It's been awhile since I last wrote about money  — one of my greatest apprenticeships this lifetime. I just discovered a fabulous local networking group with the intriguing title, "New Consciousness Entrepreneurs," and knew upon arriving that I was home. The woman who conceived of and facilitates the group, Maggie Ostara, has, in the synchronous way our lives intertwine these days, been on my What Shines newsletter mailing list for years.

Maggie's topic for the first meeting I attended was, "Marketing is Not A Four-Letter Word!" The other women seated around the table chuckled, because, while we come from diverse backgrounds, what we all have in common is an ingrained terror of taking our spiritual work public in a way that also supports us financially — something we have no trouble doing for our clients.

This is our mission now: to "step into our soul signature," as Maggie brilliantly puts it, and align with our life purpose in a grander way than ever before. We are all being called to this level of greatness. Answering the call means naming and releasing our blocks to personal and planetary expansion, such as: "Good girls don't sell themselves" (the Prostitute archetype). Another is the Saboteur, who tries to protect us from being metaphorically beheaded for speaking our truth to a vast audience.

Psychotherapist Vicki Van Winkle shared how when she speaks, she senses that people who don't know her well are judging her for having her own unresolved issues. Yet the Wounded Healer is ideally suited to serve others, because she comes from empathy. I pointed out that Vicki's surname is an amusing key as to why she activates others' shadows: people who have been asleep for years are waking up, and the experience for many is rather jarring.

"We need to be spiritual in the face of the world," affirms Irene Turner, who travels the globe helping individuals and businesses create soul-centered interior design. Our personal interiors require the same sensitive makeover.

Heidi Sue Roth envisions "marketing" as a server in a fine restaurant, bringing around a tray of mouth-watering desserts at the end of a sumptuous meal. It's not about selling yourself (or selling your soul); it's an invitation to taste the sweetness you desire and deserve.

Marketing with heart is like a mobius strip: we're continually exploring the money, exploring the heart, seeing how the two interpenetrate and play with one another, always able to return to balance. Competition has morphed to collaboration, and collaboration at its best is playful; by the close of our 90-minute gathering (originally slated for one hour) we were all playing full out, sharing ideas and leads and brainstorming ways to serve one another's growth path. Imagine all of us doing this, every day, and receiving abundance in all forms for such service. The Internet is one fantastic tool to help us grow there. And we are.

For further illumination: