MID-WEEK MINDFULNESS DIVINATION

Having planned being in an 8-week Meditation Retreat before our current Covid-19 situation, I thought that “sheltering-in-place” would make it much easier to stay within and practice. Well, having no expectations being a primary rule of mine and being sensitive and human, I have felt the undercurrents of our pandemic like the rest of humanity. Outside of my retreat, I try to take a few hours a day to catch up, continue my writing, and unfortunately, like many of you, am inundated with tons of data from this Coronavirus situation which leaves my head spinning and my heart distressed. I couldn’t sleep and I decided to ask the Oracle what was really behind the scene of the pandemic, regarding the overall situation in the world and what we are being told.

I was surprised, yet almost relieved when I pulled KEY 15 – THE DEMON, as it explains so succinctly what I believe we are all sensing within and without.

The DEMON in the image has a serpent tail, bat wings outstretched; in Renaissance Europe, bats were associated with darkness, demons, but also intelligence. In Biblical mythos, the bat is the enemy of the Light…sleeping upside down; the bat also came to symbolize disruption of the natural order.

What a perfect correlation to the coronavirus’s beginnings – serpents, bats & tails – as the origin of the virus as of this date is attributed to bats and pangolins. The card speaks to the use of unbalanced forces and the awful trade & destruction of this species which was unknown to many of us before this pandemic. Yet it is a serious worldwide issue where thousands upon thousands of these poor animals have been torn from their natural habitat, tortured or killed for medicinal purposes and are nearly extinct and have now been linked as the cause.

Bats, as symbolically stated above, are a metaphor for the disruption in the natural order of our world today. Nothing is as it was. But our constant fast paced and invasive movement around the world – was that really natural? Bats in their environmental habitat are a wonderful part of nature’s ecosystem. I remember each year at my home in France, when the little bats would arrive in early summer, make their homes behind our high windowed shutters and once sundown arrived, fly above us in the air and feast on the summer bugs and mosquitos nightly. And then one day, poof, they were gone. We were grateful for their yearly presence.

Another name for The DEMON is MELANCHOLIA.

MELANCHOLIA is severe depression characterized especially by profound sadness and despair. Many around the world are feeling deep gloom being separated from loved ones, confined to small spaces not allowed connection, losing their employment, seeing their towns shut down with businesses and the local and global economy disrupted.

The DEMON is Exalted Creativity.

Yet we are also seeing others finding amazingly creative ways to meet friends, families, do yoga and exercise on all sorts of platforms. It’s becoming a weekly ritual, the new normal. People are sharing recipes, and as parents have been forced to work at home ideas for teaching and creating projects with the kids. And working at home is taking on new forms and timing – businesses are realising that families are as important as the company, and if these families are thriving then their employees and the business will thrive as well. Restaurants and private chefs are delivering and have whole meals ready for pickup. Food Banks and other services are working overtime as well and need our support. All the above keeps these small and local businesses alive and we as the detainees well fed. Plus many, like myself, are choosing to do some deep inquiry, contemplation and meditation with others around the world. I sense that some of these ideas will continue after the crisis is over and even more creative means will evolve.

The appearance of The DEMON means you must now battle The Typhon, with the careful, protective watch of the previous card, KEY 14 – The ANGEL, attributed to Equanimity and the ability to Harmonize. She is not close enough in presence because you have pushed Her away, so She watches from a distance. This is a battle in the greater war that you must confront with only the personal knowledge and tools attained thus far…

The Typhon was a monstrous serpentine giant and one of the deadliest creatures in Greek mythology. This is a battle between ourselves, the human race, how we have been, how we have treated other species, and who we can become. With our societies we have really pushed away our Holy Guardians, our Protectors and Gaia and as many of us continue to joke, She has sent us all to our rooms.

As described in the divination, The ANGEL is there, waiting, and GAIA, even though we have trampled and destroyed parts of her living eco-structure. Even now we have plans to bombard the angelic atmosphere above with thousands of satellites, and just as we have done with our oceans, we have left tons of debris out in space that circulates our beautiful globe. We have no idea of the health impact on the atmosphere, nature and our own bodies. But there is hope seen from the wonderful images circulating through our feeds as the Earth heals from our FULL STOP. Can we learn, can we change? Who is The DEMON and who created this virus?

In Buddhist mythos, when the Buddha defied the Mara, or demons, he closed the defeat of the Mara with bended right knee, left knee up, his left hand upon the left knee, palm facing upward to the heavens, and his right hand clasped around his right knee, with the fingertips touching the earth. This posture is the Earth Witness Mudra, representing steadfastness, which a practitioner can utilize now as a means of receiving divine power from above, powers of the Earth and nature spirits from below, and fortified, face The DEMON and defeat The Typhon.

So back to spiritual practice, it’s the only way to slay our inner and outer demons, to create a whole new pristine view, a whole new paradigm and it doesn’t matter what path – one just has to choose. We have been given the gift of time for creating a new vision, using what has been passed down from the indigenous elders’ vision, which sees Mother Nature as sanctified with Her Sacred Lands and Holy Waters. She’s showing us clearly what we have to do as the air clears, the waters clarify, and the animals take back their habitats – how much more of a sign, a lesson do we need? It is time to turn to the Mother, “the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom” the Prajñāpāramitā, the perfected way of seeing the nature of reality.

The lesson to learn from The DEMON is this: the Mystery of Sorrow; the Mystery of Change; and the Mystery of Selflessness. (Liber B vel Magi).

This text is very close to the Four Preliminaries/Precepts/Thoughts of the Dharma:

“There are four thoughts that turn the mind to the Dharma:

  1. Thinking about appreciating the precious human life
  2. Thinking about death and impermanence, that the opportunities that we have now with this precious existence are not going to last
  3. Thinking about the laws of karma and cause and effect, in other words how our behavior affects what we experience
  4. Thinking about the disadvantages of samsara, of uncontrollably recurring rebirth.

If we appreciate the opportunities that we have now with this precious human life and if we recognize and acknowledge the fact that this life is not going to last and that we are going to die sometime, if we recognize that our behavior is going to shape our experience in this life and also after we die in future lives, and if we realize that no matter what we experience in the future, because it will arise from behaving from confusion, will have a lot of difficulties and troubles, then we will turn our minds to the Dharma.”

KEY 15 as Capricorn is both the Great Builder and the Great Destroyer.

The DEMON is the corruption of KEY 6: The LOVERS. What The LOVERS and The DEMON together reveal is that the notion of good and evil, right and wrong exists within each of these two paths. Either can lead to divinity or to damnation...There can be no life when the Light and the Dark are extract from one another and separated. The two must coexist for there to be Life.

As Humanity moves forward we have a chance to rebuild constructively with consciousness and awareness, incorporating and addressing the Shadow that is so overwhelmingly omnipresent in today’s world. In the YIN YANG symbol of the TAO, each half contains a point of the Light and the Dark. It is our choice which path we take, moment by moment, day by day, year by year. Can you face your demons? Which path will you choose?

The divination of the week was from the wonderful Spirit Keepers Tarot.

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DDD DIVINATION DE DIMANCHE SUNDAY DIVINATION

As I write during this most sacred of times, whether you celebrate the Spring Equinox and Ostara (Oestera-Eostre-Eastre), the festival of the cycle of the seasons, the death and return of the sun, the divinity of the radiant dawn, or Passover (Pesach) which commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt, or Easter (Pascha) a festival and holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, for which scholars point out certain parallels in the Sumerian epic of Inanna, this passage of time is a season of rebirth, renewal, the freshness of spring rains, scent of blooming flowers and new beginnings.

The divination for this week: HEXAGRAM 41: CONTENTMENT WATER within, LAKE without: Mystery within, Wonder without

There are no changing lines, which means it is the Hexagram of the present moment, the time rests the same.

Lake outside symbolizes happiness, communion, while Water inside symbolizes ones’ own mysterious nature. The image is that of hidden water beneath a Lake, signifying an inexhaustible source of well being for all…it is a highly rewarding time of collaboration based on recognizing the value of both conscious and unconscious experiences. More relaxed than recent seasons, it is nonetheless a time of fulfilling work, restorative rest and inspiring play.

Understanding the message of the Oracle can often take time to decipher the deeper hidden meaning. Other times, parts of our reading jump out and speak clearly and directly to us. This week’s divination had me spend some time reflecting and meditating.

After speaking with friends and neighbours during this period, one thing has stood out for me in relation to this reading – the connection with families and friends has gotten more intimate, there has been a slowing down, people are listening to the rhythms of life again, watching nature, moving slower, being together even at a distance with Zoom calls for Passover and Easter which has brought many joy and comfort. Yes there is stress, families are having to re-address their work, their space, the kids, and their everyday living, re-booting or searching out new communication tools, finding out what truly is important in their lives. Plus being of service has amped up considerably with food deliveries from local farms, restaurants and stores – we are eating more sustainably supporting ourselves and our local businesses. Local groups are getting together around the country to sew facemasks for their friends and healthcare providers.

There are those suffering in ways other than Covid-19, but some of them have adjusted to finding comfort, continuing their discussions online or on the telephone with their support systems and therapists. Another technique for soothing the emotions is the healing energy of water especially now. Whether taking walks by an ocean, pond or lake, or listening to meditative sounds of trickling water, taking long ceremonial baths with salts and essential oils, or having an image on the wall or your desktop, all will assist in soothing any disjointed and disconnected nerve endings. Even having a beautiful bowl of water nearby will enhance the healing qualities of her essence in your field.

When Divine Light and Divine Shadow are harmoniously balanced, the lived life within the world of manifestation and the soul’s experience within the world of pre-manifestation are so closely linked…

Moments become hours, hours become days, days become months… time becomes a seamless series of enjoyable events and illuminating states. One’s actions express one’s intent perfectly…the unknown is meaningful and the unknowable a revelation. Truth speaks form every leaf and pebble. Sea and sky whisper the first story over and over. Chance events fall like lightening, provoking laughter like thunder…Days go by without a single thought rising unbidden. Clouds are the world’s dreams, seasons its moods. Where does the timeless begin and time end? …

Another theme that is appearing is that time seems to have disappeared in a strange way. Days do float by, and people are taking the space to rest and nourish, catching up and adjusting sleeping patterns that were destroyed during our over-stressed, ‘must get this done’ daily living. Many like myself have taken time to do some form of a spiritual retreat to nourish and give strength to the inner spirit.

There is also no doubt that our “resting in place” has opened an immense cleansing and re-awakening of nature. The Himalayas are being seen for the first time in years – a whole generation had not even realised that the mountains were actually there in the distance – can you imagine? Here the water is pure, the air is fresh from the winds and the rains, and spring has sprung with plants and flowers blooming everywhere. My only hope is that we find a way to sustain this new balance in our lives, realising the old ways were out of control, that the bombardment of ‘Business as Usual’ will no longer be productive nor life-sustaining.

When the world of manifestation and the world of pre-manifestation meet, a rainbow bridge…no guardians at the gate save the few gargoyles holding up the rearguard of the last Age. A place of strange images morphing into one another along a drifting boundary between waking and dreaming. A place of madness for the uninitiated, place of untroubled transition for the initiated, the well-worn path Home…This formula signifies  that you are attuned to the mystical marriage of the Creative Forces, the Source of symbols coming and going between the World Body and the World Soul.

Here is a snippet a post that I received with some of my Soul Sisters from the amazing Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes, who I have considered one of my mentors from my days of studying the Sacred Feminine:

“…all those who know the light of springtime banishes the dark in Oestera, all those who know now is the time for the strongest spiritual people to form the phalanxes and to walk relentlessly forward together against the dark… I call each in his and her own way to stand with...”

So if you’ve got a spiritual bone in your body it’s time to call on your ancestors, spirits, guides, angels and protectors so that we can launch into new waters of wisdom with clarity and strength together. Please begin, if you have not already, to find some form of contentment within this containment. Use this sacred time.

In the ‘Forest of Fire Pearls’ it relates to: HEXAGRAM 46: HONOURING CONTENTMENT        Success comes to those who seek the source of serenity. The situation is one in which one is content with contentment.

SEQUENCE OF SEASONS: Launching into new waters, the true self treasures the joyous mystery of every moment.

After things are freed from adversity, they withdraw into happiness: HONOURING CONTENTMENT is the dwelling place of wisdom

SOULS’ JOURNEY The traveler dwells beside the cavern’s spring: The voices of the ancestors echo day and night.

As Andrea Bocelli so graciously prefaced before his concert in the Duomo de Milano on Easter Sunday:

 “On the day in which we celebrate the trust in a life that triumphs…I believe in the strength of praying together. I believe in the Christian Easter, a universal symbol of rebirth that everyone, whether they are believers or not, truly needs right now. Thanks to music, streamed live, bringing together millions of clasped hands everywhere in the world we will hug this wounded Earth’s pulsing heart…the mystery and joy of rebirth.”

The preceding transcription was taken from ‘THE BEFORE HEAVEN I CHING – Reading the Text of Creation’ by W D Horden with further commentary from his ‘FOREST OF FIRE PEARLS ORACLE‘ – The Medicine Warrior I Ching

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MIDWEEK MINDFULNESS DIVINATION

I am two-weeks in to an 8-week Meditation Retreat and I am finding that I have had to adjust my writing schedule and the timings of the readings & divinations. Everything is flowing in a whole new paradigm and just not according to the old time frame though the messages and meanings are still key to the energy of the time.

THE TAROT CARD FOR THIS WEEK is Key 8 ~ JUSTICE in this deck, but is reversed with Key 11 ~ STRENGTH in other decks ~ ARCHANGEL RAGUEL is often referred to as the ‘Archangel of Justice and Fairness’ and sometimes known as the ‘Archangel of Speech.’ The astrological counterpart is LEO, the lion standing for leadership, self-dominion and implicit trust in one’s own abilities. The Justice Tarot card here has to do with moral sensitivity and that which gives rise to empathy, compassion, and a sense of fairness. This image represents a stand for the humane and fair-minded treatment of other beings. One doesn’t need to exert control over others; one’s strength comes from a base of wisdom and knowledge. This divination, also reminds us to be careful, to be attentive to important details, not to overlook or minimize anything. The law of karma is represented here — what goes around comes around. It certainly won’t happen when you expect it to and believe me these companies involved in profiteering from the pandemic IN NYC and probably elsewhere will eventually receive their comeuppance. They are not operating in the spirit of the season nor from the heart of compassion. Here’s the link:

https://www.propublica.org/article/in-desperation-new-york-state-pays-up-to-15-times-the-normal-price-for-medical-equipment

JUSTICE is telling us that we have the innate ability to deal with whatever life brings to our door and that we can draw from deep within the fountain of chi, our enormous energy reserve, to break through and overcome obstacles. It is the moment to seize control of one’s own destiny and move forward with plans. As we cultivate this inner fortitude, this balance, we attract the contacts and opportunities we need.

In regards to health, things take a dramatic turn for the better, perhaps because we’ve all taken notice and individually are more aware, being cognizant of others, keeping distance, wearing masks and we certainly are really getting creative and having fun with the designs. Finding joy and laughter is so important for our general and mental health. It is also important to capitalise on this time by creating healthy dietary and lifestyle habits – exercise regimens, meditation, relaxation, journaling, are just a few ideas where we can implement and get to socialize during this time out. Healthy also means opening our hearts with compassion and doing something that benefits others like what the fantastic NYC designer, Christian Siriano, did by closing his atelier and going into mass production for the NY State Health workers.

JUSTICE is known for fair and just decisions. Doing what you know is right. Standing up for your beliefs.

RAGUEL is a champion to underdogs, and he can help those who feel slighted or mistreated to become more empowered and respected. He is like a battery so he will energize you when you need a boost. Just think of the Energizer Bunny 🙂

The angels, guides, mentors are nudging us to make wise and carefully considered decisions, with fairness toward everyone involved (ourselves included). When one cannot be objective, seek out someone who can be an arbitrator, a mentor.  The card indicates that a decision will be made in our favour. As we follow the protocol let’s visualise that the curve is flattening and that our joint efforts are fruitful.

DOING WHAT IS RIGHT. Taking responsibility for our actions. Resisting injustice. Standing up for our beliefs. Issuing or accepting an apology.

RAGUEL is known as the Archangel who creates harmony within relationships, and who can help us make decisions that involve other people. You can call upon him to make peace between you and others as his purpose is to support growth and transformation for everyone involved.

Here is a lovely prayer to welcome RAGUELS’ energy into your life and relationships:

Beloved Archangel Raguel,

I call upon your radiance now.
I ask that you adjust my inner light and vibration so that they’re completely focused on aligning with the highest and healthiest relationships for my life.
I now willingly release any attachments to unhealthy thoughts and behaviors.
I open my heart to new positive experiences.
Please guide my choices.
Please help me to see my life with clarity.
Please comfort me as I acknowledge my fears.
Please support me in knowing that I deserve the best that life and love have to offer me.
I am ready to feel safe and secure in my world.

And so it is … Amen.

We are in the midst of Sacred Judeo-Christian holidays; Passover which began April 8th and ends on the 16th, and now we come upon Good Friday and Easter weekend. These are times when families and loved ones traditionally come together to worship and break bread and now are having to be creative virtually. This is one of my favourite holidays because after fasting and releasing the old cluttered spirit and mind, the murky chi as they say in Chinese medicine, one celebrates the resurrection, which I believe represents our own personal rebirth, our own personal chance to make a shift, to breathe in the new air of Spring with its verdant splendour.

An Easter gift basket for us all. I am thrilled and touched that this Bodhisattva of music, this legend who channels the angels has been invited to sing solo from the Duomo of Milano on Easter Day, One Voice, Music For Hope for the world. May peace be with you, may you find a new way of being during this portal, and may it be so!

In keeping with the spirit of the season, this weeks deck is The Angel Tarot Cards by Doreen Virtue & Radleigh Valentine with beautiful artwork by Steve A. Roberts.

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DDD: DIVINATION DE DIMANCHE SUNDAY DIVINATION

Grace comes into the soul, as the morning sun into the world; first a dawning, then a light; and at last the sun in his full and excellent brightness.   ~ Thomas Adams

HEXAGRAM 22: PI – GRACE aka ADORNING/BRINGING HOME THE BRIDE ~ KEN-MOUNTAIN over LI-FIRE Beautify, embellish: display courage and beauty; make appearance reflect inner worth; site of radical transformation.

Charge to the ORACLE: Beings cannot come together without a new way to unite. Accept this and use the energy of GRACE…

I sat with GRACE for a longer period of time than usual, as I really wanted to understand exactly what the ORACLE was speaking to with this HEXAGRAM. Our lives have truly changed drastically in a month’s time and I wanted to write with clarity. The SAGE advises us to make the best of the situation we all find ourselves in. We are to raise the bar, be beauteous from deep within – at least that is how I interpret the meaning of his/her words. We are not meant to pine away this time on folly but to utilise it to its highest advantage.  Of course we are adapting to our new forced situation, yet finding amazingly creative, yes even elegant, new ways of presenting ourselves to others, of truly connecting with others. 

SITUATION: Be elegant. Be brilliant. Display your valour… Let the way you present yourself signal the changes in your life. This is pleasing to the Spirits. Through it they will give you success, effective power and the capacity to bring the situation to maturity. Be flexible and adapt to what presents itself to be done…Impose a direction on things. That brings profit and insight.

SCHOLAR: HEXAGRAM shows an outer limit that produces a radiant display. Beneath the MOUNTAIN there is FIRE. Release tensions and display energy. People can’t come together carelessly…Brighten and clarify all the different parts of how you present yourself. Don’t cut off social processes that are already underway…Use gradual, continuous change to accomplish things in the human world…

This also had me thinking of the grace periods companies, utilities, banks and other businesses are granting their clients. How we’ve had to move into this timeframe with generosity, not the hoarding mentality we’ve all seen and heard about in the press. How we are coming together carefully, but joyfully, with free classes given online to keep people calm, free of anxiety, connecting, and supporting each other in another form of this open hearted generosity. Yes there are others profiting, but on the whole there is a much needed sharing. This is wonderful karma, there will be superb payback; this is GRACE in action.

JUDGEMENT: GRACE shows success. It is not favourable to create form for its own sake…“GRACE shows success” points to the Cosmic Principle revealed by the Sage: a thing’s uniqueness has come successfully to expression. It also means the fulfillment of its destiny while in its form…the SAGE informs that the designs we see in Nature are the ways in which the consciousness of each individual thing expresses its uniqueness.

GRACE expresses either grace as mere ornament, or as beauty coming from within…GRACE is a person’s natural state of harmony and unity with the COSMOS. The collective ego has introduced the idea that neither harmony nor order exist in NATURE, and that it is the human task to impose order upon it. Such a view clearly reverses cause and effect, because all the disorder and disharmony are created by the collective ego’s slanderous views of NATURE, and by its projecting pretentious and hierarchical order onto the COSMOS.

…This is evident in the attempt to engineer harmony through societal conditioning, engineer health, engineer “better nature” through genetic manipulation, and to even engineer weather. Treating the consciousness of NATURE mechanically creates fate for the person who participates in it…FATE cannot be fought, but it can be ended by recognizing the mistaken ideas that have created it, and ridding oneself of them.

The message is really strong and clear here, the ORACLE speaks to how we arrived at this moment of COVID-19. We have traversed, trespassed, and trafficked into territories we should have left in their pristine beauty and wildness, destroying the Rainforest habitats, killing and maiming animals taking them out of their natural surroundings into our civilised domain. They need those bacteria and bugs to survive where they live, they are not the culprits, we humans are responsible. Harming the very EARTH that sustains us. With global warming, scientists are also talking about the melting of the Permfrost, which will release new microbial substances into our hemisphere which could cause more issues:

“The results indicate severe deepening of the active-layer permafrost in the watershed and release of previously frozen-lock soil carbon, which also implies enhanced microbial respiration of CO2 with important implications for carbon-climate feedback during climate warming,” said lead author Tommaso Tesi, a researcher at the Italian National Research Council.

This is a time of reckoning, of looking at who we are as individuals, and as a species, and as nations. We are being shown the past shallowness of corporations after the all-mighty big buck, the so-called “Instagram Influencers” with blown-up egos inflating our own ‘me’s’, presenting products and outfits we never really needed, to the current posts and presentations of some of our more conscious “etoiles” now online “au natural” – no makeup, no styling, roots, et al – this is right in our face and wonderfully refreshing. We’re not perfect, and we’re showing it, and we still are okay.

LINE 3: Graceful and moist. Being firmly correct brings good fortune…Can point to a person with the self-image of being complete in himself, with no need for further development. “Being firmly correct” means saying the inner No to this self-image and its flattery. The self-image causes one to look critically at others as undeveloped and oneself as superior. A seed phrase is: “I am more developed than they are.” (other meanings in text)

Direction: Take things in. Be open and provide what is needed. Changes to:

HEXAGRAM 27: YI – NOURISHING aka JAWS/The TIGER’S MOUTH ~ KEN/MOUNTAIN over CHEN/SHAKE Nourishing and being nourished; take things in; the mouth, daily bread; major site of initiation and creative transformation; a seed figure

The newly formed HEXAGRAM speaks clearly to how the virus enters our bodies – the mouth (and nostrils) and about how we need to correct our source of nourishment. Yes we are going through an ordeal, that is true, and many are suffering and succumbing to this virus. Let us not forget them or the courageous caregivers.

This divination is very clear about what we need to contemplate during this time, if not for always. Again, the ORACLE here speaks to how we nourish others, moving away from the ‘ME, ME, ME’ movement to the ‘WE-WE-WE’ future of our Aquarian times. Thinking of the group, my position in the group, how my actions affect everyone else out there, not just my egoistic self.

An ordeal that transforms the Spirit, giving the power to become an individual, free of collective judgements… JAWS means correcting the source of nourishment.

SITUATION: what goes in and out of an open mouth. Take things in to provide for yourself and others. Take in what has been said and done and let it nourish the new…Putting your ideas to the trial generates meaning and good fortune by releasing transformative energy. Contemplate what nourishes people and what you are nourishing. Think about what you give and what you ask for. Seek out the source of what goes in and out of your mouth and the mouths of others. The answer to your question lies there.

SCHOLAR: HEXAGRAM figure shows previous accomplishments being swallowed to nourish new growth. Within the MOUNTAIN there is THUNDER. Provide what is needed…correct the way things are nourished and nourish the ability to correct things. Consider your words carefully when you speak with others…Putting your ideas to the trial generates meaning and good fortune by releasing transformative energy if you use them to correct how things are nourished. Contemplate the open mouth. Look at the source of your own nourishment.

The SAGE uses this theme of nourishment to refer both to what is taken in as food, and metaphorically, to what is taken into the psyche as thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. The SAGE distinguishes between what nourishes the true self and what feeds the ego. What nourishes the true self adds to the person’s existing supply of chi energy – life force and will to live – whereas what feeds the ego robs one of chi.

Now to leave you with a bit of GRACE, from my heritage, with a song so frequently played around the world and to honour those who have left us … Bruce Hindmarsh suggested that the secular popularity of “Amazing Grace”…represents the ability of humanity to transform itself instead of a transformation taking place at the hands of God. “Grace” had a clearer meaning to John Newton, who penned the hymn, as he used the word to represent God or the power of God.

Whatever your belief, as we pass through this creative, transformative period, may this space we have been given to stop, slow down, and contemplate how we lived so quickly and unconsciously before the Coronavirus, help us transform our lives and that of our world into a new and better place for all. You might even try a meditation – it just might change how you look at reality.

André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu is a Dutch violinist and conductor best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra and who loves to make people happy with all kinds of music. This is an over-the-top version but its great and obviously affected everyone in the audience. The pipes are in my blood and resonate with me to this day.

A dear friend reminded me of this perfect quote from the Lebanese poet, Kahlil Gibran. I love how it speaks to our current lives, right now, today:

“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.”

Be well!

My reference texts today were:

 ‘I CHING ~ The ORACLE of the COSMIC WAY’ by Carol K Anthony & Hanna Moog with additional commentary from Stephen Karcher’s  ‘TOTAL I CHING ~ MYTHS for CHANGE’

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MIDWEEK MINDFULNESS DIVINATION

This week I am using a deck which is a restoration of one of the oldest tarots, the Visconti-Sforza cards. The Italian title of ‘Tarocchi dei Visconti’ commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, and by his successor and son-in-law Francesco Sforza, offers a glimpse of noble life in Renaissance Milan. Of the Milanese tradition, the deck is one that was commissioned in the mid-15th century and is the most complete set of medieval card packs known to us today. It is an elegant and lovely reproduction for self-reflection when doing Divination.

This week’s Tarot card is the Four of Pentacles, as a PIP card it deals with the mundane world, which is where most of our focus has been these last number of weeks. Number Four represents the functions of intelligence: thought, sentiment, intuition and sensation.

The four disks or globes can also represent the ‘Quaternary Laws’ that are fundamental to the explanation of the kingdoms of Earth, the spheres of the spiritual world, and the constitution of man. The laws that govern reality are:

  1. Time, space, influence (causality, thought)
  2. Synchronicity between different dimensions
  3. Synthesis of meaning, information, interpretation
  4. Disruption and prediction, wisdom

The basic laws of the universe can be simplified down to: to know, to want, to dare, to keep silent. And on a more rational level the law is expressed in polarities: affirmation – negation, discussion – judgement.

I sense in today’s divination that this meaning relates to the world struggling with the Covid-19 virus where there is an awful lot of polarity running through the collective mind stream on the relative plane. One minute people are in agreement with some theory on the view of what is happening and then an hour later the view has shifted to the negation of such an idea. It is like we are all watching a grand global tennis match with heads turning from left to right hoping that this match will be ending soon as the major players – the virus and our courageous health responders – exhaust themselves. There are so many theories and discussions also running rampant with judgements flying high.

The application of this card indicates that the secrets of life listed in the above Tarot text imply disposing of an enormous power. It calls us to formulate within ourselves the Four Pillars of Wisdom that govern Science, Art, Psychology/Mind and Mysticism/Soul. In the Visconti-Sforza meaning it is stated as the need to keep watch over the body, the sensations, the soul and external phenomena.

We are absolutely focusing on our bodies – making sure we are lubricated, don’t have a sore throat, testing for fever, etc. Some of us have gone over the top, a bit OCD, with our alimentation or over abundance of such. Pretty much every woman friend I know has gained at least five pounds and I’m sure the men aren’t far behind – perhaps we’re grounding ourselves during this period, or it could be in relation to the stress and anxiety in the field, or better yet, we are just cooking more now that we are not in the fast paced lane of our pre-existing daily lives, getting back to the basics of being together, nourishing each other with presence and love.

Could this be what Mother Nature had in mind when she sent us all to our rooms?!?

The definition of the Four of Coins also signifies dividing one’s time in a rational manner, according to the fourfold law that determines correct work, correct alimentation, correct meditation and correct rest...

In the pursuit of inner knowledge, all great cultures of antiquity worked with these four pillars in an integrated and balanced manner. The card conveys applying ones’ ideas to the realization of concrete, beautiful, solid and sustainable projects. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, the four pillars divorced from each other, its essence was adulterated, and not pursued.

Is the Mother tending to healing this balance as she forces us to see the essence of things much clearer? The Four of Coins card corresponds very well to my life this week. Yesterday, I began an 8-week home retreat with a group of like-minded participants around the world. I couldn’t think of a greater purpose than to utilize this forced “time out” for deeper inner search, meditation and contemplation to gain clarity and hopefully, at least I speak for myself, bring a greater luminous presence out into the world. Whenever I do retreat, I come out refreshed, with lots of creativity to put to use. Due to the clearing of debris from the everyday mind and emotions, new ideas seem to appear out of the ethers, and blockages in the outer world often dissipate on their own.

This suit represents something supportive that is available to you — whether it be health, some kind of talent, a material or financial resource… The character this card represents needs to move slowly and deliberately if change is required, as the consequences will affect more than just you.

Thus in these Saturnian – Plutonian times, the Four of Coins speaks beautifully to what we as a collective can create mutually out of this time period, and we are doing bits of it everyday. We see it everywhere, restaurants and clientele creating new ways of serving and supporting each other, mums and dads finding new solutions to work at home and be with their children at the same time, schools have gone online so that students can keep up their studies and contact with their schoolmates and teachers, and last but maybe the most important, yoga, Qi Gong, and spiritual groups are online being together, supporting each other, practicing together.

… Think conscientiously about all those people whom your activities impact, including those whose work and effort went into building what you inherited or created and those whose welfare depends upon your right management…

What great ideas are formulating in your life? What new creative ways to living have you developed? How have you brought the spiritual into your day to day? These are questions to ponder over the next period of time.

The Visconti-Sforza deck is an incredibly important artefact in the history of tarot, these cards are a mandatory addition to any collection.

Art by Bulgarian artist A.A. Atanassov

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DDD: DIVINATION DE DIMANCHE SUNDAY DIVINATION

Once again, this weeks HEXAGRAM speaks to our True Warriors engaging with the threat of the COVID-19 virus. They are our amazing Health Care Workers, Caregivers, First Responders and wonderful alimentary food workers out there dealing with the public on a daily basis. Through their dedication, skills, organisation, and knowledge they are handling this crisis with dignity and intelligence though understaffed and under-supplied. This week, people in isolation in the UK and across EUROPE took time out to applaud their courageous colleagues as a small gesture for the front line work they are doing.  

At the same, time medical researchers and scientists are working round the clock, launching and posting more and more shared data, advancing and correlating analysis of the different international entries of information, hoping to create a universal standard to quickly spot the strengths and weaknesses of the virus and hopefully find a way to stop it. We are not in this alone someone out there has your back.

But there’s another part to this divination, and it is about our shared human consciousness. Once we can get past the real virus of “fear” spreading like wildfire throughout the collective field, we need to take some deep breaths and a deeper look at the reality of the present moment. It seems we are tapping into the darkest part of the human psyche that correlates with the current Pluto – Saturn influence. We have come to accept the inevitable as new limits and restrictions are being placed on our freedom globally (Saturn) that a few months ago would have seemed absolutely impossible to administer. We’ve been told these restraints, rules, and regulations are for our own good and protection so that the virus flatlines, while at the same time, many are experiencing a sense of loss, mental and other health issues and financial hardship that will reverberate for many months if not years to come. But the Oracle speaks to the silver lining once we traverse all of this.

Considering that we are all now living in forced seclusion, it’s important that we accept the inevitable change caused by this catalytic virus and go with the current flow, some welcome the slowdown yet it is not easy for many. The main mantra of the moment is to be flexible, be adaptive, and be willing to make difficult choices because things are changing daily even hourly (Saturn – Chronos – Time).

On the other side of this slow, evolutionary process comes the transformation (Pluto) where new creative ideas flourish and new technologies (Aquarius) and foundations (Saturn) will be built. One thing for sure is that our world will not be the same as we knew it before 2020, as the old order begins to disintegrate and the new vision is yet unforeseen.

Some of us are dropping our previous materialistic, consumer-oriented, “run-run-run”, non-stop schedules, and somewhat self-centred way of being – I’m being kind here. We are being forced to re-evaluate what and who is really important in our daily living on this beautiful home we call Earth. The human species is very creative, and as Big Mama has stopped us in our tracks by sending us all to our rooms to reflect and recalculate, we are beginning to realise how critical this coming together of like-minded and complementary individuals really is (virtually of course), and how meaningful human touch and interaction actually is, while orchestrating unique ways to communicate and brainstorm with colleagues, friends and family. As we find new alliances, and original ways to balance work and life, these innovative modes of being and working, are supporting us to move forward together with integrity, and as a result we find greater value in all our relationships (Aquarius). We are also relying on the wisdom of our ancestors – i.e. washing hands with simple soap & water – your grandmother told you so 🙂 and sharing recipes, creating meal plans and craft and science projects with the kids and friends (virtually) like the old days with everyone in the kitchen.

Yet having to spend more time with the children and family can also be challenging as parents are under pressure to get work done at home and some mums are discovering that they now have to homeschool the little ones within a full work schedule. But businesses and coaches are finding new protocols and guidance, especially for Mom’s, who are the ultimate multi-taskers, trying to find the balance in this crazy new paradigm. Parents with young families are also getting creative with online playgroups from the nursery school and there are now even guides available and new babysitting options. I am hearing that more and more mums are spending quality time with their children rather than being on the run and on the phone – life has slowed down (again our Saturnian influence) – and it seems the children are appreciating it.

For the older community, there are new support groups such as our wonderful local teenagers shopping for elders called ‘Zoomers to Boomers’, who do your shopping for you (serving six cities) and there are many other like-minded groups in other towns. The main mantra of the moment is to be flexible, adaptive, and willing to make difficult choices because things are changing daily even hourly. Sounds all very Aquarian to me.

In another sense we are also being proactive by taking space away from IT and all our electronic devices, putting down those phones to give quality time and attention to the ones we are with, making the time to read books and the local libraries are helping out by compiling reading bundles to help all ages get through the weeks ahead. To keep ourselves sane, we are also using and repurposing our technology to interact in QI GONG, yoga and spiritual support and coaching groups which bring us virtually together as a way to calm and reduce the stress and anxiety.

So the real essence of the reading tells us to treat each other as a Sacred Warrior, a noble spirit, let everyone be your Teacher and your mirror. Be mindful and respectfully honour each other during these trying times. As the last line says: “The relationships you cultivate now will endure forever.“

“Namaste” (“I bow to the divine in you”)

Here’s the Divination:

aztec warriors

HEXAGRAM 61: STRENGTHENING INTEGRITY No changing lines thus we rest with the present “static” hexagram, which asks us to LOOK – PAY ATTENTION – CONTEMPLATE on the situation at hand.

IMAGE: …A female warrior and male warrior are jointly seeking advice from the creators and ancestors by consulting the divinatory instrument…

INTERPRETATION: This hexagram depicts the way for allies to strengthen the warrior spirit in one another. The union of the two warriors symbolises an alliance between individuals whose natures are complementary and mutually reinforcing…their alliance is based on a shared vision…they comport themselves as people of great dignity and merit which means that they dedicate their lives to making both their ancestors and descendants proud…Taken together, these symbols mean that you align yourself with others in order to transform your weaknesses into strengths.

ACTION: The masculine and feminine halves of the spirit warrior vigilantly treat each other with respect, courtesy and authenticity accorded great warriors. The skills and knowledge of the old ways are of little value if they are not applied to present day circumstances…spirit warriors create relationships with one another in order to train themselves to live a balanced and harmonious way of life with the utmost integrity…exchanging roles constantly, such allies face circumstances as a united front. Moving along with things when appropriate, creating resistance when appropriate, they use circumstances to train themselves to apply the old ways with honour, sincerity, and integrity. Because you make yourself such an ally, you find such allies and bring great benefit to all.

INTENT: What is difficult is to live the life of a spirit warrior all alone. Without relationships that support our goals, reinforce our values, and provide us complementary companionship, it is easy to give up our vision and accept a less demanding way of life. If we look around us for examples of how to live, we are sure to be drawn into a materialistic and self-centred way of life since other spirit warriors do not shout their presence…If we align ourselves with allies striving to sustain a balanced and harmonious way of life, we are sure to live the life of a noble spirit.

SUMMARY: Treat everyone as if they have a wise and immortal teacher within – and see everything they do as the teacher’s subtle strategy for testing the depth of your perceptions. Treat everyone with respectful intimacy – avoid informal familiarity. Treat everyone like a great warrior armed with spear and shield – don’t try to read others’ minds. The relationships you cultivate now will endure forever.

AZTEC WARRIOR

Hexagram 61 aka Hexagram 8 in other I CHING translations if you wish to investigate further meanings for yourself.

William Douglas Horden is a mystic and prolific writer and researcher on Divination and the I CHING. I consider him a mentors from afar.

A quote from him on divination:

“The art of divination is to step outside the flow of time in order to clearly perceive and accurately interpret the symbols of the eternal ideas. This act of perceiving the unfolding of present circumstances is an integral aspect of adapting to and guiding the ongoing manifestation of spirit.”

Here is part of his reasoning behind developing the ‘TOLTEC I CHING’ for our age:

“…the ancients never thought of the I Ching as an unchanging monolithic artifact.  It was a living Oracle that allowed them to communicate with the world of spirit.  The oracular tradition was part and parcel of life long before the Chou dynasty produced the received, King Wen, version we know today.”

Further clarification can be found in this blog piece:

The Mandate of Heaven II

ART by: Light Warriors ~ Guangjian Huang ~ deviantART

AZTEC WARRIORS – istockphoto-847970188-612×612.jpg

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MIDWEEK MINDFULNESS DIVINATION

As the EARTH maintains ‘rest in place’ how fitting that the DIVINATION for today was the Tarot card ‘HIGH PRIESTESS.’ In the I CHING, the Divine Feminine, the wife, and all the feminine aspects – i.e. intuition, inspiration, stability – symbolize EARTH. I found this gorgeous rose on our walk yesterday signifying the earthly gift of beauty and love. The reading speaks to our current state of health, how we need to listen to our inner knowing, and how the state of affairs is still within the realm of the unknown. Deep contemplation is needed now to stay calm, centred and healthy.

We’ve begun to settle into this new routine of detachment from work, friends, even family members, and we are seeing how the planet is healing by our slowdown, how the air is cleaning with blue skies returning, the waters are clearing turning turquoise in colour, the trees, plants and flowers are sprouting happily blown about by the March winds, and the animals are taking back a bit of their territory crossing quiet roads that were once dangerous to their very existence. It seems like MOTHER NATURE is having her way, stopping our inane mindless state of being in the world.

The divination also addresses our constant consummation of everything, especially in the West, how we have pushed our local communities and Gaia to her limits. More, more, more, for what? Just these last few weeks we’ve seen just how ridiculous this has become, with tales of people hoarding food, hand sanitizer, and the unbelievable toilet paper syndrome – thinking of only me, me, me, not thinking of the other, their neighbour. The possibility that someone else might also need to survive through this stressful period, the willingness to share, to think of another, has almost disappeared in our day-to-day dealings.

Here’s a quote from the NY Times on these effects in the Hamptons:

“On Long Island, private plane and jet traffic increased at East Hampton Airport, with everything from single-engine Cessnas and Piper Cubs to Gulf Streams and Falcon jets landing.

“We’ve had helicopters, seaplanes, corporate planes,” said Jim Brundige, the airport director. “A little bit of everything.”

Stores there have also been stripped. Some people are even buying extra freezers, residents said.

“They want to make sure they have enough for a year,” said Jonathan Amaral, the house manager and chef at a gated estate on Southampton’s Main Street. “The shelves were bare. For us locals and middle class people, that hurts.”

Thankfully we are now hearing some of the good that is being done not only by our courageous health workers, but also by the organized small and large groups taking care of and assisting the elderly, lonely and needy and it seems that the governments of the world are finally taking notice and implementing relief. We’re seeing and sensing the opening of hearts like a good mother who takes care of her children and her family. If this incident is to teach us one thing it is that we are all one family, one globe, one energy system and we need to work together to survive.

The push by our magazines, social media, and especially by Instagram Influencers fighting to be known as the best-dressed, the “must haves” showing the best and most expensive outfits, which by the way were mostly sewn by a near slave worker abroad doesn’t bother us at all – out of sight out of mind. Bigger, better, smarter, richer, prettier – this obsession with More and Beauty – just how much Botox can a woman put in her body or just how much money can one have? In my area, I am hearing of women demanding their hairdressers, their manicurists, and their estheticians come to their homes – who is going to see them?!?

I am a Libra Rising, I adore Beauty and all things beautiful, but there is a limit. What if we used all this energy, power and influence to promote Beauty in other more natural ways? This ‘alone time’ might give us the creativity to come up with some amazing ways to put things back into perspective, to a natural balance – that’s that Libra part speaking!

Our competitive nature, which used to be of the healthy kind, that stimulated invention, an honest good race, and a handshake in the end, has gone over the top into greed, slander, out and out lies, absurd manipulations of truth, and subversion of economic, political and everyday life in our current Neoliberal society. We’ve transferred control of economic factors to the private sector from the public sector with our bail-out of investment bankers, our sell out to drug, oil and large corporations instead of helping and bailing out the average citizen, but the most critical point which many of our young people are now up in arms about, is where we’ve put our environment in radical danger, our Mother in total stress, forgetting that she is the one who feeds us, clothes us, delights us with her natural beauty. How far away from our true nature we have strayed. But we can change this and I believe that we are being given our chance to reflect, to dig deep into the HEART, into that inner Feminine, SHE is a part of all of us, to find new ways to nurture, share and heal together as one family – we only have one MOTHER.

A quote from Grandmaster Hua-Ching Ni (OmNi) on the Trigram EARTH says it succinctly:              

“This hexagram expresses the essential process of self-development…these virtues are the essence of KUN and also of the Earth…Too many people struggle to be above, and this has led to all the disturbances and wars in the world.  People never realise that their true significance and worth reside in the very being of their individual lives, and that MOTHER EARTH and the entire UNIVERSE embrace all beings equally. Is there any true advantage in being “above” someone else? If people stopped this useless vanity, there would be no more contention in the world.

Every truthful individual life is like the EARTH, low and receptive, motherly and gentle, giving support to everyone and everything selflessly without discrimination. To be like the EARTH is to be like HEAVEN.”

I am compiling and mixing the meaning from the FENG SHUI TAROT with some classical meanings for this card and adding an interpretation for the TRIGRAM EARTH:

II THE HIGH PRIESTESS: TRIGRAM & DOMINANT ELEMENT – EARTH ~ DIRECTION: SOUTH WEST ~ ASTRO: CANCER, Element of WATER

The HIGH PRIESTESS is the archetype of Feminine Consciousness, intuition and inspiration. Her knowledge resides in the Heart. The number two represents balance. She prompts you to look deeply inside yourselves to cultivate your own wisdom, inner answers and study of nature because if you want the benefits of evolution, you will have to cooperate with spirit.

It is important for the HIGH PRIESTESS to be centred and balanced in her site, enabling the strong foundations for her unbending faith and intuitive knowledge. In keeping with the HIGH PRIESTESS’ sense of aloofness and detachment, the Torah from traditional Tarot cards has been replaced in this image with a symbol more ambiguous – a ceramic pot with vapor, which represents the veiled knowledge of the HIGH PRIESTESS.  

The CORE ASPECT of the card urges the need to be mindful of shared confidences. Your intuition is truly an asset. Follow your feelings to success to more effectively bring your inner spiritual practice to the material world.

Accept nothing at face value, as you don’t have all the information you need to make a decision. Question diagnosis, tests, and physicians – if it doesn’t feel right at gut level. Listen to your body, heed dreams, and be aware of synchronicities that pertain to your health.

CONTEMPLATION: Mystery grows as we proceed; the answer comes when we need. Something is hidden in your life; a mystery or secret eludes you. The answer may be found in your memories or dreams of the past. Rely more on intuition than intellect now.      

DIRECTIVE: Subtle vibrations are working beneath the surface. The whole situation has not yet solidified. Patience will be rewarded.

Things may be slow for a while, but surprise new opportunities may arise. You come up with a new way of doing something that increases your efficiency and saves you time.

You may discover that you are becoming more attuned to your intuitive level as the situation begins to reveal itself to you.

EARTH/KUN/FIELD: the womb that gives birth to all things. This spirit nourishes everything; without it nothing could exist or take shape. Its symbol is EARTH, its action is to yield, serve and bring forth and is reliable and dependable. In the family, it is the mother. As a spirit guide, FIELD opens, yields and closes all things to her. Earth’s’ hands give blessings; she receives the dead.

EARTH describes the wide surface of Earth on which everything grows. It maintains and preserves, promotes exchange and interchange, the central hub of pivot and place of transformation, centring movement and assuring a free flow of thought. Earth is the moment of transition between the YIN and YANG cycles, significant of deep changes, a moment without movement, a centred state of being.

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DDD – DIVINATION DE DIMANCHE SUNDAY DIVINATION

    Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels

    I sit here listening as the rains of March come pouring down, replenishing our water sources, cleansing the air and nourishing all our beautiful flowering trees and plants at this beginning of Spring, with the Equinox just a few days behind us. We have entered a new Portal.

    The animals and Earth are taking back their territories, enjoying their freedom, as we humans STOP, rest in place, and conserve energy. While the numbers are increasing, people are following the protocol for the most part for COVID-19 here in our neck of the woods. It is so calm in my neighbourhood, that I can actually hear the distinct sweet songs of many different birds that often got lost in the hum or our everyday living.

    During the Coronavirus we are each partaking in forced individual retreats, yet we are becoming even more resourceful, using our technology that just a few weeks ago had us still walking around like zombies. We are now using our devices to Livestream events such as yoga, Qi Gong, gym workouts, Pilates and more. Thus seeing our fellow class buddies, giving virtual hugs and kisses, connecting the best way we can. We are sensual beings, us humans, and we still need touch and closeness but we are finding new creative temporary ways to connect. There are even concerts being live-streamed such as the wonderful Mindtravel event coming up soon.

    One of the most powerful ways we can utilize technology, which seems to speak directly from the reading below, is to use these new platforms to come together online to explore, meditate, contemplate and attend spiritual services. I have been invited to so many wonderful free offerings from the beloved Eckhart Tolle to Sounds True bringing us so many different teachers and teachings. I am sure there are many more invites from your local, national or international groups. This is such a wonderful way to calm the anxiety, stop the chattering mind, and sit and just be together. As Hexagram 26 instructs, disentangle from the everyday, find the right time to be peaceful and eliminate the outside chaotic energy to truly find the Great Being within

    Just this weekend, I attended a number of virtual online gatherings while one teacher was on the East Coast, his Sangha was in Colorado, and we all were online, yet separate, as a group in Santa Barbara. Another dear Buddhist teacher was teaching from retreat in New Mexico with another Buddhist and Christian scholar while the host, a Benedictine monk, hosted from Bonnevaux, France. Then later today I was online with Astrology University listening to three wonderful teachers and fellow astrologers, Lynn Bell from Paris, Laurence Hillman from Missouri and Tony Howard who runs the webinars from Oregon. So much wonderful support, a wealth of different wisdom traditions!

    It is a whole new world out there and once we calm the mind, focus, and disentangle from the drama, we can tap into the sage-mind spoken of below and view life and how we move forward with a whole new fresh perspective. We are not going back to the old ways and many new innovative ideas and creations will come out of this time. Proactive instead of reactive, and with that we change our world and align with Heaven. Enjoy the reading as the clarity of the Sage and the Divine Feminine is always spot on.

    HEXAGRAM 26: TA CH’U (DA CHU)/GREAT ACCUMULATES/GATHERING THE SPIRIT

    HEX 25 & 26 – The Paradigm: Disentangling from past afflictions and       Accumulating the Spirit

    The pair involves disentangling from negative emotions and past traumas and nurturing the great within yourself. It suggests the birth of the Great Being and the sage-mind through ‘eating ancient virtue’. Carefully consider your place in relation to this model.

    DISENTANGLING MEANS DISASTER HAS COME FROM OUTSIDE. GREAT ACCUMULATES MEANS YOU FIND THE RIGHT TIME,

    DA CHU: concentrate, focus on one idea; accumulate energy, support, nourish; bring everything together; great effort and great achievement Charge to the Oracle: when you are disentangled from affliction, you can ‘Accumulate the Spirit’ of the new…

    Entanglement means letting yourself go, succumbing to perverse influence or disease, being without order or rule, crazy, vain, compulsive and cruel. Being released from entanglement, results in a state of balance and purity, the image of an original and originating connection with Heaven.

    Disentangling suggests the ways to maintain that purity and freedom from affliction. It enables you to act spontaneously, to deal successfully with what comes on the stream of time, to attract and welcome the unexpected. It suggests the Wang demon who carries contagious disease, plague, miasma, etc. and the purification, exorcism and rituals used by the ‘wu-Intermediaries’ to drive out these diseases and demons. It is particularly concerned with the nei ye or inner way and the sage-person or sage-mind. The meditative practices of the inner way centre on ‘correcting’, which calm, tranquillise, rectify and free the body in order to restore a state of neutrality and align with Heaven…

    SIX AT THE FIFTH LINE: there will be rewards. You have managed to confront and disable what could have been a powerful obstacle, accumulating and focusing a significant force. The Way is open. This will bring rewards in the end. Direction: Collect the Small to achieve the Great. Turn conflict into creative tension.. The situation is already changing.

    Hexagram changes to:

    HEXAGRAM 9: XIAO CHU/SMALL ACCUMULATES/GATHERING THE GHOSTS XIA CHU: accumulate small to do the great; nurture, raise, support…

    …This time is like a shell or womb, a protective covering that will be broken through in Spring. Philosophically, this is the ‘nurturing of the smallest possible thing’ (ji), the emergent point that heralds change. It is the quality of the Way that, though now barely visible, will lead on to illumination.

    For you poetry and literary lovers out there, I leave you with this link from Maria Popova’s amazingly inspiring literary site Brainpickings which has an excerpt from the new poetry collection ‘Ledger’ of the poetess and Buddhist Jane Hirshfield. Have a contemplative week.

    Today our reading comes from ‘TOTAL I CHING.’ The wise Stephen Karcher is a prolific writer and researcher and has fused the divinatory oracle of the I CHING with the earlier Taoist version, the ‘ZHOUYI’, based on a thousand years of Eastern thought. I CHING images are from Carla Filizzola.

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    MIDWEEK MINDFULNESS DIVINATION

    This week’s card speaks firstly to our specialists out in the field. Our wonderful noble doctors, researchers, pharmacists who are working night and day determined and committed to search for a way to stabilize this virus.

    These brilliant minds are working and collaborating internationally, sharing data, and rushing to find a vaccine, or just stop the spread especially for our older more vulnerable community and those working in the field. As you will see in the meaning of the divination below, the Aquarians’ value system is constantly prioritizing the people who need them the most.

    Secondly, this kind of collaboration is also very prescient within the work of our Governors in the US and I am sure elsewhere in the world, resourcing medical experts advice, and sharing data, acting swiftly, concentrating efforts, personnel and technology and asking for what they need from the Federal Government and suppliers.

    Out of the mayhem, may a new, fresh start be created. May we look forward in an equitable balance with nature as we see some of her inhabitants retake spaces we have over-occupied as a human species with our fast cars and boats – such as dolphins swimming in the clear blue waters of the canals of Venice, or while wild turkeys cross the empty roads of Long Island in my sisters’ neighbourhood.

    We raised up the bar to meet the isolation head on as some of us have taken to meeting on ZOOM  or other applications that enhance connection, practicing our meditation, our yoga, our Sheng Zhen Qi Gong , listening to the music of the quarantined and participating in conference calls with business associates with children on laps, chatting with friends and family.

    For the Italians who inspired it… for the Irish… for ANYONE who this St. Patrick’s day is in a tight spot and still singing. For the doctors, nurses, carers on the front line, it's you we’re singing to.Bono

    Posted by U2 on Tuesday, March 17, 2020
    Bono released new music this week that he said was “inspired” by the people in Italy

    May the highest vision of Aquarian equality and individual freedom, bring and dispense new brilliant visionary knowledge to be shared equally and individually for all.

    SIX OF SWORDS: SCIENCE/2nd Decan of Aquarius (The Star) ruled by Mercury (The Magician)

    ” The perfect balance of all the mental and moral faculties, and almost impossible to hold in an ever-changing world.”

    Some of the Sabian Symbol correlations for this Decan are:

    Aquarius (10-11): ‘During a silent hour, a man receives a New Inspiration which may change his life”

    Aquarius (11-12) ‘On a vast staircase stand people of different types, graduated upward’

    Aquarius (18-19): ‘A Forest fire is being subdued by the use of water, chemicals and sheer muscular energy’

    We see a very chaotic background with the swords crossed at the centre over a Rosicrucian cross.

    This card was originally named, ‘The Lord of Earned Success’ which implies success after struggle. It stands for intellectual clarity learned from difficult experiences; we have grown through tough times, and now have a handle on life and can make intelligent decisions that will benefit all. There is a greater level of awareness to our thinking and actions, which can mean a situation is getting better. There has been something in this situation, which they have not been able to come to grips with but now we have Aquarians, who are often big-picture thinkers and who can see connections in a way that eludes others.

    Linked to the Tiphareth in the Kabbalah’s Tree of Life, it brings clear headedness and the powers and discrimination of scientific analysis.

    The number six signifies harmony, beauty, love, and reconciliation of opposites, well-being, responsibility and purpose.

    Mercury is exalted in Aquarius highlighting innovation, humanitarianism, originality, the intellect, and is detached by nature. They have energy, warmth, and a deep desire to get things done will never accept “good enough”. With Mercury’s ability to analyse will bring a clearer perspective as we move forward. This represents communicating ideas that are new and unconventional in an orderly way.

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    DDD – DIVINATION DE DIMANCHE (SUNDAY DIVINATIONS)

    These Hexagrams always speak for themselves and the message from the TAO today addresses the current goings on in our present crises with health, politics and separation. This is especially apparent under the influence of the Saturn (order and structure) – Pluto (transformational power) combination which represents chaotic challenges of deep, fundamental change to existing systems. This is likely to impose some kind of restriction on our freedom of movement or upon our resources. ~ Robert Hand

    The message in our HEXAGRAM is clear, follow the protocol that we have been given by our courageous health leaders and community. Yet, the greater message here is how we can be of benefit to others. If you are not compromised: Do you have elderly neighbours who might benefit from you shopping for essentials for them or making sure that a neighbor or someone who is living alone is well? How about a stressed out mum, who now has the kids home from school and needs a break to just take a shower or a walk to regain her sanity. Or Mums, whose kids have already played together at pre-school – kindergarten – K-12 coming together in small groups of support on line or otherwise. How about being proactive and creating a class online, as my Sheng Zhen group did here in SB, to support each other by promoting healthy exercise, augmenting our chi and coming together in community.

    And lets not forget laughter, my friends from around the world are sending me silly and sometimes ridiculous videos and photos but they make me laugh and we all know from past studies that laughter is the best medicine. Last but not least, I believe this is the most important part of the first HEXAGRAM, is your personal self-cultivation, be it mediation, journaling, chanting, etc. as that will not only still the fear and anxiety prevalent in the field but will have an effect on those around you. I am sure that there are many ways we can support each other during this time of self-isolation. Do you have some original ones?

    In the second HEXAGRAM 20, I just love how the Sage speaks directly to our current hand washing protocol. What better way than turning the washing of hands into something sacred, a ceremony, taking a breath, focusing in the present moment as bringing Mindfulness and Joy into this new ritual. BTW, my age group was brought up with these healthy everyday routines as a part of life – somewhere along the line of this digital age where we literally touch everything we have forgotten how important this practice is.  

    Though, the main message is again self-contemplation, and how perfect to take time in our forced self-isolation to do some major introspection. Looking deeply into what our lives here on the planet actually are meant for and how we are connected to each other, to Gaia, to chi, to the Universal Life Force. Perhaps as this time brings people together in other ways than face to face, we can contemplate and finally come up with a plan to take better care of our home, the EARTH, and all of her inhabitants with loving kindness and care. Be well my friends.

    HEX 59: HUAN/DISPERSION

    WIND IS ABOVE WATER. Wind belongs to Spring. Wind blowing in all directions causes it to spread in all directions.

    UPPER TRIGRAM: SUN/WOOD – symbolizes a boat, which, with the help of the WIND can pass over difficult WATERS. Thus, now is a suitable time to go far away or communicate with people who are at a distance.

    If one is guided by clarity and calm, one can successfully avert or correct problems and handle the aftermath of DISPERSION. There may be some worry over losses, so one should be careful. For the most part this HEXAGRAM has a positive outcome.

    For example, when ominous clouds gather and create stormy conditions, the WIND comes and blows them away. This is how DISPERSION can break up congestion.

    DISPERSION is especially valuable in SELF-CULTIVATION. When one is strongly influenced by desire, ambition or misunderstanding, one must remove the obstruction or there can be no real progress. Once the “frozen ice” is dissolved, joy can be restored.

    LINE 2: “He quickly goes to the rescue. Remorse disappears.”

    (An incorrect position as it is YANG in a YIN place) Thus, the surrounding YIN lines hinder is moving YANG energy, like a wild horse trapped within a ravine..

    The second LINE is unable to help itself; it gathers its energy and helps the first LINE, which is in even greater trouble. Even though one has much strength, it will go to waste if not used to benefit others.

    From the COMMENTARY:

    DISPERSION occurs when human intelligence exceeds spiritual capability, when a person or a society is unable to function as a whole. Intellectual divergence arises from the different capabilities people have for understanding and knowing things. Arguments and wars breed in the warm bed of DIVERGENCE.

    Real peace cannot be achieved until the full capability of knowing is achieved by both the individual and the human race. Meanwhile, tolerance must be cultivated when dealing with differences.

    Changes to:

    HEXAGRAM 20: KUAN/POINT OF VIEW

    WIND is above EARTH. Just as a penetrating WIND pervades everywhere, a good way of life and good teachings influence everyone they touch.

    The image of KUAN suggests a physical structure of an altar or temple

    GUIDANCE: “Contemplation. After washing the hands and beginning the ceremony, with deep sincerity the officiant centres the mind. The hearts and minds of all participants are drawn to this good example. Likewise, the way of the highly evolved inspires people to revere the divine order of the Universe.”

    The two YANG lines at the top of the hexagram represent models of virtue in times when negative forces are pushing forward. …The greater significance of KUAN represents a way of life that is cultivated and guided by constant self-contemplation. Through such introspection, one remains unaffected by the pressures of worldly life and stays attuned to the deepest level of nature, which is the origin of the universal life force. By following worldly trends, one becomes lost in the temptations of the superficial…the hexagram is also concerned with one’s overall view of life, which may be determined by how broad and encompassing one’s understanding is. Even if one has traveled in many countries and lived among many different people, one’s view may still be very narrow.

    Today I have used the reference of Hua-Ching Ni a true master, author, teacher and physician who comes from a long lineage of highly achieved Chinese masters.

    These amazing images are from Joan Larimore – IChing Artist and are for sale

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