Welcome to a World of Spiritual Harmony

I have a good friend facing major abdominal surgery, and don’t feel I can say anything more to her about how to handle the situation / her body / her belief system. But I am still working away on it in my mind, looking for the words that could lead others to a different understanding of healing and how to be well.

The looks she’s giving me now seem to mean - you are being totally unrealistic, you don’t want me to be better. The statements she’s making are that once this surgery is done, it will all be taken care of and finished. And yet the evidence is not there to back up those statements. She’s still living with the effects of a major surgery over 10 years ago. And what I know of the surgery she’s facing now is that it will happen again and again and again, as the situation continues.

And of course I do want her to be better. I want everyone to be better. I just think that to be better, the most important thing we have to change is our minds. What in our beliefs and choices is calling this dis-ease in? What change in our thinking is needed to cause it to exit?

In the case of abdominal disease, for instance, one might ask - what is going on with the garbage in my life? Perhaps I am holding on to material that needs to be released. Or I might be letting go way too soon, before the situation is dealt with, and ending up with diarrhea and dehydration.

In any case, of course we have to do what’s necessary to be well. So if, after you sleep on a medical problem for a few days, you make a decision for surgery. But don’t take it as a label for yourself, take it as a working theory, and entertain other theories as well. And certainly add in the possibility that you can heal it by changing your beliefs, even as you move toward a medical solution. Or simply believe in miracles.

Being practical and realistic seems to mean for many people being negative and seeing only the worst case scenario. And of course believe in your doctor. Just realize that if you ask ten doctors, you will likely have 10 different opinions and 15 different options - that the surgeon will recommend surgery, that another physician might recommend physical therapy, that a third may recommend drug treatments, all for the same condition.

I also believe that anyone facing a major disease, and certainly facing surgery, needs to get one or two of those second opinions from an alternative practitioner and from an energy healer. I have seen over and over again dis-ease disappear, and heard stories from the healed about doctors not even asking what happened - just saying, for instance, that someone must have read the scans incorrectly. That attitude of not inquiring as to cause seems very unscientific to me.

I continue to wrestle with cutting through all this fear, and with making clear what seems simple and fairly easy to me. We are self-healers, truly. We can practice wellness body, mind and spirit. We can support each other in health and healing. Yes, we can.

I teach White Light Meditation in virtually every class on my calendar - yet I’ve never written it down. So I thought the easy way to do this would be to blog it first, and then turn it into a formal document afterwards. And what an excellent way to spend a very hot late summer Sunday afternoon!

White Light Meditation

This meditation and its visualizations work best when standing. So stand up, get comfortably set on your feet, shake out your arms and legs - and then take 3 long slow deep breaths.

The closest we can see of the protective white light is when the sun breaks through the clouds some distance away from us after a rain. That pillar of light coming down from heaven to earth is what the sacred white light looks like. Now visualize that wonderful light coming into your crown chakra, your fontenelle, the soft spot on the very top of your head when you were born.

The light pours in, beginning to fill you up. You may feel it in your fingers and toes, or you may not. Whether or not you feel it, it is pouring in. Now you are so full of white light that it is pouring in and pouring out at the same time - so you are now a fountain of this beautiful light. It is creamy white, and gold, and silver, as well as transparent and irridescent and sparkly. Keep breathing, and picture this beautiful scene. Makes you smile, doesn’t it?

When you are calm and peaceful in all your radiance, talk to Spirit about how you want the white light to help and protect you. My favorite is to say - ‘Spirit, I want the information and not the energy.’ In other words, I want to see everything that’s coming at me, all that I need to see of what’s going on around me - but I don’t want anyone else’s energy, good or bad, getting through the white light barrier. Some folk say - ‘I want the information and the good energy’.

If you’re driving, you could put this energy around the car, and cause it to spin, deflecting any problems - like radar. You can make the energy thicker, less transparent. You can make a concrete or stainless steel barrier of it if you’d like - and tell Spirit which energies need to be blocked from getting through that barrier.

I usually do this in my living room, and put the protection first around me, then around the house, then to the edges of the property. I end with taking it clear down to the river and up to the major street behind me, to keep my whole environment in great order.

When you’re comfortable that you’ve done all the work you wanted to do, say Thank You for all the spiritual assistance, and bring yourself back to normal time and space. The white light will stay after you end the meditation. You can refresh yourself with it whenever you choose. It’s a good idea to take a few minutes to do so if you’re going into a difficult and stressful situation. I do it at least once every couple of week or so, or more often if I need to be calm and centered.

I did a reading for a client this afternoon - it was a great reading, and very affirming for her, which always is great for me as well.

Afterwards, she talked about the President and the uproar / opposition surrounding him and the Democrats as we face the midterm elections. I had another deck out on the table, and was moved to use it to ask two questions 1) what’s going on right now with the situation and with the president himself, and 2) what will the situation be six months from now. (Wish I had asked specifically about the elections, but didn’t.) I had her shuffle and draw the cards, and I read them.

1) The current situation has President Obama hemmed in so that he doesn’t have real freedom of movement in many situations, and the mindset of many is heartbreaking in terms of the President achieving his goals (8 of swords, three of swords). However, it looks like he is focused on those ideas and programs that he can grow and make prosper, and is not taking most of this personally. He’s also still very willing to take risks when the timing is right (princess of staves in the deck I was using, which is the page of wands in most decks). The same applies to the Democrats, thought perhaps at a lower octave.

2) Six months from now will be much happier and more integrated overall (9 of cups). President Obama will be relaxed and calm, and focused on making changes to programs and regulations already in place, to make them even more productive, and help them be applied even more broadly (king of staves/wands). The country’s economy will be much healthier - not perfect, but with real growth seen in the fairly near future (10 of pentacles).

So that would be about the first of March. Let’s keep track and check back.

Tales of Wonder : Adventures Chasing the Divine by Huston Smith with Jeffery Paine, is called an autobiography - but it is more a memoir with travel narrative - and a foreword by Pico Iyer, one of my very favorite writers.

I of course had heard of Houston Smith and his many books on religion, plus his series with Bill Moyers, but had never read him. And this book on the bargain table at Joseph-Beth seemed like just the light summer reading I was looking for. It turned out to be perfect.

Houston, now in his 90’s and in an assisted living facility, mostly because of arthritis, is still an excellent writer, still living an adventurous life. The book is divided into the Horizontal - My Life in Historical Time, and the Vertical - Living in Sacred Time. So the first part is his life story, growing up, marriage, children and grandchildren, plus tracking his career and achievements. The second tallies his birth into Christianity, and his journeys to study and live other religions in a faithful way, while also experiencing spirituality via primal religions / peyote, etc, mysticism, and psychic phenomena. The underlayment is Christian - but a very loving and open Christianity.

I could wish for one more book. He alludes frequently to his marriage, his wife and her psychic / spiritual gifts, and his learnings in that relationship. At the same time, he will talk about a religious experience in a foreign land, and only casually mention that Kendra was along for the ride. If he can see his own marriage well enough, and can get out of his own way enough - and bring Kendra into the conversation - that would be another book worth reading.

A good book, a fast read - watching a white male grow and change, adapt, become more self aware and more caring. All very reassuring, as far as the future of the planet goes.

The new Leonardo DiCaprio movie - Inception - is riveting from start to finish. It’s all about dreams, about planting ideas in dreamers, about - not said this way - lucid dreaming, where you know you’re dreaming, and act on that knowledge. The motivation for all this, in this case, is about money. (As most of us now believe all motivation is about money/power/stuff. This is actually a fairly recent phenomenon.) Leonardo’s motivation different, and more in line with the mythic / hero story.

As the team works with deep, deeper, deepest levels of dreams, I am fascinated by how much material is in here. And with how their awareness allows them to move among the levels, and to communicate across those stretches.

Having been in a dream group for a long time, we are always aiming toward awareness in dreams. And often choose a theme to ask for dreams about. For instance, we have asked ‘What does the Universe need from us now?’ Currently, that theme is healing.

Here’s the standard stuff in the movie: A big cast of characters, scenes on a plane, in a Board room and in a hotel, and in an Arctic fortress. Tough corporate guy, and tough hoodlum guys. Plus a chase scene in perhaps a bazaar somewhere in the Middle East. A fair amount of what I think of as ‘boy stuff’, now that I’ve been listening to 20-something friends talk about guys. Mayhem of all sorts, guns getting bigger and better. Which, in my time listening to lots of people’s dreams, I have never heard much of - in men’s or women’s dreams - so that was the least real part of the film for me.

The story thread about the wife and beautiful children is often very dreamlike, as is the perceptiveness of the woman architect on the team. She leaps to answers, as dreamers often will. Not a straight line logical process at all.

Maybe all of this is necessary to get us to think about our inner Universe, and how all the different levels of ourselves grow and evolve and shape each other. Whatever gets us thinking about dreams, and knowing more about who we are, is just fine with me! And this is a pretty fine film on every level.

At my birthday party, lots of folk were asking how come I don’t look 70, when I am. The answer I gave then was that I basically do very little that isn’t fun for me to do. And since I’m always having fun, that’s what I look like.

I’ve been thinking about that answer, and still like it - here are some expansions of it. For one thing, I love my left-brained work: community development - and my right-brained work: spirituality, healing, readings, teaching. I love eating food that makes my body feel good - so I don’t eat like most folk. I pay attention to my body, and if I notice a twinge or new nuance, I pay attention to that. So I don’t have to end up with magic-bullet doctor-prescribed remedies. I love re-cycling and just can’t handle all this wastefulness any more. I love stretching and gardening and going to plays and eating out at wonderful restaurants with all of my wonderful friends.

I’ve also started to add more walking into my life - and will sometimes suggest a walk in place of a meal. This is such a great walking city. I wear clothes that are comfy and fun and elegant - gave away my high heels a long time ago. I’m doing more and more writing, and I love that. I have an entire yard and woods full of animal friends, and a great organic garden. I am doing almost exactly what I want with my life, with the people I want to be around. And those people / family / friends are a rich source of joy in every shade and stratum.

And when I do stress myself out - I’ve gotten a lot better at admitting it to myself. Always the first step in recovery. And there’s Rescue Remedy to help out if I really go over the top.

Thanks, Universe, and everyone around me… It is Truly a Wonderful Life.

This is now, of course, in the new age movement, an old book. The Four Agreements by Don Miquel Ruiz (M.D. mentioned in the copyright) was actually published in 1997. I have known of the Agreements for a long time, but had never actually read the book.

Here they are: Be Impeccable with Your Word. Don’t Take Anything Personally. Don’t Make Assumptions. Always Do Your Best.

Aren’t they wonderful? And don’t they really take most of the anxiety right out of life?

When the book showed up on the Give Away Table at Reiki Healing Circle a couple of months ago, I decided it was time. But after wandering around in a few pages scattered here and there, I find I’m not going to read it. I’ve already used these ideas, individually and together, for musing and meditating on. I like them. I know they are correct and truthful and beautiful guiding statements.

The rest is commentary. Very good commentary. I’m sure I would totally agree with nearly everything in the book. Maybe that’s why it’s not on my list to read. Although I do read books I agree with. Maybe it’s because I feel I’ve already inhaled the book. It’s in me. And that’s enough.

I’m teaching a new class on Intuitive Development and Spiritual Coaching. As we were learning pendulums the other day, we began to discuss the best places to buy them, as well as other spiritual tools and toys.

My favorite places are (in alpha order) Aquarius Star on Ludlow in Clifton - a fairly new place that includes an organic cafe - great for brunch on Sunday mornings. Enchanted Moments in Milford (for me, an easy beautiful drive out Columbia Parkway) has great selections of everything - fun clothes, fun puzzles, fun jewelry. And Whatever Works Wellness Center, on Montgomery near the Kenwood Towne Centre. Amazing how much wonderful stuff is in that small space. I also know a lot of folk who love Spirit Wind, way out on Beechmont, so I’m sure it’s a good place, too.

And then - a jewelry store created by a friend of mine, which has wonderful spiritual jewelry and pendulums as well as fabulous items of other jewelry. Yummy stuff at M. Nippert Jewelry, on Miami in Mariemont down the street from Graeter’s.

The other thing I like about all these places is that they feel so good. The energy is high, no anxiety scattered around. Just pleasantly buzzed. Aaahhhhh.

I just can’t stand it any more. All this wastefulness. I have for years brought home the leftovers from breakfast, lunch and dinner out. Sometimes I could eat for a week from those little boxes in the fridge. And I appreciate it when the boxes are recyclable paper, and not plastic.

But I am getting even better.

After a great lunch today at Take the Cake Deli in Northside - there were no leftovers! They do not, praise Heaven, serve American-sized portions with tons of glop all over them Sure made me happy. And when we walked up the street to go into the clothing, etc. store where Crazy Ladies used to be - and I found cute earrings and a cute shirt for little, since they were in the consignment part of the shop - the friendly clerk and window designer asked if I wanted a bag for my purchases. And of course, I did not.

I started the day by cutting my almost-used-up toothpaste tube in half, using my toothbrush to clean out enough of the inside that I could put one piece part way inside the other - so now I have a shorter tube that will enable me to use all the toothpaste. It’s still a plastic tube - am working on getting plastic out of my life. So will have to solve that problem one of these days.

I do the same with other plastic tubes and bottles - like oil of olay. And even empty toilet paper rolls go into the paper recycling. As I said in the beginning, I just cannot stand all this wastefulness any more.

There is a lot of spiritual stuff on the web about stopping the oil spill, saving the environment, cleaning up the mess.

None of it has felt exactly right to me. We meditated on it at Healing Circle last week. Some of us felt real pain from the situation, from the Mother. The Earth’s blood is pouring into the Gulf, with a pulse beat as it spills.

The last two days, Jovius.org’s channeled message has been about sending love to the Gulf - and not sending anger and hate toward BP, the failed equipment, the corporate world, others involved. Sending love to everyone and everything involved and affected - which is really all of us - that’s what Jovius is asking. That was one of the themes at Healing Circle as well.

Fellow healer Mary, along with her brother, was shopping with her favorite crystal dealer a few days ago. When she got home, she realized that all the stones were ocean-colored. She poured them out onto a table, and wandered around the house picking up other stones and adding them. She tried building a grid, but just kept wandering off. Meanwhile, her brother, a physician, got the idea and built the grid - and though he would deny his intuition, that is certainly what he used to put the stones in place.

A grid is a builder, collector and holder of energy, which can then be directed to where it’s needed. It’s much like an altar, in the sense of being focused on a particular intention, often within a particular time frame. The grid is both beautiful and powerful. So I’m now adding my energy to the grid, and seeing change coming in the Gulf, a real reduction of harm at every level. Please feel free to add your energy as well.