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A POEM FOR FRIDAY: Red Lion
I am publishing a poem today because we are moving rapidly into the New Moon in Libra; it occurs at 8:34 pm Eastern Daylight Time this evening. And with the New Moon I will cast an I Ching Gua (hexagram) to shed some light on the coming month. I’ll publish that here on Monday in lieu of the usual “Monday’s Poem”.
I published this poem not long ago in these pages. But given the context of the posts from this week I think it bears repeating. This week has been about alchemy and how we are all agents of transformation for ourselves and for everyone we come in contact with. Transformation does not come easily. It requires our attention, our effort and certainly our awareness. And sometimes it requires a catalyst, a philosopher’s stone, a Red Lion!
So, in this context of the alchemical transformation of human consciousness I repeat:
Red Lion
Some days the beast requires a leash,
Some ways the body must seek release.
There’s no chance of change in full control,
Transformation comes through Red Lion’s role.
Remember this warning, keep to the path.
Control the creature or suffer his wrath.
Don’t bind him too tightly, there’s energy need.
Give him his head, he wants to be freed.
There’s a delicate balance of domestic and wild:
Too much domestic, the mix is too mild:
Too much wild, the mix goes astray;
Isis knew the secret of this precious way!
PS: If you are in the Annapolis, Maryland area, I am beginning a new series of Qigong classes next Monday, October 7. Check details here.
You Are The Alchemist—Richard’s Commentary
The message from The Divine Feminine Rosemary posted yesterday is a heavy one. It lays on each and every one of us a substantial responsibility. Being an Alchemist is no trivial undertaking. And the statement here is we are all Alchemists in our very beingness, in every thought, word and deed!
Here’s the responsibility The Divine Feminine hand us:
Each of you who sees these words is a transformation artist in every moment. Every word that you speak has the power to transform the hearer in some way. You can speak with love and concern and em-power the other person, or you can speak harshly and increase their feelings of low self-worth or self-esteem.
Even your thoughts have the power to affect another person. If someone speaks to you, and your thoughts are not supportive, you are sending that lower energy vibration to the speaker. If, on the other hand, you really listen and see the essence of the person and not the circumstance they are describing, then your thoughts can help that person to experience a higher vibrational energy and feel that support.
Heavy! But anyone of us who reads these words knows they are true. Anyone who trusts in the power of manifestation, the ability to turn thoughts into things, the Law of Attraction must realize that these powers apply to our relationship with others just as The Divine Feminine point out in clear terms.
Now I know my thoughts, words and deeds are not always of the purest form. In fact I am going through some moody moments in these last few days as the Moon wanes to the extreme just before conjoining the Sun exactly at 8:34 pm Eastern tomorrow, Friday, October 4. At that exact time the Moon becomes new, reborn. But now as I write she is in her Waning Crescent Phase and nearly “gone” from the sky. What does this mean? For me I get lethargic, heavy, I feel a little under the weather, not ill really but not well either. It’s as if as the Moon goes into the shadow of the Sun I move into my shadow time. And my mood reflects this shadow.
I write from this shadow time and ask “how am I to be a catalyst for the uplifting of others; how am I, even in my thoughts, to help another experience a higher vibrational energy?
Fortunately The Message not only states the challenge to be The Alchemist, it offers the solution to my concern:
Your first obligation, however, is to transform yourself into the person you were born to be. Are you living the life that your essence is asking for? Are you being your true self and not a persona required by others around you?
And:
As your consciousness evolves, so will your vibrational frequencies. Keep reaching for greater awareness, greater understanding of the world around you and where humanity is evolving. Pay attention to your thoughts and ask about the ‘light content’ of those thoughts. Are you thinking at a high frequency of light or do your thoughts feel heavy and dark?
Well, my thoughts may feel heavy and dark at the moment as the Moon “dies” into the Sun. But at least I am aware of this. And with this awareness I can perform some alchemical magic around this time: I can honor the Moon, let the experience of the final phase of her waning wash through me, and look forward to celebrating the New Moon as she is born tomorrow evening. I can meditate on the cycles of the Moon as they represent all the cycles in our lives. And I can reflect on these cycles as they mirror all the cycles within me, even the waxing and waning of moods!
Awareness is the key. It is the first step forward as The Alchemist to bring more light into the world!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: You Are The Alchemist!
We have a message from The Divine Feminine to help us embrace our Inner Alchemist:
“Dear Ones,
Transformation is Alchemy in practice.
You are not turning lead into gold as you have been told the alchemists of old were attempting. You do, however, have the power to turn the lead of another person’s anguish or concern into the golden light of joy.
Each of you who sees these words is a transformation artist in every moment. Every word that you speak has the power to transform the hearer in some way. You can speak with love and concern and em-power the other person, or you can speak harshly and increase their feelings of low self-worth or self-esteem.
Even your thoughts have the power to affect another person. If someone speaks to you, and your thoughts are not supportive, you are sending that lower energy vibration to the speaker. If, on the other hand, you really listen and see the essence of the person and not the circumstance they are describing, then your thoughts can help that person to experience a higher vibrational energy and feel that support.
Speaking or listening you can affect another person by your presence. You can help them to feel good about themselves or to feel lower self-worth. Do you think about this when you speak? Do you concentrate on the other person when you listen?
Now, it is not your role to do the transforming of and for another person, but you are a facilitator. The alchemist mixes the elements and adds a catalyst, and then the process occurs. You are the catalyst as well as the alchemist.
Your first obligation, however, is to transform yourself into the person you were born to be. Are you living the life that your essence is asking for? Are you being your true self and not a persona required by others around you?
Transformation of yourself does not indicate that there is something broken in you that needs to be fixed. You are perfect just as you are at this moment. The transformation of which we speak here is the one in which you continue your evolutionary process, the alchemy of reaching for higher and higher vibrations within yourself.
As your consciousness evolves, so will your vibrational frequencies. Keep reaching for greater awareness, greater understanding of the world around you and where humanity is evolving. Pay attention to your thoughts and ask about the ‘light content’ of those thoughts. Are you thinking at a high frequency of light or do your thoughts feel heavy and dark?
Transform your thoughts and you will experience transformation within yourself.
Your story of transformation can act as a catalyst to help others to see the possibility of experiencing their own transformation. Think about being the empowered alchemist who empowers others!
You are the alchemist. When you shift the lead of heavy thoughts in your own life to thoughts of the Light, you can experience the golden Light of Joy that does not depend on circumstances but that lives within you NOW.
Be an agent of transformation, first for yourself and then for others. Be the alchemist you were born to be!
And so it is.”
From Rosemary: This message indicates that we are always in the process of transformation and so is each person with whom we come into contact. That is an awareness that leads us to see why we must take charge of our thoughts, words and deeds!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: You are an Alchemist!
My “Two-Minute” video for the week: You are an Alchemist!
MONDAY’S POEM: Karma
Through the past few posts I have written of my travels to Wisconsin for the annual “homecoming” pagent in my home-town of Blanchardville. All experiences have their lessons. All paths and destinies are driven by karma. With my experience of traveling back to the family farm of my youth still fresh, I reflect some of my musings in the following:
Karma
There’s always more to burn:
Fuel to feed the great fire.
Travels through life in the mire
Lead to more lessons to learn.
Brothers of three generations
Differ in extraordinary ways.
Their life-paths twist through a maze;
Destinies driven by their limitations.
Karma is complex to unwind;
The source is a tangle of lives.
The weaving together of so many tribes
Forms a patchwork, one of a kind.
When love is the thread for the stitches,
The patterns emerge in fine hues.
The patchwork of reds, purples, blues
Renders a tapestry depicting life’s riches.
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
PS: If you are in the Annapolis, Maryland area, I am beginning a new series of Qigong classes next Monday, October 7. Check details here.
An Appreciation of Goddesses
I have noticed I am not writing about The Goddess much lately. I have to get back to the reason for this blog; for men to get in touch with The Goddess!
I offer you three stories from the last few days:
Story 1: I met my youngest niece for the first time this week. My youngest brother had a daughter last year. I hadn’t been back to Wisconsin, where they live, until my return for “homecoming” (as I’ve written extensively about these past few posts). She is now about a year and a half and every bit a Bredeson! She is cute, precocious, both shy and full of energy and life. It was a joy to meet her!
And I learned from her, this young goddess with all the makings of a beautiful Venus. She taught me the joys of innocence; her smile was brilliant and unaffected. She taught me about simple pleasures; picking grass and examining it with intense curiosity. She taught me to play; her relaxed approach was filled with fun and laughter. As I think of her now I smile recalling her initial reticence and her final warm hug and kiss for Uncle Rich.
Story 2: I returned from Wisconsin to an empty house. Rosemary was off to a conference/retreat in Baltimore. While I had another “goddess” to keep me company, Tara, our Lhasa Apso, my human goddess didn’t return until Wednesday evening. And when she did I experienced a new radiance and a bright smile that I had missed while away. She was full of light from the conference, brimming with ideas and a renewed enthusiasm for the work we share. There was more to this than just a short absence and a week’s separation. There was a glow, a lightness of being that I was delighted to reconnect with. My goddess was not only home again, but revved up and ready.
Story 3: Rosemary and I attended a concert last evening. The Mediaeval Baebes are in Maryland for the Renaissance Festival this weekend. As a special treat they appeared in concert in Annapolis Thursday evening. We have been fans of this group from London for a number of years and make an extra effort to see them when they are near.
These six women have voices of goddesses! They sing incredible, originally arranged and orchestrated, carefully researched songs from the ages. They are a truly gifted group; their songs run the range from deeply spiritual to the highly sensual. They are fun, witty, exuberant and talented. They are not only “baebes” they are goddesses!
Three stories, three encounters with goddesses. I am truly blessed! I offer these stories as both reminder and enjoinder: look for the goddesses in your life and honor them. They are beautiful, loving, kind, compassionate, brilliant and strong. They deserve your attention and your affection! The Divine Feminine is truly coming into her power as we move deeper into Aquarius.
And don’t forget about your Inner Goddess. Nurture Her!
What’s the Message? – Richard’s Commentary
As if to emphasize both Rosemary’s and my recent posts, The Divine Feminine offer a message urging us to look for the messages!
One of the take-aways I have is there are messages available to us in everything; everything we see, hear, say, feel, think, even in what we write! Rosemary channels The Divine Feminine and she writes it down as it comes. I write myMorning Pages as part of my practice; and sometimes they write themselves with little or no conscious control on my part. These too are signs and messages we need to attend to.
And sometimes these messages are hard to take; sometimes we would rather ignore them than absorb and act on them! The Divine Feminine say this about that:
Sometimes the messages are blatant and are held in your face so that you cannot miss them. At other times the messages are subtle and might be repeated many times before you realize that they are, indeed, messages for you to interpret. When you are aware that there are messages available constantly you can notice the many forms in which they come to you.
Whether the messages are blatant and we ignore them or subtle and we miss them they will be repeated! We are here to get the messages and to act on them. This is transformation.
In my previous two posts last Thursday and Friday I wrote about “home” as in homecoming and my family farm in Wisconsin. I was hit by blatant messages every moment of my trip there last week. And I got the message! The home farm has been transformed by my two brothers who still live there. Of course this is their right; I gave up all physical and fiscal ties to the farm when our mother passed over five years ago. But until this past week there was a vestige of home for me there, residing in my heart. That was my boyhood heart. But experiencing the transformation of the farm well beyond what I remember growing up has had a profound effect on me.
I have experienced my memories of the home farm has a kind of longing; there seemed to be a rather small but significant empty corner in my heart reserved for the wonderful times I had there as a kid. Perhaps I held on to that emptiness so I could fill it, replenish it when I returned there. But this trip “home” there was nothing to fill; and I quickly realized there was no emptiness to fill either. There was no subtlety to this message. And there is no need to repeat it.
I am so grateful I not only received this message but got it. I am “home” now; I’m back in Maryland with my wife, my dog and my stuff. And I am complete! I left no part of me in Wisconsin and there is no hole in my heart for anything I may have once thought I left there. It is all transformed; all for the better!
Sometimes the messages are blatant and sometimes subtle; they are always there. And they keep coming at us until we “get it.” When we do get it and act on the messages there is a sense of freedom and expansion that is wonderful.
Are the messages you receive blatant or subtle? Do you act on the blatant ones and work to interpret the subtle ones? They will keep coming until you do; and then new ones will follow! It’s part of life.
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: What’s the Message?
From The Divine Feminine:
“Dear Ones,
Help is here! We are working with your personal angels and guides to get your attention so that you can accelerate your personal growth in these turbulent times. Pay attention.
Sometimes the messages are blatant and are held in your face so that you cannot miss them. At other times the messages are subtle and might be repeated many times before you realize that they are, indeed, messages for you to interpret. When you are aware that there are messages available constantly you can notice the many forms in which they come to you.
The form is not as important as the content of the message, for humanity is beyond the point where the form of communication matters. It is much more important that, for the evolving consciousness of the human race, you learn what is the next lesson in your own personal syllabus and continue on your path of growth.
This is not the time to compare yourself to others on the path. Each individual is responsible for their own personal growth and the pace at which that growth is occurring. If you feel that you are not growing as rapidly as you wish, you are in total control of your growth. If you feel that the lessons are coming toward you too rapidly, then ask yourself why the Universe believes that you are ready for these lessons and you do not have the same confidence.
Planet Earth has no time to wait. All who have chosen to be alive in this moment of history have a role to play in the evolving consciousness and in the evolution of the Planet. While you may think that your personal growth is yours alone, that is not true. It is your responsibility and that responsibility extends to all of those around you.
This is why it is so important that you watch for signs, for messages that will guide you in your growth. Does a book fall off the shelf in front of you? Do you keep hearing a particular song? Are you seeing the same numbers or words showing up?
There are many ways that the messages can appear and, when you are open, you will recognize their meaning for you. If you are seeking and not finding, then ask for help from a trusted confidant or counselor. The messages are in front of you. There is no need to work too hard to find them. Relax and look around you. Be aware. Be conscious. Invite your angels and guides to speak to you.
Keep a journal of your dreams and your experiences. Notice patterns. Meditate and remain open to recognizing the signals that there is something important for you to receive. Pay attention to the different ways that signs appear to you.
It is not enough to get the messages and to recognize the meanings. You must also take action on the guidance you receive. Now is not the time to hide!
Be a carrier of information. As you learn, share what you have learned, even if it is just with one person. Connect. The Universe will bring you the connections that are necessary to the growth of all who are evolving.
Remember that your Soul chose to be on the Planet and a part of this moment in human evolution. Rejoice in the part that you are playing.
Be constantly asking yourself, ‘What is the message?’
And so it is.”
— Rosemary’s note: We live in exciting times. Participate FULLY!!!!
PS: Are you seeing patterns in your life but not sure what they mean? Do you receive signs and messages you want to interpret? Do you need help with your next step on your personal growth path? Apply for a FREE Discovery Session with Rosemary to explore your signs and messages! Apply Here
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: What Crops Up Over & Over?
Here is Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” video for the week: What Crops Up Over & Over?
PS: Are you seeing patterns in your life but not sure what they mean? Do you receive signs and messages you need help with? Apply for a FREE Discovery Session with Rosemary to get help with the hidden messages for your life! Apply Here
MONDAY’S POEM: Balance
During this time of the Autumnal Equinox it is good to look for balance in our lives. I published this poem before, during another equinox. But it continues to speak to me and I hope it helps bring balance to your life during this time of equal light and dark. And the last line of this poem is fully in harmony with my last couple of blogs about “home” and “sense of place.”
Balance
Breathe in freshness,
The power of life in the Universe.
Breathe out love,
The acceptance of All in the Universe.
Consume deliciousness,
Every dish alive with energy.
Purge the waste without grief;
It is a meal for another.
Bring into the Universe all of You;
Your unique gifts are essential.
Let go of everything that is not yours;
There are others ready to serve.
Live your Life Purpose;
Your karmic journey is open.
Die as a Natural Human,
Fully embracing your sense of place.
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Men and The Goddess 