Got reverence?

Prof. Paul Woodruff reminds us that reverence is the key to peace. For many of us raised in western religious traditions, we associate reverence as the way we approach Divinity. With reverence as the foundation of our interactions with one another and the world, we enhance our sense of appreciation and wonder at the possibilities and potentials of our lives. It is the only way we can truly celebrate our diversity. Perhaps the most meaningful way of starting each day would be to intend, feel and make note of at least 5 moments of reverence during the course of our busy schedules. Imagine how such a practice could alter our individual reality.

Creativity, Spirituality and the WWW

How have both your creative and spiritual lives changed since the advent of computers? For our own development and conscious evolution we are we now able to instantly access more information, websites and videos than we ever thought possible; we can attend teleseminars and webinars with our favorite inspirational mentors than we would have thought possible just a few years ago. What about the changes to what we have to say and how we express ourselves? My creative life broadened dramatically when a computer entered our home. As a ‘word artist’, I have been creating word-paintings of a spiritual nature for some twenty years. This aspect of my life broadened in ways I could never have imagined with a computer, photoshop and illustrator. I know I would never have considered writing without a computer. I use the ‘handle’ wordartist for some of my email and www.wordartist.com as one of my websites that showcases my work as a calligrapher. I hope it applies to my writing as well. I often wonder why people chose the email addresses that they do — in a digital age, the choices we make are revealing. Using our own names may be the easy way to go. Many choose intriguing ‘handles’ that spurs our curiosity as to why they were chosen? Perhaps in a digital world where our nuanced voices, facial expressions and handwriting style are replaced by anonymous fonts, these addresses and domain names say as much about us as our handwriting used to reveal in times now past. If you are willing to take the time to share, I would love to know why you use the email address or website domain that you do?

Yesthanksmoreplease

Isn't the intuitive gift amazing? Take for example how the name of my new book, The Syzygy Oracle, came to get its title. Syzygy - the sibilant sound is as melodious to the ear as the word is joyful to write. Many years ago, wearing my calligraphic designer hat, I was commissioned by DIRONA to annually inscribe the names of top North American restaurants on to bold and beautiful black, white and silver certificates that were being awarded by this esteemed organization for continued excellence. I inscribed the restaurant's name on to each certificate in a large and flowing Italic script. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to eat in some of these fabulous places— always enjoying a joyful and personal sense of connection as I viewed my own handwriting in the wall. Syzygy was my favorite certificate to do. The word just flows. The restaurant is in Aspen - unfortunately I have yet been there. I no longer have this commission and it is many years since I did my last certificates for them. But the word stayed with me. I never knew what it meant. A few months ago, as I was completing my newest book and the accompanying deck of cards that I designed to interpret the Major Arcana, the word came to me in a meditation one morning. This time I went to the web and discovered to my amazement and delight that it refers to a conjunction of the sun, moon and earth at certain points in the cyclical cosmic dance of the planets. Additionally Jung used the term to describe the balancing of the opposites. How perfect— the book is about creating a daily spiritual practice based on Kabbalah and Tarot to seek balance amid the polarities in life.It is about archetypal mentors and the hero's journey. I use the mythic analogy of solar and lunar energy and influence we can access on the pathway from ego to essence as we consciously evolve. It is a great example of how the intuitive sense gifts us constantly. If we pay attention, we see, we hear, we feel. The appropriate response is 'yespleasemorethank' a technique I describe in the book, which together with the deck of cards will soon be available on a website near you:-) Perhaps I will actually get to eat at that fabulous restaurant in Aspen Co. Now wouldn't that be the perfect place to launch the book . . . .

2013 - The Year of The Sacred Feminine

My New Year's resolution starts a month late. I want to blog with some regularity. Am I going to be able to maintain a once-a-week commitment? I have had time to consider it carefully as the year 2013 begins. Once again, the doomsday prophets misunderstood— the world did not end on Dec 21, 2012— the new era began as in our journey towards conscious evolution as we become, in Barbara Marx Hubbard's terms, 'homo universalis.' Why 2013 as the year of the Sacred Feminine? ‘Triskaidekaphobia’ (the fear of the number 13) is why many high-rise buildings and hotels go straight from 12 to 14. There are thirteen lunar and menstrual cycles in a calendar year; the moon travels thirteen degrees in the sky every twenty-four hours. Physically, emotionally and intuitively, women are linked to the moon. To the patriarchal mindset the number 13 represented femininity. Just as any new age tries to differentiate itself from past eras, considering the number 13 unlucky can been seen as part of the patriarchal suppression of the lunar calendar in favor of the solar cycle. Time to change that belief as we move forward. As we see the values of the Sacred Feminine begin to influence American society, we celebrate society finding ways of leveling the playing field of all members of our human family as an example to all — same sex marriage is becoming accepted by a majority of people, more women are being voted into office, we are starting to look at the utter stupidity of allowing the public access to assault weapons and their murderous clips. The majority of Americans are beginning to realize that women are autonomous beings and need to be in charge of decisions about their own bodies. Climate change, eradicating pollution, finding alternatives to nuclear energy— it seems everything is entering our field of awareness, begging for solutions that will benefit ourselves, our planet and the generations that are yet to come. Just as I welcome 2013 and the new age, I welcome your comments on ways in which you see evidence of the rise of the Sacred Feminine in our journey to conscious evolution.

From the ancient past to an imaginary future

On a recent visit to Niagara Falls, I was reminded of Ancient Greece as we drove past cities named Syracuse and Ithaca. A visit to Delphi a year ago offered a fascinating glimpse through time. Situated in the magical Greek hills that lend themselves to reverie and mystery, one climbs to the ruins of gigantic pillars of stone, man-made, that dominated not only this landscape, but much of the western world. The home of the oracle was built high above the original spring of water that still continues to bubble to the surface, marked now by a small sign, unnoticed by most, in their rush to view the remnants of a once-powerful society. I chose to sit close to the quietly flowing spring that continues to silently bring water from the depths of the earth and marked this as a sacred site long before any decision to construct the now-crumbling gigantic structure above.

Viewing Niagara Falls for the first time from the 17th floor of a lovely hotel on the Canadian side, our window offered a view of only the natural magnificence of water surging over rock. This view eliminated the all the man-made ‘stuff’ from sight. It was truly awe-inspiring. Later, walking around the Niagara River, where the sound of the traffic attempts to compete with the roar of the Falls and the man-made structures of hotels, ferris wheel, restaurants and tourist shops obscure the natural beauty of a sacred site, I could not help but wonder what a visitor to the Falls, five thousand years from now, will see? Will the remnants of a once dominant culture lie in ruins as the powerful flow of water continues to cascade over ancient cliffs? If so, will any visitor stop, like I did at Delphi, and consider this view of the history of the human family on the miraculous planet we call home?

Experiencing Reality:Personal and Global

Neuroscience explains that at birth, a child's brain has approximately 100 billion neurons. With maturation, the number of neurons remains constant but the synaptic connections between them develop with each new experience, forming a unique configuration of connections that personalize each one's brain, allowing us to interpret our reality through the framework of an individualized synaptic map.

As we see the flowering of women's circles on a local level, and technology encourages us to connect in cyberspace with others of like minds, no longer are we limited by geographical considerations. Is it possible that what we are witnessing is the transformation and evolution of humanity's synaptic map?

As patriarchal institutions are imploding- religiously, politically, financially and socially, a grassroots international connection between peoples is forming. These groups, local and global, are sharing personal stories and experiences, touching the hearts of those who listen. This teaching and learning experience is a natural and intuitive pathway to wisdom for women.

For American women who enjoy the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, now is a great time and place in which to speak our truth, so long denied us. It takes courage to step forward now that we have the opportunity- and we are empowering one another to take advantage of the moment.

In the place of patriarchal hierarchy, disempowerment and separation (of one from another, of ourselves from the natural world, and perhaps from God) a phoenix is rising- lifting us to the next rung in the ladder of evolutionary consciousness. For the first time, technology is making possible a rapidly growing network through which the human family relates and connects, creating a new reality - an empowering connection and celebration of diversity.

The past several hundred years have been tumultuous in the human story. The developing human intellect, beneficial in many ways, works best as a server rather than a master, one tool in our repertoire of ways of learning about our world. We have witnessed the worship of science and its heirs of mechanization, industrialization, consumerism and the ongoing tragedy of the colonization of less developed nations- through religion, culture and consumerism.

With the reawakening of the Sacred Feminine, we are remembering the joy of intuitive knowing, of mutuality, respect and relationship. We each have a part to play in this cosmic shift as we realize the importance of taking time- even a few minutes each day, to be present in our own lives, perhaps most easily done, by connecting, even for just moments a day, with the natural world. Everything we need to know can be learned from the trees in the garden or park. Rain, drought, sunshine or wind, day and night, they grow. They are. From them we learn presence and resilience. Their summer leaves sparkle in the sunshine, dancing in the afternoon winds. They fall effortless to the ground when it is time to release and make way for the new. Oh, at the end of each day, to be able to drop regrets, frustrations and upsets as lightly as they drops their leaves.

Just as each leaf dances to an individual melody of life in the community of the whole tree, in expressing who we are, we fulfill our individual destinies and expand the possibilities of the synaptic map not only of ourselves but of the whole human family.

Lessons from The Garden

Jewish mysticism teaches us that each living being is a unique vessel bearing the same divine light. The vessel is our physicality, each one molded, chipped or fractured in a totally unique way by our individual experiences gathered in the passage of years in the physical world. The choices we make, the ability to forgive others and ourselves, the level of our own awakened consciousness helps or hinders the light we let shine. The light within is the source of all spiritual and religious traditions, such as those presented this afternoon, shining through different vessels revealing how much we all have in common. Where do we find the teachings that help us shine?

Many have read the book, "Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." Perhaps a variation on the theme could be "everything I need to know I learned from the tree in my garden." I want take her lessons to heart. This wonderful teacher, tall and strong, stretches her huge branches giving shade not only to us but to the many finches and hummingbirds who gather in her shelter. From her protective being-ness, I learn presence. In be-ing, I remove myself from worries of the past and anxieties about an unknown future. Presence. Oneness. I breathe - therefore I am.

She reminds me that there is a natural order to living peaceably. When I look closely, I note that her strong branches emerge from her powerful trunk not in some haphazard way as it may first appear, rather her branches spiral out from the center in an ordered fashion, each one emerging distant enough from the one that came before to make sure the older branches have room to grow too and can access to sunlight for their leaves. From her symmetry, I learn about sharing resources which I need to practice more mindfully this year.

True - her roots do lift and crack the paving stones of our deck, but she was there first, and will be there long after we have gone. From her, I learn resilience and forbearance that I know serve us well as the increasing winds of rapid change blow through our lives.

I relish her silence. She is. At day's end, ever so easily, she loosens her grip on those leaves whose time has come. She releases them to make way for the new growth. Oh, at the end of each day, to be able to drop regrets, frustrations and upsets that cloud our inner light, as lightly as she releases her leaves. These are some of Nature's silent, yet obvious lessons we can learn when we still the busyness of or lives.