A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.

In these words, John Lennon articulated the essence of Aquarius. And now, in the month of February, we’re bathing in the dream.

The reality of a collective dream, dreamed together, may not yet be apparent in physical reality, but it already exists in the etheric – as a potential awaiting precipitation. Who will make it rain? It will take more than one or two, because the key to Aquarius is the group. It’s not about the individual as it was in the Pisces era of the last 2 000 years. It’s about ‘we’, not ‘I’.

That doesn’t mean that we lose our hard-won individuality. Quite the contrary, because to be a true group server in Aquarius, requires a highly individualised awareness. So much so, that just ‘me’ is no longer enough. We’ve tasted life as a profoundly intelligent, powerful, dynamic ‘I’ in our journeys round Leo. This is the polar opposite of Aquarius and, as always, we understand ourselves by embracing our duality.

Now we’re ready to merge our sense of individuality in the greater intelligence, awareness and power of the group. The iconic water bearer is this Aquarian energy, pouring love and light forth from a bottomless jug -Water of life am I, poured forth for thirsty men.

Let’s take a moment to sound together a mantram affirming ourselves as the Aquarian water bearer; the Christ in manifestation:

Forgetting the things which lie behind, I will strive towards my higher spiritual possibilities. I dedicate myself anew to the service of the Coming One and will do all I can to prepare men’s minds and hearts for that event. I have no other life intention.

Alice Bailey called those of us who are water bearers, the new group of world servers. (1) This is a rather cumbersome term for something that was difficult to define when she was writing in the 1930s. Now we have a clearer idea of what this group looks like. We may be part of it, although it has no outer structure, group logo, leader, membership, or the usual trappings of an organisation. It’s more of a naturally occurring organism made up of powerful individuals who know who they are, and what they want to do to make the world a better place. It’s a loose network of people who may or may not know each other, but all are guided by a heart aflame with love, and a mind clearly leading the way. They live to serve others, the kingdoms in nature, and the whole planet.

The internet and social media is greatly enhancing the capacity of this group, because the internet is like a prosthetic for humanity’s future capacity to be telepathic. Bailey says that many of the new group of world servers are already telepathic, but they may not realise it. Think about that great idea you had, only to discover that other people, perhaps living on the other side of the world, have had the same idea. That idea may have eventuated from the intuitional levels, and is now on its way down, as an ideal, into physical plane manifestation.

According to Bailey, ‘The fundamental ideas which underlie (the) great areas of human thought all emanate from intuitional levels’. (2) And she suggests that the intuition is, ‘an idea clothed in etheric substance.’ (3) As we learn to grasp these ideas and draw them down, from the etheric into matter, we are being truly creative. It is the magnetic resonance set up between ourselves and the idea that allows us to contact it and make it manifest. This is the basis for white magic; the creative artist or creative humanitarian making the divine and the sacred available for all to see.

The New Group of World Servers
This creative work can be anything from an abstract and esoteric concept that seeds a new attitude, through a sublimely beautiful work of art that raises us to a higher level of consciousness, to a grass-roots initiative to transform local vacant land into a community vegetable garden, making freshly grown produce freely available to everyone.

Whether an individual is physically alone, or in a group; whether the idea has been received telepathically, from the plane of the intuition, or grasped as an ideal on its way into manifestation, all who seek to sow this seed are part of the new group of world servers. Their work is characterised by a love of all humanity, an attitude of goodwill even to those they may not like, a respect and reverence for the sacredness of life pulsing through all matter, and a determination to fan the flames of this life and love in all they contact.

We first journey through Leo and achieve the heights of human achievement for the self; the personality. Then we turn and walk the alternative path, back to our source and begin to embrace the energies of Aquarius. We join the new group of world servers, giving all our energy, resources, money, time and love to planetary healing. On the way we are offered opportunities – ours to take or refuse because we have freewill. If we step through these doorways, we bring about changes in ourselves, gradually destroying all that holds us back from the freer expression of our soul.

The Three Decantes of Aquarius
There are three decantes in every sign, dividing it into three stages. We’re told that the first decante of Aquarius, and the decante into which we now moving, is ruled by Saturn. This is the planet of discipleship and it is, ‘active today, presenting to the world disciple those difficult situations and crises which will involve free choice, discriminative pioneering, wise response and correct decision.’ (4)

We can see the impact of Saturn in ourselves and in the world as we’re all faced with a plethora of confusing information from which we must make choices about how to live our personal life – what’s acceptable for me as a disciple, a student of the ageless wisdom, may not be what the masses deem right. Every moment we’re being challenged to discriminate in ever tightening circles, and it can be exhausting.

That’s why meditation and some solitude every day is so important, to give us that opportunity to be, ‘impressed from on high’; to get our true bearings and re-orient ourselves to our true course.

As The Gayatri says:

Unveil to us the face of the true Spiritual Sun
Hidden by a disc of golden Light
That we may know the Truth
And do our whole duty
As we journey to Thy sacred feet.

Our wise response to these daily choices leads us to the final decante of Aquarius, ruled by Venus. We’ve learnt to follow the true values and we’re rewarded with more light from the intuition. Our way is increasingly illuminated, so that we can see through world events more clearly, enter the hearts of our fellow humans and see into their soul. With such knowing comes responsibility, to think and speak only with love and harmlessness.

Throughout our journey, although we’ve often felt bereft and alone, we’ve been under the gaze of the silent watchers – the spiritual hierarchy – the guides and protectors of humanity. It’s only when we’ve fully known the individuality bestowed by our Leo experiences, that we can embrace the idea of a hierarchy of beings who were once humans like us. Who have walked the same path, and having mastered themselves through service, now see with a panoramic vision, the divine Plan. It’s this plan that we’re all destined to eventually see for ourselves.

What is this plan? It’s the future being created from the past. As we learn to meditate, use creative visualisation, and think clearly in the present, we can take our place as co-creators of the new reality. Some of us can see its shimmering presence on the skyline of our group vision. The ability to see telepathically is latent in us all, and the more we develop this way of knowing, the more will we see of the new day ahead; the clearer will we realise that we are in truth, one humanity, with a shared and sacred purpose. As the Aquarian age opens up before us, we can each do our part to make real the dream we dream together; the dream of a more equitable, sustainable and just world for all.

Sources:

1. Alice Bailey, Treatise on White Magic, p.398-433
2. Bailey, Telepathy, p.49
3. Ibid, p.189
4. Bailey, Esoteric Astrology, p.148

True creativity is tapping the livingness in life; tapping into the etheric where life lives, as yet unmanifest. True creativity is soul magic.

In creative moments we capture wild livingness, casting our net of human dreams and imagination, we corner a moment of dynamic tension. Then with the power of our thought, we slowly draw it in and down; into manifestation; into our hearts and minds as a beautiful idea – a painting or sculpture, an invention or piece of literature – a child of our soul-mind.

True creativity brings light; reveals truth, embodies beauty and inspires goodness.

Whenever someone tells you that they have never made a mistake, you are talking to someone who has never tried anything new.

You are creative. The artist is not a special person, each one of us is a special kind of artist. Every one of us is born a creative, spontaneous thinker. The only difference between people who are creative and people who are not is a simple belief. Creative people believe they are creative. People who believe they are not creative, are not. Once you have a particular identity and set of beliefs about yourself, you become interested in seeking out the skills needed to express your identity and beliefs. This is why people who believe they are creative become creative. If you believe you are not creative, then there is no need to learn how to become creative and you don’t. The reality is that believing you are not creative excuses you from trying or attempting anything new. When someone tells you that they are not creative, you are talking to someone who has no interest and will make no effort to be a creative thinker.

Source:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/creative-thinkering/201112/twelve-things-you-were-not-taught-in-school-about-creative-thinking

Are you interested in knowing more about Triangles? What is it? How does it work? Want to get involved?

Three people using the energies of light and goodwill in creative visualisation can set up an increasingly powerful flow of energy for planetary healing.

If you live in Adelaide or are just visting, you are most warmly welcome to come to an information evening:
On – Wed February 22, 2012
From – 5.30 to 6.30pm
At – The Box Factory Community Centre, 59 Regent St South, Adelaide, South Australia

contact Caroline for more info: +61 0417 830 411 & see right sidebar, ‘Triangles Meditation’ on the front page of this website.

In the centre of the will of God I stand.
Naught shall deflect my will from His.
I implement that will by love.
I turn towards the field of service.
I, the Triangle divine, work out that will
Within the square and serve my fellowmen.

*The network of triangles being created in etheric substance around the planet. Image courtesy of Lucis Trust

All You Need Is Love
… it is in the nature of truth or love, cosmic consciousness, whatever you want to call it, to express itself, to affirm itself, to overcome difficulties. Once you’ve understood that the world is love in action, consciousness or love in action, you will look at it quite differently. But first your attitude to suffering must change. Suffering is primarily a call for attention, which itself is a movement of love. More than happiness, love wants growth, the widening and deepening of awareness and consciousness and being. Whatever prevents that becomes a cause of pain, and love does not shirk from pain. (Hameed Ali’s Ridhwan School)

The next 12-years will be a great opportunity for us all to learn about love as a means to widen and deepen our awareness, and consciousness, of what it means to be a human being. Much of this may involve pain.

One of the major planetary transits shaping world events until 2023 is Pluto moving through Capricorn. This combination of energies is offering us all the opportunity to tread the burning ground and begin the ascent of the mountain that leads to initiation. The type of initiation depends on where we are in our evolutionary journey, but we all now have the opportunity to be more consciously human, whether it’s being a better parent or partner; joining a group to save penguins, or serve the world.

Pluto began transiting Capricorn in 2008, and last year we saw the effects of the growing momentum of this partnership in upheavals such as the popular uprising called the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement. In the financial sector we saw the decline of the European and US financial markets, and the massive increase in economic growth of markets in the once labelled third world countries such as Ghana in Africa. As an example, this country’s economy grew from nearly five percent in 2010 to twenty percent in 2011. Other developing countries like Qatar in the Middle East followed with an increase of fourteen percent, and Turkmenistan in Central Asia with twelve percent. Only then comes China with a nine percent increase and India with eight percent.(1)

This may sound like an economics lesson, but by considering these facts, we can get an idea of the full implications of how radically the power balance in our world is about to change. Pluto rules power – both of the upperworld, and the underworld. How will the emerging nations handle their power on the world stage? With a less than two percent growth in advanced economies like Australia, what happens when the younger kids get hold of the key to the canteen? Economists predict rising unemployment in developed countries, and a slowdown in output which will lower living standards. (2)

All Shook Up
The world’s status quo is being severely shaken, and beside the reactions of fear, we are also seeing joyful hope that this may be the change into a more equitable and sustainable world that we’ve been hoping to see. But what will it be like in the process?

Last year we saw how Pluto can personally deliver Capricorn energy to us on a plate. According to astrology charts of the US, it has natal Pluto at 27° Capricorn. The US was born in 1762-78 during a time of economic and political crisis. As everything goes in cycles, it’s interesting to consider what sparked the rebellion by a bunch of American farmers against the British back then. We can see their demands for freedom being repeated now when Pluto again triggers the same point in the US natal chart, as disparate groups across the US and beyond demand accountability and freedom from financial, business and government corruption. (3)

Some astrologers predict that the US will have to be completely transformed in some way. (4) The US also has four planets in Cancer which is the polar opposite of Capricorn, so Pluto will be opposing them over the next 12-years. This is already affecting the US economy, and we could say that this Pluto transit through Capricorn is writ large in the US. As we’re now a global village, the slowdown in the US economy has affected the European Union (5) so that now it too is facing a crisis.

It looks as though the law of cycles, karma, and cause and effect, is working its way across the world. Many of us will be forced to trim off our excesses and let go of inessential parts of our lives, getting us back to basics and becoming “lean and mean” again, or for the first time for many of us.(6)

Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds
Capricorn represents the forces of crystallisation, while Pluto is the force of transformation. Putting these two together, it’s like the energies that impact relentlessly on any one treading the path of discipleship. Alice Bailey says that humanity is now the world disciple; that we’re ready for the trials offered by Scorpio who rules this path, and who is in turn governed by Pluto, ruling major separations and of death. ‘The arrow of God pierces the heart and death takes place.” But in this connection it must be remembered that death is definitely brought about by the soul. It is the soul which shoots the arrow of death.’(7)

There are also changes afoot in the world of religion, business, the media and any organised, institutionalised structure based on Piscean-Age, sixth-ray ideals of control of the masses by an elite group. The incoming seventh ray, augmented by Pluto in Capricorn, reveals the dirt on sex, corruption and misuse of power as our collective misdemeanors are being brought to the surface. Along with the diamonds born on the upward drive to reveal and transfigure, comes death and destruction, as Capricorn’s crystallised structures are torn apart in its searing lava flow, making way for new life.
For those watching, meditating, serving, we see the diamond potential of this great change. As we struggle with our own fears, born of being part of the collective human Soul, we also seek to energise and vitalise the diamonds of perfection within ourselves and within humanity.

Despite the increasing turmoil, we can see these diamonds emerging in the work of the New Group of World Servers. One example is a rise in a new era of art and music, as alongside some depraved art-forms, comes experiments in expressing the beauty that lies in the etheric and nature. This was predicted by Alice Bailey suggesting that the fourth-ray of harmony through conflict would usher in a new form of art. ‘The fourth ray being temporarily out of full incarnation at this time is the reason for the relative interlude in the production of human creative art of a very high order. The cycle of suffering is nearing its close, and we shall later see—when the fourth ray again swings into full objective activity—a recurrence of the arts on a turn of the spiral far more exalted than any lately seen.’(8)

It’s been suggested that if Pluto had a bumper sticker it would read ‘You can either let go now or have it ripped from your hands later.’ That same sentiment could be used for the energies of Capricorn in which we’re all bathing during January.

Stairway To Heaven
While the sun is in this sign it’s offering us a light on Pluto which, in turn, is magnifying Capricorn’s qualities of intense materialism, selfishness and cruelty on the one hand, and intense perseverance and determination to undertake whatever is necessary to climb to the top of the mountain, on the other. This climb must be undertaken by each of us if we are to manifest the New Age of order, beauty, love-wisdom and clarity about humanity’s purpose on Earth.

The last three signs of the zodiac: Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces are not directly related to our individual evolution. They govern our role as a world server, having cast off all personality hindrances so that we can fulfil our soul purpose in being here. Each time we enter Capricorn, we’re able to attune ourselves a little more to its demands for greater conformity to that still quiet voice within; to stop rushing; stop making personal plans; stop running in an effort to avoid the void. What’s that? It’s the dweller on the threshold. Bailey says that it’s only once we can truly think that we finally face the Angel of the Presence and the Dweller on the Threshold. That dweller is, for us individually, ‘the evil tendencies, the accumulated limitations and the sum total of the selfish habits and desires which are characteristic of the material nature of the disciple. The Angel of the Presence indicates the future possibility and the divine nature.’(9) For us collectively it represents planetary forces of materialism.

The seed thought for Capricorn is: ‘Lost am I in light supernal, yet on that light I turn my back.’ What is the light supernal? Perhaps it’s the light in the head we sometimes see in meditation; or it could be the radiant light that shines from a perfectly cut diamond; then again it can be the jewel in the lotus: Shamballa, the centre where the Will of God is known. It is defined by Bailey as, ‘.. a point of peace; it pulsates rhythmically as does the heart of man, and from it rays forth eight streams of living fire which extend to the tips of the four love petals and the four sacrifice petals… It is this final raying forth which produces the eventual disintegration of the body of the Ego… Naught is eventually left but the desire to “sacrifice,” and as the vibratory impulse is akin to the nature of the living Jewel, it is synthesised in the central living unit and only the Jewel of fire remains.’ (10)

When we meditate, let us invoke the fiery sacrificial energy of this jewel, as together we climb to the very top of Capricorn’s mountain to stand in light supernal. We then turn and retrace our steps, back into our everyday world, raying forth our light, bringing the love that does not shirk from pain, into the dark recesses of our struggling world.

Sources:
1. http://www.modernghana.com/news/355922/1/ghana-the-worlds-fastest-growing-economy-in-2011.html
2. http://www.conference-board.org/data/globaloutlook.cfm
3. http://blog.beliefnet.com/astrologicalmusings/2008/01/pluto-in-capricorn-a-history-l.html#ixzz1iG83NmcT
4.. http://www.librarising.com/astrology/misc/plutoincap.html
5. http://www.international-economy.com/TIE_W08_Krauss.pdf
6. http://members.bitstream.net/~bunlion/bpi/plutocap.html
7. Alice Bailey, ‘Esoteric Astrology’, p. 500-533
8. Ibid, The Rays and the Initiations p. 225-247
9. Ibid, ‘The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, p.285-313
10. Ibid, ‘A Treatise on Cosmic Fire’, p. 1109-1128

Ever get the feeling God’s watching when you surreptitiously pick at that elusive bogey? Well Himself was never really interested in our antics, but his right-hand-man may soon be all ears and eyes. And I’m not talking about the omniscient machinery of Facebook. I’m referring to the ghost in the machine – the embedded intelligence in a device near you.

That intelligence isn’t a ‘who’, it’s a ‘what’. In the Bible, it’s reported that Jesus Christ made a prediction: ‘Everything that is secret will be brought out into the open. Everything that is hidden will be uncovered. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight. What you have whispered to someone behind closed doors will be shouted from the rooftops.’(1 )

The Secrets Out
It could be argued that technology, via the simple algorithm is propelling us rapidly towards realising Christ’s prediction into reality. We’re living in a time where we will no longer be able to revel in the joys of secret-keeping, or spilling. That’s no thanks to the investigative courage of the media, or the ‘We open governments’ slogan of Wikileaks, but to the ‘your wish is my command’ world of the algorithm.

The algorithm is the intelligence that drives the devices we all love, hate or just interact with out of necessity. But what if these devices were linked, not just to us, but to each other? Imagine – no more secret liaisons, affairs, rape in dark alleys, drug deals, or diplomatic coups – what will we have to gossip about? Everything, or nothing? Even our thoughts will be known, so that little white lie will be rendered as squeaky clean as our newly laundered linen. In this future, we may feel the same sense of friendship with the algorithms in our embedded chip that we now share with our pet dog or cat.

Even more intriguingly or some may say, sinisterly, these devices are bridging the worlds – between physical and etheric – so that we can now see into their shady domain. No more scary monster movies because ghosts will be so Piscean Age. The humble algorithm is rapidly showing us that although we’re king of the heap, we’re not ruler of the underworld. That title is being claimed by the beings inhabiting our technology. And whether they are benevolent or malevolent rulers depends entirely on us.

What is an Algorithm?
The algorithm is not just something that computer nerds like to play with. We all have them, inside our brain.(2) It’s like the code that directs, orders, and structures electrical impulses to do things, based on a set of yes/no, if/then instructions. It’s this algorithmic simplicity, modelled on our binary brain, that’s the brilliance behind modern technology. We’ve taken what we do by virtue of biology and extended the skill beyond moving things with our limbs, to moving them with our thoughts and minds.(3)The algorithms are the interface. Now machines aren’t just letting us tell them what to do with only a wink, they’re winking back. “Computer says No”. And not just to us, but to each other.

‘Hey, did you see that guy peeing?’ says embedded intelligence set in alley wall. ‘Yeah, but look at this. That’s not the same guy she’s married, to is it?’ Replies embedded intelligence in her 18-carat gold watch.
It’s called ‘Ubiquitous Computing’ because it’s virtually invisible, having been inserted into the everyday environment.(5) We’re going to be buying our lovers gifts complete with embedded intelligence, like a digital PA who can read your needs and anticipate your requirements based on previous actions. ‘I’ve let your husband know you’ll be late because you’re with your client again’. So make sure you’ve given it the day off before you’re illicit rendezvous.(6)

Our developing relationship with algorithms via computer code is taking us to the realm where physical reality, and the ether, meets. The lords of the underworld, of the nano-world beyond human senses, have been summoned by the programming wizards, to do their bidding. And this meeting, at the place where rigid formula meets malleable etheric, is about to show us what we’re all really up to.

Algorithms Rule Okay!
Algorithms are even now, having a tremendous impact on our lives. And if you don’t believe me just listen to game creator Kevin Slavin,Chairman and co-Founder of Area/Code. In a recent Ted Talk, Slavin showed how these complex computer programs determine espionage tactics, stock prices, movie scripts, and architecture. And he warns that we are writing code we can’t understand, with implications we can’t control.

Slavin believes that, “The quickest way to find out what the boundaries of reality are is to figure where they break.”(7) He describes the effect of algorithms on that most esoterically materialistic of institutions, the stock market. He suggests that the stock market exists on the boundary between reality and whatever lies beyond. It’s called algorithmic trading and it, ‘…evolved in part because institutional traders have the same problems that the United States Air Force had, which is that they’re moving these positions – whether it’s Proctor & Gamble or Accenture, whatever – they’re moving a million shares of something through the market”.

The problem happens when the traders play our shares all in, as though they’re in a poker game. “So the traders had to find a way to up-trade each other – to break up the one big transaction into a million little transactions. And the magic and the horror is that the same math that you use to break up the big thing into a million little things can be used to find a million little things and sew them back together and figure out what’s actually happening in the market.’ (8)

‘What could go wrong?’ You ask. Well, as Slavin says, in May 2010, “…nine percent of the entire market just disappears in five minutes, and they called it the Flash Crash of 2:45. All of a sudden, nine percent just goes away, and nobody to this day can even agree on what happened because nobody ordered it, nobody asked for it. Nobody had any control over what was actually happening. All they had was just a monitor in front of them that had the numbers on it and just a red button that said, “Stop.” ”

Don’t Look Now But There’s an Algorithm On Your Desktop
Nine percent of the stock market disappearing is a bit like pressing the ‘permanently erase’ button. We all just shrug – it’s in ‘the ether’ – but what’s that? We’re using metaphysical language to describe an event like it’s an everyday physical occurrence, which it now is. So why do we still argue about the reality of the etheric?

Algorithms have their favourite places to hang out, and algo-watchers have most recently spied them playing in virtual and augmented reality. More specifically in a device or computer game near you. What is this new type of reality? Virtual reality is a technology which allows the user to interact with an environment that exists only in a computer. Augmented reality superimposes events like graphics or audio from computers into real-time environments. They can help us monitor our health so we drink less, or alert us when our plant needs to drink more. Less comfortably perhaps, they can also show us the ghost in the machine running across our (real) desktops.

In his talk to MoMo in Amsterdam,(9) Kevin Slavin tells of an experience he had while playing one of his games which uses invisible characters able to move through real-world spaces. In essence the game uses GPS, compass and gyroscope readings, to continually monitor your location, direction, and orientation in the real world. In this game, you’re running through real-world streets, being chased and trying to evade capture by an etheric skull.

Sounds a bit kindergarten? Well it’s imagine time. While playing the game in his office, Slavin explains his feelings when the ghostly skull found him and swooped into the room, knocking phones from tables and leaving havoc in its wake. “No experience I’ve ever had prepared me for how real it would feel, this ghost sweeping through the room. Not because the technology made him visible, but because the technology made him real. Papa Bones would arrive unexpectedly, move things around on the table, and then move on. That is the weight of the invisible, augmented.”

We’re on the brink of a whole new reality, and technology is showing us the way. If we can see ghosts created by game programmers, then why not also see what your wife or husband has been up to when your back was turned? Is this new technology invasive? Or is it the inevitable march of evolution as our reality is augmented? Then again, could it be that it’s really we who are being augmented by the humble algorithm? Perhaps we’re just finding out what we’re really capable of, with the help of some prosthetically augmented senses. We may yet find out that ghosts are as real as we are, and that our world is really a much more crowded space than we ever imagined. Just think; in your next breath you could be breathing in one of my now extinct etheric shares.

Sources
1. Luke 12, http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12&version=NIRV)
2. http://ww1.ucmss.com/books/LFS/CSREA2006/ICA3955.pdf
3. http://mashable.com/2011/12/21/ibm-kevin-brown-mind-reading/
4. http://gti-. a.upv.es/sma/tools/Andromeda/archivos/downloads/Description_of_Andromeda.pdf, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_intelligence
5. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/home/digital-jewelry.htm, and, http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/travel/pda.htm
6. http://www.ted.com/speakers/kevin_slavin.html
7. Kevin Slavin: How algorithms shape our world | Video on TED.com (Kevin Slavin, Chairman and co-Founder of Area/Code. Founded in 2005, Area/Code creates cross-media games and entertainment
for clients including Nokia, CBS, Disney Imagineering, MTV, Discovery Networks, A&E Networks, Nike, Puma, EA, the UK’s Department for Transport, and Busch Entertainment.)
8. http://www.slideshare.net/momoams/kevin-slavin-reality-is-plenty-thanks, and, http://www.mobilemonday.net/06/2011/kevin-slavin-%E2%80%93-reality-is-plenty-thanks.html
9. http://apcmag.com/inside-ar-how-augmented-reality-works.htm.

World Healing Day, or World Peace Day is a moment of Oneness to dissolve the sense of separation between each other, and between us and the kingdoms of nature.

At noon Greenwich time, December 31, men, women, and children around the world gather to participate in a planetary affirmation of peace, and love, forgiveness and understanding.

At any hour, over this 24-hour-period millions of people will be in a simultaneous global mind link. The purpose: to reverse the polarity of the negative force field in the race of mind, achieve a critical mass of spiritual consciousness, and usher in a new era of Peace on Earth.

World Healing Day is organised under the umbrella of the Planetary Commission, a world wide non-denominational, non-political movement functioning as an extension of The Quartus Foundation. It is a grass roots cooperative effort to unite people in a common bond of love and bringing our planet back into balance.

You are warmly invited to participate, in the Global Mind-Link on December 31st this year.

If you have a meditation group to add, please email Quartus at quartus@quartus.org.

Reprinted from Souledout.org

http://www.quartus.org/WorldHealingDay.html

Link to other global meditations
World Healing Day page

The 22 December is the day, in the Southern Hemisphere when we celebrate the Sun’s intensest gaze on our part of the world. This means we’re bathed in light and warmth for the longest time of any day in the year.

On this day, we have the opportunity to most fully embrace what our Sun is really about: what is its purpose in our lives – other than the obvious physical ones of keeping us all alive? With a little insight we can see that there’s another, and equally important relationship we have with our Sun.

Since antiquity, we’ve known that our Sun represented the Purpose for our existence; that the Sun somehow harboured a secret about our ultimate raison d’etre. There’s a Hindu mantra called, ‘The Gayatri’, sometimes called the mother of the Vedas because it’s the foremost mantra in Hinduism. Its meaning can be interpreted as, “May the Almighty God illuminate our intellect to lead us along the righteous path”. The mantra is also a prayer to the “giver of light and life” – the Sun (savitur).(1)

O Thou Who givest sustenance to the universe,
From Whom all things proceed,
To Whom all things return,
Unveil to us the face of the true Spiritual Sun
Hidden by a disc of golden Light
That we may know the Truth And do our whole duty
As we journey to Thy sacred feet.(2)

Today, take a few minutes to re-connect with the source of our life; the giver of bonhomie, of meaning and ultimately, of direction. If we think about it, we’re all travelling onwards and upwards in one way or another. None of us stands still as it’s against the laws of nature – everything is constantly moving and changing.(3)

It’s the Sun that gives us this energy to keep going. Every atom of matter in our bodies, relies on the Sun’s blessing, its prana or solar fire; the energy we need to keep up this constant movement and vibration. In human terms it’s called our evolution, learning, changing, growing, maturing.

So today, let’s rejoice in our Sun’s will-to-live that brings to us so much joy, and of course also conflict, crisis and difficulty. The eternal duality of life on our little planet. It’s the journey we’ve all undertaken, whether we like it or not, by hell, fire or brimstone, by love or simply placing one foot after another. By whatever means, we’re all returning to the sacred feet of ‘Thou Who givest sustenance to the universe’.

Sources:
1. http://www.eaglespace.com/spirit/gayatri.php
2. http://www.lucistrust.org/en/service_activities/e_mantrams/the_gayatri
3. http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=120

Re-Visioning the Goal

Is this turning out to be a month of uncertainty and change for you? Are you re-thinking your goals? Wondering if you’ve been on the right path? Whether it’s time for a new horizon?
If so, then you’re benefitting from this month’s energies coming to us from the zodiac sign of Sagittarius. These energies are fiery, in contrast to last month’s watery sign of Scorpio.

According to the Ageless Wisdom teachings, the mind is composed of fire, and so fire is the basis of consciousness. (1) As a fire sign, Sagittarius channels these fiery energies into our planet, and this sign give us an opportunity to become aware of thought as the fiery power of our mind.

As many of us know, thought is power because all that we say and do starts with what we think. So our direction, goals and actions, are being born every nano-second. Of course, many of them die, or are aborted because, like any baby, if we forget about them, they lack the necessary vitality of love and warmth to keep them alive. It’s so hard to control the versatility of our monkey mind, and often we just let it run, here, there and everywhere, re-hashing old beliefs, situations, fears, and ideas, without being really conscious of what we’re thinking.

It’s no wonder that mediation is hard work – it takes all of our will-power to control our mind, and that’s before we even get to work with our creative visualisation. It also takes all the tenacity and perseverance we gained from our journeys with Scorpio to keep our mind harnessed and working towards our new goals. But as we learn to still our mind, we begin to see that we’re creating new furrows in the rich virgin soil of the etheric substance that surrounds us. This soil is the template into which our thoughts relentlessly carve out our reality.

Seeing the Vision
In Scorpio we glimpsed what could happen when our reasoning, rationalising mind is illumined by the soul. As we searched for and found the nine-heads of the Hydra of our personality, our delusions, deceptions and glamours grew frighteningly near, and loomingly large. It became all we could see. But then we found the spiritual warrior within, and we drew on our sword of light; the light of the soul. Then we used this light to see a way beyond the sordid details of our little personality worries and fears. We found a path that led higher than our monkey mind; the path that leads to illumination and love.

Each year that we traverse the wheel, we follow from Scorpio to Sagittarius, and each time our mind becomes a little more illumined and sensitive to the intuition. Sagittarius is portrayed as an archer on a white horse. In earlier days it was the centaur – half man, half animal. Over human evolution we have merged our animal-self with our soul, and many of us are now the archer astride the horse – we are learning to bridle the restless mind and control the lower nature, represented by the horse.

Rather than scattering our arrows unconsciously, or aiming them for only personal gain, we are setting a new goal. With our intention focussed towards the higher vision, we shoot straighter, our progress is hastened, and we find flashes of light and solutions to world problems. We also find that many of our own personal needs are taken care of, with little effort on our part.

From the valley where we have spent most of our time, we can now see the mountain that we must climb when we enter into Capricorn. The better we become at controlling the squawking monkey, the better can we hear the small but insistent voice of the soul. ‘We no longer walk in the dark and so our progress on the path is quicker as we fly, from point to point, searching for the arrows which we have discharged.’ (2)

The Blueprint
We all have the opportunity in December, to re-vision our goals. In the same way we can see the world-disciple, humanity, re-assessing what we must do from here. We can see the old-age systems and institutions being eroded and gradually swept away by the tidal wave of etheric energy, sweeping in on the impulse of the Aquarian and seventh ray forces. (3) This represents a new quality of energy with which we can work to assist in re-shaping our civilisation and re-defining culture.

But what does this really mean – aside from scaring us further into a gated mentality?

This etheric energy is like a new blueprint for a new era in human history and planetary evolution. It could be compared to an architectural design for a new home; a code embedded into a microchip; or even your plans for the day ahead. From the macrocosm, to the microcosm, we all set goals, and every time we do, we think etheric substance into a form or a structure, which may or may not see the light of day manifested in physical matter. The Aquarian and seventh-ray forces are like a thought, sent forth from the planetary mind – a thought or a creative visualisation being meditated into existence, by the great thinker.

On the world stage, we could say that the planetary Logos, the Mind of God, the Universal Intelligence – whatever you call the planet’s mind – is setting Itself a new goal. And humanity, as part of the physical planetary body, is inevitably caught up in manifesting this new reality. This is Sagittarian goal-visioning in action.

The Intuition
If we’re interested in helping to birth this new civilisation and culture, we’re ready to fully utilise the energies of Sagittarius. We’re ready to raise our consciousness, and as we train our lower, monkey mind, it becomes much more than it was – it realises it can be a receiver of inspiration, illumination and intuition from the soul.

What is the intuition? It’s often not what we claim to be intuitive – ‘I had a feeling she was going to have a boy, must be my intuition’, or ‘the crystal tells me what I need to do’. This is more likely to be our instinct, intellect, or psychic connection by tuning into another person, or people, via the astral thought forms swirling around us all. The intuition can be defined as, the ‘direct apprehension of truth and direct understanding of a knowledge which is so wide and synthetic in its grasp that we cover it by the nebulous term, the Universal Mind.’ (4) In other words, the intuition has nothing to do with individual consciousness, except that our individual mind can be a channel for its expression. Intuitive content is always impersonal.

How can we develop our intuition?

There is a very simple technique called Triangles*, that we can use during our day-to-day living, that will not only help develop our intuition, but in the process will perform a vitally important service to the planet and humanity. Triangles uses the etheric or the space around us all, and around the planet, to transmit thoughts of light, love and goodwill. These are the qualities that the planetary intelligence is now seeking to manifest on Earth.

The Etheric
Triangles uses the etheric, which is a form of matter vibrating faster than physical, visible matter. But it’s still substance, and can be manipulated and formed into shapes just as physical matter can. Imagine moulding clay, and you have an analogy for what we do when we think forms in the etheric. We are creating thought forms whenever we think, so why not focus our thoughts to create something really useful and beautiful, filled with light and love?

By joining with two others we can use the fiery power of our mind to visualise a triangle of light, radiating goodwill throughout the planet. We literally draw this image in the etheric substance whenever we visualise ourselves, and our two co-workers, as the three angles of the triangle. Then by saying the Great Invocation, we energise this image of our triangle, networked with other triangles, and under the law that form follows thought, we are creating linked, pulsating lines of light around the planet.(5)

Love -Wisdom
Wisdom is skill in action as the result of developed love and the light of understanding. It is being aware of what’s needed and then the ability to meet it in the most effective way. Triangles is an example of wisdom, or love in action. It’s the most effective way of meeting the need for a better world. As part of the triangles network, we are raising our consciousness, and from there we build the lighted path in etheric substance towards the intuition so that we can gradually tap the Mind of God; the great intelligence behind and within every life form that makes up our planetary life. Eventually we can think with God, and know the planetary Mind.

This path of light is built through service which is essentially a scientific mode of expressing love-wisdom. We serve according to our soul ray,(6) our circumstances, karma and evolutionary status. Alice Bailey suggests that one of the purposes of evolution is to help transform our non-sacred planet Earth, into a sacred planet. (7) This sounds strange when you look at the beauty of nature which is surely already sacred. And it is, in its fiery essence. But according to the Ageless Wisdom, nothing remains the same, and this sacredness is relative. Our job is to help fan the flame of the sacred fiery essence of nature intelligence into an even greater expression of beauty, order and divinity. We do this with love-wisdom.

In Sagittarius, we’re brought a little closer to understanding what this task entails. We can see the vision a little more clearly. We get a better grasp of what our mind is for. We learn to use the versatile, collector’s mind of Gemini which is the polar opposite of Sagittarius. Gemini loves knowledge. Gathering all the golden apples collected during our stay in Gemini, we transmute them into wisdom, by drawing them together in our Sagittarian bow, and focussing our sights on intuitive service so that our aim is straight and clear.

Sagittarius is a great opportunity to realise the power we wield as humans capable of thinking with free will. Do we use our thoughts to hurt, injure, and add to the fear surrounding us all, or thoughts that heal, soothe and add to the love and hope to which many of us aspire. The seed thought for Sagittarius is: ‘I see the goal. I reach that goal, and then I see another.’ As we meditate together, let us focus our minds, harnessing our collective power, helping to manifest a new civilisation and culture of love and light, and assisting our planet to fulfil its sacred mission.

Sources:
1. Alice Bailey, ‘A Treatise on Cosmic Fire’ p. 44
2. Ibid, p.181
3. http://www.esotericastrologer.org/Newsletters/34%20Age%20of%20Aquarius%20ZodiacRayCycles.htm
4. Bailey, ‘From Intellect to Intuition’ p. 159
5. http://www.lucistrust.org/en/service_activities/triangles
6. http://www.lucistrust.org/en/arcane_school/talks_and_articles/the_science_of_the_seven_rays
7. Bailey, ‘Esoteric Astrology’ p. 405-500

*Triangles – also see sidebar of this website for Triangles information.
If you live in Adelaide, I will be presenting a Triangles Information Evening on the New Moon, Wed Feb 22, 2012 from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.
See this website for more details.

Death and Magic

The United Nations (UN) was born on 24 October 1945 under the sign of Scorpio. This was the day when the UN Charter was ratified, and every year we celebrate it as UN Day. The Charter’s preamble starts with the words, ‘We the peoples of the United Nations…’. The United Nations is an international organization with 193 nations, and that’s all the world’s nations, with all its citizens – you and me. The UN is a melting-pot where our collective diversity as individuals, races and nations can meet as a potential unity.

Although the UN seems a long way from our everyday lives, it is actually much closer than we think. Consider our world without the global initiatives to – encourage gender equality, environmental protection, disease prevention, air traffic control, global communications, and its role in protecting refugees, clearing landmines and fighting AIDS. Our world would be an even messier, dangerous and more unjust place to live without this global cooperative body of nations.

If we look at the UN as an individual, we can think of it as a world personality made up of many disparate parts – nations, races, religions. Sometimes its parts work together effectively and sometimes there are squabbles, as different nations and groups try to get their national way at the expense of the global whole. The UN, like us, is made up of many selves, all wanting a piece of the action. And like us, it’s full of contradictions. It makes mistakes; it struggles with issues, and tries to sort out its values. Its journey is full of learning experiences causing pain and suffering. It falls down, only to get up again with renewed hope and aspiration to do better. It’s a very human organisation.

The UN represents the Scorpio journey writ large for all to see. This is the path of discipleship, or our spiritual journey to unite with our soul. When we’re ready to acknowledge our own contradictory complexity – the melting-pot of drives, desires, wishes, fears, hopes and dreams that can make up our personality – then we’re walking this path, and we’re already well acquainted with the tests and trials offered by Scorpio. On this path we learn to unify the diverse selves of our personality with our higher self, our soul. This is the transformative death offered by Scorpio to those ready to face and fight the deadly Hydra.

Scorpio and Death
In the Labours of Hercules, we’re told that, in his eighth labour, Hercules sets out to find a monstrous beast with nine-heads – the Hydra – living in, ‘stench-drenched bog’, and, ‘a cavern of perpetual night..’.(1) This is a massive task and Hercules realises he must do three things: First he must acknowledge that the Hydra exists, then he has to search for it, and finally destroy it. The Hydra is a symbol of our nine-headed personality, called by Bailey, the Dweller on the Threshold. ‘This Dweller is the sumtotal of all the personality characteristics which have remained unconquered and unsubdued and which must be finally overcome before initiation can be taken.’ In the legend, Hercules tries to kill the Hydra by chopping off its heads, but they just grow back. Finally he overcomes the Hydra or serpent of desire, by kneeling, ‘and from that position of humility lifts up the serpent into the air, and then deliverance comes’. (2)

Next year, 2012, is being declared as the International Year of Cooperatives. At the tender age of 67, the UN – we the people – are ready to, ‘raise public awareness of the invaluable contributions of cooperative enterprises to poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration. The Year will also highlight the strengths of the cooperative business model as an alternative means of doing business and furthering socioeconomic development’.

Whether motivated by sheer practical necessity like, global destruction, or naked opportunism like scratching each other’s back, the desire to share and cooperate, to form partnerships, is always going to be a better option than competition if we want to maximise efficiency and get things done. So when cooperation is declared a global initiative to further socioeconomic development, the soul of us all is involved. The act of sharing a heavy load may seem like only one small step for man, but, on the level of consciousness, the UNs declaration of the Year of Cooperatives, is one giant leap for humanity.

With the tenacity of Scorpio, humanity is now treading the spiritual path, and we’re finding heads everywhere. So we keep ourselves busy chopping them off – an organisation to stop child trafficking here, and another one to eliminate world poverty there – but the heads just keep growing back. Like Hercules, we can’t kill the Hydra, our collective Dweller, until we lift it into the light of the soul.

That’s why the UN, the world personality, is so important. And that’s why the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives is a great opportunity for each of us. And that’s why our individual effort to raise our own Hydra is of value to not just ourselves, but to human evolution. Each effort we make, to look, search and raise ourselves, contributes to lifting the Hydra of humanity into the light. Many of us are now willing to kneel in humility realising that the old ways are no longer useful to the demands of a new age.

Scorpio and Magic
Taurus is the polar opposite of Scorpio. As with all signs, we need to work with the energies of both polarities to find the best in both of them, merging them into one. The key to Scorpio is death and transformation. We burn up the desires of our lower self, the desire for things represented by the lower aspect of Taurus. The desires of our personality prevent us from fully participating in life, because we’re shutting our ears and eyes to the higher opportunities.

When we’re spending all our time thinking about sex, food, comfort, and money; when we make choices based on fear, hatred and ambition; and when we separate ourselves from others through pride, or feed cruel gossip, we’re not living up to our potential. This potential is our soul’s purpose. Scorpio offers us the opportunity to transform our personal experiences into something more beautiful and worthy. Within every negative lies a positive. In every lower desire lies nestled the potential jewel of a learning experience. With nine heads, every time we learn the lessons offered by the Hydra of our personality, we add another jewel to our collection.

In the month of November, Scorpio offers us the gift of magic. But to win this gift we must offer up the nine-headed hydra, our whole personality with its divisive selves, to the magical realm of the soul. With nine heads that’s a massive task.

Scorpio leads to Capricorn
The keynote of Scorpio is: ‘Warrior I am and from the battle I emerge triumphant’. When Hercules triumphantly raised the Hydra off the ground into the light, he may have shouted these words, for this is a moment of glory. We know that feeling when a gruelling time has been endured; when we’ve been forced to our knees in humility at the sheer weight of the darkness and slimy stench we’ve endured. We also know that wonderful moment when we can see the jewels of wisdom that all the pain and suffering has brought us. In that moment we’re filled with joy. This is the joy of the soul.

Scorpio’s gift of tenacity, the ability to die a thousand deaths, and still endure, leads us on in our quest for spiritual truth. Then we are rewarded, on a higher turn of the spiral, by the gift of illumination in Taurus.
The knees are governed by Saturn, who guards the gateway; the portal between the dweller and the magical gifts of the soul which are really the Christ consciousness. This consciousness sees no separation – between humans, between kingdoms, between the seen and the occult – hence what was unknown becomes known, and all is understood as one great relationship of forces and energies. Knowing this and how to work in this new reality is all that magic really is. Saturn commands us to kneel, and relinquish all that holds us back from receiving what is rightfully ours – spiritual insight into what we must do to create a better world, and the tools of white magic to assist us.

Saturn rules Capricorn, and when we have learned the lessons of Scorpio, and gained the secrets of the soul’s magic, we then pass through Sagittarius, before entering Capricorn where we again kneel, but now it’s on the top of the mountain. There we offer our heart and soul to human service. Then we are permitted to pass through the door of initiation and we’re entrusted with the secrets of life. (3)

Cycling round and round, higher and higher on the spiral of evolution, we gradually build the nine-jewelled magical and immortal head hidden deep within the hydra of our personality. These nine-jewels are the gifts given to us from each of the nine tests in Scorpio. When put together, like jigsaw pieces, they reveal our individual soul’s purpose in this incarnation. We’re now ready to climb to the mountain top in Capricorn, where we gain knowledge of the purpose, not just for our own life, but for all Life on our planet and beyond.

1. Bailey, A., ‘The Labours of Hercules’, p. 140-154
2. Ibid
3. Bailey, A., Esoteric Astrology. p. 93-226.