Shadow Aspect of Family

The above picture is entitled “A little Bowl of Hope” (soulhealingart.com).  It makes me think of family, as we are all so hopeful in our families, extended and otherwise. We hope to lay down fertile roots, grow, and help one another.  There is another side to families, however, one we often label as “dysfunctional”.  Sometimes we even wear our “I came from a dysfunctional family” badges as if we deserved some honor and recognition.

Rather than the term “dysfunctional”, I came across a phrase in The Reluctant Shaman by Kay Cordell Whitaker, that captured the essence a bit more – the shadow side of family.  I have only been married one year, and it was not simply a husband-wife union. No, he has two young children from a previous marriage, and an ex-wife who moved across the street from us. 

 

At times, I have felt completely overwhelmed by these dynamics. I think it is difficult enough for women to balance career, home, family, self and it become more difficult when the children/situation is not even your making.  In Whitaker’s book, the following words spoke of my situation

You see motherhood and being a wife as never doing a thing that is just for yourself.  You have been told this is wrong, selfish.  .. you sacrifice everything for your loved ones, your self-worth, your health, strength, clarity, your very passion… YOu … tie yourself to their shadows….

That is what I had been doing – tying myself to my husband and stepchildren’s shadows – their negative (at times) way of relating to one another, handling the divorce, etc.  I had bought into this shadow aspect, which had of course brought our my own shadow side.  In the coming days, I long to see both sides, not only the darkness that is part of family life, but the sun, the light, that makes the shadows possible.

Vision, Compassion, Awareness

In this day and age, who doesn’t need all the help and guidance we can get?  If you are looking for inspiration and hope, please read below.  This was a recent e-mail I received from the astrologer Lyn Dalebout  at(contabo@earthlink.net).  If you are interested in an accurate and inspiring astrological reading, Lyn is the person to contact.

Posted with Lyn’s permission.

                              Vision, Compassion, Action                          Preventive Preparation for Fall 2009           

 I am writing this from one of my outside offices where I like to do most of my musing.  I am sitting on the banks of Cottonwood Creek, beneath the majesty and power of what is called the Cathedral Group in Grand Teton National Park, my home.  I am fortunate to be able to write from my various boulder boardrooms where I meet with the Wise Ones, or the more solitary streamside desks and lake laptops, better suited for individual contemplation.  The elemental energies I feel as I listen and translate what I hear while visiting these studios of study help me trust the greater guidance assisting us all in this wild ride of 2009.     

 There are two things I’ve become aware of since the Summer Solstice.  One is the intensity and entwinement of two very different astrological influences converging in September, and the other is nature of the kind of spiritual support which is always by our side, helping us in our forward movement. I call them the Invisible Ones, and they are your angels, guides, animals and ancestors which accompany you and support you, whether you know it or not.  They are REALLY there for you now.  You simply have to ask for their assistance.       

I am reminded of when I climbed the Grand Teton a few years back.  There is one point  on the climb in which you find yourself on a narrow ledge.  You are looking between your legs to a fall 2000 feet into Cascade Canyon, or if you take the step bridging the thin passageway, you are on your way to ascension…to finishing the climb to the top of this 13,000+ peak. That’s how it feels to me right now.  Somehow I find comfort in remembering this, knowing the choices I need to face, to not stay long, frozen in fear, but stepping out over the perceived hurdle, at last onto the other side.                                                     

First off, I encourage all readers to check out an article in the June/July issue of Mountain Astrologer by Raymond Merriman, an expert financial astrologer.  It helped to clarify my thinking on what is taking place in September’s symphony of shifts….important reading on the historical contexts of the coming transits, full of warnings and insights that will benefit anyone, your 401K, bolstering your courage to take the risks now, make the changes now, that you know you need to make now…no more delays!        Because we live in a multilayered, multidimensional world, it might be helpful to understand the two crosscurrents I will shortly discuss,  swirling around us.  You can choose which will rule your life, you can decide which one will grab more of your attention and intention.  Yet,  both will be going on around you and your loved ones.  It will require a vigilance of consciousness and a ferocity of focus.      We are currently immersed in what astrologers call a time of “mutual reception”.  Sounds good, right?  We’d all like a little of that in our relationships…in our global community.   Outer planets articulate the evolutionary currents that are always moving us on, honoring one of the great Truths: Everything is Change.   In studying what Pluto, Neptune and Uranus are up to, we can learn where the tide of history has been, learning from misjudgments and mistakes, and where it might be taking us next.  Nothing is predetermined, as we reside in the reverberations and responsibility and of infinite possibilities of choice available to us every moment.  Every single moment.                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^         Clarification for non-astrologers or borderline skeptics:  The planets don’t cause things to happen, but in the great mystery of how this Universe seems to work, they  synchronisticly (is that a word?) mirror what’s potentially going to happen.  That’s why it’s better to think of astrology as a language, not a belief system.  Astrology, used as the fine tool it is, articulates the meaning of certain events going on around us and provides a helpful map and way to discuss the repercussions of these events.                                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^           I believe most of us are either mystical scientists or scientific mystics.  We all have a left and a right brain (I think). Usually, one side  is more dominant than the other.  We all have to learn the lesson that there is what we can KNOW…the visible, touchable, quantifiable world…. and then there is the Great UNKNOWN, the Universal Mystery, God, the Unseen,  Love (my favorite description).   Equally REAL, but different.  In life, we learn of this through great love or great loss, but I believe it is part of what it means to be human.  No one, thankfully, escapes this teaching.          With Uranus (innovation, inventiveness, revolution, authenticity) and Neptune (imagination, spiritually, art and creativity),Jupiter    (abundance, joy, optimism, hope) and Chiron (healing, leaps of faith, miracles, rainbows) in this harmonious alignment that won’t happen again for 3000 years, we are all being blanketed with supportive energies that will help you reinvent your life based on what truly brings you joy. I imagine this transit is laying the foundation for what will eventually become the Aquarian age, still 400 years away, by the way.          But that doesn’t mean it will be easy. It’s never easy to leap into the void without that 100% guarantee the net is there.  Perhaps this is what we are learning at an accelerated speed in the global economic “downturn”.  When any sense of a safety net is already dissolving before your eyes, be it your pension, your savings, your loss of a home, having  faith and trust  in something larger than your individual self may be the best option for survival.  This downturn is an upturn in feeling our connectedness, in dissolving social classes, in recognizing, painfully, thankfully, how tied we really are to one another.                                               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^      Adjacent to this positive energy is what might be called a more foreboding, dismantling  astrological transit beginning to align in the heavens.  Even for someone like me, who is the eternal optimist, I  feel I am being asked to prepare for a gathering storm, big, blueblack clouds full of high, intensity winds.  I love storms, a combination of excitement and angst, prayers the lightning won’t strike ME, and a desire to witness its power and mystery.  Winds of change, winds of spirit, winds of cleansing, all wrapped into a building intensity that we’ve lived through before, but not without massive changes and release, restructuring and renovation.  Again, read Raymond Merriman’s article for the historical context.       This soon to be impending cosmic weather event is called a T-square, as in squaring off, as in a conflict….between three people…. like a love triangle…usually not the most pleasant of relationships.   Very different in tone than the mutual reception I described above.  The planets involved in this grandiose geometry are the outer planets of Pluto (death first/rebirth eventually, transformation, transmutation, biology, big kinds of power) and Uranus( revolution, innovation, radical sudden shifts) and Saturn (form, institutions, limitations, restraint, status-quo).  The best way to talk about this is whatever is about to take shape this autumn has links back to the big revolutions of 1968-69 and to Sept 11 2001.   This doesn’t mean history will repeat itself, although that is one possibility. It can also mean we will take the lessons learned and dramatically restructure society in an accelerated, dynamic way. Our choice, both collectively and individually.       T-squares aren’t just about forces fighting. They are also about  a creative tension that can transform itself  into great art, revolutionary movements, and entirely original ways of seeing.  This T-square is literally aligned in the Universe, from the sidereal perspective, in what are called the mutable signs, the signs linked to transitioning  and morphing us all to the next cycle.  The influences are:  Pluto in Sagittarius, the birthing of new vision and a new way of power,  Uranus in Pisces, universal compassion and acceptance for all ways, and  Saturn in Virgo, healing and hard work  to get the job done, to take the necessary,  concrete actions.                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^                                      Vision*** Compassion***Action                                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^         These are the attributes I read  into this event from a sidereal perspective. Vision***Compassion***Action.  Will we be that wise?  Will we be that visionary?  Will we take the necessary leaps into new forms, new institutions, new kinds of organizational (schools, churches, philanthropy)  and economic models, new acceptance of all kinds of love?  Will we live our compassion more fully, in every moment, with each encounter?  Not just with humans, but the more than human world. We’ve done the personal work for the past forty years, especially for the last 8 years since 9-11. Now it’s the full-on renovation of our society into a greener and more compassionate world.  A true grassroots revolution.                                   Vision***Compassion*** Action.                                 Make it your mantra.                                 Make it your practice.                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^          You probably  already sense these two strands tugging at you on a daily basis. There’s lots of good to come out of lean times. Strengthen your skills in preparation for this fall…walk often in nature and ask for guidance, meditate,  lift weights, lift spiritual weights, dream large, green your diet and lifestyle in all ways, attune and attain to your inner oracle, that deep place of knowing what’s best for you. You get the picture. Each of you has your own best routine, your individual healthy habits.  Discover what supports your health and vitality and release the rest.  Get focused, energized and confident in your Self so you are ready for the work ahead…so you have that physical, spiritual and emotional strength to take that leap when it is your time. Hone your joy, perfect your peace, sense your service. Get ready. And most importantly, ask for help from your Invisible Friends.                                             Vision*** Compassion*** Action         With Love,        Lyn Dalebout      contabo@earthlink.net                                            *************

Keep Going…

I recently read Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance by John Marshall III.  Marshall is a writer of the Lakota tradition. 

This book could not have appeared at a better time in my life.  Marshall does an outstanding job of making it clear that life is not fair.  You can hope for the “good stuff” – happiness, health, employment, healthy children and parents, yet we all are eventually confronted with the labors and difficulties part and parcel of living.  The simple phrase, “Keep Going” is amantra when things are difficult.  That’s it – Keep Going. 

The timing for this book’s appearance in my life could not have been more relevant, as I recently entered some difficult situations in my life – my father lost his job, my friend’s father died, and my husband seemed to remain in love with the idea that despite the fact I did not bear his children, I would have no problem with dedicating my life to raising them, even though he and their mother were fully physically present in their lives.  

            I needed the shift in perspective this book brought, as did my mother.  She was visiting as I read it, and decided to take the copy of the book home with her.  Facing difficult times, we often do not realize our own strengths and powers.  On the surface we may wish we handled things differently or judge ourselves in other ways, yet, we often overlook the beautiful grace and composure that most of us display at these times.  It is amazing what people can “get through”, and not only get through, but find that part within that strengthens themselves and those around them.

Inguz Rune

 

I dreamed of Jesus last evening – in the image of an icon – with yellow halo.  The unusual part was the spine was in the form of a lit, yellow diamond (or lozenge) chain.  According to http://www.whats-your-sign.com/ (a wonderful symbolism site), this is known as the Inguz ruin and symbolizes creation.  Native Americans will also use the diamond shape to indicate wind (life force).  Can also symbolize vulva and birth canal.

http://www.wolfcall.de/runes/inguz

Ingwz ruin — meditation, faith, what was begun will move to fruition, fertility, etc…

http://runesecrets.com/rune-meanings/inguz — According to this site — “Rune of isolation or separation in order to create a space or place where the process of transformation into higher states of being can occur.  Ruin of gestation and internal growth.”

Aha! This is how I feel at this time.   The support of on image in a dream can have such a transformative, supportive effect on our lives.

Mind as Enemy during Spiritual Transformation?

In a class at Atlantic University, we were recently asked if the mind is the worst enemy of transformtion and spiritual awakening. I had never thought of the mind as the “worst enemy” of any thing.   Yoga and Buddhism will often refer to the “monkey mind” – that thing, forever jumping around, which for some, prohibits the focus, stillness, and awareness required for awakening.  But, another spiritual teaching is that our greatest strength can also be a weakness, and I believe the opposite is also true.  Our supposed worst enemy and weakness, the mind, is also our route to greater awareness.

           The key words in the issue are “transformative process.”  Transformation implies change, and the mind does not like change.  Not that the mind does not enjoy stimulation, but overall, the mind is designed to determine and “figure out” the process for success and survival.  Newness and change forces the mind to adapt and reconfigure a plan it had already determined for success.  

            Throw a spiritual emergency into the mix, and not only is the mind confronting change, the mind is also confronting a LOSS of ITS REALITY.  The one reality, the mind had fully participated in creating.  In creation of this reality, the mind maintains a position of power.  What if this reality is turned upside down?  What if sensory stimuli are no longer as they once appeared?  What if the person’s beliefs, spiritual and otherwise, are found to be distorted?  What if the mind is confronted with the fact that a reality exists outside of its creation?  For the mind, this is death and loss of power.

            In the loss of power, the mind revolts, and potentially becomes the worst enemy.  It skips around, it loses focus, it creates drama where none exist, and it perceives threats in nothingness.  Prepared for survival, itself included, the mind becomes a distraction.  However, we can not simply push aside this “worst enemy”, for in the mind is a key to our awareness of being.   Many traditions work on training this aspect of the mind, whether through yoga, meditation, chanting, or artistic creations.  Stilling the mind, so it may contribute to greater awareness, becomes our path to integration rather than separation.

            Of course, this is not easy.  The mind itself can become resistant to such awareness.  As in Transpersonal Knowing, Puhakka states, “Not surprisingly, thinking is deeply disdainful of the prospect of awareness operating free from its control.  For in such a prospect thinking contemplates it own demise” .  The mind, having determined the view of the world and an understanding of how the world operates, is hesitant to relinquish any control.  But, within this problem, the escape exists.  For if we come to realize that “We do not see things as they are, but also as we are” , we can change our view of ourselves and the world.  

Excellent book on Spritiual Transformation :  The Stormy Search for Self  by Grof and Grof

Website: http://www.holotropic.com/

http://realitysandwich.com/blog/stanislav_grof

Benefits to PMS?

 

 

 

A friend recently sent me this license plate picture- apparently it’s been around for awhile.  My friend sent it along with the comment – “I would never honk at this woman in traffic!”

Of course, I can relate to the irritability associated with PMS, and one or two days of it is enough, let alone the 24-7.  Yet, whenever I hear or see these types of jokes, I think of Christine Northrup’s book – Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom.

 

In this work, Northrup speaks of PMS and what it can serve in a woman’s life.  Prior to and during PMS, there is a large drop in progesterone, which can affect mood stability.  Northrup’s point, and I would agree, is that although the magnitude of our response may be elevated during PMS, seldom is there no basis for our feelings.  Often in life, we bury irritutions, worries, and concerns as women so we can “get along” and “maintain the status quo”.  During PMS, we may be unable to bury these feelings as well as we normally do– and this is O.K. Usually the “slight event” which irritated us in the first place has been present for some time, and we may or may not have had the courage or strength to express ourselves.  During PMS, we may be giving voice to what needs expression.

Now, I am not condoning all out attacks or rages against others at this time, however, I have found in my own life that after keeping something inside for a month or more, it has been amazing what has come out during PMS–almost an emotionally cathartic cleansing correlating with the physical changes of menstruation.

Furthermore, as Northrup discusses, the later half of the cycle and drop in progesterone may be marked by irritability and increased sensitity. However, this is often more than balanced by the positive, high levels of estrogen at the beginning of the next cycle. At the start of each cycle, with estrogen as the supporting character, women feel on top of the world.  Others in our life benefit from this energy. As much as we are knocked for PMS, we must not overlook the strong, powerful energy we also present at different times in our cycles.

Discernment or Judgment?

http://www.stariq.com/Main/Articles/P0003952.HTM –Jupiter is religion and Neptune is spirituality.  The former has judgment the latter does not. 

What does this mean?  Does Neptune not judge others or does it lack judgment in the form of discernment. This quote caught my attention, as I have often stated I am spiritual but not religious.  I have never understood those who feel their religion is “right”.  The certainty of their actions often astounds me, as if all is lost if one does not proclaim certain ideals. 

I had a dream with an owl looking at me backwards.  It would not look to me face on and stated, “Is it discernment or judgment?”  I had to stop and think – of course we are all familiar with the wise, old owl.  But is this wisdom used for discernment or for judgment?  Too often, I feel, at times, I have fallen into the trap of judgment.  Viewing my self and actions as superior to others.   There is a difference.

So many Neptune dreams…

The eye of the divine looks upon us.  What do I see with this “I”?

So many dreams and images last evening, I felt as if I were losing my mind.  I am hoping this blog helps me organize some of the material, posting the images as I create them.

Dream of 1926 (date important – Why?) – walking in city, Chase bank sign.  I am a well-dressed woman.  Travel to new building site – I stand and stare at a poured building foundation.  I am concerned if the structure is solid and if the time is enough.

From http://www.stariq.com/Main/Articles/P0003952.HTM — 1926 – Jupiter-Neptune opposition.  In 1926 first liquid fueled rocket launche by Goddard. – Aiming for heavens?? Key time??

 Meeting myself before birth- light blue color, peaceful soul – knowing.

Two images appear – spiraling smoke, forming a circle on blue background

Red stone cross with interlocking yellow circle – this image is to be use for healing and weight loss.  Will post once created.