Aligning with the World Soul
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
It was Wednesday morning; half way into our gathering. Again at 9 o’clock in the morning we gathered in our little circle, cushions and plaids on the carpet; colors, markers, paint, flipcharts, drawing paper and notebooks at hand. Lots of different talking pieces in the center and a few candles.
Silence settled in, and we were all listening inwards to our next impulse; the same as in the little exercise that Karen offered us the day before. The impulse that came up in my body was to bow; a very deep bow; as deep as laying on the floor with my hands turned upwards in receiving position. I did that and explained that I wanted to bow deeply for the mystery that is the World Soul. This World Soul I got out of the book I mentioned earlier, Return of the Feminine and the World Soul, by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee. Later on, Karen, our London guest, would do just the same but she didn’t use any words, which made it even more powerful as a statement.
I got to understand some more of what this World Soul means. Connecting in with it, this living substance of the Earth, makes that right timing and right place is sensable and can be discerned. It explained to me how I am able to spot when ideas and plans offered by others are grounded or not; if they will make it into manifestation or not. Collectively we became more aware that there is nothing ‘to do’, or not even something ‘to get’.. it is all about surrendering and aligning to Life itself; be it named as our individual Soul or the World Soul.
Pay attention
Show up
Move with it
Wait
Come back to not-knowing
Sense the impulse from stillness
Is this what they call Wu Wei? Action through non-action?
Karen had used the phrase “open a path in your body to let the movement unfold”. Openings, cracks… that’s where Life seems to go!
There was the story of the taxi driver from Afganistan who felt grief for the loss of his simply but good life. Aren’t we all grieving for that? For the purity of simplicity? It seemed to us that there is where the well-being is to be found. Maybe when more of the current, unsustainable system breaks down it will be an opportunity for many to rediscover this simplicity?


Another tread in the conversation was around the question: What has real juice for me/us? Expressing our true desire, and living it, makes for attraction and seduction; allurement as we named it in the previous gathering. For me there was a strong experience when I deeply realized that I feel a lot of juice in the collective silence that is waiting, expecting… when we are together in the not-knowing. It feels like making love with the potential of the future. Just like in lovemaking you are totally open, ready to be surprised, and not exactly knowing how it will be this time. Being in love with this future potential, moment by moment, that seems to me the best definition of being alive – and it is basically the core practice of our gatherings!
It is Monday morning right now. I just got up in this quiet place with only some far away noise of traffic. When I look outside of my little room I see a huge park, the Richmond Park, in autumn colors; trees and open spaces in all shades of green, brown and yellow. The park was once a hunting ground of Henry VIII, one of the famous English kings. And here we are in this convent, a nunnery with only 3 nuns left; an amazing combination of masculine and feminine energies.