MPC Special Edition
Friend Spotlight
Little more than a month ago, I responded to a call for collaboration from another intentional author on Substack. I’d seen these invitations before, and they sparked intrigue every time.
Needless to say, I was delighted when Dawna Kreis reached out to explore possibilities.
Let me tell you—Dawna came prepared with beautifully designed collateral that led me down many paths. All I had to do was feel into the right space for us to begin our conversation. And this wasn’t difficult. It seems we’re riding the same frequency, as each of us had tuned into similar energetic maps for our work in 2026.
As an Emberkeeper, Dawna is well aware of the ancient traditions of this practice and its power. She tends the fires that stir, but holds the flame at bay—until it is ready to ignite, or reignite, as so many souls on Mother Earth are now remembering who they are, and have always been.
After spending time with The Quiet Recalibration, you may sense that my recent pieces—and transmissions from The Collective—have been walking alongside Dawna’s intuitive insights and wisdom. Indeed, our paths have unfolded in parallel, which only speaks to the synchronous energy all around us in this moment of Great Awakening.
For now, settle into this threshold—this choicepoint—where the last chill of winter gives way to the carefully tended embers of Dawna Kreis.
The Quiet Recalibration: Holding the Reins at the Threshold
By Dawna Kreis, The Ember Way
There are moments in the collective field when something shifts. Not loudly or with spectacle, but with pressure. Maybe it’s a subtle acceleration, tremor beneath the soil, or even a sense that we have crossed into new terrain, even if the landscape looks the same.
Pam Gregory has described this as a Choicepoint.
Not a dramatic fork in the road, but a threshold that asks for conscious participation.
The energy feels hotter. Faster. Charged. Like fire introduced into dry grass. Like a horse at the gate, muscles tensed, nostrils flared, ready to bolt.
From experience, this can feel disorienting!
When fire enters the field, it activates momentum and tempts urgency. It whispers, Move. Leap. Go now. In these moments, especially, our focus becomes our superpower. Where attention goes, energy flows. Whatever we attend to will amplify.
But there is a quieter truth rising beneath the heat. Just like the earth, we are only just sprouting.
Early March is not high summer. The soil is still cool. The roots are still tender, and fire, when introduced too soon, can scorch what has barely begun to emerge.
This is not the season for forced blooming.
When Fire Meets an Unready Gate
The image that keeps returning to my mind’s eye is that of a runaway horse.
The Horse carries instinct, vitality, propulsion. The Fire amplifies it. Together, they can initiate breathtaking movement, but without steady hands on the reins, timing, or a gate that opens in alignment, that same force can become destabilizing.
When we try to push open what is not ready, interpret delay as “failure,” or try to force the bloom because we fear missing the moment…
Our nervous systems will feel it.
The body tightens. Sleep becomes restless, or we override subtle no’s. We gallop past the wisdom found in pacing ourselves.
What we sometimes name as “rejection” is often protection. A door not opening, an opportunity that has stalled, or energy moving slowly despite our desire for ignition. This is not punishment, as our egos might try to convince us. It is timing.
And spiritual timing responds to readiness, which is not measured by desire alone, but by the integrity of our roots.
Fire without rootedness will result in depletion, and momentum without containment results in fragmentation.
The gate does not open because the field is calibrating.
Holding the Reins, Honoring the Sprout
There is another way to meet this energy.
Instead of resisting the fire or completely surrendering to it, we hold the reins steady.
We feel the heat without letting it take control of our body, noticing the acceleration without mistaking it for instruction. We choose our focus deliberately, knowing that it determines what grows.
Holding the reins is not suppression; it is stewardship.
It is the quiet discipline of saying, I will not bloom before I am rooted, and trusting that what is meant for this season will not require force.
The sprout does not compete with the sun; it receives it in increments.
At a Choicepoint, the invitation is not to prove readiness through speed. It is to embody readiness through Presence.
The Fire Horse does not need to bolt to be powerful; it becomes magnificent when it runs in right timing… guided, attuned, integrated.
So if things are moving slowly in your life right now…
If certain gates appear closed, or the bloom feels delayed, consider that this, too, is alignment. And remember that focus is your superpower, timing is your protection.
Let the field warm gradually.
Let the sprout strengthen in Divine Timing.
The season of radiance will come… not because you forced it, but because you honored it.
With firelight and fierce love,
Dawna Kreis is a Soul Guide, Emberkeeper, and Sacred Softener who walks with sensitive souls through threshold seasons… those tender, often invisible moments when the old self no longer fits, and the new one is still becoming.
Through her 1:1 Emberwork and her rhythm-based writing on The Ember Way, Dawna offers soul-led support for those navigating grief, unraveling, spiritual reawakening, and creative return.
To explore her offerings or walk The Ember Way, visit emberway.substack.com.
💖 We are buoyed by voices like Dawna’s. She doesn’t tell you how to be, what to do, or what to feel. Instead, you’re invited to maintain your sovereignty, listen to your own divine wisdom, and reclaim your inner trust.
If you feel called, we’d love to hear from you in the comments:
What embers are stirring within you right now?
How are you tending them—or longing to?
Do you sense yourself standing at a true choicepoint?
And if you’d like to embrace the full circle of our synchronicity, here’s my piece, Reorganizing the Field, as presented in Dawna’s Guest Fridays By the Hearth inside The Ember Way.
In joy and unity, always.
Mark of the Soul LLC | All Rights Reserved | markofthesoul.com
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✨ NOW WE SOAR—The Collective’s March 2026 Transmission is now live









Thank you so much for your kind words, Mark. 🙏💖 I'm deeply honored and grateful to you for hosting me and sharing my words with the members of your community.