Crystal Healing: Are they just a bunch of rocks?

I have encountered a few sceptics since becoming more vocal about my spiritual and metaphysical leanings. So today I thought I would try and explore and break it down a little about crystals in particular. What’s  special about crystals? Why get into crystals at all?

Jupiter Images 

Well, to start off they are quite pretty to look at.  There is something pleasant about staring restively into shimmering, clear, smoky, clouded and colourful crystals which are abundant on our planet.  Just imagine all that mathematical perfection, many years in the making, among soil, sand and dirt.That, in and of itself, seems like such a miracle. That it’s just there, gleaming underneath our feet or inside a mountain, cave or under the sea.

Crystals, like flowers, are pleasing to the eye and, I feel, are the eyes equivalent to the sound of waves on a meditation track. Both flowers and crystals symbolize beauty, creation and peace in physical form. Flowers are pleasant to humans:  the smell, colour, texture and also the meanings we ascribe to them are psychologically beneficial.

To take it one step further, Crystals are said to hold certain powers, specific to each individual type of crystal. Wearing or holding any stone may create certain sensations within the individual’s energy system or aura.

This is the basic idea behind crystal healing. Crystals are reflections of perfection because of their intricate and varied structural compositions. Which is why all crystals encourage healing. This structural makeup creates a signature energy vibration (as all particles are vibrating at subtle levels) So wearing, holding or being near one has a healing effect on our personal energy system and this ripples out to those around us.

 

For instance, I find it interesting to compare smells and crystals. Certain smells are repulsive and some are even bad for you. Other smells make us feel calm, happy, and have healing properties. Aromatherapy does this, it actively uses specific essential oils, incenses and herbs and other remedies to bring about specific states of being.  Crystals operate in much the same way. Something pleasing to the eye, or with significant positive emotional connotations are far better for you, than something aesthetically unappealing and which holds bad vibes for you. 

A common and yet unconscious way we utilize this energy is our idea of having good luck charms. Something like a lucky bracelet, pair of underwear, jacket, tie, lipstick. Any item which we assign the quality of luck to, because of our positive experiences with those items. 

Crystals work in much the same way on all levels. Try it out for yourself and see how wonderful crystals really are. Right under our noses!

Uranus and the Inner Compass

Artist: Mario Duguay

Are you the type of person who listens to the counsel of others in all matters, or do you trust your own guidance and authority when it comes to making decisions?

Sometimes the inner authority runs counter to everyone around you and if that feeling is authentic and strong, you know you just have to follow its impulse.

Lately I’ve had this issue come up in my life in quite significant ways. And it got me thinking about the planet Uranus in Astrology. In mythology, Uranus is the rebel, the deviant, the one who breaks with tradition. I have noticed that wherever Uranus is in the Natal Chart is where we just cannot abide, cannot follow because we are not wired to.  It is where we make our own rules and break with the old. 

This is how Astrology interprets Uranus too. It can bring wisdom from the soul or the universe/which may or may not occur simultaneously with sudden outer changes.

This applies to transits too. So every place that Uranus touches in the chart is a place where change, shock, surprises and sudden insights are bound to occur within you, be caused by you, or likely to happen around you.

In a society that functions the way that it does, Uranus is not welcome. Sudden twists and turns which nobody could have foreseen do not fit into the standardized, mechanized, clockwork world we seem to live in.

Yet, I feel, that simply because it exists, it must and does have a very crucial role to play in our lives and in our evolution as people. For everything is connected infinitely and intricately, and whatever is within our experience is part of our experience. So we can’t dismiss it.

Uranus is in the early degrees of Aries at the moment and this signifies the start of something completely new in our lives. So for every single person on the planet, some part of their lives  is radically shifting. Something new is starting. This usually focused on the concerns of the house Uranus is moving through in the astrological birth chart.

In ways we are all confronting previously unquestioned beliefs, authorities and controlling people in our lives (Uranus doesn’t like limitation or being trapped). Uranus is an aspect of our psyche so it is that impulse within us which cannot tolerate feeling tied down, pressured, caged or even feeling confined within the limitations of a perceptual framework. Which is why Uranus is sometimes associated with the liberating process and state of enlightenment.

Ultimately it is our own heart which feels the pain of regret or the joy of fulfillment. Nobody else can feel that and I feel that this is why we must move forward beating our own drum. Listening to our own rhythm because it will never lead us astray. So locate the place within your life, where you feel the desire for freedom and meditate on it, for it will certainly hold truths about what to do. 

Just write.

Writing should be like breathing, it should consume your every fibre until you just become one teeming mass of text and caffeine.  I should have read every classic text and should know of every ‘great’ author, know all the theories, critics and publications that revolve around the profound yet pernickety craft. 

Creative Commons: Drew Coffman, Flickr

 

I don’t and never have believed in doing things just because we should do them. Oops!

For me, writing is like finding one-of-a-kind  pebbles or shells on the beach , and over an extended period of time that collection steadily grows . Then one day you look down at your hands and you see that you have acquired enough pebbles to make something with. Perhaps you can imagine an arty vase or the shower floor in a kind of organic mosaic pattern. 

We are always learning and growing, expanding and contracting, pausing and acting. So find what energy ‘phase’ you are in and connect with it for inspiration. Are you in an active phase or a regenerative/still phase?   

Go and tap into that. Tap into your own rhythm and don’t be so caught up in the rules.

Writing is something most people do in some way or form. It’s a functional thing. So when we think a thought like “I can’t write” over and over we are actually lying to ourselves.

  

At the most basic level we are still capable of writing things down whether it’s a list, directions or an itinerary. As simple as this sounds, do remember how long it took you to learn that skill as a child. Do remember whether you had to wear a pencil grip (like I did) or just remember the sensation of performing one of the basic human acts: that of physically forming words from the lead of a pencil. Also remember those who cannot write, remember those who have no arms, no sight and/or no education. So when you get down to it, saying “I can’t write” is firstly a lie and secondly it starts to sound ungrateful and unhealthily self-involved. So what we should be saying is “I know I can write, now I want to challenge myself and develop it as a kind of craft”. Or whatever mantra you feel comfortable using. 

It’s rare to find inspirational nuggets everywhere but there are certainly those writers who seem to be able to squeeze gold out of every moment. That is what we call ‘being on a roll’. Some ‘rolls’ last longer than others, some last about as long as a quarter pounder deluxe, some go on for years, others seem to stretch across lifetimes. 

A schism seems to exist when it comes to the writing process. It’s the notion that one should either ‘be’ all about writing where you live breathe, eat, and poop writing. The other category, which most people seem to fall under, is to pick up inspiration whenever it randomly strikes (like lightening on clear blue day...). Also remember we are more infinite than what we can do or what we own or make financially. 

 Some say write a paragraph every day. Some carry a notebook with them wherever they may go sketching insights to store for later. Others get others to write books about them. Others write with a co-author making the process a little easier. Others (like me) randomly decided to write for therapeutic purposes and to heal others as one of a myriad of tools in the field of ‘self healing’.  

I feel that your intention for writing is most important as that is when channels and openings occur, that is when experiences and ideas seize you. It happens when you define your purpose for doing it, whatever it may be. As long as it is something, something as simple as writing for the sake of writing even.

I have friends who probably feel inadequate when approaching a writing task. Even when sitting down to write for fun. It’s not because it’s true. It’s because it’s untrue. As cliché as this quote by Marianne Williamson may seem, it is still truthful and a great mantra for life and any creative task.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God [Goddess/Universe]. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.”

I would say never try and measure up to a standard. Focus on yourself and what you are doing. Decide that you will sit down, and spend an hour just getting something down. There is always something on our minds. Just write it. Just be in the moment. Don’t think, “Oh that sounds too much like that author or this author or that style or this theorist hates this”. Never mind those things. Remember your can always go back and take things out, cut things up, edit.

So for all my talented writer friends, who feel trepidation because of the mental standard immediately being conjured up in that moment – say “Go away! I banish thee like the fiend you are!” Negative thoughts are parasitic fiends who feed on light and creativity. Ban those thoughts and move on to the task at hand.

Do it. Decide that you like to write, and that is all you need.Treat it as sacred and the rest will come.  To follow your bliss is to put yourself on the right track. Forget about what you should or should not do. Forget the rules.

After all this is writing not driving, 

you won’t kill someone because of your writing.

New Moon in Aquarius: Make a Wish!

"New Moon, New You" , Art by Robin Neil Williams

 New Moon in Aquarius- January 23^rd 2012 at 9:35am (South Africa)

Setting intentions at a New Moon may seem like a novel idea, but people have been following the seasons and thus the Moon and Sun’s patterns for aeons, so how 'new' can it be? Right?

Farmers plant their crops according to these cycles, and so if life is intricately connected through our food intake, our nurturing, then surely our mental or thought level 'seeds' and nurturing planted at the same time, also begin to take root. The seeds planted have come full circle, and grow into a harvest by the Full Moon. . 

Patterns are repeated ; macrocosm through microcosm and visa versa, So we could use the same energy and channel it effectively into our own personal lives, including our mental, emotional, spiritual and physical experiences. The secret here, is that the astrology gives you the correct time, to make the correct kind of wishes.

Women are inextricably linked to the moon and it’s cycles, by their monthly menstrual cycles, and so there we can see the natural and obvious way the energy of the moon affects humans.It affects us all, including men, transgendered folks, inter-sexed folks,  and whilst not working on the physical level for all, works on on all other levels for everyone.

The kind of energy present at any particular New Moon is represented by the Sign in which the moon is in.  In our case, on the 23^rd of January, the Moon is in Aquarius.New Moons are times for making wishes, especially wishes pertaining to the house that is ruled by Aquarius in you natal chart.

For me this would take place in my 1^st house of personality, body and generally the mask we wear (not our core self) and spills over into my 2^nd house because Aquarius is on the cusp of my 2^nd house of Earned Income, Talents, Possessions and Values. Something new is likely to start in these particular areas of my life, and it would be different for each person. 

So I would recommend going to http://alabe.com/freechart/ and seeing which part of your life you will have a lot of support, starting something new in.  

Just follow the instructions, fill in the form on the page, and your chart will be brought up. They have some insightful interpretations once you submit your information.

* you do  need a correct birth time however, or an approximate one at least.

Look to the house which Aquarius rules, the little pie sections of the chart aren’t numbered on the chart but you can count , starting from the sign intersecting the bold line on the furthest left side. See image below. 

The arrow points to what the dividing line looks like.

Under this line is the first house, and working your way counter clockwise, you can count down the rest of the house until the house above the line, the 12th.  

Look for Aquarius, and ascertain the number of the house. Then, Google the house.

So I, for example, would Google  “2^nd house+ astrology” and “1^st house + astrology” , pick a couple of different websites and read the various interpretations. Once you have a general idea you can start thinking about your wishes and intentions for things in that realm. It helps to focus your New Moon intentions on the issues of that house. Here’s mine for example:

                           

The Red arrow symbolizes the start of the 1^st house. As you can see on the image the symbol or glyph for Aquarius is the two grey squiggly lines, and this is on the line which separates the 1^st house from the 2^nd house. So It influence my 2^nd house, however this New Moon is at 3 degrees and so it falls technically in my first house, but the influence will also be on the 2^nd. If, for instance, yours falls in the same house it rules, then the energy would work best in that house only.

So lets focus on the actual New Moon in Aquarius a little bit more .

Aquarius is a unique sign, it’s energy is quirky, eccentric, new and revolutionary, weird, strange and even out of this world. It is a sign which operates at a detached, group level, disallowing an overemphasis of personal or ego wants.

 It will mostly strive towards a social or group goal, or the creation of something entirely new through it’s own personal genius. So look at words such as philanthropic, service to a cause, new, different, unique, humanitarian, new age,  technological, invention, revolutionary when creating your intention for this new moon. 

  For example;

I will find new ways (new moon) to express my unique individuality (Aquarius in the 1^st house) through finding innovative(Aquarius) ways to make money(2^nd house), develop my talents(2^nd House) and change my sense of value and contribution to the world(2^nd House).

There you have it. A very simple yet powerful way of using the guidance of your personal birth chart and the help of the current transit of the moon to help you get a wish in edgewise, in this ever swirling cosmic soup. 

The Moon is the fastest planet, so be quick, be sure to commit to your intention and you will see fruit by the Full Moon in the opposite sign of Leo near the 14^th of February,next month.  Full Moons bring manifestations, evidence, signs of success. 

Namaste xx

Inspiration: How the heck do I get some?

Artwork "Rainbow Girl" by Robin Neil Williams

At times inspiration can be scarce. It's like an extinct woodland creature you really did see once upon a time, out of the corner of your eye, which everyone else laughed at and dismissed as absurd. But wait JUST A MINUTE! Isn't inspiration about trusting yourself, your instincts and being open to receive because of this trust in yourself?. Wasn't it supposed to be just you and the universe and all of the magic it flows to you? Why aren't you listening to yourself anymore? I have found that most people, for some reason, have temporarily lost the ability to hear their souls voice. Artists and performers know this feeling all to well. Like a sudden block comes up, our 'spark' is gone, we hit a wall, get writers block, come up empty handed but not for lack of trying. For whatever reason something is in the way.
 
When we don't trust our ideas as a result of a myriad of reasons (insert obstacle), it tends to snowball, and overtime we realize that we are listening to all the criticism and comparing ourselves The worst part is that we allow it to seep into our minds where those intruders (negative voices) sit, waiting to attack the new found little 'holy grails'. How is anyone supposed to function that way? Not very easily.

We have strange ideas about how it goes down.Being inspired.The whole 'epiphany' thing. We want it to 'strike' ,'hit', and 'overwhelm us' with some kind of shamanic out of body quantum leap, like a magical burst of cosmic energy that feels like you are on some really rare good 'trip'. Just like tv ad's sometimes our previous experiences and imagination may not be so realistic when it comes to measuring how we get ideas and turn them into something special. Maybe inspiration is a tranquil moment, a whisper, a dream, a song, a visual. A still acknowledgement rather than an ecstatic realization.Maybe we are just in a down mode, and so need to adapt to the state of being by opening our 'idea' receptors more. Really just being in the moment. Even in the depths of despair (especially there) is when we are more likely to get motivated to feel better, and what makes us feel better is doing something we love doing. Usually this comes to us as a nagging thought, such as "When are you going to paint again, it's been ages". Give in to those thoughts, that will lead you someplace better. Always.

Photo by gak @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/gak/103278059/)

 Yet isn't this part of life. Going through 'doldrums of despair' only to skyrocket into happiness again (or at least something resembling it). It seems as if the bad times are the 'grist for the mill' so to speak, the contrast, the catalyst for our evolution into better people with better minds, and thus, better ideas. Without depression, grief, sadness, loneliness, fear and frustration how would we know how we don't want to feel? What get's us into these not so good frames of mind are simply a lack of clarity, lack of awareness, consciousness about what really is holding you back. My guess is that it is all in the mind...

Our minds are too busy, our bodies are stressed to the max, our lives have gotten complicated and intense. Mostly it's a mental thing. Our minds are on a constant information trip, millions of thoughts, ideas, texts, conversations, memories, to do lists, goals are all crammed up into our cranium. It's not because we ran out of space. It's because we let it all fly around uncontrollably. We let it control us. Our thoughts are powerful. But silence, calm and quiet are better, more effective states of being to cultivate, if we are to create again.

So find what makes your mind calm first. Then out of that calm, think about what makes you happy. With little effort we will find that our crazy thoughts get filed away in all the right places, leaving an almost infinite gap, a space filled with nothingness. This is what you want. This is the blank canvas, and this is where all you need to do is trust, and something will come into that space. It will be simple. Simple but golden, and it will have wings. It won't flit out of sight now because you are still. You listened to yourself again and now you know what you want to and must do. It really works. Every time.

But alack! Most people in today's society don't know what it is to have a clear mind. In this way, they are unaware of the potentials for creativity which they hold. So I would say, when you are ready, and possibly when you have tried everything else. Try a little silence in the form which pleases you most. Paint. Draw. Play your instrument. Sing. Dance. Swim, Meditate (my favourite!), Work in the garden. Play with your pet. Write. Drive. Relax. Breathe. Even better combine these activities and add a smile or some laughter.

And remember you are in control of your thoughts, your thoughts shouldn't control you. With this in mind you should never be at a permanent stand still. Life flows, and if you let it, will flow through you too.