Tuesday, December 27, 2005

A new year, a new age, a new business strategy

To honor the new year, I wanted to share the information on new age business and entrepreneurship, loosely based my recent interview with Claire Papin. It's something to think about for your future, and I hope it will be informative and helpful in making decision about how to handle the changes and challenges we are all faced with now.

I am currently in Albuqueruqe, NM, staying with a friend, and I have just made contact with old friends from the Sun Temples of Atlantis. This is the culmination of five years of knowing there was a group waiting for me, and that they would know me when we meet, and we would work together on many common goals, using my writing, design work and spirituality. It's wonderful to make this connection. I expect to meet my beloved very soon and see the manifestation of the vision I had this past June that sent me on this journey. What a wonderful time it is for me. I wish all of you much success and joy in this new year. The Angel of Infinity asks me to tell you that is time for the re-creation and recreation for they are one and the same. It's time to put joy back in to daily work and to make it the play that it originally was. Namaste.


The New Age of Entrepreneurship
The Transformation of Business

A dialogue between Claire Papin, It’s All Good on Sirius Satellite Radio and www.lime.com online radio, December 2005.

Intro bio: Today’s guest, Sandy Penny, is a visionary, a highly intuitive spiritual advisor, an accomplished entrepreneur and a published magazine author. She has built businesses from the ground up with little or no up-front investment, incorporating her creativity, lifestyle interests, and spirituality into unique expressions of her authentic self. Sandy has been a graphic designer, a marketing and financial writer for fortune 100 companies, and the publisher of two newspapers, The Rising Sun, the first metaphysical journal in Houston, Texas, and Family and Friends, a resource journal for kids and parents. Currently reinventing herself as a marketing consultant and inspirational speaker for New Age and spiritual businesses, she is traveling the world and developing material for several upcoming writing projects.

People talk about the New Age and the Aquarian Age all the time, but very few people talk about those terms in concrete ways. Can you define those terms for us?

There are many casual references to New Age people and thought and the Age of Aquarius, but few discuss it in a practical way. The "Old Age" was called the Piscean Age, and the fish was its symbol. It corresponds to the sign of Pisces on the cosmic astrological calendar. Our world has moved from the energy of the Piscean Age into the Aquarian Age, also called The New Age.

What was the Piscean Age about?

The Piscean Age was associated with the experience of hierarchy, structure, power and control, deep emotion and addiction - and the positive outcome of addressing the inherent lessons is to master the ability to build lasting structures while honoring the earth and the people who help build and sustain the structures. There are many extremes offered in the Piscean Age, drug, alcohol, work and relationship addictions. All that and more was readily available for us to choose. Once the planet moves out of a cycle, the lessons of that sign are no longer appropriate, even if we have not mastered them. The energy shifts into new patterns, and the old structures begin to break down so the energy can be used to build the new age structures. We have been witnessing that breakdown of the old age since the 1960s, slowly moving through the dawning of the Age of Aquarius into the full onset of Aquarian power.

How does the Aquarian Age differ from the Piscean Age?
Aquarius is the water bearer. It is heralded by events concerning wind and water – like hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, and as a complementary energy, fires that are spread by the wind. In the past few years and this year in particular, the transformation has become more intense, and few people have escaped experiencing it or at least feeling it in some way. The impact has been to bring up all the old Piscean karmic issues for us to look at because as a famous TV therapist says, "You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge." We have the opportunity to make significant growth and change at times like this. We can integrate the lessons of the old age and embrace the challenges of the new one. The good news is that a great deal of energy has been freed up for us to use in new and different ways, ways that are in harmony with the new energy of Aquarius. For those who resist change, events of wind, water and fire will free them from old attachments and create radical change. However, we can make mindful decisions about change, using our intuition and inner guidance, prior to being forced into a change by external circumstances.

What are the attributes of the Aquarian energy?
The sign of Aquarius includes what I call the four Cs: communication, cooperation, creativity and community. These are the challenges and the areas that will offer the best opportunities for success and growth for the next couple of thousand years. The internet is the ultimate symbol for the Aquarian Age. It offers instant world wide communication, the ability to build and change communities and businesses quickly and to respond to changes as they occur. It also offers the opportunity for a great deal of creativity and cooperation as a result of the connections it offers globally and the marketing strategies available to businesses.

How do these attributes affect us on a personal and business level?

On a personal level, we have seen how the internet offers us the opportunity to connect with people all over the world, to communicate, to cooperate, to date and just as easily to shut down that communication instantly if we choose. It offers us the ability to live in remote locations and access a global marketplace, to order what we need and have it shipped to us from all over this planet.
In the same way, the world of business is changing just as fast as the World Wide Web these days. The traditional business model with its hierarchal structure is giving way to the flatter, more fluid nuclear model that can respond quickly to new trends and plug in experts at all levels and phases of a project. Business owners and executives have to be thinking on their feet all the time and learning new skills and technologies. The days of the big behemoth companies are numbered, and their dinosaur bones will fuel the new economy as oil fueled the old one. Even Wall Street now offers a sustainability index so people can choose companies that are focused on what will make them last, like good environmental policies, employee ownership and commitment to fiscal health.

We have been seeing many of those changes in business recently, and there seem to be a lot of people out of jobs these days. Why is that and what does the New Age offer us in the way of financial support?

"To paraphrase W.E. Butler, a spiritual person serves by what he is, not just by what he does. In other words, there is no mandate for spiritual people to subjugate themselves to a collective ideal of servitude, for their very existence is a conduit by which spirit enters into and transforms society, no matter how subtle and unnoticed it may be."

What I mean by using that quote is that the jobs of the past that we have lost recently are not coming back in the same numbers, and rather than worry about what kind of jobs we will have, we have to refocus our attention on small businesses that offer us the opportunity to use the four Cs: communication, cooperation, creativity and community. We have to become more self-sustaining instead of depending on large businesses to support us. The days of the lifetime job and retirement after 30 years are gone. The energy of the Aquarian Age will not support that structure.

More good news is that it offers us the chance to evaluate the lifestyle and work choices we have made and to consciously choose something that brings us joy, challenges us, and expresses our creativity. We all have strengths and activities that we love that can be converted into money-making ventures once we accept that we can truly be paid to do what we love.

What kind of business ventures do you think will thrive in this new business world?

Anything centered around communication, radio, TV, all media will thrive. Entertainment ventures will become more and more desirable, computer games, more complex cell phones that can do so many things, creative movie making, travel, ethnically diverse foods, clothing and cultural events. All creative ventures: writing, painting, sculptures, music, photography. Personal service businesses like massage, personal trainers, meditation, yoga and tai chi instructors, nutritional counseling, alternative healing and preventive medicines. Unique and excellent organic products like coffees, teas, wines, canned food items. Environmentally sound products of all kinds. Non-violent toys, educational items and entertainment for children. And, there are so many things that have not been thought of or invented yet: light and sound technologies for healing, experiential homes and office buildings, so many wonderful changes that can occur if we continue on our current path.

So many people think humanity is headed down the path of destruction, how do you respond to that?

Well, I like to point them to research that was done more than ten years ago identifying the fastest growing market in the western world. It was originally called Cultural Creatives, and over ten years ago, it was calculated at around 35% of market share, and now has grown to more than 50% market share. The interest and personality factors identified in this group of people include concern for the environment, focus on community and cooperation, interest in cultural diversity in friends, food and entertainment, commitment to personal and spiritual growth, and a desire for peaceful coexistence including religious and racial tolerance. This is the market for the New Aquarian businesses, and it’s a huge market with a potential to thrive in ways we’ve never seen on this planet, good ways.

With encouraging numbers like that, why do you think so many people have a negative take on what is happening in the world?

At the same time that this number is growing, the aspects of our culture that need to change are aggressively asserting themselves in an attempt to preserve their own existence. The old age is struggling to hang on, even though it is destined to disappear. I believe that because most people are inherently good, there is a morbid fascination with our shadow side, and that’s why the media often focuses on the negative events that are happening. There is more drama and dynamic tension in what’s wrong with the world, and a bad habit of trying to get attention for negativity has created a perception that we are all bad. I think it is our very goodness that makes us fascinated with what is bad. We can hardly believe such horrible things are possible for human beings, because, for most of us they are not possible. And so we gawk at the three-headed chicken because it’s a curiosity.

How can we shift this habitual negativity?

We can just begin focusing on what is good in our life and putting our energy into projects that move us forward. We can consciously choose to work on our own negativity. We can refuse to watch violence and ask for more positive programming and support businesses and products that are environmentally friendly. We can vote with our dollars and express our opinions when people are running their fear and negativity. We can offer suggestions to people in our lives on how they can help support a world they choose instead of one that is forced upon them or accepted by default. Everything we do is a choice, even the act of not choosing is a vote for the status quo. We have to claim our power and put it into action. We’re creating a new world for ourselves and our children. We have the power to make it better. We can create, communicate, cooperate and build sustainable community. It’s a powerful opportunity, and we have everything we need to move in the direction of Utopia if we just let go of our fears and focus our power and energy in a forward thinking direction. This is the time of choosing and creating. Use it well.

What advice do you have for those in the throes of change and challenge who don’t understand what is happening?

I urge them to assess their skills and talents and to evaluate what brings them joy in their lives and then to look at how to turn that into a business. Make sure it is something you want to do as a business. Many don’t want to use their arts for money-making. They want to retain that as a joy-bringing experience only, and that’s fine. I also urge you to look beyond logic and let go of the limitations of what you think you can do and beyond what you think will make money. Also, look beyond what you think you deserve. Move into the realm of possibility and dreams. Whether we ever allow ourselves to look at them, we all have dreams. We all have vision of what our lives can be. We have to get in touch with them. That is where our mission lives. It lives in our imagination, and imagination is the meeting ground of heaven and earth. It is the realm where creativity reigns supreme. It is also where our personal wants and desires meet the collective unconscious and find points of connection that allow us to serve the greater good while serving our individual wants and needs. If you ask any spiritual person what they want to do, they always want to serve humanity in some way. And if you ask them their greatest challenge, they almost always say: making financial ends meet, paying bills and providing for their daily needs. If you combine those two, you have a winning combination for a successful business venture: serve the greater good while meeting your personal needs.
What are some ways we can do that?

You can get help from life and business coaches to clarify and focus your vision and create goals. You can meditate and ask for an idea that incorporates the aspects of your life that you want to fulfill. For instance, sit quietly and pray or think about what you want a business to do for you. Don’t say, make money. That’s an overlay. What you want may be to meet your financial obligations, to provide extras like vacations and upgrades to your home and lifestyle, joy in your daily endeavors, utilize a particular set of skills and talents you already have, bring together a harmonious group of people to work with. Things like that, whatever it is for you. You have to delve into your innermost wants and desires, and discard things like power and control over other people. That’s also an overlay, and you want to find out why you feel powerless and controlled by others if that comes up. You may need someone like a therapist or a new age counselor to help you sort out the emotional pieces and identify your true heart and soul desires. Once you do that, ask the Universe or Spirit or God to offer you an idea that exactly meets those heart and soul desires. You may not even have to identify them. You may just have to connect deeply with you inner self and ask for the solution. You’ll recognize it when you get it, and then you have to have the courage to act on it. Don’t discount it and talk yourself out of it. Take steps in the direction of creating it. If you don’t know the steps, ask in meditation or pray for the steps to take, then follow them. It’s always your choice to take the steps or discount them, but you will find your joy mounting as you move forward. That is the sign that you are moving in the right direction.

Will you always succeed if you do this?

It depends on how you measure success. I believe that no experience is wasted, and that every step we take leads us closer to our highest and best reality, so even if it looks like a failure in society’s eyes, take what you learn and keep moving in the direction of your happiness. The experiences, the synchronicities, the magic that will occur will bring you great joy. And that joy is what makes life worth living. We are creating a new age society that is more honoring of people, animals and the earth system; more ethical and more accepting of diversity and creativity. It’s exciting.

What will you do with this great opportunity?

Sunday, September 25, 2005

From Gaye on Norfolk Island...

I've read and re-read and I think it was more the energy that came off your words as I read it this morning. On re-reading, it swamped me again and it's so huge that I'll try to give you an idea but I don't know if it'll come through.

Your sitting there, waiting for a hurricane to strike (for God's sake girl!) and processing information, emotional etc as you wait. Pink jeans and all.

"Take a good hard look at yourself".
"Rethink your life"
"If you don't like what's outside, look inside"
"examining my life"
"what have you hidden from yourself"
"process of spiritual analysis"
"focus positive energy"
"claim your power"
"express it"

I knew I wouldn't be able to do it. It's almost as if a conscious part of myself was sent over to you with my energies, and I went through a whole heap of emotional stuff over the weekend but sat back and observed rather than jumping into it. I was still in that space when I read your email this morning and it was so positive, so uplifting, and all from someone who was sitting out a hurricane!!!!!! It just seemed bigger than Ben Hur in that moment. Actually. It still does.

I'd like to take a minute and share something with you though. On Tuesday morning I had a powerful push to put an Advertisement in The Norfolk Islander, and that's a scary thing for me, but it was so powerful that I simply sent them an Ad, saying

Spiritual Readings Flagstaff, Kingston
Are you feeling stuck in old patterns and wish to rewrite your script?
Is your head swirling with new energies, and are fears crippling you?
Gaye is a Norfolk Islander, artist, author and mystic. At her home overlooking Kingston she offers readings, spiritual healings, crystal layouts, balancing and cleansing of chakra’s followed by down to earth discussion.
Bookings essential

No other info. Opened the Islander on Saturday evening and there's a quarter page Ad, two pages in from the front! I gasped. Shrank. Then screamed with laughter and thought, Boy oh Boy, I bet the Big Boys are just dancing in delight and saying to each other, "Wait, wait, she's opening the paper, she'll see it in a minute and will simply DIE!!!!" What a scream. Now that is a real universal joke. I sit now and wait for the consequences to roll in.

That's what I meant when I said that you've taken me beyond my normal little world and allowed me to share something, so big, so vast, that it would change my life! It was already happening. It's been happening to me since my first email to you. Is it a carry on for the love I feel for you and the encouragement and support I wanted to give you! Is it in the giving that I'm receiving. I feel that it is. I feel that I don't often genuinely want to GIVE of myself. I have no idea what I'm going on about. It's a huge change. I'm lovin it.

Love n Light, Ease and Grace, AIDO -- Gaye on Norfolk Island

Focus on the Future - Interactive Dialogue...

Dialogue about the last post: >>Sandy@writingmuse.com<< Otherwise: KB: is Karen Beth Glunz-Bagwell

>>Thanks for the note. Let me walk through your e-mail and respond as much as I can. I could label this post like Bob Frissell and Bret Lilly already wrote in their 1991 book, "Nothing in this e-mail is true, but it's exactly the way things are (for me). <<

KB: I admit that when I read your first issue where you were talking about changing the course of Rita...an aspect of my personality reared up to disregard and scoff... within a second my "aware ego" (a voice dialogue term that I like), quietly witnessed that program, "thanked it for sharing" (rather than attaching) and moved on to my mantra questions "How Does It Get Better Than This? What Is Right About This That I May Not Be Seeing".

>>I always begin by asking what is the highest and best vision I can see, and then I focus on that. I also allow for the "all in divine order" aspect of everything. I also ask what is the gentlest, most flowing way we can get the lesson, whatever it is. In this case, the best scenario I could see was that the storm go to the desert areas in south Texas, but that was not the outcome, and I am happy with the way it all played out. It could have been so much more devastating, and yet for some, it is total devastation.<<

KB: I am in wonder. There is an aspect of my personality that has some "RE" action to the statement, "information from my guides"...as if this information coming from another realm (or not) has more credence, more justification, than coming from you? Several of my friends have asked me to stop "quoting" people e.g. Bryon Katie, one of my favorite spiritual mentors. Actually, all my spiritual mentors are my favorite - tsk! You are one of my favorite spiritual mentors. Anyhow, my intention is to give credit where credit is due.

>>When I perceive that the information is coming from other beings from other realities, then I say "my guides" because I never ask who they are. I don't care who they are, only that they are the highest and best for the purpose at hand and that the information that I get is truth for those hearing it (sometimes subjective truth) for the issue at hand, and that whatever comes through me be used to create a powerful and postive future reality. If I read something, I quote the author.If you tell me something, I quote you. If I think something on my own, I say it as if it comes from me. If it comes from a being such as Shilam-Si-Ra who declares itself, then I attribute it to Shilam-Si-Ra. If it is Isar, an archetypal being of the winds of change, I attribute. You and I may be one, but we're still living separately in a world of duality, or we would not exist separately from each other, even if it may be only a perception.

Invisible beings revealed to me that there are so many beings that share this planet that are not detectable to our normal 5 senses, but that does not mean we can't know and interact with them. Do they not exist just because we don't see them? Do they not exist and have a purpose and reason for being just because we all come from oneness? For someone else to tell you how to express yourself may be them holding you in judgement. I know many things on my own, but not everything in this universe can fit into the small container of me all at once, so things outside this container communicate with me, and sometimes they do have a larger vision and ability to see the bigger picture than the "little I" does. Figure out for you what feels right and do that, even if it is in conflict with others who hold a different view. When I feel that I know all these things without input from other beings, then I will speak with my own authority, and when I feel that others have given me input on a subject, I will name them if I can. If not, I may just call them "my guides."<<

KB: One of the things that Bryon Katie says is that "we are being thought" rather than thinking. Only when we are in creative thinking do we have some originality. Otherwise, all of the 56,000 thoughts running through us, filtered by the brain, are random, recycled thoughts, from the mass consciousness, seemingly pertaining to our individual situation. Or not.

>>I believe that's true, but not the whole truth, and I believe that we cannot know the whole truth as long as we are physically incarnated. I also believe that we can begin to sort out what is recycled thoughts of the mass consciousness and what is inspiration from our Divine Source, and what is individual consciousness from different realms, but we have to develop attention to subtle details to know. And sometimes it doesn't matter what it is, it's what we do with it, how we express it, use and be it.<<

KB: Take for example the thought that cycled into my brain immediately when you posed the possibility of affecting Rita? It was instantaneous. My aware ego recognized it almost as quickly (gratitude abounds) and choose to detach, allowing flow rather than resistance.

>>We often judge it to be arrogant to think we can affect weather patterns and the patterns that seem to be larger, random and issuing from some unknown source. But everything has consciousness and can be communicated with if we find the language to transmit and receive. Of course, we deal with the consequences of what we ask for. For instance, where would you send the hurricane if you send it away from your area? Who deserves it more or less? Who has the right to make that decision and what responsbiility do we bear for asking such a huge favor of the "system?" These are always the questions of claiming power and wielding it knowingly and wisely and compassionately. I always ask for the highest and best outcome for all concerned, and that the least harm be effected, and the most good come of it. If we are to be powerful and to stop naming others as our source, we also take on the responsibility
(response-ability) of these actions. It's a huge piece of evolution.<<

KB: Joe Vitale wrote a piece that Sandra Zimmer shared with me..."we are more powerful than we know". After reading your piece and Joe’s piece among others, I choose to play BIG instead of small. I choose to visualize dissipation. I choose to stay in my question mantras and to meditate so as to detach from the thoughts and drama that the media kept pushing.

>>Good job.<<

KB: I like the way Abraham Hicks teaches about “flow and resistance”. I now look at the vibration of “commitment” as resistance versus flow. Same with the use of the word acceptance. I view it (at this moment and I am willing to have it transform again and again and again) as solid thus resistant rather than flowing...I like the term focus rather than commitment which allows for flow, evolution, and transformation.

>>Some of that is just semantics, word triggers. For me, commitment has a deep and loving sense of a long-term process, and within that commitment, flow plays a role, and resistance plays a role. I have a commitment to my spiritual path and my personal unfoldment, and I follow the flow until I reach a resistance. Then I deal with my resistance until it turns back into flow. It's like a rock in the water. If I need to rest from swimming, I may be grateful for a rock to climb out on while I strengthen myself for further swimming. We are too willing to judge ourselves and others in the process of living, and life keeps flowing over our rocks and giving us lessons anyway.<<

KB: I am learning to stay in the question unless I am in mind storming (creative
thinking) mode. This is key for me right now.... answers are still so programmed and become solid……being “right”. According to quantum physics, the answers transform the minute we “observe” them. The reason that our reality seems to be “the same” is that
we are in resistance rather than flow.

>>What about the possibility of agreement rather than resistance? We have many levels of consciousness within our personal system, and some are in resistance, some are in flow, and some are perfect harmony and balance and agreement. We may be in flow all along, but we have judged our reality, and so we decide we're in resistance, and then, of course, we are. Always allow for the possibility that everything is true, not one thing or another, but everything at the same time.<<

>>Just my opinions and my experiences, and I am changing every day. Do I understand it all? Of course not. But I am a believer, a true believer. I believe that whatever I believe is true. And, that all each of us has is our beliefs because the big questions have no answers that we can truly know in our limited form. And, this planet has room for all realities simultaneously, and room for us to honor each other in our multitude of beliefs, practices and understandings. And that is the beauty of living separately and coming together toward community and oneness.<<

--sandy@writingmuse.com

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Winds of Change - Focus on The Future

For general distribution with credit to the author:
Sandy Penny, Houston, TX, sandy@writingmuse.com

It's just after noon on Saturday in Houston after Rita hit the Gulf Coast. As promised by my guides, I was spared the brunt of the storm. In fact, we had a worse storm than this a week or two ago which is normal for Houston. There was no lightning, some wind but not terrible, and the rain was intermittent. The sun is now coming out some, off and on. All is well.

But that's not why I'm posting this right now. The reason is that with 2.5 million people out of the Houston area right now, this is a great time to focus love and easy changes here. I can feel how clear the energy is with the people gone and the wind blowing through. It's wonderful, really.

It was explained by my guides that both these storms were born in Virgo, and that they were clearing old karma and revitalizing the Gulf Coast energy. Katrina was born in Virgo and delivered in Virgo. She was about clearing old patterns. Rita was born in Virgo but delivered in Libra. It is about restoring the balance and implementing change.

So much was learned in this process about our systems and ability to handle a crisis, and much of it needs big improvement. So much was restated about the good hearted people here and the help they offer each other in times of need. It really is a friendly, caring, open-hearted city. We hosted 250,000 refugees of Katrina from Lousiana, and we shared our resources with them and helped them have the time and space to make decisions about their future. Many of them are changing their lives for the better, and that's what this is about. Change for the better.

It is time for all of us to rethink our lives and ask ourselves the hard questions. Are we, as individuals, happy with what we're living and creating on this planet - in our own lives. We have to stop looking at the systems outside ourselves and ask if we're doing any better on a personal level than our systems are doing on a public level. Our systems are only a reflection of what we do and allow in our lives. If we give up and give our power to others, then we have no viable reason to complain about what they do. We have to take personal responsibility (response-ability) for ourselves and our friends and families, and then our systems will begin to reflect that. If we get caught in greed, our systems reflect greed. If we are stuck, our systems are stuck. Conversely, if we are loving and helpful, our systems can be loving and helpful. If we're angry, we get anger.

Take a good hard look at yourself and your life as you have lived it. If there is anything that you want to change or do differently, this is the time to do it. The free energy of change is available to us all right now. It's not just for the areas being hit by waves of change. This planet is a single unit, and we are all one with it and dependant on it. Don't get caught in victim consciousness or feeling powerless. We can make changes if we truly want to, and now is the time to make that commitment.

Ooooh, what a scary word, commitment. I recently complained that a friend of mine was unable to make a commitment, and doing my own process with why I was experiencing that, I found that there were important areas in which I have not made a commitment. For a while, I lost my trust and faith in Spirit providing for me. I took the reigns from Spirit and drove myself into the corporate world, trusting that it would take care of my day-to-day needs. And it did for a while, but then it fell off, my writing projects went away, and money got very tight. I felt squeezed by financial commitments, and I went deeper into the corporate world (which can be right for some people, just not for me).

On examining my life, I found that I am happiest, most fulfilled and most taken care of when I'm doing my spritual work. When I commit to it, it commits to me. So, I pulled my energy out of the corporate structure and placed it back into my spiritual path. That's when the Ozarks project showed up, and the vision of it was there all along, and it existed long before I made the connection with it. I was slowing down my own process. And Spirit does not judge the decision we make, so if we choose to ignore our guidance and commit to something else, Spirit lets us do that (except in extreme cases where we need to make a change for a particular reason instantly, and we're in resistance, then Spirit may move it for us, but not usually). We have to get in alignment with our highest and best good. We are like sailboats, we have to hoist our sales and place ourselves in the path of the wind to be carried along by Spirit. So, what is it that you need to commit to? What is it that brings your joy? Where is your passion? What have you hidden from yourself that needs to be expressed?

And, speaking of hiding, I recently judged a friend as hiding things from others, and doing my own process on it, realized that I was hiding my spiritual life from the general public. I have always known that I needed to go into a larger venue with the information I bring through from Spirit, but I have intentionally kept it small because I did not want to deal with judgement of the masses. I had a separate website for my business writing and my spiritual writing because I didn't want businesses to judge me due to my beliefs and not give me work. Now, I am committed to integrating my spiritual writing into my WritingMuse site, and creating a whole life for myself. Those who would judge my beliefs are not people I want to work with. And, it's probably more of a non-issue than I think. It's my own fear at work separating me from my wholeness and my joy and passion.

I want to call to your attention to the process I've been going through and always choose to go through. It's a process of spiritual analysis. If I am judging others, then I am seeing something in them that I don't like in myself. I may not know that or even want to know it at the time, but it is true, nonetheless. If I examine myself to look for that piece within me, I can heal it and move out of judgement, and the experience changes outside of me. When I change inside, my outside experience changes. It may take a while to reflect back appropriately, but it does change.

I would like all of you to focus positive energy on Houston and the surrounding areas that were more affected by the storm, and then to focus on the storm in your own life and see what changes you are being called to make, if any. Where are you being asked to amp up the energy for yourself? This is so great. The scenarios are abundant, wonderful, and so beautiful.

Claim your power and express it and share it with the world. It's time to go. It's time to take advantage of this window of opportunity to let the fresh air blow through your life and the whole world.

Peace, joy and gentle changes.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

The Trickster - Rita - Part 2

On October 7, I'm scheduled to do a ceremony and class on "Become a Force of Nature." I guess I'm being offered an initiation of becoming a force of nature for myself. Tonight I'm meditating on the storm and sending it love to reduce its force and anger. This is the second hurricance that was born in Virgo. Wow, is she p.o.'d.

It's a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate my faith and trust of my guides and the divine source to provide ease and flow in my life. My friend Claire had a vision of me a couple of days ago surfing the big waves. I was on the surfboard having a great time, and she was under the water. I reached down and pulled her out, and she realized she too had a surfboard, so she began surfing with me. We surfed right up to the sandy shore and stepped off our boards before they even stopped. We were celebrating our accomplishments. I love that vision. And on the way home from sharing it with another friend, I saw a pickup truck with two surfboards in the back. I laughed at my guides' obvious cosmic joke. Life is so full of magic if we're paying attention.

Tonight, I'm a little over-revved with hurricane Rita energy, but I had a nice glass of wine so I'll sleep well and be ready to focus tomorrow. I will do so much work tonight in dreamtime to make sure the most populated areas are safe.

My guides are fond of asking me, "Are you willing to create a small disaster to avoid a larger one?" I'm practiced in it now, and I hope to accomplish it once again. I feel confident about being safe. I feel excited to be a part of this major shift in energy for the Aquarian Age. But I am an "ease and flow" girl. We don't have to do this the hard way if we release our fears and accept the changes with grace and equanimity.

It's 11:20 Houston time, and I'm heading to bed.

Good night, sweet drams and safe journeys.

I love you all, whether we've met or not.

---sandy

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Hurricane Rita - The Trickster

From: Sandy Penny, sandy@writingmuse.com (Houston, TX)
for general distribution with credit to the author...

I am weighing in officially on my prediction for the hurricane and tracking it by this posting. I live in Houston, and I do not believe the hurricane will directly hit Galveston, although I do believe there will be damage there. I do not believe Houston will have significant damage from winds or flooding. I do believe that the direct hit will be lower in the Gulf - closer to northern Mexico/Brownsville, TX.

I see that the land is parched there and needs a good drenching, and this is Rita's mission, to bring back the greenery to the brown baked areas in lower Texas and upper Mexico. So, we'll know soon enough, but this is being posted on Wednesday evening at 9:25 pm Houston time. I recommend making any preparations that seem prudent, but still I want to celebrate on Sunday when we know everything is great. We'll have a great big Rita party.

----
Here's an e-mail I shared last night - Tuesday night 09/20/2005

I have responded to many phone calls tonight about the projected trajectory of
Hurricane Rita, and I think we can all help make this a more positive event in
advance of it hitting.

I asked my multi-dimensional guides what the highest and best vision is that I can focus on for this hurricane, and I was told that the Mexican desert needs the rain, and that hurricanes, in addition to being the clearer of paths, are meant to significantly shift weather patterns so that areas that need the rain get it.

We, as powerful beings on this planet and project managers with the angels and
elementals can direct the path of the weather. I know it sounds pretty crazy, but I have a great deal of experience with this. And since I am being given this information in advance of landfall, I ask each of you to subdue your fears and harness this energy and direct it toward the areas that need the rain.

Use whatever your usual techniques are. If you pray, then pray that the rain will be useful and helpful where rain is really needed, particularly in the desert areas. If you talk to the angels, ask them to assist with this that it not harm people or animals and that it replenish the earth with its life giving water. If you visualize, see it moving south of its current trajectory (it has already dropped significantly below Houston on the tracking predictions since this afternoon). Envision its power dissipating to 1 and it being very beneficial to the places that need more water.

It's time to ride the big waves and to accept that we can contribute to earth events through mindful emotional directives. Breathe in your fear and breathe out love and positive energy.

Houston was an initial target because of all the natural fears concentrated here with the Katrina refugees and their families and those who are not yet surfing this powerful wave of energy. So, gather together (especially those of you who are not going to be affected by this hurricane, those in other parts of the world or country) and see the beautiful outcome for all concerned.

Don't be drawn into the fearful projections. Just breathe them in and breathe out a transformed vision of it. I know we can do this. I have experience with it. All of you on Norfolk Island know that we can change the weather from the experiences we shared there. See the hurricane transformed into a vortex in the desert, drawing the rain clouds there regularly and turning it into a green land once again.

Thank you all in advance for the powerful visions I know you will hold and the powerful prayers I know you will pray and great good wishes I can already feel from you. And, any of you who have groups that meet tomorrow, call this forth in your group, knowing that where two or more are gathered for the good of the whole, there is love and power and manifestation.

Wishing you all love, light and gentle loving winds of change.


P.S.: I am riding the big waves myself right now, on Nov. 1, I am leaving on the first leg of my new vision quest, to check out a retreat center in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. It matches a vision I saw 15 years ago and that has been prevalent and amped up for me since June this year. A wonderful woman named Bettina has invited me to come and help, and we'll decide what all we can do together as we explore it together. There will be opportunities for others to help build this center if the vision touches your heart and soul. Know, once again, that this is the time of the manifestation and remember what it is that you want to manifest. It's such a powerful time, and you are such powerful people, all of you, whether you feel it or not. Make good use of it right now. It's time to go.

------------

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Become a Force of Nature - Oct. 7, 2005

with Sandy Penny

Friday, October 7, 7:30 - 9:30 pm - ($22)

CenterPoint
(1920 Hollister Rd. * Houston, TX 77080 * phone 713-932-7224)

Sandy has harnessed the power of the elements for the good of earth and humanity for over 30 years. Wisdom taught by multidimensional guides and teachers can help free your energy and move you forward at this very powerful shift time.

Use the energy of Katrina and the other big waves that have changed us so profoundly to create and empower yourself for the life you want to live. Harness the elements on behalf of your mission. It's time to shift into gear, build the future you want and create sacred relationships.

For more info, contact Sandy at sandy@writingmuse.com

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Katrina - Our Crisis is Our Birth

Labor Day 2005 – Birthing a New World
By Sandy Penny, Houston, TX
For General Distribution with Credit to the Author
www.writingmuse.com sandy@writingmuse.com

I have spent most of this week dealing with those who have been traumatized by the events associated with Hurricane Katrina, and they are all asking what is the meaning of all this. I have spent a lot of time meditating on that subject this week, in the midst of my own semi-crazy mindset. I called all my energy back to me and focused on the highest and best vision I can see as the outcome. Keep in mind the name Katrina means holy and pure and virginal.

As many of you know, for more than a year now, I have been talking about the big waves of energy that are being released from the crystal structures within the planet. These waves of energy are clearing the way for the re-creation of this planet for the Aquarian Age, and some of them come with devastating instant changes. As I mentioned recently, the onset of Aquarian Age energy is that water and wind wash away old Piscean structures and clear the karma of old Piscean hierarchies, powers and controls. The tsunami was one of those waves, and it released a large number of souls who are returning to the planet as crystal children.

I personally met my first crystal child today, one of the early ones. He was amazing, so wise and so aware and so powerful in the knowledge of what he is here to do. It was an honor to meet him, and a fulfillment of my own connection for him to sit down at my table at a psychic fair and begin talking with me the way Jesus must have talked with the Rabbis in the temple. He had no guilt or apology for his wisdom. He wasn’t feeling weird the way we all used to when we talked about our spiritual paths. And he carried such joy within him that his smile communicated a wonderful feeling that gave me chills. His name was Aaron which means high mountain and exalted one. I welcome the hundreds of thousands of souls like him that are arriving in new crystal child bodies and bringing with them the wisdom that will change this world forever. It is a true blessing, and we should be grateful to all those who gave their lives in order to return for that mission.

Now back to Katrina, the holy pure virgin. The land in the United States South has had many traumas, many atrocities, and many prejudices. As this land has been flooded, all those negative earth body memories are coming to the surface for review and healing. The winds of change have arrived with raw emotions, and some people are feeling and responding to the old Piscean Age energies of power and control, fear and anger, and hierarchy and structure. A great deal of fear is up for many people. We are now ready to release the last vestiges of our prejudice and fear of those who are different from us. Some people are protesting vehemently and bringing up references to their old pain. Some are turning violent, and many, many of us are feeling the wave in the group consciousness so strongly that we are exhibiting physical symptoms. Head colds and respiratory infections are signals that you have body memories and old karma with prejudice and fear of those who are different.

The way we all can help transform this energy and to make it less painful is to breathe deeply into our hearts and say something like:

You who are the Source of all Power, who illuminates the whole world, illuminate this painful situation and transform it into love, acceptance, compassion, and the embracing of diversity and other cultures. Illuminate my heart, my mind and my body that I can be a part of this transformation and illuminate all those who are in pain that they can make the changes that will transform that pain into love and action.

Over ten years ago I saw a vision of large numbers of people moving around the country and the world to create new communities, to build new societies, to transform cultures into a more positive expression of love, creativity and joy. I could not see how those things could happen, especially in such a short time frame, but since 911, the tsunami and now Katrina, I see how these things can happen very quickly. And what looks like a disaster right now can be the first step in that creation.

The darkest hour is just before the dawn. This is the dawning, the birthing, a labor of love. Make this Labor Day your day of love and help transform the world into the one you’d like to see. Do not allow yourself to get lost in the frazzled astral fears and your first chakra survival issues. Call your energy back into your body and infuse it with change, love and acceptance. Move into sacred relationship with everyone in your life. It’s an act of faith and an act of magic.

You are all so powerful and so beautiful, and I know you want this as much as I do. Join me in seeing the highest and best outcome for this huge transformational energy.

May light and love and power restore the plan on earth.

And so it is.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Ethics in Spiritual Teaching

Today I was really disappointed by one of the spiritual institutions in Houston and how it treated someone who was not only donating the money from their classes but offering a service to the community.

Two friends of mine (Sue and Eddie) started an NLP study group at this organization. Their intention was to bring people together who wanted to study a book on NLP and work through the program outlined in it and apply it to their personal challenges. This was on a love donation basis, and all the funds were donated back to this organization except for $1 per person each week to cover handouts.

After two weeks of the classes, my friend had an opportunity to go out to California and study the NLP teachings and be certified to teach. Her intention was to learn what she could and bring it back to those who could not afford the California program and offer it on a love donation basis which again would be donated to the organization. While Sue was gone, Eddie, who actually suggested the group in the first place, would serve as a facilitator using the exercises and handouts they had created from the book.

As fate would have it, the first week after Sue left, an NLP Master showed up at the class, and volunteered to share his knowledge. Eddie, being the kind of person he is, invited him to do that. Everyone liked the NLP instructor, but Sue and I had a problem with the ethics of walking into another person's group and taking it over. No one else seemed to think it was ethically wrong, but I did and still do. I would not do that because I know how difficult it is to get the courage to teach, and how much preparation and effort goes into preparing for a group each week. I would respectfully have declined to lead the group and would have shared that I also teach and have great respect for those who offer their time and wisdom.

A couple of weeks went by, and I attended a group just to see how it was going. I found Eddie doing a fine job of coordinating the materials, the lessson plan left by Sue and honoring the NLP instructor's contributions - quite a juggling act. I enjoyed the whole class, but the least of it for me was the NLP instructor's participation. Overall, it was a great experience.

Sue returned from California for a few days before leaving again to take Master's Training (which she would also have shared with the group). While she was here, several people from the class sat with her and discussed Eddie continuing to conduct the class, and they agreed to support him in the process.

Three days later, members of the organization showed up at the class, took a vote and handed the class over to the NLP instructor. They ousted Eddie publicly, embarrassed and humiliated him, and reinforced his mistrust of groups that he was trying to heal. It was very sad for me to see that.

Why couldn't they have called Sue and Eddie and discussed it with them? Sue was available by telephone even though she was in California, and Eddie was certainly available. Why didn't they take Eddie aside and ask him to step down. Why didn't they set up a new class taught by the NLP instructor (which I suggested to one of the organization)? Why didn't that NLP instructor protest this poor treatment of a fellow facilitator? Why did a member of the organization say three days earlier that he would support Eddie when he obviously already planned this coup? Why didn't any of them think about their own karma for mistreating someone so publicly? Didn't they even think of the spiritual reputation of the organization?

I have severed my ties with this "spiritual" organization where I speak regularly because I value the contributions that students and facilitators make to spiritual growth. I hold a high ethical standard for myself in the way I treat others as a teacher, and I ask for ethical treatment of those who attend my classes. I also have a strong protective Leo nature for my friends and fellow teachers. If it were not for my own ethics and values, I'd be naming names right now.

This was pack mentality at its worst, in a spiritual setting, and I am deeply saddened by it.

It's my last tie with the Houston metaphysical/spiritual community.
Time for me to be moving on. Time to graduate, lessons learned.

Tearfully for all those who have been humiliated in public - Sandy Penny

Friday, July 08, 2005

Interesting Times...

The last week has been quite interesting and challenging for me. Right after the Solstice/Full Moon Labyrinth Walk, many confrontational situations came up for me, and I mean right after. The struggle to bring the two elements into harmony was not as gentle as I would have hoped for me. By the time I got home from the ceremony, I had phone messages and e-mails that challenged my balance.

And, I must say, I'm very happy with the way I handled them. In each case, I found the right thing to say to diffuse the situation and get to the heart of it. Instead of immediately reacting as I would have, I tried to see what good could come of each confrontation, and I learned a lot. And, I'm happy to say that abated quickly, so I must have gotten what I needed from it.

Then Sunday a friend and I took a very nice spontaneious trip to Galveston, spent time on the seawall, listened to the music he created, and had a lovely dinner at Landry's Seafood looking out on the water. It was an unexpectedly wonderful day. However, sometime in the night I began to feel physically unwell. The next morning I was feeling really bad, and it was followed by an entire day of clearing my body of everything from both ends. Yuck!

There are two theories on what happened. One is that I had food poisoning, that's the third dimensional reality. On a cosmic level, I woke up feeling bad in the night at the exact time the NASA proble smashed into the Tempel 1 Comet. I have a particular affinity with the word and concept Temple, even when they spell it Tempel, and I believe there was a huge metaphor in smashing into this particular comet and the state of aggression among religious factions on this planet. It would not be the first time, nor the last that I have been in alignment with planetary turbulence. I got sick right before the Tsunami hit, and I had a relapse of my "food poisoning" this week on July 7, 2005 (which numerically equals 777, a very mystical number) when the trains were blown up in London. I had a similar physical processing of the 911 events.

We are very connected to what happens in our world and in the universe, more connected than we even know or can imagine. We have to really understand and accept the concept of "everything is one" to realize that what we do to others we do to ourself. The Golden Rule says it, "Do unto others as you would that they do unto you." It's not a platitude, it's a truth that reveals that what we do to others we do to ourself. Everything is one.

Anyway, it has been eventful, but good in the long run. I've cleared out my body, detoxed my caffeine and alcohol for a week, and started to think about what my body really needs. And that's something I haven't considered enough lately.

Have a great weekend... Sandy Penny, WritingMuse.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Ascension to the Balance of Male/Female

Summer Solstice – Full Moon Marriage of the Male and Female within.
An ascension process.

Tuesday night, June 21, 2005 was the summer solstice and full moon. It was the night of the Marriage of the Male and Female within.

It is rare when both the Sun and Moon are at their greatest power at the same time, so we were privileged to participate in a powerful union of the archetypal male and female energies, and benefit from what is ignited and what is received and embraced. This is also a time when there is a great alignment that supports and represents the exact ceremony we were conducting. That is the alignment of three planets which are now visible is a straight line on the Western horizon at dusk – Saturn (the dark and hidden aspects within us), Venus (the heart, the earth, love), and Mercury (the messenger, communication). At this time, we reach into our hearts and recover what we have buried, restore what we have denied and embrace what we have hidden from ourselves. In order to benefit from this energy, we must choose to receive it. This is the time of choosing.

We are also challenged to recognize and own that the Sun is not what changes how much light and energy we receive. It is the earth on which we live and move and have our being that turns its face toward and away from our one source of light, love and power, and it is the earth that moves closer and further away in its orbit around the source who is always present, always available. Many people call the Earth “Mother,” however the Earth is a wise and balanced being who knows the value of both genders, a being of perfect duality, the manifestation born of light and dark, male and female, active and receptive, action and rest, creation and gestation.

The earth is our example for perfect love and perfect balance for us as individual expressions of oneness to emulate. The earth turns its face away from the source of light, action and growth, not because it forgets that the Sun is always available, not because it rejects or judges the Sun, but because rest, reception, gestation must rightly occur for a full expression of its highest and best good. We humans sometimes forget that the light is always available to us. We are the ones who move away from the light and judge ourselves as imperfect for doing so. And we are also the ones who subject ourselves to too much sunlight, and then become overstimulated or burned by it, resulting in anger and judgement.

We are challenged to recognize the rightness of being in our darkness and embracing it as a cycle that contributes to our health, completion and oneness. The Full Moon reminds us of those cycles and calls us into the dark to receive, gestate and integrate. We are called to stop judging ourselves for having our light and dark times, our active and passive times, our growing and resting times. The Earth is not at war with the environment in which it lives, the natural cycles that sustain it. It does not judge the darkness or the light. It embraces each in its proper time, and the Earth does not struggle to hold onto the light when the darkness is upon its face. And in this natural acceptance there is harmony. This is our example, our greatest teacher.

This cycle happens to the earth and to us every day. We exchange energy back and forth between the male and female, the active and the passive, the giver and the receiver within us moment to moment with every choice we make. If we Recognize, Experience, Accept and Love this natural process, we activate our REAL life. Recognize, Experience, Accept and Love – REAL life. That’s what it means to get REAL. We can choose to stop the war inside, to honor the male and female and to declare a marriage of the opposing forces that keep us from our divine passion, joy and the highest expression of our true selves.

Honoring the Male and Female aspects through each chakra:

Bring the energy through yourself from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet as you repeat the honoring of all these elements within you…Speak the words from your heart – Feel the words radiate their power inside you. Own your wholeness.


The Crown
Male to Female: I honor your Stillness and Divine Openness
Female to Male: I honor your Active pursuit of Divine Flow

Male to Female: I honor your Boundless Potential
Female to Male: I honor your Magical Actions

The 3RD Eye
Male to Female: I honor your Expansive Vision
Female to Male: I honor your Focused Intention

Male to Female: I honor your Ability to See All Sides of an Issue
Female to Male: I honor your Ability to Define the Details

The Throat
Male to Female: I honor your Encouraging Words
Female to Male: I honor your Ability to Speak Your Truth

Male to Female: I honor your Beautiful Music and Song
Female to Male: I honor your Powerful Voice of Authority

The Heart
Male to Female: I honor your Unconditional Love
Female to Male: I honor your Loving Expectations

Male to Female: I honor your Nurturing Spirit & Compassion
Female to Male: I honor your Courage and Strength

Solar Plexus
Male to Female: I honor your Creative Ideas and Inspiration
Female to Male: I honor your Problem Solving Mastery

Male to Female: I honor your Acceptance of All People
Female to Male: I honor your Discernment and Boundaries

Sacral Chakra
Male to Female: I honor your vulnerability & deepest emotions
Female to Male: I honor your protective nature

Male to Female: I honor your fertility, sensuality and trust
Female to Male: I honor your passion and sexual freedom

Root Chakra
Male to Female: I honor your innocence and idealism
Female to Male: I honor your manifesting skills

Male to Female: I honor your community spirit and family commitment
Female to Male: I honor your ability to negotiate & get what you want

Life-Earth Grounding & Anchoring
Male to Female: I honor your ability to receive gratefully
Female to Male: I honor your ability to make it happen

Male to Female: I honor your patience and constant presence
Female to Male: I honor your stability and structure

Male to Female: I honor your inclusive acceptance of life
Female to Male: I honor your discrimination and goals

THE WEDDING

This is the wedding, the ascension of Yin and Yang, the male and female within you. We call together all the men and women who have interacted with us and touched our lives through all time, space and dimensions to acknowledge our ONENESS, to declare harmony within and without.

Each I AM statement adds to the invocation of oneness. Notice your reactions as you say each I am for yourself. If you find resistance, examine it and correct the statement to reflect your wholeness.

I AM both male and female and capable of honoring my wholeness!

I AM the perfect manifestation of a loving divine mother and father!

I AM ready to express the highest and best of all the male and female attributes within me!

I AM ready to stop judging myself and others!

I AM capable of recognizing and embracing my true power through the blending of my heart and mind!

I AM ready to love myself unconditionally and share that love with others!

I AM honoring the needs of all the diverse elements within me!

I AM ready to embrace and live my own perfect life!

I AM open to receiving and generating divine flow!

I AM aware of a greater vision while focusing my personal intention!

I AM willing to look at all sides of an issue while paying attention to the details!

I AM offering gentle encouragement while speaking my truth!

I AM nurturing myself as I take courageous steps in my life!

I AM embracing creative ideas and inspiration to help solve challenges!

I AM embracing diversity while I choose my greater good!

I AM feeling deeply while setting boundaries!

I AM trusting and sensual in expressing my passion and sexual freedom!

I AM honoring the community as I make it happen!

I AM receiving with gratitude while giving generously to others!

I AM inclusive and accepting while I build and manifest!

I AM one with the sun, the moon and the earth, the universe!

I AM in Love – living in the midst of love!

THIS IS MY PROUNCEMENT…
By the power I have chosen to place in me,
and by the power I have claimed for myself
and in the blazing radiance and passion of the Sun,
and in the fertile, creative potential of the void,
and through the dynamic expression of the Earth,
I now pronounce myself THE ONE.

I AM THE ONE!
I AM THE ONE!
I AM truly THE ONE!
So it is! So it ever shall be. Arisen - Ascended - Complete!

If you have personal vows, commitments or affirmations to offer on your own behalf, write them down and repeat them!

These vows being heard, acknowledged and accepted by this gathering within myself and by the universe at large, I now declare this ceremony complete.

Monday, June 13, 2005

The Invocation of Passion

Marriage of the Male and Female Within

Summer Solstice, Full Moon, Labyrinth Walk

Tuesday, June 21, 2005
- 7:30 pm
Place: Carmel Temple Labyrinth (www.carmeltemple.org)
-------- South Houston, Texas
Cost: Love Donation

Last week I meditated and had a chat with the personified male and female within me. I explained to them that I have some needs that are not being well met, and I would like their help to change that situation. Having already established a working relationship with them, it was easy to come to some terms. I agreed to dress more femininely to satisfy my feminine side's need for honoring. And I agreed to honor the men who come into my life as representatives of my male side. In exchange for this conscious activity of honoring, I would be rewarded with a spiritual writing project that financially supports me, and a relationship with a man that is for my highest and best good and my great joy and pleasure.

The very next day, things began to shift for me. A new man showed up on my life, and I am determined to honor him. and fully explore what we have to offer each other, even if it's only friendship. Also my male side agreed to stop being so critical of every person and situation that shows up that is brought in by my female side.

It sounds simple and maybe a little silly, but the agreement creates intention, the intention creates action, and action creates results. It's amazing what a different feeling I have after doing this process.

As a result of that discussion, I began considering the ceremony for the Summer Soltice, Full Moon Labyrinth Walk, and I asked Jim Miles, a long-time friend of mine to join me in creating a ceremony that would truly express the marriage of the male and female within and that would honor the traditions associated with the natural cycles of the sun and moon at this time of the year. Since he had just written an article for the Indigo Sun on the Summer Soltice, he agreed that it would be a good thing to do. I'm not surehe understood all he signed up for. It's a big process for him that he didn't even know he was taking on.

We met at Onion Creek in the Heights of Houston for coffee Saturday morning and began to formulate the plan for the ceremony. He was a bit perplexed about how we would accomplish such a feat and what would come from it. We planned to include an honoring of the male and female with him honoring the Moon and the feminine as the yielding male (the sun now at its most powerful on the longest day of the year yields to the feminine which begins to grow in power until the shortest day of the year in December. And I would honor the sun as male in all it power and radiant magnificence.

But we realized something else, the true cycles that we experience are centered not in the sun and moon, but in the earth and its rotation on its axis and its orbit around the sun. We often experience the polarity of the male and female within us as chaotic or combative, but if we observe the greater cycle we live in on this planet, we see that light and dark are not at war, but complement each other, and move effortlessles from one to the other every day in the cycles of light and dark, giving and receiving, activity and rest, ebb and flow, birth and gestation. So, the model we have for the exchange of energy between man and woman (male and female energies) is one of ease that complements each other and creates wholeness.

The marriage of the male and female within will be a psychodrama (a ritual) that balances the duality within us and creates our own internal cycle of harmony, honoring and life beyond struggle. Think what the world would be like if we recognized ourselves as being in harmony with this greater cycle, the gender war would cease, and we would all empower ourselves to use the energies and the tools that are naturally ours to create a perfect creative exchange from our wholeness. And, the outer world reflecting the inner world so perfectly would relax into this cosmic rhythm, yin and yang, light and dark, action and rest, creation and gestation.

If you are ready to cease the struggles within you and create a more peaceful, loving place for yourself in this world, it's time to be the change you want to see. This ceremony could be the first step in making a commitment to your future, your peace, yourself, and from that wholeness and place of balance, you might create the perfect relationship outside yourself, a reflection of all you hold dear, a reflection or your cosmic loving perfection.

This is your invitation to join me and Jim Miles on this journey to wholeness.

Peace - Sandy Penny - the writingmuse.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Missing in Action

It's been a while since I wrote anything for my blog, almost a month. I started doing some work for Art Squad, and it has kept me busy. I also went to my daughter's graduation from college. I'm so proud of her. She graduated cum laude, national honor society and got awards for her honors thesis. All in all, a great performance. It was beautiful weather too. Nice to get out of town.

I finally just started redoing my business writing site. My friend Thomas Dorsch, a wonderful artist and graphic/web designer (www.7thgraphics.com) is creating a great site for me. I've been immersed today in sorting out my samples. When I get started on them, I find I have many more than I remember. I'd hire me if I were looking for a writer. I've been so immersed I haven't even eaten today.

Oh well, I just wanted to sayI haven't abandoned my site. More to come.

---sandy

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Compassion and Chaos

The Full Moon Labyrinth Walk pretty much kicked my butt. It was beautiful and wonderful and magical, and a tornado in a volcano of energy for me. The magic began as we spread rose petals around the center circle of the labyrinth. A large white dog came into the circle, symbolic of the male energy, the light, the sun. He walked around the circle, introduced himself to each of us and then left. After creating a sacred spiral in the field outside the labyrinth, we gathered to sing the oneness affirmation song. As we sang, a black cat came up to us and walked completely around the outer circle and then moved into the inner circle and walked around the spiral of crystals. It then came and lay down behind me as I conducted the beginning of the ceremony (symbolic of the arrival of the moon which just showed its lovely face above the horizon). Now, that's the way to begin a ceremony.

There are deep and compassionate levels we don't even know we have that, when accessed, bring up our deepest sorrows and our highest abilities to love and be loved. My personal challenge is the last vestige of poverty consciousness left over from my childhood of not being able to give those I love what I believe they deserve. It's not even anything they expect. It is my own desire to be generous and to recognize their accomplishments and contributions to my life. I'm moving through it slowly but surely, and I give myself permission to finish it and move forward into my new level of being.

If you need a change in your life, and you want to experience it the power for yourself. Here's a ceremony for releasing, claiming and invoking compassion for you.

--

CEREMONY TO RELEASE, CLAIM AND INVOKE COMPASSION

I call forth the beings of compassion from all directions,
From all time and space and
From all dimensions and planes of existence.
Be with me here and now.
I stand in my own darkness with only the inner light to guide me.

(I light a candle as a symbol of the light within.)

Be with me, bringers of compassion.
Unite my light with the greater light once again.
Restore the memory of my divinity and my connection.
Open my inner eyes that I may see who I truly am.
Whisper in my inner ears with the voice of love.
Remind me of my mission here that I may continue to serve.
Restore my voice that I may speak your truth.
Open my heart that I may feel your unconditional love.
Open my mind that your thoughts may become my wisdom.
Clear and strengthen my emotions and my relationships.
Spread the wealth of your compassion through me and my life.
Restore my physical body to the perfection in which it was created.
Manifest my highest and best good through my life.

Divine spirit, enlighten me as I walk your path,
I release all that does not serve me and remember my true nature:
I release my fears and claim courage.
I release jealousy and claim celebration.
I release gluttony and claim joyful abundance.
I release competition and claim cooperation.
I release judgement and claim discernment.
I release criticism and claim acceptance.
I release loneliness and claim companionship.
I release hatred and claim love.
I release bitterness and claim joy and restore my inner child.
I release poverty and claim abundance, and financial flow.
I release negativity and claim trust.
I release despair and claim jubilation.
I release depression and claim excitement.
I release failures and claim success.
I release old patterns that no longer serve me and claim new positive habits.
I release anxiety and claim faith.
I release stress and claim inner and outer peace.
I release anger and claim compassion.
I release darkness and claim rebirth.
I release myself from earthly limitations and claim my divine power.
I release pride and claim divine humility.

I am the Power. I am the Presence. I am Compassion.
I am love. I am Peace. I am joy. I am abundance.
I am light. I am magic. I am health. I am wholeness.
I am all the gods and goddesses who ever were and ever will be.
I am the manifestation of oneness, I am the great spirit walking this earth. I am the embodiment of communion. I serve the divine plan in my own way.

I enter my sanctuary with an open heart and in harmony with body – mind – and spirit.
I Release and claim what I personally want to release and claim with each step on my inner journey, knowing that there is no right or wrong in this place of compassion, acceptance and power. All things are possible if I only believe. If I have but the faith of a grain of mustard seed, I can move mountains.

(You can create a spiral of stones, crystals or runes if you like.)

I spiral through the universe to find my answers, to seek my truth, to claim my manifestations.
I invoke compassion for the world and all its people, including myself, and I claim enlightenment through all my personal chakras.

I invoke from the centerof my heart…

I am the spiral fueled by wisdom and compassion. I set aside my daily concerns.
I acknowledge my connection to the All.

The All and I are one. Through the All, All thing are done.
I am a drop of water from the ocean of love, raining blessing from above.
I am a ray of divine light, shining hope in the darkest night.
I am a breath of air, the winds of change, the keeper of wisdom, the forgiver of all blame.
I am a leaf upon the tree of life, releasing all struggle and strife.

You who lights our darkness, you who illuminates our way,
shine your light into my shadows and release me this day.
You who shines in the night sky, whose cycles I follow.
Restore my connection, fill my spaces that are hollow.
You who shines in the darkest night. Illuminate my vision, and give me your sight.
You who shows me where my shadow lies.
Restore my voice and hear my cries.
You who comes and goes and is born again.
Open my heart and end my pain.
You who walks beside me always on my path.
Clear my emotions and quell my wrath.
You who creates and destroys your creations.
Let my life serve you and people of all nations.

Enlighten me. Enlighten me. Enlighten me.
Let me know in order to serve. Let me serve from a place of joy.
Let me live in peace and gratitude. Let me be strong.
Let me be powerful. Let me be free. Let me be joyful.
Let me be honest. Let me be faithful. Let me be honorable.
Let me be wise. Let my life be a testament to my creator.

I am the Power. I am the Presence.
I am Compassion. I am Love.
I am Peace. I am Joy.
I am Abundance. I am Light.
I am Magic. I am Health. I am Wholeness.
I am all the gods and goddesses who ever were and ever will be.
I am the manifestation of oneness.
I am the Great Spirit walking on this earth.
I am the embodiment of communion.
I serve the divine plan in my own way.

And so it is. I declare it. I own it. I make it manifest. I live it.


I AM. I AM. I AM.

Saturday, April 16, 2005

Full Moon Labyrinth Walk - April 23, 2005

On Saturday night, April 23, 7:00 pm, I will conduct a full moon labyrinth walk and candle light ceremony honoring the full moon of compassion. If there is an area of life in which you need more compassion, this is the time to call it forth in harmony with the wheel of life.

There is a little Aquarian Age spiritual church on the south side of Houston called Carmel Temple (www.carmeltemple.org) that has one of only a few labyrinths in the area. It is located across the street from the church beyond the parking lot. Based on the sacred geometry used in the ancient labyrinth at the Cathedral of Chartres, it is outdoors, well lit 24 hours a day, and available anytime you want to walk away your cares.

A labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. It represents a journey to our own center and back again out into the world. Labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools.

The experience can be very powerful if you enter the labyrinth in a spirit of honoring, openness and receptivity. It allows you to do something active with your body while freeing your mind to receive images and information from the cosmos. At the center of the labyrinth is a grounded, quiet place of peace and power. It is the center of the universe, the place where all access can be made. You can stand in your universal power out of time and space at the center of your wholeness.

I have walked the labyrinth for personal clarity, for the release of my spiritual teacher's soul from his broken body, and for solutions to my problems, and I have accomplished my intention every time.

The labyrinth is a metaphor for life, winding its way to the center of oneness and back again. You may not be able to see how it accomplishes its mission, but it does offer you a personal journey and a different experience each time you undertake the walk. When you feel lost in life, the labyrinth reminds you that you are not lost, you are following the path you chose to walk, and just because you cannot see how it unwinds, you will always reach your destination and return home again. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth does not have blockages or dead ends, it is one continuous path that leads you in and out again, another metaphor for life to contemplate.

Join me and few friends for an amazing experience of walking the labyrinth under the loving eye of the full moon, the goddess, the feminine self, the light that illumines our dark night of the soul. And be reborn into the world, renewed by the power, the presence and the love. Love donations shared with Carmel Temple.

----I look forward to seeing you there. --sandy

Sunday, April 10, 2005

coming out of your spiritual closet...

Whatever your spiritual persuasion, traditional or new age, talking about your beliefs can be incredibly difficult. And, particularly when someone else is spouting their beliefs, and they are in opposition to yours, it's difficult to speak up and say, "I have a different belief."

You have a right to speak your truth. It's one of the United State's constitutional rights, protected for all time. And if you want to change what's bothering you in your culture, someone has to speak up about it.

It's not always safe to do it. Life is not always safe, but we have to feel the fear and do it anyway. Of course, you also have a right not to speak up, but if you don't you'll never know that there are others who feel the same way that you feel.

This is a time for huge awakenings for people in all cultures. Beliefs are changing, people are awakening to their divine connection, and they want to share it, but they feel threatened, by family, by church, by governments.

Are you in or out of your metaphysical closet?

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

breakthrough

Well, I said goodbye to the Lexus today and got practical. I bought the 2002 Mazda Protege after all. I just couldn't justify the note, the insurance and the gas in the long run. With gas prices escalating, I finally just went for it. Now I'm happily driving my little red car with the cute little sun roof and a pretty decent cd player and stereo. It has power windows and door locks too. With my short arms, I especially appreciate the door locks. I had to go through the angst of letting go of the luxury though, and it was not easy. It was kind of depressing. I tossed and turned and spent a pretty sleepless night last night. On top of that, I was trying to write a politically correct press release for a breast cancer survivor with background materials that were totally not p.c. Added to that, I'm struggling to get the money together to pay for the trip for me and my son to my daughter's college graduation. Can you feel my tension level rising along with my blood pressure?

But, as often happens, while I was out making the deal, I got an e-mail from my main client asking me to come into their office for a few days. (Wheww, she said, wiping the sweat from her brow, maybe I'll be able to get those plane tickets for my daughter's graduation taken care of after all.) And this developer friend of mine offered me a ricidulously low rent on a small house in my neighborhood, beginning in June, perfect timing for me. And I actually got an idea for an approach for the press release I've been struggling with for two days.

When the energetic breakthrough happens, it happens all at once. So, there. That's all I've got today. I'm now too busy to say anything more.

Peace and prosperity to all. ---sandy

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

I'm so spoiled...

Yesterday, I went to visit my "car guy," the one who sold me my used Lexus a year or so ago. I had just begun a cushy new job, and I thought, "What a great affirmation for my new prosperity." So, I bought it. It is comfy, starts without fail and is extremely quiet - no road noise. Ahh, the silence.

A few months later, the cushy job went away, and I was back to freelancing with a much larger car note than I would like to have, especially considering my previous car was paid off. But, I struggled through for more than a year now, paying it, and paying a premium for the full-coverage insurance required by the bank, and paying larger gasoline bills than I'm accustomed to.

Well, the last few weeks I've been thinking I'd like to scale back into a fuel-efficient economy car with a lower car note, a newer model, and get back to basics. So that brings us to yesterday's trip to the car broker - I use a broker, not a car dealer. It's my laziness. He does everything for me, and he's in the neighborhood. So I discussed my options, and he said he had a 2002 Mazda 4-cylinder with all the bells and whistles for about half my current car note. What the heck, I'm not keen on Mazdas, but I should at least drive it and see.

It was very clean with power everything (like my spoiled butt likes it). It started right up, and had a nice quiet motor. Then I pulled out of the driveway and drove it around a few blocks. Only one problem, it rode pretty rough, but not too bad - however, the road noise was horrible.

Now I can't decide if my peace and quiet is worth the extra money or not. It's depressing. I love my Lexus, but champagne taste on a cheap merlot writer's budget takes its toll on me. I like to think of myself as a simple girl, but I can't help liking my comforts.

Maybe I can get a cheaper apartment and keep my Lexus. No, it's not really practical, and I barely drive anyway. It's just transportation.

Want to buy a nice 98 Lexus EX? Only $10,000. Only 75,000 miles on it. Come on, any takers? I really want to sell it, but I am really spoiled to the comfort.

Sighhhhh.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Blogging the Muse

I am using my blog to keep my Muse engaged. After last weekend's major production, I'm feeling a little blocked. Every time I sit down at the computer to write something, I just say, oh what's the use? Instead of a blog, I'm just writing a blahg.

However, I do think it's fun to just write any old thing and have it available for those who are interested in reading it. I wonder if anyone is reading it that I haven't sent an e-mail to. I haven't even figured out how to search blogs properly in this program. I have searched for topics, and I don't find them, none of them. So I don't know how anyone would find me except by accident.

Still, if I can get my mind thinking along the lines of writing instead of just griping, even a blahg is better than writer's block.

I have to just keep on keeping on. That's as much of a pep talk as I can muster right now.

---sandy

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Muse on Speed

My writing muse has been in high gear this weekend.

I started writing a story for my Sanctuary novel yesterday, and finished it today with over 7500 words. I think that is a good day's work. I felt good about it too.

The story is based on a true event that happened in 1974, the summer the comet hit Jupiter. It unfolded at Sanctuary House, my home for spiritual emergencies. It is the story of a shy young woman who compulsively follows a man all over the world, only to end up charged with stalking in a foreign country. It is a case of a past life karmic agreement impacting current time. The discovery of this dynamic and the resolution of that agreement are very interesting indeed. It's not your every day run-of-the-mill case of stalking. And, it has many facets normally hidden from the average therapist trying to treat compulsions.

Anyway, it felt good writing it and having the words pour from me like water from Aquarius' pitcher. I found out that the Aquarian Age is all about communication through the media for me, and now I'm engaged in making that happen.

That's all for today. Have a great last night of the weekend on this the vernal equinox. May your light continue to grow stronger as each day passes.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Temples Gate - gateway to enlightenment

My muse has been on vacation while I've been working on left brain editing. It pays the bills, and I'd rather work at home, so I do it even when I'd rather be writing my own stuff. When I'm a wealthy published author on my tenth book tour around the world, I will have the luxury of declining such projects. Right now, it's really not a bad way to make a living.

But, meanwhile, the topic of this post is Temples Gate. I do a lot of my spiritual work at Temples Gate, 625 W. 19th Street, The Heights, Houston, TX. 713-863-0525. It's a great place. Joel Miles, the owner, is a wonderful person. He always has beautiful, meditative music playing and the best smelling incense burning. Just walking into the place takes your stress level down three notches.

While you're there, you can purchase the music he plays, or some beautiful crystals or power jewelry or candles charged for whatever purpose you need. You might select from his variety of decks of angel and goddess cards. And, you can always find an interesting conversation if you're into other worldly topics. You might find a buddhist talking with a pagan priestess or a catholic priest, and getting along quite well I might add. Or you might find out how to work a spell to attain a goal in your life. You might meet a psychic who can discuss your future or past lives with you. It's great. If I'm feeling lonely or in need of a chat with like-minded people, I head over to Joel's oasis in the cement desert.

There's a lovely sanctuary where classes are held and magic is explored. When you enter through the purple gauzy veils separating the store from the sanctuary, you're immediately drawn to the northeast corner where a stone altar built from sacred site stones is topped by the Divine Goddess or Mother Mary depending on your beliefs. It is surrounded by stained glass candle holders, and makes you want to genuflect or kneel whether you're religious or not. It's lovely, and the energy is great. In the center of the room, on the floor, underneath the magick carpet a six-pointed star is painted. It has been used so many times for magical ceremony that a vortex has been created that brings in some very powerful energy for healing, magick, mystical experiences and spiritual community.

There is another table in the sanctuary which serves as the altar for the "magick basket." The basket represents abundance and harvest. It is surrounded by flowers and crystals and talismans for manifestation. You can write down your wishes, needs, hope and dreams, put them into the basket, and every week, highly developed psychics, seers, magicians, wiccans and pagans and christians send energy and prayers for the achievement of those desires for the highest and best good of all concerned. It's a powerful group of people who gather to work on behalf of those they don't even know. It's an act of love, a work of prosperity through generosity, freely given and freely received. If you want, you can put money in the basket for prosperity activation in your life, and the money is shared with those who contribute energy to the basket. There's no requirement to pay anything though. It's a gift.

A small treatment room is located in the back where you can schedule an appointment for a healing, a massage, a psychic or tarot reading or a foot relexology. I do readings, channelings and healings there, along with several others who schedule the space. Joel, the owner, is a highly developed magical worker as well. He shares his gifts freely, and also energizes the items you buy for a purpose if you so desire. It's truly a magical place. A great place to buy unique gifts for those you love. Everything you buy carries the wonderful energy that permates the store. And, when you just need a rest from your daily fray, you can soak up the atmosphere for free.

About a year ago, my guides told me to go over to the Gate and start teaching classes and sharing energy and building energy for the store and the sanctuary. So I did, and I've been very pleased with my association there. At the beginning of this year, I was told to have The Gathering on Sunday afternoons from 2:00 to 4:00, less of a class and more of a meeting place for like-hearted people. And so, that is what I do with my Sunday afternoons now, at least until I'm told differently.

Last April, I suddenly had to move from the apartment I was living in, and I knew I had to move to the Heights, near Temples Gate. And so I did. Now I live five minutes from the Gate and can do more work there. I love living here. I can feel the heartbeat of the community, and it's alive and thriving. And, I'm half a block from Onion Creek where I have my morning java meetings.

I just came back from doing a psychic reading for someone about relationships, and I can still feel the energy of Temples Gate with me now. That's why I wanted to share it with you while it was fresh. Can you feel it? This post is charged with it.

Where do you find your spiritual nourishment?

------------- sandy

Monday, March 14, 2005

Past Life - this Life

I just found on the Web that my old friend Nancy Patchen has not only published her first book, but completed her second and posted it online for all to read. It is a chronicle of her Journey through Timeless India. I got so engrossed, that I read three chapters before I realized how tired my eyes were getting. You can read it at: http://www.timelessindia.us/ (Note: sometimes Nancy supercedes the book with info on the aquifer she's trying to save from pollution. If you don't find it. E-mail her from the site and let her know you want to read it.)

Nancy lives a magical life. She claimed it for herself when she decided to explore the Hindu philosophies and to live in the Ashrams of India and write a book about Swami Chinmayananda. She used to work for a year or two here in the U.S., save her money and go live in India for several years following her heart. I'm really impressed with her writing, and it spurs me on to complete my journey journals.

I first met Nancy when I was publishing The Rising Sun monthly journal of metaphysical pursuits in Houston, TX. She volunteered to help with the magazine. Having had many volunteers who never showed up, I told her when I'd be doing the work and if she showed up I would teach her what I know.

She showed up, and I said on that very day, "I'll teach you what I know, and then you can take over when it's time for me to quit doing this." And that's exactly what happened. She helped me until I was ready to move on, and she took over the publication. She did a good job too.

Then she went back to India. When I was fretting with the corporate chaos, I used to get letters from her saying how she was spending the next month meditating among mango and cashew groves, or that an elephant got loose in the marketplace and tore down all the stalls. I hadn't yet gone on my spiritual journeys, and I envied her freedom and the peace she seemed to have. Now I just feel the kindship of one who knows what it is like to follow a thread that just keeps leading your farther and farther from the mainstream.

I haven't seen her in years or even corresponded with her. I sent her an e-mail tonight. I hope to hear from her and reconnect with a fellow traveler. Meanwhile, her book is great, well written, intelligent, compelling and thoughtful. Just as I always knew it would be.

Check it out. http://www.timelessindia.us/

------------------

Update: E-mail response from Nancy Patchen of timelessindia.us (still crusading)

Sandikins, How absolutely great to hear from you!!! I remember when I was in Sedona I phoned you and a person told me that you were in VA.... that must have been at least 8 years ago.

I live in Green Valley, a small retirement community south of Tucson. I have taken on the onerous task of fighting the local copper mine which is polluting our drinking water... That's www.savethesantacruzaquifer.info. It's been a trip, I thought I was doing something great for the community (and the very elderly community is grateful), but Department of Environmental Quality, Phelps Dodge mine and local water company--all are furious with me. All for the same reason. I'm putting out information to everyone!

I just filed for a non-profit corporation and hope to get environmental grants, so I can go around Arizona and warn people of this same problem in other areas.
Lots of love and good wishes, Nancy

-----------------------------

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Cup-a-Joe, Please

My oldest son just called and woke me up. I was sleeping and dreaming so nicely, but now I'm awake, and he's coming over so we can go to Onion Creek together. My eyes are still bleary, and I can hardly wait for my steaming cup of organic coffee. The rich dark color and strong, deep aroma wake me up just smelling it. Add a little cream and raw sugar, and you have my perfect alarm clock. I'll be doing the java jive.

I never used to like coffee. My mother drank it so strong I could never develop a taste for it growing up. She used an old metal pot on the stove, not even a percolator pot, you just threw the grounds into the pot, added water and boiled it until it was strong enough to walk over and pour itself into your cup. Then after a couple of times of reheating, you could cut it up and serve it with a spoon. So, I was in my 30s before I began drinking coffee at all, and then only sporadically.

Then when I was in New Zealand, my Canadian friend, Tamara, introduced me to Starbucks breakfast blend, made in a plunge pot (French Press). She taught me that you don't skimp on the amount of coffee you use. Because the more you use, the smoother and richer the coffee tastes because it doesn't leach out so much acid. Well, now I'm hooked. I prefer not to drink Starbucks because I like to frequent small, local cafes with friendly, less hectic atmospheres.

In addition to Onion Creek, I love to go to Empire Cafe on Westheimer and Elmen street in the lower Kirby antique district. The have shirts that say "Corporate Coffee Sucks," and they brew a fine cup-a-Joe. They also serve up great breakfast fare. Their baked version of hash browns is the best high-carb accompaniment to a meal that I know of. You can get omelets all day with whatever you want in them, and they always have a good fruit salad. Their lunches are great too. The other day I had pan seared, wild salmon with baby asparagus and fettucine alfredo, for $8.

Well, now I'm hungry, so I'll dash over to Onion Creek for my organic fix and an egg and cheese croissant. Have a nice day and may you always have a good cup-a-joe.