Drag Everything Along As You Go

Wherever you go, all that has gone before, all of your development in the past, all of your parents’ history, all of the ones before them, all of the time and events in the universe so far, go along with you, by definition. So it is. Be aware of this, or not, but it is so. You dance along whirling, swirling the whole of time and space as you go. It is one big, whole, connected, One. 

Why should you remember this as you walk along through your day, breathing your cycles to the rhythm of the all? Because your great spiral arms are embracing all potential at all times.  Once upon a time you squeezed into a box of the limitations of the world, and for your own good reasons. 

You wanted to design a specific objective, to make a thing, to do a thing. A thing that has parameters, perimeters, specifications. You succeeded! But you, you are not the thing. You are the one who squeezed into the thing. You can relax now, and remember that you are not the limits you made.

Believing or not believing will not keep the sun from coming up in the morning, and whatever you think about it, won’t change the reality but will certainly affect how you feel. Walking around with a bag on your head is pretty silly, but most of us have forgotten that we are wearing them. As soon as you take the bag off your head, sun belief won’t be an effort or an issue anymore.

So reach out your arms right now, swish them through the air, and feel the entire universe shift a little. Feel your heart beat in unison with the great pulses of the farthest stars, for it is so now, always has been, and never will not be so. You abide in the boundless. You are an inextricable component of it all. How could you not be? Do you really think you made yourself?

So do, and dance, and do remember, that you drag everything along with you as you go.

“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: You haven’t.” -Thomas Edison

I wonder where I might drag the universe next, and where it may may dance with me.

Peace in the Darkness of the Year

“Time passes so fast. Make time to be still.” -Lailah Gifty Akita

You need a strategy to cope with short days of light and long dark nights.

Get up and out into the light as soon as it is available. Outside light is best, but a very bright indoor light early in the day will substitute. Drink in that blue daylight like it’s love juice from the sun. It is.

Move the body. Even when you really don’t want to go outside due to bad weather, you can put on music and dance.

Eat early in the day, and stop eating for the day as early as you can. Comfort food usually isn’t, really. Unless you need extra calories because you have to work outside in the cold, a heavy diet in winter isn’t helpful. I like the idea of eating roots in the winter; soups and bakes with ginger, carrots, onions, garlic, beets, potatoes; Earth energy. The creatures and the plants withdraw into the earth at this time.

Feasting is festive though, with friends and loved ones, but for every feast, you need a fast. Keep the balance. The fast before the feast, instead of after, is better because your stomach will shrink, so then you won’t eat as much at the feast, but you will enjoy it just as much.

Remember to feed your heart too. Humans like to hunker in together in the dark times. Go visiting, go to social events, hang out with your sweetie. Call someone far away.

Just as we traditionally ate stored food from the sunnier times in the solstice season, what else have you stored from the year? Can you read your journals from the year just passing? Maybe scroll through your photos of the past twelve months? 

If you can, sit by a fire. Give your no longer needed emotional debris to the fire. You can even write it down on a scrap of paper and toss it in.  This is the end of a cycle, so you can go with flow and release whatever else you no longer need or want. The fireplace will take your unwanted stuff and keep you warm, clearing your aura in the process. 

Light a candle. Or just “cocoon”, curl up with a book and a blanket.

This is a good time of year to center, find spirit, to just stop. In the past, the mountain passes would close, and the commerce would pause. Even today, many people get vacation around solstice. There is nothing quite as quiet as a day when the snow is so deep that the roads are impassable and the power is out due to fallen trees, but one need not go to extremes. Things generally slow down at this time so why not also pause?

In the quiet, in the stop, in the silence, feel the empty space. Nature does not abhor a vacuum, nature loves to fill one. Make a space for the new. Make some empty time for inspiration and it will come. 

Hold out your open cupped hands to the possibilities. Visualize love glowing there, and you will hold in your hands a crystal ball. A bowl of the to the yet to become, the still unsprouted seed coat of what is to grow in the coming year. Then, be at peace. Cherish the moment. And wait.

Soon enough, you will feel moved from within, as surely as time marches on, as unstoppable as spring. You will be spring loaded. Before long, things will be moving at such a pace that you will fondly remember this moment and draw strength from it as you fly into the dizzy busy times you only dream of in this still dark night.

“Om is said to be a four-syllable word in Sanskrit, originally as AUM. A, the waking state. U, the dream state. M, the unconscious state. And the fourth, the silence that surrounds it—wherefrom everything arises and whereto everything inevitably returns.”  -Drew Gerald

I wonder what may spring from this still moment.

Dawning

“Enlighten the people generally, and the tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of the day.”- Thomas Jefferson

This is the dawn of a new golden age.

It begins with each individual. Many have already arisen before this dawn, knowing that, indeed, things cannot go on this way much longer. They know the night cannot go on forever, so they get up and light a candle. They cannot wait for the sunrise, and they do not have to. Awakening is possible at any moment. And there is plenty to do. It is the start of a glorious new day!

I know it is hard to believe. Try not to be too disturbed by the breathless daily recitation of the bad news, for it is but a collection of the most unusual and worst things which makes them newsworthy, by definition. These stories are far, far outnumbered by the daily normal happy stories of love and goodness, not newsworthy because they are so common and routine. The truth is we are gradually, definitively and measurably getting better all the time, even though we have huge issues and problems to solve, and real threats and dangers to avert. 

By almost any metric, more people are well and happier than ever before. We are even awakening to the damage our headlong rush toward prosperity has caused to our planet and environment, and starting to heal it.

 My daily walks not only fill me with sadness as I watch the birds I once saw in greater numbers diminish, but also hope, as I stroll past flowers that were recently removed from the endangered species list because people around me cared enough to notice, and save them. On average, humans an the planet are safer, freer, healthier, smarter, and more enlightened than in any previous period of history we know of. 

The same information revolution that brings us the daily pile of worst things, is also enabling us to find one another, join together, and inspire one another. We have challenges, but maybe we can muddle through, even thrive. Success is never assured, but there is real evidence that hope is reasonable. We have the answers at hand now, would we simply take them to heart, and take the next step.

While the sleepers still slumber, a great day is coming. Now the light is growing and the dark is diminishing. The approach of the new day, or at least the impending end of the night, is undeniable. No, it is not the darkest just before the dawn. It is beginning to get light. Everywhere. 

Even in the places in our world where the hold of the dark has been strongest, there is upheaval. The cages are rattling. People now know about each other and they are waking up to their common needs and aspirations.

And yes, the same powers of communication that allow us to know about one another are available to those who want to do harm. And predictably, they are also stirring, thrashing about, making a desperate last stand, and a mess.  Confusion has been weaponized. Predators hunt in the cracks of the day, the shift change, dusk and dawn. Be wise.

But awakening we are. Some will just watch. Some will sleep through the dawn, preferring to skip the chaos. Some will look for holes to crawl into, some will try everything to deny. The coming of the new day can no more be stopped than the, um, rising of the sun. 

I rejoice. 

And we need not wait. You can join now, and begin to live in the new day dawning. As if. Because merely assuming the posture of the new day is enough to bring it in for you now. How do you imagine the new golden age of love and light?

If it is an age of kindness and truth, embody those qualities. Sharing and abundance? Be that now. Have you not made it this far? Peace, tolerance and forgiveness? Create a space for that in your heart here and now.

 There, so now a beachhead is established. Remember help is available to you for the asking, so ask. Allow the light to wash over you, and give thanks.

Now open your eyes and look around the beach. The storm of the long night has left a lot of trash that is being revealed in the growing light of the dawn. There is work to do. You have a job! Give thanks! It is good work to have.

“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.” -Henry David Thoreau

I wonder what we will build?

The Crystal Quilt, Making a Weighted Blanket

“Sleep is the best meditation.” - Dalai Lama

I’ve been hearing about weighted blankets lately.

 Everyone I know who has tried them loves them. 

They drag them around with them wherever they go. 

 Also, I’ve been trying to improve my sleep quality. More and more people these days seem to be having sleep issues, and I’ve been looking into various remedies that people are trying. One is weighted blankets. The weight is felt as comforting and relaxing, perhaps lowering cortisol levels in the body (stress hormones).

“There is an underlying science behind weighted blankets. It’s called Deep Touch Pressure or DTP.

Often times, sleeping will be a major problem for those that suffer from anxiety. This can come from not being able to calm down as well as not being able to slow down the running thoughts in one’s head. One study found that people who used weighted blankets have calmer nights of sleep, with a reduction of movement.” -weighted blanket website 

I’m not sure exactly why so many people are having so much anxiety and disrupted sleep these days, but there does seem to be an epidemic. 

My guess is that one thing might be our constant staring at our illuminated devices, and artificial light at night in general is throwing our cycles out of whack. 

Our bodies are incredibly adaptable, but we have evolved for thousands of generations without artificial light at night. Not to mention electromagnetic fields at variance with that of our planet. 

So I decide to experiment on myself by restricting my bright and blue light exposure in the evening, using blue blocking glasses and doing lower light activities. Also, to sync with the Earth’s electromagnetic field, I sleep with a grounder at night.

It also helps me to eat early in the day, and not late, and if possible, to restrict the number of hours in the day that I eat. This is also known as intermittent fasting.

Also, your natural production of the sleep hormone, melatonin, peaks at around age twelve and by your thirties really begins to plummet. As it is only made when you are in total darkness, it helps to cover your eyes when you sleep or keep your bedroom dark.

Then there is the general stress of modern life, especially for those of us who are sensitive to the world around us. For that I use awareness of my news intake and mindful awareness of my attention and thoughts. 

But I want do more. So I decide to look into weighted blankets. I quick look around online shows me weighted blankets from fifty dollars to three hundred dollars. Most are weighted with glass or plasticish pellets and very few are made of all plant fiber.  

So I decide to make one myself. I find I sleep best in the cool, and polyester is hot to me. Silk is cool and soft, but too much violence goes into it.  So cotton would be best. 

My first thought is of sand for a weight. But I can’t think of a way to contain it in a blanket without using plastic. Sand has a way of getting everywhere and escaping from containers. Still, I like the idea. Sand is quartz, sand is heavy, glass is made from it. Rocks!

I love crystals, pink rosy quartz, clear quartz, amethyst. So I get several pounds of tumbled, smooth, gravel sized crystals in those three flavors. Everything else I need I already have around the house. 

I clear the crystals. You can do this in various ways using salt, moonlight, earth, seawater, etc. I use reiki. As I do this, I learn that the crystals have had a rough time getting mined, tumbled, and traveling to me. So as I clear them I pray for their healing and ask for their help. Normally you should clear each one individually but since I had thousands, I had to do them all together.

I need some kind of cool cotton fiber batting to stuff my quilted blanket, something to contain and pad the rocks, create micro insulating air pockets, that will not clump, and will be washable. Terry cloth! 

 I’m never one to hesitate to tear up household furnishings for a good art cause. A few months ago, I was gutting pillows from all over the house to make my cloud art installation. 

I merrily rip up several cotton terry cloth towels into three inch squares, and the sew two hundred and twenty five little pouches. I put a spoonful or two of the tumbled crystals into each pouch, and sew it shut. (I only break one needle hitting a rock.)

Next I sew them onto a grid of cotton muslin cloth that I have marked out in colored pencil. I leave one inch wide rows of blank area in between the pouch squares for sewing together the layers. 

I sew the muslin with the crystal pouches to an all cotton waffle blanket on one side, sewing seams in the one inch blank rows in the grid. I sew this around the sides to a cotton print sheet on the other, and hand quilt the three layers together in the middle.

Finally, I program the crystal quilt. You can program the quartz crystals with whatever you intend for your blanket to do. It helps to use reiki for this, but you can use various methods. The key is to clearly impress your thoughts and intentions, respectfully, to the crystals. Quartz is used in every radio and communication device because it faithfully holds and transmits the vibrations that pass through it. Perhaps you might program it for peaceful quality sleep, or for protection, or remembering your dreams, or healing, and so on.

OMG! This thing is heavy! All folded up anyway. But when it is draped over me it does not feel heavy, or like I’m under a pile of rocks. Just close and present. Sleeping under it is nice. Sparkly.

I wonder what I might learn from my crystal quilt ...

“Happiness consists of getting enough sleep. Just that, nothing more.” - Robert A. Heinlein

On the Idea of Evil

I don’t believe in the devil, and I think evil is just unconsciousness.

There are things and even beings which have gotten shuffled into areas where they are out of place. A cougar wanders into a playground.  So there is need to fight sometimes, to protect. 

But can there be beings, devils, or psychic entities who try to create fear and suffering so they can farm emotions to parasitize people? 

There is energy everywhere, and everywhere there is energy, the universe comes up with ways to use it. Bacteria arise to eat the garbage. Cougars proliferate when we invade and devastate forests, as has happened here, in a misguided attempt to provide for our children, resulting in an overpopulation of deer that thrive in clearings. 

But ultimate evil megabeings who try to run worlds? Only in their fantasies. More like just puny wizard of oz style oversized ignorant egos who temporarily have too much power and not enough wisdom.

Whenever you have multiple players in a game, you have temporary cloaking of motivations. This can be on a level of friendly playful contention, with a respectful handshake at the end, or it can get out of hand, if egos rule. Ego is the root of temptation. It is the true meaning of the word selfish. 

A little self is ok, a little self care is not selfish, it is responsible. Who else will drive your vehicle-body, if not you? You are an individual for a purpose, or why have a body of your own? But when the steering wheel becomes the driver instead of the mechanism for implementing the driver’s choices, the system is out of whack, and there will surely and inevitably be casualties.

It is possible for many, even an endless number of individual beings to arise and flourish and still live in peace. And it is possible for as few as two egos to create a constant state of misery and contention and live in a hellish prison of their own making. Maybe even one ego!

So each one is exactly where they have shaken down to, in the gravity of the time and space matrix, perfectly situated for moving around from there according to their wishes and needs.

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where someone or something seems terribly out of place.  This is usually a boundary problem. The big cat gets stuck on the wrong side of the playground fence, the bacteria gets out of the garbage and into the food. The result can create great amount of suffering or at least great fear. It seems evil to its victims, but without an intention to harm by a conscious being, there is only a mismatch.

To be enlightened, that is, truly conscious, while also intending to harm others, is an oxymoron.  But history is full of situations that have gotten way out of hand. Humans on Earth are by and large, far from awake. The confusion here is strong. Slowly they are waking. They are semiconscious at best, and most of the time, they function as smart pack animals. They can commit atrocities upon one another individually in their instinctual mode; and when their capacity to work together goes toward group goals that are at odds with awakened wisdom, much suffering has resulted, and this can seem quite deserving of the appellation “evil.”

The combination of pooled intelligence and skewed intentions is particularly poisonous to human groups, due to the amplified power of the group. The more power intelligently but unwisely directed, the more we want to call it evil instead of misplaced.

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 

But I say unto you, That ye RESIST NOT EVIL: but who soever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” -Yashua

In other words, don’t engage on the level of the slight to your ego by seeking revenge, that only keeps your energy and attention stuck in that level; instead, get out of there by rising above it.

If you can, wake up from that nightmare. Mobility is nobility; where your attention is, there you are. The best way to win the fight, as it is said, is to not be there for it.

I wonder when a critical mass of us will wake up and create heaven on Earth?