Things are changing....again. They are changing in the outside world as well as in my inner world. What is happening in the outside world, the speeding up of time, the call to values, the rise of global consciousness, etc. is exciting as well as curiosity provoking. What will things look like in the near future? How will we BE in the world around us?
The same can be said for what is happening in my inner world. I am changing. It is both exciting and curiosity provoking. What will my inner world look like in the near future? and how will I BE in the world around me?
The process in my inner world began with a loss of a job that I truly enjoyed. That is to say it was the catalyst for change. (Anybody remember the book "Necessary Losses"?) What then really started the dynamic catabolism inside me was the opening of energy channels during level 1 Reiki training. I believe the change both in the outside world and the inside world is a call to simplicity.
We often espouse such things as "less is more", or "spirituality rather than materialism". Most of us, though, struggle with making those ideas a reality. We find it difficult to step outside of mind and into the connection with divine energy. We are bombarded with advertising, consumerism, and holes in our psyche telling us we are "less than" if we do not have at least as many toys, bells, and whistles as our neighbor or our best friend or the guy we work with.
In the outside world we are being called to simplicity because if we don't there will no longer be resources for survival. In addition, the raising of consciousness has begun to see the unfairness of some having everything and others having little or nothing. There is also the recent factor of seeing on a global scale the devastation that greed, the opposite of simplicity, has wreaked on economies on the macrocosmic level and struggling individuals on the microcosmic level.
In my inner world, my psychic holes allowed me to clutter my life with "stuff". My house right now looks like a bomb hit it. Cupboards have been emptied, furniture used for storage has been emptied and it's all in piles on the floor and everywhere. I am appalled when I realize how much "stuff" there is! So much of it is superfluous, unnecessary, no longer has a purpose or meaning. I am cleaning out. I can't function properly with all this molecular jumping around that doesn't belong in my energy field.
A number of years ago (the late 70's) I took a thirty day tour of Jordan and Israel. I am not a typical tourist. I like to explore the back roads. I like to eat where the locals eat. I like to buy real meaningful things to bring home instead of tourist trinkets. I often departed from my group to explore something meaningful to me. What I discovered was this: There are only three things NECESSARY for life -- enough water to drink, enough bread to eat, and enough fire for warmth. Okay, a little spartan but true. Then it's important to add some love: divine love, family love. I was humbled by my experience in the desert with a little woman with 2 small children bent over a fire making tea with a small herd of goats nearby. This is why Jesus said "look at the lillies of the field, they toil not nor spin...." We worry too much about what we THINK we need and forget that our connection to the Divine takes care of us!
When I came home from that experience, I walked into my home and it was culture shock. Everything in my surroundings seemed meaningless. Although I never forgot the lesson, it didn't take long for the veil to drop back over my eyes and my American excesses to reclaim my spirit and plunge it back into unconsciousness. The God and Goddess be thanked -- I am finally reawakening!
To feel secure, I have always lived in a cave-like environment and envisioned my perfect ideal home to be a real cave if I could ever find the one in my head (it was quite something!). Now my "cozy little nest seems dark and claustrophobic. The heavy drapes are going away; light is coming in. Heavy furniture is disappearing and simplicity is taking its place. It is important for continuing growth to not be tied down by volumes of possessions but to be freed from all that clutter, all those dust-catching objects. My surroundings need to feel as light and airy as a delightful walk in nature with a gentle breeze on my face.
Who knew that one day of Reiki training would produce so much difference? I had peeled off enough onion layers to be ready. I had heard the Divine whispering (or screaming!) "SIMPLICITY" for some time; now I am able to set my feet to walk that path. The art of simplicity is to not look back, keep moving forward, engage detachment and keep living, loving and laughing.
Namaste! July 21, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Power Animals
A couple weeks ago before I became ill and seemed to drop off the planet I was twittering with a person or two regarding power animals. I received an inquiry from someone asking what is a power animal. I shall attempt to answer that in a very simplistic way.
In pre-christian shamanistic cultures people were more in touch with nature, animals and the blessings of the earth. Animals were often seen as guides to be learned from. Each type of animal had its own lessons to impart based on their instinctive behaviors and the benefits or advantages inherent in them. When an animal crossed a person's path at an auspicious moment, or began to show up in one's life repeatedly over a period of time, it was paid attention to. This is a temporary lesson giver or spirit guide.
In addition to the above examples, however, something more was important early in life. A young person during one of many rites of passage would deliberately search for that one (or sometimes two) animal that would be a life-long totem or spirit guide. This was known as the power animal. Once discovered, a very special bond developed between the person and the animal that deepened over the course of a lifetime with its trials, accomplishments, sadnesses and joys.
Just how did this process take place, you might ask. The world we consciously live in on a day to day basis is called the middle world. This implies that there are other worlds if this is a "middle world" and indeed that is the case. In traditional Native American spiritual cosmology there is also the lower world and the upper world. The Hopi have a myth that Kokopelli led the people out from the lower world to the middle world at the beginning of this present age. It is the lower world that a person journeys to in order to find a power animal. The seeker journeys to the lower world in a trance like state to the sound of the drum. The drum is considered the horse that carries the soul on its journey.
It is imperative that the seeker have a clear picture in mind of the place in the middle world through which to descend and enter the lower world. Without a firm point to act as a compass the seeker might become lost and not re-enter the middle world creating a vacancy or what western medicine would call mental illness in this world.
Upon entering the lower world, the seeker waits patiently for the power animal to reveal itself. It is usually always the first animal that speaks to the seeker. Power animals are NEVER insects. Certain insects do have meaning when they cross our paths in the middle world. For instance, the spider represents creativity, dragonflys joy, ladybugs luck. However, they do not ever become power animals which have much deeper, more substantial teaching and guiding roles to play.
A power animal is respected and honored all of one's life. They are not to be ignored. Many dances were developed to honor the spirit of prominent animal guides. Over a lifetime a person forged a familiarity and oneness with the power animal with its intrinsic body of natural wisdom and folklore, suvival skills and cunning. They were never worshipped or considered "gods", but they were revered and respected as all great teachers should be.
Namaste/Blessed Be July 16, 2009
In pre-christian shamanistic cultures people were more in touch with nature, animals and the blessings of the earth. Animals were often seen as guides to be learned from. Each type of animal had its own lessons to impart based on their instinctive behaviors and the benefits or advantages inherent in them. When an animal crossed a person's path at an auspicious moment, or began to show up in one's life repeatedly over a period of time, it was paid attention to. This is a temporary lesson giver or spirit guide.
In addition to the above examples, however, something more was important early in life. A young person during one of many rites of passage would deliberately search for that one (or sometimes two) animal that would be a life-long totem or spirit guide. This was known as the power animal. Once discovered, a very special bond developed between the person and the animal that deepened over the course of a lifetime with its trials, accomplishments, sadnesses and joys.
Just how did this process take place, you might ask. The world we consciously live in on a day to day basis is called the middle world. This implies that there are other worlds if this is a "middle world" and indeed that is the case. In traditional Native American spiritual cosmology there is also the lower world and the upper world. The Hopi have a myth that Kokopelli led the people out from the lower world to the middle world at the beginning of this present age. It is the lower world that a person journeys to in order to find a power animal. The seeker journeys to the lower world in a trance like state to the sound of the drum. The drum is considered the horse that carries the soul on its journey.
It is imperative that the seeker have a clear picture in mind of the place in the middle world through which to descend and enter the lower world. Without a firm point to act as a compass the seeker might become lost and not re-enter the middle world creating a vacancy or what western medicine would call mental illness in this world.
Upon entering the lower world, the seeker waits patiently for the power animal to reveal itself. It is usually always the first animal that speaks to the seeker. Power animals are NEVER insects. Certain insects do have meaning when they cross our paths in the middle world. For instance, the spider represents creativity, dragonflys joy, ladybugs luck. However, they do not ever become power animals which have much deeper, more substantial teaching and guiding roles to play.
A power animal is respected and honored all of one's life. They are not to be ignored. Many dances were developed to honor the spirit of prominent animal guides. Over a lifetime a person forged a familiarity and oneness with the power animal with its intrinsic body of natural wisdom and folklore, suvival skills and cunning. They were never worshipped or considered "gods", but they were revered and respected as all great teachers should be.
Namaste/Blessed Be July 16, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Mission Accomplished - First phase anyway
Well, I said I would not stay up so late tonight. Lol! I have spent all day and all night except for a trip to the vet and 2 evening meetings putting this together and getting it up and running. I have changed the template at least a dozen times. I finally have something I can live with for right now. I guess it does not look too bad for a newbie's first blog.
If you check in, please enjoy the music. That right there gives me a huge sense of accomplishment! You will find it a little eclectic and perhaps a lot different than what you normally listen to. You will notice there is a place for comments, so leave one if you would like after listening. Be polite, thank you very much.
I have to drive to Dodge City for a meeting tomorrow and back home again. I am very tired. So, dear friends.....it is time for blueberries and vanilla ice cream followed by a wonderful cozy bed for about 7 hours.
Namaste!
If you check in, please enjoy the music. That right there gives me a huge sense of accomplishment! You will find it a little eclectic and perhaps a lot different than what you normally listen to. You will notice there is a place for comments, so leave one if you would like after listening. Be polite, thank you very much.
I have to drive to Dodge City for a meeting tomorrow and back home again. I am very tired. So, dear friends.....it is time for blueberries and vanilla ice cream followed by a wonderful cozy bed for about 7 hours.
Namaste!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Journey Begins
Welcome! I am in the process of creating this site. Right now I find myself extremely frustrated. I have kept a good cap on my emotions that can get explosive when I am frustrated. It is all about control -- both self-control and the fact that I cannot always control people, places and things. This is especially true for things that are technology.
Technology....it is one of the new trans formative things I am learning on the journey. This is the beginning of a new journey; a journey whose destination I do not know. But it will be interesting. Join me.....and be patient with me for a bit.
Technology....it is one of the new trans formative things I am learning on the journey. This is the beginning of a new journey; a journey whose destination I do not know. But it will be interesting. Join me.....and be patient with me for a bit.
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