Universal Connection

"All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a conscious and intelligent non-visiblee living energy force. This energy force is the matrix mind of all matter."

~ Max Planch, developer of Quantum Theory

The collective consciousness permeates all beings, affecting our attitudes, feelings, and behaviour. We all are part of the whole, just like cells within a body. They function separately, but also work together as the basis of life itself.

Connections exist not only between objects within the framework of a gien form of matter, but also betweenall its forms, woven together in a kind of infinitely huge skein. Our consciousness can contain any idea, real or imagined, that expresses connections. This idea must of necessity be a link in a chain of other ideas and conceptions.

Just as the collective consciousness can impact you you too can influence the collective consciousness for the better. When we get together and focus our intention on healing something, the vibration we put out affects all beings and the earth. A mass expansion of self-awareness is needed and the opportunity before us is to better harness the energy of Universal Connection in meaningful ways. We are a network of instinct, knowledge, signs, and symbols which may require interpretation before they can be understood.

As a comprehensive system of symbols, tarot is a distinctly Jungian method for accessing the collective unconscious. In, The Archetypes of the Collective Consciousness, Jung wrote, "If one wants to form a picture of the symbolic process, the series of pictures found in alchemy and good examples. It also seems as if the set of picture inthe tarot cards were distnaly descended from the archetrypes of transformation." Tarot has the potential for accessing the alcemical process of transformation. While many believe tarot is used for fortune-telling, it is more usefully viewed as a connectiion to the essence of the internal and external realities at the precise moment the card is brought into consciousness. In theis sense, a tarot card can be a manifestation of synchronicity. 

Every so often, events in the shared reality that make up this multifaceted world coalesce into a moment in which humanity stands poised to make a grand step forward into collective evolution. If ever such a time has been, it is now. You, as you read these words, are an integral part of the waking world. To what extent are you, emerging form the dreamworld of engineered illusion and moving toward greater evolution?

We, the Seekers--the Fools, it is our responsibility to accept the concept of Universal Energy and draw upon it for the improvement of ourselves and each living thing around us.

Rolling In and Rolling Out

In intuitive philosophy, there is a concept called involution. There is also the concept of evolution. Eastern philosphy sometimes refers to this a the Inbreath and the Outbreath of Brahma.

The idea of involution-evolution is multi-facted with one aspect being to perfect the relationship between life and form. 

Simplified, involution is Spirit becoming substance, wrapping itself in a form (a body), and using that form as a means of expression.

The word involution comes from the Latin"involvere". The prefix "In" meaning, in and "volvere" meaning, to roll. Therefore, involution means "to roll into, envelop, and to surround". 

The Latin roots of evolution are, "ex" meaning, out and "volvere" which we learned means "to roll". Evolution has to do with the process of unrolling.

The process of evolution is a process of identification. First, we identify with the physical body, then with our emotions, then with our mind, then with our personality, with our Soul, with our Divine Self, and ultimately we re-identify with Source and oneness. Essentially, that is what evolution is about. And it's what the Spiritual path is about.

So, what does this have to do with our everyday life?

Everything.

The purpose of life is evolution. To evolve means to become less matter and more Spirit. We become that by being committed to daily improvements. This is when real growth happens!

Improvement happens when we watch our selves each day. Observe your thoughts, your emotions, your words, your actions, your moods, your haits--be determined taht you are going to correct some deficiency or do something with greater discipline, care and mastery than you have ever done it before. All it takes is consistent regularity, and before you know it, you will have made 365 improvements!

Every accomplishment, each improvement we make is a step up the ladder of evolution. Why? Because an improvement, in essence, is a subtle raise in frequency, and as we steadily raise our frequency, we evolve out of a dense spectrum into a high frequency one.

Evolution is a step-by-step process. Every deliberate improvement in our thinking, feeling, speaking and acting creates change in the fabric of our bodies through which our consciousness operates. Each good thought, kind deed, pleasant word, or positive goal adds strength to our auric field. Therefore, a commitment to small, daily improvements literally rearranges the constitution of our bodies at a cellular level, increasing the frequency of our auric field.

The higher the frequency of your energy or vibration, the lighter you feel in your physical, emotional, and mental bodies. You experience greater personal power, clarity, pleace, love, and joy. You have little discomfort or pain in your physical body, and your emotions are easily dealth with. 

When you raise your vibration, you create an energetic environment where low density, low vibrational energies are unable to be and function. Low density or low vibrational energies can be negative emotions and thoughts, attachments, imprints or entities. Raising your vibration makes these lower energies no longer part of your reality.

As low vibration energies are reduced, and high, positive ones increase, you will feel more alert, vital and focused. You get a boost to your sense of well-being and wholeness. Things that you once felt were lacking or missing are replaced with a stronger and grounded sense of being.

The higher your vibration, the more expansive you aura and energies become. You take up more space and feel the underlying energetic connections with all of existence more deeply and profoundly. You tend to feel and experience a more palpable oneness with all. Your connection with Mother Earth is strenghtened and you are more grounded which may, in time, reduce over thinking and a feeling of separateness from life.

Raising your vibration is as simple as breathing in and out, deeply and with intention. Place your hand on your abdomen. Invite the vital life force that travels upon breath, into your body. When we breathe down into our bellies and fill ourselves with breath all the way up to the top of our lungs, we are inviting fresh oxygen into each one of our cells. This, in turn, nourishes every system in our bodies. And we stimulate a bundle of nerves at the base of the spine which engage the parasympathetic nervous system, thus inducing relaxation.

Visitors

 

Recently our home was blessed by a doe raising her speckled twins in the woods around the small lake out back. She taught them how to make their way up through the back of the houses, to our garden and the neighbor's pear and plum orchard. Delight filled us more than frustration the times we discovered squash blossoms or pea flowers nibbled from their stems.

It was a hard blow the morning I discovered the doe's body at the head of our drive. My thoughts immediately flew to her relatively new born, still-spotted twins and how they would survive. We would see them near the road and toss them apples, carrots, and pears to lead them back down to the safety of our garden and orchard. Back to where they could smell the woods and the water of the lake beyond. 

They were always together. Side-by-side the fawns nibbled grass, fallen fruit, rose hips, berries and more squash blossoms. We would notice their hoof prints in our carrot bed and along the dirt path to the lake. They drank from our fountain and bird bath while our cat chattered to them, doing his best to make new freinds. At night we could hear them rustling in the brush behind our home, bedding down in camouflaged safety of the salal and oregon grape.

Once while quietly tending to garden tasks and lost in my thoughts, I felt a presence. I slowly look over my shoulder and there they were--less than six feet away, probably wondering when I'd stop blocking their access to the raspberries.

Our hearts broke again the day we discovered one of the fawns fell to the same fate its mother had. I gently carried its body into the woods, placing water and berry leaves in its mouth and covering its body with roses. Deer have been a significant aspect of my life for as long as I can remember and the unnatural death of one, cuts deeply into my essence. 

Several times throughout my life, deer has presented its graciousness and beauty to me in personal, memorable and often potent ways.

When I was seven years old, my uncle once found me on the edge of the woods near his riverside cabin in upstate New York. I was bent at the waist exchanging breath with a young fawn while its mother alertly stood nearby watching over us. Soft against my cheeks, the fawn's breath smelled like freshly cut grass mixed with spruce and cedar bark. Mine probably smelled of apple slices, American cheese and Cheerios. 

As my uncle neared, the doe positioned her body in front of us and firmly nudged her fawn towards the trees. The young deer bound into the brush and the doe looked at me surely wondering why I had not hopped behind the salal as well. 

I remember my uncle stopped, lowering his nearly seven-foot frame into a squat.

 "So, you've adopted that one?", he softly said to the deer while nodding towards me.

The doe turned her head toward me, then back to him.

He smiled at me, his little niece perfectly happy to live with the deer, and shook his head. And the doe, deciding I would not make a very smart deer, turned and walked into the trees, her side gently brushing against my back as she departed.

 

    

WELCOME GUEST BLOGGER, CALLIOPE MUSE

There are issues of low urgency and low importance. Like starting to feel a little hungry. (Global warming is not one of them.) Then there are issues of high urgency and high importance, like putting out that house fire. (Rising sea levels don’t quite cut the mustard.) Then we come to the grey areas. A cut finger needs to be dealt with pronto! Yet, usually, it isn’t a big deal if that doesn’t happen- high urgency, low importance (Overfishing and deforestation get grouped this way). 

We all have to work together. This is what I postulate. I'm focusing my lens on the idea of planetary sustainability. Specifically the continued survival of all life on this planet. It's on of those issues that is of, apparently, low urgency (as far as immediacy goes--Earthlings are amazingly short-sighted) while at the same time as issue of highly critical importance. The highest. At least to me. I will attempt to explain why.

Our very existence is an absolute miracle. Even the scientists who "discovered" DNA compare its complexity to the odds of ending up with a functional jumbo jet after a tornado rips through a junkyard. Another metaphor I've heard associates millions of individul letters randomly coalescing into an updated version of the OED (Oxford English Dictionary). Our uniqueniess should be our most cherished and celebrated gift. We may not be alone in the universe, but that doesn't detract from just how special we all are.

We must not waste this magical gift. Nature abhors waste. Perhaps that language isn't strong enough. Nature doesn't tolerate waste--in the least. Everything is eventually reused and/or recycled, down to an elemental level. Everything. I can't help repeating. All we've ever said or done has a cumulative effect. Even our smallest choices create ripples that add up and have impact. They matter. So what does appreciating our individualtiy involve, specifically? How do we show our gratitude and thankfulness for such a monumental, praiseworthy occurrence? A seemingly impossible task but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

We have to prioritize all that sustains us. It won't be enough to simply reduce environmental pollution and the damage it causes. We have to take responsibility and repair any damage. More than preserving habitat, we need to see, nurture and produce new habitat. When needed it appears we are capable of some forethought. Climate change has gone mainstream and some demanded action has been taken. More sacrifices still need to be made. By all. So there it is. We, the collective ,"All-omitting no one". have to work. It's much too late to be optional. Success won't come easily, we're going to have to sweat it. Together, we will sink or swim as a team. Pulling synergistically, in the same direction without exemption. We all have to work together. We're approaching the critical mass needed to give the healing process, for our self-created problem, its due. By respecting the universal life force and associated energies by honoring the golden rule, perhaps we'll learn that we haven't yet passed the point of no return. To inspire myself and others, I wrote a poem: 

I need your help to be a mountain mover

You push I'll pull let's turn the whole thing over

It's just a few words, but the little things matter

The worlds at stake, no time to get fatter

I look for peace, I search the wide world over

Ya gonna tell me I'm the only lover?

Not gon' have it served up on a platter

I'm actin' now, not see my future shattered

We can, we can, we can, we can

We will, we will, we will 

It's coming folks, We are the future choosers

We gotta lead, can't let the Earth be losers

I believe. I know every little thing matters

Or would you rather spend your time in tatters?

We all can see that the planet's our Mother

She's gone so foul, now it's time to hug Her.

Keep workin' hard 'til the storm gets over

Whenit's all done, be time to recover

We can, we can, we can, we can

We will, we will, we will

We can, we can, we can, we can

We will, we will, we will 

With gratitude & appreciation for all my gifts, both recognized as well as those yet to be discovered. I Choose to make a distinction between good luck and good fortune. Only 1 is accidental...

The Oracle of Knotty Weave

The Oracle of Knotty Weave is a 52-card deck depicting images and landscapes inspired by Amanda Newsom's imagined world and given life through collaboration with author Amber Highland. Amanda's watercolor artwork brings users on a journey through eight unique landscapes, each filled with its own characters. The accompanying 101-page guidebook by Amber Highland, reveals the story behind Knotty Weave and shres insights from the world's previous travelers.

...mind the web.

Thank you, Jennifer for this ebullient look at The Oracle of Knotty Weave! 

Creating this unique oracle deck with Amanda Newsom was a joyous, creative passion project. To learn more about the deck, visit our web page. Limited 1st Edition copies of 

The Oracle of Knotty Weave are available for puchase at 7 Stones Publishing.