Tag Archives: magic

The Magic in the Mystery

It could not be more appropriate — or auspicious — that January 29, 2025 was the commencing date of RFK Jr.’s Secretary of Health and Human Services confirmation hearings.

What’s so important about that date? Sarah Hall puts it this way:

Get ready to enter a new paradigm. We are now heading into the energy shifts that mark the beginning of a new era and the dawning of the transformations that 2025 is destined to bring,

She elaborates, On January 29th, the first new moon of 2025 will occur in the sign of Aquarius.

This is also the date of the lunar new year, which according to Chinese astrology will be the year of the Wood-Snake. The snake symbolizes transformation, renewal, spiritual growth, and accessing deep spiritual wisdom. Wood symbolizes growth, new beginnings, expansion, and the fuel for both creation and destruction.

As you can see, these energies all spell out CHANGE. And 2025 is a year of absolutely seismic. historic change.

At the approach of this momentous confirmation, I couldn’t help but marvel in the magic of God’s mysterious ways.

It began with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. seeking presidential nomination by the Democrat party inherited from his family.

It morphed to his making an independent bid.

Then to the shockingly close assassination attempt on Trump’s life, disturbingly reminiscent of the personal losses of Kennedy’s uncle and father.

Which led to his being receptive to the invitation by Calley Means (co-author of Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health) to connect with Donald J. Trump to discuss their common interest in reversing the alarming increase in chronic diseases, especially among American children.

This led to their aligning in a broad-based Unity movement. Together, they expanded the MAGA mission to include the widely popular, relatable goal to Make America Healthy Again. The very root of health, which means whole, brings us back into resonance with the founders’ vision. Going forward, the goal of restoring the nation to optimum health will serve as the foundation of wholeness, unity and holiness — the destined, quantum consciousness of our evolving species.

Kennedy brought a significant number of his supporters into Trump’s camp, contributing to his decisive electoral triumph. And in return, Bobby’s now positioned to fill the role dearest to his heart: making health rather than financial profit the functional mission of government agencies charged with regulating the medical and food-production industries.

Through all the twists and turns of unforeseeable events, life has magically unfolded to bring us to a far better outcome at the perfect time than any ordinary mind could design.

My take away from the pending shift of leadership of federal agencies is this. Looking death squarely in the face qualitatively changed Trump’s take on governance. He’s chosen to surround himself with the highest possible quality of other, similar disrupters, notably unified by their common love of God, of country, and of their fellow citizens.

Who would have thunk it? There’s no longer any point in attempting to kill the president. His mission is now owned by a whole generation of upcoming compatriots. Were he taken out, they would, together, simply pick up the fallen flag and march forward.

So the deep state has been put on notice. No one can erase the Unity legacy. Globalism is done for. Common sense patriotism will prevail.

As it happens, the January 29th New Moon in Aquarius is equally significant on a personal level. Its location activates major points of my natal astrology chart.

So, overnight I queried a most excellent addition to Kyle Gray’s library of oracle cards, Raise Your Vibration Deck, asking what this beginning of a new era — a paradigm shift — holds for me.

The message on first card that came up was familiar — one frequently received. It reads, “I was called here on a Mission.” The handbook elaborates:

Before you came into this body, your soul set the intention to remember the power of your spirit in this lifetime. You set the intention to bring in the light of Source. That was your mission.

Ah, yes. The repeated message: Be An Instrument of Light.

The message on the second card that came up, however, was new to me. It reads, “My Aura is Magnetic to Golden Opportunities.” The handbook elaborates:

. . . the doors of opportunity are swinging open for you. Any exciting new invitations, connections, and inspirations that are coming through are divinely guided. . .

Your energy field is magnetic and it’s attracting people, places, situations, opportunities, ideas, connections and angels that will lead you toward the fulfillment of your highest and greatest good.

I can handle that!

In fact, it’s about time. For, as I Ching Hexagram 49 , CHANGE, advises, “Sages know that when degeneration reaches critical mass, regeneration follows.” True on every scale of magnitude, from personal to planetary.

So here’s what I dearly ask for, and what, in balance, I will gladly return.

Let me connect with sponsors, benefactors, colleagues, advisors and trustworthy money managers to provide the basics of a peaceful and productive lifestyle. In return, I will create books, blogs and other interactive programs, sharing the wisdom gained over a lifetime of introspection, study and broad experience.

Let me live in a safe and comfortable place, away from 5G pollution, preferably near a forested or park area that allows me to breathe in fresh air and place feet on the ground. Let me be removed from an isolated, senior-housing, Cuocoo’s Nest environment, to join company with a community of like-minded friends and colleagues. Let my little home be complete with full kitchen and food pantry, with easy access to washer and dryer.

Above all else, supply me with a fully equipped computer, installed with a Linux operating system and Mint software, so that I can easily, securely create professional blogs and high quality publications. Provide me with the equipment of a first-rate recording studio, sufficient to offer readings, commentary and interviews on subjects of current interest.

In return, beyond personal expenses and fairly reimbursing those who support my work, I will dedicate the revenues flowing from my work to funding the rural healing, education and creative small business communities envisioned by RFK Jr.

Patient Heal Thyself 

We’re within orb of the most powerful and life-changing triple conjunction of our lifetime. The last time it occurred was 2,300 years ago, marked by trade and knowledge advances – the by-products of Alexander the Great’s reign.  

This rare, empowering time invites us to think big. How would we like the future to look? Let’s wish greatly for practical ways to bring about positive change. 

Directing my thinking along this line, with the synchronicities my good angels use to get my attention, a marvelous site of remastered Manly P. Hall lectures popped magically into my YouTube feed.  

Over forty years ago, OA used Hall’s book on magic to instruct his small group on the way of the white magician: dedicating life to mastering the Laws of Nature in order to serve humanity.  

Now it has long been foreseen that the coming century will usher in a necessary rethinking of all the professions – healthcare, education, law, economics — you name it – across the board. 

Amongst those, heathcare is an immediate personal priority. So I looked to see what this newly discovered treasure has to offer on the subject. I wasn’t disappointed.

In The Healing Power of Universal Law, Hall compares the ancient vision of healing with modern medicine, hinting at changes to come. 

Ancient healers lived fully aligned with the quantum Life Wheel. They were profoundly connected with Source. They regarded themselves as priests. They related to patients with integrity and compassion; their attitude was one of humility and of service. By their very presence, these radiant beings quickened latent wholeness (health) within those who sought their help. 

Buddhist healers explained it this way. There are three distinct realms of existence. On the surface is the physical level of appearances (mass). Beneath it resides a subtle, unseen energetic level of radiance (Natural Law). Deeper still abides the level of light and universal law (Divine Law).  

According to Hall, the ancients made little distinction between Natural and Divine Law. They believed that physical illnesses are the consequence of living out of harmony with Nature and violating Divine Law. Patients were restored to physical health by realigning the inner levels of their lives. The healer’s job was to facilitate this process. 

To this end, the artists among them created images of healing. They found, for example, that meditating on the figure of a calm, serene deity offering blessings with one hand, holding a jar of universal healing elixir in the other, had beneficial results.  

Many healing sects, says Hall, both Buddhist and early Christian, “prescribed spiritual solutions to health problems, including the practices of meditation, contemplation and relaxation.” 

The healer’s end goal was not to perpetuate a dependent (and lucrative) relationship between physician and patient, but rather to instill in their patients the awareness that they have within themselves the inherent capacity to self-heal. Once awareness of innate, divine potentials was instilled, going forward, they became responsible to heal not only themselves, but others as well. 

This sacred ability is captured in the classic tarot deck. The Magician pictures the power of self-healing. The symbols of nature’s elements (earth, air, fire and water) are all available, spread out on the table. One hand reaches to heaven, the other points to earth. The infinity symbol over head represents the conscious ability to link, balance, and harmonize extremes.  

In contrast, today’s medical doctors have been trained in the narrow assumptions of empirical science. Too often, they’re motivated by status and financial reward. As Hall puts it, they’re “working merely from surfaces,” the same as any “real estate agent or second-hand car dealer.” 

They medicate. They dissect. But questions about emotional imbalance, spiritual disconnect, and their causative relationship to physical disease are outside the medical paradigm. At best, they’re relegated to psychotherapy or pastoral counseling.  

In the short-term, those seeking genuine healing are out of luck. If we prefer not to be medicated or surgically altered, seeing invasive approaches as adding more problems to the first one, where can we look for alternative, integrative approaches — ones which support a self-responsible approach to not just managing symptoms, but addressing root causes? 

Enter Dr. Zach Bush, a fascinating and influential pioneer in the field of medicine. As he evolves, he continues to lead the way towards a much-needed paradigm shift, returning to practices similar to ancient healing.  

To the point, I’ll quote sippets from a recent interview with Danicka Patrick.

Zach: I just closed my clinic, which was a really emotional process for me. Because I had it – my primary identity as a doctor – for almost thirty years. 

Danicka: Congratulations. 

Zach: Thank you. I did it because calling yourself a doctor . . . says, You know what? You all are sick. And I’m here to fix you. I realized I was part of the problem for my patients. My patients can’t actually completely heal because they believed I had their answer. I have to step out of that role to engage with my fellow humans in a bigger way so that they can heal and I can be witness to their healing.  

Danicka: Wow! A total paradigm shift! 

Zach:  We’re finally tapping into something that’s deeper than biology. We have a program we call Journey to Intrinsic Health. It lays out eight fundamental steps towards finding a lifestyle that supports the fundamental biology of human life. It’s very simple stuff. 

[These include relaxation, introspection, and meditation, similar to ancient healing methods.]  

But once presented in the system that allows you to understand your own capacity for biologic thrive-state, it frees you from the list of diagnosis and diseases that you had previously been defining yourself as. 

. . .  when people are drawn to you, it’s not actually for your physical form. Your physical form is the direct result of the tone that’s sung below you.   

. . .  I believe this is our next step of humanity. If we’re going to change our course, we are going to have to see past the 0.001% shell. 

In sum, I’m reminded of the Serenity Prayer: 

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; 

 Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference. 

The ancients admonished, “Physician heal thyself.” How could anyone quicken others to health who isn’t first whole within himself? It’s unrealistic to expect doctors not trained in the quantum paradigm to confer wholeness (health) on others.   

Yes, it’s unfortunate. But I choose to accept it and move on to what can be changed: ME. 

I choose not to be limited by the limitations others, in their ignorance, would impose upon me. I choose to take responsibility for my own self-healing, and eventually for the well-being of others – even, eventually, through the butterfly effect – for the healing of the planet itself. 

Granted, today’s healthcare industry is entrenched and inflexible. In the short term, there’s not much we can do to change that. But each of us, one at a time, can change ourselves, from the inside out. For my part, I choose to adapt the old motto: 

PATIENT, HEAL THYSELF. 

———–

Patricia West is author of The Common Sense Book of Change and Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change. She’s currently working on The Phoenix Response: Dying To Be Reborn – in the Same Lifetime.

The QUANTUM SOLUTION

Two days ago, in early-morning dream-state, five thought-strands came together, weaving a symmetrically patterned design: the pattern of an urgent dilemma and its quantum solution. 

Here, I’ll identify the strands, then show you how they fit together, forming a single, coherent picture. 

First, I’d been rereading Harry Potter books, especially The Order of the Phoenix. In light of current events, it’s prophetic, equally dark and hopeful.  

Second, since Elon Musk dominated public conversation with his Twitter takeover, I’ve been watching past interviews. Musk, to me, resembles a Harry Potter-like hero, lonely in the muggle world of clueless humans. In a 2012 commencement speech, Elon compares leading-edge technologies to magic. He concludes:  

You guys are the magicians of the 21st century. Don’t let anything hold you back. Imagination is the limit. Go out there and create some magic. 

A patriot in his own unique way, Elon isn’t interested in buying out Twitter for financial gain. He sees it as an international public forum. Freedom of speech is at stake, and with it the future of civilization. 

The third dream-thread centers around another, equally unique patriot, Patrick Byrne, CEO of The America Project. He’s dedicated his life, fortune and sacred honor to sorting  out the unprecedented events of the last few years. Speaking at a Reawaken America Tour event, he outlines the classic, four-stage psy-op Model of Regime Change we’re now going through: 

  1. Demoralization. (politicians exploiting COVID, including lockdowns, masking and social distancing)  
  1. Disorientation. (lawlessness: defund police movements, antifa getting away with violence, intimidation and destruction of property; criminal lawfare) 
  1. Crisis. (election fraud; massive deception) 
  1. Normalization. (censorship, coverup, media whitewash) 

Though not always welcomed by fellow patriots on his locals site, I’ve felt compelled to add my voice. (That’s the final, fifth thread. More on this below.) 

The fourth, inclusive dream-thread is astrology, a core subject essential to Harry Potter’s magic school curriculum. It explains the timeliness of Musk’s appearance on the world stage, as well as the dynamics of exposing systemic corruption in which Dr. Byrne is engaged.  

Different popular astrologers look at various aspects of current events through their individual lenses. None is more comprehensive and strikingly accurate than the preeminent, visionary Pam Gregory. She sees the years spanning 2020 to 2024 as a period when corruption of the old order is exposed, expunged and replaced. In 2022, we’re halfway through this intensely dynamic breakdown as well as simultaneous breakthrough to an emerging new and better future.  

The death and replacement of corrupt institutions across the board has long been foreseen by astrologers. They unanimously agree that governments and their agencies, along with systems of healthcare, law, religion and education are slated for fundamental rethinking. This dynamic is ancient and cyclical. It’s the magical, mystical Phoenix Response of dying to the old in order to be reborn new and fresh. 

OVERVIEW 

The overarching dilemma, as Dr. Byrne sees it, is the looming threat of civil war. He’s adamant to forestall a mutually destructive clash between disillusioned, betrayed citizens erupting in outrage as hidden facts surface, facing off against entrenched powerholders clinging to the remnants of abused authority with the savagery of cornered animals. He’s found in history a successful policy of reconciliation and recommends it as a peaceful way to prevent no-win, self-destructive violence. 

The QUANTUM SOLUTION 

The fifth strand of my early morning musings is my take on the either/or options patriots perceive. My edited responses to the ongoing debate are quoted below: 

At best this [reconciliation] trade-off seems to be the surface of a well-rationalized strategy to buy us time, keep hard core evil-doers from pulling the plug in desperation while patriot goals are achieved, systems put in place. In the short-term, deals may seem expedient . . . the best option among many evils. 

However, in the long-term, because the root problem is neither recognized nor addressed, it will continue to mutate, metastacize . . . take on different forms with new faces . . . until the time when it’s finally correctly identified and rooted out . . healed. 

* * * * * * * * * *

I’m rethinking the “hill to die on” issue. Folks have different takes on what that is. Some want consequences for wrong-doers: justice, even retribution, assuming that would serve to prevent future repeats of current corruption. Whereas others call for a deal. Reconciliation for the sake of preventing civil war.  

The deep state and wall street are named as the corrupt bad actors who must be called to account. To repeat, from my point of view, they — along corporate and political “leaders” — are symptoms (puppets, products) of a more fundamental influence . . . namely flawed education systems, both secular and religious.  

Since no one (excluding mafia and/or cartel dons, perhaps) comes to positions of “power” except through the filters of educational institutions, the current selection processes rules out anyone capable of meeting the standard recognized in the Declaration of Independence: one intellectually & functionally capable of spanning the three interrelated levels of law: the laws of man, of nature and nature’s God. 

My ongoing concern remains that even if elections were pristine going forward, few political candidates or institutional leaders other than those who are products of the educational system that produces corruption (“turtles all the way down”) are available. 

Punishment/retaliation and reconciliation are two sides of the same dualistic coin. Both address surface symptoms, not deeper, root causes. What’s needed . . . in the long term. . . is a cultural, world-wide shift of awareness towards a higher octave of consciousness: a quantum solution.  

To restore Unity, first within and then without, we must first make the quantum shift to a complete and accurate Paradigm of reality. Conversely, so long as we as individuals and as a nation remain fractured from within, unity isn’t possible. Unless one is integrated — mind, body and spirit — and consistent in thought, speech, and action, any hope for true freedom is but an illusion.

It’s not necessarily different schools that are called for, but rather a shift away from the limited and limiting (fracturing) paradigm taught therein. It’s the prevailing knowledge (epistemological) paradigm which is corrupt. And corrupting. 

Further, leaders (educators in particular) urgently need to take into account the influx of (often uneducated) immigrants who are unfamiliar with the nation’s values, who lack respect for its history and have no commitment to its future.  

The face of American (and European) populations is going through major changes. Education must shift/change/evolve to include/serve the entirety of changing populations. The challenge isn’t impossible. Seen as an opportunity, it may, in fact, be a foreordained, astrologically foreseen blessing in disguise. But only if it’s taken into account. After restoring freedom of speech with the help of patriots like Elon Musk in tandem with securing election integrity thanks to the hard work of patriots like Dr. Byrne, that’s the mountain looming behind “the hill to die on.” 

The virtue of the Quantum Paradigm embodied in the Unified Field’s life wheel is that it includes, links and prioritizes the three levels of law acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence. Its elegant simplicity satisfies the standard of Occam’s Razor. It encompasses the heart of all world religions — the basics common to both the perennial philosophy and modern science. It is impartially inclusive of all nationalities, accepting without exception the common humanity of immigrants now flooding across borders all over the world, reshaping the face of the planet Earth. 

Bottom line: to have a United States existing within a peaceful world, we must first shift to a collective awareness and functional understanding of the inclusive, quantum Unified Field Theory which encompasses all humanity, free of unnatural borders. We must come to share a complete and accurate, universal paradigm which respects diversity on the outer, material level of the Life Wheel, exquisitely balanced and held together by a common core at the unchanging, eternal center of Source.

The challenge (opportunity) now opening to us as world citizens — our collective responsibility, not only to ourselves but to future generations – is, one person at a time, NOT to self-suicide, but instead choose the magical, mystical Phoenix Response of death to the old in order to emerge new and changed for the better . . . in the same lifetime. 

What about Love?

Love is the heart of life. Naturally, life-long, I’ve sought to understand what on earth (and in heaven) the love-word means.

I’ve already posted earlier thoughts. For example, in Rethinking LOVE I wrote:

Love is the ultimate mystery. It sparks and keeps the life process going, more to be accepted and honored than psychoanalyzed. Plato described seven stages of love. Each is a rung on an evolutionary ladder which leads from a child’s love for parents, to erotic love, to friendship, and eventually the pinnacle of divine connection. These seven stages correlate exactly with the seven energy centers of yoga anatomy.

In I Want To Know What Love IS (& Isn’t), I wrote:

There was a time when, wherever I’d go, the popular Foreigner tune “I Want To Know What Love Is” was playing in the background. I shopped to it at Woodman’s grocery store. At Gold’s gym, I showered and dressed to the sound of the same music. While I waited in line at the local Subway for my six inch sandwich on honey-oat bread with tuna, provolone cheese and veggies . . . again, the same song.

I wanna know what love is.
I want you to show me.
I wanna feel what love is.
I know you can show me.

If it wasn’t that, then it was the Jennings/Winwood song, “Higher Love.”

Think about it: There must be higher love
Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above.
Without it, life is wasted time.
Worlds are turning and we’re just hanging on.

We walk blind, we try to see,
Falling behind in what could be.

I took it as a cosmic hint. Pay attention to this universal need, and the ways we sing about our searchings.

Attempting to comprehend how people can possibly apply the same love-word to such a broad range of contradictory behaviors, I located what I’ve experienced within the spectrum of energy centers. Plugged in to the Life Wheel of Einstein’s intuited Unified Field Theory, with the crowning pinnacle being Divine Connection (Higher Love), it looks like this:

 

LoveLadder.sized

You might find it useful to know a bit about the personal experiences that led to this understanding. I count five significant love relationships, each a stepping stone to the next.

First there was Beecher. I was a high school senior. He had already graduated college as a physics major and worked at a prestigious research firm. He had plenty of money to spend on fun dates, a fancy sports car, and a suave manner about him. He found me fascinating, which I found flattering. Near the end of the school year, after I’d already been accepted at Oberlin, the college of my dreams, he asked me to marry him. I didn’t need time to think about it. I told him flat out never to ask again. I had an inner sense of destiny — of an as-yet unknown calling. Forfeiting college for an early marriage wasn’t it. That was easy.

Within the Life Wheel, this experience fell on the positive side, primarily on the material level. Kindness and consideration were present, though not its focus. Encouragement was lacking, nor did I feel protected. The possibility of higher love never occurred to either of us.

Second was David. From the start, I was stuck on his name. My hero grandfather, beloved younger brother and two cousins were all named David. It was the name of my idealized biblical figure, King David, who combined the aspects of healer-warrior-king all-in-one.

This David, a dazzlingly gifted pianist and conductor, came into my life during my Freshman year at Oberlin. He was a blond, lion-maned, flamboyant Leo. I was his compliment, a gentle and quiet brunette — a Jungian “dark” Leo. We set each other off like fire-works. He courted me with red roses, music and poetry. We adored each other.

Sadly, he was damaged by childhood abuse, seemingly beyond repair. I met him at the time of a prior girlfriend’s horrifically hurtful suicide. Then a scheming female got her hooks into him. She seduced him into a marriage which he instantly regretted. But I would not take him back.

There was an element of fate at work. Even after college, David kept reappearing. He instinctively found ways to locate me, and always at a vulnerable time of transition.

I agonized on and off again through many twists and turns over the span of more than twenty years. Only through repeated self-analysis did I come to recognize the power he held over me, the lessons to be learned, and finally get free for good. In essence, I had projected all my gifts onto him. The lesson was to take back my power, and however modestly, own in myself the virtues I saw in him.

Within the Life Wheel, despite its emotional highs, this experience fit predominantly on the left, negative side — a mix of romance, sentimentality and violent possessiveness.

Third was George. He came into my life after David’s marriage. It was a rebound swing to the opposite extreme. He was balding, bland, and boring. He offered stability. Although we talked about love and marriage, there was no spark. The major up-side for me was that his presence in my life kept my parents off my back. They liked him.

It ended when I was awarded a NDEA Title III Fellowship to complete a Ph.D. in English Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I phoned him up with the news, ecstatic. He broke up with me on the spot, saying it meant I was smarter than him, which he couldn’t bear. After initial shock came relief. No great loss.

Within the Life Wheel, security-based love was focused on the material outermost rim though, to his credit, he was always kind to me.

The greatest disappointment from George-time came from a conversation with Mom a few months after the break-up. She commented that she hadn’t heard much about him lately. I told her why. She actually sneered. “Good for him,” she said. “Serves you right.”

That relationship didn’t even register on the chart. Though she went through the motions, her heart wasn’t in it. Was her harshness a factor in my father’s suicide? I was only six at the time, so only God knows for sure. My ultimate solution to that loss: turning to God, as Christ did, as my true Father.

Fourth was Swami Rama. The training in yoga science and philosophy was invaluable. However, he wasn’t what he seemed. The world saw a highly accomplished performer. But behind the mask of a celibate holy man. he was a serial rapist, financial con artist and ruthless deceiver — living proof of the maxim, “The larger front, the larger back.” For too long, he got away with abusing energy sciences to exploit unsuspecting students. Bottom line: I learned valuable, undoubtedly necessary life lessons and was then released to move on.

Where would I place this experience within the Life Wheel? Despite the swami’s seductive promises of love and help, it registered exclusively on the left-hand side, fluctuating between lust, domination, lies and oppression.

Fifth. By comparison, earlier relationships heightened my appreciation of OA. No status and adventure. No flaming, heart-breaking romance. No social stability. No two-faced “spirituality.” He was the real deal. Magical – full of healing, wisdom, wacky humor and an incredible, unearthly sweetness. He too loved God as his Father and, like the good angels, acknowledged Christ as his lord and master.

OA breathed a natural genius into whatever he touched. Some praised his incredible memory, but I suspect he was dipping into akashic records with the same intelligence he applied to physical computers, instantly retrieving whatever information he called forth. Words cannot express the gratitude I feel that such a soul ever walked this earth, much less that I was allowed the opportunity to make his last days easier.

His influence spanned the entire field, on the right-hand, positive side of the Life Wheel. As I told Old Avatar, in him I’d won the lottery of life. He knew and showed us what Higher Love IS.

Angel Calling

 

Fate or Free-Will?

Our life is such a curious mix of givens and decisions.

St. Francis of Assisi captured the eternal give-and-take dance between what we can and cannot change:

Now. Let’s take these three God-given variables – SERENITY (peace, calm composure), COURAGE and WISDOM – and put them in I Ching perspective.

For it has been my experience that using The Book of Change as a wisdom-fulcrum tips the balance in favor of what can be changed.

I’ll give you a dynamic example from recent experience.

In an unsettled state of mind, I queried the book asking, as I often do, “What should I be aware of NOW?” The result was Hexagram 47 with a changing line in the 4th place.

The description was right on, matching my mood exactly. It was a chicken-and-egg-like situation. Which came first, the economic or mental stress, I do not know.

But reassurance that “the time will pass” was what I needed right then. It gave distance to seemingly endless difficulties. The advice, “use hardship to develop inner strength” reinforced St.  Francis’ SERENITY option.

The critically important insight, however, was embedded in the dynamic changing line:

Line 4: Placing trust in unreliable people puts your goals in danger.

Aha! I was letting difficult people and their on-going circus dramas distract me from my goals. I let them push and pull me down, forgetting my True Self. A host of spiraling problems all stemmed from that single basic mistake. Correcting that fault had the potential to turn many things on many levels back in a positive direction.

The first step was to take this important hint to heart and have the courage to act on it. The key point of interception was to refocus on my values, on whom I love and whom I serve. Put first things first.

“Coincidentally,” identifying the root cause of “danger” indicated in Line 4 resulted in Hexagram 29, DANGER, which offers further advice on the right way to proceed.

I was especially impressed by the resonance between the two readings. Both highlight the importance of holding fast to goals and avoiding negative thoughts/emotions.

 The I Ching WISDOM-fulcrum changed emphasis from SERENITY to the COURAGE option of the St. Francis prayer, tipping the balance away from passive acceptance of what cannot be changed towards that which can.

So it is that magical transformations on many levels begin with changing negatives to positives. Again, almost sage-like, espousing the way of spiritual alchemy, St. Frances gave us a key to positive change:

Please. Do take a minute or so of your precious time to think about this. Let it resonate with you. Ask, Where is your focus? Are you able to tip the balances in your life, giving weight to the positive side of the seesaw?

Maybe, just maybe, if you’re not already friends with the I Ching, it would be well worth your while to try something new. Working with The Common Sense Book of Change might just give you a new way to leverage the balance between fate and free-will in a positive direction.

A Magical Day

magic

Did you ever have a magical day – one that stands out amongst the countless miracles that abound, most often unnoticed and unappreciated, in the midst of daily life?

Today offered one of those rare and precious times for me, bringing up basic life questions important to us all – about the quality of life and very purpose for surviving.

So I’ll share with you what happened and why, in the seemingly endless blur of discouragements and doubts, it shone like a confirming ray of hope, strengthening my resolve to complete the book now listed on CreateSpace as The Phoenix Response.

Today’s story begins, once again, by connecting the dots between two seemingly ordinary events leading to an extraordinary outcome.

The Longevity Book by Cameron Diaz sparked the first. My eyes halted over it while scanning the bestseller bookshelf at Walmart. The hunch flashed that it had an important message for me. I should look into it.

The second was triggered by the first. I thought back to my grandmother, Ellie West, who gave up a promising singing career to marry my grandfather, Hubble.

Late in her life, Ellie told me about the day he proposed. During a walk in the local park, he stopped in front an enormous sun dial set in granite and pointed to the attached plaque. Engraved onto the metal were the words of poet Robert Browning. “Grow old along with me. The best is yet to be.”

It won her heart.

As she described the event, now white-haired and ill, she shook her head. If not cynical, she seemed at best remorseful. For her, life hadn’t turned out the way the poet promised.

Until today, however, I hadn’t thought carefully about her disappointment. Although I remembered the first two lines of the poem, I’d forgotten the name of the poet and never knew the context of those lines, much less the name of the poem from which they came.

Nor had I wondered what she hoped living to old age would be like, or how and why her expectations were left unfulfilled.

Thinking further on these things now brought magical gifts that answered doubts as to my own future directions.

With a little effort, I recovered the poet’s name, the context of the lines and the poem’s name.

The first stanza of Robert Browning’s poem begins:

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!”

I also searched out a link to the complete poem in which the stanza appears, Rabbi Ben Ezra

This, of course, led to further questions, as well as an Aha! Who was Rabbi Ben Ezra? When did he live? How are his personal story and life work relevant to us now? More specifically, how does his history and Browning’s poem matter to my immediate question – whether or not to complete The Phoenix Response?

Long story short, the good Rabbi – born and died in in northern Spain, 1089-1167 – distinguished himself as a poet, philosopher and astrologer. Between earliest and end years, persecuted for his beliefs, his restless wanderings took him through North Africa, Israel, Italy, England and France.

His ideas outlasted him to influence Browning. Remarkably, the longer poem is interspersed with phrases that could as easily have been drawn from my own writing: I see the whole design, Perfect I call Thy plan.

There is a hint of the phoenix legend: Leave the fire ashes, what survives is gold.

And a foreshadowing of Christ’s enduring presence throughout human history:

Earth changes, but thy soul and God stand sure:
What entered into thee,
That was, is, and shall be:
Time’s wheel runs back or stops: Potter and clay endure.

Not only are there references to a divine Potter and “earth’s wheel” but actually, in conclusion, the WHEEL of LIFE itself. He names the very image (Platonic Idea, meme, archetype – call it what you will) that serves as the substantive foundation of the Positive Action response.

The poem concludes:

My times be in Thy hand!
Perfect the cup as planned!
Let age approve of youth, and death complete the same!

At first reading, I cannot begin to fully understand this poem, much less the philosophical works which inspired it. The writing is complex and terse — more than a little bit difficult. But this much seems clear. There is a succession of ideas being handed down through the generations. Each writer starts up where the last left off, competes the next piece, and hands the work forward for another generation to pick up and continue.

I was comforted to think that my work is interwoven within a larger pattern, connected in the world of ideas with forerunners. Surely I am linked with a larger whole and charged with contributing to the evolution of an ongoing heritage.

On a personal level, Grandma Ellie handed down her unfinished aspiration for me to take the next step. John Philip Sousa auditioned and invited her to travel as a soprano soloist with his band during their European tour. Because she decided to marry instead, she saw in my life the completion of her early aspirations. She was delighted when she heard that I was studying and performing as a violinist in Europe.

And just as Grandma Ellie left me unfinished work to complete, so my writing on holism and the Life Wheel may fulfill fellow violinist Albert Einstein’s heartfelt desire. He intuited the existence of a Unified Theory. Ironically, he’d already received it, but lacked the yogic training to recognize it for what it is:

IF

Returning, however, back to the first strand — the book that sparked this line of thought. Diaz’s best-seller  promises to address a holistic life view. Its description claims: “The Longevity Book offers an all-encompassing, holistic look at how the female body ages —and what we can all do to age better.

There’s so much that could be better accomplished by applying the multi-dimensional Life Wheel model to the claim of being” all-encompassing.” This includes the concept of Einstein’s beloved compass and his call for compassion. For those unfamiliar with the work to which I’m referring or who would like a reminder, here’s a link to bring you up to speed on The Positive Paradigm.

Among reviews, I found a comment supporting my first take that The Longevity Book begs for a sequel – one which I’m eminently qualified to supply. The Phoenix Response fills many gaps crying out for completion. As the reviewer points out, Diaz wrote one book for young women, and now this second for those entering middle age.

The reviewer’s Re line states “Wish she would have taken it to a woman’s age when she’s elderly.” The comment continues “There are so many things mothers did not tell daughters that many of us in our 60’s, 70’s and 80’s have had to find out on our own – sadly.”

My basic message for everyone, up to and including baby-boomers of both genders: it’s never too late. It’s not over til it’s over. Even for those of us who’ve let go of self-care and are now paying the price, there’s always a second chance. There’s always the Phoenix Response of regeneration – going back to the magical creative process of genesis embodied in the Life Wheel.

With this knowledge, it’s possible for self-healers to repair not only original the DNA of the physical body, but also the more subtle pattern of the soul, restoring wholeness by healing literally — as the infinity pattern shows — from the inside out.

So yes, without a doubt. Not only is this work dearly needed. The way for it is actually being paved and readiness created.

So – I’m especially grateful for life-confirming days like this one when the ever-present magic speaks with exceptional clarity.

So my best wish for you is the same. May you have a magical day as well!

Human Survival Cannot Be Taken for Granted

Utopia.sized

AXIOM FIVE of the Positive Paradigm states, “History Is Neither Progressive or Linear, Nor can Human Survival Be Taken for Granted.”

This concept runs deeply against the grain of progressive beliefs. It’s so apparently threatening to even consider that many are unwilling and/or unable to wrap their minds around these basic facts. However, denial doesn’t change what IS. It only leaves the fearful unprepared – unable to make the in-formed, correct decisions necessary to meet and survive immanent dangers.

The dangers are no surprise. Einstein warned, “We will require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.” In answer to his call, the methods included in the Handbook embody that substantially new manner.

Survivalists have warned of a Near Extinction Level Crisis (NELC). Some say it’s already under way. We’re already in its midst. Others speak of a catastrophic “deep well die off.”

Be that as it may, in Positive Paradigm context, some things never change. Others do. Knowing the difference between absolutes and ephemerals is a matter of life or death. The center of the Wheel is changeless. Those in the know depend on this. But the Wheel’s rim spins in endless circles of repeating, patterned change. Therefore, survivors anticipate the predictable, cyclical changes of nature.

They know far better than to take immediate appearances at face value. They’re not fooled by wishful thinking into the false belief that what can be seen is permanent.

Lao Tze, author of the world-loved Tao Te Ching (The Way and Its Power), knew this and tried to warn the world. Sun Tzu, Chinese author of The Art of War — a manual used by successful military leaders for hundreds of years — taught savvy strategists how to exploit the knowledge of human dynamics to win their battles.

Today’s international business leaders have adapted this wisdom, as well as spin-offs like the 36 Stratagems, not with an eye to human survival, but only to capture markets, maximize corporate profits and beat out the competition.

These various texts all draw on the wisdom encoded in the Chinese I Ching, the venerable Book of Change to steer the decision-making process. They rely on applications of the laws of subtle change to stay ahead of the curve. Knowing that surface appearances are deceptive can be used either as a protective, self-defense measure or as a means for taking advantage of the less informed.

Those who love life and take human survival to heart have passed on the basics of how the world really works to those with ears to hear. In contrast, others hoard this knowledge as if to prosper themselves at others’ expense. They deny or even ridicule it, keeping perceived enemies “in the dark” to prevent their success.

In the dark ages, Europeans were taught to believe that the world was flat. The fact that the globe of spinning Planet Earth is in fact round was received as life-changing information that dramatically changed the way people thought and lived.

Similarly, today some still continue to think of history as a flat, perpetually forward-moving straight line. But they are as sadly mistaken as were the ancient seafarers who guided their ships on the assumption that the world was flat.

In fact, the dynamics of human history resemble a multi-layered clock whose second, minute and hour hands continuously return to the same starting point at different rates of speed. Rethinking the paradigm of history to align with known facts would give future leaders an edge on survival.

compass clock

Hegel and Marx had a partially correct, but disastrously hollow view of historical change. They pictured it as a rectangular-shaped grandfather clock with a pendulum that swings back and forth, repeatedly moving right and then left of center.

Their concept of a dialectic prescribed an eventual synthesis of both sides in an upwardly moving, progressive direction. The partial truth in this model is obscured by its inaccuracies and politically destructive applications.

It’s important to note that the interrelated, interconnected fabric of life pictured by the Positive Paradigm Wheel isn’t limited to this particular planet or even one solar system. As a universal model, it literally has applications to how the universe, or even multiple universes, work as well. This possibility is not completely foreign to our human history.

For example, the Anastazi, a highly sophisticated culture of eco-savvy cave dwellers located in Mesa Verdi, Colorado, thrived and then mysteriously disappeared. Like the Inca civilization located in Peru, and ancient Egyptians who built the pyramids, their detailed and accurate understanding of astronomy led archaeologists to conclude that they came from, were in correspondence with, and might eventually have returned to destinations far beyond Earth.

Just as humans continue to navigate their ships in the waters of Earth’s oceans, there may have been — and may again be — times when star travelers operate on paradigms that allow them to travel the oceans of distant space. The wheel-shaped Star Gates of the science fiction series by the same name are suggestive of imagined (or carefully kept) secrets.

In sum, there’s far more to human origins and history than people dream of. Science fiction teases us to think outside the limited historical paradigm. There’s truth in supposed “fiction” that would enrich our possible futures if we use it to expand our knowledge paradigm to match the facts of what has been and could yet still be.

globe

Corollary A: The seasonal, cyclical model of history applies equally to personal lives and the dynamics of organizational and even dynasty life-spans. Knowing the current time, as well as the direction in which its going, is important information to be taken into account in any decision-making process.

Corollary B: Just as the hour hand returns to its beginning point and then continues on to start the next hour, our lives do not end with one span, but continue on. This accords with metaphysical and religious views on reincarnation and immortality. These are not mutually exclusive beliefs. Reincarnation occurs on the surface of life’s wheel, while immortality resides at its center.

Corollary C: Facing the prospect of human extinction may be threatening. But refusing to consider and act on the possibility doesn’t make the danger go away. It renders us unprepared to meet and mitigate danger, preventing the possibility of re-charting the course of history for the optimal use of available options.

Keeping the subjects of magic and space exploration secret, relegating them to the genres of so-called fantasy and science fiction is form of denial. It limits our options for meeting whatever is to come fully and optimally prepared.

When life transitions are anticipated and wisely prepared for, they can be faced without fear and navigated successfully. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’ research on death and dying has equally useful applications to both individual experience and the history of civilizations.

Corollary D: Nothing on Earth lasts forever. Accomplishments in the fields of science, humanism and spiritual enlightenment cannot be taken for granted. In Positive Paradigm context, the creative source resides eternal at the center. While there’s evolution on the outward path, there’s also the opposite and equal potential for devolution on the return path. This includes not only physical dis-integration, but also corruption. This leaves savvy leaders with important choices to make, for themselves as well as the followers who depend on them.

Corollary E: An apparent death sentence makes time remaining all the more precious. In biblical terms, awareness of impending disaster is motive and opportunity to repent (meaning to change one’s heart and ways), and to atone (meaning to realign with the center), using the gift of whatever time is left gratefully, wisely and well.

Some will actually defy medical/historical prognosis and survive to carry on, whether it be here, in other dimensions or even different universes. (Science fiction fans of TV’s two-hearted, regenerating time traveler Dr. Who are well-acquainted with these possibilities.)

globe

Rethinking FREEDOM

 

globe

40. FREEDOM

“The natural laws of the universe are inviolable: Energy condenses into substance. A person who neglects to breathe will turn blue and die. Some things simply can’t be dismissed.

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“It is also part of the cosmic law that what you say and do determines what happens in your life.” — Brian Walker, Hua Hu Ching : The Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu

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“Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, we discovered that sitting down just to think is one of the best ways of keeping yourself fresh . . . to address the problems facing you. You could stand away from yourself in the past and examine whether your behavior was befitting to a person who tried to serve society.” — Nelson Mandela, Interview, Larry King Live

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“When employees trade love, soul and freedom for maximizing profits, corporations lose their human center, and that’s as deadly for corporations as it is for us. The unhappiness and suffering that trade-offs create suggest that the paradigm is the culprit. We’re using bad software, and it’s distorting our concepts of what’s going on. We need all three together to be creative. When we’re destructive, it’s not because our nature is destructive, but because the trade-off paradigm is destructive to us.” — Breton & Largent, Love, Soul & Freedom: Dancing with Rumi on the Mystic Path

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THE FRONT

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Freedom is the state or quality of being free, implying exemption or liberation from the control of other people or arbitrary powers. It means liberty and independence. It implies exemption from arbitrary restriction or a specified civil right. It can mean exemption or release from imprisonment, or being able to act, move or use without hindrance or restraint. It means being able of itself to choose or determine action freely, at will, implying ease of movement performance or facility. It means being free from the usual rules or patterns. It can also mean easiness of manner, or sometimes an excessive frankness and familiarity.

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Like the words peace, love and unity, freedom is a state attained on the inside first, only then reflected in external circumstances. In I Ching context, freedom is a state of in-dependence, depending on inner resources for guidance, protection and peace. The freedom sages seek is the cessation of negative, involuntary patterns of behavior. Breaking the chains of destructive cause and effect is a function of focus combined with self-correction, forgiveness and atonement (at-one-ment) in positive action.

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Those secure in themselves dedicate their lives to extending the freedom they value for themselves to others without prejudice. Abraham Lincoln, for example, had the soul of a sage. He intuitively knew the basics of magic, and recognized the difference between black and white rules. He wrote, “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.” As if direct from the Treatise on Esoteric Ethics, Abe delivered a speech in Wisconsin where he said, “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith do our duty as we understand it.”

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Yet legal prohibitions cannot end of slavery. Saying and doing whatever one wants as a puppet of blind impulse isn’t true freedom. Seeing through negative filters of fear, pride, or apathy is as limiting as literal blindness. Even in a society that calls itself democratic, to the extent we’re unaware of inner wisdom and the laws of natural change, we’re not really free.

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Soul is like the in-breath of life. Love is like the out-breath. Freedom is the intertwined marriage of soul and love in balanced, rhythmic exchange. When we can’t breathe freely, we slowly starve from within, and wither mysteriously even in the midst of apparent prosperity.

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Breton and Largent, quoting the Sufi mystic Rumi, write, “Whatever we do, we do from our inner compass. That’s free:

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Take someone who doesn’t keep score,

Who’s not looking to be richer, or afraid of losing,

Who has not the slightest interest even

in his own personality: He’s free.”

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In I Ching context, the self-mastery attained by thinking and acting consistently from a positive paradigm that’s simple, complete and correct is the most precious, inalienable freedom.

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Nelson Mandela’s life is proof that it’s not circumstances which enslave.

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THE BACK

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The opposite of freedom is imprisonment or slavery. This includes not only external, physical incarceration, but internal, self-imposed limitations. Bad attitudes, negative emotions and self-destructive habits can be as addicting as tobacco, alcohol or drugs, undermining personal freedom.

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Recklessness and heedlessness are perversions of freedom. If a mistrusted authority says not to drink, smoke or drive too fast, for example, the first thing a rebellious teen will do to assert “freedom” is disobey, regardless of the consequences. Sadly, this is the hard way to learn the connection between foolishness and disaster.

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Brian Walker, Hua Hu Ching: the Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu. (HarperSanFrancisco: New York, 1992.) #40.

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Nelson Mandela, Larry King Live Interview, aired May 16, 2000. cnn.com/transcripts.

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Denise Breton & Christopher Largent, Love, Soul & Freedom: Dancing with Rumi on the Mystic Path. (Hazelden: Center City, Minnesota, 1998.) p. 7.