Greetings all,
Hope you've had a good week. Spring has been off and on, but now seems to be rolling along once again. This is the second year of my blog experiment. Blogging each week has kept me on the search for good topics. Every week life shows up with some sort of message or lesson, and I do my best to pay attention to receive and unravel the hidden patterns that lie in wait within my experiences.
When I went up to work at a big psychic fair a few weekends ago I had a very curious experience on my drive. About midway through my road trip I was passed by a red car going extremely fast. I was in the right lane and so it zoomed on by in the left without a hitch. The driving attitude suggested that I was not noticed. I felt completely ignored by this speed demon. (You'll laugh in a minute at that). I had just enough time to catch the license plate on the sports car. It had a vanity plate and it read "EVIL." It was a bizarre moment. I felt like I had been completely under the radar for that car, and I thought, "Evil passed me by and didn't even know I was there." I took it as a good omen for the trip.
Some would call it coincidence, but I seem to get an awful lot of those from license plates.
Good and evil have quite a standing in our culture. We see them locked in an eternal struggle in our myths, our movies, and in our own minds. I'm beginning to think that good doesn't fight with evil though. Evil can't conceive of good and vice versa. This is not to say that bad things don't happen, they do. However the idea of fighting fire with more fire (or in some cases firepower) is mostly counterproductive. I've spoken before of anger being a signpost on the way to awakening. Anger can be a very revealing experience as our perceptions conflict with situations that are out of balance. The anger tells us that something here is not working. However it is the start of change any meaningful and balanced change must be made in a state that is not in anger otherwise we end up creating more problems than we solve.
In Andean Shamanism the concept of good and evil is quite different. There is not good and evil, or even light and darkness, there is lightness and heaviness. Heaviness is caused by being out of harmony in a relationship (with the self, family, society or earth). When we are not in right relation we create an energy called hucha (pronounced hoocha) that weighs us down. It makes us more tired, stressed, cranky, sick, and sometimes cruel. When someone in that cultural understanding does something hurtful to others they aren't called bad they just are carrying a lot of hucha. The medicine people eat the hucha to restore balance in a person, they then send it down into the earth and bring back light sweet energy. The nastier someone is the more hucha they have and the more in need of healing and love they are. It is paradoxical because these people are the hardest to love. This is probably why in the Bible it talks about loving your enemy. (Yes I know it makes me want to vomit too). When people go too long without love or healing they become more and more destructive which of course creates more hucha for everyone. When we counter violence with more violence we create more hucha. I am not advocating allowing violence to continue I am saying when we attempt to stop it we have to be careful to not add anymore of that heavy energy into the equation.
I was having a conversation with a client today about hucha. Somehow or other the income inequality in our country came up. They started talking about the "1%" and how they needed to be taken down. Now on emotional level I completely get that, but from the level of spirit all I could see was how much they needed healing and to let go of all the hucha they were carrying. Truly the only way we can deal with the challenges our world faces is to work together rather than to continue to tear at each other like carnivores fighting over a carcass. (Remind me of this when I get on one of my rants about corporate power).
So how does this apply to you? Well is there someone that you are viewing as the "villain". What would happen if you just viewed them as someone in need of healing? Would you still take their treatment as personal? Would you be able to detach from their energy easier? I'm not telling you to tolerate abuse, but when you are not in eminent danger from it perhaps realizing it is the hucha they are carrying rather than anything about you personally that is the cause may help you stop dancing to the tune of victim and villain.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas
Musings
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Heuristics
Greetings all,
I bet you're confused about the title of this week's post. As each new season comes my memory readjusts. The feeling of the air changes. So as we settle into spring all the prior springs I have experienced come into my mind. In psychology the term that closely mirrors this is state dependent memory. Basically something learned or experienced is easier to recall when you are in a similar state.
Spring is about getting out and greeting the world. Many of us have been sequestered against the cold during the winter (especially this year). My social life has pretty much been on hold since December. This is nothing new. However what has been new in the past year is how much I have socialized. Lately though I find myself retreating into my insecurities into the hermit loner archetype.
This can all be boiled down to heuristic algorithms that my brain has been running for years in social settings. A heuristic is basically an analytical shortcut based on past experiences that is used to navigate situations. Being empathic made social settings uncomfortable a lot of times for one reason. I was very good at sensing emotions but not as good at assigning meaning or distinguishing between my feelings and the feelings of others. So someone would be feeling angry or sad and because of the human tendency to project I would think I had somehow caused it. There is of course a perverse negative narcissism involved here. Basically I made everything I was feeling about me. I took it a step further and started predicting outcomes based on feelings. Now I was really good at this with other people which is why learning to read for people was easy, but when it came to my life I was way too heavy in factoring in my fears and insecurities. In short I was running prediction software with very questionable data.
I bring all this up because I have caught myself doing this recently. I've even indulged in nihilistic confrontational inner dramas. Mostly they involve imagined accusatory standoffs with people. When I snap out of it I realize I am playing at the victim role. It is getting to be a stale role. Those old heuristics just aren't serving me anymore. Maybe they kept me out of some trouble in the past, but now they just keep me out of the fullness of life (and maybe a little bit of good trouble). It is time for me to realize that while I may sense things I am not in any way a neutral observer in my life as of yet, and without that neutrality my predictions for personal matters are inherently flawed.
So what does this have to do with you? Well are you running old programs that are constantly replaying painful dramas in your life? Are you assuming responsibility for everyone else's feelings? Do you project meaning onto others that has nothing to do with you? Perhaps it is time to step back and make sure your heuristics aren't being run by fear. Maybe you need a software patch. What would happen if you asked people what is bothering them rather than assuming it is about you? The thing is most things usually aren't about us even when the feelings of others are directed at us. We make everything about us because we are looking out at the world from our perspective, but perhaps we can try to wipe off any smudges on the lens from now on.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
I bet you're confused about the title of this week's post. As each new season comes my memory readjusts. The feeling of the air changes. So as we settle into spring all the prior springs I have experienced come into my mind. In psychology the term that closely mirrors this is state dependent memory. Basically something learned or experienced is easier to recall when you are in a similar state.
Spring is about getting out and greeting the world. Many of us have been sequestered against the cold during the winter (especially this year). My social life has pretty much been on hold since December. This is nothing new. However what has been new in the past year is how much I have socialized. Lately though I find myself retreating into my insecurities into the hermit loner archetype.
This can all be boiled down to heuristic algorithms that my brain has been running for years in social settings. A heuristic is basically an analytical shortcut based on past experiences that is used to navigate situations. Being empathic made social settings uncomfortable a lot of times for one reason. I was very good at sensing emotions but not as good at assigning meaning or distinguishing between my feelings and the feelings of others. So someone would be feeling angry or sad and because of the human tendency to project I would think I had somehow caused it. There is of course a perverse negative narcissism involved here. Basically I made everything I was feeling about me. I took it a step further and started predicting outcomes based on feelings. Now I was really good at this with other people which is why learning to read for people was easy, but when it came to my life I was way too heavy in factoring in my fears and insecurities. In short I was running prediction software with very questionable data.
I bring all this up because I have caught myself doing this recently. I've even indulged in nihilistic confrontational inner dramas. Mostly they involve imagined accusatory standoffs with people. When I snap out of it I realize I am playing at the victim role. It is getting to be a stale role. Those old heuristics just aren't serving me anymore. Maybe they kept me out of some trouble in the past, but now they just keep me out of the fullness of life (and maybe a little bit of good trouble). It is time for me to realize that while I may sense things I am not in any way a neutral observer in my life as of yet, and without that neutrality my predictions for personal matters are inherently flawed.
So what does this have to do with you? Well are you running old programs that are constantly replaying painful dramas in your life? Are you assuming responsibility for everyone else's feelings? Do you project meaning onto others that has nothing to do with you? Perhaps it is time to step back and make sure your heuristics aren't being run by fear. Maybe you need a software patch. What would happen if you asked people what is bothering them rather than assuming it is about you? The thing is most things usually aren't about us even when the feelings of others are directed at us. We make everything about us because we are looking out at the world from our perspective, but perhaps we can try to wipe off any smudges on the lens from now on.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Friday, April 4, 2014
Unworthy Adversary
Greetings all,
I had meant to have this posting done yesterday so I wouldn't have to bring my work with me on the road. Alas it was not meant to be. Here I sit in my hotel room typing away to you dear readers.
I have been reflecting on the past as the winter sputters out into a most anticipated spring. My twenties have been on my mind. Mostly as a wasted opportunity. I had so much upheaval in my early twenties that I spent most of the second half putting the pieces back together. I seemed to conjure one adversarial conflict after another. Person after person reaffirmed how unworthy I was reinforcing a very negative self image.
I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all my unworthy adversaries. Thank you to the teachers who said I had no talents or gifts. Without you I may not have become a true artist. Thank you to the people who called me ugly. Without you I may have never found my beauty. Thank you to the bullies who tormented me. Without you I might not have found my power. Thank you to the boss that acted like you owned me. Without you I would never have found my true worth. Thank you to the pretend friends who saw only my faults. Without you I may not have ever found respect.
My only regret really is that it took so long for me to see that I didn't need an adversary for me to find my light. Contrast makes things very apparent. It often promotes a crisis (sometimes several) to bring us to a realization. It seems like I've gone through a process of elimination over the years. Slowly removing from my life what I am not. The process continues with fewer unworthy adversaries. Mostly because over the past several years I realized it was always me. What was said or done to me hurt only because I believed it was true or that I deserved no better. Make no mistake I still get upset with people if they mistreat me, but one of the benefits of this blog is that I get to deconstruct it. People behaving poorly with me makes great fodder for topics, but my focus is always on why something bothers me. What part of me is resonating with what is going on in the outer world.
I have faults, we all do. In my darker moments I dwell on them rather than on my strengths. It can sting when someone pokes at one of those shortcomings or insecurities, but that is all the more reason to be more accepting of yourself. If we allow others to separate our being it only causes suffering. When we work on our own mess and love ourselves throughout, the way we respond to antagonism shifts. How that may look varies. Sometimes it is a peaceful ignoring of the treatment. Other times may be confrontational as we take up for ourselves. The thing to remember is the only adversary you have is you.
So how about it? Is there someone you think holds power over you? Do you have an arch nemesis? Is it more impersonal, a group perhaps? What would happen if you viewed them as an unworthy adversary? What if they were just small potatoes? What if the real challenger was in your own mind? Does that make it harder or easier to move forward? Why not look into the mirror and say, "The only way you win is if we both win."
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
I had meant to have this posting done yesterday so I wouldn't have to bring my work with me on the road. Alas it was not meant to be. Here I sit in my hotel room typing away to you dear readers.
I have been reflecting on the past as the winter sputters out into a most anticipated spring. My twenties have been on my mind. Mostly as a wasted opportunity. I had so much upheaval in my early twenties that I spent most of the second half putting the pieces back together. I seemed to conjure one adversarial conflict after another. Person after person reaffirmed how unworthy I was reinforcing a very negative self image.
I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all my unworthy adversaries. Thank you to the teachers who said I had no talents or gifts. Without you I may not have become a true artist. Thank you to the people who called me ugly. Without you I may have never found my beauty. Thank you to the bullies who tormented me. Without you I might not have found my power. Thank you to the boss that acted like you owned me. Without you I would never have found my true worth. Thank you to the pretend friends who saw only my faults. Without you I may not have ever found respect.
My only regret really is that it took so long for me to see that I didn't need an adversary for me to find my light. Contrast makes things very apparent. It often promotes a crisis (sometimes several) to bring us to a realization. It seems like I've gone through a process of elimination over the years. Slowly removing from my life what I am not. The process continues with fewer unworthy adversaries. Mostly because over the past several years I realized it was always me. What was said or done to me hurt only because I believed it was true or that I deserved no better. Make no mistake I still get upset with people if they mistreat me, but one of the benefits of this blog is that I get to deconstruct it. People behaving poorly with me makes great fodder for topics, but my focus is always on why something bothers me. What part of me is resonating with what is going on in the outer world.
I have faults, we all do. In my darker moments I dwell on them rather than on my strengths. It can sting when someone pokes at one of those shortcomings or insecurities, but that is all the more reason to be more accepting of yourself. If we allow others to separate our being it only causes suffering. When we work on our own mess and love ourselves throughout, the way we respond to antagonism shifts. How that may look varies. Sometimes it is a peaceful ignoring of the treatment. Other times may be confrontational as we take up for ourselves. The thing to remember is the only adversary you have is you.
So how about it? Is there someone you think holds power over you? Do you have an arch nemesis? Is it more impersonal, a group perhaps? What would happen if you viewed them as an unworthy adversary? What if they were just small potatoes? What if the real challenger was in your own mind? Does that make it harder or easier to move forward? Why not look into the mirror and say, "The only way you win is if we both win."
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Taking off the Cape
Greetings all,
I hope you've had a good first week of spring. It's felt more like winter here, but that seems to be the way this year wants to play it. This year also seems to be rehashing old patterns for myself and others. One pattern that constantly cycles in for me is the superhero complex.
What is the superhero complex? I'm glad you asked. The superhero complex is the belief that you must help or save all the people in your life. Yes you didn't make their choices for them, but you can't just let them suffer can you? You must thrust yourself into the depths of everyone's drama to save them from themselves. Sounds like fun doesn't it?
The superhero complex is different then simply being helpful. It is proactive in nature scanning for problems and preventing consequences before they even hit a person. This pattern puts you constantly on guard for everyone in your social circle. This includes but isn't limited to: family, friends, co workers, students, clients and random acquaintances. You can see what the problem here is right off with that list. This pattern is an extremely exhausting one to run all the time. You will constantly be pulled from one life crisis to the next with no time to just chill. It not only eats up your time but it also drains your mental focus for your own life. We really only have so much attention and energy to devote to challenges. So while you've been donning your cape to rescue all the people around you chances are that your life goals are not moving along. You can't be the hero in your own story if you are the hero in everyone else's story. You end up being a supporting character in your own life.
This pattern is seductive because on the surface you look like the good guy. Well let's dig a little deeper to see why you are putting on lycra and boots. What would happen if you didn't leap to action when the bat signal blazed across the heavens? Your first thought might be well _____ wouldn't be able to cope and their life would be ruined. Can you see how egotistical that is? You are basically saying that no one but you has the answers. The people in your circle need you without you they'd be lost hopeless individuals. You bring light and meaning into their otherwise dark depressing lives. So there is the possibility that maybe that selfless act you just performed for your best friend was not so much selfless as self absorbed. You are the "best" friend in the universe. The cool one, the nice one, the most awesomest guy(or girl) in the world!!! Nope not ego driven at all. Now that is not all of the reasons why we help people sometimes we do it because we want people to like us. We figure if they need us they won't leave us. Sorry to note according to social psychology research this is untrue as the people who routinely give more in a relationship often value it more than the people receiving. So poor self esteem that leads us to go above and beyond the call of duty to our loved ones actually doesn't make us any more secure in our relationships and in fact can make us less secure.
Now you might just be saying wait back up just a bit I am not doing this for attention, and I don't feel insecure in my relationships (really never ever?). I rescue people because I like the feeling of helping others. Fair enough I sympathize. I get a good rush out of it too (just like any addict), but are you really helping people when you rush off to "save them". If we save people from their own messes all the time they just continue to create more messes. The burnt hand teaches best. When we make it our job to worry over someone else's choices we are setting ourselves and everybody else up for misery. We keep others from growing and we keep ourselves locked into a struggle for control of the world. Maybe it's time to be Clark Kent to the world and Superman for our own challenges.
So how about you? Do you spend your nights prowling the dangerous streets of your social circle's life issues? Do you spend all your energy running around putting out the fires of your friends and family? Are you putting safety labels on life? Maybe you should hang up the cape, take a nap. Ignore the bat signal in your mental sky and allow others the opportunity to step up and become their own heroes. That doesn't mean you can't lend a hand from time to time just make sure there are no ego strings attached beyond the strings of love.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
I hope you've had a good first week of spring. It's felt more like winter here, but that seems to be the way this year wants to play it. This year also seems to be rehashing old patterns for myself and others. One pattern that constantly cycles in for me is the superhero complex.
What is the superhero complex? I'm glad you asked. The superhero complex is the belief that you must help or save all the people in your life. Yes you didn't make their choices for them, but you can't just let them suffer can you? You must thrust yourself into the depths of everyone's drama to save them from themselves. Sounds like fun doesn't it?
The superhero complex is different then simply being helpful. It is proactive in nature scanning for problems and preventing consequences before they even hit a person. This pattern puts you constantly on guard for everyone in your social circle. This includes but isn't limited to: family, friends, co workers, students, clients and random acquaintances. You can see what the problem here is right off with that list. This pattern is an extremely exhausting one to run all the time. You will constantly be pulled from one life crisis to the next with no time to just chill. It not only eats up your time but it also drains your mental focus for your own life. We really only have so much attention and energy to devote to challenges. So while you've been donning your cape to rescue all the people around you chances are that your life goals are not moving along. You can't be the hero in your own story if you are the hero in everyone else's story. You end up being a supporting character in your own life.
This pattern is seductive because on the surface you look like the good guy. Well let's dig a little deeper to see why you are putting on lycra and boots. What would happen if you didn't leap to action when the bat signal blazed across the heavens? Your first thought might be well _____ wouldn't be able to cope and their life would be ruined. Can you see how egotistical that is? You are basically saying that no one but you has the answers. The people in your circle need you without you they'd be lost hopeless individuals. You bring light and meaning into their otherwise dark depressing lives. So there is the possibility that maybe that selfless act you just performed for your best friend was not so much selfless as self absorbed. You are the "best" friend in the universe. The cool one, the nice one, the most awesomest guy(or girl) in the world!!! Nope not ego driven at all. Now that is not all of the reasons why we help people sometimes we do it because we want people to like us. We figure if they need us they won't leave us. Sorry to note according to social psychology research this is untrue as the people who routinely give more in a relationship often value it more than the people receiving. So poor self esteem that leads us to go above and beyond the call of duty to our loved ones actually doesn't make us any more secure in our relationships and in fact can make us less secure.
Now you might just be saying wait back up just a bit I am not doing this for attention, and I don't feel insecure in my relationships (really never ever?). I rescue people because I like the feeling of helping others. Fair enough I sympathize. I get a good rush out of it too (just like any addict), but are you really helping people when you rush off to "save them". If we save people from their own messes all the time they just continue to create more messes. The burnt hand teaches best. When we make it our job to worry over someone else's choices we are setting ourselves and everybody else up for misery. We keep others from growing and we keep ourselves locked into a struggle for control of the world. Maybe it's time to be Clark Kent to the world and Superman for our own challenges.
So how about you? Do you spend your nights prowling the dangerous streets of your social circle's life issues? Do you spend all your energy running around putting out the fires of your friends and family? Are you putting safety labels on life? Maybe you should hang up the cape, take a nap. Ignore the bat signal in your mental sky and allow others the opportunity to step up and become their own heroes. That doesn't mean you can't lend a hand from time to time just make sure there are no ego strings attached beyond the strings of love.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Spring Awakening
Greetings everyone,
Happy Spring! I've had a beautiful day here with sun and blue skies. Today was the equinox and that means I was outside drumming for my community and my clients. On the solstices I seem to gather in a group to drum on the equinoxes I tend to drum alone. I like the balance.
Each quarter of the year is begun with ceremony and it is always different because we are different. We are never the same as we once were. That is a source of both great sorrow and joy. We cannot ever be as we were. We should see it both ways for there is value in our tears as well as our laughter. As we come into spring we tend to laugh more, quicken our step, reach out with ourselves. It is natural after the retreat into the self that winter often brings.
So I set off to the park in the early afternoon. I got out and walked down a footpath and then slightly off the trail. When I drum in public I like to have at least the illusion of privacy for ceremony. I came to a fallen tree with a hollow and thought, "This is the place." So I rattled to clear the space and then I opened with the drum in the east since that is the direction associated with spring. As I began to call in the directions the wind started to blow. I began to drum to my mesa calling on my teachers and honoring them, my power animals, helping spirits, my community of healers, my family, and my clients in the Year of Transformation. Then I began to sing to the trees for their blessings, the nature spirits, the Earth mother, and the Creator. As I continued to drum and sing the words would come to me spontaneously. I don't plan on what to say I let it arise.
What arose today continually was the word awaken. Waking our hearts and our spirits from their slumber apparently is the theme of this coming season. Awakening like memory is a double edged sword. Sometimes it is a rude awakening to harsh facts, other times it is gentle stirring of our untapped potential. Which ever it is it tends to be call to greater freedom.
Ask yourself what is asleep in you? What stirs deep in the slumber of everyday awareness? Is the dream you are in worthy of you? What new life wakens to find its way through you? As we awaken we become more able to change our course. I hope you have a peaceful awakening and start this season rested and in good standing.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Happy Spring! I've had a beautiful day here with sun and blue skies. Today was the equinox and that means I was outside drumming for my community and my clients. On the solstices I seem to gather in a group to drum on the equinoxes I tend to drum alone. I like the balance.
Each quarter of the year is begun with ceremony and it is always different because we are different. We are never the same as we once were. That is a source of both great sorrow and joy. We cannot ever be as we were. We should see it both ways for there is value in our tears as well as our laughter. As we come into spring we tend to laugh more, quicken our step, reach out with ourselves. It is natural after the retreat into the self that winter often brings.
So I set off to the park in the early afternoon. I got out and walked down a footpath and then slightly off the trail. When I drum in public I like to have at least the illusion of privacy for ceremony. I came to a fallen tree with a hollow and thought, "This is the place." So I rattled to clear the space and then I opened with the drum in the east since that is the direction associated with spring. As I began to call in the directions the wind started to blow. I began to drum to my mesa calling on my teachers and honoring them, my power animals, helping spirits, my community of healers, my family, and my clients in the Year of Transformation. Then I began to sing to the trees for their blessings, the nature spirits, the Earth mother, and the Creator. As I continued to drum and sing the words would come to me spontaneously. I don't plan on what to say I let it arise.
What arose today continually was the word awaken. Waking our hearts and our spirits from their slumber apparently is the theme of this coming season. Awakening like memory is a double edged sword. Sometimes it is a rude awakening to harsh facts, other times it is gentle stirring of our untapped potential. Which ever it is it tends to be call to greater freedom.
Ask yourself what is asleep in you? What stirs deep in the slumber of everyday awareness? Is the dream you are in worthy of you? What new life wakens to find its way through you? As we awaken we become more able to change our course. I hope you have a peaceful awakening and start this season rested and in good standing.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Personal Gain
Greetings everyone,
Hope you are adjusting to the time change alright. I can tell you that this week has been quite challenging. I'm hungry and sleepy at all the wrong times. What a difference a misplaced hour can be. It even disrupted one of my weekly phone conferences with friends.
Every week we meet over the phone to set intentions for our world and each other. This week was the second time we'd met on a new night. After almost five years of a particular time we'd moved it to accommodate new schedules. Factor that in with the time change and we were all discombobulated. So I ended up talking with one of my friends later in the evening and discussing working on the self.
Both of us play with energy and possibilities. I mentioned that although I work quite a bit in the field of possibilities and shifts for others with great results, my success with myself has been sporadic. At least in the way of instantaneous shifts. I asked why is it so hard to work on myself when I can do so much for my clients.
My friend quoted a rule back to me that many people in the magical paths have either encountered or been taught formally. "You can't use magic for personal gain." On the surface that seems like a good rule right? Makes it so practitioners can't cheat someone or get an unfair advantage. (Unfortunately sorcerers tend to disregard this rule entirely). The only problem is that personal gain is a very nebulous term. Spiritual growth is a personal gain, so is personal healing. Would we consider these bad?
Some of this comes out of old religious programming and its proscription against magic in general. There are reasons why those proscriptions existed. Yes there are risks, yes there are unsavory people, and there are always unforeseen consequences (or side benefits if you did a good job). This rule against personal gain helps us feel like we're being good little wizards. That if we're not benefitting then maybe it isn't so bad to go against those old subconscious programs.
Still this rule also holds us back from achieving our dreams either with traditional magic, or self help techniques. Together my friend and I came up with a new rule to replace the old one and it is as follows, "Magic cannot be used for soley egoic gain." This still is somewhat limiting but perhaps it is the training wheels to not having a rule at all. The ego while lovely to chat with is only a part of us. This rule ensures that whatever we're trying to achieve is not just a whim of the ego to make it feel more special. If it is something that will bring us into better balance and greater overall joy and ease in our spirit then let the spells fly. If not then perhaps we should take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
So how about you? Do you have some outdated rule about how you can or can't help yourself out? What's that about? Are you afraid if you manifest what you want that you'll be bad? Are you letting your ego's need to be viewed as a good deserving person get in the way of your heart's deepest dreams? What if you crafted a new rule? What if you threw out the rulebook? There is a line from an episode of Doctor Who that has stuck with me. A villain says to the Doctor, "The anger of a good man isn't a problem. Good men have too many rules." To which the Doctor responds, "Good men don't have rules, good men don't need rules." Maybe you could take a page out of the Doctor's rulebook and decide that there are no rules. Let me know how that works.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Hope you are adjusting to the time change alright. I can tell you that this week has been quite challenging. I'm hungry and sleepy at all the wrong times. What a difference a misplaced hour can be. It even disrupted one of my weekly phone conferences with friends.
Every week we meet over the phone to set intentions for our world and each other. This week was the second time we'd met on a new night. After almost five years of a particular time we'd moved it to accommodate new schedules. Factor that in with the time change and we were all discombobulated. So I ended up talking with one of my friends later in the evening and discussing working on the self.
Both of us play with energy and possibilities. I mentioned that although I work quite a bit in the field of possibilities and shifts for others with great results, my success with myself has been sporadic. At least in the way of instantaneous shifts. I asked why is it so hard to work on myself when I can do so much for my clients.
My friend quoted a rule back to me that many people in the magical paths have either encountered or been taught formally. "You can't use magic for personal gain." On the surface that seems like a good rule right? Makes it so practitioners can't cheat someone or get an unfair advantage. (Unfortunately sorcerers tend to disregard this rule entirely). The only problem is that personal gain is a very nebulous term. Spiritual growth is a personal gain, so is personal healing. Would we consider these bad?
Some of this comes out of old religious programming and its proscription against magic in general. There are reasons why those proscriptions existed. Yes there are risks, yes there are unsavory people, and there are always unforeseen consequences (or side benefits if you did a good job). This rule against personal gain helps us feel like we're being good little wizards. That if we're not benefitting then maybe it isn't so bad to go against those old subconscious programs.
Still this rule also holds us back from achieving our dreams either with traditional magic, or self help techniques. Together my friend and I came up with a new rule to replace the old one and it is as follows, "Magic cannot be used for soley egoic gain." This still is somewhat limiting but perhaps it is the training wheels to not having a rule at all. The ego while lovely to chat with is only a part of us. This rule ensures that whatever we're trying to achieve is not just a whim of the ego to make it feel more special. If it is something that will bring us into better balance and greater overall joy and ease in our spirit then let the spells fly. If not then perhaps we should take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
So how about you? Do you have some outdated rule about how you can or can't help yourself out? What's that about? Are you afraid if you manifest what you want that you'll be bad? Are you letting your ego's need to be viewed as a good deserving person get in the way of your heart's deepest dreams? What if you crafted a new rule? What if you threw out the rulebook? There is a line from an episode of Doctor Who that has stuck with me. A villain says to the Doctor, "The anger of a good man isn't a problem. Good men have too many rules." To which the Doctor responds, "Good men don't have rules, good men don't need rules." Maybe you could take a page out of the Doctor's rulebook and decide that there are no rules. Let me know how that works.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Lens of Perception
Greetings everyone,
So in the past week I started reading some books by Carlos Castaneda at the suggestion of a friend who had some very out there experiences while reading them. I had read one book by him 20 years ago but hadn't really touched his work till now. I needed something to change the focus I had been developing.
Just like everyone else I can become fixated in the "real world" forgetting how fluid reality is. The mainstream with all the movies, television, and internet can really take your psyche on a ride very quickly. The world is a lot more changeable and magical than the mainstream would suggest. Change can happen instantly which is why I believe there is a 24 hour news cycle to keep us distracted. Keep people dazzled long enough and you can pull off all sorts of things. I've talked before about the collective dreams and how they bring our world into being. We can also dream our own corner of the world into being. However we can get lost in the tide and eddies of the collective dream if we don't manage our perception well.
What do I mean? Well there are wonderful and strange things going on all the time, and most people don't pay any attention to them. Some don't even recognize they happen at all, and for them they actually don't. How is that possible? Well where we focus our attention is where the undifferentiated wave states of the universe collapse into what we consider "solid" reality. If you want to change what your world is like it really is just a shift of where you put your perception. Now the trick to this is that we have a very ingrained habitual mind that we have been feeding with notions about the world since we were children. We have a fairly coherent framework in our heads of what is and what isn't. We can stretch out of this habitual perception but it takes practice to maintain it. We are so bombarded with specially crafted realities by media and societal constructs that we can slip back into the herd mindset of the "world as it is".
I've seen this in action. Over the years as I have taken classes in various metaphysical concepts there is a particular effect on reality specifically in the middle of a workshop. Synchronicity increases, miraculous healing occurs, epiphanies are brought to our awareness. This bubble of potentiality carries over for a while, but often as myself and others head back into their everyday lives it fades. Why does this happen? Well without much external reinforcement it is easy to slip into our habitual patterns of perception. Which is why I am reading Carlos Castaneda right now. I needed a little goading to remind myself of all the possibilities outside the habitual modes of perception. You change the lens of your perception and stuff starts to happen very quickly. I'll give you an example, this weekend I was working at my part time job and I discovered a box of pizza hut wings in the cooler. (We have a pizza hut in our shopping area and they sometimes bring unclaimed food to us). A friend of mine loves wings. So I thought I would bring them to her. I texted her "Wings?" and got a "Yes please". Well I went back to the cooler and they were gone. No one else had been near the cooler, they hadn't been eaten, there were no bones in the trash (nor a box for that matter). I tore that cooler apart and found nothing. It was as if they had never existed. In hindsight I figured I had slipped into a parallel universe where there were wings in the cooler and then had slipped right back out again.
I've had things like that happen throughout the years. Had I really been thinking I would have used my knowledge to find that other universe with the wings and pop back in. This is why it is imperative to feed alternate ways of looking at the world. It opens you up to more possibilities. Life seems to be full of people ready to tell you why your dream won't work in this world. You can either listen to them and take their lens of perception as truth, or you can turn your attention elsewhere.
So how about you? Have you been sucked into (or suckered into) the mainstream's monopoly on reality? What would happen if you started paying more attention to the strange and unusual and less attention to internet memes and television? Are you letting someone else's view of the world dictate yours? Maybe you should unplug for a bit (after you read this blog post of course) take a trip to another paradigm. You don't have to live there but maybe some of the natives have a custom or two you could adopt when you come back.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
So in the past week I started reading some books by Carlos Castaneda at the suggestion of a friend who had some very out there experiences while reading them. I had read one book by him 20 years ago but hadn't really touched his work till now. I needed something to change the focus I had been developing.
Just like everyone else I can become fixated in the "real world" forgetting how fluid reality is. The mainstream with all the movies, television, and internet can really take your psyche on a ride very quickly. The world is a lot more changeable and magical than the mainstream would suggest. Change can happen instantly which is why I believe there is a 24 hour news cycle to keep us distracted. Keep people dazzled long enough and you can pull off all sorts of things. I've talked before about the collective dreams and how they bring our world into being. We can also dream our own corner of the world into being. However we can get lost in the tide and eddies of the collective dream if we don't manage our perception well.
What do I mean? Well there are wonderful and strange things going on all the time, and most people don't pay any attention to them. Some don't even recognize they happen at all, and for them they actually don't. How is that possible? Well where we focus our attention is where the undifferentiated wave states of the universe collapse into what we consider "solid" reality. If you want to change what your world is like it really is just a shift of where you put your perception. Now the trick to this is that we have a very ingrained habitual mind that we have been feeding with notions about the world since we were children. We have a fairly coherent framework in our heads of what is and what isn't. We can stretch out of this habitual perception but it takes practice to maintain it. We are so bombarded with specially crafted realities by media and societal constructs that we can slip back into the herd mindset of the "world as it is".
I've seen this in action. Over the years as I have taken classes in various metaphysical concepts there is a particular effect on reality specifically in the middle of a workshop. Synchronicity increases, miraculous healing occurs, epiphanies are brought to our awareness. This bubble of potentiality carries over for a while, but often as myself and others head back into their everyday lives it fades. Why does this happen? Well without much external reinforcement it is easy to slip into our habitual patterns of perception. Which is why I am reading Carlos Castaneda right now. I needed a little goading to remind myself of all the possibilities outside the habitual modes of perception. You change the lens of your perception and stuff starts to happen very quickly. I'll give you an example, this weekend I was working at my part time job and I discovered a box of pizza hut wings in the cooler. (We have a pizza hut in our shopping area and they sometimes bring unclaimed food to us). A friend of mine loves wings. So I thought I would bring them to her. I texted her "Wings?" and got a "Yes please". Well I went back to the cooler and they were gone. No one else had been near the cooler, they hadn't been eaten, there were no bones in the trash (nor a box for that matter). I tore that cooler apart and found nothing. It was as if they had never existed. In hindsight I figured I had slipped into a parallel universe where there were wings in the cooler and then had slipped right back out again.
I've had things like that happen throughout the years. Had I really been thinking I would have used my knowledge to find that other universe with the wings and pop back in. This is why it is imperative to feed alternate ways of looking at the world. It opens you up to more possibilities. Life seems to be full of people ready to tell you why your dream won't work in this world. You can either listen to them and take their lens of perception as truth, or you can turn your attention elsewhere.
So how about you? Have you been sucked into (or suckered into) the mainstream's monopoly on reality? What would happen if you started paying more attention to the strange and unusual and less attention to internet memes and television? Are you letting someone else's view of the world dictate yours? Maybe you should unplug for a bit (after you read this blog post of course) take a trip to another paradigm. You don't have to live there but maybe some of the natives have a custom or two you could adopt when you come back.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
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