Cosmic Mystical Evolution

The term, "Cosmic Mystical Evolution” is a mouthful, even if intriguing. A mouthful of what? Not just concepts and theory, I hope. Nor just sterile science. Imagine entering into a fully embodied experience of being in the space of the Cosmic, the Great Beyond, and the Mystical, growing there, sprouting and blooming! Sounds yummy and juicy to me.

To me, Cosmic Mysticism is evolutionary, growing, developing and maturing over time, becoming initiated into realizing how we are not just human but also divine beings. 

To me, Cosmic Mysticism is about Connection. Connection with a Divine Source or The Great Mystery, or whatever name people like to use for the All-Knowing, the Spirit, the Divine Intelligence. Connection means to engage with, to link to, to know deeply and to experience a sharing between. Between myself and my body, between me and you, between me and the planet, between me and the Divine Community of spirits or souls. A knowing both inside and outside and throughout.

I might like to call myself a Cosmic Mystic. Is that a witch with warts on her nose, a prankster or trickster, a hypocrite or a shyster, or even a liar? Or, maybe I am someone who has always been curious about what life means, what death brings, what Spirit sings, what the soul represents, and how we all function as best we can together while being human along with other living beings on this planet, Mother Earth, and, beyond.

I have been a seeker, a searcher, an explorer and adventurer into what I now call the Wonder. I do believe in miracles, revelations and epiphanies, and that we can all experience some level of these encounters, or rather interactions with the Ecstatic. I myself have found much amazing Grace to behold and to become at one with, at times.

I wonder if we are part of the Divine or is the Divine inside of us? Is there a sharing between our bodies, our souls, our minds and hearts, and Universal Intelligence? Maybe the Divine is bubbling around inside us like blood, nourishing us, treating our diseases, releasing itself from us at times, pouring out into the world. Or, if outside of us, then maybe a Divine Mother with generous breasts who feeds us until we are fully sated.

One friend likes to consider the Divine imaginatively like an Octopus, and the head is the Wise One, the ‘god/dess’ part, so to speak. We might each be a tentacle with our own personalities, families, struggles, gifts, talents, feelings, bodies, and thoughts. If we see ourselves as part of a whole Being then, maybe we can stop fighting with each other, raping (even our planet), harming each other in all sorts of ways, and stealing from each other to provide for our loved ones. Maybe we can try to work better together for the good of all. If one of the Octopus’ tentacles gets chopped off, does the whole organism die or does the tentacle regrow like a lizard’s tail? Maybe we can help heal, at least, the wound.

Or, if we imagine a tree being a god/dess, then we can be the trunk, the roots, the branches and leaves. We can even blossom into flowers and become fruit on the tree. We can also die off, fluttering to the ground as leaves or petals, and maybe get reborn next year.

Is there really just one Deity or are there so many we can’t even count them, much less name them all by culture and language? We can worship and be amazed by Mother Nature in all her beauty and destruction, Gaia, with a bit Kali living inside her. Maybe we can imagine a collaborative community of souls, spirit beings and living beings on our planet. And, if so, why not expand our beliefs, connections and curiosity to not just this universe but to all known and unknown galaxies, moving our visions, experiences, and imaginations out into the cosmos?

We can worship politics or astrology, poetry or prose, sports, substances, or people, but what in the heck does worship mean anyway? Maybe worship is to what or whom we devote our energies, money, and time.

We can live in community or mostly alone, and we as human beings are all dependent on other people and systems for the food we eat, the love we feel, the water we drink. We have those who educate us, fix our cars, operate surgically on our bodies, pick up our garbage, and teach our children. We support each other in our communities as we enjoy some parts of life, whether they be concerts, dancing together, chanting, fundraising, or moaning in sorrow at our losses, grieving together.

Cosmic Mystical Evolution is then not only a devotional space for us and the Divine, but a place, an energy-filled community where we can collaborate with others, sharing space as living beings while hopefully enjoying life and becoming more conscious of ourselves, our patterns, our styles, and how we manage conflict, while being devoted both to ourselves and to each other.

If we draw down energy from the heavens or up from Mother Earth, or from deep within, if we seek other humans to share our energies physically and emotionally, if we reach up to the stars, the sun, the moon and other galaxies to find the Truth, or to experience many truths, then we can delight in noticing the energies, quantum particles, and waves flowing all around us and inside us, all of the time. Yes, most of us still have to go to work, obtain money in order to live, to share, and to take care of our basic living needs. Mindfully, we might hope.

We can also resist being a part of any kind of wacky evolutionary movement and follow our own singular paths, believing and having faith in what we have learned throughout our lives, taught by our families and religious institutions - because don’t you know, it just feels safer that way. We all like and need some concrete rules, rituals, and practices at times. They can help us live more certainly in this uncertain world. And, uncertainty can drive some of us crazy or scare us to death.

Throughout time, humans have gone through chaos, fear, and confusion, all the tragedies and traumas that we hear about and see every day (and that we also participate in, some way or another). We do not deny that some experiences seem to be full of evil or demonic forces.

My preacher father used to tell me that evil is not just a force or energy naturally present into the world. That it is inside us, in people (and we are pretty natural, too, I would add). That we act in what some would call "evil" ways for so many kinds of reasons, too many to count. And, that we are human beings who hurt each other (and sometimes ourselves), even when not intending to do so. Evil may not exist outside of us but many of us exhibit evil-like behaviors at some points in time, depending upon the circumstances. If our family is starving, we may kill to eat.

We may also attack others because they are so different from us and because they scare us, or because we don’t understand them and may not really want to spend the time and energy getting to know them, or be around them. Attacks, intimidation, bullying, and threats, like what we see from our current U.S. Administration, are not healthy actions or responses. Our roles are to seek change regarding the people who have the power to enact danger and violence, whether by deporting people without due process, or depleting the money we have earned over time.

I don't see natural disasters as evil, like hurricanes that devastate humans, other living beings, land, and rivers. Nor do I see evil when wildfires burst forth, or when volcanoes erupt, as damaging as they can be.

My quest continues to be grounded and centered in living moment by moment in the present, whenever possible, sometimes enjoying the stimulation of the world and its beings, and sometimes needing to take a breath and hide out by myself for awhile. My passion is in connecting with living beings (and myself), those I can see and witness with my Western mind, and those other beings that I can experience in all sorts of ways - in order for me to feel and explore what is happening around me, inside me, and in the cosmos.

What are your passions and hopes? What brings you support and magic into your every day life? What helps you when conflicts arise as they always do?

Let’s all keep evolving, co-creating our own transformations, revolutions and communities wrapped within values like love, open hearts, and compassion for the spiritual benefit of all beings on our earth and throughout the cosmos. And, so it is.