“Social conscience" obliges the individual to act. Today we call for action all the time, but mostly from government, which is another way of excusing us and allowing us to get on with the distractions of the day." ~ Mark... Continue Reading →
I wrote this post last Autumn and stowed it away in the Drafts folder to be rediscovered today. Seems as timely a topic as ever, so here it is ... “Researching her film, The Story of Stuff, Annie Leonard discovered... Continue Reading →
"The work of Temenos could not be more important. Its commitment to fostering a wider awareness of the great spiritual traditions we have inherited from the past ... which form the basis of mankind's most civilised values..." "In the great... Continue Reading →
NGC 3603, NASA-Hubble. Virginia/INAF, Bologna, Italy/USRA/Ames/STScI/AURA. PD-US.
In the beginning was the Word …
The sound …
The vibration of the ultimate creativity.
If all is energy, and sound and vibration are creative, we become more and more aware of the power of the Word: thought, word, and all that shapes it within us.
My friend and kindred-collaborator Lee of the fantastically insightful and creative ShamaGaia blog has written a fine musing on the power of the Word, sound, and vibration for healing and creativity.
From prehistoric Shamans to the ancient civilisations of Summeria, Egypt, Greece, China, Tibet, India, South America and elsewhere, sound has been revered as a primary way of linking humans with their cosmology and for its ability to heal, transform and elevate, body mind and spirit. “The use of sound in such cultures was a highly developed sacred science.” (Goldman, 2012)
The Pythagorean schools of ancient Greece developed various kinds of sacred sound healing temples and practices from knowledge that they received in Egypt. Fundamental to such practices was a concept known as, “The Harmony of The Spheres,” or “Musica Universalis,” which determined that the ratios of heavenly bodies could be represented by the relationship between musical tones. While this development is widely acknowledged as one of the major roots of western science, it is important to note that Pythagoras, one of…
“I swear by Apollo The Healer, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and by all the Gods and Goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, according to my ability and judgment, this oath and this indenture.” The... Continue Reading →
"The birds of negativity may flock around your head, but you don't have to let them nest there." Then again, Bird Whispering is an art that must be learned and practiced in the nesting season. Hint: It's a nesting season.... Continue Reading →
"A thousand things went right today." ~ Ilan Shamir, Storyteller & Artist Even slight shifts in wording and perception can make a huge difference. "A thousand things went right today" is from one of Ilan Shamir's poems (find more on... Continue Reading →
"Time-based prophecies that kept me from living, in the moment I am struggling to trust the divinity ... " ~ Nahko Bear This is a wee bit of a rant, though mild as possible rant-ampage can go. In recent weeks,... Continue Reading →
"We need to find this thread of the real story of our life—not the story that we see on the television or the news, not even the story our parents tell us—but the real story of our life; you can... Continue Reading →
New Solar Year. New Lunar Year. New Moon. New vision. New beginnings. New adventures. New mindset.
Any time we begin anew -- or want (or need) to stir new inspiration and meaning into what's already underway -- it's a fine time to invoke our Muses.
This Sophia's Children article explores the tradition of the Muses of Inspiration, and how we might connect with our own Muse ... or Muse Posse!
You'll even find clues about how to spot the Muses in your astrology chart (which itself is a clue-map from a long-running wisdom tradition!).
“While our culture is all gloss and pace on the outside, within it is too often haunted and lost.” “The commercial edge of so-called ‘progress’ has cut away a huge region of human tissue and webbing that held us in... Continue Reading →
This is a really excellent reminder about the stories we tell ourselves, and live, so I wanted to share it with you, too, after I came upon it a few days ago. What I appreciate about this story is that... Continue Reading →
Update 9-20-16 and 1-15-18: I wrote this original post in early January 2016, yet it's drawn recent attention thanks to reblogs from my kindred spirit and friend Leeby Geeby @ Shamagaia and a few others (thank you!). Uncanny timing. As... Continue Reading →
“I still think the revolution is to make the world safe for poetry, meandering, for the frail and vulnerable, the rare and obscure the impractical and local and small, and I feel that we’ve lost if we don’t practice and... Continue Reading →
There's a fun blog invitation afoot from Odie and OM and Sindy to 'go retro' and choose a post from the archives to re-feature. So here's a Sophia's Children retro post that's very timely right now, when we have the... Continue Reading →
Do you feel your Virgoan angels (or demons) being stirred right about now? How can you tell? When Virgo facets and essences are activated -- as they might be during a Virgo Moon time or when we have other Virgo-activating... Continue Reading →
I wrote recently on the 'power word' benediction, and today it's blessing and welcoming hospitality that arise, deliciously, for reflection. In the February message from Friends of Silence, the reflection theme was friendship, but moreso a quality of blessing and... Continue Reading →
“While our culture is all gloss and pace on the outside, within it is too often haunted and lost." "The commercial edge of so-called ‘progress’ has cut away a huge region of human tissue and webbing that held us in... Continue Reading →
Ancient olive tree (photo from Medilico’s Olive Facts)
It’s a rich and wonderful contemplative and spiritual practice to invite a word or theme for reflection.
Each word has a frequency or a power or a ‘mood’ of its own,which is why certain words and themes are more helpful than others when we’re ‘cultivating’ through spiritual practice.
You can feel it, even, when you see or say them … holy, Beloved, grace, be still and Know …
As we sit in reflection with a certain word or theme, we invite the essence of that word to arise within us, to envelope us, to inform us, to center and ground us, and to emanate from us.
I’ve been in reflection for keynote words and themes as guides for the coming year — and several have arisen into my awareness (I’ll likely be writing about each soon) — so when I came upon Anna Lin’s post about the word ‘Holy‘ I wanted to pass it along to you.
It reminded me of a bit of holy wisdom I’ve shared before here at Sophia’s Children:
“Take off your shoes,
for the place where you are
standing is holy ground.”
(Exodus 3:5)
Enjoy Anna Lin’s own reflection on this evocative word-reflection.
This morning I spent time in silence to see where my focus lies. My wandering mind tells me that I focus my energy on how to “fix” things — how to get to perfection. I was given the breath word HOLY for this day. It helps me to re-focus on all that is God, rather than on myself and my needs. This is a great help to prayer.
But I recognize this is also a great challenge to prayer. For within this awareness of the Holy, is the element of Holy Fear. Fear of this nature is fear of the unknown — fear of the mystery of God that is unknowable, that cannot be controlled or contained. I sense within me a fear of surrendering my power, my control. I sense a fear of unworthiness in the presence of the Holy One. Then I recall Luther’s explanation of the first…
"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or... Continue Reading →
Yes, it's that time again, as we head into the 'shadow period' of the upcoming Mercury Retrograde. Despite the perpetual naysaying from the doom-and-gloom-sayers, these and other power portals increase the ease with which we might access certain possibilities. The... Continue Reading →
Our Venusian selves have just gone Mercurial. Are you sensitive and attuned enough to feel it yet? If not, you'll be able to if you wish. Read on for tips, so you'll be able to create more skillfully with this energy in... Continue Reading →
"When we use language that fits into the established framework of the culture, when we try to make our ideas respectable, we limit what we can say and think." "But when we use a term like "magic," when we leap... Continue Reading →
With the passing of each day, it seems more and more vital not to get caught up in the swirling vortex and mass-hallucination of what's gone -- and what is going -- horribly wrong. Recently I noticed what seemed... Continue Reading →
