Light Up Your Life

Light Up Your Life

by Astrological EventsEnergy HealingEnergy MedicineFeaturedSolar

Winter Solstice is a time of great symbolism and a time of reflection as the darkest and longest night of the year gives way to the return of the sun. Solstice actually lasts for 3 days, since the change in the Sun’s path is so slight on the days around the solstice that the Sun seems to “stand still.” The “high noon” of Solstice is when the Sun is exactly overhead the Tropic of Capricorn. This year, that moment is on December 21st at 5:22 p.m. EST.

This is a great time to ask yourself: What in your life needs to emerge from the darkness into the light? What seeds have been nurtured in the depths of your being that want to find expression in the light?

All ancient spiritual teachers had some type of ceremony to honor the return of the sun, and they left us some vivid reminders. Stonehenge in England is known for its precise alignment with the movement of the sun and has been a sacred place to celebrate the solstice for thousands of years. The same is true for Newgrange, a burial mound in Ireland that is over 5,000 years old. It has a 62-foot passage leading to a chamber. During winter solstice, the rising sun comes through the top of the chamber and lights the room.

All over the world, there are festivals and rituals to mark the beginning of longer days and the return of the Sun, symbolized by Christmas tree lights, menorahs, Kwanzaa candles, and Twelfth Night bonfires. Another of the ancient customs comes from the Druids and Pagans, who still call their celebration Yule and burn a yule log. The log, an emblem of the returning Sun, is a huge block of wood, meant to last for the 12 days of Christmas, turning night into day and illuminating the house.

There is something within us all that needs to know there will be light after the darkness of the longest night. So how will you celebrate the Sun’s return to greater light?

You could make your own yule log. Each type of wood has its own spiritual qualities, and the type of wood you burn in a ritual can indicate your hopes and prayers for the new year ahead. Aspen brings spiritual understanding; oak symbolizes endurance and strength, victory and triumph; pine (fir, juniper, cedar) can bring prosperity and protection; the yew tree connects with immortality and longevity; and birch is associated with rebirth and regeneration, as well as fertility.

You can decorate your yule log with candles and greenery. A sprig of holly ensures your family’s safety and brings good luck. And do you know the song about “the holly and the ivy?” Ivy lives on after its host plant has died—a reminder that life goes on. It symbolizes healing, protection, and the binding of lovers together, so it’s associated with loyalty and the powerful bonds of family and friends. And then there’s mistletoe, associated with peacemaking and the end of discord, not just kisses, although nothing wrong with them either!

Wrap your log loosely with ribbons of different colors. Here again, see what you want to symbolize. Red, which we associate with Christmas poinsettias, holly berries, and Santa’s suit, is used to indicate passion and prosperity and good fortune. Green, the other color associated with the Yule season, is a reminder of the evergreen tree, and therefore everlasting life. White symbolizes purity and truth and represents purification and spiritual development. Gold, of course, is the blazing sun. It was one of the gifts brought to the newborn “light” of Jesus by the Magi, and the first menorah was made from a single lump of gold. Gold ribbons invite in wealth for the coming year and a sense of revitalization. You can also decorate the log with pine cones, dried berries, cinnamon sticks (makes a lovely smell as the log burns), along with the ribbons and the cuttings of holly and ivy.

When you’re ready to burn your yule log, you can do it in a fireplace or outside in a fire pit. Write down an intention for how you will live in the light during the coming year and stick the paper in with the log. On the night of winter solstice, set up an altar with pictures of your loved ones and spiritual guides, and turn off all the lights in your house, and then meditate. At the end, and facing the altar, say a blessing for the return of the light.

It could be: “The wheel of the year has turned once more. Tonight, the darkness starts to retreat and the light begins its return. The sun returns to us once more.” Then light the log or some candles, and say, “The shadows vanish and life continues. We are blessed by the light of the sun, and the inner sun of our divine self.”

Rituals are reminders. This time of year, in the midst of the usual holiday chaos, align yourself with the solstice and mark the birth of more and more light in your life. It is your light that brings you immortality.

Mary Murphy Blog

Shine like the star you are

by Energy HealingFeaturedGuest Blogs

Guest blog by Mary Murphy, LifeForce Energy Healing® Master Grad Practitioner

Yes, it is the holidays and you remember the bad ones. The ones where dad drank too much and Christmas dinner became a shouting match between the drunk relatives. But this year can be different because you can choose to be different.

Yes, you choose to be different.

We all wish that we could change other people but the truth is we can only change ourselves. We can set boundaries around ourselves to ensure our own mental health. We can set realistic expectations for ourselves.

That is all we can do. Truly the only thing we are in charge of is me, myself and I. You are the master of your own thoughts, emotions and actions. Christmas and the holiday season is a great place to start creating the life you want.

Let’s begin.

Decide what it is that you love and do those things that make you happy.

Many of us take on a huge amount of the responsibility for our families happiness when really it is an individual thing.

First, we need to set reasonable goals for ourselves. Does our house really need to look like the cover of House and Garden? Will it make our celebration more special?

Forcing your husband or significant other to light up the entire house may not make him happy and consequently you as you fight yet again about the lights. Let each person in your household contribute by doing the things that mean the most to them. You’ll be surprised if you ask your kids what it is that is really meaningful to them. Then let them help.

Christmas (or any holiday for that matter) is not the time to be a martyr.

Secondly, pace yourself. If you reach Christmas exhausted and cranky because you’ve been acting like a frantic elf—stop!

If you meditate—keep your practice up.

It is even more important now to be calm and centered as the rest of the world rushes around trying to get the best deal on the big screen TV the family wants.

Exercise—yes in most parts fo the country it is cold and dark. And we are tempted to put it off till the New Year—then we will get back on track.

Keep up whatever you do for exercise.

The endorphins will help you keep humming along and the exercise will keep you from the frustration of the extra 10 pounds that many gain between Christmas and New Year. It will also help keep your cortisol levels from getting out of whack.

And lastly, don’t spend money you don’t have.

It may be tempting to buy things you can’t afford thinking that this is what will make your family happy, when really it is you that makes your family happy.

Sitting on the sofa, sharing a good book, a Christmas movie, a bowl of popcorn, Christmas caroling in your neighborhood, volunteering in the community, those are things that everyone will remember. Do you remember the gift your sibling gave you five years ago? Bet not.

And, if you can afford it, buy something for someone who might not have a Christmas without you.

One of our favorite activities when my children were school age was to get a family in need and buy gifts for them. It helps put things into perspective. Warm clothes and boots and a single toy for a child in need vs the XBOX that seems so necessary!

The holidays are a special time and needn’t be a time of exhaustion and sadness. Spending time with those we love is the real gift we give each other. Think about the things you really love about the holidays and do those. Let go of the rest. And let go of the past. It is over and done with. Set limits. Don’t put up with bad behavior.

A few years ago I bought myself my own Elsa doll that sings “Let it Go.” When I feel particularly wound up, I get the doll out and play the song over and over until I feel better.

And one last thing…don’t look at instagram again until after the New Year. Comparing your holiday to anyone else’s is a recipe for disaster. Be happy with what you have. Cherish your family whatever size, shape, color, gender orientation, race, religion or political persuasion. Time is short. Enjoy every minute!

Shine on you bright star!

Merry Christmas.

2018-LightUpDarkBlog-1

Light Up the Dark of Winter

by Featured

Yes, it’s that time of year again . . . holiday chaos during the spirit-nourishing dark of winter. You may be feeling a little torn between spending days to get the best shopping deals or spending more time in meditation, prayer, and ritual. As a spiritual teacher, you know what I’m most interested in!

Winter brings many opportunities to go more deeply into your spiritual practice. There are many more hours of darkness, and you’ll have less time to engage in outdoor activities. Think about turning off the TV/computer/tablet/phone each evening and surfing your inner being for a while instead of cruising websites for the best Cyber deal. If you get stuck in the house due to stormy weather, seize the moment and create a ritual that will advance your energy healing.

For example, tune in to the transformational properties of the element of fire. Watch the dancing flames in a fireplace as wood turns to smoke and ash, and feel your impurities burning away, sweeping clean the inner space for Source to manifest more clearly. Or light seven candles—one for each of your main chakras—and take the time to sit in each chakra, communing with the flame of that candle as you experience the places you are still stuck as well as the energy centers that are humming along for you. At this time of year, think of starting at the crown chakra and bringing the energy down through the remaining chakras—the way spirit manifests through thicker layers of physicality as it descends from the higher realms into the earth, birthing your own Christ consciousness in your body.

Even though the holiday lights may be sparkling brightly everywhere you look, you may be going through a difficult time. The holidays bring up all sorts of emotional stickiness. Did you have someplace to go for Thanksgiving dinner, or were you home alone and unhappy about your solitude? Did you have a large family gathering where you spent all day avoiding Uncle Harry, the one who fondled you as a teen, or your alcoholic sister-in-law, who hasn’t spoken to you since you suggested she go to AA? Do you have family plans for Christmas or Hanukkah? What about New Year’s Eve—the bellwether of your social life?

Use this emotional stew to clear up some old patterns in how you relate to others, especially family. As one sage has said: if you think you’re enlightened, go home for Christmas and see how long your enlightenment lasts! If you feel hopeless about doing this deep emotional work yourself, sign up for healing courses in energy medicine so you start the new year with a commitment to become the new you. Energy medicine clears out the old toxic emotions.

The approach of the new year and the annual “return of the light” awaits. Now is the time to prepare to let your spirit soar! Maybe this is the year you will expand your horizons, both inner and outer. Maybe this is the year you will learn to use your spiritual gifts.

Let’s go back for a moment to the image of sitting in front of a candle. There is a spiritual practice called tratak that involves lighting a candle so the flame is at eye level. Sit quietly and look through your eyes, not with them. Let your spirit dance with the flame. Envision your own aura as you watch the circle of light that surrounds the flame. Relax deeply, and you might just find yourself heading down a dark tunnel and out into an experience of astral travel. Or you can pull the light of the flame into your heart chakra, illuminating the blaze of love in your heart.

Most of all, in the depths of winter darkness, go deep inside to listen to your intuition—the “gut feeling” that always knows best. If everything in you wants to blast old rock ‘n roll songs and dance till you drop instead of sitting cross-legged and staring at a candle flame, by all means, sing along and shake that booty. Dancing and singing are two wonderful ways to release negative states.

There are really no rules for what you may need at any given moment in time in order to release old constricted energy and open up new vistas in which Spirit can shine. You, and your Higher Self, know what you need. Listen to that inner voice!

California is burning

California is Burning

by AdvocacyFeaturedSocial ActivismTrauma and Violence

California is burning, and it’s all too much. One day a dozen people are gunned down a couple of miles from my home during a college country music night, and the next day fires erupt on both sides of me. Lives and homes are turned to ash while politicians point fingers of blame.

I’m still under a mandatory evacuation order, as the Woolsey Fire rampages through my portion of the California dream. I have heard my house is safe, so far. Fortunately, I have a temporary set-up that’s working as well as possible from the inside of a van. Tiffany, who has worked for the Deborah King Center for a decade, has lost her home. You can help Tiffany get back on her feet here.

My heart bleeds for the sorrow and loss so many are experiencing—sometimes loss upon loss: a loved one murdered while dancing followed by the loss of a roof over your head and all your belongings going up in smoke.

Think for a moment. What would you take given less than five minutes to pack and evacuate before the flames reach you? Without a doubt, after securing “everything with a heartbeat,” your phone and laptop are at the top of your list of inanimate necessities, even before underwear and a toothbrush. But you can’t be too attached to anything or you won’t get away in time.

It’s far too much to think about for being cremated in a car like those poor folks in the Camp Fire in Paradise. Those images will continue to haunt us all.

Fire has to be respected. And so does air—the autumn Santa Ana winds that fan the flames and send sparks and cinders in all directions. And water, that life-saving element that can douse the flames. And earth—the poor scorched landscape that actually needs fire to regenerate. And ether, the most subtle of the elements, the space filled by the other elements. We have lost touch with the elemental parts of our lives.

Each element is vital to our life. When we die, there is a progression of how each element leaves our body until we exhale that very last breath of air.

But what we are seeing these days is “it’s all too much” in terms of the elements. Fire, which gives us energy and transformation, explodes in massive firestorms. Air and water, necessities in life, become deadly hurricanes and widespread flooding. The earth is telling us something, but are we listening? The clock is running down before climate change turns our world yet more inhospitable.

It’s too much really. It’s hard to take it all in: the death from guns, the death from fires, the death of the way in which we used to know our planet.

There is a silver lining, however. When there is a disaster, like the wind-driven blazes we are experiencing here in California, for a moment in time all hearts beat as one. Doors open and strangers are invited in. The ordinary becomes the extraordinary and heroes arise. A drive someone has taken every day of their life suddenly becomes a passage through the inferno of hell, while singing to a child in the back seat to keep her calm, and those who watch the video have to be hard-hearted indeed if tears of compassion don’t well up and spill over.

Does your heart cry out to help those impacted by the fires? Here’s what you can do:

  • Help Tiffany – giving a hand to one person is giving to all.
  • Donate to the Wildfire Relief Fund, a California Community Foundation.
  • If you are in the local area, volunteer to help. Go to ca.gov to learn where your services might be best put to use.
  • If you want to sign up to host emergency shelter in your home, the Airbnb Evacuee Program for the survivors of the fires in Ventura, Butte, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Diego counties is looking for temporary housing through November 29th.
  • If lost and frightened animals call out to you, the Humane Society of Ventura County needs your support.
  • Don’t forget these valiant firefighters who risk their lives and their health for our safety. Donate to the California Fire Foundation to provide emotional and financial assistance to families of fallen firefighters and to victims of the fires. Over 50 firefighters have lost their homes in Butte County, and yet they are still out there battling to save others’ homes. And the Disaster Relief Fund of the International Association of Fire Fighters helps those on the front lines and their families.

We really are all in this together. Today it’s us here in California. Tomorrow it could be your neck of the woods, your loved ones, your home, your life. Give something, do something; be part of the change for the better.

Cats - Royal Meow

The Royal Meow

by Energy HealingFeaturedPets

A German Shepherd, a Doberman, and a cat have died. All three are face to face with God, who wants to know what they believe in.

The German shepherd says: “I believe in discipline, training, and loyalty to my master.”

“Good,” says God, “then sit down on my right side. Doberman, what do you believe in?”

The Doberman answers: “I believe in the love, care, and protection of my master.”

“Aha, “ said God, “you may sit to my left.” Then he looks at the cat and asks: “And what do you believe in?”

The cat answers: “I believe you’re sitting in my seat.”

And that is so accurate! It’s like the saying, “Dogs have masters; cats have slaves.” I know, I’ve been a slave to various felines in my life. If you have ever had the privilege of caring for a cat, you know what I mean.

Cats don’t listen to commands. Just try telling a cat to sit, or come, or speak. Instead of instant obedience, you’ll probably get a disdainful look, as befits the royal majesty. Yes, cats have an ancient royal lineage.

Ancient Egypt was famously devoted to cats. The deities Mafdet, Bastet, and Sekhmet all had the heads of cats. Bastet’s job was the protection of her country as well as of home and hearth; she also protected women’s secrets, guarded against evil spirits, and was, naturally, the goddess of cats. Sekhmet was a lion-headed goddess who had to be appeased or else she would wreak havoc (like those YouTube videos of a cat with a roll of toilet paper).

Since the First Dynasty of Egypt, cats—tamed African wildcats—protected the Pharaoh. Mafdet, a deity with the head of a leopard, was the protector of the Pharaoh’s chambers against not only snakes and scorpions, but also against evil. And then, of course, there’s the Sphinx, with a human head on top of the big cat body, guarding the sacred temples and pyramids. Over 200,000 cats have been found mummified in the tombs and “cat”acombs, with small bowls nearby for their milk in the afterlife.

One reason cats were protectors of the temples, besides getting rid of pesky rodents, was their ability to see beyond the physical plane. Cats, who can see in very low light, also sense what’s going on beyond the visible. I’ve seen my cat sit and stare at a spot in my home, checking out the spiritual presence in the room.

In ancient Japan, cats were charged with protecting Buddhist scriptures that were transported on ships from China, keeping mice and rats away from these sacred documents. This gave the Japanese a revered image of cats, which became the featured stars of folk tales in the 6th century. Today, cats and cat images are still aboard ships around the world.

In an ancient Chinese myth, in the beginning of the world the gods asked cats to oversee their new creation, and granted cats the ability to speak. The cats were more interested in playing and sleeping than with running the world. Eventually the cats said, why not put human beings in that position? So the power of speech was given to humans instead of cats, while cats were entrusted with keeping time. There is a belief in China that you can look into a cat’s eyes to tell the time of day. Today, cats have a well-developed love of routine. If your cat likes to have breakfast promptly at 7 in the morning and you oversleep, kitty will let you know in no uncertain terms that it’s time to wake up and feed me!

In 4th century India, the epic poem the Mahabharata had a cat named Lomasa that teamed up with a mouse to escape death, all the while discussing the philosophy of the balance of power in relationships. Despite their size compared to ours, it’s no question of who holds the power in the cat-human relationship!

Back in ancient Persia, Muhammad outlawed harming or killing cats. Muhammad clearly loved his own pretty kitty, Muezza, so when the call to prayer came, he cut the sleeve off his prayer robe, where the cat was napping, rather than wake her up. Another cat, which belonged to an ally of Muhammad’s, saved Muhammad from a snake attack. While petting the cat afterwards, he granted felines the ability to always land on their feet.

Although cats had high standing at first in ancient Europe, when the Christian Church tried to demonize all the important pagan symbols, they associated cats with evil. Pope Gregory IX denounced cats, especially black cats, as being in league with Satan, and they were regularly killed throughout Europe. This let the mice and rat populations explode, and the fleas from these rodents brought about the Bubonic Plague. It took until the reign of Queen Victoria in Great Britain, who adopted two Blue Persians and treated them like members of her court, that Europeans again started keeping cats.

As strange as it may seem, domestic cats didn’t arrive in the U.S. until 1749 CE, when they were brought on board ships from England to help control the rodent population. By 1895, cats had become so popular that the first cat show filled Madison Square Garden in New York.

Well, time to go feed my cat. She’s old and slow these days, but still communicates her desires with that inborn authority to command. And yes, she can sit and nap wherever her royal majesty desires.

If you want to learn more about cats, other pets, and wild animals check out my Communicating with Pets and Animals course.

Dead worshippers

Pipe bombs, assault rifles, and dead worshippers

by AdvocacyEnergy HealingFeaturedSocial ActivismTrauma and Violence

The time has come to take the bull by the horns and deal with a situation none of us likes and yet many don’t know what to do about it. I’m talking about the difficult and dangerous rhetoric being spouted in every direction that leads directly to pipe bombs, assault rifles, and dead worshippers in a house of God.

As a spiritual teacher, I usually remain neutral, seeking the good at the heart of all. But we are headed down a treacherous path and it’s time for each of us to take a stand, express our opinions, make our voices heard to try to save our country and those who live here. Those who are trying to get here to escape precarious conditions in their own country may find themselves facing military personnel bearing arms rather than the open arms of Lady Liberty.

Actions start with words, and these days civil discourse has all but died. In the past, there was an arcane concept called public debate, where opposing arguments were put forward, the matter was deliberated, with each side putting forth the best defenses of their position. Each side listened to and responded—politely!—to the other. The two sides might have disagreed, but neither party reacted with hatred and vitriol to the other. You could have a difference of opinion without being enemies.

Now we find ourselves in an era of incredibly nasty name-calling, horrific personal attack ads, and in-person physical attacks that are praised by those in power.

Politics and culture wars have become so divisive and destructive we’ve become untethered from our values. And it starts at the highest level of government, with a head of state who attacks the opposition—the opposition being anyone and anything that doesn’t kowtow to him, doesn’t kneel and touch the ground in submission. By labeling his opponents as evil, by mocking them publicly, by refusing to recognize the truth, by leading with fear and divisiveness, our so-called “leader” has inspired the violence we see today. He has inspired the unhinged folks who seek death to the enemy—whether that enemy is a politician, a journalist, or a group of brown-skinned women and children.

When the populace isn’t well-educated, when reading has given way to sound bites and memes, when the country’s “leader” speaks from the gutter, with no moral ground to stand upon, he gives the crazies all the permission they need to kill. It’s a well-known fact that human beings imitate behavior and that is a key problem today.

Recently Chris Matthews, a political commentator on MSNBC, shared a story that got me thinking. He’d returned to his hometown in Pennsylvania for an event and had a chance to speak with a number of middle school teachers. What he learned was troubling. Teachers told him about how disrespectfully and hurtfully teens talk to each other these days, in ways these veteran teachers had never seen before. Even worse, these teachers bemoaned what happened when they called their students on such unacceptable behavior. They responded with a shrug of the shoulders and a chilling defense: “Everybody does it, even the President.”

Our past presidents, red and blue, unlike this one, didn’t encourage getting down and dirty by duking it out in the mud. Truth mattered and was valued by people on both sides of the aisle. Our cherished first amendment—freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble peaceably, freedom of religion, and freedom to petition the government for a redress of grievances—have all been shoved aside. Only one thing matters to this presidency . . . winning. Winning personal accolades, personal wealth, and unchecked personal power.

When politics is untethered from values, it debases all of us. When immorality, disrespect, and unprincipled standards are encouraged, when fiery words incite violence, when personal power is upheld at our expense, we are on the road to ruin.

So what can each of us do?

Right now, the most important thing we can do is to VOTE on or before November 6th. And we must align our vote with our core values to counteract the amoral standards being set before us as the example to follow. If we vote for candidates who support this kind of demagoguery (a demagogue is a political leader who seeks support by appealing to prejudices), we are condoning violence.

What else can you do besides vote? Encourage others to vote. Knock on doors for candidates you believe can steer us in a better direction. Volunteer to drive others to the polls. Talk and FaceBook and blog about your concerns. Don’t hate on the opposition. Talk about what you like about the candidates you support instead of dumping on the ones you don’t like.

Whatever you do, whatever your politics, seek the high road rather than the low one, and align your choices with your higher self.

If you’re looking for endorsements, you’ve come to wrong place. Each of us will vote red or blue, yea or nay in the privacy of the voting booth, which is our right, our responsibility, and our privilege.

Last week’s rash of pipe bombs, an act of domestic terrorism and political violence, the recent devastation at a Pittsburgh temple by someone who blamed Jews for that pathetic migrant caravan, are but the latest worst-case examples of why our private decisions in the voting booth couldn’t be more important.

Let’s vote for more light, a higher consciousness, and heartfelt consideration for all. But above all, vote!

Breast Cancer

An Alternative Approach to Breast Cancer

by Energy HealingFeaturedWomen

Women are afraid of breast cancer, and rightly so. In the U.S. today, women have a “1 in 8” lifetime risk of getting diagnosed. Who these days doesn’t know several friends or relatives who have had some form of the disease, ranging from early stage DCIS to stage four metastatic breast cancer? I know quite a few of my students who have been through this difficult experience. So let’s talk about the field of energy medicine for women who are dealing with breast cancer.

I have always believed that when you have been diagnosed with cancer, you need everyone on your team—your oncologist, surgeon, radiation oncologist, and other medical personnel—along with practitioners of whatever complementary and alternative (CAM) treatments work most effectively for you. As a spiritual teacher, I highly recommend the supportive measure I believe is vital for dealing with breast cancer treatment, recovery, and prevention of recurrence: a strong, daily meditation program.

There is a lot happening on the alternative (CAM) front these days. One of the encouraging developments is that there are more “integrative oncologists.” These are the doctors who go beyond the standard Western medical care by combining the best of conventional and alternative treatments. While still utilizing surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (often administered in very different ways than usual), these docs include lifestyle evaluations, recommendations for specific botanicals and supplements to bring the whole body to a better state of health, exercise, and the inclusion of treatments like energy healing, meditation, acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic, naturopathy, therapeutic massage, biofeedback, yoga, tai chi, and the expressive arts.

Integrative doctors and CAM practitioners use protocols that are based on the idea that attacking the tumor with the traditional “cut-burn-poison” approach is frequently not enough. They understand the importance of bringing mind-body-spirit into harmony, and relieving the chronic stress that so many live with—stress that promotes inflammation, which is at the root of almost all chronic disease, impacts your “terrain” (the biochemical environment inside your body), and dampens the immune system and body mechanisms that can fight off cancer cells. Toxic exposures from all the hormone-disrupting chemicals in our food and water, plastics, and pollutants in water and air eventually damage genes that can then become cancerous. So these practitioners aim to bolster your immune system and lessen inflammation, while understanding that we are all unique and need individualized healing plans.

Over the last 15 years, almost every major city mainstream hospital, such as MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York City, and UC Simms/Mann Center for Integrative Oncology in L.A., has launched integrative programs. To find a cancer center that provides CAM treatments by practitioners trained in cancer care, go to https://fonconsulting.com/resources/integrative-oncology-centers/. When one of my friends was dealing with breast cancer, she went to the Sari Asher Center for Integrative Cancer Care in Palm Beach and was amazed to find a (female) massage therapist who was trained to work directly on her breast to reduce scar tissue after a lumpectomy and radiation.

There are also annual conferences that focus on integrative therapies. The Annie Appleseed Project (https://annieappleseedproject.org), for example, hosts an annual evidence-based complementary/alternative cancer therapies conference that provides outstanding information to practitioners and patients about new possibilities for surviving and beating cancer (and they serve only organic food).

Many of the complementary and alternative treatments are forms of holistic medicine, often based on the wisdom of ancient medical systems, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine (which includes acupuncture, tai chi, qigong, herbs, and massage); ayurvedic medicine (stemming from the ancient Indian Vedas); indigenous healing methods; and naturopathy and homeopathy.

If whole-person integrative medicine is to become the new standard of care, and all of us involved in energy medicine certainly hope this happens, there is a lot to be done before most doctors and patients understand its potential. Of course, the biggest problem with CAM treatments is that most integrative services are not YET covered by insurance. But the tide is turning. Kaiser Permanente recently started to offer coverage for acupuncture, chiropractic, and other CAM treatments.

With breast cancer rates in the U.S. predicted to soar 50% by 20301, it’s more important than ever that energy healing is included in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.

[1] https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2015/breast-forecast

Cathy Gabrielsen PTSD Blog

5 steps to heal PTSD

by Energy HealingEnergy MedicineFeaturedTrauma and Violence

Guest blog by Cathy Gabrielsen

Cathy Gabrielsen

When I start asking over and over again if I am OK, if the situation is OK, if the kids, the weather, the roads, are OK, then I am headed for a PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) episode. When I repeatedly ask if you are OK, if you are sick, if your partner or your kids are sick, then I am PTSD. I need constant reassurance that everything is OK. Because a few times in my life, things were definitely not OK.

I am a regular person: a mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend. I am just like you, except I was in a war. The war I survived wasn’t on a distant battlefield; instead, it was right here, close to home. Our traumas, our triggers are all unique, but the effects of PTSD are all eerily similar.

One of the many significant challenges of PTSD was the not knowing. Not knowing when I might be triggered, not knowing how long the episode might last, and not knowing how severe it might be. This not knowing was crippling for me. In one moment I was perfectly fine, and the next, I was in a haze, suddenly feeling like I had just time-traveled, I was in this bubble alone, and then came the fear, the shaking, the paranoia, and the tears of despair. What was beginning to surface were emotions from old traumas that were stored deep within me. Trauma like having had my high school boyfriend nearly die in front of me, never to recover; trauma from having had cancer as a young mother, and who knows how many other traumas. Day by day, a part of an old wound would resurface and I would suddenly go PTSD.

To this day, I will never know why the emotions came on the days they did. To this day, I will never remember how long those moments were – if they lasted minutes, hours or days. The only thing I remember is how I felt. What I did not know was that it was pure fear, fear of the remembering and fear of the re-experiencing, as if it were the first time.

But those terrorizing moments, days, weeks, when I was in PTSD eventually passed. It was in those moments when I felt free that I began to get the clarity I needed. Those moments of clarity were the beginning of my surviving PTSD.

On the days I was clear, I talked to my doctor, and I always took the medication, but what I also did was to search for additional ways to heal. I found meditation and energy healing, practices that created a safe space for me to heal. I started to integrate these alternative modalities into my day, in addition to the steps set in place by medical professionals.

It has been over a year and a half since my last PTSD. I am well, I am free of the past, and I have moved on to a better place. I let go of the experience, I put it down as a step on my path to healing, with the intention of never seeing it again.

During the time of struggle, my family was deeply affected by my experiences and pain. They were at a loss, never knowing what to do. Emotions are contagious. When happiness is around us, we are happy, when stress or anger are close to our personal space, we feel it. When I was in PTSD, so was my family to a degree, they saw it, and they felt it even if they didn’t name it. I can remember listening to my husband on the phone, whispering to my doctor, asking questions, for which there were no real answers.

What I found in my search for true emotional and physical wellness, was that healing had to start and end with me. What I encourage family members to do is be a part of the healing plan. Start to incorporate some of the suggestions below into your life too. The fear is real in a person struggling with PTSD, and the concern of living with someone in PTSD is real, in the family members and friends, who witness and love someone through it.

True healing from PTSD is about getting the fear out of your body and out of your energy field. I am no longer taking any medication; I continue with meditation and energy healing and other alternative modalities to stay well. I strongly suggest you follow doctor’s orders while incorporating the following steps into your day-to-day plan, and hopefully, you too will find peace and wholeness.

How I healed from PTSD and how you can too:

  1. Connect. A connection to Source is a path to healing PTSD. The greatest healing will come with a meditation practice. Take the time to connect to a deeper part of yourself and a higher Source of power through prayer and meditation. Connect not only with yourself but with others. Make a list of people who you can call or talk to when you are struggling and reach out to them when you need to. Developing a connection, or a deeper connection with animals and nature is also very healing. Take a silent walk outdoors, keep the phone off and allow yourself to be present. Put your feet on the ground and feel rooted into the ground. If you can’t get outside, look outside and feel the beauty and peace all around.
  2. Awareness. Discover how you feel. Spend time alone, be contemplative, and write what you are thinking; soon you will discover why you feel the way you do. Take the time to become aware of what brings you joy. Find joy in a new activity, something you have always wanted or dreamed of doing, try something new and in the outdoors! Find something that brings you joy, like that perfect sunrise or new flower in bloom.
  3. Walk away. When you find yourself relieving the trauma, or are in the anxious/panic moment, imagine you are walking away from it. There is no help in reliving it or re-experiencing the event; that will do no good. Intend to put the event in your hands, the whole experience, imagine putting it on the side of the road, or in the trash can, or give it to an angel to carry away to the light, but get rid of it so you can move on without it.
  4. Communicate. Get yourself a small notebook, write the truth about how you feel, what you want to let go of, and keep writing. You may not know why you feel the way you do, but communicate what it is you feel, then let it go.
  5. Be Positive. People with PTSD can experience the sounds, the smells, the tastes, the experiences as if they are happening again at that very moment. As you heal, make a note of what positive experiences you have had. Just ask someone you love to describe the person you have become and write the words down. Somehow, I became better for having experienced the worst, and so can you.

Healing began with me by connecting to a higher power through meditation and prayer, by engaging in energy healing, and by grounding myself in nature. I became aware of my feelings, so I could recognize when it was time to walk away from the fear. I also began to communicate in ways I had never done before. And finally, I exchanged joy for fear, seeing a life free of PTSD and full of positive possibilities.

Healing from PTSD is possible – I know, because I healed. You can too!

A speaker, writer, and practitioner in the energy healing field, Cathy Gabrielsen is a LifeForce Energy Healing® Graduate. Her Grabrielsen Healing Center is located in West Chester, PA and provides both individual and group services.

Lying hurts us

Lying: what it does to us (nothing good)

by Energy HealingFeaturedTruth Heals

Lying is in the headlines today, but make no mistake, it’s hardly breaking news. A culture of lying and the devaluation of truth has been evolving for a long time. We’re in the midst of a war on truth and the collateral damage is devastating to us all.

As a spiritual teacher, I’ve been addressing lying for years, even writing a bestseller on that very topic in what now seems like a lifetime ago (how much has changed in the past 10 years!) – Truth Heals: What You Hide Can Hurt You (Hay House, February 2009).

How does lying affect us? Lies have a severe and negative impact on our personal energy field (our chakras) and our bodies, not to mention our souls. We all know the self-inflicted consequences of what we bring down upon ourselves, the emotional and physical damage, when we deny the truth.

On the flip side, once we get in touch with it, the truth has an amazing ability to heal us.

This was my own startling discovery back in my 20’s, when I had cancer. As soon as I was willing to look in the mirror and admit, at least to myself, the sexual assaults I had endured, I started to heal – I could actually feel it happening, right in my own body, in real time. Pretty exciting! Once I fell back in love with the truth, I started spreading it everywhere, and it’s contagious – pretty soon, others around you start using the truth as their set point too.

I wrote Truth Heals to help people understand how important it is to find their own truth, and to stop living the lies that are holding them back. As I have long taught, it’s the lies we tell ourselves that do the most damage. And as former FBI chief, James Comey, tweeted recently, “small lies matter.” Indeed.

As you work to become more aware of your own truth, you can (simultaneously) work on refining your ability to discern if others are truth-telling. You have the power within you to turn on your own personal lie detector. In your interactions with others, even when watching someone on TV, your body tells you when someone is lying, you sense it in your gut. Listen to that little voice and trust your intuition. Learn to read other people and see beyond their words to what their body language, from posture, to fiddling, to facial expressions, is telling you. Learn what eyes are telling you without ever uttering a word and understand the difference between occasions when someone looks you in the eyes and those times when they are unwilling to meet your eyes. Identify what it means when a smile never reaches the eyes, because when that happens, the smile isn’t coming from anywhere trustworthy.

We live in a troubled and deeply divided time. It’s the age of He Said, She Said, and #MeToo, when major newspapers track politicians’ failure to speak the truth with daily scores. At the same time, the media we depend on for the truth and the institutions we’ve always relied upon to protect it, are now under attack.

What’s critical to understand is that today, more than ever, given the political environment where lying has been weaponized in high places, we must look beyond politics to understand the effect of lies and the war on truth upon us as human beings.

Whatever your politics, I’ll leave you with something that is accessible, positive, and hopeful:

The wisest and healthiest course is to rise above and rediscover the importance and healing power of truth in your personal life, so that you send out a ripple of truthfulness to all those around you. You can prove that “truth heals” and start a revolution.

Harvest Moon

The Night of the Harvest Moon

by Astrological EventsEnergy HealingFeaturedLunar

INDULGE IN THE HEALING LUNAR ENERGY

Weather permitting, don’t miss your chance to experience an amazing annual event that takes place tonight. Just after sunset the moon will be magically transformed into a giant ball of glorious orange gracing the night sky.

Lunar Energy is a powerful source of energy healing, and a full moon is a perfect opportunity to activate your chakras. This Harvest Moon may well be the best of all.

With its unique properties, the moon has been endowed with names to capture its monthly lunar transition. For me, nothing quite compares to the Harvest Moon. I hope you’ll take advantage of this rare and wondrous opportunity to join me in meditation under its glow.

A Time to Recharge and Reflect

Harvest Moon is the name given the full moon that is closest to the Autumnal Equinox that occurred just a couple of days ago, this past Saturday. Year to year, it can be up to two weeks before or after, and while the Harvest Moon typically is in September, it can also happen in early October.

What’s unique is that unlike any other time of year, for a few special nights the moon rises earlier than usual, just after sunset, giving you a perfect evening of moon gazing.

We’re treated to a visual feast and a spiritual reawakening all in one.

For a spiritual teacher, it’s hard to ask for more.

Why the Harvest Moon is Special

This is the night sky at its most romantic and dramatic, affording us a connection with the fullness of the season and the bounties of the earth. Since ancient times, the Harvest Moon has been revered and central to our celebration of the seasonal harvest traditions timelessly binding our cultural and spiritual fabric.

This annual celestial event is one of nature’s great visual displays but what we see only hints at the role it has played in different cultures around the world.

Celebrated Since Ancient Times

In the Northern Hemisphere, it signals the beginning of autumn. Many believe the origins of the Harvest Moon date back to Europe in the 700s. In the centuries since, observances and cultural traditions have been recounted around the world. Two are particularly intriguing.

In China the Harvest Moon is celebrated with a festival where games are played and delicious treats, ‘mooncakes’, are enjoyed. Due to calendar differences, the Chinese call it the ‘August’ Moon.

In America, the Algonquin Indians, among other indigenous tribes, not only celebrated the Harvest Moon but put its unusual brightness to work. Like Mother Nature’s flashlight, they used its light to harvest crops well into the night.

One of Nature’s Optical Illusions

What we see is bigger and bolder than usual, and the moon’s surface appears warmer and a vibrant orange. An optical illusion that is the result of the moon’s positioning, the Harvest Moon’s remarkable brightness occurs because we’re viewing it through the lower, and thicker, part of atmosphere.

While the moon’s color is inarguably more intense, and it appears larger and warmer, as it rises through the night, the moon will appear smaller and cooler.

Upcoming Lunar Events

For those of you who like to plan ahead, a truly rare event is when the Harvest Moon falls on the night of the Autumnal Equinox. This wont won’t again until 2029, but let’s start planning now!

Next up, however, and usually in October as it is this year, is the Hunter’s Moon; the first full moon after the Harvest Moon. It also features unique color, this time red, not orange, and it’s known as a Blood or Sanguine Moon.

Get Out and Experience It

Wherever you are, I urge you to get outside, even if just for a few minutes, and bask in the lunar energy on display and become part of a celestial event celebrated around the world for millennia.

And no worries of you miss it tonight – there are encore performances for a few nights after that are nearly as spectacular.

Worldwide traditions transcending our differences and bringing us together like these should be cherished, so I offer three words of advice:

Sit. Meditate. Enjoy.

That’s what I’ll be doing.

Separated by the miles, we’ll be together in spirit.

Deborah

2018-MeTooBrettBlog

#MeTooBrett

by FeaturedWomen

It was less than two weeks ago, in an Open Letter to Senators Collins and Murkowski, that I voiced legitimate concerns about the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacancy on the United States Supreme Court.

I was uncomfortable with the rushed process, skeptical of too many documents not made available, and afraid that Kavanaugh’s true position on the rights of women would prove disastrous for future generations.

But in the past week, a letter was introduced from Christine Blasey Ford, a research psychologist and professor. Ms. Blasey, in an interview published in a recent Washington Post article, tells of a sexual assault by the nominee in 1982. She was a child of 15, Kavanaugh a young man of 17, and in her own words admitted that the event “derailed [her] substantially.” Nothing like thinking you are going to be asphyxiated to get the adrenaline going.

Naturally, Brett denies, denies, denies. That’s standard behavior, coming from the top political figures on down.

I believe Blasey. Her behavior is typical of a young girl who blames herself when she is assaulted by a man; the last thing she thinks of doing is telling anyone, least of all, her parents. How will she explain her presence at a drunken party? And like me, another survivor of sexual assault, she didn’t work up the courage to tell anyone until she was much, much older; like Blasey, I finally told my husband and my therapist when we had been married many years.

I wasn’t surprised by the response of the other man in the room during the attempted rape – Mark Judge – who first claimed he didn’t recall, then denied it, then switched his story back to not recalling. After all, he’s the guy who wrote a book about his teenage alcoholism, including a chapter on his friend who also drank too much entitled “Bart O’Kavanaugh.” How telling.

For the Committee to fairly evaluate Ms. Blasey’s statement, they will need the FBI to investigate and have experts assist them. Instead, they have scheduled a hearing a week away to question her, clearly not enough time for the necessary investigation to take place first. Sounds chillingly like the Anita Hill hearings, yet, we are light years from those days. This is post #MeToo, gentlemen of the Committee, there are a lot of us women watching you.

Senators and Representatives of both parties need to find the courage to stand up and do this right.

The stakes are big.

Women’s Rights.

Due Process.

Fairness.

Truth.

Anita Hill was ignored over two decades ago.

The Access Hollywood tape and the twenty accusers it unleashed were ignored two years ago.

#MeToo changed all that in ways that put the rights of women and all people first.

This time, let’s get it right.

Limiting Beliefs

Heal Your Limiting Beliefs (But First Discover Them!)

by Energy HealingEnergy MedicineFeaturedHealthLife CoachingSelf Love

Do you ever feel like you are running in place instead of moving toward your goals and dreams? Like you’re pounding away on a hidden treadmill going nowhere. Clearly, something is holding you back, when your path seems to be blocked, and chances, you are blocked by limiting beliefs you don’t even know you have.

What’s a Limiting Belief? 

Just like 15th-century Europeans who believed that the earth was flat, you may have unexamined beliefs that are incorrect. Such beliefs may be limiting you, holding you back—especially those that stem from fear-based thinking. Fear is always limiting, as opposed to opening, expanding and freeing. When you start to look closely at your personal beliefs, you may be surprised to find that some actually close doors rather than open them. Limiting beliefs can stifle your vision, your potential, and your power. You won’t set sail to explore the world if you’re afraid you might fall off the edge.

Where Do Your Beliefs Come From?

Typically, your most important beliefs are unconscious. You haven’t examined them because you don’t even realize they exist. Over 90 percent of your core beliefs originated in childhood, coming from your parents or caregivers, school, and culture. These subconscious views run the greater part of your life and shape your potential to be happy or unhappy, rich or poor, healthy or not so much. You have inherited what you believe, most of which is unconscious, and all of it dramatically influences your life.

Do You Know What You Believe?

Questioning your beliefs is an exercise well worth the effort. It’s part of the process of self-discovery needed for spiritual growth and healing. It will free you from all kinds of limitations in life, including fear and living according to what’s right for someone else but not for you. You’ll want to ask yourself: “Where did this belief come from?” and “Does it still work for me, or is it limiting me in some way?” If you think that an idea no longer fits you, ask yourself what might suit you better.

Here are some of the personal “belief” areas you’ll want to examine:

Religion – this is usually the primary limitation for people when they want to expand their consciousness. What, if any, childhood faith were you raised in? Do you believe in the tenets of that faith now? Do you practice them? Are they fear-based? Are you aware of unconscious beliefs from your early education about religion that may be negatively affecting your life today? Also, consider your beliefs about the religions of others. Do you automatically reject others or their thinking because their religion is different from yours, even if you give only lip service to your own?

Politics – So many people automatically exclude everything from the “other side,” assuming that no good can possibly come from it. Do you automatically decide that everyone who opposes your viewpoint is 100 percent wrong? How much do you expose yourself to the beliefs of the other camp? If very strong feelings arise when you look at this area of belief, consider it closely and make sure that love and not fear is ruling your outlook.

Social Values – Where do you stand on the right of women to make decisions about their own bodies, the death penalty, gay marriage, social welfare programs, and other important topics? I always try to read well-written pieces on both sides of every issue and then consciously recheck my position. Have you thought through your own views on these issues recently, or do you automatically determine that there can be nothing of merit on the other side?

Race – We’d all like to think that we’re blind to skin color, but the truth is that we inherit racial prejudices from our family of origin, our schools, and our country—and these are very hard to delete. Bring your feelings into the light and really examine them.

Money – I can almost guarantee that if you have money problem, they can be traced back to certain beliefs you inherited from your family of origin. What are your beliefs about abundance and your own relationship to it?

Relationships – What subliminal or even overt messages did your mother and father give you about interpersonal relationships? How healthy is your relationship to yourself? Is your self-talk positive and empowering? Do you believe in your worthiness and potential? What about your relationship with a significant other?

Why Is It Vital to Question Your Beliefs?

Most of your preconceived beliefs are unconscious unless you make the effort to shift them into your awareness. Here’s why it’s important to bring all of them into your consciousness:

  1. Your unconscious beliefs may inhibit you from becoming all that you are meant to be. It’s nearly impossible to expand and grow, to take in new information and make new choices, when you are confined to operating solely according to preexisting ideas.
  2. If you want to work comfortably with others, you’ll need to be able to accept their beliefs and treat them with the same respect you would your own.
  3. A person with a lot of fixed beliefs is acting from fear. Being afraid to give serious thought to the activities and opinions of others means that you are judging them without really giving their ideas your full consideration.

To free yourself from limiting beliefs that keep you “running in place” instead of growing into your greatest good, give some thought to your beliefs. Find out where you really stand. Free yourself to be open-minded and self-determined, think what you want to think, be in the driver’s seat of your own consciousness!

Open Letter to Senators

An Open Letter to Senators Collins and Murkowski

by FeaturedWomen

BEFORE KAVANAUGH TAKES US IN THE WRONG DIRECTION

 

Dear Senators Collins and Murkowski,

Allow me to first thank you for your good work, not just for your constituents, but for all citizens and people of the earth. Watching the Kavanaugh hearings in some ways makes clear the challenges and grave responsibilities that you, as members of Congress, have in the process of a Supreme Court confirmation. Our future is in your hands.

My thoughts today are not political, but rather human. My priorities are the greater good for all women and men. And as an attorney, lifelong student of the Constitution, and these days, a spiritual teacher, I am very worried about where we are heading.

I am writing on behalf of a minority – not the blue minority, but the pink one. Women, despite the strides of recent years, face a most horrific prospect of rolling back the clock in all the wrong ways and for all the wrong reasons. I believe that by proceeding without a deeper understanding of Judge Kavanaugh’s views, women may be irreparably damaged.

You two Senators have the power to safeguard our future and I pray you do the right thing and vote against this nomination.

It may seem unfair that the future of so many of us is laid at your feet, but leaders of all persuasions attest to the strength of those called upon in such trying circumstances. I have every confidence the two of you will find the courage to do the right thing, because the wrong thing has incomprehensible consequences for present and future generations.

At stake are the rights of women to make reproductive health decisions. Decades ago, the Supreme Court wisely decided in Roe vs. Wade to right an ancient wrong that previously took from women the right to determine the fate of their own bodies. Returning to a primitive state of governmental interference would be cruel and unusual punishment for all, both women and men. It would not only vacate the great strides forward, but trivialize the struggle to get there, and ignore how far there is yet to go.

Contemplating such a horrific step backward offers a chilling view of a future far less than our mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, and their daughters deserve. It’s never a question of our own personal beliefs about the right or wrong of abortion – rather, it can only be the question of a woman’s right to choose what’s right for her.

Note that this isn’t solely a female issue, but more appropriately a human issue.

We really are in this together: it’s not just about the rights of women, because the welfare of women affects everyone, women and men. Every man has a mother, and often a wife or female partner, sisters, aunts, cousins and nieces, grandmothers and granddaughters.

When your fellow Senators asked Judge Kavanaugh if he knew of a law that controlled men’s bodies, it came as no surprise that he did not. The historical inequality of the sexes made that not just unlikely but unimaginable.

Judge Kavanaugh’s face said so much more without him saying a word. Unspoken was the sense he viewed the question as frivolous, indeed, irrelevant.

There are no such similar laws impinging the freedom of men over their bodies, of course, and there never will be legal limitations for men of the type that women have lived with for eons. Roe’s role in the first stages of shedding that yoke was a landmark moment in human history.

Equally disturbing was Judge Kavanaugh’s use of the term “abortion-inducing drugs,” to refer to contraceptives. Like many others, I was horrified by his use of a term that is patently incorrect in terms of biology, and a term that screams anti-science and anti-choice. The defense that he was simply quoting from the parties’ language in the lawsuit in question did not go very far in convincing me that he had chose those words for a legal reason – it seemed far more likely he chose those words because he was personally comfortable with them.

A quick look online reveals that Kavanaugh has the most or second-most conservative voting record ever on the D. C. Court on every policy issue. He does not appear to be the kind of thoughtful, centrist figure we want Congress to select to make important policy decisions for us all, whatever our own personal political position.

More troubling, it appears Judge Kavanaugh’s beliefs are being deliberately hidden from the committee and the public in this hurried process to place him on the Court. This is not an accident, it’s by design, evidenced by over a hundred thousand unreleased documents. Clearly, there is something afoot here.

Beyond politics is fairness and by any objective measure, this process has been rushed, cloaked in secrecy, and politically motivated. In that spirit, the judge’s responses are less revealing than his lack of responses – whether about Roe or self-pardon of a President, there is ample evidence to wonder about the wisdom of a lifetime appointment in these extraordinary circumstances.

The fear consuming us today is not of party, but of principle. The greater good cannot become political collateral damage. Aspiring to our better natures knows no party. It isn’t limited to gender, and a lifetime appointment should not be guided by the shortsighted expediency of settling for less and, inarguably, should not be made by a leader potentially appointing his own judge.

Senator Collins and Senator Murkowski, you must find the courage to stand in your own integrity, free of partisan influence; the fate, the health, and the well-being of all of us, both women and men, are in your hands. Reproductive rights are human rights, and human rights are blind to party and indifferent to gender.

You have the rare opportunity and privilege to draw a line in the sand of epic proportion.

Refusing to settle for less than America’s best is surely the way to sustain her greatness. We deserve a nominee more in the mainstream of public thought; the current nominee could not be farther from the center; his record speaks volume.

Few of us in life have the power to do so much, for so many, as you two have today.

May you find the peace, guidance, and courage required to honor our trust in you.

Respectfully,

Deborah King

Attorney, spiritual teacher, and New York Times bestselling author

Blackkklansman

BlacKkKlansman Review

by AdvocacyFeaturedMovie ReviewsSocialSocial Activism

It’s summertime (still!) and a great time to catch a fun movie: director Spike Lee really hits an all-time high with his BlacKkKlansman, now at a Cineplex near you. Bringing home once again that old saw that truth is stranger than fiction, the film tells the story of Ron Stallworth, played by John Davis Washington – who, back in the 70’s, becomes the first black cop in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Even more improbable, when Ron gets bored working in the records department, he manages to talk his way into a job undercover, and infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. Sounds wild and it is!

I promise, you will not be bored: it starts off with a clip from Gone with the Wind (my favorite book and film as a child) revering the Confederate flag, and moves on to Alec Baldwin delivering a white supremacist tirade. It’s a dramedy of the highest order: be prepared to both laugh your head off and boil in anger all at the same time as you roll along with Ron and his sidekick, Jewish cop Flip Zimmerman, brilliantly played by Adam Driver. (It’s pretty hard to watch Driver without laughing, no matter the role).

Officer Stallworth manages to strike up a phone acquaintance with none other than the infamous David Duke, head of the White Nationalists, and incredibly creepy in his suit and tie and normalness. You’d think the whole thing just too ridiculous if the image of a group of angry young white men marching with torches and shouting “Jews will not replace us” wasn’t seared in your memory from just last summer.

 

The movie runs pell-mell to an incredible climax, again, truth way stranger than any fiction could be written; you will not believe your eyes.

I suppose I could find fault in some of the film’s timing – it’s a little uneven – but hey, I enjoyed it way too much for that. It is truly one of the best films of this year – it’s the work of a cinema giant. As I walked out I turned to the man next to me and blurted out “I’ve got to do more!” and he said “me too!” Go see the film and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about – you’ll want to do more too!

Full moon in August

Full Moon in August: Celebrate the Gift of Plenty

by Energy HealingFeaturedGiftsGratitudeHealthSelf Love

Looking for a sign to guide you toward greater spiritual awakening and growth? This coming Sunday, August 26, the night sky will present you with a powerful opportunity to be awed, inspired, and taken to the next level! The full moon this week is capturing your attention reminding you of the eternal cycle of change and transformation that you are a part of. Ancient cultures used the moon’s movement to mark the seasons and guide their activities. You can use this same celestial energy to connect to your 8th chakra and above and to shine a light on your path.

Sit outside with as much skin uncovered to the moon as possible this week, to absorb its light. Then, this weekend, grab a blanket or sleeping bag and join me on your deck or in your back yard; this is THE month to sleep outside. Watch for falling stars, frequent in August!

What the August Full Moon Tells You

In Native American tradition, the August full moon is called “the Sturgeon Moon,” “the Green Corn Moon,” “the Grain Moon,” or, for the Dakota Sioux, “the Moon When All Things Ripen.” For tribes near the Great Lakes, the “Sturgeon Moon” marks the time when the large, prehistoric sturgeon fish is most plentiful and most easily caught. For all of us, the meaning of the August full moon is “plenty,” a time when the life-giving essentials of the Earth come forth.

There are questions you can ask in this time “when all things ripen” to help you heal and grow in mind, body, and spirit. The concept of “plenty” has important spiritual significance. It has brought life to humankind from the beginning and defined our relationship with the Universe. What does faith in the “plenty” of our world mean? What we believe about the Source of our plenty and our relationship to Source and to one another guides our lives. Now is the perfect time to explore what seeds have ripened in your life this season, what is plentiful, and how you have responded.

Full Moon Beams Power

You can use the illumination of the full moon to cast light on inner things, to help you look at your inner world of emotions, worries and anxieties, dreams, and unconscious beliefs. You can draw on full moon energy to explore and evaluate your goals and your ambitions in the window of moonlight. Remember that full moon energy amplifies your emotions and magnifies what is going on within. Look closely and learn. You can use the following questions to discover what the August moon’s promise of plenty means to you:

How do you define plenty?

For the Native fishermen of the Great Lakes, a bountiful catch of sturgeon signified plenty. Life depended on the gifts of the waters, the land, and the sky. What does plenty look like for you? Is it health, attractiveness, money, friends, career opportunities, achievements, faith? How does plenty make you feel and why?

What seems to be lacking in your life?

It may be that a sense of plenty escapes you. If you have a feeling of lack, try to determine what you think is missing. Do you see plenty somewhere other than where you are right now? See if you can find the origins of lack in your life. What exactly do you feel is “not enough”?

What has ripened for you in the current season?

Have you achieved a goal you were working toward? Did you set out to achieve something that has now come to you? If you have, how has it affected your feelings of plenty and/or lack in your life? 

How does it feel to be on your present path?

Your present life has grown from your past choices, hopes, dreams, and actions. Do you feel like your current path is the right one for you? Do you feel confident and inspired? If not, why not? How would it feel to revisit your choices? 

How have you shown gratitude for the plenty in your life?

Whether your heart swells with a feeling of plenty or you feel you could be on firmer ground, you have grounds for gratitude. The freedom, the energy, and the willingness to examine your inner self is something to be grateful for. Nothing empowers you like taking time to look within and seeing the gift that is your life. Make a gratitude list and be sure to include your power to recognize plenty and share it with the world.

Spending time with these questions brings comforting knowledge of who you really are and why you are here. Self-discovery brings peace, joy, and a sense of what is possible for you in the new span of days opening before you.

May the full Sturgeon Moon bring you a new sense of plenty and a new awareness of the miracle that is you. And may you be blessed with the radiance of healing moonlight on the evening of Sunday, August 26. See you outside next Sunday!