountain is awesome, however each step along the way is vital and equally important. Without each step we would never get to where we're going, infact in the moment taking the step is exactly where we need to be. Sometimes I have gotten lost with striving for a particular outcome, while there is only what is in front of me right now. Each little break through is of huge significance and even if sometimes it feels like two steps forward and one step back I will have learned something from the apparent step backwards. There is magic all along the path up the mountainside, we just need to lift our heads and see it.

I can so recognsie when you say "I found myself a couple of times trying to get back to that experience and each time I remind myself not to force anything...to follow the pull...to ask constantly "show me" and be ever present to all that is."

Alleluia to the angels, it was so beautiful to sing with you and the other angelic voices (a)

"I step in to the flow and then I let it go
I open my mind, my heart and my soul
I surrender, I surrender, I surrender
I open my mind, my heart and my soul"

With gratitude and blessings, Fiona

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Just what I needed to read, Cheers :)

steve

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Dear Joann,
Thank you for sharing this beautiful experience. It brought tears to my eyes and waves of gratitude for the support you had all around you. Shine on sweet friend. With love, Jen

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Joann!

It's so heartwarming to read about your en-lightening experience at Avalon Rising. I'm moved to tears to feel the release of your suffering. At the same time I'm shouting, "YAY FOR YOU!"

For some reason what flashes into my mind is St. Paul's "conversion" on the road to Damascus when 3D density was clearly weighing him down. And then poof! The light shone in the darkness. Who knows when lightening will strike any of us? No-one. And so we keep going down the road, one step at a time, with no particular place to go.

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see."

Thank you for lighting the way.

Much Love,

x Catherine

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Hello my dear Openhand friends...I want to share a profound experience I had on our last day of retreat. Of course the retreat was, as always, a blessed combination of sacred nurturing and fiery invitation to balance on the blade-edge. New Year's eve was spectacular, both profoundly uplifting..literally...thanks to Penny magic and figuratively. When I finally dozed off to sleep that night I was awakened to a spectacular fireworks display directly outside my bedroom window at Avalon Rising. It was a precursor to what I would experience New Year's Day. I had been feeling a build up of energy during our 4 days together and while others left for some free wheelin' I had a strong pull to ask Penny if she would facilitate. I want to share some of what Open reckons was a kundalini activation. Details are spotty as I was witnessing it but not "making" any of it happen...five minutes into working with Penny I found myself deep into a karmic process...my body moved of its own accord...it felt like I had to release something from within...almost a giving birth to something....I had a felt sense that I wanted someone to hold my hand and instantaneously someone was...I didn't know it at the time but Open was the one that had taken my hand. He talked me through my experience helping release immense suffering I had been carrying. At one point I knew angels were with us...I began to sing Alleluia. I was consumed by the pain of Mother Earth and held in the arms of Grace as a little bird outside brought my attention to the beauty in life. Open and Penny held the space for me while I sobbed...a deep healing happened that day. A pain I have had in my shoulder as long as I can remember is no longer there. I rested, grateful, soothed, loved...sat up and sang a song I wrote called Little Bird before I found myself flying with the angels. When I stood up a little while later I had a glimpse into what being the Seer is all about. I felt too big to be in such a small body and I wasn't sure I knew how to use it. I felt deep peace, profound awareness that all is as it needs to be. Almost immediately afterwards I heard Ego say something like "you can't be that big" and that evening and next day I wondered if the whole thing actually happened...the Doubter has been a very strong identity in my life. Those that witnessed it reassured me it did...of course I really know it happened...I was blessed to stay on at Avalon Rising under the loving care of Fiona and Ben to integrate... Home now for about 10 days I am happy to say peace and trust have stayed with me....I can truly say, there is only one game in town and that is self-realization. I found myself a couple of times trying to get back to that experience and each time I remind myself not to force anything...to follow the pull...to ask constantly "show me" and be ever present to all that is. Once again...deep love and respect to All on this miraculous journey we call life. Joann

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The New Years's retreat was such an amazing time spent with beautiful souls from all over, working to uncover their souls and shine their light out into the world. Thank you all for your willingness to go deep and hold the space for one another. Following the retreat I spent some time traveling and free wheeling, working with whatever comes up. No time for procrastination! Plenty of outer and inner experiences to work with. All of life truly does turn into a blessing when living this way, continually showing us something about how we are being. Remembering to ask "show me" as a way of living. Thank you Open and Openhand team for sharing your truth and showing the way.
Much love to you all.
Kim

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Well, where does the flow wanna go now? That way ⇒
What events want to come through right now? This set ⇼
So just watch and observe the beauty infront. Or, the other option is sit around being upset because the things your lower mind craves for aren't occuring. Then nothing occurs, or if does you don't notice it!

This is the philosophy that I practiced at the retreat and putting it into practice in my daily life, I share my example from about 4 hours ago: I didn't get a txt from a girl I like all day today, then I got upset because we all like to communicate with people we like. Then I got hungry and but I observed that I didn't have enough food to cook a nice meal, and there was a knowing that I have to go buy some more food, but I really didn't want to because I was upset and didn't even want to eat, but then matey Open sais go with the knowing & feeling of the soul. So I did. At the shop I saw some dude I occasionally see at my local Jive dancing classes, we never speak but this time we did. It was for like 30 seconds but this is all that's really needed, a simple exchange of random information that makes you forget about your previous worries, information so useless that I can't really remember now (was about food) but I'm definetly going Jive dancing tomorrow! Then I come home and who do I see in the kitchen also cooking food? My housemate who is the one who first asked me to go Jive dancing, had a few laughs about life and it was wicked. Then my other housemate comes in and me & her a bit close as we can chat for a few hours at a time, so it's always nice to see her face. She's warmed up to me so she talks to herself as if I am not even there, it's quite entertaining to see her sketch out, spin around, then still not know what she has to do next. Only to have her phone hidden in the fruit bowl by a little monkey named Rayko that's precariously smiling in the corner. It's a good envirnoment!

But this would not have been my experience had I not gone to the shops to buy more food because I would have cooked my food at a different time to everybody else, plus I would have most probably still been upset and even if had I seen them then conversation doesn't seem to flow, so you make yourself more upset. And then the txt I waited all day for would have come in, only to realize the validity of her reason why she didn't reply all day. Which only makes my upsetness seem really stupid = more upsetness. I've experienced the latter experience more times than the first because there is a knowing that you are going to get a reply with something in it so you can't just ignore it and leave it out your mind so that you can just get on with things. And because you are thinking about it and waiting, you get upset...

So where does the flow wanna go now? That way
That's such a beautifully simple philosophy to live by!

Thanks dude!
Rayko

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Quick post until I get home and take the time to share more. Truly transformational gathering. Deep respect and love for the integrity of Openhand Retreat. What a ride through the density to the stars. Million thanks to the Team...Open, Trinity, Fiona, Penny, Kim and Ben. I felt so taken care of, seen and heard! Really, really loved meeting and being with the wonderfully vulnerable and courageous souls that gave their all to the only game in town.....self realization. Will post more when I'm home in Canada. I want to share some of my personal journey. The only way out is through and thankfully we have Openhand to guide us...

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I was expecting something big from the New Year retreat, but it was huge, gigantic! A thousand thanks to Open and all the team, you were wonderful. And all my love to to all you beautiful, beautiful people I met there and got to cherish.
I now feel to share my journey with my Openhand family and will be starting shortly.
Sorry about all my empty postings, I kept getting the answer that there was an error, so kept trying, as told.
Love,
Helen

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Hi,

Sandra, lovely that you feel connected, yes words can be a tricky language sometimes!!!

Welcome "Divinicus" :)

Love, Fiona

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Forgot to share this: The photo of the rockets is now my desktop background and the background on my phone. And my empowerment word was/is ''Divinicus''.

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Fiona and Open, I can certainly share in your experiences. These past 4 days have been a breakthrough for me here in ''Kansas'', and Open I REALLY DID have to ''fasten my seatbelt..cuz Kansas is going bye-bye''! So much internal work being done. I feel lighter, cleaner, brighter, and sharing The Path with others just feels like effortlessly floating down a lovely country river in a canoe or kayak ...a favorite pass-time for many of us.

Also, I have been longing for ''friends'' and a community of those in 5th D. And here you are! Global and viral. For as long as I have been a member, I have read almost everything posted on the Openhand website, including your comments and have even contributed a few myself. But I still never felt part of the community...never felt I spoke the acceptable language of the community. And perhaps that is still true, but telepathic language is a true commonality of heart communication and I definitely feel part of that! Thank you all for being who you are. In that presence, I feel very grateful for being who I am and since there is, wonderfully, diversity in Unity, we are One in Wholeness.

A very Happy New Year to you all, in Light and Love. I continue in the good work which has begun within me.

And I am more than eager to be with you in July...

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WOW!!! The Openhand "work" just gets richer and richer, deeper and deeper.

What a joyous experience, to connect with such amazing souls, to witness layers peel away and the brightness of beingness shining through. I am deeply touched and as I type can feel my heart melt and tears arise...

Thank you to all who tuned in to the ether, it makes a huge difference.

Thank you Open, for sharing your truth and inspiration, for your encouragement and support, your grace and presence. I am deeply grateful.

Thank you Trinity for the awesome conscious food and your angelic presence.

Thanks to Pennie and Kim for your support, it felt so natural and easy to flow together this week. My gratitude to you both <3

Deep thanks to all you wonderful souls who had the courage to shine, each one of you is inspirational, let the light continue to shine!

Last night post-retreat we had a truly amazing singing session around the fire at Avalon Rising - I can honestly say I have never sung like that before. I know that something has shifted for me this week and a new energy is expressing within me - a New Year... a new me...

May Your New Year be full of Blessings and soulful expression, love Fiona

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Well what a week that was! Always on these gatherings you feel like you've been in a time warp. We go so deep so quickly, astrally into all the dimensions, back through millions of years of karma, that (for me anyway) life before the gathering quickly vanishes. You're completely in the moment, embracing what feels like eternity. Time stops. But then seemingly in a flash, the gathering concludes. Phew. What a journey!

And there were countless lovely moments: my mind and heart are full of your smiles, your tears, your hugs, your pain, but most of all, the wonderful breakthroughs that I witnessed you all going through - without exception.

So as this amazing - best ever - New Year Retreat has drawn to a close, I say a profound "thanks!" to all who contributed your energy, who brought yourselves through the ether to feel, and be, such a treasured part of it.

    And as we step brightly into the New Year, I remind you that not only are you changing your own lives positively, but your energy then has a positive effect on the world around you.

People can pontificate all they like about how to change the world for the better, but to us at Openhand, there's really only one truly effective way to do it: go within and expand your consciousness. And your doing that by the bucket load.

    Openhanders, you are awesome! *OK*

Photos from the last day:
Still waters run deep. Joann, Pennie, Bonn. Just like swans - often still on the surface, but paddling bucket loads of energy underneath...

Vicci and Julia. Where do you guys come from? So heart warming to hear the challenges of the path, yet fearlessly diving into your stuff. You are amazing!

Bethan, always a warm smile from a warm heart, always honest and true, always contemplating as deep as her welsh valleys...

Annabella & Reyko. Where did you guys beam in from? Well Reyko the cosmologist, we finally 'nailed' you, all the way back to Arcturus! perhaps that's why you're always so refreshingly maverick!

And finally, after an deeply energetic, multidimensional journey to the stars and back, the group photo. Phew! Time for some shut eye...

In reply to by Open

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What, you finally 'nailed' me with that blurry pic and my misspelt name? Well you got it 80% correct (name is Rayko), I did incarnate through the Arcturian starseed portal but the idea that me soul comes from Arcturia doesn't sit well with me. However, the idea that I'm a universal star traveller that goes about making planets ascend and I decided to spent a really long time, not out of necessity but due to enjoyment, on Arcturia and thus I'm now mostly Arcturian, does sit well with me for some reason.....

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Linda - you're most welcome here :-)

There are a lot of people who look in from the outside - an that's totally fine. But I think what they see, is other people confronting their fears and diving into the stream. People prepared to be vulnerable, to expose themselves a little, and thereby, shine their light a little. I think that's why people both fear it and love it. It's like diving into the ocean. It's like coming home.

All love

Open *OK*

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Hello. I'm Linda. I have been here for a while. Staying just outside. Looking through the windows and wanting to fully enter, but not quite crossing the threshold to come fully inside. Fear. This week, I have been connecting during the retreat, and experiencing the powerful energy of the community. I have been feeling things so deeply, with a knowing I am connected. I wish I could say it was all lovely! This has translated into some deep and extraordinarily painful processing. Today I made the decision to enter the community because the depth of the feeling feels too intense to handle on my own at times. I feel the love and support of the Openhand community is palpable in a way I can only recently understand. I have not yet met Trinity, but feel a hug from her would nourish my soul in the way that her nutritious food would nourish my body. I crave that nourishment now as a perfect storm of mirrors and reflections have created intense internal feelings that I am willing to dive into, but feel I am holding back because I'm afraid I will get lost in the dark if I continue to go at it alone. So, thank you for embracing me within this family.

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Powerful journey and love the pics and the emotive, inspiring writing!!

I had a powerful dream last night in which I looked upon a vast field and was asked to select an animal. All the creatures were enormous... Rhinos and elephants called my attention and I selected the elephant. I was then transported to a scene in an old home of mine and there were two elephants with me a small one and a giant one. I suddenly felt threatened by the large one as it seemed to be running to attack the smaller one. I ran with the small one to the bathroom where the large one repeatedly broke down the door despite my efforts to hold it back and protect the tiny elephant. I finally stopped fighting, exhausted from the struggle and the giant elephant placed the small one in the bathtub and I climbed up on his back and rode out of the house. The imagery is a powerful empowerment key for me.... And brings up many words including surrender, vulnerability, trust, sovereignty, strength, presence, majesty, patience, and persistence.

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Beautiful sharing everyone. I feel blessed to be able to tune in from here.
'Trust' will be my empowered word - the rocket sent out for 2016.
Big heart full of love from here to all on this journey together.
Jan xo

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Sending out to you all my best heart wishes of Soul expression for 2016 . Authenticity is the rocket i have send in the sky . Love , Jean

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    Wishing you all a soul-empowered New Year!

It's just so lovely you guys all tuning in here. Openhandweb has indeed matured into a very beautiful family - you are so welcome. Wherever you are, if you're tuning in and feeling some resonance, then you're embraced within this family. *give_rose*

Yesterday was day 4 of the retreat. Time has stood still, and yet it's also flashing by. I always find that in the flow. The sense of time accelerates for me until it stops. I feel both at the same time: a stillness, yet also, a whoosh!

The day was all about expression. And I think this is another of those important secrets. What is the universe really all about? Think about the big bang for a moment. What exactly was it? Forget about pontificating the ins and outs of the science. You'll be here till eternity. Instead, feel it in your heart, and see it for what it is: the infinite potential of the One (that you are), suddenly exploding into expression. The light becomes the reflection of your magnificent self. And afterwards, that light - that consciousness - condenses into all manner of constantly changing and evolving form. And each is a new, superlative expression of the One.

    That's what it's all about - expression.

Anyone who knows the Openhand work will know what we're really looking for, is the authentic expression of the soul. But it's not something you intentionally manifest, not something you put on like a suit - "oh, today we're doing compassion". When you purposefully intention something, that is initiated in the mind, "I should be like this", that's just doing, not being.

So we work to break into the conditioning the tightness, the limitation, victimisation and surpression of society, of eons of subjugation and conditioning. We get into this, open out into the One, then let the soul soar through. Then what it's about, is giving energy - giving attention - to that vibe.

    What starts as a flicker, becomes a flame,
    becomes a rocket into the heavens!

Everything of course is of consciousness. Everything is formed of that. Even what appears dense and solid, immovable, is just vibrating energy which is transient. Think about your body for a moment, that feels solid, and seems to take up so much of our attention (if we get hungry, tired, injured or unwell). Yet take out all the space from between the atoms and there wouldn't be enough of it left to fit on a pin head. Your body is mostly space! And what's not space, is merely vibrating strings of energy, all interconnected into the cosmos. Why then let it dictate your expression? Why let it limit our multidimensional expansion? It's only ever a choice.

    Where is your attention focused?

So we work to unleash unlimited expression and send that out into the world. Then to watch intently how it begins to shape and change reality. But to never get too invested in what takes form. Because that is always temporary and transient. Instead, see each manifestation merely as a vehicle in which to express ever more of you. Then let the vehicle go. Unleash soul once more - a new expression of you. And watch a new vehicle shape.

    What an awesome creator you really are!

So here's a few pictures from day 4. We're not wishing you a 'happy New Year'. Whose here to control the emotions? Maybe sometimes it's right to be sad, and that's okay, and it doesn't have to own or limit you as the infinite One. We'll wish you a New Year of 'rightness'. What's arising for you now? What will empower your self expression?

Photos from day4:
'Wise-old-bird' Pennie, one of the Openhand 'tribal elders', observing.
What's going in behind those oceanic eyes?...

...wait, that's what she's doing - she's summoning the archangels in the background!

Jasmine, the contemplative 'ninja'...

"I think you'll find it's like this." Joanna, the 'Mother Mary' nurse of the gathering, with you guessed it, Mother Mary in the background!

"It's all in the detail!" Amy getting down to it...

Today was all about expression, and just letting it out. Woohoo!

Boy does this work make you hungry. After another mega day's processing, dinner is a very welcome sight!...

Is it a plane? Is it a bird? No - it's Jan the rainbow!

Back at Avalon Rising in the evening, prepping for the very special firework ceremony...

Each charged a rocket, with a word of empowerment, sending it into the heavens, to charge the New Year. What's your empowerment word?...

And together with the deep emotive meditation, amongst the many tracks we played to get us all expressing, this was the one that got us out of minds and into hearts first. "Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones..."

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Hello everyone! Loving following along and seeing all the beautiful pics! I want to share the immense gratitude I feel for being part of this community... Being able to share and grow in the presence of each of you. Lots of love to you all as we enter 2016!! Jen

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Wonderful to feel the energy coming from the retreat. Love the pics! Those smiles make me smile!

Jane (Auntyangel), I love how upfront you are with your posts. I felt your anger when you responded initially. I share with you the cloyingly annoying: everything is roses and teddy bears. I don't think there is any shame in speaking one's truth.

I guess I have always sought the light. The devastation to Mother Earth is our collective shame, yet there are those actively, sometimes quietly, protecting the trees, the plants, the animals, the water. That's why our individual actions are so crucial.
I live in the country, a kind of isolation really, from dense populations. A kind of avoidance. When I travel to a place like Phoenix, it is an assault on my consciousness. I get angry, I feel like I am moving in thick, icky goo. And I look around at my fellow humans and I want to take them by the shoulders and say WAKE UP. Instead I go to the desert, breathe the sand and rock and succulents. Rejoice in the messages from the winged ones, and the four leggeds.
That is more real to me than any construct of the human population. And yet, the cities are a mirror for me: of the fear, of the blindness, of the illusions.

tigger

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How lovely.What a light embrace.
It's easier to feel love from the stars, earth or sun, across the field.It's much harder to get entangled in personified human love .Since everything is about letting go. I've become aware of my emotional numbness and working through Numbness.Emotional Numbness, the ability to feel anything at all, the ability to receive, accept just as things are, without changing a single thing .The cut off point.
Inspired, Inspired by this excerpt.

Excerpt taken from "Apprentice of the Heart"
Lessons in Life only Love can teach
By Guy Finley
Seated in the center of the heart, as surely as the essence of a tiny seed holds the promise of a towering tree, lives within us the Presence of a Power that can dispel any gathering darkness and change what is unkind into conscious compassion. What is this great Presence and Power lying latent within us? It is Love.
No matter who we are, all of us have known some kind of love in our lives. Love has as many forms on this earth as there are human hearts to reflect and reveal her countless expressions. There is the love we may feel for objects and places, the love we know through relationships with those closest to us, and there is the love of excellence, of natural beauty, and of all things shining bright with unfulfilled promise.
But as stirring, fine, and noble as these loves may be, they tell but a small part of a much greater story hidden from plain sight, yet evident to those with "eyes to see"; for just as radiant energy from the sun, which is not the sun itself, reaches down into creation to animate all of its myriad forms, so is it true that behind and above the everyday loves we have known there dwells an abiding Love of a far greater magnitude; an unseen and supernal Love whose emanations make all other loves possible.
It is this higher, Divine Love that teaches us about love in all its forms, initiating us into the mysteries of our own heart by gently wiping away the borders that stand between our love and our beloved, so that two become as one. Beethoven, Rembrandt, Curie, and Einstein - these and other great souls didn't so much master their respective arts, as much as a great love for their art served to master them. Love educates whoever will embrace her. So it can be for us; to become masters of our own lives we need only learn how to let Love master us.

In reply to by Teresa

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Thank you, thank you, thank you Theresa. Literally, I could feel my soul snap-back into place as I read this piece you shared. I'm posting this on my fb page...a New Year's message to all my readers. And thank you all for your beautiful sharing. I feel burdens lifting and a clarity of Presence once again. Karmic breakthrough.

Happy New Year, dearly beloved friends.

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Lovely photos Open! Thanks for sharing.
The pictures say it all. The beautiful smiles show how you all are heaving such a wonderful spiritual journey. I feel the happiness as shown on your faces. Just lovely.

Big thanks and big hugs to all.

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So Happy to see all those beautiful pictures of the wonderful Souls gathered for this deep energy transition .Today our big brother the Sun shines its radiant warming & soothing rays from early morning here in Belgium . I can seriously feel the embrace of the Angels today as i went for a walk around in the countryside - feeling so smooth while working with heavy old densities - what a paradox to hold the space for !!! In the midst of the walk , i felt to sit for awhile on a bench , embraced by the radiant light coming from the east . The air is still crispy , slightly cold but the sense of Divine support is very much palpable . Suddenly , on the countryside road that sits on my left i see from afar a men in a nice black suit standing next to a black car . I can't really see exactly what that all means , so i stand up to have a closer look at the scenery (70 meters away ) . It is in fact a funeral procession going its way towards the cemetery nearby . Nothing that should necessary spike anything special for most people but for me it spoke Volumes immediately . I felt this as a fantastic aligned synchronized metaphor - about the deep work taking place in The Chalice Well that we all are connected to since monday / processing old karmic densities / coming back to the void of pure Potential ( the Light that was shining forth over the procession ) - AS one with all that wants to rise or be expressed . I understood death here as the death of the old ways being confronted and broken down . Feeling myself going deeper still today but rekindled with freshness from this morning Higher pull surprise . Much love to all , Jean

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I needed this in a very, very big way. Woke up feeling very, very lost...and I created that too. Wow....

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Yesterday we really got down to it and moved some inner mountains. Anyone whose done some of the Openhand work will know the power of the meditation 'diads'. We allow the universe to chose a partner with whom to work - we hold the space for the field to literally draw people by the law of attraction. We then sit people in two long rows with facilitators at either end. Through intuitive guided meditation, we regress people deep into their blocking source pain and karma. The intensity of the energy and guidance, together with emotive music, causes the density to bubble to the surface, which the pairs then express to oneanother in a loving, empathic embrace. There is nothing quite like this. You're deep in your stuff, yet feeling like you're being held in the loving embrace of the angels - because you are!

All the time, as the facilitators, we're opening and holding bridges into higher densities so higher consciousness can work with people - the portal brings in soul families, guides and guardians - even those from other constellations (Pleiadians and Sirians for example). It's deeply processing and transformative. You come out feeling you've shed loads of layers and much baggage. There's plenty of tears yes, but always at the end, smiles, beaming faces and big, heartfelt hugs. It's wonderful to behold. And here's the track that finally melted everyone back into the One.

This one goes out to all of you tuning in. You're loved, cherished, and honoured, held in a big Openhand embrace...

And here are some pictures from day 3

Getting down to some serious meditation...

Time to open some chakras...

Group hugs after some deep diad processing...

Trinity cooking up some angelic delights...

Kim - processing yes, but always a big smile!...

Joann putting the world to rights...

After a hard day's work, cosying up in the dining room...

And here's a selfie from the 'backroom team', Trin, Fiona and Kim. But wait, where's Pennie? She's probably floated off into some other dimension. We'll just have to catch up with her later...

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i am humbled by your post accepting your path towards your pain Spiritpaws and I notice that I had become so unaccustomed to exchanging with someone who was not afraid to change direction. It is so strange to be so strongly feeling a connection to the process of th retreat while in my daily life. I was driving back from a supermarket when I dropped into the next layer. I noticed the veiled anger I felt when I posted; Anger at all the voices that say 'there there, it's is all fluffy really.' Under the lap and the loss, anger. And Then, looking at the literally endless stream of cars on the road, shame. The voice saying that we humanity have done this, created this, this devastation, this machine and it gets hard to feel anything but shame towards self harm and despair. Do we deserve the 'out' of ascension? What that is worthy ever has humanity done when you look at Gaia?
Yet, she will continue, she will recover. And for some reason we are being invited to go with her? Despite everything she is reaching out a tendril to us? Why?
Right now I'm stuck with this shame, time to soften inward. Go there really, now. Something about totally letting go forever of this reality.

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This is just amazing to feel this energy coming from all over from you OPENHANDERS. Both pains I am accustom to, physical and physiological.Have been dealing with chronic pain since 1983, so have some what of a handle on that pain, take it with me where ever I go. I try to let it keep my ego company{lol}. Physiological pain has been with me a lot longer. What I am seeing now through Open and the Openhand Crusades is light in these dark places where there was no light, just pain and fear and I know now I have to go to these dark places in me to get through to the light. Will be tuned in til the end and then some. Thanks everyone

Much Love from the Cape
Horse

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Hi Open and all

Thanks for the reminder to reflect as we see the old year draws to a close and the new year unfolds. That's what I'll do today--hours before the count down- I'll write in my journal and see the year that went by. As I write this, I already feel some powerful emotions coming out.

I have created my own s**t this year and I take full responsibility for I allowed myself to be in the situation that I was in. If I had not done it, none of this would have happened. Regret is one thing, but I also recognize why I did what I did. I acknowledge that need. And I have to be careful not to blame myself because what prompted me to do it was there- conscious act and the things that unfolded were simply consequences of that.

For the coming new year, the thought of mastering our own life by the choices we make each day is overwhelming. What if we make the same kind of s**t? Being mindful, I guess.

Sometimes, I just have to tune in to what the spirit is telling me. If I don't get what I want and it's not happening, I know that it's not for me and it's best to let go although very very painful to do. But it is the way it is.

Thanks Open again. I'll be tuning in with the vibes you guys are sending out.

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Thank you Open, for you words...''Why do you create the sh**?' Good question. AND ITS ALWAYS THE SAME SH**!! This time, I am surrendered to whatever comes up about it and hope it is gone for good. My one weakness...wish it were chocolate (Trinity's, of course) instead of one man!...who is exactly like the previous man....

We dug at this while I attended your Florida workshop in March 2014. And we'll probably be excavating the reasons why when I see you this coming July! Chocolate..well, what I really really REALLY want is to be moving closer and closer to becoming a true Divinicus. Get as close as I can before this lifetime closes for me.

A wonderful New Year to us all as we grow in Divinicus Grace.

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Ben and Jane, thank you for your words. I feel the fear message for me is the root of my avoidances and denial. To face, to confront, to feel the shadows and darkness behind the denials and avoidances. To not run away!

That group of Havelinas were around me for a good half hour. I really paid attention to how they worked the ground with their snouts, going beneath the surface. That was such a reminder to me of going in. It was pretty amazing the little seed nuts those Havelina found in the sands. I can still hear the peccary crunching sounds. An illumination perhaps of the nuggets I may find when I go deeper :-)

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Hi Tigger

I really enjoyed your sharing. I find your encounters with animals truly awesome and inspiring, so thanks for expressing.
Yes I was thinking about your post and Jane's post and thinking that perhaps its about feeling 'appropriate' fear (the message for me I think). So the pigs intuitively knew you weren't a threat and needn;t be afraid, but probably wouldn't be like that in the shopping street. I mean there seems to be a 'natural fear response' that animals express that seems right in the situation, the difference I guess is they don't hold onto that fear longer than they need. I rememember watching a tiny kitten accidently freak out a couple of huge dogs that came round a corner, by an extreme but natural response to seeing them. and they ran off! then it just shook itself off and forgetting about it almost immediately after.

best wishes,

Ben

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Hi Jane

I think its authentic indeed. I feel fear pretty often, I don't see it as weakness though I'd like not to feel it sometimes. Personally I see it as an appropriate response to the world. I don't know if I will transcend that completely or not, I think a degree of fear is probably real and realistic.

love

Ben

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Many thanks Open for your last post on this thread - it spoke volumes to me. I particularly liked the question you posed:

"Why do you create the sh** that sometimes happens in your life?"

It got me thinking about what's sh** in my life at present, & also what's great in my life. I will write a longer post about this on my thread "Alex's Experiences", as I'd like to explore this theme more deeply.

Thinking about all of you on the Openhand New Year's retreat in Avalon. I considered booking for it a couple of months ago, but all the places had already been filled. Perhaps I will go next year...

Blessings,

Alex

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Beautiful Spirit Paws and thank you for your support from the otherside of the world BUT.
I cannot but feel the message for me is to move into, with and towards the fear : I have not evolved beyond the fear. I sometimes feel something of a fraud in the Openhand community because I still feel fear when I contemplate what is unfolding, I still feel fear when I hear about humanities violence, I still feel feAr at crossing the fourth dimension, I feel fear of anger, of retribution, of madness and violence.
And yes, the denial I see in others is a pointer to the denial in me but there also a voice that resonates with Open saying don't hide in Love and Light or comforting resolution. It is really, really uncomfortable peeping at truth.

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I just returned from five days in the desert, which was a confronting paradigm of Nature and City. Every year when I come out to Arizona to see my mother, huge swaths of desert are gone. Replaced by strip malls (because we absolutely need more of those!), and cookie-cutter houses that all look alike. All the pavement, all the noise I was as tight as a tick.

And then I found a patch of desert where I could walk every day and slip among the boulders and cacti, wander down the washes carved by years of ancient rains. Listen to the cactus wrens and the quail. Soften myself among the spines and thorns: the mirrors.

It was late in the afternoon, a desert wind blew cold, and I was down by one of the washes talking to a chaparral tree when I heard them...grunting sounds, and to my amazement I see a group of ten Havelinas with two babies moving down the wash. Havelinas are wild peccaries and I've only ever seen them from a far distance out in remote desert country in southern Arizona. Here they were moving towards me, rooting the desert floor for food. I sat very quietly, one took a curious notion to investigate me, and I sat there eye to eye with this amazing being, who had no fear. The wonder of the experience cloaked the message until days later when I was literally attacked by a cactus and as I pulled the sputnik-like clusters of spikes out of my jeans I realized the message of Havelina: move without fear.
May all of us move without fear into our darkness and into our light.

tigger

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Hi all,

Fantastic to tune in to whats going on in Avalon. Thank you for giving this space for us all to tune in from wherever we are.

My main issues this year have centered around watching where I need the situation to be a certain way, particularly around my somewhat stubborn children ;). And also distinguishing when this is an ego lead need or a soul pull, for example the pull to spend more time in my own vibration.

And of course it has all come to a head this Christmas. Isn't Christmas time perfectly placed at the end of the year to show us where we get tight and to give us our perfect mirrors? I have been trying to balance a yearning to go inside and reflect, to be restful, and to spend quality time with family, with the bustle of the consumerist/excessive Christmas energy of those around me - tough going I can tell you!

A round of hugs on me! Cheers!
Richard

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Wow, there's clearly as much going on for you all out there, as there is for everyone on the retreat! My heart holds the space for you all. I know it's challenging, but that's the making of our mastery. And if you follow Jane's link above (yes I agree with James Lovelock - climate change will seriously hit the fan in the next 20 years), then there's every incentive to go within and push back the physical/emotional/psychological/karmic boundaries that hold people back from the New Paradigm.

Having activated plenty of energy on days 1&2 (gosh are we that far through already!), now is the time to get deep into the nitty gritty of what's coming up. Now is the time to process. And this is the crux of the Openhand Approach - I think this is what makes us unique. It's not shying away; it's not trying to fix or heal it; it's not imagining some new reality and trying to manifest that; it's not intentionally tripping out into 'love and light'. This is mostly intentional, mostly avoidance, mostly denial.

There is what's actually going on. What is manifesting? What is shaping. And when you contemplate the sh** that's happening to you sometimes in your life, just one question has to arise...

    Why did you create it?

That's the point - you are a master creator. You created everything. You drew everything to yourself. Why? When you own your process, when you stop trying to change or project it elsewhere, when you stop blaming it on 'them over there', then you can embrace YOUR creation. This is immensely empowering - even if you've created sh**. Because when we own it, when we're not in avoidance, then we're deeply encouraged - there's no other choice -

    but to figure out why.

And if you're honest, open and embracing that, all you have to do is ask the universe - "show me!". And it will. The whole universe is configured as the perfect mirror. Providing that is, we're prepared to look into the mirror and see ourselves.

    What shall we see?

First we'll see any resistances that are coming up. This is where the soul has fragmented into identification with the illusion of reality - where we buy into the smallness of reality and ourselves in it. Where we get tight, frustrated or angry because we need the moment to go a certain way, or, we're resisting exactly how it is.

Right in that very moment, in that very contraction, is the possibility of lasting liberation.

    So feel into it. What does it do to you? Why can't you accept it? Go deep, express the pain. Let it out. Keep expressing until it holds you no more. And in the depths of your pain, remind yourself that 'YOU are the One'. That as the source of life, you are inviolable. Thus that fragment of soul begins to 'self-realise' - it begins to realise the One Self again. It remembers that original condition of oneness - absolute perfection. The soul fragment rejoins the mainstream of your soul; the debris in the eddy current of pain washes away. You ride the flow of the soul all the way back to the shores of the One, inside yourself. Welcome home!

Okay, it takes some considerable practice to master this. But it is the way to lasting liberation and true transcendence into the higher paradigm. So what are you waiting for?!

Meanwhile here below are some early photos of the group here at the Chalice Well.

Namaste everyone - thanks so much for joining us. We can feel you here with us
Open *give_rose*

The "S S Studio" - bright and airy, holding the vibes for us. Yes we are connecting up some strong energies, which is already activating lots of stuff in people - loads to get our 'teeth' into!...

Woah. That looks deep. The intensity alone feels ascending...

Emelia - all the way from Finland to the Garden of Eden. Yes, takes a bit of grounding!

Plenty of angels and pixies in the garden - they just pop up everywhere...

There's a face there in the tree Jan - what's it saying? "Come into my loving embrace". Ah yes. Of course!

Always plenty of smiles and laughter between time. What a great group you are!

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Greetings to all you Openhanders. Although I am close to Glastonbury, my own domestic responsibilities prevent me coming and sharing with you.

I look back on 2015 and see a path of steady change taking place deep within me. Open, you showed me the way to let go of stuff I have held dear for a whole professional lifetime. 2015 was the year I learnt the true meaning of 'Honouring' everything and everyone I touch. I also learnt about the awesome benefits of fasting - thank you again Open! (I have kept this going on a weekly basis).

Let me finish with a RUMI Poem - "Learn the alchemy true human beings know. The moment you accept what troubles you have been given, the door will open". My door is now cracked open.........

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Happy New Year...I'm exhausted but at the same time identify and am exhilarated by this retreat and the comments I'm reading. I'm with you all because I need to walk the path with all of you..discussing/feeling/being, like walking the Emmaus Road...half sleepwalking, half awake...And ''I wonder as a wander out under the sky'', what is going on that the fields are so active right now? Both the oppositional and the 5th D? Something seems to be going down which encourages/requires our further deep exploration of our personal blockages and breakthroughs to higher ground. Just sayin..It feels like ''me'' but it also feels like the universal collective ''I''

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It is great to be able to be part of this sharing. I would love to be there in person with you all, but I am taking time to connect with you, getting out early while the town is quiet, eating consciously and observing myself. I have been though some energetic turmoil, I think because of all the festivity overload going on around me. I had a nice back to basics moment earlier when I was able to pull a big plump beetroot and some lush spinach from my garden pots.

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I feel the magic building up and the beautiful Openhand energy. I am going for a walk in nature soon and will be tuning in throughout the retreat. Magical New Year Blessings to everyone! :) xx

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Yep, rich Rich.
Blessings to you.

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aunty angel, ... but oh so glorious!
And probably not as hard as going round n round n round in the old way of being, eh?

Blessings and love to you.

Rich.

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"we must leave the entire collection of conditioned thought behind and let ourselves be led by the inner thread of silence into the unknown, beyond where all paths end, to that place where we go innocently or not at all—not once but continually." Adashanti
Hard work this walking this path lark.

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I'm running in parallel with you. I was booked to be there but that is not how it's turned out. Life circumstances - a dog with a broken leg - shock, recrimination, , all our food for Christmas stolen, broken, fridge, ill health, Attack, blame. And wading through my internal responses - distorted feminine - absorb it all, pay for it all, however unreasonable or face down the distorted attacking masculine and feel what's arising. Things shifted when I noticed the energetic hooks - created by my responding to minimise other's discomfort hoping to avoid their lasting fury. Minute by minute feeling what is aligned - action or non action non action. All that and waves of grief about an identity being challenged.
The identity of 'the lap' - the mother the holder of the protected space. The loss is triggered by the feelings that poke through round my grown up children 'they are never coming back' - (which clearly isn't true - they are totally all over the place with all their bags n make up right now and Furthermore, they are seeing me and supporting me. )
So... It's something about the identity of mummy - being the lap. The feeling of place, connection and strength and solidity that 'being the lap' connects to. So that's the way-post right now. Very early stuff. Also yesterday they went out - both in the car. Then there was a compulsive waking fantasy exploring the pain of the 'what if' they were both killed in an accident. N I felt half dead myself, disengagement with this life, no longer fully here, half blown out of this reality - that's the karma - that's what I live - the resonating grief, the ancient stuck bit - been with me since I was born with a frown on my face from my mother coping alone.
of course They are separate souls, the product of life's longing for itself, soul family but ancient n Independant. My teachers n mirror - showing me where I got stuck n scared in the most extraordinary experiential lesson.
Some of this are realisations, some mind as the feelings wash through. ATM can't connect to the otherside - yep fear there. Onward. No wonder tired!
So in your piece Open I hear to connect to the energy to 'feel my higher self' and no self which feels like what all the responding to others runs in terror of. Flimsy cos no identity. I long for the support of the guides and the state of magic of th Challice Well but I get that this is something about another layer of it being reality where ever..

In reply to by auntyangel

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Aunty Angel - I am feeling you over here on the other side of the world. Doesn't Life just throw us what we need to expand into? It makes a body wonder why it has to be so hard, though...
I so resonated with what you said "All that and waves of grief about an identity being challenged. The identity of 'the lap' - the mother the holder of the protected space." From the time our children are born, we provide 'the lap' - the protected space for them. And then they are gone, and our laps are empty. Who are we then?
And when we finally start to figure it out, the 'children' still long for the lap - and it isn't there the way it used to be for them. They are, as you say 'life's longing for itself'... and in the letting go, we find a piece of ourselves and some peace for ourselves.
Sending you much love - and tuning into the 'tribe' on this final approach to a newer year.
Jan xo

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Everyone gathered from far and wide last night. We even had someone join us last minute - who just happened to notice we had a cancellation (it was only posted on the web for a couple of hours - synchronicity calling!).

It's such a great feeling when everyone gathers. Sitting together in the space. Everyone committed to going deep - past the mind chatter and deep into feelings. Transcending the density and moving into presence. What's totally awesome being the guide, is to literally feel people doing that all around you, which accelerates the energy in the room.

    And I could feel people tuning in from far and wide too. The place was buzzing with energy.

Today, we'll be getting into Openhand's 'spiritual compass' approach. It's a way of looking at the often conflicting impulses that go on inside. There's the mainstream of the soul yearning for expression of higher beingness. But at various points in ones field, for various reasons, fragments of the soul detach and form eddy currents of identity. Perhaps due to relationship, a living environment or the challenges of career. Thus a false self is formed from the collation of these internal eddy currents. We create a life from them which doesn't fully serve.

The first part of the compass involves moving into a place of 'open mind'. It means exploring these internal thoughts and feelings as the Observer of yourself, but without judging yourself for what happens. You may have formed some kind of addiction for example. The first part to unwinding the attachment, is just to watch yourself in it, without retracting in self blame.

    It's not your fault!

Such attachment and conditioning is replicating the universal process of light breaking into and through darkness. There's a 'twilight' period where it's neither light nor dark. But there are blind spots, where there's lack of awareness. So it is with the soul coming into being. At times it gets lost. The cure for this is increasing awareness. But self judgment and blame decreases awareness because it takes one into mind chatter. Therefore accepting the distortion is crucial - moving into a place of non-judgment. This is 'open mind'.

    You can do it simply by sitting in stillness and reflecting on the places in your life, during the previous year, where you get tight, angry, frustrated, worried or tense. Or else where you might turn to some kind of substance for solace (like alcohol or binge eating). What do you feel in these instances? See the situations in your mind's eye, feel into the feelings. But then crucially, rather than contracting down and feeling small, work to expand through them.

When you can do this, the heart begins to open, which you can accelerate by expanding into the five senses - touch, sight, hearing, taste, smell. Because we're not judging the world and what goes on, it frees up consciousness to feel life more. It means you start to build joy of living from the simplest of things. And most important of all, you start to pick up the natural flow of life more strongly. You feel more connected and alive. So this part of the compass we call 'open heart'.

We'll be sure to be doing that today.

Wishing everyone well - thanks for tuning in - you are felt and most welcome!

Open

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''If you can look inside and free up consciousness, return it to the source, inside yourself, then you open incredible opportunity and potential for alchemical change'' -I like that!
-
Blessings....to the Openhand community and for the unfolding new year..
You are a shining star of alchemy Open...... Namaste Tess

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Thank-you for the background History on Avalon Rising :)

As I sit here writing and reading this article I realize this is my first year at Openhand, Feb-2015 is when my Journey led me to OpenHand and all the dear beautiful Souls that are part of this Community, Since the discovery of OpenHand my life has catalyzed in Wondrous discovery, not always easy but all for the greater self realization and evolution. This goes without saying but I find myself needing to express my Gratitude and love to The Openhand team and all my beautiful Soul friends I have made, I will definitely be tuning through ether to the Openhand energy.
wishing everyone much Health and Happiness in the New Year <3

Steve

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Being part of this Openhand community is just the way I needed to start this up coming year off with. I to will be turning in Jen. Thank You Openhand from My Soul to Your Soul.

Much Love
Horse

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Sending blessings and best wishes to all you beautiful Openhand souls.

I'm with you all the way.
Drinking tea made with chalice well water as I write ...

Lots love,
Rich.

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Today is day 1 of the NewYear Retreat - the gathering. And as usual, it's a very international bunch, with people from as far as Canada, USA, Finland, Germany, Ireland and not to forget the UK! We're blessed that the work draws fascinating people from all over.

Prior to the gathering, we'll be working intently behind the scenes to prepare everything. Setting up the space and particularly the energy - creating portals into higher densities of consciousness. Our aim is to 'reduce the gap' to the source. So people can feel their own higher selves as they sit in the energy. And we invite in benevolent guides to work with the group.

What gets in the way of profound transformation is the baggage everyone carries - attachments and karma into old densities of consciousness. So we have to work into these, activate and regress into them, in order to let them go. It's only by feeling them again, then becoming present through them - the One - that the soul is unleashed through them and the baggage released.

So a key part of this first day, will be regressing people into those attachments. Where have you gotten tight this year? What events and circumstances have wound you up? Often, in the spiritual mainstream there's a reluctance to explore deeply into this. But the only way out is through!

So take some quality time to reflect on the challenges of your year. Think about those moments where you got tight. See the visions and above all, feel into the feelings. In becoming as one with them, you can let go and expand through them.

Namaste

Open