Here’s an interesting bit of synchronicity – if it vvorks out that vvay. 

Most are avvare of the Mayan calendar and the implied ending of the vvorld (as vve knovv it) sometime in December, 2012 (the consensus is December 21, the vvinter solstice, but opinions vary – as usual).  There hasn’t been a vvhole lot of talk about it yet, but it is still 5 years off – and after the millenium’s dismal entrance performance, many may be reluctant to get too excited about another mega-event. I’m just hoping to still be around to see it – vvhatever IT might be.

Ahh – but as to the synchronicity … 

Our sun has just entered vvhat scientists refer to as solar cycle 24, the onset of vvhich vvas signaled by a magnetically-reversed, high-altitude solar flare.  Solar activity is expected to intensify over the next several years, coming to a peak ‘solar max’ in 2011 or 2012. 

For novv, I’m in a ‘vvait and see’ mode.  But novv there is a bit more to anticipate than a mere date on the calendar.

Interesting evening last night.  I stopped in one room and there was a fellow on mic asking about other people’s experiences – an innocent inquiry.  The responses from the room owners though were surprising – very cautious, almost to the point of paranoia – ‘I’ll tell you my experiences if you’ll tell us yours first’.  It was as if the owners thought they were being baited and were just waiting for this guy to set the hook and reel them in. 

So the visitor shared a couple of his experiences, and then got grilled about them.  I had to leave the room soon after, so don’t know if he ever got to hear anyone else’s stories or not in that room.

A little later though, I went into another room and here he was again, asking the same questions, trying to get some responses and again, the room owners seemed to be leery of answering him, and the longer it went on, the more pronounced that wariness became.  Again he was challenged – you show me yours and I’ll show you mine – and again he complied but it wasn’t reciprocated. 

Of course, I’m sitting there puzzled, wondering what’s going on, what is there about this guy that causes people to throw up their defenses – and I’m not seeing it – even today after reflecting on it through the night.

Unable to find a rational explanation, I turned my thoughts to a spiritual one (Spirit isn’t rational??? lol – maybe we’ll look at that another time). 

Fear has many faces – or so it’s been said (director Nicolas Roeg is credited with coining the phrase, but I imagine it has been around a lot longer), but our greatest fears seem to be fear of physical harm and fear of ridicule and our most frequent fears are of what might happen, not what is actually happening.  Some people are afraid of spiders because they might get bit – some people are afraid of speaking in public because someone might make fun of them. 

[I am no doubt splitting hairs, but in my opinion, being averse to suffering physical harm (assuming the threat is immediate and real) isn’t a matter of fear, but of discernment – self-preservation.   (Isn’t it amazing though, how many people, when actually faced with inevitable death – and yet somehow managing to survive – report becoming very calm in the face of it.)]

Since imminent physical harm wasn’t an issue last night – let’s focus on the fear of ridicule, which many say is even greater than the fear of bodily injury or death. 

Obviously, if ridicule (being seen as a fool) is a threat, then our sense of self-worth is based on the opinions of others.  And what that says is that we lack the courage of our convictions – in other words, hardly convicted at all.

Last time I spoke of darkworkers being lightworkers in disguise, but isn’t that true of any person or situation that challenges our beliefs? That makes us take another look within, sort out our thoughts and hopefully draw on our inner strength and that of our higher power to see us through? 

Fear doesn’t really have many faces, it only has masks.  And we put those masks on it, depending on what particular ideal, virtue or value we need to cultivate and strengthen at any given time.    

In the end, fears really are ‘false expressions appearing real’ – or as real as we allow them to be.

Blessings

I've discovered time and again that when I have no choice but to go with the flow, the flow carries me where I wanted to go or somewhere better.

I found myself in a situation this past week: still looking for employment, no longer welcome to park at my son's (because of the landlord, not the son) and running real low on funds.  Having a doctor's appointment in Columbia on Tuesday, I decided to wait until then, and see what Columbia had to offer after the appointment.  Found a couple of places to put in applications and then decided to stop by Unity Center, a church I worked for back in the early 90s.  Spoke to the church administrator, laid out my situation to him, hoping he could recommend someone who would let me park next to their home.  He suggested I park in the church lot - let me plug into an outdoor outlet for electricity, gave me a key so I could get in to use the restroom and kitchen, and even gave me a $20 card to use for gas/groceries at a convenience store.  A temporary solution, of course, until I can make other arrangements, which I'm hoping will come thru today when I attend services.

There was a potluck dinner Friday night which a couple of people invited me to come to - and I met up with several people I knew from before as well as enjoying a good meal and program.

Still looking for the job - but in the meantime, paid readings online are up, and I've listed a meditation download on lulu.com for sale, which several have expressed interest in.

So off I go to church, with the intent of enjoying the company and the message - no other expectations.  Rolling down the river

ps: Gotta love synchronicity.  The minister's message this morning was on here and now, being in the flow, grace.  I walked away with this thot: I can moan and groan about what all isn't right (and that list would probably be fairly long if I chose to make it) or I can rejoice in anticipation of the good coming into my life (and that list is blank because I choose not to limit it).  In the minister's words 'I open my sails and let the breezes of Spirit guide me to my destiny.'

Blessings

Another line from a song has been going through my head the last few days – 'he's a paperback writer'. For a long time, I fancied myself a writer, did quite a few short stories and poems and for a couple of years wrote articles for several metaphysical publications. (Just had a 'click' – all of those were paper back magazines – haha.) hmmmm

PalTalk being what it is these days (if I didn't mention it before, it's been like an insane asylum around there – so much misinformation and downright idiocy that you have to laugh to keep from crying), along with the fact that I'm on a slower connection now and can't use my microphone and miss a lot of the voice conversation when others speak – I'm spending less time there and more time thinking. Thinking it might be time to put some of those thoughts on paper, so to speak.

Been dreaming like crazy lately too - unfortunately, only to lose it all the minute I wake up - even tho in the last few minutes at least, I am usually aware that I am dreaming.

As so frequently happens on PalTalk, someone got on the mic last night and proceeded to tell the room just what spiritualism (life on the other side and our interaction with it) is all about. I have to admit I was only listening with one ear, as my sound is not that good right now (back on the AT&T connection) and what little I was hearing didn't jive all that much with my own experiences. But I was listening in a way while I worked on a cryptoquote in the newspaper, and asking myself 'who makes up all these rules?' Well, good ol' synchronicity comes into play once again – the quote worked out to: “Everything in nature tells a different story to all eyes that see and to all ears that hear”. (R.G. Ingersoll)

I typed that into the room – but only one person reacted – a hearty LOL – and the talker continued with their spiel.

It should be obvious to anyone who listens at all to the many stories of spiritual encounters that much of our experience in these matters depends on our beliefs.

What concerns me most though, is that many people have no beliefs regarding spiritualism until they hear or read of others experiences and or beliefs (a lot of people expound on the subject with having any actual personal knowledge). So as they begin to open to the possibility, they also find themselves open to all the fears that so many find necessary to encumber spiritualism. Naturally, when they do have an encounter, things often happen that they don't want to happen – the law of attraction. And of course, they relate that experience to others and spread the fear. (And isn't it interesting that the fear-mongers speak out more often and get more attention than those who have had more positive experiences?)

Which is a real shame, as it is apparent that we create these situations – and we create them on the basis of faulty information. If we drop the silent 'e' at the end of create and re-arrange the letters, we get react – the basis for much of what we create – reacting to what we see and hear rather than acting on our knowledge and wisdom. Reacting out of fear rather than acting with confidence.

The law of attraction is one side of a coin – the other side is the law of creation. Both are in play simultaneously, manifesting physically what we project mentally. Although this should be common knowledge by now (the principle has been around a long, long time), it's apparent that many don't know (and many have to be reminded frequently ).

The bottom line is that those who do know simply have to keep working the principle, becoming more successful with it and setting the example, while telling the truth as they know it to any who will listen.

It's so easy to get away from posting on a regular basis - little things come up or I go a few days with nothing to write about - and before you know it months have gone by.  All I can say is, I'll try to do better - no promises tho.

Unfortunately, my laxitude has affected not only my writing, but my spiritual practice.  Once again, I find myself in situations not conducive to my well-being, to say the least, and wondering how I got here.  Not to wonder long tho - the ol' cosmic 2x4 takes a swing and knocks me back into reality - the reality that I've let my thinking slide into woe-is-me mode once again. 

'I am' are the most powerful words we can speak, imo - and can build us up or tear us down, depending on how we use them.  Without going into the details, let's just say I've been a bit negligent about monitoring my 'I am' self-statements - and am paying the price.

Back on track - my biylines (biy = believe in yourself) are: I am confident; I am happy; I am at peace; all is well in my world.

Blessings

I had hoped, expected even, to have a new nic by my birthday - it would have been a very fitting and auspicious day to begin a new identity.  It finally came to me yesterday, only a little over a week late, as I was mowing the lawn.  I must say tho - I'm quite pleased with it and am using it regular on PalTalk now and will be using it more in other places soon I'm sure.

The nic exemplifies my belief that everthing comes from within - that the soul is magical you might say at manifesting whatever we are focusing on.  Right now, that is a bit of a bummer as I had a little pain, gave it too much attention and now it has become a lot of pain.  But I'm making every effort to reverse that and get back to hale and happy.

In other news, I'm giving a talk to a spirituality discussion group tonight - only my second session with them and I've been asked to talk about the crumpled paper readings I do.  Have decided to wing it - no notes - which is not my usual modus operandi - so it could be very interesting - lol.  Will wind up with the group practicing on each other - might get to that point very early in the presentation - haha.

Actually, I see it as an excellent opp to share my beliefs and let others share theirs.  Wouldn't be surprised if there aren't several 'like-minds' in the group.

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything here, but frankly, I just haven't been inspired to write anything until lately. So to anyone who has been checking the site for updates, I apologize for the delay and thank you for your interest.

The latest craze on PalTalk has been the movie 'The Secret' and the law of attraction with cds and dvds being played into the rooms and open discussion on the principles presented therein.

I obtained a copy of 'The Secret' right after it came out last summer (2006) through an email offer. Although I found the movie inspiring and motivational, the 'secret' turned out to be what every metaphysician knows – 'as within, so without'. (It was a stroke of marketing genius though to call it 'The Secret' – everyone wants in on the QT – certainly sucked me in – lol).

The people sharing 'The Secret' on PalTalk moved on to recordings of Jerry and Esther Hicks' Abraham presentations. For those who don't know, Esther 'channels' a collective consciousness she calls Abraham – Jerry usually facilitates the channellings by asking questions of Abraham.

Less than a minute of listening to 'Abraham' the first time, the question came to me, “why is she calling this a channeling? The information being shared was again common knowledge for any metaphysical student, and which I'm sure Esther is well-grounded in and could speak of in her own voice. Listening further, Esther all but admits many times in the presentations – and especially in her interview on Oprah's radio show - that Abraham is a figment of her imagination, an alter ego she's created to pass on her own knowledge. (I'm not discounting the information, just the way it's conveyed – I find it humorous that the law of attraction is about self-expression and yet Esther implements an imaginary persona to present it.)

The bottom line is that 'The Secret' and the Hicks presentations are both full of good stuff for metaphysical newbies – I highly recommend the movie (follow the link above and you won't have to pay $25 and wait a week for a cd like I did) – and I'd recommend the Abraham interviews with the caveat 'do as 'Abraham' says, not as Esther does.'