December 25th — it’s not just for Christians.  The actual birthday of Jesus was forgotten by the early Christian movement. In those days, various groups celebrated his birth on January 6, April 21 and May 1st. By the 4th century, the church selected the approximate time of the winter solstice as the date to recognize Jesus’ birth.  The winter solstice occurs about December 21 each year. It is the day of the year when the night is longest and the daytime shortest. Using the crude instruments available, ancient astronomers were able to detect by December 25 of each year that the daytime had become noticeably longer.  This date was chosen, and remains, the traditional date for followers of many different Pagan religions to celebrate the rebirth of the sun. Following the solstice, each succeeding day has slightly more sunlight than the previous day. It was seen as a promise that warmth would return once more to the earth. Numerous pre-Christian Pagan religions honored their gods’ birth or rebirth on or about that day. Their deities were typically called: Son of Man, Light of the World, Sun of Righteousness, Bridegroom, and Savior.  Some examples are:    Continue reading →

I just learned that my beautiful friend and the Horizons Magazine astrologer for 19 years, Barbara Lee passed unexpectedly.  Just yesterday she posted on Facebook, “Yep!! Just 3 years ago today I moved to vancouver wa!! Wanted to own my own home and work at a chiropractic office and be booked solid with a editing list!! Yes it all happened!! What’s next??”

She was a bright shining star who will be missed. Her horoscopes were the monthly highlight of the magazine. We’ll meet again, my friend.

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Dawn’s Enchanted Garden is proud to announce the release of Dawn’s new book: The Enchanted Garden: a Spiritual Herbal. This book is dense with information on spiritual herbalism. In addition, it is approachable and well-written, making the wealth of information it provides easily available to the average reader.  There are short introductory chapters setting out the author’s approach to spiritual herbalism, but the bulk of the book is an alphabetical listing of each herb, giving the common names, Latin names, astrological association, description, parts used, folklore and history, spiritual uses, a case study, deity, angel, and spirit associations, a meditation, and a spell. For each herb there is, therefore, a case study, a meditation, and a spell. That’s a wealth of practical information unequalled in any other similar text.   Continue reading →

It took me having a tummy bug to decide it was time to disconnect from cable tv.  I had a 3 day bug last month with fever and chills and body purging. I hadn’t been that sick in years. Being helpless definitely puts your mind in a different place. Sickness doesn’t worry me as I’ve learned that as long as I’m eating relatively healthy food, anything I “catch” is going to move through my system quickly enough, and it does. For the most part I eat healthy and take plenty of vitamins and mineral supplements and have no deficiencies.  When I am sick or recovering, I find I heal best in a quiet, calm and pleasant space. I turned the tv on for distraction from the nausea and body motions, but found the sharp words and movements were too intense, even with the sound muted. It literally made me more aware of my discomfort and it made me feel worse. I switched over to my DIY and real estate shows and scrolled the channel guide looking for educational and nature programs. Then the harsh commercials got to me. Long story short, I went several days watching Netflix and Amazon Prime and, based on those days of down time, I made the decision to disconnect cable TV. As soon as I made the decision, I began to feel much better.  Continue reading →

I just got evidence of my own expansion. In the span of 7 days I greatly expanded my perception of how much I had and what I could afford. Last week I wondered if I could justify buying a second smart tv. It makes work easier so I bought it. Next I bought a new Windows 10 desktop computer, I didn’t have to justify much since I needed a 2nd one. Then a friend mentioned his washer crashed parts cost almost as much as a new washer. Today my 7 year old washer began to whine as it went into the spin cycle. I didn’t even think about it, I ordered another online. No justifying needed.  How did I know I expanded my territory? Thirty minutes later I open mail and I received a fat check from someone I’d loaned money to many years ago and never expected to hear from again. You never know where unexpected dollars may come from. They can come from all corners of the Universe.

Ram Dass said “I would like my life to be a statement of love and compassion – and where it isn’t, that’s where my work lies.” Today I bless those whose actions challenge me to remain loving and compassionate, for they help me do the important work.  I bless those who terrorize and spread disinformation, for they know not that they know not.  I won’t let them steal my joy. I let their rage drift away like smoke on wind. I breathe them into my heart and exhale them up to God. I breathe down God’s love and exhale it into their hearts.  I place my loving attention on those I find physically in front of me every day. Loving them, being in harmony with them, that is the work. Jai Guru Deva, nothing’s gonna change my world.

Allow Your Connection

Abraham: Most will feel the impact of today’s events because the events themselves will control their thoughts. Remember, the terrible feeling in the pit of your stomach is the result of your disconnection from your Energy Source. And while you cannot control the actions of those who commit acts of destruction — you do have control over the valve which allows or disallows the Source of Energy into your being. Whenever you experience powerful negative emotion, your relief from it is equally available. So to really understand what true Allowing of Source Energy is, turn your thoughts for a few minutes, to the details of your own life’s activities. Experience the relief that occurs in the pivoting of your focus. Then stop and say to yourself, “This is good. I have allowed my Connection, for a moment, here by changing my focus.”   Continue reading →

Day 3 without cable and the revelations keep on coming. I am used to sitting in front of the tv twice a day, when I wind down from the day’s work by checking email and FB in the recliner. I usually have the cable listings guide running muted on the screen. Occasionally I’ll look up and see a show that catches my eye and I’ll watch a few minutes of it, but it usually sends me Googling something, then I go back to mute and scrolling on my phone.  Today’s revelation was that it was not the SHOWS I was used to WATCHING on cable that were self-soothing, since I rarely watch anything for long. The familiar behavior that was self soothing was READING the cable listings, seeing the FAMILIAR NAMES in FAMILIAR SEQUENCE twice as I sat to relax. They really scrolled silently in the background, kind of like a mantra, whether I was paying attention to them or not.   Continue reading →

I’m getting a kick out of seeing the lineup for the ‘zen’ awakening festival. Festival, yeah! Zen? Not so much. Awakening? Everything can be used to awaken us.

Oh btw, I’m thinking of organizing a 72 hour silent meditation retreat and calling it The Metalhead Party Naked weekend.