Political activist Marianne Williamson speaks of today as "an in-between time," as we're confronted by the reality of a world that no longer works — from our democracy threatened, to our environment imploding, to an entire world order crumbling before our eyes in Ukraine. She joined host Lisa Garr (email) to comment on the situation in Ukraine, and reveal who we have to be and what we have to do in order to transition from a world of dangerous realities to a world of sustainable possibilities. "I think that the entire world is obviously aghast at what's happening in Ukraine, but also we realize... something about the way we're living on the planet is clearly not working," Williamson said, noting how fast the situation changed between Russia and Ukraine.
In a way the world is now held hostage to someone who has nuclear bombs, she continued. According to Williamson, the U.S. has approximately 7,000 nuclear weapons and Russia has about 6,000. "If you drop five of those, it's over for human civilization as we know it," she suggested, adding the policy of mutual assured destruction may not deter Vladimir Putin from using them. While Williamson does not believe we're heading toward World War 3, she does think the current way we live on the planet and toward each other is unworkable, and our foreign policy should be rethought. Williamson recommended putting humanitarian values over economic ones, and making love, kindness, forgiveness, and mercy the bottom line. "If we do not evolve into a more collaborative way with being with other nations as well as other individuals... it's reasonable to ask ourselves whether or not the species will survive," she said.
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In the second half of the program, internationally-renowned shaman and host of Ceremony Circle podcast, Alyson Charles, discussed her book, Animal Power: 100 Animals to Energize Your Life and Awaken Your Soul, which reveals how to connect with animals for energetic transformation. Charles shared her own healing journey which ultimately led to her becoming a shaman. She recalled during her soul retrieval journey her core power animal, a black jaguar, came in, as well as three supporting power animals: a bear, a deer, and a frog. "Every power animal holds within it different healing attributes and wisdom teachings," she explained.
Power animals enter one's awakening path in order to help support those on the journey, Charles continued. "Our ability to connect with our brother and sister animal allies, and to learn how to attune to them, converse with them in an honoring way so that we can be open to receive their support and open to receive their guidance, that ability lives in every single one of us," she added. According to Charles, it starts with divine surrender which involves connecting with the most powerful aspects of ourselves and the unseen realms. "All the potent guidance and support is just sitting there waiting for us to say, 'okay, I'm inviting you in'," she disclosed. Charles recommended we tune into our hearts and get back to the place where Great Mother Earth and the Great Spirit intended for us, and to remember power animals are not outside of us but rather our teachers.