1/5/12—Killing By Not Acknowledging

Today's Draw: Nine of Feathers from the Margarete Petersen. Do you confront your fears or hide from them? Would you rather have a deep conversation with someone who thinks just like you do or someone who thinks differently? Do you ever hope that people would see the whole of you, rather than just judge you based something they don't understand?

Normally the thoughts on this blog are ones I take full credit for, but this Nine of Feathers (Swords) presents something I probably wouldn't have come up with on my own. Here is an excerpt of what it says in the little white book (lwb) that comes with the deck: 

"Killing by not acknowledging." "Walk towards that which you reject and fear."

The "killing by not acknowledging" thing is about how we bury our pains and fears, whether they're personal ones that live inside us or social ones in our environment. It's also about how we manage to remain in our own little cocoons where everything is just as we think it is and everyone agrees. 

Lots of lively discussion this week about connecting...about seeing our enemy as ourself, about accepting different beliefs and about connecting directly to God. Of course, killing by not acknowledging is the opposite of all that. And I think we all know that the "things we kill by not acknowledging" never actually die. They just kind of fester and eat at us. The longer you look at today's image, the more you'll see the horror, pain and emotional disfigurement denial or ignoring brings. Some of us are very good at it. But even experts at compartmentalization get snuck up on from behind by the things they pretend aren't there. 

OK. Confession time. If there's anything better than Wife Swap on TV, it's the new Celebrity Wife Swap...haha. Have you seen it? Only a couple of episodes have aired. And the most recent one was when Gary Busey's girlfriend swapped places with Ted Haggard's wife. Ted Haggard is that evangelical minister that supposedly bought a male hooker and some drugs. And Gary Busey is a new age-y (but Christian minded) eccentric actor with anger management issues and a full vocabulary of what he calls "Buseyisms". 

Anyway, at one point Busey basically told Haggard that reincarnation is real because he says so. Then he brought a Lakota healer in to recover her "lost soul". Through the first half of the swap, he didn't seem sensitive at all to the fact that this is a woman who is married to a man who is a preacher, and they have given their entire lives over to their beliefs. It was like he was in his own reality where this woman came to him looking to right herself on her path.  

The second half of this show is when the "wife" gets to make the rules. And the show made it look like she might go all Christian on his ass. At least it seemed that way to me. But what she in fact did was open her heart to him...not necessarily in a Christian way, but in a personal and emotionally intimate way. And instead of Busey getting his ego all up in a wad because it was all about her, he listened. And they shared a beautiful experience. Their hearts opened up to each other. They related as people, from a point of commonality and not from a point of being different. And you know what? The differences didn't matter so much anymore, because they were able to genuinely what was common between them both spiritually and humanly. As she drove away she said something like, "we're a lot alike".

Now this isn't the best example of what today's card is talking about, but it's in my mind still from having just watched it. They didn't walk away from what they rejected or feared about each other, they met at a point of commonality and stayed open beyond that.

We can walk into situations with people who are unlike us and walk away as unchanged and closed minded as when we entered. We can decide we won't like someone before we even meet them. Or we can treat everything like a learning experience, start on common ground, then find a way to ease into those things we normally refuse to acknowledge. When you think about it, it's a way of being genuine. Either you pretend to be interested, pretend to "be" with a person or pretend to connect just so you can keep anything real from happening between you. Or you can really connect.

For those of us who feel "different", we hope for our critics to see who we are...beyond the things they critique us for. Whatever that difference is, it's only one part of us—we're not all colored by just one stroke. Chances are, your critics hope for the same thing. Or someone you're critical of does. Again to the Ghandi quote, "be the change you want to see in this world".

You've probably heard the saying, "monsters live in the dark." Well, the more we walk into those situations that make us cringe...haha...the more we illuminate our fears and the more we learn about ourselves. The growth and change and triumph doesn't come from anything the "other side" has to say. It comes from our willingness to listen, push past our fears and see the world with an open mind, open eyes and open heart. 

1/4/12—Unleashing Your Inner Priest

Today's Draw: The King of Cups from the Tarot of the Holy Light. Who gets to decide what the word of God is? And if you don't believe in God, who tells you what to believe? What do God's confidantes have that you don't have?

In this deck, the King of Cups is equated to a shaman. Technically, a shaman is an intermediary between the human world and the spirit world. Their functions are far ranging, from healer and counselor to diviner and ceremonial leader. He is both medicine man and holy man, a spiritual guide and a priest. You wouldn't find a shaman in a church or temple, however. His church is in nature.

Today's shamans are more healers than priests, though I'm sure there are plenty of aboriginal tribes still around who count their shamans as holy men. From prehistoric man through Iron Age man, there was no "God" as we think of God today. Instead, they worshiped animal spirits, ancestral spirits, elemental spirits, the divine feminine, and the multiple gods of mythology and polytheism. The history of "not a Judeo-Christian God" is significantly longer than the history with one on this earth. 

It's interesting to note that as far back as man has existed, we've had a tendency to entrust our communication with the higher power to a mediator, whether a shaman, priestess, pastor or priest. This is how religions are built. A handful of these special people have communicated with a higher power, had mystical experiences, written texts, interpreted texts, developed a set of morals and values and brought their takeaway to the people, who then adopted the input as beliefs and it became a religion. Whether you worship a bear, Zeus, Allah or Jesus, that's how it happens. Much of what people believe in today is based on the input and interpretations of men who lived a couple thousand years ago. 

But we're talking about spirituality and a kind of "2012 new world order" this week and in the context of both of those things, I think the King of Cups has come here today to tell you that YOUR line to God is just as strong as those men's who lived thousands of years ago. It's just as reliable as your community's most beloved pastor's. And it's just as profound as anything you've ever read in a book. 

Which is not to take away from the studies and knowledge of priests and pastors and the like. They know their scripture better than us, no doubt. But talking to God isn't about scripture, is it? It's about learning to hear and recognize the voice of something greater than ourselves. Which is a capability we're all born with. It's not like holy men are born with a gene we don't have. They just have more of a discipline and practice of communicating with spirit than we do. But that doesn't mean we can't catch up to them and even surpass them in our communications.

So how do you do it? Well, prayer and/or meditation work. But what many may not realize is that we don't always hear clearly and the higher power doesn't always speak in words. You may get messages in symbols or pictures, feelings or intuitions. 

There are a few things that help set the stage. One is being in a quiet place where you can hear your thoughts. While you can connect anywhere, another is being in a place where you think you'll more easily commune with the higher power. For some, that's church. For others, it's nature. Both offer the kind of profound silence and stillness you're looking for. Then state your intention that you want to talk to to God about whatever it is. Visualize and feel the light and presence of the higher power surrounding you and just set yourself on "receive". Then, and this is the most important part, trust what comes to you, whether it's a feeling, thought, picture, words or even a smell. The more you practice, the more fluent the conversations will be. 

***Now for a disclaimer for the marginally stable among us, God's not going to tell you to hurt someone or do something you know is morally or ethically wrong. God won't tell you to manipulate or control. And God won't scare you. So if anything like that is happening, maybe it's a good idea for you to pass the Jesus on the Mainline phone over to someone else.***

A couple of years ago the American Religious Identification Survey (google "ARIS survey") showed that American's are becoming increasingly less religious, identifying themselves as having no religion or being spiritual, but not religious. In fact, the number of people identifying as having no religion has doubled in the past 10 years. These are the people we might call "lapsed Catholics". I know a lot of them. They have faith in God. But they no longer have faith in the church. They've never been told they don't need the church to know God, in fact quite the opposite.Truth is, they can do the same thing those men 3,000 years ago did when the whole earth was just getting to know "God"...find out for themself. 

So me and my Kingly friend here are suggesting that all the answers and love and communication and signs you seek are within your reach. Don't stop talking to God because you stopped talking to the church! And don't give up on a higher power just because you don't believe in God. The "force", the energy, the power, the being, the entity—whatever you call it—has been here all along. In all sorts of flavors and colors. Tens of thousands of years before the first priest came along, he/she/it was communicating on the wind you see blowing into the card above. In the cycles of the sun and moon. In the reflection of the ripples on the water. In the rustling of the trees, shape of the clouds and visage of a bear. In fact, that power was communicating long before man ever existed, just for the insects and dinosaurs to hear.

The 2012-ness of this is that, like the study suggests, we're trending toward being our own self-intermediaries with spirit right now. If we want to have that relationship, it's time to find our own vision. And, if you read yesterday's post, respect the visions of others while you're at it, whether their vision is their own or the church's. Can the earth survive 8 billion different visions of God? I think it already does in one sense. It doesn't have to be organized to resonate in our hearts. And it doesn't have to be a battleground, either. Because everyone I know who has their own mainline to God says the same thing—it's all light and love. And the more we know it and understand it and feel it straight from the horse's mouth, the better off we'll be.

1/3/12—Getting Over Your Bad-Ass Superior Self

Today's Draw: The Two of Swords from the Housewives Tarot. Can you fairly and impartially say that your God is better than my God...or anyone else's God? Do you think that some people come here to be on a spiritual path and others come here to be monsters? Are you ready to really question your integrity when it comes to your beliefs?

The Two of Swords is about being fair and impartial in your assessment of things. All the posts I make are about self development and spirituality, but yesterday's post inspired me to try to equate this week's posts to big lessons we need to learn on the spiritual path. So that's what I'm going to do, assuming the cards cooperate. And today they certainly did. (Meanwhile, I just love the Housewives Tarot...it's so kitschy. So if you're on my blog, you'll get to see a few extra pictures from it.)

Being fair and balanced is, I think, one of the hardest things people learn on their spiritual path. And there are two contexts I'll use to illustrate why. Of course this depends on peoples' beliefs, but I'd venture to say most people reading this will agree:

1. We are all here for a reason and we walk different paths based on that reason... and we all come here with struggles to overcome and pains to heal. 
2. There is a higher power that is good and is the one true higher power.  

Now, while most people can agree on those points, many of us struggle to find our balance, fairness and impartiality on those points. Here's what I mean. (And, by the way, if you don't agree with those points, read on. Because the same principles apply to you, too.)

Let's pretend you have a "mean" and "immature" boss. Well if you believe we're all here for a reason, that boss is on a path just like you are, and they're just in a different place along that path. They may be ahead of you in, say, manifesting success and behind you in treating everyone like a beloved lamb of God, for example. So let's say they make you take the blame for something they did at work. In that moment (and all moments afterward, probably) you might have a tendency to dehumanize them. They are no longer on a path and struggling just like you. They are a monster, demented, abusive and something must be done about them. Bad monster! MEAN monster!!!! SICK MONSTER!!!!

OK, that example is a little dramatic, but admit it. You do that. You've done that. We all have.

Being fair and balanced in our beliefs requires us to move past that kind of "us and them" thinking. Having integrity in the belief that all humans are here on a spiritual path that is uniquely their own and not for us to judge, means allowing the "monster" their imperfection. When you see the boss as someone who is so pained by insecurity that they can't take responsibility for their actions, well gosh, haven't we all been there at some point in our lives? 

Being fair means realizing that they struggle just like we do. It means looking into that person's eyes and seeing yourself, even if their lessons are not yours to learn in this lifetime and even if they're way behind schedule learning it and even if they hurt you in the process. Because, let's face it, we all have something crappy to deal with on our plate that someone else skates effortlessly past. For me, one of those things is my struggle with my weight. Something so easy for many of you—moderate diet and exercise—is something I feel powerless against and overwhelmed by. 

Being fair and balanced is allowing everyone else their own crap, even if they are a serial killer. Yes. Even if they're a serial killer. It doesn't mean you have to be their friend. Doesn't mean you have to approve of their behavior. And it doesn't mean their actions don't hurt or piss you off. It just means that if you believe we're all here for a reason and can't judge another's path, then you can't judge their path and label them a monster. You can't continue to see them as something separate from you. Because they're not. They ARE you. They're a spirit struggling in their human skin, just as you are. They're simply learning different lessons and having different difficulties than you in this lifetime. And thank God their issues aren't your cross to bear this time around. But you know what? If you believe in reincarnation, you will, in one lifetime or another, do something so heinous that you will be reviled, too. We all have it in us. Thank god only a few of us have to go there this time around.

Allowing others their stuff is a hard one and probably one we'll always have to work on. So is the next one...the one about God is good and there is only one God. Yes, I have a vision of "God" and, as I said yesterday, I call it the Universe. It's not a being, but an energy. It is a good energy. It is the bestest, juiciest energy ever. To hear me talk about it, you'd think I was talking about Joel Osteen's God. I am. And I'm not. 

Years back I had a terrible dislike of anything Christian. I saw Christians, in general, as misguided hypocrites who talk about Christ like he's his Father (I still don't understand that one) and preach about forgiveness and non-judgment in the same breath as they tell you you're going to burn in hell for being a non-believer. Certainly that was my experience, as seen through my lens at the time.

Meanwhile, I would talk about MY god and how MY god was the SAME god as their god, but MY god was nicer and wouldn't burn anyone in hell. And I'd wonder, "why can't those hypocrites see that my god and their god are the same god, but we just see him through different eyes?"

I should have been asking that question of myself, right? Because if I was fair and balanced in my assessment that there is only one god—a god adept enough to show itself to us in different flavors to accommodate the free will we have here on earth—then I would love their god, too. Because there is no "my" god and "their" god. There is only one god. And instead of looking for the hypocrisy within their beliefs, I'd look in their eyes and see that the love and reverence and hope they had Him all wrapped up in was the exact same as mine. If I were truly fair and balanced and impartial and walking in integrity with my belief, I would allow them their god and their beliefs and their struggles on their paths with their beliefs, rather than see them as something outside of me, different than me, less than me.

It doesn't mean I don't still see hypocrisies and inconsistencies in the beliefs of others, just as my earlier point doesn't mean I don't see when people are acting unkindly or unfairly. What it means is that I'm honest enough to see the hypocrisies and inconsistencies in my own beliefs and behaviors—no belief system is bullet proof. And I'm fair enough in my assessment of others to see that they're struggling and in pain just like me. Just with different stuff.

And here's the thing, I didn't have to compromise anything of what I believe in order to be more inclusive. In fact, I merely had to act in integrity with my beliefs. If there is one true God, as most religions teach, then we all believe in the same one. Even if we call it/him/her/them by different names. And (and I know this is my personal belief and not necessarily the belief of others) the dude is SO cool that he doesn't care about ego issues like what to call him and how to draw a picture of him. He just wants us to know him, in whatever way we're capable. It's not about changing beliefs at all, imo. It's just a way of seeing things that's more inclusive...more Christ-like, frankly.

So those are the two examples I can think of on the spiritual path where people think they're being fair and impartial and good and right and are totally missing the mark. We're quick to recognize it when it's "them" that's doing it, but not so quick when it's us. And you may not believe as I do, but I'll bet you can apply this to your beliefs, as well.

Again on the 2012 thing, there's a whole group of people out there who believe we need to reach a certain tipping point on this inclusiveness thing in order for society to survive. The philosophy is known as Oneness...the idea that we are all one. They believe this year is critical to that, as though we are at a crossroads. One path leads us further into the dark and the other—the path of inclusiveness and oneness—leads us toward the light. 

Personally I don't buy that it has to happen this year or whatever. And there are those who think the Oneness people are a cult...haha. But honestly, what could it hurt to see the person standing next to you through balanced and impartial eyes? What damage does it do to see others with no other agenda than love in our hearts? How can it do anything but further us on our spiritual paths? Call it Oneness or Christ Consciousness or just being a good person. Call it what you will, but so many of us ask why we can't all do that and be that way, then we sit down in front of the TV and look at Lindsy Lohan and shake our heads in disapproval. That's not walking the talk, people. We've all done it and do it, but it's time to heal that part of us, whether our neighbor or the rest of society joins in or not. Ghandi says "be the change you want to see in the world". It ain't gonna happen any other way, folks. Are you up to the task?

1/2/12—Stoking Our Spiritual Fires

Today's Draw: The Ace of Wands from the Pagan Tarot by Gina Pace. Do you feel a hole where your spirituality should be? Do you feel drawn to deepen your spiritual beliefs? Do you know what spirituality means to you?

It is so appropriate that we begin this year's daily draws somewhat at the beginning...the spark of fire, the spark of life. All aces in the tarot are traditionally depicted as an offering from the heavens...a beginning of something new. There is a lot of energy behind them. Depending on the suit, they may be a beginning in the realm of emotion, thought, material needs or creativity.

When what is being handed to you is fire, however, there's even more energy behind it. The wands speak to our ability to create, stoke passion or pursue spirituality. As Gina Pace puts it in her companion book, the Ace of Wands signifies a spiritual epiphany. And in recent years, there hasn't been a New Year with more spiritual buzz around it than 2012.

So what is spirituality? Some people use it to mean the same as religion, but you won't see me do that. Religion is what is taught through books and words. It is experienced in the head. Spirituality is what you learn through your senses. It is experienced in your heart or core. The two work together beautifully. Or they can work independently. You don't have to know the Bible or a specific set of teachings (such as Jewish or Catholic beliefs) to feel God working in your life. 

And while I'm using the word God here, what I'm really talking about is something greater than the individual. It doesn't have to be a creator. It doesn't have to be a male energy. It doesn't have to be an entity. Indeed, in the way I believe, it's not called God, it's not an entity and it's not a creator...it's called the Universe, it's an energy and, in a way, life creates it, instead of the other way around. And I don't mean we create it because we're desperate to believe, I mean we create it because it's the collective energy of all that exists...something larger than the sum of its parts. 

Even some of the atheists I know are people I would consider spiritual, simply because they question "why". There is a lot of crossover between traditional philosophical thought and spirituality. While an atheist may not be attributing the answers to anything mystical, they're still asking the questions. And many feel a deep connection to nature and natural order, but again, don't attribute it to God. That doesn't mean they can't think about it like Rumi.

But back to what most of us consider spirituality...if religion forms the basis of belief for many, spirituality is the part that is unique to the beholder. This may not sit well with religious people, but to me, religion is what man whispers in your ear about God, based on the interpretations and beliefs of other men going back thousands of years. Spirituality is what God whispers in your ear about himself/itself based on your personal relationship with him/it.

For those of us who choose to set aside man's whisperings and focus primarily on what rises organically within us—and let's face it, none of us were raised in a vacuum, so our beliefs are colored by those man-whisperings we've heard around us all our lives, whether we like it or not—spirituality also holds the key to all of those questions that have captivated us since the beginning of time...who are we? Where did we come from? Why are we here?

This Ace of Wands could easily represent the spiritual energy around 2012. There are a lot of theories of what will happen on 12/21/12 ranging from the apocalypse to "it's just another day". All that seems to be true is that, for one reason or another, the Mayans stopped their calendar on that date. It's given spiritual import because these dudes knew stuff about the cosmos that we've only in recent times been able to corroborate with all our machines and doodads. So they seem to have had some sort of advanced knowledge that came from who knows where. But those who know the complexities of Mayan timekeeping say it's really just the end of one calendar cycle and the beginning of another. 

Another thing about 2012 is that it's a "5" year (2+0+1+2=5). Numerologically speaking, it's the number of divine grace and the mediator between God and the universe. It is the number of both human and God.

In tarot, the number 5 signifies the Hierophant and so 2012 is the Hierophant year. Sometimes known as the Pope or Pontiff card, he is the symbol of dogma, religious teachings and religion. But as Barbara Moore (tarot goddess) observes, "pontiff" means bridge...the bridge between theory and practice. Which is what you could call spirituality. In her definition of the Hierophant for her upcoming Steampunk Tarot, she says, "The Hierophant is one who teaches us how to live in accordance with our sacred beliefs. For those belonging to a group, community, or organized religion, there are usually teachers aplenty. For those who follow a more solitary path, they are often their own hierophant. This responsibility is often supplemented by studying sacred texts, works of art, private spiritual practices, and nature."

So here's the thing...warranted or not, there's a lot of spiritual buzz around 2012. And by sheer virtue of the fact that so many are placing their attention on its spiritual import, it will likely become a self-fulfilling prophesy at the very least. So being the mystical woo-woo girl I am, it just seems like there's no better time for all of us to revisit, deepen or explore our spiritual and/or philosophical selves.

So that's what this Ace of Wands is coming here to tell us on the first draw of 2012. To stoke our fires and start at the beginning. Ask "why am I here?" "What have I come here to do?" "What's this all about anyway?" But more importantly, ask the most germinal questions of all...the ones we frequently forget to ask, like "How can I serve?", "How can I reflect God's wisdom, grace and love with my fellow man?" and "How can I end the year a better person than when the year began?"

12/31/11—1/1/12—Maintaining Our Balance

Weekend Reading: Justice from the Deviant Moon. It's New Year's Eve weekend, so my first responsibility is to read this card as a cautionary "moderation in all things" message. Justice is about being fair and even and all. But this dude is adeptly picking up a sizable fish monster with his meaty toes. That's talent! So if you choose not to listen to my first advice, then use your gifts for all they're worth this weekend. Perhaps a memorable "dance of the silk scarves"? Your best karaoke version of My Sharona? Or a dramatic reading from The Princess Bride? We've all got our own special version of freaked out monkey feet. So if you're going to do it, do it all the way down to your mutant opposable big toe. That's what I say. But personally I'll be staying out of trouble this holiday weekend and doing my best to maintain my balance. Just like the guy in the picture. Who is firmly, calmly and solidly standing on one foot, despite what all his other appendages are up to. That's a talent, too.

12/30/11—Opening to the Possibilities Within

Today's Draw: The Sun of Life and Queen of Stones from both the Greenwood and Wildwood Tarots. What might be lying dormant within you, just waiting to burst forth? What are you beginning to become more spiritually aware of? And if you had a mystical superpower, what do you think it might be?

So today we're going to do something a little different and delve into a bit of tarot lore concerning two decks—the Greenwood Tarot and the Wildwood Tarot. Before I begin my scholarly report, however, I would like to point out that I didn't do too well in my Journalism classes at Indiana University. I tended to dramatize, make assumptions and muddy the waters between truth and legend too much for their tastes. So I changed my major to broadcasting where you can get away with that shit.

That said, there once was a deck called the Greenwood. It was a Celtic/Earth-Centered deck printed in 1996 that really captured a pagan, shamanic niche of the tarot marketplace that hadn't previously been explored. Many of the Major Arcana cards were re-named and re-numbered. And, instead of the court cards being humans, they were represented by animals. So, in a way, it had its own "system". Many people felt the deck had a very special mystical/tribal/prehistoric feel and when the deck went out of print, the legend of its "powers" grew. A deck that probably originally sold for $20 skyrocketed in price. If you're interested, there is a new one available on Amazon today for $1600.

Anyway, legend has it that the original artist, Chesca Potter, became a born-again Christian and is no longer interested in having anything to do with tarot. Her art can't be reprinted without her permission, so the original writer, Mark Ryan, teamed up with John Matthews and Will Worthington to recreate and rethink the deck. The new deck, the Wildwood Tarot, follows the same basic structure or system of the Greenwood, reusing many of the changed names for cards and even, in some places, closely mirroring the art. While it is, for the most part, its own deck, I would classify it as being strongly based on the Greenwood. Even the book for the Wildwood borrows text from the Greenwood book. Certainly nobody denies or even tries to hide the close connection between the two.

So here we are with today's draw and I decided to draw two cards to give you more of a feel for the two decks. The cards above are from the Wildwood, the new deck. And the ones right here are from the Greenwood.

I would interpret the two cards the same whether they came from the Greenwood or the Wildwood. The Sun is about giving life and illuminating parts of yourself that you either intentionally or otherwise keep in the dark. In both Sun cards, the sun is burning through the man, activating his heart center and electrifying him with universal power. A nice touch in both Sun cards is the Uffington Horse. Legend has it if you stand in the horse's eye and turn three times, you can receive illumination, power and the life-giving healing energy of the sun.

There's a nice tie-in between the Sun and the bears, because bears often symbolize hibernation, which is dictated by temperature fluctuations and food inavailabilities caused by the absence of the sun. In both bear cards, the bears are waking, but in the Wildwood, the bear is already up and greeting the dawn of a new adventure. Another tie-in is that both the sun and bears are symbolic of power, one of earthly strength and the other of universal power. The suit of stones is specifically focused on monetary power or prosperity.

Taken together, I'd say it's time for all of us to burst out of this sleepwalk we're in and reclaim our divine power. There is so much that lies dormant within us that we never access. One of the theories behind the whole 2012 mystery is that this is what this coming year is all about. It's supposed to draw a line in the sand where we will no longer be able to deny the advanced abilities that rest within us. Some feel this is a long-term awakening that has been going on for years. Others believe a switch will be flipped or we'll suddenly need to rely on our higher powers for survival.

Regardless of whether you believe that or not, there isn't one among us who is living at our full potential. There may be many who go through life "firing all engines" as far as their energy is concerned. But this is less about expending energy than it is about using the fullness of the capabilities that lie within. And what I mean by that may include your ability to spontaneously manifest your desires, utilize your sixth sense, heal energetically, increase your capacity to learn and other "miracles" of the mind and body.

I think only the most conservative people will deny there are savants out there who are especially blessed with one of those talents. I'm a fan of Lisa Williams, the British medium. I've seen her in action and felt the energy she draws out. She is WAY more accurate in her readings than the statistical mean. Then there are intellectual savants who have a significantly greater capacity to learn and understand. There are also physical "geniuses" that can push their bodies beyond the realms of other humans.

While there will always be people at the extremes of any ability, we all have abilities far beyond our consciousness. What happens is that we find early on that our talent for math or basketball or painting is less than extraordinary, so we pursue other areas where we feel we have more talent or interest instead. In doing so, we stop developing those other areas. The capacity to develop those areas still exists. So while we can learn to be a better artist, if we think we have little affinity for it, we don't develop that talent. Our minds are littered with abandoned playgrounds.

Another thing that happens is that we're told the imaginary friends and spontaneous insights we have as a very young child are imaginings and not real. So we suppress many of our inborn instincts because we're told they're fantasy.

These two cards together are saying that there's something within you that's ready to emerge and see the light. You may know what this is...it might be something that's been marinating for a while. Or it might be something you abandoned a while back. Or it may be something you don't realize you even have a capacity for. This past week we've talked about waiting for the right moment to pounce, thinking outside of the sheep herd and connecting to the vastness of you. It all points at stepping into the larger you you were meant to become.

The first step is to open the door to all possibilities. For example, I don't believe in fairies. So I will probably never see a fairy. Fairies may be twinkling all around me, but I've closed off the possibility to them. Opening yourself to all possibilities is opening yourself—genuinely—to things that may seem silly or childish to you.

After that, just observe and don't discount any imaginings you may have. Once you start noticing "coincidences" or "spontaneous manifestations", for example, the more often they appear in your life. Once you hold a space for the "impossible" to fill—and the more you believe there is no such thing as impossible—the more magic is able to flow into your life. There are entire worlds that exist within our own that we don't see and can't access, simply because we shut ourselves off to them through our disbelief. It's time to stop the sleep walk—or sheep walk—of our lives and allow the sun to illuminate entire new worlds of possibility.

For those wanting to try a meditation after yesterday's entry, try this: Close your eyes and imagine a dimly lit landscape within. With each breath, imagine the sun creeping into the landscape more and more, illuminating more and more of the landscape. Take your time with this. Imagine it as being akin to the daily lengthening of sunlight of this time of year (in the Northern hemisphere). Let the light seep further and further in, illuminating shadows and secret hollows within you. What do you see? What reflects the sun's light most? What has been hidden by the walls and hedges you've built within? What can you see in the sun's fullest light that you've never been able to see before?

12/29/11—Accessing Your Eternal Self

Today's Draw: No-Mind from the Osho Transformation Tarot. Do you meditate or wish you could? If you've tried and failed in the past, how long did you try? What are your experiences with meditation?

Osho is a name given to Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh an Indian mystic and guru. Most of what I know about his philosophy comes from the Osho Zen Tarot (which is one of my go-to decks) and this oracle deck. His teachings ascribe to many areas of Eastern thought, but most of it reflects the gentle, profound teachings of Zen Buddhism. Reading up on him tonight, his life was surrounded by controversy and drama, so he may be a case of "pay attention to the message and not the messenger" for some.

I have held many Eastern practices and philosophies on and off over the years. I do chanting on and off. I chanted a mala every night for years, which means repeating the same mantra 108 times every night. But one thing that has been constant is that I meditate in one way or another every day, as I have done for nearly 30 years. And "No-Mind" is one of the cornerstones of meditation.

A lot of people say their mind is too busy to meditate, they have ADD or are too busy. That's just excuses. If all you have is five minutes, that's enough. In fact, the less time you feel you have, the more you probably need to meditate. As for the busy mind, I actually started meditating because of how active my head was. Besides, not all meditation requires you to strip all thought away—one requires you to be hyper-conscious of your environment, not screen it out. There's really something that will work for anyone. So, if you want to bring more discipline, quiet or focus to your mind and body, investigate the many forms meditation, including the moving ones.

All that said, I like to go into that transcendental place of no-mind. That place inside us is that part that is eternal and exists within us throughout every incarnation. It is us at our most pure. It is us as the divine. In that time and moment, we are connected with all existence, with that place that is common to us whether we're animal, plant, mineral or ether. Connecting to that most basic and eternal essence is a gift I give myself nearly every night, and because I've been practicing for so long, I can find that place easily in pretty much any moment. 

The illustration on this card depicts that silence and stillness for me. I imagine the vastness and silence of outer space to mirror the vastness and silence of that within. As there is significant space between matter in the universe, meditation creates significant space between the thoughts in our minds. To me, it brings me into that vast place of emptiness ripe for creation. One of my favorite tarot cards ever is from the Osho Zen tarot that also illustrates that wonder for me. If you're reading this on Facebook, you can see it at http://thedailytarotdraw.blogspot.com/

Have you ever been out in nature and listened to the profound silence that sits beneath the peace and quiet? That's the silence I'm talking about. The further you are from society, the easier it is to hear. But there's a riverside spot along a busy Parkway here where that silence is louder to me than the sounds of the cars passing by. And in the past couple of years it's getting louder and louder in my back yard. If you don't know what I'm talking about, give a listen the next time you're out in nature. I don't know how to put it other than it is the loud silence beneath the peace and quiet. I believe this silence exists everywhere in the universe, whether you're on a planet or in the nothingness. Sometimes I'm able to hear it within me even when I'm busy thinking. Like now. This isn't something you create, it's the most basic and everlasting part of you. It's there. You just have to remember how to be there with it.

Meditation brings us into the moment. It strips away everything but what is real and true. If you don't have a way to access this place of no-mind, consider adding it in the coming year. Here's the thing, though. It doesn't come overnight. It takes practice and develops over years. Like a diet or exercise routine, it's a discipline. But it's one that can benefit you on so many levels. It's definitely worth the investment of time and effort and I bet if you commit 5-10 minutes to it daily in 2012, you'll find it changes your life. So what are your experiences with meditation?