Monthly Archives: November 2016

Finding Magic

“And when you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” – The Alchemist

“Life is generous with who live their personal legend” – Paulo Cohelo

Concealing Magic

Her parents were experts
In concealing magic
They hid it in the obvious places
Coaching soccer games
Accounting books
And beneath the secretary’s chair
Her mother sat at

Her parents were experts in concealing magic
Learning to hide their own extraordinary dreams
In the ordinary good manners
Of an American family raising six children
One girl; she was their eldest
Five younger boys; her brothers in arms

Her parents were experts in concealing magic
Whether it because of a need
To maintain a good reputation in the community
As was the case with her mother
Or because it was important to be loyal to one’s family
Even if that meant your dreams never came true

Her parents were experts in concealing magic
Like any child though
She was good at finding the secret places

Her Magic was always there
So she set out to find it

Shazam on the Golf Course
She was the oldest
So she met her father when he still had twinkles of stardust
Hovering over him as he set out on the golfing green
Bursts of sunlight shining with holy radiance each time he got a hole in one

She was the oldest
So her father took her under his wing
Enfolded her in his joy of sports
He coached her games and passed on some of his magic to him

Like Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family
They had their own secret phrases
That brought the magic down in a thunderbolt
He gave her his magic and taught her the magic phrases

Small rumblings of thunder, stardust, and magic
that her mother never seemed to hear
that her mother insisted on not seeing

Empathic Magic

She realized magic existed
When she was young
Even though she did not always know
How to find it

She sensed it when her Grandmother had a stroke
Lost her ability to speak or use language
She could feel her Grandmother’s frustration
She also knew, unerringly what her mother wanted

She responded to her grandmother’s need
As a small child who feels another hurting does
Naturally and softly
Taking her grandmother’s hand in hers

Soothing her grandmother’s frustration
Sending a surge of love
From a simple touch
Straight to her Grandmother’s heart

Recognizing Magic

That was how it started
A simple knowing of things
That other people didn’t

Travelling forward in time
From a Knowing to reach for her Grandmother’s hand
To a Knowing of what was going on in the angry teen in front of her
Filled with frustration of another form

A frustration of never having another
See their Magic
A frustration of never having for themselves
An ability to see their own Magic

She does it for them
Voices it in words they understand
Voices an understanding of families that conceal magic
Without ever having to say the words

She teaches them their own secret phrases
Ones she has no way of knowing
Still
She knows and their Magic is unleashed

Dismissing Magic

As she got older
Began to find her Magic
She tried to share her experiences
She told her mother of ways magic kept unfolding

Her mother dismissed her
“If you really believe that
There is something wrong with you
Your perception is not reality”

But it is…

Magic, Illusion, and Reputation

Magic requires faith
It also requires a strict adherence to truth
Inner and outer
It brooks no illusions

The use of Magic while illusions remain in place
The use of Magic while living in fantasies of your own intentions
Is like asking for wishes from a devil
You may ask for one thing but magic always finds your true north

If you are asking for money
From a place of scarcity
You will receive what you are placing into the Universe
Scarcity

If you are asking for true love
Yet believe that true love requires pain
You will find
That love and pain are inseparable in every relationship you have

If you are asking for Magic itself
Yet believe magic must always remain concealed
You will find yourself living a mundane life
Never knowing that Magic exists

To Access Magic fully
You must live recognizing your place as the creator of your vision
Daily, monthly, yearly
You must live recognizing that you alone have the power to transform your life

To Access Magic
You must live as if your vision is already reality
While having faith
That the path is opening before you without having to force the door

Her Mother dismissed her Magic for many reasons
Reputation demanded much from a woman dependent upon social niceties of an age
That viewed women as less than
While concealing the darkness of abuse within the family her mother did not wish to see

Concealing a darkness of abuse within the family
That perhaps she did not wish to remember

Her Mother’s Magic
Was in finding an ordinary life
One with a good man loyal to his family
Where love depended only on doing the right thing

So that darkness could never intrude

Holding up the Pillars of Society
Her mother may not have believed in Magic
One might argue that she had even chosen strategically

For her father was not a strong man
And yet… he was the pillar of the family
Or at least he held the pillars upon his shoulder

Perhaps saying he wasn’t strong was a misnomer
Like Atlas
He held the weight of a world on his shoulders
Balancing his wife’s need for a good reputation and good life
With the desire of their children to find themselves

He always did what was right for the family
As the eldest she ran errands with him
She became his sidekick
A Mary Marvel to his Captain Marvel
With him coaching her through life the best he could

Her relationship with him was easy
For he was both no nonsense
While never making waves
In truth he was a strong man
Concealing his magic

That he was a god holding the world on his shoulders
When he could have been golfing
to ensure a strong family
Where his children could be strong with their own Magic
While professing that he didn’t understand to appease his wife

She didn’t understand at times
Why he chose her
Or stayed with her
He was a good man
Loyal
He saw the best in everyone
Including the woman he had married
She had learned to walk with integrity
From him
Integrity of her word
A crucial ingredient
In manifesting intention into reality
From her mother
At times if felt challenging
Even now her mother would still say
“If you just did what we did
You could have the life we had
You could be
Successful”

Her mom
Not seeming to realize
That Success was not the same to her
That it didn’t mean a husband, six kids, and a house
That success meant introducing others to their Magic

She recognized though
That her mother was a part of her contract
From her she learned the daily discipline
That kept her on track
For the manifesting of her dreams

For her mother never wavered in what she believed
Her mother never wavered in creating the life she wanted
Her mother never wavered in her vision
If she waivered, or at least continued to build on the original vision she had
it’s true her mother might have been able to create even more

For her mother was disciplined in her use of Magic
In concealing her magic as something ordinary that anyone could have achieved
And yet, Who was she
To judge her mother’s magic
That brought her a husband, six kids, and house

Shazam! The Lighting struck and the Marvel Family was created
As much as her mother’s vision as against all the things her mother had planned

Finding Magic

She was always connected
To the depths of nature
There on the trails
While others forged ahead
She would find herself
Slowing
No need to get from A to B
When the trees, water, and animals
Revealed their own simple mysteries
Concealing Magic from Herself

Like many others
She had thought she was afraid of failing
When in fact
She had learned the simple lessons
Of Concealing Magic
From her family and society
Well enough despite her protestations
To fear the unveiling and success
Of her dreams

Blowing Glass

She learned to connect to source
Through the discovery that she could create things with a simple thought
Like a glass blower
She discovered that she could creates shapes from her thoughts
Into the world that were decorative and functional
Beautiful to look upon
While holding the capacity to be filled with dreams

The Display Case

While others hold their crystals
Deep within a rock shop
Buried and strewn among
Stones and pebbles undistinguished

She has chosen to take her dreams
To the Display Case she has built
Along the street
For she understands as did the Alchemist

That for her personal legend to become manifest
She must know the value of the crystals she displays
Speak clearly of the value they hold
So that others may provide the abundance of dreams

Crystals, Glass, and Magic

She has known
That her purpose
Has always been not just the finding of her own Magic
But unleashing the Magic of others

She recognizes that is both Magic Inherent
As crystals forming through generations of growth
Within a family and it’s communal spirit
Like a geode waiting to be cut open for all to see

And Magic Created
With each spirit finding it’s unique medium and vision
Glass structures jutting from the earth
And hanging from the air

Sunlight glinting of crystals and colored glass sculptures
Magic
Moonlight revealing it within the darkness
Magic Inherent and Created

She assists others in finding their path to unveil it

The Veil is Thin

For her the Veil is thin
A lifetime of practicing
Presence and Compassion

She recognizes that others
May choose to view her as
An enemy, rival, or one that opposes them
Yet in those moments in her own life

When she has had the opportunity
To rub the salt in another’s wounds
Or take arms against the ones that have opposed her
She has instead viewed them with compassion

She, like her father, can see the good in anyone
Even when that other has attempted or succeeded
In causing harm to her heart
She knows the path to peace is compassion

For her the Veil is Thin
She is a facilitator of understanding
Able to stand between opposing thinkers
Or one who opposes themselves struggling from a stark dichotomy within
And within that space
Create a space for peace between those thinkers
Create a space for acceptance for the one struggling to accept themselves
Create a space for spirit to enter in and provide the presence and compassion needed for healing

For her the Veil is thin
She has learned to focus on gratitude, compassion, and unconditional love
She has embraced any thought that brings her to a higher vibration and joy
She does nothing in this life that does not bring her Josy

She has learned that her Magic
Has always been with her
Despite attempts to conceal it
She knows her treasure has been with her all of this time

For her the Veil is thin
So it is that she can see her Magic now
See how it unfolds
As she teaches others to do the same

Journey

She travelled to the Egypt of her Soul
Through the deserts
To the Oasis
Where she found a love that defined her

It would not be the only Oasis she found
For at times the desert
Could stretch out
For miles and years in front of her
Yet she always kept her vision ahead of her

The Pyramids in Egypt
While always opening their treasures to her
Did not leave her with something she could hold
Still she was grateful for the journey

Oasis and Pyramids

She hadn’t realized she had fallen in love with him
At times she was not sure if he was from the Oasis
A lasting source of vitality
Or another Pyramid
A place to learn about herself
From which she would leave wiser
But with nothing lasting
To hold beyond what was in her spirit

Of Pyramids there had been at least three or four
The Pyramid of the Defiant Individuality
Which helped her define herself
Not so much in opposition to her parents
But in understanding that her path
Was not and would not ever be theirs

She had spent six years exploring that Pyramid
Before continuing on her journey
Through the sands and other Pyramids
Finding her way slowly back to the forests of New Hampshire

And now…
She would just have to see
If he was an Oasis or a Pyramid
The ceramic bowl filled with Ben and Jerry’s ice cream
The eclectic song from 20 years ago
The trophy
All unearthed from the sands of time
To look upon now

She smiled
Either way she would simply have to wait and see
For she knew she had fallen in love with him many years ago
And as for him he kept telling her there was a question he had to ask her

A question she could wait for
Until the time was right

Shepherdess

She shepherds the teens she works with
Away from the cliffs and wolves
Not by teaching them what they should do

She teaches them
By showing them how to follow the integrity of their own hearts
Of reaching for a place of compassion first for themselves

Then for all those around them
Who have always been taught
The value of concealing magic

She shows them how recognize the cliffs within their own hearts
She gets their hearts to warn them when wolves are coming to feast on their dreams
She supports them on the first steps of their journey

Knowing that ultimately
They will discover
Their treasures are always there

Always present and within reach

Magic Manifest – The Oasis of New Hampshire

She didn’t need the money
For in following her Personal Legend
The land, half a million in value, became manifest

Her vision
A retreat center
That would provide teens an opportunity to find their Magic

The land would benefit others as well
For many dreams and visions contributed
Writing retreats, Success Principles, Growth and Synergistic Master Mind groups

All would find a place in this Oasis of New Hampshire
Where the mission would be simple
Creative development of the mind and body from a spiritual perspective

Simply put
Tools for the manifestation of freedom
With the application of discipline

In the Creation of Magic

There are two defining factors to success – Discipline and Vision. Without the ability to create a long term vision and to clearly identify what you want to create – you can not formulate the steps that will take you there. You may be busy doing, but with no appreciable result. Without discipline you will likely find yourself engaged in countless distractions – and success of any substantial sort is not something that happens suddenly – it occurs only after days, weeks, months, or years or consistent application of effort in the same direction – depending upon the scope of your vision.
Most of us have to develop both of these capacities. Not just because of our natural tendencies to get caught up in our day to day events thus short circuiting both discipline and vision – but because we also have spent so much of our lives listening and believing things that hamstring our own capabilities to develop vision, and thus the passion to engage in effective discipline to get the results we want.
Yesterday I ran a 45 minute exercise going through the seven areas define by Jack Canfield: Finances, Career, Recreation, Relationships, Personal Development, Community and Legacy. One of the individuals got stuck in creating a vision of their ideal house as we were discussing what the long term vision of finances could look like. They were caught in the messages they had received over and over again – messages which told them they “could not afford” their ideal house and so don’t envision it. Another participant then told them that because they envisioned it, they were able to get a cabin on the lake – something they had never expected to do – but it showed up because they were looking for the possibility.
I want to be clear – I wasn’t telling anyone to go out and buy their dream home. What I was guiding them to do was to allow themselves to have a vision of what they would like to create. And this guidance was not just in regards to “possessions” it was in regards to the quality of relationships they want, the type of life they want to live. If someone is in an emotionally abusive relationship – and have a vision of what a healthy relationship would look and feel like – they may well create the vision and then take the actions needed to find that healthy relationship. If they get caught up in the daily crisis that the emotionally abusive relationship creates they will be unable to develop the vision and be unable to discipline themselves to take the hard steps needed to either address the issues in the current relationship or leave the relationship in order to seek out one that will be emotionally supportive.
It does not matter what area of your life it is – long term vision and the discipline to take the hard steps needed to get you there are the two factors that lead to successful outcomes. If you are reading this – then no matter how challenged you may feel – the truth is both of those qualities are in you – pick up Jack Canfield’s Success Principles, pick up Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits for Highly Effective People, pick up a book or find a mentor in the area you want to develop. Learn the road maps and the long term vision from those who have come before you if you are unsure how to develop it yourself. And start taking the action steps today to being the difference in your own life.

In Los Angeles at one point I was contracted to design and do a training on how to intervene and support those who identify as transgender. One of the first metaphors I used was that of switching the salt and the sugar. The first time someone uses the salt when they think its sugar they are likely to have a very strong negative reaction. They are not hurt, all that has happened is that they are used to one thing, and suddenly, something has shifted that they were not ready for. Surprise followed by anger is a common reaction (vs. say surprise followed by laughter). I would then go on to explain that if we left the sugar in the salt shaker and the salt in the sugar jar we would very quickly get used to this and it would no longer be surprising nor would it elicit a negative reaction. In regards to gender, while for the person who identifies as the other gender things are much more comprehensive, for the observer, essentially someone has changed the salt and sugar around. There is no reason to be upset, angry, etc…

I went on to explain that while sex is biological, gender is a social construct, there is no reason for a person who is male but identifies as female or vice versa not to take on the gender identification that is most natural to them.

One of my main points in the presentation actually came a bit later after a number of exercises which reinforce the negative impact of forced gender roles and identification and highlighting the many ways most people deviate from them. I talked about “Hate Judgments” and this is what feels most relevant here in the current post Trump elect environment.

I explained that a hate judgments are simply those thoughts that you carry about people. I asked people and I’ll ask you now – do you know at least one person that doesn’t like you? Can you take a moment to identify who you don’t like? The reality is that people know when you don’t like them. Often we think we are being clever and hiding our dislike, but the person in question observes our behavior – not just with them, but with others… and so it is clear that we dislike them. I the presentation I would talk about how for some people the moment I walked into the room a “hate judgment was formed” I was too short, bald, white, not dressed well enough, dressed too conservatively etc… and why on earth was a straight, white, male talking about how to support and intervene with people who identified themselves as transgender… what does he know? (by that time I had answered the lingering question people have when you do a presentation like that – is “he” transgender? However I would wait to answer that question until the workshop was about half way done and I had established credibility as an ally).

I talked about the small daily impact hate judgments have and how they escalate (those who identify as transgender tend to suffer the most brutal and horrific of attacks in regards to hate crime violence and at a greater proportion in the population). Specifically I talk about the importance of releasing the hate judgments they are currently carrying around. Van Jones recently released his meeting with a family of Trump supporters. There are moments as a liberal with years of education both taught and sought out regarding the oppression of others where it is tempting to dismiss what the family is saying – and yet Van Jones does a phenomenal job of ensuring the family is heard while assisting them in learning the other side. It is a true “walking to the center of the aisle and shaking hands” experience. It is tempting to say the other side is simply a bunch of “ignorant racists” – the truth is, as Van Jones helps us discover, messier. Yes there is an ignorance in play at moments – and yet I would state that ignorance is in play on both sides – in every situation it is that moment when we realize there is a story contributing to the current world view the other has – filled with their own challenges – that is the moment in which we can move forward to create solutions built on unified hopes and dreams based on the needs and wants of everyone in the situation – whether it is in a family, a work place, a community, or a nation.

Evaluation is important. It is important to know who carries hate judgments as an “active” part of their being and to “trust your instincts” in regards to who you can trust or not trust – and yet… especially in the current environment I would encourage people to yes, evaluate, but ultimately release the judgments for those you interact with on a daily basis. “Do not be upset by the doing or undoing of others”. Simply recognize with compassion what may be fueling the choices being made, take an active role in resolving what conflicts you can, and remember that all of us have judgments (I have a whole passel of them which have been shouting for my attention this week) however, those judgments do not have to determine the quality of our interactions with others. The other person may be salt in the sugar jar every day, accept that, there is plenty of sugar to go around, maybe you can offer them a spoonful of kindness and see what happens.
Link to Van Jones: http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/12/opinions/van-jones-messy-truth/

Below is a writing I did one morning somewhere between 2 and 3 am. It is different than most of the things I write – more clearly spiritual in nature. It is simply a perspective. I make no claim that it is right. It is clearly influenced in tone by both Abraham and Wayne Dyer – as all things have influences elsewhere. Someone asked me if it was a “Channeled” writing. I don’t know. From the perspective of this writing I might say that “all writing” is channeled – just filtered to greater or lesser degree by the map and hammer…
At some point in your past, unbeknownst to you, your ego made a decision to hide your true identity. Your spirit knows that the ego was just trying to help. The ego was wanting to make sure that you, that it, would be safe from any threats. It wanted to try and prevent it’s self from being hurt in any form. To make sure it would not be shamed, blamed, abandoned, maimed, or in any other way have it’s existence threatened. And so your ego, the part of you that was given a physical fingerprint, decided to be less than it really was – believing that this life was everything. In that moment your ego convinced you to give up your power, to conceal it, to pretend to be a mere mortal in the hopes that you would never discover what you were truly capable of, never discover what the ego truly was… a simple tool to help you discover physical preferences in this life, a simple tool to be used to guide you to joy, in fact really, no more than a map that can be used to guide you towards positive experiences and away from negative ones. Your ego is your access to free will, however, your ego mistakenly believes it is your free will. The ego is designed to see the emotional geography of the world and is connected integrally to the physical brain – a brain designed organically to recognize and solve problems in order for us to develop our physical preferences. The ego as a result of this connection is vulnerable to fear and anxiety as it is connected to the physical mechanism that keeps your physical body free from harm. You are not your brain and you are not your ego. At some point the ego, the spirits tether to the body, meant to simply be one source of information for your existence, convinced you that it was the only channel of information you should listen to. It is important to recognize that the spirit is only a tool given to you as a way of receiving and interpreting information from your physical body. It is important to recognize that the ego is connected to a physical organ which is designed to create problems. It is up to you to access your spirit to filter the ego’s messages, which are really the brain’s messages, and to then communicate back to your ego, back to your brain, so that it will work on the “problems” that you most desire.
Your brain, in the absence of guidance, is like a sentient computer. In the absence of your spirit’s programming it will continually and constantly scan the physical environment around you for data that is focused on ensuring the physical survival of your physical self. Lacking physical dangers it will still take data it receives and find ways to interpret the data so that you will see “potential dangers”. The ego is programed to provide contrast for your desires. It is programmed so that you might identify your true desires and true passions and then map your way to them with your internal GPS.
However when you mistake your brain as who you are, instead of recognizing your brain is simply a tool for the manifestation of your desires, the data on lack then becomes your primary programming. If you have a hammer and do not provide direction to the momentum and force of it’s swings it will destroy everything around you creating holes in the walls and floors and possibly injuring you and those around you. When you provide clear direction for the hammer and put in front of it the proper materials you may build a cabinet to hold your desires, you may create a home to satisfy your desire for a place to live, you may even create buildings that can hold the lives of thousands of people or structures of great beauty. It is all in recognizing that the you are in control of the hammer. You are in control of its force, momentum, and direction. You are even in control of which side of the hammer you are using so that if you see that you have made an error in your current judgement as you are receiving information you may choose to pull the nail out you have just imbedded in order to make a correction.
This is your brain. This is your ego. This is its function. It is a tool. When you use the tool without direction, without conscious intent, it will cause destruction in your life. When you use the side of the ego that is designed to prevent you from the immediate and premature destruction of your physical form before you can carry out the purpose for why you chose to come to this planet as your only tool you evoke fear. You evoke anger. You evoke disappointment. When you use the side of the ego that is a constructive map of your physical preferences in this world and consciously provide it with materials – visualization, conscious choice of your thoughts, and intentional action, you remember your true self.
The ego is a series of spiritual nerves to your spirit to provide you information. It is nothing more and nothing less. When you have experiences that cause you discomfort if you allow the ego to overwhelm you with its messages you will experience fear. You will experience doubt.
If you remember that the ego is simply a tool. No more and no less, then you can communicate back down the pathway of your spiritual nervous system to provide it with direction. So that you can build your true preferences in this physical existence… on as Abraham says… the leading edge of thought.
To do this you must remember to choose positive emotions and positive thoughts. It is not that you should never experience sadness, anger, or discomfort. It is that in those moments where the ego is providing your spirit with information about the negative aspects of your physical existence that you recognize this simply as contrast. That you recognize this as simply information about what you have currently created in your life.
If you recognize this as your current creation, than you can choose to use the other end of the hammer. You can take the nail out you just imbedded and make a course correction. While you can always abandon the project you are currently working on – it is easier to build up momentum and positive thought. While each of you has the power to transform your lives instantly. Most of you in the physical plane believe it takes time to do so. Therefor it is easier, until you learn otherwise, to simply remove the nail and continue to build. If necessary discarding the piece of wood you have used, but not destroying the entire project you have built.
For your spirit it is no more difficult than an adult helping a child to build a structure out of Lincoln logs or legos. Your spirit can see the full structure clearly if you allow it to and can literally build the life you desire in moments. If you wish to the ego which is no more than the bodies tether to your divine self, your bodies spiritual nervous system designed simply to relay information, will respond fully and completely to the direction of the divine. In this way miracles may occur in a moment.
For your spirit is not just connected to the brain. Your spirit is connected to the entirety of the physical world. You may heal yourself or another instantly. You may rejuvenate the hearts of distant stars with a thought and a prayer. You may call the wind into your hair as easily as you call the divine into your heart. With a simple thought.
Do not mistake the hammer for yourself. Do not swing your hammer with your eyes closed, either ineffectually and without the power to make even the slightest impact, or forcefully and without direction so that you create holes in the structures you are building or injury to your physical existence.
While they may be repaired instantly – as was said before – for most of you – you believe that they cannot. So remember the ego, the hammer, has two sides. One was given to allow you to ensure that your physical being did not end prematurely. The other was given as a map of the physical preferences you chose in this lifetime to direct you to your purpose.
No more. No less. Do not mistake either end for who you are. Your spirit is not your ego. Your ego is not you. It is simply a tool placed within a physical body. A physical body designed to respond to your will. Like all tools, yes, it will wear out. Should you desire it another physical form will be available to you. Your existence is not the physical form. Your brain is not who you are. Your ego is the stream of coding between you and your spirit. Do not allow the ego to direct your action. Provide your ego with the programming you desire.
When you live in gratitude, faith, and follow your bliss – then the very world will, as Jung said, open up doors that only you can open
A final thought – Wayne Dyer stated that he did not feel the ego was worth defending. It is not. You do not defend a hammer. For you recognize the hammer is not you. You do not defend a map. For you recognize the map is not you. The ego is a tool. It is not you. It is not even that the ego believes it is you. It is you believing you are your ego. You have come to believe that you are the tool. The ego is just a constant stream of information providing information about the physical form you have currently chosen to take. It provides information you believe to be “bad” and information you believe to be “good”. The information is neither. The information the ego provides is simply information about how closely you are living to the path your chose before you took on physical existence. When you living in service to your divine self you will feel joy.
Even when bad things happen these events are simply information. Some of you as you read these words may even feel shame or guilt feeling that you have not been living into your divine self. These thoughts do not serve you. These thoughts are the way you swing the hammer to hurt yourself. You are a full and diving being who has chosen to have many different experiences. Some of these experiences will in fact be “bad” things. That is because you have chosen to live in a world of contrast in order to understand more fully many things that are important to your spirit. You have chosen to live in a physical world with many choices so that you too, may learn to create. You have chosen to live in a world of contrast so that you can learn to recognize the god in you. “All that I have done the least among you can do and more.”
You are a divine being. You are perfectly created. You are love with a map and hammer. And in this moment and in the next you can create any tool you need to manifest into being the doors that only you can open so that you create the life you have chosen before you took physical form.