Category: Magic

Understanding the Shout of Covid-19

7/31/2020

     When looking for the Unconscious meaning of any shout, break it down into smaller components. In the case of Covid-19, break the disease and its demands down into smaller elements. Do this by looking at what it’s doing. What are its characteristics? What are you and others believing about it? What is the media reporting about it? What are your fears surrounding it? For example, let’s list some terms and words often applied to Covid-19. The more common terms associated with it are,

Pandemic
Social distance
Isolation and separation
Mask
Danger to seniors
Fear
Vulnerability
Loss (i.e., of security, of livelihood, of life, of connection, etc.)
Rage
Dependence
Shutdown
Suffering

Now let’s work with each component to discover if the shout applies.

Pandemic: A pandemic is a threat prevalent throughout the world.    No one is safe from it; everyone is susceptible to it ravishes; all are vulnerable. The shout of Covid-19 is a shout out to everyone; no exceptions. Everyone has to pay attention to it.

Social distance: Covid-19 requires each of us to distance ourselves. It demands we shun closeness, and it forces us to face ourselves without the outside distractions we use to hide (i.e., family, job, partnership, social activities, etc.) This distancing is forcing us, individually, to meet our hidden fears, loneliness, and pains. The times demand we do so.

Isolation and Separation: As all life requires both ebbing and flowing, pause and action, Covid-19 is forcing us to ebb, go within, to prioritize, reassess, re-evaluate, and to slow down. Humanity needs to step back and go inward. It has for too long maintained forward progress without assessing and reassessing its way forward, or to dream its future and becoming. Covid-19 is demanding humanity do so now.

Mask: We all must wear a mask. The truth is we always wear a mask; only now, we’re making it physical so we can observe it physically. We hide in some false self-image and project to others and our world a distorted version of our self. The shout from the Unconscious is that now we must remove the old mask we hide behind, and let the truth of us shine forth. The mask is a shout to discover, accept, and project our beauty, truth, and goodness. We must show the real us. Stop hiding and allow yourself to breathe freely.

Danger to seniors: The most vulnerable among us are our seniors. We have for so long ignored them. They’re the most invisible among us. Many possess an experience, insight, and wisdom much needed in our world today. Yet, because most of the world views the old as expendable, a necessary burden, and a point of pity and condescension, many seniors are ready and choosing unconsciously to pass on. There was a time, and in some cultures, there still is, when the old among us was respected and cherished, not as babysitters, or ancient relics, but as vital resources for knowledge, insight, and wisdom. The times demand that we do not diminish or ignore their gifts. The times require we give them their proper place of respect and value.

Fear: Covid-19 brings to the surface great fear and terror. What we lock imprisoned within us cannot remain hidden forever; it must be faced and felt for its healing to occur. The old world is ending; the new is emerging, and fear and terror must and will surface. If, however, we lose ourselves in the whirlwind, we’ll not be able to see the presence of a new world all around us. Feel the fear, acknowledge it, forgive yourself, and let it transform into magic; this is the need of the time.

Vulnerability: Covid-19 is bringing with it intense feelings of vulnerability. It exposes all the false structures we’ve placed in our life to keep us safe and to keep us from feeling vulnerable. We’ve hidden behind thick walls and invested so much of our energy to maintain them. Now that they’re crumbling, we’re coming face to face with our belief and fear in our vulnerability; this must occur. The times are demanding that we expose these false walls we’ve built around us and that we choose to step outside them. The times, this new emerging world, requires each of us to become vulnerable to our strengths and weaknesses. If we do, we’ll then discover that, in truth, we are invulnerable.

Loss: The old world’s ending, and the new world’s emerging; this brings with it a significant sense of loss. Nothing of the past will remain, and all the old familiar sources of comfort and security will no longer be present. We’re being called on to open to new sources of safety and security, sources found within ourselves. We’re being called on to new sources of life and a livelihood beyond mere jobs, careers, and the simple activities of day to day survival. And we’re being called to a more profound, and a more genuine sense of connection.

Rage: Monumental change is always preceded by monumental chaos. Chaos, the Unknown, is what humanity has ever tried to prevent. Humanity's greatest fear is the Unknown, and when in fear, most people revert to rage; they rage against the Unknown and against the terror the Unknown always brings with it. Like an animal cornered by an attacker, they lash out with rage and frenzy. We can see this happening all around us. Feel the rage, don’t stuff it back down. Choose to release it, not to lash out or hurt or destroy. If you do this, you can facilitate its healing.

Dependence: Covid-19 is demanding we reveal on what and to who we depend on for our security and survival. Is it the ‘father’ government; is it the mercy of social hand-outs? Is it anything outside yourself? You are loved, safe, and protected always. The shout of Covid-19 is to recognize your old dependencies and discover and accept that you’re always supported. You’re supported, loved, and always protected by your Higher Self, and God/Goddess/All That Is. Let that in.

Shutdown: People are shutting down their businesses; many are permanently losing them. Dreams are dashed, and hopes are shattered. Covid-19 calls out for more hope, more dreams, and less shutting down of emotions. If we do not allow our emotions full expression, but instead shut down and lock them away, they will, in time, come out, perhaps violently, perhaps in other devastating ways. All shouts bring positive and negative messages. Heed the negative; welcome the positive. Your dreams and accomplishments are never in jeopardy unless you make or allow it so. Never stop dreaming. But always dream higher.

Suffering: Covid-19 is bringing with it great pain and suffering. It calls us to compassion, not blame and bitterness; it calls us to our humanity and to what unites us, not dogmatic thinking that divides us. Covid-19 demands creativity and innovation; both sorely are lacking in our world today. Covid-19 demands of us that we awaken hope, and not retreat to our usual cynicism and negativity. And Covid-19 calls out for magic, not to retreat into our familiar games of martyrhood.

     The old ‘tried and true’ structures of our past are no longer working and will no longer work. We must pause, go within, and forgive our self for desperately clinging to what was, and be open to accepting to what will be.
     If none of the above holds any connection for you or does not help to surface unconscious messaging that you can relate to, make a list of what Covid-19 is saying to you. Although the event is universal in its impact, it’s always a personal message to each individual facing it.

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The Drought We're In

7/27/2020

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     There’s a devastating drought in our world today. No, it’s not the result of some weather condition or a result of the absence of rain. It’s a more catastrophic condition that’s brought on by fear, terror, rage, and chaos. It’s brought on by humankind’s struggle with an unknown and uncertain future of a world becoming new.
    The drought that plagues us is the drought of creativity and innovation, and the severe shortage of understanding and civility. We’re in the midst of a drought of hope and compassion. And we sorely lack vision, wisdom, forgiveness, dialogue, and balance. We’re entangled in a fear-based story that has no third act and is playing out in conflict, strife, and violence. Our world is breaking apart, as it must, but it’s also becoming mad with fear. But there’s a way out of the madness if we only pause and pay attention and keep ourselves from becoming swept in the frenzy and the chaos.
     There’s a way out if we navigate our ship in the narrows between the opposing voices and if we avoid the siren’s call to crash on the rocky banks of a reality that does not reflect the Light of the new world emerging. There’s a passage through these darkened times, these times of drought and pain, these voices of terror and anguish.
     Step back, pause, go within, and mark well the course of your journey forward. Gather your power; claim the authorship of all you’re observing, without blame or guilt, yes, even your authoring of this chaos and drought. Do what you came in this life to do: love, dream, heal and work your magic.

     What do we do, how do we heal, how do we end this drought?

     Why, do what it is you always do when you wish to heal! Flow within yourself the soothing and healing waters of hope and compassion. Seek out a greater understanding of the world about you, and those within it. Pursue creativity and lift your creativity to the grand heights of innovation. Seek genuine dialogue; don’t hide in mindless dogma. Open to your inherent wisdom by always eyeing the bigger picture without losing sight of the current. Be the visionary you were born to be and dream futures of Light and Substance. And exercise the power of forgiveness, the forgiveness of yourself, others, and especially those you falsely blame and judge for the turbulent times you live. You’re the author of your reality, not others. Stop giving them your power. Cultivate within yourself a sense of balance and discernment, and always act with kindness and civility.
     Be yourself, that’s all; not some tragic character in a story that isn’t real. Stop playing the Biblical Noah, and author a different story. Flood the Earth with your healing, dreams, love, and magic. And build an arc for all to travel upon with elegance, dignity, and grace.
     Simply put, what you see lacking all about you, awaken within yourself, and flow it out into your world. Nothing more than that is needed or required.
     You matter more than you realize. No, you’re not a tiny drop in a vast ocean; you are the ocean.

                           Oh, how I wish you’d discover and accept this!

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The Politics of Rage

8/17/2018

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     Political discourse in America is non-existent. No side is talking to the other; they’re all chattering to their base. People are not talking with; they’re talking at them. And the call by some social justice warrior to have a “conversation” on their cause de jour is laughable. When we hear some activist pundit on TV proclaim, “We need a conversation on racism in this country. ” What they’re asking for, in truth, is a forum to blast what they perceive as racist police (all police), racist Republicans (all Republicans), racist white people (all white people), racist black people (only black Republicans), and racist dogs (golden retrievers, mainly due to their fur color). No one on either side of the political spectrum is willing to set down their respective dogmas long enough to exchange in any semblance of dialogue. There’s no willingness to discuss anything. There’s only the insatiable need to pontificate on some social agenda. The noise is becoming deafening, the rage enveloping. And this sad and frightening state of affairs is not limited to the United States; it’s worldwide.
     During the 2016 election, half the American population, feeling left out and ignored for many years by the Obama and Bush administrations, vented their rage and frustration by electing a man they were convinced shared their anger. They convinced themselves that Donald Trump empathized with them. It didn’t matter that he was a raging narcissist incapable of any semblance of empathy; he spoke the right words, insulted the right people, and behaved the part of the nasty petulant child. He was one of them, or so they believed or wanted to believe. Narcissists are pathologically focused on themselves and imprisoned by their egos need for self-gratification.   Donald Trump said the right things, stirred the right emotions, and all believed, mistakenly, they were finally being listened to; this was good enough for half the country’s population.
      The other half subsequently became embroiled in the same lunacy. The rage directed at Trump, or whomever else should dare criticize them, is so over-the-top and absurd it cannot help but remind any sane person of the rantings of, once again, nasty petulant children. Who would have imagined a time when genders are so confused that they’re no longer considered genders? Who would have thought that colleges and universities, once bastions of free thought and speech, would become havens of intolerance and safe spaces?   Who would have thought that a time would come when people you disagree with are gleefully harassed and denied access to a restaurant?
     Last year I refereed a freshman boys soccer game at a local high school. After the game, a player from the home team sheepishly approached me and, nearly in tears, said, “Ref, I and my teammate’s feelings were hurt when you made that throw-in call against us.” He then walked away with a slight stagger of self-righteousness. I could say nothing. I was in shock. Their “feelings were hurt!” Are you kidding me! ‘Throw-in’ calls are the least impactful calls in a soccer game; they’re made all the time. No voice was raised to offend their delicate sensibilities since such calls are made only with a whistle and an arm gesture. And the game was not won or lost by the call. What upset these little butter-cups was that the call was not what they wanted it to be. I dread the day when players, upset with a referee’s call, will need to go to a prearranged ‘safe space’ so that they can stroke their comfort puppy. And, of course, the referee will not be served at the local restaurant or be allowed in restrooms appropriate to their gender, assuming they have genders.   What madness!
      As metaphysicians and healers, I do not recommend getting caught up in the maelstrom of such extremes. Don’t give up your sanity for any dogma or agenda. Seek the bigger picture, always.
    When people find themselves in overwhelming and incomprehensible change, the natural reaction is to go into fear. This fear eventually gets replaced by anger. When anger is unaddressed, it become rage. The world is undergoing monumental change right now. All the old institutions are collapsing, and all our old and familiar beliefs are crumbling; this is a necessary condition for a new world to emerge. And a new world is emerging - that’s a given. All life, at some level, are experiencing this change; but people, when they do not process this change emotionally, project their fear and rage outwardly; this produces insanity. As healers and metaphysicians, we must step out of this set and attend to the madness within. That is our area of expertise. The following are a couple of suggestions on how to work to begin aligning ourselves and the world to this new emerging reality.

                                                     TECHNIQUES

(1) When was the last time you checked in with yourself(s)? Since your less developed selves reside in the Unconscious, they’re experiencing the monumental change before you do, and they’re experiencing it more deeply. Their ability to process this change is, by their less mature nature, limited. Because they do not possess the awareness, tools, and mature insight to comprehend this change or to work with it, they become terrified and eventually enraged. We have the awareness, have the tools, and are the spiritual adults, not them. Our outer world is, in truth, merely reflecting our less developed selves turmoil. People in the world are playing out their reality with fear and rage because they are not talking responsibly for such feelings in themselves, it’s not them, it’s Trump, It’s not them, it’s the wacky leftists. We, on the other hand, must respond not from the whirlwind of chaos outside us, but at the level of the whirlwind within us. It’s all a matter of where we give our attention. We’re the spiritual adults in the room, and spiritual adults respond.

                                        Step back - check in - respond

       (a) Stop focusing on where the problem is not located; outside of yourself
             (step back).

       (b) Go into a meditation and sit with the parts of yourself that are in
             terror and rage and listen and feel their fear and anger (check-in).

       (c) Send love to them. Reassure them they are not alone; that
              you’re with them always and will not abandon them; hold them if
              they need holding; love them when they need loving (respond).

As you do this, you will become more and more aware of this monumental new world emerging and will be able to get glimpses of the larger picture amid the current insanity. As you do this, you change the resonance of the chaos, not only in yourself but in your world.

                         “Go dancing and singing, not kicking and screaming.”

(2) Without agendas or the need for pacific outcomes, go into a meditation. In your safe place, with your Higher Self to help, send a cocoon of light to envelop the Higher Selves of the politicians in Washington, or the Higher Selves of the millions voting in specific elections, or cocoon the personified Spirit of America (yes, nations have overseeing Spirits). Flow your love and light to this cocoon, not to initiate a specific agenda of yours, but to provide resonance support and healing love. The Higher Selves and America’s Spirit know the big picture, not you. Be humble enough to send the love and humble enough to allow the outcome that best awakens a future that is far beyond what you can currently imagine. You don’t know what’s right here. They do. Simply do your work: love, dream, heal, work magic. Be the healer and map-maker and send support. Be involved at a more fundamental level.

Remember, if things become too overwhelming, go to the safe space of your ‘safe place’ and respond; there work your magic; comfort puppy is optional.

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The Greater the Chaos, the Greater the Opportunity

7/20/2018

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                    Planet Earth is going to hell in a hand-basket.
                                       That’s the good news.
                The inhabitants who live there have become unhinged.
                                            That’s the bad news.

       Our world is not evolving; it’s ending. And out of this ending, a new world is emerging, not a fixed world, not a changed world, not an improved version, a new world, a world beyond anything one can yet dream or imagine.
       We’ve talked of this many times before. We likened it to dying, not literally, but in a more real sense, a more accurate sense. The world is dying; the worst of it, the best of it, and everything in between. All our sacred institutions are collapsing. We can see this unfolding before our eyes each night in the news. But what makes this frightening is that humankind, collectively and individually, is dying as well. A few are experiencing it consciously, most unconsciously, and this is the underlining source of the upheavals we see playing out in our individual lives and the world around us. During this confusing time, it’s important to pause a moment to remember that chaos is a necessary state in making way for the birth of the new, the birth of a virgin future.
       Science understands that two realities cannot occupy the same space simultaneously. One goes, one remains. Our old systems cannot hold the same space as the emerging ones. The past must go completely to make way for the new; the old dies, the new is born; this is the play of these turbulent times. Nothing more, nothing less. This upheaval is the necessary condition of the new world’s unfoldment.   To best navigate this chaos, we must disengage from the chaos and attend to the call of our virgin future. Accept this precious gift from God/Goddess/ All That Is.
       The madness we’re experiencing and see playing out around us is the world’s reaction to this new birth. Call it “birthing pains” if you wish. These upheavals are natural to the event. They are, as we stated earlier, necessary.
       All change is preceded by chaos or entropy (disorder). The more profound the reality being birthed, the greater the disorder preceding it.   There’s tremendous power in entropy. Chaos holds incredible magic. The key to growing and prospering from these turbulent times is to let in that there are virtually unlimited opportunities for profound growth in the whirlwind of chaos. How we react to the chaos in ourselves and our world will determine how elegantly, or not, we experience it. How we attend to our fast-changing realities will determine how elegantly, or not, our process of becoming new plays out. The emerging you, the emerging world, is destined to be. It will happen. It’s a fact. It’s the promise of God/Goddess/ All That Is to you and your world. You can either go kicking and screaming into your future or dancing and singing. It’s up to you.

                            Suggestions for Working with the Chaos

(1) Don’t give your power away. During the eight years of the Obama administration, I constantly lamented the end of America and the demise of civilization. Recently, a friend asked, “Well, Obama was president for eight years, and your life now?” It was easy to admit that my life’s better now than at any time in the last 73 years. It’s better, not because of Obama, and if it were worse, it would also not have been because of Obama, it’s better because I chose it so. It’s better because I created my reality to be so, not Obama. I create my reality, not Obama, not Trump, not Hillary, not the evil Republicans, not the ‘wascally’ Democrats, not the dim-witted right, not the lunatic left. I do. Giving away power to people, things, events outside of yourself is not only a waste of time, but a waste of attention and a forfeiture of your authority to author your own reality. If your life is affected by Donald Trump, it’s not because of Donald Trump; he doesn’t have that kind of power, it’s because you’ve given away your power and authorship to create your reality.

                                 You are the creator of your reality!

Neither Donald Trump, nor Hillary Clinton, nor anybody, nor anything has power over you until you give it. Whenever you find yourself getting worked up because of that person(s), circumstance, event, etc., back off, realize that, at that moment, you’re giving your power away. Stop. Take back your power by responding to your inner voices; the source of the fear and anger is within you, not in what you’re perceiving. Forgive yourself. Choose to engage your outer world differently.

(2) Trust the bigger picture. Your outer world is an out-picturing of your inner world, and your inner world is in upheaval right now. You have no idea of the bigger picture. You’re smack dab in the whirlwind. Remember, you’re not creating this new world; you’re allowing it. You have no idea what it will be or what it will look like in the future; it’s beyond what you can imagine or dream yet. It’s birthing from the imagination of God/Goddess/ All That Is. Whatever your reality is right now, it’s a story you’re telling yourself. It’s not true. Though you do not yet know the bigger picture, you can begin to experience it frame by frame, as you take authorship if your story, attend to your fear, forgive yourself for holding to the past, and trust your process. Trust the bigger picture. The bigger picture is what’s real; your story is not. When you find yourself getting caught in the story, back off, say to yourself, “I don’t know the bigger picture here. But there is one. I choose to receive its power and be guided by its influence.” As you continue to do this, more and more, the bigger picture becomes part of your current experience.

(3) Attend to your frightened selves.   The new world is sourced in the Unconscious; it’s bubbling up and, in time, will be experienced consciously. The dying we talked about is, likewise, occurring in the Unconscious. It is out-picturing in our conscious experience as fear stories. We’re erroneously projecting our inner fear onto people and events outside us. These projections are perceived as threats coming at us, not projections coming from within us, which is their exact origin; this is our fear story.   We are trying to engage a story that’s not real instead of attending to the more real within us.
       If you’ve been in a dark room for a long time and grown used to it, and someone lights a tiny candle that slowly begins to grow brighter and brighter, the growing light will produce shadows that move as the light gets brighter. Because you’re not used to the light, your attention is drawn to the moving shadows, and you, of course, will become frightened. As the room becomes brighter, the shadows become less. Fear diminishes. Once the room is fully illuminated, shadows are gone, fear vanishes, and only the light remains. There is great fear in the world right now. People are seeing the moving shadows but are not aware that it’s just the result of the growing light of this virgin future emerging. People react to their fear in many ways: they hide, go into denial, get angry, become violent, become irrational, hold tenaciously to dogmatic thinking, become loud, bullying, and controlling, etc. Look at the news at night. You’ll see fear with its many faces everywhere.
       Your outer reality is a projection of your inner one. If your perceived reality is in chaos, it’s your inner reality projecting it. Therefore, attend to those within you that are holding the fear: your less developed selves, your negative ego, the dark counselors. You’re giving your reality to them whenever you’re experiencing fear with its many faces. If you are in fear and anger, it’s because you’re looking through their eyes. You’re giving the authorship of your reality to them. Reclaim your authorship, not by ignoring them, but by giving them a voice. Go within. Sit with them, let them express the fear and rage they feel. Be loving and present. Remind them that you’re not abandoning them to the fear; remind them that you’ll be with them always. Reassure them, love them, and always respond to them. You, my friends, are going nowhere without them.

(4) Work your magic. As magicians, healers, miracle-workers, map-makers, it’s time now to stand up and stand out; this is the moment to do what you do best: work magic, heal, love, dream. There are many ways to work. An elegant way is to work meditatively. When you experience upheavals in your world, locally or internationally, go into a meditation and with your Higher Self, go to that hot spot, and, together, envelop the area in a sphere of light. In that light, flow your love, your healing, your magic.
       There is also an astonishing lack of creativity, innovation, and imagination in our world today. Dogma has replaced dialogue. Lack of civility has replaced any sense of community with co-operative interactions. Where imaginative, creative, and innovative solutions are needed, old and stale formulas are the fall-back solutions. As in the previous meditation, you and your Higher Self can go to those who lack the imagination, creativity, innovation: researchers struggling to find solutions to disease; world leaders engaging in petulant, childish behavior; politicians desperately clinging to their need for power and authority, etc. Surround them in a sphere of light. Flow you and your Higher Self’s love, creativity, imagination, and healing into them. But remember this, don’t inject your bias here! Remember, you do not see the bigger picture. Don’t say, “I want the outcome to be this,” or, “I want that party, to do that.” Instead, express it this way, “I desire the greatest good with harm to none.” or, “Let truth, beauty, and goodness flow here. Let healing flow here.” What you think is the correct outcome is, most likely, is incorrect, not because you’re wrong, or bad, but you do not know the bigger picture. Let the outcome be reflective of, or leading to, the emerging world, that world destined to be. In our reality right now, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it may not be a duck at all.
       Remember, you’re not making this new world; you’re choosing it, you're receiving it. Your Future Self, in co-creation with your Higher Self, Soul, and God, Goddess, All That Is, is birthing it.

So, what’s your part in this Great Awakening;

(1) Don’t give your power away to your fear, or those in your reality reflecting it.
(2) Attend to the source of the fear, you.
(3) Trust in the bigger picture even though you have no idea what it is.
(4) Heal, love, dream, and work your magic.

       In so doing, you’ll make for yourself, and others, a map. Nothing else is necessary. What’s destined to happen will happen; you might as well enjoy the ride.

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Author

President: American Society of Alternative Therapist (ASAT™)

Teacher: Architect and principle instructor of ASAT™ C.O.R.E. Counseling

Author: The C.O.R.E. Principles, The Scented Flowers of Sinjin-Ka, The Magic of the Scented Flowers, and The Best Meditations on the Planet (with co-author, Skye Alexander)

Understanding the Shout of Covid-19

The Drought We're In

The Politics of Rage

The Greater the Chaos, the Greater the Opportunity

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