Saturday, July 17, 2010
Dragons and Treasures – Discover Yours
What are your dragons (fears, rejections, denials)? What traps do they set? What treasures do they have for you to experience? Dragons of the east and west traditions are fearsome, destructive, wise, magical. The Transforming Dragons Deck by Sonia Café has sixty four different dragons with their traps and their treasures. Each of us has our own dragons hidden within. We have feelings, beliefs, experiences we hide, bury, reject, avoid or ignore. We do not want to see ourselves with those characteristics. Or, we decide it is not our fault we are that way. It is the result of so and so, the environment we were brought up in or live in, or….. So we deny that part of our self that we and/or others do not like. To transform the dragon and to receive the gifts the dragon guards we first must gain awareness of our selves. The inner journey has bright spots and dark spots. The dragon guards a gate, an opening, with the treasure out of sight. Knowing what the dragon represents you can gain the knowledge of what the treasure offers. Transforming the dragon can take many forms – observing, fighting, pacifying, dancing, accepting – after all it is part of us.
Let’s take a look at a dragon. The names (and if you saw the pictures) are from the child – gibberish names and fun, imaginative pictures. The dragon we are looking at is Jarv. Jarv represents Pressure.
Sonia Café brief description is: The dragon is a specialist in “pushing his own way” to make things happen oppressively. He will do anything he can to anticipate deadlines, hasten the cycles, and alter the natural rhythm of things. Jarv’s most refined form of pressure has vampiric characteristics because he loves to steal the freshness and the novelty of anything that has been born. He only gives a break in pressure after having caused some kind of explosion.
His favorite Affirmation: “The more difficult, the more complicated, the more pressure there is, the better!”
Dragonic Traps: -Pressing for stress; - Stressing to make sickness; - Exploding or imploding from pressure.
The Treasure: - You can have an extraordinary capacity for keeping calm in any kind of situation. – You can have an amazing ability to focus attention on doing now what is humanly possible. – You can learn to do one thing at a time, everything in the right time, with the best quality.
Transforming Jarv --- Allow things to come to birth organically, in the right time, in the rhythms of the Soul.
I take a project – like a bull by its horns. I will bull doze ahead. I will make checklists and contacts. I set time tables. I am impatient. I want the results yesterday, when it is a project of my own. I work with others for joint projects, but still I am impatient when others do not keep pace. My own projects can become oppressive and I will implode. Many times with self destruction of --- I am not worthy, it does not matter any way, why try so hard- won’t accomplish it any how, or ….. So then comes the time to breathe. Deep breaths in and out. Clear the head and the heart. Take the project step by step. Trust in your ability, your connection, and your core desire. Follow through. Stay clear. Be honest with yourself and with others. Be open to the timing and the process. Experience the journey with appreciation. Know yourself. Realize change is a consistent variable and flow with it. Take your next step with open mind and an open heart. Live your dream.
We can explore our dragon(s) – lizards of the earth, swimmers of the sea, greatness flying in the air, and masters of fire.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
A Journal of Mandalas
First – a Journal – a bridge into first our own humanity, and then our own spirituality. The road stretches our before us, and our ultimate task is the journey. …an art form in words.
Second – a Mandala – a circle art using a variety of mediums through the ages, a universal activity, self-integrating ritual. Healing Mandalas are created as an integrative art form assisting individuals in their search for the inner self.
I have written in a journal for years to ask myself questions, trying to find answers, ranting and raving for whatever is happening at the moment, saying thank you for all things in my life, jumping for joy because of that little secret. There are times I am without words and still have questions. Pictures – visual images is our first language. Thus to connect with our inner knowledge can be quite an experience in the form of pictures. Utilizing the circle art of the Mandala is setting the experience in a safe and sacred environment. I have a scrap book (the journal) of my Mandalas. However, because they are important to me and colorful art I have also framed several of them and have them on display for me to see regularly (and sometimes in special places like my therapy office for others to reflect upon). Each Mandala has a date and the question posed with the picture – the visual art as the answer. Sometimes I can translate into words, other times the visual is very much the answer with no words.
The method I used is based on Judith Cornell’s technique of drawing with a white pencil on black paper creating a sense of light emanating from the paper. I draw a circle as big as the paper will hold (so how big the circle is depends on the size of the black piece of paper). Then I think about: what is it that is pertinent at the moment; what am I struggling with; what is unknown mystery I want a glimpse of; what is that elusive feeling I am experiencing connected to – or some other aspect. I develop the question I want to pose. I breathe deeply several times, close my eyes, empty my mind and let the picture begin to come to mind. You note I said begin to come to mind. For some the picture comes in clear and vivid with all details right off the bat; for others there is a blurry outline, a fuzzy image. Start the drawing with the white pencil on the black paper within the white lined circle. The surprise is as you begin to draw the image clarifies and more details come. You have the basic drawing with shading in white. Now take a moment of quiet and see it in Technicolor! Add the colors with various shades to your Mandala. Take your time or color with a furry. See your living visual answer in front of you. Words are not necessary. Words may come and can be noted on the back of the drawing also. The visual result is the answer and connects self to Self. Enjoy!
Second – a Mandala – a circle art using a variety of mediums through the ages, a universal activity, self-integrating ritual. Healing Mandalas are created as an integrative art form assisting individuals in their search for the inner self.
I have written in a journal for years to ask myself questions, trying to find answers, ranting and raving for whatever is happening at the moment, saying thank you for all things in my life, jumping for joy because of that little secret. There are times I am without words and still have questions. Pictures – visual images is our first language. Thus to connect with our inner knowledge can be quite an experience in the form of pictures. Utilizing the circle art of the Mandala is setting the experience in a safe and sacred environment. I have a scrap book (the journal) of my Mandalas. However, because they are important to me and colorful art I have also framed several of them and have them on display for me to see regularly (and sometimes in special places like my therapy office for others to reflect upon). Each Mandala has a date and the question posed with the picture – the visual art as the answer. Sometimes I can translate into words, other times the visual is very much the answer with no words.
The method I used is based on Judith Cornell’s technique of drawing with a white pencil on black paper creating a sense of light emanating from the paper. I draw a circle as big as the paper will hold (so how big the circle is depends on the size of the black piece of paper). Then I think about: what is it that is pertinent at the moment; what am I struggling with; what is unknown mystery I want a glimpse of; what is that elusive feeling I am experiencing connected to – or some other aspect. I develop the question I want to pose. I breathe deeply several times, close my eyes, empty my mind and let the picture begin to come to mind. You note I said begin to come to mind. For some the picture comes in clear and vivid with all details right off the bat; for others there is a blurry outline, a fuzzy image. Start the drawing with the white pencil on the black paper within the white lined circle. The surprise is as you begin to draw the image clarifies and more details come. You have the basic drawing with shading in white. Now take a moment of quiet and see it in Technicolor! Add the colors with various shades to your Mandala. Take your time or color with a furry. See your living visual answer in front of you. Words are not necessary. Words may come and can be noted on the back of the drawing also. The visual result is the answer and connects self to Self. Enjoy!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Emotional Ruts and Flower Essences
I’ve got a feeling. That’s a line of a chorus of a song that continues – I’ve got a feeling before the day ends I’ll learn a new song and make a new friend.
If every day was like that day, I could handle the rut. However, sometimes I am caught up in anger or grief or self-loathing or self-doubt or……. And it does not seem anything I do can get me out of the rut. Many times I don’t even recognize I’m in a rut. I’m just making it through the day. I’m uncomfortable, dissatisfied, disgusted with myself, depressed, frustrated – whatever and no energy to do anything about it.
I know I don’t want to continue feeling whatever I am feeling. After all it is not fun. So what to do?
The first step is to figure out what I am feeling. We are kind of like a working paint palate with all the colors on the palate and then different blends for the current experience. We need to recognize the dominant color at this moment – the dominant feeling.
Let’s say it’s anger. I am pissed off at the world. It doesn’t matter who says what or does what, it makes be angry and I spout off at them. I need to be a little more definitive about my anger. Where is the anger coming from? Well maybe that is too much work and I don’t want to go there. What are the characteristics of my anger? Is the anger repressed? Is it just because I’m emotionally upset about a specific incident? Had it been around for a long time and isn’t even relevant to today? Am I hypersensitive? Am I fearful of feeling anger? Does it usually come out in verbal abuse?
The characteristic of the anger and the connection it has to the blend of feelings I am experiencing leads to the identification of a specific Flower Essence that can assist with the release of the anger. It is a release from being stuck in the anger. The anger can have an appropriate reference point and if I am not stuck in it then I will experience the anger, respond to the stimulus that initiated the anger (know what pissed me off) and can move on – make a conscious choice of how to respond to what sparked my anger.
Flower Essences are subtle liquid extracts prepared from a sun infusion of flowers at their peak bloom in water. They function from an energetic perspective versus a chemical perspective. Generally they are taken in oral form. They address issues of emotional well-being, soul development, and mind-body health.
Flower Essences help dislodge the rubbish that is damning up the flow. With the release of the rubbish, emotions can be experienced as a flow, moving on. Thus, we are prepared for the next experience of the moment – joy, sadness, delight, sorrow, pleasure, anger, whatever it may be. Bringing us to a point of balance and health. It is a point, not a status, as life continues to move with a mirage of experiences and inputs. We want to stay in motion to experience balance points more frequently.
If every day was like that day, I could handle the rut. However, sometimes I am caught up in anger or grief or self-loathing or self-doubt or……. And it does not seem anything I do can get me out of the rut. Many times I don’t even recognize I’m in a rut. I’m just making it through the day. I’m uncomfortable, dissatisfied, disgusted with myself, depressed, frustrated – whatever and no energy to do anything about it.
I know I don’t want to continue feeling whatever I am feeling. After all it is not fun. So what to do?
The first step is to figure out what I am feeling. We are kind of like a working paint palate with all the colors on the palate and then different blends for the current experience. We need to recognize the dominant color at this moment – the dominant feeling.
Let’s say it’s anger. I am pissed off at the world. It doesn’t matter who says what or does what, it makes be angry and I spout off at them. I need to be a little more definitive about my anger. Where is the anger coming from? Well maybe that is too much work and I don’t want to go there. What are the characteristics of my anger? Is the anger repressed? Is it just because I’m emotionally upset about a specific incident? Had it been around for a long time and isn’t even relevant to today? Am I hypersensitive? Am I fearful of feeling anger? Does it usually come out in verbal abuse?
The characteristic of the anger and the connection it has to the blend of feelings I am experiencing leads to the identification of a specific Flower Essence that can assist with the release of the anger. It is a release from being stuck in the anger. The anger can have an appropriate reference point and if I am not stuck in it then I will experience the anger, respond to the stimulus that initiated the anger (know what pissed me off) and can move on – make a conscious choice of how to respond to what sparked my anger.
Flower Essences are subtle liquid extracts prepared from a sun infusion of flowers at their peak bloom in water. They function from an energetic perspective versus a chemical perspective. Generally they are taken in oral form. They address issues of emotional well-being, soul development, and mind-body health.
Flower Essences help dislodge the rubbish that is damning up the flow. With the release of the rubbish, emotions can be experienced as a flow, moving on. Thus, we are prepared for the next experience of the moment – joy, sadness, delight, sorrow, pleasure, anger, whatever it may be. Bringing us to a point of balance and health. It is a point, not a status, as life continues to move with a mirage of experiences and inputs. We want to stay in motion to experience balance points more frequently.
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