Friday, July 29, 2011

Family Pictures


Parental Expectations and Iconography
excerpted from Spiritual Turning Points: 
A Metaphysical Perspective of the Seven Life Transitions"

"Before birth, the souls of the soon-to-be parents make an astral
plane agreement concerning what will become the familial icon for
the child. According to Merriam-Webster, the term icon is defined
as an image or symbol of the thing it represents. When such an
agreement as this is made, there will be expectations placed on the
child that may or may not have anything to do with their true nature
and always have to do with parental projections.
Both parents can agree upon the icon or they may decide to
each give the child one. A subsequent icon may also be given if an
event occurs that changes the basic constitution of the family such
as when one parent dies, the surviving parent remarries and a new
icon is granted the child.

Some icons are more palatable and include “the one who is
compliant” or “the good son.” Others are more negative such as “the
one who is deviant” or “the lost child.” Whether the chosen icons are
pleasing is not of great importance, for no matter what the chosen
icon is, it is still a projected expectation and one that the child will
adhere to in order to gain acceptance in the family. It is in fact not
until during the fourth transition that the icon is disassembled and
broken as part of the birth of the true personality. Until then, the icon
is the cornerstone of the false or learned personality."

c. 2011 Victoria Marina-Tompkins 

Friday, July 22, 2011

Favorites from our Archives


Water at the Well

"Don't Look for Water at an Empty Well"  


There are several ways to interpret this saying but the primary idea is that you can't find what you are looking for in a place where there are no resources. 


The Well as a metaphor can represent the always flowing Divine source where the well is always full. It's when we look for something or someone to be the Well instead of remembering theDivinity of the Well that we find emptiness, for no person, place, or thing can ever provide us with continuous nourishment in the way our connection to the Divine can. 


Another possible interpretation of this saying is seeing the Well as your own energy that, when empty, can't provide you with the necessary energy for life. I used to have a recurring dream when my energies were drained; I was standing by my car at the gas station with an empty gas tank!  What a great dream message to remind me that it was time to increase my true rest, take some time off from work, and replenish myself. True rest can provide us with rejuvenation and can fill up our own personal Well.


Finally, the Well can also be seen as another person or "thing".  Often times we look to resolve issues within ourselves through our relationships as we create situations where we come face to face with our losses, expectations, and fears; We seek love from a person who cannot freely love us and find the Well empty. We seek compassion from those who are not compassionate, honesty and truth from those who are not honest, integrity from those who do not know themselves. We seek to be filled by substances which are merely substitutions. All of these attempts to find connection through externals will find us with an empty bucket at the Well as no one person or "thing" can ever be the Divine Well which is always present and flowing. 


Our own work is to develop awareness of the Divine Well and to connect to it through daily prayer and meditation, always finding the overflowing source of abundance and grace.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Addiction to Perfection




PERFECTION

The oldest definition of "perfection", fairly precise and distinguishing the shades of the concept, goes back to Aristotle. In Book Delta of the Metaphysics, he distinguishes three meanings of the term, or rather three shades of one meaning, but in any case three different concepts. That is perfect:

1. which is complete — which contains all the requisite parts;
2. which is so good that nothing of the kind could be better;
3. which has attained its purpose.


The appreciation of beauty whether it is in art, music, nature, poetry or any other medium is something that comes naturally to most of us. Beauty is by its very nature harmonious, a balance of components which are pleasing to the eye, ears, or soul. Beauty is also subjective and is "in the eye of the beholder" and is subject to cultural definitions which can distort how we perceive beauty, demanding perfection.


Within our social and cultural arenas we learn from the time we are quite young to look outside ourselves in order to define what is beautiful, "perfect", and we begin to internalize those external representations and compare ourselves. Such comparisons can only lead to frustration, failed expectations, fear, and loss of self orientation, focused instead on an external beau ideal , the concept of perfection. 


Striving ever faithfully toward perfection, we work harder, look better, type faster, have more, in order to meet the illusive need for being perfect. Why?  Because we are taught from infancy that we are not "ok" the way we are. When we cry we are shushed, when we are hungry we are fed in order to keep us quiet, when we are expressive we are generally "too loud". Of course these are examples and not always the case; still, I think you understand my point here. Everything and everyone is subjected to demands of perfection which we may not even be aware of. 


How do we break free of the addiction to perfection? We practice self acceptance. We look to ourselves rather than to the outside, beginning to understand that we are perfect "as is". We will continue to evolve, warts and all, fears and doubts, positives and negatives, and that evolution in and of itself, is perfection.






*excerpted from Wikipedia

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

We Are Evolving

"While the human being is maturing in tangible, physical, and psychological ways, the soul is also evolving as it experiences all there is to learn on the physical plane before returning to the Tao, the universal creative source from whence it originally came. The cycle of reincarnation includes experiences of separateness while in human physicality, but you are always connected to the divine through your own essence even if you forget during the course of
your everyday life."  

Victoria Marina-Tompkins from Spiritual Turning Points: A Metaphysical Perspective of the Seven Life Transitions

Friday, July 8, 2011

The Four Addictions


Addiction One: What isn't Working


The next Shamanic addiction on the Medicine Wheel is the addiction to what isnt working. Here we find the tendency to focus on the difficulties in life, wrapping us up in endless cycles of fear and feelings of frustration and failure. Avoiding this trap does not include becoming Polyanna-ish in our way of seeing our lives which would then focus on only the good and looking through proverbial rose colored glasses. Instead, breaking this addiction starts with acknowledging all aspects of our lives; what we are satisifed with, what we would like to change, and all that lies between. Once we see the bigger picture then we can begin to see where we might like to make adjustments while maintaining a balanced perspective which is not run by fear. We can change our lives and step around the tendency to create woeful stories and avoid the pitfalls of negative thoughts which create anger, hurt, resentments, and any number of other emotions. Begin to look at how you think about your life and fill your thoughts with appreciation for what IS working rather than what isn't working. You may be surprised at the result.

Monday, July 4, 2011

When I'm 61: Astrology and Life Transitions (book excerpt)




Uranus Square Uranus
Shaking It Up Again, Age Sixty-one









"This transit occurs several years after the second Saturn return
and may come as a big surprise as it shakes things up again.
Uranus first appeared at the age of twenty when it squared itself
and provided the opportunity for the first taste of freedom, pushing
the young adult toward independence. But how does this look at the
age of sixty-one? Think retirement. Think travel. Think anything that
isn’t the status quo! Of course, this transit is experienced through
the eyes of a mature adult, so it isn’t likely to be quite as frisky as it
was during the first square. Still, it gives the now sixty-one-year-old
a chance to do some of those things, embark on some of those
adventures that had been set aside during the hardworking years
following the fourth transition. If the dynamic energy of this transit
is utilized to full advantage, then the life review may not be as
disappointing in that some things on the personal Bucket List may
have been checked off. Uranus always seeks change, and this can
happen at any time during life and when this transit comes along,
it may be where it was least expected.

There can be a new sense of personal freedom that allows for
a little risk taking as this transit can bring on retirement when the
daily grind is no longer tolerable. If not, it’s the perfect time for a
sabbatical or other “time out.” The old adage is that you work until
you’re sixty-five, retire with the company gold watch, and then start
playing a lot of golf and bridge. This approach may have worked for
our parents, but the baby boomers and their children are looking for
new ways to age without relying on their parents as role models. Of
course, some values of the previous generation are being passed
down; in many cases the housing boom of the 1950s and 1960s
allowed for great wealth to be amassed that is now bequeathed to
the boomer generation, providing them with the monetary basis to
think outside the box and try new things.

The expansive nature of the computer era that began approximately
forty years ago and has accelerated over the past ten is also providing
new opportunities for global communications that are right up the Uranian
Alley. Those experiencing their second (and first) squares of Uranus
have an added burst of electrical energy that is sending waves of instant
communication around the world. The evolution of the Internet and
wireless technology allows everyone, youth and elders alike, to create
new telecommuting work environments that are perfect for seniors who
want to change their daily work routines by trying something new."

c 2011 All rights reserved excerpt from Spiritual Turning Points