Astrological Energies of the Winter Solstice 2013:

 Working to find a middle ground for our global family unit.

This year's Winter Solstice will prove to be very interesting for human consciousness and its spiritual awakenings.

  As always the Winter Solstice occurs as the Sun moves into Capricorn highlighting the potential for success, and the 'right way of doing things'. There have been many crises that have occurred this year such as the ongoing global debt crisis; political repression and the general dissatisfaction of the world community; the humanitarian crisis in Syria, as well as extreme weather events leading to catastrophe such as the Philippines Typhoon.

  The Sun in Capricorn helps us to keep calm and methodically and patiently achieve our objectives. Now we can get through a mountain of work if we have to, and through patience put new structures in place. With the UK position of the Sun being in the 6th house, the  workplace is where our organisational skills and ability to serve others really can come to the fore. This can go a long way towards helping to alleviate the sufferings of humanity. The only problem is the health of our own economy is drained and the outlook may be still fairly pessimistic contrary to what the government tells us. However, Capricorn likes to do things that are worthwhile—and like other Earth signs, needs to feel valued and favourable in the world in order to be fulfilled.  The UK could gain recognition on the world stage by having a better ability to appreciate what motivates human society and its set of ideas, principles, and agreements, and that it can be an essential and integral element within that framework.

  This is an excellent time to be resourceful, take more responsibility  and become more creative when it comes to the well being of the planet. With the Sun and retrograde Venus making positive aspects to the star of Scheat we need to push forwards with grand schemes and plans about becoming more self supporting and sufficient even if some of the ways of thinking are unconventional.

  Also, we have an aspect pattern between Jupiter, Pluto and Vesta reaching its peak on the same day as the solstice. There are vast energies at work here trying to search for an outlet for expression. If used wisely it can be the time for great accomplishments. Retrograde Jupiter located in Cancer helps us to feel as though the world is our family and there will be a strong urge to look after this family either through more concern and compassion; or by giving money to lessen mass distress. However, our determined efforts may mean that we are willing to stray from the correct way of doing things. We may be over forceful with opinions even though they may actually be right!  This is because these energies bring to the fore a style of communication that seems closed off, extremist or downright weird. Finding a middle ground is better at this time and it may be more worthwhile to create change from within rather than trying to tear down the whole structure of something just to make a stand.

  Every creature has a purpose of presence. The power of love and sympathy for the suffering of others often including a desire to help; for all living beings creates confidence and reliance on good qualities - especially fairness, truth and honour all over the world. Humanity needs to see itself as a rough diamond that now needs polishing. It is the time to look at how we can improve ourselves through small changes that make us more effective and better ourselves to reach a higher potential.

  It is impossible to avoid or to prevent from happening the repetition of events the like of which we have witnessed recently, but what we can do is to start to see these events helping us to extend beyond or transcending the personal and the ego; to recognise ourselves as a family of human beings, living together and functioning as a single unit, related in origin and as one organism, adapting and responding to change together, as one in joint effort.

Lisa Gates - Spiritual Counsellor, Healer, Astrologer and Psychic Medium

01949 845157

lisa@lisagates.co.uk

www.lisagates.co.uk

© 2013 Enlightening Times All Rights Reserved

Awakening in the Looking Glass

A poem by Rashelle Reid

Awakening to wonder, awakening to pain.
Awakening to thunder, awakening to rain.
Awakening the senses, awakening my soul.
Awakening to seeing that we are always whole.
Understanding the miracle, seeing it with my heart.
Knowing even when I feel weak, we never are apart.
Sensing the spirit, rise and fall within.
Dependent on my thoughts, and what they allow in.
The energy runs through me, sometimes like a great big tide.
Tumultuous waves, this years been such a ride.
Fast and furious with trouble always threatening.
As I look around me, I see no signs it's settling.
The truth is coming out at such a mighty pace.
It's the final lap but who's going to win this race?
Good and evil, light and dark,
The fire's lit, it's awaiting your spark.
Join the choir, let us hear your voice.
That is when we'll finally rejoice.
What if the world was waiting just for you?
Would you wake up and know what to do?
The time is now, there is no other.
So let's all do it for our Mother.
The Earth has provided for all our needs.
So let's stop the madness and end the greed.
Corporations that have no soul,
Leaders that are out of control.
It's time for sense to prevail at last.
After all it's our reflection in the looking glass.

Rashelle Reid

© All rights reserved, Enlightening Times Magazine 2013.

The Problem with Perception is Projection

It’s been such a fascinating journey witnessing the collective and individual awakening of so many people around the world, myself included  and no “matter” how it looks in the physical world just now I have complete faith that we are entering a new paradigm of human consciousness. And, yes the transition period may seem a little messy as those who’ve held power for so long resist the changes but in the end I “know” with complete certainty the change we wish to see is being birthed now.

As the journey has been so fast for so many, there is a lot of confusion around just now and that’s okay because as we know, confusion comes before learning. One of the ideas I’ve noticed that there is a lot of confusion around is the notion that Perception is Projection and that’s funnily enough why the post is titled “The Problem with Perception is Projection.”  The good thing now, is that as many of you know when a problem exists then the solution exists too, so not only will I detail how people’s understanding may be keeping them feeling stuck I’ll also reveal how to make the breakthrough to the next level.

The concept that Perception is Projection is thought to have originated with Carl Gustav Jung, the Swiss Psychologist, famous for his work on the collective unconscious. One of my favourite quotes of Jung’s is directly linked to the idea of Perception is Projection and is really useful as we first begin to see how the world is a reflection from within:-

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”

Carl Jung

And, it’s so true that when we’re irritated, annoyed or judging other people it is based on a projection from within which has been filtered through our beliefs, attitudes and past experiences, so by noticing these feelings it leads  us to a better understanding of ourselves and how we've separated ourselves from Love.

Although the notion of Perception is Projection is thought  to originate with Carl Jung it has gained more momentum recently through its incorporation in the Presuppositions of NLP  where many have attributed it to Tad James. It is used to describe the process by which our minds our External experience has an Internal Representation that goes along with it and our experience of reality is more like a map of reality, than reality itself.

Through the NLP Communications Model we begin to understand how we create our internal representation of the World through the information that we receive via our five senses.  This information is filtered by our Unconscious Mind through the processes of deletion, distortion and generalisation and the end result is that we have a representation of the world based on our beliefs, attitudes and experiences.  In other words, our representation of the event is not the event, it is our filtered version of the event.  Get it?

That doesn't mean the event doesn't exist.  It doesn't mean the event is not real, well at the highest level it’s all an illusion but as Einstein said  it’s a very persistent one, so you see what I’m getting at, don’t you?

There’s a bit more to it…
Let’s look again at the words of Jung -

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”

Carl Jung

What happens when we’re not irritated?  What happens when we've cleared out the  filters of judgement and let go of beliefs of separation? What happens when we've  given ourselves the gift of Unconditional Love? Are we still projecting in the same way?

You see, the thing that’s missing from most of the discussions about Perception is Projection is what happens once we clear out the beliefs and the attitudes that were separating us from each other and from the Universe.  When our filter changes from that of  judgement and beliefs to Unconditional Love.  Once we've cleared the way for spirit’s truth to be heard loud and clear.  When our energy in motion (Emotion) is not blocked by resisting and repressing anything we see as less than serene.   When we fully accept all of who we are. What happens then?

Fully awakening to the power of Unconditional Love and the Awareness that comes with it means that you transcend the thinking that keeps the World where it is and you see clearly that the possibility of a World at Peace exists now.  The possibility of moving from a paradigm of surviving to thriving is a real possibility for everyone, now….and….pretending everything is okay when it quite clearly isn't, is not the solution to the challenges we face because the soul always knows.

As we reconnect to our soul, we begin to see a fuller more complete picture emerge.  No longer are we blinded by the illusions of separation and we now see that we are connected to everyone on the planet.  We see that if we continue  on the road of “I’m all right, Jack” then we might as well give a death sentence to our brothers and sisters who are being mutilated as a result of lies from today built on beliefs from the past.

We hear the lies being filtered through Mainstream Media and Newspapers and how the available  information  is deleted and distorted to form a world filled with the illusion of terror, of angst, of turmoil and not only that but to feed lies to the people that will keep them trapped in the emotion of powerless and fear.

While simultaneously the  financial system has been set up to keep people trapped in the struggle for survival and like all of nature, when humans are locked in the struggle for survival, thriving is not an option.  Year after year the cost of the basic necessities of life are rising while jobs and pay for the majority of the population are falling, and the result is a society that is Worth Less than it was before. 

Can you imagine the energy being made worth less and less every year has on the human mind, body and soul?  Yes, worthless, one of the emotions that keeps us docile!!  Worthlessness keeps us from speaking our hearts truth and standing up for what we know is right.  Let’s face it, our souls always knew what feels right and what doesn't, this is what the Dalai Lama would refer to as “right action”.  For a while we just got so caught up in the game, or so de-sensitized by it that we failed to notice.
Worthlessness is one of the fundamental blocks to creating transformation both on an individual scale and on a global scale.  But, thankfully the veil has been lifted for many and the heavier more oppressive emotions of fear and worthlessness, shame, guilt, all the things that came  along with life in the old world have been cast aside in favour of the love and compassion for ourselves and each where we see love is the bridge to the New Earth.

But and again it’s a big BUT we also see that there is much work being done to create change, to raise awareness and to help humanity heal and move forward together as one.

Awareness is key to this evolution.

You are being called to BE the U of the Universe the One you came here to be. The more you be the you, you are being called to be, the more you will fully awaken you to your most magnificent self.
The kingdom of heaven really is within…and once we discover it is we can go about co-creating it here on Earth for everyone.

Namaste’

For those who wish to have a fuller look at Perception is Projection at work on many levels please read this piece I came across when researching this post by Michael Hall Ph. D

http://www.neurosemantics.com/nlp-critiques/perception-is-not-reality

Our Life Story: A Book Of Scars by Miguel Marques

Our Life Story: A Book Of Scars

byMiguel Marques

Something happens and we break. We hurt. But life has a hack of moving on. And, one way or another, we start the long and painful process called healing. With luck, we will heal in such a way that no one can pinpoint the experience we just had. Normally, we will have something to remind us of the experience we just went through. A memory. A story. A scar. We call that learning. And we just move on, but this scar continues to be there. 

 

Life goes on and other experiences will get imprinted. Little by little, the adjustments made to our way of being, to ourselves will take its tool. Slowly, our bodies, our minds and even our personality will start to show the effects of all this learning. The scars to our initial condition will multiply and become more visible. And we start to wonder: “Did we heal properly or could we have done a better job?”

Alchemy of the Soul from the Esoteric Art Collection

A long time ago, I used to defend the possibility of no-memory. The possibility of experiencing everything for the first time, without any of its consequences ending up imprinted in our minds. Imagine a world where every chocolate ice cream you would eat would feel just like the first. Where there wouldn’t exist any bad memories and we could always look at anything with that sense of marvel possessed by the innocent. Of course we might also relive the same bad experiences over and over again, unnecessarily hurting ourselves. However, I didn’t see that as a disadvantage. You see, I had a photographic memory and as such, I would, naively, entertain the possibility of no-memory. This went on for such a long time, that my memory started to deteriorate, something I came to welcome, as I no longer had to remember every single detail of my life.

In time, I came to value experience. And stories. And how those things shaped our lives, for better or worse. Through my own wishes and expectations, I came to understand the power and the use of memory. Again, time passed and I wished for my memory to return again. Slowly, very very slowly, it started to return. Nowadays, I still don’t have the memory I had before, even though it has improved greatly.

This experience, along with some others of the same kind, led me to the conclusion that our bodies/minds/souls can adapt to any type of conditioning we impose on them. And, if the need arises, can also revert to a previous condition.

This came as a surprise as I tend to dismiss the concept of regeneration. Mainly because I seem to see regeneration as a recreation of the original conditions, where adaptability or learning find no place whatsoever. When dealing with these experiences, I would prefer words like “healing”, or “adaptation”. Maybe “evolution”, “transformation” or “change”. I would take the view that every single part of us changes constantly all the time, even when we don’t realize it.

I started to see our lives as stories. Living, mutable stories. Stories which we would write until our last day, with every line influencing everything that came before and that would come next. And I came to understand the power of scars. Of those marks we get from learning to navigate through life. And to value those scars for reminding us of what we had to learn.

Of course some of the events we end up experiencing hurt us in some way. The scars they leave hurt for a very long time, when not forever. But even those, or specially those, have their use. They might probably turn out to be the most important ones, as they allow us the chance to grow, to push our boundaries and when things are long past and dust and forgotten, to remind us of where we came from and of how much we are capable of when we set our minds to it.

Tlazolteotl, an aztec goddess also known as “The Eater of Filth”, rules over midwifes, sin, sex and witchcraft. But she was also known as the goddess of purification and a goddess of childbirth. People devoted to her would most likely become great magicians. Or maybe prostitutes. Their lives would feel like hell, always tossed around like a piece of garbage. However, this exposure to the worst humanity had to offer would make them grow up strong and free from corruption. Just like their patroness, they would lead their lives taking all that’s rotten and dirty and turn it into the purest gold. As living alchemical crucibles.

Naturally, we don’t have to work with such a goddess. In fact, very few people actually can work with her energy. But even so, we can use her example and try to make the most of everything we have lived. To take it and transform it as something useful. Our life story, our very own book of scars, can then be seen as the most complete magickal grimoire we will ever put our hands into. A tale of complete transformation, shaped in blood, pain, happiness and wonder, which describes our personal alchemical operation and where every detail is inscribed in ourselves.

© 2013 All Rights Reserved