Spiritual Payment

Spiritual Payment: Why it Works Manifesting Wonders

I have been through such an amazing journey over the past year, as we all have, in regards to finances, manifesting and trusting in our soul’s path through uncertain times. But I have come to a place where the positive shift is consistently reflecting itself in financial abundance, so it is at that point that I’d like to share with you what I have learned about being abundant doing what you love. Not to be confused with killing yourself to be rich doing what you hate.

The first article I wrote on the subject was “Pioneering the New Earth and Money,” next “Healing the Industrial Wound,” then “The Cauldron,” all essential steps in the abundance process. I would recommend that you read them before continuing. So much personal work must go into the journey of abundance, and I faced real darkness in the last year. Darkness so dark, that I will not write about it. I can only say that each person has their own version of this darkness. It is the place we have been hiding from our whole lives without really knowing it. This place must be confronted and brought to light.

A great financial coach, Morgana Rae calls it, finding our “Money Monster.” Well, with the help of private healing sessions, I found my monster, and it was ugly. For me finding my Money Monster was as easy as sinking into that horrible feeling that would come up almost every time I thought about receiving money. It was stuck somewhere in the back of my mind. But facing it, tracing it and erasing it revealed the way to abundance. Then in comes the “Money Honey.” The Money Honey to me is the representation of the belief that you deserve to be loved unconditionally, in all ways, including financially! Please visit Morgana’s website for more information on this simple yet profound philosophy.

Spiritual Payment

Sacred offerings are an integral part of a harmonious life on this planet. I’m not talking tithing, although it is certainly related, I am talking making offerings to Mother Earth. From what I can tell, all ancient cultures practice this.

If there is one thing I have learned from spending time with peoples who live close to the earth and practice the old ways, it’s that they take for granted the knowledge they have, like its obvious as to why things work. Here is a great video of the Kogi Mamos talking about spiritual payment. While I might be able to feel on one level why it works, I like to have a bit more information.


What do you mean by offering?

I mean, offering something bio-degradable that you care about to Mother Earth as a thank you for all that you have. I grew up in the Episcopalian church. We offered money to the church each Sunday. It was obvious to me why money worked. The church needed money to buy things like I needed money to buy things. This is easily understood in our culture.

But after traveling with tribes and observing their culture, I wanted to try something different. I wanted to go to a much deeper level of abundance and cash was only part of the picture. I kept hearing my tribal brothers and sisters say, “Give back to the Earth, how can you keep taking and taking?” While I was turned off by the accusatory tone, I decided to give it a try because history had taught me that major mojo was behind their wishes. I just wanted it to be real and from my heart.

What would I offer? It felt a little phony to me. After all, why should I offer something that was already made by Nature? Why give back what was already hers? Would she even care if I gave her something or not? Did I really have anything to offer? I was surprised at my resistance. I had offered tobacco many times in ceremony, but I wanted to offer what really felt right to me. So I asked Mother Earth what she wanted. She told me, “Honey.” I couldn’t tell you why, but that felt really right. I love honey and gratitude inexplicably welled up in my soul. Upon a little bit of research, I found that honey has been offered to Spirit for as long as there is recorded history. There’s a reason honey is called “Nectar of the Gods.”

Making offerings is not bribery as modern thought might suggest. It is not “giving to get something.” It is not about some voracious God/Goddess that we must appease. There is more to it.

The Abundance Circuit

What happens alchemically when you offer to the Earth?

Here is what Mama told me:

When you offer to me something in the physical that I can digest, our relationship becomes real on a physical level. I know where you are, I know then how to work with all the resources available to me so that your dreams come true. I always feel your love. But love is expansive, non-local. When you place your love into something physical, it becomes focused and easy for me to understand. You are speaking to me in my language.

As well as this connection allows us a more profound relationship on the physical level, this also works with the natural cycle of things. Giving and receiving are a cycle, one that must be continually nurtured. You ask, I give, you receive, you enjoy, I ask, you give, I receive, I enjoy, you ask, I give etc. It creates a circuit. In this way the cycle is never broken, and you are not left bereft. You are aware of the cycle and we continually dialogue and feel with each other.

The flow of abundance is a circuit. In order for it to work properly, this circuit must be hooked in to. I thought this was very interesting, because indeed, I had felt Mother Earth asking me for things, and this was a new experience. She would ask that I love myself more, she would gently tug at me to sit and offer honey, she would remind me that I never had to be without, she pushed me to relax and enjoy myself and to give myself time to be creative an expressive. These were her requests, not suggestions, not demands. I started obliging. Why not?

Offering at The Hearth

When I feel the call, I go to the hearth, which for me is in my backyard, and sit on Mother Earth facing the fire. I call in the directions and offer in gratitude a bit of honey. I place it directly in the fire pit. Opening my channel, Mother Earth and I have a conversation. It’s really great actually, to have this time. It feels very natural, and truly everyone can have it. Sometimes I pray, sometimes I spend the whole time thanking her, sometimes I ask for things, sometimes I receive information, sometimes we chat, whatever comes up that day.

I found this process deepened my trust in abundance and receiving and made me very joyful. Since I started doing this my bank acct has been full. I can be working/playing in the garden, come inside and see a $500 sale on my e-store. The more fun I have, the wealthier I am! And not just material wealth, but amazing opportunities started coming my way. I was asked to host a radio show, speak on a national tour on consciousness and more.

Growing a Conscious Business

The sacred offering as spiritual payment to Mother Earth is an essential step to coming out of separation and into Unity. You see, I am growing my conscious business, and talking to others about consciously growing their business, but I will not do it without Mother Earth’s guidance. I will not continue to destroy our home out of ignorance, laziness or deliberation. But I will also not retreat into the woods and live like my ancestors did, thousands of years ago. I have embraced technology and I enjoy living as a member of a global community. My clients and friends are from all over the world. I only hope this continued prayer, and this continued dialogue with Mother Earth informs my decisions, and helps create a vibration supportive to innovative and sustainable technology on a mass scale.

Left Brain Work: Laying the Foundation

Now, I also got many systems up and running in the left brained fashion to prepare for this new way of being. I created a new, more streamlined website, an e-store, an automated scheduler for private sessions, a Magical Manifestation tele-class, and a Channeling Certification program. I also educated myself financially by reading all sorts of books and working with a business coach, James Roche. I created a conscious business support group with colleagues I trusted. Everything was in place.

When I finally went to the hearth, it was like opening the door, and all started flowing through, landing neatly in its place. The best part? I could now receive, because my Money Monster wasn’t there to stop it. Instead, I had my Money Honey fully supporting this wild adventure of living my purpose.

Before I close I will give you a loose guideline for a happily abundant life.

The Breakdown

Steps to Manifesting, not necessarily in this order:

1. Commit to being successful at what you love: your passion drives your success
2. Find Money Monster/Money Honey
3. Lay left brained foundation
4. Lay right brain foundation: The Cauldron
5. Hook into “The abundance circuit”


I’ll keep you posted if I find any more steps, till then may your life be on track, in love and full of abundance.

The Cauldron

The cauldron is a mythical place that lives within us. It is the feminine home where ideas are churned, where creativity bubbles in the soul. Without attention to this most sacred of places, the dreams and visions we cook up cannot be supported in the world.

The Cauldron reveals itself when we are willing to be still, when we are willing to sit in the seat of our deepest longings, when we courageously face our pain and when we surrender to our joy. The Cauldron cannot be forgotten in our pursuit of success and change, for it lovingly guides us with the power of the Mother, our greatest nurturer.

Often this liquid brew is elusive. Collectively, we experienced the expulsion of the principle, and powerlessly watched our world deteriorate. When we hear our teachers tell us the feminine is returning, we only have to look within ourselves to find this Holy Grail, the primordial water that is within us bubbles forth like a knowing fairy. We may have thought she didn't exist, but she was there all along. Silently, but patiently waiting for the time we would be ready to serve her again.

To stir the cauldron, and then not serve it to the world would be a crime. The beauty that is each of our soul's gifts is a succulent cup meant for other's to drink of and taste. But there is no pressure in our inner concoction, only the pleasure of feeling the gift of the Goddess as our source of inspiration.

As I grow to new heights in my work and in life, returning to the Cauldron for a drink is what keeps me sane, it is my form of meditation, is restores me to my essential self so I can keep going, keep giving, keep striving.

My partner and I began our spring planting on the equinox. What better way to be immersed in the vast well of abundance our Mother has to offer. What a joy it was to witness that the leftover foods I had received through the winter had transformed into soil through composting, to assist in growing more food. In those moments I feel in complete harmony with the gifts offered from the Cauldron. I am consciously co-creating with the ecosystem, an integral part, shamelessly full of gratitude. How could I not marvel at what is already available to us, without an ounce of modern technology?

Keeping this connection to the Cauldron allows me guilt free growth, because as I keep our beautiful home, Earth, close to my heart, I cannot betray her. I can only be informed, day by day, the most harmonious choices to my full expression of self, love, friendship and business.

May you drink from your Cauldron each day so that you are forever filled.


CC Treadway


Copyright 2010 CC Treadway. All rights reserved.


  

Pioneering the New Earth and Money

FOUR REASONS DO-GOODERS ARE BROKE
By CC Treadway

Working as a healer I am always struck by the murky boundaries around money. In the spiritual and philanthropic circles, there is not much common agreement on the subject. In fact, it’s up for debate on most days. When I used to work as a video editor for corporations like MTV and Discovery Channel, financial contracts were clear. It was generally accepted that you did what you could to get paid as much as possible. When I would work for independent companies, financial contracts were hard to come by, not always honored and more work was expected for less money. The main reason why I “sold out” to corporate America for so many years was because they had better ethics around money. I know this sounds shocking, but I knew what to expect and I planned my life accordingly. I fondly remember spontaneous trips to Puerto Rico, shopping just for fun, paying for healing school and a savings account.

Upon deciding to be a healer, these financial standards were washed away by “Spirit” as they say. The expansion and bliss I felt with my newly found open heart usurped any desire for financial stability. I then defaulted into the financial belief system of the “spiritual” or “do-gooder” template. What was interesting is that I unconsciously took on a whole lotta garbage with it, and I found my financial situation steadily decline. I felt some sort of satisfaction about “leaving the system” and living with very little. I have learned a lot. No regrets. But as I integrate my experience, I have discovered the shadow side’s stinky smell. I had to get honest, because my bigger vision was to make a large impact, and it is really hard to do that when you are in survival mode. This is a huge subject, but I broke down a few major belief systems that prevent lovey-doveys from financial health.

SMELLY GARBAGE THAT MAKES DO-GOODERS BROKE

Garbage Pail #1: CARETAKING

Rationale: Must have compassion. Feeling guilty for charging money for work.
Desire: Love me
Flip side: Overcharging, huge ego.
Positive: Compassion and understanding is a beautiful thing, oftentimes lacking in cutthroat business.

Having compassion and empathy for people is normal. For healers, it can be off the charts. The pain of feeling other’s pain, can lead to caretaking behaviors. Learning how to control empathy will help strengthen boundaries and get clear on your needs and your client’s. It’s so easy to undercharge, or adjust our rates prematurely because we want to help someone. This does not empower them, it creates a set up of “needing the client,” or of feeling like they are controlling your decisions which then leads to resentment. And that makes them feel very uncomfortable and unsafe. If you don’t respect your financial needs, how can you expect someone else to? It is more healing to hold a clear and loving boundary around money for your clients than to be wishy washy for their sake. I personally have had a very difficult time with this garbage pail.

Garbage Pail #2: MARTYR

Rationale: Spirit Servant. Feeling obligated to serve, even if it means self-sacrifice.
Desire: Self-Empowerment
Flip side: Not knowing when to be generous.
Positive: Surrendering to Divine will is an essential step in spiritual development.

Oftentimes, when someone steps into what they consider to be a do-gooder profession, they feel it is ordained by God. All of the sudden, they are a servant of Spirit, a servant of the people, with no will of their own. This leads them into situations where they are over their heads and cannot behave ethically, or where they are taken advantage of.

One time, I got an email from someone asking that I heal their whole village, but they couldn’t offer me anything. They described a curse with many entities. Now, for me, as a healer, this is a potentially dangerous situation, and one I was really not qualified for. If I were “going with the flow” or “obeying in Spirit’s call,” or acting from ego I would have gone with it. It would have been a disaster. In the business world, you wouldn’t commit career suicide by taking on a job you couldn’t handle. In the healing world you must be extra careful because a village full of dark magic could really kill you.

I have heard people tell me that if God gave me a gift I am obligated to use it. I wonder where they get these ideas. I prefer to think I am working with the Love of God when I can. But I have seen healers in great distress because they did not honor their own needs and abilities, taking on too much for a good cause and ending up broke and sick. This can also happen while charging tons of money! Of course, as a human being we all can make a decision to offer healings or services for free when it truly feels right. Sometimes knowing when that is can take time to discern.

Garbage Pail #3: REBEL

Rationale: System is Bad. Confusing the dreaded “System” with money itself. I am a victim.
Desire: Accept me, I want to trust
Flip side: Making money into freedom, power and Godliness.
Positive: Creating new and better ways of living.

An Apache told me I would be a better healer if I didn’t charge. A Spaniard told me I would be punished with illness if I charged. An American woman at the gym eavesdropped and warned me that I better watch out or I would have another James Arthur Ray sweatlodge situation on my hands! Wow. Time to go back to garbage pail number two.

Most do-gooder types feel so rejected by the system that they associate money with that system, making money bad itself. This is a very stinky garbage pail. There are good reasons for smelling this one however. Many healing and philanthropic professions do not generate large incomes. Financial education in these fields is almost zero. The backlash when a healer or do-gooder tries to make money off products or services is enormous. This can lead to overcompensating by charging outrages prices, or becoming invisible and under the radar.

To my knowledge, some form of currency, whether it be paper based, gold based, seed based, flower based or bartar based, has always been used in organized societies. And, all societies are organized. It has not mattered the system: totalitarian, tribal, socialist, communist, democratic/capitalist, money is there in some form. I know so many wonderful artists and healers who feel rejected by the system who then blame money, act like they don’t need it and end up in survival mode, unable to help anyone. I have been in this category from time to time.

Money has nothing to do with the current system. Money is an ingredient to life that you can work with if you choose to create. If it changes form when a system collapses or grows, that energy will still be there to work with to amass power and help you achieve goals.

Garbage Pail #4: DENIAL

Rationale: Associating being close to nature/God as not needing or wanting money.
Desire: To be safe
Flip Side: Total lack of integrity & responsibility with money, separation, homelessness.
Positive: Reconnection with Mother Earth, Father Sky.

The denial creeps in when we honestly believe that living with nature means we don’t need society. We reject money, the system, people and taking it one step further, outcast ourselves. Now, returning to nature and being one with God are my passions in life. But the subsequent removal from society creates a hermit complex, a separatist attitude and usually has as much to do with childhood wounds as your own empowerment. That being said there are of course some people who will live out their purpose in a quieter way.

Denial forms when we don’t feel strong enough to handle the truth. The truth is we have allowed ourselves to be victim to our leaders, our systems, relying on them to save us or empower us. Even the most conscious people have this going on. This over-delegation of power to our leaders has allowed financial mismanagement on the largest scale. And we have let them. Stepping out of denial means taking responsibility as human beings, as divine beings, as natural beings and a members of the community. It’s painful, but like it or not, finances are a part of community living, they are a part of society. If we, the supposed ethical, moral and spiritually empowered ones do not infuse our knowledge into our financial reality, we are allowing ourselves to be overtaken by those who seek to control us. And they are out there, completely consumed by their goal. We must financially educate and empower ourselves so we can be a part of the solution, not the problem.


PIONEERING THE NEW EARTH

I recently had dinner with a lovely Russian couple. Boy did that give me some perspective. They relish the opportunities and the feeling of freedom here in the United States, have a clear understanding of the dangers of Communism and do not want to go back. From their experience, while there is corruption, we have it very, very good here. It could be a lot more corrupt. My own experience living in a third world country showed me that as well. Despite the world’s problems, and the United States’ role in it, we, as the people still have the ability to create what we dream of. There are other countries who also are founded on this template. But there are many more where the oppression is so strong they truly are held captive. We are the lucky ones and if our freedoms are in danger like they say, we have to work on all levels to make sure that doesn’t happen.

As pioneers, we are learning as we go. We spend a lot of time working on ourselves, developing consciousness, mindfulness and community… things that our new earth desperately needs, but the shadow side prevents us from truly making the impact we desire. We are not victims to anyone as long as we are free and able to do for ourselves. Coming out of denial, rebellion, martyrdom and over-empathy means learning a new skill that is hard at first. Combining the blissful energies of spirit and nature with the slower, more left brained skills of financial responsibility is no easy task for most. It is a new language and most of the time not an overnight success story. But more freedom waits on the other side. As we become fluent in the language it is effortless, the creative possibilities then limitless.

(c)CC Treadway 2010
www.treadwayesoteric.com