How Do We Know What We Know?

We are always learning, evolving and developing as we grow, and our progress often reveals itself in layers over time, opening our understand of ourselves and our lives in surprising ways.

One of these revelations came to me through the earth itself, rocks, stones, crystals and other finds. And in a further exploration, gardening. We often discover our relation to the earth and to other people in a very direct manor, although that is not necessarily what we set out to do.

When I was a child, one of my favorite hobbies was collecting rocks. Why? It was simple, it was free and the colors, shapes, look and feel of them fascinated me. There was a lot of joy in this simple hobby. I could just be out walking and looking where I was walking, certain things caught my attention. It might be the way the light reflected off certain rocks, or the way that it fit in my hand, or perhaps the way that water would change the color of a piece.

It might be that some were just naturally heart shaped or arrowheads, fossils or another piece of stone that was chipped to a sharp edge on one side. Another time, it might have been a tooth from what I did not know. Some rocks had a glassy type finish, others were kind of sandy and crumbly, while others had distinct bands of color or spots that might have been a green blotch that appeared to have grown on it and hardened, like moss.

When people were going away on a trip and they would ask me if they could bring anything back for me, I would always ask for a rock. And they were always happy with such a simple request. So my collection grew.

As it did, I started reading books about rocks and finding out the scientific aspects of them, like which ones were formed by fire, water or the movement of the earth and what they were used for. In grammar school, I made displays for science fairs, and in this way gained a deeper understanding of my finds and an idea of how the earth came to be shaped by the elements and time.

Then as I grew up, other things like going to college, working and having a family took up my attention and my childhood hobby fell to the wayside.

Much later then, when I was the editor of the metaphysical magazines for metro Atlanta and a co-sponsor of metaphysical fairs, I was introduced to the idea of stones being used for various forms of healing, meditation and spiritual work, which was an entirely new concept for me. Having energy work done with stone layouts on me or around me demonstrated a whole new range of feeling that could come through stones.

I also participated in making sacred ritual circles out of stones and saw ancient sites where people raised huge stones to mark directions and elements. I helped raise standing stones that weighed thousands of pounds and took hundreds of people to raise using ropes and shovels.

Seeing ancient sites where people marked spaces that were perfectly aligned to events like solstices and equinoxes were another revelation to the role that rocks and stones played. I have also learned how to do readings by casting stones, which our ancient ancestors did before the invention of cards.

I have seen how the light from crystals can illuminate a space and make it more conducive to quiet, peaceful meditations and reflective energy. The concept of touchstones is related to this as well. People often carry a certain stone in their pocket or wear it on a necklace to remind them of something important.

I have also seen sights where indigenous people used stones to carve figures into other stones and how they have lasted for millennia.

So today I have stones in my home and they serve all these purposes, and it is always surprising to realize how my whole appreciation of the world we live in evolved from the childhood hobby to my current work as a healer and reader.

In this way, the tools have remained constant, but my understanding of them has evolved. As we remain open we discover many helpful things that are hidden in plain sight.

There are so many ways to be in touch with the energies around us and work with them to improve our lives. And we all have these opportunities to learn more and grow and see our lives from different perspectives.

We knew that some of these things had value even before we knew what that value was. Sometimes our awakening to it takes a while.

2016: The 9 Year Unfolds. Are you feeling it?

In January, I wrote about 2016 as a year of endings, and boy, has it been happening for me. First my massage therapist informed me that she will be moving back east to be with family. Then the fellow who has been doing my taxes ever since I moved here let me know that he will be moving to Florida.

Then just recently, I was informed that the building I live in is being sold, so no leases were renewed. At this time, I do not know what may happen. One possibility is that a new owner will continue to rent to those of us who live here. Another possibility is that they will remodel the building and jack up the rents. Another possibility which has happened in the neighborhood is that they will buy it, tear it down and build something else. So I will be making changes but I am not sure exactly what or how yet. All I know at this time is that the building is for sale and that none of us have leases.

All this, and we are only in the third month of the year.

Big changes open the way for lots of possibilities. When I moved out here 10 years ago, I had nothing but my car and what was in it. I had to find a new place to live, new work, everything. All those changes took my life to the next level.

Each time we clear out a space in our life that leaves an opening for new developments and new energies. I did not want to end my relationship with my massage therapist, my tax consultant or my apartment building, but apparently, there are new developments and new relationships ready to happen. So right now I am looking at everything and asking myself what things I might clear out before moving, if I am moving. I look around to see who are the new people I wish to get my services from.

It is the reason I always keep my desk clean, because then there is always a place for new business. I keep my place clean so that there is always a comfortable place for guests to have a little refreshments and conversation.

In business, we also have opportunities to do things differently. Sometimes when one career path comes to an end, we find a new opportunity and it is even better. When we want a new relationship, we cannot still be holding on to an old relationship. In readings, people will sometimes say that their current relationship is not working well for them and has not been for a long time, but they want to wait to get a better offer before they move on. That's not how energy works because you will not get a better relationship until you are clear of the dysfunctional one.

Years ago my sign and business cards focused on my tarot services. After I changed that and showed the various services I had to offer such as reiki, past lives, dream interpretation, numerology, house blessings, mentoring, meditation and the other services, people started asked for more of them. As they began to see me differently, they began to see me as someone with several talents and several services they might want, not just one.

So the 9 year is definitely unfolding and opening the way for changes for me. Are you feeling it too?

What is coming to completion and making way for what is new?

My Caucus Experience

 

I just got back from the Colorado Caucus and the turnout was huge. At my caucus place they expected 1,000 people and 3,000 showed up. They say that 500-700 people could not get into the building. It was an elementary school and was maxed out according to fire regulations. From what I saw, it was definitely a Bernie majority, but the delegates are supposed to meet later this week for the final count. I do not like the caucus process. It was interesting, but I think essentially not fair. We should just have one person, one vote elections. For example, since my precinct was only allotted 2 delegates the bote was Bernie 45, Hillary 25, but each got one delegate because you cannot send less than one person and the vote could not justify sending 2 for Bernie. However, if it were a simple election, Bernie would have won by a landslide. I say do away with all the delegate nonsense. I will say that everyone was civil. No yelling and swearing and interesting to see neighbors in a different light and meet new people in the process. 

A peculiar fact I discovered is that I live in a small apartment building with just 8 units. One of my neighbors was also at the caucus, and she and I were in two different precincts. I always thought that a precinct was a division of geography, like lines on a map so people on this side are in this one and on the other side, you are in another one. However, someone else told me that they knew of people who lived in the same house who were in two different precincts. I think that is weird. And I think that junking the caucus system with its delegates and simply going back to a mail in vote would be much more efficient and accurate. And hearing that other precincts had the same outcome with one delegate for each even though the margin of victory was 2 to 1, a simple vote probably would have shown Bernie winning Colorado by 40% rather than 17%. There were also people in other polling places that had turn away crowds, which tells me two things. One, that for physical events like this we need places bigger than an elementary school. Two, even though it was an interesting experience, it is not most fair and efficient. I hope the legislature goes back to a primary mail in vote rather than caucus again. Before I moved to Colorado, I remember standing in line at election time sometimes for 2 hours in a parking lot waiting for my turn to get inside the polling place and mark my votes on a machine. I do not wish to go back to that method. I think that the vote by mail method is best. That way I can take the time to look up ballot initiatives and candidates so that I can make my best choice. I believe that it is important to exercise our right to vote and take part in helping to make decisions.