hi loved ones! below, musings for our beautiful year ahead, weaving together three sacred seeds: certitude, devotion, and essence.
10-minute read
the first seed: ‘unwavering alignment’
the holy man
I sat with a holy man last week, an elder from africa. his pathway with the divine looks outwardly different than mine – he works with scripture and the holy spirit – but we both live in service and walk between the worlds. there was good energy in the space.
I asked for support about high-level forgiveness, as the prayer for my life right now is learning how to sit with humility, forgive, let go, and get free. he channeled an exquisite sermon – speaking directly from the force of goodness beyond what language can grasp.
the core of his teaching: you must get so right with the holy, the love, the spirit, your god, the greatness that animates all things – that you become inviolable. you must wrap your arms so fully around the sacred that everything else becomes as nothing to you, no matter the challenges or initiations that arise. you must walk in word, thought, and deed in a dedicated, sublime way.
that is a fierce, strong teaching.
the author
on the same day as the sit with this beautiful man, I picked up one of louise hay’s books – she’s one of my heroes, and I find resonance with her story and approach. her way is different than the holy man – louise devoted herself to the power of thought and affirmation to change the shape of creation and deeply align with forgiveness, self-responsibility, and limitless love.
her foundation in her work was absolute – she moved mountains many times – and she created a beautiful, loving life for herself and the tens of thousands who lived her teachings.
I got to be in a space with louise when she was still alive, watching her do mirror work in front of an enormous audience – it was profound to receive her transmission, to feel her strength and positivity in alignment with the message she came to this planet to live and share.
she was a joyful ambassador of her truth.
the connecting thread
as different as they may seem, the elder and the author both share one flame:
certitude.
unyielding, absolute certitude.
for one, scripture and the almighty. for the other, the power of thought and affirmation. the ‘forms’ are different-seeming, and they had both wrapped their arms so fully around their truth that nothing else in their lives was even possible. nothing could deter them. nothing could sway them. nothing could knock them down, because their commitment to their path was absolute.
folks crave this
I think the masses are drawn to living modern teachers of our times, via social media, online, or via books for this same reason – people crave certainty in an uncertain-seeming world. that kind of joyful, unwavering alignment is magnetic – folks are drawn to it, to the pure transmission of a path offered with reverence and strength.
in this sacred seeking, we’re all yearning to walk the world in a beautiful, hopeful, and certain way.
I think of our great avatars (some well known, many not), who have walked this earth and offered teachings through the millennia. they, too, radiated that same certitude that the holy man and the author and modern teachers of our times do – a knowingness in flesh and blood and bone:
deep, strong alignment with their truth.
that’s our first sacred seed: unwavering alignment with goodness and hope and kindness that shines like the sun. let’s cradle this idea about ‘certitude on the path’ like a vital, precious seed.
we’ll return to it.
the second seed: training like an olympian
a woman with a powerful prayer
once, I worked with a lovely one who was working toward her citizenship. staying here with her wife and daughter was important, and news around immigration was highly charged – the level of fear in the collective body was high. blessings for everyone swimming in those complex waters. may you feel welcome, may you be treated with dignity, and may you be safe.
this beautiful one came to session because she felt buffeted by the news, and afraid about her final immigration interview the following week. in session, I went to the spirits and asked for a message for her.
what came back was strong, incendiary, and specific.
the spirits were clear: she must ‘train like an olympian.’ set down the news, the noise, the social media, anything that drained her power. she must align every thought, word, and deed with her strong and sacred prayer for citizenship.
if her mind wavered, even for a nanosecond, she must pull her heart and power back into alignment, again and again and again. she had to ‘train like an olympian.’
what happened next
she showed up for the work. it was glorious to witness. she set down the news, she stopped listening with fearful people, and she trained every single waking second like an olympian.
her words, thoughts, and actions all aligned with her prayer – that she would gain her citizenship, that the process would go smoothly and be held in light, that everyone involved would be kind and having a wonderful day, that she would live safely in this country with her beautiful family. her certitude was unyielding. absolute.
and it happened.
I’m not meaning to step over complexity, and say that if we put in strong effort that we’re always the grateful recipient of our answered prayers as we wish them. however. in this example – working with the spirits, receiving that powerful message about ‘training like an olympian,’ and then putting the teaching into action – this lovely one was sworn in as a citizen the same afternoon as her successful interview. I see this as a miracle born of fierce devotion and unwavering clarity in uncertain times.
this is our second sacred seed: to ‘train like an olympian.’ to be unyielding, steadfast. focused. strong.
the third seed: your essence & prayer for your life
why you came here
we each carry a unique, endemic, wondrous essence unlike anyone else.
one notion says our vast and infinite souls come to earth school to reach for mastery of a particular teaching, frequency, or way of being that we chose before incarnating. with love and respect, I’m not dismissing or explaining away trauma, hardship, or cruelty. I’m offering an idea that perhaps we’re powerful beings who came here to experience a wide panoply of energies and experiences – to stretch, to become more than we were when we arrived.
from the soul’s perspective, to grow.
in this notion, each of us came as an emissary of something precise – a vibration or frequency or gift that we each can only bring into the creation.
what is your essence, or frequency?
when I sit with this, I think about my own frequency. and yours.
I have many friends and colleagues who know with certainty what their way is – often within a particular form. this beloved carries a mesa, this one works with buddhist chant, this one speaks through the language of art, this one serves through intellectual pursuit, this one works with physical health, this one studies the stars, and so on.
with such exactitude. such devotion.
each of them is such a strong emissary of their particular frequency and practice.
I laugh gently here, as I have yet to be able to label mine quite as tidily – my way blends working with the spirits, the natural world, being of service, and aligning with the power of love, flavored with reverence for kindness and wild beauty. this is my essential gift to offer and live in this lifetime.
my frequency is not the same as the holy man or the author, as the folks on big stages or my friends who walk with such grace. but mine is special and unique. just as yours is brilliantly, wonderfully, strangely, gloriously you.
I wonder what your gift is.
do you know?
this is our third sacred seed – knowing your essence, or frequency. your gift to the world. what makes you sacred, special, needed, beautiful. essential.
a message for 2026
we are skilled artisans creating a beautiful year
our three threads in the weaving so far are:
• certitude: a bone-deep, unyielding, absolute cleaving to your own particular truth. unwavering, deep dedication to path and purpose that occludes every challenge
• ‘training like an olympian:’ in every moment of every day – with every thought, every choice, every breath in devotion to your prayer for your particular life
• your unique gift: your wholly unique light, gift, frequency, and joy that only you can bring to the world. you are an emissary of your frequency, in every moment and breath
opportunities ahead
in 2026, our wild, beautiful world may get louder. or gentler.
there may be challenges ahead, initiations, spaces where we have opportunity to fall down and learn, or to wrap our arms around what is holy in each of us. to remember, let go, clean, honor, love.
there may be ease, grace, and miracles that take our breath away, and make a wonder of living for all life and all beings. a coming home to wild beauty, taking responsibility, living in flow.
however it goes – we are held, and we’re training like olympians in our prayers for our lives. we are called, and strongly, to be our unique gift in the world help make this world a beautiful and loving place. however the coming year unfolds, there will be more places for the light to get in.
in 2026
wondrous traveler between worlds, I offer this to you with a full heart and open arms:
in 2026, allow your own hope, love, and certitude to be the strong centers that makes you inviolable.
train ‘like an olympian’ every day in your particular prayer for your life, be it flow or kindness, beauty or service, humility or passion, generosity or joy.
know your gift and live it, so that you are an emissary of goodness in this world.
be it fully.
I do not know your way. I don’t know if your peace lives in stillness or spreadsheets or song. but I do know you are a gift, and that your offering to yourself this year – the most sacred one – is to live in a way that is good, strong, and aligned with love, no matter what may come.
there is hope, healing, and goodness ahead. feel it?
may you feel how loved and safe, cherished and vital – how essential you are. may you live from a place of your own truth, and walk in love.
with heart,
anna
ps – do you know one or two folks who would benefit from receiving the dreaming otter articles? if yes, please encourage them to subscribe to the email list at the end of this page. I would be so grateful – thanks, and may that kindness return to you a thousandfold.
