Once In A Blue Moon: A Potent New Year's Blessing

On December 31, 2009, we'll experience a blue moon lunar eclipse. A blue moon typically refers to the second full moon in a given month, which only happens once every few years, making it unusual enough to generate a sense of expectancy. However, the original definition referred to the 13th full moon in a "tropical year", or growing season, traditionally measured from one winter solstice to the next.

So while the full moon and blue moon already herald a potent completion to 2009 and entry into 2010, there's even more power inherent in this passage. Gillian Macbeth-Louthan of The Quantum Awakening writes, "This is the most important New Year's Eve we have been gifted in a long time. It asks us to 'flash forward' into the next two years to see what we can see. No matter how much you do not believe prophecy from time and earth, it will still affect your energy field and your choices. READ THE REST!

Mercury Rx: A Healing New Year's Gift

On December 26th, the planet Mercury will appear to move backwards in the sky until January 15, 2010 — a dance it typically does three times each year. Because Mercury rules communication, transportation and technology, many people have an instinctive aversion to these retrograde cycles. But as with all shadows, Mercury retrogrades contain hidden gifts. READ THE REST!

Season of Stories

"The universe is made of stories, not atoms."

~ Muriel Rukeyser

As we enter the year's prime shopping season, stores tend to replace stories as the gift source of choice. I grew up in Paramus, New Jersey, the shopping capital of the known universe, so I understand just how seductive — and soul diminishing — the material mindset can be.

Emerson said: "Rings and jewels are not gifts but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself." How do we put the "I" back in "stores", supplant material-eyes with empath-eyes? How do we create the new story of Now? READ THE REST!

The Magdalene Awakening: Reclaiming the Divine Feminine

For me, the Great Remembering began in illness. On a descent to the depths of my being, I found myself throwing my arms around trees and sobbing, feeling their loving embrace. I began talking to crows, paying tribute to their visceral wisdom in a poem that concluded, "A coded conversation/In guttural cries/Opens my eyes/And lifts me higher." Stunned from exhaustion, I'd never lived in such clarity. With my brain on an extended vacation, I was forced to access a more primitive part of my being, to participate in the instinctual world, not merely watch.

I devoured books such as The Feminine Face of God by Sherry Ruth Anderson and Patricia Hopkins, and The Moon Under Her Feet by Clysta Kinstler, rapt with recognition. I became Inanna, the ancient Sumerian Goddess who symbolizes death and rebirth, with wisdom gained.

These are just a few examples of the myriad ways the Divine Feminine began showing up in my life, as she is now showing up for women (and many men) everywhere. Shannon Andersen, author of The Magdalene Awakening, is a powerful voice in service to this remembering, sharing the essence of the journey she's lived, decoding the sacred symbols and synchronicities that herald the re-emergence of the Divine Feminine on Earth, as reflected in the archetype of Mary Magdalene. READ THE REST!

Reaching Your Boyle-ing Point

At an age when most performers have hit their peak and may already be on a downward spiral, one rising star has captivated the world — not only with her phenomenal voice, but with her story. Susan Boyle shot to stardom just before turning 48.

We generally groom our superstars as youth: usually a new name enters our consciousness when the performer is between 18-22, sometimes much younger. I love Leona Lewis, for example, who is divinely talented — and became a household name at 22, less than half Boyle's age.

The idea that someone could emerge as an overnight sensation in midlife fires the imagination: what might we still be able to achieve, create, become, if a star is born at 48? READ THE REST!

Dec. newsletter: From Resistance to Resilience

Years ago a popular television commercial featured a maternal manicurist who would soften her customers' hands in Palmolive dishwashing liquid. The theme was both arresting and funny. The patron, upon learning the contents of the cuticle-softening dish, would jerk her hand away and gasp: "Dishwashing liquid?" Madge would calmly pat her hand back down, reassuring, "It's Palmolive!"

I was ruminating on how such a commercial might play in the metaphysical realm: "Resistance? You're soaking in it!" And it doesn't soften the journey, but cooks us to a crisp - even when we think we're coming from an enlightened perspective. READ THE REST!

How to Become a Magnificent Manifester

"Start a huge foolish project, like Noah."

~ Rumi
What do a purple sweatshirt hanging from a tree branch, a loaf of freshly baked bread, a dead car engine on a stormy night, and a magical forest cabin have in common? They're just a few of the inspiring stories I frequently share about the role of synchronicity in our lives, and how learning to recognize it, embrace it, and nurture it can be the key to changing the way we live.

Carl Jung described synchronicity as "meaningful coincidence." One teammate defines it as, "Your file is open and on God's desk." It's about transforming the "efforting" in our lives into ease. Synchronicity happens when we're living in flow rather than in force. And its literal manifestation can be quite humorous. Once, when I was deeply into my own spiritual awakening, I had been imploring the universe, "I want to serve, show me how to serve!" Soon afterward, I received a summons for jury duty.

As we learn how to listen to the "still, small voice" inside us, wondrous events begin to transpire in our lives. One of my best manifestation stories involves finding a secluded mountain cabin to rent when I lived in New Mexico, by following a tapestry of meaningful messages leading me, literally, to the door. The string of synchronicities was so strong that, had I written the story as fiction, I imagine an editor would have rejected it as "too coincidental for readers to believe." But real life is always more amazing — and amusing — than anything we can invent. READ THE REST!

Gratitude Guide: Six Simple Ways to Give Thanks

Allow yourself to be renewed by gratitude, both that you give and that you receive. Here's a handy Gratitude Guide for these tumultuous holiday moments. May it serve you well.

Is Your Life a Banquet?

Thanksgiving is about food the way Christmas is about presents. In modern life, neither expresses the true spirit of the holiday — although the potential is there. Because at core level, the real issue is always love.

Is there enough love to go around? The answer is yes, and — we must awaken to this truth on our own. We become "the Light of the world" first within our own beings; then we're able to shine this radiance outward. It's like any other learning process: we can only serve others from a well that runs full and deep. READ THE REST!

Going Wireless: Taking the Risk You Fear Most

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

~ Helen Keller

Though we live in an increasingly wireless world, most of us are hardwired to feel an impending sense of doom when a "deadline" looms: when we experience ourselves as being down to the wire.

The irony is that there is no wire. In the shapeshifting movie, The Matrix, one of the magical children mentally manipulates a spoon in midair. When the film's protagonist, Neo, questions what he's seeing, the child responds, "There is no spoon."

Later in the film, when Neo and Trinity need to ascend an elevator shaft minus the actual elevator, Neo grasps the cable, intones, "There is no spoon!" and up they fly. This image burns in my memory as a perennial reminder: you can never be down to the wire, because the wire doesn't exist. READ THE REST!

Enough

It's almost that time again in the U.S.: Thanksgiving. We celebrate the Pilgrims' gratitude for the kindness of their Native American neighbors, who taught them how to plant and harvest enough food to survive in a new world. It's an appropriate moment to reflect on what "enough" truly means. READ THE REST!

A 100-Word Formula for a Soul-Inspired Life

In the current issue of my e-newsletter, What Shines, I write about how surrendering to Love, with a capital L, leads to the experience of oneness we simultaneously seek and fear. I quote from Neale Donald Walsch's final book in his Conversations With God series, Home With God.

Synchronistically ~ because synchronicity is one huge sign we're living in the flow and in the know (and in the now!) ~ a few days later I discovered EverydayOasis.com, and another pivotal passage from Home With God that I'd forgotten ~ a 100-word prescription for living a soul-filled life. READ THE REST!

11:11 = Eleven a-lovin'

I walk in stride with people much taller than me
And partly it's the boots but mostly it's my chi
And I'm becoming transfixed with nature and my part in it
Which I believe just signifies I'm finally waking up.

~ Ani DiFranco, lyrics from Evolve
November 11th always signals a transformational gateway. Eleven is the master number reflecting the transmutation of physical to divine. You may have begun noticing 11:11 on digital clocks. This is an encoding that activates our cellular memory of the ascension process that's well underway. Gillian MacBeth-Louthan says, "The energy of 2009 comes to one of its many peaks through the valley of change, as we enter a placement of time and light that has disguised itself as a date."

This year, November 11th is especially powerful, because it's 11:11:11 (2009 = 2+0+0+9 = 11). Archangel Michael through channel Celia Fenn describes the opening of the Sacred Rose Stargate, and Mary Magdalene offers a meditation to allow us to open to the new consciousness and receive the Love that will be streaming through. READ THE REST!

The Sky is Falling — NOT! The Truth About 2012

On November 8th, we enter the next phase of our global evolutionary upgrade, known as the Sixth Night of the Galactic Wave Movement, according to Mayan scholar Carl Johan Calleman. It's a demanding time, and a bit messy, as planetary birth processes tend to be. But is it cause for alarm?


Until recently, comparatively few people were interested in Mayan culture or ancient prophecies. The Mayan Calendar, popularized in the West by authors such as Jose Arguelles (The Mayan Factor), Barbara Hand Clow (The Mayan Code: Time Acceleration and Awakening the World Mind) and Carl Calleman (The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness) touched a relatively small audience.

With the release of the doomsday movie 2012, however, that's changing dramatically. Now that the end date of the Mayan Calendar — December 21, 2012, on our Gregorian calendar — is a scant three years away, people are beginning to panic. Is the world going to end? Is this like Y2K, only infinitely worse?

It depends where we choose to place our focus. Our culture thrives on fear, READ THE REST

Haunted by the Need to Change?

In the U.S., Halloween is all about costumes, trick-or-treating, candy and, occasionally, mischief. Few people realize the date also marks a sacred day on the Celtic calendar, Samhain, ushering in the dark half of the year. October 31st precedes Day of the Dead/All Soul's Day, which takes place November 1-2, honoring those who have crossed over.

This year, in the USA, November 1st also coincides with the return to standard time from daylight savings. Clearly, the dark side — what remains hidden from view — is calling. LEARN WHY HALLOWEEN IS JUST A SPECTER OF SAMHAIN

How to put a giraffe in the refrigerator

Speaking of fun ... this is hilarious. See how well you do, and enjoy!

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll down.



The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put the giraffe in, and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.


2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?



Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator?

Wrong Answer.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.


3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend .... except one. Which animal does not attend?



Correct Answer : The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory. Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?



Correct Answer: You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Conference. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.


According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals they tested got all questions wrong, but many preschoolers got several correct answers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a four-year-old.

Send this out to frustrate all of your smart friends.

Is Fun the Key to Positive Change?

Would you take the stairs versus an escalator if the former were somehow enticing? How about if the staircase turned you into an instant pianist?

This brilliant concept originated in Stockholm, where a normal staircase was transformed into a giant piano keyboard. Each stair played a corresponding note on the musical scale, so you could literally step to the beat! The idea fired people's imaginations — so much so that two-thirds more people used the stairs than on a typical day. READ MORE

Oneness in Wholeness Ray: A Cosmic Reconnect

The intense 09-09-09 energies that reconfigured our DNA are still reverberating through our beings, and this beautiful rendering of the Oneness in Wholeness Ray by Saleena Ki helps activate the crown chakra to facilitate cosmic reconnection:


I've known Saleena for many years as a dear virtual friend and very talented artist, whose ability to bring through the energies we need in the form of VibraKeys is a gift. I used a number of Keys in rotation for months, and still keep WaterAlive near my kitchen faucet. Everything is energy, and we are 80% water ~ yes, it makes a difference!

Blessings on your journey, as Mercury is now direct and we are through another difficult doorway ...

Scared to Sacred: A Subtle Shift

I'm a great fan of subtle shifts: scared to sacred, nowhere to now here, density to destiny, accumulate to appreciate (OK, maybe that last one's not that subtle!) The point is, when we take a second, objective look at what we may have unconsciously pushed away out of fear, the results can be quite surprising.

Take the number 13. Conventional wisdom says, "Bad luck! Steer clear!" Yet if we explore 13 in depth, we access the sacred.

I've posted 50 articles to my Practical Spiritual Examiner page in the last month. There's a lot to explore. Please visit often (I'm posting new content daily, or nearly so) and leave your comments directly on the articles themselves. I look forward to your feedback, and promise to respond.

∞ Blessings ∞

Menopause or Memorex?

I've written about menopause symptoms before, but with the combination of Saturn vs. Uranus energy (structure and form/old ways directly opposing the quirky, rebellious, bolt-from-the-blue-into-the-new), huge energetic downloads amping our circuits, and the latest Mercury Rx ~ well, it seems an auspicious moment to post some healing tips that, while created for menopausal women, can assist any of us in moving with more grace and ease through this passage:

How toxicity in the body can mimic menopause:
Hot Flash: Hormone Mimics Wreak Havoc on Women's Health (my personal journey)

How to detoxify your body and home (series of 4 articles):
Allergic ~ Or Toxic?

The challenges and joys of turning 50:
Life in the Middle Ages

Simple steps you can take today to help ground and release:

(1) Go to the woods or ocean, depending on where you live, and get the rage and frustration out by shouting, running, doing ritual, etc.
(2) Write down all of what's bothering you, then delete the message! Or print it out and burn it.
(3) Get an herbal or homeopathic formula from your local health food store.
(4) invest/indulge in acupuncture, massage, or another form of bodywork to help your body balance some of the symptoms and reduce stress.
(5) Remember to breathe! When you feel angry or imbalanced, just taking some really slow, deep breaths outside can make a huge difference.

I'm posting daily additions to my Practical Spirituality Examiner page and welcome your comments and questions ~ will respond to all!

And finally, this may be an ideal time to hire a personal coach to help you Get Unstuck!

∞ Blessings and Light ∞