A positive self talk mantra asserts that the energy of recognition helps you take a different look at yourself. We often have a lot of self-criticism, which influences our self esteem in a negative way. Fear is often the barrier for doing what we really wish to do. Recognize yourself! Recognize others!
Devil inside, are you a better con artist than you are conning yourself into buying into?
Dark Nights of the Soul reveals light at the end of the tunnel.
She illuminates the shadows.
Us and Them segregations are cognitive distortions!
The blind man with his dog on vacation could have seen the Elephant In The Room coming . . .
In the beginning, there was the word.
And discipline derives its ancestry from the Latin root to teach.
A Higher quality of respect comes from feeling safe to learn,
even through peaceful and non-violent forms of tough love.
Fear of consequence avoids taking responsibility.
Karmic leveling impulses are not without natural and logical consequences.
They are not always seen and heard.
Bumper sticker:
Imagine the day the Air Force needs a bake sale to raise money for a 52-Bomber
Take it another step further and imagine there is no Air Force or Death Planes to raise money for!
From this perspective, there are No Fly Zones to fight o’er
the Ukraine or anywhere else for that matter!
They say we have the technology here on Planet Earth
to leapfrog over fossil fuels and send ET back home.
Why doesn’t the Secret Government come out of the closet about these self evident truths?
Taxpayers have the sovereign right to a Full Disclosure of their hard earned money at work!
The more aware that we are of our awakening awareness,
the spotlight of heart-centered mindfulness lays the cards on the table to call out the bluff.
We will experience a New Moon in Pisces on Wednesday March 2nd, 2022. This time reflects heightened sensitivities and perceptions of our surroundings. Be mindful of feelings of insecurity, being passive and following a wait and see approach to life. With Pisces, soul travel is as natural as escapism lurking in the shadows because upstream and downstream personalities are part of our identities. It is wise not to get lost in the undertow of tempting fate. Stay engaged in creative and spiritual blueprints, and flow with powerful Pisces imaginative processes.
Pisces has an understanding of consciousness itself. A positive self talk mantra worth examining is that we are aware that we are aware. In its deeper and higher truth, meditation should be a goal-less discipline. But that doesn’t mean that we avoid setting goals. It just means that we are becoming spiritual watchers in the waves of letting go of outcomes. The ebb and flow of life’s attachments are a real part of the human experience. As part of our multidimensional reality, we are luminous, formless, energetic identities that are alive within our physical bodies. The Kingdom of Heaven is what Christ Consciousness spoke of through in his human form, otherwise known as Jesus. Similarly, Buddhist Psychology says that we have a say in how we experience beyond the networks we are all programmed with. Our souls are reflections of Creator’s luminous image, and as such, we are creative beings with infinite imaginative faculties. Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge. We can use our imaginations in meditation to become the change we want to see in the world, like Ghandi said.The prophecies of old were foreshadowing the New Aquarian Age we are transitioning into now.
A Full Worm Moon illuminates the sky on Friday, March 18, 2022. Like all Full Moons, this one goes by many traditional names, including the Eagle Moon by the Algonquin, the Goose Moon by the Cree, and the Sugar Moon by the Ojibwe Indigenous peoples. This moon marks the time of year when the sap of sugar maples starts to flow, and these trees are tapped in late winter to gather buckets of sap to transform into maple syrup. Traditional Full Moon names reflect the spirit of the season, such as when animals appear or reappear on the lands they inhabit. Humanity needs to realign with their spirited energies, as well as the spiritual energies of Nature. Mother Earth is a living organism. We are part of Her and She is part of us. We are all part of a cosmic connective web of consciousness.
Artwork by Barbara Merlotti
When a Whale of a tide rolls in and the shifting seas come crashing in
Take a deep breath and let it sink into your belly . . .
Hit the pause button, reset and
listen to your drumming heartbeat.
Tap into your inner oceans of empathy and compassion for others.
What does whale have to say to your heart?
Are you hearing the hearts of what others are saying to you?
A Full Worm Moon signals robin’s return.
Whale reminds us that our soul purpose evolves with the
shifting connective tides of our planetary consciousness.
Spring Equinox celebrates equal light and dark days in Nature.
We look forward to peak light on Summer Solstice in June.
Water symbolizes creativity.
Dive into the depths of the unchartered seas of your soul
to retrieve the creative powers of your human element.
With Whale, we dive into archives of our planetary consciousness . . .
Their energy breathes an air of discovery into waters of our soul purpose
During our swim here on Mother Earth.
Meditation on Whale invites us to hear the universal heartbeat of
Mother Earth’s oceanic sea of consciousness.
Spring Equinox blossoms a fleeting energetic balance of light and dark . . .
We move into a time when feminine yin begins to wane as masculine yang waxes on –
Sunlight climbs to its summit on the Summer Solstice;
Arriving in later June in the Northern Hemisphere
The converse is true to our friends in the Southern Hemisphere –
It is their Autumn Equinox there.
Light and dark energies are equal but their darkness grows in power;
Climaxing on their Winter Solstice . . .
Where darkest day of the year precipitates a slow resurrection of light.
A Full Worm Moon brings the arrival of the robin –
Signifying that Spring has sprung!
Our ancestors identified this Full Moon as the last of winter –
What better medicine to remedy March Madness!
Whales are dedicated to their family.
Their sonar is akin to an acute form of empathy.
In the sense that we can learn to listen in;
and hear subtle stirrings inside with relationship to self and others.
This process increases our sensitivity.
Drinking in deep and relaxed belly breathing.
Is what’s on tap for a clear walking meditation . . .
May we all be spring fed lakes that leave behind
Clean water for others to follow in our wake.
Commentary:
Equinoxes are a good time to reflect on getting in touch with our masculine and feminine energies that coexist within our own selves and our planet. In much the same way as our planet has hemispheres, so do our brains. We are living in a time where we need to wake up to balance by dismantling, healing and unifying the illusion of separation. The sun does not dominate the moon. Rather, they both do their part to sustain homeostasis. Nor does male need to subjugate female. Without the creative energy of feminine power, none of us would be here. Energetic equanimity will help us transition more gracefully into an era of a co-creative we consciousness. Instead of a divisive us and them mentality, we can move deeper into a time when we realize that we all need to work together as uniquely diverse expressions of divine oneness. We need to embrace the tension of opposites and relax into that in our modern world. Yin and Yang are always in flux and Nature reflects that to us. Spiritually, the energy of Whale represents an awakening of our soul purpose. March is a time of seasonal transition between the winter and spring. Ideally, we are more introspective and inward during the darker months of winter. But when spring arrives, our budding inner work may blossom outward in a more yang-oriented and external fashion.
Our ancestors told stories about whales carrying the consciousness of our planet, like a universal library. Some people have had the good fortune to swim with whales in their natural environment. I’ll never forget the first time I went whale watching on a school field trip in Cape Cod, Massachusettes. Growing up in Great Lakes region in the Mid-West, you had to travel far to experience such a thing. But with meditation, we can virtually light up the same centers in our brains, and perceive the tidings that whales bring into our sea of consciousness. Picture Whale and take the emotional plunge to bring back the depths of their teachings.
Equinoxes are times of energetic balance on our planet. In that, we can see Nature’s outward reflection of where we are moving on the inside. Given that, we are given an opportunity to work with natural forces to nurture the energies going on in our being. Like the Yin and Yang, masculine and feminine energies are always in flux, yet paradoxically seeking homeostasis. Even when darkness abounds, there is light at the end of the tunnel, just as when the sun lights up a room, there are dark corners out of sight. Yet we know they are all there. God is everywhere, the alpha and the omega, light and dark, masculine and feminine. That is the image we were created in.
Psychic ability is a natural part of our human superpowers. Some say that empathy is the highestform of psychic ability. Given that we need to build a lot more empathy on our planet, we might as well meditate on the collective wisdom of whale to do that. Empathy is like anything else – some of us are born with more or less of it than others. For some, it has to be learned intellectually, and then from there might take root in the heart. For others, it is a natural, heart-centered place to be. Regardless, every moment of being human is an opportunity to remember empathy as a way of life. You don’t condone or excuse someone’s bad behavior with empathy. You just show them you care about their plight regardless of how they got there, and are coming from a place love, and trying to understand. Be forewarned that this exercise requires moving beyond judgments and assumptions.
Today’s invasion of the Ukraine, is yet another tragic and unjust example of the consequential imperialism of the military-industrial complex. Can you imagine waking up to tanks, bombs and missiles in your own backyard?Concentrate the spotlight of mindfulness from your own head and your heart.Beam this orb within and onto the outer world around you, and beyond to help free your own suffering as well as the suffering of others around the planet and the outer rims of the expanding Universe. Remembering to breathe is a simple way to come back down into your soul, and into the present moment. This is where empathy lives.And it is home.
Thanksgiving gives us time to pause and reflect on the spirit of the season, count our blessings, and meditate on gratitude. As a fellow human, I feel especially thankful for our home, Mother Earth. At times, I have taken Her for granted and I am sorry for it. If it wasn’t for Her presence in our lives, none of us would be here. And if I hadn’t been given the gift of Her presence in my life, my experience here would have been very different, and not as enriching to say the least.
Contemplation on how my life would be different in Earth’s absence yields a plentiful harvest of gain in my appreciation for Her bounty. It also deepens my feelings of gratitude for this lifetime living on this planet. As spiritual beings having human experiences, we are expanding souls so it is natural to desire abundance in its variety of forms. But we miss the boat when we forget to acknowledge our blessings and gratitude for what is.
How might your life be different if Earth had never entered into your lives, or had certain people, places or things not entered into your experiences?
I’ll admit it, I have my moments of heaviness at times. Even though I have been looked upon as a brother from another planet, like the rest of you, I have my fears and worries. It’s so easy to time travel to the past or back to the future, and get lost in those projections. How does one not get stuck in the intersections between the voices of trauma, resentful bitterness, rose colored glasses or nostalgia? Our suffering is in the clinging for one state over another. We wish this misery would be over or this happiness would never end.
Thanksgiving is no exception, as it is a holiday that serves up a feast of mixed messages and conflictual emotional memories. Personally, Thanksgiving is my favorite mainstream holiday. But I don’t deify or demonize the Pilgrims or minimize, gloss over the genocide of Indigenous people, ignore the existence of this land before the current occupation, nor the slavery that existed then or the other forms of oppression that exist today. An authentic look at this holiday and still feeling gratitude for its totality is a lot to digest, and get be both bitter and sweet to the taste, depending on your attitude.
Admittedly, I welcome the relatively less emphasized market driven consumerism of Thanksgiving – at least compared to some others. Specifically, I’m learning to tame my own gluttony at the annual feast without defiance. Every year I walk away from the table pleasantly full even after eating less than the year before. It has taken me a long time to realize that softening the will is not about going hungry or selling out. Thankfully, I’m turning a corner on that front.
Beyond its polarities, Thanksgiving is about the intrinsic spiritual alchemy of being mindful of having an attitude of gratitude for what is and the gift of presence. When we are in this place, we win on the inside and everyone one around us is impacted in a positive light. And yet, this real realm of personal discovery is not without a new world of anxiety because anxiety is a fact of life. When I think of Thanksgiving and Turkey, I think about the spirit of shared blessings that feathers a ripple effect of reciprocity.
In my own experiences with anxiety, I would be lying if I denied that they sometimes ruffle my feathers. These days, my own OCD experiences have evolved (or devolved depending on your perspective ) into being mindful of my breath, and cracking puns – sometimes at oft color times of heightened nervous woodland creature energy. In fact, the puns fall quite autumnatically like acorns during this time of year or rise like the tides on Full Moons especially. Like most people, it’s pretty impossible to not find myself preoccupied with much ado about nothing, if only fleetingly, in the theatre of life. The trick is to not hang out too long in that space or chase thoughts with overly indulgent reactions.
For certain, you could charge me with being guilty of a coyote like subtle (or not so subtle) wry grin on my face, even when I should mirror a more serious affect or otherwise apropos facial expression to match the situation at hand. It’s hard not to be provocative when you are naturally wired for having a propensity for the theatrics or know when to say when during the interplay between wisdom and folly. Tricks that were once treats no longer work anymore. Some call it growing up, while others say they’re younger than that now. Awakening is a process, as is supporting the awakening of others.
Truth is, it isn’t always easy to differentiate between where con artistry begins and true wizardry ends – whether it’s working with adolescent girls or my own observational self-examination. But that’s OK, communication with Blue Jay reveals a general sense of acceptance and non-judgement in this area of personal growth. Besides, the royal road to authenticity is paved with fool’s gold in footsteps that have a tendency to fake it till you make it. Walking the line isn’t about being perfect. It’s about floundering, making mistakes and failure. These are elements of Growth Mindset. Nature is such a powerful teacher. That’s why psychologists agree that the best laboratory is the naturalistic environment. May we embrace our imperfections.
These days, it can be more challenging for the Ordinary Joe not to get sucked into his own alternate realities, escapism, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders or the dramas of others. The dying stages of the systemic patriarchy makes it hard not to do that. You all know about the impact of FOMO, peer pressure, social media profiling, and the garden variety of distractions. Today’s outer distractions have more bells and whistles. But at the end of the day, we have the power to turn the background noise into bells of mindfulness.
Remember that the world is a reflection of art imitating reality. Today, it’s probably easier to play the blame game, considering the myriad of conveniently inconvenient excuses flitting out and about in this world of 10,000 things. We are conditioned to point our fingers at targets of our own suffering. Alas, we shop around at those deeply engrained establishments, fixed ideas notwithstanding!
Learning to be human has never been easy. We all need good strategies.
But in this pandemic, have we forgotten how to be human in the social environment?
Speaking of Target, if you find yourself in a situation where there isn’t a prepackaged box readily available on the shelf, is this an apparent invitation for throwing a public temper tantrum, having a panic attack over the missing object of affection, serial text people to come to your rescue, or perhaps indulging in a private negative self talk episode?
Might these moments otherwise be worth self reflecting on as an attachment to a desired outcome, and could instead become a playground for spiritual growth?
Are they repetitive, unconscious behavioral traps or an awakened state of awareness that are just waiting to come out and play in the sunlight?
The reality is that we have to work at our wellbeing, mental health and social emotional learning. Yeah, you can argue that you have the right to be rude to a grocery store worker because they mixed up your items and placed them in the wrong bags, cite that you are a paying customer, and therefore justified in the attitudinal feast you served up to the grocer. However, that is an entitled position that eats a hearty plate of suffering by being part of the problem rather than part of the solution. Being entitled is a form of victim consciousness. You lose from that perspective because it is a recipe for more suffering.
For example, just look at the profiteering of this nuance in the popular culture and so called alternative media forms. There’s a romantic libertarian defund the police sentiment, a welfare state of dirty energy, liberal greed in the marketplace and conservative fighting over the people’s right to quality healthcare, which includes preventative care, mental health and substance abuse/addictions treatment. There’s a constant slugfest between philosophical differences or belief systems. Whether it’s Critical Race Theory or Civil Rights Team – some people are triggered by the CRT acronym. Take the fight out of it folks. Give inner peace a chance. There is enough and we can all win.
Instead of challenging, connect. We need connection now more than ever on our Planet today. It would be wonderful if Divine Intervention happens. I do believe a faction of extraterrestrial beings and highly spiritually evolved multidimensional beings are concerned about our survival and are doing their part to support our transformation, and probably planning something more exponential as we speak. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the powers that be are plotting and scheming to counter that with commercials that attempt to hoodwink us into buying into a feigned invasion that fronts as an alien takeover. But in reality, the Military-Industrial Complex’s potential smoke and mirrors campaign will likely be orchestrated and manufactured from our own advanced engineering of foreign technology. We shall see.
What can each of us do in the meantime?
What kind of energy do we want to attract?
Clean energy on the inside is a parallel process to clean energy on the outside. Developing a meditation practice helps bring equanimity into your soul and the collective soul respectively. If you don’t see empathy in the world around you, become the change of empathy you want to see in the world by seeing it in your mind and feeling it in your heart. See it in yourself and see it in others, especially in your so called enemies. Some have to work harder at this than others.
Connect with the animals, nature and your fellow humans. Connect with you Higher Self. Connect with Spirit. Connect with your Spirit Guides. They all want to connect with you, and we all need connection.
We humans cannot afford to take each other for granted anymore or view ourselves as separate from each another. The only real way out of our suffering is through a meditative mindful way of life. It is only through this inner work that we can heal our soul wounds that manifest in our outer world. At the end of the day, everything else is just cosmetic. Easier said than done.
Awareness is the first step. We have to acknowledge whatever it is that needs to change by starting with ourselves. That takes courage because, in doing so, you will experience what psychologists call cognitive dissonance. Through meditation, we can learn to sit with the tension of opposites, or the interplay between what we call preferred and non-preferred experiences.
Remember, we are all mirrors for each other and the signs are there for you to see if you take notice. I have a coworker friend that just bought a new sweatshirt that says, “HEAVILY MEDITATED.” That’s a nice playful, light-hearted mantra to sport on an article of clothing.
Together, may we learn to live in the present moment, regardless of how unknown or uncertain it is. Besides, there are no guarantees, so we might as well come down into our souls and take up residence in the here and now. May we give thanks for that.
A New Libra Moon on October 6th reflects an energetic interplay between harmony and equilibrium. How do we walk in the center of the circle in the yin and yang of life? When I think of this New Moon, I think of Bat flitting about in the air but not without hanging on the rocks of the cave in the underworld. We need our air and our feet on the ground to walk the spiritual path. Not coincidentally, the recent Autumn Equinox in late September revealed perfect balance in Nature between light and dark energies, with further movement into the dark as we move yin-ward till the Winter Solstice in December.
In Ojibwe, the Full Moon on Wednesday, October 20th is called the Freezing Moon. There are many names associated with this Full Moon, but many of our ancestors called it the Hunter’s Moon because it signaled peak hunting season in preparation for the cold winter ahead. This month also features Civil Rights calendar highlights of Indigenous People’s Day on October 11, Learning Disabilities Awareness Month and LGBT History Month. Last month was National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Artwork by Barbara Merlotti
Full Hunter Moon symbolizes a metaphorical death of the old self. Do you see the veils thinning betweenthe spirit realm and our material world? Remember that with death, comes rebirth. Our past lives are meant to awaken our soul’s evolution, and impetus to expand beyond what we were. Bat guides us through the dark night of the soul so that we can hear the spiritual callback of metamorphosis, and who we are becoming. Our ancestors celebrated the Samhain — the approximate halfway point between the Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice.
Next time you feel afraid of the dark and want to run away from the shadows Picture a Bat to hear the melodious wind chimes of spirit echoing back so that you can hang glide into your own power. How is who you were when you were littler, different than who you are today? How might you be different tomorrow or in the days ahead than you are right now?
Bats echo a ring tone of the metaphorical death of the old self
But hang in there folks . . .
Like the changing leaves, Nature reflects a metamorphosis coming . . .
Our inner world is ripe for change, especially during these transitional times
Facing our fears head on is less scary
than avoiding situations based only on our fear-based projections
A Full Hunter’s Moon signals that it is time to hunt enough food
in remembrance of an old traditional preparation for winter storage
Do you see the veils falling back?
They are leaving behind the dirge of an old world
Spirited energies are hanging around our planetary consciousness –
Bursting at the seams to turn our world around right side-up!
Now is a good time for rebirth by looking at our world with fresh new eyes
Venture back your childhood innocence . . .
What unexplored caves of your hidden self are wanting to be discovered today?
What novel solutions are waiting for us to tap into
as we move through a purification process of releasing and healing old wounds
so that we can give birth to a parallel New Age?
Hear the echos of spirit whispering who we are becoming . . .
Commentary:
Like the seasons, the one constant in life is change. Bat symbolizes this awareness and can help you awaken to understanding that transformation and metamorphosis are real possibilities during your human experience as a spiritual being. Even in stagnation, the power for change is alwayspossible. While our bodies die and we only exist once in this form, it is wise to entertain that our souls have experienced past lives and will rebirth into further lifetimes down the line. But regardless of whether or not you believe in Reincarnation, we all journey through many deaths and rebirths in this current life form. You are not the same person now as you were then. And you will not be the same person tomorrow as you are today. Every every single snowflake has something uniquely different in its expression, yet all are made mostly of water, just like we are. Water ebbs, flows and changes its trajectory just like we do. Sometimes personal and collective transformation comes on like a Tsunami and sometimes the process begins as a soliloquy before becoming a grand performance. Perhaps you remember a time in your life where you were just sort of hanging around daydreaming. And then you learned to stand with your feet firmly planted on the ground. But now you have learned to spread your winds and fly in a way that feels like you are hang gliding through life.
Classroom Mothership Earth 