All Our Relations: Health, Wealth and Wisdom Is Up to Us

Congressman Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, speaks as the voice of conscience for America, and offers both penetrating insight and well-researched action to address the many ills in which the U.S. (and, by extension, the world) finds itself.

During this supposed season of peace and goodwill, Kucinich brought it all together: peace, energy dependence, the war in Iraq, the environment, economic power, and our moral obligations to all citizens of the U.S. and the world. This synthesis came in a speech he made Sunday, December 18, as the House debated suspending the rules to speed up passage of a number of bills before close of the 109th Congress's first session.

Referring to the use of House rules to get drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge added onto H.R. 2863, the 2006 Defense Appropriations Act, Kucinich described how drilling would destroy the Gwich'in Tribe, which for more than 20,000 years has lived on their ancestral lands in harmony with the natural world.

It's a sobering thought. I feel that when the rest of us have learned to live in harmony with all our relations for 20,000 years, we will have earned the right to make decisions that affect other peoples' existence -- and at that stage, we will have moved so far beyond the dominator, more-more-more mentality, that such a decision-making structure will be a relic of the ancient past.

Until then, and always, I send up a prayer for Mitayuke Oyasin, a Lakota prayer that means, "All my relations," and honors the sacredness of everyone and everything on Earth.

We are all One. Happy New Year, with love,
Amara

Women's Hormone Health -- Naturally!

My article on women's hormone health and endocrine disrupters is now online in the January/February 2006 issue of E, the Environmental magazine. Unfortunately, the editor not only altered the title, he deleted key passages that referred to my health adventure as a spiritual quest, so if you'd like a Word copy of the original, just let me know.

As someone who's been affected by chemical toxicity for many years, I feel I'm part of an "advance guard" of sensitives serving as a wake-up call for planetary environmental consciousness. If your health could use a tune-up--or if you want to stay as vibrant as you already are--check it out!

Loving Yourself Free

This is the season of Love - but what goes on in our hearts and minds the rest of the year? Here's a beautiful explanation from Archangel Uriel through Jennifer Hoffman about how we can free ourselves from fear to live large in our lives always:

"Each situation in your life exists for your spiritual growth and evolution, and when you are ready to acknowledge the wisdom with which you organize the scenarios of your life, you will learn to love each situation. Then you can become aware of its lessons, know and learn them and love them free.
 
Once you learn to love the experience, it has fulfilled its mission in your life and can depart from you. But as long as you continue to hate, judge, resent, run away from or ignore it, it will exist and even intensify as it mirrors everything you dislike about it. Is it good or bad, right or wrong, beneficial or harmful, short term or permanent - all of these are judgments that will only result in the continuation of the circumstance.
 
Instead, ask your Self, 'What do I need to learn from this?' and you will take the first step on the path to freedom. Each difficult experience that you have is a mirror of a fear in your life - discover the fear and the reason for its existence and it has no power over you and then ceases to exist unless you allow it to. The more dire the situation, the greater your need to learn and appreciate its lesson and heal that aspect of your belief system.
 
Once you acknowledge that you created the reality, it loses its power because it is the paradigm that you built, not the result of someone else's actions against you. Then you can love it free and move on to create other realities that are more peaceful, joyful and fulfilling. No matter what the circumstance, if you can learn to love it, you can free yourself from it and move forward on your journey."

Gif-ting Gratitude

Today's Go Gratitude is a visual deLight: Go Gratitude poster

Paste it on your heart and let the happiness Glow...

If you haven't yet joined the 42 days to a knew view, check out the Master Key movie and climb aboard the Bliss Train!

Feminine Gifts of the Solstice

Colorado astrologer Ingrid Jeffries (ijnorthstar@fastmail.fm) offers a complementary viewpoint to Ken Kalb's (see 12/20 entry). She writes:

"Astrologically, the Solstice points are connected to our work in the world. The Sun in Capricorn is when we review our commitments and obligations. Capricorn is a sign that is associated with established orders, business and worldly concerns. We often envision its planetary ruler, Saturn, as an old man with a scythe; symbolic of the reaper, the God of Agriculture, and Father Time. The placement of Saturn in your birth chart indicates where a karmic debt has occurred. This debt will require concentrated effort and discipline to master and overcome its obstacles. Yet, Saturn also points to the aspects of one's life which can become your greatest strength if you are willing to face your fears and difficulties honestly, and work with them patiently. In Capricorn we reap what we have sown in the world, for this reason gift giving has long been an integral aspect of the myriad of festivities associated with the Solstice.

"Ultimately Capricorn is an earth sign and as such is feminine. Of all the astrological signs, Capricorn carries the symbolism of the triple Goddess. We often see images of the mother and her child at this time of year with the imagery of the crone/wise women found in the magi. Many of the traditions associated with this time of year are pre-Christian and involved divination, foretelling the future, as the turning of the season was considered a magical time.

Here are a few:

· In Russia, there's a Christmas divination that involves candles. A girl would sit in a darkened room, with two lighted candles and two mirrors, pointed so that one reflects the candlelight into the other. The viewer would seek the seventh reflection, then look until her future would be seen.

· In Spain, there's an old custom that is a holdover from Roman days. The urn of fate is a large bowl containing slips of paper on which are written all the names of those at a family get-together. The slips of paper are drawn out two at a time. Those whose names are so joined are to be devoted friends for the year. Apparently, there's often a little finagling to help matchmaking along, as well.

· In Scandinavia, some families place all their shoes together, as this will cause them to live in harmony throughout the year.

· And in many, many cultures, it's considered bad luck for a fire or a candle to go out on Solstice (or Christmas Day in more recent times.)

Rituals & Traditions for this time of Year:

· Strengthen bonds with family and friends by visiting and/or exchanging gifts and greetings. This is a season of honoring the ancestors.
· Decorate your home with lights, greens, and holiday colors. Bless your home with a Yule wreath on your front door and sprigs of mistletoe inside.
· If you are part of a group, take up a collection of food and/or clothing at your Yule gathering and give what you collected to a social service agency to distribute to the needy.
· Place sunflower seeds outside for wild birds to feast upon.
· Greet the Sun at dawn on Solstice morning by ringing bells.
· Work magic for a more peaceful planet.
· Honor the new solar year with light. Do a Solstice Eve ritual in which you meditate in darkness and then welcome the birth of the sun by lighting candles and singing chants and carols.
· If you have a indoor fireplace or an outdoor fire circle, burn an oak log as a Yule log and save a bit to start next year's fire.
· Volunteer time at a social service agency.
· Put up bird feeders and keep them filled throughout the winter to supplement the diets of wild birds.
· Meditate for world peace.
· Make a pledge to do some form of good works in the new year."

The Earth breathes but one breath each year: from Summer to Winter, a long exhalation, a letting go; at the Winter Solstice, a moment of stillness and emptiness between breaths; then the long inhalation back into the Summer's time of fullness. ~ Miriam Klamkim

Solstice Wisdom

Ken Kalb, author of Lightshift 2000 and an insightful astrologer, reminds us that tomorrow, as the sun stands still on the shortest day and longest night of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere), it's a potent moment to pause in our frenzied activity and stand in the stillness of our souls. In Winter Solstice - The Pause That Refreshes he writes,

"Winter Solstice is a time to practice the lesson of Sagitarius; to pull the bow string back to its maximum point – sighting the bullseye before releasing your flaming arrow. It is the point between inhale and exhale. This breathless moment of stillpoint on the cusp between dark and light is an opportunity to distill the essence of any dissonant energies and components we wish to release, and embrace those aspects, refreshed and renewed for the new cycle. This is a golden opportunity for us to become aware and explore the deep messages lingering amidst the darkness, awakening with new direction, intention and foresight. The greatest gift we can give and receive is to simply breathe deeply and rhythmically the essence of our inner light on this holyday. It's the pause that refreshes."

Swimming Into Ecstasy, Part 2

I was blessed to discover Matisha's Song of Home site earlier today. A minstrel in the tradition of Rumi, he weaves joyous poetry, sacred music and dolphin adventures into a rapturous ministry to cradle your awakening heart.

I especially enjoyed this 'trailer' message on one of his pages:

"Living in the past is like chasing your 'tale'...
There is always another 'story' to tell."

It reminds me of another messenger with whom I took a workshop long ago, who said, "If you want to live forever, live NOW!"

Blessings...

Swimming Into Ecstasy, Part 1

My December e-newsletter, What Shines, focuses on the theme of oneness with all creation. Anyone still skeptical about the intelligence or compassion of our animal kin may be reassured by this heartwarming story about a whale, ensnared in crab pots and lines that were slowing killing it. Divers freed the whale, which then nuzzled each human in gratitude. Talk about making a splash...

Daring rescue of whale off Farallones -- Humpback nuzzled her saviors in thanks

On the Road to 2012: Activation Maya

The first of seven annual, week-long Solstice celebrations leading up to the great turning of 2012 takes place in Tikal, Guatemala beginning today. 2012 is the end of the Mayan Great Cycle (26,000 years). The date is recognized among indigenous peoples worldwide as a potent moment that we've been building towards for two thousand years, when humanity makes a grand evolutionary leap into a higher dimension of awareness, ushering in Heaven on Earth.

Activation Maya is a full-scale shamanic gathering led by Mayan elders, and includes ancient site tours, sacred ceremonies, sweat lodges, drumming circles, workshops, and visionary music. One of the groups performing will be Kan'Nal, a tribe of Indigo young adults who are creating ritual performance concerts that transcend and transmute existing musical forms.

I plan to get tickets for next year's event! See you there!

12:12 Portal: Time to Release & Reimagine

Following the 11:11:11 activation, we've been living in a super-reality where the facade of the old has been deliquescing, like Dali's famous clocks. Now it' time for Integrating the Re-birth, and as usual, Karen Bishop's words of wisdom smooth the way for the bumps and dips on the path before us. She says,

"Here is a general rule of thumb for residency in the higher realms. Follow your heart and your passion and your joy. If you do what makes you feel good, without trying to analyze and mentally figure out the money aspects, the money simply arrives on its own as a by-product. Don't make it your main focus. And never do anything for the money alone. This certainly does not mean to quit your job and just leave everything...it just means that it is best to find time to follow your joy, even if it doesn't make any sense. This alone will align you with yourself and with Source.
 
"So how does December 12th (12:12) fit in to all of this? 12:12 is the time for integration. November 11th opened the portal to the higher realms for the critical mass and December 12th will serve to integrate these New and higher energies and ways of being. All leading up to January, 2006.

"During this now time of December, we may also find it difficult to make decisions as our circumstances have changed. But know that come January, we will be much more cemented in to the New with the New us and our New lives, and a very new alignment with a New World and New source of support. We are simply in the eye of the storm of a miraculous and enormous transition and have not yet fully arrived, but we will. This state of flux and 'nothingness' in regard to old ways of moving forward is only temporary.
 
"We are also leaving behind the old reality of lack and suffering. You may find that you are simply unwilling to participate in any more feelings of despair over lack and suffering. Like throwing caution to the wind, you may find that you just do not care anymore about any of it. You may want what you want and decide that it is time that you had it. This is because we have had enough and we have had enough because it is finally about to end.
 
"These feelings of not caring and being unwilling to participate in this type of existence anymore also creates a great willingness to 'leave'. This is what will propel you to the higher realms. This very strong desire of being willing to leave and not participate is what precipitated my big ascension leap a few years ago. This is part of the process, and I am having it again. I have been seeing very clearly that I will most certainly be leaving much behind and if I did not know better, I would think that I was about to 'die'. All just part of the process."

So wax those spiritual surfboards, fellow travelers, and let's ride the waves of 12:12 into a brand-new Ocean of Bliss and Oneness! Remember, "Catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the world!"

The Wisdom of Water

Today's Go Gratitude reminder (see December 3rd entry for details!) is so wonderful I had to share it:

Crystal Clear

water crystals reveal structural alterations
bent by vibration, being currently
arranged to display Now.

love beats true
within waking waters of time
called You and I.
masterfully guided through Gratitude
this Source force Will create
bodies bent on behaving with
benevolent intentions
designed
to
witness Life as waking Art.

***
Go Gratitude
***

imagine a wake of Gratitude, flowing across every beating
heart, re-connecting our water bodies to Love.
Emoto - grab your microscope.

***

Interview with Masaru Emoto on Gratitude:

REIKO:  Have you come across a particular word or phrase in your research that you have found to be most helpful in cleaning up the natural waters of the world? 

DR. EMOTO:  Yes. There is a special combination that seems to be perfect for this, which is love plus the combination of thanks and appreciation reflected in the English word gratitude. Just one of these is not enough. Love needs to be based in gratitude, and gratitude needs to be based in love. These two words together create the most important vibration. And it is even more important that we understand the value of these words.

For example, we know that water is described as H2O. If we were to look at love and gratitude as a pair, gratitude is the H and love is the O. Water is the basis that not only supports but also allows the existence of life. In my understanding of the concept of yin and yang, in the same way that there is one O and two Hs, we also need one part yang/love to two parts yin/gratitude, in order to come to a place of balance in the equation.

At Play At Last...Are We Having Fun Yet?

Since 11:11, I've been finding it tremendously difficult to concentrate on "work" -- even the work I love, which is guiding others' evolutionary paths. As for the marketing and copywriting which I once adored, it's been like slogging through sludge. All I want to do is walk in the park or be outside, just Be-ing.

Once again, Karen Bishop translates our transition into terminology that makes sense. She writes,

"Part of our natural state of being is in joy, in playing and creating, and in having fun. We want to be done. Time to end the responsibilities. Time to let go of it all. Time to be free. Time to be in the moment. In the higher realms everything is in the now. We always have everything we need. We have no attachments. There are no agendas. There are no 'systems' of the 3D world. There are no hoops to jump through. We are ready to laugh, to be free, and to enjoy. Thank goodness this is the last of the going back. We are now wired for a different reality and way of being.
 
"You may be feeling that you want to get off your computer. Get away from the TV. Get out of the car where you spend too much time running errands. Get off the phone. Get out of your book. Get away from conversations that go around and around, talking about what 'is.'
 
"It is time to get out there and create your life. It is time to move into a New energy and really live in it. It is time to do something physical. Raise your alpacas, start living off the grid, build a new house, plant a garden, become one with nature and the stars, have a farm, move to the land of your dreams, sleep in late with your best friend, be with your animals, create music, dance, paint, sing and simply be present.
 
"We are done. We are ready to create the New. We are ready to have the life of our dreams. We can, we can, we can. No more waiting for the planet to get there. It finally has."

Whooppee! Who wants to come out and play?!!

Got Gratitude?

I've long trumpeted the power of 42 (which, according to the classic, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," is the answer to "Life, the Universe, and Everything.") I wrote an article the year I turned 42 explaining how to stay 42 Forever. Yet the e-mail I received today trumps any previous notions I've held about the power of 42.

What if...in just 42 days...you held the Master Key to:

* feel better instantly
* enjoy supportive, synergistic, exciting relationships
* increase your prosperity and abundance
* experience vibrant health
* know peace of mind
* supercharge your creative juices
* magnetize the realization of your dreams and goals
* make a profound difference in the lives of many people

Go to Give Me the Master Key and become part of the transformative magic. As of 12/2/05, nearly 150,000 people have watched the flash movie and approximately 50,000 have signed up to participate in the 42-day experiment. It's free. It's fun. It's for and about All of Us. Come play!

Cosmic Sunrise: Coming Home At Last

There's a new moon in the fire sign Sagittarius today, and at the higher dimensional levels the sun is blazing the radiance of an awakening humanity. Archangel Michael through Celia Fenn transmits,

"What a grand month December will be! Waves of cosmic light and radiance from the Great Central Sun will flood the Earth's new crystalline grids. Pluto, the engine of transformation, moves into close conjunction with the Great Central Sun or Galactic Center, providing the powerful surge of transformative energy that will initiate the 'Great Awakening' of the next two years. The Earth is now poised for a great leap in consciousness. Daily the light and radiance on the planet increases.

"We call it a 'Cosmic Sunrise', for the brilliant light from the Great Central Sun rises to illuminate the planet, which is now poised for the great awakening that will be the beginning of the New Earth or the 'Golden Age'. In 2006 and 2007, many millions of people (will be) shifting their consciousness into the Higher Dimensions as they prepare to ground themselves in the crystalline grids of the New Earth."

As the consciousness of the collective rises, you may experience some ascension symptoms, including:

* Extreme fatigue, possibly alternating with periods of high energy.
* A sense of great personal clarity that may be accompanied by greater clarity of physical vision.
* Extreme energy sensations in the body, especially around December 18th and 19th. Buzzing, currents felt in the limbs, "spaciness" in the head, feelings of nausea, etc. This will be your body working to accommodate the increase in Light Radiance.
* Intense emotions and feelings: sadness and depression alternating with great joy and elation. The intense light will cause emotional instability. Do your best to stay centered and focus on the Light. Being centered and grounded will be very important at this time, otherwise you may find yourself "spinning out".
* Time will seem to be moving very fast. New Earth time is clashing with old Earth linear time. Don't try to do everything. Relax and let your Higher Aspect lead. All that needs to be done will be done at the right time. Remember the concept of "Divine Timing".
* Meeting new friends and new people, as the Soul families and Clans continue to come together. Also, letting go of people whose energy no longer aligns with yours.
* Feelings of gratitude, calm and joy...you have made it! It is done!
* Feelings of empowerment and possibility. It's time to create the New Earth...Here we go!

Strawberry Fields—But Not Forever

If you're feeling lately like "nothing is real," just keep the Beatles' advice in mind: it's "nothing to get hung about." We're just Embracing the Higher Ways, as Karen Bishop explains in her latest energy alert:

"Transitioning, transitioning, transitioning is where we currently are...and it seems that every being on this planet is in some kind of transitioning space. And this is all due to the enormous progress we have made. We are being catapulted forward seemingly whether we like it or not.
 
"This forward movement into even more higher realms is also causing releasing in many ways. Our bodies are feeling and adjusting and aligning...this can cause muscle twitching, jumping, and I have had the experience of jerking out of or into my body several times while trying to go to sleep at night. Our muscles and joints may ache more than ever before and we may feel we need lots of deep sleep as well.
 
"And the 'spinning' can continue. Remember, we are using our Merkabah or light bodies to bring us to the higher realms, and this creates the spinning. Today, I am just plain spinning within myself. I can literally feel crown chakra energy pouring into my head, causing sinus pressure, and creating a dizzy reality. But knowing that this is simply support to a higher way of being and vibrating, seems to make things so much more pleasant and fun.
 
"This intense transitioning energy can also cause feelings of not knowing what is real. It may feel as though nothing is real, that there is nothing to hold onto, and we are floating in a seeming no-man's-land of limbo like in-between reality and awareness. More and more it is becoming evident that the 3D reality was simply an illusion. And what is more real than ever before is the New reality...the higher vibrating reality of the higher realms and higher ways. These seem to feel oh so much more comfortable as they match so much more closely who we have now become. We can connect with them very easily now...it is a lateral connection...no up or down.
 
"This transitioning time is setting us up for the January energy that I have been speaking of for awhile now. We are moving into position. Come January, we will be anchoring in much more securely to an entirely new situation for many of us in many arenas of our lives."

Spiritual 2x4s

The symbol for Mercury retrograde (a capital R with an extended right tail through which a line is drawn to make an x) resembles the symbol for prescription, Rx. It's certainly a potent moment to revisit and reexamine what might be ailing us, mentally, emotionally, physically or spiritually.

I received an e-mail today that caused me to rethink a car crash I had more than 18 months ago, when I was mentally gearing up to leave Ojai and return to northern California. At the moment of impact, I felt my life was over; that my spiritual freedom had just been revoked by the destruction of my vehicle. Although the car was very old and had no collision insurance, I managed to get it repaired and am still driving it. And I've been back in northern CA for over a year.

But perhaps this wasn't my "intended" destination.

Violette had been exploring moving to Ashland for awhile, and I assumed she was now there. She writes,

"My intentions were finally to head west. Most information coming to me suggested trying to settle in Ashland was not in my best interest. Therefore I thought a nomadic existence as a free spirit would be more interesting, doing my teaching whereever there was interest.

"However, the Universe had other ideas and hit me over the head with a spiritual 2X4. While driving home one night my brakes failed, just as I saw a stopped vehicle some 200 feet ahead of me. I was unable to go to the right or left of it because of a river to the right and an oncoming vehicle to the left. My car was totaled, an older car (on which) I no longer could afford to pay the cost of collision insurance, only maintaining maximum liability and medical.

"I grieved my perceived loss of control of freedom without my wheels for about 2 weeks. Finally coming to the conclusion that being a free spirit was not incumbent on a car, I accepted the invitation of my oldest, married granddaughter in Costa Rica to come live with them...

"We think we know what we want to do...man proposes and God disposes (and God smiles)."

Now as I commend Violette on her resilience, courage and insight, I wonder where else I might be geographically. I've felt like a world citizen for a number of years, quite willing to serve nomadically with a proper means of transport, such as a camper van. As it is, my trusty old Toyota Corolla has carried me across the country and back, and then some. At one point Mexico seemed to be beckoning, although I do not speak Spanish and do not feel called there.

The "where", of course, matters far less than the "how". How we choose to live and serve is what makes the difference in the end. But Violette's story, so similar to my own, has given me a thoughtful bone to gnaw this late autumn day. I invite you to ponder your position, too. Are you where you need to be, metaphorically as well as literally?

Enjoy this Mercury Rx. It is all about communication, inner and outer. Blessings.

The Winged Messenger Goes Retro

It's that time again: another Mercury retrograde, when we all chant, a la Aretha Franklin, "Re-re-re-re..." as in, revise, rethink, review, renew, remind, remember, re-imagine, and most of all: relax! Mercury, the fast-moving planet of communication, goes retrograde (appears to travel backwards in the sky) on an almost seasonal basis, so it's wise to learn to relate to retrogrades rather than fear them.

This one began today in Sag, and will conclude in Scorpio on December 3rd (the signs refer to where Mercury is at the time of retrograde, NOT to the the current sun sign, which IS Scorpio, just to confound you further).

Astrologer Tara Greene adds a little color to this retrograde with her analysis of its Sabian symbols (metaphoric descriptions for each degree of the zodiacal wheel).

Tara writes, "The Sabian symbol for the degree where Mercury retrogrades is, 'The lamp of physical enlightenment at the left temple.' This concerns itself with the link between left and right brain, the intuitive, creative, psychic side and the logical, ordered side. We need to tune into and balance both sides of our brains. Mercury is dual natured, a hermaphrodite, representing the union of both halves of the brain. I picked up a synchronistic pun, on Temple, of course. You don't need to go into any building to pray to get in touch with God. It's all right there in your consciousness. It is all in your head. And that's a good thing too.

"The symbol is elaborated: 'This refers to the process of deconditioning a consciousness that has become a prisoner of intellectual concepts with their total reliance on quantitative values, objectivity and conformity to the official patterns of our culture. Listen to the wisdom of your body.'

"I'd interpret this as: turn off your TVs, your cell phones, the media lies and hype, you are a prisoner already."

During the retrograde it's a good idea to double- and triple-check appointments and flight times, leave extra time to get somewhere, and delay purchasing electronic equipment if possible. Communication snafus and computer glitches are common now. (I once thought I needed a new computer; my Mac was crashing daily for no apparent reason. Then Mercury went direct and the problem went away. Seriously.)

Once Mercury goes direct on December 3rd, it's akin to an "all-clear" signal--almost. Tara says that the Sabian symbol on Dec. 3rd will be, "'Thanks to an X-ray, a man's life is saved.' This symbol pertains to seeing with X-ray like vision; beneath the surface of things. Like the news or your own body. Put on your X-ray specs. Jupiter is also in Scorpio now, amplifying that Scorpionic X-ray vision all around. Communications will start to move forward again, BUT...

"Communications won't be entirely 'back to normal' again until Mercury hits the degree it left when it began to retrograde, on December 21st. Just in time for the Winter Solstice."

It's a wild flume ride, as we're still in the integration phase from 11:11:11, too. So the energy is unpredicatable and wonderful, wacky and way-out, and the best path is the one of least resistance. Go with the flow, allow yourself time to wander and wonder in natural, peaceful surroundings, simply be the Love that you are, with yourself as much as with anyone else.

Happy evolving, fellow starseeds!

Giving Thanks Through Service

We're in the midst of the 11:11 portal, an 11-day opportunity to open our hearts and whole beings to Grace and Love as never before. Appropriately, Rootlight has released a wonderful message on the Spiritual Art of Thanksgiving, that says, in part,

"Service and gratitude deliver you to God's door...It doesn't matter how much you study, how much you read, how much you know, and how powerful you think you are, you shall never have the grace to penetrate the heart of God if you do not serve others and venerate the WORD that is God. Service brings humility, and humility leads to the perfection of love."

Happy Thanksgiving to you, everywhere, every day of the year. Blessings!

"We are the ones we've been waiting for..."

I remember the first time I read the following Hopi message, six years ago. A feeling of joy, recognition and strength coursed through my being. The words only become more potent with time, as we step fully into the river of NOW:


The Hopi Elders Speak

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour. Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour, and there are things to be considered:
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.

It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination. The Elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

The Elders
Oraibi
Arizona Hopi Nation
Message delivered December 1999, on the eve of the new millennium

Approaching 11:11:11

The 11:11 portal on November 11 is always powerful, but in 2005 will add a dimension due to the year: 11 + 11 + 2005 (7) = 2+2+7 = 11.

Archangel Michael through Celia Fenn calls this Stargate the Doorway to Absolute Integrity, an alignment of all aspects of our higher and lower selves. This balance is achieved, of course, through the Heart chakra, and will not be an easy passage, as everything that isn't aligned with your higher purpose will fall away--including work and relationships.

Michael says that "Energetic and Physical Symptoms of the 11:11:11 Stargate may include:

* Physical exhaustion and the need to sleep very long hours. This is because the physical and emotional bodies are aligning with the higher vibrations of the spiritual bodies to facilitate the complete alignment of higher and lower aspects.

* Emotional stress and the ending of relationships. Everything that is not in integrity will end. Some endings may include hostility as repressed angers come to the surface.

* Depression and sadness. A feeling of being unable to cope or of failing. Do not worry. This is meant to be and your higher aspect is guiding the alignment process. It is not a test and there is nothing to pass or fail. If you are experiencing these symptoms of the alignment, then you have succeeded in this next step of the Ascension process.

* An increase in the apparent chaos of life. As you become more centered within the peace and stillness of your Soul and Divine Essence in the alignment process, the outer world will appear even more chaotic and frenetic. Do not allow this to pull you out of balance. Stay within your calm and peace at this wonderful time.

* Feelings of emptiness and loneliness and becoming tearful. This is part of the complete surrender to the higher aspect. You have released the hold of the lower ego self and surrendered to the guidance of the higher. This process of alignment represents a 'no space' or 'void' in which the ego self may feel very alone and lost. Do not allow this to overwhelm you. Just know it will pass and you will move forward into the full realization of your potential as a human angel.

* Deep feelings of peace and gratitude as the alignment is completed and you move into the full experience of the 11:11:11 portal. As you wake up to the inner changes you will celebrate the intense power that you will feel as the higher and lower aspects lock together and the flow of crystal energy and higher awareness moves through your bodies and into the planet's crystal grid system. You will begin to feel a sense of complete harmony between yourself and the planet as your ninth dimensional energies activate fully into the crystal grid system. It is time to celebrate!"

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Something that may help ease the transition is a line from Jose Arguelles' work on Mayan cosmology: "To gather whole the mind of Earth/And seal it with the Starseed Harmony." Try putting these words to melodic mental music, an ethereal tune, and sing it aloud to yourself. I do this often and it grounds and centers me.

Labor Rooms for a New Humanity: Birthing Your Inner Wisdom

From Daniel Jacob, who channels The Reconnections, comes this brilliant idea for local Birthing Centers -- not for giving birth to infants, but to our ever-evolving selves. These Labor Rooms for a new humanity are, we might say, a new conception in Come Unity: places to gather as we awaken.

I know I longed for such a place when I dove deeply into my dark night of the soul in the mid-90s. I felt a longing for a mother, but didn't realize what I craved was connection to Gaia, to the Great Mother of All, to the Divine Feminine. On the far side of this journey, I created Live Your Light to help midwife others through this transformational doorway.

Now, we're all waking up, and it's both thrilling and challenging all at once. The Reconnections affirm, "Out of the ashes of a crumbling Old Paradigm -- characterized by forgetfulness, separation, control, and manipulation -- a New Paradigm is about to bloom. Its foundations go back as far as human history can recall. And you, who are alive and awake at this time, are being given the opportunity to perform a service of being 'midwives for the New Paradigm, and hospice workers for the Old.'"

What a beautiful vision.

As each of us chooses to conclude our "vacation in limitation," according to The Reconnections, we need places to gather that are informal, comfortable, tolerant, loving -- and ideally free of charge. Yes, the money trigger is a powerful one I'm still healing. While a great deal of my spiritual service is offered pro bono, I have been challenged to fulfill basic 3-D needs without relying on work I used to do, that is no longer aligned with my soul mission.

The Reconnections add, of these Birthing Centers:

"Each 'Come Unity' Gathering is like a spread of Tarot Cards, wherein each 'card' carries a unique and personal message. As in a Tarot reading, it could be said of these group meetings that no one arrives there by accident, even as there are no cards chosen in a Tarot spread that are not subject to clear guidance from deep within all of those who participate in the reading.   

"Can you imagine the velocity of energy that could be generated, if each person in a Circle Meeting begins to step beyond the barriers of 'me' and 'you' for a set amount of time -- using the same suspension of disbelief that is employed when you are watching a motion picture or a stage play? The 'pitch' and expansion of those meetings would be astronomical!"

I'm ready and willing to hold the energetic space for such a Gathering, and to be its first spiritual steward. If you know of a gathering place -- especially if there is an opportunity for me to live onsite and facilitate other spiritual events -- please do get in touch!

Blessings and joy.

10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace

Thanks to lightworker Harusami, I've just discovered WisdomFlash, which features a variety of inspirational flash presentations. This one is prolific author Wayne Dyer's 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace.

Enjoy remembering, as I did!

Coming Home: The Weeping, The Sighing, The Gnashing Of Teeth

We reached critical mass in August--when 51% of the energy and consciousness on Earth was at last vibrating to Divine Love and Source Consciousness--and now that the veil has been lifted, you may feel just a little strange. It's a tremendous adjustment, a global course correction of sorts, and crying from joy is as natural as weeping from fear.

Karen Bishop, in her latest alert, The Loneliness, says feeling off balance and acutely lonely, wanting to jump out of your skin and feeling disconnected, are all normal manifestations of arriving in the higher realms. For many of us, it's truly being a "stranger in a strange land." I remember when my body felt exactly as described, when I was going through the wave of awakening that took place in 1993. I had no one to turn to at that time who could explain what was happening to me, and I did weep with abandon all of one day, with a compassionate friend holding me, bewildered. Yet for all my confusion, I sensed something wondrous was happening within me. And that was just the beginning.

Well, now "the gang's all here," as the saying goes. If you haven't entered this gateway yet, you will soon, because this is the Shift of the Ages, when, as another Lightbringer, Patricia Cota-Robles, says, "the whole of creation is breathed into a new level of Godhood."

Know that it's OK; all IS in Divine Right Order, and the loneliness you may be experiencing now will pass. In the higher realms there is no separation, and we are now going to be linking up with our soul families as never before. The joy of reconnecting, and re-membering (making membership again) will be unlike any connection we've ever known, because it's such a deep joining through the cosmic heart of All-That-Is.

Karen counsels, "If things seem chaotic and confusing, know that we have net yet read the driver's manual for the higher ways of being...As things may feel upside down and inside out, it is only because we are now finally in the vibrations of rightside up, and the old realities are merely trying to adjust and align."

Enjoy the flume ride of Now, remember to come from your heart and not your head, and take time to taste the wonder of this newness on both your spiritual and physical tongues. It's the nectar of the Gods, and it is now ours. Heaven on Earth has arrived, regardless of outward appearances. That's only the last of the darkness, burning away.

Blessed Be.

Opening the Heart to World Service Meditation: 10/8/05

Calling all Lightbearers! Help accelerate planetary awakening from the comfort of your own consciousness!

Please join a global meditation, "Opening the Heart to World Service," on Saturday, October 8th (Sunday a.m. in Australia and Japan). Full details, here: Worldwide Meditation, including a time zone calculator. The link-up begins at 10 pm GMT, which is 6 pm on the US East Coast and 3 pm on the West Coast.

Brits Revoke USA Independence

I just received the following hilarious e-mail from a teammate in South Africa, via Australia (we really are an amazing global network!) Given the current state of leadership in the US, revoking our independence until we grow up might not be such a bad idea (sort of like grounding a teenager who has exceeded parental boundaries).

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"In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new prime minister, Tony Blair, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether anyone noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect: You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up 'aluminium', and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

The letter 'u' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters. The suffix 'ize' will be replaced by the suffix 'ise'.

Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (Look up vocabulary). Using the same 27 words interspersed with filler noises such as 'like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.

There is no such thing as US English. We will tell Microsoft on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of 'ize'.

You will relearn your original national anthem, 'God Save the Queen'.

July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should be handled only by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not grown up enough to own a gun. Therefore you will no longer be permitted to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

All American cars are hereby banned. They are rubbish, and this is for your own good - when we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

The Former USA will adopt UK petrol prices (petrol will no longer be referred to as gasoline) - roughly $6/US gallon.

You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed with vinegar, not catsup.

The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play Rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game that is not played outside America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.

You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

Thank you for your co-operation."

Radical Trust

Karen Bishop says that after our latest ascension leap, the ensuing recalibration period may feel like prison energy, in which we feel trapped in a none-too-pleasant existence not of our choosing.

I'm an Aquarian, and we're known for being ahead of our time (or sometimes just ahead of ourselves), but--I've actually felt the joyous freedom of new forward momentum after 5 years in metaphoric chains! So whether you're feeling newly released or like a captured angel, it's wise to remember that if you're being denied what you dearly desire, it's probably because something more attuned to who and where you are now is waiting in the wings.

Karen counsels,

"If you have felt like ending it all, giving up, and throwing in the towel, know that we are simply at the threshold of a whole New way of being and a whole New reality. And know as well, that with the light seemingly gone for the moment, this is also just a time for the so-called 'darkness' to be allowed free reign to destroy itself, just in time for the adjustment to become complete for the New higher realms reality.
 
"The darkness may seem 'big', with attacks, inappropriate behavior resulting from a fear-based consciousness, and certainly much relating to MONEY. But this is only because our monetary system is being readied for an eventual fall. If you can, have radical trust that all is as it should be. Be in the moment and simply 'be'. Tend to a hobby or spend time in nature. And in this space of being, you will most likely experience the New heart connecting energy that has arrived with this latest shift, as we are connecting now more and more through our hearts instead of our minds."

Words of Wisdom from Chief Joseph

Thanks to Violette Ruffley for this morning's reminder: How the Universe Really Works, channeled from Chief Joseph:

"Friends, you live in a Universe that is exquisitely perfect in every way. We realize that may sound like a ridiculous thing to say, at least to many of you. Especially when you look at the world around you, including your latest huge human disaster, the hurricane called Katrina.

However, the Universe works in an entirely predictable manner. It is governed by the law of attraction. And everything that happens, happens according to the law of attraction. No exceptions.

And so, you might ask, 'What is this law of attraction that governs the Universe and all of our lives?'

Well, we've addressed that question many times over the years. But it keeps coming up. And probably will keep coming up. And so we will keep addressing it.

The very essence of the law of attraction is this: You live in a Universe of vibrations. Vibration is all that is. Similar vibrations resonate with each other. Dissimilar ones clash with each other. But our real point and focus here today are the similar vibrations.

To put it simply, you attract into your lives (as individuals and as groups, large or small) what you focus mostly on.

Your focus, your attention to anything, sets up a resonance, a vibration. And the Universe responds instantly to that vibration.

And instantly whatever matches that vibration, or resonates with it, is on its way to you.

So, as we've said often before, it behooves you to pay attention to what you're paying attention to.

Let's take some examples from John's experience.

As he was jogging, he started thinking about snakes. And lo and behold, a snake appeared almost instantly.

In another of his experiences that same morning, a particular toothpaste he’d been wanting a long time suddenly manifested.

We take these two examples because, among other things, they illustrate how irrelevant time is when it comes to manifesting your hearts' desires.

Time is, in fact, often the biggest block you face in creating what you want in your lives. Not because time matters -- it doesn't. The Universe couldn't care less about time. It's you who care about time.

So when you ask for something, or give your attention to something, no matter how fleeting that attention may be, it's instantly on its way to you.

And if you simply allow it to come, and if you really do not care when it comes, it will often come to you quickly, or even instantly. When that happens, you frequently call it a 'miracle.'

But, often, your focus, after you've asked for something, is on the fact that it's not there yet. Well, then you've set up a contradictory vibration. And you thereby slow down the manifestation.

You live in a perfect Universe. But it's a Universe governed by its own law of attraction. And so, by its own law, the Universe cannot deliver to you something you're not ready to receive.

In other words, you cannot receive something that does not match where you are vibrationally.

On the other hand, the Universe can, and often will, deliver to you instantly whatever matches where you are vibrationally.

That, of course, friends, can work for or against you -- for or against what you're wanting to create.

So, again, it behooves you to pay attention to what you're paying attention to. Your predominant focus determines your predominant vibration.

And that predominant vibration determines all of your life experiences. All of them -- no exceptions.

And that is how the Universe really works."

Striking At The Citadel

We asked for acceleration, and the winds of change are answering us with gale force. Lovely Rita is meting out justice at 150 mph, and some pundits say it may be the end of the US economy as we know it.

Michael Ruppert, author of Crossing The Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil, says between Hurricane Katrina and the imminent destruction from Rita, US oil and natural gas production will be decimated to catastrophic levels. He calls it our "crude awakening," and the end of the US as a superpower.

What's certain is that we won't be pouring oil on these troubled waters. Rita's just handed Mr. Bush a ticket he can't pay with the US deficit.

But this is a "lower" world view. Let's broaden our perspective...

On September 2nd, as the nation was reeling from the fury unleashed in Louisiana, Golden Elk channeled the following message from the Mother about what was to happen next, and why:

EARTH CHANGES PROPHECY
As received by Cody Golden Elk on 9/2/2005

Today at 11:34 am, Earth-mountain time, I was shown a vision, by the Spiritual Hierarchy of Light (SHL), of the next great hurricane to strike the U.S.

"This will be one of the most destructive storms ever seen, its effects felt around the world. It will approach Houston, Texas from the Southeast, and lay waste a large portion of the Texas coast, like a category 5+ hurricane.

When I asked the SHL when this would occur in linear Earth time, they only replied 'soon', emphasizing that these events are like a 'one, two' punch, with the recent hurricane, Katrina, which destroyed New Orleans being the 'jab', and the coming hurricane hitting Houston being the much more forceful 'knock-out' punch. There will be some loss of life, but a much greater property destruction of oil refinery output.

The SHL wants those few Earth humans who will listen, to know that this is a direct strike from the Universal Spirit upon the infrastructure of the fossil fuel paradigm (oil business). The refineries in Houston and New Orleans for decades have polluted the oceans with noxious chemicals. Also, they produced much gasoline, which through car emissions have caused severe pollution of the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in cascading environmental degradation. Much of the military fuels used for the evils of the U.S. government in launching its numerous attacks worldwide (like Vietnam and Iraq) were also made in these places.

This is the 'beginning of the end' wake up call for the demise of the fossil fuel paradigm, and all the associated environmental destruction it has spawned. It is time for the Secret Government to stop withholding energy technology and for greed to end. The loss of life and property will be sad, but NOT NEARLY AS IMPORTANT AS THE LESSON: GREEDY EARTH HUMANS - STOP DESTROYING YOUR ONLY HOME, THE EARTH."

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In a grander sense, this current crisis is only one manifestation of a nation (and a world) in the midst of massive transformation, feeling the pressure to awaken and to shift behaviors or experience the consequences of limited, self-serving agendas.

Two superb astrologers, Paula Peterson and Judith Goldberg, MFA, say the planet Saturn's entry into Leo, the fiery lion, this past July, will be affecting us more than we can imagine. Saturn's placement influences attitudes and priorities, both personally and collectively. Leo's top priorities are self-expression and leadership.

This new configuration will most prominently affect the Baby Boomers born between August, 1938 and August, 1957 (which includes me!), who all have Pluto natally in Leo. Pluto is the planet of transformation; its keywords are "sex, death, rebirth."

Goldberg says, "Saturn conjunct Pluto, in fire sign Leo, will be heating up the waters." I know, from painful personal experience, that Pluto will do a slow, deliberate dance on you when you hold too tightly to the old. The Transformer cannot effect change unless you feed the sacred fire; in order for something new to be birthed, something old must die. Our willing surrender of these attachments marks an ego-death. Remember that the essence of the Lion is pride; in this case, a sense of entitlement. And pride goeth before a fall...

Are we being asked to relinquish our oil-dependent existence in order to grow as a species? It's a huge shift; life as we know it will radically change. It's terrifying.

I know I can't yet see how to get along without my car. Given my itinerant, home-less lifestyle these past five years, it's a necessity. I feel like a turtle, with my aging auto as my shell. But perhaps that's part of the Saturn in Cancer cycle (wanting to crawl into our shells and hide out from the world) that's now concluded.

These disasters (a word which means, "against the stars") are a global call to start regenerating our essential energy stores, which can never be depleted and will serve our transport far beyond 3-D. Sun (fire) and Air (wind) are as elemental as Love, and as plentiful. Maybe that's what Katrina and Rita, the Winds of Change, have come to remind us: "Harness the wind, your spirit-breath, learn to work with the resources rather than dominate them, and you will all be blessed beyond imagining as you walk forward into a New Dawn."

Equinox: Balancing Light and Dark

From my friend and fellow coach, Helene van Manen in Colorado, this inspiring and timely reminder from Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves:

"One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires ... causes proper matters to catch fire.

"To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both - are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do. Do not lose heart. We were made for these times."

Angels Over the Gulf Coast

Bryan de Flores creates "accelerators" in the universal Language of Light to facilitate human evolution. He and visionary artist Daniel Holeman cocreated Angels Over the Gulf Coast as a way for all of us to energetically assist the area affected by Hurricane Katrina. Bryan also offers spiritual insight into why this latest Earth upheaval occurred.

Fire and Water: Reflections on 9/11, Katrina, and the Deeper Meaning of What We Unleash

Years ago, deep into my own spiritual emergence, I had startlingly prescient dreams; in one, the words, "violent emergency" reverberated through my head, both asleep and awake. It was a violent emergence; birth is fierce. There is an ocean of difference, however, between Nature's ferocity and that which is deliberately inflicted by human beings with their own agendas.

On this fourth anniversary of 9-1-1, I awoke to a beautiful, imminent fall day, sending mental blessings to all and feeling optimistic, as I generally do, about our collective evolution. My faith in the eventual outcome cannot be shaken.

And perhaps the news I discovered when I logged on this morning, astounding though it is, in a grander sense accelerates this process. People the world over are already outraged at President Bush's lackadaisical response to Katrina, which recalls his initial behavior when the Twin Towers fell. Perhaps that's because, in both instances, he was at cause, not at effect.

Read this story:
Explosive Residue Found On Failed Levee Debris!

Yes, the man is a black belt in uncontrolled rage; a wildfire. I am clearly no Bush fan. And yet...isn't he, in a way, also a convenient scapegoat?

What do I mean?

We shudder at the idea that the leader of one of the world's Superpowers could knowingly wreak havoc on innocent people. Hm. What, then, is the definition of war? It is only in recent memory (Iraq, Vietnam) that strong antiwar sentiment has held sway. For much of our history, it's been an acceptable means of "protecting our interests," "keeping the world safe for democracy," or any number of other platitudes. And if thousands, perhaps millions, of innocents had to die in the process, well, they were war heroes. And the villagers in other countries, slaughtered in the name of whatever diety one invoked, deserved death because they were "the enemy."

Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to the US House of Representatives and the only member of Congress to vote against US entry into both World Wars, once declared, "You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake."

She makes an enduring point. Did anyone "win" the Indonesian 'quake and tsunami? Are we "winning" the war in Iraq? Could Bush and Co. "win" this hurricane, even by intentionally exploding the levees holding back the floodwaters?

What's really going on here? What is the higher purpose of our "explosive" potential, of the impulse towards violence we all carry within us to a greater or lesser degree?

Fire and water are complements; harmonized, they elevate consciousness and bring about healing. I sang these words aloud often during my "dark night of the soul" journey. To read my recent e-newsletter on this topic (What Shines issue #49), my article, "Why We Need the Numinous," which discusses how to bring the sacred into your everyday life, or my special broadcast from 9/11/01, please e-mail me with your specific request in the subject line.

We need to embrace the true fire within us, and discover the myriad ways to use this potent energy for good. Becoming a spiritual warrior is a profile in courage. Spirit asks, "Have you the conviction to come from your heart? Are you willing to transmute war in the alchemical fire?" The fire within is the perfect peace of God/Goddess/Creator/Innate Intelligence, which expresses outwardly as enthusiasm (from the Greek, "possessed by God"), inwardly as a calm awareness.

We've mastered communicating from our wounds. Now we're in a pivotal age, creating a context in which it's safe to share who we are in love, in truth, in well-being. Our collective task is to marry scared and scarred with sacred, density with destiny, jaded with jubilant; to become inclusive not exclusive. Because none of us is truly free until all of us are.

This is one of the great gifts of these disasters (which means, "against the stars"): they bring us face to face with The Other, in our psyches and out in the world, so we can see how we're one and the same. All anyone can do is introduce you to yourself. And then, looking in the mirror of your brother's or sister's face, you can start to be kind to your own confusion, criticism, sadness, or fear. Acknowledging our strand in the evolutionary web is, in itself, a giant step on the path to peace.

Indigenous peoples have always known this. The Mayans say, In Lakéch: I am another yourself.

It's time to create your own crucible: a safe container for your energies. Envision your inner chalice, and place this cup, brimming over with fiery potential and the waters of life, into your heart, where it will become an eternal wellspring of inspiration and renewal--and, in time, of unconditional love.

Blessed Be.

Birthing Our Mega Beings

Soleira Green calls it "megamorphing." The UK-based lightworker, one of a growing number of us who has her consciousness on the pulse of human evolution, says, "Everything has been both speeding up and slowing down all at the same time." She recalled to mind a phrase that has been weaving through my awareness for years: "Time seems both elongated and compressed." I don't always know at the time what I know means--but I know that I know it!

Fortunately, guides such as Soleira can articulate the "what" clearly. She observes, "We're changing so fast that you just think you've got your head around the latest shift and whoosh, the next one swirls into play."

Intriguingly, given Hurricane Katrina's arrival, Soleira states that, "In the past 2-3 weeks, there's been a sense of being in the eye of a storm, with swirling, high vibrational energies pouring in and yet feeling like you're in the quiet centre just before something even bigger moves fully into play. You may have been experiencing some of the symptoms of this evolutionary movement over the past weeks ...

... sleeping in the middle of the afternoons, unable to keep your eyes open and your mind alert
... an increased sensitivity to, and a need to stay quiet and away from, the hubbub of 3D life
... losing your sense of self as a gracious (and sometimes not so gracious) surrender into becoming something entirely brand new

"Our abilities to see, sense, know and create are enhancing by the day. Our understanding of a new omni-dimensional reality is enriching by the moment. And our integration of high vibrational energy is becoming slightly more comfortable as we find our way in a new evolutionary paradigm of reality.

"What is this new being that we're morphing into? One that is ...

... connected with a totality of self, with others and with Life
... wise and knowing, integrating an expansive and vibrant living intelligence with fresh new wisdoms and 'whopper' knowing
... willing to live totally present in the NOW, surrendering all that has been in every moment
... dancing with potential, always willing to bring the greatest possibilities into play.

"We are moving from small human beings with problems to solve to vast, amazing beings with the capacity to act creatively and wisely for an expanding reality. Humanity is megamorphing, evolving beyond our current understanding of what's possible in such a short period of time. Everyone is being touched by this shift as we move into a pulsing, vibrant, creational reality. This new reality is already here. These shifts we're experiencing are simply opening us up to this new world that already exists all around us, one which we ourselves have been co-creating on all the greatest levels of ourselves.

"The implications this has for human beings is phenomenal ...

... the ability to consciously and wondrously co-create our new reality
... the sense of being connected to something far vaster than our individual selves, yet still being wonderfully unique in everything we do
... a willingness to step into a new kind of visionary leaderfulness with stewardship and partnership for the Earth, the cosmos and Life itself.

"Creative living is powering into reality as so many are looking for the key to rich, fulfilling living and being. The answer ... the key ... is to playfully surrender who you think you are and dive with gleeful abandon into this wondrous new becoming. The more of us that are willing to embrace and live this sourceful, new, creational beingness now, the sooner everyone gets to dance within its magical reality."

Exciting, isn't it? I've written often "holding the both/and," dancing into Divine newness. If you'd like to read an issue of my e-newsletter, What Shines, that speaks to our evolving reality, please e-mail me, and request WS #49. Blessings!

Katrina: Chaos or Chalice?

Patricia Diane Cota-Robles has an intriguing higher view of the Gulf catastrophe: Katrina...The Bigger Picture. She says it's one more example of mass ego destruction, and will enable the United States to fulfill its Divine Destiny. Here's an excerpt:

"AMERICA is an anagram for the I AM RACE. This country, the New World, was destined to model to the world the true meaning of Freedom and the Oneness of the Family of Humanity. The I AM RACE was to be a body of souls comprised of all races, all religions, all nationalities, all creeds and all persuasions living together in freedom, harmony, equality and prosperity. The original plan was that we would respect and honor our differences, while reveling in the intricacies of our various cultures, clothes, food, customs, music, styles, talents, skills and other diversities. Needless to say, we have lost our way. But it is not to late to change our course of direction, and the entire Company of Heaven is standing in readiness to assist us.

"What if the purging of Hurricane Katrina is occurring in America to give all of us the opportunity to open our hearts and minds? What if this catastrophic event is the pain we needed to motivate us all to reach out to each other, to help us realize our Oneness and that we are all in this together? What if Katrina is designed to inspire us to heal the heartbreaking schisms, the separation and the polarization existing within the Family of Humanity abiding in this country?

"The destiny of America is to model for the world the I AM RACE, the Family of Humanity, living, loving, working, succeeding and prospering together with equality, respect, integrity, honesty, freedom and reverence for ALL Life. If we cannot demonstrate this in our own country, how can we possibly teach democracy to anyone else?

"The oppressive bonds of our human egos have been burst asunder, and that fear-based aspect of our fallen personality has been taken into the heart of our I AM Presence to be Loved free. Now it is going be infinitely easier for all of us to return to the path of Divine Love that reflects who we truly are, here and now.

"Natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina have a way of leveling the playing field in the Family of Humanity. The people who are being the most adversely affected at this moment as a result of Hurricane Katrina are the people in America who have often been the most oppressed, the most poverty stricken and the most disenfranchised. This is an overwhelming opportunity for every American to reach out and to help lift these people up. The Universal Law is...'As I AM lifted up, all Life is lifted up with me.' If we come together as the Family of Humanity and work to lift up the most downtrodden people in America, all Life in America will be lifted up. That statement is not just wishful thinking or a lofty platitude. It is a profound Truth that will change the course of direction for this blessed country.

"When we set aside our anger and our fears and come together with open hearts and minds, our I AM Presence and the Company of Heaven will guide us unerringly. Together we will cocreate viable solutions to the maladies existing on this planet, and we will create win-win situations in all facets of our lives, and the Divine Destiny of the I AM RACE and these United States of America will be fulfilled."

A Wealth of Wonder And Awakening

It's a new Moon in Virgo, with powerful energies streaming to Earth through the Sirius Stargate that opened in August. Archangel Michael says You are the Bridge, a thrilling acknowledgment that, at last, legions of Earth's inhabitants are awakening to who they (you) truly are.

Prepare for more of those "intense periods of emotional energy clearing that will manifest as depression, anger, physical illness and general feelings of exhaustion and malaise as your bodies once again detoxify and balance." Hm, not fun. But, part of the purge of the lower frequencies--just as Katrina and last December's earthquake/tsunami are.

Michael's counsel for the best ways to ride these galactic energy waves is the same wisdom that always applies for healing and clearing:

* Simplify your diet
* Drink lots of pure water to assist the detoxification process
* Exercise!
* Fresh air (this means actually going outside, away from your computer)
* Rest!
* Letting go.

Michael reminds us, "Many of you experience these energies as difficult, because you struggle to hold your balance. Many of you are also releasing lifetimes of negativity and fear, and you feel as if you may never move beyond the struggles and the discomfort and the loneliness of this process. We want you to know that the easiest way to integrate these energies and to hold your balance is to seek your joy in complete trust that it will be given to you."

Find and follow your bliss through creative expression, and through sharing love and intimacy and support with your Soul family. Remember, "ultimately, all on the planet are family. You are ascending as One Earth and One Family, and it is your Joy now to assist each other across that Bridge into the New Reality called New Earth."

Blessed Be!

Taking New Orleans By Storm

Although it's been decades since I've listened to Led Zeppelin, for the past several days the song "When the Levee Breaks" has been ringing in my head. Clearly, this year is about surrendering to the power of Nature, and especially, about honoring the water element. Water relates to emotion, to our inner life, and brings cleansing and renewal. We've entered the Age of Aquarius, the Water Bearer.

Yet most of us resist looking within until forced, either by external or internal circumstances, to let go of illusory control and make that crucial journey.

Gaia herself has been telling us, through our language, what we need to know now. Last December 26th, the Earth quaked. Now, the inimitable Gulf city where jazz reigned supreme has been engulfed. We can no longer expend energy focusing on the party (Democrat, Republican, or Bourbon Street). Like the Indonesian tsunami, this is a direct hit. We're being called to the core.

In the eye of a hurricane, all is still. Can we make room in our hearts, minds and Palm Pilots for this kind of exploration? There will be no rebirth until we do.

The London-based Guardian Unlimited writes, From the Ruins, An Opportunity for Rebirth. We've just entered the 8th month in the Chinese Year of the Phoenix, a legendary bird symbolic of transformation and regeneration. It's a global opportunity to rise from the alchemical ashes and birth something new. But we must choose it, choose it, choose it--or lose it...

In January, I discussed the spiritual causes and effects of the Asian earthquake and tsunami in my e-newsletter, What Shines. That article is online, here: Watershed. What an observer close to Ground Zero said then applies equally well to Katrina's devastation, because these messages are all pieces of the same planetary puzzle:

"Chennai is considered the spiritual and intellectual capital of India. Every moment of the day there are prayers going on in some place or other. Yet all the prayers failed to appease the fury of Nature. By striking at the very citadel of spirituality, the foundations of faith itself have been shaken. And it has to be a global effort to rebuild this faith--piece by piece. It is going to be an arduous task...but when we are through, the Spirit of the entire human race will have become INVINCIBLE. Not wet by water, nor burnt by fire; not pierced by sword, nor cast away by wind--as described in the Bhagavad Gita.

"Maybe we will never really understand the reason behind all this. But we need to pick up our pieces and rebuild our lives. And while rebuilding, we should make peace our foundation, strength our pillars, virtue our brick and mortar and love our doors to invite our fellow beings into our heart. The more peace and harmony we invite into our lives, the more joy and happiness we will see in our world."

Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who should be in the White House now, expresses with his usual insight and eloquence what the real weapons of mass destruction are: indifference, and prioritizing corporate interests over the common good. Read his call to action: Floor Statement of Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich: The Supplemental for Hurricane Katrina

The president's desultory attitude towards national emergencies seems to suggest that his soul has been co-opted by what novelist Philip Pullman calls "the Specters of Indifference." In the ingenious trilogy, His Dark Materials, Pullman's Specters devour people's souls as soon as they reach puberty--the age when passion (and compassion) become more important than self-centered child's play. After a Specter absorbs an adult's soul, the person becomes a walking zombie, observing even catastrophe with "perfect indifference."

Sound like anyone we know?

We're experts at taking a town (or a country) by storm. Domination and destruction breed more of the same, as Gaia is trying to show us. It's time to stop the madness, heal from the Dominator virus, and come home to ourselves, on every level. We do need to be engulfed--by unconditional love, which millions across the US and around the world have been demonstrating by opening their hearts, homes and wallets to Katrina survivors. As they did after the tsunami. As they did after 9-1-1.

The way out is always in, and through. Poet David Whyte, one of my favorite visionary voices for these times, has a potent piece applicable to now. As you assimilate it, ask yourself, "How can I begin to make the journey home to my true self?"

The Journey

Above the mountains
the great geese turn into
the light again

painting their
black silhouettes
on an open sky.

Sometimes everything
has to be
enscribed across
the heavens

So you can find
the one line
already written
inside you.

Sometimes it takes
a great sky
to find that

first, bright
and indescribable
wedge of freedom
in your own heart.

Sometimes with
the bones of the black
sticks left when the fire
has gone out

someone has written
something new
in the ashes
of your life.

You are not leaving
you are arriving.

The Wisdom of Eros: Antidote to War

If you're based in the UK (or will be there the weekend of Sept. 2-4th), I strongly urge you to take advantage of a sterling opportunity to link up with some of the most innovative minds of our time, at The Great Rethinking conference in Bath.

Part of an ongoing spectrum of events known as The Prophets Conference, this particular confluence of allies features a dozen exceptional thinkers culled from a variety of arenas, including:

° quantum physicist Fred Alan Wolf, PhD (who was one of the scientists interviewed in What the Bleep Do We Know!?),
° poet extraordinaire David Whyte (whose brilliant line, "The rest of creation is waiting, breathless, for you to take your place" defines my lifework),
° spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen, founder of What Is Enlightenment? magazine,
° and theologian Thomas Moore, PhD, the author of Care of the Soul, SoulMates, and an astonishing new article, The New Epicureans: Sex and Violence, Pleasure and Pain, Grace and Decadence, which recasts the truth of the '60s in a 3rd millennium sensibility: Make Love Not War becomes Venus taming Mars, leading the way into a new dawn.

Moore writes, "Hidden beneath the conflicts and divisions of modern culture is a profound fear of life. This anxiety finds expression in both exaggerated images of sex and in various kinds of repression. What is needed today is the restoration of a Venusian sensibility and an Epicurean delight in the deep joys and everyday relationships and experiences. We badly need grace, mutual appreciation, and humor. Spiritual movements often overlook the sensual layer of life, thinking that virtue somehow stands in austerity and self-denial."

Moore's presentation at The Great Rethinking will be a personal and global appeal for grace and beauty as antidotes to conflict and violence. For the complete article, e-mail me with "Thomas Moore article" in the subject line.

Humming In Tune With the Higher Vibrations

This month's heralded a humdinger of an energy shift, and even knowing we're in the midst of it, riding the waves can leave you exhausted. Spiritual chronicler Karen Bishop, always on the edge of the Now, offers a balancing perspective on the Ascension Leap of Mid-August, aptly describing our realignment process as "internal tsunamis."

One point really resonated with me. I've been housesitting in Berkeley since mid-July, and feel like I'm being driven insane by the noise, dirt, and chaos of the city after so many years in serene, rural environments. The "me" who lived happily in San Francisco in the 1980s and early '90s has undergone a radical shift, and is no longer harmonic with these denser energies. Karen writes:

"For sensitives, these mismatches can be challenging. Mismatched vibrations can leave one in a state of short circuitry, with great knots and gagging in your stomach, with a tenseness and tightness which does not support the natural flow of source energy, and with an acute feeling that you do not belong anywhere. The old lower vibrating energies and ways can really make one feel ill. And it can be difficult as well to say 'YES!' to anything, as it seems that all presented to you and in your environment requires a 'NO!.'"

Yes, Karen, it's how I've felt exactly!

However, she reminds us that in the higher realms, all is perfect and this is simply part of the evolutionary process; that even apparent polarity or darkness "only exists to support us in summoning something different." And I know how deeply true this is; how many, many times the people and situations that have seemed to be my greatest nemesis have turned out to be great gifts in disguise, facilitating my own growth.

So have faith, dear fellow travelers. Allow the cleansing process to continue, be very kind to yourself, and know that you've chosen to be part of this amazing journey into the New, now. In your deepest being, trust what you know, and flow with it to the best of your ability. Hum yourself into the higher vibrations, and know you're tuning up and tuning in to the Music of the Spheres.

Blessings!

8:8 Update -- How Ascension Affects Your Health

We're in the midst of the most powerful planetary upgrade since 2001, according to Archangel Michael through Celia Fenn. It's a highly creative time, when the "Solar Feminine" energy blends the fire of the sacral chakra with the love of the heart chakra.

But it is a major clearing. Here are the symptoms you may experience as you integrate these powerful energies:

* Dizziness and Spaciness, as your Higher Chakras are activated by the powerful Higher Energies. Also some shakiness as the energies move into the entire system and put pressure on the meridians as they integrate.

* The Symptoms of Detoxification as the vibration of your body increases and it throws off toxins. These include headaches, diarrhea, nausea, etc.

* Exhaustion, as your body works to integrate and balance the new energies. It will be energetically overloaded. This may also be experienced as short term memory loss, forgetfulness and problems with time seeming too short.

* Intense dreams at night, as your psyche sorts through your Akashic records and integrates the new energies and light codes. This is tied in with intense cleansing at the Sacral Chakra as humans prepare to once again use this chakra in sacred service.

* Deep sadness and Depression, especially concerning relationships. This is because as a Collective, humans are releasing old patterns and energies of abuse and negativity in the Sacral Chakra and making way for new positive relationship patterns. This personal clearing has been accompanied by a Collective or Planetary clearing of the destructive nuclear energy trauma of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at this time. Many Lightworkers have also assisted in clearing these energies from the Earth's Akasha at this time and paving the way for the intense Orange-Pink or Solar Creative energy.

Awaken Your Divinity! August 13-18th Is A Golden Moment

This August is truly the time to light the Fire in your Soul!

The 19th Annual World Congress On Illumination takes place in Tucson, AZ August 13-18th, when a "critical mass of transfiguring Divine Love" will be reached on Earth, according to Patricia Diane Cota-Robles.

Can't be there in person? Join with your sisters and brothers virtually via World Puja, an Internet site dedicated to creating free live global webcasts for the purpose of planetary healing. World Puja will be broadcasting during the entire six-day event, and archiving the webcasts on their site.

To help raise your vibration in preparation for this influx of Divine Light, Patricia recommends several simple breathing exercises that awaken your I AM presence and release more limiting frequencies. You can follow the complete instructions at Era of Peace.

Of Soul Mates, Sapphire Children and Royalty

August has always been a key month for me, a time of amazing possibility. Probably it's that fiery Leonine energy. In 2005, the Lion's Gate ushered in with the heliacal rise of Sirius (see July 13th entry, "R U Sirius?") brings astonishing gifts:

Archangel Michael, channeled through Celia Fenn, says the period from the New Moon on August 4th through the Full Moon on August 19th will be the most intense for opening to these new energies streaming in from the Galactic Center — and it will also be challenging to maintain our perspective as the frequency continues to accelerate. Focus. Focus. Focus. And remember to radiate the Love that you are.

I'm personally excited that this cycle also ushers in a two-year window to undergo an "Initiation of the Soulmate Union." Since I've been consciously calling my soul mate since 1998, I am elated to think we might at last connect on the 3-D plane! Michael warns it will not be an easy initiation, and...I am ready to step forward to help create the pattern and pathway for those who follow! If you're ready to reune as well, call your Beloved to you now!

We're welcoming in a new level of Star Kids, too. If you gave birth or are about to give birth in 2005, your child will likely carry the "Royal" Sapphire and Diamond energy, and be attuned to the highest level of Christ Consciousness.

Archangel Michael explains, "In ancient Egypt, this advanced auric configuration was held by the Pharaoh and his family, and its code names were 'the Blue Nile' and 'the White Nile'. These represented the Fifth Dimension (blue) and the Ninth Dimension (white). It was the function of the Royal family and especially the Pharaoh, to hold the balance between these two levels in order to ensure abundance, prosperity and peaceful balance in Egypt.

"The Sapphire children are the 'Royal' children of the Planet. They will be serving the same function as the Pharaohs of the past. But, they will be your children...and they will teach you that you are all Royalty. You are powerful and wonderful Beings of Light and Love. Each one of you has the ability to move to this level at this time!"

What Will You Harvest at Lammas?

August 1-2 marks the mid-point between summer and fall. Known as Lammas, or Lughnasadh (LOO-ne-sah), it's one of the 8 "Cross Quarter Days" on the Wheel of the Year (the others are the Summer and Winter Solstices, Spring and Fall Equinoxes, Candlemas (Feb. 2), Beltane (May 1) and Hallomas/Samhain (October 31). Lammas is a celebration of abundance, the harvest time, and a potent moment to bring ourselves back into alignment with the natural world.

An evocative description of this turning comes from a comprehensive mythology site with the delightful double-entendre title, Myth*ing Links, an annotated and illustrated collection of worldwide links to mythologies, fairytales and folklore, sacred arts and sacred traditions, loving compiled and updated by Kathleen Jenks, PhD:

"Lammas...is a hot, lazy, delicious time of the year. Bees buzz in the heat of the day, the air is still, and the force of the sun remains strong, even though its sway over the earth is slowly diminishing day by day. In the cooler nighttime, frogs and crickets keep us company. It is here, in the gloaming, when so many rituals begin...

"This is when the powerful gods of the grain harvests are honored. They are in their prime, sometimes generous, sometimes quixotic, and always aware with a bittersweet pleasure that their time will wane, as it always does, and they will die, as they always do, and yet nevertheless they will return to another delicious summer next year, as they always do, and have, and will, for this is the endlessly circling Wheel of the Year, and they ride it proudly.

"Yet there is a darker nuance, one that surprised me, for I had thought that this was a purely masculine god's festival. I learned however of Lugh's touching and loving devotion to his foster-mother, the royal Tailtiu, whose fate may be even more intimately woven into this season than his..."

Jenks quotes Parabola magazine author Mara Freeman on the further genesis of Lammas:

"...Lugh dedicated this festival to his foster-mother, Tailtiu, the last queen of the Fir Bolg, who died from exhaustion after clearing a great forest so that the land could be cultivated. When the men of Ireland gathered at her death-bed, she told them to hold funeral games in her honor. As long as they were held, she prophesied Ireland would not be without song. Tailtiu’s name is from Old Celtic Talantiu, 'The Great One of the Earth,' suggesting she may originally have been a personification of the land itself, like so many Irish goddesses. In fact, Lughnasadh has an older name, Brón Trogain, which refers to the painful labor of childbirth. For at this time of year, the earth gives birth to her first fruits so that her children might live..."

What needs to "die" so that the new can be born in your life?

Canadian tarot reader and astrologer Tara Greene says that Lugh's festival points Southwest, and resonates to the element Air. "Southwest represents the Place of Healing, of the Dreamer and the Dream. It is the place of both your Personal Dream and the Sacred Dream of the Planet. What is your Personal Dream? With Saturn in Leo, the personal and practical dream must be ruled by the heart not the ego. What is your Sacred Dream? The Sacred Dream is your Highest Spiritual Dream."

This August 1st, especially if you've never honored Lammas before, join with me in remembering your relationship with the Earth and her cycles. Give thanks for the abundance of beauty, harmony, peace, love, healing, grace and balance you are inviting into your life and into the collective, and imagine your Sacred Dream into reality.

The quintessential song for invoking Gaia's healing Sacred Dream came through John Lennon. I must admit that feeling deeply into these words now, there is a cellular resonance I've never been conscious of before, although I've heard the song hundreds of times:

Imagine

~ John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religon too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one.

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one.

Happy Mayan New Year!

It's New Year's Day, according to the Mayan Sacred Calendar. This year's "energy signature" is Yellow Cosmic Seed, guided by the Star. The affirmation sounds like this:

I endure in order to target
Transcending awareness
I seal the input of flowering
With the cosmic tone of presence
I am guided by the power of elegance!

My interpretation: pay attention to what Spirit's asking you to walk through (endure) in order to stay focused on your goal. Go beyond 3-D mind and be present with the celestial choir, which is helping to water the seeds you've planted so they can blossom. Allow grace (elegance) to guide you on your way.

Everybody has a unique "galactic gateway" or "solar signature" with its own affirmation, which helps point the way to your planetary purpose. Want to know yours? E-mail me with your complete birth date (mo/dy/yr). I also do full Mayan destiny path readings.

In Lakéch ("I am another yourself").