Vivian Hadleigh's Blog, page 2

Crystals-Prepare to Be Amazed!

What Quartz Crystals Can Do

 

Shamans, wise women, alchemists, and magicians have for centuries used crystals in their work.

Then, in the late 1980’s, IBM research scientist Marcel Vogel quantified, identified and demonstrated quartz crystals’ properties and how they could be applied to healing, meditation, and other metaphysical practices. After he went on to train some spiritual healers in crystals’ varied uses, it was only a matter of time before the healers’ enthusiasm shot crystals to the top of metaphysical pop charts.

FATTS – This acronym is the key to what Vogel documented about the therapeutic capacities of quartz crystals, including amethyst, Herkimer, citrine, smoky, Elestial, and rose quartz. Translated, it means that crystals can Focus, Amplify, Transform, Transmit, and Store energy.

 

To use crystals for any of these tasks (which are further described below), you first need to get into a centered, meditative space, holding a crystal you’ve already established a connection with. Next, you can learn how to send energy through or draw energy into a crystal using breath, visualization and, when you’re expert, directing energy with your will. Using Crystals: an ePocket Guide, and other excellent crystal books, could help you learn how to do all of this.

Focus – Crystals can focus your energy to a very exact point when you direct energy in through the base and out the tip of a natural crystal. The exercise in Chapter 3 of Using Crystals: an ePocket Guide teaches you one very effective technique. Since it’s hard to find polished crystals that honor the original inner structure, it is preferable to use natural crystals whose points are as flawless as possible.

Amplify – When you find a crystal with an internal structure that resonates strongly, it will amplify any energy that you direct through it.

Transform/Transmit – Crystals can not only get rid of negative energy by transforming it, they can emit energy that has been given a specific purpose, such as healing, or calm, or protection. Chapter 4 of Using Crystals: an ePocket Guide can give you one technique. You can also send and receive information psychically by holding a crystal programmed for that purpose.

Store – In 1994, scientists were able to store and then retrieve a digital holographic image of the Mona Lisa in the subatomic structure of a quartz crystal. I’ve been able to connect to a crystal I’m holding to store and retrieve the energies, and a certain amount of the information, from weekend spiritual workshops…even years later!

And, best of all-here’s an additional quality which I discovered during my work with crystals: Each one has its own sparkly, individual “personality” and “life path,” and when you get to know them, it’s kind of like having fairies around the house.

For lots more fun, surprising and ingenious ideas, get your own copy of Using Crystals: an ePocket Guide!

This originally appeared in October, 2009 as What Crystals Can Do, the first in a series of five articles published by California Psychics in two parts, and which is copywritten by them and published with the permission of Outlook Amusements, Inc, the owner and operator of California Psychics ®.

 © 2009 Outlook Amusements, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Lammas-Letting Go, the Harvest before Dying

Lammas or Lughnasadh – The Lesson of Frodo Baggins & Batman

In spite of its association with the first crops of the year—a celebration of the first harvest of abundance resulting from the Great Rite or Sacred Marriage of the Lord and Lady on Beltane—there is an underlying poignancy, a bittersweet tang to this cross-quarter holy day that is inescapable.

Even as he called forth the Earth’s abundance and planned and organized our world since the Summer Solstice, the god knew what was coming, and now he begins preparations to sacrifice his very being between the Fall Equinox and Samhain.

Lughnasadh (pronounced loo-nah-sah), also called Lammas, is the Pagan holy day that traditionally takes place from sundown July 31 to sundown on August 1. It is a fire celebration, and, as with Beltane, bonfires are usually an important part of Lammas rituals. County fairs, which typically abound at this time of year, began as funeral games in honor of the popular Celtic god Lugh and his foster mother, who sacrificed her life to feed her people.

Lugh is a dying god, the god of the waning Sun whose days are getting shorter. His other names—John Barleycorn, Green Man, Corn Man, Holly and Oak Kings, and so on—are names of the god who is sacrificed and returned to the land to assure bounty in the coming year.

He is also associated with Mercury, the winged messenger, the only Greek god who can cross the River Styx into the Underworld to take messages to Pluto or Hades, a foreshadowing of Lugh’s own journey in a few short months.

The bittersweet feeling of this holy day is very much like the dark undertones in comic book superhero movies like the recent Batman trilogy and the various versions of the Incredible Hulk. So many superheroes are orphaned warriors who are willing to journey to, or live in, isolation or some kind of underworld domain in order to serve the greater good.

Frodo in the Lord of the Rings books and movies, Jake Sully in the movie Avatar, had no idea of the consequences when they first agreed to save their worlds. But they, and every other hero, reaches a point where he or she sees very clearly that they will have to sacrifice an essential part of their being, their future, and even their lives, in order to complete their mission.

This holy day is that moment of realization.

For you it could mean finally recognizing that the end is near for a job, a relationship, a lifestyle, or something similar. It could be the moment you realize you’re not invincible, or immortal, or perhaps when you accept that some long held dream will not come true.

In that moment there are two important tasks.

The first task is to acknowledge and preserve that which can be harvested, the fruits of your dreaming, the wisdom gained and joy experienced while pursuing the dream.

The second task is acceptance, finding the strength to release what must soon be sacrificed, and to move on without it.

The energy of this holy day can support and enhance rituals that say goodbye to things which are passing from your life, or things you meant to do which will not come to fruition. You can project your farewells and regrets into, or write them on, objects like pine cones, corn husks or other visual symbols. After meditating with them or leaving them on your altar for a while, throw them into a Lughnasadh fire or into a nearby body of water. Or you can write what you’re releasing on bulbs and plant them to manifest in a new form in the spring.

However you acknowledge Lammas, do it with awareness of its gifts and possibilities, as well as its sorrows!

Meditation

Once you’ve created quiet and relaxing space, and have writing tools on hand, get comfortable, and go within. You may want to use the clearing and grounding meditation in the final chapter, which is also a free download at this site, as a beginning.

It’s not necessary to select something for release ahead of time, but you may wish to do so. Be prepared for the goddess and the god to add something, however. This task is one of the most difficult for us humans, and it’s all too easy to forget—or not even realize—the thing which most needs ending and release.

If you began doing these meditations with Samhain and experienced each one in turn, you’re probably ready for the intense communications triggered by this encounter with the god and the goddess archetypes.

However, if you are relatively new to this kind of interaction with other realms, affirm as you begin that even if you feel you are having difficulty seeing and hearing the messages at the time, the information will be firmly planted in your psyche, and will emerge to consciousness over time.

It may jump start the power and effectiveness of this inner journey if you begin by imagining yourself sitting near a lively bonfire and surrounded by the sights, sounds and smells of a county fair.

When you invite the god into this meditation, he will probably be accompanied by the goddess carrying a basket heaped with symbols of the things you can harvest from the experiences, issues or dreams which you and they have selected for release.

Present them with your choices for release and allow the god to respond with his recommendations, if any. Leave plenty of time for this part, not because there will be many, but because the god’s recommendations may be difficult to hear, and may require explanation and discussion.

When the discussion is over, the goddess will step forward with her overflowing basket, and you and she will discuss its contents. She will explain, using words, feelings, sights, sounds, fragrances and touch, the value and use of each gift which has resulted from your experiences.

Then you, the god, and the goddess will enact a ritual which allows you to accept and celebrate the harvest bounty, and prepare yourself to fully release that which is to be sacrificed or ended on the Fall Equinox.

Thank and release them, and make notes when you emerge from your experience.

This and additional meditations for each of the eight pagan holy days are available in my book

Sacred Cycles, Ancient Doorways to Inner Space on Amazon.com

The Allure of Winter

A Misunderstood Opportunity

It’s not about New Year’s resolutions …

 

We often speak of getting through the winter and surviving it rather than understanding the true magic hidden in the long dark months of the year. In addition to being the season of many holidays, and the delights of cold weather sports, winter can bring us spiritual renewal and teach us resilience.

Winter is about new life quietly beginning while the world appears barren and cold, and about the magic of introspection, dreaming and the power of the unconscious. Here are some ways to get in touch with the power of winter.

Outdoor magic

Grab some friends who are open to fresh experiences (sometimes kids are your best bet!). Find snow if you can, but at least go to a place with space and trees, away from the sounds of busy streets. Play a while, walk or hike, or gather winter greenery instead of buying it. Stop and listen to the winter silence, breathe the crisp air, feel the cold, look around at the bare (and snowy) winter landscape, and think about this:

Bears are a symbol of winter, deep introspection and dreaming. Bears sleep lightly during winter cold and scarcity, give birth and nourish their cubs in a quiet, isolated cave until time to emerge in the spring. But cubs are not the only new life which begins, hidden in the dark, during winter months. Plants which produce the most seeds actually germinate in deep winter.

Earth’s energy cycles

Farmers and gardeners, astrologers and emergency room staff are very aware of the power of lunar and solar cycles. As the dark and new moons are quiet times on earth, the winter is the sun’s quiet time. The month preceding and the month following the Winter Solstice, which occurs between December 20 and 22, are the sun’s ‘dark and new moon’ period.

New Year’s resolutions

So, it follows that New Year’s resolutions, which are typically action plans, usually fail because they are begun in times of introspection. Action plans do best in spring and summer, so try applying winter wisdom to your New Year and begin within.

Go deep

For example, rather than map out a rigorous diet and exercise plan to achieve perfect body and perfect health, begin with a question, such as “How can I develop a healthy, loving relationship with my body?” Then use the winter months exploring this and other questions using meditation, tarot, astrology, dream journaling and even daydreaming. In our practical, hard-charging world, carving out time for this kind of introspection can be difficult, and sometimes the actual act of dreaming or imagining is even more difficult for ‘reality’ oriented people but it’s worth a try.

A cozy night in

Consider this great way to encourage your imagination, your non-linear brain capacity for visioning, while at the same time deepening connections to family and friends during the winter months. Host evenings of storytelling or reading aloud or listening to books on tape in front of the fire. You can even combine it with stargazing! Get each person to find a different constellation myth—the more cultures the better—and tell the myths as you relax together.

In long-ago times, when people spent the winter months huddled around the hearth fire in lodges and mead halls, the most welcome visitors were the wandering bards and storytellers. Cocooned in the warmth of community, occupying their hands with repairing and spinning and weaving, people heard tales of heroes and gods, stories of little people overcoming impossible odds, and, listening, dreamed great dreams in a way that modern movie and TV watchers rarely do. So break out the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or Grimm’s Fairy Tales and let your imagination take flight.

Nourish new life

As you settle into winter quiet, even if for only an hour or two a day, your body and subconscious mind will begin to relax enough to entertain imaginative new ideas. And as your non-linear dreaming capacities begin to flourish, an organic process of healing and renewal will begin, almost invisibly.

Ideas and feelings begin to emerge to answer questions like: “How can I be happy?” “How can I thrive in today’s world?” “How can I find love?” and “How can I make a difference and contribute to the well-being of others?”

At first, some of those answers might seem surprising or outrageous (the dreaming, imaginative aspect of your brain loves outrageousness). Even so, be sure to welcome even the zaniest of your answers as gifts of possibility from your inner brainstorming sessions.

While you use winter’s introspective energy to nourish these flashes of inspiration, the viable ones will grow into concepts ready for a plan of action. By the time spring rolls around you will emerge refreshed from introspection, energized by new ideas, invigorated by dreams and visions and ready to create your future.

You can find more about how to get the most out of cycles and seasons, you can also read Life’s Cycles, Both Inner & Outer

For more ideas about how to align yourself with earth’s cycles and seasons for optimal mind, body and spirit health, take a look at my book Sacred Cycles: Ancient Doorways to Inner Space.

This and other blog posts are available at Amazon.com in my book Embracing Life in a Challenging World.

Originally published in 2008 by California Psychics in two parts, as The Allure of Winter and is published with the permission of Outlook Amusements, Inc, the owner and operator of California Psychics ®.

8 Rules of SUCCESSFUL Procrastination

Dawdling, Noodling or Creative Dreaming versus Self-Sabotage

 

What is a successful procrastinator? It’s someone who waits till the last possible minute, but still gets that project in on time or skids into that meeting just before the doors close.

Here are eight tips to help guide your success:

1 – Never forget that the point is to procrastinate and get away with it!

Of course, there are people who use procrastination as a form of passive-aggressive resistance, and the point then is to get caught. But that kind of procrastination is much more likely to end up as self-sabotage, and we’re talking about success.

2 – Successful procrastination is a very delicate art, and it depends on knowing and respecting your personal cycles and rhythms. It’s important to be able to count on having the focus, clarity, and energy you need when you need it.

For example, I’ve learned that in the spring and summer I need to stop procrastinating sooner. During fall and winter my inner processes are sharper and faster, and I’ve learned to adjust my schedules accordingly.

3 – Keep notes of any relevant ideas or insights you get while procrastinating, and put them where you’ll be able to find them quickly once you begin your project. A ‘memos’ app on your smartphone or tablet device is a great place for those notes. And, of course, don’t procrastinate about backing them up.

4 – Know and respect the cycles and requirements of whatever system or person you’re dealing with. When I write for a particular publication, one of the first things I do is find out about the absolute drop-dead deadlines. If I miss those, I create real problems for far more than myself, and I prefer to avoid that.

Some people don’t care if you’re a minute or two late—some hate it, and you can lose their trust if you abuse the privilege. At some point, the cost gets too high. Remember, this is about successful procrastination!

5 – Decide what you’re willing to pay for each procrastination, and don’t whine or resent the piper you’re going to have to pay once in a while. Face it, if you procrastinate, sometimes you’re just going to miss that deadline.

I used to be chronically late renewing drivers and car licenses—then one day I discovered that I really didn’t like paying those fines anymore, so I dropped that off my list of comfortable procrastinations.

6 – No excuses!

I wish I could whisper this so non-procrastinators can’t hear me, but people find it very disarming when you bravely acknowledge that you’ve messed up and apologize for missing a deadline. Also, the pain of confession may spur you to procrastinate more skillfully next time.

7 – Here’s the toughest, but most important rule. Successful procrastination depends on finely tuned awareness and responsiveness. If there’s something big in your life that you dread doing, the only way you’ll ever be a successful procrastinator is to just do the dreadful thing and get it out of the way.

Whether it’s facing a family issue, breaking up in a relationship, or leaving an unhappy job, it’s probably taking up so much of your subconscious attention that you’re incapable of the subtle awarenesses required to procrastinate successfully on the smaller stuff. You can’t concentrate properly when a large part of you is balled up in a wad of dread.

8 – Enjoy the time you spend procrastinating!

What a waste it is if you spend your goof-off time worrying about whether or not you’re going to get there/get done/leave on time. Might as well get up and get moving, and try dawdling again some other day.

This and other blog posts are available at Amazon.com in my book Embracing Life in a Challenging World.

Originally published in 2010 by California Psychics in two parts, as 8 Procrastination Tips and is published with the permission of Outlook Amusements, Inc, the owner and operator of California Psychics ®.

© 2008-2011 Outlook Amusements, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

Is There Really Not Enough to Go Around?

All You Need … When You Need it

Our way of life is one of the biggest obstacles to trust.

We believe that advance planning and preparation are critical to survival and success. In fact, we insist on proof of everything from love to nutrition to mathematical problems. We grow up having to prove ourselves, showing our worthiness before we can be trusted with the car, on a date and so on.

We’re taught to be very careful about giving trust in relationships, and we learn to stockpile money and stuff just in case we might need them some day—they might not be available then.

In other words, we’re taught that there’s not enough to go around and to behave accordingly.

The only place most of us hear about the value of trust is in our spiritual practice, whether it’s at church or in a yoga class, but whether we call it trust or faith, most of us really struggle with the concept.

Faith

Faith is usually understood to mean belief in a Higher Power, but it also means trusting that you will be provided with what you need when you need it, and that there naturally is always enough to go around.

More than that, trust is a way of being in the world that’s totally relaxed and open to the moment. Trust is a function of feeling, and we live in a thinking world, so becoming skillful at this can require some practice.

People who have faith, who really do trust their Higher Power or the workings of the Universe, know that all they need to do is make a wish and let it go. Then, if they think about it at all after that, it’s with a sense of smiling anticipation, like waiting for Christmas morning.

No endlessly repeated affirmations, no dream houses pasted on your mirror, no frantic prayers, no second guessing, no more than momentary fear or anxiety, no just-in-case planning. Just relaxed, positive expectation.

The Universe does it better

The biggest obstacle to abundance and love, the monkey wrench that wrecks anyone’s success in manifesting what they want, is a lack of trust.

And one of the hardest lessons to learn is that usually the Universe or your Higher Power can come up with better solutions than you can possibly imagine.

So, if you keep insisting that your need must be met in a particular way, and at a particular time, then you’re cutting off your most creative, resourceful and powerful gift-giver and problem-solver, your Higher Power!

Trust building tips:

Your best resource for building trust is your memory. The best way to start building trust is to remember the times you really, really needed something and it came to you, against all odds, either exactly as you requested, or in an even better form.

First, keeping a list or journal is helpful. Add to it daily if possible. Even more important, remember how you felt while waiting to get what you needed – and how you felt when it happened. Learning to recognize the feelings of expectation (if you just knew it would work out) and amazed fulfillment (when it did) is key, because that’s how you feel nearly all the time when you trust in good outcomes.

Next, think about the times when you were sure the world would come to an end if you didn’t have a particular need fulfilled, and it wasn’t fulfilled. Guess what? You survived! Remember what created the feelings of panic and the feeling of relief when the crisis passed. Were there unexpected ways your real needs, rather than your perceived needs, were met at the time? Were the solutions even better for you than what you so desperately wanted? More things to add to your journal…

Last but far from least, start noticing the really great things—and little fun things—that come to you that you hadn’t even thought to wish for. Then start remembering important ones from the past. The person you met, the job offer from out of nowhere, the huge tax refund, the unexpected inheritance, the daffodils that popped up unexpectedly in your yard, the $50 bill sitting next to your car door with no one nearby to claim it—these unexpected gifts all increase the awareness that you do live in a benevolent Universe. This could be the most important part of your journal!

After you’ve gathered all this evidence, begin your practice of trust with small things. Place your request, let it go and wait with relaxed anticipation. Then be sure to notice when what you get far exceeds what you asked for.

This and other blog posts are available at Amazon.com in my book Embracing Life in a Challenging World.

Originally published in 2009 by California Psychics in two parts, as “All You Need” and is published with the permission of Outlook Amusements, Inc, the owner and operator of California Psychics ®.

© 2008-2011 Outlook Amusements, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

Tarot & Your Soul’s Quest

The 22 cards of the Tarot’s Major Arcana are a map of the ascending spiral dance of your soul’s quest for evolution and enlightenment. Each card marks a step along the way and offers profound insights regarding where you are on your journey, why, and how to get the most out of each step.

You begin your journey as The Fool (0). In modern decks, The Fool is shown as naïve and a bit unconscious of his surroundings. But older decks often reveal The Fool as a carnival huckster or thief, a person steeped in the material world, greedy and grasping.

The Magician (I) is the one who jars you out of your trance. These days a Magician often enters your life as a speaker who excites you by demonstrating the powers of meditation, or the Law of Attraction, or perhaps a particular psychic ability. You battle your way through the crowd surrounding the speaker at the end of the lecture, and finally get to express your enthusiasm. The Magician smiles and hands you a map, which leads you to…

The Priestess (II), your first true spiritual teacher. She may instruct you in the mysteries of Tarot or meditation, psychic development or Reiki healing. When you have learned enough, she pulls back the curtain behind her and gestures you down the path to…

The Empress (III), who is Mother Earth, the Feminine Force, source of fertility, abundance, cycles and seasons, creation and destruction. Through her you learn how things unfold without intervention, that everything has its time, and that energy and possibility wax and wane, just as the Moon does. She then passes you on to her consort…

The Emperor (IV), who is the Masculine Force which expresses through will, action, order and form. He is the Grail King, the archetypal ruler whose health, for good or ill, determines the well-being of his kingdom. At his best, the Emperor is a benevolent, compassionate and caring ruler; at worst, he brings famine, war and destruction.

The Pope or Hierophant (V) is the first teacher who challenges you, who forces you to measure your new-found beliefs and knowledge against others’ perceptions. Here you get to find out what your friends and family think of your new ideas. If, after seeing their reactions, you want to continue on this path, you are granted permission to move on to…

The Lovers (VI). Originally The Lovers showed a young man choosing between two women, or two paths, deciding whether to go for carnal satisfaction or a higher, more sacred experience. Although today’s decks often show a couple, The Lovers card still asks you to choose your path, sacred or profane, and then to follow it without hedging.

If you again choose the sacred path, you next learn how to wield the Feminine and Masculine Forces, beginning with…

The Charioteer (VII), who demonstrates the power of focused will. He shows you how to control his team of horses or Sphinxes, not by using reins, but through the sheer impact of steady, powerful intent. You practice driving his chariot down the road to discover…

Strength (VIII), a woman leaning affectionately on a full grown lion. Her strength is a peaceful and loving heart, and she tames even the most ferocious creatures by approaching them with both kindness and kinship. Using the Feminine Force, the Law of Attraction, she creates by making a place where the possible can take form.

Now you move on to a hard-to-find trail which begins at the foot of a mountain and leads to…

The Hermit (IX), an old, solitary man in tattered clothes. You almost move on without speaking, until you recognize the wisdom in his ancient eyes. He guides you into the cave of your own heart, and teaches you to be quiet and still, and in the silence discover who you really are.

You depart The Hermit’s sanctuary by the back door, and find yourself stepping off into space! You fall, turning and turning, whirled around and around by the action of…

The Wheel of Fortune (X). Finally, you stop spinning and land! Dizzy and tired, you look around to get your bearings, and are stunned to see that you’re back where you began, but somehow…not. As you puzzle over your disorientation, you see before you…

Justice (XI). A blindfolded woman who holds a sword and scales. She explains that the next stage of your journey will seem more intense and challenging because you are learning about the Law of Karma, the balancing action of cause and effect. When she points her sword at your foot, something grabs your ankle and—whoosh!—you become…

The Hanged Man (XII). Oddly, you find that hanging upside down can be very restful, and are content to watch the world go by and enjoy how different things look from this position. Then you realize that you have been slowly lowering into the earth, and it’s too late to stop the ground from surrounding you and beginning to squeeze, and squeeze, until you finally slide free, reborn, and land at the feet of a skeleton in knight’s armor, who says that he is…

Death (XIII). He has come to help you get ‘down to the bones,’ to reveal the essential, innermost structures that give form and meaning to your life. Then he whips out his sword and, in a blur of action, slices away parts of your life that hold you back. When you’re through feeling astonished, you realize you feel lighter, freer, as you continue along your path until you meet the Archangel of transformation, who sweeps you into a process of…

Temperance (XIV). Relieved of outer burdens, you are ready to be remade. In an experience as demanding and uncomfortable as the intense heat and pounding used to temper steel, you are purified of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual ‘toxins,’ charged with spiritual energy, and then sent on to meet…

The Devil (XV). You find yourself in an inferno of torment, pitying the poor man and woman chained to the Devil’s pedestal, until you understand that you, too, are emotionally chained to parts of your past. Then you remember The Lovers’ lesson, that you can choose your path. Noticing that everyone’s chains are loose, you lift yours off and quietly escape into a dank, dark…

Tower (XVI). Feeling trapped, you realize that you’re still locked within beliefs and choices that no longer serve you. You race down narrow stone stairs, escaping just as bolt of lightning is unleashed from the forces raised by your transformation, reducing The Tower of your past to rubble, and freeing you to become…

The Star (XVII). You are pure, tingling energy, illuminated by the awareness that you are connected with everything in the Universe. There are no longer any outer obstacles between you and full realization and enlightenment, but, as you turn to explore the path further, you find yourself facing the still, dark pool and Karmic Pillars of…

The Moon (XVIII). You are nervous about the eerie surroundings until you see a sunny hill in the distance. As you study the dark pool, the water ripples and faces emerge from your subconscious. They are your faces, parts of you left behind long ago. These ‘yous’ offer to become one with you again, to carry you across the pool, past the Karmic Pillars, and down the path. You accept, and quickly find yourself on a green hill, standing in…

The Sun (XIX). You have become pure radiance, warmed by the Sun and lit from within by the power of your fully awakened inner Masculine and Feminine essences, and the ‘lost’ parts of yourself, which have been brought together into wholeness. Only the final stage remains, that of…

Resurrection or Judgment (XX). Now you encounter your Eternal Self, your Soul, and your past, present, and future lives, in a process of awakening that makes you realize that you are no longer one with all that is, you are all that is! You are…

The Universe (XI), a seamless and integral part of the Consciousness and Being that fill and encompass the ever-expanding sacred reality of life. You dance naked and ecstatic in front of the sacred hoop that forms the entrance to the next level of exploration.

And when you’re ready, you step through the hoop into the next level of the journey, where you begin—again—as The Fool (0).

This and other blog posts are available at Amazon.com in my book Embracing Life in a Challenging World.

Originally published in 2010 by California Psychics in two parts, as “Your Soul’s Quest” and is published with the permission of Outlook Amusements, Inc, the owner and operator of California Psychics ®.

© 2008-2011 Outlook Amusements, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

Astrology’s Spiritual Masters: Saturn, Chiron, Uranus, Neptune & Pluto

When astrology’s spiritual masters stop by your birth planets for a visit, their appearance can shake up your world. They can make you feel like you’re tiptoeing through a minefield or you’ve fallen down Alice’s rabbit hole—or you can feel as though you’ve been freed from bondage and are capable of achieving anything.

Astrology’s spiritual masters are the planets Saturn, Chiron, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, also known as the outer or transpersonal planets. Their location in your astrological chart at your birth can be very important, but the real excitement begins when their everyday movements (called transits) bring them into contact with other planets in your birth chart.

These contacts (called aspects) can last anywhere from a month to three years or more. They teach by bringing people and events into your life to challenge and inspire you. And when they do, astrology’s spiritual masters require that you step beyond your everyday habits and assumptions about the world to learn from them.

Their visits often surprise anyone but an astrologer—and their effects can surprise even the best-informed astrologers!—and whether you learn anything or grow from the experience is up to you. If you don’t get it this time around, they’ll be back in a few years to approach you from another angle.

The lessons shift focus, depending on which of your birth planets are being contacted, and what houses of your astrological chart are involved. You can get those details either by consulting an astrologer, or on your own by comparing current planetary positions with your birth chart.

The Masters

Here are astrology’s spiritual masters, and a question from each one to use as a compass to guide you through times when they contact your birth planets, or to integrate any challenges they may have presented in your birth chart. These questions are not for your rational mind, but for your dreaming mind or non-linear brain. And, there is no right or wrong answer—only the journey.

Saturn asks…

The planet Saturn, named for the Greek/Roman god Kronos, was father of Zeus and ruler of time—a structure which dominates everything on Earth. Saturn is about structures, rules and society’s expectations, and he expects you to live within them while being true to yourself. With Saturn, what goes around comes around. Saturn’s basic question is this: “Can you fully express the person you are, and the person you can become, through the life structures you have created consciously and unconsciously?”

Chiron inquires…

Chiron was a Centaur, an Immortal in Greek mythology, and the first physician. Chiron is known as the Wounded Healer because he received a mortal wound but, because he was Immortal, he could not die, nor could he heal. He exposes your most painful weaknesses, so that they may be accepted and integrated into your life. Former addicts who become drug and alcohol counselors do Chiron’s work. Chiron asks “How is your greatest weakness also your greatest strength—and how is your greatest strength your greatest weakness?”

Uranus probes…

Uranus is the sky god whose lightning bolt teaches through surprise and sudden changes. Uranus teaches through pratfalls (usually yours). Many people find Uranus transits particularly upsetting, because they are almost always about letting go of old (comfortable, known and “safe”) structures and ideas which are restricting your possibilities. Uranus asks the question: “What are you clinging to as if your life depended on it? And what in your life is ready to break free and become more?”

Neptune wonders…

Neptune, also known as Poseidon, is God of the seas. Neptune invites you to immerse yourself in the Ocean of Being, to leave behind everyday life and merge with All That Is, not to escape, but to return with transformational understanding and express it through your life. Because Neptune is the great dissolver, boundaries are weak under its influence. If you are not cooperating with its higher purpose it can trigger allergies, illness and substance abuse. Neptune’s question is “How can you remain an individual and be one with All That Is at the same time?”

Pluto examines…

Pluto is lord of the underworld, also known as Hades, and is best known for abducting Demeter’s daughter Persephone. A Pluto experience is much like what happens after a caterpillar spins its cocoon. The caterpillar basically disintegrates, and over time its cells, which hold the butterfly blueprint, create a new creature from the old substance. Pluto can hit your life like an abduction, temporarily snatching you out of ordinary reality and creating very dramatic situations, full of power struggles. Pluto’s question is: “What possibilities can you access only through complete surrender?”

The bottom line

The more you cooperate with the lessons of these spiritual masters through astrological contemplation, and then action, the more you gain from the time you spend under their influence.

Here’s an affirmation that helps when these planets visit your chart and stir up your world: “I welcome this opportunity to evolve.”

This and other blog posts are available at Amazon.com in my book Embracing Life in a Challenging World.

Originally published in 2010 by California Psychics as “Astrology’s Spiritual Masters” and is published with the permission of Outlook Amusements, Inc, the owner and operator of California Psychics ®.

© 2008-2011 Outlook Amusements, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

 

Choosing Solitude – Avoidance or Empowerment?

Solitude as a Sacred Path

Since those who draw their strength and inspiration from an interior life—in other words, introverts—make up only about 15% of the population in the West, it’s no wonder that people who choose a solitary path are largely misunderstood.

Others become uneasy because they don’t understand what could motivate someone to live outside the safe context of daily life, to reject the authority of society’s dictates and live alone. People bandy about terms like ‘social phobia’ and ‘social isolation’ as they worry about friends who have opted out of the social whirl. Loving and well-meaning parents often decide that an introverted child is ‘just shy’ and eagerly arrange more and more social activities while encouraging the child to ‘get over it.’

Solitude in religion

And even though an isolated spiritual path has been accepted and even honored in several religions, notably Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism, most modern religions have made no place for hermits. The Quaker religion is anchored in the blessings of silence and solitude, yet even in the Pagan movement the value of the solitary path is hotly debated.

It’s important to remember, though, that both Jesus and Buddha spent time as hermits on their paths to enlightenment, and for centuries monasteries all over the world have made special accommodations for hermits and anchorites. One Hindu sect considers isolation or solitude to be a natural, third phase of a four-part life. Interestingly, a recent survey of religious hermits in the US showed that this path was normally chosen by people in their 40s and 50s, and more often by women than men, although it included couples. A majority said that they felt it was time to set aside the duty of personal service to humanity in favor of unwavering devotion to God through simplicity, meditation, and prayer.

When it’s avoidance

When is being a recluse a bad thing? When you decide not to date because you’re tired of being hurt, you’re convinced that no one knows how to be faithful any more, or that you’ll just be left alone again so why bother, you’re choosing solitude out of fear, and that’s not healthy.

When the isolation is involuntary, as seems to happen most frequently with housebound elders, it’s tragic. If, when you’re alone in the car or your home, you tend to fill the silence with television, music or podcasts, then solitude might not be a good choice. Or when you feel alone rather than cozy, then solitude is simply not right for you, at least not at this stage in your life.

When it’s right

Solitude is empowering, it becomes a sacred path, when you want to focus within for spiritual, emotional or creative reasons—or if you’re ready to embark on a profound reorientation in your life, such as when, after a difficult divorce, you set aside time to rediscover who you are, who you’ve become, and then go on to build new goals and a new life from that knowledge.

The Tarot solitary

One of the best known images of a solitary spiritual seeker is The Hermit, card number IX in the Tarot Major Arcana. This Hermit is the Tarot’s Wise Man, who has attained enlightenment through introspection and who now holds up the light of knowledge and spiritual insight to guide the steps of pilgrims who happen upon him. He lives alone but welcomes travelers along his out-of-the-way path.

In divination, The Hermit represents introspection, spiritual maturity, discipline, or control, the balance between ‘reality’ and wisdom and between authority and self-reliance, as well as the power of silence, and the ability to gather and hold energy and knowledge rather than dissipating it through talk and action.

The Hermit probably evolved from a traditional character in Medieval romances, in which the hermit was a wise old man ready to help a knight errant on his quest. The Star Wars movies’ Jedi masters Obi Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda are archetypal hermits.

It takes courage

Solitude as a sacred path isn’t for the faint of heart, and truly isn’t the best choice for everyone.

But you’ll know it’s the right path for you if you long for solitude and silence like a thirsty man lost in the desert and, when you get it, your entire being breathes a profound sigh of relief.

And when solitude is a healing choice, when and if the moment comes to re-engage with society, that calling is as powerful and welcome as was the original summons to solitude.

© 2008-2011 Outlook Amusements, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

Life’s Cycles, Both Inner and Outer

Our culture is so powerfully focused on growth, expansion and achievement that it’s hard to remember that Earth is a place of cycles and that, no matter how we struggle and kick, cycles affect us every day. About what kind of energy is available right now in all kinds of areas – economic cycles…life cycles…relationship cycles, cycles affecting weather, health, work and play.

With that in mind, have you ever observed your personal cycles and used the unique energies of each phase to create a better life experience? It’s really quite easy. Here’s how:

Start by looking out your window. The moon waxes, wanes to darkness and waxes to full light again. Seasons cycle from spring to summer to fall to winter and back to spring every year. Ancient peoples had to learn to work with seasonal cycles to survive, but how can those lessons apply today?

Spring lessons

Spring looks easy. Flowers are blooming, days are longer, opportunities and possibilities are everywhere. The challenge of spring is discernment, attention to detail. You can get so excited about grabbing all the goodies that you forget to ask questions, to look closely at what you’re planting.

Spring teaches you that care in the beginning is important, whether it’s a job or relationship or new exercise program. Look at what’s new and ask yourself: “Will this be something I want to harvest in the fall?” Could a new lover’s possessive behavior lead to a crop of unpleasantness? Could this new employer’s eagerness to keep you busy be a way to keep you from asking some important questions about compensation, job description, responsibilities?

Summer lessons

Everything’s going gangbusters. Crops are shooting up, the sun is inviting you out to play, your star is on the rise at work. What’s to learn? The lesson of pausing to check everything, the lesson of tending to each part of a project—weeding, watering, fertilizing, trimming and thinning all can make for more abundant crops.

Perhaps you’re planning to be married. The wedding’s set, gifts are arriving, everything’s taken on a life of its own— and you’re having cold feet. Time to do some weeding. Or, you may be doing so well at work that people are piling on new projects at a mad rate, but you’re starting to falter. Then it’s time to do some thinning!

Fall lessons

There’s plenty to celebrate in the fall—a project completed successfully, an anniversary, your child is going off to college. You made it! It’s “count your blessings” time, time to share the glory, time to store what you’ll need for winter, and what you’ll want to re-plant in spring.

There’s also something poignant about fall which is important to remember. It signals the beginning of the end of this particular cycle. And your next cycle will be more successful if you take the time to evaluate this one, and to plan what you’ll do next time. Think of it as going back to school (and maybe you are) and planning for the year ahead, while also looking back at fond summer memories and reflecting on what you’ve gained from them.

Winter lessons

There are two important winter lessons.

First, spring always follows winter, so remember that where there is life there will be renewal. In fact, green shoots of many plants that will show in spring actually begin to sprout underground when the winter season begins. Winter is a rest stop of sorts, your opportunity for reflection, re-evaluation, realignment and letting go. Ancients repaired tools, sorted seeds, and deepened their family and community relationships.

Applying winter’s lessons to your marriage or other relationships could mean a renewal that might have seemed impossible. You could do a retreat or weekend trip together, a quiet time which supports reflection and honest assessment of what’s working in your relationship and what’s not. What do you want to keep and re-plant in spring. Or, what’s no longer useful?

Clashing cycles

Things can get tricky when you have more than one cycle in your life at a critical point at the same time and they aren’t in the same phase. Say your star’s rising at work and you suddenly have a health problem that seriously affects your energy levels.

Your health challenge gives you the opportunity to apply winter lessons to that situation, and because your job is in a summer cycle, it has the energy to run on its own for a while. Your health forces you to reflect, re-evaluate, sort your priorities, and if necessary build relationships at work to allow you to delegate some of the day to day tasks at work so you are free to deal with your health.

Always remember, no matter how rough your winter cycles have been, spring will come, as it has here in the Northern Hemisphere. Where there is life, there is always renewal.

If you would like to deepen your understanding of how the earth’s cycles and seasons affect your body, mind, emotions and spirit, you might want to look at my book Sacred Cycles: Ancient Doorways to Inner Space.

This and other blog posts are collected in my book Embracing Life in a Challenging World.

© 2008-2011 Outlook Amusements, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

Portions of this article originally appeared as Life’s Cycles in  the CaliforniaPsychics.com blog, and is published with the permission of Outlook Amusements, Inc., the owner and operator of California Psychics ®.

 

If Your Soul Mate Opts Out, Part 4 of 4

Very few things are as painful emotionally, for men and women alike, as losing, or never consummating, a relationship with someone you believe is a soul partner.

And it doesn’t seem to matter whether you recognized the other person as a soul friend, soul mate, or some other kind of soul relationship, the fact is, if you have the unshakeable conviction that the purpose the two of you share is unfulfilled, then it seems impossible to let go.

If you find yourself hearing and even agreeing with loving advice, or even harangues from friends and family about letting go—and still not being able to let go—take heart. You can and will heal and move on.

Take it higher

In order to find your way through to healing in these cases, it’s essential to work on it at a soul, not a personality, level. This is important for several reasons.

First, if you’re approaching this on a soul level by using a technique like the one in the blog post Soul-to-Soul Communication, you won’t interfere with anyone’s karma or free will.

Second, since the agreement was originally made on a soul level, it can only be fully understood on that level.

And third, since your Soul or Higher Self will be your mediator, it gives you absolute freedom and safety in which to express all your feelings, the high and the low, the murderous and the weepy, the vengeful and the compassionate.

Stuck in personality level

As long as your personality is struggling along, trying to fix or figure out the situation without the wisdom and perspective of the soul, it’s almost impossible to let go.

When you’ve conferred with, and then handed your sorrow and frustrations over to, the soul essences of both you and the partner you wanted, miracles can occur. It’ll help if you understand how miracles work, so take a look at the blog post Miracles 101 even before you use the soul to soul communication technique.

Unexpected results

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have a relationship after all—in this lifetime, at least. It does, however, mean that an open wound—the feeling that you’re struggling with a severed limb, or that you’re walled in by sorrow or an inability to see any future when the one you expected is denied you—can and will be healed, and you can be happy and fulfilled again, when and if you relate to the situation on a soul level.

See Also: Soul Agreements, Soul Friends, and Soul to Soul Communication, all chapters from my book Embracing Life in a Challenging World.

Portions originally published in August, 2010, in the www.CaliforniaPsychics.com blog.

© 2008-2011 Outlook Amusements, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

Portions of this article originally appeared in the CaliforniaPsychics.com blog, and is published with the permission of Outlook Amusements, Inc., the owner and operator of California Psychics ®.