NEW
CONSCIOUSNESS FALL 2016 | NCREVIEW.COM
REVIEW
GOD and the Afterlife
AN ATHEIST
IN HEAVEN
Paul Davids I’m Right, & You’re An Idiot
SACRED AMERICA SACRED WORLD
TOXIC TALK IN POLITICS REVIEWS | INTERVIEWS | ARTICLES HEALTH • AWAKENING • PURPOSE • INSPIRATION
DEEPAK CHOPRA SET TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF WELL BEING IN PORTLAND ON SEPTEMBER 29th
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HE IRONY OF LISTENING TO A GUIDED DEEPAK CHOPRA MEDITATION SO I DIDN’T FREAK OUT LEADING UP TO I AM GENIE’S FIRST EVENT WITH THIS ICONIC FIGURE WASN’T LOST ON ME. HIS CALMING VOICE WAS DOING ITS INTENDED JOB. BREATHING SLOWED, THOUGHTS DRIFTED TO WHENCE THEY CAME AND EVENTUALLY STRESS DISAPPEARED INTO BEING. WITH ONLY A 24 HOURS LEFT BEFORE THE BIG DAY, I COULD FEEL THE ENERGY IN THE CITY CHANGING.
Waiting in the airport 8 hours later, now absent of the soothing meditative voice, my thoughts again wandered. What would the man Time Magazine deemed one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the 20th century and “poet prophet of alternative medicine” really be like? Were my guru-like expectations too high? Would I be disappointed? When Deepak finally appeared in comfortable clothes and signature red shoes my first impression dashed expectations. Instead of seeing one of the most spiritually influential people on the planet, master of my guided mediations and man who has written 80 plus books, I locked eyes with a still, sweet, intelligent man. Watching Deepak eloquently predict the future of well-being raised the awareness and consciousness of myself and all the 1500 people in the audience. It resulted in an unforgettable evening for everyone involved, something I now look forward to repeating in Portland on September 29, 2016. If you are interested in joining me, tickets are available here: www.iamgenie. org/events/deepak-choprain-portland/ With Love,
Joshua DAWSON
Founder, I Am Genie: Making wishes come true
CONTENTS 7
12
14
31
37
5 FROM THE EDITOR
CONSCIOUS CINEMA
AWAKENING
39 VANQUISHING THE BOGEYMAN by Brent Marchant
8 AN ATHEIST IN HEAVEN by Paul Davids
44 ALOHA directed by Cameron Crowe
13 GOD AND THE AFTERLIFE by Perry Long, MD 15 AWAKEN YOUR DIVINE INTUITION by Susan Shumsky 17 THE POWER OF THOUGHT EXPLAINED by Zinovia Dushkova HEALTH 21 SOUND HEALING by Janai Mestrovitch 25 THE COST OF EMOTIONAL DEPENDENCY by Luca Bosurgi
PURPOSE 46 SACRED AMERICA, SACRED WORLD by Stephen Dinan 48 I’M RIGHT AND YOU’RE AN IDIOT: THE TOXIC STATE OF PUBLIC DISCOURSE by James Hoggan 52 USING FACEBOOK TO SPREAD YOUR “GOOD WORD” by Julia Schopick INSPIRATION
29 THE SEQUENCE OF SEPARATION by Luke Adler
56 TRANSFORM THROUGH WRITING by MJ Schwader
32 FREEING YOUR BODY’S FIBER OPTIC FASCIA by Ronelle Wood
59 WE’MOON 2017 DATEBOOK: STARDUST HIGHLIGHTS
34 NOURISHING YOUR WHOLE SELF: A COOKBOOK WITH FEELINGS by Marci Izard 38 SMOOTHIE BOWLS: INSPIRING HEALTHY FOODS by Eliq Maranik
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62 ASTROLOGICAL FORECAST by Mark Dodich
66 REVIEWERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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NEW CONSCIOUSNESS Review
Bold Perspectives on Life, the Universe and Everything Cover Personality: Paul Davids SUBSCRIPTIONS New Consciousness Review is a quarterly publication covering media and people at the forefront of conscious awakening, particularly those whose perspectives provide tools and impetus for personal and global transformation. Subscribe for free at http://ncreview.com/magazine and view the archives on www.ncreview.com ADVERTISING For all advertising enquiries, call 503-892-3300 or email info@ncreview.com SUBMISSIONS To submit your work for review or interview or to submit articles, email us at info@ncreview.com or visit our website for guidelines. PUBLISHER & EDITOR Miriam Knight CONTRIBUTORS Reviewers Miriam Knight, Cynthia Sue Larson, Brent Marchant and Diane Holcomb Feature Writers Brent Marchant, Jannai Mestrovich, Julia Schopick Contributing Writers Paul Davids, Zinovia Dushkova, Luca Bosurgi, Luke Adler, James Hoggan, Bethroot Gwynn Production Design Natasha & Neboysa Dolovacki NewConsciousness Review PO Box 80547, Portland, OR 97280 Tel: 503-892-3300 Web: www.ncreview.com Email: info@ncreview.com
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FROM THE EDITOR Get HAPI !
I
am pleased to announce a new collaboration with M J Schwader, the publisher of New Connexion, to create an entirely new kind of directory for the conscious community – the HAPI guide. We came up with a fun new acronym that reflects both the content and the spirit of this new venture:
HAPI guide at www.HAPIguide.com We wanted to be able to reflect the creative explosion taking place among today’s light workers, and showcase not only their services, books, films, and CDs, but also their articles, courses, guided tours, radio shows, videos and events. We knew it had to be available on all platforms, including tablets and phones, so we put together a really cool multimedia platform, complemented by NCR Magazine and soon to include a mobile app. Starting with the Winter Issue, NCR Magazine will include the HAPIguide Resource Directory, and HAPI will also be the focus of New Consciousness Review going forward. It is not very different from the categories we cover now, but the emphasis will be on the positive. What is HAPI all about? • HEALTH heads the list - positive, vibrant, juicy health of body mind and spirit. We will seek out the best experts to provide leading-edge information and services. • AWAKENING comes next – this is all about expanding understanding of who we are, where we came from, and all we can be. It’s about developing our internal guidance system so that we can navigate our way through life with discernment. • PURPOSE is one of those things that we are all seeking in our lives. When you understand your higher purpose and live your life accordingly you are in the flow and the world is your oyster. You are then guided to make positive choices that leave the world better for having been here. • INSPIRATION is what feeds the soul. It comes from the promptings of Spirit either directly through guides and angels, or through the agency of artists and their art, or perhaps intuitives and their insights, or through mother nature and her magnificence. The main thing we want the HAPIguide to be is uplifting and empowering. Think how much more energy we have when we’re feeling positive and joyful. In that state we can literally change our lives, and when we change ourselves, we change the world. And that’s what it’s all about! Miriam Knight Editor & Publisher
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HAPIguide HealthAwakeningPurposeInspiration
Launching September 1st… the HAPIguide …
… A PLAYGROUND FOR CONSCIOUS AWAKENING! ü IF YOU ARE A CONSCIOUS-LIVING PROVIDER, become a member at www.HAPIguide.com/join. To celebrate our launch, we are offering bonuses for members who sign up before September 15th. Choose from one of the following bonuses: • Pro Member Bonus - Sign up as a Pro member and receive a 30% discount on all advertising packages with New Consciousness Review magazine for our December 1st issue (just in time for the holidays!) • Premium Member Bonus - Sign up as a Premium member and we will upgrade you to Pro level for four months • Basic Member Bonus - Sign up for a Basic membership and we’ll upgrade you to the Premium level for four months
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nnouncing a new collaboration between Miriam Knight, publisher of New Consciousness Review, and MJ Schwader, publisher of New Connexion online magazine, combining over 30 years of experience to create a new, state-of-the-art directory showcasing teachers, healers, coaches, and intuitives and their conscious living products and services. Using categories, keywords, and location, visitors can: search the member directory read articles, the magazine, or find the latest books learn about course offerings
watch videos listen to podcasts browse the events calendar
ü IF YOU ARE A CONSUMER, use www.HAPIguide.com to: • search and find top-rated teachers, healers, authors, coaches, and intuitives by specialty or location • browse or search by keyword to find books, articles, courses, videos, and events to fuel your passion and feed your mind • learn more by comparing reviews, profiles, and offerings before you buy • check out our special offers! • contact members for more information
By connecting seekers with fine teachers of Health, Awakening, Purpose, and Inspiration, we hope to help make the world a “HAPIer” place. Come to our sandbox and play!
AWAKENING HEALTH FEATURED INTERVIEW
EVIDENCE FOR LIFE AFTER DEATH? Paul Davids speaks with Miriam Knight
Paul Davids is an award-winning Hollywood writer, director, and producer of acclaimed films like The Sci-Fi Boys, Jesus in India, Roswell, and the soon-to-be-released, Marilyn Monroe Declassified. He is the co-author, with Harvard PhD, former Yale Professor and consciousness researcher Gary Schwartz, of An Atheist in Heaven: The Ultimate Evidence for Life After Death?
Miriam: What made you and Gary Schwartz decide to write this book together? Paul: We worked together on a film called The Life After Death Project. It was released in 2013 and fo-
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cused on the strange case of Forrest J Ackerman, who was my mentor for decades and very, very famous in the world of science fiction – he even coined the term sci-fi.
AWAKENING HEALTH
DR GARY SCHWARTZ
Strange things began happening in my life after the grand tribute held in the Egyptian Theater for Forry Ackerman, who had died in December, 2008. Forry had always been an atheist and very skeptical and dubious about God, prayer, religion, paranormal, even ESP and para-psychology and UFOs. Yet he was a man of great imagination and a futurist. As he approached the end of his life I said to him, “Forry have you given any thought to maybe you’re wrong about this life after death thing?” “Well,” he replied, “I doubt very seriously I’m wrong. I’ve been an atheist all my life and I will be to my dying breath. But if it turns out I am wrong and I wake up to the big science fiction convention in the sky after I die, having reunions with Boris Karloff (Frankenstein), Bela Lugosi (Dracula,) and Peter Lorre, maybe I’ll drop you a line to let you know. But don’t count on it.” I didn’t think much more of it until the weekend of the tribute; that was when I heard the first story from two Canadian filmmakers who were there. They had made a documentary about him, and had something really weird happen to them that weekend of the tribute that made them feel absolutely Forry had contacted them one hour after they had visited his crypt. By the way all of this is in my book that I wrote with Gary Schwartz, An Atheist in Heaven. It’s also covered in the documentary, The Life After Death Project, but we went on and wrote the book because the academic world suggested to us that the docu-
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By the way all of this is in my book that I wrote with Gary Schwartz, An Atheist in Heaven. It’s also covered in the documentary, The Life After Death Project, but we went on and wrote the book because the academic world suggested to us that the documentary wasn’t enough. mentary wasn’t enough. We had scientific reports; we had research into the Ackerman afterlife communication case from scientists at three different universities. We had chemical analyses, we had chemistry reports, studies that went on for three years, and they wanted to see it in a book. That’s why we have An Atheist in Heaven.
AWAKENING HEALTH Going back to the Canadian filmmakers, clearly they really believed it so I didn’t question it, and then one week later it happened to me. It was an incident that literally changed my life and when it happens to you, you go from intellectual interest in a subject to being confronted with the truth of something, and that was the process I went through. Miriam: What was the incident? Paul: There was a message that I have determined to my mind certainly was from Forry after he died. He was an editor, and he took one of my documents when I was alone in the house, and dropped me a line, it was ink, a line of text. I knew the document had nothing strange about it, and while I was out of the room for a few minutes he blacked out four words with ink that was still moist. He blacked it out in a way that was precise, definite, targeted. You could see that those words were chosen. The fact that it was still moist and even the ink … at that time I didn’t know whether it was ink or paint or solvent or dye, but you could see it was in different levels of blackness. You could read the first two words still but the second two words were completely obliterated and I had to go back to my computer to the original file to see what it was.
We never imagined a world with iPhones for example that could do all those things. It’s why science fiction writer Richard Matheson when I interviewed him, he knew Forry and he agreed with my conclusion that Forry was contacting me after he died. travagant predictions have actually become commonplace reality. Paul: That’s absolutely true. Forry Ackerman and his friend the very famous writer Ray Bradbury were saying back in 1930s that man would get to the moon in their lifetime and they were considered nuts, lunatics for actually believing that. Sometimes the people who are into imagination and science fiction, they’re looking into a future they think could exist and they look for the reasons that it could exist. How many things from Star Trek have become true – how about those communicators? We never imagined a world with iPhones for example that could do all those things. It’s why science fiction writer Richard Matheson when I interviewed him, he knew Forry and he agreed with my conclusion that Forry was contacting me after he died. He said, “Forry is correcting himself,” He had determined that he was wrong about that it’s all over like a light bulb going out when the body dies and he’s letting you know.
Miriam: I have to admire your tenacity in getting to the root of it, from spectrometry to laser desorption analyses done on the ink, and the scientists are still puzzled. I also noted that the book starts with a sworn and notarized affidavit that it’s all true. It’s intriguing when we look back at science fiction of the past 50 or 75 years, how many of the things that were absolutely wild, over the top, ex-
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He has let me know in so many ways I can scarcely count them. In the book I deal with about 140 different incidents, most of them since 2008, that I do not think can be explained. This is what makes the case such a unique one. I did go to scientists right away, like Dr. Jay Siegel, who is absolutely one of the top forensic chemists in the country; or Dr. John Alison, who spent three years on the problem and has been unable to duplicate or explain the many weird
AWAKENING HEALTH
things that began happening to him from the very day he began experimenting on this. In the book, An Atheist in Heaven, I recount years of continuing unexplainable things that happened in my life, as well as in the lives of the scientists who began studying this. They came to feel that they were having experiences very similar to mine. It was like living in the twilight zone.
ten about making the film. Those are good sites to check out. In addition, of course, there is Amazon. com where it’s a one-stop shop, and they do offer discounts. Also with the book it’s a hardback, but it’s also available on Amazon as an eBook.
The question is at what point is it no longer a coincidence? When you have one incident after another, after another, after another then you have to abandon what the debunkers and skeptics say when they say, “Mere coincidence,” and you have to say, “No, there’s something at work behind this,” and it’s communication from someone you can’t see with your eyes.
Paul: Yes, I cannot subscribe to the idea of the materialist that I grew up with that when the body dies it’s like a light bulb going out that never shines again. I do think there is life after death, we go on. Personality is even retained.
Miriam: Where are your films and book available Paul? Paul: You can go to www.lifeafterdeathproject. com. We have the DVD available there and also links to my film “Jesus in India,” which is one of my most popular films about the missing years of Christ. It was filmed in India and at the Vatican, and at the various universities. We also have a site www.jesusinindiathemovie.com. There’s a DVD, there’s even a music sound track and there’s the book it was based on and the book that was writ-
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Miriam: Has it changed your personal relationship with the notion of death?
Miriam: Paul, don’t you have a new film about Marilyn Monroe coming out shortly? Paul: It’s not out yet but it will be this year. It’s called Marilyn Monroe Declassified. I’m very proud of it and it digs very deeply into the mystery of her death that has been disputed ever since she passed in 1962. Miriam: Is this using esoteric sources or actual people? Paul: No, this is people and political figures and evidence and testimony. However, there were things that happened behind the scenes sort of akin to some of the things that have happened with For-
AWAKENING HEALTH
ry that made me wonder. Marilyn Monroe Declassified will be out this year and there is a website, www.marilydeclassified.com. You can see the trailer and get information there. As in my other films, I try to bring some of these things that are out of the ordinary into the mainstream, like “Roswell, The UFO Cover-Up” on DVD and that was done for Showtime about the UFO crash in New Mexico in 1947. Miriam: What do you hope your book will accomplish? Paul: I’d like to open skeptical minds with it. People who feel they already know that there is life after death and that spirits can communicate will find the book very interesting and very supportive of what they feel they already know, but I would really love to be able to reach some scientists with this book, because it really is for them. Now with advances in science we have tools to measure things we couldn’t measure before and the evidence is increasing. Miriam: I think there has been an exponential increase in openness to paranormal phenomena. It’s like we’re coming full circle back to where humanity started, because connection with the paranormal is really getting back into connection with our spirituality and the essence of ourselves.
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Paul: Well I think you put that very well and I hope we’ll have more response from the scientific world because they’re a tough nut to crack. Miriam: From your lips to God’s ear… Forry, get on it!
AWAKENING HEALTH REVIEW & INTERVIEW
God and the Afterlife by Perry Long, MD
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I just love it when science and mystery converge, and Jeffrey Long’s new book is the ultimate example. It deals with the two most profound questions of mankind – “is there a God?” and “is there life after death?”
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sing a combination of questionnaires and statistical analysis, Dr. Long has been gathering data for over 15 years, studying over 4000 near-death experiences – the largest scientific study of its kind ever published. His previous book dealt with the reality of the neardeath experience, while this new book drills down into the experience of the divine, and does indeed provide persuasive “new evidence for God and near-death experience,” as the tagline to his book suggests. Reports of seeing a tunnel, going to the light, meeting deceased relatives and having a life review are well-known, but, interestingly, this present study reports that awareness of the existence of God happens more often than any other element of the near-death experience. The way people experience God seems to be influenced by their cultural expectation, but culture and religion are not correlated with the frequency of the experience, and the essence of the underlying experience is similar for all.
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AWAKENING HEALTH The encounters with the divinity described in the book came from a wide variety of people, including physicians, scientists and people from all walks of life. They were so profound and life-changing that even though people struggled to put them into words, a mosaic of concepts emerges from the reports of the experiencers that begin to build a composite picture of the qualities of God – peace, light, happiness, joy and love. Love seems to be the key – total, all-encompassing, absolute and unconditional love. All the reports agree that God loves us all regardless of religious belief or disbelief, gender or sexual preference, social status or nationality. This love of God accommodates mistakes so that we can learn and grow. While there is no judgment, we do seem to experience every bit of pain and torment we have inflicted upon others throughout
our lives through their eyes – a painful learning experience offered by a loving God. Just think of the implications if people were to truly take on board that: A) we are an eternal, inseparable part of God; B) we are loved unconditionally; C) we get to learn from our mistakes and do better next time. Jeffrey Long offered the analogy of the tall mountain with different streams of people wending their way to the top from every side. The mountain may be covered in fog so we may not see each other along the journey, but we’re all heading towards the same destination. When we do get there we’ll discover that we’re all family after all, so rather than fighting about our differences, maybe we should all relax and celebrate them as part of a most colorful journey. Reviewed by Miriam Knight
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jeffrey Long, M.D. is a Radiation oncologist and a leading near-death experience (NDE) researcher. Dr. Long founded the Near Death Experience Research Foundation (www. nderf.org). Over 15 years of research went into Dr. Long’s books, Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences, and God and the Afterlife: The Groundbreaking New Evidence for God and Near-Death Experience. Portions of the www.nderf.org web site have been posted in 30 different languages, leading to increasing awareness worldwide and across cultural boundaries that we all share these types of experiences, and that they are similar to a degree that is medically inexplicable. The potential to heighten world understanding is obvious, and very important. Over 4000 NDEs are currently posted on www.nderf.org, making it by far the largest number of NDEs ever studied, and by far the largest number of NDEs publicly accessible in the world. If you’ve had an experience, by all means share it there.
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LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
AWAKENING HEALTH REVIEW & INTERVIEW
Awaken Your DIVINE INTUITION by Susan Shumsky
Thousands of books have been written about the benefits of meditation, and one of the most popular and well-known forms is transcendental meditation. It was made popular by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who came to fame as the guru of the Beatles.
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usan Shumsky was not only a disciple of the Maharishi, but even served on his personal staff for over two decades. It is therefore particularly intriguing that someone with her background has written a book pointing out the difference between transcendence and divine mystical union, and why she found TM wanting. In TM one enters into a state of profound silence and bliss, but in mystical union that Divinity speaks back to you. Shumsky, who is also a doctor of divinity, discovered that the experience of divine mystical union was the piece of the puzzle missing from her decades of devotion to spiritual awakening. Learning how to communicate with God within allowed love to fill her heart. In learning to contact both the personal and impersonal aspects of God she realized that it is really possible, and that we never have to feel alone again. Shumsky has written a very practical guide to achieving a personal spiritual breakthrough, and
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AWAKENING HEALTH safely contact the divine. She emphasizes safety so that the student can feel confident in the source and purity of the messages they learn to receive. The book feels solid and grounded despite its ambitions to teach people to communicate with the
divinity. Imagine If we were all able to receive messages from the highest source to guide us in our everyday lives and assure us of God’s love... just think how that could change our lives, and indeed change the world. Reviewed by Miriam Knight
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Susan Shumsky has taught thousands to find the inner pathway to Spirit and hear the divine voice. She is a Doctor of Divinity and a best-selling, award-winning author, foremost spirituality expert, pioneer in the consciousness field, highly-respected speaker, and has taught spiritual disciplines for nearly 50 years. She studied with enlightened masters in secluded areas, including the Himalayas and the Alps. For 22 years, her mentor was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who was guru of the Beatles and guru of Deepak Chopra. Dr. Shumsky served on Maharishi’s personal staff for 7 years. She founded Divine Revela tion®, a technology for contacting the divine presence, hearing and testing the inner voice, and receiving clear divine guidance. Dr. Shumsky has authored 13 books, including Divine Revelation, which is in its 19th continuous year of printing, and her latest book, “Awaken Your Divine Intuition.” Her websites are www.divinerevelation.org and www.divinetravels.com
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
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AWAKENING HEALTH ARTICLE
The Power of Thought Explained By Zinovia Dushkova
Thanks to the New Thought movement, we have known for a good while now about the power of thought and how positive thinking can transform our lives.
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ll the Great Teachers and thinkers of humanity have pointed out the power of thought, which is capable of forming the essence of a human being. But how does it work, and what does the nature of thought actually look like? Ever since ancient times it has been assumed that thought is the basis of everything in the Universe, that it is the subtlest fiery energy, to which all other types of energy are subordinate. One could say that thought represents a fiery energy that the human will enrobes in a material form, which is invisible to physical eyes but is visible to strong clairvoyants and can be registered by scientific methods as well. The outer wrapping of any thought is invisibly linked with its creator and has a magnetic force, endowed to it by the human will. All thoughts aspire to realization, and sooner or later they must manifest themselves in action, even after many, many decades. Since the nature of thought is not physical, but subtle — meaning it is a higher energy — it can form the physical world around the person. But for this purpose it must have a clear and distinct image, which endues it with the appropriate strength and shape to over-
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AWAKENING HEALTH come the limits of Time for fulfillment in the material world. Moreover, a person must work to create the necessary conditions for it. The magnetic power of thought attracts related elements from space on the principle of “like attracts like,” growing like a snowball. Thus the thought already sent into space is still linked with its owner, and periodically it returns to this person for affirmation or denial, moving like a boomerang. The thought can revolve, like a comet, around the one who put the initial bundle of energy into it, and that energy determines the corresponding radius and the orbit of revolution. If the person has not rejected it, and continues to make an effort to realize it, their will endows it with new force, and it again goes into space, increasing the radius of its influence, and so on until the thought becomes a reality, after receiving a sufficient amount of energy from both its creator and the surrounding environment. On the other hand, if at any moment the person begins to doubt it or they no longer need it, and they stop applying effort to realize it, then this thought loses its force, gradually weakens, and eventually breaks down into primary elements, never revealing its potential. It should be noted that since they are essentially energy, thoughts are subject to the Supreme Laws which are discussed in all the sacred scriptures.
The magnetic power of thought attracts related elements from space on the principle of “like attracts like,” growing like a snowball. Thus the thought already sent into space is still linked with its owner, and periodically it returns to this person for affirmation or denial, moving like a boomerang. 18 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
The Supreme Laws are also the energies governing our entire Universe, but they are even higher in their power, and therefore all others submit to them, and people cannot change this. Thus, dark thoughts are doomed to destruction, and since they are all connected with their creators, they pull those people after them. The Supreme Laws are also the energies governing our entire Universe, but they are even higher in their power, and therefore all others submit to them, and people cannot change this. Thus, dark thoughts are doomed to destruction, and since they are all connected with their creators, they pull those people after them. In contrast, thoughts of light are eternal and can grow infinitely, giving spiritual ascent to their originators. Thoughts directed at oneself soar nearby the person, illuminating or darkening their consciousness, depending on their nature. It has already been scientifically proven that thoughts expressed in words affect water and plants, and therefore it is not difficult to continue this pattern and assume that they affect the human body and soul in the exact same way. Evil and negative thoughts will destroy the person’s vital force, while good and positive ones, on the contrary, will increase it. Thoughts can protect a person, certain places, and objects, as well as help someone else, uniting instantly with the object of aspiration. So, for example, the infamous “curse of the pharaohs” is a consequence of the fact that the objects belonging to kings were long under the protection imposed by high priests with the help of thoughts. These objects of the past have a special energy and aura that have been in harmony for ages. When scien-
AWAKENING HEALTH tists disturb the peace of the pharaohs’ tombs, they do not control their thoughts, and it turns out that their thoughts of profit or worldly fame, which represent low energy, add dissonance, as though breaking a sacred protective net that had defended not only the mummified body of a pharaoh, but also his tomb, together with all the items placed there. And this protection, as a rule, is multi-level, when it comes to the pharaoh who had passed certain degrees of Initiation. The focus should be on invisible planes, and initially scientists should look at least through the microscopes that are available to them. Here, just like in Nature, the absolute heterogeneity of mental energies causes an invisible tornado, which lifts up dangerous microscopic particles that are inhaled by those who have disturbed the peace of the pharaoh, and then it can manifest itself in the form of a disease. Now let us look at what exactly thinks and produces thoughts within us. It is generally accepted that thoughts are generated by the brain. Yet, in modern language, the brain can be called a physical computer that is able only to perceive our thoughts created on the invisible levels of human nature, both low and high, and to project them to our physical senses of perception. Thus, none of the experienced surgeons who have conducted craniotomies and intervened in different parts of the brain, and even removed malignant bodies, have ever seen thoughts soaring around inside there. They have even noticed that post-operative states, as a rule, do not affect mental capacity. Clairvoyants are able to see a glow around people’s heads: these are generated thoughts flowing over the brain so that it can perceive them. They pass through the network of invisible luminous channels and superimpose themselves upon the gray matter in a certain pattern, forming convolutions. It has long been known that the gyri of the brain are reflected on our hands, and modern scientists have now proved the relationship between convolutions in the brain, its condition, and the lines on people’s palms. Thus, one can say that our thoughts indeed shape our destiny, because they are imprinted upon the gray matter of our brain in the form of convolutions, which are reflected on our palms as our destiny. Hence, knowing perfectly the art of palm reading, it is possible to read the destiny of any person, which
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Clairvoyants are able to see a glow around people’s heads: these are generated thoughts flowing over the brain so that it can perceive them. They pass through the network of invisible luminous channels and superimpose themselves upon the gray matter in a certain pattern, forming convolutions. they themselves created, and it is also possible to notice changes in cases when people have taken on the effort to change themselves and their lives by force of will. The left hand, as a rule, reveals pages of our past and present lifetime, while the right hand shows the future that we can change for the better. And if you copy or take a picture of your palms on your birthday, then a year later on the same day, you will be able to see how you have changed your destiny in one or another direction. The main emphasis should be placed on the lifeline and the heart line. If you notice gaps or dark spots on them, you should not give up. But those who have advanced on the path toward improving their karma and destiny advise that you take a pencil or pen and draw distinct lines of bright and cheerful colors on your palm, and the thought-forms that are triggered at the mental level will turn on the mechanism of self-regulation in your brain. And your life will then take shape in brighter colors! Thus, according to your faith, you will be rewarded. However, it is not only the brain that can perceive thoughts: the heart can, too. It is actually the heart that receives the thoughts produced by our higher centers of consciousness, and only after that does it transmit them to the brain for registration, often as flashes of intuition. Thus, the currents of thoughts passing through the heart are much more
AWAKENING HEALTH effective than those that go through the brain and bypass the heart, because the heart imbues them with a special kind of energy that will help them overcome any obstacles. And since God is Love, the thoughts created by the Power of Love are the most powerful of all, capable of conceiving entire worlds. Given what we have laid out above, it becomes clear how powerful the collective thought of all
Zinovia Dushkova, Ph.D., is an award-winning Russian author and researcher of ancient mysteries. Her major work, The Teaching of the Heart series, has called forth a wave of social movement in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, and now its first book, Leaves of Maitreya’s Garden: The Call of the Heart, is available for free in English. For more information, please visit her website at: http://www. dushkova.com/en.
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humankind must be, and how strongly it affects the conditions of life on our planet. It is within our power to change not only our destiny, but also that of our cities, countries, and the entire Earth. And therefore the main task of each of us is to learn how to control our thoughts, which can lead us to the mastery of numerous mysteries of Nature and help us achieve omnipotence of the spirit.
HEALTH ARTICLE
SOUND HEALING FOR MIND/BODY/HEART AND SOUL by Janai 'Grandma Boom' Mestrovich
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The twin jets flew low overhead as I waited for the July 4th parade to begin. I would shortly be doing my own version of flying down the street, waving my wings over children sitting on curbs as the Freedom Fairy.
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he powerful patriotic salute of the jets penetrated my body like a rushing geyser. A gigantic surge of emotion flushed my entire being as my chest cavity welled up with intense emotion. My eyes teared. Their resonance remained for about two minutes, like an echo that resounded in a valley from a yodeler on a mountaintop. I looked around and saw others taking a deep breath, trying to contain themselves in the wave of emotion sweeping through all of us. Sound embraced us, carried us and expanded us in the honor of the freedom we cherish. It was all there in the sound that traveled through us. It was a perfect launching for a July 4th parade
We are sound and surrounded by it. Perhaps you have a sound you deplore that causes your muscles to scrunch up. Or soothing sounds
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HEALTH that bring reflection and contentment like a crackling fire or the song of a stream while you picnic. We are sound and surrounded by it. Your own voice can bring irritation to the environment or peaceful caring sound strokes. We are chimes. We are the drums. We are gongs and we are scratches. There are sounds that energize us to get up and dance. Walk into a room and clear your throat when a baby is present and watch the baby jerk its body. It is not your presence that causes the jerk. It is the sound that shocks the sensitive little one into jumping uncontrollably because the sounds has riveted through the baby’s little body.
We are also conductors of sound. We are also conductors of sound. Choosing sounds that bring us to a higher plane of living are welcoming when we desire that. Harp music may bring a relaxed, uplifting feeling. Teens are often known for listening to very loud, pounding music when they are angry or frustrated. That resonates because the penetrating loud sound helps to release the pent up feelings.
Our voices relay messages beyond what words can say. Our voices relay messages beyond what words can say. It is the tone of the voice that tells us if someone means what is being said or is a token to appease, a condemning exclamation or a condoning one. A troubled voice evokes a completely different response in our bodies than a voice like Adele’s singing pure tones with a welcoming message. Tuning Forks are traditionally known for tuning musical instruments. They assist an instrument in having optimal functioning in their performance. Similarly, tuning forks that are used for the human body can facilitate a tune-up that provides an improved inner world (mind/body/emotions/spirit) environment.
Our basic vibrations are sound and light. Our basic vibrations are sound and light. Tuning Forks for humans serve as sound acupuncture. It is the sound that is injected into the body instead of a needle. When I do sound healing, I begin using tuning forks if the client is present with me
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in the room. Remotely over the phone, I use special instruments that are attuned perfectly to the body and energy centers to help align, uplift, balance and ground a person. The tone of my voice in chanting healing prayers creates a resonance that soothes, heals and transforms. It is the intention and the tone working together that create healing through sound...a very powerful combination.
You can see sound travel through water. As humans we are comprised of a high percentage of water. According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83%
HEALTH the treatment with a report of being very relaxed afterwards. Last year at an outdoor gathering a woman was having difficulty with her hip and knee, unable to maneuver going up and down the steps to her camper. After one in-depth treatment with the tuning forks, she was astounded. The pain retreated and her normal mobility returned. There are never any guarantees in this work with sound healing but many surprises that I am grateful to witness and help facilitate.
Every thought, word and action, as well as every sound we emit and hear are messages to our cells.
water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%. You can see sound travel through water. Sit in a canoe or rowboat and start drumming while observing the ripples begin to spread across the lake. Doing sound healing works the same way. The healing sounds carry messages to the body contents at a higher level of vibration with new messages of soothing healing. Recently, I was invited to provide sound healing attunements at Ashland, Oregon’s famous historical McCall House. Two of the people who received an attunement are a very busy, powerful business coaching couple. Loren Fogelman, Business Success Solutions, is known for being on top of her game. When the sound healing treatment was completed with tuning forks and other musical instruments such as chakra chimes, Loren looked like she was in a dreamlike state, totally relaxed and uplifted. She reported later that the energy frequency that felt so healing and good continued to build after she left. Her husband, Steve, also loved
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Our cells continually have messages going into them. Every thought, word and action, as well as every sound we emit and hear is a message to our cells. Our voices can warn us when negative emotions arise or when we are in a nurturing place. Everything is aligned in mind/body/emotions/ spirit. Giving ourselves sound treatments, be it with music, our own voices, the song of a stream in the forest, the wind blowing through the trees or singing a beautiful song, is a powerful medicine bag tool that we can take with us and use anytime, anywhere. Chant AHHHH repeatedly and feel the heart center glow.
Sound healing can assist at all levels of the healing process. My approach in assisting others in transformational movement of stuck energy and patterns is to use healing sounds that assist in the change to move
Doing sound healing works the same way. The healing sounds carry messages to the body contents at a higher level of vibration with new messages of soothing healing.
HEALTH
the energy blockages out. This makes space for the new energy to enter that is always connected to beliefs, patterns and actions. Those that may have been ingrained for lifetimes require guidance, intuitive insight, practical application of inserting new behavioral patterns and goals for success in healing transformation. Sound healing can assist at all levels of the healing process. One of my delights is that I can use tuning forks on myself for a tune-up whenever it is needed. I immediately feel a stream of sound healing penetrating at the cellular level. My tuning forks are calibrated to the OM frequency, the root of all sound. I love alternative healing opportunities and encourage others to explore the amazing world of transformational healing available to us at this time on the planet. We all have the ability to do sound healing with our voices and sounds we orchestrate in the world around us. Experiment with sound and decide how you can use it as a tool to further enhance your daily reality and quality of life. Sound is free. And it is magical in its essence and gifts for us. Here’s what others have reported about their experience with sound healing with tuning forks and specially calibrated musical instruments:
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“I was amazed how quickly I felt relaxed and soothed.” “My neck was tight and felt better right after the tuning forks.” “My hip was bothering me to the point I could not go easily up and down stairs. After two treatments the pain lessened 90%, then 100% the next day. I can now walk up and down stairs normally.” “I felt like my troubles melted away immediately.”
Janai Mestrovich, aka Grandma Boom is an international speaker, Self Help Consultant and has taught at the University of Oregon and SOU. She is the author of “The Grandma Boom Chronicles...More Alive at 65!” and a number of children’s books. Her expertise in holistic education and holistic aging has received awards and recognized by educators, politicians and human potential leaders. Janai lives in Ashland, Oregon, and writes the Awesome Aging Blog online at http://blogs.esouthernoregon.com/awesome-aging/ Her website is: www.grandmaboom.com
HEALTH ADVERTORIAL
The Cost of Emotional Dependency... And How A Revolutionary New Protocol & Virtual Reality Are Freeing Us of Our Self-Destructive Behaviors By Luca Bosurgi
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Imagine a world where you can enjoy everybody because everyone in your world is there by choice, not need.
magine being able to use all of your mental power to invent, conquer, achieve, and love instead of wasting your brain’s resources on seeking love and validation from others. Imagine the freedom that comes from feeling equal to everyone, choosing instead of being chosen, or loving unconditionally instead of trying to secure love and appreciation from someone else. Imagine the power of being beautiful, skilled, and rich because you are, instead of trying to acquire those as a means to secure emotional rewards. Imagine being able to love without fear, and simply enjoying it. Imagine a life without all the pain, fears, and addictions resulting from emotional dependency. Throughout my life, I have loved and studied the beauty that the mind holds. One of the main focuses of my research has been the daunting con-
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HEALTH
dition of emotional dependency. I realized from an early age that dependency upon others for emotional support was not natural in adulthood, and there was another way to live. I knew there had to be a way to release this unhealthy need for others and transform painful emotional dependency into highly rewarding interdependency. I embraced the challenge and it became my life’s mission. To address emotional dependency I needed to understand the cause of it; therefore, I worked to gain knowledge about the purpose of our mind, body, and our lives. I realized that everything in the mind and body is equipment that operates to maximize our efficiency. Our skin, our bones, our thinking, our emotions all strive to achieve our life’s goals of promoting safe and efficient behaviors. This concept evidenced that emotional dependency had a natural value in the course of our lives. By observing the early development of mammals, as well as tribal initiations into adulthood, I was able to identify its purpose. Emotional dependency is built into us from birth to ensure the need for love,
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safety, validation and guidance toward our parents and educators. This bond with our parents protects our vulnerable lives in childhood and stimulates our early learning. We are meant to transition to emotional and physical independence as we progress through puberty; and these skills are refined during the teenager years. Self-leadership and self-reliance are learned behaviors that we acquire from our parents. Unfortunately, most parents today do not have the models needed to guide their children toward emotional independence during the impressionable childhood years. When the time comes to release their parental duty, instead of empowering us with self-reliance, they have left us with the only pathway open to us: to transfer our emotional needs from our parents to the people around us. This is why emotional dependence still exists in adulthood for most of us. We see the result in low self-esteem, self judgment, the choices we make in our relationships, the failure to create or sustain healthy relationships, depression, fear of rejection, addiction,
HEALTH
financial struggles and so many other dysfunctional or self-limiting behaviors. We act out of our need for approval from others. As soon I identified the origin of this condition, I focused my energy and resources towards finding a solution. The challenge was to identify a methodology that provides the mind with the same self-reliant models that we were supposed to receive from our parents. Through 10 years of research and clinical testing with more than 2,000 clients, I established a protocol offered in a state of deep meditation that guides the mind to self-reliance and the removal of the obsolete behaviors built to cope with emotional dependency. The Bosurgi Method™ is based on the theory that the mind always strives for perfection, implementing and choosing behaviors that grant the best possible responses to one’s daily events. Optimal responses are selected by the mind in order to maximize safety and efficiency--whatever the occurrence. Of course, the tools available and the perception of the event’s influence or limit our behavioral choice. Meaning that if we are driven by emotional needs,
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we will implement entirely different life choices from the ones we would do if we were self-reliant. Imagine the different set of behaviors that we would use if we try to be beautiful, smart, rich, cool or confident--in order to gain love and approval, or if instead, we just are, without worrying about judgment or rejection. However self-reliant models, if already in place, are more efficient and safer; therefore the mind will prioritize them over less-functional emotionally dependent sets of behavior. The Bosurgi Method™ helps the mind to identify those powerful self-reliant models; the same ones we should have received from our parents. As soon as this new clarity is implemented, the mind is free to archive the now-obsolete behaviors. This is the process that searches out obsolete behavioral responses, actions, thoughts, feelings or experiences that trigger the old emotionally-dependent models. As soon as these are retrieved, the mind makes the required behavioral updates, so that in future events, these responses are in tune with the new self-reliant model that you have now set as the priority. This process is subliminal and effortless, not requiring someone to consciously
HEALTH process or remember events to create change or free oneself. The mind is like a computer, if doesn’t need to recreate images and sounds; it can simply browse through millions of events in a fraction of a second, and do the upgrade! While, it may seem very complex, in reality the Bosurgi Method™ only helps the mind to accelerate the same evolutionary process that we normally use to learn and improve. My next challenge was to bring this method out of my practice and to the world. Two years ago, the advancement in Virtual Reality technology allowed me to convert my method into a home therapy that can be used anywhere, anytime. Virtual Reality is mainly used for interactive entertainment, but it has much more value than games and fantasy
Luca Bosurgi is the creator of The Bosurgi Method™ and founder of Mind Fitness Lab. Using the MindFitness phone app coupled with a VR mobile headset, individuals can unwind years of codependency-- to experience complete emotional independence in under a month. The easily affordable Bosurgi Method™ has been proven to be effective 95% of the time, radically changing thousands of lives. For more information and to see comments from users, go to www.MindFitnessLab.com
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experiences. It engages our two main senses in a fully-immersive setting that replicates the way we learn naturally--through experience. It also offers captivating visuals able to calm the mind and keep it focused on the experience. The process enhances this learning environment by guiding the mind into the Theta state, the same state used by Buddhist Monks for mind and spiritual development work. In this emotional state, our highly intelligent mind is less distracted, therefore more open, to analyze and acquire alternative models and acceptable guidance for self-reliance. It is so natural and simple. No years of therapy, anti-depressant drugs, or multiple seminars. It unleashes your natural powers, creating the freedom for you to experience emotional independence.
HEALTH ARTICLE
The Sequence of Separation by Luke Adler
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Emotion is a compass that points to your heart. Your heart connects you to the Universe. Suppressed emotions result in feeling separate from Universal Love.
eparation from your heart is perpetuated by suppression of your emotions. Suppression perpetuates the myth that you are separate from the Universe. It’s hard to remember that you are part of the One, when you feel angry, lonely, afraid, sad, bored, jealous, or _______(insert your most habituated reactive emotional response here). Suppression impacts your health, and if left unchecked, impacts organ function. I call this progression the “Sequence of Separation” because the act of suppression separates you from the insight of your heart. The Sequence of Separation is based on an ancient Chinese medicine theory of disease. It is a long lineage that transcends history and geography. In a way, the sequence is a barometer for how well we navigate our life lessons.
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HEALTH Suppression is defined as a conscious intentional exclusion from consciousness of a thought or feeling. Repression is a mental process by which distressing thoughts, memories, or impulses that may give rise to anxiety are excluded from consciousness and left to operate in the unconscious. Suppression requires a conscious moment of acknowledgment to make something become unconscious. In order to suppress something in a wakeful moment, you dismiss it from your awareness. To take suppression a step further—to go unconscious—you have to create a reason, a belief, or make up a story to convince yourself to suppress your truth. The big problem is this: if the thing you want to suppress is something that the Universe wants you to face and heal, you’re paddling against the current. Eventually you will have to return to this scene and act with awareness. Everything you do to suppress your truth is only a temporary warding off; you’re building a wall you will need to take apart later, stone by stone. Universal Love only wants your freedom. It will not stop for the preferences of your small self. So be
Suppression is built into the fabric of society. For most people, in order to start a business, get an education, or buy a house, you have to take on some debt, in the form of a loan or a credit card. If you’re not crystal clear about the interest rates and the time it may to take to repay the loan given current and future employment, you are completely suppressed around money and the exchange between what you want and what it really costs you. 30 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
Universal Love only wants your freedom. It will not stop for the preferences of your small self. So be careful about being too picky with how and when you’re willing to learn your life lessons. careful about being too picky with how and when you’re willing to learn your life lessons. God takes custom orders for spiritual growth, but you don’t always get exactly what you want: You get what you need in order to grow, whether you think you are ready or not. Grace fills in the gaps. Or as my wife Emily says, “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.” Suppression says to the Universe, “I’m gonna put off learning this particular life lesson. I’ll deal with this issue someday if I have to, but for now, I’ll put it on the back burner.” One of my mentors shared with me that people build their lives around avoiding three things: loss, anxiety, and death. The only problem is that loss, anxiety, and death are the three things you are guaranteed to face in life. Loss, anxiety, and death will imprint a pattern of anxiety and distress upon your body and mind if you have not cultivated the capacity to be present when these experiences arise. Suppression is built into the fabric of society. For most people, in order to start a business, get an education, or buy a house, you have to take on some debt, in the form of a loan or a credit card. If you’re not crystal clear about the interest rates and the time it may to take to repay the loan given current and future employment, you are completely suppressed around money and the exchange between what you want and what it really costs you. If you are super aware of what you’re getting into financially, then kudos to you. I didn’t have a clue about debt when I was twenty-three and started graduate school. I thought, “Free money. Cool!” Years later, as I applied my education professionally, and understood that nature of variable and fixed interest rates, I felt good about paying back student loans.
HEALTH Not dealing with your lessons works the same way, except the interest you’re going to pay will come out of your body, not your bank account. Another area of collective suppression is food consumption. Food is a major hot button issue of suppression. Sugar, alcohol, bread, dairy, chips, and dips are the engines of suppression. How do you get rid of your guilt, shame and blame? You eat. Eat. Eat. Eat. Eat until you’re full, and then you eat some more. You stuff yourself full, so you don’t have to feel. Some of us love chocolate, others salt. But it’s rare to find the person who turns to salad when they’ve been told something they don’t want to hear, gets turned down for a promotion, or goes through a break-up. When I have a rough day at work, I get home and pound the corn chips. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Without stopping to take a breath unless my wife catches me and slows me down. Thank God for her.
Ancient Taoist healers from China discerned the Sequence of Separation from observing the patterns of nature thousands of years ago. They perceived how suppressed emotions affect the body physically as disease progresses from one organ system to the next. Though the Universe uses emotions to physically grab your attention, emotions are not the root of disease. The root of illness is the way you suppress them. Universal Love operates out of its own infinite intelligence. Our job is to learn to trust the Universe’s communication. My intention is that you will become more aware of how the Sequence of Separation works in you. The only person who can really know the unique beauty and gifts that the Universe has for you is you. If I’ve done my job, by the end of this book, you will have a clearer sense of where you can be more responsible for your wellbeing and teach others to do the same.
Excerpt from: Born to Heal by Luke Adler © 2016. HEALTH Reprinted with permission.
Luke Adler, L.Ac. D.O.M., is an intuitive and compassionate healer and teacher, and the author of Born to Heal: Heal Yourself Heal the World. He helps people uncover and translate their experience of love into meaningful actions that make a difference in the world. Luke is a Board Certified Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbalist in the state of Oregon. He is also a Diplomat of the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, which is the highest level of national certification for Chinese Medicine. With over twenty years of meditation experience, he is a gifted teacher of various healing and spiritual practices for the novice and advanced practitioner. His website is https://lukeadlerhealing.com.
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HEALTH REVIEW & INTERVIEW
TOUCHING LIGHT: How to Free Your Fiber Optic Fascia by Ronelle Wood This book is about an exciting healing technique called myofascial release therapy. It is based on a fairly recent understanding of the nature of the fascia surrounding our muscles, muscle fibers, organs and tendons, which had, until recently, been studied only on cadavers.
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t turns out that the fascia is composed of bundles of water-filled tubules that act like fiber optic cables. They are able to both store and transmit information. When the information being carried is about fight or flight, unless it is released by screaming, trembling or running away – or something similar – it can be held in the tissues for years. The results is that the fibers can stick together like strands of spaghetti that have been not been stirred, and even stick to the underlying muscles and organs causing constriction and pain. MFR Therapy is a hands-on technique that identifies areas of constriction and blockage, and through gentle manipulation invites energy flow and circulation back into the area. This often results in the release of the blockage and the pain, as well as the emotions that have been held in the area. When you consider a lifetime of accumulated traumas and resulting blockages, you can imagine how they can affect our posture, our digestion, and even our blood pressure. By removing these blockages
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HEALTH
of energy, and allowing the muscles to move freely the body can be restored to balance and pain-free function. A very nice complement to MFR adopted by Ronelle Wood’s clinic is a protocol for retraining the body’s alignment, starting with the feet and the gait.
INTERVIEW
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ronelle Wood is a leading specialist in Myofascial Release Therapy. She learned the power of fascia from both sides – as a patient and as a healer, and has probed deeply into the light-conducting nature of fascia and what that means in practice for emotional and physical wellbeing. Ronelle’s new book, Touching Light: How to Free Your Fiber-Optic Fascia chronicles her path to discovering the life-changing technique of Myofascial Release Therapy and the combination with Alignment therapy that has made her a highly sought-after practitioner in her Ojai, CA clinic. Website: www.ohmsanctuary.com
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
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At a time when pain is almost taken for granted after middle age, and even before, and opioid addiction is rampant, this technique deserves to be in the forefront of everyone’s radar as a first option. Highly recommended reading. Reviewed by Miriam Knight
HEALTH REVIEW
Nourishing Your Whole Self:
A Cookbook with Feelings by Marci Izard
Nourish Yourself with this Cookbook for Mindful Eating
“N
ourishing Your Whole Self” is a refreshingly unique cookbook that presents opportunities to experience the way different combinations of food ingredients can help us feel. Food blogger and cooking show host, Marci Izard, shares some of her personal favorite recipes that inspire feelings of being: refreshed, peaceful, comforted, treated, and indulged. These recipes include relatively simple and easy-to-obtain ingredients, and can be made fairly quickly, and all of them provide marvelous alternatives to mindless fast-food eating with its typically unfortunate feelings. I love how Marci introduces each recipe, often providing a hint of how a dish might nourish our whole being. For Onion and Spinach Soup, she writes, “Just as slicing onions can make you cry, eating them can stir up feelings as well. It’s noth-
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HEALTH
ing to fear; each brothy bowl is warm and healing. You may experience a subtle catharsis.” With a recipe like this, from the “Comforted” section, one indeed feels comforted, cared for, and transformed. Sometimes simple ingredients are the best, and this soup has seemingly magical qualities of simultaneously grounding and transporting. While a food processor is called for to make dishes such as Zesty Kale Chips (from the “Peaceful” section), most recipes simply require such typical kitchen appliances such as a blender, mixer, refrigerator, oven and stove. Most of the recipes are vegetarian or can be converted to vegetarian, and many can be converted to gluten-free, if need be. People interested in reducing or eliminating sugar from their diets can similarly make substitutions for the “Treated” (dessert) recipes. The design and layout of this book make it a snap to find recipes of interest, in order to make sure to
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have required ingredients on hand, and a joy to leave out on the coffee table to gaze at the beautiful images of freshly cooked meals. I love the selection of quotes included together with each recipe, such as this one by Mantak Chia and William U. Wei, “If you cannot sing or laugh before a meal, skip it until you can.” This marvelous advice can make all the difference in ensuring one’s digestive system is ready to enjoy full benefits of a meal, and I feel a sense of a blessing being conferred in the positive words shared with every dish. I love the combinations of tastes and textures in these recipes, that help to make each dish stand out as a feast in itself. Marci clearly knows how to make the most of basic ingredients in ways that are as delicious as they are nutritious and soothing to the soul. I highly recommend this book! Reviewed by Cynthia Sue Larson
HEALTH REVIEW
Smoothie Bowls Inspiring Healthy Foods by Eliq Maranik
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he typical smoothie is a blend of fruit, protein powders, yogurt, juice or milk, ice, and maybe some greens, served in a tall glass. But times have changed. The old smoothie has transformed into a new scrumptious meal that’s part glop, part crunch, and a whole lot of creativity. Ditch the boring glass! These artful concoctions, served in a bowl, jar, or goblet, include ingredients like cacao, avocado, acai, raw nuts, and a wide range of fruits, vegetables and protein powders. But the best part…the toppings. A ring of sliced bananas and goji berries. A pinwheel of almonds and chia seeds. A cluster of blueberries with a sprinkle of coconut and buckwheat. A handful of granola or trail mix, topped with raspberries. And don’t forget the slivers of raw chocolate! With a background in gastronomy, Eliq Maranik has put together a nutritious collection of easy-to-mix smoothie recipes that you can enjoy at any time of day, as well as tasty granolas. With vibrant photos to tempt your palate, you’ll want to dig out your spoon and dive into these satisfying, wholesome fares. Ullmann Publishing, $14.99 Reviewed by Diane Holcomb, East West Books
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CONSCIOUS CINEMA
VANQUISHING THE BOGEYMAN By Brent Marchant Nothing ventured, nothing gained. When it comes to fulfilling accomplishments, fewer expressions ring truer than this, especially when we seek to do so by employing the conscious creation process (also known as the law of attraction), the means by which we manifest the reality we experience through the power of our thoughts, beliefs and intents.
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ut, if our beliefs are to be allowed to work their magic, they must do so without hindrance, including the interference of other beliefs. When conflicting notions compete with one another, particularly when they’re put to our divine collaborator to facilitate the materialization of our ambitions, the process can come to a grinding halt. Contradictory influences prevent anything from happening or result in distorted outcomes, in either instance a disappointment to be sure.
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CONSCIOUS CINEMA Among the most common belief conflicts we encounter are aspirations undercut by doubt or, especially, fear. Holding fast to a cherished outcome while simultaneously embracing a fear of that manifestation’s realization will almost assuredly prevent the goal from happening. It only makes sense, too; after all, how can we expect our divine collaborator to assist us if we send it mixed signals? It’s like saying “I want something but don’t want it” at the same time. It’s no wonder nothing happens. This is where facing and overcoming our fears becomes so important. Indeed, purging ourselves of fear-based beliefs is essential to keep them from interfering with the materialization process. In fact, embracing beliefs that are directly opposed to fear – those related to courage and heroism – can play a vital role in achieving our objectives. Such positive influences not only eliminate potentially undermining influences, but they also infuse a high degree of confidence into the conscious creation process, acting like a supercharger to bolster the overall effort.
one of the most horrendous incidents in American history; “The Front” (1976), director Martin Ritt’s semi-autobiographical comedy-drama about a cafeteria cashier (Woody Allen) who “fronts” the scripts of a blacklisted TV script writer (Michael Murphy) during the Communist witch hunts of the 1950s; and “Hotel Rwanda” (2004), the fact-based biopic of a brave hotel manager (Don Cheadle) who went out of his way to protect his guests, family and friends against the warring factions caught up in the genocidal madness of the Rwandan Civil War.
Given the power of these supporting influences, it’s no wonder that they play such a central role in many storyline contexts. That’s especially true in the movies, which often celebrate heroes and reward characters who successfully overcome their fears. In fact, these themes are so prevalent in motion pictures that coming up with a manageable list of representative films was quite a challenge. Nevertheless, many excellent titles reflect these ideas, inspiring viewers with their compelling narratives and dazzling cinematic spectacles. Courageously facing down the fears associated with confronting powerful entities is a common theme in this genre. In some cases, that involves going up against oppressive governments or autocratic political factions; in others, it means taking on formidable corporate interests; and, in the most challenging of such scenarios, it means tackling both. Films that adeptly illustrate heroic initiatives against the state include “JFK” (1991), director Oliver Stone’s chronicle of the valiant crusade by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) in challenging the Warren Commission’s official findings on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and his attempts to prosecute the parties he believed were truly responsible for
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Movies that peg the Davids of the world against corporate Goliaths include “The China Syndrome” (1979), in which a nuclear power plant supervisor (Jack Lemmon) and a pair of intrepid journalists (Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas) seek to expose the safety hazards of a facility in danger of meltdown, something the plant’s owner would rather keep quiet; “The Insider” (1999), the fact-based story of the efforts of a 60 Minutes producer (Al Pacino) to air a segment about tobacco industry secrets revealed by a company whistleblower (Russell Crowe) that the popular TV news magazine initially approved but later reneged on when confronted
CONSCIOUS CINEMA by corporate pressures; and “The Burning Season” (1994), a made-for-cable movie about the life of Brazilian environmental activist Chico Mendes (Raul Julia) in his attempts to rein in reckless rainforest clearing by land developers.
As noted earlier, battling foes on two fronts is especially challenging, as evidenced in a trio of 2005 releases, including “The Constant Gardener,” in which a dutiful British foreign service officer (Ralph Fiennes) and his outspoken activist wife (Rachel Weisz) take on government officials and a powerful pharmaceutical company over questionable but officially sanctioned vaccine testing practices conducted on innocent Africans; “Syriana,” the multifaceted saga of a courageous CIA agent (George Clooney), a reform-oriented emir (Alexander Siddig), an influential corporate lawyer (Geoffrey Wright) and a progressively minded commodities dealer (Matt Damon) in wrangling with the politics of oil and the corrupt, self-serving practices of those who profit from them; and “Good Night, and Good Luck,” the biography of famed CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) in which he and his producer (George Clooney) endeavor to air a scathing report on the dubious government hearings conducted by Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s “Red Scare,” an undertaking resisted by their corporate bosses. In some instances, facing fears and living courageously involves staring down the challenges posed by both public pressures and personal demons. Such is the case in “Casablanca” (1942), in which a crusty café and casino owner (Humphrey Bogart) wrestles with ghosts of his past under the scrutiny of Nazi occupying forces, pushing him to
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make hard choices balancing self-interest and the greater good. Similar circumstances arise in “The King’s Speech” (2010), in which a shy, stuttering prince (Colin Firth) is thrust into the role of monarch when his older brother (Guy Pearce) abdicates, a position the younger royal neither seeks nor wants, especially now that his beloved England is on the brink of war, a time when his subjects demand a leader with a strong voice to represent the interests of their country.
Sometimes our beliefs can become our own worst enemies, keeping us from becoming who we would like to be. The challenge of allowing ourselves to embrace intents that empower our hopes and dreams surfaces in a number of films. For example, in “Defending Your Life” (1991), a recently departed advertising executive (Albert Brooks) reviews his most recent incarnation before a court-like afterlife tribunal to determine whether he’s worthy of moving on to the next step of his personal evolution, especially with regard to his generosity to himself. A similar theme arises in “Romancing the Stone” (1984), in which a lonely romance novelist (Kathleen Turner) perpetually seeks the man of her dreams (not unlike the heroic swashbucklers she writes about) but to no avail – that is, until she
CONSCIOUS CINEMA manifests an adventure of her own, one straight out of the pages of her own books. Other movies with characters in search of comparable forms of once-repressed personal fulfillment include “An Unmarried Woman” (1978), “Sex, Lies and Videotape” (1989) and “Vertigo” (1958). Living courageously for one’s art is a recurrent theme in a number of motion pictures, such as “Mao’s Last Dancer” (2010), a fact-based account of the defection of Chinese ballet sensation Li Cunxin (Chi Cao), who willingly gives up everything for the pursuit of artistic freedom while on a cultural exchange program in Houston. In a similar but somewhat more macabre vein, “Hitchcock” (2012) chronicles the struggle of the master auteur of suspense (Anthony Hopkins) to produce his epic scream fest, “Psycho” (1960), at a time when no studio would touch the project (a film that, ironically, would go on to become the most successful of his career).
Championing those less fortunate is certainly one of the most noble and courageous pursuits one can
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undertake, as evidenced in films like “Schindler’s List” (1993), the story of a wealthy, flamboyant German industrialist (Liam Neeson) who went out of his way to clandestinely place Jewish workers in his factories during World War II to keep them from becoming concentration camp victims. Activism such as this is also apparent in “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962), in which a soft-spoken lawyer (Gregory Peck) undertakes the defense of a black man (Brock Peters) accused of beating and raping a white woman in a small Alabama town in the 1930s. Overwhelming odds might easily deter many of us, but those who successfully rise to the occasion end up overcoming seemingly insurmountable circumstances. One film that aptly illustrates this is “The Impossible” (2012), the inspiring story of a family whose members are quick to fright but who are catapulted into their own heroism when subjected to the ravages of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami while on vacation in Thailand. Newfound personal heroism also surfaces in “Fearless” (1993), in which a plane crash survivor (Jeff Bridges) takes on previously avoided challenges, believing that, if he could survive a catastrophe that terrible, he can now successfully take on anything. Death and disability are among the greatest fears many of us face. But, when such conditions loom, we can often effectively counter our apprehensions by choosing to embrace life in the moment. This theme pervades the touching French comedy-drama “The Intouchables” (2012), in which an affluent quadriplegic Parisian (François Cluzet) refuses to give up on life by vowing to live it as fully as possible, either on his own or through the experiences of his free-spirited caregiver (Omar Sy). The same is true in “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” (2015), the story of a teenager diagnosed with leukemia (Olivia Cooke) who seeks to make the most of her life with a pair of quirky pals (Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler), who must also come to terms with the potential demise of their friend. Making the most of life when the clock is running out also comes up in the sci-fi classic “Blade Runner” (1982), in which a special law enforcement officer (Harrison Ford) is assigned to track down and neutralize a renegade human-like android (Rutger Hauer) attempting to extend his pre-programmed life span by any means possible, a conflict that pits two powerful foes against one another and brings each of them face to face with their own mortality.
CONSCIOUS CINEMA In the end, facing down fears and digging deep to find our inner reserves of courage are essential when we come up against our destiny. In some cases, that means confronting our own personal dark night of the soul, as seen in the underrated (and often misunderstood) science fiction thriller “Signs” (2002), in which a former pastor (Mel Gibson) who lost his faith as a result of a personal tragedy now faces an array of even greater calamities in coping with the fallout from a worldwide alien invasion. On a somewhat lighter (though nevertheless daunting) note, the quest to live out our destiny permeates the narrative of “The Walk” (2015), the biography of high-wire artist Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who amazed the world by traversing the space between the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center – without a net – an act that epitomizes the power of belief in what can be accomplished – and in ourselves.
Whatever fears may get in our way, we ultimately must seek to get past them if we hope to realize our most cherished dreams and aspirations. Rid-
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ding ourselves of beliefs that fuel such apprehensions and embracing intents that empower us to succeed are key to this, and we’d be wise to follow these recommendations. Should we do so, though, the bogeyman will surely be vanquished, and there’s no telling what we can achieve. Copyright © 2016, by Brent Marchant. All rights reserved. A lifelong movie fan and longtime student of metaphysics, Brent Marchant is the award-winning author of Get the Picture?!: Conscious Creation Goes to the Movies (http://booklaunch.io/ brent%20marchant/getthe-picture) and Consciously Created Cinema: The Movie Lover’s Guide to the Law of Attraction (http://booklaunch.io/brent%20marchant/ consciously-created-cinema), books that provide a reader-friendly look at how the practice of “conscious creation” (also known as “the law of attraction”) is illustrated through film. Brent maintains an ongoing blog (http://brentmarchantsblog.blogspot.com) about metaphysical cinema and other self-empowerment topics through his web site (www.BrentMarchant.com). He is also Featured Contributor for Smart Women’s Empowerment (http://www. smartwomensempowerment.org) and Movie Correspondent for The Good Radio Network (http://www.thegoodradionetwork.com/). His additional writing credits have included contributions to Library Journal, BeliefNet, VividLife magazine, New Age News and Master Heart Magazine. Hear Brent as movie review radio correspondent on Frankiesense & More (http:// toginet.com/shows/frankiesenseandmore/) and on New Consciousness Review’s Reviewers Roundtable (www.ncreview.com). He’s a frequent guest on various Internet and broadcast radio shows, as well as a regular presenter at conscious creation conferences. Brent holds a B.A. in magazine journalism and history from Syracuse University.
CONSCIOUS CINEMA REVIEW
Aloha
Directed by Cameron Crowe
Funny, deep, warm, uplifting romantic comedy with a dash of magic in the mix
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his movie set in modern-day Hawaii can be labeled a ‘feel-good’ romantic comedy film--but to just leave it at that is to miss the exceptional depth Aloha has to offer. The mood of this film is funny, deep, warm, embracing, and ultimately uplifting--with just a dash of magic in the mix. The story line involves Bradley Cooper playing the role of a celebrated military contractor returning to Hawaii and reconnecting with an old flame, played by Rachel McAdams, while accompanied by an Air Force officer pilot played by Emma Stone. John Krasinski (from the Office) plays Rachel McAdams’ husband brilliantly as a man of few words who is eloquent with his facial expressions and body movements. Hawaiian native Dennis ‘Bumpy’ Kanahele plays himself in a brilliant role honoring the indigenous people of Hawaii, and providing the story line with much more connection to the Earth and nature than one typically finds in most rom-com films. I love how the mythical menehune make an appearance in this film, and adore the dance scene with Bill Murray. Director Cameron Crowe does a spectacular job of combining a visually dazzling feast for the eyes with a deeply satisfying soundtrack. He evokes some of the most emotionally deep acting I’ve yet seen in movies anywhere--culminating in one of the best scenes in the movies at the end in a dance studio. The emotional depth and spiritual authen-
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ticity of Aloha are unmatched by most all other films, with the possible exception of some of Cameron Crowe’s other movies. Reviewed by Cynthia Sue Larson
PURPOSE REVIEW & INTERVIEW
Sacred America Sacred World by Stephen Dinan The message of this book is so timely, as the political rhetoric of our country seems to be descending to new lows of deliberate polarization, and cynical disregard for either the truth or the intelligence of the people.
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tephen Dinan’s voice of reason calls upon us to place our love of this country and its role as a model of democracy above partisan power struggles. He argues for a transpartisan coalition that would revive the notion of compromise within the political process and restore respect for the legislators. It is vital, he suggests, to preserve a multiparty system so that the compassion and idealism of progressives can be balanced by the values and historical roots of conservatives. It is important that we support the weakest among us facing catastrophe from illness, loss of job, or natural disaster. It is also just as important to have voices grounded in the traditions and wisdom of the past to ensure that our progress is sustainable. Sacred America, in his view, combines the best in our national character - our pioneering spirit, generosity, innovation, high ideals and devotion to freedom - with a sense of destiny and service to advancing the next stage of planetary evolution. The book provides a big-picture overview of the many challenges we face - particularly climate change, inequalities, terrorism, the overreach of corporations and the banking system, and education. Dinan then goes on to highlight some of the many innovations around the world that are
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PURPOSE making a real impact in education, peace-making, technology and microfinance, inviting readers to join, support or create their own.
also consider how to go about grooming a new type of political leader who is of a much higher consciousness and level of integrity.
A core ingredient necessary to a positive future is the good will of people coming together to listen deeply to each other, and seek solutions rather than argue positions. In fact, Dinan suggests the creation of a Cabinet-level Solutions Council charged with identifying, harvesting and supporting innovations in each sector of society. We might
This is not a book of glib solutions, but rather a heartfelt wakeup call. We are all in this together, and the clock is ticking on quite a number of tipping points. We have, Dinan believes, all the qualities and resources we need to create a truly sacred world for all. What we must find is the personal, political, social and spiritual will to do so. Reviewed by Miriam Knight
INTERVIEW ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephen Dinan, a noted social entrepreneur and visionary political strategist, is the founder and CEO of The Shift Network, a leading global provider of online transformational courses and trainings. He was previously a senior staffer for both the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and Esalen Institute. At IONS he was the driving force behind the Shift in Action program; and, at Esalen he directed and helped to create the Center for Theory and Research—a think tank for scholars, researchers, and teachers to explore human potential frontiers. Stephen is the author of Sacred America, Sacred World: Fulfilling our Mission in Service to All (Hampton Roads) and Radical Spirit: Spiritual Writings from the Voices of Tomorrow (New World Library). He is a graduate of Stanford University and holds a master’s in East-West Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Dinan is also a member of the prestigious Transformational Leadership Council and Evolutionary Leaders groups. Stephen is the author of Sacred America, Sacred World: Fulfilling our Mission in Service to All (Hampton Roads). His website is: www.SacredAmerica.net
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LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
PURPOSE ARTICLE & INTERVIEW
I’m Right and You’re an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean it Up by James Hoggan
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The environment is not the main subject of my new book, but the seed for I’m Right and You’re an Idiot was planted more than a decade ago, shortly after I was appointed to the board of the David Suzuki Foundation, Canada’s best known sciencebased environmental organization.
I
was invited to join because of my experience as a public affairs consultant and after my first board meeting we all adjourned to dinner at a French bistro in Old Montreal where I was seated across from David Suzuki.
The board members at our end of the table were having a lively conversation about the lack of action on environmental problems when Suzuki looked at me and asked one of his famously blunt, straight-
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PURPOSE to-the-heart questions: “Why aren’t people paying more attention? There is enough evidence we are destroying the planet. Why aren’t people out in the streets? How do we motivate the public to demand action?” A silence followed and I didn’t produce much of an answer, but the question struck a chord with me for two reasons: First, because I was talking to ‘Mr. Standing Ovation.’ David Suzuki is an inspiring speaker, one of the world’s great environmental educators, and here he was asking my advice and expressing frustration at not being able to motivate people. That was very humbling. Second, since hanging out my public relations shingle in 1984 I have dealt with all kinds of prickly, front page, public relations controversies and crisis situations — food poisonings, labor disputes, market crashes, animal cruelty charges, bodies disappearing from funeral homes, Taser deaths, multimillion dollar bank fraud, exploding sawmills, election and sex scandals—and I’m seen as a guru in my field. But this was a communication dilemma of a different class, and the question baffled me. I remember muttering something about the state of politics but the truth was I had no idea. Over the next few years, I became interested in the role that misinformation and pseudoscience play in this change resistance problem, and the ways in which manufactured doubt and controversy can be used to stall the growth of public concern and block public policy solutions. In 2006 I co-founded DeSmogBlog to help dispel the public relations fog that swirls around climate science, to raise awareness and help people become savvy about spin. It has gained millions of
I wondered, how have we come to a time when facts don’t matter and how can we begin the journey back to where they do?
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Over the next few years, I became interested in the role that misinformation and pseudoscience play in this change resistance problem, and the ways in which manufactured doubt and controversy can be used to stall the growth of public concern and block public policy solutions. readers and was named as one of the best blogs of 2011 by Time magazine. In 2009 I wrote Climate Cover-Up with Richard Littlemore, to take a deeper look at science propaganda and the widespread echo chamber of media and think tanks that magnify it. The book became a Canadian bestseller, was translated into Mandarin and reprinted in Spanish, yet I was shocked that people were not more outraged by all the evidence of deception. So, several years ago I set out to write another book that wood take a deeper look at the history and techniques of propaganda, but as I began doing interviews it became painfully clear that misinformation campaigns and propaganda are only part of the problem. I was pointed in the direction of one of the most urgent and unexamined human relations problems of our time: pollution in the public square, that literal and figurative place where we assemble to talk freely and debate honestly, where we seek truth without recrimination, whether on a street corner, in a blog, campus hall, political meeting or community square. I wondered, how have we come to a time when facts don’t matter and how can we begin the journey back to where they do? This is not a book about creating campaigns to change people’s behavior as consumers or voters and it isn’t about persuading people to become environmentalists. It is about something much more fundamental. It’s about the
PURPOSE threshold of change, and how we create the space for higher quality public debates where passionate opposition and science shape constructive, mind-changing conversations. I have interviewed political pundits, philosophers, moral psychologists, media gurus and social scientists, and have found the intellectual environment is ripe for this discussion. They all agree that polluted public discourse is an enormous obstacle to change—and many of them have been looking into some aspect of this problem for a long time, some for their entire careers.
Johnson, a behavioral economist who rephrased the question: Why isn’t public discourse on the environment more data driven, and why are we listening to each other shout instead of listening to the evidence? Linguistics professor Deborah Tannen suggested that our habit of attacking the motives and character of those who disagree with us distracts the public from the real issues and undermines genuine opposition. “Accusing opponents of venal motives makes it easy to dismiss valid criticism.” She added this combative style of public debate leaves little room for the middle ground and what’s worse, “when extremes define the issues, problems seem insoluble and citizens become alienated from the political process.” Caustic dialogue is evident whether people are talking about immigration, gun control or climate change, and it comes from all quarters including advocates, elected officials and industry groups.
We need only look at the Donald Trump campaign to see a glaring example of this kind of toxic, fear-fuelled dialogue that polarizes society and stokes hatred. Similar nastiness is also washing over Europe and seen in the Freedom Party of Austria where a political debate in May deteriorated into an ugly slugfest; in France’s National Front Party where the leader compared Muslims praying in the streets to the Nazi occupation of WW2; and the Brexit vote which led to Labour MP Jo Cox being slain by a man screaming “Britain First.” During my early interviews for this book I came to understand, as Yale Law School professor Dan Kahan put it that, “just as we can pollute the natural environment, we can pollute public conversations.” While the experts disagree about why this is happening, they concur when it comes to the damage it does: toxic conversations stall our ability to think collectively and solve the many dangerous problems that are stalking everyone on Earth. David Suzuki’s question stirred up sage advice from experts such as Columbia University’s Eric
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As a PR specialist I have spent 30 years dealing with tough issues, straddling the worlds of government and industry, business and the environment, and I see this dysfunctional dialogue and nastiness as a threshold problem. If we don’t find a way to disagree more constructively we may never arrive at timely solutions to our collective problems. When faced with an onslaught of over-the-top advocacy, not to mention corrupt or toxic conversations, people lose interest, lose hope or simply lose the thread of what they’re being told. All this leads to escalating polarization and eventually to gridlock. Vigorous discussion and debate are vital in a healthy democracy, and we have to defend that right while protecting our public square for generations to come. This imperative reminds me of the famous tragedy of Guernica, poignantly captured
PURPOSE in Picasso’s painting of the same name. In 1937 the German Luftwaffe bombed this small town in northern Spain, but by some miracle an oak tree in the town square survived. Ever since Guernica was founded in 1366 that tree, or its descendent, has stood in the square and citizens have gathered under its branches to create laws, swear oaths of fealty and discuss community matters. Whenever the tree became sick, another sapling grown from its acorn was planted in its place, because residents understood its symbolic role in the community. Although the aerial bombardment caused widespread death and destruction, the town’s “freedom tree” survived along with the spirit of its people.
INTERVIEW
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jim Hoggan is one of Canada’s most experienced PR people, and president of Hoggan & Associates . A tireless advocate for ethics and integrity in public relations, he has advised a wide range of organizations. He is the founder of DeSmogBlog, an influential website that exposes misinformation campaigns around climate change and the environment, and is the author of Climate Cover-Up and Do the Right Thing. His latest book is I’m Right and You’re an Idiot, the Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean It Up (2016, New Society). It reflects his concern about the polarizing and misleading tribal style of PR that is polluting public discourse, and offers some useful wisdom on how to bridge the divide. More on: imrightandyoureanidiot.com/ LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
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We need to protect our public square from the bombardment of propaganda, polarization and failed communication. We need to treat it with great respect as the sacred place that it is, and if we seek change we should learn to use speech for its highest purpose — moral discourse. In 2011, I travelled to Dharamshala to attend the 23rd Mind Life Conference and I interviewed the Dalai Lama about how to avoid corrupt conversations and propaganda. He gave me one of the most profound pieces of advice I’ve ever received: “I think you acknowledge sometimes the Western brain looks more sophisticated, but in Tibet we operate from the heart and this is very strong. So combine these two, Asian heart and Western mind, and then we will have real success. Real success.”
PURPOSE ARTICLE
Using Facebook to Spread Your “GOOD WORD” By Julia Schopick
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hen a colleague suggested I use Facebook to get my message out to the public, I believe my exact words were, “Facebook is dumb. I’ll never use it!” But, at his insistence, I signed on, because I had a book to
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promote and a deep need to educate the public about its important messages. Unfortunately, the first people I “friended” posted pictures of their most recent delectable meals and their beautiful gardens. I was sure I was right: Facebook really was dumb! But then, I began to connect with people whose missions were similar, though not identical, to mine and who were serious about educating
PURPOSE their friends and followers about important topics. I began to see how powerful Facebook could be. In a few short months, I lived to eat my words. Not only am I on Facebook. I have a personal page and a fan page for my book, HONEST MEDICINE. And on my two pages combined I have nearly 5000 friends and followers. But popularity—or lack of it—is not the point of Facebook for me. The point is that I find it one of the most powerful ways to get important messages out to the public. And the more passionate one is about one’s message, the better Facebook is as an avenue for disseminating it.
In a few short months, I lived to eat my words. Not only am I on Facebook. I have a personal page and a fan page for my book, HONEST MEDICINE.
There are several ways to do this. Some of my Facebook friends link to articles on their own websites and blogs to spread their important messages. For instance, Dana Trentini, who suffered a miscarriage because her thyroid wasn’t being properly managed by her doctors, educates other women about the proper care of thyroid disease through her blog, Hypothyroidmom. com. Then, she shares her blog postings with her 900,000+ followers on her Facebook page of the same name. An average post of Dana’s gets several thousand “shares,” and even more “likes.” Ditto, Mary Shomon, also a thyroid patient advocate who, with Dana, has written a book, Your Healthy Pregnancy with Thyroid Disease. Mary has two thyroid websites: her verywell.com (formerly about. com) site, and her personal thyroid site. Her Facebook page has over 100,000 followers.
It is primarily by sharing their extremely thought-provoking blog posts about thyroid disease on Facebook that both women get the most traction for their ideas. Others who share their important messages on Facebook include the man I refer to as “my favorite whistleblower,” Wendell Potter, author of Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans. Wendell was Vice President of Corporate Communications for CIGNA, one of the most powerful insurance companies. In that capacity, he was a cheerleader for an industry he later came to realize was interested in profits over patients. He resigned in 2008. His tell-all book became a New York Times bestseller. But Wendell decided not to rest on his bestselling-author laurels. He is a guest columnist for the Huffington Post and other publications, and was—and still is—interviewed on countless mainstream radio and television programs, speaking about the pros and cons of the Affordable Care Act, as well as other insurance industry-related issues. And how does Wendell promote his writings and media appearances? Through Facebook, of course. Many people (including me) share his articles, as well as links to his media interviews, thus helping to spread his important message. Lots of other people use Facebook in a similarly educational way. I’ll just mention a few here: Ronald Hoffman, MD educates the public about integrative medicine; nutritionist Jeanne Wallace, about nutritional treatments for cancer; Martha Rosenberg, about the pharmaceutical industry and gun lobby; and Ann Fonfa, about integrative treatments for cancer. (Ann has an important website, AnnieAppleseedProject.org, too.)
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PURPOSE
Most troubling, though, I found that his doctors were not at all interested in learning about the cuttingedge treatments I found for him—some were nutritional, others weren’t. When he had a recurrence of the tumor ten years later, his suture line wouldn’t heal. It was then that I found a treatment that literally saved his life. This is one way people use Facebook to disseminate information that is important to them—and to others. I use Facebook a bit differently, but with a similar result. My book, HONEST MEDICINE: Effective, Time-Tested, Inexpensive Treatments for Life-Threatening Diseases, emerged from my personal experience of helping my husband, who was diagnosed in 1990, at the age of 40 with a cancerous brain tumor. He survived twelve years beyond his doctors’ predictions for him. Most troubling, though, I found that his doctors were not at all interested in learning about the cutting-edge treatments I found for him—some were nutritional, others weren’t. When he had a recurrence of the tumor ten years later, his suture line wouldn’t heal. It was then that I found a treatment that literally saved his life. Again, his doctors couldn’t have been less interested. I resolved to write a book about treatments for life-threatening conditions that doctors weren’t interested in learning about. I knew that patients would be hungering for this information, so it would be my job to share it as widely as possible. HONEST MEDICINE is the result of this quest. It is my life’s mission to share, not only these treatments with patients who need them, but also the message that patients need to do their own research, because doctors often will not have lifesaving an-
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swers. And Facebook, along with hundreds of radio interviews, has kept my book and its messages in the public’s eye for five years. Largely because of my involvement on Facebook, I am regarded as a patient advocate with important information to share. Ironically, I do NOT openly plug my book on Facebook. I share other people’s important Facebook postings, priding myself on being able to separate the wheat from the chaff—i.e., the good information online from the bad. I’m constantly on the lookout for postings to share that I consider noteworthy. By doing this, lots of people learn about me, my book and my mission. I also share lots of postings I find online on both of my Facebook pages—especially about the bad behavior of pharmaceutical companies, and about new treatments my friends and followers (and many doctors) won’t know about. In addition, I share links to radio shows I’ve appeared on to promote my book. “Isn’t that blatant self-promotion?” you might ask? Not if the topic being discussed will be of special interest to my friends and followers, as well as to people in Facebook groups in which I am active.
Ironically, I do NOT openly plug my book on Facebook. I share other people’s important Facebook postings, priding myself on being able to separate the wheat from the chaff—i.e., the good information online from the bad. I’m constantly on the lookout for postings to share that I consider noteworthy. By doing this, lots of people learn about me, my book and my mission.
PURPOSE One of the treatments I feature in my book is Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN), which has helped many thousands of people around the world who suffer from autoimmune diseases as far-reaching as multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and Parkinson’s disease. When I discuss LDN on air, as I do whenever I am interviewed on the radio, lots of people will be interested in listening to these interviews after they’ve aired. Not only do I share them on my two Facebook pages; I also share them in several Facebook groups devoted to educating people about this formerly little-known treatment. And many of my friends and followers share my postings and links with their friends and followers, thereby garnering an even wider audience for my message. But I think my best use of Facebook is by commenting effectively. I learn about postings that I think will benefit from my comments in two ways: (1) when they appear on my Facebook timeline, and (2) through emails I receive informing me that a new posting has been added in one of the groups I’m a member of. Whenever there is a “thread” I feel I can add important information to by commenting, I do so. In my comments I often post links to studies that either back
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Julia Schopick is a best-selling author of the book, HONEST MEDICINE: Effective, Time-Tested, Inexpensive Treatments for Life-Threatening Diseases. She is a seasoned radio talk show guest who has appeared on over 100 shows and is often invited back. Through her writings and her blog, HonestMedicine.com, Julia’s goal is to empower patients to make the best health choices for themselves and their loved ones by teaching them about little-known but promising treatments their doctors may not know about. Her writings on health and medical topics have been featured in American Medical News (AMA), Alternative & Complementary Therapies, the British Medical Journal and the Chicago Sun-Times. She also coaches authors and other experts in how to use Facebook and radio interviews effectively to get their messages out to the public. You may reach her via email at Julia@HonestMedicine.com.
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up or disagree with an assertion made in a posting or in another comment. In my comments, I also “tag” other Facebook friends I believe will want to know about the posting I’m commenting on. By tagging a person, it means they will be notified that I have mentioned them. When I use commenting and tagging in this way, others often thank me for my comments, and in the process, mention my book. For instance, if I am commenting on an interesting posting about the pharmaceutical industry, I might tag Martha Rosenberg. For a posting or a comment about an innovative cancer treatment, I would tag many people, including Ann Fonfa and Jeanne Wallace. And when this article is online, I will tag the people I have mentioned in it, as well as New Consciousness Review, where it appears, and its editor, Miriam Knight. In closing, I have found Facebook, which I once proclaimed to be “dumb,” to be one of the best ways to get important information out to the public. If you’d like me to support your important work by providing a complementary consultation in how best to use Facebook to get your message across, please write to me at Julia@HonestMedicine.com. In the subject line, write “Facebook consultation.”
INSPIRATION HEALTH ARTICLE
TRANSFORM THROUGH WRITING: How Writing Heals by MJ Schwader Writing is healing. It’s also a lot of other things: frustrating, emboldening, difficult, arduous, gratifying, and more. Most of all, it’s transformative, because no matter what emotions the writing process brings up for you, when you dive into it whole-heartedly to tell your story, you will come back to the surface with pearls of insight and growth, new perspectives, and ultimately, change.
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or eighteen years I’ve been helping authors become published. At first it was a means to an end: write your manuscript and get it published. Within a year of starting writing coaching I discovered shamanism, and what started as a quest for personal healing from physical trauma after a car accident soon became an unraveling of my emotional and spiritual pain as well. As I learned, I began to use some of the techniques with my coaching clients, creating energy healing writing exercises that helped them channel their messages onto the paper. Soon, my authors began to see remarkable healing through the process of writing, unearthing deep truths and beliefs about themselves by writing for
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others. As they wrote and rewrote their own stories, they began to see different truths, opening their hearts and their minds to what was possible. Even when they came to me thinking they had already done the work of healing, the writing took them deeper and revealed more at those depths. Time after time my clients would complete our
INSPIRATION HEALTH time working together with both a published book, and with profound transformation and healing in their own life.
being bigger in the world, from pursuing your purpose, from expanding your comfort zone and taking the plunge into the unknown.
How can writing be so transformative? Because nothing makes you face your fears like staring at a blank page that will be filled with your thoughts, beliefs, and ideas for all the world to see. The truth is that whatever fears you have when you sit down to write, are the same fears that keep you from
As I explored this more with my writers, I saw that there were six main fears of writing that matched what was keeping them from moving forward in their life and business. The graph below lists those fears, the core fear, and how it translates to life/ business:
Fear in Writing
Core Fear
Fears in Life and Business
What will people think of WHAT I write?
Content
What will people think of WHO I am?
What will people thing of HOW I write?
Style
What will people think of HOW I look?
WHO am I to write a book?
Credentials
WHO am I to tell someone what they need to do?
How will writing a book affect me FINANCIALLY?
Scarcity
How will doing what I love affect me FINANCIALLY? Can I really make MONEY doing what I love?
What will I have to give up in my SCHEDULE?
Time
Will I have time to do what I want?
What if I’m SUCCESSFUL?
Change
Writing gives you a mirror that helps you see your blocks more clearly. It also gives you a medium to explore those blocks, cut through the veils of denial, and if you truly want to transform, a method to write and then re-write your story. How do you start? Write in stream of consciousness, freely and without thinking. Have a conversation on paper with the doubter voice that resides in your mind. Use your words to sort through the maze of confusion until you start to reveal the truth.
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What will change in my life if I do what I want?
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Writing expands you, and every time you expand yourself, your fears will come up again. So dig deeper to keep peeling back the layers. You might never share this writing with others, and that’s okay. But
if in the process of writing and healing your own story, you find a message you feel compelled to reveal, then share it with the world. You’ll not only transform yourself, you will transform the world.
MJ Schwader is devoted to helping coaches, speakers, enlightened entrepreneurs, change agents, and healers create and market products, services, and businesses using the power of writing. Weaving ancient principles of energy consciousness learned in shamanic training with more than 18 years of experience as a writing coach and internet marketer, MJ helps clients shift their awareness, ignite their inspiration, and clear beliefs that are holding them back from achieving success. Having worked with over 200 published authors, MJ has developed a profound and successful process for breaking through limited thinking and fears to help clients remove blocks and create transformational writing, and the marketing skills to promote that writing. MJ learned writing coaching techniques from 30 years of experience in the publishing industry, as well as training at Coach University. One of the first 5000 coaches in the world, MJ has been a pioneer in coaching writers. For more information, visit www.inspiredlifepublications.com. To sign up for a complimentary Discovery Writing Coaching session, click here.
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INSPIRATION HEALTH REVIEW & ARTICLE
We’Moon 2017 – StarDust Lunar Calendar and Datebook
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n our fast-paced world where technology is becoming all-pervading and more and more of us are removed from the planet’s cycles and rhythms, I need reminders to slow down, unplug, and reconnect with nature. In a world where women silenced, I need reminders that women are respected, valued, and powerful. In a world where we are inundated with the profane, I need reminders of the sacred. There are not many tangible sources or spaces where one gets these reminders and messages, let alone has them embraced simultaneously. Therefore, what a gift We’Moon is to offer us its trinity of ecological connectedness, women’s culture, and spiritual centeredness. We’Moon is a lunar calendar/datebook for womyn that offers so much within its pages. I marvel at the abundance that it gives me each time I pick it up. From daily lunar and astrological information in a week-at-a-glance format to an extensive primer on astrology basics, Sun, Moon, and Earth cycles, and seasonal Holy Days, We’Moon brings together the
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interior and exterior lives of women and our relationships with womyn-affirming spirituality, the earth, and each other. The information on astrology is coupled with stunning artwork by womyn artists from around the world and moving poetry, prose and meditations. This combination of visual imagery and text (which has been thoughtfully arranged) gives the datebook a life pulse that is profound, spiritually lush, and transformative. The theme for We’Moon 2017 is StarDust and emanates from the Tarot’s Major Arcana card, The Star XVII. Star imagery, energy, and magic abound and illuminate women’s journeys, triumphs, and battles -- for wholeness, synthesis, social justice and revolutionary change. In We’Moon 2017, women’s voices resonate like the North Star, guiding womyn through the harmonies and upheavals of life and death, across space and time, and energizing us to vaster possibilities. Give the magic of We’Moon 2017 to yourself and to the women in your life. This goddess-inspired creation will remind you of the strength, beauty, and resilience of women and women’s culture, the planet and the sacredness of all things. It will also reflect brightly the cosmic brilliance around us and in us. Be a part of it! Reviewed by Garine Roubinian, Rain and Thunder: A Radical Feminist Journal of Discussion & Activism
INSPIRATION HEALTH
About The We’Moon Theme: StarDust By Bethroot Gwynn
We’Moon 2017 sparkles with StarDust! The Star card (Tarot card XVII) inspires our theme for 2017– and we are delighted!
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he Star card opens us to the vast comforts of a benevolent universe, the heart-stirrings of personal and global healing, the astonishing possibilities of vibrant imagination. The StarDust theme does not deny angst; creative encounter with negative energy is still imperative. Life on Earth is truly imperiled by climate catastrophe and human violence. Frightening gravities indeed!
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When cosmology speaks of the Unfathomable, we are told that every morsel of existence was flung into being with the Original-Explosion. So, what would that look like by now? “I breathe in my ancestors and their enemies. I breathe in dinosaurs and sneeze. I inhale mountain ranges and sigh... Inhale, exhale. We are each other.” (Dawn Sperber). Ancient, current, future matter are blended. Time wrinkles and waves, bends light, dances with space. And there is no geography that is not swimming in StarDust soup.
INSPIRATION HEALTH
What does it mean to be made of cosmic shimmer? Whispers of visions tease us, dreams light up our sleep, oracles unveil the extraordinary. Star Muses birth poems, songs, altars. Imagination turns the corner, glittering with surprise. Inexhaustible currents of healing radiate love and renewal. The Power available to us as Star people is given real world engagement, as our writers and artists grapple as well with dark matter. Women, rising up from the black hole of patriarchy, are fixing things, dancing away violence, empowering each other in the face of oppression. And from the depths of personal disappointments, comes nonetheless affirmation that discomfort is a growthful edge. “The holes rent in my heart are merely windows/with new ways to look out” (Nell Aurelia). Downsides: Yes, our precious blue planet is on the downslide of climate change. As I write, the North Pole is 50 degrees above normal. Cataclysmic storms of water, fire, wind swirl havoc on every continent. We do actively adore our home-rock. “To touch lichen growing on bark brings us to our knees” (Sandy Eastoak). We care for Earth as best we can—live green, conserve blue—and in the long long view, know that She too rides the cyclic waves of birth, life, death, renewal into mystery. The
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multi-dimensional universe will be Earth’s grave, as it was her cradle, and Her particles will float into new beyonds. Those cycles in our own biological rhythms take us From Dust to Dust in Moon XI. A mother celebrates her child. “You came naked on the backs of the celestial storks...Through tumbleweed and milky way,/Starspray and mothers milk” (Emily Kellb). A woman sings of her now heaven-bound mother; a woman longs to revere her great-grandmother’s bones. Ashes to ashes, Return Return. She who weaves the Night Sky unravels the warp, re-invents the woof. We’Moon 2017 invites us to know: at the deep center of the Star archetype, there is Calm. In classic Star card imagery a woman gives herself healing in sacred water—liquid StarDust. “Star Wars”? No. The elixir of Peace is the ultimate Star gift. Meditation, quiet embrace of natural beauty, exquisite compassion for all beings. These are constellations of the Inner Night Sky, as limitless as the far reaches of time/space out there in immensity. In here, in the universe of the heart, on our intimate planet-home, may The Unconditional Love Force be with us. Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, That is Really Who You Are.
INSPIRATION HEALTH
Astrological Forecast September 2016 by Mark Dodich
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et ready for a quick and busy month! There are two eclipses in September and Jupiter moves into Libra for a year. Mercury just started another communications breakdown retrograde cycle in high-strung Virgo, Aug. 30-Sept. 21. Make time for rest and recuperation instead of waiting for an opening that will not come. The Virgo solar eclipse on the 1st asks you to simplify your life and purify your body and/or closets. It brings deeper level feelings about your spiritual service in this life, stimulating you to
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take it to new levels. The push to get organized this past year is particularly high in early September, and you will benefit greatly by following through on this impulse. The lunar eclipse on the 16th in Pisces-Virgo asks you to pull back from the logical world to bring forth a new vision from outside the veils of this world. It also bursts illusions and asks you to practice forgiveness and compassion. It will open you to a higher vision of the world if you are willing to see beyond your day-to-day existence. Jupiter moving into Libra on the 9th for a full year will flow more smoothly than its Virgo path since August 2015. Both eclipses this month are tied to
INSPIRATION HEALTH a T-Square planetary pattern- kind of like sitting on a three-legged chair that should have four legs. You can use this uncomfortable, pushy energy to make changes in your life, or just feel beat up- your free will choice! Jupiter wants more, and moving into Libra for a year- he wants more relationships, beauty, balance, and grace. It’s time to re-balance your life in the coming year. Mars continues in Sagittarius until the 27th so be certain to increase the adventure and great outdoors in your life before the seasons change.
Sept. 1-3: The New Moon on September 1 is a solar eclipse that starts near Brazil and passes over southern Africa. The recent Olympics were under its influence. Watch for news from Africa under its path. At 10 degrees Virgo, you can organize and purify your closets and body. Look at where your life has become too complicated and where you are doing things that you don’t want to do anymore. A sacred Sabian Symbol for this eclipse is “Two heads looking out and beyond the shadows.” Seek personal meaning for this symbol in your life. Perhaps through sharing your higher vision with others, you can see beyond your current life to open to a higher perspective and higher service. This eclipse is tied to Saturn, Mars and Neptune, all associated with difficult world events reported in the media over the summer. Hopefully this eclipse will bring pragmatic and constructive methods to deal with the challenges of the world. On a personal level, it is time to take practical action to manifest your dreams and do something good for your bucket list. If there has been some project or activity that has been on the back burner of your life, ask yourself if if it is time to stop talking about it and begin the path to manifest that project. Because Mercury continues to be retrograde until the 21st, its best to block out the rough picture of how you would like your project o play out, but don’t lock it into a rigid form before next month. Because enthusiastic Jupiter is ending his one year run through Virgo on the 9th, this is a good time to complete projects or small tasks around the home or office. It is also good to give your nervous system a break by soaking in the natural beauty of the great outdoors. Friday morning is very talkative as Mercury and Jupiter align. Share your big plans with others. The moon moves into social Libra at 5:55 PM Pacific Time on Friday to support a happy, social week-
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end. Saturday evening has an emotional Pluto and moon connection, great for opening deep emotions or just calling it an early night.
Sept. 4-10: Sunday continues the social Libra moon from the weekend. Make Sunday an easy day because the intensity picks up on Monday when the moon moves into Scorpio. For USA residents, Monday is the Labor Day holiday. The Scorpio moon doesn’t make for a social holiday, but it is better for focusing your attention on some project. Tuesday is an interesting combination of this Scorpio emotional “mind your own business” depth combined with highly social sharing. Spend time with people in your inner circle. On Wednesday morning, love & money Venus makes a happy sextile aspect to Saturn. Wake up early to take advantage of the gentle harmony, be it to work on some project that feels good to you, or to have a pleasant conversation about your relationship needs. On Friday, Jupiter moves into Libra for a full year. Jupiter is the god of abundance and generosity. In Libra, you have the opportunity to increase the beauty and harmony in your life. However, Jupiter rules your belief system. You must be willing to open your higher mind to greater possibilities, to have faith in yourself, and to take a risk on yourself to manifest your dreams and goals. Jupiter will help you, but you must set your intent by making a leap of faith. If you want to start a new business, then get some business cards printed up, or get the first page of your new website up for people to see- just do something to let Jupiter know you are serious about your intent. In the world, Justice is a
INSPIRATION HEALTH Libra trait, so it will be interesting to watch how the nomination process for US Supreme Court Justices works out, and how the dynamic between police safety and civilian security finds a healthy balance. From another perspective, Jupiter moving into Libra asks you to let go of relationships and/or beliefs that you have outgrown. You are not doing anyone any favors by holding onto energy connections that are an empty shell of what they used to be. It is a mixed weekend combining play and responsibility. Saturday has the Saturn square Neptune aspect that has been reflecting many world problems. Saturn has to do with law, prejudice, government, infrastructure, delays, and restructuring some aspect of your life and the world. Neptune has big dreams and big illusions. Neptune has trouble when its Utopian vision for a better world has to work in the mundane world as it is today. Somehow, there is room for compromise in your life (and Congress). The days surrounding this aspect are unconditionally loving and serious. You can feel both tired and excited to open to a new world view. Blend your responsibility schedule with time to float in daydreams. Don’t react to late evening Saturday relationship challenges when Venus challenges obsessive Pluto. It’s OK to bring relationship issues to the surface, but this is not the time to obsess on an immediate solution.
Sept. 11-17: The moon is in Capricorn to begin the week, bringing responsibilities and hard work. At the same time, the early week is filled with happy lunar aspects. You combine joy with productivity. By Tuesday and Wednesday, you are ready for something unique. Allow extra time in your schedule midweek and try something different than your normal path. If you have authority figure issues or have angry people in your life, sneak out of the line of fire on Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday evening begins the build up to the Pisces full moon. Friday’s (Sept. 16) Full Moon is a Lunar Eclipse at 25 degrees Pisces and Virgo. Lunar Eclipses tend to be emotional, bringing hidden feelings to the surface. Pisces can take you outside the boundaries of this world to bring forth a new vision, and Virgo helps you bring them down to earth. Put on some blues by the late B.B. King to celebrate his birthday. When your birthday occurs with an eclipse, some-
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thing significant is coming in the year ahead. The planet Mars is tied to this eclipse in a motivating way- that’s a nice way of saying aggressively pushing you to action. It has been mostly in Sagittarius since it was retrograde last spring. The next ten days is the final push to help you align your philosophical goals and ideas with the actions you take in your daily life. Although this full moon is challenging, you can take positive steps to open to a higher vision that will work in the mundane world, and get you moving on manifesting that higher vision. Remember that mental Mercury is retrograde until the 21st, so allow flexibility so your plan can adapt to changing circumstances. The moon moves into Aries for a physically active day on Saturday. It is a good day to meet new people and explore your eccentric side. Be quiet Saturday evening.
Sept. 18-24: If you have anything important to do on Sunday, do it before 1:10 PM PDT when the moon goes into its reclusive void-of-course phase. Finish old business or do mundane tasks when the moon is disconnected from the other planets. A practical Taurus moon to begin the work week has you task oriented towards tangible goals. On Tuesday at dinnertime, talkative Mercury makes a harmonious trine to deep Pluto. Share an evening meal with someone who can talk on deeper levels. Late Wednesday evening Pacific Time, Mercury ends its retrograde period since August 30th. Put extra effort into being organized and efficient, knowing projects will pick up speed in the weeks ahead. The Autumnal Equinox is Thursday September 22 at 7:22 AM PDT. The air element is strong in a chart cast for the next three months, and that means lots of ideas and lots of talk. However, the “follow through” fixed signs are missing now, so know that not all of your brilliant ideas will come to fruition. There are a lot of conflicting energies, but that isn’t a bad thing. For example, Venus wants committed relationship and it is opposed by Uranus that values friendship and freedom. You have the opportunity to balance your partnership and freedom needs. The energetic Sun and expansive Jupiter are aligned to gently push you to take on bigger projects. At the same time, there is conflict between Mercury that looks at the small details, Neptune that wants to live in Utopian ideals, and
INSPIRATION HEALTH Saturn telling you to be practical and get to work. Initially, you will feel pulled in many directions. As the coming quarter progresses, you create down to earth ways for your dreams to work in your world. You open to larger expressions of your needs, but still deal with the mundane world. On Friday, Venus moves into Scorpio until October 18th. This favors research projects, getting to the bottom of old emotional wounds, and taking relationships to deeper levels (or releasing them if they cannot go to a deeper commitment level.) The moon is in Cancer for the weekend, so you want to be around people who are nurturing. It’s a comfort food weekend.
Sept. 25-30:
rock and a hard place” connection between your practical side and your rebellious side. Don’t let that stop you from working on your dreams, but do find a middle ground between a complete revolution and your boring routine.
OCTOBER Preview: Ambitious Mars in productive Capricorn all month means you can accomplish a great deal if you are willing to put your nose to the grindstone. Venus in Scorpio the first half of the month helps you focus on projects that require intense research or healing of deep emotions. But there is also a good deal of social energy now that expansive Jupiter has entered relationship sign Libra for the coming year. Check back for details.
The Sun and Jupiter align on Sunday just before midnight Pacific Time. This is one of the most optimistic combinations in astrology, so do something very nice for yourself at the beginning of the week. Buy one lottery ticket, just in case this lucky combination has your name on it. The moon is in Leo to help open hearts on Sunday and Monday. It may be difficult to notice, but burn-yourbridges Pluto ends his retrograde period on Monday morning (since April). Pay attention to any hidden emotions or obsessive thoughts now as Pluto can help you to deal with them. A more noticeable shift begins on Tuesday when Mars enters Capricorn until November 8th. Mars spent an extra-long nine months in Scorpio and Sagittarius since January. Finally, the ambitious warrior is moving on to new ground. Mars helps you get moving on your ambitions and Capricorn helps you build them in a lasting way. Direct your energy into creating a solid foundation for whatever you want to create next. The second New Moon of September is on the 30th (9 degrees Libra, 5:11 PM PDT). The cardinal (means action) signs of Libra, Aries and Capricorn are strong, so kick yourself into higher gear. The elements of air and earth are also strong, so you can bring your great ideas into form now. This makes for a very positive new moon now that the emotional eclipses of earlier this month are in the rear view mirror. Because do-it-big Jupiter is a part of the new moon, be courageous and ask more of yourself than you normally might ask. This isn’t a new moon to be bashful, so tell the world what you want and be willing to take a risk on yourself to manifest it. There is a minor “caught between a
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Mark Dodich has provided astrology and intuitive consultations internationally since 1980. In addition to natal astrology, Mark specializes in ACG Relocation Astrology Maps and Seven Ray Esoteric Astrology. Check out his newsletter at www.Astromark.us/newsletter.pdf or contact him at (503) 252-1558
Reviewers in the Spotlight Cynthia Sue Larson, a best-selling author, life coach, and inspirational speaker who is known as “The Quantum Optimist” for helping people discover their many possible selves and jump into their favorite lives as they focus on the question “How good can it get?” Cynthia has been featured on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, Coast-to-Coast AM, and BBC. You can watch her videos and subscribe to her free eZine at: www.realityshifters.com Brent Marchant has been a lifelong movie fan and longtime student of metaphysics. He is the author of Get the Picture?!: Conscious Creation Goes to the Movies and Consciously Created Cinema: The Movie Lover’s Guide to the Law of Attraction, books that provide a reader-friendly look at how the practice of “conscious creation” (also known as “the law of attraction”) is illustrated through film. Brent maintains an ongoing blog about metaphysical cinema and other self-empowerment topics at http://brentmarchantsblog.blogspot.com. Brent holds a B.A. in magazine journalism and history from Syracuse University.
Miriam Knight is a lifelong bookworm who is inveterately curious about how the world works. A passionate proselytizer of unity consciousness, Miriam found her sweet spot as Publisher of New Consciousness Review and host of NCR Radio. She also offers book and eLearning narration services at www.miriamknight. com
Diane Holcomb admits that she collects books like some women collect shoes. An avid reader, Diane is the book buyer for East West Bookstore in California, a fiction writer and a humor blogger. Her theme of characters escaping reality can be seen in her award-winning short fiction, When the Knock Comes. She is currently revising her first novel for the zillionth time. Her website is www.squirrelsinthedoohickey.com
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