Author Archive

Many contemporary spiritual teachers offer methods for awakening that may actually impede rather than encourage the process. Some of these entail dissolving the ego or subduing the emotional/pain body, while others focus on transcending thought, and even form and language. These methods give the erroneous impression that only by overcoming certain exigencies can a person be on a path to awakening.

What does it mean to awaken? Eckhart Tolle, in his book A New Earth, defines awakening as a shift in consciousness during which thinking and awareness separate. This concise definition of awakening implies that thinking limits our awareness. While this may be true, it is unclear why a definition and resulting methodology of awakening would rest on such a separation, just as for others it hinges on dissolving, subduing, doing away with, or moving beyond everyday realities. As spiritual teachers, we should be asking ourselves if our models of awakening originate in separation consciousness, which compels us to “cut out,” “stop,” or “fix” things in order to achieve our desired outcome. Separation consciousness, by definition, limits the scope of awakening by partitioning off great segments of reality.

What does it really mean to awaken? It seems that awakening is an extensively aware state of mind that takes in everything. There is no “path to awakening” nor end to be gained — only awareness without likes or dislikes, which gives way to more awareness. As a thought or feeling unfolds, it reveals hidden layers of reality, causing the unseen to become seen.

Just as awakening does not require us to separate thought from awareness or transcend the ego or emotional/pain body, it also does not ask us to subscribe to the limits of form. From this vantage point, there are no such limits; within every form is the immeasurable, waiting for our awareness to unfold into it. This is why an awakened chef can taste the soil in a piece of chocolate and identify the region of the world where it originated. It is also most likely how transcendent abilities awaken within us—non-local awareness, spontaneous healing, prophecy, and clairvoyance.

As spiritual teachers, our task is to invite seekers into awakening through models that support it, void of any sort of imposition. Surely we can guide the minds of seekers to give full attention to an experience without relying on exclusion or division. Great painters, for instance, can so reduce a reality to its color content that it assumes a new existence beyond color, unassociated with any previous memory of it. We, too, can show the scales of an infinitely expansive reality.

Ultimately spiritual teachers can invite seekers directly into the unfolding of awareness by bringing our own awareness to the task. In doing so, we demonstrate that expanded awareness, the state of mind that takes in everything, is an integral phenomenon, not one that is divided. We also realize that a mind engaged in this process could never look for a method, because it is constantly opening, continually awakening.

More about Christina Donnell…
Christina Donnell, Ph.D., is a spiritual teacher and author of the five time award winning book Transcendent Dreaming: Stepping Into Our Human Potential. She conducts workshop intensives and training in receptive wisdom. For more information, www.wocaassoc.com.

Maggie can’t leave the kitchen while anything is cooking.  As long as she stays in the kitchen everything is fine.  But if she leaves, the stove top, oven, toaster, whatever she has been using, mysteriously shuts itself off.

She has narrowed this phenomenon down to the presence of her “kitchen ghost,” as she likes to call it – a woman who had died, and carried with her a fear of fire. Maggie has resolved the problem by bringing into the kitchen good music and plenty of reading material whenever she wants to cook. “I like my kitchen ghost,” she confesses. “I never want her to leave. Now I don’t have to worry about whether or not I turned the coffee pot off.”

Alice, a single teenage mother with an infant, lives with her own mother in a two story home. Alice goes to school part-time and Grandma Sarah, while not working, watches the baby. After Alice sees a spirit in the living room one day we are called in to do a “ghost clearing” Alice hopes the session will explain the unknown footsteps in the middle of the night, doors mysteriously left open, her feeling of being watched.

We go in and, forming a healing circle, convince the spirit of an angry elderly man to leave the house and complete his journey to Spirit. He moves on to a better place, joining his ancestors in peace. A second spirit, a nice woman, moves on as well…easily…almost too easily. First she is there, and then she’s not. We don’t see her anymore and the house is at peace. So we leave, thinking our work is done.

It is now two months later, and we get a call from Alice. She says that she smells perfume every-so-often, and that at one point she felt a comforting presence, watching over her during a period of sadness and despair. “Steve, do you think I could have prevented the spirit from moving on during the clearing? At one point,” she relates sheepishly, “I thought to the spirit that she could come back anytime she wanted to.”

Alice finally shares something she hadn’t shared before. A few weeks before the clearing session, she had left the baby alone in the bedroom while going quickly to another room to take care of errands. “It’s safe,” she thought. “The baby can’t even roll over yet.” But, while in the other room, she heard a noise and rushed back to the bedroom to behold something amazing. The baby was hovering midway between the bed top and the floor, and was slowly being “lifted” by invisible hands through the air, to be gently placed upon the bed. “I’m not ready to let go of the ghost yet,” she confides. “I really want the extra help.”

While traveling, we might see an advertisement about, and actually participate in, a “ghost tour.” Some of those ghost tours actually do include ghosts! Many of the spirits may be comfortable where they are – Earthbound. There are many people that wish the spirits to stay, and many of the spirits might feel good about being wanted, and attended to.

Claire had told her husband, before he died, that he could evaluate, or at least meet, prospective husbands for her before he succumbed to terminal cancer. She hadn’t wanted to agree to this, but did so in order to appease him and alleviate his fears.  A short while later her husband died and after some time of mourning, she decided to date again.

Her first date had car trouble before going to pick her up; the engagement never took place. Her second date tripped on her front doorstep, severely straining his ankle. Some time later, she actually went out to dinner with a man, only to have a chandelier fall from the restaurant ceiling, narrowly missing his head. “Steve,” she admits. “I think it might be time for me to let go of my husband.”

As Light Workers, part of our job description is to help bring people higher levels of awareness, a greater sense of peace. And this is not limited to those people still embodied, but also to those who are disembodied – ghosts. At the time of death, and thereafter, having not taken advantage of the gateway to a Higher Reality, these Earthbound Spirits often roam unconsciously around the Earth, haunting various people and/or places. As a service, we can help these spirits become more aware of their surroundings, and their choices – to stay upon the Earth Plane, or to continue the journey to Spirit, joining their ancestors in a place of greater peace and contentment.

At times, it may seem hard to decide if and when to release spirit. If the spirit has become a problem then we may easily decide to send him or her onward. Doors or closets opening and closing, lights coming on or off,  bad smells, people having negative physical interactions with the spirit, bothersome noises at times, other more negative interactions – all these may prompt a person to send the ghost onward.

But what about a spirit that just wants to help, a spirit who is comfortable where he or she is? What about a spirit that is more of a helper than a hinderer? In the first example above, the situation with the kitchen ghost, Maggie did not even help the spirit become aware of her choices. She decided to keep the spirit in the dark, assuming that the spirit would be more than happy to stay and watch the kitchen. This, to me, may have been an unethical decision on Maggie’s part. I felt the need to communicate with the spirit, to see if I could help. However, I was not given permission from the homeowner to do so. Even if I had tried to send the spirit onward, the homeowner might have just as easily kept the spirit there.

In the second example, Alice, the single teenage mother, had the heart and the willingness to help lead the spirit to a greater state of awareness, but then, out of fear or the need for additional help with her baby, she invited the ghost to stay. During that incident, we were able to communicate clearly to the spirit that she had an option to find greater peace with her ancestors. However, the single mother and the ghost had reached an agreement in which the ghost would stay and help. The mother wanted the help, and the spirit wanted to help. Alice, however, did agree that at some future time when she was feeling better and more confident about her own parenting skills, she would once again contact the ghost. She would remind the ghost about greater peace and contentment being available. She would sincerely urge the spirit onward.

What about a spirit who is actually a loved one who has passed on? These situations can cause ethical, moral, and emotional dilemmas. For someone who has recently lost a loved one, it is often “normal” for the spirit to hang around for some time, normal for the bereaved to “hallucinate” the presence of the deceased. If the relationship is supportive and loving, I will not even try to send the spirit onward. There may be a need on both the person’s parts to continue the relationship. However, if the relationship turns harmful or limiting, if it interferes with the healthy functioning of either individual, then it may be time to intervene. It may be time to help both of them with the grief process, allowing, even encouraging, the separation. Claire, whose husband had died holding onto the thought of interviewing prospective husbands for her, had finally reached a new level of awareness herself. After realizing that her husband had been hanging around, being perhaps a bit too forceful with his interviews, she had reached a decision to help him reach a new, higher, level of awareness.

There is no pat answer as to when we “should” send an Earthbound spirit onward. For “simple” hauntings, those in which the spirit is just hanging around or observing, we may be doing a disservice to those ghosts that we know are present if we merely ignore them. The same holds true for more “complex” cases. We can review our motives, our needs and wants, and approach the situation with loving kindness, from the heart. We treat the ghosts as we would real people. They may be lost or merely unaware of the option to find greater peace. When the spirit is letting its presence be known, he or she is also more open to receiving our communications, to listening to us. We can, at that time, communicate with them. We can let them know that they are dead, their responsibilities upon the Earth are over, they are forgiven for what they did or didn’t do, and loved ones are waiting (in the Light) to greet them and to help them. If family, they can come back to visit on holidays and other times, but they must not linger.

They have their own lives to lead…in Spirit.

Steven Rogat will be a guest on The Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show in early 2010 . Check back for the official show date coming soon.

More about Steven Rogat…
Steven is a gifted clairvoyant, medical/emotional intuitive, and shamanic healer renowned for his ability to touch others’ lives with his wisdom, insight, and healing. He is a National Certified Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor who brings to his practice extensive training with indigenous healers in the Hawaiian, Mexican, and Native American traditions. He is also a massage therapist, hypnotherapist, Eye Movement Therapist (EMDR) and Thought Field Therapist (TFT) whose variety of skills and natural clairvoyance create a unique opportunity for healing. Steven’s books include Healing Thoughts: Applying Therapeutic Shamanism in Your Daily Life and, co-written with Marcia Rogat, Spirit Journeys: Freeing the Soul in This Life and Beyond. More info at: www.CreativeThought.org

The creation of beauty, harmony, and balance in my art has always been a most natural process, but when I allow the two-word poem, “sacred spaces”, to transport me, I am struck by the number of ways these words can be seen as a sort of “central organizing principle” in my work.  Like a symphonic theme, it runs throughout my life in various forms with different inflections of tone and meaning.

When every woman decides to actively direct the course of her life she must make her home a kind of sacred space where she can come to feel her power.  She must feel fundamentally untouchable by forces she wishes to avoid.  In fact, the very word sacred is derived from the Latin sacer meaning “untouchable.”

To take the monumental step of attempting to share this feeling of power and safety with another requires the creation of a sacred space in a formerly solitary existence and, sometimes, a sacred space for the public acknowledgement of this partnership. The failure to regard each other’s existence as a sacred space inevitably results in separation.  In my own life, I have been fortunate enough to find a partner who shares my views and joins me in actively seeking new ways to acknowledge our lives as sacred.  Our relationship has evolved to the point where we have joined forces artistically to create successful projects of our own design.

An artist must extend her sacred space both physically and metaphysically.  She must first contact the sacred space within us all from which all creation emanates.  To do this often requires the creation of a sacred space in daily affairs – a time dedicated to establishing that contact – that empowers the creation of life as a work of Art and art as a work of Life.

All of life requires a womb, a matrix of support where emerging creations can grow, and the artist’s studio – whether it is a small kitchen table or as big as a stable – can truly be a sacred space.  My supervising the design and construction of my studio four years ago marked a turning point in my evolution as a woman in charge of her own destiny.  It’s construction was distinguished by the use of both ancient and modern techniques to consecrate it as a sacred space to be used in the creation of sacred art for the good of all.

I have evolved a collage technique that allows me to create images that allow our five senses to contact the sacred, untouchable spaces beyond our senses – the unseen forces of our Higher Self and the energies that empower, nurture, and unite us with All-There-Is.  Images from the sacred spaces of the land of our dreams – the landscapes of our soul – can be found in my “materializations”.

Using the exquisite handiwork designed and executed by women for women, the laces, beading, and appliqués which are themselves timeless works of art, I use the fabrics of today’s existence as well as various other techniques to turn these secular objects and industrial processes into sacred spaces.  It is a form of alchemy that I am desirous of extending to the marketplace as well.

I have used my art to reclaim as sacred spaces both the walls of the art galleries and museums which exhibit my work, and the pages of the more than forty best-selling books and divination systems I have created with my husband, author Monte Farber. The world of business must not be neglected for it too thrives when seen as an opportunity for the creation of sacred spaces in our environment.  The threats to our survival are caused by poor decisions made in the absence of seeing daily life as a sacred space.

Every one of my artistic projects involves creations designed to put the viewer in that most sacred space of relaxed attention caused by the blending of left and right brain hemispheres.  In this state we can harmonize our intuition with our analytic power.  We gain insights that inform our appreciation for our simple existence and the decision making that can either further or impede that existence.

Though, at times, seeing every space I find myself in as sacred seems as untouchable a goal as grasping space, I am fortunate enough to snap back to my more sacred space rather quickly.  This resiliency is only one of the beneficial results of keeping such lofty goals in mind and in perspective.  By so doing, we ensure the continuation of our lives as an ever-widening definition of what constitutes a sacred space.

More About Monte Farber and Amy Zerner:

Internationally known self-help author Monte Farber’s inspiring guidance and empathic insights impact everyone he encounters. Amy Zerner’s exquisite, one-of-a-kind spiritual couture creations and collaged fabric paintings exude her profound intuition and deep connection with archetypal stories and healing energies. For more than thirty years they’ve combined their deep love for each other with the work of inner exploration and self-discovery to build The Enchanted World of Amy Zerner and Monte Farber: popular books, card decks, and oracles that have helped millions answer questions, find deeper meaning, and follow their own spiritual paths.

Together they’ve made their love for each other a work of art and their art the work of their lives, with over two million books in print in fourteen languages. Their other best-selling titles include The Chakra Meditation Kit, The Tarot Discovery Kit, Karma Cards, The Enchanted Spellboard, Secrets of the Fortune Bell, Little Reminders: Love & Relationships, Little Reminders: The Law of Attraction, Goddess, Guide Me!, The Animal Powers Meditation Kit, Astrology Gems, True Love Tarot, The Instant Tarot Reader, The Psychic Circle, Wish Upon A Star, The Pathfinder Psychic Talking Board, The Truth Fairy, Spirit of the Ancestors Altar Kit, Vibe-Away!, The Mystic Messenger, The Breathe Easy Deck, The Healing Deck, and The Ghostwriter Automatic Writing Kit.  More info at: www.TheEnchantedWorld.com

Sustaining a soul-hearted partnership with ourselves is the groundwork for the shared experience of soul-hearted partnership. This means maintaining trust in our connection with source, listening to the voice of spirit through our hearts, releasing negative patterns, and manifesting intentions for a more fulfilling personal life. It requires continually letting go of the life we have chosen until now so we can cocreate the life we want to share with a partner in the future. Using conscious awareness, we can witness how spirit guides us to opportunities and choices that result in a life based less on fear and insecurity, and more on spiritual transformation. But it is equally important to realize that sustaining soul-hearted partnership with ourselves necessitates constant personal evolution.

Often in relationships, because we so desperately want a fairy tale romance, we block our access to spiritual information and make excuses for relationship deficits. Trying to make the relationship work at all costs, we ignore the surfacing of patterns. Needy and afraid to be alone, we begin doubting our ability to generate opportunities through intention, and we ask ourselves: “What if this is the last chance for me to be in a relationship?” “If I leave the relationship, will I end up alone?” and “Can I earn a living and take care of myself on my own?” Such behavior leads to stagnation in the same kinds of situations we have experienced in the past.

For these reasons, we have to take time to be alone and discover how to sustain a soul-hearted partnership with ourselves before entering into a new relationship with another person.

Like the life cycles we move through as the years unfold, relationships also have life cycles—some lasting for only a brief period and others a season or a lifetime. To make suitable choices in relationships for particular periods in our lives, it is helpful to look at three major types of relationship that, together, can satisfy everything from need fulfillment to spiritual growth.

First, there is transitional relationship, based on momentary needs. This type of relationship includes casual encounters for the purpose of sex or friendship, healing, ego validation, overcoming loneliness, or dealing with a desire for control and security. During transitions, intense times of self-healing and personal discovery, we tend to initiate relationships with people who exhibit negative patterns to which we are attracted, or who are releasing such patterns themselves and in a position to assist us in learning to love ourselves. We are drawn by the energy of these people, in transition themselves, as a way of stabilizing the unsettling period in our own lives. The mutual exchange of energy, while temporary, can be satisfying and supportive. As long as both individuals are aware of the purpose of their relationship, their needs are being met, and they are observing healthy boundaries and treating each other with respect, they can both benefit greatly from the experience.

The second type of relationship is contractual relationship, in which individuals come together to create something for a common purpose. The most customary form of contractual relationship involves childbearing, usually in a marriage. A contractual relationship can also exist for such purposes as establishing social status or developing a business enterprise.

Finally, there is true soul-hearted partnership, in which both individuals have a fully realized relationship with themselves as well as with each other. In such a relationship, partners can develop spiritually in concert with each other, and thus the relationship can last a lifetime without becoming unhealthy or unfulfilling. And because it is a partnership between equals for the purpose of spiritual growth, soul-hearted partnership can be seen as the ultimate form of spiritual relationship.

Our longing for love often convinces us that all relationships are meant to last forever and keeps us from distinguishing between the various types. Knowing the life cycles of different types of relationships helps us adjust our expectations accordingly, ensuring that we actively maintain lifelong relationships and willingly let go of temporary ones. Many couples fall in love and marry blinded by physical attraction, which makes them feel alive. This form of transitional relationship usually originates when individuals are vulnerable and looking for an experience to either transform us or ground them.  But as the steam of lust and infatuation clears they see the relationship for what it is and become dissatisfied.

Much the same can be said of contractual relationships. Despite their shared mission and positive aspects, we must be aware that such relationships are not complete because they are usually not based on a genuine partnership in which each person is independently fulfilled. Therefore, it is essential to discern, through the use of conscious awareness, whether a relationship is based on the common core values of love, trust, integrity, intimacy, and a soul connection or is merely functioning in fulfillment of an agreement or as a temporary distraction or emotional crutch.

Contractual or transitional relationships can become soul-hearted partnerships when there is a mutual desire for spiritual growth and an adherence to its core values. But when there isn’t attempting to sustain these temporary relationships can cause suffering, especially those based on a short-term physical or emotional dependency. Unfortunately, people who automatically think a relationship should last forever may fail to assess the purpose of their relationships and thus confuse transitional or contractual ones with the lifetime soul-hearted type. Some people even marry partners they know are incompatible, making a commitment to cherish the union until death do them part—a decision likely to be disastrous to both parties, especially when the relationship’s purpose has been fulfilled early on and there is little spiritual basis to continue the union.

It is important to see transitional and contractual relationships for what they are: a means of coping with a difficult or transformative period in life with the help of another person who fulfills our needs, helps us grow, and adds joy to our circumstances. Such relationships, when entered into honestly and lovingly, can be beneficial if they propel both individuals along their chosen spiritual paths. Yet once their mission is fulfilled, it is usually time to let go and progress to another level of relationship, for which the transitional or contractual partner may not be appropriate. In such a case, we can honor the partner by expressing gratitude for their being, lovingly release the relationship, and move on. For our own well-being, it’s important that we do not make transitional or contractual relationships committed ones or stay in such relationships beyond their spiritual purpose.

In temporary relationships such as this, we often experience a struggle between our heads and our hearts that keeps us from listening to the voice of spirit. We close the eyes of the heart, succumbing to our fears of loss, rejection, and scarcity and diminishing our sense of ourselves for a momentary “fix” of physical attraction, emotional security, or personal calling, leading us to make pattern-driven, unenlightened choices.

To avoid settling for a relationship that inhibits spiritual growth, it is crucial to be aware that strong sexual attraction often characterizes the first stage of a new relationship based on infatuation. Physical attraction can, however, diminish our ability to observe the relationship from a healthy detached point of view. This is when we fall head over heels—or more often, “head over heart.” As a result, we can become attached to a relationship physically or as an emotional crutch, and lose our common sense and our trust in ourselves to make informed decisions.

As we continue the inner spiritual work necessary to sustain our full self-expression, we may declare an intention to enter into an intimate relationship with another person. In preparation for such an event, we can use the spiritual principles we have learned to assist us in interviewing potential partners so we can choose discerningly.

Many people spend more time and energy interviewing prospective plumbers, landscapers, and Internet companies than potential partners. Because of lust, neediness, or fear of being alone, we allow impulse, infatuation, and patterns to influence these choices.

Instead, we can interview potential partners by using specific spiritual principles. First, we prepare by listening to the voice of spirit through our hearts, which will assist us in maintaining a healthy detached point of view and activating conscious awareness. Next, we observe various people we are considering dating, are currently dating, or are in relationship with and ask our hearts these questions: “Does this person demonstrate a fully expressed relationship with themselves, and is this evident in daily life?” “How do I feel about myself when I am with this person?” and “Do I see myself as being happier in this relationship?” Ideally a potential partner will be trustworthy, loving, playful, and exude a sheer love of life. When we are with such a person, we will feel inspired, safe, and free to express our true being. The individual will take responsibility for their own weaknesses, show integrity in the enlightened choices they make, do the inner spiritual work for personal transformation, and increasingly develop to their fullest potential. The following qualification mantra is helpful to use when interviewing potential partners: “Who you are, I must love. How you act and treat me, I have to like. And most of all, my loving heart has to be earned.”

Excerpted from Soul-Hearted Partnership, Creating the Ultimate Experience of Love, Passion, and Intimacy by Debra L. Reble, Ph.D., 2009, www.soulheartedpartnership.com

More about Debra Reble..

Debra L. Reble, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist who conducts a private practice and facilitates workshops and seminars that focus on enhancing personal transformation and well-being. She also is the founder of HeartPaths of Cleveland, Ohio, a company dedicated to providing materials that inspire full self-expression. In addition, she is a director of Foundation in Light, an international nonprofit educational organization devoted to the integration of light through the heart into human experience. In her role as director, she assists in presenting workshops, retreats, and consultation to promote spiritual growth and self-realization.

On March 3rd, 2008 I entered a previously overlooked large tomb on the Giza plateau. I had come to this neglected area, west of the Great Pyramid, following new information that was set to challenge everything we know about the evolution of Giza’s famous monuments. In 1817 Henry Salt (1780-1827), the British Consul General in Egypt, an avid explorer and collector of Egyptian antiquities, recorded how he and Italian explorer Giovanni Caviglia (1770-1845), entered a network of Catacombs beneath the plateau, exploring them for a distance of “several hundred yards”. Even though they chanced upon three large, interconnected chambers, the two men abandoned their search and returned to the surface, having come upon no gold or treasure. What they did uncover has never been made public, and Salt’s memoirs recording their work remained unpublished until 2007, the site of the Catacombs being lost in the process.

Underworld of the Soul

What Salt and Caviglia found back in 1817 is of immense importance to the Egyptological world, for rumours concerning the existence of a lost underworld at Giza go back to the Pyramid age. Ancient Egyptian creation texts, as well as an assortment of funerary literature, i.e. books of the dead, speak of a hellish realm of darkness called the Duat, guarded by demons and snakes, which has to be navigated by the soul of the deceased to achieve rebirth and an afterlife among the stars.

In an ancient Egyptian funerary text called the Am-duat, the “Book of that which is in the Underworld”, the Duat is ruled by the falcon-headed god Sokar. He was patron of the sprawling cemeteries and pyramid fields that served the ancient city of Memphis, and in particular those at Rostau, the ancient name for Giza. Archaeologists have found textual evidence of the existence in South Giza of an important shrine to Sokar honouring something called the Shetayet, a name given to the Tomb of Osiris.

Adding to the belief that a physical representation of the pharaoh’s underworld existed at Giza is its ancient name, Rostau, which means something like the “mouth of the passages”. In the fourth-century AD Graeco-Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (fl. AD 360-390), wrote of “subterranean fissures and winding passages called syringes” beneath the Pyramids, constructed before a great deluge in order that the memory of the ceremonies of the ancients might not be destroyed.

Arab travellers recorded similar tales. These spoke of subterranean passages created beneath the Great Pyramid by a legendary king named Saurid to preserve his race’s knowledge of the arts and sciences in advance of a cataclysm involving fire from heaven and a subsequent deluge.

As far back as the ninth century the ruling caliph, al-Mamoun, spent an enormous amount of energy tunnelling a hole through into the Great Pyramid hoping to find gold and treasure. This he failed to do, but those who came after him continued the trend, forever searching for hidden entrances to subterranean tunnels and vaults that were said to connect the Great Pyramid with the nearby Sphinx monument.

Wonderful Discoveries

Having determined to locate Salt’s lost Catacombs, I sought the help of the Association for Research and Enlightenment of Virginia Beach, VA, the research wing of the Edgar Cayce Foundation. Since the mid 1970s they have sponsored research expeditions in the hope of locating the lost Hall of Records, the name given to Giza’s lost underworld by their founding mentor Edgar Cayce (1877-1945). With their support our team made preparations to fly out to Egypt.

My intention was to investigate a seemingly unrecorded tomb west of the Great Pyramid that was in the search area indicated by Salt’ newly-discovered memoirs as concealing the entrance to the lost catacombs. This same general area of the plateau conformed to a ground-sky star correlation involving the stars of the constellation of Cygnus, the celestial swan, known also as the Northern Cross. In ancient Egyptian funerary texts Cygnus would appear to have signified the womb, navel and even the site of the vulva of a sky-goddess named Nuit, who is personified in the night sky as the Milky Way. It was in the terrestrial counterpart of Nuit’s womb, the so-called Shetayet, that the god Osiris achieved transformation into an ascended being, and there seemed every good reason to conclude that Salt’s Catacombs were the entrance to this underworld realm, lost to the world for thousands of years.

Having reached the tomb on camels that eventful day in March 2008, Egyptological researcher Nigel Skinner Simpson, my wife Sue Collins and I explored its every nook and cranny without discovering the entrance to any lost Catacombs. About to move on to other nearby tombs to continue the search there, we noticed a crack in a rock face, once sealed by a mud brick wall. Peering inside, an incredible sight greeted us – a vast cave chamber filled with rock debris, and enhanced here and there to make it more rectangular in appearance.

Hesitantly, I descended into the darkness, as flocks of bats exited the entrance, disturbed by this rude intrusion into their natural habitat. After exploring the opening chamber and various side compartments, I entered a long cave tunnel that headed in the direction of Giza’s Third Pyramid. In the pitch darkness, I navigated a seemingly never ending carpet of fallen rocks and boulders. The uneven floor, thwart with dangerous cracks and hollows, was covered with animal bones, most likely those of camel carcasses dragged in by hyenas.

Dangers in the Darkness

Reaching a natural bifurcation in the cave tunnel, I felt it the right time to double back and return to the surface, having taken some 20 minutes to travel just 80-90 metres. On subsequent visits, Sue and I penetrated the darkness for a much greater distance, before we began suffering the ill effects of oxygen starvation. Adding to our problems was the constant threat of life-threatening diseases associated with bats and bat guano, as well as the shocking discovery in the caves of a species of spider that we tentatively identified as the white widow.

Clearly, we had not found Cayce’s Hall of Records, or the legendary Tomb of Osiris. Yet in the deepest cave compartment reached we found lightly incised parallel lines on the walls, as well as other evidence of untouched archaeological features, giving hope that the caves might provide firm evidence of human activity on the plateau going back before even the Pyramid age. The cave complex’s existence might even throw new light on the ancient Egyptians’ belief in a Duat underworld existing at Giza in its role as Rostau, the “mouth of the passages”.

Snake Guardian

Most extraordinary of all is the story told to us by an elderly tomb guardian, who we encountered in the vicinity of the Tomb of the Birds. He refuses point blank to enter the caves. When asked why, the man, who wore a headscarf and traditional galabeya, said that they were the abode of a giant snake called el-Hanash. Apparently, it is “nine meters (30 feet)” long, and anyone attempting to enter el-kahf (Arabic for “the cave”) will be squeezed to death in its powerful coils. It is a fable, of course, yet one that echoes the very ancient belief that snakes of great size inhabited the Duat underworld, a tradition that persisted into Roman times with the belief that beneath the Great Pyramid reposed a god in the form of a huge serpent called Agathodaimon, the “good spirit”.

I later learnt more about the mysterious el-Hanash. One story told to me by a local craftsman in Nazlet el-Samman, the village of the Pyramids, related how this underworld serpent protects the entrance to the “Hall of Records”. He will spit venom in the face and blind anyone who attempts to steal the great “diamond” it protects. Yet one day a chosen one will enter the caves and el-Hanash will blind them in just one eye. This person will go on to enter the Hall of Records and find the great jewel that has the power to bestow on them great powers.

It is a strange tale, tainted by modern new age thought, although it seems to echo the ancient Egyptian belief that the Underworld of the Soul, or Tomb of Osiris, contains a power object that radiates an unearthly light. Clearly, nothing like this was found in the caves by Salt and Caviglia. Yet they left this underground world only partially explored, as we did ourselves, offering hope that one day this mystery will finally be revealed. Until then, it remains safely under the protection of el-Hanash.

Copyright Andrew Collins, 2009 – All theories and evidence presented in this article are expounded in Beneath the Pyramids by Andrew Collins (Fourth Dimension Press, Virginia Beach, VA, 2009).

Andrew Collins will be a guest on The Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show in spring 2010 . Check back for the official show date coming soon.

More about Andrew Collins…

Andrew Collins, is a science and history writer and the author of various books that challenge the way we perceive the past. They include From the Ashes of Angels (1996), which shows that the Watchers of the book of Enoch were shamans responsible for the Neolithic revolution, and that their homeland—the biblical Eden—was southeast Turkey, where archaeologists have recently found the oldest stone temple in the world; Gods of Eden (1998), which reveals that Egyptian civilization is thousands of years older than is conventionally believed; Gateway to Atlantis (2000), which demonstrates that Plato’s Atlantis was located in Cuba and the Bahamas, and The Cygnus Mystery (2006), which argues that veneration of the Cygnus constellation was responsible for the world’s earliest sky religions. His latest book Beneath the Pyramids uncovers Egypt’s cave underworld for the first time. Andrew, born in 1957, lives with his wife Sue near Marlborough, Wiltshire. For more information on Andrew Collins and his work, go to www.andrewcollins.com

Author Dr. Wayne Dyer once said, “We must not die with our music still inside of us.”  What I believe he meant by this was that each one of us has very unique and special gifts deep inside — natural skills and talents that we were given.  We know that many talents can be acquired and developed with elaborate training, but many others already exist, just waiting to be discovered and honed.  Whether it’s a flair for the arts and creativity, personal skills such as communication and leadership, or a knack for precision and accuracy, there is something special and unique about each of us.  Have you ever noticed how some children have a natural ability to balance and dance, or others who can sing in tune?  Years ago, I watched with amazement how a friend’s 4-year-old could handle an adult-sized basketball and kick a soccer ball with precision.

To this day, many of us have not yet discovered what unique things we can accomplish just by trying.  These gifts are buried too deeply and covered over by our hectic schedules and an inability to reach inside ourselves.  I met a grown woman one day who told me about a desire she had always felt to work with or care for animals.  She put in long hours in an office and constantly day-dreamed about starting an adoption agency for small pets.  I told her that her “calling” will remain a fantasy until she responds to it, and I encouraged her to find ways of exploring possibilities.  I met a man several years ago who had a gift for teaching scripture in his church and yet he worked in sales.  He eventually answered the “calling” by quitting his job and going to school to become a pastor, something he wished he had done many years earlier.

Some of our inability to live our dream or to love what comes naturally to us stems from the discouragement we experienced as children.  Our parents meant well, but often their words and actions hurt our morale and self-image, and caused us to give up.  When I was in junior high school, I discovered a passion for reading the works of Edgar Allan Poe and emulating him in my stories and tales.  But it seemed that when I showed my work to my parents and teachers, they were quite critical and continued to point out all the things I was doing wrong in my writing.  Eventually I became so discouraged that I gave up the love of writing and felt I couldn’t live up to their expectations.  I know now they all meant well with their comments and criticism.  They wanted to help me be the best writer possible, or use a style that they felt would be most effective.  But it backfired and caused me to give up.  It wasn’t until about 10 years ago that I dusted off that internal “calling” to write and began creating work that led me to this column and other works.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”  My interpretation of this passage is that we must not train our children the way we think they should go, but instead the way the greater power that created them intended for them to go.  Be sure that you aren’t trying to live your dreams through your child.  I received the following e-mail from a parent; “I’ve seen my daughter draw beautifully but she doesn’t seem to care to do it much.  Artistic ability runs in our family.  How do I encourage our daughter to keep at it so she’ll go far?”  Perhaps the parents of this child were putting too much pressure on her to excel at art because they wanted her to be great.  The comment about the family’s artistic ability may indicate the motivation for the pressure.

I challenge you to see your child as a gift with hidden secrets and treasures within — that only she and the greater powers that created the magic of life itself know her ultimate capabilities.  You have the rewarding opportunity to help her unlock these gifts through your encouragement and coaching as a parent.

Here are three important things you can do to help her discover what she loves and what she could achieve.

Allow Your Children to Explore. Create opportunities for them in all forms of art, creativity, and play.  If you see that they have an affinity for something specific, it’s fine to encourage them but avoid pressure; otherwise, they may develop an aversion to the activity.  Always ask your children their preferences, and help them experience what is most meaningful to them.

Allow Them to Dream Boldly. Based on their dreams and desires, allow them to ask for things without criticism. It’s important to avoid squelching or discouraging your children’s requests based on their creative aspirations. Buy an empty notebook or a colorful essay book so they can log their dreams and desires. You don’t always have to fulfill their requests. Set an example by joining them and sharing some of your dreams with them.

Use More Encouragement and Less Praise. Praise is too judgmental and applies labels to a child.  Encouragement empowers youngsters to listen to their hearts and determine what they think about themselves or what they created.  Ask plenty of open-ended questions and allow them to describe to you their opinions and thoughts about something they did or created.

If you’ve noticed some wonderful artistic ability in your child, cherish it and nourish it.  It’s desirable to encourage them to excel in that area, but be ready to let go if they choose not to pursue the interest.  Don’t try to clone yourself in your child, and certainly don’t attempt to fulfill your thwarted desires through them.  Be your child’s coach and guide, and you’ll help them find their own unique place in this world.  Doing so will help them live a full and happy life, and to hear that song inside them waiting to be sung.

More about Bill Corbett…
Bill Corbett is the author of the book Love, Limits, & Lessons® and the founder and president of Cooperative Kids.  The book is designed as a quick reference guide for adults in handling challenging behavior and is now available in a Spanish translation edition.  Bill has a degree in psychology from University of Phoenix, sits on the resource advisory board of Attachment Parenting International, and is the former creator and host of the radio talk show Parent Talk in Nashville, TN.  He created the Love, Limits, & Lessons® parent education course on discipline that is taught by instructors nationwide, and writes a syndicated column offering behavior advice that can be found in many parent magazines in Tennessee, Texas, Pennsylvania, and New England.  Bill has three adult children, two grandchildren, and lives with his wife Elizabeth near Hartford, CT.  Visit his website www.CooperativeKids.com for further information and parenting advice.

Most people mistakenly believe that outside factors cause stress. For example, deadlines at work, financial challenges, family issues, health problems, or relationship tangles. But these are normal obstacles that everyone faces as adults. And guess what? They aren’t the cause of your stress. The real reason you are getting stressed out is because you’ve bought into the myth that you’re not good enough and you’re not up to meeting those challenges.

Imagine how your everyday life would change if you suddenly became unafraid to fail. Imagine how powerful and serene you would feel if you didn’t care about others’ opinions or judgments. This is the definition of a stress-free life—and you can get to this point by discarding your limiting beliefs.

When you discard limiting beliefs—e.g., I’m not thin enough, pretty enough, smart enough, rich enough, successful enough—you open yourself up to unlimited personal and professional possibilities. That’s because the mother of all fears—namely, that you’re not good enough—has been preventing you from loving yourself, being true to yourself, and doing what you really want to do in your life.

Most of all, it’s making you feel as if you don’t measure up. It’s also leading you to align your everyday behaviors and choices with what you think others want and expect from you. That’s why you’re stressed out!

Start by aligning your decisions with you, not someone else. Here are five new ways to counteract stress, regain your courage to be who you really are, and take charge of your own life and career.

Stressbuster #1: Stop using money to keep score.

We use money to impress others, to fulfill a need for self-worth, and to “buy” happiness. The next thing we know, we’re in debt, we’re unhappy with what we have, or we develop an insatiable need for more “stuff.” Start seeing money for what it is—a way to buy necessities. Stop seeing it as a way to define your success.

Stressbuster #2: Stop letting the media define your beauty.

Many of us live in a perpetual state of distress over how we look—too fat, too old, too short, too bald, unfashionable, and so on—because we believe the beauty myths perpetuated by the media. Stop worrying about what others think about you. Start caring about and exhibiting your positive traits—such as honesty, helpfulness, and intelligence.

Stressbuster #3: Stop letting religion rob your self-worth.

If you belong to an organized religion, you’ve probably gotten the message that you’re unworthy, or that if you just do A, B, and C, maybe you’ll earn redemption. Stop feeling guilty for making decisions that you know in your heart are good for you, and stop asking permission to do so. You were created good enough. Start believing you are.

Stressbuster #4: Stop seeking accomplishment in busyness.

Many people measure their self-worth by how much they get done. Then they complain, “I don’t have enough me-time.” Get rid of all the “shoulds” that are making you feel stressed out (“I should clean my closet, I should visit my folks.”) Ask yourself why you don’t, and then deal with that, rather than feeling guilty. Stop feeling bad for taking time for you—time to contemplate, time to relax. You’re worth it.

Stressbuster #5: Stop seeking rewards outside yourself.

You may be someone for whom a promotion, raise, bigger office, or nicer car are signs of success. Chances are, you’re addicted to striving, and you’ll never quite reach the place that feels good enough. Stop the cycle. Look inside to identify qualities in yourself that are good enough—right now, just the way they are. Start defining yourself in terms of your generosity, empathy, or other worthy qualities.

More about Jan Denise…

Jan Denise is a syndicated newspaper columnist, an empowerment guru, and author of the new book, Innately Good: Dispelling the Myth that You’re Not (Health Communications, 2009). You can find out more about her and her teachings at www.innatelygood.com.

For the past month or so, two major players in the astrological pantheon have been preparing to face off against each other in a challenging 90 degree formation that astrologers call a “square” aspect.  These two players are Saturn and Pluto, affectionately known as the Lord of Karma and the Lord of Death.

Saturn is the planet that defines limits and creates restrictions and boundaries; it inspires self-doubt and the knowledge that hard work is required in order to achieve our goals.  Wherever we find Saturn, there is work to be done (hence the term the Lord of Karma).  Saturn has just entered Libra, the sign of beauty, relationships, and those things upon which we place value.  Here it is challenging us to confront (Saturn) any romanticized (Libra) ideals that we hold which are not firmly grounded in reality.

Pluto (yes, Pluto is still a planet for astrologers!!) is the Lord of the Underworld of power, darkness, death and rebirth.  Pluto rules the kind of transformation that begins at the cellular level, where everything is dismantled and something completely new arises in its place.  Pluto entered the sign of Capricorn (the sign that is ruled by Saturn) in January of 2008 and proceeded to destroy the financial and governmental structures (Capricorn) that were weak and lacking a solid foundation.

Just like the four phases of the lunar cycle, in which the Sun and Moon dance from the New Moon (the conjunction) through the first quarter square, to the Full Moon (the opposition or 180 degree angle) and the closing square, planets engage in a similar dance that we call the “synodic” cycle.  The cycle of Saturn and Pluto coincides with major shifts in the global landscape as an outmoded structure is replaced with something new.  For the individual, there is often an internal shift that creates a new way of seeing the world and perhaps the necessity to let go of something so that transformation can occur.

The current cycle between Saturn and Pluto began with the conjunction back in late 1982-3 when both planets were in the late degrees of Libra.  In the United States and Britain, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher began a conservative revolution that transformed the financial systems in both countries and reverberated around the world.

The opening square (90 degrees) between Saturn and Pluto in March of 1993 coincided with the first World Trade Center bombing on February 26 which we can argue began the war of Islamist fundamentalism that continues today as we complete the current Saturn/Pluto cycle.  At this time Bill Clinton took office and reversed the conservative policies of Reagan, and the disarmament crisis in Iraq forced the UN inspectors out of that country which we can once again argue began the road to the invasion of Iraq that forever altered the political landscape around the world.

The opposition phase (180 degrees) between Saturn and Pluto began in August of 2001, the period in which heightened activity by Al Qaeda resulted in the attacks on September 11.  The opposition corresponds to the Full Moon cycle in which the unconscious elements of the planetary dynamics are brought into full view and in this case the seeds that were sown during the opening square came to fruition at the time of the opposition in the war against Islamic fundamentalism and the invasion of Iraq.

Other significant events marking a major transformation in the global landscape during this period include the entry of China into the World Trade Organization, cementing its role as a major player in the global economic system.

As we begin the final square of the current cycle in the dance between Saturn and Pluto, what can we expect?  The opening salvo in this square occurs on November 15, and Saturn and Pluto will be in a tight aspect through the second phase of the cycle in January of 2010.  The Saturn/Pluto cycle operates on a global level, but also on a personal level.  What will we need to let go of personally (Pluto) in order to achieve a firmer footing (Saturn) in our lives?  Where do we need to face the hard truth (Saturn) and break through barriers for change (Pluto)?

The fact that Pluto is traveling through Saturn’s sign of Capricorn is significant, as it provides a double emphasis on the need to build a strong foundation (Saturn/Capricorn) from which we can derive real power and transformation (Pluto).  Anywhere we have been deluded or swayed by mass hypnosis into unconsciousness, we will have an awakening that can be exhilarating or rude in accordance with our ability to understand the process.

The impact of this Saturn/Pluto square will be particularly powerful in the United States because it is affecting the Midheaven of the US chart, the point of the government and its standing in the world.  Events that were set in place during the opening square and the opposition will come to fruition now, for better or for worse.

The conflict between Saturn and Pluto often generates a great deal of fear, particularly in the face of intense events that occur around us.  Any time we encounter Pluto in its guise as the Lord of Death we can become fearful in the face of the certainty of endings and change.  But Saturn requires that we face our obligations and work diligently to overcome them, regardless of the obstacles that are placed in our path.  In doing so we become stronger and more powerful; better able to navigate any rough waters that we encounter.

If this planetary combination affects your own chart, you are being called to find the delicate edge between control (Saturn) and surrender (Pluto).  This is a creative balancing act that is taught in many yoga classes, where we become aware of the edge of our ability to control our lives and our experience, and then we surrender as we release that control to go beyond those limits.

In the square aspect, such as we see here with Saturn and Pluto, there is the potential to integrate the power of the two planets in an experience of powerful transformation.  But first we must embrace the darkness and dive into the unknown with perfect love and trust.

Lynn Hayes will be a guest on The Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show in early 2010 . Check back for the official show date coming soon.

Lynn Hayes has been an internationally renowned astrologer and transformational life consultant for over 25 years, helping thousands of people break through the barriers that have kept them from achieving their dreams. She currently writes an astrology blog for BeliefNet and her writings on astrology and personal transformation have been published all over the world and the entire collection can be found on her website: www.astrodynamics.net

Following Sound into Silence:  Chanting Your Way Beyond Ego into Bliss – Illustrated book with mantra-music CD (2008, Hay House)
.. excerpt from the book by Dr. Kurt “Kailash” Bruder

Invitation to Chanting
Are you hoping to find a simple, straight-forward spiritual practice that reliably calms and concentrates your mind, elevates and stabilizes your feelings, and inspires and energizes your will? The fact that you’re reading this suggests that you’re already a spiritual seeker—someone wanting to experience the Great Mystery directly and hoping that this experience will translate into concrete improvements in your day-to- day life.

Devotional chanting is the very spiritual practice you need, allowing you to take full advantage of a resource that’s already available to you for your own evolution: your voice. If you’re like me, at some time or another you’ve been inspired by stories of saints and sages. You’ve probably imagined yourself becoming like them—holy, compassionate, wise, and carefree—only to discover that wishing didn’t take you there. Learning about how great someone else’s spiritual life was doesn’t do much by itself to improve your own. True enough, reading about their heroic efforts with respect to self-discipline and their amazing insights can be inspiring. However, it can also be discouraging in the long run, especially when you discover that the particulars of their path are simply too ambitious for you to imitate.

Yet, there’s this nagging sense that you can be more than you’ve been thus far and that a way of life that transcends your current limitations exists, if only you knew how to access it. But where do you begin? What you need is a system for spiritual development that works with your life as it is, yet challenges you enough to result in definite growth. It should stretch you where you need to expand and provide incentive to strive where you’ve been lax, while not overwhelming you with its complexity or difficulty. The practical spiritual exercise of devotional chanting has filled these needs for me, and I know it can do the same for you.

My own entry into chanting was from two different “angles.” One was my search for an approach to spiritual growth that would engage every dimension of my being, especially my feelings. For many years, my emphasis was on cultivating the clearest and most accurate understanding of ultimate reality that I could. This process led me to consider a wide variety of perspectives, first exclusively within Christianity, and then within other wisdom traditions as well. While I learned many things that I still regard as valuable, this philosophical approach was sometimes rather “dry” and detached. I wanted a practice that involved all of me—my body and heart, as well as my mind—which would lead me to a direct experience of the ideals I was pursuing. Devotional chanting delivers.

The other point of entry for me was my work as a scholar-teacher of communication. For the bulk of my professional life, I’ve been investigating the relationship between people’s specific communication behaviors and their interior lives, especially their sense of self. I came to realize that everything we say (or sing) to ourselves and others shapes us and contributes to the quality of our lives. My studies of interactive methods for spiritual development that have been used by people throughout history and around the world inevitably led me to devotional chanting…

Why Chant?
The advantages of this ancient form of worshipping the Divine are many and varied. Not only does chanting quiet our minds, it also helps us forget our troubles; produces a sense of connection with others; and fosters a wealth of positive feelings such as serenity, lightness, and joy. Many chanters—novices and veterans alike—even report the sensation of having transcended their bodies during this practice. Chanting is a technique that makes the best use of our love of pleasure, redirecting our desires toward the Supreme. In this way, chanting is a shortcut to ecstasy. Mantra repetition is a simple, enjoyable, and powerful procedure for purposefully reorganizing your consciousness. The uncomplicated nature of chanting may seem at odds with some of the extravagant claims made for its power as a form of spiritual technology.

After all, how could speaking or singing syllables from an ancient foreign language possibly generate such an amazing range of benefits? The very act of repeating a mantra induces relaxation, allowing you access to the sublime silence always abiding at the core of your being. Simplifying your mental processes by working with mantras will support you in increased concentration and emotional command. Additional benefits may be realized when you chant in coordination with other types of sadhana (spiritual practice). For example, the rewards of chanting are exponentially increased when also harnessing the force of imagination—such as repeating mantras while visualizing the Perfections that are being invoked…As you move through these pages, you’ll learn about other benefits common to all mantras, as well as many that are linked to the repetition of specific mantras…

Visit Kailash’s website, http://OmKailash.com, for chant-relevant information, events schedule, audio and video clips of Kailash chanting and teaching, and much more.

I made both a Chinese astrological chart and a western astrological chart of the Presidential inauguration on January 20th. The Chinese chart report is first. As the events these past several months are reflected in what the charts say, we can reasonably say, therefore, that what was predicted in the charts, will indeed happen.

President Obama was sworn in on January 20th, at 12:06 PM in Washington DC. Chinese astrological calculations show a picture of a long period of reform coming, and in spite of the challenges and oppositions that are bound to come up the new Administration will succeed in large measure. The energy at the time in which the new Administration began was contracting, not expanding. This means that the situation of the Nation, as seen in January, 2009, in general gets worse before it gets better; it takes time to turn around. (It is now August, 21st. The recession is just beginning slowly to turn around. It is most probable that the economy will pick up little by little through the later part of this year and through 2010.) Creative planning is being called for in the current Administration. Creative planning is the vital element for the success of the Administration. The time, as shown in the Chinese chart, calls for an independent leader, one who carefully weighs all sides and who acts forcefully in face of serious opposition.

Overall, the dynamics of the Chinese chart show a trend toward repolarization of wealth. This means the poor will ultimately benefit even though the getting there will be fraught with difficulties. The Government will be seeking out new and alternative solutions, but their efforts will exceed expected returns; they won’t be able to come through with all they promise because the opposition is growing in intensity throughout the term of the Administration. Financial resources being unstable, it will take considerable time to turn the situation around. The Chinese chart does show, however, increasing resourcefulness and storing up of money after the first year. The picture is complicated and difficult. The country is being divided by opposing forces. The opposition to the President doesn’t care that the President is popular and is doing all it can to undermine the President. It will continue this way and grow in virulence.

The second and third years of the Obama Administration promise to be very dynamic. Opposition to the President will become loud through the second year. And the fourth year shows a hidden danger coming up. The Chinese chart does not say from whom or to whom, but it does say that opposition will come up very strongly toward the end of the Presidential term. All through his Presidency, Obama will have challenges. It is an exciting time. And while the President does have enemies he appears to have protection as well.

President Obama’s hopes of unifying everyone, reaching across the aisle, will not work. Divisive factions are growing and will come to challenge him loudly especially toward mid-term. And while mid-term may bring up some radical choices, the President will receive assistance from key people right from the start and throughout the four years of his first term. It is probable that he will be reelected. He has the genius, or luck of turning adverse conditions to his advantage. President Obama glows with vitality and vigorously carries things through. His gift of attracting others, however, is double edged; it works both for and against him. He has a danger of becoming entangled in the snares of his political enemies. President Obama’s alliances will therefore not always be trustworthy. Notwithstanding, he is a clever politician.

The Western astrological chart for the inauguration had Mercury retrograde and combust showing Justice Roberts having a senior moment flubbing his administering of the Oath of Office. Some people had the opinion that the inauguration was made invalid because of this flub, however, according to the 22nd amendment of the Consititution, the inauguration was, indeed, valid. Notwithstanding, there was a second oath of office given to President Obama on January 21st at 7:35 PM at the White House. A brief analysis of it follows this report, but it doesn’t hold water beyond warning the President of the serious intentions of his opposition; there are no accidents; that chart does say something. The country is deeply divided and there are a lot of fearful, angry people that can stir up a lot of trouble.

At the time of the Presidential Inauguration the Moon was at 29 degrees Scorpio in the 7th house. This means the Nation will have something to weep about during the the current Administration. This position of the Moon tells of an ominous turning point in the affairs of the Government tied to trouble in foreign relations and turmoil at home. We need to be on the lookout for violent characters.

To allay the fears of some people: while the chart does point to notable deaths of Senators and other outstanding figures, it does not point to the death of the President; the President is protected and has great popularity. The highest branches of the Government will be able to flourish and exercise power under him. But while the President has the ability to build up something of lasting value he will be vexed; he won’t find himself in the best of circumstances all the time and he has enormous problems to deal with.

The Inauguration chart showed the President turning his attention to the real estate crisis, something he already has done. The chart also showed the following concerns of concern: trouble to children involving poverty and crime, illness coming from afar (swine flu), rising mortality rate, increase in crimes against women, crooks in the financial markets, international criminals, in other words, vice and immorality rooted in the past.

The Inauguration chart also showed that there would be much activity in Government circles involving banking and labor, also disgrace to public officials and people in high places of business; in other words, we will see plenty of scandals involving finances, banking and labor. We’ve already seen some.  The Administration’s aims will likely be vexed by shifting circumstances and factional struggling, causing changes of mind related to complex financial issues. The Administration’s financial and social plans will therefore be thwarted, compromised, or delayed to the discomfort of the public while the public is being intimidated by nefarious media characters. Some hoped for, and important social and economic reforms will get bogged down and delayed, in other words. The people started out with high hopes and need to be more realistic lest they be disappointed.

In two years from the time of the Inauguration radical developments will likely come up in the Congress. There will be dramatic developments and a likely upset in the country at that time. The opposition will get very loud. And in four years there will be a noteworthy loss that will bring weeping to the Nation. There is something tragic shown in this chart that will affect the Nation. Other charts over the years will reveal what this means. No matter, the President is protected, and will likely be reelected for a second term.  We can expect religious disputes to come up. The Administration favors taking bold new scientific, technological and medical directions that will attract dissention from religious fundamentalists. The new Administration will encourage innovation and invention, nonetheless. Technology is highly favored and will the an area for positive international cooperation.

The chart also shows that projects that were put aside or underfunded in the past Administration will come up in the future to engage the new Administration in working to build hospitals, schools, and such public works as roads, bridges and levies. There is also a call to improve interstate and international commerce and shipping. There are plans on the table for a new trans-continental rail system.  This year, when Saturn enters Libra after the end of October, the power of the President will be considerably strengthened and the economy should show some encouraging signs of improvement.

The chart also shows elements in the media grasping for power and stirring up a hornet’s nest that contribute to conditions of danger that must be watched; there is danger of terrorism. Again, the Inauguration chart says that it is most unlikely the President will be harmed in spite of the dangers, but it is possible that someone close to the President will be in danger. It is also very possible that in four years an act of violence will come to affect the Nation. But that has to be confirmed by other charts along the course of time to be predicted with any certainty. The Inauguration chart, however, does point to turbulence and danger of violence developing through the four years of the Administration. Wisdom tells us to be watchful. The violent talk on the media is something to be watched. Dissention and turmoil will develope over the Administration’s economic and social policies. Rebels and rabble-rousers will rise up to stir up riots, strikes, and destruction of property. These violent forces must be taken very seriously. As of this date, August 21st, you can see it already happening. It will not stop so easily. It is very serious.

The chart of the second oath of office, given on January 21st at 7:35 PM at the White House casts a shadow over the Presidency altogether. The second chart is extremely negative and shows that there are dark forces militating against the Government, and the Presidency itself; these forces must not be ignored. This chart lends serious weight to the negative indications of the first Inauguration chart, and shows the enormity of the problems that confront the Obama Administration.

Listen to T. Raphael Simons interview on The Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show

More about T. Raphael Simons…

T. Raphael Simons is a psychic reader, astrologer (Western and Chinese forms), feng shui expert, hypnotherapist and life coach and is  available for consultations and counseling in person and by telephone. Author of Feng Shui, Step by Step, Feng Shui Strategies for Business Success: Arranging Your Office for Success and Prosperity, and The Feng Shui of Love, his interest in the metaphysical sciences and arts began in 1970, he first learned to read Tarot cards in 1971 and took up reading them professionally in 1977. From there he studied astrology for seven years with Ivy Jacobson beginning in 1980. In 1988 he took up the study of Chinese astrology and fengshui with Terry Lee in New York and has been practicing and teaching Chinese astrology and fengshui ever since. He also trained in channeling in New York with the medium Alex Murray. Since 1999 Raphael has been a member of OBOD (the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids), the most ancient bardic and druid order in the UK in which he was elected a full member in the Druid grade. Raphael has been living in Durham, North Carolina since 2003, moving to NC from New York City. Originally trained as a musician, he taught music at Princeton University and Oberlin College. More info at: www.psychicarts.net