Winter Solstice 2012

The Xmas cards are written and posted, the presents bought (but not yet wrapped) and the house is decorated and ready to welcome family and friends.

Time to reflect on the year that's almost over and to wonder about the new one ahead.  There is a reason for the season!

At the heart of winter we have the coming of the light.

This Winter Solstice is a special one. 21.12.2012 sees not just the ending of one great cycle of the Mayan Calendar, but also the completion of an even bigger astronomical cycle, the Precession of the Equinoxes.  The sun now converges with the exact centre-line of the Milky Way - the Galactic Alignment.  Big stuff!

What might these complex cycles signify?  Certainly not the end of the world as some have chosen to believe.  That has more to do with their own fear than anything else.  However, we certainly seem to be living through challenging times, and maybe the various apocalyptic prophecies are best regarded as wake-up calls.

A dramatic change in the way we live seems vital, whether we are talking about the violence within our society, inequality and injustice or climate change.  All around us the old structures seem to be disintegrating and the institutions are no longer respected.  Above all we face a crisis of consciousness.  We are at a cosmic tipping point where a significant minority of people who have long been calling for the need to change becomes a critical mass.  Our civilization is not about to break down, but instead to break through to a new level of consciousness.  It's time for transformation on a galactic scale!

There is much we can all do - we are not powerless to change our culture. We can make our voices heard, we can build a different world through compassion and co-operation, with each one of us being a shining light in the darkness.  Let's make the Shift happen.  Help to spread light and love this season - and have a wonderful celebratory time!

The 2012 Olympics - the eruption of a revolution in consciousness

What a lift the 2012 Olympics has given everyone!  Even the most sceptical have to admit that the events were brilliantly organized and the ceremonies spectacularly orchestrated.  With incredible performances from the athletes, the deafening cheers of the spectators and the warmest of welcomes from the volunteers, the overriding impression has been one of joy.

Perhaps it was a shining example of how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts!  Qualities were demonstrated to inspire us all – vision, courage, determination, self-belief, discipline, patience, gratitude, compassion and co-operation – whether from the athletes from 204 countries, the 70,000 volunteers, or the hundreds of thousands of spectators in various venues and public events.  Even the millions of us watching on TV were moved by these qualities as well as the amazing spectacle of it all.

As the athletes, organizers, performers, volunteers and spectators offered the best of themselves, so we too went about our daily lives in a spirit of joy. For two amazing weeks, consciousness was raised to another level and mundane worries were left behind.  Let’s hope that we can continue smiling and joyful, while pondering on what has made us feel inspired, united and wanting to co-operate.

All revolutions are gradual and then suddenly erupt.  Maybe what we have just witnessed was the beginning of the eruption of a revolution in consciousness.

The Queen and the Queen of the Sky

What an amazing time the last few days have been!  The Diamond Jubilee celebrations have been genuinely joyful for the majority of people in the UK - probably just what we needed in this time of austerity!  Time and again over the four days people have stressed how wonderful it has been to come together in their communities, to share and to celebrate.

Most people are united in their view of Queen Elizabeth II as worthy of our affection and respect.  In an era when politicians of all persuasions are no longer trusted, when the pace of change is so dramatic, and crises face us on so many fronts, the Queen represents stability and continuity and is a unifying symbol.  She has carried out her duties in the most regal of manners with commitment and love.

It's no coincidence that today we have the rare event of the planet Venus, Queen of the Sky, transiting across the sun.  In astrology, the planet Venus represents love, the emotion that brings people together without force or compulsion.  Venus is also about happy social occasions - so a great time for a party.

Venus also represents the feminine and it is perhaps the feminine energies of nurturing, caring, compassion and co-operation that we most need in these troubled times.  We need to find a way to live in harmony with each other and with the natural world.

Previous Venus transits have seen revolution of one kind or another, and with this one we are on the brink of a revolution in consciousness, as I explore in my latest book, Wake Up and Hear the Thunder! Finding Hope in a Hopeless World, published today.  In these times of upheaval new energies are flooding in to raise awareness about the need to change the way we live.  Evolutionary pressures seem to be at work to bring about a positive transformation, with the Internet and social media helping us to share our ideas.  All over the globe there is a groundswell of people choosing to live their lives differently and a culture is emerging which is more altruistic, compassionate and sustainable.  Let's hope by the time the next transit  of Venus occurs in 2117 the world will be a very different place!

So today my latest book, Wake Up and Hear the Thunder! Finding Hope in a Hopeless World, is released into the Universe.  Yes I'm excited, particularly as I want everyone to feel optimistic about the future in the face of the many crises that confront us. 

Everywhere we look there is turmoil, but the crises, whether economic, political, social or environmental, are manifestations of a far deeper crisis - a crisis of consciousness.

The good news is that we are being forced to change.  In Wake Up and Hear the Thunder! I look at 2012 prophecy, at myth, and the history of evolution, and show that a revolution is consciousness is taking place.  We are now being forced to take our next great leap in evolution so that we can create a future that is more co-operative, more peaceful and more sustainable.  We all know the old ways aren't working any more.  We have reached the end of the road and a monumental shift is now taking place, one that the Internet and social media are playing a key role in.

I'll be blogging regularly now about the book's content and its hopeful vision of the future, but I'll also be documenting transformational events as they unfold.

This blog will be very organic. It will be a learning process for me, as well as hopefully being inspirational to others.  I'm starting where I'm at, which is the only place any of us can ever start. It will be like the transformational journey itself. I hope to be able to share both what I know, and what I will learn, with all those who want to see a transformed world.

I have chosen the ‘official’ launch/publication date for Wake Up and Hear the Thunder! of Wednesday 6 June to coincide with a rare astronomical event, the Transit of Venus (the movement of Venus across the face of the sun).  This event will not occur again in our lifetime, and  I hope this will be both auspicious for my book, and also bring new energies of love into our troubled world.

The Promise of Easter - Spring 2012

Easter is the pivotal point of the Christian calendar.  The message of new life has relevance for us all, regardless of our faith, and even if we subscribe to none.  We only have to look at nature to see how everything dies down, only to be reborn again.

The past is gone, the future lies before us.  How we live today impacts how the future will unfold.  Every moment is a new opportunity to see things differently, to live differently, to be reborn and create a new world.  That is the promise of Easter.

All around us the speed and breadth of change in our world is evident. Many challenges confront us, whether in our dysfunctional societies, in the economic and political systems that don't work, or in the environment that is showing signs of strain.  We can no longer continue in the same old ways, we have to change - if we are to survive as a species.  Yet there are signs of a monumental shift in consciousness - everywhere people are waking up to the fact that there has to be a better way of living on this planet.

Easter reminds us that we can begin anew.  Putting sacred values at the heart of existence makes it easy to live more meaningful lives and to become the best we can be.  May the true message of Easter inspire us to live more peacefully, more co-operatively and more sustainably.

Midwinter 22 December 2011

Today is officially the shortest day and the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere - the winter solstice.  Since earliest times, because of the sun's vital importance as a source of light and warmth, human beings have observed the progress of the sun across the sky, and as early as Neolithic times built monuments like Stonehenge and Newgrange to observe the solstice.  (The solstice is actually caused by the tilt of the earth's axis and it's orbit around the sun.)

Around the world mythologies and traditions have developed over the centuries to mark this peak of darkness before the days begin once again to lengthen.  At their heart is the concept of birth or rebirth, new beginnings and the return of the light.

Saturnalia was one of the most important and most popular of the Roman festivals and featured feasting and exchange of gifts, and the social order was temporarily reversed as masters and slaves changed places.  The Dongzhi festival, celebrated by the Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese, entails families getting together and sharing special food.  Yule festivities derive from the late Viking period and its Midwinter rituals, and continues with Wicca as a pagan festival marking the rebirth of the sun.  Even Hogmanay in Scotland originally marked the return of the sun.

Christmas or Christ's Mass, on 25th December celebrates the birth of Christ.  Midnight Mass, carol singing,  the decorating of our homes, feasting with family and friends and exchanging of gifts are very similar to rituals and traditions elsewhere for the birth of the new solar year.

Even if Christmas didn't exist as a Christian festival, we would still feel the need to mark this time of darkness before  the lengthening of the days once again in the progression to the summer solstice.  Midwinter is a natural time of withdrawal and reflection prior to celebrating the return of the light.  Advent, and particularly the winter solstice, is an opportunity for us to confront the darkness in our world, as well as the darkness within ourselves, and to honour it.

The psychologist C. G. Jung talked of the necessity of becoming aware of the darkness, of making the unconscious conscious on the path to becoming truly evolved individuals.  Our only hope in changing the world is in changing ourselves and becoming more conscious human beings.

At a time when our world is so troubled with crises, let's hope for new beginnings, rebirth and transformation as we learn to collaborate, co-operate and become more compassionate as we face the challenges together.  Let's hope 2012 sees a major shift in consciousness!

Seasonal greetings!

International World Peace Day - 21 September 2011

Two words spring to mind this International Peace Day - Recollection and Reconnection.  Let's re-collect who we truly are, and let's re-connect with the divine source of life.

While the world seems to be spinning out of control, and crisis follows upon crisis, we can at times feel hopeless about what's going on.  But there's really no need to.

If we take time just to stop in our frenetic lives, and re-collect the disparate parts of ourselves into an integrated whole, we will feel more at ease with ourselves.  If we can re-connect with the heart - the centre of our being energetically - then we can maintain a more balanced life.

Peace starts with each one of us.  By stopping, and using the technologies of meditation, yoga or prayer, we can be in touch with our deepest roots and open our hearts.  Starting with ourselves and offering ourselves compassion, we can live more authentically and easefully.  We can then extend that compassion beyond ourselves to all those who are in pain and suffering.

At our core we are whole beings, and when we act from that core, we are more able to be of use to others and to serve the cause of world peace.

By cultivating peace in ourselves, we can help in the process of changing the culture from one of competition and aggression  to one of co-operation and peace. Only with conscious evolution can the world become more peaceful.