This week, we’ll be leaving for SpiritQuest, and as I have for the past 13 years, I’m getting myself ready to hold space for others in ceremony. Once again, I am asking myself some questions like, “What does it mean for me now to become the space I am holding for others?” “What internal space will allow us to awaken more and become the space we wish to be for ourselves and the planet?”
Each year, the flavor is slightly different, but the concept of holding space for each other is always present. In camp, we hold space by eating for our friends who are fasting during their quests. We hold space with peaceful and loving thoughts for our questers and everyone participating in our week of ceremonies as we tend the sacred fire that burns 24 hours each day.
We hold space as we listen to each other without judgment and hearts open in our daily talking circle. And we do it repeatedly throughout the day as we face the unexpected challenges that come up, with ears ready to listen and understand the people we are with. We hold space as we laugh together, eat together and meet each other in the dream-time.
Holding space for each other may be one of the great spiritual principles of awakening that is easily forgotten in our get-down-to-business days. And yet, it may very well be one of the great influential spiritual practices we can embrace.
The other day I caught myself saying to a friend, “If you want to be a millionaire, ask someone who has made a million dollars to hold space for you.” As I explained this concept, I used healing as an example.
As a healer, I recognize it is generally easier for me to hold space for someone else’s healing than it is for them, because I don’t necessarily share their fears and doubts. Therefore, as I hold space for them while I am singing healing sounds to them, I watch their fears and doubts rise to the surface where they can be released. Once released, they can then accept the greater reality of being fully healed, and their deeper yearning for health is manifested.
When holding space as a healer, I am not judging their fears or doubts. I am simply witnessing them as I hold the individual in loving, clear sounds. By holding them in their perfected state of wellness, it seems to be easier for them to shed their fears and accept their Divine nature as healed, whole and healthy.
Some years ago, in meditation, I asked a spiritual master to hold space for me so that I could work through some fears to become the expression of potential that I knew he already saw in me. A chuckle rippled through the universe as I heard, “That is how it works.”
As I prepare for SpiritQuest, I can feel the longing of those who wish they were joining us and cannot attend. I’ll be holding you in my heart throughout the week. I can feel the anticipation of those packing and getting ready to go. I hold you in my heart for safe journeys to the land. I sense the spirits of the land, animals, and ancient ones getting ready…They are holding space for us.
Universal Prayer for Holding You
