A pattern is a form of energy that is repeated. A good place to start transforming my energy is to be aware of patterns that are useful and those that are not. Once I have identified a pattern that is not useful, I have the opportunity to change it. This often involves a change in my identity: I have to stop being something I am in order to be something new. This can be difficult, especially when the thing I want to change is ego-driven behavior.

A’riquea: This is a good thing to be thinking about––how much Ego is in charge. This was discussed in Grandmother Dreams. Of course, we want Spirit to be the motivation for our actions. That is the spiritual core expressed. And Ego, the physical manifestation, is the vehicle for bringing that forth. Questions about identity are important.

People have difficulty seeing how they wear the masks of identity because it requires that the observer take off the mask in order to see it. Taking off the mask is not easy. Mask, or identity, is part of physical presence. We spend a lifetime creating these masks. They are glued to what we think of as our body.

One way to think about a mask is to see it as a role. We develop roles in order to fit into social constructs, like family and community. These have positive effects on survival. It is not so important to discard the role as to be able to see it. Once it is seen, then we can choose whether we want to have this role or not. We can choose to retain the positive skills we may have learned while wearing the mask, and we may choose to let the negative, reactive skills fall away.

Naturally, one can have many roles, many masks, and they will each need to be peeled back in order to truly express the spiritual core.