To the Land of Quetzalcoatl

I'll be going to Puerto Vallarta New Year's Day .
for about 10 days. Glenn and La Sirena (his sailboat) made it down there after a not-so-auspicious start. His engine pooped out just a few miles out of the Golden Gate and he had to be towed in to his first stop at Half Moon Bay. After spending a day driving up and down the peninsula in my car to find parts (good thing I have one - he got rid of both of his vehicles prior to leaving), he was able to fix her and get her going again. Since then it's been smooth sailing.
Now he's in Puerto Vallarta and I'm flying down for a few days. A welcome change from the near freezing cold we've been having here. We will probably go to Guadalajara for a couple days and another small town he stopped in on the way down the coast and loved. Just finished reading 2012: Return of Quetzalcoatl. Interesting "coincidence" that I'll be going to Mexico. The book really got me thinking. Autobiographical at times, scholarly at times, the author is clearly on a search for meaning and purpose. Lots of information and a great bibliography. I'm taking the crop circle thing more seriously after this book.
In fact I'm developing my own theory about many ancient sites like Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid after reading this book. Another "coincidence": I finished the book and two days later got my latest copy of Archaeology Magazine with the cover story about Stonehenge! Daniel Pinchbeck writes extensively about his experiences in England visiting the ancient sites and crop circles that appeared while he was there. Like Pinchbeck, I have pursued many paths and done a great deal of research on seemingly strange subjects (not to me, but to my family). I have wondered from time-to-time why I have done this. Certainly not to make money, because until now, I have made very little from these pursuits. If anything, what I was learning made it harder to live and work within the current system because I could not perceive any "magic" or "soul" there. I felt called, led by the information itself like following a pied-piper. Pinchbeck writes a lot about how our concepts and structures of time affect the way we think. Since I studied for a doctorate in Mayan Studies many years ago, I was curious about this book because I dreaded one more wacko book on the Maya. To his credit, he includes the wacko and the academic (which to some, may be even more wacko). Perspective changes everything. He asks many questions and gives answers from many points of view without dictating any solution. He does give a convincing argument for both the need for a change of consciousness and the evidence that the change is occurring. My website: www.wisewomenofthewest.com continues to evolve.

Breathe, take a walk, open your eyes....

Well that last one was a bit of a rant. I guess the point I was making indirectly is that during this time, pay attention to flares of temper. Even those who think they have a level of self-knowledge and a tiny bit of mastery may have a "reaction" during this time. It could manifest on the physical level as well. In fact, the more "controlled" you are on the outside, the more likely you will have a physical manifestation - such as sudden unexplained physical symptoms. Just pay attention - our relationship to those areas of life affected by energy, will, desire, and drive are up for review until the end of January. It might look something like the two-year-old stomping her foot and saying "No!" Use this time to make constructive, positive changes in your life. Or simply take a break until it's over. For those of you who get caught up in the Christmas frenzy, this might be more difficult. For my part, I have decided to step back from working on my website. I have "hit a wall" in terms of what I can do on my own. I'm getting help tomorrow. I feel such a strong urge to "make it happen" and initial success gave me a false sense of confidence, but now I have reached my limit and have to get input from others who know more than me. Breathe, take a walk in nature or simply open your eyes and look around you. It's all a matter of perception.
My website (still under construction) www.wisewomenofthewest.com
Astrology is a tool for self-awareness. It doesn't tell you what to do but it can assist you in your own process of development and transformation.

Mars Retrograde

I don't know about you, but what's happening for me is: 1)I'm having a real hard time finding a reason to do things. Right now I feel like nothing matters. This is partly the effect of the Pluto and Jupiter conjunction in Sagittarius , but also now, Mars retrograde is taking all the energy out of what I have found meaningful lately; 2)Not telling people off, but setting limits as to what they can say to me and how I want them to relate to me. This is due in part to Saturn crossing my Ascendant, but it is also about changing my definition of friendship (Mars is in my 11th house right now). I have felt that most of my friends have not treated me as an equal but rather as somehow inferior to them. I have allowed this by asking for their advice and seeking their approval. Now I don't care what they think or if they even want to talk to me again. I feel I have been "boot-licking" so they would like me. That's over. One of the marvelous things that is happening is a lot of synchronicity. I turn on the radio and they are doing a program on what I have been thinking about. A friend (yes, I still have some) will start talking about a book that seems to be "right up my alley". I've just started reading 2012: Return of Quetzalcoatl. Since I was working on a Ph.D. in Mayan Studies many years ago, I am particularly sensitive to all the hype about "the end of the world" stuff that people talk about in regards to this date. I will write more about this later. So far, the book is engaging and I'll let you know when I finish it. Also in Astrology Class the other night, the person whose chart we were reading was so much like me it was eerie. He talked about a book called Denial of Death by Ernest Becker, which was published in the 70's and seems to mirror many of my thoughts about society. I ordered it on-line and it should be here in a few days. It promises to be juicy.

Jupiter-Pluto Conjunction

The last time Jupiter and Pluto were in conjunction in Sagittarius was November 10, 1758. This time it will be on December 11, 2007 at 28º24'. On top of that, Mars is retrograde in Cancer going back into Gemini. To some of you this means something, to others it doesn't. For those of you who don't know and don't care, forget the following information. For those who know and those who want to know, I suggest you read Shelley L. Ackerman's article called "Great Balls of Fire! The Big Bang Jupiter-Pluto Conjunction of 2007", in The Mountain Astrologer, Dec/Jan 2008.
For a personal chart reading go to my website: www.wisewomenofthewest.com/. What this conjunction means to me is that the "chickens are coming home to roost" as my mother would say. It's a sort of "check-in" time or maybe a "check-out" time. It's report card time. I consider myself to be a Plutonian type. My Pluto is conjunct Saturn in the 12th house and my South Node is in Scorpio. That's one reason why even though my Sun is in "sunny" Gemini, I am an intense person who has had "an interesting life". I've done some things even men wouldn't do (sky dive) and I've had to do some things no one should have to do in the "land of the free". I am able to hold paradox within me. That is, while I am on a spiritual path of love, I acknowledge the shadow within myself and others. I am not an "air head" or a "light weight". I believe darkness exists and we can learn from it. Pretending or faking it doesn't work. We have some challenging days ahead. I do believe in the Law of Attraction and that what we focus on we manifest. Now that we've all been through countless workshops, meditated for years, or whatever else has floated our spiritual boat, it's time to make it real folks. Put it into practice. As Caroline Myss would say "have a backbone not a wishbone". When I was a child of 10, we practiced nuclear attack drills at school and learned about "smog". That was a long time ago. My generation never expected to grow up much less become seniors (as we are now). My friends and I talked about the end of the world a lot. My answer was (I was a mystic in the making), "Everything will be okay because peoples' minds will change, they will think differently. I don't know how or what, but I know it will happen." I didn't know the word consciousness then or about the 100th monkey thing or the collective unconscious.... But I did know that change would have to come at the level of consciousness and that it would come. Be the change you want to see. You'll see it when you believe it.

Web site in process

I have been working on my website www.wisewomenofthewest.com/ all week and even though I'm using templates, it's still challenging. The frustration factor is high. Software programs can do 50,000 things, but the one thing you want them to do, forget it. I could be out there fighting traffic and crowds in the annual rush to outdo yourself and your friends, known as "Christmas Shopping"! I either do it all year long or give my products. Now that my line of herbal products, and cordials has expanded so much, there's a lot to choose from. The website is started and there is still a lot to do. As for this blog, you might have noticed that some of the ads are wonky and some of them are selling questionable products. This is not my doing and I have to monitor daily to see what they've come up with. I will probably be switching to another location soon. I will keep you posted.

Ah! Monday

Last week I was so busy getting ready for our third annual Joy Road Art Walk and Craft Sale in Occidental, I didn't have time to do any posting. I did read an interesting blog - http://www.todolistblog.blogspot.com/ with a posting called "110 Things to do Before He Dies". It's down the page a bit but worth looking at. I think most of us have made such a list even if it was just in our heads. How many of those things have you gotten to do? Send me a list or comment with 5 things you wanted to do in your life and then actually did. Then tell me 5 you still want to do. I think its good to check it with oneself from time to time. It's a way to call attention to our lives and what we're doing. In the modern world we have more choices than ever and even if we feel stuck in something, we can still change our attitude about it. I have found that when I changed my mental relationship to something, it changed as well. The material presented in The Secret about the Law of Attraction is real for me and I have had my world change amazingly by changing my thoughts and language. For books on this and other related topics go to the Amazon ad on the page. They are having some incredible deals the day after Thankgiving. One winter after I had had surgery, I had many challenges with my house - problems with the well and a leaky roof. I was not able to work because of my surgery and (oh did you know that state and federal employees cannot get disability pay?) so... no income. My car had blown a cylinder the day after I stopped working before my surgery, so no car. And I didn't have enough money to pay for propane heating. In short, I was cold, in pain and the only reliable water I had was falling on my head from the roof. I did have a mound of yarn. I decided to make ponchos. I sat for hours crocheting. The yarn kept me warm. Rather than feeling sorry for myself (tempting I admit, but not helpful) I realized there were hundreds, maybe thousands of people, maybe hundreds of thousands of people who would give anything to: 1) have a house, 2) be home crocheting rather than being at work, and 3) be alone rather than with the person or persons they were with. I thought of all those people who have so many duties and obligations they never get a moment to themselves. I remembered my days in the Peace Corps and my experiences traveling in "third" world countries where people lived in cardboard shanties. And I thought "Wow, am I lucky!" Happy for what I have rather than what I don't have. I viewd my circumstances from a different point of view. Everything has changed since then. I have two cars now, I am self-employed, and the roof and well got fixed. It's important to monitor your thoughts and your feelings. Meditation and contemplation (not worrying) can help with this. I have also found that all the recordings by Caroline Myss are beneficial for changing one's relationship to their life. Have a great week.

In Gratitude

Today I want to pay homage to my teachers and to the spiritual path it took me a long time to find. Thirteen years ago today (Nov. 12) I went to my first "Sufi Dance" in Sebastopol, CA and found my home. Being involved with Sufism has been the one thing I have "committed" to (besides going to school) for so long. I have been more or less actively participating with several lineages during that time, but the community is large and flexible and it is not a problem (except in terms of time). I started with a lineage that came from Hazrat Inayat Khan from India, then added one that came from Mevlana Jelaleddin Rumi, who is buried in Konya, Turkey, but who was born elsewhere. Through my connection to Sufism, all my dreams have come true. I was reading a blog this morning about "to do" lists. Throughout my life, I have made lists about things I wanted to do before I die, places I want to go, etc. I have done them all. I also want to pay homage to Marianne Williamson, whose book Return to Love helped me get my priorities straight and get off the path of being a love addict. I'm not saying I'm "there" yet, but now I can see the "Beloved" in everyone, including myself more and more everyday.