The second phase of the Visionary process is where the Spiritual and the Material aspects of ourselves begin to connect and interact. It is the part of the mystical adventure where we are given the option of acknowledging the nudge that we received from the First Power of Inspiration and deciding to engage with it, or allowing it to slip past us without investigating its potential to transform our lives.
While Inspiration is the spark that activates the creative process – Intention is the conscious and powerful force that energizes it. Without Intention, conscious, willful creation is impossible.
But what is Intention? There are certainly a lot of people talking about it, and many folks say that all you need to do is INTEND something and you will ATTRACT it into your reality. This is a deep oversimplification.
Intention, like every other Visionary power is multi-dimensional and multi-faceted. When we understand the part it plays and the energy required to support it, then and only then can it be used with any sort of confidence or directed in any sort of specific and creative manner.
THE SWORD AND THE CHALICE
The Creative process contains a Masculine and Feminine aspect. Both are crucial and when profoundly balanced and properly used, they assist the Spiritual adventurer in becoming more proficient in bringing their visions into reality. We do ourselves a great disservice, regardless of our physical gender, when we limit or empower one over the other. They are both essential to the creative equation and it is only by learning how to use each of their specialized energies and balance it within and against the other, that true Creation is possible.
Intention, at its root, is a masculine energy. That is to say, it is the willful and focused power that energizes and germinates the creative process and directs it into the feminine, receptive aspect that gestates and houses the creative goal or ultimate outcome. Masculine energy is a positive electrical polarity and Feminine energy is a negative electrical polarity. The charges attract and interact with one another, their bonds resulting in creation of a new energy.
This is the mystical and metaphysical SWORD that directs its power towards and into the metaphysical, feminine CHALICE, which holds and ‘gives birth to’ the created outcome.
It is the empowered CHOICE aspect of our consciousness that says to the Inspired idea that presents itself to us, ‘YES! I hear you Inspiration. I WILL heed your call. I will create that outcome. No matter the challenge or obstacle, or the uncertainty that may appear. YES! I declare. I WILL!!!’
If you do not back your Intention with the masculine Spiritual power of WILL, and stay only in your ‘receptive’ feminine aspect by saying, all airy-fairy, wishy-washy and New Agey … ‘I will let the Universe decide my outcome, and to have WILL is to be in Ego’ then you will achieve only the law of averages, which is, at its base, what the group or collective consciousness allows. No great visionary or Spiritual maverick ever made any progress to rise above the mundane crowd without a very powerful WILL. Without it, very few miracles are possible.
Spiritual Will, is not the same as Ego. Ego and the machinations it goes through to achieve its goals is stemmed from the limited ‘Me’ or personality of us as individuals. Spiritual Will achieves its goals from the expanded understanding of the limitless ‘I AM’ and as such connects with the energy of Universal Will to partner with it and use the flow of energy that exists there to support its goals and visions for the future.
WANT? Or WILL?
Intention does not work without our ability to infuse it with power. Like a race car that could actively and energetically take us anywhere, without power, it can only sit in the driveway and our view of life will not change.
When folks work with Intention, they often ask themselves, ‘What do I want to create? Or ‘What do I want to see in my life?’ Instead of asking themselves, ‘What WILL I create? What WILL I see? What WILL I build? What WILL I change? What WILL I do?’
I invite you in this moment to hold and compare those two questions within you. Which of them has more power? Which of them puts you in the drivers seat of your life? Want? Or Will?
Intention backed by Will supports our ability to Choose. Decide. Clarify. Focus. It allows us to precisely fine-tune our energy into a singular, clear and coherent focal point, so we can direct our creative energy like a laser beam onto and into the frame-work of our lives. Intention allows us to stay focused despite distraction and apparent failure to stay the course no matter what. It is the Sword of the Spiritual Warrior.
Intention backed by Spiritual Will says, “YES! I will! Yes, I AM! Yes, come hell or high water, without knowin the how of it right now! I WILL answer the call of that Inspired spark that has beckoned to me so profoundly!! Yes. I. Will!”
BE WILLING TO GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY
As you begin to step into this second aspect of the creative realm of Visionary Power, you will need to be willing to fail. At first, maybe a lot.
One of the common misunderstandings of the Intuitive/Creative process is that we think if we are using our Intuition as a guidance system that means we are guaranteed immediate and profound success. It is not.
Even when you are using all of your Visionary powers properly, even and especially the Power of Intention, this does not mean that everything is going to be puppy dogs and rosebuds along the path, or that you won’t have to do some deep and meaningful, personal cultivation and sometimes some soul wrenching heavy lifting along the way.
WILL as an aspect of Intention is a Spiritual muscle we must all develop. NO ONE and I mean No ONE gets to the top of any mountain, or achieves any profound goal, spiritual or otherwise without a very strong sense of WILL.
WILL like any muscle, needs to be challenged and stretched beyond its former limitations in order to be developed. It grows in us by having us face, obstacles and road blocks and sometimes even wrangle with complete personal deconstruction. We cannot grow into its power by having everything handed to us on a silver platter. The road to Intuitive, Visionary and Spiritual Mastery is not going to be free of challenges. Any guru or New Age teacher that tells you otherwise, is farting daisies.
You must be willing to get your hands dirty along the way. The power of your Intention will determine whether or not you stay the course and stick to your Vision regardless of how challenging the journey may be at any given moment. Your willingness to stumble will make the growing pains of the journey more tolerable perhaps even enjoyable, and will serve you in transforming these apparent set backs into allies that can catapult you further and faster forward in your adventure.
When obstacles show up, some will say, ‘Well, this must be the Universe telling me to stop. Or this is a sign from the Universe saying I shouldn’t pursue this path.’ No. Please let go of this thinking. The Universe does not have an opinion about your journey.
Your Soul does have a vision for your future however and will give you opportunity time and time again to embrace a grander, braver, more powerful and complete vision of yourself.
If obstacles show up, take a moment to ask yourself, “Is this helping me strengthen my Will? Do I want to stay the course? Am I willing to stretch beyond what I have done or thought, or imagined in the past?” If your answer is YES. And you say “I WILL, complete this journey or this task or this healing,” then you have activated your Intention once again in a powerful and profound way.
So ask yourself, ‘What WILL I do?’ ‘What WILL I create? Who WILL I become along the way?’ If the answers you have for that question are greater than what you are being or experiencing now, then you know you are on the right track, and despite outward appearances, you ARE equipped with everything you need to make that a reality.
If you have the courage to stay committed to that vision, and remind yourself of it on a daily if not moment to moment basis; you can align your personal Will with your spiritual Will. And then, for perhaps the first time ever you will be seen and heard by the creative forces that shape the stars and like a powerful wave that propels a surfer to the shore, they will rise and swell to support you.
Stay Tuned for Visionary Power #3 – The Power of Imagination – coming soon.