Many paths embrace the concept of the “Wheel of the Year” to identify the eight agricultural holidays. The image of a wheel is appropriate to identify the cycles that return to use year after year. What it does not reflect is the progress we make each year and the ascension we build through our practice in previous years that forms the foundation for our future successes. For that reason, CUSP embraces the spiral of the year. We continually return to the same points in the annual progression, but on the next higher level, incorporating and building upon the foundation of our prior lessons and successes. We climb the ever-ascending spiral toward greater progress and continual improvement of our lives and our individual circumstances. This comes not only through the conscious manifestation of positive life changes that CUSP directly creates, but also through the lessons we learn from the changes that did not manifest or manifested in a way that we did not anticipate.
What drives CUSP is the underlying premise of “greatest good.” It is our belief that human beings possess a biological drive to pursue their own greatest good, highest pleasure, and fullest satisfaction. Often, chemical changes in our bodies derail this natural drive. Alcohol, prescription medications, environmental pollutants, and recreational drugs can all affect the opiate sensors that encourage us to seek out our own most positive results.
In our modern life with its emphasis on material gain and the acquisition of power, most people have lost their birthright of intuition and self-awareness. The ability to tune into the guidance and signs around them has dimmed to the point that many no longer see it and if they do, they describe it as a “flash” or a “moment of clarity.” Humans are not wired up to have a “flash” of intuition or moments of clarity. They are intended to live in those moments on an ongoing basis with their “unaware” times being the exception rather than the rule. In ancient times, being unaware and out of tune with intuition could mean death. For more information on how to connect more deeply with your Higher Self and intuition, we suggest our book Energy Magic, which deeply explores the process of positive manifestation to create the life you want to live.
One of the great benefits of CUSP is that the process naturally attunes you to the guidance of the universal energies of God. You will become more aware of the gentle nudges you receive every day and as your sustained practice continues, they will become a valuable roadmap for you to navigate your way to your greatest success. How many times have you done something that made no sense to you or anyone else, simply because it felt right only later to be proven correct? Our inner guidance often defies common sense and is difficult to explain or justify. CUSP does not cause you to make dangerous or unwise choices, but it may press you to step out of your established comfort zone to try new avenues to your own success.
As you begin to walk the CUSP path, you quickly start to develop two different, yet related types of growth.
The familiar symbol of the yin-yang best represents this:
On an outward level that is seen, felt, and known, you will have the specific “real world” harvest of a physical and tangible outcome. Your “harvest” will take the form of long-term changes you wish to manifest in your life. The darker, more internal benefit you achieve is that you begin to understand why your life unfolds the way it does. You will spend a specific part of your year in meditation and evaluation of the previous harvest cycle before you plan your next year’s cycle. This allows for a rest period, for contemplation, and for greater connection to God’s plan for you. As much as this system of sacred practice is a method for positive external change, it is also a strong catalyst for internal change. It is a common belief that to change the nature of a person, one must begin with either the internal or the external, which will directly cause an effect in the other. This is not the case when endeavoring on the CUSP way. At once, we improve both the internal and the external as the practice incorporates both elements in every progression throughout the year.
Beginning at Yule and ending at Samhain, the agricultural holidays guide you through the harvest year, signifying the kick-off of a new course of action on the road to achieving your goals. In the briefest of terms, it goes like this: You begin with the spark of an idea, come up with a solid plan, ask the Universe for input, begin your active process of manifestation, cultivate your goals, harvest your reward, and then contemplate the lessons of the previous harvest year.
The repeated behaviors of our ancestors lie encoded in our DNA. We have specific psychological responses to various stimuli simply because of how our ancestors lived. If we sense we are in danger, a “fight-or-flight” reaction activates. Biochemically, our bodies still respond to food and water intake as though we were hunter-gatherers. If our body senses we are low on food or water, it will begin to hold onto fluids and burn calories more slowly. These are just two of the many ways humans still naturally attune to the ancient way of living.
Because our ancestors honored the agricultural cycles of the year as sacred for so long, our instincts still vibrate with cycles. Although most of us are no longer literally farmers who harvest an actual crop each year, we can still use the same cycle to harvest positive and measurable results in our lives. In the next chapter, you will see how it works in detail and learn how the tradition of the CUSP way is the way of the Spiritual Farmer.
