5/24/12—Freeing Yourself from the Veil

Today's Draw:  Quartz Crystal in the 9th House from Arcana Stones by Rachelcat. Have you ever awakened to a pattern of false beliefs that you've been holding in your life? Are you fooling yourself about unhealthy behaviors? Can you remember a time when a veil lifted from a situation and gave you the ability to see things more clearly?

Arcana Stones is a new oracle that combines tarot, crystals and astrological houses to give readings. If that sound intimidating, it's not. The companion book has everything you need to understand what you're doing.

Quartz Crystal represents the Fool card, suggesting new beginnings, open mindedness and trust. Clear quartz brings more power and clarity to a situation. It is said to have the greatest healing ability of all stones and can even cleanse other stones of unwanted energy. Finally, the ninth house is the house of meaning and truth...philosophy, education, truth and religion.

Put it all together and what rings in my head is "the truth/clarity will set you free." Back when I was a smoker, there were all sorts of false beliefs in my head. Since nobody ever said I smelled like smoke, I didn't think I did. I thought that whether or not smoking killed you was a crap shoot and you were unlikely to die from it. The statistics were all overly dramatic. I would quit if and when it ever started having a negative effect on my health. And since it hadn't, I was OK to smoke.

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One of the things that really bugged me was that one of my boyfriends wouldn't drink from a cup or bottle I drank from. We shared all other fluids, why not this one? He SAID it was because the cup tasted like smoke. I remember being so annoyed by this "attitude" of his...blaming his issue with sharing a drink with me on smoking. Always complaining about my smoking! Typical.

These are just a few of the things that floated around in my head during this time of my life. Then once I got free of the addiction, something happened....I realized I HAD to smell like smoke. People do die of smoking and smoking related illnesses. All the time. It had been having a negative effect on my health all along. It even went so far as to affect my periods. And, now that I don't smoke, I'm not only sure I could taste it someone's glass, I can smell it three cars ahead of me in traffic.

What happened is that when I was able to put my addiction aside, a veil lifted. I didn't even know the veil was in place until it lifted. It was a kind of denial that was totally ingrained in me, I had no idea it was even there. And this doesn't just happen with addictions, it happens in all areas of our lives. For example, I doubted unconditional love existed until I committed myself to my first dog, Passion. Then the veil that told me that kind of love was all a fairy tale lifted and I got it. "The Veil" is any pattern of false thoughts and beliefs that limits you, supports unhealthy behavior, keeps you in unhealthy patterns and stands between you and your higher self.

There's a stone correlating to every card in the Major Arcana.

Because I know "the veil" exists, I'm certain I'm under one right now about my weight and health. Watching my brother die just recently has worked the corner up on that veil a little bit, but not enough to get me to make a change yet. But there is a reality there now that I can no longer deny. And another veil has been lifted in me recently, as well, in relation to the extreme emotions I've experienced over the past couple of months. I can't quite explain it or put my finger on it, but it's already cleared my vision and prompted changes in my life. 

Have you ever had one of these "I can't believe I thought that way" moments of clarity that come from a lifting of the veil? Once it has been lifted, you can't really go back to the way you were. You don't want to. It changes the way you see your life, your thoughts and circumstances in it. You may be embarrassed or even ashamed by the way you were and can no longer go on like that. Does that sound familiar to you? How has that manifested in your life?

2/1/12—Burning Through the Veil

Today's Draw: Awareness from the Osho Zen Tarot. What do you believe are the limitations of our species and our earth? Can you see where you're attached to certain beliefs and ways of being? Are you ready to open your mind to more possibilities?

This card isn't far off what we've been talking about all week. It talks about the burning away of the veil of illusion that keeps you from seeing the yet unseen. In this card, as the veil burns away, it takes with it the anxiety and trauma of man's existence, revealing the face of a young buddha. As man becomes more aware and enlightened, the more pure and and at peace he becomes. 

In the Hindu language, this veil of illusion is called "maya". It comes from a Sanskrit word that means "create". It is interesting to note that this word also signifies a member of the Mayan culture or the language that they speak. Interesting, because their whole culture is shrouded in a veil that we have yet to burn through...a veil that MAY (or may not) be partially lifted by the end of this year.

In Buddhism, awareness is heightened by detachment. As humans, we are attached to feelings, outcomes, memories, hopes and other people. Because of this attachment, we can't see clearly. Everything is painted by our perspective and by the "stake" we have in it. 

The Osho teaching that goes along with this card reads:

Mind can never be intelligent - only no-mind is intelligent. Only no-mind is original and radical. Only no-mind is revolutionary - revolution in action.

This mind gives you a sort of stupor. Burdened by the memories of the past, burdened by the projections of the future, you go on living - at the minimum. You don't live at the maximum. Your flame remains very dim.

Once you start dropping thoughts, the dust that you have collected in the past, the flame arises - clean, clear, alive, young. Your whole life becomes a flame, and a flame without any smoke. That is what awareness is.

If you're someone who gets their best ideas in the car, in the shower, upon waking or right before drifting off, then you understand the intelligence of "no mind". When driving, we often drift into a form of meditation. The repetitive, ritual action of showering can also bring us to that state. I know that I often get ideas the second I step away from the keyboard. But when we're fixated on something from the past or worrying about what we'll say in our meeting, there's really no room for original thought. 

This card embodies the peace of meditation for me. 

So "no mind", which can certainly arise from meditation, and detachment can help us burn through the veil. And while you're having no-mind and detachment, that also means you're not judging the ideas that arise from the void. You shed what you know and open to the entire spectrum of possibility. Otherwise you're still holding up a veil of preconceived notions. 

I don't want to get into a discussion of meditation, primarily because we've discussed it before and I know there are people out there who insist they can't do it. But certainly meditation is a clear path to "no mind". And you need to detach from the idea that you can't do it in order to get there. 

Another way to consider "no mind" is to become the witness, as if you're floating high above yourself and witnessing your surroundings. The meditation I suggested the other day is a good practice for developing the witness as well as for dealing with a restless mind. 

Burning through the veil is important because, as I mentioned the other day, I believe there is stuff going on out there that we don't see. And I'm not just talking about paranormal or psychic stuff either. The electromagnetic spectrum existed from the earth's beginnings, yet we didn't harness its powers—or even realize it existed—until relatively recently. Until it was harnessed, none of the technologies we rely upon today could exist. 

The chances that we've discovered everything there is to discover "out there" are pretty darned slim. And those chances will remain slim as long as we remain attached the notion of "I have to see it to believe it" or "prove it to me". Personally, I believe we have an urgent need to open our minds at this time. We're capable of so much more as individuals, as a species and as a planet. It's not about believing in the impossible. It's about suspending belief and making room for all possibilities. So consider stopping yourself at the point of doubt, "never' and "no" and part the veil just a enough to allow magic to flow in.