Tag: spirituality

Active Imagination

“Active imagination refers to a process or technique of engaging with the ideas or imaginings of one’s mind. It is used as a mental strategy to communicate with the subconscious mind. In Jungian psychology, it is a method for bridging the conscious and unconscious minds. Instead of being linked to the Jungian process, the word “active imagination” in modern psychology is most frequently used to describe a propensity to have a very creative and present imagination. It is thought to be a crucial aid in the process of individuation.”

“Enslave me and I am a dangerous enemy; command me and I will make you mad; give me life and you will die.”


― Patrick Harpur, Mercurius: The Marriage of Heaven and Earth

Individuation


I am having a challenging time with this Mercury Retrograde. So, I decided to take some skills I have learned over the years with “active imagination.” I did engage in communication with the planet on various levels. As a planet, an intellectual being (very Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,) astrology and astronomy.


I came to an interesting dialogue with the simple ideas of; don’t force things, go with the flow, and enjoy reflection with an awareness of what lessons are essential to learn.


The most interesting thing came the next morning when my geophysics son explained to me how things move in space.

When rockets leave the earth, they do not travel in a straight line but in a circular one even a spiral. And gravity in space can be used as an advantage or as a good kind of disadvantage in space travel.


Again, he told me some things about Mercury, the closest planet to the sun. I did not realize that it is smaller than our moon and of course has no moons of its own.


Mercury based on Mercurius, that is a lot to learn here, is always open to this type of intelligent awareness and dialogue. You should try it. Be astounded by Mercury Retrograde’s curious responses.

In its highest sense.

To my friend Dionysus

“According to Jung, humanity holds a special role in creation: to contribute to the act of consciousness, and the point of view of morality, in its highest sense.”

~ Johnson, Robert A. Ecstasy (p. 64) Harper One. Kindle Edition.

Time of Coyote

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/coyote-tattoo/

Driving towards home the dark night held all the romance that a woman could ask for. Falling in love after 30 was not a goal. Looking out of the passenger seat coyote was eyeballing my lover. He looked back at the wild thing that was part of a mythology deep in this hill’s subconscious. Hadn’t he been on top of coyote hill and tasted the nectar of adventure? Once on top years earlier coyote turned to look as coyote defined his territory. A wild thing knowing all those living there. A sacred path that went on for generations.

Posts about Coyote

Coyote Hill
Coyote Green Stone Story
Yellow Behind the Ears…
Coyote

Chiron Retrograde Dance

The Infant Bacchus (Dionysus) painting (c. 1505–1510) by Giovanni Bellini.

The Bibliotheca seems to be following Pherecydes, who relates how the infant Dionysus, god of the grapevine, was nursed by the rain-nymphs, the Hyades at Nysa. Young Dionysus was also said to have been one of the many famous pupils of the centaur Chiron. According to Ptolemy Chennus in the Library of Photius,

 “Dionysus was loved by Chiron, from whom he learned chants and dances, the bacchic rites and initiations.”

~Diodorus Siculus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliotheca_historica

Centrifuge Going So Swiftly

Rocket Man Review: The Film

“And we went to California and up and down the Pacific Coast for a day and a half, settling at last on the sands of Malibu to cook wieners at night. Dad was always listening or singing or watching things on all sides of him, holding onto things as if the world were a centrifuge going so swiftly that he might be flung off away from us at any instant.”~

Ray Bradbury. The Rocket Man

“I’ve been a cunt since 1975.”- Elton John

Rocket Man explained a lot about Elton John that confused me since 1975. I love autobiographical stories and memoirs. What a joy! Elton John shared his psyche with the world. A healed psyche that was given more then a second chance.

The film has that real deal 1970s thing going that sprang forth from the late 1960s. The chance that two genius dudes like Elton John and Bernie Taupin found each other is amazing. So grateful! I enjoyed the integrity, depth and darkness shared in this film. The world of rock & roll was not romanticized.

Fun musical choreographed dance scenes moved through the film. Bernie Taupin’s lyrics enhanced by being sung clearly and slowly made me want to sing and dance along.

I love Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s music especially the years between 1971-1974. I include in this review a conclusion with an early song written 1971 entitled Friends.  I think the song Friends was a song of amazing foresight. As if Bernie knew the journey ahead would be a difficult one. Especially for Reginald Kenneth Dwight!

“Friends is a 1971 teen-romance film directed and produced by Lewis Gilbert and written by Gilbert, Vernon Harris, and Jack Russell. The soundtrack, with music composed by Elton John and Paul Buckmaster, and lyrics written by Bernie Taupin, was released as the Friends album, and John’s recording of the title selection charted when released as a single in the United States.”

1970 my favorite

2016 Film 20TH CENTURY WOMEN

20TH CENTURY WOMEN

Photo included in this Film 

Black Flag with Keith Morris Singing. Last image of this band in their original lineup.1979

Nice to be acknowledged in closing credits.
Very honored to be a part of the film.

My review of Film….

In the film 20th Century Women …women are at the table.

Mindfulness and Raven

“… but rather that it is the intangible things that imprint on us and we imprint on others that are most important… allow that magic to spread to your soul and enlighten you spiritually.”

~ Bear Medicine Walker / omtimes.com

Raven

Raven Medicine https://www.pinterest.com/whytte/dream-catchers-mandalas-shields-medicine-wheels-fe/

Often our lessons in life come through illness. We all go through these experiences. As well as our ancestors, loved ones and friends have. My illness has taught me the mindfulness of others who have gone through similar experiences. A family member or a friend that went through illness and died. Wasn’t it Madam Blavatsky who said,

“We have neither friends nor enemies only teachers?”  

An illness may be only a physiological illness, but I am experiencing mine more. My illness is in my heart. It is in my lungs and esophagus. The area of our hearts and lungs are what connect us to our friends, family, and ancestors.

As practicing mindfulness, it is helping me to see that all relationships are what Madam Blavatsky taught. Also, that we all have a dark and light side.  

Today I am authoring an essay about two people who were, and still are, a big part of my life. I experienced their dark side and light side. Their joy and sadness are with me.

I am hoping that this Tibetan Buddhism subtle mindfulness will help my two relationships that have passed on. In return, helping me to let go of resentments and promote healing.   As Raven from the Native American Medicine Wheel teaches,

“Be strong, have faith and remember within all things are lessons and positives.”  

Today my mindfulness is focused on two relationships, my longtime girlfriend Lynn, and my oldest brother Steven Jarvis. Both were independent, shy, and creative people. They both had an addiction. Lynn died of an overdose before she turned fifty.

Steven Jarvis was an alcoholic and I was not close to him when he died so I do not know what illness killed him in his early seventies.  

I am sad they are gone.  

Now for the good part of this story. They both caused me pain, stress, and unhappiness. They also brought me so much fun, joy, and love. This also is a mindfulness of how they experienced me in life.  

Lynn and I grew up playing as a profession. We were wild as the wind. Later in life she drove me and some other friends to high school every day. She had a little brown VW Bug. She always had a tape of Crosby Stills Nash and Young on her cassette car radio.  

Steven Jarvis was my brother who I looked up to as a kid. He was 11 years older than I was. I painfully watched as he left our home at 18. He was a movie extra for years. He was a lady’s man and sailed on his own sailboat to Hawaii.  

He was a licensed scuba diving instructor. He took me sailing and I sat on the front tip or the ‘stuck.’  

Flying on the waves as a seagull. He had a Ford Falcon that he raced when he was younger. I learned about the Beatles listening to his 8-track tape of Rubber Soul while he worked on the engine with his cute friends.   That is it…. mindfulness…

Anthropomorphism

Here is my latest praying mantis caricature. A holiday greeting from long ago ancient times.

Attis brings Liberte’

At the darkness time of the year, the longest night, the winter solstice… here comes some ancient anthropomorphism… and praying mantis is here to make life so meaningful.

My Mentor Tree and Eucalyptus Friend

The tree replied to me today, “I AM WHO I AM.” This is the same whisper I always heard from my mentor tree and eucalyptus friend.

Dad first visited the eucalyptus tree when he went horseback riding in the San Fernando Valley. The late 1940s. He rode from Ventura Blvd towards the dirty hills of the Santa Monica mountains. It is not easy to imagine that there once was a horse stable found near Ventura Blvd. and Canoga Ave.

He told me how he stopped one day under the eucalyptus tree and looked over the valley. Once he saw a for sale sign there, a hill covered with wild sage and wilder nature. My dad made it happen.

His brother was a carpenter / builder and his mother already invested in properties throughout the San Fernando Valley. They made his dream come true. They made it happen for my dad and mom. As a WWII Vet he secured a government loan.

Dad and his brother, Had, created a plan to build a house on that wild hill in the San Fernando Valley. They fought like brothers often do. My dad fought for the large sliding windows that looked over the valley. He also fought to build a house which cuddled around a eucalyptus tree.

I learned to climb that tree as I was learning to walk. The smell of the eucalyptus tree on foggy mornings before going to school or during rainstorms often filled my bedroom. I climbed that beautiful tall tree on my way to the top of the red brick chimney often.

Sometimes to see thunderstorms break across the valley. There I silently sat listening to the sound of coyotes in the distance and viewed lights in the night sky. All this magic still captures my imagination.

Once I left home, I often went back to visit with my parents. The first thing I would do was hug my eucalyptus tree. The seed pods from the eucalyptus are a wonder. Round and cone-shaped with a five-pointed star in the middle. Always a signal autumn was approaching.

Today a walk on a slightly foggy morning at the end of August brought back this memory of a eucalyptus tree I grew up with. I was beholding today to the only eucalyptus tree in my neighborhood. Whispering a scent and showing an aura that took me back to my nebulous childhood.