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Cancer New Moon I Ching Divination
The New Moon in Cancer was Monday morning, 3:15 am Eastern Daylight Time on July 8, 2013. And as I like to do, I cast a Gua, an I Ching hexagram (6-line figure) to determine what the energies will be like during this next moon cycle, for the next 29 or so days. (The next Full Moon is on July 22nd, at 2:16 pm; and the Leo New Moon is on August 6th, at 5:52 pm).
For this divination I use the yarrow stalk method and I use Toaist Master Alfred Huang’s The Complete I Ching to help me with the interpretation of the Gua.
The divination on Monday yielded a complicated picture: the numbers I cast, from initial (bottom) to top were 6, 9, 8, 8, 8, 9. The hexagram this generates is pictured here:
The initial 6, and the two nines at positions two and six are all changing lines. This indicates a lot of change coming during the month – great potential for transformation. Master Huang’s advice when given three changing lines is to read the middle line only to simply the interpretation. The initial gua then is Meng which Master Huang translates as “Childhood.” The interpretation of this initial hexagram indicates the month begins with the innocence of childhood. Wisdom is covered or hidden and needs to mature. There is good energy in youth; strong energy to gain and grow in insight and ultimately wisdom. The image of the gua is of water flowing out of a mountain, or a fresh spring. There is vitality in this initial hexagram.
Then the second 9 (middle changing line), a weak yang line become a yin line. This generates a new, accomplished gua composed of five yin lines and a yang line at position six. The accomplished gua is pictured here as Bo, “Falling Away”:
The image of this hexagram is Mountain over Earth and represents a top-heavy, unstable and unsustainable situation. Energies may be fluctuating later in the month.
The key here then is to shore up the erosion and regain some stability. Support will be required; be prepared to ask for help.
Another key is to trust in the transforming energies. We’ve known for some time now that 2013 is a year for great transformation. And the only way forward toward transformation is through the gateway of change, of instability. Awareness and preparation of our energies here is vital to moving through the transformation process as smoothly as possible.
The bottom line for me is to be prepared for the coming changes and also, going back to the “innocence of youth”, trust in the outcome.

PS: Here is another form of divination, and a great way to prepare of coming changes! Rosemary’s next Conversation with The Other Side is scheduled for this Saturday, July 13. It promises to be another wonderful evening. For a sample of the depth and detail of the messages you can expect to hear, she has posted some samples on her website: Sample Messages. Go to the link to hear and see how this works and how you can benefit with messages from The Other Side! Attendance is easy from any where in the world! Get the details here
MONDAY’S POEM: Heart-Mind
On June 13 Rosemary held a Conversation with The Other Side. I have the honor of attending most of these conversations and the privilege of receiving one or more messages whenever I am present. The June Conversation was no different; and the messages were powerful! One message was from a poet of the future. This poet, a muse for me, suggested I write “poetry of the heart.” And he said he would guide me in this effort.
As you can imagine, I usually work to follow this “other worldly” guidance I receive. Today’s poem is one such effort, from the heart! And if you want to hear my messages from The Other Side they are posted on Rosemary’s Website: Click Here to View
Heart-Mind
Open your center, this vital
New Mind.
It is in your chest,
Between heart and throat.
Speak from here.
Write from here.
Be right from here.
Here is where you must dwell!
Heart-Mind:
Brain cells, neural nets
In the heart
Connecting thought and Love.
This is the future:
Think in your heart,
Love in your mind;
Dwell in the present.
And lose yourself in All Time!
Find your Self now…
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.

PS: Rosemary’s next Conversation with The Other Side is scheduled for this Saturday, July 13. It promises to be another great evening. For a sample of the depth and detail of the messages you can expect to hear, she has posted some samples on her website: Sample Messages. Go to the link to hear and see how this works and how you can benefit with messages from The Other Side! Attendance is easy from any where in the world! Get the details here
A FRIDAY POEM FOR THIS 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND: Love and Freedom
I normally post poems on Mondays. But this is a special Friday following our celebration of the 4th yesterday. And my somewhat dark and challenging post here on the 4th needs a bit of light for the end of the week. So, I am posting a poem to celebrate our freedom; it’s my opportunity to “speak” to recent events and certain rulings by the Supreme Court!
So, take this opportunity to enjoy your freedom and “love the one you’re with!”
Love and Freedom
Freedom to Love is everything.
When we love we are free.
When we are free we can love.
Choice is everything.
Love is not always a choice.
Some are not free to choose.
Freedom is a matter of mind.
Love is a matter of heart.
Others believe they control minds.
There is no control of hearts.
When we are free in our hearts
No one controls Love in our minds.
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.

MONDAY’S POEM: Awareness and Action
Last Friday I posted a musing on the subject of “awareness.” I’ve been practicing all weekend; have you? It’s not an easy thing. We are bombarded with so much information that it is difficult to be “fully aware” at all times. But how else are we to be positioned for “right action” if we are not fully aware? My poem today is about that:
Awareness and Action
A million bits of information
Streaming from a thousand sources.
Are you aware of seven or nine?
Your unconscious mind
Absorbs it all!
Awareness is a nebulous thing:
Seven, nine, ten-thousand things
Add to consciousness moment
To moment even as we sleep.
Absorb it all?
Nan-in asks Tenno: “Umbrella to clogs,
Left or right?” Ten-thousand bits
Lost in unconsciousness. Ten more
Years of Awareness practice;
Absorb it all!
Practice in Action. It is all
Practice! For what you ask:
How will you ever know
Bliss if you don’t
Absorb it All?
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.

Awareness
I often use this word, awareness, as a key word for both my blogs and Rosemary’s. It is a good synonym for “consciousness” and, I’m sure you know by now, we are all about increasing our level of consciousness, our awareness! I don’t think I have ever written about this subject specifically, but several events lately have caused me to pause and wonder just how developed my awareness is!
The other day I went to Radio Shack to replace a power supply for Rosemary’s portable DVD player. I took the player with me to be sure I got the right one with the correct tip to plug it in. I purchased the adapter which we tested in the store; it worked perfectly and even brought up the DVD in the player. I left the store with my purchase and drove off in the car for the next errand. When I got to my next stop I looked around for the DVD player and it was gone. I ransacked the car thinking it had slid off the seat or under a seat. It was nowhere to be found. I went back to the store in case I had left it there. No one had seen it. I retraced my route in case I had left it on the car roof and driven off with it there. No sign of it! Now I was frustrated, confused and upset; how could a DVD player simply disappear. I returned the power adapter to the store. The player has never shown up!
Awareness. My awareness shifted focus at some point in this transaction and I lost a DVD player. I was distracted by my next errand and failed to successfully complete the current errand.
And then again, the other day, I was preparing for my Qigong class. I have this delightful alarm-clock, Zen meditation timer that I began using a couple of weeks ago to gently remind me with a very pleasant chime where I am within the schedule of the class and practice. The timer was not in the bag I use to carry things back and forth to class. I looked everywhere, even the car in case it had fallen out of the bag in transit. A day or so later I decided to look for it in the place I used to keep it before I started using it for Qigong; and there it was! I have no recollection of putting it back in its old place!
These two stories remind me of an old favorite Zen story of mine; in this version it’s called “Full Awareness” and goes like this:
After ten years of apprenticeship, Tenno achieved the rank of Zen teacher. One rainy day, he went to visit the famous master Nan-in. When he walked in, the master greeted him with a question, “Did you leave your wooden clogs and umbrella on the porch?”
“Yes,” Tenno replied.
“Tell me,” the master continued, “did you place your umbrella to the left of your shoes, or to the right?”
Tenno did not know the answer, and realized that he had not yet attained full awareness. So he became Nan-in’s apprentice and studied under him for ten more years.
Yes, I can easily say I have, at least, 10 more years of practice to reach “full awareness.”
I am finishing this post just after returning from my Svaroopa Yoga practice. The opening and closing Shavasana focuses on body awareness; whole body awareness from the tips of the toes to the crown of the head. The guided meditation is a wonderful practice of total relaxation and yet a heightened sense of awareness. Ten years more is not such a long time!

PS: The contemplation for my yoga practice this week speaks pointedly to this subject of awareness:
Real happiness abides in Self-knowledge alone. All else is fleeting. To know one’s Self is to be blissful always. – Ramana Maharshi





