“We are not in the world, the world is in us.” – Deepak Chopra
by Astara
You live in a holographic fractal universe.
Holofractographic! (Say that ten times fast) A hologram is where the whole is contained in every bit and every aspect of the universe is contained within each of us. A fractal is a geometric pattern that is self-similar across different scales; each part holds the same statistical character as the whole. Fractals recur at progressively smaller or larger scales infinitely. Picture the hologram on your credit card or driver’s license. If you slice it into tiny bits, and shine a light onto one of those bits, you will get the entire image. This is how a hologram works. Similarly, each one of us holds the entire universe within us. If you want to learn about the universe just look to your biology and every aspect of nature. Your DNA holds a universal blueprint. You are made up of trillions of cells mimicking diversity of life from the Earth’s eco-systems to the galaxy.
The world is a mirror. Shamans and mystics have understood these patterns for millennia. Science is catching up to mysticism in understanding we are more space than solid, the universe is participatory and creative, the universe is expanding, we are interconnected in the web of life, and we are reflections of each other at every scale.
The Greek mathematician, engineer, astronomer, physicist, and inventor Archimedes wisely shared the tenet: as above so below, as within so without. In the 19th century the discovery of the law of thermodynamics, that energy is not created or destroyed, it just changes form. In the early 20th century, Quantum Mechanics took us on a path to understand everything is made of energy. Chaos Theory in the 1990’s gave us a fractal view of the world.
Reflective Learning
The term Soul Mirror is a playful way to describe the reflective learning we undertake as humans. Before we arrive as souls to this planet in the space suit of our body, we sign up for all of our soul mission, purpose, and investigations. We forget as soon as we are born that the traumas and joys you came to explore in life were set up by you, for you. Failure and success both assist evolution, they teach us how to align with the universal laws of holism.
The mirror of life does not always hold a direct reflection, but it always offers learning:
- Shadow: Sometimes the mirror of life imitates what is denied and hidden inside each person, the parts we thought were not acceptable to our families, friends and ourselves. What Carl Jung called the shadow.
- Practice: Sometimes life echoes an issue you are already aware of but need more practice to master.
- Celebrate: There are moments when the mirror of life out-pictures just how far you’ve come in your learning and invites you to celebrate.
- Remember: On occasion, life brings us a sign from nature that reminds us of a deceased loved one or a series of uncanny events that match our intuitive nudges.
Relationships
Our biggest mirrors are found in relationships at every scale: with Spirit, ourselves, the planet, friends, family, lovers, and even our pets. Just as it is hard to see our own nose unless we look in the mirror, it is difficult to see our own subconscious automatic pilot running our life. Relationship of any kind helps us project unseen aspects of ourselves onto those around us until we learn how to acknowledge the pattern so we may shift it. In each issue reflected, you are seeing aspects of you waiting to be owned, seen, understood, and loved to a new place.
An intimate relationship is like pursuing a doctorate in shadow work. The vulnerable underbelly of intimacy gives the deepest revealing and accelerates our learning. Inside intimacy we let our guard down and drop our masks. In such vulnerability, we do our most important uncomfortable learning. It’s unavoidable. In intimacy we inevitably let some or all of those shadowy rejected parts loose. If we haven’t owned our automatic habits yet, our best friends and partners will clue us in. They see what we cannot as of yet.
When we bravely listen to what our intimates expose to us, we discover each shadow bears a gift. When we accept our revealed shadow, we can finally integrate and dialogue with what is denied. When we activate the gifts we hold as a soul, denied energy returns. This classroom helps us dial our talents to the right volume while also restoring vitality.
Divination
In metaphysics, divination is really a soul mirror. Tarot, oracle cards, runes, palm reading, numerology, I Ching, and dowsing have given us ways to see our own reflection inside a myriad of patterns through symbols, math, art, and nature. Shamans, psychics, and other seers help us see into the shadows we cannot see ourselves. They use divination on our behalf. Each tool, every translator, helps bring the unseen — also known as the divine — into sight for us.
Since everything is energy, the vibration you are magnetizes you to the soul mirrors you most need. There are no accidents. You are vibrationally guided to the energies and information which are for your highest good; you are taken to a lesson when you are ready. Regardless of the type of “mirror” you feel drawn to, all of life gifts us opportunities for reflection on a daily basis. It is up to us what we have the capacity to see or are capable of learning.
Reflection
Every single mirror reveals the truth. In time, and with enough practice, we become better at seeing the truth: that everything is divine. You begin to see the gift in every person, experience, and message.
An ongoing commitment to contemplation and meditation is the greatest blessing you will ever bring to the world. To live a reflective life. Contemplation builds muscle to see the soul mirrors for the truth they hold. Inner reflection builds capacity to hold both the difficult and the easy as a gift of life upgrading your existence. Meditation builds circuits to be spacious and receive, the ultimate form of vulnerability. In receiving there is no doing, so we feel the most exposed. It is the shadow work of our culture to learn how to be receptive. How else will we be available enough to let in the truth and benevolence of the universe?
We are alive in interesting times. I call the global soul evolution facing humanity Project Awakening. Imagine that the Earth, our bodies, and even a current virus can be a soul mirror. Most of humanity is a sleepy teenager that has been hitting the snooze button for a while now. The Earth as our mother is saying, it’s time to wake up and go to school. Most of us say, please, not right now. I am tired, I want to sleep some more. Gaia waits and comes back in another cycle and says louder, hey! It’s time to wake up and go to school. We say, oh come on, just a little bit more rest. This goes on, back and forth for a few centuries. Currently, with climate change, there is no more snooze button for us. Mom has ripped the covers off. It’s time to wake up and go to school.
I teach Soul Mirror tools because the best thing we can do on the planet now is to step consciously into Project Awakening. To commit to self-agency and spiritual maturity. It’s gritty important work, and we are ready. We need to look honestly in the mirror, and often.
Here are recommendations to consider as you stand before each soul mirror:
- Practice contemplation, meditation, and reflection daily. In any way you can. Yes we are all one, but there is paradox afoot. There is only one expression of your soul in the whole Multiverse. Reflection practices wake you up to the Presence of All That Is and to who you really are. Know thyself. Own your shadow, your gifts, your divinity. Start and end each day with a reflective practice. Just five minutes will do.
- Take complete responsibility for your life. Even the unconscious choices. Integrate your hidden shadow aspects and own all of you, so you can live your kindness amidst confusion and pain. Self-agency and sovereignty is full responsibility for your own joy and pain, knowing you can lovingly tend to your hurts and illusions. This is how you stand tall in a world that asks you to be small.
- Let compassion and gratitude be your guide. Become aware of the whole complex hologram you are. If you don’t like what you see in others, tend to that projected aspect inside of you. You are that too. Be incredibly kind to yourself, and others, while being honest. This planet is so beautiful, but not an easy classroom at times. Drop blame and finger pointing. Have compassion and gratitude for all your teachers.
The world is a mirror reflecting the magnificence of your soul, both the dark and the light. Whatever the mirror your soul assigned you today, we invite you to practice seeing the gift and the beauty waiting for you inside each classroom. Imagine no longer pretending to be someone you are not. If we stop proving we are good enough we have gigantic reserves of energy waiting to be used more effectively. We revel in the wholeness of the true self which offers freedom from fear. We realize we are the path and the destination. Look in the mirror.
In our soul and sound offerings, guided meditations, and Inner Space Academy online school, we reveal loving reflection tools to help you explore and navigate inner space, the most important space program. Astara’s Heartifact Archaeology eco-system uses diverse soul mirror tools, helping you wake up to the teachers inside and around you. In time you can learn to see the beauty within each and every reflection, no matter what. When you rest the conscious mind and journey into what we playfully call inner space, you connect with your heart and the subconscious. In this space, your full expansive soul can communicate with you. There is a whole galaxy of wisdom waiting within.
