August 8th, 2014 - Friday - Sun

August 8th, 2014 - Friday - Sun - Clunk! Bonk! Boink? Digging around in  your soul can be nasty business. Look! Here's a piece of yourself you didn't know even existed. And who put THAT in here? You like WHAT? You hate THAT? Who keeps all this stuff up here? Haven't you ever wanted to start over and CLEAN HOUSE? Well that's what you've been doing... cleaning house.  Hauling all the junk out to the curb. Or maybe piling it up in the back, pouring gasoline on it, and setting it aflame. So... Who ARE YOU?

Not who you thought... that's for sure.

The angels have looked at your work...which right now looks like one of the worst episodes of Hoarders ever, and are saying: YES. 

And... they are asking you a question:

Do you mean it? Really? This is dark work. You can take your commendation for starting and go home right now. Why not? It's murky, mucky, stinky in here.

Do you want to go further?

A man named Eliphas Levi (February 8, 1810 - May 31st, 1875) wanted to go further as well. So he created a god form that he could commune with to help him do just that. Sound crazy? It's not so different than psychologists naming different parts of our psyche. Levi just labeled his psyche in more spiritual terms. So who did he come up with?

Bahphomet.

This constitutes his image of God, and hence of himself.  The key parts are as follows: 

Dualistic: both God and Devil.  Levi saw in himself both light and dark, and didn't have a problem with that.  He saw himself in both male and female terms, understanding that he had both masculine and feminine parts in his psyche. Not only that, but his deity broke from the monotheistic male God Ruler image so prevalent at the time.  God has boobs?  Yep. 

Illumination: Baphomet bears a torch which shines light on hidden things: There are no secrets.  We are going to look and see everything: the good, the bad, and the ugly.  

Shamanistic: Baphomet is clearly part animal, accepting animistic parts, as well as shamanistic, dealing with the spirit of the land, the animals and nature.

Sexualized: Baphomet is sexualized: In a time when sex was steeply controlled by the government and church, Levi proudly proclaimed his God (meaning himself) was a sexual being.

Magical: Baphomet is magical... clearly a magician in the world.

This is very crazy stuff, you have to know that.  Levi basically took everything in his culture (he was a former Catholic Priest) and turned it on it's head.  All the parts of himself he had been taught were bad, he instead saw as neither good nor bad.  They just 'were'.   

So... what good is Baphomet to YOU?  Well... in our dualistic dig into your dirty underwear this last week, it helps to have a symbol of all that is human in the world.  We are all trying to become better people, more loving, more light, more giving, more authentic and gifting.  

So to help us in this quest... when did we humans create a God that was only half human? Or let's be honest, actually not human at all?  Perfect, Shining, Loving, and solely MASCULINE may be an ideal to strive for, but it's not very realistic... is it? 

A quick view of nature reveals nothing of the sort.  HE... is nowhere to be found.

But a quick glance into nature, into the real human condition, and Baphomet very quickly appears as the more useful explanation of the human psyche.

Of course the monotheistic culture we live in has crowned Baphomet the DEVIL... which is baggage some of you might have to deal with before you start talking to her/him.  

This needs to be said: No one is bagging on a particular vision of Deity, one way or the other. The point of all this is that we are HUMAN. Which means we have a lot of different parts... good... bad... and ugly.  And rather than shunting them off into dark corners of our attic... we are opening the windows, letting the sunlight come in, and seeing ourselves for who we truly are.  This is tough work... we get to see parts of ourselves that we would rather keep hidden...

But the real bounty of all this work on self only comes from seeing all sides of yourself.  

The sun is shining for you.  It's a good sign. The best of signs.  Now all you have to decide is whether to look inside yourself or not.  Warning: If you look... brace for impact.  Promise: If you look... magical bounty awaits. 

August 7th, 2014 - Thursday - Swiftness

August 7th, 2014 - Thursday - Swiftness - Open your mouth and speak. Say what you mean, mean what you say.  Be quick about it. If it's on the tip of your tongue, spit it out. We are on the verge of virtue... something good is right there for the taking... but you have to claim it.

And then step through the awful door that awaits: This step looks horrifying. It looks nothing less than the end of all things.

Human mythology is filled with the Death / Rebirth process.  We have to face the truth about how our mind/body works: For something to be born, something almost always has to die first.
  
The caterpillar builds a coffin, enters, with no sure knowledge other than he goes to his grave.  And he's right. That's the damnable part!  He who enters does NOT return.  Yes... a butterfly comes out, but what part of a butterfly resembles the caterpillar who entombed himself?  None.  It's a total transformation.

Out of the vast floodplain of the Nile River comes the God Osiris... who teaches that even GODS must die. 

Gods dying and coming back is nothing new in human history. From Ishtar to the Quetzalcoatle, from Adonis to Horus, from Ishtar to Dionysus, Odin to Chinnamasta... not to mention Jesus Christ himself.

But what about YOU dying?  What part of you needs to swiftly die?  A merciful death?  Yesterday we poked the bear and had a heart to heart with our dark side, our little Bastard.  What did he/she say? What did the little revolutionary want to escape from?

That's the part that needs to swiftly die...

But... what good is such thinking today, on a Thursday, in August, 2014?  Really?  You are at work, reading this, and thinking: Yeah... that sounds good, drop some baggage, free myself, I'll die and become a butterfly...  But how in the hell do I really do that? You look around at your house, your family, your job, your community.  How much of this is beautiful and how much of it is actually holding you back from becoming that butterfly?  After all... the butterfly doesn't come back and visit the caterpillars.  He flies away... never to return.

That's a harsh business.  

Where to start?  My advice?  Ask your little bastard.  The supreme bear poking genius inside of you knows exactly where to start, and he'll tell you... if you ask him.

August 6th, 2014 - Wednesday - Magus Bear Dreamer

August 6th, 2014 - Wednesday - Magus Bear Dreamer - It's time for a conversation.  You, alone, with... you. You have your many personalities, the sides of yourself that you show to the world, but deep down you have a few 'selfs' you keep hidden.

You've heard the expression... let sleeping bears alone?

Nah... not today!

We've been doing a lot of prodding, poking, and picking as ourselves lately, and today is no different. Time to go poking the bear(s) inside you. He's hibernation, but he's always aware of what's going on. Some cultures call him the 'little bastard'. (My little bastard is a he... but yous could easily be a she.) Others call him the 'secret revolutionary'. You know who he is, the guy in there plotting for freedom...

Time to wake him up and have a conversation with him because he has something you don't. He has access to the Aether.

You live in a very linear world... where there is the past, the present, and the one and only future. But the Archangel of Aether is in touch with infinite variations and possibilities for all quantum conditions, including variable pasts, presents, and futures.

The invitation today is to prod those sleeping bears inside you, wake them up... and start talking. Have a discussion with your multiple selfs, the good ones, the bad ones, and yes, even those ugly ones. It's time to start a dialogue, a discussion, and ultimately a deliverance.  The Archangel of Aether offers the greatest of gifts that can be had:  Illumination.

It's time to wake the bears! You are many parts, many pieces, and it's time to let them all come out and have a go at it. Give them their time on stage, and listen.See what your multiple selfs have to say. I guarantee you will be surprised, delighted, inspired... perhaps disgusted, disturbed and destroyed... but above all... you will be illuminated, and it will mean all the difference when you strut through your life with a sure confident knowledge of all your hidden parts.

August 5th, 2014 ~ Tuesday ~ Gain

August 5th, 2014 ~ Tuesday ~ Gain ~

"Nothing seems absolutely true and anything seems potentially possible." ~ Peter J. Carroll

Today is a day of gain, but not gain as you might expect. Although this is a physical manifestation card we are not going to hoover up every last bit of money, jewels, and gold bullion within a 50 mile radius. Boo.

The gain card is about the flow of money, which ultimately is the flow of energy. Money is simply energy in paper or metal alloy form. If you have ever tried to grab hold of energy and prevent it from moving you have found that it doesn't work so well. In order for energy (money) to flow you must let it come and go in a natural tide. Now notice what happens with the ebb and flow of that tide.When money is coming in, our energy relaxes. Ah..... but when it goes out, we can become triggered and tight.

Now this ebb and flow business appears to be very orderly and logical. But what if it isn't? What if it is actually disorder and chaos but the statistics are in favor of the common pattern we see every day. What if life in general were more or less ruled by the Goddess Eris, the Goddess of chaos and discord? And what if in that chaos, anything is potentially possible? 

Perhaps if we can refrain from the trigger and the tightness that comes with a monetary dry spell and instead open to the divine chaos around us we will find that the flow is actually always there. It is simply our tightness and trigger that stops us from feeling it. 

August 4th, 2014 ~ Monday ~ Princess of Swords

August 4th, 2014 ~ Monday ~ Princess of Swords ~

Duality at her finest. The Princess of Swords can be both the scientist and the magician, the gentle touch and the swift sword, the mother and the warrior, the masculine and the feminine, the bright blazing day and the blackest starry night. She reminds us that we are all multi-minds. We are not one person but a multi-faceted creature. The Princess of Swords is also a reminder that moving between worlds can be incredibly difficult and sometimes we choose not to expend the energy to do so. Sometimes we choose to stay on the rail that may have been good in an earlier encounter but is not the greatest gift you can give in the current moment. Today, opportunities will arise that will allow us to become more adept at walking between worlds with effortless movement. There will be challenges, of course, but being able to see where we sometimes clumsily dance with duality is a great place to start.

The archetype Ouranos is also a great reminder of our multi-mind selves. This archetype reminds us that we are an amalgamation of a multitude of personalities, emotions, roles, desires, repulsions, etc. We play in the realm of duality and naturally there are aspects of ourselves that are more readily accessible, areas we have deemed more acceptable. But there are also the hidden areas. Facets that are just as much a part of our being as the everyday self. Facets that are just as important. Bring focus to your fluidity between worlds today and continue to refine an appreciation and acceptance for every multi-mind that exists within you.

August 2nd, 2014 ~ Saturday ~ Worry

August 2nd, 2014 ~ Saturday ~ Worry

Break down to break through. Admit in this challenging moment that not everything can come with a pretty bow on top, nor can you dress up a pig and pass it off as a princess. A pig is a pig, and a pig can be much more enchanting than a princess if we take a good honest look.

Stop sterilizing your environment today. Stop grinning (a very close relative to grimacing at times) at the absurdity that is surrounding you. Check back in, take a good look, get your self grounded, and move from a raw and vulnerable place. It can get ugly when we begin to let the wheels fall off the bus but ugly is not as scary as you might think. Ugly can be the most beautiful gift you give today. Real, authentic, raw, ugly.

To this end, we now turn our attention to the Goddess Pareidolia. Pareidolia has numerous aspects and lunacy is one of the most prominent. Lunacy makes us feel uncomfortable. Just the word itself, can make us cringe. Lunacy signifies that we have lost control. A perception deeply mired in culture, familial kinks, and/or personal judgement. But is it true? I am going to venture out on a limb, with my pig, and say "no".

Break down to break through. Get ugly and realize that perception is a dream-wisp that we have created in order to keep ourselves in our hermetically sealed Barbie box. Engage in your own personal "lunacy" today and perhaps you will find that it isn't as scary or distasteful as you thought. In fact, it will probably feel pretty damn good not to mention begin to soften an old and hard resistance to the beautiful ugliness in each one of us.

August 1st, 2014 ~ Friday ~ The Hanged Man

August 1st, 2014 ~ Friday ~ The Hanged Man

Oh bugger..... we are Stuck today......... But are we really? Sometimes I like to think we stick ourselves because it butts us right up against an edge, a wall, a fear, or a grand something that we have not wanted to wade into. We stick ourselves because it is the only way to build up enough energy to bust through to the next level or layer. We have clever wisdom pulsing through our bodies that "knows" what to do and how to do it on a level we may never be aware of.

Look today at where you are stuck. Look at how brilliant you are because only you can "stick" yourself in that place. And then take a good look at why you put yourself in that sticky construct. Then............ cultivate the dissatisfied energy behind the stick stuck to drop, sprint, scream, bellow, tear, pound, rip, heave, shift, slide, slither, undulate, laugh hysterically, or bounce past the wall you have pressed yourself against.

The Baron Samedi is a genius reminder that it all comes to an end one way or another. The Baron is not one to let things fester, rot, or zombify. He is irreverently merciful in his own way by ushering the dead to the other side.

This is a great energy to incorporate as we encounter our own zombified energies in life. Those creatures we continue to drag around with us instead of cutting their figurative heads off. Usher them to the other side today and bid them farewell.

The Baron Samedi has also been associated with resurrection. When we allow pestilent energy to die we also allow a space for more freedom in our life.