Sacred Light, Sacred Night, Sacred Self
excerpt from the book Recovering Your Sacredness by Jerry Tello
Although we may feel hopeless at times, our sacredness never leaves us. It’s just that life can move us to disconnect from that sacredness and we forget who we truly are. Fortunately, our Sacredness and our Sacred Purpose can be recovered with the very simple step of choosing to be present in our lives again. This begins with the profound acknowledgement of who we truly are. We need to recognize that the Creator, God, the Great Universe, or whatever higher power you connect with, doesn’t create junk. And even though you may have made mistakes along your journey in life, YOU are NOT a mistake. Even though your patterns and behaviors may seem unhealthy and even hurtful to yourself or others, your behaviors don’t change the essence of who you are. Everyone that comes into this world is a blessing. I am sacred and a blessing just the way I am. The question then becomes, “How do we bring the essence of our sacredness into the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of our lives, and then live them?” So, let’s begin to put into practice a sacred process of honoring and recovering our true selves.
All people in their indigenous practices, traditions or ceremonies, have rituals of connecting to nature to enforce the energy of sacredness. Through their prayer, chants, songs or mantras, they reconnect with the ancestral energies. Unfortunately, not all of us have had access or knowledge to these ancestral ways, and others have disconnected from these ways or have been taught that they were not significant. The teaching of In Toque Nahuaque, or being connected to one’s sacredness, begins simply with you choosing to create a sacred space and time for yourself. The act of creating space and time is not much different than what my grandmother would do every morning when she would begin her day in prayer. She would go to her altar, light her candles and begin her sacred prayer. So, let us move into that space.
Some of us attempting this process for the first time, may wonder how it is going to help, especially if there is no belief in one’s own sacredness or sacred purpose. But it’s similar to questioning how the grass or trees can be sacred when they have yellow spots and seem to be unhealthy or dormant from growth. The saying goes, “ the grass is greener on the other side.” The truth is the grass is greener where it is watered and nourished. So, the question becomes, “What do you want to water? What do you want to grow, and what are you willing to feed?” In reality, the energetic affirmative vibration or what you put out and how you live, will manifest and grow. So, it is important, every morning, to intentionally wake up and say, “Good morning,” to you sacred self.
The next question then becomes, “How do I embrace and integrate this message into who I am? How do I maintain the transformation and growth?” It may be awkward at first, and it may even seem phony, but it starts to show up as whoever you are, and to embrace your sacredness. Whether you’re 15, 35, or even 75, the first decision that you must commit to is being intentional and consistent in the journey back to your sacredness. It starts with you choosing to show up for you, at your present place in life, with all your light and darkness. Stand straight up, or kneel down, and face your truth. You may be there with many wounds, but life is about night and day. It’s about darkness and light. It’s about facing that duality and accepting our present state of growth in awareness…but it must be without judgment. Judgment is what has gotten many of us stuck in the first place; first, alienated from others, and then from ourselves.
That’s why Grandfather Sun comes up every morning - to remind us that we have that light within us, that every day the light is there. We just have to show up like Grandfather Sun does every day - without the masks, without the shame, without excuses, without sedating, and welcome our self to a new day of learning, growing, healing and living.
The journey then becomes us searching for that light within us. We have to wake up and say good morning to our authentic selves. Not the person others have told you that you are, but to your sacred self. Not the one we are thinking we want to be, but the one connected to the sacredness of God, the Creator, and the universe, right now, today. We have to be present with ourselves and acknowledge that wherever we are in our life today, is where we are supposed to be; sacred as we are.
This foundation will then allow you to recognize that just because you may have some habits, behaviors, and ways that need to change, that transformation begins by you showing up and embracing your total self, beginning with the light. In no way does this justify someone’s hurtful or self-destructive behaviors, but you must recognize that in order to correct counterproductive patterns, a person must first embrace their sacred selves and then be ready to face the darkness within. We can’t be afraid or ashamed of going into that night, which is a part of us as well, to acknowledge and face the true wholeness of who we are.
If you’re afraid to go into the night, you’ll never see the stars, you’ll never experience the quietness and the peacefulness of that nighttime glow. In fact, we find that many wonderful healers, teachers, and therapists have received their medicine through their own experience with their darkness. In essence, by going through some very horrible experiences, coming to terms with them, and finding the lessons, they now have medicine to help others. Although originating in the darkness the medicine becomes light, part of their whole, true sacred purpose.
Being present and showing up in your life, acknowledging who you are and accepting who you are, is the first step. It’s about accepting who you are with a sense of blessing and thanksgiving, and recognizing that everything that you’ve experience up to this point, can serve you. Everything that has happened in your life up until now makes you who you really are. And within that who, resides the sacredness. The sacredness is waiting for you to show up, to be there, and to appreciate the essence of who you are. It can begin with just one deep breath, just a sense of being where you are right now, just appreciating the present, giving thanks that you have this moment.
To learn more about Jerry visit his website at jerrytello.com
Join us for a Teleseminar with Jerry Tello on August 23rd at 3 PM EST.
