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Saraswati, Goddess of Knowledge, Art, and Music
January 26, 2013
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The Hindu goddess Saraswati is associated with wisdom and teaching. She is the essence of eloquence, with a particular talent for music. She is a water goddess representing a river flowing freely. She expresses herself in words, images, and all musical composition. She is depicted riding swans, playing a stringed instrument. She is the embodiment of knowledge and the ultimate patron of the arts. She is symbolic of the power of learning.
This year in the Hindu calendar her puja this year is Feb. 15, 2013. It is a custom to honor her by wearing yellow and teaching children to write their first letter on that day. Art supplies, musical instruments, and writing implements are used to honor her. Her sacred temples include libraries and schools. She represents wisdom and science in a pure form. She is the mother of the Vedas, the sacred texts at the heart of Hindu literature. She is the feminine aspect of Brahma. She rode her swans right out of his mouth, not completely unlike being formed from a rib. He was overwhelmed with darkness and chaos thinking, “How can I deal with all this formless mess?” (not so unlike Adam) then, BAM..Saraswati rides out of his mouth on her swans, knowing everything!!! What a stoke of luck! She was able to sort everything out with her wisdom.
On February 15 you may want to remember her with something artful and beautiful . Find something that is essentially the most creative part of you, no matter what medium is used. She is a mighty discerning art critic, appreciating the magic in the making. You can honor her with a little ditty, a dance, or a fingerprinting…she knows the joy of capturing emotion in art. She can teach you this secret if you give her some time and attention. Everyone has artistic talents, some hidden. Artistic expression is a gateway to truth and open communication. Saraswati invites you to discover the artist in you.
Shape Shirfting
January 24, 2013
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The archetype of shapeshifter is known as an element to build characters for plots in novels. It is also well known in mythology. Shape shifting involves skill navigating between levels of consciousness. It is related to the trickster Coyote in legend, but has less specific goals. In dreams this character can be a savvy guide. Flexibility is the theme and the great talent of the shapeshifter. In therapy or self realization the archetypes can be used to enlighten the eternal aspects of the human story. Another name for this character is spell caster.
My own direct experience with this energy came through a very funny Yaqui friend of mine in Mexico. First he effortlessly got me to wear a medicine bag made of deerskin. I am a very prissy vegetarian and asked him for one with no animal parts. He dangled it and told me it was my medicine but if I didn’t want it…I grabbed it and put it over my head faster than you could say Cachora is your shaman. It was, indeed, my medicine. A few months later he made me turn in my medicine. He freaked me out by attaching a buffalo tooth. When he gave it back with the tooth I was laughing so hard. I remember joking that next I would be wearing an entire coyote head around my neck. He announced that he would be able to be with me at night while I wore the tooth. I do still wear my medicine sometimes, although I have not seen Cachora in years. The medicine fell on the floor, breaking the tooth in two pieces, revealing the center of itself while I was at a hot spring on a personal vision quest. I thought about that buffalo. I thought it was significant, then promptly super glued it back together. My medicine still works and I still think it is funny. It reminds me to check all levels of consciousness before making moves.
Mood Magic-Forgiveness
January 23, 2013
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To alter your mood is to change your world. When you are happy and you know it you attract and notice joyful people and events around you. When other emotions dominate your mental landscape you notice others in the same boat, whatever the boat happens to be. One way to describe the mutual misery bonding is woundology. This term was coined by Carolyn Myss to explain how and why people retain rather than heal from their wounds. Contentment is not always possible, but clear intentions can be.
Pity and compassion are not the same. Solicitation of pity requires that you also pity others and the outrageous fortune they encounter. Pity is a currency of pain, highest value being placed on the heaviest suffering. The journey to well being involves mind, body and spirit. The distinction between seeking power through pity and creating well being through compassion is key to living a full life. If information and data were the source of good health we would all be very healthy. The element of forgiveness unlocks the possibility of a happy and healthy future.
Where is My Shadow?
January 22, 2013
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“You don’t just integrate your “shadow.” It’s not an aspect of personality but a mysterious element in the human condition.” – Thomas Moore’s tweet of the day today. @thomasmooreSoul is on twitter, like @Pontifex. They both know Latin, liturgy, and the Holy Ghost. Their twitter streams could not possibly be more different. Thomas Moore tweets a dab of darshan daily to his small following. Nobody tweets crass insulting things to him, like they do to the Pope. It is a quiet, one way stream, like the Tao itself..bringing us closer to the truth every day. The truth is always downhill, and flow always involves removal of obstructions. Today he is tweeting about the much misunderstood Jungian theory of the shadow. Shadow can very well be the prime obstruction to living a happy full life. So, where is this mighty shadow, anyhow?
The shadow is the part of your self, or your society, of which you are unaware. It is hidden by your extreme belief in what you are fed by your ego. The ego is the weakest link to reality, in a way, because it only wants to confirm and uphold status quo as it prefers it. Meditation, contemplation, or artistic endeavors bring perspective needed to see this shadow. It is the reason you are in whatever rut you occupy. The rut is like a bunker maintained by your self image. Like a city with big buildings, no shadow is cast down in the bunker, except maybe at noon for a while. In the “reality bunker” the ego rules and keeps other aspects in the belief system you know as your rut.
With Groundhog Day fast approaching, consider celebration this year by leaving your thought bunker to risk seeing your shadow. How might a gentle reader do such a thing? Silence is the threshold. Meditation is the key. Mandala is the map. Wisdom is the reward. Walking a labyrinth is a wonderful way to begin.
Feminine Archetypes
January 20, 2013
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Hekate at the Crossraods
Toni Wolfe, colleague and lover of Carl Jung, identified 4 feminine archetypes. These cardinal qualities divide feminine characters into power centers, or capabilities. Toni understood when she created this foursome as a guide that no individual is purely one archetype on the stage of life. These are ways of looking at personality and talent, not so different from fairy tales and mythological tales.
Life is circular and the core, or center of the circle, is essentially a seed from which the rest of the circle sprouts. Our DNA, birthplace and time, our circumstances at birth are at the center. We contain unique combinations of archetypal power and symbology, both in waking life and in dreams. We begin in the middle of a complex mandala, and work our way out to the edges of consciousness. Limitations are imposed for our education and edification. Dream images give us hints to our own potential as well as to danger. Fairy, Wise Woman, Lover and Queen existed in most cultures before Toni Wolfe mapped out her quadruple qualities. These can be divided, in turn, into variations on a theme.
All people have both male and female archetypes, anima and animus. These might be thought of as north and south, visible and invisible, cardinal points that must also be balanced in the fully realized being. No individual is completely masculine or feminine, good or evil, right or wrong. Tyrants represent an imbalance, a shadow or hidden quality of power, a failure to employ wisdom. Wisdom was historically embodied in the Titan goddess Hekate, guardian of the crossroads. She has three faces, looking in three directions. She carries, along with three torches, a key, a rope, and a knife. She meets you at the crossroads of life and has the power to both assist and punish humans. If she didn’t have three heads, a polecat and a pack of hounds she would resemble the Virgin of Guadalupe, and have similar intercessional powers. Her ancient symbol is a wheel with three parts.
Hekate’s Wheel
Space, Time, Alchemy
January 19, 2013
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Alchemy Symbols
Alchemy is the act of transformation. Throughout history the alchemists have studied nature and mystery. We participate in alchemy when we focus our spiritual talents on the elements of the earth. Inventors and those who are especially creative tap into alchemy to turn imagination into reality. It has been associated with medicine, but all science is the realm of the alchemist. Carl Jung brought alchemy and archetypes into psychiatry. The collective consciousness communicates through symbols and dreams. The alchemists, like wizards and magicians, use mythical power to transform or create.
Our time and space are literally created and projected by us. We are active participants in our entire experience of reality. My favorite alchemist in history is the Swiss Paracelsus, who practiced medicine and magic at the same time. He was searching for the Christian version of pagan natural magic. He promoted Jacob Boehme’s Doctrine of Signatures, a spiritual belief that plants are designed to communicate their healing properties to man. His work was both controversial and respected during his lifetime. What distinguishes the alchemist from a wizard or magician is a constant experiment. The science of chemistry was developed from the never ending experiments of the alchemists.
If you could focus your spiritual energy on nature to transform your life, what would you transform? If you were to focus do you think you could change the quality of your experience?
Design and Deliver Happiness
January 12, 2013
The all around good time, right livelihood, and value vibe created by Zappos is a result of excellent design. The products we buy from Zappos are of high quality. What is perhaps more important is that they are steering capitalism in a healthy direction by upgrading the way business is designed. Feudalism, slavery, share cropping and all other adverse forms of employment feature happiness for shareholders only. This short-sighted vision produces more unhappy servants of the apparently happy owners of companies than it does loyal customers. With the contentment quotient working in reverse, quality, innovation, and value erode and vanish. I think this erosion is occurring in the public service sector. If Vets kill themselves there is a clear indication that something essential is missing in the overall design of our public business.
How can we make the business of government switch from a stagnant vessel of inefficient service to a lean mean contentment machine? Are there ways to practice the Zap happy values in public service and politics?
- Deliver WOW Through Service
- Embrace and Drive Change
- Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
- Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
- Pursue Growth and Learning
- Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
- Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
- Do More With Less
- Be Passionate and Determined
- Be Humble
I do see a little weirdness, but far too little. The WOW Through Service is just not happening. Imagine the government being passionate to do more with less, or be humble. These core values are created for the benefit of all. Happiness compounds daily, as does negligence. My dream government applies these guiding principles to create a better world. Imagine, gentle reader, a government that makes us as happy as Zappos does, all while being creative and open minded. We can dream.
Bubbling Spring of Health and Confidence
January 12, 2013
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I was reminded of a meditation technique I used to practice, but have almost forgotten. The bubbling spring meditation is an active way to make contact with the earth element and move stagnant energy in the body. It is powerful and easy to learn. I need to brush up and use it, since it is vital to remember how energy flows (and becomes stagnant) in the body. Kidneys, as well as kidney chi, are the source of confidence and mental clarity. I think this is the big mental illness plague confusing and freaking out the United States. The kidney chi of the nation has been trashed with coffee and alcohol, drugs and junk food. The adrenal gland of the nation is shot from constant flight or flight paranoid delusional thinking. This is a people in need of contact with the earth, our supporting element. The water element of your body meets the earth at a specific point on the bottom of your foot known as the kidney one point. You can learn about this in more detail from a teacher of qigong, Tai Chi, or any Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, such as an acupuncturist. I encourage you to do so.
Kidney one, a point to be found on the sole of your foot, is the important gateway to health available with each step you take. All you need to do is to find kidney one and start to know how it makes your life either lovely or hellish. Once you know, you will respect the kidney meridian. I spent a lot of time in dementia wards for a few years when my mom needed care. We rescued her from that care because the standard of care was to dehydrate the helpless seniors to death. A few years later all the citizens of my country, including the congress, resemble the folks we met in the locked dementia wards. They are angry, and irrational like crazy fire. Kidney chi, gentle reader, kidney chi.
The water element is as unhealthy in our emotional society as the bodies of polluted water are around the globe. We polluted the water on earth the same way we emotionally pollute our society. We dis the flow. We fight the river. We ignore the Tao. Simple steps can be taken to restore balance and order. Awareness is the key.
Meditation and Kindness
January 7, 2013
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There are many forms of mediation followed in the world. I was lucky to study in Tucson with the Dalai Lama of Tibet who visited us in September, 1993 to teach patience. We had instruction for a year leading up to the visit to give us an introduction to the Tibetan view of meditation and cosmology. When the teaching finally took place at the Sheraton Conquistador when it was new and lovely we were in for both a treat and some deep concepts new to us. The Tibetan monks all sit down in front, as do many Tibetan civilians who prefer the floor for meditation. The room was full of all levels of understanding and experience, as is always the case with His Holiness. The teaching was wonderful, memorable, and inspiring.
He asked students to submit questions in writing for his consideration. He answered some that he thought best for his teaching. One woman asked how she cold begin a meditation practice, given all her stressful and distracting activities. He responded jokingly at first, saying that he also was too busy with stressful activities like leading a nation in exile. He continued quickly after the laugh to make sure he was not ridiculing the questioner, but seriously folks style, to praise her very valid question. His answer was simplicity itself. He told her that if she had time for nothing else, “Be nice.” He explained that if one did not karmically doom oneself by creating nasty thoughts, less meditation would be required to feel good. Meditation in any form is a practice to observe the mind and focus in spite of distraction. It destroys the delusions of the ego. It purifies consciousness. It turns irrational anger into patience. Meditation is the source of equanimity and deep wisdom.
You do not need to sit still or chant mantras to begin a meditation practice. If you have access to a teacher you can be taught many techniques to deepen your practice. If you want to start at the beginning and reap all the benefits, start by being nice.
Zapping to the Beat of a Different Shoe
January 3, 2013
Day at the Office
Ahoy Help Desk
Shoe on Duty
Visitors Score Books
Culture Clown and Stats
Zap-Benefits
I am deeply enamored of the Zappos core values because they distinctly resonate with my own. On my visit to the Henderson office I fell even deeper under the spell of Zap-happiness. The very professional Culture Clown guided our lucky group of only three visitors around the facility. The happiness is palpable, and the systems only function to amplify existing joy.
- Deliver WOW Through Service
- Embrace and Drive Change
- Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
- Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
- Pursue Growth and Learning
- Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
- Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
- Do More With Less
- Be Passionate and Determined
- Be Humble
While I could use work and practice in all these areas, I have consciously embraced these same core values for my entire business life. I learned that most products that are marketed by Zappos are studied carefully for potential compatibility, as one might expect. I also learned from Culture Clown, my guide to Zap=systems, that most companies hand in spreadsheets to be considered. I have no spreadsheets for multiple reasons, the most obvious of which is that I have not yet made a profit. I will be pleading my case by using core values 1-10 and explaining how believe I can deliver happiness to/at/with/and for Zappos. It is a worthy exercise no matter the outcome, so I plan to zap on.
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