Goodwill is humanity's first attempt to express the love of God, for goodwill is the lowest expression of true love and the one most easily understood. It is time that people should, temporarily at least, stop talking about love, about loving their fellowmen, and about the use of love in solving problems, and talk instead upon a lower and more practical level-that of goodwill.
Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world, For indeed, that is all who ever have. Margaret Mead
My reflections have uncovered a simple truth: To experience and feel appreciation, to show appreciation, to appreciate, requires the simple prerequisite of Mindfulness. And further, Appreciation is Power. Why don’t we experience the Powerfulness of Appreciation more often in our lives? Before we value anything, the fact that we value anything at all, is because we have first seen it and registered its value. Take our appreciation of a great work of art, for example, a beautiful piece of jewellery or furniture, or a Ming Dynasty vase. And yet we also know the experience of walking through a magnificent museum, past artefacts and exhibitions of great beauty and history, and yet, perhaps in a glaze and a daze, maybe with two or three toddlers in tow. We haven’t seen a thing.
The forest has a wild abundance of life and possibility. It holds all emotions: peace and joy and fear. The unknown and the unknowable are here. There is an intersection of the visible and invisible. I see the trees and know that I am only encountering a small part of the Being that is the tree. When you look at the forest, the forest looks back at you. The woods teem with animals, yet they are elusive and hidden. I know that bears, cougars, and wolves all live in this realm. Although we do not encounter them face to face, we can sense them on the periphery of our vision, dancing in the shadows. The soul is like that, shy and elusive, camouflaged by our roles and responsibilities. The forest beckons hidden aspects of our Being to come forward, offering us a glimpse of an unrealized truth, opening our hearts to a new understanding of ourselves.
The reality of life is that there are so many things to do, choices to make, problems to solve. Add to that the endless shiny objects that entertain and pull at my attention. It’s easy to forget about the refuge, the calm and the simple delights of the present moment. It comes down to how much control I decide to exert over where I put my attention.
The Second House of the Horoscope is naturally ruled by Taurus and, as such, the planet Venus. This house is associated with our values, self-worth, personal resources and finances, earned income, personal possessions and real estate holdings. Known as the House of possessions and values one often relates it to tangible things, in keeping with its earthy nature, and is closely linked to what we manifest. The material goods that we own are often a reflection of what we value in life, things that provide us with a sense of well-being and make our lives more enjoyable.
One of the rulers of Gemini is Mercury, the messenger of the gods, so this new moon will bring us plenty of new and stimulating ideas as well as opportunities to manifest our deepest desires. Gemini loves the new and exciting and the variety of different experiences. It is bored easily. However, these new ideas may meet with challenges and disapproval by others because of some stressful planetary configurations.
This full moon, the Wesak, is the second of Three Spring Festivals. Called the Festival of the Buddha, this is partially because, we are told, that the Buddha was born, reached enlightenment and died, all under the sign of Taurus. But, it is also called the Festival of the Buddha because it is during this full moon when the Buddhic energy of illumination and light most forcefully comes to earth.
Trading Fear for Respect Bears tend to evoke fear in most people. We fear their strength and power. It is proper to have a healthy respect for bears, to know their ways and [...]
We have entered the Taurus part of this year’s zodiac cycle so it’s a good time to take a look at this sign’s ruling planet. Venus is one of the planets that rules two signs and, in this case, she rules both Taurus and Libra. For the purpose of this post though we will be focusing on elements that relate mainly to Taurus. The second planet from the Sun, Venus’ cycle through the zodiac takes place over approximately 224 days, less than a year.
