Happy? Tag! You're it.

The hikers had stopped to rest for the evening; their exhausted bodies gave in to the end of the day and now they lay in a deep sleep next to smoldering embers, remnants from an earlier fire. Near by, several large bears raise their muzzles and get a whiff of the inviting air. They've found their prey. Like an alarm sounding, an unbearable chill wakes one of the campers. He refuels the fire and the soul, the nucleus of the outdoor home is set a blaze again. Binding the hikers together, the glowing campfire like the family hearth keeps them safe and warm. Respecting the fire, the bears turn and go in search of other prey. The Fire Tender, in tune, knew all too well that even when the fire went out a good many things can still go on. In Native American spiritual culture, the Fire Tender plays a vital role in building and maintaining the fire for the Sweat Lodge Ceremony. Native Americans implemented the Sweat Lodge Ceremony to bring about mental, physical and spiritual healing as w

The bigger picture. What does that mean when someone full of such arrogance says, let's focus on the bigger picture. What is the bigger picture and why not focus on the details? I am a proponent of focusing on the bigger picture, albeit my bigger picture not their bigger picture. So, when some one says, let's focus on the bigger picture, they mean let's look at the world the way I do, shall we. Words are so powerful. What is behind our words is even more powerful. Maybe I just need to retreat and be very quiet for a little while and just …. Focus on the bigger picture. If you don't hear from me, you will understand wont you?

The Violet Flame is without a doubt one of the most powerful meditations I have ever experienced. I get a great sense of inner cleaniness, a tremendous reduction in any inner rage or anger, a decrease of any sort of negativity. It centers around an ascended master called Saint Germain. Now he wasn't a Catholic saint, he was a French and his first name was Saint. But in a way ascended masters are like saints, they are people who once walked the face of the earth and were given the option upon their demise of either going totally into the light, or, remaining close to the earth and its inhabitants to aid in our spiritual evolution. The ascended masters correspond to various colors, which in turn are called "rays". These rays get assigned to different chakras and various areas of human endeavor. Saint Germain is in charge of the Violet Ray. This is the ray of the 21st century, the ray of magick, freedom, and healing. The color violet is of the highest vibration, surpassed

I don't know where this is coming from as I am only 7 weeks old in this new body; but, I must write about the 4 Noble Truths. These are not exactly as I learned them in the last life but, they are 4 Noble Truths as I know them in this lifetime. The First Noble Truth is "Yelping Low"- Yelping low is an uncontrollable sound that rises on a wave of deep pain. The sound flows out right before total release comes. For example, upon waking with a full bladder after sleeping for 8 hours, one may yelp low. Yelping low happens in a wake state, with the feeling of intense pain with the urge to let go; but, one consciously chooses to hold on until help arrives. Another example of Yelping Low is when one has to leave a familiar pack of parents, brothers, sisters and humans. The pain can be deep; Yelping Low helps to let go of the love of the past and move to the love of the future. When you let go and ride the wave toward the future, the Universe rewards you. The second Noble Truth:

The tree spoke and it said, "You know you are the calm space that you just felt. You know in the depth of your being that my energy is communicating with your energy. Certainly my body, this branch with leaves on it, waving before your body on the path is not talking to a human body. And my tree body is not listening to your organic, human body. Surely it is your mind that fears death. Your spirit may even fear death but that thought, that voice, that ear that is listening to me does not fear death. You are not in your body and you are not dead. You have never been more alive and aware than you are right now. You have known for many years that you and I are one. You are it and I am it. Remember? Humans can be so forgetful. You have been so close so many times in your life but you don't seem to be able to hang on to the calm space long enough to hear nothing and then hear everything." I told the tree that I felt like I was dreaming, floating and non existent. I said, is th

Forty years ago this month I fell off my bicycle. It was a warm August morning and I was frantically pedaling up the street when something went wrong. I wound up sliding on the pavement, badly scraping my knee. It took 2-3 weeks to heal and my knee was very sore. And forty years later I still have faint scar on my knee. Through the course of our lives we acquire many scars. There's of course the scars from bicycle accidents, sport injuries and schoolyard fights. And later in life some of us have surgery or other procedures which leave their mark. And then there's the other kinds of scars. Wounded feelings from how our mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers treated us as we grew up. Hurt feelings between friends and lovers, the emotional scars from our relationships. And of course there's the mental scars, minds frozen in patterns of resistance and limitation because of the emotional pain. These are more subtle scars that carry lifelong influence upon us. Is there

"That's it". First thing in the morning, connecting with the energy of the universe the voice spoke. It was a familiar voice, comforting, like the voice she heard when she was a child. It was reassuring, nurturing and clear. The voice spoke again and said, "One". Sitting in her big comfy chair, looking out on to the small grassy backyard, she picked up her fortune telling cards, took a deep breath and held them up to her chest. Flipping the cards over, feeling them as they fanned out in her hands, she closed her eyes and felt the connection. She looked and picked a card. The card was the number 1, just like the voice told her. A breeze rose from within and flowed out over her entire physical body. She looked down at the card, with a picture of a regal lion basking in the sun; the lion was confidently looking out with pride both surveying and protecting his territory. She read the meaning of the #1 card out loud, according to the author, Crystal Bush, "