A good friend just asked me if I thought he should sign up for a (fee based) ascension program. The article below is based on my reply to him:

"Really, my dear friend, I don't have much of a view on if you should do this - the decision is, I think, personal to you. The ascension process is under way as a 'natural' phenomenon, known about and anticipated in the writings of ancient philosophers - and we all have the opportunity. Anyone who is a good soul, respectful of the world and people around them, and open minded to evolving their spiritual path is, in my view, well placed already. That's not to say that an orderly and informed support group would not help one's personal practices and disciplines in this respect. But it might just as easily take you off your path, especially (and it’s my personal prejudice here) if fee-based and motivated! I prefer the exploring nature of mutual support groups (perhaps like the one you already attend), rather than 'talk and chalk' or ‘path mandating’ teachers. But I guess each such offer is best assessed individually. And, Biblically speaking, there are many valid paths ("My Father's house has many mansions", to quote)".

Before I moved from England to France, I had an elderly gardener who talked all the time to the elemental beings that inhabited and supported my flower beds and vegetable patch. I heard him talking to them one day, which he did all the time. I asked about it, and he explained how they would assist him if he worked with them – and, together, they certainly got results. Yet he claimed that he had no religious or spiritual interests. I would say that he was right there, in terms of ascension, being perfectly attuned to a wider world that most are unaware of.

I have experienced that niche of ‘deeply spiritual’ people who are SO convinced that they have the right and only path – and seek to impose it to all around them. Rather unpleasant, actually. This spiritual rigidity is, I suspect, something that will need to open up to much greater flexibility to allow their personal ascension. And that process might well be a rather cathartic one.

Deeply religious people – the genuine ones – are, I think, in a good place, for they have reverence and commitment to a higher path. But many of their priests are not in such a good space, especially those who are part of a great religious control pyramid, where their ‘flock’ are taught that they are ‘humble sinners’ and must confess regularly. I think of them as ‘false priests’, proslytising a long running religious meme that often serves to suppress the spiritual journey of those around them.

I have also met priests of multiple faiths who I experience as highly expanded souls, genuinely supporting the spiritual journey of those they serve to great effect. For such a person, if they work to spiritually support another who, as a result of that support, apparently goes racing past them in terms of their expanding spiritual path – this, for the priest, is a success. These capable facilitators of spiritual growth are what I call ‘true priests’, and what they do is highly valuable. I would rather expect such a person to ascend naturally and seamlessly when the time comes.

As for those in ‘high places’ – politicians, business heads, government officials, etc – who manipulate everything and everyone around them for their own gain: well, Jesus once said, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24.). So much, I suspect, for the ascension hopes of this group! Maybe next time around – the next ascension point, many hundreds of years from now, and after growing and mellowing through a good many more lifetimes?

The real portal of ascension is, for me, an inner faculty. If you have an open and generous heart, sound values and principles, and respect for others including the planet and its many passengers – perhaps you need little more than this?

Xavier Hermes