Tag: YouTube

Your Tarot Card for February 21 is Justice

Justice

Friday, Feb 21st, 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traditionally, what has been known as the Justice card has to do with moral sensitivity and that which gives rise to empathy, compassion and a sense of fairness. Since the time of Solomon, this image has represented a standard for the humane and fair-minded treatment of other beings.

Often including the image of a fulcrum which helps to balance competing needs against the greater good, and a two-edged sword to symbolize the precision needed to make clear judgments, this card reminds us to be careful to attend to important details. It’s a mistake to overlook or minimize anything where this card is concerned. The law of Karma is represented here — what goes around comes around.

Enhanced by Zemanta

The Importance of Basic Techniques

The Importance of Basic Techniques

Author:   Luna 

Since I began earnestly looking into Wicca and magickal practices, some of the most emphasized concepts were visualization and psychic hygiene. And, as I think about this now, I can’t see why anyone wouldn’t emphasize them. Much of my own successful magick has been worked with strong visualization of my goal, and I’ve had many a worthwhile meditation session with strong visualization of where I was going, whether I was dancing through a forest in the astral or finding a cave in a waterfall with a shrine to Brigit. Along with that, psychic cleansing and grounding cannot be stressed enough in magickal and ritual working. I know I’ve had many a time when I’ve tried to work some kind of magick or focus in a ritual when I managed to cleanse myself beforehand, and I found that that time I took before and after to cleanse myself of excess energies would often make all the difference in how successful I was in my work.

So where am I going with this? These are all basic techniques that all Wiccans, Pagans and other Earth-based spiritualities hopefully come to in their magickal and ritual workings. These two concepts of visualization and cleansing (along with psychic shielding, which I’ll get to later) were things I drilled into my head before I started doing my magickal workings. They’re some of the most important things a Pagan learns, depending on the tradition. These days, even before I do something as simple as yoga practice, I cleanse myself of excess energy because it’s become such a habit. And I feel it’s a good habit to get into, if only because of my experience of how cleansing and visualization helps me in my life.

However, just a couple months ago, I had an encounter that reinforced the importance of these basic techniques, and, having been granted permission from the friend I shared this experience with, I’d like to share it with you.

Towards the end of my January term at college, I invited my friend Max over to my dorm room, ostensibly to show him a fun video game I thought he might like. I met Max just last semester through our Taiko drumming group here at St. Olaf, and we hit it off immediately. Both of us were from the Twin Cities areas, both of us were involved in marching band in high school, and both of us were interested in spirituality and Mind-Body-Spirit. In fact, Max is a member of the Mind-Body-Spirit organization here at school, and he not only practices Qi Gong but is also interested in studying herbalism and Chinese medicine after graduation.

I should make one thing clear before I go any further: Max is not Pagan. Despite his considerable knowledge of new age techniques and spirituality in general, he tends to relate more to Asian religions and philosophies than to Wicca or Pagan religions. However, he understands a good deal about Paganism and Wicca and has shown great respect for them, enough that I never have any trouble talking to him about it. Despite our rather huge age gap (I’m about to graduate while he’s just finishing his freshman year) , we’ve become good friends.

So, back to the story!

After I’d shown Max the video game, we got to talking about a variety of topics, eventually coming to Max’s Qi Gong class. At this point, he mentioned an exercise they had done in class, something that he hadn’t been able to replicate outside of his class. I asked him to describe what the exercise was. As soon as he did, I remember doing the same exercise myself, and I’m sure many of you will also remember trying this exercise at some point. Max had his hands apart and was trying to project his energy into his hands to create a ball of energy and even make that ball grow. However, without his teacher’s guidance, he hadn’t been able to feel that ball of energy when he tried the exercise outside of class.

Recognizing the exercise, I asked Max if he had tried visualizing the ball of energy between his hands. This was something he hadn’t considered, so I took him through the exercise again as I knew it. Now, I didn’t try to re-explain the exercise entirely, because he already knew it. Instead, I explained to him how, when I tried it, I visualized a bluish-purple ball of light forming in my hands. While the ball wasn’t visible to my naked eye, I knew the ball was there and visualized it as strongly as I could. Max tried the same thing, and he finally understood what I was talking about. He was finally able to replicate the exercise the way he had felt it during class.

So why did Max have trouble with the exercise before he tried it with me? It’s not because of my teaching skills (I honestly doubt I’ve explained the exercise to you properly) . It was because he hadn’t tried to visualize the ball of energy there before. As spiritually and psychically capable as Max is (even more so than I am) , without that visualization, I doubt he would’ve been able to get the same result. It’s not enough the just project the energy into the space between your hands and hope it works. Visualizing the ball of energy, no matter what it looks like or feels like to the individual, is an important step to the success of that energy. I don’t mean to sound preachy or anything like that, but, just speaking from personal experience and from working with Max on this, visualization is an extremely important skill in magick and meditative work. It doesn’t matter whether you’re Pagan or not.

So after having success with that exercise in energy play, Max and I began to talk more about visualization in psychic and meditative techniques. Eventually, he mentioned how he always felt like he had so much energy. Now, Max’s energetic and enthusiastic nature is definitely one of his strong points. In my opinion, it’s made him very strong in Taiko drumming. However, there are many times when Max has too much energy or puts too much energy into his playing, so much so that he often gets asked to back off a little bit when playing so that he doesn’t go overboard. Hearing him say that he didn’t know how to get rid of the excess energy, a thought occurred to me. It reminded me of a YouTube video I’d watched when I was first getting into Wicca that was my introduction to the basics, and, after explaining to him, we decided to watch it.

The video is called Wicca First Degree course Lesson 1 Exercises and the video itself is presented and narrated by Reverend Donald Lewis-Highcorrell of the Correllian tradition of Wicca, who also authored the Witch School series of books. For those of you who haven’t seen this or any of his YouTube videos (which I believe are excerpts from the Witch School DVDs) , even if you don’t consider yourself a Wiccan, I encourage you to check them out. They’re extremely informative, and I often find they’re a valuable resource in magickal practice. If you have the time, please give them a look. Anyways, in this particular video, Reverend Donald introduces the viewer to exercises in psychic cleansing or grounding and psychic shielding. For the purposes of this story, I’m going to focus on the cleansing exercise, as this directly relates to Max’s situation with excess energy.

In the video, Reverend Donald, with the help of some beautiful animations, gives the viewer examples of how to visualize this cleansing, talking them through a visualization of a column of pure white light moving through the body and letting the excess energy flow out of the body with the white light. As an alternative to this, he also describes another visualization of a river flowing through the body and the excess energy as detritus such as twigs and leaves that flow out of the body with the river. These are the two he finds works the best, but he encourages the viewer to find a visualization that works for them. After this point in the video, Max and I having done the exercise along with the video, I paused it and asked Max how he felt. He told me he felt a lot better, not having that excess energy in his body, and we began to once again discuss the power of visualization and these basic techniques and how important they are for anyone attempting psychic or meditative work.

But why am I telling you about all of this? Why did I even bother going into all of that?

Well, that discussion and practice with Max served as a reminder, for me at least, of how important those basic techniques are. It doesn’t matter whether you are a devout Pagan or are simply interested in new age philosophy and practice. Visualization and cleansing, along with other basic techniques, play a key role in all psychic, meditative, ritual and magickal work. And I feel that sometimes we forget how important and integral these basic techniques are. Plus, I see it as an example of the power of these techniques even when used by those who don’t practice a Pagan faith. The fact that these techniques worked as well for Max as they did for me is something I find fascinating, and it’s something I wanted to share. After all, there’s something to learn from every experience, no matter how trivial or groundbreaking, whether it’s your own experience or that of someone else.

Thank you for hearing me out on this, and, for your own future workings, I wish you an enthusiastic Blessed Be! ^_^

___________________________________________

Footnotes:
“Wicca First Degree course Lesson 1 Exercises” by user MagickTV, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQRyIYr3DZM

Enhanced by Zemanta

I Left Wicca. I Came Back. So Can You.

I Left Wicca. I Came Back. So Can You.

Author:   Bliss Diva   

Incense wafts around me as I lift the dragon letter opener I’m using as an athame. The candlelight flickers around the room as I invoke the elements, call the Goddess and God, and settle into a comfortable spot in my circle for my pathworking. The wind howls outside, sending snow whipping onto my window, and I smile – I can feel the divinity and magic in the air around me. Everything is wild and mysterious and I feel so intimately connected to everything around me – I’ve never felt anything like this before. I feel so complete – and I’m only thirteen years old.

…fast forward a year and a half. I’m in a circle in the forest with three friends – the setting sun’s colors filter through the trees above us as we connect our hands. I’m the only ‘experienced’ one among us, so I let them know what to do. We begin to walk in a circle, chanting in unison: “Hecate, Hecate, Hearken well: lend your power to our spell; Hecate, Hecate, Hearken well: help us do our magick well.” Faster and faster we spun, our voices weaving into the branches above us. The world twirled, the air seemed to buzz, and suddenly, without any prompting at all, we stopped chanting and circling and threw our hands into the air – sending the energy into the universe above us, our wishes sent into the world. We stood there a moment, breathing deeply. Then, we collapsed giggling to the earth so we could ground. Everything was perfect. Everything was right. We made magick.

…speed up again. My Book of Shadows hasn’t been opened in several weeks. A thin layer of dust is on my altar. As I rush to put on my prom dress, I realize I forgot all about Imbolc, and Ostara, and the full moon the week before. I look guiltily at my altar, shrug, and walk out for a night of dancing with my friends – and hopefully, my crush.

..and again. I’m packing boxes. Pulling unused items from the corners of my room to either give away or put in storage. I find the stack of my old Book of Shadows on the bottom of my bookshelf. I sit on my carpet, and gaze at them in my hand. I feel a fleeting twinge in my heart, and then set the stack in a cardboard box, next to my other old journals. The box goes back into the closet, with the others. I turn to my travel backpack and begin to sort things to put in there. My hand, rustling through my jewelry box, touches my pentacle. I pick it up and watch it glint in the light. The writing around the edge reads, “I am the beauty of the green earth and the white moon among the stars.” I feel the twinge in my heart again, and decide to put it in among the few pieces of jewelry I was deciding to bring.

Just in case.

~*~

That was a year ago. Yes, I traveled. I met many people, and continue to do so. I delved deep into myself and discovered. And yet, I still felt a restlessness.

I was living in tropical paradise on the east coast of Australia – as I am now, for the next few weeks before I leave once more to travel. My life has been perfect – everything I dreamed it would be, ever since I was eight years old.

And yet. And yet.

I woke in the middle of the night, not understanding why I did not feel complete. Was it because I didn’t like the housekeeping job I was doing? No, that wasn’t it. Was it because I wasn’t writing as much on my blog as I would like to? No, that wasn’t it, either. Was it because I missed my family and friends? I missed them, but that wasn’t what was causing the restlessness, either.

I wrote to my darling soul sisters in the Goddess Circle over at leoniedawson.com. I told these beautiful hearts what was rustling deep in my soul, seeking their guidance and womanly advice. I got many replies, and many pieces of advice, and I pondered on it all.

And then, one night, I knew.

I found myself thinking of the spirituality I had spent my adolescence in. I’m now 19 years old – it has been six years since I first discovered Wicca. I remained in that path until I was about 16, after which, I chose not to identify as Wiccan. Why? What turned me away from that religion that made me feel so complete, so wonderful?

I felt shunned and misunderstood and judged by other Wiccans. Nothing I did was right – whatever I believed or practiced, I wasn’t doing it right, I wasn’t a real Wiccan, I was a fluff bunny, I need to do this this way and that that way, you’re harming the earth because you want to learn to drive, you’re harming this and that and this and that…on and on and on. No matter how serious I was, no matter how hard I tried to be intelligent and educated and learned in Wicca, I was judged for one small reason: I was a teenager. at 13, 14, 15, 16 years old, I was considered not smart enough, not mature enough. I was a teenager, thus I was just getting into it because I was “power-hungry” or wanted to be “cool” and I basically was, according to all the adult Wiccans I met, not “serious.”

I heard those things so often that I believed them. So I stopped indentifying as Wiccan. I stopped practicing what made me feel so alive. I continued to pray to the Goddess, and occasionally meditate, but that was the extent of my spiritual practice – even though I wanted desperately, deep within, to again do what made me feel so wonderful.

Eventually, that need got buried so deep I stopped consciously feeling it, even when I connected with some Pagans during my time in Western Australia.

But now.

The restlessness began growing as I began to blog more – as I began to get a grip on what life I truly wanted to make for myself; that is, a life in which my job is doing something I love, and making enough money from it to support my travelling. In my pursuit to create a quality blog with quality posts, I had to dig deep into myself and my Self, in order to write passionately and authentically.

And, in digging, I found a box I had forgotten, in the corner of the closet of my childhood room.

There is a lot of articles all over the internet, and on Witchvox, and on YouTube, and in books, that are all about “beginning Wicca” and “advanced Wicca” – but what about that in-between place, when all you have is doubt? What about that space in which you step off the path to explore new paths, and find yourself being called back, after all the doubt and fear and confusion and unknown and self-discovery, to your original road? What about that spot in the road that you walk on, far from the part you walked off of? Where are the books and articles for that spot?

Here’s one, among none – one for others who have struggled, walked away, and come back. Here’s one for those who already know the basics by heart, but aren’t quite knowledgeable enough anymore to go to the advanced Wicca.

You aren’t alone, darling.

This one’s for you.

Keep walking. Practice your magick. Do what your heart calls you to do.

I don’t practice the same Wicca I practiced at 13, or 14, or 15, or 16. The Wicca I practice now is gentler and more full of gigglesnorts and soaking my dancing toes in the sea.

You don’t have to practice the same way you did before. You’ve experienced other ways. You’ve seen. You’ve touched. You’ve loved, and hated, and cried, and giggled, and gotten your feet dirty on the dust of other roads.

Bring that wisdom to your new path. You are a bigger person now. You are a more beautiful person now.

The Goddess doesn’t mind if you no longer feel connected to elaborate rituals with lots of trinkets and candles and complicated words. She doesn’t mind if you aren’t vegetarian or an environmentalist. She doesn’t mind if you don’t agree with what other Wiccans say.

She doesn’t mind if the only spiritual thing you do is talk to Her while you walk to work in the morning.

I know She doesn’t mind that I mix up the Southern Hemisphere directions sometimes, and that I giggle when I fart during meditation. I know She doesn’t mind that I’m not into spells and big fancy altars anymore.

The time I had away from Wicca, walking on other paths – the time I had away from it, doubting, questioning, wondering – was exactly what I needed to get perspective on why I loved Wicca.
Wicca wasn’t a phase for me as a teenager. I wasn’t into it for the power, or because it was “cool.”

Wicca attracted me because it spoke to my core. I didn’t always translate it very well, because the jumbled emotions of adolescence got in the way, but what it all comes down to is that it resonated with a deep and wild knowing in my breast.

If you walked away from the path and then came back to it at a different point – there was reason for that. Wicca, in some way, spoke to your core as well – to the la loba sitting in your belly.

The wolf’s ears perked up, and a mischievous grin spread across her lips. Because she knew that you had found what you, your whole life, had been longing for.

Walk away. Come back. And walk away again.

Follow your wild knowing.

________________________________
Footnotes:
leoniedawson.com

Enhanced by Zemanta

Power Animals

Power Animals

A power animal, is a broadly animistic and shamanic concept that has entered the English language from Anthropology, Ethnography and Sociology. A tutelary spirit guides, helps or protects individuals, lineages and nations. In the shamanic worldview, everything is alive, bearing an inherent virtue, power and wisdom. Power animals represent a person’s connection to all life, their qualities of character, and their power.

Power animals are endemic to shamanic practice in both Eurasia and the Americas. They are the helping or ministering spirit or familiar which empowers individuals and is essential for success in any venture undertaken.

In the shamanic worldview, everyone has power animals or tutelary spirits which empower and protect them from harm, like guardian spirits or angels in the Abrahamic Traditions. The power animal may also lend its ward or charge the wisdom or attributes of its kind. For example, a hawk power animal provides hawk attributes, such as hawk-eye.

Power animals most often come to us in dreams, meditations, initiations, and visions.  You can have more than one power animal.  Your power animal at a given time can change depending on your life-path at that time.  Power animals are often attracted by one’s emotional needs of the person – viewed as protectors who help overcome fears and empower us.

The concept of a Power Animal is universal to all cultures. Tribal cultures  will recognize a Totem for the tribe, one for the clan one belongs to,  and one for the family that one is born into. In the United States, and  in other countries, the Tribal and Clan Totem still exists, although it  is thought of in a slightly different manner.

There are also totems for our adopted cultures, such as clubs or societies which we may belong  to, such as the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Loyal Order  of Moose, and the Lions Club.

Even Christianity, the prevalent religion  of this country, has maintained two Totem animals, these being the Fish  and the Lamb. Specialized Totems are also seen in organized sports, their  names being reflected in the team names. Example: Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Falcons

The next type of Power Animal or Totem is that which is personal for  the individual. These Totems are protective spirits which help us in our  everyday life. Everyone has such a Totem. Even today most parents give  a special protective Power Animal to their children and tell the child  that it will be protected over night by that Power Animal. They don’t realize that is what they are doing when they give a teddy bear to their little one.

We often unconsciously recognize the Power Animal affecting someone, and use terms which give away our unconscious recognition.

In the shamanic belief every thing is alive and carries with it power and wisdom.  Power animals are an essential component of shamanic practice.  They are the helping spirit which add to the power of the shaman and are essential for success in any venture undertaken by the shaman.

Shamans believe that everyone has power animals – animal spirits which reside with each individual adding to their power and protecting them from illness, acting similarly to a guardian angel.  Each power animal that you have increases your power so that illnesses or negative energy cannot enter your body.  The spirit also lends you the wisdom of its kind.  A hawk spirit will give you hawk wisdom, and lend you some of the attributes of hawk.

Everyone is thought to have a few of these guardian power animals or it is thought that the individual could not survive childhood.  Over the course of her or his life the person may have several.  If a power animal leaves and one does not come to take its place the individual is considered, by the shaman, to be disempowered and therefore vulnerable to illness and bad luck.

Power animals do not have to be mammals and can be reptiles, insects or sea creatures.  Any living creature can serve as a power animal.  (Plants and trees can serve as plant spirit guides.) Domesticated animals are generally not considered power animals because they already in service to human beings.  It is possible to have a domesticated animal, but it is more likely to have a wild untamed animal serve in the capacity of a power animal.

The gifts that a particular animal is thought to give an individual varies depending on the culture.  Although there are certain consistencies for certain animals.  A particular power animal can come to help you with an issue that is very specific for you.  It is important not to lock each animal into a category, and be open to the gifts it may be coming to share with you.

It is important to honor your power animal.  In many western cultures we are not taught to value animals or the gifts that they add to our life and the world around us.  In shamanic work the power animal is essential, for a shaman who has no power – is not going to have very good results.

On a personal level by honoring your power animal you let it know that its assistance is appreciated.  The spirit of the animal is giving up its mobility in order to spend its time with you and assist you with your life.  Also, by honoring the power animal we make a deeper connection with it.  Honoring it can be as simple a saying a thank you inside yourself, or getting an object which represents it and putting it where you can see it as you go about your day.

Shamanic practice honors and acknowledges the life and wisdom that exists in all things.  Everything is believed to have something to teach you and animals are thought to have a wealth of wisdom and protection to offer you.

If you would like to find out who your power animal is, consulting a shamanic practitioner is an option.  But to discover this on you own, you can ask for a dream and see if anything comes up. You can ask the power animal to show itself to you and if you start seeing one or another animal frequently that would be its way of revealing itself to you.

Power Animals are usually a reflection of your deepest self and also represent qualities which you need in this world, but which are often hidden or obscured. A mistake that people often make is to be dissatisfied when they find that their Power Animal is some non-ferocious animal like  a mouse. We tend to think that a mouse is not very powerful – that it  is meek and afraid. What they forget is that spirits are not limited to  physical reality and that size is irrelevant. Your Power Animal may be  a tiny mouse, but in times of need this mouse can and will change its size  and deportment to that which is appropriate to the occasion.

Source:
Crystalinks

Enhanced by Zemanta

A Little Humor for Your Day – ‘Top Thirteen Reasons To Be Pagan’

Top Thirteen Reasons To Be Pagan

13. I live for persecution!
12. I’m a night person at heart.
11. We respect our elders…and alders, and willows and oaks.
10. I just love explaining that a pentagram is NOT evil.
9. We do more after midnight than most people do all day!
8. Being burned at the stake is a great way to roast marshmallows.
7. We can talk to Elvis (and he IS dead).
6. You live, you learn, you die, you forget. Then you come back…
5. Double the deities, double the fun!
4. We get more holidays.
3. Brooms get great mileage.
2. We were here first!
1. BELTANE!!!

Your Animal Spirit for December 12th is Sasquatch

Your Animal Spirit for Today
December 12, 2013

 

Sasquatch

Is Big Foot real or a hoax? It doesn’t really matter, because he has ambled into your reading to remind you of life’s mysteries. Not everything can be explained, not everything can be touched—but that doesn’t mean it don’t exist. Suspend your logic for a bit, and be open to the mystery.

How Magic Can Save the World

How Magic Can Save the World

Author:   Tess Whitehurst 

The world appears to be in dire straights. The environment is suffering, species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate, in many parts of the world food and clean water are scarce, and, to top it all off, humans are killing each other. And for just about every imaginable challenge, there are people scrambling to help. We’re recycling, petitioning, protesting, studying, raising awareness, preserving, debating, and donating.

But how can we work holistically toward positive change? How do we get at the cause of all these imbalances, rather than jumping headlong into the mad dash of damage control?

Simple. We do what magical folk do. We shift consciousness. Interestingly, our magical perspective is exactly what the holistic health practitioner ordered. To illustrate, here are some basic magical precepts that can help heal the world.

•Everything is connected, and everything is divine. If everyone very deeply understood that every single thing is interwoven in a complex web of existence, and that all of existence is a part of the divine, there would be no one engaging in activities that caused plants or animals to become compromised or extinct.
•The Earth is our Mother. To us, this is literal, not figurative. Imagine how lovingly our Mother would be treated if everyone understood this as we do.
•Whatever you send out comes back to you multiplied. What you do to someone else, you do to yourself. Mass acceptance of this precept would actually (finally!) give peace a chance.
•We are empowered to change our consciousness in order to create positive shifts in our own lives. When everyone really and truly realizes their true power, they will no longer chase the imaginary power promised by things like greed, violence, hatred, or exploitation.

In the early 1970’s, James Lovelock, the scientist who formulated the Gaia Hypothesis, summarized what people like us already knew: that Planet Earth is a complex, living, breathing organism. Peter Russell took it one step further in his book The Global Brain when he proposed that while rainforests are the lungs and the atmosphere is the circulatory system, humans are the information processors, or in other words, the brain cells.

The brain cells in a fetus or an infant are the same as adult brain cells. They just have not yet formed as many pathways or connections between each other so they cannot function efficiently as a unified whole. Then, little by little, they build connections and begin to redefine themselves as not only one small part of a brain, but as one small part of an entire organism. Similarly (Peter Russell notes) , humans are beginning to form more and more connections and pathways between each other. For example, with one Facebook post, we can communicate instantly with our entire, perhaps global, circle of friends. Or, with one YouTube video, we can conceivably reach several million people within a matter of months.

So, from a macrocosmic perspective, the global brain (AKA the human race) is rapidly evolving to the stage when it can more easily recognize itself as the consciousness and nerve center of a living, breathing, and harmoniously self-sustaining organism. This evolution, if it moves in the most positive direction possible, is what Albert Einstein was hoping for when he wrote:

“A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘universe, ‘ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.

Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty…We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive.”

At this stage in history, it’s easier than it ever has been before for us to create a “new manner of thinking” by setting in motion a magical tsunami of consciousness shifting. But how?

First, we walk our talk. We purify our motives so that they are about love and service. We meditate, we purify and shield our energetic bodies, and we perform ritual and engage in prayer in order to connect with the Divine. We spend time in nature to remind ourselves of beauty, of the rich and vital inner lives and personalities of plants and animals, and of our connection to the whole.

We forgive others and ourselves as we bravely work through old issues and limiting beliefs. We release rigidity of belief and embrace flexibility, openness, and inclusion. We send the energy of love out into the world through our thoughts, feelings, and visualizations. We pray for world peace and perform rituals for planetary healing.

And then, from this place of deep love and integrity, we give gifts to the world from our hearts. We ask our hearts: “what do you want to give?” It might be a painting, a movie, an article, a status update, a specific type of volunteer work, a compliment, a smile, a speech, an idea, or a new way of doing things. We give freely every day, in every situation, as we feel guided, dedicating every single gift we give to the Goddess (or God, or patron deity) and to the healing of the world.

We generously shine our unique light, perspectives, and ideas into the world, knowing that as we do, we are not only increasing our own joy and prosperity (because whatever you send out comes back to you multiplied) , we are also shifting the tide of energy, bringing the cells of the global brain into harmonious unity, and channeling our collective magical energy toward saving the world.

“If powerful men and women
could remain centered in the Tao,
all things would be in harmony.
The world would become a paradise.
All people would be at peace,
And the law would be written in their hearts.”

-The Tao te Ching translated by Stephen Mitchell

A Little Humor for Your Day – ‘Cheesy Pagan Pick Up Lines, lmao!’

Top Ten Cheesy Pick-Up Lines For Pagans

10. Hey babe, what’s your sign? What’s it’s ascendant? What is your planet alignment in Venus during Cancer’s revolving around the Fourth House?

9. Read any good Llewellyn Books lately?

8. Would you like to come over to my place and widdershins?

7. Haven’t I seen you someplace before in another life?

6. Yes, I’m handfasted, but that’s not “technically” marriage.

5. So, do you draw down the moon here often?

4. What’s a nymph Goddess like you doing in a place like this?

3. You have the prettiest third eye I’ve ever seen.

2. You’re feet must be tired because you’ve been Spiral Dancing in my mind “all” night long.

And the Number One Cheesy Pick-Up Line for Pagans to Use at Gatherings is:

1. Is that a May Pole in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Today’s Tarot Card for October 18th is Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune

Friday, Oct 18th, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The central theme of what is traditionally called the Wheel of Fortune card is cyclical change. The Wheel keeps on rolling, churning events in a ceaseless progression of ups and downs, either way freeing us from the past. No one can escape its cyclical action, which can feel somewhat terrifying — no matter whether we are rising or falling. When one is balanced on top there is a moment of crystal clarity, but the only part of the Wheel not going up and down is the hub, which is your eternal Self, the Source of Freedom.

Every one of us will occupy all the points on the wheel at some time or another. The cycle of the wheel is its lesson — and we can learn to take comfort in it (as we do when we celebrate our birthday). If you don’t like the look of things right now, just wait — things will change. Of course, if you do like the look of things right now, enjoy it while it lasts, because that will change too!

Your Animal Spirit for August 19th is the Raccoon

Your Animal Spirit for Today
    August 19, 2013 

Raccoon

This masked bandit can make you laugh with his antics, or make you angry when you realize he’s made off with your food! Raccoon is incredibly curious—to the point that he’ll walk into a potentially dangerous situation just to see what’s up. Like Raccoon, are there situations you’re barging into before you have all the information? Might want to re-think this one.

Just To Let You Know…….

Before I forget, I don’t know if you have checked out our Pinterest page or not. But there is a section on there that has to do with “Furry Creatures.” That’s not the entire title but you see that you will know where to go. I found my camera and I am going to start taking photos of the animals we take in and care for at the refuge there. I already have my three on there but I look at them as if they are the “animal wardens,” lol!

But anyway, check that section out. In the future when I ask very politely for help with the critters, you will be able to see what your money is going to help.

Anyway, got to run. Get a moment check it out, Pinterest button in the right hand corner.

Love ya!

 

 

 

More Animals Comments

Grandma’s House

Grandma’s House

by Amanda Silvers

I come from an ample extended family who, when I was younger, all got together to celebrate holidays, birthdays, weddings – any excuse for a party.

The winter holidays were always a frenzy of commotion, with 30-40 people taking part. The children were abundant: my mother had six, my aunt had four and my uncle had five. In addition there were other cousins, aunts, uncles, step siblings, ex-husbands, great aunts and second and third cousins.

My family, particularly my grandmother on my mother’s side, at whose household we held the holiday celebrations, enjoyed many traditions and superstitions about all sorts of things, especially Christmas and the New Year.

For instance, she said: if you don’t hang mistletoe above your front door, you’ll have bad luck. And if you do not kiss the person standing under the mistletoe, people will gossip about you. If you stand beneath the mistletoe and no one kisses you, you will not have a lover for a year.

If an unattached young man wanted to date a young woman, he could begin with a kiss under the mistletoe, and all would know his intentions were honorable. You were then considered an “item” and it was regarded almost an engagement.

The mistletoe customs were a fun and enlivening part of our holiday festivities; even when we were very young, we plotted when to get under it – trying to get the object of our desire to kiss us. This very seldom worked, because most of the time our dad or grandpa or some equally boring adult would kiss us before the inept young men got up the nerve.

Another great kissing practice is the “friendship ball,” generally made with a lemon, orange or lime and studded in some interesting and attractive manner with whole cloves.

The idea is to offer the ball to a person that you want to kiss, who then takes it, pulls out a clove with their teeth, chews it and then kisses the person who gave it to them. Then the one with the ball has the option to return it to the person that initially gave it to them, with another kiss, of course or to pass it on to another person and kiss them.

If someone offered you the kissing ball and you refused to kiss them, no one else would offer you one for the rest of the evening.

This game was fun, but more than a few conflicts were initiated when people had a tiny bit too much to drink and an individual kissed someone else’s wife or husband a few too many times or too passionately. The sparring individuals would ordinarily leave in a huff over that, but the kids found it a perfect way to emulate the “adult game” of kissing.

The New Year’s customs were regarded even more earnestly, if that were possible. We always had a special meal on New Year’s day, a sumptuous, extravagant meal, said to insure that we’d eat well the rest of the year. We toasted in the New Year together, as a family, lest one of us die during the year. We, even the kids, had champagne with strawberries, said to please the small folk into aiding us in accomplishing our desires. We toasted one another’s health, prosperity, good nature, marriage, etc. To shower good wishes on one another was necessary to insure that we’d prosper during the coming year. It has only been in the last few years that I no longer call my whole family long distance on New Year’s eve to carry on the tradition, it was that strongly ingrained in me.

More customs included that the last person to finish the meal on New Year’s day was going to get fat, or have a baby, depending on whether it was a man or woman. The first person to leave the house on New Year’s Day was supposed to kiss everyone in the house and they were to say “See ya later, alligator” before leaving the house. If one person was still asleep, or in the shower or something, the person leaving was to wait.

My grandmother, Ma Mère, was the one who was the fanatic about superstitions, and they carried over into everything, but the Christmas and New Year’s holidays customs were clearly the best. I endeavor to begin an amusing new tradition each year. You may want to use some of these or think of a festive new one for this year, and don’t forget the mistletoe!

The Willow Knot Spell

THE WILLOW KNOT SPELL

To win the love of a young lady, according to the old Gypsy Witch lore, a young man must go into the woods on Saint Johns Day (mid- summer) and find some willow twigs that have grown together into a knot. With a sharp, white handled knife, he must cut the twigs, put them into his mouth, and repeat the following incantation with his eyes closed.

WILLOW TREE
WILLOW TREE
GIVE ME THE LUCK
OF THINE THEN
(NAME OF LOVED ONE)
SHALL FOREVER BE MINE.

The Witches Spell for November 3: Cloud Eye Rite

Cloud Eye Rite

This is a version of a rite by an unknown author which involves transferring one’s ‘essence’ to another form, such as a rainbow, an animal, another person, a cloud, even a tree. In this case, you move your perception to a cloud.

You will need: An open space

Dry ice

Passivity

 

Open by whatever means feels appropriate. (You might just cast a circle.) Set the dry ice in the center of the working area. Participants circle deosil around the ice, chanting “Ka-ao-opua-loa” (the sharp-pointed living cloud). In the Hawaiian legends, this was the name of the kupua of the cloud people. Circling and chanting continue for 10-15 minutes, at the end of which all sit down in a circle as close to the ice as possible. All stare into the fog rising from the ice until tunnel vision sets in (the field of vision goes black except for the object focused upon). At the moment that tunnel vision occurs, say:

As below, so above The cloud is in my eye Ka-ao-opua-loa carry my sight

Participants begin spinning at increasing speed with eyes closed, all the while repeating:

Tenfemet-Douck

When spinning is no longer possible, participants lie on their backs and open the eyes completely (no squinting) and focus on the first cloud they see. All repeat:

As above, so below My eye is in the cloud Phenomenize the cloud-eye

Visualize a fog exactly like that rising from the dry ice leaving the eyes and rushing up to join with the clouds. Observe it entirely passively, and with the inner voice repeat:

This self is Tenfemet-Douck, The cloud that sees.

When tunnel vision again sets in, close the eyes and open them again quickly. Look down over the terrain that passes below your cloud-eye. Note details if desired, but do not attempt to influence direction or speed of motion. All control of these should be left to the wind. When you have achieved your desired results, switch out of the passive mode and attempt to influence direction or speed. Find yourself back in your human body looking up at the clouds. Banish by laughter, and leave the circle.

The Facts of Life – 12 Exercises Nobody Needs

12 Exercises Nobody Needs

 

  • Jumping to conclusions
  • Running around in circles
  • Wading through paperwork
  • Pushing your luck
  • Passing the buck
  • Throwing your weight around
  • Jumping on the bandwagon
  • Spinning your wheels
  • Dragging your heels
  • Adding fuel to the fire
  • Climbing the walls
  • Grasping at straws

Daily Motivator for October 1 – Discontent

Discontent

If you blame your discontent on others, that will just make it grow bigger  and more burdensome. Choose instead to embrace and to own that discontent fully,  and you can make it go away.

There can be all sorts of reasons why you’re unhappy with life. Yet it is not  those reasons that matter, but rather what you’re willing to think, to feel and  to do.

When you accept that your discontent is yours and yours alone, you can  quickly get beyond it. And though you may not be able to immediately change the  outer conditions, you can instantly change your inner perspective.

What can weigh you down is not what has happened, but how you have chosen to  respond. Choose to let go of the discontent, and free yourself to grab hold of  the most positive possibilities.

Whether the situation is your fault or not, doesn’t really matter now. Your  best strategy is to be sincerely thankful for where you are, and to move quickly  in the direction of where you wish to be.

Life can be tough on you, but you don’t have to be so tough on yourself. Let  go of your discontent, and let yourself soar to new, fulfilling heights.

— Ralph Marston

Daily Motivator

The Witches’ Magickal Thinking for Monday, August 13

“The Strange Case of St. Expedite”

By Denise Dumars

 

Hoodoo, Vodou, Santeria practitioners call on St. Expedite when something absolutely, positively, has to get done overnight. He is sought out specifically for particular financial needs – the more specific, the better. For example, one college student needed a certain amount of money over and above what his initial financial aid award. He asked St. Expedite for the extra money, and the next time he went to financial aid office, he learned that the award had been amended to include the exact dollar amount he needed. He credits St. Expedite.

St. Expedite also, yes, expedites results that are moving too slowly. It gets very interesting here, for now our special delivery saint aids not just traditional adherents, but also those who work in contract jobs, freelancers, and anyone else who gets paid after they do the work, rather than getting a regular salary. One freelancer reports that a company was very slow in paying her for a project she complete, so she taped a Saint Expedite card to her computer monitor and the money suddenly came through. There are self-described “computer geeks” who now count St. Expedite as their patron saint!

To ask St. Expedite for help, place his image, a glass of water, and a red candle on your altar, bureau or computer workstation. Say the prayer on the back of the prayer card (or one of many found online), then ask him specifically for what you need. The best time to do this is on Wednesday, the day of Mercury the messenger – in Hoodoo and Vodou, St. Expedite is associated with Papa Legba, Baron Samedi, Ellegua, and other “messenger” spirits. Light the candle every day until your wish is granted.

After he grants your wish, offer him flowers, a glass of water, and a slice of pound cake. According to Ray Malbrough, believers leave nine quarters by his statue at “the Voodoo church” with their offerings. New Orleans tradition has it that he prefers Sara Lee pound cake. How anyone figured that out is unclear. Here are two prayers to St. Expedite from St. Expedite.com; one is clearly in the Christian tradition, and the other is more ecumenical:

When in Urgent Need:  Pray to Saint Expedite

Our dear martyr and protector, Saint Expedite,

You who know what is necessary and what is urgently needed.

I beg you to intercede before the Holy Trinity, that by your grace my request will be granted.

_______________(Clearly express what you want, and ask him to find a way to get it to you.)

May I receive your blessings and favors.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

For Quick Help:  Pray to Saint Expedite

Saint Expedite, you lay in rest.

I come to you and ask that this wish be granted.

____________________(Clearly express what you want, and ask him to find a way to get it to you.)

Expedite now what I ask of you.

Expedite now what I want of you, this very second.

Don’t waste another day.

Grant me what I ask for.

I know your power, I know you because of your work.

I know you can help me.

Do this for me and I will spread your name with love and honor

So that it will be invoked again and again.

Expedite this wish with speed, love, honor and goodness.

Glory to you, Saint Expedite!

In addition, there are many videos on YouTube about St. Expedite, many of them made for the express purpose of thanking him for his help. His reach across religions is evident as the videos were created by followers of numerous belief systems from numerous countries:  Wiccans from the United States and Candomble followers from Brazil among them.

A statue of St. Expedite figures prominently in the film Skeleton Key, a fine supernatural thriller set in Louisiana that depicts some of the most authentic Hoodoo I’ve seen on film, but he is never named in the film or even referred to ….he’s just there for those in the know to recognize!

It’s been more than twenty years since that Santera told me about St. Expedite and I’m happy that in 2009 I actually got to see his niche in “the Voodoo church.” I’m taping his prayer card to my computer monitor right now.

Excerpt from:

“The Strange Case of St. Expedite”

By Denise Dumars

Llewellyn’s 2012 Magical Almanac

For Everyday Living

Help for Making New Habits Deepak Chopra

Help for Making New Habits

by Deepak Chopra

Every habit is a cooperative venture between body and mind. Generally  speaking, the mind leads the venture and body follows as a silent partner. It is  attention, or awareness, that touches the sleeping powers of the mind and makes  them vital again. The smallest shift of attention can change the world you  perceive and the body you live with.

Guidelines for new habits:

1. The habit should be  acquired effortlessly over a period of time.

2. It should be guided by  positive thoughts.

3. It should be consciously repeated, but always in a  good frame of mind, never forced in as the enemy of a bad habit.

Cultivated in this way, new habits condition the whole mind-body system to  create health and happiness automatically.

I am again reminded of those two sentences from Abraham Maslow about very  healthy, creative people: “What such a person wants and enjoys is apt to be just  what is good for him. His spontaneous reactions are as capable, efficient and  right as if they had been thought out in advance.” It sounds too good to be  true, but is just habit at work.

All that is needed is the awareness that the unconscious mind can be changed  in its routine, and then one simply changes it. People who have been unhappy all  their lives can become happy simply by realizing that the source of change is  inside themselves.

The unconscious can be refined and rechanneled through suggestions,  repetition, and above all, attention. Do not fret too much over “how it all  happens”—that is just an old mindset saying, “It won’t happen, it can’t.”

 

6 Government Surveillance Programs Designed to Watch What You Do Online

By David Rosen, AlterNet, Printed on June 13, 2012

President Eisenhower was right on point about the military-industrial complex, but he could not have predicted the emergence of the massive surveillance state — combining the government and private sector — that bolsters it.

Sadly, neither President Obama nor his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, has the desire or moral courage to fight the growing power and influence of the Corporate Security State.  We are witnessing the integration of spying on two levels, the government level (federal, state and local) and the corporate level (via telecom providers, web services and credit card companies).

If you are a user of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Craigslist or another popular site, the U.S. security state is watching you.  An increasing number of federal agencies are employing sophisticated means to monitor Americans’ use of social networking sites.  Federal entities from the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Defense Department to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to even the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are involved in developing programs to track the American public online.

Here is a brief summary of some of the other programs.

1.  Justice Department. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) released a report from the DOJ’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property section, “Obtaining and Using Evidence from Social Networking Sites,” that describes how evidence from social networking sites can reveal personal communications that might help “establish motives and personal relationships.”

It reports that monitored data from such sites can provide location information and “prove and disprove alibis.”  Perhaps most illuminating, it advises agents that “going undercover” on social media sites can enable law enforcement to communicate with suspects and targets, gain access to nonpublic information and map social relationships.  The DOJ document notes that Twitter retains the last login IP address, but does not preserve data unless legally required to do so.

2. The IRS uses a variety of social media sites like Facebook, Google, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube and Second Life to investigate taxpayers.  It seems to have started this practice in 2009, providing agents with special training on social networking.  The EFF posted the IRS’ 38-page training that offers detailed tips to agents on how to conduct searches, locate relevant taxpayer information, narrow down and refine results. 

3.  The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is seeking a tool that integrates all online information, including web searches, Wikipedia edits and traffic webcams.

4. The Defense Department has solicited proposals through DARPA for a $42 million “Social Media Strategic Communications” (SMISC) program, a tool that tracks social media and weeds out information.  It has set four goals for the project: (i) to detect, classify and measure the development of ideas, concepts in hidden social media messages; (ii) specify the structure of the campaign and influence in social media sites and the community they create; (iii) identify the participants and intention in conducting a social media campaign of persuasion and measure its effect; and (iv) develop an effective counter-message to an identified campaign carried out against the enemy.

5. The FBI is soliciting a bid for a program that seems very similar to the DHS social-network monitoring program.  Dubbed the “FBI Social Media Application,” the program would have “[the ability] to rapidly assemble critical open source information and intelligence … to quickly vet, identify and geo-locate breaking events, incidents and emerging threats.”

In the FBI’s 12-page solicitation, it requests a program that can quickly identify, display and locate alerts on geo-spatial maps and enable users to summarize the “who, what, when, where and why” of specific threats and incidents.  Going further, it seeks to not simply detect “credible threats,” but to identify those organizing and taking part in gatherings and to predict upcoming events.  According to the FBI, “Social media will be a valued source of information to the SIOC [i.e., Strategic Information and Operations Center] intelligence analyst in a crisis because it will be both eyewitness and first response to the crisis.”

An FBI spokesperson insisted, “[We] will not focus on specific persons or protected groups, but on words that relate to ‘events’ and ‘crisis’ and activities constituting violations of federal criminal law or threats to national security. Examples of these words will include lockdown, bomb, suspicious package, white powder, active shoot, school lockdown, etc.”  Rest assured, much like the assurances voiced by the DHS, the FBI insists that its monitoring won’t be used to focus on specific individuals or groups.

6. Department of Homeland Security. A more aggressive monitoring program was recently revealed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) when it secured from the DHS a list of approximately 380 keywords that the agency tracks.  The allegedly threatening terms were found in the DHS’ Analyst Desktop Binder, part of its 2011 Media Monitoring Capability (MMC) program.

These terms are organized into nine categories:

Agencies – 26 terms, including “DHS,” “FBI”, “CIA,” “Air Marshal,” “United Nations” and “Red Cross”;

Domestic security – 52 terms, including “assassination,” “dirty bomb,” “crash,” “first responder,” “screening” and “death.”

Hazardous materials – 34 terms, including “hazmat,” “nuclear,”  “leak,” “burn” and “cloud.”

Public health – 47 terms, including “ebola,” “contamination,” “wave,” “pork” and “agriculture.”

Infrastructure security – 35 terms, including “AMTRAK,” “airport,” “subway,” “port,” “electric” and “cancelled.”

Southwest border violence – 65 terms, including “drug cartel,” “decapitated,” “gunfight,” “marijuana,” “heroin,” “border” and “bust.”

Terrorism – 55 terms, including “Jihad,” “biological weapons,” “suicide attack,” “plot” and “pirates.”

Emergencies and weather – 41 terms, including “disaster,” “hurricane,” “power outage,” “ice,” “storm” and “help.”

Cyber security – 25 terms, including “cyber terror,” “malware,” “virus,” “hacker,” “worm,” “China” and “Trojan.”

The DHS has been engaged in monitoring social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and LinkedIn as well as blogs since at least 2010.  Its effort is run through the Office of Operations Coordination and Planning (OPS), National Operations Center (NOC), and is entitled “Publicly Available Social Media Monitoring and Situational Awareness (Initiative).” Its ostensible purpose is to provide situational awareness and strengthen its common operating picture.

The scope of DHS’ practice of social monitoring was unexpectedly revealed in a special congressional hearing, the House Subcommittee on Counterintelligence and Intelligence, headed by Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA), in February.  Two DHS officials, Chief Privacy Officer Mary Ellen Callahan and Director of Operations Coordination and Planning Richard Chavez, raised the representatives’ ire by appearing to be deliberately stonewalling on the scope and practice of the agency’s social media surveillance.

Most disturbing, the DHS reps appeared unsure about the monitoring program’s goals, how the gathered information would be used and whether it would be shared with other agencies.  In an unusual show of bipartisan unity, Reps. Billy Long (R-MO), Jackie Speier (D-CA) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) joined Rep. Meehan in chastising the DHS officials.

Under intense congressional probing, DHS reps revealed that the keywords chosen for monitoring were drawn from commercially available, off-the-shelf database programs that were customized to meet its specifications.  The agency was particularly interested in determining first witnesses to breaking events like the 2011 Tucson shooting of Gabrielle Giffords and others and the January 2012 bomb threat at an Austin school.

The DHS reps insisted that data gathered was only used to confirm other news reports and that information on private citizens was not being collected.  In addition, they claimed that that all personally identifying information was regularly scrubbed from the agency’s servers.

Few should feel comforted by the DHS assurances.  At the House hearing, it was also revealed that the agency was involved in what appears to be an ongoing campaign to monitor the actions and beliefs of individual Americans engaged in community-based political activism.  It compiled a report, “Residents Voice Opposition Over Possible Plan to Bring Guantanamo Detainees to Local Prison-Standish MI,” that tracked community reactions to the proposed location of Guantánamo detainees in a local Michigan prison.

The DHS report is part of the EPIC documents acquired through a Freedom of Information request.  It details that information was gathered from a variety of sources, including newspaper articles and responses, blogs by local activists, and Twitter and Facebook posts.

The House hearing also shed light on the DHS practice of outsourcing keyword tracking of social media through a sole-source contract to the giant defense contractor, General Dynamics. In 2011, General Dynamics had revenues of $5.5 billion of which 84 percent ($4.6 bil) came from government contracts.  Earlier this year, it’s Advanced Information Systems division was awarded a $14 million DHS contract to (in the words of a press release) “provide constant and continual watch operations for critical communications to the agency’s National Coordinating Center.”  In addition, it will “identify the possible impacts of potentially disruptive events.

In keeping with the prevailing ethos of corporate unaccountability, it turns out if the General Dynamics employees are found to have misused the information garnered from a social network user, including a journalist or public figure, the employee must take a training course or, worst case, lose his/her job.  No criminal penalties are specified.

A word to the wise, Big Brother is watching you.

View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/155764/

Daily OM for June 12 – Roles of Support

Doing Our Best Work

by Madisyn Taylor

 

Each one of us is very much needed and we all have our role to play adding to the success of the whole.

 

In the great symphony of life, we all have important parts to play. While some people are best suited to be conductors or soloists, their contributions would be diminished considerably without the individual musicians that lend their artistry to the fullness of an orchestra. The magical accents of the percussion section might sound random and out of place without the music they accompany. But any one member of an orchestra, doing less than their best at their particular part, can destroy the harmony of the whole piece, such is their importance. So although we may not receive the same amount or quality of attention as another, all of our contributions are valuable and integral to the success of the whole.

When we do our tasks well, we infuse them with our unique energy, making each act a gift. Each of our personalities and talents are suited to different roles of support. Even leaders and star performers support others in their own way. We can look around us at any moment to see that while we nurture some people with our work, others are supporting us with their gifts. Doing any job from this place within us allows us to do our part with humility and gratitude, while also learning lessons that move us steadily toward our goals.

When we can be fully present in every job that we do, we bring the fullness of our bodies, minds and spirits to the moment. Our contribution is enhanced by the infusion of our talents and abilities, and when we give them willingly, they attract the right people and circumstances into our experience. Anything we do begrudgingly limits the flow of our energy and closes us off from the good that is available to us in every situation. But by giving the best in us to make the world around us better, we open ourselves to receive the best from the universe in return.

 

Daily OM