Dec 31, 2009

Blue Moon

French Painter Henri Matisse Working on Medallion of Virgin and Child for Chapel at Vence in Studio


Today is the birthday of artist Henri Matisse. Today is also New Year’s Eve and a blue moon – the second full moon of December, 2009.

When thinking of what to write for this auspicious event, I decided I would search for an image relating somehow to the blue moon before beginning to write. While doing so, I discovered it was the birthday of Henri Matisse, so I began looking through images of some of his paintings. This blue moon occurs in the feminine, nurturing sign of Cancer and has a strong goddess vibration. I was initially drawn to a painting titled Blue Nude, which is certainly fitting for a blue Cancer full moon with a partial eclipse. Then I saw this photograph of the artist himself working on a painting of the Madonna and child and I got goosebumps. The youthful masculine energy and the mature feminine energy seemed to speak to me of the eclipse. The Madonna herself, as we think of her in her heavenly blue robes, is truly the Cancerian energy of this moon. It is also fitting that the artist himself is pictured holding his brush, representing man’s part in the co-creative process.

Dec 30, 2009

Cafe

Nighttime Cafe



Around the Web, Around the World


"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

The Power of Blessing

"Blessings strengthen us, subtly or powerfully depending on the person giving the blessing and the strength of the blessing itself," explains our host and shaman, Christina Pratt. "What is important to notice is that the act of Blessing another strengthens both the one receiving the blessing and the one offering it." Join us this week as we explore the lost art of Blessings. Blessings can empower us, bring us back into right relationship with ourselves, or protect us. What is a blessing and what makes it strong? Blessings can be a formal, complex ritual process or a simple act of love, like calling on the spirits of the family totem to protect a child as she leaves for school. Blessings call on energies of the invisible world, like elementals, nature spirits, and angels, and ask for their participation in our lives in specific ways. Whether simple or grand, our blessings are most powerful when they are an expression of a deep relationship we have already cultivated with spirit.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 2PM Pacific

http://www.modavox.com/7thWaveNetwork

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Dec 29, 2009

Sweat Lodge Tragedy Part of a Pattern

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.




The homicide investigation resulting from James Arthur Ray's disastrous sweat lodge has turned up evidence of a pattern of illness and injury. In addition to the previously discussed suicide, there have been broken bones, loss of consciousness, vomiting, and other adverse events at Ray seminars.

In documents released Monday, a man Ray hired to build the sweat lodge told investigators that he was hesitant to assist with the ceremony for a third year because participants previously had emerged in medical distress, and emergency help wasn't summoned. Theodore Mercer said the latest ceremony was hotter than in years past, but Ray repeatedly told participants, "You are not going to die. You might think you are, but you're not going to die."

Mercer's wife, Debra, told investigators that one man emerged from the sweat lodge halfway through the October ceremony believing he was having a heart attack and would die. She said that instead of summoning medical aid, Ray said "It's a good day to die," according to a search warrant affidavit.

Dec 23, 2009

Getting Happy

Get Happy
Buy at AllPosters.com


Happiness is, indeed, a decision and a choice. As feeling, thinking people, our strongest power is our ability to choose what to think and how to feel. However, we all get knocked down now and then, and it can be especially difficult in the current world energy to maintain a positive outlook. Denying our negative feelings and burying them doesn’t make them go away and can undermine our attempts at maintaining a cheerful outlook. I recently received a wonderful free 12-minute audio that I would like to share that can help you to raise your vibration. It was recorded just before Thanksgiving, but can be used any time. It requires a basic understanding of “tapping points”, which you can learn more about here.

Egyptian Alarm Clock

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.

Giza Pyramids, Egypt


"When I'm in Egypt, and I look at the pyramids, I think, that's the real world." 
~ William Henry


Some years ago I recorded something in my journal that, like so many things I scribble in these notes, has taken me years to even begin to understand. An image emerged in my mind's eye of what looked like a mountain range, so I began to draw it. I drew the first peak. The second was a bit higher. Then my hand was forced down to draw a much lower, disproportionate looking third peak. The asymmetry of the drawing bothered me, somewhat, but it was a fair representation of what I saw in my head. Then I heard the following words, which I wrote under my funny looking mountain range. "Trapped in the wrong dimension." The asymmetrical mountain range looking thing became stunningly obvious one day, when I saw a photo of the pyramids at Giza, from that particular angle.  The phrase I heard I still don't really understand, but I have theories.

Cafe

English Christmas Pudding on Silver Plate



Around the Web, Around the World

"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Stripping Away the Old: A "how to" Show

"How do I let go?" is the most frequently asked question of host, Christina Pratt, when she facilitates clients in the release of the old self and the awakening of the new. Winter is the time of stripping away the old and resting in the long, dark nights. This fall we discussed moving beyond good and evil, looking past sin to focus on destiny, and the Essence energies of Gratitude, Faith, and the Return-all to stir up the comfortable patterns of the self-so now what? Now we need to strip away all we have found within our selves that no longer serves us and surrender that energy to the winter fire. But, how? This week we will discuss how we can allow these little deaths, and with the gifts of self revealed within, to lay the path to rejuvenating an authentic life. In this way we can find the pleasure in our imperfect lives, the lost gifts of self that awaken the heart, and joy in the cultivation of a deepening relationship with our self.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 2PM Pacific

http://www.modavox.com/7thWaveNetwork

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Dec 21, 2009

Winter Solstice



It’s here! The shortest day, the longest night, and then the light returns, bit by bit, a few minutes more each day. It will be a few more weeks before we really notice the dark is diminishing, but tonight we can mark the solstice and know it can only get lighter from this point on.

Before beginning to write, I visited Wikipedia to learn more about this special day. People throughout time and across the entire planet have observed the winter solstice in various ways and it was interesting to read about them. My roots are German and Swedish. Some of the Swedish traditions were a part of my childhood. Despite my Scandinavian blood, I am not fond of these dark, cold days and most certainly feel the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder each winter. The solstice is like a buouy in the sea of endless winter for me. When I reach it, I cling to the thought that the days will get longer once again.

A painting by one of my favorite Swedish painters, Carl Larsson, titled Midvinter Blot caught my eye. As I read about the midwinter sacrifice of animals and humans, discontinued in the 1200s due to missionary persistence, I empathized with those ancient Swedes. After three days of snow, cold, and gray skies here in Tennessee, I am wondering what might appease the gods of winter enough to let a bit of sunshine return.

The Next Level

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.



Graham Hancock had this video posted to his Facebook page, so I took a look at it. It's a neat little round-up of ideas on transformation and multi-dimensional awaremeness, from thinkers as diverse as Joseph Campbell and Joe Rogan.

Dec 20, 2009

Mr. Deity and the Apology

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.




The last episode of Mr. Deity introduced Eve. I posted it here. I thought it was cute, but I thought, at the time, it might tweak some people. Apparently, it did. In fact, it seems to have really pissed some viewers off enough that Brian Keith Dalton has come out with an apology. It's at the end of this most recent episode, "Mr. Deity and the Wrong Number." Like all things Mr. Deity, the apology is quite amusing, and straddles that fine line between the satirical and the offensive. Dalton makes the rather significant point that Mr. Deity lampoons a variety of stereotypes, and yet, it is only when a stereotype of a woman comes in to play, that all hell breaks loose. And, like so many stereotypes, there is some truth in Mr. Deity's Eve, and in the communication breakdown that ensues. I say this as a woman and a feminist. There are differences between men and women. There are differences in the way we communicate. Women can be indirect and, even, passive aggressive. Men can be obtuse and oblivious to metacommunication. John Gray built an entire cottage industry around these differences, and the trouble they can cause in male/female relationships. So, I thought Mr. Deity's depictions of an extremely yin Eve, and yang Adam, were clever. His conversation with Pat Robertson is also amusing, so enjoy!

Dec 16, 2009

Time Monk Clif High on the Coming Context Shift

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.



"A shift in awareness always causes transformation."
~ Virginia Sandlin


Clif High is making the media rounds again, in association with his latest report, and some changing time tables. Most notably, he says that we will be experiencing a "context shift," that was predicted for December 29, on or near December 19. That's this Saturday. A context shift, according to High, is when there is a rapid change in our mass awareness about an issue. (This would be a collective experience of what my former teacher and Cherokee Mystic Virginia Sandlin would call a "shift in awareness.") A previously predicted context shift had to do with the undocumented alien issue, the perception of which dramatically changed when massive demonstrations captured media and public attention. While he's not sure what issue is about to erupt into our conscious awareness, he suspects it will be economic and related to what he thinks is the inevitable "death of the dollar." Also of note, High's speculation on the real purpose the H1N1 vaccine (population reduction) and the weird, swirly thing that appeared over Norway.

Cafe

Close View of Coffee Being Poured into a Glass Cup



Around the Web, Around the World


"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

The Return or Filling the Well

How do you fill the well of your well being, especially when you feel tired, cold and exhausted? Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, as we explore how to restore your link to life. As adults we struggle in a dynamic between feeling the desire for experience and the need to return to touch the root of our essence, to replenish and restore. Culturally, the desire for experience wins most of the time. We tend not to take the time to reach the Source unless we are forced to by illness, exhaustion, or breakdown. Even then, we rarely spend enough time there to fill the well and remember why we are here. Winter is the season of return. It is the time to rest and slow down. For most just slowing down is the challenge. We think all we need is to catch up on some sleep or restart our daily meditation practice. But we miss the point. These are not the return. They only hold the space for it. To return and replenish we must touch the Void and go into the source of our deepest dreaming.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 2PM Pacific

http://www.modavox.com/7thWaveNetwork

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Dec 13, 2009

The Secret, a Sweat Lodge, and STILL MORE Tragedy

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.




If you missed the Nightline coverage of James Arthur Ray's sweat lodge gone wrong (originally covered here), it is available for viewing on the ABC website. I didn't think I could be more shocked and horrified by this story than I already was. I was wrong. Now we learn that there is a pattern of gross negligence on the part of this self-styled guru -- whose appearance in The Secret catapulted him to fame -- and his company JRI. The death toll is even greater than the three who died as a result of that abomination of a sweat lodge. An earlier death at a James Arthur Ray seminar has now come to light.

Colleen Conaway plunged to her death, an apparent suicide, during a bizarre exercise, in which people who paid thousands of dollars to JRI, were dressed up as homeless people, stripped of their money and identification, and dumped in downtown San Diego. No one interviewed seems to know quite what they were supposed to learn from this experiment, in abject poverty, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't compassion. I say this, in part, because so little compassion was extended to Colleen Conaway or her family. Just as would later occur with Liz Neuman, the third sweat lodge participant to die, the family was not notified, by JRI. Both Liz Neuman and Colleen Conaway spent time listed as Jane Does; one critically ill in a hospital and the other on a slab in the county morgue.

Dec 9, 2009

Energy Allergies

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.


Very interesting post on Lightworkers.com regarding "energy allergies."

As we raise our vibration we often can experience what is called an energy allergy. This happens as a natural growth process as we evolve, (especially for us empaths:-) But I have noticed many people even those who aren't light workers going through these shifts. These energy allergies can manifest in many ways and for many reasons. Most often the result is fatique. Sleepiness, headaches,anxiety, allergy symptoms, depression, and the list goes on. The often occur as a result after an event or realization that raises our consciencness. These realizations can be both postive or negative. We have all had it happen after a negative event when we find ourselves retreating to heal. After a positive event it happens as a result or being out of sync between our spirit and our soroundings. Often times they can be a result or a block in creative energies because of the limiting beleifs we are learing to let go of. When we raise our spiritual vibration the spirit longs to express itself in these new understandings. When we don't allow this energy to flow it results in the energy becoming stuck within us and these conditions result. It is extremely normal as we all take 3 steps forward then 2 back, so nothing to worry about or feel responsible for.

Cafe

Coffee Blend IV


Around the Web, Around the World

"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

The Importance of Essence

If you say, "I love that show" and "I love my car", what does it mean when you say, "I love my child" or "I love my wife?" The essence of love is weakened by casual or careless usage. Why does it matter to some that others take the Lord's name in vain? Because casual and careless usage weakens the essence of The Creator. Don't think this matters? Well, how do you feel when you pour your soul into a project and it is treated in a casual, ordinary, and careless way? Join shaman and host, Christina Pratt, as she explores the essence energies of life and why your relationship to them matters. We strengthen or weaken the essence energies through the quality of our attention to them. Essence energies are "essential" because they are the energies that nourish the soul. Shamanism gives us the skills and awareness to call on the essence energies, to tend them and to create a relationship of gratitude and reciprocity with them. Then they are there for the soul to grow strong and flourish.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 2PM Pacific

http://www.modavox.com/7thWaveNetwork

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Dec 7, 2009

Why the Tarot Works

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.



Some years ago, I was perusing books in a Wiccan shop, when I overheard a conversation between the owner and a customer. She was looking at the many tarot decks in the glass case by the front counter. "Do these really work?" she asked.

The owner was deeply knowledgeable about western esoteric traditions, and had a fondness for tarot. I had heard him, on more than one occasion, give detailed explanations of the symbolism in complex decks like the Crowley-Thoth. Yet, he answered this woman very matter-of-factly. "A deck of tarot cards is just 78 pieces of paper with pictures printed on them." Not the answer she was expecting, I'm sure. Quite truthful, however.

Dec 5, 2009

Cafe

Solo Cappuccino



Around the Web, Around the World

New WINGS Update from Karen Bishop

Owning Our New Power...Creating the Life of Our Dreams

Over the week-end of November 28th and 29th, more new and higher vibrating energy arrived for us. It could be felt as the now familiar leg and foot pain (as we are still grounding into the new Earth), lower back pain, sinus headaches or face pain, a giddiness (I could not stop laughing), perhaps feeling drunk or lightheaded, flu symptoms, and a need to nap or sleep.

Immediately after, it may have been difficult to sleep, and some tenseness or tightness soon arrived. As we prepare to create a new heaven on Earth, we also begin living and being in the higher vibrations. In this way, even though we may not be aware of it, we are creating more easily now. And as always, we create the fastest simply though the beliefs that we embody within ourselves.

So then, we moved into a new space, knew at our soul levels or higher self levels that it was time to begin having the life of our dreams, and thus, we moved into a new “take charge of our lives” space. We were beginning the stage of owning our power, so in some ways, we may have felt more powerful, more assertive, in command of our space, and now most certainly, owning the position of “the director” of our new reality and new lives.

Dec 3, 2009

The WM3: Good News & Bad News

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.



First, the good news: The defamation case against Dixie Chick Natalie Maines was dismissed. Libel and slander are fairly hard to prove, in this country, because the litigant has to establish "malice." Terry Hobbs's legal team failed to do so.

The lawsuit, filed in November 2008, claimed Maines' comments were "malicious, libelous, slanderous and false" and sought damages.

But U.S. District Judge Brian Miller ruled Tuesday that Hobbs couldn't establish "actual malice" — that Maines knew the statements were false or that she made them with "reckless disregard" of the truth.

Dec 2, 2009

Cafe

Coffee I

Buy at AllPosters.com


Season's Greetings, one and all. The holidays are upon us. And, I'm tired already. Be sure to check out the Rituals Boutique, recently updated, with lots of new product, for the Christmas shopping season.

Around the Web, Around the World


"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

The Power of Faith

"Faith is freefall. It is the liquid state of grace in which all change is possible," explains shaman and host, Christina Pratt. "Without faith we are unable to cross that gap between what was and what needs to be." It really doesn't matter whether that gap is the size of a whole life that you are being asked to leave behind or the microscopic gap between two neurons in your brain as you desperately try to think a new thought, with out faith we cannot cross that Void. The most interesting thing about faith, given humanity's history of killing each other over it, is that it doesn't really matter what you have faith in. In terms of transformation and enlightenment it only matters that you are capable of that state of grace; that you can surrender all that you are and know to simply be in a state of faith. Join us this week as we explore the power of faith. When is faith the excuse for delusion and fantasy thinking and when is it the power needed to dance with the Unknown?

Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 2PM Pacific

http://www.modavox.com/7thWaveNetwork

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Dec 1, 2009

A Lunar Look at December

A Full Moon Shines on Winters Leafless Branches

Buy  at AllPosters.com


Holiday spirits will be especially lighthearted as December begins. The full moon of the 2nd in the playful sign of Gemini will fill us with a child’s wonder and anticipation of the season’s magic no matter what our age. The new moon of the 16th in the sign of Sagittarius will encourage us to put on our elf ears and Santa caps and share the joy with others. The desire to give, give, give will be strong this year.

A retrograde Mars in Leo as of the 20th will help us rein in overly zealous shopping urges. A retrograde Mercury in Capricorn begins on the 26th. As I have mentioned in previous forecasts, communication and transportation are the two key areas that can be adversely affected by a retrograde Mercury. I don’t wish to dampen your holiday cheer, but the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure definitely applies in this situation. Save receipts and packaging for everything you purchase this month. Double-check all your tickets and reservations before traveling. When traveling by plane, it may be wise to be prepared for delays or lost luggage. Winterize your vehicle and please…don’t drink and drive.

Hang that mistletoe everywhere! Strong romantic energy permeates this holiday season. I predict many Christmas engagements and new romances beginning with the New Year. Everyone will be blessed somehow by the extra love that flows this month.

Opinions and ideas expressed in the comments on this page
belong the people who stated them. Management takes no
editorial responsibility for the content of public comments.