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At the end of every year the Pope writes a many-paged document for
his to Christian followers providing guidance for the year ahead and
for years to come. This year, I was struck by the universality of what
he was saying, and how applicable his message was to anyone's spiritual
path, not just Christians.
Pope Benedict's main point is
that the new christianity, or charismatic, born again movement is
missing the boat by focusing so narrowly on one's own, personal
salvation. I was struck by his insight as he continued by reminding
people that basically we are all connected with each other and with the
environment, that we don't stand alone. He urged Christians to
realize, then, that since we don't stand alone, our spirituality must
be centered beyond ourselves. It must include all people, not just
ourselves.
I think that this applies to all religions. It
is time for us all to realize our interdependency, and then to do what
we can for each other. Not only with our religion, but in every part
of our life. As the Pope reminded us, early Christianity was communal.
People shared what they had. So, too, must we begin to experience the
world as a large community. As spiritual people, we must help to
ensure that everyone is fed, clothed and housed, not just ourselves.
Like the early Christians, we should all share our resources, whatever
they are, with each other equally, so that we all can live with less
fear and tribulation. Perhaps in this new year, it's time to realize
that our own salvation or enlightenment isn't something to be attained
while ignoring the world, but instead is to be realized through our
enlightened activity in the world.
As the Dalai Lama
suggests when saying that his religion is kindness, perhaps, if nothing
else, we can begin by being kind to each other. Perhaps we can begin
to realize that we are all just as important as each other, that no one
is entitled to more than another, and we can begin to treat everyone
with respect as an equal member of the world community.
If we
had any doubt of the truth of the Pope's words, we have only to look to
current environmental studies to graphically realize our
interconnectedness with life. Our way of living seems to have
drastically affected all aspects of the planet...the other living
beings, the oceans, the air and the water. It is only if we begin to
think in terms of a planetary community that we can begin to reverse
these negative impacts.
Not only do environmental studies
illustrate our interconnectedness, but also chemistry and physics. We
are so interconnected that we share the same chemistry...the same
elements...not only with other life forms, but with the very earth upon
which we walk, the soil, leaves, stones, the air, the water, the gases.
We are all a mixture of space and form. On this level, too, we are all
connected.
A Peruvian Shaman with whom I once studied, used to
remind us that we are all actually "star children", that our Earth is a
star just as those we see in the sky. Not only do we live on a star,
but since the earth is of the same elements as the other stars, and we
are of the same elements as the earth, then we are of the same elements
as the stars. We are not only "earth dwellers", but also "star
dwellers".
So for this new year, let's forge a new path. Like
the early Christians, let's share what we have and consciously turn our
backs on the narrow notion of personal enlightenment or salvation.
Let's open up our hearts, widen our horizons and seek the salvation of
the world community in any way that we can. |
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Today was a tough day dealing with bureaucracy and red tape, none of which are my favorite things to do! The other people in my office were also feeling anxious nad angry with the bureaucratic delays that were happening. Of course, these delays were right when we most needed to have things go smoothly. So, I started envisioning what could be done with crystals and stones to help create feelings of centerdness, calmness and clarity instead of anxiety, anger and other such emotions.
Here’s what I did: First, I mentally surrounded myself with a circle of amethyst heart shaped stones. Then, after connecting the circle and centering myself inside of it, I began to breathe with increasingly long, slow breaths. As my breathing slowed, I noticed my body. I felt my stomach relaxing so I consciously relaxed the small of my back. I checked further through my body and noticed that my jaw was clenched, my throat chakra was closing, and my chest felt like it was contracting. As I continued to scan my body, thoughts and feelings, I noticed that my prevailing feeling was of wanting to “get away”. Then I noticed that what I wanted to “get away” from was not so much from the frustrating situation, but the “vibes” in the space around me because I felt like I was being “swamped”. Much of my reaction was to the emotions which I was empathically pulling into my belly.
Realizing that, I picked up two amethyst crystals and held one in each hand. (If you don’t have the amethyst crystals, just imagine that you do and continue with this process.) Then I put a rose quartz heart pendant around my neck which allowed the stone to rest over my heart chakra. Then I imagined that the color and energy flowed from these stones into my body and as it did, I progressively relaxed. I placed my attention on my heart center while continuing to breathe.
Realizing as I did this that rather than “fleeing” the frightful and angry emotions both within and without me, I instead began to accept them. By accepting them, however, I didn’t continue to bring the “vibes” into myself, but rather I sent out love.
To do this, I imagined myself to be centered inside an amethyst pyramid, the tip pointing into the heavens. I felt both protected and calm. Then I opened my heart center and imagined a stream of pink light flowing outward throughout my body and throughout the office. I imagined this calming, accepting light flowing into each and every person around me. I felt as if we all, bureaucrats included, were joined in this vast comic dance and that it was all “alright”.
Then, when I felt that the time was right, I withdrew my attention from the pink light, envisioned myself centered inside the amethyst pyramid, and then imagined myself leaving the pyramid to sit in the middle of the circle of amethyst heart-stones.
After mentally disconnecting the circled amethyst hearts from each other, I picked them up, cleared them, and wrapped them up. I kept the rose quartz heart pendant on so I would continue to feel the effects of this meditation…and I resolved to put more rose quartz up in my office.
Blessings to us all!
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| Being able to be quiet inside is vitally important to good stone work…and in life in general. The more we quiet ourselves inside, the more quiet and calm we will probably find our outer life to be, which, in the end will make us feel happier.
In stone work, unless we are able to quiet the constant “mind chatter” so that our mind is as clear and calm as a still pool, or as empty as sky, we cannot hear the guiding inner voice. It’s like throwing a stone in the calm pool of water. If the pool has waves it’s almost impossible to see the ripples from the stone plunging into the water. Likewise, if the pool is still, you can see the ripples quite clearly. Thoughts are like the waves in the clear pool of our mind and the ripples are the inner voice. Our mind in its natural state is perfectly clear. Another way of saying this is that the underlying context from which our thoughts emerge and then re-merge is clear and empty of thought.
This is important in our crystal and stone work because if we are able to have our minds be clear, then we can hear the guiding voice undisturbed by “ripples” of our other thought. And not only that, but we can hear this guidance undisturbed uncolored by our own judgments, evaluations of like or dislike, accompanying emotions or the like. We just hear the guidance inside of ourselves...and nothing else. Then, of course, we let the inner guidance direct our actions. (By the way, inner guidance will never lead us to do harm to ourselves or another.)
Another thing…guidance is clear and unmistakable. If you’re wondering if you really did hear the inner, guiding voice, you probably didn’t. Perhaps, instead, you heard the “voice” of your own desires. If so, it’s good to clear your mind and wait.
So, that said, here is a good way to use your stones to help clear and quiet your mind:
First, sit upright with your spine straight, lie down, or stand upright. Close your eyes and let your breathing slow and deepen. Place a rose quartz stone on your heart chakra in the middle of your chest. If you’re standing up, wear a rose quartz stone on a 24” chain or cord so that it hangs over your heart chakra. Hold a smokey quartz crystal, or obsidian or black onyx in each hand. Or use clear quartz crystals in which you’ve programmed the dark brown color. If you’re holding crystals, point the points down into the earth.
Now, imagine that a stream of earthen light flows out from the points of the crystals way down into the center of the earth. As it flows downward, feel your feet as becoming more and more attached to the ground beneath you. If you’re lying down, feel yourself as becoming more and more in contact with the surface beneath your back. As you do this you feel heavy yet not solid.
Next, imagine that your breath moves in and our of the rose quartz and your heart chakra, and as you do so, you relax with each breath. Feel as if the breath moving in and out of your heart chakra charges it with pink light and the rose quartz “energy” of compassion, love and inner peace. Imagine that this rose quartz, pink light fills your body and spills outward to form a pink orb around you. As you do this you’ll begin to feel more calm and expansive as well as grounded and centered into your self.
As we slow our breathing and focus on our heart center, we automatically change our focus from the lower chakras of fear and survival, automatically transforming anxiety to more calmness. Our breathing will automatically slow and as it does that, our thoughts will slow. As our thinking process slows down anxiety will lessen. In order to feel anxious, we have to be centered in our thinking mind to imagine into the future as we think of what “might happen”. This process will bring our thoughts out of the future and into the present. Furthermore, as our thoughts slow, there becomes more space between thoughts and we can feel even more spacious and relaxed. As you continue to breathe slowly, charging and opening your heart chakra, our thoughts increasingly seem to just float through our minds….merely coming and going.
If you want to work with this further, try this: If you notice yourself thinking of something when you’re trying to focus on your breath and the pink light in your heart center, try to notice each thought as it comes and goes. Then, notice any other thoughts that emerge as the thought you were on disappears. Notice a chain of thoughts, each thought a link on the chain leading from one to another. Notice that there is a space between each thought, and then focus on this space. Notice that as you observe your thoughts this way, that they seem to lose their emotional component…each thought being merely a thought and nothing more…and you feel very spacious and calm.
Once you are feeling clear and calm begin to listen for the inner guiding “voice”. It may not sound like an actual voice that you hear with your physical ears, but instead more like hearing with the mind’s “ear”. It may be more of a wordless sensing where you “just know” something.
Then follow the inner guidance and test your results in the “real world”…and remember…what you “hear” may be just applicable for you and nobody else, or just for that time and space, or just with those stones, or just for that situation. So when you “hear” your inner guidance, be careful about extrapolating that it’s true for every situation and every person or every time you use that particular stone etc. Instead, it’s better to hear directly and anew each and every time.
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I’m sitting here in Maui waiting for the edge of Hurricane Flossie to possibly travel over us. As I watch the sky outside my window I see nothing but greyness. Though gusts of occasionally howling wind sweep through the treetops and a steady rain pours down, the land feels somewhat heavy and still. I notice that so, too, do I. It’s as if both the land and its inhabitants are holding a collective breath, watching and waiting for the storm to come. We, too, feel the still, heaviness inside of us and feel uneasy. Many of us also feel anxious as we wait for news of the big island.
Just as we are affected by changes in the tides and the planets, we are affected by the weather. It’s not unusual to feel “out of sorts”, grumpy, gloomy or irritable when the skys are grey. If the sky feels leaden and the ground soggy, so too can we feel heavy and unenergetic. Now, this isn’t a new thought. It’s both a reminder to remember how deeply we’re affected by the weather and a prelude to the suggestion that we can change the way we’re affected.
Once we realize how deeply we’re being affected, we can concentrate on our body, our thoughts and emotions to transform the effects. For example, if I want to feel more energetic and less grumpy, or want to feel less anxious, there are some simple “energy medicine” practices that can be done.
The first is to become aware of each effect, one at a time and then ask how you would like to feel instead. What would it take to calm anxiety or lift your spirits, for example? What would it take to feel less anxious? As you imagine this, take several long, deep breaths, preferably through your nose. As you let your breath out, let go of any tension in your body. Relax your jaw, your shoulders, your stomach and the small of your back. Feel the earth beneath your feet. Imagine earthen colored light flowing like roots deep into the earth. Relax your hands and arms as you do this. Breathe deeply and easily through your nose. If you find your mind wandering, bring it back to the present. Soon, you’ll start feeling relaxed and centered, more and more so as you continue. The more centered in the present moment like this, anxiety will flee because in order to exist it must feed upon imaginings of the future. Then, practically speaking, when you’re not feeling anxious it’s easier to think clearly and act more skillfully, which is helpful if a hurricane is coming your way. Once you’re centered this way, it’s also easier to focus your mind to change the way you’re feeling. If you’re feeling grumpy, for example, you have only to focus on your heart, perhaps sending out love, to have the grumpiness transform. If gloomy skies are making you feel depressed, try wearing yellow or violet or have it around you. What colors you have around you can affect you, your thoughts or feelings, as much as the weather. Change your mind to change your feelings. Slow your breathing to calm your mind. Stop imagining the future to transform anxiety.
That said, as a subtle energy healer, as the hurricane approaches I’m going to surround myself with amethyst crystals, visualize positive outcomes and use my breathing to relax.
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Hi everyone! I'm back after traveling
to Colorado to spend some camping and retreat time in the mountains.
It was really nice sitting on the riverbanks, all alone surrounded by
immense mountains, blue skies, flowers and meadows. It helps to take a
"time out" from everyday life.
The part of "everyday life"
that I'm talking about is about attempting to live with balance and
harmony in what seems to be a world gone mad! I live about 5000 miles
away from the nearest land mass on a rock in the middle of the
ocean...(well, OK, it's not exactly a rock...but it is a very small
island!) Even though I'm so far away from the mainland (U.S.), I still
am not only very aware of the immense pain and suffering that people
all over the globe are going through, but I still feel it in my body.
It seems as if the forces of evil and mayhem are very much alive on the
planet now.
Of course, this has been foretold for centuries
in many if not most of the ancient cultures in the world. During this
time it was foretold that the polarity of the dark and light would
become very stark, but that this polarity was needed so that the planet
would "pop" through into a new age...an age of light and harmony.
(Remember "The Age of Aquarius" and the Harmonic Convergence?) It
seems as if you need the darkness in order to have the light. I have
only to think of those times in my life when I needed a "crisis" or for
life to become intolerable in order to make the changes necessary for
me to eventually life more harmoniously. Same thing with our planet.
For me, and I'm sure for most of you, it's overwhelming when you
contemplate the enormity of the imbalance here on our planet. What can
I, as an ordinary person, possibly do that would make even a small dent
of a difference?
Sitting there next to the streams in
Colorado, the answer came to me again as it has before. What is most
important is to channel in the light and then to anchor it within the
bowels of the planet. Mother Nature and all her creatures need
nourishment, and this is the best way that we can help. We can do that
individually or collectively, actively visualizing the light from our
Creator or from the heavens entering into us, moving down through our
body's, out through the bottom of our spines and feet to travel deeply
into the earth.
It's easy to underestimate how powerful this can be....but it's not...especially if we all do this. |
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After reading in today's
paper about Barry Bond's home run, I was reminded of a time long ago
when he spoke with the San Franciso Bay area Little League players.
This day was a special one at the Giant's field because it was a day
when any Little Leager could come to the practice before the game and
see the players up close. I was sitting in the stands among a rather
small crowd of kids and their parents right down near home base,
especially excited because Barry Bonds was going to come out to the
bleachers and talk with the kids.
I was thinking what a
nice things this was for Barry to do when he suddenly appeared in front
of us to do a little talk and then answer questions the kids had. One
thing that he said at that time has always stuck in my memory. When
asked by a little boy what was the most important thing that helped him
hit all his home runs, he thought awhile and then answered this way:
He said that there were two things that he considered most important
to his success as a hitter. The first is when he was a little boy and
his parent (father I think) used to through him pitches with balls that
had one of three numbers on it...either a one, two or a three. He was
only supposed to hit one of those numbers. That, more than anything
else helped him focus on the ball. The second thing he said was most
important to his hitting ability was that he spent time every day just
closing his eyes and visualizing himself as hitting the ball. He would
see in his mind's eye or imagine seeing the ball coming his way, then
his bat hitting the ball. He would imagine it in as much detail as he
could. So, visualization helped him train as much as actual practice
did.
I was thrilled that he was able to talk about the
power of visualization, imagination or positive thought. I also
thought about the parallels between that and crystal/stone working.
Just as in baseball, the strength and clarity of our focused thought is
vitally important to our work. Actually, it's important in everyday
life too. Where we put our focus and how we think about it surely
helps form our experience. |
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| Well, I'm off to Colorado for the International New Age Trade Show. If you're in Colorado, the show is in the merchandise mart from June 23 to the 25th. It's a wholesale show, so you'll need a resale number to get in. I'll be in the booth with custom jewelry as well as the regular jewelry line, books and music. I'll also be doing a presentation Saturday.... |
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| I was speaking with a friend about not having enough mothering in her life, and afterword, upon thinking about it, I have some thoughts that I’d like to share:
It’s rather “common knowledge” within the psychology world that if a person hasn’t had mothering while growing up, that feeling of being unconditionally accepted, loved and cared for, that he or she wouldn’t be able to, in turn, be mothering of others.
I don’t think that this is necessarily true, however........ |
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| When we're working with crystals and stones we're dealing with the mind over matter issue....that's what we're actually working with when we do crystal work. Let's see if I can describe it because it's really central to crystal/stone work.
What's reality? If two (or more) people can be in the identical setting and circumstance, yet experience them totally differently, what's real? Is it what we think it is? Is our reality determined by what we think? Let's talk about this... Say your husband comes home and is angry, and you think......
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| In order to focus during your crystal and stone work you have to slow down. When you're laying stones on the body, you don't want to rush or be impatient. If you are so impatient that you don't slow down to listen to your inner voice, or you're thinking about what you've learned to do next and rush ahead to do that, chances are... |
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