We are no longer puppets

“We are no longer puppets being manipulated by outside powerful forces; we become the powerful force ourselves.”


-- Leo Buscaglia

Do you doodle ?

How to draw Gratitude?



simple, easy, and wow! Now, go ahead...
take a few minutes to spin a bit of Gratitude.


as you enjoy the process
note how
mood, balance, flow and attention
Will effect how Gratitude appears.

So it IS in all matters.

***
Go Gratitude!



" Doodling allows the unconscious to render in symbolic _expression. Symbols have universal as well as personal meaning. When you are stuck for an answer to a problem or looking for creative innovation, the technique of doodling will unleash the hidden symbolic powers of the unconscious mind.

... Some people are prolific doodlers when they are talking on the telephone, sitting at a meeting, attending a lecture or sitting in any passive environment. This doodling can reveal important and profound information about how the person was feeling at the time, or, according to Jung, latent emotional conflicts or unexpressed feelings. In truth, no one can interpret our doodling except ourselves. Though certain symbols appear to have universal applications in the deep collective unconscious, how we experience these symbolic expressions in our own life is unique to each of us.

Your subconscious mind is attempting to contact you all the time. It is usually blocked by habitual conscious thought patterns or emotions. It can also be drowned out by the mundane mental trivia that we repeatedly hash over. Learn to allow its conscious _expression, preferably every day. "


http://enchantedmind.com/html/creativity/techniques/art_of_doodling.html

ABOUT GRATITUDE

www.givemethemasterkey.com

Thank you for all sunny bright and uplifting thoughts

This is the darkest time of the year for those of us who live her in Scandinavia. These past few days have been bleak cold and damp and dark by 3 pm . Candlelight and music help as do bright and sunny thoughts. This message from the Daily Guru hit the spot for me today .


Thursday 24th Of November 2005 "There's Light In The Darkness"

"Each difficult moment has the potential to open my eyes and open my heart." -- Myla Kabat-Zinn


“Even the most daring and accomplished people have undergone tremendous difficulty. In fact, the more successful they became, the more they attributed their success to the lessons learned during their most difficult times. Adversity is our teacher. When we view adversity as a guide towards greater inner growth, we will then learn to accept the wisdom our soul came into this life to learn.” -- Barbara Rose


“No matter what difficulty you are facing, it is coming from Divine Light to bring you to a higher place within. Write down every conceivable reason that this situation can contribute towards your growth. Write down every way this experience can possibly set the stage for serving to uplift others. When you are complete, and have come to the other side of this experience, you will then know 'why' it happened.” -- Barbara Rose


“The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one’s life.” -- Dalai Lama


THANK YOU , Universe , for all sunny, bright and loving thoughts I am grateful . Love love love .......................................

Mara

Personal development through the medium of outdoor pursuits

I have a voice from the past ; a voice from my college days to thank for this link. Peter Jones seems also t0 be working with personal development - phsyically , through the body . Admirable work. Check out the website:

http://www.redridgecentre.co.uk/index.htm

"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.
There are a hundred ways to kiss the ground "
RUMI

Good on you , Pete !

Self-Healing Expressions - Shaman Training

Aho! Take a journey and an exploration into the worlds and the way of the Shaman. Come and sit down before the fire with the Shaman as you calm your mind and open your heart to the teachings of the Elders. As you walk the path of this course, you will re-member many skills, talents, places and people from your past that you have forgotten. Welcome to the reconnection to your purpose as healer. Let the Shaman Elder take the talking stick and listen to his words. [ Learn more ]

"Shoulds " and "Musts"

"Shoulds" and "Musts" are another pet peeve of mine and bring out the Rebel in me .

Who says I should ?
Who says I must ?

Live your own life- not someone else's !

Trouble is , that often we don't know what we want . We are not so certain of what makes us happy so instead we say " should " because we imagine it is what others expect of us. We can become conditioned to following "orders" blindly, without question. Rediculous really when you think about it .

I have found that substituting " COULD " instead of should , helps.
" I should clean the windows "
I suppose I COULD , do I want to ? Do I choose to? NO .. well ok .. leave it then .
They have been left for about 10 years now lol and I'm no worse off . Soon I won't need curtains lol and I'm told that dirty windows keep harmful rays out ...also .. it is easier to walk around the place naked without fear of someone seeing in ...lol.

"The voice of our original self is often muffled, overwhelmed, even strangled, by the voices of other people's expectations. The tongue of the original self is the language of the heart."
-- Julie Cameron

Blessed be the language of the heart . I totally agree.


We are each unique beings with a unique path in life. If we wish to be fulfilled, we need to go to our own hearts for direction. We might regularly ask ourselves:-

- "What do I really want to do?"
- "What brings me greatest happiness?"
- "How can I bring more of these into my life?"

Life wants us to go for what brings us most JOY and meaning.

What do you ache for?
What is your passion ?
What makes your heart sing ?

GO FOR IT ! if you dare .. it takes courage to dream too.


"What you must dare is to be yourself."
says Dag Hammarskjöld

What will people say ?

" What will people say ? "
" I don't want people to think that ........ "

How silly these thoughts are. How unnecessary, since they result in worry .
Why care what people think ?
Why not assume that everyone thinks well of you ?
This is equally possible.

With awareness comes choice.
When these thoughts arise in me , I choose to examine them and question them. What is important to me is that I am TRUE to myself ; that I do not betray my self .

Also , I know from experience that when I truly believe and own a thought, then what others say does not matter one iota ! I simply do not care .

So, I'm thinking , perhaps " what will people say/ think " thoughts probably indicate my own doubts and uncertainties . I think these thoughts when I am seeking approval. All of that is fixed - taken care of when I approve of myself ; when I KNOW that I am being faithful to my self.

Wabi Sabi Spirituality

beliefnet: Wabi Sabi Spirituality

Everything in life can be nourishing.

" Everything in life can be nourishing.

Everything can bless us, but we've got to be there for the blessing to occur. Being present with quality is a decision we are invited to make each day."

-- MacRina Wiederkehr

Spirit is not only found in holy places, prayer and meditation, yoga and retreats. Spirit is everywhere - in our relationships, work, in nature and in everyday issues and events.

We have so many opportunities throughout the day to acknowledge this. Spirit is ever present , serving and guiding us, helping us release our true potential if we are willing to connect deeply with your environment- to be well and truly present in the NOW .

Willingness . Openness. Openness to the Mystery . Connection. Resonance. There are other dimensions of reality below what we normally see and hear.

"We live in a world of theophanies. Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary. There are burning bushes all around you. Every tree is full of angels. Hidden beauty is waiting in every crumb. Life wants to lead you from crumbs to angels, but this can happen only if you are willing to unwrap the ordinary by staying with it long enough to harvest its treasure." ´

-- Macrina Wiederkehr

PUrrrrrrrrfect !

This is animated image .. the flashing stops , I think , if you click on it ! ;-)

Healing vision for our planet earth

Midnight ....
I close my eyes and go within.
I see people helping people.
I see angels embracing, holding and guiding people through their grief and pain.
I see help and comfort reaching those in need.
I see financial assistance flowing in easily in to all areas affected by natural disasters and war.
I see the best and the greatest in all people shining through.I see fear being eased.
I see Love and Light seeping in through into every nook and crany, into every wounded cell and atom.
I see souls shining brightly.
I see healing.
I see recovery.
I see awakening.
This or something better for our Highest Good.
For this and more , I am truly grateful.
With lots of love .........

Wisdom from the Sayers Speakers

The Sayers or Speakers have been with this planet from its inception. Their focus is process. We are the Sayers. Thoughts are the building blocks of your reality. Not only the personal reality but the consensus reality. If you do not accept the reality as perfection, you deny your own creations.

This seems to be a misunderstanding for many humans. The state of affairs on this planet is the showing of what has been created. This is positive. The appropriate response when confronted with that picture of reality is to create a new thought form of the desired reality to manifest. You are not in a positive creation if you are focused on judgement of wrong and blame.

The picture you are seeing is part of the process. We suggest you practice seeing the manifested reality in a bigger picture or higher understanding. Not only will you manifest the higher potential consensually, you will also keep balance and harmony personally in the body.

Maintaining a higher vibration and frequency. This is the process you seek to integrate.

We see many scenarios going on that distract you from being focused. They include those that Light workers did not even "need to know".

You can create and be yourself in a higher vibration if you just hold a vibrational match to love. Your vibration will effect another and another until eventually and gradually all has changed. The scenario of dark thought forms will only be past history like the dark ages are now. At the same time bless those who still see their service as resisting the dark. All is in perfection and balance.

We are the Sayers- we are intentionally brief as we wish to make a point.

Midnight ....
I close my eyes and go within.
I see people helping people.
I see angels embracing, holding and guiding people through their grief and pain.
I see help and comfort reaching those in need.
I see financial assistance flowing in easily in to all areas affected by natural disasters and war.
I see the best and the greatest in all people shining through.I see fear being eased.
I see Love and Light seeping in through into every nook and crany, into every wounded cell and atom.
I see souls shining brightly.
I see healing.
I see recovery.
I see awakening.
This or something better for our Highest Good.
For this and more , I am truly grateful.
With lots of love

You are a flower.

YOU ARE A FLOWER

You are a flower, a very lovely flower.

The sun is bright and warm and glowing and you are blooming.

Because you are a flower, you exist in the natural world of abundance and glory. And the sun glows upon you and you open your petals.

Now, what would happen, if, in the middle of a bright sunny afternoon, our flower began to think, and it said:

"What am I doing that the sun should shine down upon me? I am a poor worthless little flower. The great world goes beyond me and I do nothing. Hardly anyone notices me and I am very lonely. How is it that this great sun should shine down upon me?"

And so, the flower, following it's own thoughts, now begins to droop, and it wiggles its little stem over, till it hangs it's head beneath a giant oak tree, where the sun cannot fall upon it in the shade. And, say our little flower begins to reason further and says:

"If the sun fell upon me, what would I have to do to deserve this great benediction? I must think of things to do to rationalize my existence."

And as it thinks, it grows gloomier and darker, and huddles up against the great tree, so that the sun cannot reach it.

Now, any flower has better sense than that, and so should you. Abundance is all around you. It is the sun. It is the rain. Those things are natural and good. Wealth, in whatever terms you happen to translate it, is also a part of your natural world, and so for you to feel free, and to accept one portion of nature and not the other is not a good belief.

You ARE. Your being IS. You are a portion of All That Is. Therefore, you have right to abundance as the flower has to the sun. In human terms there are many kinds of abundance, and they are all yours. You must realize that you do not have to rationalize your existence. Because you ARE. You have a right to the abundance of nature in whatever way it is transformed or translated for you.
You have to realize that your experience begins from within. Your joyful thoughts bring joy, your abundance thoughts bring abundance, and your thoughts of limitation bring limitation.

When you are basking in your own being, and glowing in your Sun, then you are enjoying abundance - your own abundance. There is in the universe unlimited energy and joy and abundance that belongs to you.

SETH – 25 SEPTEMPER 1972

me

ANGEL OF THE DAY

http://www.beliefnet.com/index/index_283.html

The way I become spiritual

is simply to become myself.

Success Story : Homeless at 17, retired at 26

http://www.ashatyson.com/home.html

Homeless at 17...Retired at 26!!! Meet celebrity new-comer...Asha Tyson--author of the new highly acclaimed book, How I Retired at 26! Here Tyson shows you step-by-step how anyone can live their dreams at any age--no matter what!

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2002/5/prweb38545.htm

Confessions with a big 'C'

I have always been afraid of cancer .. the big C .

When I was growing up, I picked up lots of information about this disease which appeared to be shrouded in mystery and always carried a death sentence.

I remember my father reading a letter from my uncle and seeing the diagram he had drawn of his lung and a dark blob marking the cancer. My father's face was serious, but nothing much was SAID , rather I FELT it and made up the rest in my mind , I suppose. I was about 11 or 12 I think.

On another occasion , Christmas time, we were at good friends of my parents. There was a tree , presents , children , their family and our family and a few guests . One of them , an older lady, quite frail looking , wrapped in a shawl sitting by the Christmas tree. She was the one with cancer and would not live very long. I remember looking at her and thinking. " here you are , sitting here with the rest of us , but you know that you are going to die soon ..what is that like for you ? " or similar thoughts. This was also when I was between 11- 16 .

I think that the more these diseases are talked about and not shrouded in silence or clothed in euphamisms or fear the better.

Knowing someone with cancer or AIDS as an adult has certainly helped me be more understanding . There is still a great deal I don't know , but I'm on my way to greater understanding and PEACE.

Contemplating ELEVEN

http://www.greatdreams.com/eleven/num11.htm

God dwells in a place where time does not flow

Edgar Allen Poe
The Raven
[First published in 1845]

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.'

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow will he leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never-nevermore."'

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet violet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas *just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!



*
One of the Titans Pallas is the son of Crius and Eurybia and husband of Styx. Pallas is the father of Zelus, Nike, Cratos and Bia. He is also occasionally considered the father of Eos.
Pallas is also an appellation of the goddess Athena (Pallas Athena) who, according to some accounts was the daughter of Pallas. In this version Pallas attempted to rape her and she killed him. From his skin she made the Aegis.

Dealing with the seen , the unseen and the unknown.

I'm in day two of a streaming cold , in fact I am glad, because at least my discomfort is visbile and tangible. This is exactly what G. said earlier this week about having cancer.

" Having cancer is so easy to deal with compared with burn-out. Everyone is so caring , kind and empathic , but during the time I was burnt out and depressed there was non of that- it was dreadful. "

I was greatly inspired by G's wrath and encouraged her to write about the way she felt. G. has a great talent and passion for writing and this subject is certainly something that deserves to be made visible . So many people are suffering , but their dis- ease is not visible and therefore not seen, not believed and neglected.

' Release the need to know why things happen the way they do.'

I found this today on Caroline's daily message www.myss.com - a message that seems to be coming up a lot lately in my reality and maybe yours too ?

A close friend of mine was badly betrayed by a lover this week, both emotionally and financially. This is the second time to my knowledge that this has happened , each time by a different person. You'd think that we would learn the first time ? How is it that we are so easily taken in ? I think these lessons return to teach us something, but what ?

Also the Tuscan saying: "Don't bandage your head before it gets hurt."

And the Buddhist story :

It is said in the Majyhimanikaya that the monk Malunkjaputta one time went to see the Buddha and expressed to him his dissatisfaction about his not telling his disciples whether the world was eternal or non-eternal, infinite or finite, etc.... The monk went so far in his effrontery as to present to the Buddha a challenge. He demanded that the Buddha should either reply with a yes or no to his questions, or to admit that he was incapable of so doing. In the former case, the monk declared himself disposed to remain his disciple, in the latter he would return to the life of the world.

The Buddha, without losing his serenity for a single instant, answered him thus:

A man has been wounded by a poison arrow, and his friends call the doctor. If the wounded man said, "I shall not permit this arrow to be torn out of me before knowing who the man is that has wounded me, which is his family, what he looks like, whether he is tall or short, dark or fair, and where he lives," he would certainly die before it were possible to help him.

This exactly would happen to one who, before entering the road to liberation, would demand that he be given a reply to all his questions.

Repetition of affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind ....

Repetition of affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind
Any impulse of thought which is repeatedly passed on to the subconscious mind is, finally, accepted and acted upon by the subconscious mind, which proceeds to translate that impulse into its physical equivalent, by the most practical procedure available.

Creation starts with a thought, an affirmation and a decision.

What is the meaning of ONENESS .. some thoughts

I think there are many ways of answering or attempting to answer this question. Here are a few of my thoughts on "What is the meaning of oneness ?"

That we are ONE I have always known, and in recent years have started to re- member and to experience. Belief is not the same as experiencing an inner " knowing " and for me this has not happened overnight, but gradually , step by step, thought by thought, and one " aha " experience after the other , with lights going on.

We are ONE in spirit , in the greater scheme of things, and together we form a world soul. We are projections of THE ONE .. of " ALL THAT IS " of " pure being " of consciousness an all pervasive force that has many names.

The paradox is that each of us is also unique. There is , never has been and never will be another "you" or "me". We are constantly creating our world with our each and every thought , each and every action , and even the thoughts that we don’t have. Our creating also has side effects which we see reflected in our own lives and in the lives of others.

On a mundane level we are also one living organism. We live and breathe the same air. Water is common to all of us ; we are made up of the same building blocks , the same chemicals. We are connected through our higher selves in the collective and by consciousness which is in each and every one of us , in water , our very water of life , in every stone , in every flower , tree, animal, insect, creature .. in everything.

Hurricane Katrina serves to illustrate how we are connected too by showing that what affects one , affects all. This is clearly visible in the effects on the global economy. The ripple effects are just being felt. It is a human tragedy as the Tsunami or 9/11 or the tragedies we don't get to hear about or the ones that we have forgotten. Some people have lost everything that they own and also their loved ones. We also pick up and share their grief their fears and anxieties , if not directly then indirectly.

We are also indirectly blessed. We get to feel and experience empathy, compassion, love, caring. We get a chance to get involved and to contribute , to help heal the wounds and to help repair the damage . Each of us in our own way, by sending financial aid, by offering prayers , and healing thoughts, by adjusting our own lives and behaviour patterns, by reflecting on our values.

We are ONE living breathing organism on this planet and we are not alone , but share our very existence with a infinite number of other beings and parallel universes.

" The meaning of ONENESS is ..................." is something to reflect upon and to take into meditation and contemplation. To experience and to express in who we truly are.

Just a few of my spontaneous thoughts.
Namasté .. Love and Light to us all

do me, do me ohh ohh do me !! ( one of those thingies )

Subject: do me, do me ohh ohh do me

This is funny. YOU fill in the blanks about ME and send it back to ME. But first send a blank one out to your friends, including me, so we can return the favour to you. Be honest they're really SCARY to get back. It only takes a few minutes, so just do it!!!!

1st: Send (forward) this Survey to everyone you know to see how well he or she knows you.
2nd: (reply) Fill this survey out about the person who sent it to you and send it back to them.
Your name: Where did we meet:
Take a stab at my middle name:
Do I believe in God:
How long have you known me:
Do I smoke:
What was your first impression of me upon meeting:
Colour of my eyes:
Do I have any siblings:
What's one of my favorite things to do:
Do you remember one of the first things I said to you:
What's my favorite type of music:
What is the best feature about me:
Am I shy or outgoing:
Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules:
What's your favourite memory of me:
Any special talents:
Would you consider me a friend:
If there was one good nickname for me, what would it be:
If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what one thing would I bring?

NEW MOON 3- 11 September . New beginnings .

The sun is shining on us too today , blessed be !

I'm having a peaceful weekend , writing , thinking , reflecting , pottering apround. Many of my friends have come down with colds . I was supposed to meet a friend and do Brandon Bays " Journey " but she is down with migrane and a frozen shoulder - this is the second time we have had to cancel because of her migrain. She is a very sensitive intuitive soul . I supspect she is tapping into something in the collective.

What comes to me at this time is to really LISTEN to all the messages that come to me in dreams and waking life. The especially the ones that are repeated. So what are they ?
¨
- Listen with ALL your senses
- Let go of what you don't need. Leave the boat behind after crossing the river.
- Think in positive terms of what you CAN do , what you LIKE, what IS instead of can't, don't like, isn't, won't etc etc .
- Create a positive vision in your mind and on paper - everything starts with a thought.

I'm going to do Carolyn Myss archetype wheel ( www.myss.com ) lots of goodies there.

Bless us all this day as we work and play today .

" I affirm, in this new Moon,
All is Healed, All is Healthy...
All is in Divine Order for the highest Good for All.
Peace is on Earth. "

Journalling

Journalling is a great way to release and let go. To get things off your chest.
Our minds are our own worst enemies. The same thoughts go round and round in the same old ways and keep us stuck.

If something bothers you, write about it. Get it out so you can see it from a different perspective. Let it out. Let it go.

Owning and healing your pressure cooker is an important step in claiming your power, building your esteem and making your stand.

"In truth, to attain to interior peace, one must be willing to pass through the contrary to peace. Such is the teaching of the Sages."

-- Swami Brahmanada

ONENESS

The image of the morning sun in a dewdrop is not less than the sun. The reflection of life in your soul is not less than life. The dewdrop mirrors the light because it is one with light, and you reflect life because you and life are one.

Kahlil Gibran
The Garden of the Prophet

NO JUDGEMENT

"No Judgement"

Everything in life holds both a blessing and a curse. We deny this when
we label the events of our lives as either good or bad. The following
old Zen story illustrates this lesson most effectively.

A farmer had a horse but one day, the horse ran away and so the farmer
and his son had to plow their fields themselves. Their neighbours said,

"Oh, what bad luck that your horse ran away!"

But the farmer replied,

"Bad luck, good luck, who knows?"

The next week, the horse returned to the farm, bringing a herd of wild
horses with him.

"What wonderful luck!" cried the neighbours, but the
farmer responded,

"Good luck, bad luck, who knows?"

Then, the farmer's son was thrown as he tried to ride one of the wild
horses, and he broke his leg.

"Ah, such bad luck," sympathized the neighbours.

Once again, the farmer responded,

"Bad luck, good luck, who knows?"

A short time later, the ruler of the country recruited all young men to
join his army for battle. The son, with his broken leg, was left at
home.

"What good luck that your son was not forced into battle!" celebrated the neighbours.

And the farmer remarked, "Good luck, bad luck, who knows?"

"Do not judge, and you will never be mistaken."

-- Jean Jacques Rousseau

INTENT

Intend Now!

Focused intent is like a laser beam
In consciousness and will burn through
The murky film of clinging emotion
and the alien texture of unknowing.

James Lane Prior
The Divine Moment

Attitude is everything

Attitude is everything , and behind each attitude is a thought or thoughts that manifest into emotions. When we are happy things flow easily . When we are angry , frustrated, overwhelmed, anxious , desperate ..... things around are coloured and change accordingly.

It's a viscious circle . Negative thoughts attract more of the same.

DailyOM - Becoming A Mentor

DailyOM - Becoming A Mentor


YES .. this resonates well with me .. thank you Diann for sharing .

The easiest thing in the world to get sucked in

It is the easiest thing in the world to get sucked into the mass consciousness of despair, disaster, and desperation. It serves no one well.

This is why I have stopped reading newspapers and watching the news on TV. News still reaches me somehow, but with less despair. I think it is important for our overall well- being to maintain a positive outlook and to be mindful of the stories that we make up about the way things " are ".

To be , well and truly in the NOW is what is empowering. This is what makes a difference . When each of us stands in the convictions and Light of our inner truth - this is when things begin to change and shift, to rock and roll. We can, each of us,fully exercise our great personal power only when we choose to live in the present moment.

Today I offer a prayer to all those people who have lost their homes in New Orleans. Bless them all as they rise above their semi- submerged state with love and ease. Bless them all with Love and Light .

How the innocence of childhood is lost

There is another more subtle way in which the innocence of childhood is lost: when the child is infected with the desire to become somebody. Contemplate the crowds of people who are striving might and main to become, not what Nature intended them to be - musicians, cooks, mechanics, carpenters, gardeners, inventors - but somebody: to become successful, famous, powerful; to become something that will bring, not quiet and self-fulfillment, but
self-glorification and self-expansion.

Anthony de Mello, SJ
The Way to Love

Spiritual Intelligence At work

"Spiritual Intelligence At work" by Colin Tipping

http://www.radicalforgiveness.com/content/book-spiritual-intelligence.asp

Constituting the very lifeblood of an organization are the four main forms of energy flowing through it - money, data, materials and "humanergy." If the flow of any one of these forms of energy is impeded, the organization suffers greatly. The first three, being subject to measurement and control, are easily managed. Humanergy is not. Yet, we know it to be extremely harmful.

Humanergy is the subtle and largely unconscious unresolved material that every individual, from the CEO down to the lowest paid worker, brings to work and acts out in order to heal it - usually to the great detriment of the organization.

Humanergy is so subtle it does not yield to traditional conflict resolution procedures and will create problems at all levels within the organization. It is a problem for which, up until now, there has been no answer.

This book outlines a revolutionary approach to dealing with toxic humanergy. The Quantum Energy Management System is a low-cost, human-resources tool that, surprisingly enough, utilizes that which everyone has in equal abundance to neutralize harmful humanergy. It's our spiritual Iintelligence,

The benefits that result from its use include:

. A significant reduction in incidents of conflict, dissent, discord, sabotage, cynicism, racial tension, negativity, absenteeism, turnover and attrition.

. A significant increase in morale, job satisfaction, loyalty, cooperative team spirit, productivity and profit.

The book presents its ideas both in story form and didactically. For 136 of the 200 or so pages, a story runs on the left-hand pages and the logical material runs on the right-hand pages. Thereafter it reverts to normal.

The Gico Story
This is an account of how the repressed subconscious material (humanergy) of six employees, all working at different levels of a fictitious company called Gico, Inc., gets acted out. We get to see the results, and they are not pretty. The president is one of the six. Because of his humanergy, he almost destroys the firm. Through a personal crisis, he seeks help and finds it through Radical Forgiveness. This leads him to the Quantum Energy Management System which he installs in the company and turns the company around.

Awareness

“Relative to the level of awareness that is possible for us, our ordinary state of consciousness is as far from a direct experience of reality as sleep is from waking consciousness.”
-- Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson “

The thought ‘I exist’ is not the same thing as the awareness of one’s own existence. … Thought is not the same thing as consciousness.”
-- Jacob Needleman


A person asked Buddha:

“Are you a God?”
Buddha’s reply was“No.”
“Are you an Angel?”“No.”
“Then what are you?”“I am Awake.”
-- Unknown Source

Prayer of thanks for the Sun

SUN

benevolent source of light
life giver
well-spring of comfort and warmth
healer of aches, of pain of soul
silver lining of dark clouds

today we give thanks
for your great blessings
for your bright shining
which colours and illuminates our world

for the bird's song
that mirrors your glory
and for your gentle radiance
rising from the depth of the night each new morning
unfolding nature and humans to their full splendour

today
we give thanks for the sun
~Christi Becker~

Magical Realism

"The term magic realism, originally applied in the 1920s to a school of painters, is used to describe the prose fiction of Jorge Luis Borges in Argentina, as well as the work of writers such as Gabriel García Márquez in Colombia, Gunter Grass in Germany, and John Fowles in England. These writers interweave, in an ever-shifting pattern, a sharply etched realism in representing ordinary events and descriptive details together with fantastic and dreamlike elements, as well as with materials derived from myth and fairy tales. "

These are beautiful stories ; healing , entertaining stories that are good for the creative soul. Magical Realism is the label attributed to this style of literature. Magical realism is the way my grandad used to tell stories and the way my son's South American father told stories. I am happy to have found this term. Both Gabriel García Márquez and John Fowles are favourites of mine, their writing characterized by elements of the fantastic woven into the story with a deadpan sense of presentation.What is real and what is illusion dance side by side and are a wonderfully refreshing antidote to dogmatic thinking.

"magical realism aims to seize the paradox of the union of opposites; it challenges polar opposites like life and death "

" magical realism is characterized by two conflicting perspectives, one based on a rational view of reality and the other on the acceptance of the supernatural as prosaic reality."

I can't help but connect this to SETH 's book " The Magical Approach" which is about the Art of Creative Living.

A must read , for all Life Artists .

The Keys of Prosperity

"Ask to receive the Keys of Prosperity in meditation, and ask for all cords to the old concepts of ownership and power to be cut.

Offer up all that your ego has wanted to own for itself to make space for the new paradigm of manifestation to anchor.

We do not need to plan and strategize any longer as to how to achieve material wealth in the future.

We can just let go and focus on what our needs are in the present moment and allow Spirit to fulfill them."

--Michael White

26 Quick Tips for Living an Inspired Life

26 Quick Tips for Living an Inspired Life

Ask for what you want.
Be who you say you are.
Care about others.
Dare to live your dreams.
Ease through the day.
Find the best fit.
Give to another.
Hug a friend.
Inspire someone to greatness.
Jump over a boundary.
Kick a bad habit.
Leap across a fear.
Mention something uplifting.
Never say never.
Open your mind and heart.
Pursue your innermost passions.
Quit complaining.
Restore your smile.
Set your sights high.
Trust yourself.
Use all the day.
Value everything.
Wait until it feels right.
Xpress yourself.
Yank weeds from your mental garden.
Zoom into the now.

(© 1991 Carol James)

Writing the Mind Alive

Writing the Mind Alive

Drunvalo Melchizedek's Personal Website

Drunvalo Melchizedek's Personal Website

A Conversation With the Devil

A Conversation With The Devil
Author Unknown

I recently underwent a period of enforced inactivity.Since my body was immobile, I let my mind range over the world. I gradually became aware of threads ofdarkness. They joined together into streams, and allseemed to lead in the same direction. I followed them,out of curiosity, and finally discovered their center.It was an indescribably terrible and disgusting sight.I knew that I found The Source of All Evil. I was justabout to withdraw when I realized that something waswatching me.

"Hello", it said, "Nice of you to drop by. I don't get many visitors."
"Well, I don't wonder," I answered."Just look at all this."
"Oh, that's just the back yard", it said. "Come on in."I was suddenly in a clean, light, pleasant space. I was facing something I couldn't quite see.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Well, many of you call me 'Satan'." Suddenly I could see him perfectly. He looked exactly as I had imagined he might.
"Are you the Source of All Evil?"
He laughed. "Well, isn't that what you created me to be?"
"And you go around spreading misfortunethroughout the world?"
"Oh, my, no", he said. "I'm just the reflector. I justtake all the energies of hate, envy, fear and the likeand send them back the way they came."
"But don't you steal souls and hurt people and...?"
"I wouldn't spend my energy that way, even if I could,"he said. "All I do is make your 'less lovable' emotionsmore visible to you."
"Well, ok", I said, "but I have had some bad thingshappen, and *I* don't send out any evil energies." Helooked at me, and raised his eyebrows, ever so slightly.I blushed. "Well, not very many." He just looked at me."Well, not as many as other people I know."
"You mean, 'Thank God that I am not as other men'?" Hestill had that same amused expression.
"Ok, you win. But it still doesn't seem quiteto balance out."
"Well, think of it this way", he said. "Imagine thatyou are standing in a long line of men, all pissinginto the wind. Even if you don't piss as much, youstill get wet."
"Isn't there some way out?"
"Sure. If you stop, maybe those on either side of youwill notice, and stop too. Eventually, you may dry out."He laughed. "Or you could get out of the line."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, as long as you let others define your reality,and set your values for you, you are standing rightthere in that line."
I suddenly thought of something. "You're the Source ofAll Evil, right?"
"Well, *one* of them."
"Huh?"
"Remember, I'm really just a symbol that you created.Any religion, any political movement, any group canbe The Source of All Evil for *somebody*. I was mostlyfor Western Christianity, although I don't seem to beas popular as I once was."
"Yeah, well, ok. But is there a Source of All Good?"
"Several."
"Well, I mean..." I was suddenly embarrassed.How do you ask the Devil about God?
He saw my difficulty. "Yes, I know the family you arethinking about. The Father was created as a stern,unyielding figure, strong enough to make *other people*behave. Of course, if you use Him for that, He willalso make *you* behave. He isn't very popular anymore,except among a few groups who still want *others* toact properly. The Holy Ghost was created to fix up afine point in a theological argument. He never attractedmuch interest otherwise. The Mother still hasa considerable following. She represents love topeople, much more so than the Father ever did."
"And they are trying to undo the evil in the world?"
"They are reflectors, just as I am."
"But the miracles that she performs, aren't they real?"
"Of course", he said. "When you have a lot of purelove-energy moving, good things happen."
"And the Son?" I wondered.
"People use his name a lot, but they don't really paymuch attention to what he stood for. It seems you wantto settle all of your old scores *first*, _then_ you'llbe ready to love each other." Satan appeared very amusedat this. "Except for the Mother, the whole family doesn'tseem to hold your interest anymore. And even she gets lessattention than she used to."
"Doesn't it bother them to be ignored this way? Put outto pasture, as it were?"
"Of course not. Once you created us, we have our ownexistence. We go on growing and learning, just as youdo. All of us are forever. Including you. There is noend to our growing and becoming. We will act as symbolsfor as long as you want us, and then we will go on towhatever comes next."
My mind was filled with questions, but I suddenly feltthat I was being pulled away. "Wait!" I cried. "I haveso much more to ask!"
"I'm surprised you were able to stay as long as you did",he said. "But come back anytime. If you can."
------
The stars were very bright outside my window.I hate it when I can't sleep.

Lessons Learned From The Angels

Freedom .... The angels are guiding meto freely express my true thoughts and feelings with love.

I may feel trapped right now by life conditions but I realize that I am my own prisoner. Whenever I realize that I do have the power to be free, freedom follows.

Everything that I do in my life is by choice, and I am free to choose again. Even as a "prisoner" of my own thoughts I am free to choose my thoughts so that I can feel peace and happiness under any conditions.

The next time I begin a sentence with the words, "I have to ______," I shall stopand ask the angels to show me some alternatives.
They will either help me complete the task from a loving mind-set so that you I don't feel trapped, or they will guide me to do something else that Iknow I will love.

Conflict is resolved in a situation that was troubling me.I deserve this peace and happiness, and accept it graciously. I am a peace-lover at heart. New harmony is dawning upon me. I intend to let go of seeing situations as troubled, and choose instead to see myself and others through the eyes of our guardian angels. In this way, we see past the surface and see the beauty and light that eternally shines within everyone.By shifting my viewpoint to the angelic perspective, I become an Earth angel. Holding an elevated viewpoint sparks miraculous healings in all of my relationships. Conflict drops away, revealing the clean and new truth about everyone and everything.

Has my schedule been lopsided lately? I now choose to balance my time between work, play, spirituality, exercise, and relationships.The angels want to help me balance my life. Because my energy drops it creates the illusion that there isn't enough time in the day, so a vicious cycle of time limitation ensues.Your angels are asking me to add regular doses of meditation, exercise, and play to my days. They know that balancing my life between work, play, spirituality, exercise, and relationships helps me to grow and feel joy.

Dear Angels help me lift this burden of imbalance. Thank you.

The more I talk to my angels, the more I learn. I'd love to share some lessons they have taught me that have changed my life.

1. Live in integrity.
The angels said to me, "Spend your time doing activities that match your highest intentions. Let go of things that your intuition prompts you to surrender. Those things may then either become healed so that you enjoy them, or else the activity will easily drop away."
The angels urged me to trust my heart. They assured me that I would be safe to turn down work that didn't match my true interests. I quickly found that the angels were right!

2. There is only now.
"You are complete and whole now. Don't cast your eyes on what tomorrow may bring — this implies you are imperfect or lacking now, and that you will be whole when something external comes into your life in the future."
When the angels said this, I realized that I had been living for the future. My focus was on what tomorrow would bring me, instead of my present blessings. I now make a mental "gratitude list" each night.

3. All conflict is inside your mind.
"Any conflict you see or experience in the outside world is a projection of your ego. In truth, the world is completely at peace and you project your fear of peace onto the world. You don't want to resolve your inner conflict, but you do want to get it away from yourself. So, you project it onto other people and think that 'they' are the ones who are causing you discomfort. Other people are neutral, blank slates and you color them with your own meaning and definitions. Then, you react to them as if these colorations and definitions were real. Other people, in turn, treat you in the way that you expect, in a self-fulfilling prophecy."
As the angels explained this, I realized how often I had allowed fear to create miserable times for me. But always, I had the power to choose the thoughts and feelings I ascribed to all situations.

4. Judge not. "You judge others as a way of protecting yourself, to keep them away from you so you won't get close to them and get hurt. But we have told you that you don't need to think about your safety. You are safe, and an overwhelming thought pattern of concern about your safety can bring the very thing you fear into your life."
The angels explained that we draw to us whatever we think about. If I obsessively think about physical or emotional danger, I create a climate in which my worst fears come true. With practice, I began noticing the moment when I'd judge other people. I began releasing my fears to the angels, and felt my judgmental habits gradually disappear.

Dr. Doreen Virtue

http://www.consciousone.com/c1Cards/cardsView.cfm?cardGroupID=8

COLOURS

Nature's colours

Dalai Lama's 70th birthday

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Dalai Lama's 70th birthday

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Dalai Lama's 70th birthday

Where am I now on the River of Life ?

YES , WHERE AM I NOW ON THE RIVER OF LIFE ?

I have been fishing for new knowledge on the Ps group on line and found clues. I have received messages from my dreams – the brazen serpent- old testament – Lachesis- homeopathy- 'like cures like' ....

Deep-seated changes and transformation are taking place wihin me , I can feel it . When you are willing to strive for success in the fields of art, education, and social service, the whole universe supports your passion.

How can I develop and perfect use of my skills ?

I am reminded of the figure eight. The ancient symbol of infinity or a double-coiled serpent biting its own tail , the ORBOROUS represents the infinite potential of the human being.

My Higher Self is saying :

"Look into the deeper realms of your life to discover the gifts that you can share with the world. "

I would very much like the universe to show me the way to allow my hidden skills and creative abilities to fully manifest and be put to good use.

Our Paulo and " Mysterious Ways "

Good day , soul sisters, brothers, cousins ......

Today is a good day . I'm feeling happy and enjoying the last day of my holiday of Being and doing exactly what fancy. It's been great. Perhaps this is a good philosophy for the next month too ? and the one after that ?

The sun is somewhere behind the clouds - this I know. A perfect day for meditating , contemplating reading and pottering about. I've just watched " Mysterious Ways " on TV. ( " dead dog walking " was the episode I just watched )
http://www.tv.com/mysterious-ways/show/995/episode_guide.html

Paulo Coelho is impacting my life too through his latest book " The Zahir" which I have nearly finished now .. I was in the Russian Steppes this morning , standing naked in the freezing wind, listening to the dunes sing and awaiting to pronounce my new name as reborn ;-) Oh he's GOOD , our Paulo !!!

You can read the first chapter of " The Zahir " on line here :
http://www.paulocoelho.com.br/ozahir/livro/index.html
While I was there at his site I also found him refer to Sweden and a peculiar form of exercise that exists here , which as a foreigner I too find odd and silly to say the least - though it is supposed to be very good for you .


http://www.warriorofthelight.com/engl/index.html
Poles and rules
In the fall of 2003 I was walking late one night through the center of Stockholm when I saw a woman walking along using ski poles. My first reaction was to think of some injury she must have suffered, but then I noticed she was moving quite fast and with rhythmic movements as if she were on a patch of snow – except that all that was around us was the asphalt of paved streets. The obvious conclusion was: “that woman is crazy, how could she pretend to be skiing in the middle of the city?” Back in the hotel, I mentioned the incident to my editor. He said that I was the crazy one: what I had seen was a sort of exercise called “Nordic walking”. He explained that besides the movement of the legs, the arms, shoulders and back muscles are also used to make it a much more complete exercise. .......
http://www.warriorofthelight.com/engl/index.html

YES -- altogether an interesting Sunday
Lots of love and Light to us all .. may OUR LIGHT shine brightly and reach through the cracks everywhere .

Lindeman's makes life more enjoyable

Many Monday greetings and blessings to my souls friends ! Here I am again , back from the country with a story to tell. I'm exhausted; have a dull headache, and feel bloated obviously paying the price for indulging in all the food and cpious anounts of wine. I'm still in a daze, but waking up slowly. Writing this helps. It is both a pleasure and a penance.

Plants on the balcony are soaked . Yellow leaves , sign of rotting from too much water. They need sun now and WARMTH . It is cool here now . Damp. Not nice for summer. Still , I am practising acceptance . I can be indoors without feeling guilty , I’ll walk around the lake later and feed the ducks later.

So....How was it ? What’s my weekend out in the county story ? Here’s gathering my thoughts ...Peaceful, dreamlike quality, rain , lush vegetation , woods are filled with blueberries , I was told by the only other passenger on the bus, a pensioner who was going out to her summer cottage for the week, her huge shopping trolley heavy and full of provisions since there are no shops there.

The journey out there is an adventure. After an hour or so on the big train which is just long enough, I get off at Katrineholm station, just as the rain starts to bucket down. This is followed by a half hour’s wait for the bus and chatting and exchanging stories with people also waiting and sheltering from the rain.

The bus driver drops me off right outside Anna- Stina’s cottage – they do that in the country – and there she is waiting for me in the rain, wrapped in a raincoat and wearing wellies ,holding a big brolly ( umbrella ) apologising about the rain , thunder and lightning. My travel companion , the only other passenger on the bus, has also told me about the dangers of lightning ...the time lightning struck her home, cutting cables and singeing the wood, cutting off their electricity supply and the tall tree that was sliced right down the middle .

Once inside the cottage, I see that a hot meal is there waiting; two glasses of wine already poured, candles lit . Oh the beauty of candlelight against all the rain. Peace and calm and then Lindeman’s bag in box wine – " Lindeman’s makes your day more enjoyable " written in cursive letters on this delightful box.

There is much listening to stories this weekend and everyone has a story . Nieces, Sara and Emma appear with their boyfriends, both called Andreas. Emma’s Andreas is dark and charismatic in a quiet way; beautiful eyes, well - balanced, sturdy, stable , grounded works with autistic children. Sara’s Andreas, by contrast is very tall blond and thin; a sharp, technical, practical, understanding, human, human being recently returned from three months in Sri Lanka where he’s been working on a road safety project part of a government programme. Theirs is a well- established relationship, whereas Emma and Andreas only met a month ago and still can’t keep their hands off each other. New love !

Sara, is an architect , wise, clever , serene and beautiful and also tall. She seems to hold herself back from time to time, consciously choosing when to open up and when to blossom. I imagine an overshadowed flower in the presence of her sister Emma’s bubbly exuberance. Emma works as a journalist, does reports and has her own column at the local newspaper. Sara seems to live in her sister Emma’s shadow, like Anna-Stina lives in her sister Ina’s shadow. My observations.

I am aware that I keep losing myself. Where am I ? I seem to disappear in the mass.. I don’t realise it at the time. I feel happy but it is not really ‘me’ . It is someone else being happy for me. Anna- Stina has picked a whole bowl of wild raspberries for me .. oh the divine taste and aroma of freshly picked wild raspberries as they melt in your mouth and the furriness touches the tongue .... Anna- Stina has really made an effort to make things enjoyable to compensate for the rain, the never ending rain.... we shall all go rusty soon .....

I’m drawn into Anna- Stina’s family stories the family that she both loves and hates and I do this willing. I allow myself to get lost. I have no demands. This has a consequence. " If you don’t choose, someone else will choose for you " This is true. There is something heavy about being entertained by someone who feels you need to be entertained. " i......I suppose you have to be eternally evidencing gratitude" as Valerie commented this morning.

Yes , I am caught up in the stories. Anna- Stina’s many stories from her anthroposophic world . These stories are extra potent and numerous right now as a direct result of a whole week of STORYTELLING AS A HEALING ART International Symposium that she attended in Järna- south of Stockholm.

http://www.healingstory.com/symposium/program.htm

But , when we were not talking , I'd sit out on the terrace and gaze out at the lake and at all the greenery, mesmerized by nature...and simply going with the flow. Oh and yes, there is " Lindemans...... always making the day more enjoyable as the slogan on the bag in box wine says. We thank Lindeman’s for that.

Also , Nature gracefully and pwerfully takes over. Paulo Coelho’s latest book " THE ZAHIR " is also great and full of stories.

COMMUNICATION

Your communication is only as good as your understanding of the person you're communicating with.



Dr. Tony Alessandra

Moon phases

http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/vphase.html

http://users.ameritech.net/paulcarlisle/MoonCalendar.html

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_moonphases.pl?year=2005&ZZZ=END



http://www.hermetic.ch/cal_stud/lunarcal/lunarcal.htm
It is possible to devise a lunar calendar which is simple to use (only elementary arithmetic is required for its use — a computer is not needed) and which may be expected to stay in sync with the lunar phases over a period of several millennia. This article presents such a calendar, more specifically, a rule-based solar-count lunar calendar. (For an explanation of types of calendars, with a brief discussion of lunar calendars in general, see Types of Calendars.) In this calendar, years have 12 or 13 months, which are named after goddesses from various cultures, and so this calendar is called the Goddess Lunar Calendar (or Goddess Calendar for short).
I shall now define this calendar, then I shall discuss the accuracy of it with respect to the lunar and solar cycles. Then I shall relate the Goddess Calendar to the Common Era Calendar (which is the same as the Gregorian Calendar except that instead of the A.D./B.C. year-numbering system the astronomical year-numbering sytem is used), and finally I shall provide software to allow conversion between dates in these two calendars.

The Goddess Lunar Calendar DefinedAccording to the Goddess Calendar, time, although not strictly cyclic, is measured in cycles — cycles of 1689 calendar years. For the purpose of viewing time as linear, and assigning each day a unique date, each 1689-year cycle is associated with an integer -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, ... Years within each cycle are numbered 1 through 1689.
Years usually have twelve months, but sometimes thirteen (such years are known as 'long years'). A year has a 13th month if and only if the number of that year is divisible by 3 or if the digits of the year sum to 2, 22 or 23.
Months are numbered from 1 through 13. Odd-numbered months have 29 days and even-numbered months have 30 days.
The months are named after thirteen goddesses, as follows:
Monthnumber
Month name
Number of days
1
Astarte
29 usually
2
Bast
30
3
Cybele
29
4
Diana
30
5
Eris
29
6
Freya
30
7
Gaia
29
8
Hathor
30
9
Isis
29
10
Juno
30
11
Kali
29
12
Lakshmi
30
13
Maat
29 always
The names of the months begin with the letters A, B, ... M, making it easier to remember their order.
The thirteen goddess names are taken from eight different cultures. There are four Egyptian goddesses, two Greek, two Roman, two Hindu and one goddess from each of the, Canaanite, Phrygian and Norse cultures. This is thus a multi-cultural calendar.
As stated above, the 1689-year cycles are numbered -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3 ...., the months are numbered 1 through 13 and the days are numbered 1 through 31 (in various months). Thus a date in the Goddess Calendar has the form "cycle-year-month-day", for example, "3-0825-02-27".
We will see later how dates in Goddess Calendar correspond to dates in the Common Era Calendar.
A year is a "long" year if it contains a thirteenth month. The rule for when a year is a long year was given above, and here more formally:
A year is a long year (and so has a 13th month) if and only if 1.1 The year is divisible by 3 or1.2 The digits of the year sum to 2, 22 or 23.
1.1 and 1.2 are mutually exclusive possibilities (that is, a year is a long year by virtue of 1.1 or 1.2 but not both).
Examples:
The year 0-567 in the Goddess Calendar is a long year because 567 is divisible by 3.
The year 1-779 is a long year because the digits of the year sum to 23 (= 7 + 7 + 9).
The year 2-1003 is not a long year because the digits of the year sum to 4 (= 1 + 0 + 0 + 3) and 1003 is not divisible by 3.
In any year (whether or not long) odd-numbered months (1, 3, ..., 13) have 29 days and even-numbered months (2, 4, ..., 12) have 30 days, except that in a long year the length of the first month is determined by the following rule:
2.1 If the digits of the year sum to 2 then the first month has 28 days.2.2 If the digits of the year sum to 22 then the first month has 29 days.2.3 If the digits of the year sum to 23 then the first month has 30 days.2.4 If the year is divisible by 9 then the first month has 30 days.2.5 If the year is divisible by 3 but not by 9 then the first month has 31 days.
These are mutually exclusive possibilities, so in a long year only one of 2.1 - 2.5 can be used to determine the number of days in the first month.
The regular structure of the Goddess Calendar (twelve months of alternating lengths 29 and 30 days, with an occasional 13th month of 29 days, and a variable length for the first month in long years), and the rule for when a year is a long year, are sufficiently simple to be remembered easily, and the rule for the length of the first month is not particularly difficult to remember.
To reckon time according to this calendar it is necessary only to know the Goddess date for a particular day and to be able to calculate the date which follows any given date. This requires only the ability to remember the rules of the calendar and to add four single-digit numbers and to divide a four-digit number by 3 and by 9, all of which can be done mentally.
For example, is the year 1686 (in any cycle) a long year? And if so, how many days are in the first month? Well, 1686 divided by 3 is 562 exactly, and divided by 9 is 187 with 3 over, so by rule 1.1 the year 1686 is a long year, and by rule 2.5 Astarte's month has 31 days (in this year).

Speak Kindly To Yourself

“What is this self inside us, this silent observer,
Severe and speechless critic, who can terrorize us,
And urge us on to futile activity,
And in the end, judge us still more severely,
For the errors into which his own reproaches drove us?”
-- T. S. Eliot

How do you talk to yourself?
Would you talk that way to anyone else?
Our thoughts create our reality.
How do you typically think about yourself?
Do you berate yourself for being stupid, sloppy, forgetful or insensitive?
Do you watch yourself with interest, respect and compassion?
Stay alert to your self-talk and let go of judgments that don’t serve you.
"Self-acceptance is my refusal to be in an adversarial relationship to myself."
-- Nathaniel Branden

Peter's refreshing view on CREATED STUFF

MY PHILOSOPHY OF CREATED STUFF
(AKA "ART", AKA "INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY")

Here ( http://www.mcwilliams.com/aboutme.htm) you will find the complete text of all my books currently in print, plus works "in progress." You are welcome to read, search, download, copy, print, or give away any of it. Just don't try to sell large chunks of it, or I'll call the FBI. (See the first 30 seconds of any rental videotape.)

You're certainly free to incorporate portions of these books in what you create, and sell that. That's the nature of the creative process. There's no need to ask me to "grant permission". Who the hell am I to "grant permission"?

Created stuff is meant to be shared. That’s why the creative person created it. Why else do creative people exist? "I burn to be seen!" as someone wrote. Well, maybe someone wrote that. I just made it up, but it sounds as though someone else might have written it earlier. Maybe I read it somewhere, or saw it on an Arts & Entertainment documentary on Paris in the Twenties. Who cares? It got said, and it fit what I wanted to say, so I said it.

Creativity stimulates the creators and entertains everybody else. The vast majority of people need to be entertained. God bless them every one. Creative people, however, need to be stimulated, inspired, nudged, cross-pollinated, and occasionally kicked in the ass. Art both entertains and inspires at the same time. (I use "Art" here in the broadest sense of the word - everything from Jeopardy! to Goethe to Graffiti.)

Art, therefore, needs to be readily available - available to the general public for entertainment, and available to artists for pilfering. Artists should be able to incorporate - consciously or unconsciously, credited or not - the work of other artists.

Andy Warhol makes an epic film: Empire - twenty-four nonstop hours of one view of the Empire State Building, and where would David O. Selznick’s King Kong be without the climatic scene atop the Empire State Building? Yet neither Warhol nor Selznick give credit to the architectural firm that created the building: Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon. But was it Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon themselves, or some nameless geniuses within the organization?

As one explores more closely the sources, inspirations, and antecedents of any creative work, the more it becomes difficult to give full credit to any one person, just as a single letter on a computer screen becomes just dots when examined more and more closely. To credit everyone who contributed anything to a work of art would excessively burden even the sturdiest creation.

Obviously, there must be some protections - creative people have to live and are entitled to a fair return for their labor. What concerns me is that art has now become "intellectual property". It is bought, sold, and litigated over by an anonymous group of bean counters who collectively aren’t creative enough to make a decent pot of baked beans.

So, I throw my intellectual properties onto the net to stimulate or appall, comfort or enrage, entertain or exasperate.

Happy hunting.
Peter McWilliams

THE LIFE WE CHOOSE

The Life We Choose
By Peter McWilliams

Here's the premise: We are all, right now, living the life we choose. This choice, of course, is not a single, monumental choice. No one decides, for example, "I'm going to move to L.A., and in five years I will be a waiter in a so-so restaurant, planning to get my 8-by-10's done real soon so that I can find an agent and become a star," or "I'm going to marry a dreadful person and we'll live together in a loveless marriage, staying together only for the kids, who I don't much like, either."

No. The choices I'm talking about here are made daily, hourly, moment-by-moment. Do we try something new, or stick to the tried-and-true? Do we take a risk, or eat what's already on our dish? Do we ponder a thrilling adventure, or contemplate what's on TV? Do we walk over and meet that interesting stranger, or do we play it safe? Do we indulge our heart, or cater to our fear? The bottom-line question: Do we pursue what we want, or do we do what's comfortable? For the most part, most people most often choose comfort - the familiar, the time-honored, the well-worn but well-known. After a lifetime of choosing between comfort and risk, we are left with the life we currently have. And it was all of our own choosing.

About the Author: Peter McWilliams has been writing about his passions since 1967. He is the author of several best sellers including Do It! Let\'s Get Off Our Buts. Peter can be reached at http://mcwilliams.com