We have chosen, each and every one of us, to be born into the physical realm for a very good reason: to learn how to deal with the elements of the physical world and learn its lessons.  This life that you are living and the mirrors you have chosen are an essential part of your journey towards enlightenment.  How you deal with it imprints your Spirit Shield, both in this lifetime and in the lifetimes that follow.

Many of us want to throw away these lessons.  We do not want to learn from our relationships, we want to control them because we fear being hurt or we fear being alone.  We do not want to understand the exchange of material things because we feel ourselves unworthy of abundance, and so we tell ourselves that material exchange is a �?SPAN>nonspiritual�?pursuit, when in fact it is a great part of our spiritual lesson.  We allow ourselves to be bounced around like a rubber ball by the forces of the political world or society or the weather (in the words of Agnes Whistling Elk), instead of picking up the bow of authority and learning how to use it ourselves.  We don’t want to pick up the bow of authority because to do so means stepping into the mystery of the unknown, and that implies trust, change and hard work.

But if you ask a warrioress how she came to be a woman of power, she will tell you that she became so only by embracing the unknown.  And she will tell you, “You can never really teach a warrior with words about the unknown.  You must use experience,�?the experience that comes from living in the physical world and learning the lessons of spirit.

Each person comes into this life with one spiritual disharmony, and it is up to you to bring your spirit back into balance.  “Balance�?in The Power Deck is a south card.  To heal your spiritual disharmony and become a person of power in this world you must learn to balance your endeavors in the physical world of the south with spirit in the north.  You take care of your body through diet and exercise.  You express your strength in acts of power, and bring greater awareness to the exchange of money.  You protect and nourish your family, and express your integrity by bringing balance into society and nature.  These are all activities of the physical world.  The energies which you use to do this are in the north, the place of spirit: force, impeccability, gathering, strength, centering, enduring, courage, individuality, wisdom, aspiration, focus.  The sacred wheel is a roadmap to successful living, if only we would learn how to use it.  It is the roadmap of the warrioress, who prepares in the physical for higher spiritual learning.

Your being is like a spirit lodge, the foundation of which is rooted in physical manifestation �?strong against the storms along the trail to higher consciousness.  To take power, make your spirit available.  Take your power and bring your physical and spiritual natures into balance.  (The Power Deck)

In spirit,

Lynn Andrews