Through the Dark Forest: Answering the Call and Finding Your Path

Recently I was asked if I suffer from depression as I prepare for a Colorado women’s veteran empowerment retreat in the Rocky Mountains. My answer: “No, just dark nights of the soul.” This has become a way of being for me over the years. Just when I think I’ve reached a point of balance and safety, I'm hit with another dark night filled with chaos and confusion.

But I know deep in my heart these serve a beautiful gift to question my beliefs as my worst nightmares come to fruition. I'm reminded of Gregg Braden's "Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer": “It is only when we’ve learned everything that we need, and we have all of the tools to survive and heal in our ‘spiritual toolbox,’ that we can draw to us the romances, career changes, business partners, and friendships that allow us to apply what we’ve learned. Until we have our tools, we’ll never have the experience!"

Another way of saying this is that if life is showing us hurt, disappointment, loss, and betrayal, we must already have what we need to get through our experience. This is no easy feat and it gets exhausting while stirring up our old past and traumas. Why do these dark nights occur?

Gregg Braden explains: "The key idea here is that you can be ‘tested’ in life only when you’re ready. Whether or not we’re conscious of this principle, no matter what life brings our way, when we find a ‘crisis’ at our doorstep, we already have everything we need to solve the problem, heal the hurt, and survive the experience. We must, because it is nature’s way!"

And he explains: "A Dark Night of the Soul is a time in your life when you’ll be drawn into a situation that represents what, for you, are your worst fears." I answered. "A time like this generally comes when you least expect it, and usually without warning. The thing is, you can only be drawn into this dynamic when your mastery of life signals that you’re ready. Then, just when it looks like life is perfect, the balance that you’ve achieved is the signal that you’re ready for change. The lure to create the change will be something that you long for in life, something that you simply can’t resist. Otherwise, you’d never take the leap!"

There you have it! It is time for another quantum leap and a call to what Joseph Campbell calls the hero's journey where the universe calls you to adventure and you pickup its telephone call. If you decide to pick up the call you are the hero slaying imaginary dragons which manifest as your worst nightmare.

Call for Adventure

Picking up the "call to adventure" sets you on the hero's journey that Joseph Campbell described. It signifies your willingness to step into the unknown and begin a transformative process of self-discovery.

Once you commit to the journey, you cross the first threshold into the adventure. This represents moving from the familiar into the unfamiliar, where you will encounter tests, trials, and obstacles. Along the way you will find mentors and allies to guide you. There will be setbacks and dark moments that test your resolve.

Answering the call requires courage, determination, and faith. It usually entails facing your fears and moving beyond your comfort zone. Your notions of identity and reality will likely be challenged and expanded. Death and rebirth serve as metaphors for the self-transcendence that comes through trials.

Ultimately the hero's journey leads to a revelation or apotheosis. You discover your full potential, understand your purpose more deeply, and integrate expanded awareness into a renewed sense of self. The journey transforms and strengthens you.

The call sets an epic story in motion. Where it leads hinges on the choices you make when faced with the unknown. Each test shapes the hero you become. Saying yes to the call can launch the most meaningful adventure of your life.

Main Character Vibe

Answering the call to adventure thrusts you into the leading role of your life's story. No longer just a supporting actor, you take center stage as the protagonist. The universe becomes your co-creator, weaving magic and meaning into your journey's tapestry.

With this main character vibe, your perspective shifts. You stop seeing yourself as a passive player or victim of circumstance. Instead you recognize your active part in shaping your reality. You collaborate with universal forces to manifest your destiny.

As the main character, you cultivate heroic traits like courage, resilience and transcendence. Your growth accelerates through tests that awaken latent potential. Your choices and actions drive the narrative forward with momentum and meaning. Each experience offers opportunity for wisdom and self-discovery.

The universe conspires to help you, arranging chance encounters and serendipities. Synchronicity signals you are on the right path. With mindset shift, life's magic becomes a natural way of being, not some distant fairy tale.

As your story's creator and star, you infuse it with passion and purpose. Your unique gifts and talents come into focus. You let go of what holds you back, opening to new possibilities. With the universe's support, you write your story on your own terms.

This main character vibe means engaging life fully, without spectating from the sidelines. You move from reactive to creative, from fragmented to unified, from conforming to transformational. And that shifts everything.

Vortexes and Magical Portals

As we awaken to higher states of being, we gain access to energy portals known as vortexes. These vortexes serve as bridges between worlds, opening gateways to new possibilities. When we enter a vortex, we feel its power to accelerate manifestation and heighten our creative potential.

Vortexes demonstrate the non-linear nature of reality. In these portals, time and space collapse, allowing us to envision and attract future dreams into our present. Here we crystallize intentions and align with desired timelines. Energetic codes and synchronicities rush in to support our goals when we tap into a vortex.

Vortexes provide passageways between the dense 3D world and higher dimensional realms. Their electromagnetic fields awaken our latent abilities. They activate our lightbody, unlock intuitive gifts, and liberate us from limiting beliefs. Within a vortex, we remember our sovereign nature as conscious creators.

We gain keys to our kingdom when we learn to access vortex energy. These portals unveil the magic, wonder and freedom found beyond the veil of perceived separation. They anchor heaven on earth by merging worlds. Vortexes demonstrate how fluid reality is when seen through a higher lens. We glimpse our true power to manifest when bathed in their light.

Vortexes are portals to more expansive versions of self, waiting to be claimed. They initiate the daring seeker onto the hero's journey. With vortex keys, we become lucid dreamers aware we are dreaming and ready to reshape our world.

Happily Ever After

The great Albert Einstein once advised a schoolchild that reading fairy tales was his best formula for learning to become a visionary creator. Fairy tales remind us that we write the scripts of our lives. We need not accept the "fate" handed to us when we can harness our imagination to manifest a destiny of our choosing.

As Carl Jung explained, bringing the subconscious into consciousness is key to becoming whole. Through practices like active imagination, we integrate the fragmented parts of self into a unified being. Individuation is the process of actualizing our innate potential and truly becoming ourselves.

When we answer the call to adventure, we break free of convention to live a legendary tale. With the universe as ally, we discover our sovereignty as conscious creators. Everything we need to realize our destiny lies within. We are the authors endowed with infinite possibilities.

Our story's conclusion need not conform to limiting beliefs. We can courageously revise the narrative to align with our boldest visions while shedding fear-based mental scripts. We write ourselves as the heroes who actualize dreams, thrive through trials, and inspire others.

By taking charge of our inner world, we can manifest an empowered outer world. When we embrace our wholeness, we transmute inner demons into wisdom. As visionaries unbound by illusion, we conjure realities infused with passion and magic. We boldly declare: "And we lived happily ever after." For we have learned how to make it so by embracing our sovereignty. The end...and the beginning.