Being Outrageous: Getting the Rage Out?

"We are constantly invited to be what we are."

~ Henry David Thoreau

Are you mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore? Purple with rage? Or enwrapped in wrath? Though the dictionary may use the words rage and wrath interchangeably, they are not the same. Otherwise we'd hear about "road wrath"!

Rage is a savage, devouring energy; wrath, while fierce, is also the province of the dakinis, who initiate creative change (think of the goddess Kali). Wrath is righteous; rage just wants to be right.

Since this is an ideal moment to transmute anger in the alchemical fire, several lightplayers and I filleted, seasoned and simmered a few thoughts on this distinction:

∞ "Rage is cooking without anything in the pot; wrath is cooking a full stew."

∞ "We can make medicine from joy instead of from pain."

∞ "Rage merely makes you age; wrath keeps you on the path."

The next time you get mad, get thinking: am I enraged or wrathful? Is this a purposeful fury? Am I cooking with a full pot here?

Here are some tools to assist you in enlightening up into wholeness/holiness/healing (all from the same root word, hale):

1) Laugh. The Buddha said we all want to know the answers to four key questions: "Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? And will there be food there?" Laughter lights us up. Conscious evolution is purposeful play! Whatever brings you belly laughs is healthy, because laughter oxygenates body and brain, thereby strengthening our "amuse" system. Think of something that's troubling you and consider this: if it will be funny in the retelling six months hence, it's funny now — if you allow the possibility.

2) Live the WOW (Witness Our Wonder). A vivacious 73-year-old woman made a quantum shift in her thinking, from "Life is a series of emergencies," to "Life is full of surprises!" Instead of anxiously reacting to every "oh no!" she's now able to anticipate the next "ah ha!"

3) Give what you seek. Peace troubadour and author James Twyman says giving others what you most desire is the surest path to inner peace, because there is no separation between us. "If I'm lacking peace, you're lacking peace. If I give you peace, then I receive that same peace," he says.

4) Do a "vow break." This is a wonderful way to get sticky energy unstuck. You can rescind any vows you may have taken prior to incarnating to have a certain experience in this life. The formula is from the book, What Is Lightbody? by Tashira Tachi-ren. The same vow break can be found on my CD, What You Need to Know Now-A Road Map for Personal Transformation.

"I now rescind any and all vows I have taken to experience the illusion of (fill in the blank, for example, "not having enough money".) I declare this vow null and void in this incarnation and all incarnations across time and space, parallel realities, parallel universes, alternate realities, alternate universes, all planetary systems, all Source systems, all dimensions, and the Void.

"I ask for the release of all crystals, devices, thought forms, emotions, matrices, veils, cellular memory, pictures of reality, genetic limitation, and death. NOW!"

May your creative cauldron burn brightly. Happy transmutation!

Is Your Battery Corroded?

Last evening I stopped to put gas into my trusty Toyota, which is now old enough to graduate from high school. When I turned the key afterwards: nada, zip, no reaction. I popped the hood, and sure enough, the battery (barely a toddler) was laced with corrosion.

What ensued is comical this morning, not so much last night. The first AAA driver I called gave me a jumpstart, but said he was a tow truck and therefore had no tools to clean the battery. He sent me sputtering down the road to a nearby Kragen's Auto Supply. The Kragen employee helpfully cleaned the battery terminals while the battery was recharging in the store. We then asked another customer if he'd please help me with a second jumpstart, and, although at first nothing happened (tension!) at last the car sprang to life.

I thanked both Samaritans profusely, backed up, and — it died completely.

This time when I called Triple A, I did request a tow truck. When Dave arrived, he asked what the problem was, and I recounted the evening's events. But instead of hooking me up for a tow, as I expected, he asked me to pop the hood again, and expertly found quite a lot of additional corrosion under two of the bolts, that the Kragen's employee had missed in the dark. After this, the car started up just fine, and I drove home.

Since my car has often symbolized my body and/or my life, I immediately began to identify areas where my "battery" (life force energy) might be corroded. Even when we think we're in great shape, having done a lot of work on ourselves and transmuted dross to light, there can still be a bit of corrosion hiding in the corners of our mind, sapping our power, creating "terminal illness" on many levels. Our battery isn't dead; it just can't fire because of the insidious slime gnawing through our façade, encroaching on the cables to make a clear connection impossible.

The solution, with cars, with our bodies, and with Life in general, is to alkalize: get the acid waste (rage, frustration, disgust, hatred, fear, despair …) out of your system through the powers of love, appreciation, enthusiasm, self-worth, service, joy … and your battery will continue to serve you faithfully for many years to come.

Memorial Day: Releasing the war within us

This weekend the United States observes Memorial Day, a federal holiday enacted after the Civil War to commemorate the men and women who died in military service. Yet there is no recognition of a more insidious war that's being waged globally, every day, by billions of people: the one we're fighting with ourselves.

In our civilized, industrialized, pasteurized, homogenized world, we're frozen into form, ossified in the material — and inured to the whispers of tree leaves, the murmur of brooks, the hissing of summer lawns. Now it takes a rock and roll band pounding 110 decibels directly into our ears, and still most of us, earbuds securely in place, walk on placidly. It's a false peace, and we know it. The uneasiness stirs in our bones, barely kept at bay by the jackhammer rhythm of life in the 21st century.

It's as if we've all been secretly anesthetized against the pain of those who yearn — and it's our yearning, our fear, our wounding, our wonder, that's wanting. But turning to face the music means accepting the invitation to the Dance. And most of us have forgotten how to dance — if indeed we ever knew. We find it easier to lash out in anger: rage, the undiscovered country. If being "outrageous" means getting the rage out, Americans are black belts. READ THE REST!

The Mosquitoes of Life

Been feeling a little on edge (or off the edge) lately? I certainly have. The night before the lunar eclipse of 8/16, I discovered that the ideal camper van I've sought for months (and driven hundreds of miles questing) had been available right under my nose, and sold for a fraction of its worth, that day. I cried tears of frustration, since it's only the latest manifestation of a pattern I'm well ready to release.

What a relief to learn this episode wasn't "just" about being unable to handle "life": In her latest alert, Karen Bishop reminds us, "If you are one who is unusually sensitive and connects easily, you may have experienced the lunar eclipse on August 16th with confusing feelings of low self worth, perhaps self-loathing, and even guilt for no apparent reason. You may have felt just plain icky and you did not know why. Suddenly feeling bad about ourselves for no apparent reason is simply a manifestation of the lunar eclipse supporting us in going deep within and seeing the denser aspects of who we are."

And Daniel Jacob plays off a similar theme in his current post, Perfect!, in which he discusses the perfectly normal response of rage when we've reached the end of our rope due to the "mosquitoes of life", the little annoyances that can finally push us over the edge to where we just have to vent the frustration. He also talks about allowing rage to morph into sage. Worth the read ... check it out.

And may you enjoy the return of equanimity as we surge towards balance and the new in September!