Sunday, December 23, 2018

Endings and Beginnings


By Rev. Amari Magdalena



We again arrive at the Gregorian calendar closing of one year and the opening of another.  Though time and space may be illusions, in the material world we live by them.  Perhaps there is a purpose to have this structure of endings and beginnings.  Sometimes we find ourselves in untoward energy or outcomes when nothing seems to be going our way.  A definitive ending date coupled with a specific beginning date can give us hope of the cycle ending.

In the Northern Hemisphere, we also may mourn the compression of daylight as we approach the Winter Solstice.  Thus, we love to celebrate the opening up of light the next day, even by seconds.  These cycles of the sun are also part of our endings and beginnings.  Lyrics from an old song remind us that time is, indeed, slipping into the future.  And, with that future, may come renewed hope.

Though the holy/holidays can be stressful due to extra demands on our energy and time, they also ultimately give us a little spark of new possibilities.  That small ray of hope can often restart the course we are on and provide a sense of upliftment. Somewhere in the sparkling lights, that are all about, our imaginations are energized. We can be restored to a mental space wherein the earth darkness, and our own darkness, gets revved up with brightness. The increasing light after Solstice helps us get out of our cocoons of hibernation.

The New Year often finds us assessing the past and affirming for a different future.  That small spigot of hope, along with the returning light, inspires us to examine our lives and to perhaps be more definitive in recognizing new aspirations.  Resolutions may be written down.  Attention to purpose can become more compelling. We get a little Cosmic nudge.

I feel that to move with grace into the new, it is important to release the old.  Oh, not just the stuff we may label as ‘bad’ or ‘unfortunate,’ rather the contents of the old year.  Writing down the ups and downs helps us gain perspective.  One ceremony, that many new thought and other more progressive churches do, is a Burning Bowl Ceremony on New Year’s Eve.  Attendees write down the things they’d like to release and then consign them to flame.

Another tradition that I’ve done many years is the New Year’s Eve early morning world-wide meditation originated by John Randolph Price. This meditation happens world-wide at the same time.  Unfortunately for those of us on PDT, that is 4am in the morning, YIKES!  That said, the mediation is quite beautiful, powerful, and renewing.  It is a magical way to enter the New Year.  Instead of staying up until midnight 12/31, one gets up at 4:am on 12/31 and meditates for an hour or less. I’ve personally found this to be so renewing, that I choose to sacrifice sleep for inspiration and guidance.

May I suggest that you too choose some tradition, ritual, meditation as the New Year arrives to acknowledge and celebrate the inevitable endings and beginnings that we all experience in our lives. May your journey be so very blessed this year that you truly appreciate the wondrous experience of having a body on a small planet spinning in space.

 I share with you a couple of quotations that are inspiration for all of our endings and beginnings:

"No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life; this is the beginning of a new book! Tha first book is already closed, ended, and tossed into seas; this new book is newly opened, has just begun!  Look, it is the first page!  And, it is a beautiful one!"  C. JoyBell C.

And, another quote that also speaks to appreciating not only endings or beginnings but appreciation of the middle moment:

"Beginnings are scary; Endings are usually sad; but it's the middle that counts.  You need to remember that when you find yourself at the Beginning, just give Hope a chance to Float Up; and it Will!"  From the Movie, Hope Floats.

Pick up that Kaleidoscope, point it towards something bright, turn it and let the refraction of light take you into Magic! Then, just put one solid foot in front of the other, and step into your New Beginnings!  Happy New Year!  May you prosper and grow in amazing ways and experience Life with Love and Joy!






Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Why Choose the Road Less Traveled?

By Rev. Amari Magdalena


Driving along recently, I was taken by the shimmering leaves of fall.  Instead of turning on the usual road to my destination, I chose to continue ahead.  What a wondrous display of gold, cranberry, and sienna as I drove through a wooded area.  As is often my experience, when I decide to veer from the familiar or prescribed course, wonder awaits.

I remember Richard Burton’s character in The Night of the Iguana, commenting on the fact that we live in two worlds: the realistic and the fantastic.  That has stuck with me for a very long time.  At 33 I heard Jim Weatherly’s song, The Need to Be, and knew it was my calling and changed my life direction. Over my lifetime since, I’ve often selected the fantastic.  Though there may have been real prices to pay for such choices, and there were; I would not have chosen to miss this different road. 

In Toltec shamanism we speak to the Nagual and the Tonal worlds.  The Tonal is the familiar, realistic as it were, with its metronome of time beating out what and where and with whom, we might live a more ordinary life.  It’s the 9 to 5, 7 days a week, 365 days in a year living that can be very comfortable for many.

The Nagual world leads to the path of magic and the extraordinary.  That is my favorite path as it holds the keys to what I like to call the phantasmagorical. It has always directed me to highest good even when it challenged all my assumptions and the ‘shoulds’ I was raised with. 

This path of now 44 years has given me amazing experiences.  I’ve been at 14,000 ft in Peru participating in a Quechua Despacho; conducted ceremonies in the Far East; addressed an assembly of 22,000 people; authored books; initiated apprentices with fire; promoted earth-based teaching nationally and internationally; communicated with spirits in ruins across the Southeast and Southwest; produced and hosted a radio show; started a women’s center at a university; birthed a sex information hotline in the PNW; co-hosted and produced a women’s talk show pilot before The View; co-conceived of an international women’s organization; eased people through the tunnel at death; stepped through portals of time and space near Bolivia; been hosted by political dissidents in Tito-ruled Yugoslavia and Basque ‘terrorists’ in Spain; climbed to the top of a mountain crawling through cactus to the top; lived in amazing places and met wonderfully awesome people along the way.

Not an easy path, I would say for some.  One needs to be willing to let go of the safe shore and let the rapid current move you along a sometimes raging river. Some people in your lives will move away or judge your choices. You may encounter a lot of naysayers when you choose the fantastic.  Your family may be less than enthralled with your choices. There are times of being alone for extended periods.  Longevity of relationships will most likely elude you. Yet, what you sacrifice in the ordinary will be much outweighed by the phenomenal.

Whatever is your path of choice, I would encourage to break up your routines from time to time and turn down a street you’re not familiar with.  Get a little lost on occasion.  Keep driving past your designated turn or exit.  Get off the highway.  Disconnect from the electronics.  Invite a little wonder in your experience and receive the rich rewards of moving, just a tad, outside your comfort zone.

I believe that we have within us a dormant dancer awaiting the call to magnificence and fluidity.  Our spirits are larger than the enclosures we may find ourselves trapped in. If we’ve but one life to live, wouldn’t you want to taste the fantastic even for short bursts?

Perhaps you find the routine and ordered life more to your liking.  I totally understand; it has its own rewards of normalcy and constancy.  Yet, I encourage you to every now and again, lift that veil of illusion and allow yourself a glimpse of magic.  It will add a dimension of wonder to your lives much like the glorious fall colors at this time of year do.  And, perhaps, it will give you a window into the true Light at the end of our life tunnels.  That light is brilliant, commanding and comforting.  There is nothing to fear at the end of life when you have lived your days to the fullest.  I have, and I would wish for you a taste of it even in small morsels. 

Start tomorrow.  Take that side street, stop at a little town off the highway with the mystery spot, rejoice at detours, walk in an ancient forest, sit on a beach from sunrise to sunset, find a place to see the milky way. Do that thing you were always going to do and haven’t yet.  At the end of your life, should you choose this path, you will know you are not disappointed to find you lived it for someone else. You were true to yourself and your purpose.  So invite magic and it will come!

“We’ve just to listen and know when and where we are destined to step onto the dance floor of our life purpose and trust the movement.”  We Dance to a Whispered Voice

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Rituals and Ceremonies: Why They are So Very Important



By Rev. Amari Magdalena



It’s at that point in the wedding ceremony when I begin, “and now as these two lovely people have exchanged vows and rings of promise, by the authority granted me by the State of Washington, I now pronounce you…….” that I begin to choke up or tear up. There is something so very sacred about being involved in such a moment of joy in people’s lives.  It cements, for me, the importance of rituals and ceremonies for bonding communities together.

Each new moon, each full moon, each equinox or solstice, whether I’m alone or with a group, I acknowledge the passages of time and their meaning.  In groups, large and small, I am often witness to the power of ceremony to bring together a group of people in deep unity.  Total strangers are hugging one another and feeling a deep peace and connection with other humans.  A shift takes place that I experience more powerfully than in any other time and place.

For me it is a great shame that as organized religions moved away from heart-based traditions to more head space/mental experiences, most chose to eschew much of the tribal ceremonies and rituals of eons, labeling them Pagan!  So much was lost and what was kept seems only approximations of what was and could still be.

Perhaps what transpires is a sense of the importance of other kingdoms that we share this small planet with: Animal, Mineral, Plant, and Human.  The awareness of the elements: Air, Earth, Fire and Water add another dimension of togetherness vs. aloneness. In circle, as we touch hands, our own vulnerability and need for affirmation is recognized.  Since the many years ago when I had an entire Unity congregation stand and hold hands while we listened to Carlos and Johnny sing “Holding Hands,” I’ve seen transformation in minutes.

Why then would we choose to participate in ceremony or ritual?  Community is a big component: we find common ground and purpose as we celebrate.  Our dividing differences can, for a time, melt away in the feelings of connection.  The greater reason is perhaps the overriding feeling of Oneness: we lose our separateness as we hold hands in ceremony and we enter the precious moment of Now. 

The memorial service of John McCain was a huge example of community coming together in a ceremony to honor and bridge differences.  My own sister Leanne’s memorial, in a packed large church in Thornbury Bristol England, was a testament to her influence in the city and love of those whose lives she touched.

Another purpose of ritual or ceremony is to quiet the chaos, still the noises-outer and inner and to surrender to something greater than our small individual universes and to, in the suspended sense of time, enter into magic!  And what I know to be true is: “Evolution will, not in my opinion, wait for us to find time to participate.  It will roll on.  In the direction that the planet is currently headed, that may breed disaster for humanity.  Thus, I feel it is so imperative for us to make that time and space to gather together with intention of facilitating our individual and planetary upliftment.” 1

Wherever you are, I implore you to create Peace Circles as we did in the 1990’s.  Gather with your friends and neighbors in a circle. Focus on the world you wish to live in.  Hold an earth ball or an imaginary one, turn it around feeling the oceans and land masses.  Acknowledge all the diversity of each of Earth’s kingdoms. Chant, “Peace” and “Planetary Harmony.”  Close, holding hands, and sing for one more time, Imagine along with John. You will feel better and that energy will encircle the planet, much as our jet streams do, yet with a loving energy.

 “When humans participate in ceremony, they enter a sacred space.
Everything outside of that space shrivels in importance.
Time takes on a different dimension.
Emotions flow more freely.
The bodies of the participants become filled with the energy of life,
and this energy reaches out and blesses the creation around them.
All is made new; everything becomes sacred.” Sun Bear

1. Blue Moons and Golden Suns: Meditations & Celebrations for Aligning with Natural Rhythms. 

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Sludge





By Rev. Amari Magdalena

Years ago, I was driving an older Honda.  The fuel filter got clogged up.  Taking it to a mechanic, he told me that with older cars, you must keep your tank filled with gas and not let it ride down to empty as sludge accumulates at the bottom and mucks up the fuel filter and possibly the tank.  I’d been driving between Ft. Lauderdale FL and Atlanta GA.  As gas was so much cheaper in Georgia, I’d press it until I crossed the border.  Obviously, a mistake.

I got to thinking about our current political and social situation in the country.  The above is a great metaphor for what we are seeing manifest before us.    We collectively let the tank run too close to empty out of perhaps complacency or just some false sense of comfort.  In the eight years of the previous administration, there was a calmness and a steadiness that caused us to not get too concerned.  Sure, things came up, yet they seemed to get mainly handled and we rested on our laurels. 

Ahaa!  New administration and that fuel filter suddenly got clogged up and we are now looking at replacing the whole fuel system.  Sludge, it ain’t pretty, has appeared in every corner of our complacency. KKK, White Supremacy, gun violence, “Me Too”, return of misogyny, immigration witch hunts, incarcerating children, environmental protection dismantling, ad nauseum.  Everything under the hood, suddenly went to the proverbial hell and leaks and clogs prevailed.   Our engine is sputtering, and backfiring and we are wondering if we’ll ever be able to get the old car running or if we need to replace it.

"Maintenance," declared longshoreman Eric Hoffer, and lack thereof, leads to the demise of governments. Truth be told, we’ve got sludge everywhere: our oceans, our rivers, our air, even our own guts (nutritionists tells us). Folks, we’re here; no hiding from the truth, no fluff to cover it up, no mantras that are going to turn this engine over. 

It is time to stop complaining, moaning, bemoaning, gasping, choking on the sludge, and throwing up our hands.  The wheels have turned, and we must now build a better vehicle. Now is the moment for new ideas, think tanks, energetic salons of discussion, new politics/parties, new blood in the institutions, and a revision of what is the vehicle that will serve the most people.  We’ve tried universally various models: communism, socialism, dictatorship, oligarchies, monarchies, democracies, parliaments, republics, etc.  Where are the brilliant and inspired minds who can make new parts, perhaps salvaging the best of the old, and make something fantastic for the future?

We are them!  We are the solution.  Time to get out from under the hood and call the tow truck to haul off the broken-down car.  Moments to dream the dream that never was and say, “Why not!”  No more courses in how to repair the old.  Time to write the new script for a government that works for everyone and can be adapted as a turn-key model for any countries who are mired in sludge. 

As the Hopi prophesy said, we must let go of the shore and move into the flowing river and discover new banks.  Someone crashed that old car in the river and its trash has been clogging up the course of flow.  Let’s clear the debris. This is the time.  It’s why we are here!  

We can choose, delusion:

"To be frank, I think his world had vanished long before he ever entered it.  But, I will say, he certainly sustained the illusion with a marvelous grace." M. Moustafa on M. Gustafave (The Grand Budapest Hotel).  

Or the better way: "In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists."  Eric Hoffer.









Friday, July 27, 2018

Wisdom from Beyond the Veil


by Rev. Amari Magdalena

What follows is a channeling that I received to share at my annual Mary Magdalene's Feast Day celebration.  It has a lot of wisdom for women and men may find it useful knowledge in these challenging times. My intention in sharing is two part: knowing that all wisdom that has ever existed is available to us if we seek it; and, that voices of wisdom often help us work effectively with the dilemmas of our lives.

Message from the Magdalene July 22, 2018

Through the tube of consciousness in time immemorial I speak to you this night.  As you know in times of the rise of hatred and denouncement of all things not a part of the governing power structures, direct confrontation has not worked well.  The conqueror instincts of testosterone are heightened when challenged in battle. This has been demonstrated over and over again; history repeating itself.  If you look at the women’s movement of the 1970’s you see that the backlash still is fueled today by perceived loss of power in the greater male population.

Better to form smaller groups working on many, many projects for the greater good than to march in mass and fuel the wrath of disempowered men.  Movement in more subtler ways will prove more effective over time.  Fostering the wisdom and strength of women will always be more empowering than becoming more like men.  Our very hormonal structure actually is not in concert with an imitation of those who use their power improperly.

Use your ability to increase your presence in governing structures to move the world in a different direction. Raise issues in a rational way that more linear thinkers can support.  Our strength comes from a different source and is much more powerful than that of the male whose power comes from the ability to plant seeds and hoe under that which is not useful.  Nurture, foster, encourage, applaud women’s successes!  Surrender male bashing for it an only backfire on you and bring you greater harm.

Fill your libraries with stories of women’s accomplishments and share them with your little sisters. Soften your approach to men in general.  That is the energy that will ultimately move you in the direction of greater participation and acceptance in power structures.  Know and understand that YOU are the stronger sex yet must not let on.  Surrender resistance.

I know this may run counter to your anger yet hear me out.  Times of great peace were not created by warrior cries.  They came about through steadfast work at the levels of groups working to improve the overall good of cultures and societies.  Let men be men and choose to be women.  Spread peace everywhere you are able by staying in heart and surrendering the tendency to move into your head. Teach young boys when they are malleable to be more heart centered and how best to use the power of their hormonal inheritance.

New Jerusalem comes when your hearts embrace it through belief and commitment.  Be not discouraged.  Times of cleansing are not pretty.  However, that said, they always bring about massive change for good.  Know that, live it, hold the vision of what all will look like after.

We on the other side of the veil come to each of you in small ways to guide you.  Trust our messages. Learn to glide.  See a world in which each sex has an important role to play and contribution of talent to make.  Let peace prevail in your own consciousness.  When you are troubled or off course, be still and ask us for our wisdom.  Breathe your way back to your heart.  We honor you.  We bless you.  We see you as the Children of Light that you each represent.
 

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Time of Great Light

by. Rev. Amari Magdalena




Polarities of their nature bespeak irony.  And so it is with our seasonal celebrations.  At the “High Noon” of summer light as we extol the virtues of the maximum hours of daylight, shamanically speaking, we turn the corner into the void and begin the process of contraction.    From Winter Solstice to Summer Solstice we are in a phase of expansion, seeding and growing our hopes and dreams.  From June 21st until December 21st we begin to draw our energies within, ever so slowly to celebrate harvests and then release.

Both our sun and moon express four distinct phases, which parallel one another nicely.  While the moon completes each phase in 29+ days, the sun’s phases are more protracted taking our calendar year to complete.  In shamanic or earth-based traditions throughout the world, sun and moon celebrations served as calendars or markers for the passage of time.

June 21st decrees the shamanic celebration of the North (the polar opposite of the South that we are experiencing).  Significant here are the two equinoxes, Spring and Fall, which denote the passing of the gauntlet from East (masculine) to West (feminine).  While the equinox’ represent balance, the solstices symbolize extreme.  Of further note is that the solstices are more “tonal” in nature (tonal being ordinary reality); the equinox’ are more “Nagual” (extraordinary with the availability of magic).  The summer solstice then is a time of excessive immersion into the material world (tonal).

Given the extremes and the irony of our celebration of the North in summer and the South in winter, both celebrations are about light; more of it and less of it.  As we acknowledge the longest day of the year with the highest point of the sun, let us remember to take advantage of all that is revealed in the blazing light. 

Summer solstice in ancient times was a daylong celebration and observation in northern most climes with 24 hours of light and a 12-hour celebration in the lower latitudes.  In total light a circle was set with many burning candles lit.  A large bonfire was constructed nearby.  Singing, dancing, chanting and/or drumming began.  Vigilance was kept throughout the night until dawn, when the candles and fires were extinguished.  The sacred four and fourteen were honored to help with release from the grip of ego.  Animal totems were easily invoked to enlighten the heart and celebrate love in its many dimensions.  Marriages were celebrated within and without to memorialize the height of the physical and sensual bodies. 

The summer solstice may then be a time to give oneself permission to totally immerse into the masculine principal yet acknowledging the winter solstice conception that led to this luxurious fertility.  Set your ceremonial circle with objects of light and representation of the golden, orange, red colors of the sun’s brilliance.  Acknowledge fire for its power of transformation.  Strew the altar with seasonal flowers and ripening berries.  Feast and surrender to the fire within.  Engage in fire ceremonies.  Trance dance.  Tone.  Make joyful noises with percussion and flute.  Invoke Archangel Michael or the Celtic god Lugh (pronounced Looch), god of light, warmth and inspiration.  Sing the praises of the sun in all its representations including the sunship of the Christ energies.  And slowly but surely, put out each candle in tribute to the returning darkness and the great mystery of the void.  Honor this phase of growth, trust and love and “Coming into Being.”

"Green was the silence, wet was the light, the month of June trembled like a butterfly." Pablo Neruda
  

Pablo Neruda

Friday, June 15, 2018

Reciprocity


by Rev. Amari Magdalena

Some may call it give and take, reciprocity. Others may look at it as a balance in exchange.  Our dictionary definitions include: when two or more people or nations have equal exchanges of good or services, they are enjoying reciprocity, a situation where each enjoys an equal benefit from the relationship.  However the word is defined, in my opinion, it is about the infinity flow of good energy between others.  When properly applied, reciprocity enhances all parties involved.

It is not news that many exchanges are viewed through the filter of givers and takers in our monetized society.  Yet history has demonstrated that such exchanges always have inherent imbalances and leave feelings of dominance or want.  In a time on our planet where the need for love is touted as the highest form of good, imbalances on all levels spell disaster.

In intimate, familial, and friend relationships, severe imbalances lead to breakdown.  When that is not the ultimate outcome, unhealthy dependencies can develop, along with, anger, angst, and feelings of deep resentment.  Effective relationships cannot tolerate such feelings long.

Many practitioners of spiritual practices and purveyors of alternative healing modalities are asked to do no-cost presentations or donate time and knowledge.  Most of us do this gladly as community service.  It is part of the "giveaway:" a time honored shamanic tradition.  There is no expectation of reciprocity with this charitable work.  There may be, however, a hope that the value of the gift is received, as occasion arises in the lives of the recipients, is shared with others who might benefit (either through testimony or recommendation).  By doing this, it helps the practitioner support their work.

Another way that the receiver of the gift might reciprocate is to be of help when the practitioner has a need for assistance.  I recently heard from someone who has gifted a lot to their community.  They found themselves in need of assistance.  Calling on a few people who they'd particularly supported, doors were closed with weak excuses as to why they could not come forward.  In one case, one of the folks who said they were too busy, was later pictured on social media partying.  This exemplifies a broken infinity of reciprocal good.

In tribal times, the healer, diviner, and teacher were all provided for by the tribe as acknowledgement of their contribution to the common good.  Their basic life needs were happily provided for.  All tribal members received from the greater good and shared from their unique talents.  Sadly, most of us have lost that tribal tether and are often islands unto ourselves surviving.

Thus my call out to everyone to begin to look at the infinity flow of good everywhere in your lives. If you are on the receiving end of good, are you conscious of your responsibility to keep the flow going?  Are you prepared to sometimes sacrifice your pleasure for helping someone who has helped you, not out of obligation, rather an awareness of balance?  Are you wanting to actualize a world that breaks cycles of give and take, so that the need for wars, violence, and separation can subside? Isn't it time we all wake up from the illusion of separation and truly become our brothers and sisters keepers?*

If we are to realize the promised 1,000 years of peace, harmony, love and light on this small planet, I believe it is time.  Time to be more conscious about the symbol of infinite flow between ourselves and others.

"Enlightenment is the AWARENESS that ALL is ONE and ONE is ALL.  Ignorance is the illusion of separateness."  Manprit Kaur

*Cain answered, "I know not, am I my brother's keeper?"  Note:  Cain's words have come to symbolize people's unwillingness to accept responsibility for the welfare of their fellows, "brothers" in the extended sense of the term."



I didn't realize that a rainbow infinity sign is now thought of as a symbol of neurodiversity.  As there are members of my own family experiencing that, perhaps it was an unconscious choice. In any event, diversity can enter into our balancing, accepting, and reciprocal energy exchanges.






Saturday, May 19, 2018

Judgments

by Rev. Amari Magdalena
Recently, I was struck by judgmental commentary on Facebook about parenting.  It reminded me of the old singsong, playground torment, “my ____ is better than your _____.”  It presents in my mind, a clear and present danger to building those bridges of understanding that the world so desperately needs.  This mine is best raises its ugly head almost daily on FB with the war of foodies. Then comes the barrage of politics.  Everywhere there seems to be conflict.


We’ve come to a great chasm in our country precipitated by polarizing viewpoints of what is best for our country.  There is a harsh and bitter divide brewing in rhetoric, snarky humor, and resurfacing of buried hurts and prejudices.  Families, friends, cohorts, fraternal organizations, and other associations are experiencing tearing apart over oppositional viewpoints. We are rapidly moving toward the nation divided of which Abraham Lincoln posited we would not stand.

The word judgment suggests that we’ve come to a decision after careful thought.  Yet the judgments being lambasted upon respondents to Facebook posts seem much more impulsive and emotional.  Careful thought has gone begging.  The word, judgmental, on the other hand, displays an excessively critical point of view.

I grew up with extremely critical parents.  As a troubled adult, I found that legacy creeping into my vernacular whenever my own personal self-judgments got projected onto nearby others. Easier to deflect the self-criticisms perhaps than to own up to the underlying self-esteem issues at the real heart of the matter.  If I wasn’t projecting onto others; I was self-flagellating in damaging words.

It took some time of attempting to walk in another person’s shoes and the vagaries of my own life’s unfolding, to realize how harmful criticism is (both self and other).  As an artist and author, I’ve been the recipient of criticism that demonstrated our collective wounds in glaring clarity.  I found a quote in a book I just read that captured this for me poignantly.  “…first rule of being an artist or doing anything creative is to do it for yourself and consider the source when someone criticizes your work.”

The bible reminds us to cast not the first stone yet stoning with words seems to be the game du jour of our present environment. From a shamanic perspective, words can be spell casting.  One of the first Toltec premises for a more joyous life, is to become impeccable with our words; reframe from causing harm.

Beyond our words doing harm, are our negative thoughts.  Each, and every, time we see someone perhaps dressed in a way we do not approve of; our judgment is telepathically sent to the person. A sensitive person perceives this. Imagine the fog of judgment floating through the air every day just from our less than stellar thoughts. Now add pixels of projected negativity through our tablets, cell phones, computers, etc.  It’s amazing we are not all going around like the old cartoon character Joe Btfsplk in Li’l Abner who always had a dark cloud over his head.

So, what is the solution? How do we arrest this judgmental tendency in ourselves, our circle of friends, and our nation?  My answer is paying attention; noticing.  It begins with us.  From our first thoughts when we get out of bed until the last thoughts before we go to sleep, we are thinking.  Much of the thoughts are not positive.  If we tune into any media daily, we have had our consciousness filled with thoughts of human failings.  Add to that our own self-judgments and then our stated unhappiness with those around us, and we have a compost pile of very putrid debris.

First solution is NOT to berate yourself; very important.  Notice the thought; thank it; advise it that you are complete with its message; and send it back to the nothingness from which it came.  No harm; no foul. Follow this with a positive thought about whatever was coming up.

I KNOW this is a huge challenge.  Facebook is filled with negative media and just a few truly inspiring stories.  If you’re posting 10 a day; make 9 of them positive.  If you must post a negative to arouse people towards change, couch the posting by substituting “Ain’t it awful” with “this is such a great message for us to really awaken and affirm, though actions and words, for a more humane perspective.”

Most definitely, I am not advocating for burying our heads in the sand when crucial issues for human existence are at stake.  Simply suggesting, I am, that we spin it to the positive.  “Look how clear this example is for bringing us to collective change for good.  See how it is demonstrating in vivid colors, the ways we need to change and experience our society.  What a gift!”

Look, I’m not setting myself up as a saint here or saying that I do this all the time.  Good Lord, no!  What this tome is about is taking baby steps towards a consciousness of love and compassion so that we do create a world where everyone thrives.  We do everything we are capable of to create positive change for the common good.  And, we take time to look inside the flowers of life to see their magnificence!

"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies...Something your hand touched some way, so your soul has somewhere to go when you die...It doesn't matter what you do, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it, into something that's like you after you take your hands away."  Ray Bradbury

"You can't make footprints in the sands of time by sitting on your butt.  And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?"  Bob Moawad

 ðŸ˜Š  A little humor to end on!




Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Feast of Blossoms



By Rev. Amari Magdalena



While it is true that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on Imbolc and blustery Winter is still upon parts of the nation, Spring is starting to unfold.  As the trees display their blossoms in an array of colors, we are reminded of just what Spring invites us to do: jump, leap, bound, hop, vault!  Time to prepare for the male time of year and gathering energies of the sun.

In seven (7) days we arrive at the Vernal Equinox which is the time of the balance of light and dark. It is also the entry into a more energetic time.  Now we are inspired to clean out the cobwebs of our physical location and connect the more active synapses of the brain towards being outward bound. Time to beautify our surroundings under the Taurus moon.

Another definition of spring, is a resilient device—something that can be pressed or pulled yet springs back into shape.  Time to come out of the cave centers of our minds, lose the winter padding, plant new seeds, and shout, Yes!  Indeed, it is time to shed the heavy clothing of winter physically and metaphorically while re-invigorating ourselves and returning to active life.

As a ceremonialist, I love to embrace this new corridor with ritual.  Twilight is a lovely time to begin your Spring Equinox Ceremony.  Here are some suggestions for your celebration.  Form a circle in or outside.  Have something to represent each of the four cardinal directions.  You may choose from the elements present in your surrounding.  If you are on the West Coast, then Water is the element to have in your West area.  For many in the Northern Hemisphere, heat comes from the South. Place a red candle in the South area.  Next decide on the East and North.  If you’ve mountains to the East, place a solid stone in the East area.  In the North, representing air, place a feather.  In the center of your circle, place objects like a cherry blossom branch to represent the unfolding spring (or daffodils or tulips).

Purchase twelve votive candles to represent the 12 months of the year; or one for each attendee.  Place all candles along the curve of the West area of your circle. Gather any other items, totems, talisman, gemstones, fetishes etc. for your circle. Smudge your circle with a sacred herb or mist it with an essential oil in pure water that is energizing.

Begin a calling in ceremony.  If you’ve no idea how to do that, my book, Blue Moons and Golden Suns give examples.  When you are complete with the 4 cardinal directions (and perhaps above, below and within), have all people move to the West.  Light candles in the West.  In concert, have all people move the candles around to the East area and say: “Until the Fall, I move the Light to the East.”  If able, leave the candles burning all night until the dawn the next day.

From here, choose others way to memorialize this Equinox: readings, meditations, dance, music, a collective creative project etc.  Set intentions for what you’d like to experience under the gathering light. This is the time of beginnings, dream big.  Call on Goddess Ostara for guidance and ask for a personal vision. 

Spring Equinox is a festival of revelation, a message of the Sun, the Song of Songs of the immortal and eternal spirit, which proclaims the divine, the creative universal spirit. In concert with Mother Earth we discover our own resurrection through our passion and surrender to the bursting forth of life.  We ourselves are the blazing bonfires of victorious spirit!

Final Moan of Winter
By Amari Magdalena

Winter vacates slowly
Sighing its last raspy breath
Rallying momentarily
Rage surrendered.

Long her cold blanket
Lay around and about
Freezing out enterprise
Forcing introspection.

Silent nights of cold stars
Glitter above and below
Invitation to cherish
Stillness and frozen moments.

Fireplace flickering
Bundled in layers of cloth
Keeping warm an occupation
Soups and hot cider concocted.

Deep surrender in center
Cave seeded as fertile womb
Pregnant thoughts emerging
Accessing inner muse.

Clinging to light fragments
Gathering luminosity expanding
Silent chants forthcoming
Heralding seasons change.

Storms gathering speed
Blowing through shorter stays
Appreciated for impermanence
Affirming power of change.

Final throws of ravage
Enclose dead branches strewn about
Nature’s pruning evidenced
Siren’s eerie moaning abates. 

Young buds defying
Illusion of final completion
Presenting promise of renewal
Cycles begin, yet again.



Monday, January 29, 2018

Lectio Divina

By Rev. Amari Magdalena



Lectio Divina, Latin for Divine Reading, can be an important adjunct to staying centered and in touch with one’s spirit in a disruptive world. Benedictines used spiritual readings to promote knowledge of God.  While we may not prefer biblical readings to stay in touch with our spirit, any inspirational reading can be a source of nourishment.

One of the wonders of the internet, is the ability to access such inspiration at the touch of a keyboard. We can type in “Quotations about …...” and a world of wise words are available. Perhaps we have a favorite wisdom keeper of recent or ancient times.  For some it may be Hafez or Rumi; for others, Thoreau, Emerson, or Florence Scovel Shinn.  Many metaphysical centers have magazines with daily inspiration.

What would your day begin or end like, if you chose to each day access an inspirational thought to awaken or sleep with?  Instead of the morning or evening news, you might choose to fill your consciousness with positive, life-affirming, and hopeful content over fear and evidence of man’s inhumanity to humankind.  I believe that what first enters our awareness each morning, set’s a tone for that day.  Similarly, the last thought you have before sleeping can aid or disrupt your time of rest.

Following is a week’s worth of inspirations for dawn and dusk.  Try them out and see how they affect your outlook and, perhaps, renewed faith in the basic goodness of our human race.

Sunday Morning: “Love is the soul’s light, the taste of morning, no me, no we, no claim of being.” Rumi

Sunday Evening: “Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love.  It will not lead you astray.” Rumi

Monday Morning: “Today you are you that is truer than true.”  Dr. Suess

Monday Evening: “From here on Earth, from my small place, I ask of you way out in Space, please tell all men in every land, what you and I both understand.  Please tell all men, peace is good, that’s all that need be understood, in every world in your great sky. (We understood, you and I.)”  Dr. Suess

Tuesday Morning: "In the sweetness of friendship let here be laughter and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds it's morning and is refreshed. Khalil Gibran 

Tuesday Evening: “Love is trembling happiness.”  Khalil Gibran

Wednesday Morning: "For each new morning with its light, for rest and shelter of the night, for health and food, for love and friends, for everything They goodness sends." Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Wednesday Evening: "What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Thursday Morning: "You must form the habit of living in the fourth dimension, The World of the Wondrous. It is the world where you do no judge by appearances." Florence Scovel Shinn 

Thursday Evening: “There is not there, there is only here.” Florence Scovel Shinn

Friday Morning: "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.  Now put the foundations under them."  Henry David Thoreau 

Friday Evening: “The world is but a canvas to our imagination.” Henry David Thoreau

Saturday Morning: “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. Buddha

Saturday Evening: “You, yourself, as much as anyone in the entire Universe, deserve your love and affection.”  Buddha

May your lives be blessed in myriad ways and may your days have abundant sun and rain, dark and light, and other contrasts sufficient for you appreciate all that this amazing human experience offers.

"Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive.  I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.  I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.  I am going to have kind thoughts towards others.  I am not going to get angry or think badly about others.  I am going to benefit others as much as I can."  Dalai Lama