A Life Well Lived

A Life Well Lived

Funerals are never easy things to attend but yesterday I did go to one of the most beautiful funerals of a woman I will always admire and whose life I will always uphold as one truly lived with honour, enthusiasm and grace.

She didn’t have an easy background as a child out of wedlock in the sixties, with mixed raced parents whom she never met, she was brought up in care. Rather than this being a set- back my friend was one of the most upbeat, positive and enabling people I know. She used all her talents and experiences to help others in similar situations. As a social worker and musician she worked tirelessly to help those who were experiencing what she had experienced, whether it was children in care or people with multi-racial backgrounds. She worked continuously for refugees in Bristol bringing together her music, managerial talents and social work to create successful events and raising awareness.

When she discovered she had a brain tumour my friend battled with her illness with grace and humility and I always found her positive however ill she was. Though I cannot say I knew her well she has confirmed for me my belief that death is a doorway to a more extraordinary place, a place I have been lucky enough to glimpse for a moment, an experience almost impossible to fully describe. A place of such complete release and beauty, words cannot possibly get close.  For me the idea that there is nothing beyond life is not only extremely sad for those who chose to believe it but also makes a nonsense of science. Scientists know that nothing can disappear only transmute and we, without our bodies, are simply energy. Where does that energy go when we leave our physical bodies behind? The glow that those who journey towards death with peace and grace illuminate as they leave, show me that my experience is a truth. Life is a beautiful thing but just a stage like a cocoon from which we can emerge like a butterfly as we return to spirit and go home.

I know she is flying like a bird.

Casting your spell

Casting your Spell

This plaque can be found in the square in the middle of Devizes, a market town in Wiltshire. It tells a story of a Ruth Pierce in 1753 who was buying some wheat with three other women here in the market place. It says:
'One of these women in collecting the several quotas of money discovered a deficiency and demanded of Ruth Pierce the sum which was wanting to make good the amount. Ruth Pierce protested that she had paid her share and said she wished she might drop down dead if she had not. She rashly repeated this awful wish when to the consternation and terror of the surrounding multitude she instantly fell down and expired having the money concealed in her hand.'
On reading this plaque I couldn't stop thinking about it. I have come to understand the phrase 'casting a spell', the idea that with each thought we can truly bring that idea into being. When we utter or indeed write words, spelling the word, we are literally creating our world. The phrase 'careful what you wish for' comes to mind but the awareness of the power of prayer reminds me of the positivity of this action too. It is always so easy to get hooked into the negative aspect of an idea and this story certainly does. The idea of Ruth Pierce wishing to drop down dead if she was lying, knowing full well she was, is a harsh lesson to learn. I think it is time to choose a positive way forward, to choose to believe that we if create positive thoughts we can create a positive environment to live in.
As I feel that this year is a year of removing all old energies from our lives so we can step forward with new and clear energy, taking responsibility for our actions, past and present, is a very important step towards healing all aspects of ourselves. Realising that even the words we utter hold huge amounts of power is part of taking that responsibility. It's so easy to throw words away carelessly, words that can damage ourselves or others really makes no difference. To add as an after thought that 'I didn't really mean it' makes little difference as the spell has already been cast.
Its time to take that responsibilty, think before we act, think about the world we want to bring into being through words and deeds. Let's choose to build a better world knowing we all have the power to do so within us.

The Venus Transit

The Venus Transit

What does this mean to us? Everyone is aware of eclipses, be they of the sun and moon but rarely do we think about the occurrence of other planets coming into an alignment worth noting. Every one hundred years or so Venus steps between us and the sun and it happens twice with a gap of eight years. The last one happened in June 2004. I was lucky enough to know about it and have some old protective glasses left over form the 1999 eclipse and had a good look at it.
This year, having been the brightest star in the sky over the winter and making those beautiful conjunctions with Jupiter and the moon its only fitting that she should still be in our minds for this momentous event. The sun is literally going to illuminate and magnify its pure energy of love for us to feel even if we can't get to see it.
The year for me has been a highly energetically charged one and I am hoping that this is going to continue to make 2012 a full on year. I feel that if we are going to step into and embrace this new energy of respect and love to all with the understanding that we are all part of one body, one human race, we need to start behaving as one. To do this we need to fully respect and love ourselves. We can only do this if we completely clear out our closet of all negative ways of working and remove all old fears and pain. That means a lot of work for all but I feel that this event is going to fast track the way forward for many of us.
As usual the great British weather often gets in the way of our enjoyment of this transit visually but I think that perhaps that's part of it. We need to stop relying on our eyes and begin to feel with our hearts. We need to trust the wisdom our hearts have to offer and stop narrowing our vision by just using our eyes and begin to use our insight. Venus can do a great deal to help us with this, being the Goddess of Love and holding a very powerful tool that we have neglected to connect with for too long.
Please join me, even if its in your sleep and connect with this once in a life time occurrence.