Since 2012, I have worked on a story that I hope (with help from dear friends) will be available this year as a self-published work. As I sunk deeper into this story and discovered more of its terrain, I came to know the Warrior-Priestesses. I was working on the story of the 4th Warrior-Priestess, Sláine (a name from Viking lore) when tragedy befell my family. Now, as I work my way back from this tragedy, I illustrated and summarized some of the story of Sláine. It is these shorts that will follow. As I did this work, I learned about the work of Margret Wheatley and her idea about Warriors for the Human Spirit. Though my work is fiction, its message is about consciousness, climate change, and the gap we collectively stand in Now where the choice is clear: Do we continue to proceed on our current path that is bringing us ever closer to the cliff created by deepening divides between beliefs and the haves and have nots or do we see beyond our current systems and structures and choose something wiser, more compassionate, and sustainable?
Margret says about the warrior training she provides: “Warriors for the Human Spirit are awake human beings who have chosen not to flee. They abide. They serve as beacons of an ancient story that tells of the goodness and generosity and creativity of humanity. You can identify them by their cheerfulness. You will know them by their compassion. When asked how they do it they will tell you about discipline, dedication and the necessity of community. — Warrior in Training
I believe we’ve had such humans among us since the beginning of humanity. Now, we stand at a crossroads where we must choose who we are and what we will do, and we need these warriors again in great numbers. This is where story and storytelling are infinitely important in helping us see around corners and imagine different futures (different realities). This type of knowledge is needed Now to help us make better choices in our Here and Now for it is our capacity to imagine that helped humanity become the tool makers and bio-geo engineers of our world that has allowed us to transform our planet through technology and the creation of societies driven by economics. Much good has come from all this, but also bad, and along the way we seem to have discarded or forgotten something essential in ourselves—the more ancient ways of being in the world and wisdom needed to live sustainably and compassionately with each other and all life. But, we are the New Ancient’s rising today. And we can learn once again how to swim in the deeper waters of our consciousness for we have inside ourselves the new stories needed to create a better, more sustainable future (reality). I believe we can reclaim these lost parts of ourselves where wisdom waits patiently.
