I’ve felt the need in the past couple of weeks to step up my efforts on sending prayers out into the Ether.   This goes beyond my normal nighttime rituals of placing a protective aura around my home and my family members and the cars they drive; that’s just the given.  From there I move on to my list of people who are mentally, physically or Spiritually wan.  Then I cap off with a crescendo of prayers and chants for the infirmed or those that have requested healing.  As an encore, I end it all with a pretty bow of sincere gratitude and reflection of asking for balance in all things.

I’ve noticed something in my many decades of praying.  There are all levels of prayer.  One thing I don’t do is ask for material stuff.  I never got the memo telling me that the most enlightened energy source in all possible realms, aka All That Is, was doubling as a Santa Claus for adults with a huge list of “if you’re good you get THIS!”

Imagine some guy kneeling by his bedside and praying to his heavenly Father, (because we KNOW he’s not praying to a heavenly Goddess), and asking for, in his best Roger Rabbit imitation, “Pu-Pu-Pu-leeeezzeee can I have the 301 ft. Tatoosh like Paul Allen’s?”   Somehow asking for stuff just seems odd to me – but it’s really not for me to judge the right or wrong way to pray, because there is no wrong way or THE way.  There are many brick roads leading to Oz, and they’re all painted golden yellow.

When I thought Buddhism was the ONE WAY, I was instructed to pray for the material things that I needed to improve my life.  The theory is, and of course I’m thumb-nailing this:  once a human has all the material things he or she needs then they can get around to the real job of praying for enlightenment and peace for the planet.  Well, this sounds great if the person praying is enlightened in the first place, otherwise you just get more people praying for more stuff.

One time in Pennsylvania I had met this terrific woman, Sharon King, who led Holotropic Breathwork Workshops, and she invited me to Satsang.  Satsang is chanting and devotional speech.  I thought the service rather boring, until I realized that I had been in a state of super-subconscious for an hour and was transported to a level of peace and love rarely felt while sitting in more orthodox church services.

When my very young daughter was taken for a Father’s Day visit, and not returned by my alcoholic and physically abusive ex-husband, I prayed for her safe return.  Forty-eight hours later my prayers were heard and answered.  That’s the last time prayers made me physically sick to my stomach.

Since that horrific crisis I’ve kept prayers and devotional words very private; mostly sharing sacred words when I am confident that the people around me are vibrating on a similar level.  Yes, I’m a prayer snob as well.  The people that shroud their heads, and look to the heavens with half-opened slits for eyes never impress me.  I believe that they have missed their calling and should be on that new reality show, “Praying To The Lord”.  The winner who is the most reverent and can demonstrate the loudest vibrato in their voice, and who can collect the most money from unsuspecting, vulnerable humans who have lost their faith, in addition to speaking in tongues that no one understands, receives a ticket to eternal damnation.

So, I think I’m back on track.  I took a mini-vacation from my own thoughts and feel rejuvenated.  My prayers were answered.

Er….oh yes, thank You.

Tags: All That Is, evangelist, God, Holotropic Breathwork, prayer snob, praying, praying to the Lord, rejuvenation, Roger Rabbit, Sharon King

Thanks to Nancy, our resident Astrologer, for her insights on how to survive these New Moon energies:

This month started off a little rocky with an intense full moon on the 5th — at 13 degrees of Aquarius (a fixed air sign) — the energy from this eclipse will affect us for the next six months — Aquarius rules the metaphysical, electricity, inventions, humanity, and telepathy, also physically the ankles and calves.  So any and all of these areas can be brought to the fore — included in the more mundane aspects, our relationship with friends and lovers may be tested, and though some may fall apart, those that remain will be more reliable, more life affirming, and long-lasting.  In addition, let’s all be careful to watch where we are walking, so that we don’t sprain an ankle or injure our lower legs in any way.

On a brighter note, this month’s New Moon is on August 20th, and it is in the sign Leo at 27 degrees.  This New Moon will take some of the onus off of a plethora of tense aspects that abound.  Mercury in the sign Virgo, will be squaring Mars in the sign Gemini.  Mars rules our passions, anger, and intense feelings, Mercury rules our thought patterns; therefore this will bring about lots of tension and perhaps some anxiety that we just can’t seem to shake.  We might not even be aware of a reason for these feelings, and our sleep patterns may be upset, which will compound our uneasiness.  These uncomfortable emotions will begin in mid-month and will last until the 25th.  In the latter half of the month we will be interested in keeping harmony among friends and family, and being aware of any needs that are not being met.  We wish to secure our place in this world, and we want to protect what we have, and those we love.

There is an underlying axis shift that is causing us to be more aware, and it will also encourage us to take more responsibility for our lives.  This change will begin near the end of the month and will last well into the year 2011.  Many of us will be required to learn harsh lessons about living in harmony upon this earth, be aware that it is our own security that will be at risk if we do not listen to the ebb and flow of the Universe.  This time span will allow us to dig deep into our psyches and remember lessons from the past — if we are wise, this will be a time of growth, understanding and unlimited success.

The New Moon is our time to put forth our wishes and affirmations into the ether, where they can bloom and blossom forth.  Since the moon is in the golden sign of Leo (which rules children, confidence, passion, enjoying life, and physically the heart and upper back), you may want to include a wish for a healthy lifestyle (especially if you have been overindulging under the aspect of the Leonine appetites).  Otherwise, any wish for more self-confidence, more romance, a happy outlook, a luxurious vacation, or perhaps an affirmation to help you become more passionate about your line of work, more thoughtful of your loved ones, or you might just want to feel good each and every day.  Since Leo rules the heart, exercise and a good diet go a long way in keeping our hearts healthy.  The August New Moon is on the 20th, at 5:02 AM, EST–remember to add an hour for Daylight Savings Time.

With the amazing energy in the Universe at this time you can conquer any and all of your goals, but be sure to keep your perspective, be practical and adventurous at the same time… Sounds a bit difficult, but you can remain balanced, and remove the rose-colored glasses, and still follow your dynamic ideas within the realm of practicality.   Those that can follow this pathway will achieve remarkable success.  The Universe is conspiring to be of help to those who are willing to constructively use this generous energy… Be bold, be brave and be aware!  May the light shine upon all of your desires.

Tags: 13 degrees Aquarius, 27 degrees Leo, fixed air sign, humanity, intense feelings, inventions, metaphysical, Nancy's Astrology Notes, new Moon in Leo, telepathy, year 2011

Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.

– A sign that hung in Albert Einstein’s office at Princeton University.

Tags: Einstein, not everything that counts can be counted, Princeton

Since early childhood I have held a special connection to nature and the bounty of experiences that Mother Earth provided.  I was one of those kids who put rocks in my mouth, rolled them around in my mouth to “hear” what they had to tell me.

Now, think about this.  I’m a kid.  I’m putting rocks in my mouth.  Put aside the ick-factor for a second; what part of warning signs screaming “Danger! You’re about to choke to death!”, did not happen for me?

By shutting my eyes I could hear any knowledge that the rocks wanted to share with me.  This was my thinking:  Stones are the oldest living thing on our planet.  They’ve seen a great deal of history pass by their “eyes”.  They MUST have recorded these events of early life forms and civilizations within themselves.  It was my job to extract the information and be sensitive enough to listen to the subtle voices.  Yes, this is how I thought.  No one told me this.  I told myself.

Our back yard had some pretty large boulders that doubled as its own rock climbing park.  I can remember how I used to hug them with outstretched arms, and place the side of my face against their face and feel the coolness and depth of their bodies.  I would talk to these large rocks and felt somewhat remorseful at the fact that they had been unearthed from the comfort of their own home, so ours could be built.  Referring to them as “grandfathers” I just felt they were the oldest remaining living things on the planet.

As a kid, dirt became an acquired taste.  Before our driveway got paved I had the best source of dirt for mud pies.  My Dad’s Ford drove over the same spots each day to and from work.  This action conveniently broke up the larger stones into smaller ones.  In a small tin pie pan filled with dirt I’d add water, stir to blend, and with a little shaping here and there I was finished with my recipe.

My hands would be covered with varying shades of taupe and little speckles of granite and quartz.  I’d keep my hands very still until the mud dried, then make a fist so the dried mud would start to curl backwards and fall away.  Patience was required to move a mud pie successfully onto the sidewalk for drying in a July Sun.  I’d lie under the big Elm tree in our front lawn and listen to the June bugs, their wings ticking away the hours, as I waited for my mud pie to dry.

There was an unmistakable smell about those minerals and how it interacted with my olfactory senses and imagination.  I feel the same way when I’m fortunate enough to work with clay.  There is an organic connection happening that just plain feels good as the coolness of the clay wakes up the circuitry within my cells.  Maybe that’s why I’m not especially concerned with dying and transforming my body back to dust.  It’s part of the same organic structure.  Like the mud pie, you change the consistency with water; it dries, then falls away to be reclaimed by the Earth again.

Once my mud pie was sufficiently dry, I’d hold it gingerly and take a bite.  The gritty, dry sensation of this act never seemed to register as odd behavior.  And it’s not as if I sat there and ate the whole thing, usually a small bite or two was enough to satisfy my particular yen for some minerals I obviously felt was denied.

While going through the motions of making the mud pies, tasting them, I felt in some way it was connecting me with Mother Earth in the very earliest of her years – her childhood.  I wanted to experience in some minute way an earthy umbilical connection.

Sensitive kids march to their own beat.  They seek levels of trying to understand their place on this planet by reverting to primitive rituals.  Even though my early childhood took place in the on-the-surface benign years of the ‘50’s, Nature Spirits were sing-songing my name to be aware – to listen to their voices.

It doesn’t matter what the years, what your age – can you even hear when these Spirits call you to a level of connection that is so abstract you consider it to be part of your norm?  That you don’t question the calling or doubt why you think a certain way?  It’s a knowing.  Knowing who you are; knowing your place in the Universe, and knowing its okay to answer the call.

Tags: baby boomers, Ford, Grandfather Stone, knowing your place in the Universe, minerals, mud pies, olfactory, putting rocks in your mouth, sing-song, Stone People, stoned