Power Law # 32

Who is the most powerful…? True Power is not man-made, it comes from Spirit. Who here is filled with Spirit? Alignment with Divine Energy is what empowers us.

Cynthia Davidson, excerpt from Power card

 (cards, stones, posters & more available via www.thewisdomwheel.com)

How many kinds of Power are there in the world? As you discuss this Law with others for the next ten days, you are going to have some interesting conversations! Most of the Power around us everyday is generated by the Elements; solar Power, wind Power, wave Power, but people tend to think immediately of human Power when this subject is brought up. And yet, how puny our Power is, up against the Elements! 

As I write this, the human controlled Power has gone out, because of a blizzard here in New England. And yet in the absence of electricity, I am feeling strangely empowered. My (forced) cooperation with the Elements has altered all priorities. Hauling wood for the stove, heating my food and water on it, reading by candlelight - my 'world' has been completely altered, but I am able to function, to take care of my basic needs. Perhaps this is why it's so enjoyable. By hooking up the generator for a little while, I can send this post out into the world, and then return to the quiet.

If you had to live off the grid - how would you react? Are you prepared for it?   

As you contemplate the human Powers of mind, heart, body and spirit for the next ten days, ask yourself, which of those Powers is most appealing to you. Why? 

Our relationships with who and what we think wields Power (especially over us) are often so ingrained we are not be aware of how it needs to change. Powerlessness is difficult to deal with but so is the 'drug' of Power that comes with money, position or privilege. 

Pure Potential was the last Law we looked at, and once you've realized what your Higher Purpose and Pure Potential are, the logical next step is to take Right Action. Power is about the embodiment of Pure Potential. 

Ultimately, if we learn to use Power wisely, what will actual happen is that spiritual Power will able to work through us. 

Here are some more lessons learned about Power from those who've accepted it.

Our chief usefulness to humanity rests on our combining power with high purpose. Power undirected by high purpose spells calamity, and high purpose by itself is utterly useless if the power to put it into effect is lacking.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) 26^th American President

 The headlong plunge into the mental and intellectual – into technology and heartless problem-solving…The power of the mind becomes authoritarian and punishing when we lose the Balance with the female side, of Nature…  The ego-driven, vertical power structure has brought us to the brink of extinction. But real power isn’t vertical, it’s horizontal…unless you’ve forgotten the power within… We have to reestablish our connection to the original JOY... We have to look in the right place. We all know this on some deeper level but don’t pay attention to it. The state we’re in now: sex is death, food is poison, the water’s no good, the air is ruined. We must all do something or continue to suffer the consequences.         

Janine Pommy Vega (1942- ) American poet, books include Tracking the Serpent

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.

Alice Walker American author, books include The Color Purple

To have great faith is to have great power, because your intent, your will is undivided. When your word isn't dissipated by doubt, the power of your word becomes even stronger.

Don Miguel Ruiz

As a person’s real power grows and knowledge widens, ever the way s/he can follow grows narrower, until at last s/he choose nothing, but does only and wholly what s/he must do.

Ursula LeGuin American author in her book Earthsea Quartet

You cannot know the meaning of your life until you feel connected to the power that created you. You must feel the existence of the spirit. Freedom is when you really get your own powers. They are within you, in your central nervous system and in your conscious mind.

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi (1923 - ) Indian founder of www.sahajayoga.org, raised in ashram of Mahatma Gandhi, books include Meta Modern Era

I cured with the power that came through me. Of course, it was not I who cured, it was the power from the Outer World, the visions and the ceremonies had only made me like a hole through which the power could come to the two leggeds. If I thought that I was doing it myself, the hole would close up and no power could come through. Then everything I could do would be foolish.

Black Elk, Frank Fools Crow’s uncle, describing to him how spiritual power works

Power is the ability to transform any energy. When we are whole, and in our power, our possibilities are endless. Power is the effective use of energy. We work with the energy of the universe… We never use the energy we were born with.

Holger Kalweit, Shamans, Healers & Medicine Men

You shall have joy, or you shall have power, said God, you shall not have both.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American author and philosopher, from a 1842 Journal entry

Without the addition of spiritual power, man tends to use his natural power for himself. And while he accomplishes outstanding things on the earthly plane, this tendency causes him to subordinate and misuse the rest of creation, until he sees he has created a monster that will devour him. The Higher Powers teach the person with appended spiritual power not to do this. If they abuse it, the Higher Powers refuse to work through them.

Frank Fools Crow (1890-1989), Native American Lakota Sioux spiritual leader, holy man and Sun Dance Chief, see Fools Crow: Wisdom and Power by Thomas E. Mails

Power arises from meaning. It has to do with motive and principle. Power is always associated with that which supports the significance of life itself. It appeals to that part of human nature we call noble – in contrast to force, which appeals to the part we call crass. Power appeals to what uplifts, dignifies and ennobles. Force must always be justified, but power needs no justification. Force is associated with the partial, power with the whole….Power is total and complete…it is still, it makes no demands, it has no needs…it energizes, gives forth, supplies and supports, whereas force always moves against something… has an insatiable appetite and is constantly consuming.

David R. Hawkins, MD, PhD from his book Power vs. Force 

In ten days we will take up the Law of Compassion. Until then enjoy playing with Power.