Archive
Storm Surge in Your Life! – Richard’s Commentary and Glenn Smith’s Obituary
I had one of those days when it may have been better to remain in bed under the covers! Yes, it was another storm surge kind of day! It built up early after a late night wrestling with video production, technical issues, computer sluggishness, internet connectivity glitches. The storm actually started early yesterday. I hope it surged to its climax today as I lost a DVD player (don’t ask!) and made two trips out to get the produce from our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm (their delivery truck broke down, so they were having a stormy day too!).
But I do have a perspective on all of this I need to share:
On May 9, 2013, a friend and colleague, Glenn M. Smith, died suddenly and shockingly, in Huntsville, Canada. He had been ill for some months with strange symptoms attributed to ALS and then Lyme disease. I learned of this diagnosis and thought, OK, treatment is available. Then I received word he had passed. This was truly a sudden and violent storm!
Glenn and I met at a Baeth Davis Scientific Hand Analysis event and then stayed in contact and met again at another BaethLife Purpose event. Baeth saw potential in both of us as caring, sensitive, yet strong men and suggested we figure a way to work together. We started a blog, PowerfulSensitiveMen.com and posted a few things along the way. But we both were busy with other things and then Glenn fell ill.
I have been asking myself, and him, what we should do with the blog. And I got a pretty clear answer today to write this post, post it on the blog and then see what happens. First I want to post part of Glenn’s obituary that appeared in the Toronto Star on May 24:
Glenn Smith passed away peacefully in Huntsville on May 9, 2013 of ALS and Lyme Disease. Glenn was born on April 27, 1958 in Richmond, BC, to parents Wesley and Lorraine. He is survived by his beloved partner of 7 years, Sharon Miller…Glenn was a tradesman, a massage therapist, an author (Lotus Petal) and spiritual guide. Glenn loved to play and have fun. He acted, learned the trumpet and joined a dance class in his forties. He loved to test his body through athletics – as a football and baseball player, as a runner and as a triathlete. He loved the outdoors – boating, swimming and skiing. He was an incredible cook. He was a meditator for over 30 years and a spiritual man. He loved quietly and gently being of service to others. Mostly Glenn loved Sharon. He and Sharon shared a deep love and connection that inspired others.
Glenn was a “powerful, sensitive man.” He is truly missed. I regret not having the opportunity to pursue our work together in the physical but I have a sense we will be working together in another format; because for me the work needs to continue. I know that he agrees. And whether or not our joint blog continues is only a matter of form.
I have more to say about this and Glenn, but for today I want this post to reflect his gentle nature and sweet presence I feel as I write. I will write more about storm surges and their impacts tomorrow.
My little rain-storm today was nothing compared to what Glenn and Sharon have been through. Perspective is always so sobering and so calming to that inner storm!
MONDAY’S POEM: The Journey
The Journey
It begins with rhythm,
Vibrational experience
Animating all existence.
Follow the rhythm
In and down, through
Openings to the cave.
Heart-ground, warm,
Shadowed red tomb
Holding skull, eggs.
The far edge opens,
A window to a
New world, lush, green.
The ledge is high
Offering vistas, yet
No clear way down.
It takes a leap to
Fly on Eagle wings;
On him, in him, him.
The vistas from the ledge
Are nothing to what is
Seen from Eagle’s Aerie.
Vision cascades over
Distant vision, layers
Deep in detailed waves.
The seeing takes away breath
Even for the seer.
Distance is nothing to Eagle eyes.
The ground rushes up;
The dead pine, host to nest,
Reaches and closes in to hold.
The climb down to ground
Is easy, dead branches
Forming natural ladder-rungs.
Mossy, grassy soft lushness
Connects coolly with clay feet,
Absorbing weight, responding.
The round shadow lumbers
Toward the trees from
Shimmering stream, deep pool.
She nuzzles close for a scratch,
Always gentle with a fierce love,
So protectively peaceful.
Her power is unquestioned.
It flows through her body
As she moves, radiating strength.
It flows from her and into
All she encounters, empowering
Those who trust, whom she trusts.
Mother Bear’s energy and power
Comes from her motivation
To protect and nurture.
It is her nature, her purpose.
She knows her purpose and
Embraces it unconditionally.
This grounded sense of beingness
Emanates from her and
Touches all whom she encounters.
Distant echoes of
The calling drum
Reverberate to consciousness.
Thank you, Bear
For your grace and power.
It ebbs and flows.
It lifts carrying upward.
Thank you, Eagle
For flight and sight.
Rock ledge landing,
The cave alight with a
Red glow, cooling embers.
Three eggs rest
Alive with dragon power,
Almost humming with potential.
Grandfather’s skull grins
Upward, always on guard
Watching, waiting, loving.
The insistent drum
Vibrates rapidly home,
The journey done.
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Fires, Thoughts, Transformations and Global Changes
There is another wild fire raging in Colorado. There are actually multiple fires but the one most on my mind is near Colorado Springs in a neighboring district called Black Forest. We have dear friends who live there. And already more homes, a new unwanted record number of homes, have been destroyed by this out-of-control fire.
It was just a year ago that another wild fire, the Waldo Canyon Wild Fire, raged through our neighborhood in Colorado Springs. It left nearly 350 homes either completely burned to the ground or in shambles. Ours was one of the lucky ones, spared in an island of preservation while all around was blackened and burned. I am certain there will be new stories of miracles when the smoke clears from this current fire, still out of control as I write.
Rosemary and I have both been eerily drawn into watching the fires, listening to the reports, tuning in to the regular press conferences and live-streaming KKTV from the safety of our home in Maryland, just as we did a year ago as our neighborhood burned. Our memories of last year are vividly revived and the feelings of helplessness are taking root once again in our psyches. And to top that off, a wild storm hit Annapolis today, knocking out our power just as it did a year ago as we watched Colorado burn.
What’s going on here? What is this mysterious link between our consciousness and the patterns of heat and fire and rough weather across this country? Are the patterns programming our consciousness?
I wrote yesterday in response to the message from The Divine Feminine that our thoughts can create our reality. But what happens when our reality creates our thoughts? I believe it is our moral obligation to counter the negatives with our own positive responses. This is our calling; this is our karma!
Call it what you will: prayer, good thoughts, positive vibrations. They do have an impact. And so, with deep gratitude and with powerful hope and expectations I send out my prayers and hopes and good vibrations to Colorado Springs and Black Forest, to these communities re-traumatized by this wild fire. I send strength and endurance to all who are countering this new onslaught: the fire-fighters, law-enforcement personnel, first responders, aid providers, and especially the displaced victims, many of whom already know their homes are gone.
I know that our former community of Mountain Shadows has pulled together and our neighbors are rebuilding. They endured. And I know they will be there to aid their neighbors to the north in Black Forest. This is where the patterns of consciousness are changing and making a difference. These are communities now who are united in a common cause as they may never have been before. It is this united consciousness that can and will change the patterns of global transformation toward the good and positive.
To all who are in the way of these fires we send our love and support!
Pay Attention to Your ‘Aha!’ Moments! – Richard’s Commentary
In Rosemary’s “Inspiration” video this week she refers to an event we shared on Kauai, Hawaii’s Garden Island. I still use this moment, it only lasted for seconds, to remind myself of the exquisite nature of life, especially as we live it more and more consciously.
It was an overcast day and moving on toward late afternoon as we climbed that winding road up to Waimea Canyon. When we reached the park and canyon overlook, the clouds were thick and it was difficult to see into the canyon to any depth; the far side was shrouded. But as with everything in Hawaii it was still breathtaking. We were considering our return trip down that road full of hairpin turns when the setting sun broke through the clouds behind us and created that incredible double ring rainbow Rosemary describes, casting it on the far side of the canyon. As we stared in awe we noticed shadows at the rainbows’ center. Other tourists on a lower observation platform pointed at it and then up at us and shouted that they believed it was our shadows; we waved our arms and the shadows within the rainbows waved to us in unison! It was us!
This was an image and a feeling I will never forget. It was like Heaven reached down and blessed us. The sense of grace and peace was overwhelming. To this day I carry that image and the feeling as one of those fantastic (miraculous?) ‘Aha!’ moments in my life.
(The picture here is of the Canyon and the lower observation platform. My picture of the rainbows has sadly gone missing!)
One of the exercises I have learned in my Qigong practice with Bridget Hughes is to cultivate the “Feeling State of the Divine.” This is a tremendously powerful healing state to build and to live within. An exercise to build this Feeling State is to recall moments in our lives in which that Feeling State was powerfully present. Well, you can bet this experience at Waimea Canyon is one of those Feeling States and I recall it frequently!
How do you cultivate that Feeling State of the Divine? It is a wonderful practice to help us remember who we are! And it is important, not just as a feel-good experience but as a tool to move into our center of power from which incredible transformation work can emerge. In Rosemary’s message from The Divine Feminine we read about the Earth transformations and the parallel transformations in human consciousness. One effects the other! Recall:
People need to know that their thoughts are creating their physical reality. There is a connection between the dimensions of Consciousness and Physical Existence on Planet Earth. Thoughts can cause a shift in physical reality and these thoughts depend on the beliefs behind them.
When our thoughts are focused on the Feeling State of the Divine we are in a deeply creative mode that can shift everything. In this time of great Earth Transformation it is our Human Consciousness Transformation that can and will make a difference.
Think good thoughts! Recall those Exquisite Feelings of the Divine, those “Aha Moments”, those Peak Experiences that help us transcend the petty, the small, the insignificant and transport us to that place of power and Love!
PS: Time is running out on that “Aha Moment” waiting for you on The Other Side! There are exquisite connections you can make there tomorrow! Friday, June 14, at 7:00 pm, either online (internet or phone) or in person in Annapolis, you can join Rosemary for a Conversation with The Other Side to hear what beings on The Other Side have to tell you. Angels, Guides, Loved Ones come to offer their joy! There’s still time to register! Get more information here.
I Ching Gua for the New Moon in Gemini
It is my Mom’s birthday today; June 10, 1924. She would have been 89 had she lived beyond 83 years. She was a Gemini. My natal moon is in Gemini, always a sweet relationship having a moon in mother’s sun sign.
We had a New Moon in Gemini on June 8 at 11:58 am Eastern time. And with the New Moon I like to cast an I Ching Gua to get a sense of the energies for the upcoming moonth, the next 29 days or so. The initial Gua this moonth is Lü which means fulfillment according to Alfred Huang in his The Complete I Ching. This Gua is related to shoes and walking. For me it means “stepping out” into one’s duty, calling, purpose. And in a large way I have begun to step out. I’m off to a really good start with my two Qigong classes which I kicked off in the past week. I don’t have large groups yet, but they are already growing and the paying participants are more than covering my costs. I’m happy with these results. I also related in posts last week that I am no longer hiding my talents and my accumulated skills and wisdom. Now is a good time to move firmly into action, fulfillment and purpose.
How are you stepping out into your purpose? The energies of this moonth will support you as you do, especially during the first part of the period.
Note that the fifth line of the initial Gua is a changing line: the nine, yang line, changes to a yin line. This creates the approached Gua: Kui, which 
means Diversity according to Master Huang. This change impacts the energies and brings a cautionary note with it: the fifth position in the Gua is a yang position, which is proper, strong; its change to a yin line may bring adversity: being steadfast and holding to purpose rigidly can lead to adversity.
That said, in diversity there can be great harmony with the proper attitude. Find common ground on the big things and all the little differences will blend and disappear. In diversity there can be great strength.
How do you handle diversity in your life? Do you resist change? Do you back down from confrontation?
So as the moonth unfolds watch for the shifts from “fulfillment” to “diversity.” This may mean a strong purposeful beginning to the moonth with a gradual shift as the energies change to scatter that directed energy and bring about diversity. And as this happens watch for the opportunities for harmony, the strengths in diversity rather than the oppositions. Hold to an attitude of cooperation and resist the temptation for stubborn resistance. There will always be differences as long as there are two or more humans involved in any issue. Blend the small differences because they are inconsequential; harmonize the major differences and gain strength from the symphony of ideas!
Have a beautiful Moonth!
PS: Qigong continues this evening, Monday, June 10 at 7:00 pm. If you are in the area of Annapolis/Severna Park, Maryland, please join me: Details here.
What Are You Hiding?
In her Ezine and blog posts this week Rosemary asked: “How Are You Hiding?” I responded to this question here in my post yesterday with a “true confession” about “how” I’ve been hiding.
Then I watched Rosemary’s video again (Link). I remembered she also asked “What Are You Hiding?” Answering this question may be even more revealing than answering the first!
I was leafing through a book we recently picked up through a book and CD trade event: Awakening to the Sacred by Lama Surya Das. I was drawn to the first chapter in Part Three of this book “Dzogchen and Natural Meditation.” (The title of Part Three is Coming Home to Your True Nature.) And I read this:
What would it feel like if you could stop pretending to yourself or anyone else? Wouldn’t it be great if you were able to give yourself unconditional acceptance and permission to be the person you really are? Think about the bliss of being at one with things just as they are. Think about the bliss of just being.
Yes, this feels right. This is what it means to come “home to your True Nature.” It is my True Nature I have been hiding these past years.
Have you ever been in touch with your True Nature? I have. I have had those peak moments over the course of my life that let me know who I really am. It is like the Universe steps in to remind me of who and what I am. I pay attention to these moments but then the moment slips by and life intervenes and the next interruption in the True Flow of moment to moment derails me. Here’s a recent example of what I mean:
The other day I had a good Five-Element Form Qigong practice followed by a yoga routine I follow. After yoga I sat on my cushion for a bit, gathered myself, took some deep breaths and my TM mantra popped into my mind. I settled in and went quickly deep riding the inner, silent vibration of the mantra, that single seed syllable I’ve carried with me for years. It was like meeting an old friend and catching up.
And as I came back up from trance my mind settled on that mantra and when it was given to me through initiation. It was in the early summer of 1969. I was between my second and third year of Peace Corps service on my way home from Ethiopia via Germany. I spent some time with a German volunteer friend in Klais. And there her friends were just returning from India where they had been initiated by Maharishi. And they initiated me! It changed my life forever and that first meditation with my new mantra was likely the first time I met my True Self and my True Nature.
As I sat on my cushion these few days ago recalling this moment in 1969, the tears welled up and chills ran through my body. And again I caught a glimpse of my True Nature. Yes, this is what it’s like when I’m not pretending, not hiding; this is the bliss of “just” being.
And the real “trick”, the real movement toward “home to my True Nature” is to hold that reality moment to moment through all moments. And this is where practice comes in; and why practice is all it will ever be!
Are you hiding your True Nature? Think about the times you too have experience your authentic self!
How Are You Hiding? – Richard’s Commentary
True confession time! Frankly and in all authenticity I have been hiding at least since I retired from the corporate world at the end of 2007. Of course I have many excuses for this. But Rosemary’s question is not about “why” I’ve been hiding, good reasons or excuses, but rather about “how” I’ve been hiding. So, here’s the story:
I’ve been staying in the background, in a sense hiding behind Rosemary these past five plus years. I retired so we could start a business together. If you have been reading her blog or my blog, subscribing to her newsletter or know her in any way you realize the incredible talent she has on many levels, including the ability to communicate with The Other Side! She is a powerhouse and it’s easy to hide behind her.
Our business partnership was at least in part organized around this talent. She is the front-person for the business and I am the “operator.” She does all the outside work with clients and I run the back-office, the technology for the internet-based program, the financials, legal stuff, etc. This doesn’t sound too much like hiding out, does it? And it was certainly a plate-full for both of us as we started up our business in early 2008.
We did a lot of work, heavy lifting, to launch this business. We attended seminars and workshops, we did the research, we built websites and wrestled with emailers and auto-responders, Rosemary went to coaching events to help “jump-start” the business and I sometimes attended as a “free” guest at these events. We worked hard at this.
At these events I often felt awkward. Was I attending to understand better how to build her business, improve her internet presence, help market her talents? Sometimes I had the feeling I should be taking in the coaching, suggestions, technology patterns and marketing ideas for myself; in exercises during the events I would be half thinking about Rosemary’s business and half thinking about how I could apply the material to something I could offer.
And often I sensed the implicit and sometimes explicit motivation from the leaders and speakers at these events to apply what they were teaching to my own practice! (Whatever that might be.)
But I had too much to do to develop any kind of practice for me. What did it matter that I am an ordained minister in an Interfaith Tradition? What did it matter that I too have talents, sometimes even in parallel with Rosemary’s? Did it matter that I am this unusual male being, so often operating in this wonderful world of feminine energy I constantly find myself in? Rosemary’s coaches, mostly women, did seem to think it mattered!
I continued to hide through the upheaval of our down-sizing exercise, sale of our house in Colorado and move to Maryland (three separate truckloads of our stuff!) to hang out with daughter for a while as we catch our breath. We continue to work on the business and I continue to hide out in the back-office. But all of this is changing! I am not only processing Rosemary’sMuseLetters, shooting the videos, handling the blogs, keeping the website updated and running the business end of the business; I am also reading Rosemary’s prodigious volume of material and taking it all to heart.
I am done with hiding. The excuses for doing so are empty. There is more to me than “Chief Operating Officer.” And I have launched; I have begun to shine a brighter light out into our community! My first Qigong Class this past Monday evening was great: well attended for a first time offering, smoothly delivered and positive feedback received.
This time, 2013 and beyond, as we’ve written many times in these blogs, is a time of transformation. It is not a time to hide. We can no longer hide from ourselves or behind anyone else.
Answer the question for yourself: “How are you hiding?” Then look for ways to break down the barriers, open the doorways of opportunity and step through!
PS: There are beings you can’t hide from: your angels, guides, spirit guides and loved ones who have crossed over! Oh, you can ignore them; pretend they are only part of your imagination. But they won’t go away because they are here to help you! On June 14, at 7:00 pm, either online (internet or phone) or in person in Annapolis, you can join Rosemary for a Conversation with The Other Side to hear what those beings have to offer you. You can’t hide; you may as well listen! Get more information here.
Butterfly Maiden
When I was a kid growing up in Wisconsin we used to plant corn when the oak leaves were as big as squirrel ears. I loved this way of letting nature guide the farming cycles. Nature knows more about how to grow things than we will ever know with all our weather predicting technology and modern methods. This reminds me that we are patiently waiting for the first delivery of spring harvest from our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm here in Maryland. But with the cool, wet spring things are late and we are probably still a couple of weeks away from first delivery. For a farmer from Wisconsin there should be no surprise here!
I wrote this thinking about corn planting and growing – the old-fashioned way! And I hope Butterfly Maiden is watching over our CSA vegetables!
Butterfly Maiden
The corn is planted;
The spring rains have come.
The holy ground is rich;
The loam warms the seed.
Soon there will be a splitting;
Soon the full moon will shine.
Soon the earth will feed that seed;
Soon the sprout will reach for sun.
Moon watches through the night;
Moon wanes through a fortnight.
Moon withers toward rising sun;
Moon winks out as the sprout sees dawn.
Butterfly Maiden sheds her cocoon;
Butterfly Maiden warms in the sun.
Butterfly Maiden grins at the grinning moon;
Butterfly Maiden guards growing corn.
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
PS: Qigong starts this evening, Monday, June 3 at 7:00 pm. If you are in the area of Annapolis/Severna Park please join me: Details here.
Walking Through Doorways
It’s been a busy week! Walking through doorways of opportunity can occupy a lot of time. But when opportunities show up we have to respond or be left behind, at least as far as The Divine Feminine are concerned (ref: yesterday’s post).
My first door opened when I got serious about Qigong. I’ve blogged about this, my experience with Bridget Hughes for well over a year now, then my work with her teacher, Jeff Primack, culminating in certification to teach Qigong, and then launching my first two classes which begin next week. This is exciting enough! And yes, there is a bit of fear surrounding this; who am I to think I can teach Qigong! Well, I walked through the flaming doorway of opportunity, changed my mind about my ability (a long time ago I was an effective teacher of math and science) and announced my classes! I even have people signing up!
It seems that once opportunities show up and we say “yes” other opportunities follow. Last week I posted a recording of my message from The Other Side (post link). The main part of that message was from a Shaman Guide who basically told me to “access the shamanic world” more often. Well, I have followed this advice and have taken several journeys over the past week. And I have received guidance that with no uncertainty holds open a doorway of opportunity to get out there and do for others what I have been able to do for a few and have been hiding from for years now.
It is not cool to claim to be a Shaman. In the world of Shamanic Healing using traditional indigenous technologies that are millennia old, people don’t choose to be shamans, and when they are chosen they don’t necessarily walk around with a shaman’s badge pinned to their robes. If I feel a bit trepidatious about my Qigong classes imagine how I feel about this guidance to work with people using shamanic approaches to healing! This work is not for the faint of heart. I have a lot of training and I have a lot of warning that this is no easy path to follow.
But sometimes these doorways of opportunity, no matter how high the flames lick the posts, are easier to walk through than resist. And with that I revised my business card format and they just arrived fresh from the printer. Here it is:
And the byline, “Shaman of the Heart,” is not a label I choose for myself. A dear friend, mentor and teacher, Baeth Davis, called me this a couple of years ago. That’s a long story but the short version is I have all loops for fingerprints which means I am in the School of Love, my Lessons are about Love and my Purpose is Love; hence the title!
I am standing in this burning doorway ready to leap through. I trust there is someone on the other side who has a hand outstretched to me to welcome me and perhaps even to reassure me. But this time of opportunity is not waiting for me. It is waiting for no one of us.
Are you ready to step or leap through that doorway of your opportunity? Do it; join me!
Doorways of Opportunity—Richard’s Commentary
I always enjoy these messages from The Divine Feminine. I’ve heard and read many over the years I’ve spent at Rosemary’s side. They are always rich with wisdom yet well grounded and practical. And because I’ve heard so many I also know they are genuine. So I pay attention when they speak through Rosemary!
The key to this message is in the very first lines: The flames are licking at the Doors of Change. Those who fear change are trying to engulf the opportunities in flames so that you and others will not walk through them. Do not let these fear-mongers paralyze you.
Fear is one of the chief emotions that impacts our willingness, even our very ability to change. We fear change because we don’t know what is on the other side of that door. We know what is on this side and too often we are either too comfortable or too complacent with the status quo to consider what may be on the other side, even if it could be wonderful!
The trouble with comfort and complacency is the inevitability of change. The Divine Feminine say: The evolutionary forces of the Universe are not static. They are always and forever moving forward, taking with them those who are connected to growth and leaving behind those who wish to go backward, which is the same as attempting to stand still. There is no standing still. There is only moving forward or being swamped by the Tides of Change.
The status quo cannot stand against these formidable tides. Consider some of the Hubble pictures Rosemary posts in her Ezine! I’ve included one here (Galaxy M106) to illustrate this point. Imagine the immensity and the enormous energy represented in this galactic “whirlpool.” This is the energy of change alive in the Universe! Yes, “resistance is futile”! We live in a dynamic Universe and The Divine Feminine are suggesting, warning, that if we try to stand still we will be inundated.
There is another force that works to keep us in fear of change; that force is greed. For many the status quo means continued profits; change may impact those profits. Again, the opportunity on the other side of the doorway is veiled; there may be risk involved. There is less risk in the status quo, right? Yes, if the only concern is for the short term; this quarter’s over last quarter’s and last year’s quarter returns. But can the forces of greed resist the coming changes any better than the forces of fear?
Just as change and opportunity are two sides of the same coin, we can look at fear and greed in the same way. Greed is a fear of not having enough; it is born from a sense of lack. Much is never enough. Too much is better but still not enough! There is a strong resemblance here among change, fear and greed.
We have to step through this doorway, even as the flames of fear and greed lick the frame and turn us away. Opportunity is the only way to approach change. Yes, there are unknowns beyond the doorway; yes, there are risks that must be faced. But the changes are coming, are here, whether we resist them or not. It is far better to ride the tide of this transformative time and rise with the opportunities that flow our way. Seize them, not as life lines, not out of greed or the need for gain, but for advancement, for the evolution of humanity, of the Universe. The force of evolution is here and will press on with us or without us.
Are you ready for the evolutionary ride of your life? Grab hold!
Men and The Goddess 