Topic: Magick & Spirituality

On April 13, 2004 I was honored with attending a teaching seminar by His Holiness The Dalai Lama. I felt his energy and saw all the expressions on his peaceful face. When entering the auditorium my eyes fell instantly upon the stage with it's decorations in honor of the Buddhist tradition.

What's in a number? As children we all have favorite numbers, just as we have favorite colors. When I was a child, my favorite number was seven. I couldn't tell you why I liked the seven, but it almost seemed as if the number had a personality that was greater than the mere fact that it was one more than six. In other words, to children it seems as if numbers are alive and are much more than a function of logic.

I had gone to bed relaxed, not knowing that on this night I would be pulled into the Dream Maker’s realm. I was awoken by a howling wind that penetrated and passed through my neck. As I became more aware of the texture of this auditory phenomenon I realized it was Jagür’s roar, awakening me into that mysterious realm where my benefactor and his companions were conspiring to change the fundamental fabric of my cognitive system. I was suddenly standing in the room where the four men had appeared previously and from the darkness leapt Jagür. She flew through the air and pinned me by the chest and as we hurtled backwards, scenes and memories of past events streamed by sequentially. While plummeting towards the floor I realized that the imagery was somehow erupting from behind Jagür’s paw, and when we landed she intently locked my eyes with her gaze. There was a determination in this animal, the same determination you would see in a wild cat just before it snapped the neck of it's prey; but her purpose was not to kill me. She was taking me into past events through her fierceness. I heard from behind her a voice, calling: “Jagür.”

Viewed from a materialistic perspective, the evolution of consciousness appears as a linear process. Over time, awareness increasingly reveals itself through the development and refinement of form. In this story, we will add a spiritual dimension and describe how this process might be unfolding.

Crystals and gemstones are sensitive to the energies they encounter. For this reason, you'll probably want to clear any residual energies that your crystal might have picked-up before you begin working with it. In most cases, either of the following methods will work fine.

1. The simplest method to clean your crystal or gemstone is to let the clearing power of the sun gently work for you. All you have to do is to set the crystal or stone in a place where it will be undisturbed and where it will receive an ample amount of direct sunlight. A window sill with a southern exposure or a rail on your porch or deck might be perfect for this. At the end of three days your crystal should be all clear and ready for you to use.

Seeing With Our "Good Eye" by Marc Ian Barasch Excerpted from the book Field Notes on the Compassionate Life

Life offers up its own daily catechism, even if it's just seeing people in a little better light. Why not just resolve to give everyone the benefit of the doubt? "If we treat people as they ought to be," said Goethe, almost nailing it, "we help them become what they are capable of becoming." Or more to the point: Treat them as they already are, if we but had the Good Eye to see it.

"Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos - the trees, the clouds, everything." Thich Nhat Hanh

"Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit." William James

The Book of Changes, written in China during the 3rd Century B.C., observed the cycles within nature expressed as Yin and Yang, dynamic complements of one another. Chinese Medicine, as a science, observes and supports the flow of Yin and Yang within the body. Yin energy, akin to the moon and Mother Earth, reflects the feminine and aspects of nature that are cool dark, quiet and solid. Yang energy, akin to the Sun, mirrors the masculine facets of nature that are boisterous, bright, and expansive. Yin and Yang’s harmonious continuum of balance allows healthy Chi (life energy) to flow in the body and within all life. Chi keeps the body in the fullness of health through its balanced flow in the meridians of the body. Within Chinese Medicine the removal of barriers in the healthy flow of Chi turns the body from disease back to health.

It might be good to clarify a few common misunderstandings about meditation right off the bat. First, meditation is best thought of as a way of being, rather than a technique or a collection of techniques.

I'll say it again.

Meditation is a way of being, not a technique.

Aries

In 2005, love will turn serious and should bring interesting life lessons. This comes as a result of teacher planet Saturn, which is due to enter your fifth house of true love in late July for a two-year visit. If you have found love hard to find, ask yourself if you are avoiding a relationship due to a past disappointment. If you want love and have been unconsciously been avoiding attachments, being aware of this tendency may help you move forward much more effectively.

by Michael Lamas

Quiz: What part of the body houses all five senses, four of them exclusively? If you guessed "the armpit," then you'd be wrong. The correct answer is "the head." And because it houses the brain as well, you could consider it the Command Center of the body: working in harmony, we have vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell clustered closely together in a compact bio-unit. It's no wonder, then, that when we stare into the mirror, we identify our face (rather than our neck) as "me."