Masking and UNmasking

Isn't it interesting how the masking and unmasking we do at costume parties mirrors what is going on in the world around us? The green leaves that sprouted in spring and came to fullness in summer now turn colors and fall to the ground, leaving only the skeletons of the trees contrasted against the sky. 

During the year people see us in different ways. One mask might be our professional status, the face which others see as we present ourselves as skilled individuals. Another face is our personal self where we engage in our relationships, hobbies, activities and other pursuits. Then we have our spiritual persona where we follow our spiritual path or our religious rituals. 

Yet, at the heart of it all, there is simply the person who embodies all of this. Where others may see only one of these aspects of us, few see all of them. 

Standing in our sacred space, reflecting on our place in the world, we choose which aspect of our persona we choose to present next. Consciously choosing what is next we may emphasize a different aspect of our professional practice, relationships, avocations and spiritual practices. 

So the metaphor of masks at parties reveals truth. The characters we choose to inhabit for an evening at a party is a playful way of trying on some other character or characteristics that we wish to experience. 

The masks we wear may be revealing the truth of the direction we desire. Yes, I know that one thought may be that this is only an evening's entertainment.

Now look again, for there is a root of truth that appeals to us when we choose to read the same kinds of books, the same kinds of movies and are fascinated by the same kinds of stories over and over again. There are common threads that appeal to our sense of who we are and what kind of world we want what kind of life we want, how we would like to see ourselves as a person. 

Masking is a way of looking at the world through different eyes for a while and letting others see us differently for a while. As we all have experienced, this can be very enlivening and enlightening. And that is why we look forward to doing it. 

Knowing this about ourselves is revealing of inner truths as we enjoy our revelry. Knowing this about Halloween is like appreciating the difference between soul cakes and trick or treat.

You see in the old days, at Halloween, visitors would come to visit and sing songs, say prayers or tell stories about those who had died this year and the hosts would offer them soul cakes and drinks in appreciation. The Celts called this day Samhain and it marked the beginning of winter. They would also set a place at the table for the person who had died, and this was called the dumb supper.

Ironically, in a far a way country which we now call Mexico, on that very same day of the year, the Celebration was called La Dia de Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. And on this day too, the dead were honored with their favorite food and people told stories to remember them and wish them well on their journey into the next world, and like the Celts, they also bake special breads just for this holiday.

In both cases, the honoring of the dead was also a celebration of life. The Day of the Dead prominently features skeletons dancing, affirming that life goes on on another level. 

So the sweetness of life and the recognition of the various levels of self that we consider on this holiday offers a great insight into what life means to us, how we see ourselves and the impact we have on others. Masks and treats of this holiday are other aspects of self hidden in plain sight. And the pleasure is that all of this can be enjoyed with a great deal of fun, illumination and imagination. It is delicious, isn't it? 

Lighting the Way

 

 

One of the beautiful aspects of this time of year are all the lights that decorate both public places and our residences. The lights work a sort of magic with us, inspiring us to simply enjoy moments of visual beauty and also trigger moments of reflection.

Reflection then lights our way forward, just as lanterns along a path do. Thoughts prompted by the winter evenings and lights find us making ourselves cozy at home in the evenings, and as we relax with a warm beverage, a fire or candles, we may suddenly find our minds recalling a person we have not seen in a long time, or things that we did long ago.

At these moments, remember what the best aspects of that person are (or were) and how that helped you on your path. When recalling something we have done that we are proud of, and things that brought us great joy, notice how our hearts fill with love and the warmth we feel is directly related to those memories.

Now as we contemplate what we are about now and what we are going to do and wanting more of in our life, keep that same warm feeling of joy, pride, satisfaction and peace permeating those thoughts about what we really want now. This is the fire in the belly that fuels our engine and propels us forward.

So in this way, the outer lights lead to our inner light and propels us forward. Bear in mind that when we light the way for ourselves, we also light the way for others. When they see us enthusiastic and enjoying life, they may get inspired to pursue their dreams too, in addition to picking up attitudes from us, like our habit of being grateful and happy every day.

The magnificent holidays that come at this time of year are invested with many fond memories and good thoughts and so we literally and figuratively bring light and joy into our lives during the deepest, darkest, coldest time of winter.

We bring the light inside to remind ourselves that this darkness is seasonal, and that as it passes, we shed burdens and redirect energy as we reconnect with people and create new events. As we dance, sing, tell stories and jokes and the atmosphere is filled with lightened spirits and humor, we light up wherever we are.

In our fires, we can burn off those things we are done with, whether they are things, attitudes, or ideas. And then we can light our way with fresh energy, warmth and light, letting go of what no longer serves us while welcoming in that which will expand our sphere of influence for the better.

There are not just little bits of light reflecting off decorations, windows, ice and snow but off of us as well. When we light up, we invite more people to share in our energy and we see more smiles all around us as we light the way for ourselves and others.

What Will the World Look Like in the Morning?

How will the world look in the morning? It all depends on what you were thinking about today.

As we all work to make our dreams into realities, there is a pattern that eludes our vision because the final pattern is the result of so many different individuals with so many different visions who are all acting independently. So when we see the final product there is some of our handiwork in there, plus bits of what everyone else is doing.

Visions of the future are rarely unanimous because everyone looks at it from different angles.

Look at how the Internet has evolved. It went from being a way for academic and military researchers to share information to being a place for everyone.

We use it to exchange personal messages with friends, to set up a place to shop for products we want, a place to look for work or create our own work. It is a place for artists, writers and musicians to show their work to the world without going through an agent, gallery or corporation. It is a place to research anything.

Its immense popularity then created new problems. Once these avenues were opened up that let anybody create any kind of website and put it out there, the next thing that happened was that the person searching has to wade through all kinds of stuff to find what they want. And the person posting has to learn all kinds of tricks to get people to come to their website.

The web is the biggest single example in the world of people all over the planet with competing and conflicting visions all working together without really working together.

Old myths often speak of order being created out of chaos, and here we have right in front of us a perfect example of that. And of course, it is not done yet. It is still order emerging from chaos.

There is something goofily ironic about the fact that at a time when some politicians are proposing to do away with Medicare that the topic most searched for was Charlie Sheen's drunken buffoonery. And now while there is still much confusion in the world about the uprisings in Arab countries and more jabbering instead of decisive leadership in the field of increasing our ability to develop and use solar, wind and geothermal energy to replace fossil fuels, among the most researched topics today were Chastity Bono's sex change operation, Schwarzenegger's divorce and the trial of a mother who murdered her daughter.

Perhaps the explanation is simply that people love a good story, and as tragic as it sounds, what all this may tell us is that people who tell stories about developing better sources of energy are not telling stories nearly as well as the people telling these other stories. I think that in order to make real progress in the world, we need better storytellers.

What will the world look like in the morning?

Mysteries of Energies

Monday evening kirtan was a great way to get in touch with the spirit within that loves to sing. After a few hours of singing, there is a very mellow vibe that is upbeat and enlivening at the same time. Voices blended in the traditional Hindu style of chanting is a delicious experience. The call and response rhythms is similar to the blues, except with a different intention. Chanting the sacred chants which are embedded with bits of wisdom and lots of love invokes a sacred presence and a presence of mind into those who participate.

Tonight, I went to hear Stan Romanek speak about his experiences with UFOs and alien abductions. Quite fascinating to see the photos and hear voice recordings of other beings in his life. One photo in particular sticks in my mind, that of a girl attending one of his talks who is a hybrid human/ET. She had human features and those distinctly large almond shaped eyes that are common to depictions of ETs.

And there were also quite a number of photos and film clips where the ETs were in and around his house. Then who would not be impressed with his story about how he fell off a ladder and tore his ACL (muscles around the knee). The doctors were prepared to operate, but then one night he got another visit from his ET buddies who fixed his knee for him. His doctor didn't believe it when he called in and said that he no longer needed surgery. The photos showed a line of little scars, sort of round, like puncture marks.

Listening to Stan speak, I get the same impression I got when I heard Whitley Strieber speak, which is that these are normal people who have been exposed to highly unusual adventures, rather than just people who made stuff up to get attention. Clearly, when you read their stories, you can tell that they did not want all this attention from their visitors.

I find a lot of this stuff interesting. I have no idea what it all really means. No idea how it all happens. When I look at presentations like this, or photos of crop circles, or the photos released by the British government of their sightings, it just all seems so amazing. I think it all has something to do with our evolution. I love a good story, and these stories are full of mysterious things and mysterious doings. There is plenty of food for thought in all this. By now, who hasn't seen photos of UFOs?

But that hybrid girl photo is absolutely stunning. That one image is the counterweight to the goofy end of the spectrum. Remember those two old geezers who got on TV several years ago and claimed that they made the crop circles by dragging pieces of wood around fields on ropes? I suspect they had a few snorts of whiskey before coming up with that one, and it would probably would be fun to have a drink with those old guys. That's part of what I like about this stuff. It contains the full spectrum from the silly to the spectacular and sublime.

On Friday, I go back for another joyous jolt of energy contra dancing. The fiddle music, the foot stomping, the whirling and swinging bring the energies back to earth so that we can ground and take off again. Dancing leaves me the same way as singing after a few hours, energized and euphoric and somewhat spent from the effort.

Every bit of it is worth it. There are all kinds of ways to tap into energies, and all kinds of ways to experience them. These are some of the ones that work for me. If you are looking for ways to perk up your energies, there are lots of other ways out there as well.

Earlier in my life, if you would have asked me, I would have told you that all this stuff is too far out for me. Years ago if you would have told me that I would be devoting my attention to doing readings for people, I would have thought you were mistaking me for someone else.

Then again, it is a strange and wonderful world we live in isn't it?

How Else Can Tarot Heal?

In the same way that looking at beautiful art calms and soothes while at the same time getting the mind working, tarot can be used as a pocket sized gallery.

How is that healing? Just take it out and look at it for a little while every day. Maybe pull one card a day, or a few. Whatever you feel like. Looking at a picture intensely, meditating on the image and what it might mean, and next thing you know you have an uplifted spirit, or at least an inquiring mind. Either way, you are now entered into a heightened state of awareness.

How can it be healing to meditate on profound thoughts? How can it be healing to gaze on pictures of beauty and clever composition? Can shuffling through a deck and looking at the cards help put the world back in order? Does that calm the nerves and help lower the blood pressure?

When you have a busy schedule and you are feeling like you need to catch up, taking a deck out and looking at it can be like taking a mini-vacation to a great art museum or gallery. Nothing like fantastic art to help create a higher awareness of our present state, is there?

The Healing Energy of Readings

There is an energy in every reading that is unique. It is always a combination of the energy of the reader meeting the energy of the querant. When the energy of the querant is engaged and open, more pathways open up and the reading accelerates, covering the territory more deeply.

Readings can help heal a person. Remember that thoughts can influence feelings and energies, and if a person comes away from a reading with inspiration, hope, or a more robust and vibrant outlook, a healing has begun, and will be continued by the application of free will on the querant's part.

Neutrality gives the reader a bird's eye view of what is going on. Many times I have seen the enlivening effect that comes when a person gets validation in a reading. That can also be healing given that a person gains peace of mind when they know that there is some agreement with their point of view even though everyone else seemed to share a different point of view.

Because of empathic powers, some readers are more adept at transferring healing energy during the course of a reading.

Reading energies can also stimulate a person to look at their situation in novel ways and other perspectives, thus opening them to creative solutions to their predicaments.

Readings can also be unique tools for helping view a situation clearly, because the art is both abstract and has a bearing on what is real.

Healing must sometimes begin with a different perspective before the new energies are allowed to enter and welcomed in.

Healing comes in many ways. A reading is one good way to experience it.

Asking

In the process of making our transitions and achieving our goals, we can get help from other people simply for the asking. It is good to be reminded of this in a simple elemental way. It feels really good when our task just got made easier because someone helped us.

People like to help other people. That is why when disasters hit, people suddenly and spontaneously to see what they can do to help. It is as much human nature to be compassionate as it is to be concerned about survival.

Sometimes what another person might need to achieve their goal is something that we can easily provide. However, if we don't ask, we will never know.

Of course, nobody really likes someone who is always asking for something and not giving anything in return. Gratitude is an important aspect of giving and receiving. But returns do not have to be in terms like money.

For example, there is an old Celtic tradition that if a stranger is given food and shelter for the night, the stranger repays the kindness with a gift of song, poetry or storytelling.

Once again we see the traditional emphasis on the exchange of energy.

So on your way to creating your new life, your new career, your healing, your art, your whatever, remember that it is fine to ask. Then also remember that it is appropriate to offer something in return.

Sometimes the giver will not ask for anything for themselves, so the payback comes in more general terms of showing a kindness to someone else.

You know the old saying. What goes around, comes around.

The Quiet in the MIddle of the Noise

During the holidays what I enjoy most is to sleep late, go dancing or work out in the evenings, and in between, just read, watch movies, listen to music and be able to enjoy a cup of tea without worrying about having to finish it and rush off.

A perfect time for cleaning out closets and doing a deep cleaning. Maybe try cooking something differently today.

Little things prompt reflection for me, like the fact that the busy street now only has a car on it every once in a while. It is so quiet, compared to normal.

I like the way lights twinkle from quite a distance over the snow and fog against the mountains. The lights give it the sense of the skyline being personally painted for you as shimmering lights continue to define the profile of the buildings and mountains.

Where the quiet settles in, you can see the audience sitting down waiting for the next story. These are the invisible audience that is always waiting to see what you do next. They are just as ready to applaud for us as someone else.

Capture the essence of the lights, capture the inspiration and hope they transmit. A quiet moment provides time for a new idea to germinate, then for dreams to come into sharper focus.

Every touch now is a memory. Every touch now is a light. It is the light in the middle of winter, soft, distant, creative and sweet. Like the embers that glow and have enough power to get the fire roaring. The quiet in the middle.

Mysteries Solved

He walked up to her while she was smoking a cigarette and he handed her his business card. All it said was Mysteries Solved and a phone number. She wondered how he knew that there was something she wanted to know. So of course she called him. "How did you know that I was looking for someone to help me figure this out?" she asked.

"Everybody has questions they want answers to, everybody is puzzled about some of the things that have happened in their life," he explained. "It's just that only some people are curious enough to really want to know the answers. Other people just push it to the corner of their mind and forget about it."

He handed these cards out to people everywhere he went, and there was a steady flow of customers, because there were always mysteries that people wanted solved.

There were mysteries that could be unraveled by sitting down and talking, and there were mysteries that required some digging around, although the Internet made the digging much easier than it used to be. And for some mysteries, he used his ability to travel mentally to find the answers.

It was an interesting business to be in, and there were stories that he came across that stuck in his mind and people were always interested to hear them.

You see, the word mystery quickly translated as crime stories and detective novels in the public mind. Then there were other popular mysteries, like UFOs, gypsies, witches, ancient civilizations and conspiracy theories.

But the mysteries that the mystery man got called for were usually more subtle, and more personal than that. Sure, there were those who had encounters with ETs, ghosts, witches or shamans, but there were many more who wondered where their life was going or why it had gone like it had already.

The Mystery Man was just as intrigued with these cases as he was with the big ones, and that is why he kept handing out his card to total strangers. He loved the mysteries they brought him.

And the people who called him loved the way he helped them unravel the mysteries and tell the stories of their lives. You see, this is how the Mystery Man also came to be known as the Storyteller. It was uncanny the way that he could find the perfect way to approach each person's request.

You could see it in their eyes, and hear the words form on their lips as he once again slipped a card into a stranger's hand without a word. "How did you know that I was looking for you? How did you know that I want to know? How did you know I have questions to ask?"

And the Mystery Man just smiled his cryptic, mischievous smile and responded, "Call me. I'd love to talk to you."

And so they did, and with each call, another mystery was unveiled, and another story was told. There was healing and humor, joy and sadness. And no two stories were ever exactly alike.

A Word About Weed

It has been interesting living in a state that has made medical marijuana legal. People are officially recognizing its use as a healing herb, which vindicates the views of many people since before the law changed.

Of course, there are many who still have the opinion, that people who use marijuana are addicts, even though marijuana is not an addictive substance. Some of these people share the opinion that it should never have been legalized.

And now the politicians have changed the laws that govern this new home grown industry. Yes, home grown in the sense that it is creating new jobs here.

Of course, there are many people who enjoy smoking marijuana just for fun and those people look forward to the day when full legalization will come, and people will just be able to go and buy it like a pack of cigarettes, and the government will make money on the taxes.

It certainly has less side effects than drinking. If we simply penalize users for their errant behavior, then it will be the same as drinking in terms of the way we set limits on it.

One irony of all this is that although the so called War on Drugs has attempted to wipe out marijuana consumption, that battle has long been lost, medical marijuana or not. The other thing is that the growers became expert botanists and gardeners with a very scientific approach because when aerial recon and spraying forced growers indoors, they found ways to grow more productive plants in less space, without natural light.

So the failed war on drugs not only created better and better generations of growers and plants to supply an ever increasing demand. It is like what happened when politicians got the bright idea to outlaw beer and alcohol. People didn't quit drinking and organizations sprang up to slake their thirst.

Funny how we have to keep on learning the same lessons over and over.

Right now all the wrangling over new laws is about who is controlling the money. The debate is no longer whether marijuana is good medicine. And the debate is no longer whether there is growing popular support for it both as medicine and for recreation. it is just a matter of time until more minds change.

It is interesting to watch such a momentous change in action. It must have been that way when our grandparents watched alcohol was declared illegal, remained popular and then return to legal status.

From caveman days to less than a hundred years ago, people freely used it as medicine, ceremonial herbs, and for fun. They never would have thought that we would be going through contortions like this over it.

We look at lessons like this from within the memory of our grandparents time. The same types of lessons can be learned from past lives. But that is another story.

Surrounded by Symbols

This season, more than the rest of the year, is more laden with evocative symbols than any other time.

How familiar are we with evergreen trees, holly wreaths, mistletoe? What about the New Year's symbols of the baby and the grim reaper? The witch at Halloween? The cornucopia at Thanksgiving?

We speak in this shorthand all the time. We know that a red diagonal line through anything means no. We know that thumbs up means yes. We know that a person who opens their arms is welcoming us and one who crosses their arms is not. We know that a colon and a half parenthesis is a smile. :)

Symbols have been part of our lives since before we had fully formed language. Primal ones that we have found, like the ancient cave paintings, are as emotive as many more finely drawn paintings, and carry a powerful amount of energy in a few spare lines.

There are systems to symbols, and some, like the runes or the I Ching hexagrams have an interesting way of fitting together and interlocking visually.

Others, like the system of tarot, have a way of interlocking conceptually, and although they are visual in themselves, they cannot be as compact as abstract forms like runes, or the hexagrams of the I Ching.

Some symbols are so emotionally charged that their mere appearance sends chills or rushes of joy, depending on the sign, without anyone saying anything or any accompanying literature.

Obviously, some symbols are references to ancient beliefs and feelings and some are purely modern inventions of convenience which may or may not last. With some symbols we have near universal agreement, but with others not.

We bring our own interpretations to symbols as well as recognizing traditional meanings. This is why two people can look at the same picture and have two very different experiences of it.

And this is also why this is such an emotional time of year for so many people. We are surrounded by symbols and they can convey a host of messages to us faster than we can digest them.

Lifetimes Within Lifetimes

Tonight is a time when some spiritual traditions remember those they know who have crossed the veil this year, and for me this year, the veil opened a long time and stayed open. I could sense the opening earlier than usual, and more powerfully than usual.

During this time, there has been a growing influence in my reading sphere, opening the way even deeper. Saying farewell to those who have crossed always feels like it brings the closure to just the right note.

Since this is a perfect time for reflection, it often seems as if there are lifetimes within lifetimes. When I think back on certain segments of my life, it feels as though I have lived more than one lifetime in this lifetime, and that it might actually have been some other person who lived through some of those other chapters, since I no longer feel or look like that person now.

Have you ever noticed how often when you listen to a recording of your own voice, you ask, "Do I really sound like that? Is that really my voice?" Yet how many times do we look in the mirror and ask, "Do I really look like that?" Photographs really startle us at times, when we do not easily match our photos with our memories.

It is almost easier at times to recall past lives and match our experiences and feelings to those long ago stories. Oddly, sometimes it seems easier to believe scenes of a life hundreds of years ago in a different time and place that it is to believe what we were doing 20 or 30 years ago. Sometimes we may feel strongly that we wished we had made a different choice at various turning points, but of course, it is never possible to go back and change them. All we can do is choose to proceed with full focus from where we are now to where we would like to be next.

At each juncture, we have the power of free will and free choice, and so if we have drawn wisdom or inspiration from our past, our powerful positive or negative motivations can shape what is next in our life.

What a perfect time to reflect on our past and peer into our future. Just as the colorful fall leaves give way to reveal the skeleton of the tree underneath, so our colorful stories give way to reveal the essence of our life.

I love pumpkins, pumpkin pie, violin music, red wine, smoke and colorful leaves. And I love all the stories, all of the stories, the magic of how the same story you have heard or told before may mean something different to you this time.

It is magic, isn't it?

Altars of Acceptance

Someone recently remarked to me that she never saw so much Halloween stuff as she has in Colorado. She thinks that people go crazy over it out here, and she can't imagine any reason why since it is nothing more than a day for kids to get candy.

Of course, there is much more to it than that. although in many people's minds, it has been reduced to nothing more than trick or treating and costume parties, it has very deep metaphysical roots and it heralds an important turning in our lives every year. And that is why people really feel drawn to celebrate it for a month. Right now, this is the last of September and there will be corn mazes, hay mazes and pumpkin patches up through the end of October.

The roots of the holiday go back to ancestral times. All of our ancestral times. As far back as caveman days people have felt that it is important to honor the dead and use special ceremonies to mark their passing, remember their lives, and wish them well on their way to the next world.

Why wouldn't they? Birth and Death are the the two gateways we all have to pass through. Our families and friends are always the ones at these gateways. They help celebrate when we arrive, and they help mourn when we leave.

In modern times, as many people have left folklore and ceremonial ways slip from their grasp, some cultures have retained them powerfully, contributing universal traditions that still resonate and help people heal from their grief while wishing the spirit on to what's next for them.

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance were the names that Elizabeth Kubler Ross gave to the Five Stages of Grief. Making an altar for the one who has crossed over is a powerful way to get to acceptance.

Birth, death and rebirth. Our gateways. Our inescapable gateways. The certain markers of our journey. These are the portals we pass through, and we cannot choose otherwise. So our only choice is to recognize the gateway for what it is.

We either make altars then warm ourselves at the bonfires, or we carry more weight than we need to for many years to come.

So this is how it happened. Some people chose to lose their grip on the ancient ways and only remembered to serve refreshments to the mourners and those who come to give solace and bring light through the storytelling and the music and the prayers. Except over the years they forgot to do all the other things and just served refreshments.

The refreshments are a wonderful seasonal taste that reminds us of the sweetness of life, after we have done our rituals.

Whether they are large or small, elaborate or simple, we need to make our altars. We need to honor those who have crossed and send them through the gateway on waves of our good energy. Those who make their altars enjoy their peace better than those who do not. It is at the altar that we find acceptance. It is our time and place to express our grief. It is a far more wise, powerful and ancient root ritual than simply giving candy to kids.

Here today, we can feel the strength and beauty of these ceremonies through the Mexican festivities known as the Day of the Dead. The Celtic equivalent, called Samhain, which gave birth to Halloween, are both celebrated on the same day of the year. Two powerful ancient cultures that have continued to set aside time every year to ritually remember their dead in the same time frame as giving thanks for the harvest, and preceding the time when families and friends are drawn together to celebrate and welcome in the future.

Why should we still pay attention to these holidays? Who does not know someone who has died? Who has had trouble acknowledging their grief, letting go of it and moving onward? We need to release their spirits so that they can move on, and we need to release ourselves so that we can move on.

Although the primary focus is on people we know who have died this year, people sometimes use these same ceremonies to say farewell to an animal who was an important part of their life as well.

Reading Consciousness

After reading at events, the altered state that fills my consciousness stays with me in the evening. There is a certain feeling that stays until the next day.

You can get an experience of what is happening when you do one reading and your mind starts spinning as the cards come out of the pack and the images set many inputs into motion, overloading and sorting, then flowing.

Hours later, that state of consciousness is still intact and operating forming a sort of aura around the reader that touches vision, imagination, perception and heightened awareness in a gentle way.

There is abundant energy that pulses through my body and the reading state of mind is still in place all through the evening.

I always affirm before I do a reading for someone that what I bring through will be useful to this person at this time. So in some way, it seems that in addition to something useful for them, something incredible happens that is useful to me as well.

This same state of consciousness is not the same as the one that comes with meditation or alcohol or smoke. It is something far different, useful because the ordinary mind processes are reconfigured.

Stuck in an awful traffic jam on the way home from the fair yesterday, the mellow feeling just kept the ordinary stress associated with such a situation at bay.

It was easy to just let my mind flow while we waited for the traffic to flow itself.

Getting into that reading state of mind is useful and, for me, desirable.

At the beginning of my learning to read, I did not know that it could lead to this. So here is another example of something that sounds simple but has profound results, and at the beginning, the process looked like what it was about was finding meanings to pictures that were constantly changing positions and evoking great varieties of meanings through the motions of shuffling and rearranging.

Yes, every picture tells a story, and every set of pictures tells a different story and every day spent interpreting these stories invokes an altered state created to serve the community of people who need or want readings, much as the shaman in primal tribes and villages invoked the altered state to read for their people who wanted or needed readings. They expected him or her to be somewhere out there in order to bring back useful information.

Sometimes healing comes through pictures when I read. Sometimes flashes of illumination. Sometimes confirmation. Sometimes insight, wisdom or humor. You never know. It all depends on the cards that come up and who is asking for the reading. It all comes into play. The asking of the question is part of answering the question.

It is still true. I go somewhere out there to bring back something for you.

Constellations of Remembrance and Joy

Once again, we are on the threshhold of the fall, the autumn, the most deeply felt season.

We begin it by giving thanks for all that we have harvested this year. While for some of us, that may be crops or gardens that we grew that gave us wonderful gifts of flowers, herbs and vegetables, for others it may have been the gift of new friends, new jobs, a new place to live, the recovery of health, and new opportunities.

We are surrounded by the magic of seasonal change as we observe the leaves turning color, and those that don't have much color going from green to brown, trees being stripped of their foliage by the wind to reveal their bones, their skeletons, their stark outline against the sky.

Our journey continues as we honor those we knew who crossed the veil this year, savoring the powerful holidays of the Celtic Samhain (Halloween) and Dia de los Muertos (the Mexican Day of the Dead). These are always moving celebrations, as they should be. We celebrate birthdays, and we should take a day to remember those who have moved on to the next plane of existence, who were once an active and influential part of our life.

When we come to the civic holiday of Thanksgiving, it is really an extension of the celebration of gratitude we begin at the Autumn Equinox, which arrives tomorrow, along with a full moon. Both the seasonal holiday and the civic holiday are part of the same spiritual tide, that of remembrance and acknowledgement.

By the time of Yule, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, we have moved past our mourning, our remembrance, humility and gratitude, and now we are in full blown celebration with many gatherings of friends, family, festive music, special foods and drinks, joking, storytelling, music and dance. And we celebrate the return of the light, the Sun, heralding the new year, the return of hope, the triumph of joy.

There is no constellation of special days of this magnitude anywhere else in our year. As we journey through it, let us be conscious of the ceremonies of thanks for the year past and omens of the planting the seeds of power for the year ahead.

The portrait of our human journey is now painted in saturated colors, and we are privileged to walk once more through this living gallery where the most fantastic images come to life, and we realize that they are us. We are both radiantly alive, sensitive and sensuous, rich with feelings, wisdom and whispered intimations of destiny. We are now in the sacred space where we look both forward, backward and become more centered in our present.

Greetings to autumn and the onset of winter! Light the fires to welcome them and ourselves, home.

Dry Lightning

Dry lightning is something I have only seen out here, in the west. It is a strange sort of sight because mostly I am used to seeing lightning preceding thunder and rain. It seems so natural that these are linked that to see one without the others still seems odd, even though I have seen it many times. I guess that in the span of my life I have seen lightning with thunder and rain lots more times than without.

Tonight I saw dry lightning again. Several times there were flashes in the sky, and I looked around for what would follow, but nothing did. The temperature and humidity now are still the same as they were.

Where are the other places in our life where there is dry lightning?

How many times does something happen and we expect something to follow right away. What happens when it does not? What happens when the dry lightning comes and something completely different follows?

How long does it take to get used to it?

Life is full of surprises and to me, dry lightning is one of those ways that the universe just gives us a start and yells "Surprise!"

Notice what happens next. Our senses are more alert, our awareness expands, and we pay attention.

Next time the universe goes "Surprise!" and tosses out a flash of dry lightning, notice what happens next.

The Named

Then somewhere along the way, as our ancestors contemplated the forces of nature and other people, the stories of gods and goddesses emerged.

Interestingly, these characters embodied all aspects of personality, from courage, pain, heroism and sacrifice to love, beauty, nurturing, compassion, healing, curiosity, kindness, violence, cruelty, vision, magic, wisdom, competition and cooperation.

When we apply one of these names of the gods and goddesses to ourselves, we are invoking that energy that the name represents to aid us in our quest.

We invoke them as forms of protection and we also invoke them as guides on our path to greater aspirations.

So as we go through different phases of our life, we sometimes choose different names and different guides. You have probably met people who have taken on different spiritual names. Perhaps you have even done this yourself. Even when a person changes their mundane name, it is a reflection of this principle.

As the name of our gods and goddesses inspire us and elicit responses from others, we begin to understand the power of the magic of the spoken word as well as the power of naming.

Destiny, Destination

Destiny lays out maps for us, and by following them, we reach our destinations. It is like looking out over the landscape and feeling drawn to go this way or that. Sometimes when we are lost, we simply get a feeling that we should turn left here, or turn right. We always have free will and we use it every time we make a choice or a decision. The two do not cancel each other out.

When we feel that something is the right thing for us to do, we may not know why until later. That is where we see the panoramic view, rather than the little street or road we are currently driving on.

Destiny is also what gives us a sense of larger purpose in life. Can we look at the larger patterns in our life and see themes that repeat themselves? Do our decisions keep leading us in the same direction? Do we see our smaller movements and decisions fitting together? Do they lead where we think they are leading? Does the map look familiar? Does the terrain look familiar? Can we sense what is ahead?

Her Name is Tarot

Public speaking terrifies some people. Not me. I love it, and I have done a lot of it over the years. I decided early on that getting familiar with the material and then speaking from the heart was the most satisfying way to do. I have seen other speakers who are so dependent on their notes that they would really freeze up and stumble if they lost their place. In my experience, one of the key differences is being in touch with your spirit guides as well as the spirit of the occasion.

More than once, I thought I knew the path my talk would follow, then I suddenly felt prompted to take it in a different direction. That did not throw me off. It felt good. I definitely picked up on something spirit wanted me to say.

This Friday, for example, I am speaking at the Celebrations Fair, at 3 pm. As I have been doing a little reading and thinking about it, mulling it over as I relax, a new thought suddenly came to me, and as a result, I will be doing something I have never done before in this talk. I will not say what it is until Friday. I have always felt that the energy of the talk must be held close to the heart until it is time to let it out.

There is magic in spontaneity. There is magic in the spoken word. Being connected to spirit keeps the presentation fresh. Yes, I know my material because I have had years of experience with it, but sometimes spirit has a suggestion for delivering the magic in a different way.

This talk will be different from others I have presented. It is all coming together in a very inspired and playful way, with gratitude, grace, magic and mystery.

I do not have notes, but I do have plenty of inspiration. My spirit guides are very active so I know they are preparing me for an especially good event. Knowledge is a ground for the seed to grow in, then comes the flow of the moment, the flash of insight and the arising of joy.

This path is a journey of discovery. Be prepared to embark not on fortune telling, but fortune creating. Fortunately, spirit speaks, and her words are enchantment. Her name is tarot.

13, the Number of the New Order

Today being Friday the 13, there is a lot of folklore and superstition associated with Friday the 13. Today we are experiencing the only one we will have this year. Last year 9 times the 13 fell on a Friday.

Two of the myths that suggest to a lot of people that 13 is a bad luck number is the story from the Christian myth of the Last Supper where Judas was the 13th guest, after the 12 apostles. In Norse mythology, there was also a huge feast of 12 gods going on when the 13th, Loki, arrived.

Judas gave the signal that turned Christ over to the Romans for his execution, while Loki's mischief resulted in the death of Balder, the sun god. Both were catalysts for great change.

The Judas kiss changed everything. Without it, Christ might have continued being an itinerant teacher and healer for who knows how long. Maybe his followers would have been loosely organized with no centralized authority, like Buddhists. But the crucifixion, resurrection and the merging of politics and religion under Constantine, complete with the establishment of the HQ of the church in the lap of the HQ of the Roman Empire changed the whole trajectory of that story.

For those of you with an irreverent sense of humor, check out Tom Robbins' novel, Another Roadside Attraction, where he speculates that the apostles really stole the body and hid it, then told everybody that Christ ascended so that they would have a more powerful story to build their new religion on.

Another religious story that pivots on Friday the 13 is when King Philip of France ordered the arrest of all the Knights Templar on that date, cementing the place of that date in history and kicking off a whole new generation of secret societies and conspiracy theories.

The story of Balder is also a game changer. Frigg, Balder's mother, and Balder both had a prophetic dream of Balder's death. She asked every creature and plant to agree not to hurt him. She neglected to secure a pledge from mistletoe because it seemed insignificant. At the feast, the other gods were playing a game of seeing how impervious Balder was to all assaults. Loki, however, knew about mistletoe and his mistletoe spear killed Balder. Frigg sent a messenger to Hel, the keeper of souls after death, to ask for his release. She agreed to do so if every creature in the world would mourn for him. All agreed, except one, so Hel stipulated that he could only return after Ragnarok, the battle at the end of the world which destroys everything and kills all the old gods, clearing the way for a whole new world to be born, and with new gods to rule it, led by Balder, the Bright and Shining One.

I do not regard 13 or Friday 13 as bad luck.

Some people refuse to travel on Friday 13, more than 80 percent of high-rise buildings lack a 13th floor. Many airports skip the 13th gate. Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.

Some numerologists consider 12 a complete number. There are 12 months in a year, 12signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles. In exceeding 12 by 1, the 13 association with bad luck has to do with just being a little beyond completeness.

But remember that there are different ways to do numerology. In simple numerology, the number 13 becomes 4, the number of foundation and order.

13 has as many good connotations as bad.

We do well to remember that before the church changed the calendar to what we use now, we did not have all these months with odd numbered days. We had 13 months that were all equal in length, consisting of a 4 week moon cycle.

Traditional witches formed their covens with a membership of 13, bringing yet another spiritual perspective to the number.

There are 13 stripes on the American flag. In the Great Seal of the United States there are 13 olive leaves (with 13 olives), 13arrows, and 13 stars. These form a triangle over the eagle with the number 13 on each point. On the reverse the pyramid has 13 levels.

A baker's dozen contains 13 items.

Apollo 13 was the only manned spaceflight intended to land on the moon that failed in its mission. However, the courage and ingenuity of the men aboard resulted in all of them returning safely to earth, becoming a story of great inspiration, rebounding from the potentially fatal results of the explosion of an oxygen tank. Its fame has eclipsed other missions in which everything went as planned.

So you see, there is more to suggest that 13 can lay the groundwork for strength and new beginnings as there is to suggest that it is bad luck.