A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING

A New Awareness

2017 was certainly a difficult year. The veils are being removed and we must now face our own mistakes. They are now available for the world to see and we are now accountable. We expect better of ourselves and those who we admire must be above reproach and truly understand their own accountability and responsibility. We are seeing the most ugly sides of our societies and we demand justice. What does 2018 bring? Time will tell.

Identity

Who are you? Who am I?

We think we know who we are. We believe in the identity that the world and we have placed on ourselves. How deep do these examinations go? Most are superficial at best. We believe we know the person in mirror. We believe we know our friends and family. Yet we don't exist within those other individuals. How can we judge who we are, who others are, and what we stand or believe in, if we really don't understand our own identities?

The theme of identity is a complex one especially when you begin to consider the many spiritual implications of those identities. Yet identity is the one thing that is in our news, every day and every night. The civil unrest in many countries are part and parcel of the battle for identity and yet it those battles have not proceeded past the generic overview ... gender and ethnicity ... and only as those relate to power, wealth, and civil rights. Unfortunately respect for individual identity has been clouded and eclipsed by others with agendas of division and fear.

As we search for our identity we are making changes to our world and societies. Our language must change. We can no longer allow terms of hate and disrespect to be used. The language of our parents and grandparents must give way in face of the expansion of our world. We are no longer confined to one town, one state or one country. Countries that were formed by expansion into new lands face a unique set of issues with identity. We wish to hold tight to our traditions as our identity but many who left those countries did so because they could not be true to their identities.

Culturally we have been taught to hold tight to our traditions yet we have to wonder if those traditions are actually ours. Each spiritual path has its own high holy days and we strive to meld them into a framework that supports ourselves, our families and our communities. Yet when we really look at our paths we can get lost within the ethnic traditions of our current appearence. Spiritually though we know that we travel the world in many lives, in many lands to learn about our spiritual identity. The sharing of ideas, themes and dreams creates rich and bountiful lives. Within the spiritual world there is no cultural appropriation. It isn't done for money or gain, its done to fill an inherent need that the soul perceives as missing. So a child wants a tea party from a foreign land, are they wrong? Are the parents for allowing it? No. Its a child who needs an experience to understand something within or it could be the child serves as a catalyst for the parents. Either way as a lesson in love it is necessary to allow a child and a spirit to respond and to grow into an accepting and caring individual. It is by cultural experience that we become better and more than we are.

Of course then we need to discuss lives matter. A wonderfully divisive and hurtful slogan that does nothing for the community but build distrust and hurt feelings. Of course lives matter; black lives, red lives, white, yellow, and brown lives and yet there is not one of these slogans that cannot be turned and twisted to build hurt and distrust of anyone one who is even slightly different. Even to say all lives matter brings those who would deny the sanctity of another's body to make demands. Lives matter because they create and identify the need for change. It is the voice of our societies, the voice of those without the supports to be equitable partners within the world. Yet within this is a call for each of us to examine our own response and the criteria we used. It challenges us to be more aware of who we now wish to be, more compassionate, more engaged with living, and more responsible.

Even our faith in the process of our governments to be responsible, respectful, and dutiful to people they serve is being tested. Blatant abuses of people and power are no longer being hidden and discreetly dismissed. Now to our shame and to our resolve to do better we face our own taboos and demand a greater good come of this. The masks of glamour, power and wealth have long intrigued us yet the shame and ugliness that is being exposed is a call to become aware once again of who we are, and who we wish to become.

All of these events and more are causing us to examine our own identity. We can no longer be bound by what we see in the mirror. We are exponentially more than that but we need to learn to share our knowledge, our peace, and our spirit with the world in order to heal. We need to know who we are and what we truly mean by our actions and our words.

I bid you peace as you journey onward exploring your identity. Blessings.

CRYSTALS

Copper (Revisited)

Copper is an ancient and well-documented crystal that has had uses in most societies for millennia. Easily recognized by it orangish red hue Copper has held a special place in the industrialization of our world. Copper's healing abilities have also been documented since the Middle Ages. Copper is a soft metal that is found world wide. Copper should never be used in elixirs or tinctures.

As a tool for physical healing, Copper is well-known for aiding in joint function especially where arthritis and other inflammatory conditions exist. As an energy balancer Copper works to even out the flow of energy within the body. For menstrual discomfort Copper has been shown to ease the body through the changes. Copper allows for the healing energy modalities to work unhindered within the body.

Spiritually, Copper is a stone of openness and communication. Copper is crystal of harmony and peace and is highly recommended for strained family relations that wish to be healed. Copper allows for the movement of thoughts and energies into constructive uses. Copper can be useful in opening new lines of communication and energy flow.

Copper should be cleansed periodically by being allowed to rest in a dish of hematite stones overnight. To recharge copper allow it to rest in full sun.

Copper

Thoughts for December and January

Our time of quiet release quickly draws to a close. A building sense of joy and excitement fill the air. We live these days in a haze that quickly move us toward the returning light. This is not only the light of the sun in slowly lengthening days but it is also a light that is meant to renew our spirits, our hearts and our dreams. We bathe our homes and selves with bright colours, shimmering fabrics and festive lights. We gather together with friends and family to celebrate with good food and good times.

Within all of these celebrations our spirits begin to shine anew. We allow ourselves to dream of possibilities with the beginning of the calendar new year. It is at this time that we must allow our imaginations to take flight. With the light of our spirits beginning to shine brighter we can experience and explore new options. These are not bound by small, tentative steps but by leaps of possibility and potential. These are the musings that keep our dreams alive. They feed the spirit to give strength to follow through when the actual planning begins. Yet for now, it is the time of dreams and flights of fancy. Explore your desires and let loose the joys that those dreams present.

MONTHLY MEDITATION

"Who Am I"

"I thought I knew me.

No one knew me better.

Yet here I stand.

A reckoning is in order.

The false pretense of comfort I can no longer afford falls away.

No longer to be content with the person in the mirror.

I need to find the truth within.

Travel through the lies and masks that have been worn out of fear and uncertainty.

I will know who I am not as I look but as my soul demands.

Do I really know myself?

Not yet, but I am learning."

December 2017