Day: January 7, 2013

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for January 7th

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Until you’ve walked in the rain you cannot truly appreciate the protection of a shelter.

Unless you’ve felt the heat from a sweltering sun you cannot fully enjoy the coolness of shade.

Only after the clatter and bang of crowded places can you find quietness and solitude so soothing to the nerves.

Before you can stop worrying and start living, there must be an elimination of fear which is the cause of all worry.

Sometimes, unfortunately, we must collide with the bad before we can totally appreciate the good.

It is said that we too often must be reminded of our obligations before we take charge of them.

Frequently it seems we must have our freedom threatened before we muster enough patriotism to defend it.

Too many shoulders are bowed by our thoughtlessness before we finally learn the key to real success is kindness.

We never know how truly wonderful it is to be loved until we are loved when we’ve failed to deserve it.

M.R. Smith’s words, “God’s plans, like lilies pure and white untold – We must not tear the close shut leaves apart – Time will reveal the calyxes of gold,” revealed, after all, that patience does its perfect work.

*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*

Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

Visit her web site to purchase the wonderful books by Joyce as gifts for yourself or for loved ones……and also for those who don’t have access to the Internet:

 

http://www.hifler.com
Click Here to Buy her books at Amazon.com

Elder’s Meditation of the Day
By White Bison, Inc., an American Indian-owned nonprofit organization. Order their many products from their web site: http://www.whitebison.org

Elder’s Meditation of the Day – January 7

Elder’s Meditation of the Day – January 7

“.when we become hollow bones there is no limit to what the Higher Powers can do in and through us in spiritual things.”

 

–Frank Fools Crow, LAKOTA

If we want to be of maximum use to the Creator, we must ready ourselves to do so. If we are to become a channel for His purposes, we must prepare ourselves to do so. If we have resentment, fear, selfishness, or anger, we are not hollow bones. We must be rid of these things. We must change ourselves. We must ask for forgiveness for ourselves and forgive our brothers and sisters. We must keep our insides clean. We cannot use our power in a good way when we have blockages such as hate, judgment and envy. When we are free of these things the Higher Powers can use us beyond our wildest imagination. Then we can really help ourselves and help our people. Only when we are hollow bones can we have an effect on the world.

Oh Great Spirit, remove from me the things that block my usefulness to You. Remove from my day all thinking that is out of harmony with Your ways.

Grant me Your peace and allow me to function as a hollow bone.

January 7 – Daily Feast

January 7 – Daily Feast

 

The earth is too small for all the lonely people to have missed each other so completely. But the voice of loneliness seems to persist and deepen with every hour. The Cherokee elder teaches the young person, “Learn to know and like yourself. Learn to be your own best friend.” Learn the art of enjoyable solitude – of having lunch with yourself and being comfortable about it. A person alone is unique. A lonely person shows it in his haunted stare. Sometimes loneliness comes because we have not made room for anyone else. We need to stretch out beyond our boundaries, step out of familiar territory, stop nursing emptiness and self-indulgence. Loneliness is looking for something to fill a void. Joy is expanding so that others want to share our lives.

~ May your way be blessed with life by the unifying force of the Great Holy Spirit. ~

CHEROKEE PRAYER

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

The Daily Motivator for January 7th – Valuable beyond calculation

Valuable beyond calculation

Your life is much too valuable to throw away any of it on negativity. Your  time is too precious to fill it with self-pity or anger or resentment.

Would you purposely sit around and set hundred dollar bills on fire? Of  course not. So don’t make the mistake of needlessly burning through your life,  which is vastly more valuable than money. Choose instead to live every day with  joy, love and meaningful purpose.

There’s no law that says you have to react negatively to negative situations.  Ultimately, the way you live is the way you choose to live.

So choose to live in harmony with your highest values. Instead of letting  mere circumstances determine how you are, let the beauty and value of your life  determine the way you act.

Your unique life is valuable beyond any calculation. Live like it is, and  make it even more so.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Daily OM for January 7th – Releasing the Reigns

Releasing the Reigns

Changing Others

by Madisyn Taylor

If your tendency is to try and change other people, take some time to explore why you feel the need to do so.

 

Our perception of humanity as a whole is, to a large extent, dualistic. We paint people with a broad brush—some are like us, sharing our opinions and our attitudes, while others are different. Our commitment to values we have chosen to embrace is often so strong that we are easily convinced that our way is the right way. We may find ourselves frustrated by those who view the world from an alternate vantage point and make use of unusual strategies when coping with life’s challenges. However ardently we believe that these people would be happier and more satisfied following our lead, we should resist the temptation to try to change them. Every human being has been blessed with a unique nature that cannot be altered by outside forces. We are who we are at any one point in our lives for a reason, and no one person can say for certain what another should be like.

The reasons we try to change one another are numerous. Since we have learned over time to flourish in the richness of lives we have built, we may come to believe that we are qualified to speak on behalf of the greater source. The sum total of our knowledge will never compare to what we do not know, however, and our understanding of others’ lives will forever be limited. The potential we see in the people who are a part of our lives will never be precisely the same as our own, so we do these individuals a disservice when we make assumptions about their intentions, preferences, and goals. Our power lies in our ability to accept others for all their quirks and differences and to let go of the need to control every element of our existence. We can love people for who they are, embracing their uniqueness, or we can love them as human beings from afar.

Your ability to influence people may grow more sophisticated because others sense that you respect their right to be themselves, but you will likely spend more time gazing inward, into the one person you can change: yourself.

The Dark Night of the Soul

The Dark Night of the Soul

Fra.: Apfelmann

“The Dark Night of the Soul” is the name given to that experience of spiritual desolation that all students of the Occult pass through at one time or another. It is sometimes characterized by feelings that your occult studies or practices are not taken you anywhere, that the initial success that one is sometimes granted after a few months of occult working, has suddenly dried up. There comes a desire to give up on everything, to abandon exercises and meditation, as nothing seems to be working. St.John of the Cross. a christian mystic, said of this experience, that it; “…puts the sensory spiritual appetites to sleep, deadens them, and deprives them of the ability to find pleasure in anything. It binds the imagination, and impedes it from doing any good discursive work. It makes the memory cease, the intellect become dark and unable to understand anything, and hence it causes the will to become arid and constrained, and all the faculties empty and useless. And over this hangs a dense and burdensome cloud, which afflicts the soul, and keeps it withdrawn from the good.”

Though the beginner may view the onset of such an experience with alarm (I know I did), the “Dark Night” is not something bad or destructive. In one sense it may be seen as a trial, a test by which the Gods examine our resolve to continue with occult work, and if you are not completely whole-hearted about your magical studies, it is during this period (at its beginning) that you will give up. The Dark Night of the Soul should be welcomed, once recognized for what it is (I have always received an innate “warning” just before the onset of such a period), as a person might welcome an operation that will secure health and well-being. St.John of the Cross embraced the soul`s Dark Night as a Divine Appointment, calling it a period of “sheer grace” and adding;

“O guiding Night,

O Night more lovely than Dawn,

O Night that has united the lover with his beloved

Transforming the Lover in her Beloved.”

When entering the Dark Night one is overcome by a sense of spiritual dryness and depression. The notion, in some quarters, that all such experiences should be avoided, for a peaceful existence, shows up the superficiality of so much of contemporary living. The Dark Night is a way of bringing the Soul to stillness, so that deep psychic transformation may take place. All distractions must be set aside, and it is no good attempting to fight or channel the bursts of raw energy that from time to time may course through your being. This inner compulsion to set everything aside results in the outer depression, when nothing seems to excite. The only thing to do is obey your inner voice and become still, waiting for the inner transformation, (which the “Dark Night” heralds), to take place. You may not be aware for a very long time of the results of that inner change, but when the desire to work comes again and the depression lifts, the Dark Night has (for a moment) passed. No one can help during this time, and in many cases there is hardly anyone to turn for advice. One must disregard the well-meaning advice of family and friends to “snap out of it” this is no ordinary depression, but a deep spiritual experience which only those who have passed through themselves (in other words to a magical retreat) but for many, as the routines of everyday life prohibits this, all you can do is cultivate an inner solitude, a stillness and silence of heart, and wait, (like a chrysalis waits for the inner changes that will result in a butterfly) for the Transformation to work itself out. There are many such “Dark Nights” that the occult seeker must pass through during the mysterious process of mitigation. They are all trials but experience teaches one to cope more efficiently. With fractalic greetings and laughter * Fra.: Apfelmann *

Asking Questions

ASKING QUESTIONS

 

One of the most important skills you will ever learn in your life is learning which questions to ask and when to ask them.

You will never learn how to do much of anything in your life if you do not learn how to ask questions, and not only that, but to question the answers you get in return.

For instance, “I want to learn about wicca,” is not a question. It is a statement.

“Teach me about wicca,” is also not a question. It is a command, even if you add the word please.

Think about what you really want to ask. “Can you teach me about wicca?”

Ok, you’re getting closer to the question you really want answered. “Will you teach me about wicca?”

Even closer, but the topic at hand is a large one.

Look for where you actually want to start learning.

Good questions to start working with are “What makes wicca different from other paths?” or perhaps, “What is the first thing I should learn to start my journey of learning about wicca?” These last two questions are good questions because they are specific and and give the person you are talking with an idea of what you are actually interested in learning.

Here’s another example.

I want to learn how to bake bread.

First of all I find someone that knows how (the right person).

Then I wait until they have the time to help me and a place ready to show me how to bake bread.

I try to read up a little ahead of time if I can and show up well rested and ready to learn hopefully without any preconceptions (the right time).

Now I could ask them what the chemical structure of bread is, or why it browns when it bakes or what type of butter to use on it, but none of these are very good questions to help me towards my goal of learning how to bake bread.

True it might be useful information, but I can always learn the answers to those questions later once I have learned the basics.

So my first questions are, “What are the ingredients we use?” and “How do we start?,” two specific and useful questions.

A good question asked at the right time to the right person helps the person answering it almost as much as it helps the person asking it.

If the person you are asking questions to has no idea of your level of knowledge of the subject or your specific area of interest at the moment they cannot help you nearly as well as they could if they knew these things.

Good questions are one way of helping a person understand what you want to know and what level of difficulty you want it explained at.

A Pagan Students Bill of Rights

A PAGAN STUDENT’S BILL OF RIGHTS

1. You have a right to the quality of education commensurate with the medians in similar education for others in your chosen area. Check several teachers or schools to find just what those medians are considered to be.

Corollary: You do not have the right to expect your teacher to be a “SuperPriest/ess” who will fulfill your every need, want and desire. Today, many are advertising themselves as “teachers” with little more than a few years experience themselves, much of which may be book learning. Truly experienced Elders and “Grand Masters” are exceedingly few and far between. Consider yourself astoundingly fortunate if your teacher falls into this category, but within reason, expect a teacher of Paganism to be human and fallible – resolve for yourself to learn what you can from the situation you are in.

2. The terms of your education shall be agreed upon in advance of its commencement by mutual contract between both teacher and student. Either party may at any time with prior advance notice, rescind said contract. Don’t accept an amorphous “well, we’ll just take it easy and see what happens” approach. You have the right to know exactly what to expect in terms of time, commitment and subjects learned.

Corollary: You may not drop out of tutorial with a teacher without making a reasonable attempt at telling them why you are feeling uncomfortable enough to do so. Be specific, they need to know how their behavior affected you and your potential for learning from them.

3. You have the right to expect a teacher who is compassionate, has a good sense of humor, has respect for you and others and who has a healthy level of self- esteem. A good teacher will admit when s/he is wrong in the moment and will usually heark back to their own novice days with anecdotes of their own trial and error to share with you. A good teacher knows how to maintain the delicate balance between friendship and appropriate discipline.

Corollary: Any teacher who projects as “too perfect” definitely isn’t. Beware also the teacher who is continually in a state of personal woe – these people need too much of your energy that you won’t have to give them. Walk out the door and keep searching.

4. You have the right for the teacher to always be truthful with you. Choose teachers whose styles permit you to question freely, who “lead by example” and show you as well as tell you the things you are learning. You can’t learn herbalism solely by reading books, some day you have to get out into the garden and root in the dirt. Look for a teacher, whatever their specialty, who does the equivalent in their particular form of practice.

Corollary: Beware of teachers whose main boast is how many books they’ve read, or that all of their knowledge is “book learned”. Such teachers will not be giving you anything authentic that you cannot learn on your own from the same books. A person “teaching” like this is perpetrating little short of plagiarism. To bring in the danger factor, you do not want someone “teaching” you the art of soul travel/astral projection who has never really done it themself. Don’t be someone else’s guinea pig. A teacher is a rich resource not only of the literary materials they have consumed, but of their own experiences: those triumphs, failures and illuminating moments of true enlightenment that cannot be learned from any book in print.

5. You have the right to expect your teacher to hold a broad education themselves, with specialty areas in which they might be considered to hold above-average knowledge. Anyone purporting to be a teacher of Witchcraft, Shamanism or one of the other forms of Paganism is held to a standard of excellence in their own community, and usually will have specialised in some branch or another of its components. Bonus points to a teacher who has cross- cultural initiations or similar expertise/other cultural referents to draw from. A broad educational base generally lends another primary desired quality of a good teacher: a broad mind.

Corollary: Ask your teacher to name their teachers or others in the community who know them, and talk to them before signing on to that particular teacher’s list. You may find they have an expertise in permaculture, spellcasting or soul retrieval – or you may discover knowledge that might lead you in another direction. It never hurts as a consumer of a service, to obtain references.

6. You have the right to expect discipline from your teacher. You have the right to expect that they will not let you get away with slackness in your learning, presentation or commission of your duties to them. When learning, expect no less than to apply yourself with the diligence most would reserve for a graduate school degree. A good teacher does their own research and give credit where it is due – expect the same of yourself. Be on time; ahead of time even, for lessons and coven/circle activities as your teacher should. Do one more bit of homework than is expected of you. Expect no less than excellence of yourself and you will be richly rewarded.

Corollary: You have the right to expect your teacher to be firm, but flexible within reason. Teachers should be expected to keep their committments to you as you do to them. Overly regimented structures are not conducive to learning, although sometimes in some traditions, such strictures may be put into place specifically to challenge you and help you grow. Look for teachers who walk the balance between firm and flexible for the best learning environment.

7. You have the right to expect change. Do not expect a smooth ride. Life is its own powerful teacher – learning the arts of Shamanism or Witchcraft are seriously advanced study in the crafting of your own soul. By virtue of this process, your issues will be brought out into the open and you will be expected to deal with them and act/react accordingly. How you react will be noted by your teacher and you can expect to have such reactions become the topic of discussion for your further growth. You have the right to expect during these “spiritual crises” for your teacher/s to be there for you to consult, lean on just a little bit and to provide you resources for getting through. You do NOT however, have the right to call the teacher in the wee hours every night of the week with a new crisis, to monopolize your teacher’s time for weeks on end due to a major crisis or series of smaller ones. Some support is to be expected from a teacher, but not unlimited support. Ask prior to your training what level of support the teacher is comfortable giving you and adhere to that. Know also when to refer yourself to a competent psychotherapist or healer. And if your teacher suggests you do so, take their advice without quibble. Clinginess from crisis-prone students who do not engage competent healing staff at the appropriate times is one of the behaviors that can be incredibly abusive of the teacher. If such clinginess is particularly time and energy consuming, it may cause the teacher to end their relationship with you.

Corollary: Your teacher does not have the right to use information concerning your spiritual crises against you, or to pass you off without seriously attempting to help you. Any teacher who does this you should immediately disengage from. Such a person is not the one to be trusting with your soul and your psyche as is required from a teacher of the metaphysical arts.

8. You have the right to be listened to, to have your questions answered and the right to expect a reasonable amount of your teacher’s time for the discussion of issues you might have with your training, different areas you wish to explore, etcetera. A good teacher like a good psychologist learns to listen more than talk in order to know what is important and relevant to you, the better to help them custom-craft your learning experience. Walk away from teachers who refuse you time to state your concerns, pooh-pooh your questions or who motormouth over your every utterance.

9. At the appropriate time, you have the right to expect your teacher to either inform you that it is time for you to move on into your own practice, or to be open to your suggesting something similar to them. A good teacher expects their students to mature and progress beyond them and will be quite pleased for you when this happens.

Corollary: Any teacher who keeps you hanging on indefinitely for initiation, advancement, further training et. al. with prolonged and continual protestations of “you’re not ready!” when you know you are is not behaving in a mature manner. If it gets to this point, leave and seek those who will support your spiritual growth and advancement.

Eight Gifts That Do Not Cost A Cent

Eight Gifts That Do Not Cost A Cent

 

1. THE GIFT OF LISTENING…
But you must REALLY listen. No interrupting, no daydreaming, no planning your
response. Just listening.

2. THE GIFT OF AFFECTION… Be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back and handholds. Let these small actions demonstrate the love you have for family and friends.

3. THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER… Clip cartoons. Share articles and funny stories. Your gift will say, “I love to laugh with you.”

4. THE GIFT OF A WRITTEN NOTE…
It can be a simple “Thanks for the help” note or a full sonnet. A brief,
handwritten note may be remembered for a lifetime, and may even change a life.

5. THE GIFT OF A COMPLIMENT…
A simple and sincere, “You look great in red,” “You did a super job” or “That
was a wonderful meal” can make someone’s day.

6. THE GIFT OF A FAVOR…
Every day, go out of your way to do something kind.

7. THE GIFT OF SOLITUDE…
There are times when we want nothing better than to be left alone. Be sensitive
to those times and give the gift of solitude to others.

8. THE GIFT OF A CHEERFUL DISPOSITION…
The easiest way to feel good is to extend a kind word to someone, really it’s
not that hard to say, Hello or Thank You.

Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to
succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to
open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care.

More Flowers Comments

A Little Humor for Your Day – Cat To English Dictionary

Cat To English Dictionary
Cat Phrase — Meaning
** miaow — Feed me.
** meeow — Pet me.
** mrooww — I love you.
** miioo-oo-oo — I am in love and must meet my betrothed outside beneath the  hedge. Don’t wait up.
** mrow — I feel like making noise.
** rrrow-mawww — Please, the time is come to tidy the cat box.
** rrrow-miawww — I have remedied the cat box untidiness by shoveling the  contents as far out of the box as was practical.
** miaowmiaow — Play with me.
** miaowmioaw — Have you noticed the shortage of available cat toys in this  room?
** mioawmioaw — Since I can find nothing better to play with, I shall see what  happens when I sharpen my claws on this handy piece of furniture.
** raowwwww — I think I shall now spend time licking the most private parts of  my anatomy.
** mrowwwww — I am now recalling, with sorrow, that some of my private parts  did not return with me from that visit to the vet.
** roww-maww-roww — I am so glad to see that you have returned home with both  arms full of groceries. I will now rub myself against your legs and attempt to  trip you as you walk towards the kitchen.
** mmeww — I believe I have heard a burglar. If you would like to go and beat  him senseless, I shall be happy to keep your spot in the bed warm.
** gakk-ak-ak — My digestive passages seem to have formed a hairball. Wherever  could this have come from? I shall leave it here upon the carpeting.
** mow — Snuggling is a good idea.
** moww — Shedding is pretty good, too.
** mowww! — I was enjoying snuggling and shedding in the warm clean laundry  until you removed me so unkindly.
** miaow! miaow! — I have discovered that, although one may be able to wedge  his body through the gap behind the stove and into that little drawer filled  with pots and pans, the reverse path is slightly more difficult to navigate.
** mraakk! — Oh, small bird! Please come over here.
** ssssroww! — I believe that I have found a woodchuck. I shall now act  terribly brave.
** mmmmmmm — If I sit in the sunshine for another week or so, I think I shall  be satisfied.

Your Daily Feng Shui For Jan. 7th – ‘Old Rock Day’

Get ready to roll on ‘Old Rock Day,’ especially if you celebrate a January birthday! That’s because the ‘rock’ that you will wear will bring music to your ears, especially if you wear your birthstone as earrings. Anyone who celebrates a January birthday should know that their special birthstone is the garnet, the same gemstone that can bring big fortune and lots of luck. Long considered a regenerative and healing stone, the garnet is said to also bring strength and stamina. It is also believed to be super supportive as it invites opportunities for you to go deep within. Wearing it can also clear your mind while initiating clarity and compassion. The garnet is also believed to have the amazing ability to dissolve feelings of isolation and alienation, replacing them with intimate encounters that inspire and motivate. A true jewel, the garnet is a stabilizing old stone that is strong and sincere. Celebrate the garnet on a day devoted to special rocks because, as I mentioned earlier, that’s just how we roll!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com