Greetings all,
I hope you've had a productive week. I've been a busy little bee as I have started back working in my ceramics studio. It has been months since I began a body of work, but I finally got my equipment repaired and so I am back in the saddle again.
I've gathered all of you here to speak about something very important, the news, or as I like to call it, misery porn. Now I don't mean to insult pornography by the comparison, but it is the closest parallel to our modern idea of news. Think about some of the surface details: flashy titles, themed musical accompaniment, and of course the money shot. The news has a slightly different version of the money shot which generally involves lots of bloodshed (although depending on your personal porn taste that might be similar as well). Our news continually asks the questions how bad is it and how bad will it get?
This is sadly not a recent development. There is an old saying, "If it bleeds it leads." What is fairly recent is the 24 hour news cycle, and the belief that we must know about every tragedy that takes place on our planet. (With detailed accounts of local crimes 4 times a day). Cable news has drowned us in a continuous rain of misery. Whether your poison is FOX, CNN, or MSNBC (there are more but let's just start with the big pushers) they all have one thing in common, they need your eyes on their channel and homepage. With the desensitization of the masses (which they are in part responsible for) they have to resort to ever more sensationalized and graphic images. They deluge us with a sea of expert talking heads all telling us the way things are going will lead to complete and total disaster.
One of the reasons that so many countries have laws about having a free press is that unfettered journalism is essential for the democratic process. Unfettered was good when there were solid deadlines for print and scheduled broadcasts, it made sure you focused attention on something that mattered. Now the deadline is every 10 seconds and there is no time for quality just quantity and ease of reporting. Those of us trying to be informed responsible adults sit and watch the play by play of terrorist attacks, school shootings and police chases. All of which we have no control over while a few channels over on CSPAN our fates are decided unobserved (well for those of us in the USA and whomever we are bombing this week). There is a quote that is often attributed to Mark Twain that I think is very enlightening, "If you don't read the newspapers you're uniformed, if you read the newspapers you're misinformed."
We feel we need to know what's going on in the world but we are persistently steered away from information that would empower us to make change. We are instead bombarded with images to make us afraid of the world and anyone who is different from us. Why is this? Well the thing about fear is that it short circuits our ability to reason and think critically. We make the worst decisions when we are afraid unless of course it is one of those instinctual situations where you are being chased by wild animals but for most of us that is an unlikely scenario. When we are afraid we are easily led and don't take the time to read the fine print. Also when we are afraid we pay attention. We're looking for cues to see if we are in immediate danger. We can't help it; it is one of those things that millions of years of evolution has hardwired into us. Fear snaps us out of wandering thoughts and focuses it on the immediate perceived threat. Now that our attention is achieved people can try and sell us something to make the fear go away. Sometimes it's a diet pill, sometimes it is a war, and sometimes it is a political candidate.
So why am I telling you this. Well I know people who stay plugged into the news cycle. They seem very troubled all the time. Occasionally I drop into the logo sphere of world news, it is always a disheartening experience. The news is problem centric, the problem with that is it is very short on solutions to big issues. This generally devolves into finger pointing and scapegoating of minorities. So ask yourself what story have you bought lately? What did TV news tell you to feel about a nation, race, religion, generation, political party, or social class? What's in it for them if you buy their version of truth? What sort of world does that leave you in? Is it a world you want to live in? What would happen if you unplugged for a while and dealt with what was in front of you? Would you allow yourself a respite against the troubles of the world? What if you didn't have to carry all of them on your back? Try it out for a week and see how it feels.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Musings
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Pilot Light
Greetings all,
This week I've finally felt the summer heat. My garden is overflowing with tomatoes. I have new ventures lined up ready to start. I'll confess though I haven't been myself. The past few weeks I have lacked inspiration. My direction has felt like it has fallen flat. I've been an island floating alone in a stormy sea.
This does on occasion happen. I lose my bearings. I feel the weight of the past, and lack enthusiasm for the future. It's like when the pilot light goes out . You just can't get anything done. You have to relight the flame. I've been drawing on all my reserves and inspiration for months at a time, putting my creations and work out into the world. The well has finally run dry, again this happens sometimes. I get down, and then I come back up.
When I reach a downturn whether it be in my personal or professional life it is a good time for me to come back into myself, to check if I am aligned with my environments and social groups. It is a good time to break out my tools that I have learned over the years and rededicate myself to my truth. It is very easy to become distracted by the truths and illusions that our world tries to sell us. When I have bought one it usually doesn't perform as advertised. Refunds on collectively held ideas are tricky to manage. Yet it is what has to be done. My truth is that I live in a world of magic and wonder. This tends to be very unpopular. It is not the norm in our society. It is easy to become discouraged when the world around you is telling you that your truth is silly, stupid, impractical, or just plain crazy. (What's wrong with plain crazy we can't all be ecstatically crazy).
When the faery tale seems faded I have to brush off my wand and get to work. I'm lucky in that I am surrounded by a good community of wonder workers. We need others around us to remind us that we carry a spark of mad passion for life. It is easy to look out on our digital windows to the world and feel all alone. We're never alone. There is always a loving presence, we simply forget how to perceive it. We get caught in our dreams of logic and rationalism and dismiss the "coincidences" that embrace our lives. Sometimes just talking with another soul who believes in the mystery of life is enough to jar me out of complacency, sometimes a bit more is needed.
So how does this apply to you? Well does the story of your life lean more towards a statistical analysis than it does toward a novel? Are you buying truths and illusions that aren't yours and trying to squeeze yourself and your life into them? Has society convinced you that magic has no place in your story? Well snap out of it! Dig up that old dream that lights the fire in you. Get that pilot light relit. Surround yourself with the people who fan that flame of passion. Try that on for size and see what song arises in your life.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
This week I've finally felt the summer heat. My garden is overflowing with tomatoes. I have new ventures lined up ready to start. I'll confess though I haven't been myself. The past few weeks I have lacked inspiration. My direction has felt like it has fallen flat. I've been an island floating alone in a stormy sea.
This does on occasion happen. I lose my bearings. I feel the weight of the past, and lack enthusiasm for the future. It's like when the pilot light goes out . You just can't get anything done. You have to relight the flame. I've been drawing on all my reserves and inspiration for months at a time, putting my creations and work out into the world. The well has finally run dry, again this happens sometimes. I get down, and then I come back up.
When I reach a downturn whether it be in my personal or professional life it is a good time for me to come back into myself, to check if I am aligned with my environments and social groups. It is a good time to break out my tools that I have learned over the years and rededicate myself to my truth. It is very easy to become distracted by the truths and illusions that our world tries to sell us. When I have bought one it usually doesn't perform as advertised. Refunds on collectively held ideas are tricky to manage. Yet it is what has to be done. My truth is that I live in a world of magic and wonder. This tends to be very unpopular. It is not the norm in our society. It is easy to become discouraged when the world around you is telling you that your truth is silly, stupid, impractical, or just plain crazy. (What's wrong with plain crazy we can't all be ecstatically crazy).
When the faery tale seems faded I have to brush off my wand and get to work. I'm lucky in that I am surrounded by a good community of wonder workers. We need others around us to remind us that we carry a spark of mad passion for life. It is easy to look out on our digital windows to the world and feel all alone. We're never alone. There is always a loving presence, we simply forget how to perceive it. We get caught in our dreams of logic and rationalism and dismiss the "coincidences" that embrace our lives. Sometimes just talking with another soul who believes in the mystery of life is enough to jar me out of complacency, sometimes a bit more is needed.
So how does this apply to you? Well does the story of your life lean more towards a statistical analysis than it does toward a novel? Are you buying truths and illusions that aren't yours and trying to squeeze yourself and your life into them? Has society convinced you that magic has no place in your story? Well snap out of it! Dig up that old dream that lights the fire in you. Get that pilot light relit. Surround yourself with the people who fan that flame of passion. Try that on for size and see what song arises in your life.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Thursday, August 14, 2014
The Search
Greetings all,
This week I've taken some time to rest and to think. Which is a good thing to do from time to time. Normally I'm off taking on five projects at once. As I have refocused lately on how I feel about myself and how to treat myself a bit better the notion of love has arisen.
Love is a topic you cannot escape. Every show, song, or movie seems to have it as the primary element or theme. Our preoccupation with romance in our art and stories was put into perspective for me in the last few months by someone from far away. I met a woman from Africa while at work one weekend and during the course of our conversation an interesting fact came up. Where she was from all the songs and music were about rain and water, because it was scarce and valuable. She told me when some of the people there heard American music with all the love songs they had wondered if love was scarce here.
Quite a thought isn't it? Although as I thought about it most of our problems seem to involve a lack of compassion for ourselves or others. The breakdown of the family and the estrangement in our relationships isolates us. As human beings we are social creatures. Community coherence and support actually has measurable health benefits (check out Lynne McTaggart's book The Bond). When familial relationships falter, our social world has a wound. That doesn't have to mean our family of origin sometimes it is the family of choice we build with friends and partners.
This wounding is one of the reasons I have focused in the past year on ancestral healing work. If our connection is damaged we can't fully draw on the wisdom and strength of our ancestors. By healing a family line old burdens can be lessened or lost entirely. Sometimes new talents or hidden gifts will be uncovered. We also learn about love within our families, if we have a problem loving ourselves it most likely started within the family. This is not a blame game. Most people do the best they are able, but if they themselves are wounded or don't know how to love themselves it is a pretty tall order for them to demonstrate it for their spouse or children.
So as I was pondering how to find the love within myself something came into my head. I was a product of love. My body couldn't exist at all without love. It was in my very cells. Now some of you may be thinking, "Well that's great for you Mooneagle, but my parents hate each other." Here is the thing even if it was just pure lust between your biological parents odds are that somewhere back in the family line there were two people that really did love one another and conceived an ancestor of yours. It is in all probability much more than just two. Without that spark of love you wouldn't be here. Your very genetic structure is dependent on it. So if we are to find the love we have no further to look than a mirror. Every cell in our bodies is a result of multiple acts of love.
You may be wondering what this mental exercise has to do with you. Well do you find yourself in a love deficit? Do you feel devoid of it? Do you feel that there is no love within your heart, or maybe that nobody's heart has love for you? Well snap out of it! You are a body made up of love. Your spleen is love, your bones are love, and yes your genitals too. (Had to mention those fun factories at some point didn't we?) What if you stopped and just imagined all the lovers in your family's past (maybe go back further than the ones living if you're squeamish). What if you could feel all of that love from all the prior generations flowing down through you and to the generations to come? How would that shift your heart? Try that perspective on and see if it doesn't put a little song in you.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
This week I've taken some time to rest and to think. Which is a good thing to do from time to time. Normally I'm off taking on five projects at once. As I have refocused lately on how I feel about myself and how to treat myself a bit better the notion of love has arisen.
Love is a topic you cannot escape. Every show, song, or movie seems to have it as the primary element or theme. Our preoccupation with romance in our art and stories was put into perspective for me in the last few months by someone from far away. I met a woman from Africa while at work one weekend and during the course of our conversation an interesting fact came up. Where she was from all the songs and music were about rain and water, because it was scarce and valuable. She told me when some of the people there heard American music with all the love songs they had wondered if love was scarce here.
Quite a thought isn't it? Although as I thought about it most of our problems seem to involve a lack of compassion for ourselves or others. The breakdown of the family and the estrangement in our relationships isolates us. As human beings we are social creatures. Community coherence and support actually has measurable health benefits (check out Lynne McTaggart's book The Bond). When familial relationships falter, our social world has a wound. That doesn't have to mean our family of origin sometimes it is the family of choice we build with friends and partners.
This wounding is one of the reasons I have focused in the past year on ancestral healing work. If our connection is damaged we can't fully draw on the wisdom and strength of our ancestors. By healing a family line old burdens can be lessened or lost entirely. Sometimes new talents or hidden gifts will be uncovered. We also learn about love within our families, if we have a problem loving ourselves it most likely started within the family. This is not a blame game. Most people do the best they are able, but if they themselves are wounded or don't know how to love themselves it is a pretty tall order for them to demonstrate it for their spouse or children.
So as I was pondering how to find the love within myself something came into my head. I was a product of love. My body couldn't exist at all without love. It was in my very cells. Now some of you may be thinking, "Well that's great for you Mooneagle, but my parents hate each other." Here is the thing even if it was just pure lust between your biological parents odds are that somewhere back in the family line there were two people that really did love one another and conceived an ancestor of yours. It is in all probability much more than just two. Without that spark of love you wouldn't be here. Your very genetic structure is dependent on it. So if we are to find the love we have no further to look than a mirror. Every cell in our bodies is a result of multiple acts of love.
You may be wondering what this mental exercise has to do with you. Well do you find yourself in a love deficit? Do you feel devoid of it? Do you feel that there is no love within your heart, or maybe that nobody's heart has love for you? Well snap out of it! You are a body made up of love. Your spleen is love, your bones are love, and yes your genitals too. (Had to mention those fun factories at some point didn't we?) What if you stopped and just imagined all the lovers in your family's past (maybe go back further than the ones living if you're squeamish). What if you could feel all of that love from all the prior generations flowing down through you and to the generations to come? How would that shift your heart? Try that perspective on and see if it doesn't put a little song in you.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Saturday, August 9, 2014
The Heart of it or Let Go my Ego
Greetings all,
It's been a week of unfolding possibilities and wild cinematic dreams. I blame the upcoming super moon, or it could be the meditative work I am doing is slowly filtering out through my consciousness. I've been super focused on improving my manifestation ability since I have returned from my big adventure. However I am realizing that there are some underlying issues to address which will lead to a more fundamental life satisfaction.
As I accomplish more of my goals I still find peace and contentment as elusive as ever. The goal of changing my world is a laudable one, but I am becoming aware that my inner world needs the most work. I pretty much feel that the outer world will fall into place once my inner space has been prepped to be supportive. In the past I haven't been very nice to myself. I haven't given myself much credit and have been downright emotionally abusive to my self image.
It has taken years to grasp that it is me that is my own worst enemy. I am my own greatest critic, censor, and bully. It took me this long because of the manifestation principle, "As above so below, as within so without." Basically people in my life stepped into the role of the antagonist. (Some of them gave better performances than others….no encores please). Yet as nasty, cruel and contemptible as some of my supporting cast was, they don't hold a candle to the real bad nasty that has been squatting in my head.
As I have moved through various initiations I have opened to a bit more self love and respect. I know that is a fact because on a whole I have been treated better in the last year than in all previous years. I've experienced more outpouring of appreciation, respect, affection, and business than ever before. What I have noticed is how hard it is for me to take it to heart. It is almost like I am wondering when the shoe is going to drop and someone will leap out and call me a phony selfish little prick. (Hasn't happened except maybe on youtube comment threads and online trolls don't count).
So where to start correcting this? Well I am going to cease and desist all attempts of assassination of the ego. Killing my ego seems a bit violent. Anyone who wishes to continue trying to "help" me kill my ego is on notice that it will be considered an act most vile. The ego, shadow, the subconscious and the soul are all me, and all of them deserve love and respect. That doesn't mean I consider myself to be perfect, but yesterday was the deadline for all complaints. (Oops did I forget to post that)? I'd say I'm perfectly imperfect.
So how does all this apply to you my fine blog buddies? Well how nice are you to yourself? Do you repeat negative statements about your body, personality, or abilities often? How supportive are you of your hopes and dreams? Do you believe that you could even achieve them? Do you even believe you deserve to? Why not ask to see yourself as the Creator does? Let me know what visions arise.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
It's been a week of unfolding possibilities and wild cinematic dreams. I blame the upcoming super moon, or it could be the meditative work I am doing is slowly filtering out through my consciousness. I've been super focused on improving my manifestation ability since I have returned from my big adventure. However I am realizing that there are some underlying issues to address which will lead to a more fundamental life satisfaction.
As I accomplish more of my goals I still find peace and contentment as elusive as ever. The goal of changing my world is a laudable one, but I am becoming aware that my inner world needs the most work. I pretty much feel that the outer world will fall into place once my inner space has been prepped to be supportive. In the past I haven't been very nice to myself. I haven't given myself much credit and have been downright emotionally abusive to my self image.
It has taken years to grasp that it is me that is my own worst enemy. I am my own greatest critic, censor, and bully. It took me this long because of the manifestation principle, "As above so below, as within so without." Basically people in my life stepped into the role of the antagonist. (Some of them gave better performances than others….no encores please). Yet as nasty, cruel and contemptible as some of my supporting cast was, they don't hold a candle to the real bad nasty that has been squatting in my head.
As I have moved through various initiations I have opened to a bit more self love and respect. I know that is a fact because on a whole I have been treated better in the last year than in all previous years. I've experienced more outpouring of appreciation, respect, affection, and business than ever before. What I have noticed is how hard it is for me to take it to heart. It is almost like I am wondering when the shoe is going to drop and someone will leap out and call me a phony selfish little prick. (Hasn't happened except maybe on youtube comment threads and online trolls don't count).
So where to start correcting this? Well I am going to cease and desist all attempts of assassination of the ego. Killing my ego seems a bit violent. Anyone who wishes to continue trying to "help" me kill my ego is on notice that it will be considered an act most vile. The ego, shadow, the subconscious and the soul are all me, and all of them deserve love and respect. That doesn't mean I consider myself to be perfect, but yesterday was the deadline for all complaints. (Oops did I forget to post that)? I'd say I'm perfectly imperfect.
So how does all this apply to you my fine blog buddies? Well how nice are you to yourself? Do you repeat negative statements about your body, personality, or abilities often? How supportive are you of your hopes and dreams? Do you believe that you could even achieve them? Do you even believe you deserve to? Why not ask to see yourself as the Creator does? Let me know what visions arise.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Saturday, August 2, 2014
A New Attitude
Greetings all,
I hope you had a Happy Lammas. (Also known as Harvest Home or Lughnasadh). I celebrated joyfully with a last minute despacho ceremony. When I say if you have a place to burn one I'll come do ceremony I mean it. It was a good end to a good week.
This week I had an unexpected client. One of my teachers was in Peru and I got a referral. It was what I call "heavy" work. I've told people before that this is not what I want to do as the primary service of my practice. I have in the past been called in to make "house calls", but I prefer to keep this at a minimum. I've called it my rent to the Universe, mostly because I've done it for friends or as favors before. In the past month rent had been paid 3 times already so this time I actually quoted a fee. I felt like I was paid up as far as community service goes for a wee bit. In a way it was like the Universe was saying, "Hey I keep trying to send abundance your way but you refuse to cash the check."
I have a general rule that if someone is referred to me then I can help them in some way. Still on occasion I check in with my guides to make sure and to see what I need to do to prepare. One of the things I was told was that I needed a new attitude about this kind of work. I was making it harder than it had to be. Also I was told that I needed to stop complaining about it. For some reason I was acting out some poor me routine. "Oh poor me I have to call on magical powers to come in and clear out a space, and :gasp: there might be some uncomfortable feelings for a few minutes!" I was making myself into some sort of victim here and I'm not.
So why was I rehashing old patterns of the unappreciated magic worker? Primarily it was fear. I had done some of this work in the past and it had really drained me. This was before I had taken all the workshops and classes for some of my training. I used to make this kind of clearing work into a battle. Some of my older programming about how powerful the dark stuff is (thanks Hollywood and religious upbringing) made me make it harder.
The job went fairly smoothly. I'd say more than anything it was tedious rather than taxing. This may actually be the true reason I prefer not to do it more often. It is very methodical and sometimes time consuming. It requires me to bring a certain kind of focus that is much more "work oriented" than the rest of my practice. This is not to say I am not focused for other sessions, but it is different much more spontaneous.
So why am I telling you this? Well is there something that you do on occasion that you groan about? Something that you are uniquely qualified to do that brings more harmony into the world. Do you show your strength and then complain about the effort? Do you refuse to be compensated and then complain about how unappreciated you are? Well if so jump on the get a new attitude bandwagon. What if you saw this deed as a privilege to perform? What if you gracefully and gratefully accepted recompense? Try it out, lose the chains of victimhood and let me know how that feels.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
I hope you had a Happy Lammas. (Also known as Harvest Home or Lughnasadh). I celebrated joyfully with a last minute despacho ceremony. When I say if you have a place to burn one I'll come do ceremony I mean it. It was a good end to a good week.
This week I had an unexpected client. One of my teachers was in Peru and I got a referral. It was what I call "heavy" work. I've told people before that this is not what I want to do as the primary service of my practice. I have in the past been called in to make "house calls", but I prefer to keep this at a minimum. I've called it my rent to the Universe, mostly because I've done it for friends or as favors before. In the past month rent had been paid 3 times already so this time I actually quoted a fee. I felt like I was paid up as far as community service goes for a wee bit. In a way it was like the Universe was saying, "Hey I keep trying to send abundance your way but you refuse to cash the check."
I have a general rule that if someone is referred to me then I can help them in some way. Still on occasion I check in with my guides to make sure and to see what I need to do to prepare. One of the things I was told was that I needed a new attitude about this kind of work. I was making it harder than it had to be. Also I was told that I needed to stop complaining about it. For some reason I was acting out some poor me routine. "Oh poor me I have to call on magical powers to come in and clear out a space, and :gasp: there might be some uncomfortable feelings for a few minutes!" I was making myself into some sort of victim here and I'm not.
So why was I rehashing old patterns of the unappreciated magic worker? Primarily it was fear. I had done some of this work in the past and it had really drained me. This was before I had taken all the workshops and classes for some of my training. I used to make this kind of clearing work into a battle. Some of my older programming about how powerful the dark stuff is (thanks Hollywood and religious upbringing) made me make it harder.
The job went fairly smoothly. I'd say more than anything it was tedious rather than taxing. This may actually be the true reason I prefer not to do it more often. It is very methodical and sometimes time consuming. It requires me to bring a certain kind of focus that is much more "work oriented" than the rest of my practice. This is not to say I am not focused for other sessions, but it is different much more spontaneous.
So why am I telling you this? Well is there something that you do on occasion that you groan about? Something that you are uniquely qualified to do that brings more harmony into the world. Do you show your strength and then complain about the effort? Do you refuse to be compensated and then complain about how unappreciated you are? Well if so jump on the get a new attitude bandwagon. What if you saw this deed as a privilege to perform? What if you gracefully and gratefully accepted recompense? Try it out, lose the chains of victimhood and let me know how that feels.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
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