Samhain, Spirit and Sacred Story

I'm not Irish (this incarnation), though I've long been fascinated by the culture ~ perhaps because, for me, Ireland defines myth and magic.

I've just read The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog by Patricia Monaghan, who was raised in Alaska and didn't begin exploring her Irish roots until adulthood. Her ineffable prose is tantamount to immersion in Celtic tradition. I traveled lustily with her through verdant valleys and over holy ground, inside the history and mystery of pagan celebrations once subjugated and now reclaimed.

Because Patricia paints a picture of an Ireland still steeped in "the old ways," where the Goddess in all her guises is a formidable presence, her story is a soul-nourishing gift for Samhain, one of the eight holy days that comprise the Wheel of the Year.

In the U.S., Samhain has been reduced to a children's holiday called Halloween, with a focus on costumes, candy and occasionally, mischief. But on the Celtic calendar, Samhain ushers in winter and the mysteries of the dark. October 31^st precedes Day of the Dead/All Soul's Day on November 1^st, a paean to the ancestors. The dark side — that which is hidden from view — calls us to remember our sacred heritage, as Monaghan so masterfully does in her incandescently rendered soulscape.

Mythologist Kathleen Jenks, an advisor to Monaghan's Black Earth Institute, explains on her own site, Myth*ing Links why this season is an excellent time to explore what is ending, or "dying", within us. What do you need to release in order to move forward in your life? Now, when the veils between worlds are thin, is a ripe moment for each of us to embrace personal and planetary transformation.

And the souls of those who have gone before can still share their wisdom with us, if we invite their collaboration. Astrologer Caroline Casey likes to say, "We cannot live through the dead, but we can invite the dead to live through us." What gifts are asking, aching to be brought forth through you in this quantum moment, when the entire world is awash in tremulous rebirth? How can you shine your brilliance and step fully into your aliveness, passion, purpose and service?

It's time to remove your mask, and step fully into who you came here to be.

Say What?

Does it feel as if we're living in "perpetual retro"? That is, life simulating Mercury in ongoing retrograde, which frequently scrambles communication? Mercury is NOT Rx now (that happens next on November 6) but/and, it can sure seem that way, as we navigate the dreamwalk towards galactic synchronization. Here are a few personal verbal snafus from this past week: 

• Called a health clinic to speak with a doctor referred by an acquaintance. Reception said he wasn't accepting new patients. I acknowledged that I knew this, and simply wanted a 3-5 minute phone consult to ask for an appropriate referral. I left my name, phone number and email. Later that day I received an email from the physician saying he had been told I wanted an appointment, and he wasn't taking new patients at this time.
• I scheduled a mobile locksmith (who WAS accepting new clients :-) to change my vehicle's door lock. On his initial visit he inspected the lock and key to determine the right lock to purchase, and made note of the year, make and model. When he arrived to install the new lock, he had purchased the wrong kind, and we needed to reschedule.
• A local bakery makes gluten-free, fermented breads that are for sale at natural foods stores. Since the bakery is local, I called and asked the owner/baker whether I could buy from him directly. Certainly, he replied. Which of the breads did I wish him to hold for me? I described the one I preferred. When I arrived that afternoon, my preferred bread had all been delivered to the health food stores
• To be fair, I did this, too: went to buy Kleenex and a writing tablet, and was frustrated to find the store out of the large size tissues I wanted for the second visit in a row. Picked up a packet of Post-it notes, paid for them and left. A few days later I realized, um, that it wasn't Post-it notes I'd meant to purchase ...

Clearly, walking this evolutionary road with one foot in 3D and the other wavering between dimensions can frazzle even those whose model equanimity. A handful of excellent resources for remaining grounded on Earth when our head's in the clouds:

• Mastering Alchemy with Jim Self;
• Barbara Hand Clow, whose books, especially The Mind Chronicles: A Visionary Guide Into Past Lives and The Mayan Code: Time Acceleration and Awakening the World Mind transfigured my consciousness;
• Starchild Global, whose creator, Celia Fenn, travels continuously from her home in South Africa, stewarding awakening rituals and events worldwide. If you're near New York City in December, her 12/12/12 and Winter Solstice events are highly recommended;
• Gillian Macbeth-Louthan's Quantum Awakening site and monthly newsletter, bringing through visionary guidance since 1986!
• The Reconnections through Daniel Jacob, always amusing, timely, penetrating in their insights.

And of course, my monthly enewsletter, What Shines, which quotes frequently from these and other superb sources, is your one-stop destination for practical inspiration and information.

Please let me know how else I may serve you! I'll have some warm bread waiting, right after I get off the phone with the doctor.

If It Ain't Necessarily Broke…

I always find it amusing how supposedly "inanimate" objects — notably my car — mirror what's happening in my life. We ARE all One, and that includes our machines, even if they don't appear sentient. The latest: I sprained my left ankle several weeks ago although I didn't recognize this at first, since I've never had a sprain before. I walked blithely around until I noticed it was swollen to the size of a baseball. Since then, I've been wrapping it in an Ace bandage each morning.

Last week I brought my trusty old Toyota (now 20!) in for an oil change. When I returned, the mechanic said, "Houston, we have a problem." It turns out the left front CV boot is leaking and needs to be replaced, something I've done several times before. The right boot is OK. It took me five days to connect the dots and smile. I suppose when I take my car in for the repair, the mechanic will "reboot" it? Too bad my own ankle can't mend quite so swiftly!

But what of symptoms that don't result from a hard fall (like my ankle) or old age and wear (like my car's CV boot)? If you're feeling unexplained and seemingly unexplainable symptoms, such as tingling or crawling sensations on your fingers, arms or legs (as I did in the early '90s), take heart: it may be part of the upgrade to 5D.

Daniel Jacob and The Reconnections say this is the nature of human transformation: "During these times of rapid change, more and more people find themselves dealing with neurological 'disease' states, such as pain, numbness, tingling, and the like. The Transformation of which we speak will often manifest itself as a series of small changes in nerve conduction and brain activity, which will seem (to some) like mishaps or mistakes of nature. 

"Whenever human progress is hindered, or physical limitation moves a person from one set of priorities to another, humanity feels driven to go and 'fix' the situation, as though something has gone wrong. There are no mistakes, in spite of how desperate conditions might appear in a given moment.

"The human body, as a vehicle, is programmed to FOCUS INTENTLY on a set number of persons, objects, and situations. Other sensory data, which generally flows all around you, is blocked from perception — filtered by what you think of as your 'five senses.' In order for you to allow in more data as it flows all around you, it is sometimes necessary to break apart some of your existing 'perceptual software,' so new software can be installed...

  

"What some might consider a trauma can also become a GRAND OPENING for parts of yourself which will guide you, and expand your Soul to new heights (and depths) as you begin to view things through new eyes and listen with new ears."

This is how it was for me. On one level, I was actually ill and needed to detoxify. Yet the detoxification process in 3D also served as a spiritual awakening, as I released crusty, toxic thoughts, beliefs and behavior patterns that no longer served who I was becoming. I discuss this unfolding in depth in my signature story, Learning to Live My Light.

These are the days of miracles and wonder, as Paul Simon sang so presciently years ago. I just finished reading a novel called WWW: Wonder about how the world is changed and blessed by a consciousness that spontaneously arises from the infrastructure of the World Wide Web. It may not be so farfetched … after all, the web itself would have seemed fantastic sci-fi just a few short years before it was created.

So if you're experiencing odd tingles or similar symptoms, consider transmuting this disturbance into "tingly with anticipation." And while contacting a health practitioner is always prudent, your healing prescription may involve singing, dancing, and opening your heart to the improbable more than ever before… Blessed Be!

Equinox: A Time for Tree-umphant Attunement

Years ago, during my Inannic awakening, I threw my arms around trees and sobbed out my grief, feeling their loving embrace. I began talking to crows, paying tribute to their visceral wisdom in a poem that concluded, "A coded conversation/In guttural cries/Opens my eyes/And lifts me higher." I fell in love with the Moon. With my brain on an extended vacation I began to access a more primitive part of my being, to participate organically in the instinctual world, not merely watch.

Trees are our allies, anchors in stillness keeping silent council with their frenetic human brethren. Even their to-do lists are rooted in an ancient rhythm. ("Monday: 1. Photosynthesize. 2. Send stored water to branches. 3. Bud 17 new leaves.") We can emulate them by standing tall in our truth, becoming quiet, listening with our whole being, and swaying with the winds of change so we bend rather than break.

In this equinoctial moment, I invite you to take the tree-mendous opportunity to tree-umphantly attune to inner and outer balance along with our beloved planet. Mythologist Kathleen Jenks offers some lovely lore and poetry to assist in this endeavor on Myth*ing Links. And in the spiral of life, a poem I crafted 30 years ago interweaving human and bucolic love is appropriate now as well:

Our early love

was rosewood, aged guitar grain

your fingers fretting,

latticework of love.

tune me:

I am your instrument.

We grew to oak

limbs intertwined, minds

like grosgrain

honed to hickory.

breathe me:

I am evergreen.

We stroke the night

cocooned in crimson,

nestled in a hollow

of feeling.

whittle me:

I am the virgin bark of dawn.

Dearer By Day © Amara Rose 1982-2012

Birthing a New World: As Above, So Below

I've been playing with the Mayan Calendar since it first engaged me on my awakening journey 15 years ago, yet I NEVER grasped the incredible cosmic connection Gregg Braden elucidates in his compelling new book, Deep Truth: Igniting the Memory of Our Origin, History, Destiny and Fate. Braden says the Mayan sacred cycle of 260 days, known as the Tzol'kin, approximates the length of a human pregnancy — this much I knew. But he then points out how this 260-day cycle is a fractal (a pattern that is the same at every scale) of the grander 26,000-year cycle that is now concluding: the precession of the equinoxes. 

This is the true value of Mayan calendrics: they provided a "map" of what to expect; it's only been our inability to correctly decode it that has led many people to believe the world is "ending." Cycles do not end; they simply repeat, albeit at a higher level along life's spiral. This is why our birth, and Earth's rebirth, are One.

Braden writes: "The Maya knew that for each birth, the conditions would shift to make way for the new life. In the case of world-age cycles, the shift is the breakdown of things that don't work in the face of the changes, in order to make way for the things that do. This is precisely the way our indigenous ancestors thought of our time in history: as a cosmic birth into a new cycle of life."

He goes on to explain how in light of this awareness, we can better understand that "the world of the mid-20^th century was a stepping-stone, a point inaugurating a learning curve, which has led us to another way of life. We can't stop the change, but we can guide it to a gentler landing.

"This is where Deep Truth comes in. We're all better equipped to make the choices that define our future when we understand the cycles, failures and successes of our past."

I highly recommend this book. Braden's scientifically supported findings will blow your circuits on many levels, such as: humans did not induce climate change — but we ARE responsible for creating a sustainable environment now! — and, perhaps even more astounding: we are not a product of evolution, but of an intelligent design (ID) put into place at once.

Never before has the aphorism, "We are the ones we've been waiting for" been so abundantly clear.

The Renewable Resource Called Y-O-U

Is your future sustainable? Do you take time and care daily to replenish your own wells — or is the renewable resource called Y-O-U running on empty?

I invite you to disembark the "Stress Express" for a train of thought that takes time not only to stop and smell the roses, but to cultivate them as well.

H.O.M.E. is an acronym for "Heart Of My Energy," with "om" as the calm center. We come "om" by creating a plateau of peace, a home within that can't be shaken no matter what's going on externally. Think of it this way: work is applied energy. Sustaining your own energy means working with yourself as a renewable resource.

Here are 9 realistic rituals you can adapt to come "om" to yourself: Read the rest!

Build Bridges, Not Malls

In the current issue of my newsletter, themed, "To Tell the Truth," I offer dance medicine in the form of ecstatic grooves for an awakening world by Om At Last, which includes powerful lyrics if you listen closely. I also rediscovered this wonderful world anthem, A House Divided, from 2006. Music, like art, is a cross-cultural bridge to unite us far beyond our superficial differences of age, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic level… If you think about it, these external challenges exist in order to allow us to go deeper, to cross the great divide into harmony.

I've just read a book that defies easy description as it demonstrates the shamanic essence of life, disguised as entertainment: The Death and Resurrection Show: From Shaman to Superstar. Our thirst for the paradigm-busting truth it contains is evidenced by the book's scarcity: it sells for a minimum of $122 on Amazon — and that's for a used copy. Clearly, we feel the call to Mystery, even as we seek to demystify daily life.

But too often, we get malled instead. That's not a typo, it's a sigh.

A month ago I blogged about the new shopping mall going up in a nearby town. Right now it's a swathe of dirt paralleling the highway, but the words that spring to mind are Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks." All the foliage has been desecrated in the name of profit.

Except they got the homonym wrong: it's prophet, as in augury, herald, divining a new world. We don't need more bling for the outside, but to let our radiance shine forth from the inside. This is how we build the bridge across forever, to the new human, the new world we're co-creating. The clarion call to awaken and step up to a higher Love is being answered around the planet; it's the most amazing time to be alive, to be witness and participant in the wonder of the shift.

While it's always fun to dress the part, express, not excess, is key. A new outfit to honor your Divine self? Sure! Another megamall to wander in soulless surrender while boosting the GNP? NOT!

How to Retrain Your Brain

In today's nanosecond business climate, thinking outside the box is too small. Instead, try thinking outside your brain. How's that again?

We use our left brain — the logical, linear, analytical mode — for business most of the time. Yet it's the right brain — the creative, intuitive, emotional side — that can actually help boost your business dramatically … if you allow it the freedom to guide your thoughts and actions when your left brain is saying, "but that's a waste of time!"

Here are some ways to retrain your brain so that you become more "whole-brained" rather than harebrained: (Read the rest)

Small Business Marketing: Eye of the Beholder

You've probably heard the maxim, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." This is nowhere truer than in defining a small business. Everyone from chief catalyst to receptionist to clean-up crew needs to be concerned with company image, performance, response time, etc., because every action, no matter how seemingly insignificant, affects client perception.

This is the real definition of branding: how your clients see you. It doesn't matter how slick your website, how memorable your logo, how many Twitter followers or Facebook "Likes"  — or even how outstanding your product or service may be. If a customer's experience is being left on hold for three minutes while she silently fumes, that's your brand.

Think about the positioning that describes your core brand. For example:

• What we're known for: comprehensive marketing communications, with a specialty in social media marketing
• Our clients: emerging businesses in the health/wellness vertical
• How customers see us: solid experience, broad knowledge, end-to-end programs
• What sets us apart: fresh approach, industry expertise, creative and effective campaigns, measurable results.

Now the key is living up to this promise. Just as you wouldn't appear for a major presentation in shorts and a T-shirt (unless, perhaps, the prospect sells surfboards or beach apparel), you don't want to unintentionally sabotage client perception by ignoring a request for information or failing to resolve a complaint.

However, it's also human nature to be forgiving when a business acknowledges its error. Consider this story: a customer ordered a book and card set from a small online retailer and received an e-mail response saying the order would be shipped no later than July 31. When she hadn't received anything two weeks later, she e-mailed again, saying that unless the package had been sent via media mail, it ought to have arrived by now. She also left a telephone message a day later. Still no response.

Quite annoyed, the customer phoned a second time a day later and reached the company owner, who, it turned out, was a solopreneur. She explained the shipment had been held up due to a last-minute cover redesign and apologized profusely, saying, "It's entirely my fault. Forty lashes! I should have let you know…" The customer and business owner spoke for five minutes, and the owner promised to overnight the package at her expense.

The upshot? The customer enjoyed her encounter with the entrepreneur, received the product the next day, and now holds the company in positive regard. However, the entire scenario could have been averted had the business responded right away, and indicated when the customer could expect the order to be shipped.

So how can you create the brand you want to be?

• Return phone calls promptly. If you say you'll call back within 24 hours, aim to make it sooner. If it takes you two days, customer perception will be: you don't care. Same with email: respond with 24 hours — or hire a VA (Virtual Assistant) to help you.
• Treat callers with respect. Avoid transferring a call more than once, don't place people on hold unless absolutely necessary (and then, just for a few seconds), and NEVER disconnect them!
• Make the customer right. If someone purchased a defective product, apologize sincerely (send a follow-up email as well), replace it immediately, or refund the customer's money promptly if that's their choice.
• Have an easily navigable site with clear contact information. Include a toll-free number if possible — and do your best to staff it with a live voice, not voicemail.
• Know your clients. Greet them with a warm welcome when they enter your place of business, get to know their names, and make them feel glad to do business with you.

Emerson said, "What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say." He might have been describing the hidden dimension of branding. Your brand is you, so let it represent you and your business in the best possible light. Then you'll attract customers who are eager to help you shine.

Harmonic Convergence: Closing the Cycle

Where were you on August 16-17, 1987? That's when the seminal global event known as Harmonic Convergence took place. The brainchild of Mayan researcher and author José Argüelles (who is now on the other side of the veil), Harmonic Convergence was a call for 144,000 “sun dancers” to gather at sunrise on those dates at sacred sites around the planet in order to create a synchronized meditation for world peace. An untold number – perhaps millions – answered the call.

The point of the synchronization was two-fold: to establish a common unified field of mind and intention, and to create a type of mental network or field around the planet – a proto-noosphere, or worldmind.

This Thursday and Friday mark the 25^th anniversary of Harmonic Convergence, in essence the closing of the cycle, the end of history and the beginning of a new World Age. Synchronized global peace meditations are again taking place around the globe. Join the event on Facebook, and become part of the Rainbow Bridge to our collective future of peace and prosperity.

Synchronicity Rising vs. Shopping Away Your Soul

On Thursday, the cross-quarter gateway known as Lammas, with a full Aquarian moon lighting up the sky and the Olympic rings, I had an incredible encounter with a man ahead of me in line at the grocery store. We casually commented that the lines seemed to be moving slowly, and I said, "I think most of the checkers are new; it's not easy to master all those codes on the register. I had to use one at my very first job when I was 16 and (I imitated the hunt and peck motion)." I laughed and said, "Now, of course, we all have computers so we're fast on the keys."

Then I looked at him and said, "Are you old enough to remember what I'm talking about?" He said, "Oh, yes, I'm older than you." 

Naturally, I had to take the challenge so I asked, "How old are you?" He said, "55." I said, "Dude!" and high-fived him. Then I asked, "When's your birthday?" He replied without missing a beat, "2/4/57" ~ which is exactly the way I always say it! I got what I imagine was a look of incredulity on my face and asked, "What time?" Meanwhile he's still processing what's happening, and says, "Wait ~ you're an Aquarian too?" And then he says, "It was sometime early in the morning, like 1 am." I was born just after 1 am. I said, "We're twins!" It was the coolest connection, though I think it flipped him out a little. For me, it was simply "synchronicity rising!"

Contrast this with some construction that's been going on for quite awhile next to the community pool here. The pool is located not far from the freeway onramp, but a stand of trees afforded a measure of privacy and peace. I noticed the greenery was slowly morphing into bulldozers, but had no idea why. Over the weekend I happened to mention some other nearby construction to a young Whole Foods employee, and he referenced the swim site construction by saying, "I'm designing the benches for the mall!" I thought he was making a very dry joke.

But no: the construction by the freeway is a new shopping center underway. Incredulous in a far different manner than during Thursday's heart-sync'd encounter, I said sarcastically, "Oh, I'm sure we need another mall!" That was when he repeated the information about the bench design, and I realized he was serious. I congratulated him on landing the project ~ I always support art, in all its guises ~ but the desecration of nature for human consumption galls me.

In this kairos moment when reclaiming our soul connection is key to personal and planetary evolution, the trees are our allies and guides. We won't realize our life purpose by buying the leopard print tights, but by becoming our wildness ~ not as violence; as an abiding, sensuous connection with Nature and all our planetary kin.

Hey, I grew up in a town that had more shopping malls per square mile than any other; I thought the trees planted inside the mall grew there! And I enjoy a beautiful new outfit as much as the next woman (or guy). The difference is, I know materialism isn't the path to what we might term synchronicitree.

I invite and invoke your primal need to be in natural surroundings, so that the synchronicity I experienced in the market knows how to find you. When you're living in the flow, such encounters will tickle you into joy everywhere ~ and you won't rely on shopping as a way to remember your soul.

Lammas and the Olympics: A Richer Harvest

This year's cross quarter gateway of fire, Lammas, takes place on a full moon, in the middle of the only event to harness at least half the entire world's attention: the Olympic Games. And in this momentous year, says Patricia Cota-Robles, the Olympic opportunity is truly what its name implies:

"A plan has been set into motion that will take advantage of the powerful celestial alignments and solar flares that are flooding the Earth during this awesome summer of 2012. This plan requires that people around the world create a collective Cup of Consciousness through which the Light of God will flow to transmute the surfacing negativity and pave the way for the birthing of a New Renaissance of Divine Love.

"The only positive event that has the potential of drawing the global focus of humanity's attention in the numbers necessary to transmute the amount of negativity being pushed to the surface all over the world is the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games are truly a global event, and they draw the attention of an estimated 4,500,000,000 people during the 17-days of competition. The Olympic Games signify the Family of Humanity setting aside our differences so we can come together to attain our highest level of excellence. This is the perfect thoughtform and intention needed for the collective Cup of Humanity's Consciousness. Together we will magnetize enough Light to transmute our human miscreations.

"The more Light we can project into this surfacing negativity the faster it will be transmuted and the sooner the patterns of perfection for our New Planetary CAUSE of Divine Love will tangibly manifest in our lives. The Olympic Games are providing an opportunity to catapult this process forward at warp speed.

"Pay attention to the positive things that are being brought to your awareness and you will confirm this for yourself. Do not focus on the bombardment of negativity that is designed to polarize people and to perpetuate fear and separation. Focus instead on the evidence of positive changes that are happening everywhere. Remember, where your attention is, there YOU are. Empower only what you want to create in your life, not the things that you do not want."

What Is 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 eight 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). (Of course, the dates are reverse for our southern hemisphere allies.) Lammas is a celebration of abundance, the harvest time, and a potent moment to bring ourselves back into alignment with the natural world.

Myth*ing Links, an annotated and illustrated collection of worldwide links to mythologies and folklore, sacred arts and sacred traditions, offer an evocative description of this turning:

"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..."

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 deathbed, 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..."

As Cota-Robles explains, our collective negativity and fear are what needs to "die" so that we may be reborn into 5^th dimensional abundance and grace.

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? What is your Sacred Dream? The Sacred Dream is your Highest Spiritual Dream."

This August, especially if you've never honored Lammas before, remember your relationship with the Earth and her cycles. Give thanks for the beauty, harmony, love and healing you are inviting into your life and into the collective. Image-in your sweet Sacred Dream.

R U Sirius? Hot Dog!

July 26th marks the annual heliacal rise of Sirius (meaning, "with the Sun"). This date heralds both the ancient Mayan and Egyptian New Year — for the latter, it also coincides with the flooding of the Nile, which Egyptians believed Sirius' rising caused.

 Sirius has long been known as the "Dog Star". (Trivia: in the Harry Potter series, Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, is an animagus: one who can shapeshift — and when he does, he transforms into a large black dog.) The Dog Star also gives us the "dog days of summer":

Ancient Egyptians called Sirius the "Dog Star" because pictograms of the head of their god Osiris resembled a dog. In Egypt, Sirius shines for most of the summer, and since it's such a bright star, the Egyptians believed the additional light it radiated was responsible for the summer heat. This isn't true, of course, but the phrase "the dog days of summer" springs from this belief.

The Greeks named the star Sirius, which meant, "scorching or burning".

And as we move through the Great Turning, this time that's been prophesied for millennia, it's wise to balance our blazing inner and outer heat with the heart of the dog, which of course is all about Love. Lots more on that in the August issue of my e-newsletter, What Shines.

Day Out of Time: Celebrate Possibility!

Wednesday, July 25th, heralds the annual "Day Out of Time" on the Thirteen Moon Calendar — a calendar on which every Friday is a lucky Friday the 13th! And in this spectacular year of regeneration on every level, it's about breaking through old paradigms and belief systems to align with natural rhythms and human biology, enabling us to access fourth and fifth dimensional frequencies. The daily affirmations (260 in all, referred to as "kin") work on an intuitive level.

What, then, is the Day Out of Time (also known as Green Day)? Here's a summary from the Foundation for the Law of Time.

Around the planet, this day is reserved for festival and community. Central focuses are: Planetary Peace through Culture, 'Time Is Art!', forgiveness, atonement, freeing of debts, purification, and the Art of Peace.

Celebrated annually since 1992, the Day Out of Time always falls on July 25th. On the Thirteen Moon Calendar, this day is not a day of the month. It is a day in between the closing of the previous year (July 24th) and the dawning of the new year on July 26th.

The Day Out of Time is a day to celebrate "Time Is Art". This is what hundreds of thousands of people who follow the new calendar do every year on Gregorian calendar July 25^th. And since art is the basis of constructive peace, this day is also celebrated as International Peace through Culture Day. Peace through culture is a fundamental premise of the Thirteen Moon Calendar. When you celebrate time is art you are promoting peace through culture.

Here's an article about How to See Yourself As An Artist, and one about using the questions of the 13 Moons: Embracing Paradox Can Help You Beat the Clock

The energy signature for Wednesday, July 25, 2012 is White Rhythmic Mirror, and sounds like this:

I organize in order to reflect

Balancing order

I seal the matrix of endlessness

With the rhythmic tone of equality

I am guided by my own power doubled

I am a galactic activation portal…enter me

On this Day Out of Time, we can join kin around the world in deepening our commitment to the truth that Time is Art, and that we can free ourselves from the oppression and confusion of mechanized time. As we liberate ourselves from its distortions, we awaken from the 5000-year spell of history, re-membering (making membership again) our connection to the galactic time magic residing in every human heart. And from this connection, true prosperity can flower.

The Law of Time site says: "Give the human a harmonious standard of measure and then a harmonious human will walk a harmonious mile.

Harmony ~ that's what the day of time is all about."

What To Do When You're Dying Inside

The operating system on my older Mac suddenly quit on Tuesday. Over the next few days it quit about 20 times, and I watched myself freeze in anxiety each time the screen overwrote my work with a message saying I needed to retart my computer. My browsers, Mail program and Word all took turns capriciously joining in the fun. One browser even sent me to a PayPal site in South Africa! I wondered if I had a virus (Macs are much less prone to them than PCs). This morning I was waiting at the door when my tech opened for business, hoping he could reinstall the OS and that would resolve the issue.

With practiced fingers he explored Mac's settings and said, "I think your hard drive is failing; that happens on computers that are about this age. I can replace it with a refurbished hard drive that will be like a mirror image of your existing drive." He wrote up the work order, I left my machine and went home to rest. Immediately the metaphor for now clarified:

Our operating system ~ the old way of being in the world ~ is failing. But simply reinstalling it won't solve the problem, because the real issue is larger than that: the entire hard drive (culture) needs an overhaul. We can replace what now exists with a "mirror image": we look in the mirror, reverse who and how we've been, and with refurbished awareness, can continue in the same "body" ~ we needn't actually die, but undergo a symbolic death/rebirth. Caroline Casey refers to this as "the ongoing death and resurrection show."

Much more in-depth info on this and related aspects of our creative evolutionary quest in the July What Shines, out next week (when I have my refurbished laptop back!).

The Leadership Test

I had two interesting encounters with receptionists this morning. Arriving early for my meeting with a prospective client in a café nestled in a small office suite, I had time to creatively quest a copy machine. I wanted to copy a 7-page magazine article, and intended to pay for the privilege. The first office I entered didn't even own a copy machine. At the second, as I stated my request, the receptionist looked at me coolly for a moment, then said, "Let me go ask HR." I thought, "Ask Human Resources if someone can copy a few pages?" But I held my tongue. She came back and suggested I try the company upstairs.

This time, I chose to frame my request a little differently. I smiled as I approached the friendly-looking receptionist and asked if I might make a copy of an article I wrote in order to send it to my parents, as the subject matter concerns them (it's about aging in place). She glanced at the magazine and said with a tinge of wonder, "You wrote that?" [Apparently being a writer still carries a certain cachet in some circles!] I said, "Yes, and I'm happy to pay for the copies. It's just 6 or 7 pages." She said, "Oh, I wouldn't even know what to charge you." When I said most copy places charge 10 cents, she waved my offer away, then had a thought: "We probably have that magazine right here." I looked on the rack by the entrance, and sure enough, there it was. I said, "So, I could just clip out my article?" She answered, "No, go ahead and take the magazine." What if someone else wants to read it? I inquired. She smiled and shrugged, "Take it."

I don't know if either woman has managerial or entrepreneurial aspirations, but my money's on the second one, who took the decision-making reins, thought creatively, and arrived at a solution that was beyond satisfactory. To me, this was a microcosmic lesson in what leadership looks like. What do you think?

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Coda: I realized the next day that this creative response came from the company on the third floor — I had to go right to the top, where she made an executive decision! I laughed out loud as I made the final connection; Spirit has always amused me with its inimitable sense of humor.

Solstice: A Sensuous Bonfire Initiation into Love

The Zombies once sang, "It's the start of the season for loving." Of course their name was a bit of an oxymoron. Today there is no way to both awaken and remain a zombie! It is, with bells on, the season for Loving.

Stargazer Li says the burst of Gemini activity, beginning with the May 20th Solar Eclipse and June 5th Venus Transit, followed by a second New Moon in Gemini leading into the Summer Solstice, "brings much learning and an expansion of communications through words and stories that become integrated into our approaches to living our journey. What we think and say has the power to create, to crystallize something new. Being effortless and magical in our approach, relaxing into the experience of living our amazingness is the gift being offered. Let's be willing to receive it."

Earth-based spirituality pioneer and prolific author Starhawk writes, "This is the time of the rose, blossom and thorn, fragrance and blood. Now on this longest day, light triumphs, and yet begins the decline into the dark. The Sun King grown, embraces the Queen of Summer in a love that is death because it is so complete that all dissolves into the single song of ecstasy that moves the worlds. So the Lord of light dies to himself, and sets sail across the dark seas of time, searching for the Isle of Light that is rebirth. We turn the wheel and share his fate, for we have planted seeds of our own changes and to grow we must accept even the passing of the sun."

And planetary priestess Ariel Spilsbury, co-creator of my much-beloved Mayan Oracle book and card set, writes, "As a collective we now find ourselves perfectly poised and balanced, like a tightrope walker over the Abyss of the Unknown. We have practiced for lifetimes not going into fear, staying centered no matter what appearance arises, so that we can face this initiation of stepping through those appearances into freedom, not in some other lifetime, but in THIS one! Each of us is now facing our personal piece of shadow that is being vibrationally activated and amplified with the intention of clearing it for ourselves AND the collective mindfield of Earth, that we may transition personally and as a species, from the sleepy caterpillar into our awakened, soul butterfly selves. THIS IS NOT JUST A METAPHOR! 



This is actually happening alchemically now on Earth. Within the chrysalis, we are being re-tuned and rewired from the inside out, as a natural part of the vibrational process of evolution, which is dissolving in Solutio, the fractally repeating, shadow material that has dogged us over lifetimes, as a gift of Grace! That isn't to say that we aren't taking radical responsibility and supporting that process with our personal choices for freedom. If we are intending to become the freed butterfly, we are doing just that, through our vigilance in embracing IN LOVE the persistently attached shadow when it arises, rather than denying, judging and rejecting it! (I embrace my shadow, as I embrace my light!) In Alchemy this process is called Umbra-solis...the sun AND its shadow complete the Great Work. Please deeply consider that it isn't the 'getting rid of' or healing shadow, rather the full, loving embrace of it that will complete the Great Work we are engaged in personally and as a species at this time! This is the final clearing of the patterns that are no longer serving our LIBERATION! In this process, Light Itself Can Be Seen as the Final Veil! 



Feel the sensuous, energetic ripple from inside your personal chrysalis that is now inviting you to begin to birth your transmuting self into a new world! That evolutionary potential is being offered through the Divine Feminine portal that opened on the Venus Transit on June 5th 2012 that will be complimented by the male portal completion on Dec 21, 2012. What this open window of evolutionary potential represents, is the unprecedented opportunity to clear, forgive and embrace shadow and simultaneously birth ourselves into a new and expanded frequency of soul expression on Earth, entering the Mystery of the birth of the Blue Sun within our own hearts. 



The result of the birth of that inner blue fire will be the transmutation of our DNA and thus our blood into Sangreal, holy blood, literally changing the valence structure of our blood, so as to sing a Love Song to the Divine One! (If you wish to accelerate this process, watch the following video Solfeggio Harmonics - 528 Love hz). Remember that the heat and passion of Shakti, kundalini, the activation of the blue and gold dragon fire current of life force that moves up the spine, is that which is igniting the collective bonfire for the transmutation of fear into love on this planet. As we practice and embrace this transmutation, it will literally change the way we see reality, as the ecstatically flowing river of light that it actually is. In this moment, I invite you to stop and breathe in the alchemical, golden ecstatic, blue fire, dragon current, this river of light, to ride your blood into pure alchemical gold. Breathe that possibility in! Open to the golden alchemical frequency that is now available, whose intention is the loving release of whatever may still be residual in your being, that cannot stand in or contain this much light. Allow it to be lovingly consumed in the light of Divine Love! These are not just beautiful concepts or words. I encourage you to meditate to experience their truth directly and to personally experience and feel the frequency of alchemical gold light that is now available to transmute anything less than the vibration of unconditional love! 

Let us use the energy of the perfect balance of Summer Solstice as a powerful, planetary acupuncture point, to offer re-balancing to ourselves and Gaia. Celebrate together the powerful window of opportunity that the time we are alive in right now represents. We are entering a new world together ... As the star Maya say, together let us walk the Road of Awe, Xi balba beh into a new world!!

Managing Those Weird Cosmic Aches and Pains…

We're in the birth canal of the greatest shift humanity has ever known. Becoming a light body isn't easy, though it can be a lot more manageable once you understand what's going on! Celia Fenn offers some wise reminders about how the cosmos is affecting us multidimensionally. Excerpted from Radical Shift: The Venus Transit of 2012:

"Venus is the Solar System level of Consciousness that resonates with the Goddess Energy, with Love and Relationship, with Money and with Passion and Beauty. At this time, all these issues are being highlighted and transformed. On a Planetary scale we can see how the Economic system is crumbling, especially in the 'First World' of the USA and Europe, and how it is making space for the 'New Economy' that will take us into a sustainable and co-operative way of living. On the personal level, many people are finding that they are making radical shifts in their attitude towards money, and that the desire for conspicuous consumption has been replaced by the desire to live in an balanced way and in harmony with the Earth. Money is simply a means of achieving a balanced lifestyle, where the focus is on living in the energy of beauty and harmony with all beings and with the Earth.

"In close connection with this is finding work that ignites your Passion for life and is harmony with your soul purpose and brings you Joy. Many of you will be feeling the urge to let go of past ways of work and reaching out for work that is an expression of your Soul and your Passion.

"As far as Personal Relationships are concerned, there will also be tension in partnerships whose basis is no longer in alignment with the purpose of your Soul and the energy of the New Earth. At this point, you will be guided to reconsider your contract in your relationship, or to simply move on to a new partnership that is more aligned with what you are becoming and what you wish to create in your life.

"These energies and challenges will build towards the transit on the 6th, and you may find around that time that there will be some very deep and fundamental changes in your life. Don't panic! This is all leading you towards something better and deeper, and more suited to where you are heading in the time after the 2012 portal!

"You may also be feeling quite intense physical symptoms as your Light Body makes its final adjustments for the Transit and for the later Portal transit. As you bring your Soul Star and Earth Star chakras 'online', you may experience pains and discomfort in the legs, or dizziness and nausea and disorientation, or bouts of flu and colds. These are all part of the process as the DNA activates and the Light Body surges energy through the system to bring everything into harmony and activation. This also activates the Template for Human Divine Perfection in the DNA and activates the ability to go the 'next step' in this ongoing process of Spiritual and Physical Evolution."

If You've Ever Shopped At A Factory Outlet, Read This

Six degrees of separation long ago shrank to three; these days, the connections are so profound it isn't difficult to see how everyone's related, if only by common interest:

A few weeks ago, I decided to take my last pair of Dexter hiking boots to a local consignment store where I shop frequently.  I wore "Dexxies" faithfully as my primary shoes for years; when I purchased this last pair around 2003, I bought several at once, since the Dexter outlet was closing — and even the main store in Dexter, Maine was going out of business. As a consequence, I never wore them; they just accumulated dust on a closet floor, as my shoe tastes evolved. I live "lightly" in terms of possessions, and finally it was time to pass these still-new beloved boots along for someone else to love. So I consigned them.

Today, while reading The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain by Gene Cohen, MD, PhD (one of myriad books on positive aging I peruse both for client projects and personal interest) I was astonished to discover, in a section on late-life philanthropy, that the founder of the Dexter Shoe Company, Henry Alfond, was the author's wife's great-uncle! Alfond is also credited with creating the first factory outlet store. Originally intended to sell "factory seconds," or slightly damaged goods that could not be sold at retail, Alfond soon expanded the outlet concept to include first quality merchandise from previous seasons. Other retailers began mimicking his model, and soon factory outlet stores sprang up across the country. From there, it was a small leap to factory outlet malls.

Unfortunately, in 1993, a year shy of his 80^th birthday, Alfond sold the company to one of its many suitors, Berkshire Hathaway; eight years later, Warren Buffet folded Dexter and its affiliates into another business. Hence, the demise of my favorite shoe company and outlet store. (Buffet later admitted this was "the worst deal I've made.")

Coda: when I learned my consigned Dexters had not sold as of this morning, I opted to keep them and enjoy one final romp in Dexxies, for however long they may last. These boots were made for walkin', and that's just what they'll do…

So keep your mind and heart open to unexpected connections in unimagined places; when they find you, it engenders a cozy feeling of all-one — which of course we are.