Everything In it's Right Place

"They are virtuous who close their senses, put away their apsirations and intentions, cast off their intellectual brilliance, and return to a vastness where there is no conscious knowing, meander beyond the dust and dirt, roam in the realm where there is nothing of concern, drink in darkness and spew out light, and harmonize with all beings and all things." (Further Teachings of Lao Tzu, Cleary, p.23)










"Kun is the power of Earth/Space. It is the Primordial Yin that returns each autumn (harvest/nourishment) and flourishes in the dark of winter (stillness). It is a solitary mare roaming in the wilderness (freedom) and then bridled and ornamented to be given as a sacrificial offering (submission). It is also the natural confluence of six rivers. It is associated with the way Nature supports, defines, and nourishes all things without ostentatious gesture. It is the constancy of our primordial mother." (Zhou I - Liu Ming's version, p19)

"The power of Primordial Yin (Great Mother spirit) cannot be grasped, it is like cosmic soup." (Zhou I - Liu Ming's version, p18)

Earth Mother generates an abundance out of the natural goodness and joy of being. There is never a need for lack or deficiency - all deficiency is a miscalculation and presumption of disconnect from the eternal source - supply. Let us simply celebrate the abundance in joy, gratitude and generosity!








"Feng is the prosperity and abundance of a kind that is hard to imagine and even harder to aquire and maintain. when abundance like this occurs we can not pretend that it is the outcome of our personal talents or effort. Feng is, in that sense, mysterious; but we cannot stand still (mourn) in awe. Instead, we should celebrate with a truly open heart (king makes offerings) and be generous (sun at midday).

It expresses the mysterious and fertile generosity of nature. The mention of astronomical and astrological influences in several lines indicates that success is a matter of fate - synchronicity with the cycles of time. Do not waste time feeling unworthy or claim the success if your. Honor all co-factors and reward all co-workers. Celebration and generosity express abundance." (Zhou I - Liu Ming's version, p125)


Entering into a time and space of naturalness and flow (the Way of Earth and the Great Mother of ALL THAT IS), we discover ourselves surrounded by and endless and unimaginable abundance - CELEBRATE IT!

Celebrate it in gratitude and by sharing it (throwing a party) and in acknowledging the unity of all things the flow is furthered and is allowed to live on and through us all.

Entering a space of naturalness, we discover the natural abundance that we are, that ALL is.

ALOHA

Bring Harmony

Awaken Yourself and Join Light

Buddha - Scorpio Moon [doubled]

This is shared by a friend; I am totally in and invite you to join:

You are invited to join in a magical ritual.....

The last time this happened, the Egyptians were
building the pyramids......

Now it is our turn....

This next month, starting tonight, is astrologically
EXTREMELY special, as the full moon will appear twice
in a row in Scorpio, an event that happens about once
every few thousand years, and even rarer in this
sign.

In some traditions, this moon is called the Buddha
Moon, and we get to experience it twice!

Once in April, once in May.

In honor of the Earth's enlightenment.......

First, the astronomy part:

Every month, the full moon comes along and sits in the
zodiac sign that is opposite where the sun is. So if
the sun is in Taurus, like it is now, the moon is in
Scorpio. If the sun were in Cancer, the moon would be
in Capricorn, etc.

So every month, the sun changes zodiac signs, and the
moon goes along with it.

But not this month. This lunar cycle takes place in
Scorpio for the next 2 full moons in a row!

WOW!

Ok, but what does that mean?

Well, if you are willing to get a little witchy with
me here, Scorpio is the zodiac sign that stands at
the doorway to the unseen. That is why it is the sign
of magic (and sex too in many traditions), and mystery
traditions.

So essentially, if you want to ride on the
astrological bandwagon, there is an INCREDIBLE window
open for manifestation and transmutation of energy,
since scorpio moves between realms, and can transmute
poison to nectar.

Tonight is the first full moon of the pair, and the
next one is in 28 days.

So I am inviting all my friends (and your friends) to
do a daily candlelight evening meditation to manifest
our dreams, and the kind of planet we want to be
living on globally, locally, and personally. Let's
use this window right!

The commitment, if you are in, is a 10 minute seated
meditation before bed each night. In honor of the
lunar energy, we can sit each night and call upon the
kind of world we want to see for the next 28 days till
the 2nd Scorpio moon.

The idea is:

Use the time to love the Earth and bless her (Isn't it
wonderful Earth Day falls in the midst of this
window?)

And visualize peace in the war torn places, and the
environment recovering. Literally SEE it. Visualize
lots of happy green plants!

And see our government turning around in any way you
feel called.

And also see the kind of joy and love and fulfillment
you would like in your own life.

And take a moment to connect with the amazing Scorpio
full moon, the Buddha full moon of enlightenment.

This is an incredible time to work through any old
patterns that are holding us back personally and
collectively. Remember the hundredth monkey? We can
do it now....

Open to the divine light, in yourself, and in this
glorious moonlight.

Honor the moths, that you might notice are everywhere
right now. The moths are the creatures of intuition
and feminine radiance. Honoring the feminine, we are
nurtured, and loved by the Goddess.

Let's invoke the Goddess together!

Any other rituals you feel inspired to create are so
welcome, and so needed at this time. Make up your
own! Invite friends!

**

Please pass this along to anyone you would like to
invite into the meditation train. The more of us that
participate, the stronger the energy is of what we are
manifesting.

Breathe love in...... Breathe love out.....

Your friend,
Kaia

For Heaven - For Earth - For Eternal Birth

Sweet spring pie!
with an eye and and eye
to see the slowly sailing sun
move without reasons
and filling the sky
for four full seasons
of life around the ring.

mux you

http://brownrabbid.muxtape.com/

There Is Only Hope

In the Frequency

In Rising

So I was feeling Spring
and listening to it sing
while wading through the Sunlight
and hardly-laughing zombies
and I remembered
how lovely it is
to remember why we wake up
and why it feels so good
to be here.

The rings rise up in rotational
rhythms
to the beat
of sun light arcs
and the matching tree barks
at the burning, bitter hearts...

where to stop and why?
when the right feeling begins the movement
and motions for magic to return...

fuzzing up the bubblies,
feeling through foam hearts
and squeezing out some juice
to stops or to starts

Shamanism, Psychology and the Return to the Garden

There is a conversation we never had in class. It involved a quotation from The Pleasure Garden of Shadow:

“The Sages of Old instruct that the occult knowledge of Trees and Herbs, as well as the sacred arts of healing, divination, and enchantments, was given mankind in remote times by the gods. According to the teachings of some religious traditions, these were the so called Fallen-Angels...

Within the ascendance of monotheistic cults, a great many of these plant luminaries were assimilated to a false lexicon of demons, and the Art Magical, once the pursuit of sages, was made heresy. Eventually Nature herself came to be viewed as an evil spirit, representative of powers to be bound, exploited, and civilized.” (Pendell, p.241)

There is a conversation we did have in class. We were discussing something that provoked an 'Aha!' experience in my person; I realized an understanding of the living nature of reality in which I am intimately engaged. This is what has become of greatest interest to me during my studies of holistic psychology. This is a highly shamanic view for one to take. It requires that one release the idea of separateness entirely and continually offer up themselves to the flow of their experience. There is a direct understanding that arises from this sort of engagement with reality – the understanding that we share a responsibility to one another, a responsibility to act freely and genuinely in response to the actual experience we are having, (as opposed to a response to a future or past experience). And so questions arise: “How does one integrate this experiential wisdom into a practice of holistic psychology? Where can the shamanic world-view and way of being be (re-)incorporated into current healing practices? Why were the shamans of the past, the community healers, harmonizers, problem solvers, and therapists? What is it about the shamanic way of being in the world that lends it to certain roles or engagements with the world and fellow human beings?” I will be looking at these questions and reflect upon them in light of the material we discussed throughout this class, adding to the reflection with my own experiences.

As a sort of litmus test, I will begin by looking for the shamanic view in the already established psychological theories and methods. I believe it is also possible to adjust the established theories to harmonize and support the shamanic view. In order to calibrate this conversation, let us begin with a definition of 'the shaman entity' as offered by Terence McKenna, a great philosopher, anti-hero, and story teller of our more recent history:

“While shamanism occurs in virtually every culture on the planet, manifesting itself in religious traditions both ancient and modern, both 'primitive' and sophisticated, the shaman remains eminently individualistic, idiosyncratic, and enigmatic, standing ever apart from organized ecclesiastical institutions while still performing important functions for the psychic and religious life of the culture. Comparable, but not identical, with such similar idiosyncratic practitioners as medicine men and sorcerers [and even acupuncturists], the shaman is the possessor of techniques of proven efficacy and of powers bordering on the paranormal, the complete understanding of which still eludes modern psychology.” (McKenna & McKenna, p.9)

At this point, a question arises with regards to the material chosen for our curriculum road-map, the Personality and Personal Development textbook. The question I pose is, “Why is shamanic practice not included in the study of a 'holistic psychology' and if it is not included, is it appropriate to question whether modern psychology has developed to the point of being capable of integrating the methods and world-views of the shaman?” I cannot assume to know why the authors of P&PD avoided discussing shamanic techniques in psychology; most likely it was simply a matter or preference but it could also be a matter or familiarity. Perhaps the psychologists/teachers/therapists that arranged the text unconsciously and/or consciously avoided shamanism because psychology has yet to fully embrace its own shamanic origins and techniques? In Terence McKenna's opinion, modern psychology has yet to take hold of its shamanic identity. I have to disagree with Terence to some degree.

In my experience, therapists, healers, and psychologists of today are most definitely developing a shamanic literacy. These psychonauts are slowly arriving to an ontological skill-set, custom-fit to their own self-driven, animated engagement with their experience that gives access to the hyper-intelligence of reality. This is the source of shamanic know-how and efficacy, the interplay with the endless and eternally accessible intelligence of the whole of reality. With an attraction to the experience of 'healing', these individuals find themselves discovering new ways to harmonize emotional, bodily, and environmental energies. And the reason I triumphantly disagree with Terence is because these modern-day shamans are also considered to be modern-psychologists by their family, their associates, and their larger communities. They are literally bridging the modern world with the 'ancient' world.

For me, the shamanic view is a living experience, a dynamic exchange that self-corrects and continuously finds new harmony and balanced relationship throughout the entirety. It understands that 'time' is an element, a variable in the larger equations of nature, and so the 'shaman' can learn to manipulate it as such. Also arising from the shamanic understanding of time is the realization that this living wisdom is beyond time or rather, outside of time. Wisdom is rooted in the directness, the aliveness of experience. In understanding that the entirety is unified and harmonized outside of any one 'time' or rigid sequence, one may move from their centralized point of awareness, adjusting and re-framing patterns within and beyond the limited oculus of self to engage directly with the endless, timeless ALL THAT IS – the 'larger self'.

Now to bring 'modern psychology' into this unified view, I will offer an interpretation of psychology that might reveal its underlying movement towards the unified understanding offered by shamanism. I see psychology as having become the modern skill-set for navigating the pathways of the thinking and feeling of our experience. It is the language, the topology of the inner mental-emotional experience. By cutting itself off from an entire expanse of the Natural world, Western thought opted for the 'long road home' and has only recently begun to rediscover the world beyond itself. I see the history of modern psychology as one of remembering – literally re-membering, re-forming the living body of reality by becoming aware of the unified quality of Nature and the Self. Meanwhile, shamanism has continued to thrive around the world and has begun to inform and reciprocally reform the Western, Modern mind-view.

Psychology ideally aims to appropriately arrange psychic energy just as the shaman attempts to harmoniously arrange energies, psychic and otherwise. In this way, the Shaman is the orchestrator and technician of the technology of pattern/rhythm in harmony. Psychology is considered a 'therapy' because it too works to reform thought patterns, develop emotional integration, and awaken self-knowledge/power, all of which is the restructuring of energies within and beyond an entity/person.

In recycling this conversation, I offer some answers to my previously stated questions: “How does one integrate this experiential wisdom into a practice of holistic psychology/acupuncture? Where can the shamanic wisdom be (re-)incorporated into the current healing practices?”

As a fresh student of Traditional Chinese Medicine, I have become aware of the seeming irony of the process in which the student pushes themselves through. In order to become a healer, one must experience a sort of trial that seems to kill the student but ultimately results in their maturation into a prepared and effective healer. This mirrors the path of the shaman, where in many cultures, has to go through similar trials in order to arrive at their role of shaman/healer. It is common for the initiate/student to become extremely ill and in their process of healing, they are awakened to their own capacity to heal. I point this parallel out because I believe this story reveals a place to activate the shamanic-style engagement with experience. By observing directly the way in which energy moves and how to actively manipulate it, one learns to become an effective practitioner, one engaged directly in the realignment of their own energy through a cyclical process of illness and health/ disharmony and harmony. This process leads to other revelations and rearrangements of interaction with reality.

As one moves through the cycle of illness/health, they may begin to realize that it is simply that, a cycle. By understanding the nature of the experience, one can renegotiate their way through it and in this case, choose another path of resolution. Perhaps it is possible to appreciate wellness and relative health without the occasional illness? The shaman navigates through his experience, responding in such a way as to achieve a dynamic harmony. For the shaman, harmony is a dance, a creative engagement, a practice. I feel that engagement with any experience as a creative act, whether it be cleaning dishes, taking a walk, or assisting a person in healing, is a key application of the shamanic world-view, especially in the context of current healing practices. Engaging with the living world as an open and creative presence brings about the natural reaction to and resolution of certain energetic cycles, allowing for the continued and harmonious flow of experience/energy. Being becomes art and it is always beautiful.

Shamanism is the 'art of being'. Healing is the 'art of being' inside the experience of bringing harmony into synchronous alignment with the NOW and the self. Ultimately, I see psychology in a process of becoming a new shamanism in a new context and I also see shamanic techniques/technology like divination, sound, and altered states being integrated into the modern medical practices. I look forward to incorporating these and other technologies into my own practice and participating in this (re)creation of the shamanic arts. Luckily we have only been out of the Garden for a short while. It feels good to return home.

History's End

sweet river of madness
and make-shift modernities,
let us ride smoothly
and with joy as passenger

Oculus of Shamanic Intent

That we may all know:

'Shaman' is the word for such a practitioner and literally meaning "he or she who knows."

If we want to enumerate the functions of the shamans (in all cultures that are recorded as having shamans), then we get a plethora of functions: healing; leading a sacrifice; preserving the tradition by storytelling and songs; fortune-telling; acting as a psychopomp (literal meaning, “guide of souls”). In some cultures, a shaman may fulfill several functions in one person. (wikipedia)

"While shamanism occurs in virtually every culture on the planet, manifesting itself in religious traditions both ancient and modern, both 'primitive' and sophisticated, the shaman remains eminently individualistic, idiosyncratic, and enigmatic, standing ever apart from organized ecclesiastical institutions while still performing important functions for the psychic and religious life of the culture. Comparable, but not identical, with such similar idiosyncratic practitioners as medicine men and sorcerers [and even acupuncturists], the shaman is the possessor of techniques of proven efficacy and of powers bordering on the paranormal, the complete understanding of which still eludes modern psychology.” (McKenna & McKenna, p.9)

Middle Path - Central Way

How can one know that there is a middle (center) if they have not been to the limit?

How does one know they have found the limit?
Perhaps when the middle and the limit become the same...?