It's a G.A.S. - G.A.S. - G.A.S.!

The title of this post doesn't refer to the refrain from the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash," but rather to what we're experiencing now: Global Acceleration Syndrome, nicknamed G.A.S. by Reconnections channel Daniel Jacob.

It's a planetary birth process, something I've been writing about for many years (see my ebook series, What Shines: Practical Wisdom for Unleashing Your Inner Brilliance, a compendium of multidimensional guidance with hands-on application for your life now. There's a special FREE bonus offered with the purchase of books 2 & 3 throughout the month of June!)

G.A.S. Symptom Summary:

∞ Insomnia
∞ Spacey-ness
∞ Joint and muscle aches and pains
∞ Fatigue
∞ Depression and/or anxiety
∞ Allergies and immune system challenges
∞ Short-term memory loss
∞ Unexplained weight gain
∞ Pain at the back of the neck

Some of Daniel's suggestions for managing the shift (with helpful links):

• "It's all PERFECT"
• "It's all ME"
• "It's all REAL"
• "It's all NOW"

And I'd add, "It's all RIGHT!!"

Shine On, Beloveds ...

Full Moon Gift

John Raifsnider's Full Moon Taurus Gift is precisely that: sounding reminiscent of Rumi, he waxes rhapsodic about our celestial invitation to initiation. I like the last lines best:

"The world you held disperses. The thing you wanted reverses. The wall of ‘mine’ and 'yours' evaporates. One Self remains. Gone is the one called 'me.' Present is the One who sees."

Aftershocks

Astrologer Allison Rae offers a particularly lucid explanation of our current energetic flume ride in the latest issue of her newsletter, Cosmic Time. Here's an excerpt:

"Time seems to be speeding up even more than “usual.” Earth changes are on the rise. An ancient volcano explodes in Chile. Myanmar's delta region is decimated by a cyclone. A massive earthquake rocks central China. Killer tornadoes rip through the southern U.S., and a mysterious sinkhole opens in Texas. Food shortages. Rising oil prices. The political scene is transforming before our eyes. World markets are shaky, too, with all this volatility.

We live in times of extreme change, the crease period between world ages. The Earth is shifting. Paradigms are shifting. The transition is in full swing, and accelerating. The Hopi of North America call this the Great Purification. The Mayan calendar links the acceleration to the expansion of consciousness and the cosmos. The energies of back-to-back Scorpio Moons, with Beltane in between, amplify the effects. Everything's in flux. The energies of upheaval and manifestation are equally powerful, accompanied by waves of emotion."

Prepare to be recalibrated! Spend as much time in nature and in sacred, time-out-of-mind space as possible: it's the best action you can take for personal and global healing/evolution.

For China and Myanmar

While we are no strangers to cataclysms during these times, as the entire planet undergoes an extraordinary birth process, still my heart beats a rhythm of recognition for the many souls in the areas hit hard by these Earth changes.

Spare a prayer today for those affected by the cyclone and earthquake in Myanmar and China, respectively. We are all One; they are the rays of Light who have chosen to experience this shift for the rest of us.

Blessed Be.

On Mother's Day, Take a Stand for Peace

On Sunday, May 11th, people all over the globe will stand in silence for 5 minutes as a powerful call for peace. This remarkable event grew out of a book called The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering, which Sharon Mehdi wrote as a gift for her newborn granddaughter.

The book touched a chord with women around the world, and in 2007, the first Standing Women events took place. This year, the gatherings promise to increase exponentially. Check here for a local gathering ~ or create your own!

Read Julia Ward Howe's inspiring Mother's Day proclamation, written in 1870. It's quite a departure from today's Hallmark occasion.

Happy Mother's Day.

May is for Manifesting

Natural time calendar creatrix Li Walter has some wise words about manifestation, which is free-flowing this spring:

"We too often think of manifestation as the end of a cycle, a destination, when more often than not, shortly after reaching the ceiling of one level, we pop through into the muck on the floor of the next level, wondering what happened to our great sense of having reached the heights. Rather than bemoaning our fate or thinking things should somehow be different, use this time to acknowledge and shed what's no longer working in your life. More is possible."

Bear Li's words in mind as we move into the mystical realms, which Patti Cota-Robles says are wide open for humanity's evolution now. But as always, it's up to us to invoke our own growth. Here's an excerpt from her latest transmission:

"Once again we are being called to a higher service. We are being asked by our Father-Mother God, Saint Germain and the entire Company of Heaven if we are willing to put forth the necessary effort to be the heart, head and hands of God in the physical plane of Earth. This is not a monumental task; it is a simple matter of invoking these new frequencies of the Violet Flame and decreeing them into action through our Heart Flames."

In addition, Celia Fenn, who channels Archangel Michael, brings through vital information about the new Grail Codes and how we can integrate the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine in order to fully embrace the Fifth Dimensional energies in a "balanced and creative way."

Beltane: Going A-Maying

Today heralds the official end of winter and advent of summer, in the Northern Hemisphere; for our Southern Hemisphere allies, it's the reverse. Personally, I'm reveling in the return of the Light and warmth! Here's a lovely article detailing the history of Beltane and why this is truly a time to say, "light my fire!"

Thanks to What Shines newsletter subscriber Eileen Balint for this fabulously perfect May Day offering:

The Springtime of Now

Yellow forsythia, periwinkle blue
Almond buds bursting, moist with pink dew.
SPRING shoots forth ... from Eros's quiver
Rushing and gushing like a raging river.
Woodruff nestled in shades of sublime
Beneath cedar and dogwood, blue spruce and pine.
Flaming red cardinals serenade the wild
Feathering their nests with the down of beguiled.
Annuals, complacent, cheery and tame
In bed with bohemian perennials just the same.
Wildflowers don't care where they seed or they grow
In the Garden of Eden, you go with the flow.
The Maypole decked with ribbons and bough
Spirals awareness to the threshold of Now.
"Life is the dancer and I AM the dance"
Spring is the lusty rhythm of romance
Caught off guard in the twilight is Presence,
By the fragrance of Being, we remember our Essence.

Cosmic Conjunction Cafe

Canadian astrologer Tara Greene has a way with words ~ and images ~ that makes her celestial wisdom servings especially tasty. Today's treat is no exception: check out her Big Pizza Pie delight concerning today's Aquarian Moon conjunct Chiron (the archetypal wounded healer) and Neptune, planet of dreams and visions. As an Aquarian born with Chiron conjunct my sun, I can attest to the accuracy of Tara's words; last night's dreamscape was one deep cleaning, contrary, wild ride!

What's Green and Blue and Brown All Over?

We're not quite a week past Earth Day (which is really every day), so take a moment to ponder this primordial quote from renowned sustainable development architect William McDonough:

"Imagine this assignment: 'Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars into food, creates micro-climates, changes colors with the seasons and self-replicates.' Then we go knock that down and write on it."

Looking for Love in All the Right Places

One of the manifestations of now is attracting our perfect partners ~ something some of us (myself included) have been invoking for what feels like aeons. The good news: it's no longer about finding our complementary selves, because we're expressing wholeness to a greater degree than ever before. What a relief!

In her latest alert, Karen Bishop explains:

"We may need to part with some of our brothers and sisters, as we no longer share the same roles or pieces and realities of the new world. Wanting to part as a team effort, supporting each other, and being there for each other [does] not work. When it is time to let go, it is simply time to let go in all ways.

"For many, our new beginnings involve being with the partners and friends of our dreams and our ideal mates. Our ideal companions are just that. Meaning it is not necessary to have a partner who shares our project or our 'work,' and certainly who is not in our space to help us balance our issues. Ideal partners in the higher realms reflect a wonderful companionship, as at this point we are fairly complete and whole all on our own. This is part of the reality of these very new beginnings, which we will indeed experience soon. We are in yet another of the many transitions of the ascension process, and this particular one has many, many facets and phases, as it is so very monumental.

"So here is what is ahead and what we are evolving into as a whole and as individuals, even though you may be tired of hearing it so many times! We have refined ourselves and purified to a great degree, although we still have much more yet to do. This creates a more purified version of who we are. In this way, we then begin to attract other more purified things into our lives which match where we currently are. As things are condensing and refining more and more, the denser energies are also leaving as well, creating much less space in between our connections. Thus, we need to re-align with things that now match where we are. Those we part from will also re-align with things that match where they are as well. All in divine and perfect order."

2 Scorpio Full Moons: Redefine Your Reality

We're approaching a rare and potent transformational gateway: a pair of full moons, both occurring in the sign of Scorpio. The first full moon, on Sunday, April 20th, ushers in both the Jewish holy week of Passover, commemorating the Israelites' liberation from slavery, and Wesak, celebrating the Buddha's birthday and enlightenment. The second full moon occurs Monday, May 19th.

In between, we also celebrate Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22nd, and the joyous cross-quarter Celtic holiday Beltane, known secularly as May Day, on May 1st. Beltane marks the mid-point between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, and is traditionally a time of renewal, fertility, sensual expression and infinite blessings.

The co-creative energy is exponential now. The first full moon is an ideal time to clear our space, release what needs to die, till the Earth and plant the seeds for what we wish to manifest. During the second Scorpio full moon, we draw our new desire in. It's a magical, miraculous 6-week portal, a shamanic dance of death and rebirth.

Honor yourself and Mama Gaia in this amazing dance. Blessed Be!

Undertow ~ Surfing Life's Ocean Now

Drag. You know the phenomenon. Just when your life seems to be going great ~ bam ~ you're back at one. Why does this happen?

Patricia Cota Robles sent out an advisory that might be likened to a sailor's warning for our sea change in consciousness. She says:

"There is a phenomenon that often causes humanity to feel frustrated and powerless when it comes to changing our lives. That phenomenon is known as reaching critical mass, or the tipping point.

When we awaken, we begin to understand the power of our thoughts and feelings. We realize the importance of monitoring the focus of our attention and of controlling our behavior patterns. As a result of our new insight, we put forth the effort to think positively. We strive to hold our thoughts and feelings on what we want to manifest in our lives, instead of on our fears and the things we do not want in our lives. We envision Heaven on Earth, and we breathe life into our thoughtforms with positive affirmations, meditations, decrees, buoyant joy and heartfelt enthusiasm.

But often, after what seems like a valiant effort, we continue to experience many of the same old problems. This unfortunate situation causes us to become discouraged and to lose faith in our ability to change our lives. At that point, we feel like our efforts are futile. That is when we decide to give up, and we stop trying to make our lives better.

When we let go of our visions and our hope, we regress into our old negative thinking patterns. We start dwelling on our fears, problems and challenges instead of our goals, hopes and dreams. As a result of this tragic relapse, things get worse in our lives and our situations appear even more hopeless."

The solution: marshall all your inner resources to stay focused on the Light!

"There are often no outer-world signs to indicate that we are on the brink of reaching critical mass. In fact, many times it looks like we are very far away from that instant of transformation. The reason for this is we're being given the opportunity to transmute the blocks and resistance to our vision that have surfaced to be cleared out of the way. When this happens, we usually feel a little overwhelmed. We erroneously conclude that our efforts must be failing, and we just give up.

The Beings of Light have said that many times we have been a breath away from reaching a critical mass of our goal. Since we did not realize that, we got discouraged and stopped working toward our life-transforming changes. Consequently, our hopes and dreams were never fulfilled.

Let’s not allow that to happen this time. This is a year of new beginnings, and we have never had the magnitude of assistance from On High that we are receiving in 2008.

So, in very practical terms, critical mass means that when we are striving to create prosperity in our lives, the moment our thoughts, words, actions and feelings are vibrating with a critical mass of prosperity consciousness instead of poverty consciousness, our life circumstances will shift, and we will experience prosperity. The moment a critical mass of our energy is aligned with self-esteem and love, we will magnetize positive relationships into our lives. The moment a critical mass of our energy is aligned with peace, harmony and balance, we will manifest those Divine Qualities tangibly in our life experiences."

Whatever you do, don't give up now. You're sooooo close to the shore!

Conjuring Creative Choice

Just heard on Caroline Casey's provocative, seriously playful, intensely informative radio show on KPFA.org: the Dalai Lama and George Bush share the same birthday (different years), illustrating the different ways the energy can go ... wow ... what possibility to you wish to activate now?

Magical Health

Who says healing has to be long, arduous or painful? That's old paradigm. Health can be easy as breathing.

This article, Imaginary Acupuncture, caught my eye precisely because of the unusual title. So often we feel a symptom of "illness" and immediately make a mental leap to a full-on dis-ease. We certainly know how to "think ourselves sick."

Here's brief training in how to "think yourself well". Why not? We are the ones we've been waiting for. It's time. Go for health, wealth, and wisdom!

Free-Fall Into the Future

From Aluna Joy's current Center of the Sun newsletter, this comforting and wise counsel from mythologist Joseph Campbell, who also invited us to "follow your bliss":

"So yield to what is coming.
We're in a free-fall into the future.
We don’t know where we're going.
Things are changing so fast and always
when you're going through a long tunnel anxiety comes along.
And all you have to do to is transform your hell,
into a paradise,
is to turn your fall
into a voluntary act. It’s a very interesting shift of perspective,
and that's all it is. Joyful participation in the sorrows ~
and everything changes."

His words remind me of when I was entering my own tunnel of descent; I recall saying to someone I was releasing from my life (with whom I reconnected, years later), "I'm in free fall, and I want to be here." I actually saw myself peel my fingers back from the life I'd been holding to so tenaciously, and while part of me (my ego/mind) was terrified, my oversoul watched with abiding peace and overarching Love.

The journey, while arduous, led me to an unimaginable new shore.
Blessed Be.

Weaving the Wisdom

One of the joys of writing my monthly inspirational newsletter, What Shines, is the fabulous feedback from readers, which often expands upon the theme in unexpected and enlightening directions.


The April issue, entitled The Web We Weave, focuses on the spiritual insight I gained from a recent spider bite to my nose, and the meaning of Spider medicine in indigenous and shamanic circles. Canadian subscriber Eileen Balint sent me this e-mail after digesting what I shared. Enjoy her brilliant offering, published here with permission, of course:

I began to think about your spiderness.

I saw you flying through the air with the greatest of ease ...
Tethered (if you will) to earth and all her seas.
A spiderling ballooning upon dragline silk,
Born of a proto-hub, manna and milk. *

* Born of a proto-hub, manna (pineal) and milk (Milky Way galaxy).

How to make a spider web ... how to weave a living tapestry called life:

1. Dragline Silk: The First Thread (Anchor Threads?)
2. The Proto-Hub
3. The Proto-Radii
4. The (Primary) Frame Thread (the first frame thread is called The Bridge Thread)
5. The Proper Radii
6. Secondary Frame Thread
7. Secondary Radii
8. The Circling of the Hub
9. The Auxillary or Temporary Spiral (tough NON sticky silk)
10. The Sticky (or Capture) Spiral (Zschokke 1993) (sticky, elastic silk) - u turns

The Primary Framethread/The Bridge Thread
The Secondary Frame Thread

The Auxillary/Temporary Spiral (tough non-sticky thread)
The Capture/Sticky Spiral

The Light Shining Through: On Elections and Evolution

The current issue of Spirit Crossing e-zine contains two deeply insightful articles by experts in their respective fields: astrologer Judy Goldberg and intuitive Penny Peirce.

Judy's piece, Election 2008: The New American Revolution, describes how America's celestial cartography mirrors what takes place in the political and cultural arena, and delineates how the current historic political drama defines who we are now as a country and as a people. A highly practical application of astrological influences to life on earth: "as above, so below."

Penny's piercing article details a vivid dream she had over a decade ago, a classic "Big Dream" that portended our global evolutionary direction. Becoming Transparent: Preparing to Live in the Permanent Present Moment movingly depicts how the more we become "transparent" — detached from ego and personal history — the more light we allow to shine through us, and thus to unify us with the All. Her dream reminds me of several prescient Star Trek TV episodes from many years ago, in which releasing anger and resistance were key to survival. As above, so below.

Enjoy.

Hour of True Power

On March 29th, 26 major cities around the globe will go dark, in a heartwarming initiative designed to raise awareness of global warming.

From San Francisco to Sydney, Dublin to Bangkok, city landmarks will experience a "green out" as they are lit not by neon, but by nature alone. This throwback to yesteryear should be an inspiring sight for us all.

Learn more about this Earth Hour experiment, and why it's a great opportunity to go stargazing...or make music by moonlight...or have a romantic candlelit meal...or...

Pluto, Wesak, and Historic Opportunity

Pluto, the Great Transformer, makes its final passage across the Galactic Center, completing the series of historic conjunctions that began in Christmas week, December 2006 (what a week that was for me! My story about living mobilely, The New Nomads, which I'd been trying to write for 3 years, suddenly came gushing forth in 3 hours!).

This final Pluto/Galactic Center tete-a-tete takes place with Pluto in retrograde motion (appearing to travel "backward" from our vantage point on Earth) into Sagittarius, before turning direct and moving into Capricorn for the next 15 years.

Intuitive astrologer Allison Rae, whose latest issue of Cosmic Time is replete with topical information, says, "When the Lord of the Underworld aligns with the massive star- and planet-making black hole at the center of the Milky Way, changes are deep, fast, furious and long-lasting. It may not feel like it, but all Heaven in breaking loose on Earth. During this retrograde phase, we have another chance for Divine Love to emerge as the dark recesses of the individual and collective psyche are purged of illusion - the self-limiting thoughts, beliefs, programs and addictions that have no place in an enlightened future."

We also enjoy two full moons in Scorpio, April 20 and May 19-20, bookends for Wesak, the Buddha's birthday celebration, which this year takes place April 20th. Since Pluto rules Scorpio, this can be an especially rich growth opportunity, notes Rae, a time to "uproot longstanding karmic patterns and accelerate our transformation into self-realized divine beings." It's also an auspicious and potent moment to pray for Tibet liberation at long last.

A Time to Yinify

As Easter and the Equinox are kinned this year, it seems an ideal moment to embrace union and renewal on all levels. I coined the word yinify years ago to mean, bringing more of the Feminine energy and the essence of harmony and balance into ourselves and into the world.

While I've long supported Dennis Kucinich, who embodies yinification to a remarkable degree, with his withdrawal from the U.S. presidential quest I now view Barack Obama as a candidate who, by both his nature and personal history, stands poised to bring a divided country closer to collaboration than ever before. I think it would be absolutely awesome to have these two insightful, impassioned leaders share stewardship of the USA's highest elected office.

Enjoy this impassioned talk:
A More Perfect Union

And read Dennis's visionary speech, Spirit and Stardust, first delivered at the Praxis Peace Conference in Croatia in 2002.