Living with Honor
Current mood: gallant
Category: Life

In the late 1990's the president of the United States pointed his finger at the American people and said, "I did not have sex with that woman."  Then a year later he admitted to having an inappropriate relationship with his intern, but avoided the truth in a game of semantics.  Since then, we've had another administration get our country into a war based on distortion and fabrication of facts.  Whether they knowingly misled us or their sources mislead them with false information, or both is not entirely clear.  In light of these scandals, there has been a lot of discussion about honor and integrity.

The dictionary defines honor as: "Integrity; a keen sense of right and wrong, adherence to Principle; Purity."  Integrity is synonymous with honor: sincerity of character, authenticity, and honesty.  People who possess integrity can be trusted.  We never have to question what they say.  What they speak is real because they are real, genuine.  They don't just talk, they do.  Their actions follow through on their words.  They keep their commitments and their promises.

Honesty is the best policy.  However, we sometimes soften or distort the truth in order to spare someone's feelings.  We call this a white lie.  Although it is great to be honest, we should never intentionally wound someone with the truth unless that truth is something they must know for their own safety or higher good.  Being obnoxious with the truth doesn't make us honorable, and certainly not kind.  It makes us asses.

Outright lying or distorting the facts for our own benefit or to manipulate, control, or intimidate others is dishonorable behavior.  When we lie, we step out of our integrity.  Lies have a way of coming back to haunt us.  Once others feel they can't trust what we say, they won't believe anything we say.

Another meaning of integrity is "wholeness".  Every time we are dishonest about what we think, how we feel, or who we are because we fear someone else's anger or discomfort, we sacrifice our integrity.  We start losing pieces of ourselves.  We feel scattered and maybe even broken.  When we are not living in integrity, we are living in a lie.

Honorable people possess an intuitive, moral sense of right and wrong.  They strive to do what is right and honorable in all their dealings.  They would never intentionally hurt or cheat anyone.  However, they also realize that sometimes there is a difference between being "right" and being "happy".  Obstinately fighting for what we deem legally or principally right when it lowers our energy and costs us our health, happiness, and peace of mind is not a battle worth waging.  Sometimes the honorable choice is to walk away; let it go.  There are people in this world who get a "charge" off fighting, contention, discordance, and negativity.  They try to suck us into their storm.  It's best to retreat in strength to fight for a more worthy cause another day.

"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul."—Matthew 17:26

Anyone who achieves or acquires something through ill-gotten means will not profit from it in the end.  That person may appear to succeed at first, but those deeds will come back and kick them in the ass.  There is an unwaivering Law of Karma at work in this universe.  What goes around, comes around.  The chickens come home to roost!  The energy we put out into the universe always finds its way home to us---multiplied!

"It's better to fail with honor, than to succeed by fraud."—Sophocles

Another element of honor is "respect"; respect for others and self.  People with honor conduct themselves in a chivalrous manner.  They respect the rights and space of others.  They treat others in the way they wish to be treated.  Honorable people do not physically or emotionally abuse.  They praise people and lift them up, not tear them down with criticism and ridicule.  Making fun of others is a dishonorable use of energy and, since what goes around, comes around, it sends an invitation to the universe for the perpetrator to receive the same treatment.

We must also honor and respect ourselves.  It's imperative that we only involve ourselves with people, activities, and things that are worthy of the highest within ourselves.  Part of exercising honor and integrity is by commanding the respect of others.  We teach people how to treat us all the time.  Staying silent in the face of offensive behavior is the same as giving that person a permission slip to continue to treat us in that manner.

When someone behaves in a way that hurts or violates you, it needs to be addressed immediately.  Stay centered in strength and state how you feel and that the actions are not acceptable.  If they are unwilling to correct their behavior and show you respect, have enough respect for yourself to remove that person from your life.

An honorable life is guided by certain moral and/or spiritual principles.  By this I do not mean religious fanaticism or forcing one's values down anyone else's throat.  People with honor live by a code of ethics that honors themselves, others, and life.  They may not be religious, but they do have an awareness and respect for the Sacred and the spiritual principles.

Those of us on the spiritual path may have our honor tested on a regular basis.  It's as though the universe wants to see how dedicated we are to raising our consciousness.  It's crucial that those of us who are spiritual leaders and healers conduct ourselves with honor.  Far too often, that's not the case.  It never ceases to amaze me how many so-called spiritual leaders engage in negative, unethical, even illegal activities.  Rather than helping people connect with the Divine, they use their position to promote their own ego, and to manipulate and control others.

The final quality of honor is "purity"; possessing a purity of mind, heart, and soul.  Purity doesn't mean we have never done anything wrong or made mistakes.  It means that we have learned from our errors and are now working to the best of our ability to live an impeccable life.

The purer we make ourselves by living with honor and integrity, the closer we become to God/dess and the easier Spirit can use us as channels to project Divine Light and Love into this world.  The more we live with honor, the more we live in God.

Currently reading : The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate By Gary Chapman

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Durga: The Demon Slayer
Current mood: protected
Category: protected Religion and Philosophy

The lands trembled and shook.  Fire burst forth from the Earth and Heavens.  The oceans boiled and frothed.  The gods ran away in fear, defeated by the great demon king, Mahisa and the Asuras, his army of demon warriors.  The cosmos swirled in a chaotic cataclysm.  How could the Universe, the gods, and humankind be saved from the clutches of the demon horde?

The gods regrouped and formulated a plan.  Mahisa had only one known weakness—woman.  The gods joined their powers and created a huge supernova.  From out of its flames arose a magnificent female form.  She had eight arms, glittering eyes and mesmerizing beauty.  They named her Durga.

As the Asuras thrashed and decimated the Earth, a menacing warrior cry and roar pierced their battle frenzy.  They stopped and stared.  Durga rode out of the darkness on a giant tiger.  Each of her eight arms brandished a weapon.  The Asuras were so hypnotized by this glorious sight, that she easily killed all of them with her swiftly moving hands.  As she cut her way through them, she finally stood face to face with their leader, Mahisa.  He too was mesmerized by her awesome beauty, but did not easily succumb like his warriors.  He shapeshifted into a giant buffalo and charged her.  She roped him, but he escaped and took the form of a lion.  She beheaded the lion, but Mahisa survived and became a giant warrior with a glittering sword.  Durga flung thousands of her arrows at the giant who then took the form of an elephant.  Mahisa grabbed her with his trunk and yanked her to the ground.  She chopped off his trunk and leaped before him, laughing at all of his tricks.  Mahisa again took the form of the giant.  They battled furiously, their swords clanking on the battlefield.  Durga continued to laugh scornfully in his face.  Finally, when Mahisa began to shapeshift back into a buffalo, Durga caught him mid-transformation when he body was the buffalo and his head was the giant.  She lopped off his head.  Mahisa lay dead.  The demons were destroyed.  The cosmos was restored to order.  The gods regained their power.  Durga pledged that she would help and protect them or any of her worshippers when they were in danger.  Thus the Heavens and Earth gained a fierce ally in defeating evil.

In Durga's mythology there are several stories that speak of her slaying demons and battling on behalf of the gods and her worshippers.  She's considered the most potent goddess in the Hindu pantheon, even more powerful than Kali since she created Kali to help in her battles with demons.

She is stunningly beautiful.  In many of her stories it's her beauty that incapacitates the demons.  In one version of the Mahisa tale, once the demon king gazes upon Durga's radiance, he falls hopelessly in love and attempts to court her.  He shapeshifts into various forms just to impress her.  She laughs at his games and then slays him.

According to the website www.hinduism.about.com Durga's weapons hold great significance.  In one hand she carries a bow and arrows.  These represent energy, both potential and kinetic and her command of them.  In another she holds a thunderbolt that signifies the power to strike against and break any challenge or evil.  A discus spins around one hand which means that the will of the goddess dominates the cosmos.  "She uses it as a weapon to destroy evil and produce an environment conducive to the growth of righteousness."  Durga's sword represents the power of Truth to cut through the illusion of fear.  She carries a trident which removes physical, mental, and spiritual miseries.  Durga also holds a conch shell that emits the eternal OM, the sound of God and a lotus symbolizing success.  She uses all these weapons to defeat outer evil in the cosmos and the inner demons which torment her worshippers.

Since the tiger is my animal totem, I am fascinated that Durga rides a tiger into battle, though in some stories it is a white lion.  Tiger is present in other goddess myths.  Before she became Kuan Yin, Miao Shan was about to be executed by her father's guards for disobeying him.  As they raised their swords to deliver the death blows, a giant tiger jumped from the bushes, knocked them to the ground, grabbed Miao Shan in its mouth ans swiftly disappeared with her deep into the forest.  The tiger brought the young woman to a mountain cave where it let her go.  Tiger represents the archetypal energies of independence, uniqueness, and personal power.  The tiger is also one of the avatars of a supreme Chinese goddess known as Hsi Wang Mu who resides high in the mountains of China.  She embodies wildness, Truth, and immortality.  And, in Hindu mythology Budhi Palien often walked the Earth in the body of the tiger which represented the wild, untamed energy of Earth.

Even though Durga was created by male deities, she emerges as more powerful than all of them combined.  No demon could defeat her.  No god could control her.  She is a symbol of women's independence and empowerment; interestingly in a mythology from a culture where women are traditionally subservient to men.  Durga is often portrayed as a wild goddess, untamed by no power other than her own.  Like Hsi Wang Mu, she lives high in the mountains, free of societal and cultural paradigms.  Because of this, she is considered a feminists' goddess representing a woman whole unto her own power.  But keeping in mind that true feminism is "humanism", the fight for the rights and freedom of all groups, Durga is everyone's goddess.  As a man's goddess, Durga is man's muse.  She triggers his inner fire, inspires him, and saves him from himself.

As a great warrior and demon slayer, Durga helps humanity strike against evil and defeat the darkest areas of the human ego.  She is the courage in every brave soul that faces her/his inner demons.  With her assistance fear, doubt, anger, resentment, guilt—all the demons that plague our hearts are conquered and vanquished.

Despite her warrior aspect, Durga is also called the Cosmic Mother, the Great Comforter, who not only fights for her people, but nurtures and cares for them with her warm embrace.

Throughout the ages Durga has been honored during a nine day Autumn festival in October called Durga Puga.  At this time, her worshippers celebrate her warrior aspect and her defeat of the great Demon King, Mahisa as well as the personal demons that plague human kind.  Military leaders in India typically invoked her power at this time for military prowess and success in battle.  However, you can enlist the aid of Durga any time you feel fearful and need extra courage to navigate your personal world.  When you are overcome with fear and you lay awake at night shaking with anxiety; when your personal demons threaten to overtake you, take heart.  You have a powerful ally.  Call upon the Goddess in your time of agony and despair.  Listen past the inner screams of fear and negativity.  Hear the battle cry of the Goddess as she flings her arrows and brandishes her sword.  In Her presence the demons dissolve into nothingness.  She protects you from inner and outer danger.  Lay safely in her comforting embrace.

Currently listening : The Best of Clannad: In a Lifetime By Clannad Release date: 2004-02-24

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courage
Current mood: adventurous
Category: Life

Faces of the Goddess

Editor: Sharon/Siannan Niman

Assistant Editor: Barbara Jean Maurer

POB 486, Crows Landing, Ca. 95313

latigrepress@thevision.net

www.myspace.com/siannan_macaoidh

COURAGE

"Courage is being scared to death---and saddling up anyway."—John Wayne

Dear Readers,

We live in frightening times---with war, economic instability, famine, disease, global warming.  It requires courage to be on Planet Earth and to be alive during this era.

"Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the mastery of it."—Mark Twain

We cannot allow fear to become our master.  Rampant fear leads to a state of bondage.  Fear weakens the self and the spirit.  It creates a world of prisoners.  Do you want to stay on the chain gang?

Courage gives us the ability to face and conquer anything, including fear.  Through courage we become masters of our own reality.  We are no longer at the seeming mercy of external forces, so that frees our energy to be channeled in a more empowered manner.  Courage is not the metaphorical sword that cuts our chains, but the strength to wield that blade and the determination to break free or let go.  Are you ready to be brave and step forward in courage?  Are you ready to live as a hero and not a prisoner of fear?

Issue 53 is devoted to the theme of courage.  We are asking for submissions on the topic of courage and developing courage.  What are your methods for creating more courage?  How do we live and act more courageously?  How do we have the courage to change?  Tell us your own stories of courage.  This issue is also devoted to the warrior goddesses so we will be accepting articles and artwork on warrior goddesses and heroic heroines.  The deadline for issue 53 is June 20.  Let us know in advance if you plan to write.

With Courage,

Siannan

10:49 AM - 3 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Do You Want To Change The World?
Current mood: hopeful
Category: Life

I have heard a lot of grumbling here lately.  Have you noticed all the political and financial complaints floating around in the mass consciousness too?  So many individuals are not only frustrated with the state of the world, but with other people's behavior.  They talk change.  And they talk it so much that they add to the problem instead of the solution.  They want the world to change.  And, they want to know how to change and heal other people.  Talk is cheap.  And yet, it can be expensive.  It's both action and non action that brings results.

So, how do we change our world?  How do we help heal our sisters and brothers?

All change and healing starts with the Self—with us.  The truth is that we cannot change other people.  We can inspire them, but only they can change themselves.  We can only change ourselves.  In fact, if we try to force a change on others, it may do the exact opposite; cause resistance.

If we want to experience an outer change in the world or others, we must first create that change within ourselves.  The outer world reflects our inner world, our consciousness.  If we want peace in the world, we need to make our life an example of peace.  If we want more freedom, we are to hold no one else prisoner in our thoughts.  If we want the people around us to be more loving, friendly, accepting, then we must express what we want to see.  If we desire change, we must ask ourselves, "What am I doing to facilitate this change; to make it possible?"

Although we may get frustrated with others, we do not help, heal, or change anyone by judging, ridiculing, criticizing, or condemning.  That just sinks us and others further into negativity and keeps them stuck in old behavior patterns.  Instead of judging, we need to practice compassion and understanding.  What would it be like to walk in their shoes?  Remember, refusing to understand is like sending out an invitation to the Universe for It to send us a similar experience so that we can learn to understand.

Rather than criticize, best to look for and praise another's positive qualities.  Praise creates a positive environment that is conducive of change.  When others feel good about themselves, it gives them the confidence to make positive changes in their lives.  It opens them up to suggestions on how to make things better.

Instead of becoming visibly frustrated with others who do not seem to be living up to our curriculum, perhaps we need to try a more helpful approach.  Ask them,  "What can I do to help?  What do you need to heal?"  Then listen.  Be willing to give the love and support they need.  Sometimes just a listening ear and an understanding heart can go a long way toward bringing about peace in an unstable situation.

What about "tough love"?  Are there times to "push" and be tough when dealing with change in others?  When someone we love is on a destructive course, intervention and tough love is often necessary as a catalyst for change.  However, even in these circumstances the person often has to hit bottom before they can bounce out of the pit.  They need make up their minds that they want change or continue to suffer the consequences.

The most important part of tough love is distinguishing between love and enabling.  In enabling, we become part of the problem.  We contribute to the problem either by providing a context in which a dysfunctional behavior can easily continue or by rewarding the behavior in some way.  With Love, we are part of the solution.  We support a context for healing and we reward positive change.

A lot of people complain and talk and talk about how the world should be different.  But what are they doing to create change?  To initiate change and healing in this world we need to be activists, not necessarily political activists, but personal, social, and spiritual activists.  Activists are those who activate their personal and spiritual principles in their life and the world.  They go into action.  They move beyond talking and philosophizing to "working".

If we want to help the world, whether it's on a grand scale or just our corner of it, we can step into action; do what we can to make things better.  Get involved in organizations and spiritual groups that are working to raise the collective consciousness and heal this world.  Become an agent of healing.

An important part of being a spiritual activist is prayer.  Research has shown that prayer absolutely affects results.  When we pray, we put Spirit in charge of our lives, our world, and our loved ones.  We know that when they are in God's hands, Divine Will is activated and that will result in the highest good for all concerned.  One of the most powerful ways to pray is to see ourselves, other people, and the world as whole and perfect as God created.  Rather than seeing "error", focus on what is right and good.  See the highest potential for all—and that is exactly the change you will experience.

3:19 PM - 4 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment

Table of Contents for issue 52
Current mood: happy
Category: Romance and Relationships

Faces of the Goddess, Issue 52 on the theme of Love is now available.  Rates: $5 sample, $12 subscription (USA), $5 Sample, $13 yearly (Canada & S. America), $6 sample, $18 yearly (Overseas).  Checks and money orders must be made out in USD to "Sharon Niman"

PO Box 486, Crows Landing, Ca. 95313 USA

Love, page 1……………….…….........................……..Siannan

When we leave this world, we do not take money, houses, sports cars, trophies, or little plaques which say "Senior Vice President" with us.  What we do carry into the Otherworld, and future lifetimes, is how much we loved in this life.

Born to Love Again, page 7………….......................…Siannan

Anyone who has met a soulmate knows that there is a mysterious and unexplainable bond that exists between certain souls.  When they meet, there is a familiarity, a feeling of having known one another before.

Twin Flame, page 10………………..............................Siannan

Then and Now, page 10…………………........................Rowan

Bringing Love into Your Life, page 11........................Siannan

Many people say they want love in their lives, but it remains elusive, whereas others seem to attract ample opportunities for love.  What is their secret?

The Earth Game, page 15……………………………....Virginia

While the Old Age may have taught us to nobilize struggle, suffering, and despair, and to learn through the "pain method"; the New Age is rewriting those rules and proclaiming that we can learn just as easily through the "love method".

Fool’s Option, page 16………………………………………Bill

The Measure of Love, page 16…………………..…………Russ

If love is the most powerful force in the Universe, how is it we come to think of some things and people as unloving?  What is it we are qualifying and quantifying here?

Love Thyself, page 18……………………………….…….Scott

What we do to others, they should surely do to us, shouldn’t they?  When we give our love and appreciation to others and not ourselves, that is precisely what happens.

Men Want to Become Better Lovers, page 19…….....….Bobby

Women, we need your help!  Yes, I admit it.  On behalf of the boys’ club, we are stopping to ask you for directions.

Supplication, page 20…………………………………...Warlock

What Does it Mean to Love?, page 20…………...……Warlock

When asked if we enjoy something in particular like an ice-cream sundae with nuts and sprinkles, we usually reply, "Oh, yes.  I love that!"  We, as a society, over-use this phrase.

Love of an Addiction, page 22………………………....Corinne

They say anything in moderation won’t hurt you.  With an addiction, your brain is so doused with euphoria, you don’t even register moderation.

Love of Place, page 23……………………………………..John

I like to believe each of us is groomed by the genie that dwells in the places we love, and that we are chosen beforehand to serve as the genie for someone else in a subsequent time.

Dwynwen: Celtic Goddess of Love, page 25………......Celayne

Dwynwen, the love goddess, has been invoked throughout the centuries to smooth the tangled path of romantic relations.

Oshun, page 27………………………………………........Karen

As a force of harmony, we see her as beauty, feel her as love, and experience her as ecstacy.

Grainne & Dairmuid, page 31……………………….…Siannan

The warming of Grainne’s heart symbolizes the transition between the winter and summer sun, sparked by the irresistible essence of life; Love.

Horoscopes, page 33…………………………………….Virginia

Illustrations by Kimberlee and Corinne.

Currently reading : Fabulous Friendship Festival: Loving Wildly, Learning Deeply, Living Fully with Our Friends By Sark Release date: 24 April, 2007

7:21 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Love
Current mood: loved
Category: Romance and Relationships

 "The attraction of love for love remains irresistible.  For it is the function of love to unite all things unto itself, and to hold all things together by extending its wholeness."

A Course In Miracles (ACIM)

What matters most in this world is love.  In fact, I would go so far to say that only love is real.  All else is part of the illusion.  There is only one Presence and Power in the Universe; Love--Omnipotent.  God is Love.  And, we were created in the image and likeness of that Love.  Love is our essence.  When we love we express our divinity; we extend God into the world.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing."  I Corinthians 13:1-3

There are those who sweat and strive to acquire riches, power, and fame, but these things, being of this world, are only temporary and will pass.  None of them matter in the end if they were achieved without love.  When we leave this world, we do not take money, houses, sports cars, trophies, or little plaques which say "Senior Vice President" with us.  What we do carry into the Otherworld and future lifetimes is how much we loved in this life.  When all is said and done and our adventure in this lifetime is about to end, earthly possessions, power, and fame will bring no comfort.  At that moment, when we are taking our final breath, the most important thing to us will be that we are surrounded by those people we love.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."  Matthew 6:21

I know people so caught in the rat race drama "out there" that they claim they just don't have time for love.  Love doesn't fit into their schedules.  They'd best make the time and the space because their very spirit is at risk.  Little by little they will empty until there's nothing left of them but shells.  By shutting off, blocking, or running from love they'll end up choking the life out of themselves.

Inability to love will kill you faster than cigarettes, meth-amphetamine, cholesterol, and a man with a semi-automatic pointed at your head.  Yes, even that!  For a loveless consciousness will attract dangerous men with guns!

I hear the aforementioned busy people say, "I have to work long hours to survive!  Love doesn't pay the bills!"  It doesn't?  Love is the difference between merely existing/surviving and thriving.

"Do not be anxious saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be yours as well."  Matthew 6:31-33

The kingdom of Heaven is Love and his righteousness is the ability to love in a world of darkness and fear.  Seek first Love.  Love with the fullness of your being.  Then you will attract all the good the Universe has to offer.  Haven't you ever noticed that when you were feeling in love everything seemed to magically fall into place?  Love has magnetic power!

 "When you want only love, you will see nothing else."  ACIM

Sometimes we're afraid of love.  In this world we build an armor around ourselves and each time we experience love, a chunk of that armor is removed.  We mistake the new, lighter feeling with vulnerability and we become anxious, not realizing that our true invulnerability comes only when we have the spiritual maturity to remove the armor and allow our Light to shine.  Light cannot be terminated.  Love cannot be attacked or hurt.  God/dess cannot be destroyed.

If Love is Truth, and Truth is what makes us free, then Love is the key to our release from the bondage of illusion, fear.  Love is freedom and that's why to truly love someone is to allow them to be free.  Love holds no one prisoner.  But love is also responsibility.  The more we love, the more like God we become, and godhood requires responsibility.  Truth requires honor.

"If you have achieved the faintest glimmering of what love means today, you have advanced in distance beyond measure and in time beyond the count of years to your release."  ACIM

We spend a lot of time amongst ourselves arguing or philosophizing over whose theory, belief, or idea is true, but that's merely an ill-founded attempt to understand or grasp an illusion and keep us trapped within it.  There is one Truth; One Law, and that is Love.  Love is the answer to all questions, the solution to all problems, the cure for all dis-ease.

The only thing that matters is how much you love.  Did you love yesterday?  Have you loved today?

Currently listening : The First Chapter By The Mission UK Release date: 25 October, 1990

5:52 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

How Are Your Investments?
Current mood: determined
Category: Life

How Are Your Investments?

Currently listening : Best of the Pleiades By Gerald Jay Markoe Release date: 03 February, 1998

8:12 AM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Grainne and Dairmuid
Current mood: loved
Category: Romance and Relationships

Grainne & Dairmuid

By Sharon Niman

Once upon a time in Ancient Ireland a beautiful yet frigid princess named Grainne was promised by her father to a marriage with the great Finn McCual.  Unhappy with the arrangement of marrying someone much older than herself, Grainne set several difficult tasks for Finn to complete before she would agree to be his wife.  All of these he accomplished with ease and their union was destined, or so it seemed.

As the guests ate and drank heartily at their pre-wedding feast, Grainne gazed upon the most glorious man she had ever seen.  Her once cold heart began to heat.  He was Dairmuid, and being the grandson of the love god, Aengus MacOg, he had a magic love spot on his forehead, hidden by his hair, which made him irresistible to all women who saw it.  As fate would have it, a gust of wind blew his hair aside, exposing this spot which caught the eye of Grainne.  At that moment, destiny had changed...forever.

The princess drugged the wine of her father, Finn, and the remaining complement, except for the object of her affections.  Knowing also that Dairmuid had taken an oath to help all women in need, Grainne bound this man to help her escape the marriage and hide her from Finn.  Though he felt no attraction for Grainne, Dairmuid honored his oath and road away with the princess into the night.

When Finn awoke he seethed in fury that one of his men had betrayed him and stolen his bride.  He gathered his troops and began a pursuit of Grainne across the countryside which would last a year and a day.  In the meantime, Grainne and Dairmuid ran during the day and hid in caves at night, but Dairmuid resisted the charms of Grainne until one day, while crossing the river Siannan, some mud splashed upward onto Grainne's thighs.  When she lifted her skirts she taunted Dairmuid, claiming that the mud was bolder than he.  Whether it was his pride or the sight of Grainne's beautiful thighs which persuaded Dairmuid, I'll leave for you to decide, but Dairmuid did succumb to Grainne and they became lovers.  Once tasting her passion, he fell irresistibly in love.

The lovers eventually sought peace with Finn who agreed to meet them in truce.  He secretly planned to murder Dairmuid which he did by setting one of his boars upon him.  Dairmuid was gored and Finn refused to use his healing powers to save him.  Gloating with victory, Finn again did not expect the unexpected.  Aengus MacOg intervened and breathed life again into his grandson.  And so Grainne and Dairmuid were given eternity and their love became the fodder of legend.

On the surface the story of Grainne appears to be yet another Celtic romance, but all myths can be interpreted on multi-levels.  Grainne, whose name means "bright" or "sunny", represents the sun and Finn with his silver hair symbolizes the moon.  His chase of Grainne across the countryside is analogous to the moon's pursuit of the sun across the horizon, a quest which will never culminate in union.

In the winter the sun is cold and distant, but with the arrival of spring and summer she grows brighter, hotter.  The warming of Grainne's heart symbolizes the transition between the winter and summer sun, sparked by the irresistible essence of life--Love.

Is this legend merely a metaphor for the sun and moon or can a deeper significance be found?  Those of you versed in Celtic mythology no doubt recognize similarities in other legends like that of Tristan and Iseult; he who was to deliver her to King Mark as a bride, yet they both accidentally drink a magic love potion and their destiny is altered forevermore.  There is the story of Deirdre and Naoise who, despite the curse put on her beauty to destroy any man who loved her, tempted fate and ran off to Scotland, thus ending both their lives.  And, the legend of Bloddewedd who was magically created from the most beautiful flowers to be a bride for Llew Llaw Gyffes, but rebelled once she truly knew love at the hands of Gronw.

In each instance there is a futile attempt, either by magic or convention, to control Love's destiny.  But Love, being the most powerful and unpredictable Force in the Universe, cannot be controlled, forced, or contained by the hand of man.  We cannot make love where there is none no more than we can force the sun to revolve around the earth.  Love has a consciousness of its own.

Just as the sun is at the center of the solar system and all worlds revolve around its light, Love is at the center of the Universe and all souls spiral around It.  And as plants and creatures need the sun to grow, to exist, we need Love's light to nourish and sustain our souls.

Open your hearts.  To Love, always be true.

Currently listening : Greatest By Duran Duran Release date: 03 November, 1998

8:38 AM - 5 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

Where is Our Attention?
Current mood: attentive
Category: attentive Life

On December fifth, nineteen year old Robert Hawkins walked into an Omaha mall and opened fire with his SKS Assault Rifle.  He killed nine people and wounded five others before turning the gun on himself.  He left a suicide note in which he said, "Now I'll be famous."  A few days later, another gunman opened fire in a Colorado church.  Was he inspired by Hawkins?  And the bigger question, was Hawkins inspired by Cho Seung-Hui who went on a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech last spring?  Cho made videos and sent them to the media.  Certain news organizations could not resist the temptation and aired the video.  Newspapers around the country plastered his face on the front page.  The media played right into his plan.  He got exactly what he wanted.

Friends and family of these shooters claim there were warning signs and that measures could have been taken to prevent these tragedies.  In my opinion, the greatest preventative measure to these kinds of massacres is—NO MORE ATTENTION!  The media turns these psychopaths into celebrities.  They energize evil, or what we call "error" in metaphysics, with attention.  Energy always follows attention.  The more attention we give to something, the more powerful it becomes and the more likely it will be to continue or reoccur.

Events in the outer world are, to some degree, a reflection of our inner world.  The shooters represent our own fear, guilt, anger, resentment, illness, problems.  The more attention we give them, the greater they become.  When a problem, illness, or other form of negativity occurs, it's a common human foible to focus on it, think it, analyze it, obsess on it, and talk it constantly to ourselves and everyone else who will listen.  But because energy follows our attention, we wind up making our problems worse.  Sometimes what starts off as small can grow and grow into a full blown crisis—if we give it enough attention.

Have you ever suffered from an ailment and when another ailment appeared, the first one suddenly seems to disappear?  Why?  Because your attention became focused on the new one.  How many ills and problems are really due to attention?

I repeat—the more attention we give to something, the bigger it becomes.  But that's only half the problem.  Remember, like attracts like.  Thought forms and energy clusters are magnets.  They attract similar energy from the universe.  So our problems are not only fed by our attention, but by all the similar energy they attract from the world.  We need to stop empowering what we don't want in our lives!

The good news is that attention can also work in our favor.  We can feed energy to our good by focusing our attention on what we do want.  No matter what the appearances, you must focus your attention on the good that does exist.  Give thanks for everything that's working and feels good.  Be grateful for whatever increment of your good that has already manifested.  Praise yourself for all progress you make—even the micromovements.  Talk yourself up, not down.  Tell your friends what is right with you.  Then they too will give attention and energy to your good rather than to what is not so good.  If you do choose to talk about a problem, pick a confidante who can see past your current difficulty to a positive outcome.

We also need to energize what we want rather than what we don't want in the world at large.  Angry demonstrations and protests against war keep our attention focused on war and energize warlike conditions.  Let's energize peace by giving it our attention.  Let's live the peace and be the peace.  Rather than protesting against discrimination, practice compassion and acceptance.  Instead of focusing on poverty, give thanks for all the examples of an abundant universe.  Resenting people with money energizes lack in your life.  Give thanks that they have demonstrated prosperity because that means you can as well!

To save the planet and ourselves, we must energize light, not darkness.  We do this by being lights and shining our light.  When we choose the spiritual path, we commit to promoting the light and those things that raise the consciousness of this world and to not giving attention to people, circumstances, and media forms that lower the collective consciousness.  That means watching over our thoughts because they become words and watching our words because they become actions.

Currently listening : A Winter Garden: Five Songs For The Season By Loreena McKennitt Release date: 14 November, 2006

6:30 AM - 5 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment

Where is the Kingdom?
Current mood: aware
Category: aware Religion and Philosophy

"Where is the Kingdom?"

"The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."—Matthew 3:2

As children, many of us were taught that we had to be "good" if we wanted to go to Heaven when we died.  Heaven was a far off place and we had to be on our best behavior to enter those Pearly Gates.  Most adults still believe this.

If you are waiting for a Heaven that comes at the end of life, then you have misunderstood the purpose of Life.

In the Gospel of Thomas Jesus says, "The Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the Earth, but man does not see it."  Here he is clearly saying that Heaven is not a far-off future destination, but a state that exists right here, right now.  Unfortunately, most of us are not in the right mind to recognize it.

Heaven is a state of consciousness.  So is hell.  Whether we go to Heaven or hell when we leave the physical body depends upon whether we lived in a state of Heaven or hell while we were "in body".  In Luke 17:21 the Christ says "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you."  We take our Heaven or hell consciousness with us wherever we go.

So how do we experience Heaven now rather than hell?  The Kingdom of Heaven is built on Love, Compassion, Peace, and Joy.  We create Heaven on Earth when we express these qualities.  We create hell when we express fear, anger, resentment, and guilt.  So, the old belief that we can only go to Heaven if we are "good" is true.  But the Kingdom of Heaven we enter from being in "good consciousness" is Now, not later.

Every day we have a choice—we can make our beds in Heaven or hell.  We can choose Love or fear, Peace or anger, Joy or guilt.

The purpose of our life is to lift the veil of hell and see the Kingdom of Heaven that is spread upon the Earth.  It's to align ourselves with Christ Consciousness and claim our Divine right to live in Heaven rather than hell.

"The only sin is self-hatred.

We call it sin, but its true name is delusion.

We have got to get ourselves back to the Garden.

That's easily done.  We are in the Garden.

Let us open our eyes."

(Paul Williams from Das Energi)

Currently listening : The Best of Roxy Music By Roxy Music Release date: 03 July, 2001

7:07 AM - 4 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment