Every flower begins as a bud. Within the bud is the potential to bloom. Blooming can only happen from the inside. It happens almost imperceptibly at a pace of its own. There is fragility, tenderness and beauty in the process. Clumsy intrusions can only slow the process down. Creating the right external conditions is enough to support the process. On completion something new has been revealed, something which at its core is nourishing and vital to life. I believe the Aura-Soma consultation process is just like this; and that the essence of this process is simplicity.
This article is written to share some of the key elements of this simpler approach. It also mentions a key moment in the evolution of my own view on this process. As you may know I have been involved with Aura-Soma for a long time. For many of those years I have been deeply immersed in the philosophy of Aura-Soma, the knowledge that has grown up around the system, and the way that Aura-Soma connects with other wisdom traditions most notably the Tree of Life and the Language of Number. I think these subjects afford fascinating, stimulating and insightful possibilities. There is no doubt that I have grown through these explorations and found them for the most part a source of wonder and inspiration. However in my work with people at the level of consultations it has become increasingly apparent that all these other wonderful systems and the knowledge of Aura-Soma are secondary to the process of the Aura-Soma consultation.
Stripped to its essence an Aura-Soma consultation is a meeting facilitated by the presence of four Equilibrium bottles. At the first level this is a meeting between two people, practitioner and client. At another level, as I discuss later, it is a meeting that occurs within the client. My key sentence of the moment to describe the purpose and potential of an Aura-Soma consultation is: “The Aura-Soma consultation reveals and heals that which is most important to you now.” My focus as practitioner in the consultation is to be entirely helpful to the client. The best way I know to be of help is to be simple: be present, offer non-intrusively, listen, respond and be peacefully supportive. The next few paragraphs speak of some of the simple practices I employ in consultations these days to support this inner meeting process within the client.
Starting the Consultation
Generally speaking once the four bottles have been chosen I begin by providing the client with an overview of the potential and process of the consultation. I will say that these four bottles are a mirror for something important inside them, that this consultation is the opportunity to open and explore this important inner theme, that through this exploration we may come to new understandings, a release from old stories and the start of something new, something new that does not deny the past but integrates it. I will also say that the consultation is not a reading for the four bottles, that the story is inside them and that therefore this process of exploration is one that we will do together.
I then go on to say a few words about the position of the four bottles and what each position represents. I will also say a few words about anything that is striking from the colours selected, perhaps a particular pattern that shows, and I will say a few words on some broad meanings regarding the colours that are contained within the bottles. My purpose in all this is to set the scene, to provide a few openings, to sow a few seeds.
Going Deeper
However it is really important to me not to lead the client into a story that is not their own. As soon as possible I want to let the real process of the Aura-Soma consultation begin. This process is, to my mind, the meeting between the client and the energies selected within the bottles. I find the bottles great tools to stimulate to consciousness that which is important within the person. It is always important to me that I work in a non-intrusive way. I always first ask the client whether they would like to try something, if they would like to explore this (whatever is appearing) more deeply? If the answer is “No” than that is a boundary I would not cross (although it is boundary I may revisit later in the consultation.) If the answer is “Yes” then I generally ask them next where they would like to begin, with which bottle. As far as possible I wish the consultation to respect the inner knowing and readiness of the client. I am there to support them, to be entirely helpful to them.
What comes out of this meeting between the client and the energies within the bottles is a real process, real to the point that time often seems to disappear – 90 minutes can seem as no time at all. Real does not mean however that the process is always clear, especially in the beginning. Recently there was a client with lots of violet including B16 in the first position; at the start her statements were very abstract, but in time, working with her, we moved beyond the headiness of violet and entered the red of her base fraction second bottle, at which point her sharing became more direct and of substance – and the real issue emerged. Nevertheless it is more often the case that it the process is surprisingly easy to begin. The goal of the process is to come to the thing that is important and real and true for the client, the point which seeks to be acknowledged and integrated, the point from which new growth can begin in their life.
Simplicity is the Key
Throughout this is a simple process, not laden with information about the Tree of Life, the language of colour and number, hidden colours, bottles behind bottles or incarnation experiences etc. It is a story that emerges out of the client, very often free of knowledge or the expectations of Aura-Soma. Sometimes what is revealed is surprising, not the textbook expectation, but it is nearly always helpful to the journey of the client. In my own work with consultations I feel I have turned a corner, I turned it some time ago. It happened gradually but now that I have rounded the bend the difference is clear. The change happened since I have been presenting the Practices and Principles of Aura-Soma course – a consultation skills course which has grown out of the Aura-Soma four bottle selection. The greatest gift the course has given to me so far is a new and deeper trust in the process of people meeting the energies of Aura-Soma. It has revitalised my feeling for the potential of Aura-Soma and it has given me confidence not in myself alone but the Aura-Soma process itself.
Thus simplicity is the key I have come to value the most. I do not belittle the value of knowledge; for many years I have been in awe of its wonders, I still am. Without it I would not be able to work as I do today. An analogy with a composer such as Mozart is useful here. The music that came to him could not have been grounded had he not first become adept with playing and notating music. His grasp of the technical side of music was a prerequisite for his genius to express itself. But his inspiration did not arise out of a focus on the technicalities, it was free flowing beyond them. I feel the same about my work with Aura-Soma; the knowledge and the complexity are ingredients, important ingredients, but at a certain point simplicity emerges as the essence.
