Somewhere under the rainbow

Greetings all,

I hope you're enjoying the summer sun these days.  I feel like time is flying by.  Last Friday I had my summer solstice drumming ceremony.  I've noticed a pattern to my drumming ceremonies.  I seem to drum solo on the equinoxes, and in community at the solstices.  That seems to be just how it has turned out so far.  Every ceremony has been an opportunity to touch spirit and share love and gratitude for all the support I receive.  Sometimes spirit decides to touch us back.  Hmmm that didn't come out the way I meant it.

I started these ceremonies last year when I began my Year of Transformation service.  I wanted a way to gather the energies of the seasons for my clients.  When I began I was drumming just for myself, then my family and loved ones, now I've got people all over the world who I am drumming for.  It has been amazing to watch the seed I planted grow with each ceremony strengthening the energy of expansion and transformation.

 I had such a good time drumming in a big group at the winter solstice (there were about 150 people drumming for that ceremony) that I decided I wanted to drum with a group again.  So I got clearance to use the space where I've been teaching tai chi.  Urban Unwind Holistic Massage & Bodywork has a great community room perfect for classes like mine.  There is also plenty of space for a group of drummers.  I'd been posting and reminding people for a month or two about the solstice ceremony, and also reaching out to people from across the country to drumwith us at the same time to link with our energy.

The solstice day itself was packed full with clients, personal healing work, networking, and the call of the drums.  I arrived early to set up and was greeted by rain.  The sun was shining still, but within moments of getting the drums and rattles up the stairs we had a full on thunderstorm raging directly overhead.  The rain was falling from 2 different directions and the sun was lighting up the drops like falling diamonds.  It was magical, and I hadn't even opened the circle yet.  As people began to arrive they put their mesas onto the impromptu altar we created.  As I began to build the circle I got called to the door again to witness a rainbow descending to right across the parking lot; it ended in a tree aligned with our door.  I'd never seen the end of a rainbow before.  I was beginning to get excited we'd had the spirits of the sun, rain, wind, thunder, lightning and now rainbow...all the summer weather spirits I could think of off the top of my head.  They had all shown up to bless us.

Now I know this is more of a report than a musing, but it was such a miraculous day that I wanted to share it with you and especially those of you who are part of the Year of Transformation and the quarterly drumming ceremonies.  We drummed for a long time and sang and danced down the sun of summer.  We threw our prayers into the center, and all of your names as well.  We blessed our ancestors and prayed to heal old wounds from the past.  We prayed to drink down the sun.  We finished with journeying to the spirit of the sun to receive blessings.  It was what most people would think of as magic.  The rainbow came, though I did not call it.  The rain and thunder came, and I did not call it either.  I was simply grateful for it.  It made me feel honored like a sign I was walking the right steps along the path of spirit.  Some people would call it coincidence, some would try to duplicate the experience, and others (and I think them the wisest) would simply treasure it.

Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle

The Time Warp...again?

Greetings all,

I've had things ruminating in my head this week in preparation for the blog post.  I've thought of issues of fairness, global awareness, and creativity.  I landed in the arena of time.  So much of our lives is dictated by the necessities of the clock.  Many of us are paid by the hour.  We worry if we'll have enough time to get all we need done in a day finished, and time seems to be moving faster.

So what has happened to time?  We have all these time saving devices around us.  We can send and receive messages instantly from almost anywhere.  Why is it that time seems to be moving faster and faster.  The older you get the faster everything seems to be moving.  I once figured it was like one of those related rate world problems from calculus (yes the Mooneagle took calculus).  The set up goes something like this.  A hose is filling a tub of water.  When you start, the water level rises at a particular rate, but as the water rises the rate of the tub filling increases, because the water doesn't have as far to fall.  (Yes I am making you do some spatial thinking, oh come on it's not that bad I won't even ask you to solve for x).  Maybe life is like that the more time we've had the more our perception of time increases.

The other factor in this where did the time go phenomena is that with all our connectivity and devices we are constantly having little bites taken out of day by text messages, tweets, TV, Facebook posts, email, and phone calls.  It is hard to make space for quiet time when at any moment you can be receiving data, updates, and or calls from friends and family in far flung time zones.  I recently posted on Facebook about someone playing an online video game in which their character had its own career and minimum game gold earning requirements to maintain virtual lairs.  They literally have a part time job in the game.

With so many distractions and entertainments you start to wonder if it is all by design.  I try not to go all conspiracy theory on people, but I look at the way government business gets done (at midnight with special riders on bills) and I begin to wonder if all this entertainment is like a big magician's trick.  I've heard people say if they knew what was going on they'd be pissed.  We have reality TV (which isn't very real if they have directors and editors) to distract us from reality, or rather consensus reality.  We get obsessed with TV,  movies, and entertainment news and we don't know our neighbors.  Now I have my shows I follow just like everybody else (Dr. Who anyone?), and yet there has been a growing dissatisfaction with it all.  Have you ever noticed that people in these fantasy lives rarely are sitting around watching TV or are spending all day on the Internet (unless they are being made fun of for it)?  People go out to clubs or dances and gasp they actually dance.  People have regular card and game nights.  (Side note:  the Mooneagle has been attempting to organize a regular game night since he reached the conclusion that fun is a requirement).  I'm not saying to cancel your cable, Internet or phone.  I'm not saying that entertainment is bad.  We as a species crave it, we crave a good story.  The difference is that in the past century we have become more and more passive about how we acquire entertainment.  We used to create more of it on our own, telling stories around a campfire or table.  It is part of being in community with others to share stories.

So how about you?  Is your time being eaten by the distractions of technology or entertainment?  Are you unaware of the world around you except via Facebook posts?  Do you measure your life against the lives of television characters?  Are you too busy to engage with the outside world?  What would happen if you let go of one distraction?  What would happen if you were unreachable for some portion of each day?  Would you claim your time without feeling guilty?  Ponder on these musings while I count my blessings for you taking the time to read my posts.

Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle

The Resistance Lives On

Greetings all,

Each week I always harbor the secret anxiety that this week will be the week I don't have anything to write about.  It's funny how life works though, you take it on yourself to blog each week and something happens and BANG topic for the blog.  In some ways writing is very healing while simultaneously also being extremely annoying.  The best thing about my commitment to blogging is that I get the opportunity to transmute something I find challenging into a perspective shift.  I highly recommend people keep a journal for that very reason.  It is quite enlightening to see what is really going through your own head all the time.  Sometimes we just get stuck on the horror movie channel in our brains, and unless we realize that we don't get up to find the remote and change channels.

About a month ago I attended a shamanic retreat. It's been a year since I started this particular initiatory program.  So much can happen in a year.  I've seen relationships end, family conflicts on an unprecedented scale, felt real fear(on occasion faced it),  had to look at myself in the mirror (literally), took my business to a physical location outside my own home (I love my office!), expanded my business into the international sphere, started teaching tai chi again, and looked at my own desires more soberly.  There are other things that happened too;  it is sometimes good to sit down and really go through where a year has taken me.  

This week and honestly the past few weeks what I have noticed the most is the amount of resistance I feel in moving forward and making changes.  You might think from reading the last paragraph that I don't have any problems in regards to changing.  Well I left out how much self sabotage I seem to build into situations.  Lately I just can't get motivated.  I'm fine for my clients, but when it comes to myself and my own goals I just haven't felt it.  I really started to think of myself as lazy, why did each step forward on any personal work seem to take so much out of me?  The resistance lives on, within myself and my life patterns.  I have been very intently changing deep patterns within myself since about 2011 (thank you matrix level 4 seminar).  There is one thing I have become acutely aware of and that is how very unclear I have been in making plans about which direction my life will take.  Now I am all about listening to the currents of life and following flow, but at some point you have to decide where you want that flow to take you otherwise you are just bobbing along without purpose.

Okay right about now some of you are thinking, "But you're Thomas Mooneagle and you're supposed to be so spiritual and gifted.  Certainly you know where you're going and why."  To which I would respond the Universe is very good at not giving out spoilers.  One thing I have learned is that sometimes you don't know why you end up one place or another until much later.

Resistance seems to be built in to the process of change for one reason or another.  Becoming aware of it when I feel the weight of it has sometimes been enough to help it dissipate, other times not so much.  However pinpointing what the resistance is tied to has been very useful even when it doesn't make it any easier.  I get some clarity as to why I am feeling what I am feeling.  When I do sometimes I even manage to feel grateful for the resistance because it means something is moving or at the very least trying.  Maybe slowing myself down is exactly what I needed.

How about yourself?  Are you feeling inner resistance?  Are you interpreting it as laziness, stubbornness, or some other "negative" quality?  Are you aware of it when it happens?  Are you ever able to thank the resistance?  Are you able to locate where you feel it?  Maybe resistance shouldn't be seen as an obstacle, maybe we should see it as a bodybuilder sees a weight in the gym, a training tool.  How does that change your perspective on your inner challenges?  Let me know and I'll let you know when my resistance has passed on.

Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle

In Relation to

Greetings all,

This blog post topic came to me in the bathroom, where all truly great ideas seem to come from.  The topic itself has absolutely nothing to do with the bathroom really, but I find it amazing how many ideas run through my head in the shower or bath (or yes even on the toilet).

I was reminded about how much we define ourselves by what we align with or oppose.  In Bill Whitcomb's book , The Magician's Companion (an excellent metaphysical resource),  he has listed several axioms for the would be magician.  One that has always stuck with me as important is this, "That which you oppose you uphold."  This is interesting in that many people take up causes against something.  According to this axiom to be against something helps sustain it.

Our relationship with anything helps us define ourselves, as well as whatever we are relating to.  This can be either liberating or imprisoning.  Think about some of the negative events of your life,  for some people one event may forever haunt them or keep them from growing out of a box.  However, others use it as a rallying cry to experience something different and greater in themselves and in their lives.  It really is all in how we relate to the event.

You are wanting an example yes?  Well here is one takes me back a ways.  In the aftermath of September the 11th I recall being overwhelmed by emotion.  I felt the sadness and the deep anger for what had happened.  I also recall being rather disturbed by that anger.  I recall one moment breaking down in tears and praying that I would be part of the solution not the problem.  That year I became more serious about my spiritual path and using my gifts less selfishly.  That is one instance of an impersonal event (by impersonal I mean I wasn't there when it happened nor did I know anyone directly who experienced it).  There are also personal moments for instance deciding to respect yourself rather than stay with abusive people.  The power is in the relation, do we make a decision on how to define ourselves or do we let events do that for us.

I am not saying that tragedy is something that should just be used to pull us up by our boot straps.  I am saying that how we relate to the events of our lives is just as important (in many cases more so) than the events themselves.  If you have ever had something you said taken out of context by someone and had your intent misread you know how important how we perceive and relate to what happens is.  So ask yourself how do you relate to the events in your life?  Do you follow a pattern?  Is it different for what you deem personal and impersonal?  Do you judge yourself by what has occurred in your life?  Do you judge your responses?  What would happen if you looked at how you were relating to the events (and people) of your life?  Does this change the story of your life?  Let me know.

Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle