I look at this tree and I see the evoluntionary spiral. We are rounding some kind of bend. Everything feels like it is ascending in some kind of indescribable way. Light attracts us like moths to the  flame.We cannot say no to the invitation to let go, forget what we think we know and allow that which is beyond words to take us over. Surrendering has never felt so safe.
 
Everyone is part of this time. Of that, I am sure.

You may note, all the fish in the picture are heading in one direction, except for the little guy veering away. In general, schools of fish swim as one body. Whatever possessed the one fish to do something different?

During the times we are living in, it is an excellent thing to seek out our own kind, those that share the same "growing edge" of perception that we do. There is power in numbers and the collective is where the greatest amount of transformation can occur for the planet as a whole. Even so, every so often, you will find you need to step aside and follow an inner prompting that is not, strictly speaking, in keeping with the group.

 What does such a choice amount to, in the bigger scheme? I would suggest, a couple of things. One is, we are each unique individuals, and sometimes, the uniqueness can get lost in the affinity (the a "fin" ity!) we have with our brothers and sisters. To support this uniqueness, we need to break ranks for a bit. We can then rejoin, renewed and fortified in the truth of our being. Another piece is that the one who cuts away from the group can come upon a very significant and/or important piece of awareness and can return and share it such that all benefit. Even the best of collective energies can stand to be refreshed in such a manner.

I ask myself why bring this notion up now. I think it is because there are some very strong currents out there regarding what is going on here on this amazing planet at this time. When advised to go with the flow, the question becomes "which flow?" I think the answer is . . "your own." Sometimes you cannot always tell what that flow is until you separate for a short time (or longer if you need it).

The power of and need for bonding one with another is potent indeed and, among other things, increases the strength of our immune systems and gives us the ability to deeply relax. Lynn McTaggert's work shows us about just how powerful our ties to each other are. I bow in gratitude for her work. And . . .  the fish that turned left is doing something very important for the whole, potentially.

Years ago, a book Jonathan Livingston Seagull became a runaway best seller. It was the story of a seagull that left the group and gained great wisdom that serves the very ones he left. Similar kind of thing. I have in other places pointed out an observation about dolphins I have had that they seem to have mastered the ability to be pod members and retain their individuality at the same time like no where else in nature that I have observed. I don't think humans are that good at doing these two things simulaneously yet, so, until we master that, maybe a little veering off here and there is a good thing. Just saying! And re-unions are so much fun!

Yikes! An eclipse! What does it mean, and how will it affect me?

In days gone by, eclipses were scary stuff. Dragons swallowing the sun and the moon. Now, we understand from an astronomical standpoint what happens during an eclipse. But still, from a synchronistic standpoint, there is symbolic significance. As an astrologer, who has studied the significance of what the planetary bodies are up to, I look to what is the symbology of a solar or lunar eclipse.
 
For example, in your own particular astrology chart (based on your birth time and date and place), I would see where the eclipse would fall in your chart. That would tell me something about what your current experience is like. In the case of a lunar eclipse, I would be shown an area of preparation for you to undergo some letting go, some change that would require an emotional adjustment. Does this mean something negative? No, That is not what it means. It just means that all of life is about cycles and when a cycle is changing to something else, our job is "to go with the flow" and many people do not appreciate nor trust change.
 
The beauty of a lunar eclipse is that it gives you advance warning. It is like it is saying, change is coming within a year in this area of your life, and you can take your talents and abilities to make it good for you. In an age where staying distracted is the chosen lifestyle of many, eclipses and their messages will tend to go unnoticed.

The lunar eclipse occured today in the signs Sagittarius and Gemini. These two signs will be the most impacted. One thing that may give you a hint of what you need to focus on for the next period of months would be any dreams you can remember from last night. My own dreams last night made me laugh when I woke up due to the message being so clear. I know exactly what I need to do with this eclipse. I wish you the same insights.
 
If you wish to know more about your chart and what is going on for the next year, feel free to sign up for an astrology reading (see home page under "astrology"), and I will let you know what the stars and eclipses have to say. It is all about making you the captain of your own ship!

Read the previous blog about "Worlds Dolphins Take Us Into". This painting was my daughter-in-law's response to this account when I emailed it to her this summer. This came through her to paint . . . a picture of my friend F.'s healing.

Stephanie also did all the artwork on my website. She is a talented artist who is opening to whatever is coming through her as her heart expands and expands. She is on the same journey we all are, and I dearly love the form it takes with her art.

  The image I am including with today's blog is from a dolphin encounter I had many years ago in the open ocean. It is a bit hard to make out but still carries the energy of that magical time. It brings to mind a most amazing summer of 2012 experience with the dolphins that I live with here. I will hereby share that story.  

Still under the blue moon influence, I went swimming with my friend F. on this particular day. I was talking with her about Jacques Mayol (now dead) who of everyone on the planet, seems to echo my sense most identically of why dolphins are important. F. and I were just relaxing in the amazing velvety ocean when I  spot dolphins in the distance so, spontaneously I just started calling to Jacques Mayol from the 'other side' to connect with these dolphins in some manner. The dolphins began swimming in our direction and kept coming as I continued to call out to Jacques Mayol. Next thing F. and I knew, we were in the middle of the pod's fishing effort of rounding up fish and thwacking them into the air with their tails. It was a tight ball of activity and we were surrounded.

 F. does not go underwater (an ear thing) but I dove down and the dolphins were on all sides. I swam with them using same swimming motion they use. I would come up and there they were, head above water looking right at us from all sides. We were in a strong current so, F. and I just let the current take us. The dolphins also went with the current so, for 20 minutes, we were being towed down beach in the middle of a dolphin jamboree with people lining the shore watching and wondering what they were witnessing. We got sonared repeatedly by the dolphins which, I am convinced, has a big impact on human neurology.

 The whole thing was surreal. I have lived here for 14 years, and never have I felt so completely accepted as an honorary member of the pod while in the water. The water here is so murky that I cannot swim under and see like I can in the water in the Caribbean with the spotted dolphins, so it is harder to connect with the dolphins under this water, but this time was different from ever before. I deeply suspected Jacques Mayol had something to do with the whole thing. (Read my tribute to him on website under 'Why Dolphiins') F. was laughing with joy as she saw fish raining down on my head from the dolphin next to me thwacking them. We were clearly in some alter universe in this experience.  

Finally, F. and I had to go to land or the current would take us out to sea. The dolphins did go out to sea (this all happened in the river where it empties into the sea . . . I live on the river). So, we are now walking back to my place and people who had watched on shore are asking us all kinds of questions as we are making our way back, so interested and curious and wanting to know more.   F. needed to go home to pay her gardener so he could leave, but she felt the need to go back in the water, so we did. We are just swimming and suddenly, I became aware of a huge invisible sphere around us. It was from way up high and was filled with this enormous love.. I started to ask F. if she could feel it but she burst into tears and this big sorrow came out of her from a wound in her heart she has held all her life. She could not stop it. All I knew was we were in the middle of the most profound love in the form of an invisible sphere. I hugged her and let the sea rock her. After a short while, I felt the sphere release. She then left to ride her bike home. She told me later, she could not stop crying all afternoon. Big release. I KNOW something about interacting with the dolphins created that sphere. It was just extraordinary. There is so much to learn about what is possible at the interface of the sea and the land and the creatures of both. So very much. We are just at the edge of that understanding.

Two days later, the sphere returned, and I actually saw it visually. I have not seen it since but know it is still available and will return when enough people are open enough to that incredible field of potent love. 

We who are having a human experience here on earth are lucky to be here at this most pivotal of times. Things are complicated, dire, and nothing is obvious. There is discord galore. But there is something else. It is like a song that you can only hear when you are still and quiet and not trying to do anything in particular. The song sometimes seems to be coming from 'out there' somewhere. You look up, and see amazing clouds, but nothing much else. Where is that music coming from, you wonder. You ask around and about one in five people say yes, they hear it too, every once in a while.

Here's the thing. When you hear that song, you KNOW you are lucky to be alive right now. You don't know why, you just know you are. You cannot even tell for sure if the song is from within or without, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that it seems to incline us to look past the hard part of being in a body to the privilege of it.

This 'song' is part of our essence singing to us, I have decided, the part that knows who we were before we were born in a human body. It is a lullaby and seems to be assuring us, we are loved and things will work out no matter how crazy it gets.

As Thanksgiving approaches, and you find yourself awash in friends and family, maybe you could sneak away at some point to do some listening to the quiet within your spirit. If you do, don't be surprised if your song comes looking for you. If it does, let me know about it.

I will resume blogging after a couple of days of being with family. I wish you a Thanksgiving to remember always in this powerful year of 2012.



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There is a Mayan elder who speaks of a coming 'flashpoint' of higher awareness that will be visited upon us during the Dec.21-23 alignment of the earth and sun with the center of our galaxy. There is a period of time when higher knowing will be given in a way that has never happened to masses of people before, but, not everyone will remember it afterwards. For those that do, their lives will change forever and everything for them will be about helping others to remember who we really are here on this amazing planet and what will become possible now that we are remembering.

We are all so curious. How will this happen? What will it look like? How long will it last? What will be different afterwards?

I am like everyone else who wonders. We will know when we get there. I do think, though, I got a sneak peek into the 'heart of the matter', the core of what this experience is about. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
 
Several times a year, my night blooming cereus plant puts out these magnificent blossoms. I never get more than one or two blossoms from this plant at a time but last week, it put out an explosion  of 12 blossoms! They bloom at night and only last for about 8 hours and then, the show is over. The most heavenly scent is emitted as they are opening. You literally can watch the blossom shiver and shake as it opens. It always demarcates a very special time when these blooms open, and I photograph each blossom.

The picture I included here is what you see in the center of the blossom. Looking at this image, I feel . . . this is a picture of what we will be receiving, on whatever level of awareness we are open to, during this December alignment I mentioned above. This time period is called the End of the Mayan Calendar and though there is dispute (and an infinite variety of interpretations) about that date and what it means, what is not disputed by those actively evolving their own consciousness is that we will experience something very unusual due to the alignment in the cosmos of earth and sun and center of the Milky Way.
 
Experiencing  glory is an internal thing. It is not dependent on calendars and clocks, but having a JOINED experience with many others with whom you share so much on so many levels, that is very unusual. I don't know what to expect on Dec.21,22 and 23, but when I look into a Cereus  blossom, I think I know what our consciousness will feel like. It's all about glory and possibility. For many, the world may look the same on the days to follow the alignment, but for those who choose not to fall back asleep, nothing will look the same, ever again. We will have our work cut out for us from that point forward, but we will be very clear about what we are doing and why, and privileged to be able to serve. It will make every struggle and sacrifice to get to this place of clear vision and open hearts worth it, I predict. The flowers are cheering us on.

Several years ago, I discovered something fascinating about my very smart dog Ridley. He became obsessed with watching the men's gymnastics part of the Olympics. That was the only part of the Olympics he showed any interest in, but every time they would come on, he would watch intently.

As Fate would have it, he has since put that knowledge to good use. As of this year, he learned how to hoist himself up on the railing of a fenced in area around his dog house, balance on the railing, and then jump down on the other side. It is no small feat for him to do that. The first time must have been the hardest because of how he had to position himself just right to make it work, but now, he has it down.
 
I am amused and amazed at his having figured this out and truly suspect he learned a thing or two during those hours of watching the gymnasts. So all of you reading this that have furry members of your family, be warned. Our furry friends are gaining on us. They are a lot smarter than they have been given credit for. I think they have wanted their cognitive abilities to be a secret. In the case of Ridley, his cover is blown. I knew from day one he was a thinker. Never mind the squeaky toys. He wanted a chess board.

I saw the movie 'Lincoln' this afternoon. Beautifully written and acted  movie. DanielDay-Lewis  was,  in his performance, utterly inhabited by this historical figure to such a degree that, for all points and purposes, I felt I had been in the presence of the grand man Lincoln himself.

The movie was focused on the tremendous difficulty of getting the 13th amendment (abolishing slavery) passed. A gripping saga and one earning my complete respect  for the outrageous courage those steps forward towards justice took on the parts of individuals that lived in a time when an enlightened perspective was hard come by.

Since slavery was abolished, there have been many other hardwon freedoms battled for. That stretching of ourselves into fair and just beings continues to this day. It feels, sometimes, like humanity is inching towards freedom, equality and justice in such small increments over such long periods of time. Lincoln seemed to grasp that you cannot get people to move faster than they are ready for. His conscience wanted him to take leaps, and his pragmatism knew if he tried to leap too quickly out of sheer passion and conviction, all movement towards more freedom for more beings would abort. Such incalculable restraint and persistence and patience he must have had to have summoned.
 
I don't think it is any accident this movie came out at this time. Humanity is in such need of another kind of emancipation and I earnestly believe that these are the times where a leap towards another level of freedom is ready to be taken. We would all do well to look to Lincoln as a model for how in the world are we going to make some of the leaps in front of us. His character will show the way. And go see this very fine movie.

They are assembled in all their infinite variety with no concerns for their differences. It is as if the two benches in front have called a meeting. The reason for the meeting, let's say, is that it is now a known fact that we are in the midst of huge challenges and huge opportunities on this planet. There is a lurking suspicion that things are possible now that were not always, or even ever before and every single chair and every single color is needed to pull off a new way of doing life on planet earth. One of the benches reminds everyone that we seemingly have the option to do nothing other than more of the same, but everything suggests that path is doomed. "Down deep, we all know that", he further adds.

One of the chairs raises an armrest to ask a question which is that all the chairs present are so different from one another so, how are we going to work as a team? Then another chair chimes in and suggest that these differences are a good thing as we will have more viewpoints to get a larger picture. Another chair suggests that everyone brings a different ability so that also is a good reason to come togehter. Another chair gives a whoop and says this is going to be a grand adventure and somehow, it will be more fun and safer to come together, for all of our differences.

The benches just let the chairs carry on and, with their bench authority, look on in satisfaction. Finally, all the talk comes to a natural ending and they all just share some silence. A nice calm fills the air, a kind of serenity. After a while, the green bench asks "Is anyone scared of the future?" Several of the chairs say they are nervous because no one knows what is coming though everyone can feel big change in the air. Some other chairs say they are nervous and excited both. One chair shocks everyone by saying "I have seen the future and what is coming is amazing in all ways and not to be feared." All the other chairs are stunned to discover this chair can see such a thing and ask the chair that is a seer, why has that not been shared with us before. "Too afraid of being too different" says the future reader.

The green bench assures that being a little scared is not all bad but that it seems everyone would like to find a way to work together in facing whatever comes and asks for a vote. With that, all the chairs, which usually cannot move much on their own all start thumping their chair legs on the ground in approval, at which the green bench says, "all right then. Adventuring together it is."

And so began the Rainbow Coalition of Chairs of Great Courage.