Thursday, December 27, 2007

Dream Big!

This incredible credo appeared in a Macintosh computer ad 16 years ago! Thanks to astrologer Alison Rae for reprinting it in her latest issue of Cosmic Time:

New Year's Blessing

Dream big.

If there were ever a time to dare,
to make a difference,
to embark on something worth doing,
it is now.

Not for any grand cause, necessarily —
but for something that tugs at your heart,
something that’s your aspiration,
something that’s your dream.

You owe it to yourself to make your days here count.
Have fun.
Dig deep.
Stretch.

Dream big.

Know, though, that things worth doing seldom come easily.
There will be good days.
And there will be bad days.
There will be times when you want to turn around,
pack it up, and call it quits.
Those times tell you that you are pushing yourself,
that you are not afraid to learn by trying.

Persist.

Because with an idea,
determination, and the right tools,
you can do great things.
Let your instincts,
your intellect,
and your heart guide you.

Trust.

Believe in the incredible power of the human mind.
Of doing something that makes a difference.
Of working hard.
Of laughing and hoping.
Of lazy afternoons.
Of lasting friends.
Of all the things that will cross your path this year.

The start of something new brings the hope of something great.
Anything is possible.
There is only one you.
And you will pass this way only once.

Do it right.

Monday, December 24, 2007

A Message from Mary Magdalen on 2008

This message came to me a few days ago via oracle and sound healer Jennifer Posada, and is the most compelling and uplifting — not to mention accurate — entreaty to each of us I've yet read regarding the promise and penumbra of now. Here is her transmission in its entirety:

"Dearest Friends,

I write these words to you from a place beyond time, to tell you what you of great heart must know from within it. You stand at a crucial moment, one which can allow you wondrous advantage in the time of the turning of the great wheel.

As you begin this new year a vacuum is opened in which you can reconsider your reality. This is a powerful opportunity, for it is in your reality that the seed of the greater collective is born.

This, beings of flame and light, is the year to reclaim your power. For you will need it for the road ahead, and it will be the bearer of your joy. This is not a passive process. To reclaim your power is to investigate your heart, seek out the places you have given its gold away, and actively recover it. The gold of your heart can only truly be shared from within, and the places we may have partitioned it out will only weaken our energy fields at a time when their strength is needed.

You will need your voice. If you have lost it you will have to find it. You are its mother, so it will never be too far from your reach. It is time to cull from the clay of your being, and create yourself anew.

It is a time to take a retreat, or to make space to reflect in writing or thought. It is a time to consider all the people, places, situations and things in your life and decide if they are supporting you or drawing from you. This you must know, for this is the simplest of ways to strengthen your field.

Then you must decide. You must decide who you are going to be when your power is truly your own again, and the life you want to live from it.

When you decide the life you would like to have, do not do so in fear. Do not choose a life based on potential catastrophe or in expectancy of poverty. For this is not what you wish to bring forward. You must be aware, educated and prepared for that which you are led to prepare for. But should you make the choices about your future or new life in fear, it will make a very weak foundation.

The coming year marks the beginning of the end of the world you know. This can be a reason for terror or for throwing a celebration. It is you who decides. This world has known catastrophe before, just as you in your own life have known catastrophe before. For that reason you know that fearing it will bring no good. We must know joy to build reserves of energy which would serve us in times of challenge. We must have a light load within if we wish to float rather than sink in the seas of uncertainty.

For when I say this year marks the beginning of the end, you may focus on the end, or you may focus on the beginning. For it is more truly, the beginning or the end.

How differently might you see your life if you thought this year was the beginning of a new era, rather than the descent into great destruction and distress? If we are all dreading the time of change, who will anchor the joy of the new? If we are all in labor pain, who will assist with the birth?

But our joy cannot be abstract. It must be inspired. It must come from within, and be allowed to take form in our outer lives at the very personal level. And joy cannot be forced. We can only make way for it.

Here are my offerings of how to cultivate your inner earth for joy to take seed and root, to make your life thriving and prosperous with flower and fruit.

Don't postpone your bliss. There is no reason it can't start now.

Find, with great courage, the places you have been giving your power away, and say goodbye to them. For if you are giving your power away repeatedly, joy cannot find consistent sanctuary within you.

Dream a new vision. Turn a page in your life and imagine that the entirety of your future is a blank slate. Do not paint misfortune onto it as a background just because your world is in change. See the change as good. Bless the change. Trust that the universe will take care of you, and follow the guidance it gives you. Prepare when and how you must for whatever you feel may be around the corners in your life, but try not to do so out of fear, and instead out of calm and centered response to your guidance.

When you are choosing what to paint on this blank page, choose powerfully. Choose to carry over only that which nourishes you and reflects you. Think radically. Let go radically. Love yourself radically.

This is a year of setting foundation for the changes to come, and you want yours to be strong and full of supportive resourcefulness and creative energy. Do not give up on your dreams because the world is shifting. She is shifting to encompass them.

Draw or write about your visions for your future before or at the time of the new year. Revisit and add to or change them several times. Daydream about them. Pray, if you choose, to me for three days either in the morning, before sleeping, or during your meditation or writing if you would like assistance with your new vision or reclaiming your power. Then look for signs in your life in response.

Know that I am with you. For I have returned to the consciousness of the many as the embodiment of the return of the goddess, in communion with god, in androgynous wholeness, in divine oneness. I am the second coming, and I come forward in you. Know your power. It is all that is needed for the birth of the new world. Begin the new world now. Do not wait. Begin to live it in your life, and create it around you. You are the hope and the light, and the joy of my heart.

In Great Love,
Mary Magdalen"

Sunday, December 23, 2007

The Red Planet Offers Opportunity for Healing

Mars is glowing brightly with the full moon this almost-Christmas eve, giving Rudolph a run for his money ~ and an AP science writer decided to have fun describing its celestial prominence by recasting the traditional reindeer song:

Mars is a red-tinged planet
With a very shiny glow
And if you look to see it
You will find the moon in tow.

All of the other Yuletides
Santa would have at his side
The shiny nose of Rudolph
Acting as his big sleigh's guide

But this very Christmas Eve
Santa came to say:
"Rudolph, now with Mars so bright,
You can stay at home tonight."

Then all the reindeer teased him.
And they shouted out with glee:
"Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
Outsourced to astronomy."


On the astrological side, this retrograde Mars is "increasing the impetus for courage or bravado, assertion or aggression," says astrologer Stephanie Austin. "In Cancer, Mars advises us to examine our motivations and our tactics closely. Are we sidestepping the real issues? What must be faced, felt, and forgiven?

We can use toning to help heal and ground our energy. Red corresponds to:

∞ the first chakra
∞ our tailbone
∞ the musical note A
∞ the vowel sound ooo (as in tool)
∞ our adrenal glands, legs, feet, bones and large intestines.

It is the center of our vitality and life force — the primary energy of existence. So let's use this red for its healing power and regenerate as we segue into 2008!

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Global Pulse ~ Honoring All Life

Happy Solstice to You! I've received so many and varied Solstice-related messages it's difficult to know what to share; at this time, trusting your own guidance is key. Go deep within, and breathe with the Mother all the peace, love, balance and bliss you intend for your own life and for the planet.

This worldwide virtual event, which takes place one week from now, seems like an ideal ceremony to close out a tumultuous year and usher in 2008. I've met Estara, and she is embodies the Goddess:

Worldwide Sound Healing Meditation Ceremony

Special Live Video Web-cast Event
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2007

Join in as we create a global pulse of consciousness to facilitate a positive shift on our Earth

This is a Galactic Alignment Gateway of a super high energetic impulse of cosmic energy that is available to change the very fabric of our reality.

This ceremony has been inspired by spiritual visions and communications from the dolphins and whales to gather the collective power of human consciousness.

This event will be a multi-media ceremonial presentation and performance to create a global heart entrainment unifying the power of the group worldwide with a collective intention to honor all life.

This ceremony will include:

* Guided Activation and Initiation Meditation
* Live Ceremonial Trance Rhythms
* Sacred Dance Higher Dimensional Energy Transmissions
* Vocal Soul Frequency Chants
* Visual Animations of Higher Dimensional Realms
* Special Harmonic Tuning Instruments producing the sound frequencies of the star & planetary alignment
* Live whale songs broadcast from Hawaii

For More Information visit EstaraWeb.com

Global Pulse ~ Honoring All Life
Worldwide Meditation and Ceremony

It is important to gather people specifically at this time to commune with the dolphins and whales to ignite a global pulse of unity consciousness to honor all life and deepen our inter-connection with our environment that we call Earth and the universe. The evolutionary process that humanity, our Earth, solar system and galaxy are in requires our full connection to be restored. Through creating a global pulse of unity consciousness - coming together as one vibration of intention - we will ignite our hearts and souls to remember on the deepest level our connection with all life

The global pulse ceremony will be based on the five elements of creation and will be a meditation journey experience to restore connection with the consciousness of the Earth and the Universe. The dolphins and whales are frequency keepers and carriers and they will be assisting us during the ceremony. They will be joining us live as we interact with them and listen to the wisdom in their song. They are the planetary pulse keepers and they have a message for us to hear. They are singing us the new codes of information that will connect us with universal time. It's time for us to listen to them together in a harmonically unified field with a collective intention to receive their wisdom. They will be recording the new records that we will be accessing and bringing into this dimension for the birthing of a new reality.

Part of the purpose of the Global Pulse Project worldwide meditation ceremonies is to create a wave of energy, a pulse on the planet - stabilizing the heart pulse in unity consciousness instead of in fear. This is also stabilizing the experience and knowingness of our future. We will be connecting with the rhythms of the Earth and the rhythms of the universe so we can be part of this evolutionary shift together and move through this grand alignment that is occurring in grace, ease, beauty, joy, and in unity.

Galactic Alignments

Global Pulse ~ Honoring All Life
Galactic Alignment - Dec. 29, 2007

This day is a highly dynamic evolutionary next step in consciousness.
It's a day when things materialize before us. It's when we can change our bone structure, our ego into our higher self in physical form.

The dynamics of the energy on this day haven't been available until now - when the cardinal signs of Capricorn and Cancer are in their special placement with the planets. Because of this alignment, the portal is open and we can jump in and access the energy and become part of the dynamic.

Cardinal Signs are epic, they establish things, put them into action, and set structure. The cardinal signs of Capricorn and Cancer will be activated on Dec. 29th through an opposition. This polarization is acting as a divine birthing channel to birth a new energetic into form and will be more apparent at the Spring Equinox.

This polarization that is occurring between Capricorn and Cancer will be opening the portal to the other worlds to go into the core emotion of our soul origins.

Capricorn lifts the veil and opens a portal to the other worlds. It creates the opening to bring the energy from the other worlds into this realm to materialize in physical form. Capricorn is considered a Sea Goat in ancient esoteric teachings opening the dimensions between the sea animals and the land animals.

Cancer brings us deep into our soul. It descends us into our core emotion and connects us with the origins of our soul.


Powerful Electrical Energy Current

Sun (Capricorn )→→→→→→ Earth →→→→→→→ Sirius (Cancer)
Mercury & Jupiter .............................................. Mars
Cosmic Father ........................................ Cosmic Mother
Star ................................................................ Star


In Capricorn we have the Sun, Jupiter, and Mercury - opposing - Sirius and Mars in Cancer. The Sun is our center of life energy. It heats up and sparks the command center of our own vital essence. Sun opposing Cancer will be igniting the spark in our heart that connects us with our soul.

The Sun opposes Sirius in Cancer only once a year - setting up a powerful electrical energy current flooding the Earth with light codes of information from the Sun and Sirius.

Sun being the cosmic father and Sirius being the cosmic mother - we are giving birth to a higher form of our being. Mars in Cancer brings the initiative energy into the depth of our soul origins. Everything is in place to bring the cosmic awareness of our divine nature and the actual energy of our soul into expression through our physical form.

Jupiter heats things up and is the planet of increase and expansion. It increases and expands anything that it is relating to. Jupiter has been collecting wisdom in the sign of Sagittarius and now being in Capricorn is ready to increase and expand that wisdom into physical form.

Jupiter in Capricorn opposing Sirius and Mars in Cancer will be increasing the energy that's being activated and expanding it into the future million fold. Jupiter is increasing our connection with our soul origin to birth it into form.

Jupiter is a bearer of gifts - gifts of abundance, health, hope, happiness and the balance of life energy. Jupiter restores hope and helps us to sort out the truth from the false. Jupiter will increase whatever your intention is that you allow yourself to experience.

Jupiter being in Capricorn conjunct the Sun expands your hearts desire into physical manifestation. With the high grace and lightening qualities of Jupiter, you get what you truly wish for.

Mercury connects us deeply with our nervous system and opens up these more subtle communication channels. Mercury in Capricorn opposing Sirius and Mars in Cancer assures that all the communications channels are open and quickens the speed of transmission in Mercurial fashion. Mercury a messenger of the angelic realms also assures that only the highest communications will be happening during the alignment.

We will also have a Grand Trine in Earth.
Sun, Jupiter, Mercury in Capricorn - Trine Saturn and Moon in Virgo - Trine - Sedna and Ceres in Taurus. All of this grand trine Earth energy will be activated and funneled through the Capricorn - Cancer polarization.

Sun in Capricorn Trine Saturn in Virgo - crystallizing our self in physical form.

The Gateways are open and all the energy is available for us to come into a deeper union and embodiment of our higher self. Let's create a global pulse of higher consciousness!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Going Home

We're closing out a cosmically challenging year and entering the gateway to the NEW in such a major way! Ace astrologer Kelly M. Beard leads off her current Lunar Reflections newsletter with the perfect quote for now: "We don't know where we're going...but we're on our way!"

I've felt this way since stepping into my nomadic lifestyle in 2000. As Kelly describes learning to do "the same old things" in brand-new ways, I imagine you, like me, can take her counsel to heart: "If you are accessing your new rhythm and trying to find 'your (new) way', court the Goddess of Wisdom rather than the Goddess of Wealth. While both are powerful and useful in their own right, ultimately, wisdom allows you to create whatever you can imagine ~ and the Goddess of Wealth will then court YOU!" (I am hoping She finds me soon ;-)

But we are definitely en route Home, full throttle. Patricia Cota-Robles, in her comprehensive alert for the upcoming year, writes in part:

"2008, which is numerically a ONE year, will be a time for new beginnings and a birthing into a higher aspect of our Divinity. We may not fully understand just what this means, but the Company of Heaven is assuring us it is a glorious opportunity to transform our lives. All we have to do is take advantage of this auspicious year by focusing our intentions on creating the positive lives we want to experience on Earth.

"One is the number of new beginnings, and eleven is the master number that reflects the transformation of the physical into the Divine. January 1, 2008, is numerically a 111 day. Eleven days later on January 11, 2008, we have a 1111 day.

"During this rare eleven-day period, the I AM Presence of every person on this planet will integrate the highest potential of the miraculous activities of Light that took place in 2007. This integration will gently reflect into the hearts and minds of all Humanity, and it will raise the energy, vibration and consciousness of every facet of Life evolving on Earth the maximum that Cosmic Law will allow."

Earth's Heart Meridian has been opened. Love flows in. Everything is possible.

Blessed Be.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Part of the Plan? Dan Fogelberg Departs

In an eerie case of deja vu, I was thinking about Dan Fogelberg today, wondering whether I'd soon be hearing his holiday-themed song, "Same Old Lang Syne" on the radio. I was a great Fogelberg fan during his heyday in the mid-late '70s, which were also my college years.

Imagine my shock to log on just now and read that Dan made his transition to the angelic realms today at age 56, due to advanced prostate cancer. Like John Denver's untimely demise in a plane crash a decade ago at age 54, this comes as yet another wake-up call. I lost a good friend to leukemia at age 54 on fall equinox, and many others in recent years, all in their 30s, 40s or 50s, to brain tumors, cancer or stroke.

While one perspective is that they've completed their earth journeys this time around and were ready to travel onward, still it makes me realize just how precious and fleeting our moments in a body really are. This entire year at the half-century mark has been a sobering ride for me. I've written a rather sassy, upbeat story called Facing the Fifties that has yet to see publication (though I've been trying :-) so if you'd like a copy in Word, please let me know.

May you be richly blessed with the will and the ways to manifest your destiny and live the life you desire and deserve.

Much love to you,
Amara

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Making Religious Life Fashionable

I thought the headline was a joke: "Japanese Monks Stage Fashion Show." But no: in a bid to woo the younger set back to Buddhism, monks actually donned elaborately-hued robes and hit the catwalk in Tokyo today to show just how colorful the monastic life can be.

As someone who grew up in Paramus, New Jersey, a town with the highest per capita retail sales in the United States and a place where, as I used to joke, "when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping", I found it amusing and somewhat amazing that the monks felt they needed to appeal to outer appearance in order to entice young people into exploring the inner life.

Granted, we all come to our evolutionary journey in our own way and time ~ and I certainly was still workin' the shopping gene in my 20s and early 30s. Even with the detachment I now feel towards the temporal trappings of our corporeal existence, I confess I still love beautiful clothes, whether or not I own them. The difference is, I'm well aware that possessions are not the answer, just something to enjoy on the journey.

So we do what works to get the message across. In this case, dress it in bright green and purple patterns, and literally pray for the best.

Friday, December 14, 2007

12:12 alignment: Portal and Portent of Possibility

The 12:12 gateway just past ushered in a huge opportunity for growth. It is a window, so the exact date is not as crucial as our intent and emotional state: the art of allowing vs. "forcing" has never been more defined!

Karen Bishop offers her usual insightful input in her latest alert about the close of 2007 and what's in store. I highly recommend reading the entire post. Here's an excerpt:

"2007 was a rocky and challenging year for many…especially the latter six month period after the solstice. And now, another solstice is due to arrive, marking the final point of this deep transitional and preparatory period.

This deep period of excavation that lasted for so many months was vitally necessary to our spiritual evolutionary process, as it prepared us for the next level of spiritual hierarchy. And the best is yet to come…we have been preparing for it! Higher vibrating key concepts and ways of being were integrated within us, notably: learning and experiencing how to stay still and in our center and how to harmonize with the energy of community.

When we first arrive in a higher dimension or higher vibrating energy, it feels glorious, as all our needs seem to be met and we seem to be able to create much of anything instantly. As time progresses, we find ourselves aligning with these newer higher realms, and this always involves a clearing and purging of any energies or patterns within and without which no longer match our new surrounding vibration. So we first feel great and then we feel not so great.

And as complicated as it may seem, our outside vibration does not dictate our inside vibration alone. How we vibrate on the inside, also dictates what occurs in our outside reality. So then, creation and evolution is always a two-edged process. It comes from the outside and it comes from the inside, culminating in an alignment and burst of creation and change, similar to the big bang theory.

This process can create some confusion, chaos, and what may seem at times, an unending roller coaster ride. We adjust our vibration within, through clearing and letting go of lower vibrating energies (which is initiated by the newly arriving outside energies!), and then the outside reality feels downright unpleasant to be in, at times causing depression and anxiety, and always, that no sense of place feeling. This is because the outside physical manifestations no longer fit our new inside vibrations.

Add to this the waiting times, as we need to wait for a critical mass to catch up, in order to arrive at that culmination point for creating new in the physical, and this results in the wading through quicksand experience, the lethargy, and the lack of passion. All are typical ascension experiences.

So then, how does all this relate to where we are now? We are most certainly moving up the rungs of the ascension ladder, piece by piece, and experience by experience. Currently, we have reached a new level, and this involves the level of living in unity and within community. This new level, as with all levels, also connects us more fully with Source, or our souls, and this then, has most recently created the adjustments involving being still and staying in our center.

Having a physical ailment or injury forces us to stay down, and thus creates a situation where we must get out of the way, allowing Source to enter more fully. Do you remember in months past when some of us re-visited an old injury or physical malady that lasted several weeks? This was why. If the right side of your body is continually aching, stiff, or uncomfortable, or even if you experience injuries on your right side only, your soul is making an attempt at re-aligning you with Source. Making things happen by ourselves is not the way in the higher realms. It is Source who does it all (or our souls), and this can readily happen when the lower vibrating aspects of ourselves are out of the way. Injuries or discomfort on the right side of our bodies indicates an over-use of the old masculine.

We are needing to evolve from the old male identity on the planet, to the new identity embodying much more of the feminine. (None of this is new news to most of you, just a recap here to assist in explaining our current status.) And the feminine is needing an adjustment as well. We are learning the true and higher ways of giving, supporting, allowing, and receiving. All these adjustments within involve a way of staying still, in our center, not extending, not doing it all, and the like. When we are present and still, Source can then find us and we are then within a portal or an alignment with the higher realms. And this is where true creating occurs."

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Yinification in Argentina

In what seems to me an outpicturing of the Divine Feminine/Divine Masculine integration taking place within each of us and all across the planet now, Argentina's outgoing president has passed the baton to his wife, who is not only the first woman to be elected president of Argentina, but also symbolic of the power transfer from the masculine model to the more collaborative feminine role now enjoying a resurgence as we surf towards true unity and wholeness.

As I've written before, few people realize that the U.S. Constitution is patterned directly on the Iroquois model of leadership, with one glaring omission: we have no Council of Clan Mothers, or Grandmother Council, which was integral to the Native American structure that so inspired Thomas Jefferson. Perhaps if our Founding Fathers had included Founding Mothers in the new nation's governing equation, we'd consider ritual-based decision making, that honors both masculine and feminine voices and envisions the outcome unto the seventh generation, the natural course for balance and well being. Imagine what our culture might look like if the White House consulted a group of wise women prior to implementing any major policy change!

Monday, December 10, 2007

December: A Deepening of Authenticity

This is quite a month, energetically speaking. You're probably already feeling the shifts. Here's some helpful insight from two respected sources:

Li Walter, who focuses on Mayan cosmology, sends this counsel for the following days and weeks: "There's a going away party in the late degrees of Sagittarius, aligned with the Milky Way's Galactic Center... the main event is a conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto on and around Dec 11th, the 10 Human portal day, just before both planets move into Capricorn in the coming weeks. Jupiter shifts on December 18th and Pluto on January 25th. The Sun is approaching and will join them in Sag and the transition to Capricorn as well.

This conjunction of personal, social, and transpersonal planets in the uplifting fiery sign of Sagittarius will bring a focus on self-betterment and an expansion of personal power. This is a time for putting energy into what's important to you.

This place of meeting is in the heart of the World Tree [Note: I've written about the World Tree in my newsletter, What Shines. Request Issue #53], the meeting point of the path of the Milky Way galaxy and the path traveled by the planets. The Sun, center of our solar system and Pluto, the outermost planet that bridges us beyond the solar system, aligning with the center of our spiraling galaxy, pumped up by Jupiter, offers humanity a vast expansion of the scope of our experience of selfhood within the universe."

And from South Africa, Starchild Global creatrix Celia Fenn shares these Energies for December:

"The 12:12 stargate on the 12th of December will provide a moment of intense Cosmic Diamond Light in which things will be seen in all their Radiant Truth. You will be given another significant opportunity to release old illusions that may hold you back from entering into the flow of Abundant Love. You may experience the Joy of a Radiant Miracle, as your life changes direction in the new flow of Love.

The Solstice, on the 22nd, will bring you a powerful moment of Integration and Balance, a time to Pause and Reflect, and be within your own Inner Heart temple, as you balance and ignite your own Twin Flame energy. This will be a powerful time to work with the Sacred Heart meditations.

Then, on the 24th of December, the Full Moon will be in Cancer. This will be a Moon that will carry the full radiance of the Divine Feminine energy in its Lunar manifestation, loving, nurturing, mystic and mysterious. This is followed by the Christian Festival of the birth or rebirth of the Divine Masculine as the Divine Child, called Christmas.

A time of New Beginnings and New Potential that will lead you into the year 2008, with its energy of the 1:1:1 on the 1st of January."

Sunday, December 09, 2007

The Golden Compass Points True North

I was among the legions of moviegoers who swarmed to see The Golden Compass this weekend. A massive fan of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (consisting of the Compass, The Subtle Knife & The Amber Spyglass, all very enticing titles), I hoped the film would live up to the book. I rarely go to movies, especially not of books I've savored, because the adaptation to screen often elides critical material or changes important aspects to fit a 2-hour timeframe, which can be frustrating. But The Golden Compass did not disappoint.

While the movie did indeed change and compress the book somewhat, the visuals were strikingly similar to my imagination; it was as if the director/producer/set designers climbed inside my mind to deduce how best to translate such a richly fantastical tale to the Big Screen. And while I found myself rather breathless at the pace, it's worth seeing on many levels.

Foremost is the delicious controversy the film is generating, initiated by the Catholic Church. Having remained staunchly silent as the Harry Potter books and films took the world by storm, they have apparently decided this film is the one to boycott. And, of course, as controversy is wont to do, this stance only makes people more curious and more likely to go see it!

The premise, at a basic level, has to do with the forces of good and evil, free will vs. control. It's a marvelous testament to following one's inner guidance, defying authority to do what's right, no matter the consequences. Since this is intrinsic to human DNA, it's easy to find yourself cheering 11-year-old Lyra as she consistently outwits those who stand for order and oppression to seek the Truth, wherever that journey may take her.

And this is another triumph of Pullman's book and the movie: a heroine rather than hero. Make no mistake, I love Harry Potter, and...it's inspiring to see a young female protagonist.

So while the film lacks the book's nuances and story development, not to mention more leisurely pacing, I highly endorse it. If you have the time, read the trilogy and then go enjoy the movie versions. I feel sure parts 2 & 3 are in the offing, because The Golden Compass movie concludes with many loose ends just like the book, putting us on notice that there's more to come.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Animal Instincts

This heartwarming footage shows that bonding across beliefs is as powerful as bonding between species: an African lion hugs and kisses the woman who rescued him years ago and visits him every day.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Road Signs & Speed Bumps

2007 has been a "9" year (2+0+0+7 = 9) numerologically, which connotes closure and completion on many levels. The 9-year cycle that began in 1999 is ending. When I think of how radically my life has changed in less than a decade, it's one more confirmation of the acceleratef alchemy that defines now.

I became cyber-savvy that year, started to craft material for what would become Liveyourlight.com early in 2000, published numerous articles in print magazines and newspapers focusing on how to bring spirituality into our daily lives, and generally began living my life purpose and mission. What a thrill!

I also began living nomadically, though it didn't feel so much a conscious choice as a necessity. Yet everything on our evolutionary path is grist for higher consciousness if we allow ourselves to surrender to it. Now, when I don't have whatever I need right there on the car seat next to me, it almost feels strange. Although I love the idea of having a home base, I don't know if manifesting one at this time is in my highest interest.

And hence the quantum choice point. In her latest alert, Karen Bishop says we are all being prepared for community, which means our solitary journeying and arrogance are being spiritually sanded away. It's time to release what's comfortable but no longer serves (even if it's living as a nomad ~ or holding tight to one locale when we're being asked to live more fluidly!).

We'll know what to do next because Spirit will invite us, via signs and signals. Sometimes it's as simple as someone suggesting you move to their town because it seems perfect for who you are. Or it might be continually hearing about a certain place in conversation. Pay attention, and the messages will become clear.

As I say on my CD, What You Need to Know Now, "Let go of what you know, how it ought to be, what you think you should do now...Pry your mental fingers loose. Once you do, you'll have a sense of exhilaration, of flying, because there's so much space around you! Having the courage to be in free-fall, to release one trapeze bar before the next has swung into view, is an essential step in re-imagining your life. Excess baggage will only weigh you down. "

Blessings on your journey into the new now!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Are your ears feeling a little swollen, irritated, or otherwise stressed lately? I felt like I had tinnitus a few nights ago; that high-pitched sound we occasionally experience hit with much stronger force than ever before, and would not stop no matter what I did. Panicked, I couldn't fall back to sleep, thinking I'd somehow acquired tinnitus.

Well, like the first Superman episode (can you remember the television show that describes how he first came to Earth? And the woman who would become his Mom heard a ringing in her ears that turned out to be the rocketship carrying her infant son approaching?), the annoying buzz turns out to be a positive sign. I should've known: almost every time I experience a strange "symptom" these days, it's just another sign of ascension.

In her November Earthlog, Archangel Michael channel Celia Fenn explains that the latest crop of physical changes is how our 3D bodies are expanding to hold the enormous Love now streaming onto the planet. About the ear symptoms, she writes:

"...as part of the changes, the human angel template is being re-wired to accommodate for a wider range of visual and auditory ability. Think of it in this way, when we started to use digital cameras, we started to photograph 'orbs', and some people can even see them. I know I can. Now, your body is the same, as you 'upgrade' to your new Human Angel design you will begin to see and hear things that were previously beyond the normal range for humans. And I was given to understand that this is literal and physical, and not just intuitive.

"So, we can expect that as we enter the New Earth and the New Cycle, we will have extended vision and hearing. But, as always, your Higher Self will only allow you to experience these things when you are able to integrate them into yourself and are capable of dealing with an altered range of perception. Most people take time, and they have difficulty in 'letting go' of old ways of perception because these make them feel safe.

"As Michael explained it, the new abilities of vision and hearing are linked to the Heart. We will learn to literally see and hear from the Heart. Our perceptual 'wiring' for these senses will go via the heart. Can you imagine what a difference it will make when we are truly able to see and hear with the heart? Oh yes, and to speak from the heart as well. I did notice last night that I was coughing a lot, and I have noticed at workshops that I do on my 'Sacred Heart' meditation, that people start to cough, so the Throat Chakra is also being re-wired to connect up with the Heart flow.

"I have noticed too with people that I have been connecting with over a long time, suddenly, like me, they are becoming more poetic and more able to express what they are feeling in their hearts. It is being able to express what is in your heart that makes you feel a deep Inner Peace, but it is also being able to receive the expressions of others into your heart that gives rise to Gratitude. And when you put together Inner Peace and Gratitude, then you undoubtedly get Joy and Love.

"So, you might say we are all being re-wired to express and receive Unconditonal Love through Creativity, from the Heart! Indeed, what an exciting experience...and what wonders await us in the future as we learn to work with this new range of perceptions and feelings that are gifted to us so that we might BE LOVE at the highest level of which we are capable."

Friday, November 16, 2007

Comet-ose

Though Comet Holmes has been around for over a century, it's now erupted into a celestial phenomenon: bigger than the Sun, and continuing to expand.

Comets were once thought to be supernatural omens. As we enter a time when more Light is flooding onto the planet than ever before, it seems Holmes, the good detective, is helping to illumine our way. The currently comatose are being called to awaken at Light speed, because it's time...

Saturday, November 10, 2007

11:11

Tomorrow (today in some parts of the world) heralds what has always been a major stargate for us all: the 11:11. South Africa-based Lightworker Celia Fenn offers some insightful words on our present passage and the new global currency: Love.

I'd like to share an excerpt from my e-newsletter, What Shines for November 2005, which focused on the 11:11 doorway and is still relevant to now:

"November 11th signals a transformational gateway. Eleven is the master number reflecting the transmutation of physical to divine. You may have begun noticing 11:11 on digital clocks. This is an encoding that activates our cellular memory of the ascension process that's well underway.

It's often been difficult to tell whether we're moving towards the Light or deeper into shadow, when so much is being brought to the surface to be healed. The Tao Te Ching says, 'The way out into the light often looks dark/The way that goes ahead often looks as if it went back.'

I've just finished reading The Magic Circle by Katherine Neville, another evolutionary guidebook masquerading as fiction. Neville's narrative traces a cache of cryptic manuscripts across aeons, as one family struggles to protect these documents that, when decoded, will determine the fate of the world.

The time the text points to is now: the dawning Aquarian Age. And there is much discussion of geomantic lines of power: key points on Earth that can divine our destiny. What reverberated in my mind was "Axis mundi": the mythic center of the world that connects Heaven and Earth.

The Axis mundi correlates cross-culturally with the concept of the World Tree, as well as with the caduceus, an ancient symbol of alchemy that today denotes the medical profession. The caduceus has long been my personal power symbol. For me, the two snakes entwining face-to-face represent the ultimate union: an alchemical wedding that forges something more magnificent than either could alone.

This is the Axis mundi to which we're heir: Love, and reverence for all life. We even embody it: the Heart chakra is the center of the body, connecting the three spiritual chakras above it with the three physical chakras below. As we engender greater love and compassion, we merge Earth with the Heavens.

And at last we are ready. Enough of us have cooked in our cultural cauldron to create an uncritical mass, a confluence ('flowing together') of allies.

You're invited to the Axis Mundi Dance—the most exuberant synchronized Dance of all time. Eleven a-lovin'. It's purely elemental."

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Sign of the Times

It was a tight call as to which quote I'd use to lead off the November issues of my e-newsletter, What Shines. I ultimately chose to go with Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh because the overall tone was uplifting. However, I want to pay homage to the visceral poetry of Colleen Redman, because this piece certainly carries a powerful message:

Sign of the Times

Put a “Do Not Disturb” sign
over the forest
Hang an “Out of Order” sign
on the White House door
Proceed with caution
Yield to your conscience
Handle the whole world
with care.

Friday, November 02, 2007

Transcending Material Martyrdom the Natural Way

Many of us find that as we advance spiritually, our material resources dry up. Yet since all money metaphors contain water imagery (cash flow, liquid assets, currency...) this seems like imagining the Sahara when we're actually standing at an oasis.

Tom "Montalk" has an intriguing on article on reimagining wealth consciousness that discusses the concept of flow, tied in with both the breakthrough film The Matrix, and the power of Nature, the latter of which I discuss in in-depth in the current issue of What Shines. He writes, in part,

"Because money is a type of flow, we can make a comparison to water flow in order to illustrate the difference between making money the Matrix way or the Divine way. To empty water from a bottle, common sense says to tip it upside down. Sure enough, the water goes 'glug' several times and eventually empties. But if instead one first shakes the bottle in a circular motion, the flow forms into a vortex that more rapidly and efficiently drains from the bottle. Nature loves efficiency, and the vortex is nature’s most efficient form of flow. If one initiates an impulse in line with the laws of nature (shaking the bottle / leaping toward a wisely chosen goal on solid faith that the material means will synchronistically fall into place), the resulting flow will be many times more efficient than were these laws ignored. The Matrix method of progress is based on ignorance of higher laws and is inefficient. But if one initiates an impulse in line with those higher laws, progress speeds up as reality aligns via numerous synchronicities, just as flow speeds up as water aligns into the shape of a vortex.

"To increase the flow of money, you must exercise your ability to spend it. This is no different from increasing physical energy by exercising your body. Pinching your dollar to save money is like staying physically inactive to conserve energy...It is the pinching and holding on to your last dollar, fearing that no more will come, that actually prevents your receiving more. For giving, more than anything else, helps to open the channel so that supply, both spiritual and material, can freely flow.

"Opening flow requires that money come purely as a byproduct of following your heart; money is not an incentive when the heart alone compels you into action. In other words, the 'incentive' for doing higher productive work lies beyond material compensation, arising instead from an inner sense of service, compassion, wisdom, courage, and necessity. By acting on these living principles as they are felt and acknowledged, the material details automatically work themselves out.

"To summarize, material martyrdom is not necessary for spiritual progress. When in balance, material prosperity naturally arises when priority is given to spiritual prosperity. Where the Divine Will flows, material limitations melt away."

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Samhain: Divine Transition

As we approach Hallowe'en, or Samhain in the Celtic tradition, the veils between worlds are thin, and the energy is ripe for transformational magic. With Pluto at the Galactic Center, it's probably the most potent opportunity we'll have this lifetime to complete and release what is over for us and invoke the incredibly new. Here's a wonderfully evocative article on the cross-quarter day honoring the Crone aspect of the Goddess.

And my favorite site for all things mythological, Kathleen Jenks' Myth*ing Links.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Bird Brain?

Calling someone "birdbrained" is an insult—but considering what one bird did recently, we might want to reimagine the term as a compliment.

A parrot imitated the sound of a smoke alarm to alert his sleeping human family that the house was on fire. They escaped with their lives—and the bird—in the wee hours, just as much of the house went up in flames.

In indigenous cultures, figures depicted with bird heads indicated shamanic power; that is, the ability to "walk between the worlds." As we ride the ever-escalating waves into planetary harmony and oneness, communing with animals—and Nature in all her forms—is key. I'll dive into this theme extensively in the November issue of my e-newsletter, What Shines. Consider this a sneak preview.

Friday, October 19, 2007

The Nature of Power

My car, a wise teacher disguised as a mechanical conveyance, continues to impart exactly what's going on now. The alternator, which I'd never even heard of or given a thought to prior to the first time those scary "brake/battery" lights came on and stayed on in 2004, again flashed me the high sign this afternoon—4 pm on a Friday, and a scant five weeks after replacing the alternator, which was only a year old to begin with! What was going on here?

I phoned my mechanic in a panic (hm...good lyric potential) and he said if I got there right away, he could take a look, but probably couldn't replace it till Monday. So much for my weekend plans to drive 150 miles (roundtrip) to a Dennis Kucinich campaign event. I was afraid I wouldn't even make it to the garage...I turned off the windshield wipers and lights and prayed fervently to the Goddess to deliver me before the car died.

When I arrived, my mechanic said Napa Auto Parts wouldn't have any alternators available to fit my make and model car until Monday. Suddenly I realized we were in Mercury retrograde and started to laugh—what a totally typical Rx scenario for the Quicksilver planet! While I was calling AAA to see if they'd take me home (since I didn't need a tow, and had paid for extended service...the answer was no, BTW), my mechanic, who'd been checking the belts, hoses, wires, etc., informed me that a replacement alternator had arrived! Alchemy, anyone?

With my car freshly repaired in record time on a soggy Friday afternoon, I asked one of the other mechanics in the shop what, exactly, the alternator does. Seems it's a power converter, enabling the battery to run the electrical system, which makes the car go. I said, "Oh, like a generator?" And indeed, in days of old this is what cars had: the generator has been replaced by the alternator.

So it's about power, and also about holding the both/and: alternate means each in turn, working together. Kind of like yin and yang. Masculine and feminine energies. And here I am, calling myself an amplifier and anchor for the feminine frequency.

I also think of the alternator as the heart of the car, keeping the blood flowing smoothly. Since coming into our Heart chakra is the key to creating Heaven on Earth, it seems my trusty Toyota was just checking in with me about my own commitment, making sure I'm awake and unwavering and willing to dive deeply as the times grow ever more intense.

Tonight at dinner, I picked up The Mind Chronicles by Barbara Hand Clow, which I'm attempting to read concurrently with The Mayan Code: Time Acceleration and Awakening the World Mind. Both are so incredible and life-altering I'm savoring them at the rate of just a few pages a day. This excerpt, from her 100 past-life regressions that serve as an Ur ground of collective memory, riveted me. She is at Teotihuacan, a Mayan temple site in Mexico, a few years prior to 1987's historic Harmonic Convergence:

"You are here to name yourself.
For your light to come into matter, radical transmutation is required.
In you we see dense gray forms from aeons ago, yet you are in the temple of Earth truth.
Woman, what are you going to do at this point?
For you are not in form in your Earth self yet.
You made yourself imperfect, for we are only love.
If we let you pass, you will be annihilated
Tell us why you should pass our veils."

Barbara asks three times despite their taunts, which, in esoterica, is the number that cannot be denied. (Before you ask for something 3x, be very sure you want it!) She agrees to "know every misuse of power you have accrued...to look at the blackness of your own heart...to challenge all the demons...to let go of self for the new road of life." And only then is she given entry.

This is how we claim our power, and this is the only true power. It is never outside our own hearts. Only we can convert the power to right use for the entire vessel...Timeship Earth.

Wow. Thank you, Goddess!

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Rome Admits Error: Magic is Afoot!

Anyone who loved Dan Brown's breakthrough bestseller, The Da Vinci Code, will be thrilled to learn that the real Knights Templar have just been exonerated after 700 years!

Once burned at the stake for heresy, the Knights, who were guardians of the legendary Holy Grail, now taste vindication as the Vatican releases closely guarded trial documents—tantamount to a pardon, if not an apology.

It's the beginning of the end of Empire, dear ones. The dominator virus is being rendered impotent through the healing power of Love, and truth is replacing tyranny as the currency for future exchange. Watch, breathe beauty, live joy, and keep the faith, as the walls and wills of the old order come a-tumblin' down!

Channel of many ascended Masters and Archangels, Michele Denman says,

"We are in a major changeover at this very moment. I feel it.
We stand at a critical juncture of 'opposites.' Our suggestion is to not pay attention to 'opposites,' as this is still 'polarity' or the 'polarity game.'

"If we can stand in the middle, at Zero Point, which means to simply 'Love' or 'Be Neutral,' we can simply shift the cosmic ages by anchoring at Zero Point, which is ultimately Love.

"When we Anchor Zero Point, we go beyond 'opposites' and 'opposition.'

"Zero Point is God. Zero Point is Grace. It's Love.

"It is a neutral place, at the Equator.

"We are each 'Anchor Points' and our Belief structures, our Values, Our Intent, does change the world.

"If we go beyond 'drama', we can anchor Zero Point, which is Love. There is no drama at Zero. There is only Love.

"Please stand at the Equator, Holding Only Love, And Anchor Zero Point."


Blessed Be!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Nobel Peace Prize Trumps Presidency

Congratulations to Al Gore, who, as I wrote over a year ago in What Shines, is "setting precedent" instead of being a "sitting president." The newsletter story is published on OpEdNews.com. He's found his true calling, and is in service on a planetary level, which, as insightful Time journalist Eric Pooley makes clear in this report, trumps being a cog in America's political machine, which would clearly be a step backward for him—and for the world—at this point.

While we do need an enlightened president after being thoroughly scrubbed by the Shrub, there is another candidate who more than fills the bill on every score: Dennis Kucinich. Here are the articles I wrote about Dennis during his '04 bid for the Democratic nomination:

Vitamin K: How Dennis Kucinich Will Revitalize America's Health
Mobile, Global Citizens Say Dennis Makes the Difference
The KU Continuum

Hopefully we're further along the awareness continuum now, and ready to vote with our hearts for the Peace and Love that will heal us all.

Thanks and mega-blessings to Al and Dennis for leading from the heart chakra for everyone's benefit.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Becoming a Diamond

In the quest for wealth, we've long revered diamonds, symbolic of love and union. Now, as we ascend the spiral of galactic consciousness, we become the diamonds ourselves: this is what happens to carbon-based life forms as we evolve. And today is a diamond doorway that we can now choose to walk through. On the other side is the Garden, again: the opportunity to create henceforth from pure Love.

Amazingly, all of the lightkeepers whose channelings I follow, no matter where in the world they're based, are sharing an identical message in this moment: about coming home to the true Divine Feminine, reclaiming our ability to magnetize abundance and all else we need to balance our beautiful planet, owning this power and releasing any tendency to lapse into victim mode, an old reality that is now complete.

The Cathars carry the Magdalene energy along the Heart meridian of the planet, and Patricia Cota-Robles is leading a sacred pilgrimage to the South of France from October 15-29th, during a powerful Mercury retrograde in Scorpio and during Pluto's final Galactic Center conjunction, October 26-27th.

Wherever you are during this vital time, you can join your light to the grand effort of those physically present on the pilgrimage. Patty invites, "Please join us in consciousness, and project your Light along this pathway in the body of Mother Earth. You are powerful beyond your knowing. Never underestimate your ability to add to the Light of the world."

Here is an excerpt from her latest message:

"The effulgence of our newly-balanced Heart Flames is creating an environment of Love and upliftment around each of us. When we turn our attention to the balanced expression of our Father-Mother God within our hearts, the illusion of separation is shattered. Our hearts are unified, and we once again experience the bliss of knowing we are One and that Love is all there is. This knowing evokes from within the deepest recesses of our Beings a celestial song of Thanksgiving and a reverent feeling of Divine Gratitude. Every Sunrise we see, every flower that shares its perfume with us, every friend and loved one who warms our heart is a gift of God’s sustaining Love. These sacred gifts inspire our perpetual adoration to the Cosmic I AM, All That Is.

"Our Mother God has placed us within a mantle of Her Love, and our nervous systems are being recalibrated to withstand the highest frequencies of the Divine Feminine. This mantle of Love will help to transform each of us into conscious, self-generating centers of Light and Love. The tremendous impetus and magnetic pull of our Mother’s Love now flowing through our Heart Flames will stir the souls of Humanity. The invisible and resistless power of this Love will pierce into the sleeping spiritual centers of every member of the Human race and accelerate the awakening of each One.

"We now, as never before, have the ability to merge our personal service to Life with God’s service to Life for the highest good of all concerned. Our Mother God’s radiant, universal Love is pouring through all of us without designating favor to a particular person, place, condition or thing. Her Love is giving a healing, impersonal benediction to every particle of Life. The power and magnetic Love of the Divine Feminine is blessing all Life with an equal opportunity to respond. Every evolving soul is being given both the blessing and the responsibility of becoming an Open Door for Her exquisite Love. Every Human Being now has the opportunity to become an instrument of God vested with the power to change the feeling worlds of all with whom we come in contact. This will be accomplished not through our human will, but through the balanced power of the Flame of Divinity now blazing in our hearts.

"When we agree to become a magnetic force of Divine Love, we draw to ourselves the loving support we need from those who are aligned with, and will assist us with, our Divine Missions. This occurs not because of allegiance to a particular personality, but because of the affinity of our soul’s Light with the spiritual essence of the particular facet of the Divine Plan.

"As we expand our service to Life, we must reach up in consciousness and tap into the sacred knowledge and wisdom that will teach us how to effectively utilize the frequencies of Divine Love from our Mother God. Her Love is a priceless gift that is now freely flowing through every Heart Flame. The more we understand about the power and might of this majestic force, the more effective we will be in assimilating it into our life experiences."

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Masquerade? Or Melting the Masks Forever?

"Things are seldom as they seem/Skimmed milk masquerades as cream." I love this quote and have been unable to verify its author, so if you know, please share!

The sentiment is apt for now. Every source whose information I receive (and there are many) affirms that in these accelerated evolutionary times, where we're simultaneously revving up and releasing, not only are we likely to feel and behave very strangely (I can testify to this, too!), but everything that is, may seem somehow "wrong". Nothing could be further from the truth. It's a global birth (or rebirth) process, and, like physical birth, can appear apocalyptic while it's happening, although the end result will be a sparkling new being: Gaiamind, us, One with the All.

Here are a few pivotal links from some of the best and brightest wayshowers, whose wisdom will do much to allay fears and suggest ways to ride the waves:

Jennifer Posada's latest Oracle Message
Astrologer Allison Rae's latest edition of Cosmic Time
Investigative mythologist William Henry interviewed on the radio show, Dreamland about his DVD, "The Light Body Effect"

And from the legendary singer/songwriter I long ago dubbed a prophet for our times, Jackson Browne, turning 59 today and still as relevant and gorgeous as when I first loved his music in 1974: here's the anthem for our age, Before the Deluge.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Another Day in Paradox

I'm still savoring Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life by Irwin Kula (although a number of other books await, so I'm going to finish this meal before too long...)

In light of the October issue of What Shines, which focuses on the oxymoronic nature of life, I wanted to include this quote that leads the book:

"Keep two pieces of paper in your pockets at all times.
One that says, 'I am a speck of dust.'
And the other, 'The world was created for me.'"

~ Rabbi Bunim of P'shiskha

You can't get more humbly absolute than that.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The Great Purification

I always like astrologer Allison Rae's advice on what to expect and do in these galactic gateway times we're living. Her latest issue of Cosmic Time offers the kind of down-to-earth reminder I needed right about now, and since I find whatever I'm experiencing is often archetypal, here's her wisdom for your benefit as well. Enjoy:

"We live in the times the Hopi call the Great Purification. This is true of our bodies as much as the Earth. Here are some ways to ride the wave and allow the changes to flow through . . .

Purification - Detoxify with herbs. Sweat. Fast. Soak in mineral waters and sea salts. Drink at least eight glasses of purified water every day, with fresh lemon added.

Nourishment - You know what your body needs (not what it wants, what it needs) to thrive in these times of intense change. Add more fresh vegestables, especially dark, leafy greens, to your diet. Enjoy raw, living foods. As our friend Dan Winter says, "Eat life as much as possible." Supplement your diet with whatever else your body needs to support your evolution - vitamins, minerals, herbs. Exercise every day.

Nurturing and balance - Feed your soul. Walk on the Earth, bathe in her waters, gaze at the stars. Play, dance, create. Exercise every day. Find out what makes your heart sing, and do more of that. Relax with a cup of tea. Rest. Get a massage. Meditate. Connect with Source."

Friday, September 21, 2007

At-One-Ment

This morning, my good friend Anne left her body after a 9-month battle with leukemia. It was and is, in every sense, a true birth process for this 54-year-old angel. I just realized that Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, begins tonight at sundown. Anne was not Jewish, but I was/am (born into this faith, and for years have celebrated being what one enlightened young man termed "Jewniversal": embracing all paths with acceptance and joy), and this awareness helps settle my grief just a little.

Since learning of her transition, I have walked, cried, and meditated on the nature of life and death; for all that I've written about death as a doorway, as an intrinsic part of life here on Earth, it is incalulably harder to hold these truths with equanimity when the pain hits so close to home.

Anne was my first friend when I moved to Sonoma County after my 3+ year healing hegira in rural NY State and in New Mexico. She had one of the warmest hearts of anyone I know; her own heart had been broken open to compassion years earlier by the death of her beloved sister to lupus, later by divorce, and through facing life's ongoing challenges. I can't count the number of times I did my laundry at her house over the years, or slept there during one of my many, many cycles of nomadhood on my exceedingly odd journey.

As I walked this afternoon, I felt that I had not been nearly as good a friend to her as I might have been. She has such a wide circle of friends, relatives and loved ones, I almost feel superfluous, if this makes sense. And yet I could have reached out more than I did, both before and during her illness. I asked her to forgive me for my failing—not yet aware that we're on the cusp of the greatest Day of Forgiveness for the Jewish people.

We are also on the cusp of the Equinox, when the veils between worlds are thin, and day and night are in equal measure. I feel, again, there is no accident in her timing to leave now. I'm sure she is helping to bring this much-needed balance back to our beloved Home, and to each of our Spirits.

Her life partner, Dennis, a loving soul whom I had the pleasure of meeting only once in person so far, has been keeping everyone up to date with her odyssey on the blog her son Owen started when this adventure began last winter. Anne and Dennis connected in the spring of 2006; it crossed my mind that they had approximately equal measures of joy and sorrow, all wrapped up in a breathtaking blanket of Love during the short Earth journey they shared: a birth process to surrender to Love, and then to dive as deeply into the heart of healing together as two people can in a lifetime. Since we are living in accelerated times, they completed a 50-year journey in 18 months. They are an inspiration to us all to love when Love presents itself, to release our fears and defenses when it's clear our partner has arrived, and to travel onward in grace from there. I sense that Anne and Dennis made this journey, in joy, in fullness, in surrender, in peace, and in abiding Love.

So now those of us who grieve do so as the ones left behind. While Anne did say repeatedly that her illness was part of path of her enlightenment, all I can think about now is her 18-year-old daughter and 22 year-old son, bereft of their Mom, not to mention the legions of friends and relatives who will miss her. I know in my heart she left because she completed her journey here, and in the process brought many of us to compassion, openheartedness and grace. The hardest part about death in the third dimension is the pain those of us left behind feel...

I wrote about reimagining Death in my e-newsletter, What Shines, several years ago. If you'd like me to send you that issue, please request WS #47, and I'll get it right out to you.

Blessings, love, forgiveness and grace to you during this incredible portal of transformation and opportunity.
~Amara

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Autumnal Aspirations

The Equinox approaches ~ one of two annual occasions of true equality, when day and night are of equal length. Intriguingly, Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D., creator of the expansive, sacred traditions site Myth*ing Links, observes that this year, both the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and the Muslim Ramadhan, began at sundown on Wednesday, 12 September ~ right on the heels of our breakthrough eclipse commemorating the transformative 6th anniversary of 9-1-1.

Jenks entreats, "Both (holy days) are dependent upon the same frail New Moon in balanced Libra. Maybe we could finally find a way to be worthy of the beauty and wonder of the planet we share with so many other remarkable species?"

She notes that the Jewish highest holy day, Yom Kippur (which always follows Rosh Hashanah 10 days later) begins this year at sundown on Friday, September 21, 2007 ~ just prior to the Equinox. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement (or, as I like to read it, At-one-ment), where Jews ask forgiveness for those they have wronged and those they feel have wronged them during the prior year.

I'm in the midst of another fascinating and mind-stretching read, Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life by Irwin Kula. Kula, who is a modern-day Rabbi, public TV show host, husband and dad, speaks eloquently of the profound power of forgiveness across spiritual traditions, using many pithy and often humorous examples from his own life, that show him as human as the rest of us, and how his own stumblings have made him a wiser traveler along life's twisting path.

What I found particularly compelling, apropos of the above, is his emphasis both on the necessity of transgression, and his statement that forgiveness is a process we're always going to have in our lives, as we grow towards wholeness: "There is no ultimate moment of forgiveness." He speaks about the positive role of anger in leading to reconciliation, the final step in the "4 Rs of forgiveness: Recognition, Regret, Resolution, Reconciliation". Sometimes forgiveness is as simple as releasing someone mentally or emotionally who "owes" you an apology, as in "forgiving a debt." Sometimes, of course, the wound goes far deeper.

This is a significant time of year to meditate on how we might step ever more fully into our desire for love in its broadest sense: welcoming back all the renounced aspects of ourselves that look like enemies. I felt this way when 9-1-1 first took place; writing these words tonight, that emotional expansiveness returns. We are all one people. It is a time to return to balance in the broadest possible sense. We can begin by forgiving ourselves for being the perfectly imperfect (yet perfect!) people we have incarnated to be.

As Kula writes, "The more we can allow ourselves to unfold, the less likely we are to unravel."

May you know love, and peace, this sacred season.

Welcome Home.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

A Question of Altitude

The title of this post is also the title of a poem I penned 'way back in 1992, after visiting Taos, New Mexico for the first time and having a challenging time adjusting to life at 7000 feet. I've been feeling dizzy and nauseous for the past week ("Amara, thank you for sharing...") and now wonder whether this is yet another physical symptom of ascension, because we are in the midst of a major reboot, as both Aluna Joy reports through the Star Elders, and Patricia Cota-Robles confirms in her latest article.

The Star Elders say, in part: "During this eclipse doorway (of September 11th) everyone will have the opportunity to reboot and upgrade their entire being. You will be able to reboot and upgrade your body, your spirit, your soul, and your evolution. This is a very powerful time.

"Rebooting your life is very much like rebooting your computer. When you upload a new computer program you have to turn off your computer and start up again so that the new program will work properly. That's exactly what's going to happen to all of you in this doorway. No one is exempt from this reboot. Once rebooted, the old programs, systems and manifestations will no longer work properly. So if you're finding that certain areas of your life are not flowing or manifesting in the way they should, maybe this is the universe saying that it is an old, virus-ridden program, and it is time to delete it from your consciousness. Why would you want to keep it anyway?

"To ease the effects of this collective consciousness reboot, it would be greatly beneficial to you all to take some time each day to let go of the old you. Let go of the old world. Let go of your past, your wounds, your betrayals, your insecurities, and even your beliefs that you are somehow not a brilliant masterful being. Take time each day to remember who you truly are, not what you've been told by others, or what society would make of you.

"By the year 2008 you will have completely crossed the bridge and have begun acclimatizing to the New World. It is a much higher altitude/frequency than you are used to. It will take some adjusting. This is what you might call the shift of the ages. You have pushed the evolution envelope by your strong will, tenacity and intense spiritual focus, by an entire four years from our predicted shift dates in 2012. So we don't want to hear you thinking to yourself that you are less than a lighted master. You're the first human beings in a dualistic 3-D reality that has been able to push the envelope, and to push the envelope by four entire years is still astonishing to us.

"Be open to the fact that what lies ahead of you in the very near future is wildly astonishing, beautiful, wonderful, peaceful, and harmonious, and a place you remember deep inside as home. Why will it be this way you ask? Because you not only wanted this new reality, and believed it was possible, but are now beginning to act as if this amazing new future is already here. When you do act as if, you quit being an initiate, and step into the role of the living master."

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Send In The Clowns

Humor really is the best way to diffuse negativity and potential violence, as this accomplished group of clowns proved. In response to an attempted white supremacist group hate rally in Tennessee, the clowns staged this lighthearted, nonviolent response.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Brezsny at the Liminal Borders

I've always loved Rob Brezsny's Freewill Astrology column, which runs in numerous alternative papers nationwide. While any of his musings can be considered archetypal and thus, applicable to us all, the last two weeks for my sign, Aquarius, seem to hold significant inclusive power. I was so inspired by them that I wanted to share excerpts with you. They're especially interesting, given the echoes of other recent posts on dreaming a new world into reality:

On the boundaries where things shapeshift: "They are where all the most interesting action will be, as well as the teachings you need most...Pay close attention to your dreams for clues, and muse on this list:
* goodbyes that morph into awakenings;
* banishments that become pilgrimages;
* adversaries who transform into allies;
* decay that alchemizes into splendor;
* serpent energy that turns into spiritual fire."

"Here are a few of the interesting developments I expect that you will have enjoyed by the end of September:
* unexpected revelations about your past;
* a deeper commitment that spawns more freedom;
* an ethical use of smoke and mirrors for the most important hocus-pocus of the year;
* unheard-of emotions that are so transformative they make pain unnecessary; and, speaking metaphorically here
* a night journey down a dark road that leads to a pile of coal where a huge diamond is hidden."

You may also enjoy his book Pronoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You With Blessings, which is chock-full of positive tips and tales for transformation; it may take you months to read it all (hint: the pages are not exactly written in a linear style...)

Monday, September 03, 2007

Dreaming A New World Into Being

In the September issue of What Shines, I quoted longtime subscriber Paul White's dream of making cross-cultural telepathic connections. We are all dreaming for and with one another these days; Big Dreams, especially, are coming through at an astounding rate, now that the collective is merging more and more to One.

Paul sent me two additional dream descriptions that dovetail with others' stories, and confirm what lightweavers around the globe are saying. Here they are:

∞ "I came into creation by energy that was swirling in space. There was a humming sound like bees and the energy was of golden light made up like a swarm of bees. I was able to maintain this energy in my dream for quite awhile."

∞ "Last night in my dream I went on an epic journey. The most significant part of the dream was about water, the power of it. I was looking out of a window into what looked like an endlessly deep aquarium. Out of the depths came a multicolored dolphin that morphed into a whale-like creature. It was headed for the surface and looked like it was going to fly into the air but instead came to a dead stop just as its nose touched the surface. In this dream I was trying to get back to where I started from which would have meant either crossing a river or going over a bridge that had a rail car and then finding my way through labyrinthine streets. There were stores and rooms in a house, strange insects flying around that morphed in color and shape. A mother and her son and their odd interactions. Black mice under a house. There were tools and things that I couldn't figure out the purpose of.

"I've always had these kind of dreams, dreams where I am flying or levitating by humming and traveling through time. Voices of God. Visits to alien planets and interactions with misshapen beings. Discussions with animals, half bear and half owl. Dreams of whirlpools going to the core of life. There was a time they were so intense that I started a journal of sketches that were hieroglyphic to remember them by."

Lest you think these are just vestiges of Paul's vivid nocturnal imagination, consider this true story, which landed in my Inbox at the same time: The Didgeridoo and the Flute, which describes how two mortal enemies became best friends through their music. The story contains this passage: "There he saw a vision. He was a dolphin, an embodiment of the flute, swimming in a dark blue ocean. Right beside him was a giant blue whale, symbolizing the didge. They were swimming side by side, united in the harmony of music."

I think Carl Jung, who coined the term "synchronicity," would cite this as a stunning example of precisely what the term means.

Here's another: in What Shines, I included some inspirational bumper stickers I've spied recently. One read: "F.E.A.R.: Forgetting Everything's All Right." Reader Sally Scott sent me this message today: "I was at our big fair last week lined up behind a big burly guy to get a cold drink. Beneath two threatening looking caricature eyes [on his T-shirt] it said, 'Fear is in the eye of the beholder. Don't let it be you.'"

Finally, mega Lighkeepers Celia Fenn in South Africa and Karen Bishop in Arizona report that this month is about deep surrender, profound trust in the unknown, and an acceptance of response-ability (the ability to respond to what's transpiring) as we move into the ascension portal of September 11th and beyond. It affects everyone, everywhere, not just those residing in the U.S., because we are morphing as One Earth Family. I highly recommend reading both Archangel Michael's words regarding The Energies for September, and Karen's Ascension Alert.

May you journey well!

Thursday, August 30, 2007

The Shape of Things to Come

Is the structure or pattern of your life shifting in wildly unexpected ways? The cosmic container (Saturn) is moving from its two-year residence in the Lion King (Leo) into vigilant Virgo September 2nd, and it signals a major change in how we live here on Earth.

Leo is fiery, expansive, arrogant, a bit self-absorbed; Virgo calls us to a simpler, earthy, back-to-basics kind of life. It's a time to get planted, and get down to business.

Astrologer Judy Goldberg does her usual insightful job of explaining the celestial dance in clear, prescient prose: End of an Era: Saturn Moves On. May her guide to the next 2-year cycle serve you well on your journey.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Extreme Makeover

Now that the cosmic doorway of 7/26/07 - 8/12/07 is complete and much debris cleared out of our etheric and 3D pathways, it's time to rebalance on all levels. This won't (of course!) necessarily look or feel as carefree as we'd wish. As Aluna Joy observes in her current Center of the Sun newsletter:

"Our outer world is beginning to mirror a state of collapse that is actually a glorious rebirth happening within us. If you watch the news you can see this happening every where. Steam pipes in New York City exploding like bombs, mines collapsing, bridges collapsing and a myriad of strange accidents. Our old out-of-date programs are being cleared out. Yes...we are having an extreme makeover, a makeover of the consciousness, a makeover for the spirit that is erasing all the wrinkles in our souls. If it is old and outdated, it is time to make it over."

Boy, do I feel this! After camping on Mt. Shasta (far northern California) during the shift, I'm attempting to locate a new place to dwell...but all of the seemingly "good" places I'm finding in my "old" locales are closed to me. Hm.

In terms of Earth changes, such as the massive 'quake in Peru, Aluna says,

"The acceleration of volcanic activity and earthquakes in the last week, and continuing for the next few months, is a part of this re-balancing. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, grand tropical storms and the like will give great release to the planet and clear out old, out-dated infrastructure. This is going to feel good to you, and should not cause you any fear. It is time to quit seeing these realignments and shifts as something to fear or to worry about. This isn't the end of the world...it is just the beginning of a new one."

The really good news? We have a green light to greatness shining on us, even if it doesn't quite feel this way yet:

"Now as far as manifesting our divine purpose in this life, it is a whole new ballgame. New messages are coming in. New projects are being birthed. The doors have opened for us to begin work on projects that we have been sitting on for years, even decades. We'll find that we don't need to hide in the closet anymore with the treasures that we have within. We have a green light. It is time to step on the gas pedal even further and get going. It's time to say, 'no more fear' about being attacked for what you are about to say, share, or release into the world. You are now safe to be who you are. Remember the light has undermined the darkness. Who is this LIGHT? Well…. It is YOU!"

Friday, August 17, 2007

Powering Down

With the emphasis on fire and frequency this month, I thought an article on how to reduce EMF (electromagnetic frequency) emissions at home might prove useful. This piece, "24 Hours in an EMF Quieter House," by May Dooley, appears in the current issue of Our Toxic Times newsletter.

Monday, August 13, 2007

The Shadow Side

Today's New Moon in Leo signals the start of an intense late summer/early fall journey that eclipses the old and invites the new into our lives with "quantum potential," says astrologer Allison Rae.

In her latest issue of Cosmic Time, she observes, "Eclipses deal with the shadow, both individually and collectively. Every six months, the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned precisely to create the effect of light being blocked, or eclipsed, from our vantage point on Earth. Eclipses are portals, quantum choice points. What we hold in our thought and intention at these times reverberates throughout time, space and all dimensions. What will we choose to create?"

We'll welcome a total lunar eclipse on August 28th, and a partial solar eclipse on a date that holds remarkable meaning worldwide, especially for Americans: September 11th. Interestingly, while the lunar blackout will be visible from the Americas, Antarctica, New Zealand, Australia, Asia, and Indonesia, the solar eclipse will not be seen from the United States ~ only from parts of South America, Antarctica and the Atlantic Ocean.

When 9-1-1 happened six years ago, Rae recalls, Saturn and Pluto (the planet that defines form and structure, and the Great Transformer, respectively) opposed one another. "Now in trine (mutual support), these planets urge us to integrate our learning and experience since then."

Rae offers simple, eloquent guidance: "We live in the Between Times, the cusp period between world ages, a stillpoint in consciousness. This is the twilight of what has been. The edges of reality blur, inviting us to create a new world from Essence, the Divine Source within.

Return to Love. Breathe, ground, center. Be gentle with yourself and each other. Respect each one's right and choice to be exactly where they are.

Honor the Earth. Live sustainably. Participate in ceremony and ritual. Visit sacred sites.

Create community. Connect with others who share your values, vision and commitment.

Express your creativity. Allow Love to shine through as you make art, music, ritual, poetry, handcraft - whatever feeds your soul. Lighten up. Learn to laugh and play, run, swim. Hang out with children. Invent new games."

Thursday, August 09, 2007

What Is to Give Light Must Endure Burning

The title of this post comes from Viktor Frankl, author of Man's Search for Meaning. As someone who feels like an old witch returned to Earth at this time as one of the legions committed to guiding humanity's ascension, the ancient fear of being "burned", in all its guises, remains like a vestigial tail. And as August heats up, all of us cooking back the dross to its original intent, here in our collective cauldron, can be gravely challenged to maintain our equilibrium. I've been zinged on almost a daily basis this past week, by people I don't even know, in brief, scalding interactions. Mt. Shasta, like a giant crystal, amplifies a 1000-fold what might elsewhere be a blip on life's screen. It sure gets one's attention.

I love visiting Daniel Jacob's informative site, Reconnections, because he gives voice so eloquently to what I'm experiencing. In this article,
Become Your Own Religion, I found the following wisdom:

"Folks used to capture, interrogate, and burn 'witches.' These individuals (often women — usually healers and shamans) were doing unfamiliar things which the society of their time did not understand. There is an old saying which goes: 'You can always tell the pioneers. They're the ones with the arrows in their back.' Being a genius can be a harsh experience. It can also be the closest thing to heaven.

"What we need today is to stop looking for witches to burn and start paying attention to what truly sets each of us on fire. What is it that you do joyfully, with the least amount of effort, and with the greatest efficiency? What is it that you would gladly do forever, whether or not you got paid? Are you doing it, or have you let it be pushed out of your life by other things?"

It's so amazingly REAL — and terrifying — to walk your own road, even as it's being paved three feet in front of you. But as Daniel reminds us, this is what true Originals do. They don't become "like" anyone else, they just become more of who they truly are.

Amd so, with the highest blessing, I say to you in great joy, "Burn, Baby, Burn!" Let all the dross transmute into gold, and allow your brilliance to shine forth. We NEED you now!

Here's Rumi:

"You sit here for days saying, 'This is strange business.'
You're the strange business.
You have the energy of the sun in you,
but you keep knotting it up at the base of your spine.
You're some weird kind of gold that wants to stay melted in
the furnace, so you won't have to become coins."

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Living Inside the Lion's Gate

We're right in the middle of August's fires of transformation, known as the Lion's Gate. The vortex opened on July 26th (also Mayan New Year's Day) and will close on August 12th. Intriguingly, Celia Fenn's photo for her August transmission looks exactly like Mt. Shasta, where I've been since 7/26!

Archangel Michael says this is the moment when many of us will step fully into our Diamond Solar Light Bodies, truly knowing ourselves as infinite. Others, having successfully completed their work here, will choose to leave the Earth plane.

What transpires after the 12th in terms of masculine/feminine integration and relationship recalibration is crucial, and Celia's transmission explains it elegantly.

May you transmute in joy and sacred awareness. Blessings!

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The Hot Zone: "Auto-matic" Health and Wisdom

My cars have always been my literal vehicles; messengers for what's happening in my life. In this moment of release and regeneration, my aging Toyota Corolla shared some visceral wisdom as we headed to Mt. Shasta, the world-renowned spiritual vortex located at the northernmost tip of California.

Just 20 miles from town, in 100+ degree heat, traffic slowed to a crawl due to road construction (they've been working on this highway every time I've visited the area!) My car's temperature gauge veered dangerously toward the red zone. Once we started moving again, however, I assumed it would be fine.

By the time I got into Shasta, summited the mountain (a drive of some ten additional miles, to approximately 6500 feet—the road continues; this is where I chose to camp), and parked, my anti-freeze actually boiled over onto the ground for a good five minutes. I'd never seen anything like this before.

The mechanic I consulted (as well as my own mechanic, whom I phoned) thought it might be the thermostat, which made sense: I've been feeling rather overheated, decided I needed to take better care of my adrenals and triple warmer meridian. As an added safety measure, a man I met in town offered to remove the old thermostat, since the mechanic wouldn't be able to work on my car until Monday (this was Friday afternoon).

BUT!

It turns out the thermostat was fine; the problem was old debris clogging the radiator, preventing the cooling system from working efficiently. Of course! Toxic grunge needs to be released in order to receive the new; this is a time of major detox, and what better place to clear out the old than on a sacred mountain? And in the process, we removed a perfectly healthy "organ" (something Western medicine often does, too). I figured the thermostat was akin to tonsils—not essential, but nonetheless, there for a reason.

What an incredible teaching. Thanks, best little car in the world! (Working perfectly, now).

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Relationship Revamp

The Mayan White Lunar Wizard Year begins Thursday, July 26th, presaging a mystical year. Mayan daykeeper Li says, "Wizard is a shapeshifter, effortlessly changing forms to meet the moment, residing in magic. We know the magical when we experience it, so different from everyday-life consciousness. Magical moments come through being connected, alive, and moving in concert with everything else. Things have a way of working out when we maintain the connection and keep our intent aligned with sacred intent. There is a timeless quality to the Wizard that enables the seemingly magical to happen, effortlessly.

"Two (lunar) is the number of challenge and relatedness. There is a challenge to be met here through how we relate to living in a world of duality/polarity. I think it will be a very different sort of challenge than this past year has been. The astrological transits are much friendlier... The challenge has more to do with learning to relate magically as our way of being in the world."

On Mayan New Year's Day, I'll be heading up to the magnificent metaphysical moutain that has spelled transformation for millions: Mt. Shasta, located at the very tip of northern California. There's a series of powerful healing events taking place there during the next several weeks, and it seemed auspicious timing.

In addition, on Friday, Venus, the planet of love and relationships, retrogrades (appears to move backwards) in Virgo, and this event, says ace astrologer Tara Greene, expanding Li's sentiments, is major, as Venus "rules everything that’s nearest and dearest to most people’s hearts - relationships, values, love, beauty, money, luxury, peace, harmony, and let’s not forget music and the arts. So her Retrograde movement will significantly change all that, our buying habits and social patterns over the next 6 weeks or so while she’s Retrograde. We have an opportunity to resolve unfinished business in relationships and artistic endeavours."

We have a 10-week window to do the Retrograde Dance, as I like to think of it: revisit, release, reimagine, recreate...all those useful "re" words that make up a makeover. Tara says, "We’re really talking about a 10-week period here of re-evaluating our primary basic relating and consuming habits. Venus’s prescription, Rx in Virgo, asks us to become more discerning, less judgemental and perfectionist - a very Virgoan trait."

Venus moves into Leo on August 8th, and this "natural house of love affairs asks us to be more authentic, valueing from the heart, not the head, {Virgo} less willfull and egoistic. A re-evaluation of DRAMA becomes DHARMA, meaning true unselfish service."

On the world stage, Tara advises that the signs in which Venus performs her Retro Dance are significant: "It is especially symbolic that Venus is reviewing values coming out of Virgo, who wastes nothing and lives very frugally on a very tight budget, using only what she needs, and then re-assesses with Leo royal flair, the big show, the bling-bling, bigger cars, diamonds, palaces, etc. etc.

"With the more recent consciousness shift that primarily America and significantly the First World Countries waste and use up most of the World’s resources, this Venusian Retrograde bodes very well for a HUGE consciousness shift to only using what we need, becoming aware of just how much we waste in this instant, throw-away culture, this macho 'mine is bigger' consciousness - yes, you suburban bleach blonde Goddesses in your SUV’s -this means you." Clearly, she's not mincing any words in making the mission crystal clear!