A Tale of Two Cities

“1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children built. 6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do; and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”

This is a story about St Marys.
This is a story about the Roman Catholic Church.

I was baptized Catholic and did the whole communion, confession, confirmation thing – even played the organ on Sundays and sang in the choir. From a young age I asked questions, was always in trouble with the nuns, invariably kicked out of religion class and could never join the dots between history and the church mythology. Consequently I rejected the whole thing like millions of others like me. I attended my goddaughter’s baptism at St Marys in 2007 and have returned sporadically ever since as I have appreciated the language, value and expression of this community. My questions and beliefs have developed and expanded but fundamentally still disagree with the traditional “marketed” dogma however for me St Marys is a reflection of the world as I see it – and I “get” something every time I visit. I am free to “be” without question.

In observing the battle between RCC and St Marys, it seems to me that it all boils down to a battle about language. What is language after all? Every species has the ability to communicate – animals, plants and humans. We are unique in that we have created variants of a symbolic communication system that is learned instead of being biologically inherited. As we know, Language evolves in response to changing historical and social conditions. This can happen over a hundred years or in one generation. Think about it – 10 years ago, Googling and Texting was not part of our everyday expression was it?

Is the foundation issue between the RCC and St Marys about a difference in values and language and expression?
From the research, it would appear that the key issues are:
• Church Artwork including indigenous art and a perceived Buddha type image (monk praying)
• Incorrect language used during baptism
• Women preaching
• Homosexual couples blessings

Ok – so let me get this straight. The Catholic Church is experiencing dwindling attendance figures all over the world and is struggling to retain value within the global community in the 21st century. One tiny little community in South Brisbane manages to attract record crowds, bring people BACK to the “church”, updates its language and expressions of art to relate to its people and is now faced with excommunication. Mmm…….

In business, this very organic evolutionary practice is what keeps business moving and alive – current and able to compete – this is one of the steps in the constant cycle of service.

However the RCC is not a business is it? Is it a brand? How about St Marys – is it a business or a brand? Mmm……

The first place to begin is to ask questions. The hierarchy of these values – (Spiritual, Business, Relationship, Mental, Social, Physical and Financial) whether we value our family higher than we value our social standing – this hierarchy dictates what drives the decisions that we make – how we live day to day. Asking questions - Language is how we express our value systems. Someone focused on business will more than likely throw a few “benchmarks, markets and brands” into their word inventory while another focused on fashion and physical aesthetics will express themselves in those terms.

St Marys holds a high value on Social Justice. The RCC holds a high value on Branding – i.e. –a specific theology, belief, structure and language. St Marys are all about the people. The RCC is all about the brand.

Ooh that’s quite a statement to make isn’t it? So let’s ask the questions, where is St Marys all about their branding – theology, belief, structure and language? Where is the RCC all about Social Justice and the people? What does Justice mean to each party? What does community mean to each party? What does this current issue mean to each party?

What is the St Marys branding? How does the indigenous claim of attachment to the land connect to this branding? What is the RCC branding? Where is another indigenous claim of attachment to the land connect to their branding? Where is Social Justice not spiritual? Where is theology not Social Justice? How do each of these entities hold the ground of their deepest values?

Whatever happens this coming weekend, we are witnessing history in the making. This St Marys issue is not about the Catholic Church or Peter Kennedy – it is a reflection of humanity – this is about each of us. Look at the times in which we live. Barack Obama recently elected president of the US delivered speeches that inspired millions of people. How much did he sound like a preacher or one of those Personal Development gurus that are currently working in one of the fastest growing global industries this decade? Many people that previously went to church are now attending seminars with gurus like Anthony Robbins, Dr John F Demartini and Magicians Way. The church numbers may be dwindling but the self mastery personal development numbers are swelling. Nothing has changed – people are doing the same thing that they always did – now it’s in a seminar room instead of a church.

People all over the world are asking questions. St Marys is giving the people what they crave – a voice, currency and a place to discover answers. Where is the RCC also doing that?

Humanity develops and expands by asking questions. Look at your everyday life. Using a computer, you ask questions in all of the software programs via a series of filters, drop down lists and formulas. Google, Wikipedia – setting up My SPACE or FACEBOOK – all are a succession of questions. In your business or job, you ask your customers about their needs so you can serve them. Our lives, earth and bodies are driven by questions. The stomach asks the pancreas “Can you take over digestion for me today – I’m a little tired?” The bee asks its mate “Will I fertilise the Rose or the Dandelion today?” The earth asks the ocean “Do you need a little extra salt this month”.

St Marys has been asking questions and making changes accordingly. Where has the RCC been asking questions and making changes accordingly? Well, the letter from the Archbishop is your first clue. In the threat of resignation or retirement, where does St Marys make similar threats? Where does St Marys throw 30 pieces of silver?

If a community grows organically, should it be limited to the confines of a structure or can it be allowed to flow and grow naturally? Where does a hierarchical structure support natural flow and growth? Well just look at nature and your physical body for this answer. Where does St Marys employ a structure? Where does the RCC grow organically?

What valuable feedback do the language, values and expression differences that St Marys has adopted provide to the RCC? In business, this situation would be regarded as incredibly fruitful feedback and in every intelligent HR system, allowances are made to manage, refine and redefine in accordance with this feedback accordingly. For the best example, look at the human body and where it uses symptoms of disease as feedback for a transformation opportunity.

We all have a story. What is St Mary’s story? What is the RCC story? We all have a mythology about who we think we are. This is reflected in our values, patterns and how we ask questions and live our lives. We are all on our own Heroes’ Journey (see Joseph Campbell). There are times to be a victim, times to be a hero and times to be a perpetrator. To appreciate each character in a story is to see that each have a role to play – this role is a critical step to take in this particular journey. There is a time for peace and a time for war. There is never a time when we have only one or the other. Like the Yin and Yang that pulse through our bodies, the electric and the magnetic fields in our natural world, there will never be a time when we will not have peace and war simultaneously. This is human nature.

St Marys and the RCC each have their own story and each is writing another chapter expressing language in their own value systems. Seeking a world of absolutes is human. However our physical bodies and surrounding nature are certainly NOT absolute. We ebb and flow, produce positive and negative charge and experience night and day – in a never ending natural cycle. Imagine if we could all see that the opposite of our story was also true? Imagine if the St Marys and the RCC’s in our lives saw that they were the same as the other?

When both parties see that they are beautiful mirrors of each other, love and appreciate themselves and each other as they are without changes, then this challenge will shift.

Playing the Choices Game

I think I make choices and that I have control over how I live my life!

Really? Is this true or an assumption?

Examine my daily actions. Every decision I make in every day is based on a lie that I tell myself.

I buy a $1000 Louis Vuitton bag because I “feel” better when I carry it. I believe it gives me power of a kind and upgrades my presentation making me look more professional. It also makes me feel successful and wealth.

Really? Is this true or are these assumptions based on responses to various beliefs and stories based on someone ELSE's value system who I perceive as having more power than me?

I can eat at a certain restaurant because I “feel” like I am eating good healthy food and this makes me a more responsible and healthier person.

Really? Is this true or are these assumptions based on responses to various beliefs and stories based on someone ELSE's value system who I perceive as having more power than me?

I buy groceries at the Woolworths at closer smaller older suburb up the road as there is easy parking and I can just walk in without queuing – and this buys me more time and makes my life easier.

Really? Is this true or are these assumptions based on responses to various beliefs and stories based on someone ELSE's value system who I perceive as having more power than me?

I bank with Westpac because they have looked after us for 20 years, both our families banked with them and they give us what we want. We feel safe and valued and know that our business is valued and our savings and investments are sound and guaranteed.

Really? Is this true or are these assumptions based on responses to various beliefs and stories based on someone ELSE's value system who I perceive as having more power than me?

I buy meat from an organic butcher to ensure my family eat meat that isn’t filled with hormones so I feel like a responsible caring parent and a socially just member of society who will not tolerate the cruel conditions that animals are kept in.

Really? Is this true or are these assumptions based on responses to various beliefs and stories based on someone ELSE's value system who I perceive as having more power than me?

Every decision I make in every day is based on a lie that I tell myself.

Where did these assumptions originate? Whose value system am I deferring to? Why do I consider this external source of power to be greater than my own?

Look at what you do in a 24 hour period and review the game you play while making daily choices and answer these questions for yourself.

My Irish Tree

For years I had a dream where there was a magical tree in the South of Ireland where I could find and sit in and all my ancestors would come to life and flow through my blood – it would re awaken my Celtic blood. I would see all generations behind and in front of me. Answers for my questions would float above me and I could easily slip into the otherworld if I so chose.

Arriving in Dublin, my first priority was to book a day tour in the Ring of Kerry. My bloodline can be traced back to 1192 in that area and I felt that I may find my tree in the majesty of the Ring. There was one tour available – 17th – I was in! Awaking 6am, I made the Heuston train station by 7am and caught the train to Mallow. A storm the night before had disabled a signal and we sat on the tracks for an hour midway between Dublin and Mallow. Finally, my tour guide disembarked me at Mallow with strict instructions for the next train to Killarney where I would meet my tour group taking me to the Ring of Kerry.

In true Irish fashion, we missed the train, they sent a bus and it broke down, the next one didn’t come and the next train was delayed. I was told to return to Dublin. No way. Bugger Off!

I simply HAD to find that tree so I waited. In a state of no idea where or how – I got on the next train eyes closed fingers crossed – arrived in Killarney – no map – no clue – arrived and walked around the town. It was misty and raining and I discovered a walled garden and decided to look inside. It was the National Park and it ran for hundreds of miles – framed by mountains running rocky down onto fingers of lakes streaming out into the Irish Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. Wildlife – deer, birds – fauna and flora – tiny cottages dotting the landscape – raindrops dripping from every tree – as I walked alone through this forest and out into the wide expanse where nature had created a theme park just for me.

I found my tree – freshly budding – even in the Irish winter – painted with lime green moss, roots reaching up through the ground and settling at the base of the trunk. Leaves rustling, bark peeling – I could have climbed it and never reached the top where a canopy of the forest trees met to chat about the strange Australian tourist carrying a Union jack umbrella oohing and ahhing as she slipped in the mud along the tracks of this National Park.

I stood firm against the trunk and heard a beating heart. It wasn’t mine. The branches almost wrapped themselves around me as it spoke.

“Get to the Other Side” – the first words – now my mantra.

“Just get to the other side.”

“The other side of what?” I asked incredulously.

“Everything. Every challenge. Every action. Every person. Every situation. Every plan. Start it, get to the middle, look back, look forward and get to the other side. Only then will you see both sides and by the time you get there, it will be what you want.”

Then the tears came.

Oh how I cried!

I cried as this tree took me through every moment in my life and showed me where I actually HAD gotten to the other side and helped me to look back and review the experience.

It showed me my history and the bloodline history flowing through my veins. I saw myself in other lives and saw the same faces always surrounding me.

I crept inside an opening in the trunk and saw pathways and tunnels and doorways to any other world that I chose to create. However the tree reminded me that every opening held the same challenges that I was experiencing now. And I was half way through these challenges.

All I had to do was get to the other side. Every challenge and every life is the same.

There is no more greatness in another body or another time or another country or another life than in mine right now. There was nothing to change - absolutely nothing.

The tree repeated itself over and over.

“There is nothing to change. Everything in your life is perfect right now.”

It said that I was the true master of my life – not any teacher, books, programs, business, individuals, groups, governments or external authorities – but ME. And if I had or did or experienced or found or saw or realised or decided – than it was the right thing because it was me – and I was the true master for me.

In all my challenges - business, family, relationship, health - as with every other soul, the experience was created by me - and as the master, there was a greater purpose for the experience. There would be as many benefits as drawbacks no matter what I did. Trust myself and appreciate the experience. Get to the Other Side by putting one foot in front of the other and not explaining or planning or trying to change. Just be there, do it and love it!

Now that I am home in Australia, everywhere I look, theIrish tree is with me every second. It has taught me more than any book, teacher, school, university or person ever has. And it is ALWAYS following me.
I look at my backyard with new eyes. It looks similiar to the Irish Forest. I drive past the Toowong cemetary every day on my way home from the office. It looks similiar to the Irish Forest. I walk along the Brisbane River each week. It reminds me of the lakes near the Irish Tree. Everything looks different - better. The mundane looks extraordinarily beautiful!

So whenever I feel - ugh - or ggeeeezzzzz - or ggggrrrrrrr - I hear those same words "Get to the Other Side" and somehow the world looks greener and prettier and my heart feels lighter.

Be It Ever So Humble

Tuesday 22 January – today is my final day here in Ireland and I intend to make the most of it. Naturally it was raining and colder than any day I had experienced so far in the UK. I dodged the raindrops while the now familiar sound of seagulls sounded above my head and shunted up to Suffolk Street and purchase my Hop off Hop on bus tour. This is always the best place to start. We struggled through the traffic on past O Connell Street, down beside the River Liffey across the bridge and past the Dublin Castle, Christ Church, St Patrick’s Cathedral, several ancient churches in ruins, Dublinia, the Old Jameson and the Guinness Storehouse. There is astronomical amounts of reconstruction happening in Dublin at the moment.

Several times we became stuck behind a truck as it unloaded building materials at a site. Not only is there a beat here, but a large Euro sign hangs above the city showering it with opportunities and resources. It feels rather exciting watching this city reinventing itself in this way. We took a small side street on the way up to one of the city museums and took beside a backhoe and a truck. We stopped. The bus was wedged between a bus stop sign and a monster pothole. It took 2 hours and 20 men in fluorescent shirts to move the bus and the passengers sitting on board. Not one person was bothered, as this is becoming a daily experience. You know in retrospect I should’ve taken this for a sign of things to come.

Freedom came at a price and time was running out so at St. Stephen's Green I disembarked checking out Merrion Square, the Writers Museum going into the Green itself and hanging in front of the Oscar Wilde statue, walking through the groves of Oaks and watching as the rain dripped its final farewells to me on the greenest of lawns and sweetest of tiny buds slowly but surely emerging from their winters sleep in hope for a looming spring. Outside the park, I ambled along the Georgian Square amid the oddly colourful doors in Merrion and past the National Gallery.

Then up to Trinity College for one last time, crossing the road in front of poor Molly Malone’s statue still trying to offload those old smelly cockles and muscles. One last time I walked over the bridge into O’Connell Street where THE shopping for Dublin is done and checked out a few shops buying too much stuff – imagining how I could squeeze more space out of my already heaving long suffering suitcase. O'Connell Street is the main thoroughfare in Dublin City and one of the widest streets in Europe – and it has certainly seen its share of action throughout history. The warring Irish had a rebellion here a century ago and some monument was destroyed in the process. Replacing it now is the very impressive 120m Spire of Dublin, a needle-like self supporting sculpture of rolled stainless standing directly behind the Daniel O Connell monument – a nice haven in the furious rain. My very british umbrella was suitably noticeable and I hid my face as I sheltered under it in the teaming rain. How silly am I?

Walking down beside the Liffey river, those seagulls that I have been hearing each night are congregrating on the boardwalk. How close are we to the sea here? Very unusual sight. Ambling across the bridge and up towards Christchurch, I checked out the Viking displays in Dublina and found myself sitting inside St Patrick's Cathedral to take a moment and dry off. A large parish priest wearing a purple dress sold entry tickets for 6 euros at the entrance in front of a large souvenir stand at the rear of the church. Bath Abbey was the same however St Patrick’s did challenge my childhood catholic roots. I was surprised at many plaques for Freemasons who were also parishioners. I realised that the churches with their plaques were effective marketing machines.

My hotel was directly around the corner so through the rain across the park at the rear of the Cathedral I tramped knowing my time here was almost over. A lovely final Dublin lunch at 2.30pm and my loyal taxi driver took me to the airport chatting to me about the joy of parenting a sixteen-year-old boy with a taste of independence and centre of self-focus. I got this same guy each time I caught a cab – and he was a fabulous Dublin guide – from him I learned much.

We got to the airport in good time for my 5.40pm flight – I checked in and waited patiently to board. At 5pm a delayed sign began to flash across the screen and I asked the customer service desk the obvious question. Apparently there was an air traffic controller’s strike and our allocated slot to land at Heathrow had been compromised however not too worry – we’ll open soon. 5.30pm arrived and I began to feel concerned. I called the Australian number on my Flight Centre itinerary and was put on hold for 30 minutes until I reluctantly realised they wouldn’t answer and hung up. After much questioning and researching I discovered the Malaysian Airlines desk number and advised the lady of my dilemma. She wasn’t too concerned and gave me until 9.30pm to get there. At that stage I was feeling optimistic so decided to let it go.

By 7pm however, more customers were freaking out and bombarding the airline staff who were suitably stressed and frustrated that they could not make a solid announcement. I tried calling Flight Centre again and after holding for another 30 minutes simply gave in. Poor Manny – I woke him up at 5am and begged him to call the Australian number for me and thankfully he got through after only 20 minutes and re booked my flight for the next day.

By 8pm, the airport was a scene from a horror movie with some passengers screaming abuse at the airline staff, others silently panicking and others simply sitting back in grim assignation of what seems now to be a standard occurrence in Dublin public transport interruptions.

By 8.30pm we boarded the plane by 9.30pm we landed in London yet my nightmare was not over. Everything in Heathrow closes around 10pm. The BMI desk steadfastly advised that my missed flight was not their concern and it was my responsibility to find a hotel at my own cost. So I looked for the hotel reservation desk and it was closed. I called a few hotels and was advised that there were no available rooms within a 20-kilometre radius of the airport due to fashion week and a large number of conventions. Then my mobile phone battery died.

There were no staff around to assist, I had no clue of where to look or who to call, and got myself lost in the maze of renovations and levels in Heathrow itself. For a moment it looked as if I was spending the night on the streets with my luggage.

FREAK OUT!!!!!

I no longer looked positive or strong and began to cry quietly to myself when an American guy walked past me and asked if he could assist in some way. At the moment of weakness and ultimate honesty, help arrived. So after blubbering my silly story, he advised that his friend had similarly missed his flight from New York for their conference and his room was still available at the Crown Plaza, which was ten minutes from the airport. He called a taxi shared it with me and organised the room with the hotel himself. It cost 250 pounds sterling for what amounted to a six-hour sleep BUT IT WAS WORTH IT.

I’ve not encountered many challenges in this trip – none when the boys were with me – and to miss my international flight home due to no fault of my own was inconceivable. To not be given any offer of assistance by the airline or airport staff was unexpected and I was suitably freaked out in a way that I hadn’t been once during my trip. So I guess on my final day, losing it under these circumstances was quite an achievement.

The little things truly are significant. The mundane of showering, charging the mobile phone battery, sleeping in a horizontal bed, changing out of skanky clothes and breathing in your own private space for a few hours – for me, at midnight I was in heaven.

At 3am, my phone rang and I woke up with a start. One of my sons called me from Australia for no apparent reason – just to say hi. I sensed that something was wrong however he wouldn’t expand and so I drifted off back to sleep a little longer.

Back at Heathrow at 8am, it took an hour to line up to check in. Then my new ticket had not been updated correctly in Australia so the Heathrow staff could not check me in. After an hour of haggling with them I called my partner to see if he could phone Australia. That’s when my nightmare REALLY began. He was at the Wesley hospital with the son who called earlier who was very ill, high temperature and connected to a drip and was being tested and closely monitored. It sounded serious. His violent bashing by the neighbour had caused a devastating affect on his health and thousands of miles away, I feared the worst.

Eventually after looking at their training sheet, together the staff and I re entered and administered my new ticket, I checked in and awaiting my boarding. The 12-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur was agony as I collapsed all the possibilities for my son and faced an unthinkable scenario 100% out of my control. My entire body changed form in those 12 hours and every molecule charged on another frequency from that point.

Arriving in Malaysia, there was a part of me that didn’t want to call Australia, as I couldn’t face receiving bad news with another long flight ahead of me. But call I did and it was such a relief to hear that my son was out of danger and released from hospital, still ill but at home and improving. That was a moment to remember forever.

Nothing else mattered after that.

Life is melted down to its very foundation – the love for your child will always take precedence over anything else.

My remaining flight to Sydney and finally Brisbane drifted by me and before I knew it, my youngest son was greeting me in the lobby pf the International Airport.

I loved my adventure in UK and Europe for Xmas, New Year, my Birthday and my work – it was a true success. However I have to admit that for the very first time, I am so happy to be home. Just to be here, at home, with my family, doing nothing of significance other than mundane basic human activities. The magic of my experience is here in Brisbane with me now while I tend to a sick child, prepare for the new school year, clean up my very messy and neglected house, catch up on business work, marvel at how I wore the same clothes SO many times as I attend my laundry and just BE in my home with all my stuff around me.

There truly is no place like home.

Irish Lessons

I was booked to take a tour of the Ring of Kerry. This was my piece de resistence - the ONE thing I was looking forward to. So it was with great excitement that I took a 6.30am taxi to Heuston Station. In Dublin, it is extremely expensive and I was almost used to spending over fifty dollars on a 15 minute taxi ride.

I arrived and caught my train at 7am. By 8am we were delayed and sitting motionless somewhere in the south west of Ireland. The rains had caused great flooding and transport in the UK had been hit everywhere. One hour late we arrived in Mallow and I as toold that my connecting train to Killarney had been cancelled. No problems however - I was told in a liltling musical Irish accent - we have arranged for a replacement bus to drive you there instead.

30 minutes later we were told that the bus had indeed broken down but no panic, a second bus had been dispatched and would arrive in minutes.Thurty minutes later, we were advised that tea and coffee were available for free - somehow to cushion the blow - because the replacement bus was stuck in floodwater. By this time my tour bus in Killarney had left without me and I was told to return to Dublin for my refund.

Not bloody likely - I HAD to keep going - I was in Cork - not far from Killareny and so patiently waited for another train and continued my journey with no plan, no map, no tour, no booking and no clue as to what I would do. The green hills rolled by my train window and the magic of Ireland wove itself into my heart and I was infatuated with this place so really didnt care WhAT I did as long as I was here.

So after an unexpected start to my day, I arrive in Killarney – Cill Airne meaning the Church of the Sloes. Yup it’s all pretty much about the churches here - shock horror the Catholicism of my ancestry hits me in the face here - all I can see is my patrenal grandmother everywhere I look.

I found a local pub and had a brunch to warm me up as it was raining windy and freezing – all my Irish favourites. I walked around the town to find colourful laneways and doorways, an old interesting cathedral that reminded me of St Patrick’s in Gympie and many historic buildings. The town was cute, however as I missed going to the Ring of Kerry I really wanted to explore the National Park and get as close as I could to the mountains, lakes and forest – in a tiny attempt to still experience a little of this heavenly Kingdom of Kerry.

For centuries the Killarney Valley has been recognised far and wide as Ireland's most beautiful destination - being aptly titled as "Heaven's Reflex". It inspired Poet Laureate Alfred Austin to write - "If mountain, wood and water harmoniously blent, constitute the most perfect and adequate loveliness that nature presents, it surely must be owned, that it has, all the world over, no superior". I have to admit it took my breath away while walking through the National Park in the mist and rain and wind making my experience even more surreal and magical.

It is the most westerly point in Europe here in Killarney and the National Park covers over 25,000 acres of mountain, moorland, woodland, waterways, parks and gardens. You access the park from the main town centre and yet once within the walls you are transported to another time and place. I could see over to the misty mountains and the large areas of blanket bog, the oak trees growing on the lower mountain slopes and the remains of an ancient woodland that used to over most of this land thousands of years ago.

I have had a dream for years about sitting beneath an ancient oak tree in this area of Ireland and today they surrounded me as I walking through the park towards the lakes and bogs. There were plenty of birds and geese although I didn’t see any deer apparently they are renowned for this area. The deer were smart and stayed indoors as the blustering cold wind was whipping under my jacket and turning my umbrella inside out.

That umbrella! I bought it in London on Christmas Day as we made our way to Marble Arch for lunch. It is a cheap Union Jack design and now walking in Ireland I suddenly felt very self-conscious and almost in danger using it. However there were no shops open inside the Park and it was wet. I saw the ruins of Inisfallen Abbey, Muckross Abbey, House and Farm.

I eventually found MY tree and sat there while the wind howled around me and I nestled close to its trunk and listened as the leaves shook and sang over my head. Pure Magic!

Reluctantly I left the Park and headed back into town to check out these churches that influenced the very Killarney name. Whenever I travel and need to find some peace and quiet while away from my hotel room, I usually find a church and just go and sit and think. There is something about the angles of design in these old buildings that alters my molecular structure and readjusts the vibrations within and without.

First church I checked out wasSt Mary's Church in Rookery Close. A really cute little Gothic style church which once again used to be an ancient significant site. I sat here for quite a while reading all the plaques and admiring the incredible stained glass windows. Before I knew it, my clock showed it was three thirty in the afternoon and I felt the darkness of the evening begin to creep across the windows outside. Time to find a train to take me home to Dublin.

Changed again at Mallow after Killareny and then arriving in Heuston it was easy take a Lurs (like a tram in Amsterdam) to Abbey Street and walk across O Connell over the bridge to the Temple Bar area, down Dame Street and to Juice for dinner and home to the Radisson.

Too easy!

Friday 18th was all about work and meetings. That went well however the highlight was being invited by Dr John F Demartini to visit the Mountjoy prison for women with him. The Irish Prison Service is actually one of the oldest public institutions in the country, dating from the 1800s when several of my ancestors were given a one-way ticket to Australia. I think we Aussies were great for the Irish prison system! The Dóchas Centre at Mountjoy, for Women, runs a Personal Development curriciculum dealing with issues like employment, training, social welfare and forms of basic life coaching. I spoke to a few wardens who said that the prisoners were THEIR teachers and that every single one of us has committed a crime of sorts – only we haven’t been caught and these prisoners have. Aged between 17 and 30 for the most part, many are different nationalities caught at the airport upon entry for the standard – drug trafficking.

The wardens said that many reoffend to return to the family and security and support programs that are not provided outside in their three generational sub culture at home. These Personal Development courses are designed to transform that cycle into more choices for the women. This was a profound experience for me and I felt honoured to have been invited by Dr John Demartini. I watched him speak to the girls for a couple of hours. It was a talk that I’d never heard before and he received heckling and rejection as well as applause and acceptance.

After meeting some great Dubliners deeply involved in this sector, we headed to the Radisson for our Teachers meeting and a group dinner at Juice – fast becoming everyone’s favourite Dublin restaurant. Like the previous weekend, the Breakthrough early start and late finish, kneeling and working with clients for hours on end was a tiring yet rewarding experience.

It was especially significant for me this time however. I was asked to surrogate at 1am in the morning for a local fellow as his mother. When I looked into his eyes I saw my third child and the words he said to me belonged to hi,. So I looked into the eyes of a stranger, saw my son and told him how much I loved him and that no matter what he did, there was no need for forgiveness.

I went to bed straight afterwards and thought nothing of it until 10am the following morning about to leave for the Sunday breakthrough and my phone rang.

It was the son whose eyes I had seen in the face of a stranger the night before.

He had been assaulted by the next-door neighbour at exactly the same moment that I was telling this surrogate that I loved him. Apparently teenage fun got out of control, they threw eggs at the house and the fellow next door lost his cool and bashed him into unconsciousness.

He had been taken to the Wesley hospital and had tests all day and was very ill and in great pain. Because of the work I had studied with The Concourse of Wisdom and Dr John Demartini, I knew in my heart that nothing was missing for my son and that he was safe and loved even though I was on the other side of the world. (even though as a mother my heart wrenched in agony at our distance)

The power of this experience changed my life forever as the next few days would soon attest.

The Moth Prophecies

We arrived at the office today to find a swarm of large black moths grouped together upstairs huddling in a strange shape over the door to the entrance to the main office. There were probably 30 of these creatures just hanging there. It looked like an ancient ornament discovered in an odd antique shop. Now I know that several superstitions claim that a big black moth in the house means a deceased one is just visiting reincarnated through that moth. So a large group of 30 or more – what does THAT mean?

Human fascination and amazement with moths has been the origin of many legends, fables and superstitions. For example, it has long been thought that "woollybear" caterpillars can predict the severity of the approaching winter. The Deathshead hawkmoth of Europe is thought to be an omen of evil or death. The caterpillars of some moths contain powerful chemicals and poisons that have been used by medicine men and witch doctors. Moths have also been the inspiration for artists, pottery-makers, storytellers, writers and poets.

The life cycle of moths has been used in many cultures to represent a magical transformation creation process for mankind. The hatching from the egg is the equivalent of human birth. The caterpillar represents the stage of life; the lowly "worm" waiting for a transformation, just as we await our reward in an afterlife. The metamorphosis of moths is one of the mysteries of Nature. The ability of these insects to change from the crawling caterpillar to the flying adult is almost magical.

So we have 30 large examples of the evolutionary process OR omens of death (ultimately the greatest transformation there is) hovering over our place of enterprise. I keep recalling the phrase LIKE A MOTH TO THE FLAME and wondering about its significance here at the office.

It all points to imminent change. There is a disturbance in the force, Luke. Can anyone else feel it? The escalation of life is gathering momentum. Businesses are closing their doors. People are changing jobs. Relationships are ending everywhere I look. People appear to be more focused on their intent and are seeking answers and guidance in the creation of their purpose and dreams.

I wonder is this is symptomatic of the purported difficult Fifth NIGHT of the Galactic Underworld in the Mayan Calendar which begins November 18 2007 and ends November 12, 2008. Apparently, this time – this fifth night is ruled by the energy of Tezcatlipoca, the god of darkness and many scholars believe that we will see the West and other power hierarchies begin to transform and strengthen their power control with a last ditch attempt manifest in a greater oppression.

There has been a suggestion that the international monetary system will collapse in this time leading to a replacement by a centralized electronic control over everyone’s economic interactions. Well I guess our dollar compared to the US shows that something is moving. As hierarchies will begin to break down chaos will ensue providing further opportunities to reign in fear. However, people are beginning to see past the veil of bullshit and thanks to the internet, are asking questions and actively researching and looking for a light at the end of this tunnel. Is this what people call Enlightenment? Whatever that may be, chaos creates the perfect environment for an enlightened world.

To create you first must destroy. Creation consciousness abounds with a very deep sense that people have no more space for bullshit. Perhaps this is why so many relationships are ending as people reach zero tolerance levels.

Creativity is born out of turmoil. Perhaps the enlightened world predicted from October 2011 will emerge out of a series of transformative pulses, including periods of destruction, such as the Fifth NIGHT? The paradox is that the very process that breaks down the world economy and political dominance is also the one that paves the way for Enlightenment. It will be in the emergence of a fully enlightened collective state of consciousness that we will thrive in a balanced global consciousness.

So I fully expect more relationships to fall apart, more governments to be voted out, more hostile takeovers, greater interest rates, further ridiculous distraction by Hollywood celebrity and a general falling to shit feel to the world. But remember that’s only one side – that’s a necessary destruction process to pave the way for the new creation. And we are ALL feeling this right now.

Mythology is replete with tales of enlightened beings and ascended masters, however, I feel that each individual regardless of belief system, will emerge from their cocoons and connect to this global creation energy field. I know this sounds so airy fairy, however I am witnessing this with my business, clients, friends and family right now. The problem solving era – everyone is completely over it. There is a collective feeling of “Let’s get on with it – let’s do what we came here to do. No more pussy footing around – bloody well make it happen.”

There’s much power in this frustration as the creative force makes itself known inside each and every one of us – making it’s presence felt and demanding equal air time. It’s as if the invisible veil that separated humans from – whatever you want to call it – divine – universe – god – consciousness – is slowly but surely being lifted. Perhaps this is the evolutionary step in the emergence of an entirely new species of human beings?

So while this herd of moths sit silently and patiently over the threshold into our main office, I feel rather privileged that they chose to come here to show us that death and change are mere transformations. There is nothing to fear and as we move towards the creation ultimately of whatever we choose.

The Creative Balance

Everyone of us has carefully constructed patterns and cycles to use in the vast human behaviour that we call our lives.

One cycle that we each play with is the Create and Destroy cycle – in essence a cause and effect pattern – perfectly balanced and a real pain in the butt at face value.This is the “I really want to do this but I don’t want to fail” cycle. “I’ll give it a go but if it doesn’t work, I will beat myself or anyone else up.” This leads to the “Something is wrong with me, I can’t make it work I'm so uninspired about this now”. Phase. This loops to the “I’ll give it another go but don’t want anyone to know about my failure. I’m not good enough. I need help. I have to change.” Sound familiar?

I work in two industries – music and business training and had considered these industries to be worlds apart, however, in recent months, I have gleaned a greater appreciation of how life as a musician really provides a beautiful template for education in the art and business of life. There are times on stage when you make a huge mistake while playing your instrument and usually no one notices, if they do, you can call it jazz and laugh about it or this mistake can take you to a whole other musical realm where you get to build on the mistake to bring yourself back to the original key after having fun going off on a musical tangent.

As a certified teacher of The Demartini Method, I hear the words love and inspiration consistently. Now I’m not diminishing their value or importance at all. However just recanting the standard phrases and using the “right” language (throwing in a universal law or creator force or higher self sprinkled through your conversation) simply doesn’t cut it without appreciating yourself for who you are exactly as you are right now. Nor does it eliminate the system and structure of practice and pattern of behavior that sits behind inspiration.

Everyone around you, in business or life, can feel your congruency regardless of your language or actions. So before you begin any sort of creative project – whether it’s a new business enterprise, choosing a relationship, upgrading your health and fitness, increasing wealth, building networks or expanding your education, do an inventory of YOU in your current form and value it. This establishes your foundation of creation.

Twyla Tharp said, "Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits.
That's it in a nutshell."

When I was studying piano, I would practice for two hours before going to school and then two hours when I got home. At the conservatorium, the rehearsal rooms were the biggest ticket item in town as all the students simply practiced every hour that they could possibly squeeze in. Practice makes perfect when you are a performer. Repetitive work habits and daily exercise routines become rituals – they become automatic – you habitualise certain patterns and simply repeat until you can sing that high F sharp in the Mozart opera or you can perfect that jazz lick or master that Bach Fugue on the piano. Music is the ultimate decisive pattern and when you apply strict practice habits at the beginning of the creative process to minimise the chance of turning back or giving up. This is about making a commitment motivated by you desire to achieve.

This principle is well known for performers and artists. The creative process is not a product of inspiration; rather it is a product of what we might call a creative state of being. Inspiration usually occurs in two ways. BEFORE a project – creating the seed for the idea and for many performers AFTER the habits have been established and the steps or notes have been mastered so that an almost automatic performance can further inspire the soul to take flight without attachment to the process. (Like the mistake I mentioned earlier!) So many times I’ve woken up in the middle of singing a song and not known what I am singing. It’s only then that I forget the words. If I don’t question it, I can simply open my mouth and become part of the music.

To truly create, you really need to establish the habit of creating on days you don't feel like it, creating when the circumstances are not quite right, creating no matter what else is going on in your life. A true artist, author, musician or performer will therefore be able to rehearse, write, paint or photograph regardless of whether the air conditioning breaks down or your partner is upsetting you or the pipes burst or your day job is boring or an election is looming or your bank balance is low or your child is ill or your parent has died. In fact, let’s extend this to every human being in every circumstance. There will always be a problem to solve however this really is YOUR choice to either solve it (delete it) or to create. This becomes a way of life. Creation leads to more creation.

There is the story of Robert DeNiro giving advice to a wannabe young actor. DeNiro said, "You’ve got to practice. When I play the part of, say, a cop, I practice being that cop from the time I get up in the morning to when I go to bed at night." I think this is the same for anything that you choose to create. Simply live it. Perhaps this is where that saying “Fake it until you make it” comes from. Just do it until it becomes second nature so that when things DO f**k up, you can more easily wing it and have fun while enjoying the creative process.

When I recruit people to work in my business, I usually like to start them in accounts data entry. This role is rather basic; you follow the system, fill in the dots and work to a process. We have a three-month trial agreement and it usually takes about two months before this person starts getting it – either complaining about the job OR becoming innovative to make it more interesting. This is where I make my decision about retaining them for a full time position or letting them go. The thing I love about this position is that it provides the perfect filter to identify a fresh mind that is open to new ideas without attachment to fixed beliefs, dogma and thinking that there is a "right way to be". These concepts limit creativity and challenge a healthy development of a creative habit. It is the difference between being a victim and having a boss to blame for a crappy job or being an innovator who is willing to turn the job into any possibility. This is the difference between a reactive and a creative orientation.

As an employer, I’m interested in employees who get excited about trying new things, failing, using this as feedback and trying again while enjoying being creative and finding the fun in their job. This is exactly the process that a musician and performer will use – develop ideas, make a wrong move, f**k up, back track and learn from it, try another angle and keep going. This process develops the skills to close the gap between what you see in your head and what you get on stage, put on the canvas, see in the lens, record in the studio or manifest in the office.

The most powerful and successful process for accomplishment in history, would without a doubt be this creative process. Paradoxically this process would also be the most misunderstood. How many parents agonize over their children’s career choices and harass them to get a “real job”? To create art in life, we must live and think in the creative process. You can revolve your life around problems or you can revolve your life around outcomes. You can allow circumstances to drive your decisions and actions, or you can appreciate the circumstances and use them to propel you towards your creations. Robert Fritz would say that being creative is being in a state of structural tension, focused on a vision of the outcome you are creating, while truthfully observing the current situations you face. This is in effect a learning mode, where you are ready to take failure and success as experiments to use as the foundation for future creating.

Ok that sounds nice but how can you actually DO this? Submerge yourself in all details of the work. Pledge yourself to mastering every aspect. Then balance this with a detachment to the work. Give yourself time and space to step back and critically assess from a new audience perspective. The creative process requires both sides – Involvement and Detachment. Focus on the creation itself – focus on the outcome. Detach yourself from the creator – this is not about you – this is about the creation.

So balance everything you do - create and destroy - involve and detach - feel inspired and habitualise the process. And most importantly have fun!

The Law of No Friggin Idea

Each day I venture out into cyber space and take an expedition into unknown places. I can go anywhere I choose simply by typing letters in some sort of order and following threads and links that take me on my journey. I can access information and knowledge from a variety of sources around the globe – Media, Government, Academic, Business, Personal Blogs, Studios and Museums. Therefore I have been collecting research and data from all of these sources as well as teachers, books, media and DVDs – both commercial and academic.

It's been so important for me to KNOW.

My daily commitment to myself has been a quest to research and write. Looking back over my work I see a common thread of referring to Universal Laws. Searching through the thousands of personal development sites in cyberspace, these so called Universal Laws enjoy the spotlight regularly so I simply had to ask the question – sure but exactly WHAT are they and where did they originate? What is the source? Who wrote them? What are they based on?

I, like everyone else, have simply accepted these so called Universal Laws and have without question incorporated them into my words.

Is this how mythology begins?

Let’s look at the World Wide Web to begin with. There is a famous Steiner cartoon published in the New Yorker (July 5, 1993) with two dogs sitting before a terminal looking at a computer screen; one says to the other "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog." The beauty of the Internet is the platform for people to express themselves, exchange ideas, build global peer communities and share information. It doesn’t take much effort or expense to buy a domain name, set up a site and create content. Any old dog can do that!

The quality of questions dictates the quality of your life therefore healthy skepticism provides a necessary filter when conducting research. On the World Wide Web there is no editor other than the reader. Remember that a publisher or a peer or a University or a Business or a Scientist will set standards on the material released in their paradigm according to the hierarchy of their value system.

The first place to start is always the question “Why was this written? The range of human possibilities of intentions behind web pages to inform, provide facts or data, explain, persuade, sell, entice, share, and disclose are various and numerous.

Ok well most of these sites that refer to Universal Laws are selling products and services.

Never one to take a word at face value, I choose to better evaluate my on line research, by checking out the Scope, Audience, Publishers, Authority, Credentials, Reputation and Background. Is this information written and published by acknowledged experts undergoing regular peer review demonstrating sound academic research backed by resource references and citations? Is this site or publication sponsored by an organization who is selling a philosophy, opinion, product or service? In short, is the information approved and accepted by credible sources who have observed an acceptable standard and association to a certain standard of reputation?

It would seem that the authentication of information publication relies on a perception of another’s value system. Therefore the creation of credibility by association is another way we mythologize.

OK so I am now researching in a more academic and scientific approach keeping myself on the tarmac of a perceived higher value system. :-)

Universal Laws - depending on the resource, there are seven, nine, twenty or 100. Many of these laws originate in the Hermetic book The Kybalion. Laws such as Correspondence (As Above so Below) Vibration (Nothing rests, everything moves) Polarity (Duality where all paradoxes may be reconciled) Cause and Effect.

So who wrote the Kybalion? No one knows for sure. The myth states that the Kybalion is based primarily upon the writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a purported Egyptian priest. Right so a book written thousands of years ago by someone whose existence is purported has the authority to reveal laws to us? How do we know if he existed? How do we know the source of his writings? How do we know the Scope, Audience, Publishers, Authority, Credentials, Reputation and Background for this book and this author?

In simple terms, we do NOT know.

Newton’s Law of Universal Attraction where every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force which is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them is often quoted as the origin for the currently popular Law of Attraction.

No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong. — Albert Einstein

As we know, Science is a system based on empirical observations of behavior - conclusions based on repeated scientific experiments over many years. Observation is the process of filtering sensory information via hearing, sight, smell, taste, or touch. Our thoughts and feelings then evaluate these perceptions according to our mythology or belief system. Memories stored in the consciousness about many related observations, together with the resulting relationships and consequences, enable us to build a construct. We draw conclusions, and build judgments about how to handle similar situations in the future.

So in science we know what we know based on observation, drawing conclusions and building judgment? If we apply the same filtering system as above using Scope, Audience, Publishers, Authority, Credentials, Reputation and Background. Is this theory accepted by acknowledged experts undergoing regular peer review demonstrating sound academic research backed by resource references and citations? Is this theory sponsored by an organization who is selling a philosophy, opinion, product or service? In short, is the information approved and accepted by credible sources who have observed an acceptable standard and association to a certain standard of reputation?

Once again it would seem that the authentication of a scientific theory also relies on a perception of another’s value system.

The criterion of the scientific status of a theory is its falsifiability, or refutability, or testability. — Karl Popper

This means that further observation could show the scientific theory as flawed by establishing a new hypothesis that explains previously inexplicable phenomena, and lead to further scientific discoveries. For example, Aristotelian mechanics described observations of everyday situations. There were in turn falsified by Galileo’s experiments which were then superseded by Newtonian theories actually supporting the phenomena noted by Galileo. Newtonian law was then falsified by the Michelson-Morley experiment, which was then superseded by Maxwell's electrodynamics and Einstein's special relativity. This line of observation could very well continue indefinitely.

Quantum physics considers sub atomic particles of matter to be directly connected to our consciousness via our thoughts and feelings which can therefore be affected by the mere act of our observation. So if we know what we know based on our observation until we know something else. And our thoughts and feelings are driven by our value or belief systems; wouldn’t it therefore be safe to say that scientific observation could also rely a perception of another’s value system?

So about those Universal Laws I was trying to research? Bloody hell I know nothing - have no friggin idea!

I guess I can just continue to make it up like everyone else!

Long Line of Perfectionists

I come from a long line of perfectionists. My grandmother was a Capricorn just like me and a perfect perfectionist. “Let a woman Do It” “A Place for everything and everything in its place.” “If I want anything done right, I’ll have to do it myself.” She held me firm to a higher standard in every aspect of life. She was the voice in my head, the pebble in my shoe and the flame, which inspired me to shine.

Perfectionists are interesting little critters. We perceive that something is missing and this void drives us to create solutions and systems to fix what’s wrong. Being a perfectionist is a fantasy and this fantasy is the very thing that drives most perfectionists to seek personal development in order to fix themselves and their lives. If not PD, they become software designers, business managers or lawyers. We are traditionally monoscoptic – we see only one side – kinda like a mono brow only much uglier.

The thing with Perfectionists is that our definition of order is what we can control and measure as we subordinate our value system to that of others for approval and love. Not only do WE need to see its perfection, but we need YOU to see it as well. Perfectionists don’t really get that the Law of Cause and Effect is determined by the speed of light. It is impossible to have an electro magnetic field without a positive and a negative. Perfectionists aren’t interested in the negative. We just want the good stuff.

Yet the human mind cannot have a one sided state. Anything that separates the inseparables is an illusion. Try cutting one end of a magnet off and what do you get? Both sides. The mind creates the owned and the disowned parts by the reflective consciousness and illness. So as much as we seek the perfect, the flawed continues to pop up in our little hologram that we have created.

My mother was perfect. A spectacular physical specimen, a beautiful goddess with not one hair out of place, with model control, to me she was a deity of quality with exemplary taste. To balance this mythological label, she was very messy, transformed dependence into an art form, grew needy and spiteful, and lived life through expressions of ugly.

My father was perfect. Intelligent, a corporate giant holding the respect of his professional peers, he was a financial master and authoritarian and a leader. The reality check to balance the god was that he had little education, was out of control, depressed, drunk bullying philanderer.

When I look at the balance of both of them I can see the perfect order and the love that drove them to both sides of the magnetic poles. To these two very flawed and simply wonderful individuals, a beautiful baby girl was born who was talented, intelligent, systematic and expressive with a pure heart that could see the beauty in everything. The side facing the sun showed an odd unfathomable child, clumsy, eccentric, argumentative, stubborn, unfashionable, and challenging and a real pain in the butt.

I chose my mythology. First I became the rescuer and protector for both my mother and my brother. In reality, my ego actually considered them both weak and needy and made a decision to rescue and protect myself so I wouldn’t be dependant on anyone like they were. The warrior princess forged a strong opposition for my father. I deferred to him as an authority figure, albeit one I resented infatuating him to be stronger and more powerful than I was. I made a pact with myself to be better than him so I could control my OWN existence without fighting him.

Remember this mythology is the stuff of fairy tales, legends and great myth. I have made all of this up. The perfectionist, the warrior, the light and shade are according to my perspective – whichever way I am facing the sun at the time. Just like our earth sleeps at different times, it only takes one turn and my day becomes my night.

I could visit each one of my breaths and show the balance of both sides playing happily together. We live in a reflective consciousness. To bring order, we see order. Every perceived void is a question. Every value is a perceived solution. Every event is neutral until evaluation. The lives we live provide the contrast we need to take the measurement.

From the age of twelve, I received a book about Nostradamus and so began my quest for answers to every question I had. To balance my opposition to my father, I willingly submitted myself to an external authority in books.

I detested the Catholic Church and the schools that I was sent to. My parents sent me to church alone from the age of five. I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t see this bearded old man float down from heaven and appear on stage behind the altar. I bribed kids at school to feed me details of the weekly sermon while I read a book around the corner from the church And went home one hour later dutifully quoting verbatim regurgitated details of the service.I was always in trouble from the nuns. I was always the kid that challenged them in Religious Instruction Lessons. Papal infallibility was a ridiculous notion to me and my incessant questioning found me invariably sitting outside the classroom more often than not. Yet to balance this I was the perfect little Catholic angel who played organ in the church every weekend. I sang in the choir and wrote songs for the liturgy.

I questioned the bible's every word yet I accepted the texts we studied in Ancient History. I created my own comparative studies of Religion and Mythology while at school and always accepted without question the mythological version.

I rejected all religion and belief systems yet I read controversial and myth shattering books and accepted them in abject faith.

I researched and critiqued Buddhism, Sufism, Rosicrucians, Freemasons and Wicca. My book shelves groaned under the weight of this obsession to know yet I didn’t’ find one bit of enlightenment.

I became a disciple of the Esoteric Sciences, Astrology, Tarot, Numerology, Kaballah, Crystals, and Chakras etc yet not one answer did I find – only more questions.

I rejected mainstream medicine and invested thousands of dollars in Alternative Medicines: Chinese, Ayurovedic, Naturopathy, Chiropractic, Massage, Kinesiology and Body Worx yet I still experienced disease and illness.

I didn’t know who the hell I was other than how others saw me. I was a just a child when I was first married yet I still felt so terribly alone. As a baby myself I began to have babies yet I still needed parenting and guidance. I couldn’t drown my questions by creating more people to distract myself with so I got divorced yet still stayed friends with my ex-husband. Therefore at a time when most of my friends were just starting work and travelling the world and stretching their wings, I was a mother and an ex wife. In case I missed the point, I then repeated this pattern. I got married AGAIN and still felt alone. I had MORE children and still needed parenting and guidance. I got divorced AGAIN and still stayed connected to my second ex-husband.

By the time my friends were beginning to get married and settle down and I had collected two ex husbands, four gorgeous children and several successful businesses – and a series of illnesses and disappointments. I had this fantasy of being a perfectionist yet to me my life looked more like a soapy Mexican sitcom. To others, my life was exciting, filled with adventure, certainty and greatness. Surrounded by so many people and activity, however, I felt alone, a failure and that I was missing in action with far more questions than answers.

One of my friends introduced me to Demartini and I went along, protecting my guru identity by attempting to maintain the illusion that I knew it all. I didn’t. I became enlightened and bombarded by my darkness at the same time. To challenge myself physically I went to Nepal and climbed the Himalayas yet failed to get to Base Camp suffering both Alititude and Attitude sickness. My mother stopped talking to me for three years yet my family and social relationships bloomed and deepened.

In 2002 I met the ONE – the love of my life. He was my perfect mirror. Our relationship was simultaneously beautiful, healthy, loving, positive yet ugly, damaging, limiting, negative and challenging. We saw the very best and the most horrid in each other. When I deleted him on Xmas Eve last year, I became the ONE instead and continued to experience exactly the same beautiful, healthy, loving, positive yet ugly, damaging, limiting, negative and challenge.

And all of this is perfect. There is nothing wrong with me or any of my experiences. There is nothing to change and nothing to fix. I didn’t fail; I have merely collected feedback for my own refinement process. Which mythology I choose to play with, I am perfect and totally f**ked up. All our identities and pros and cons are important spokes on the same wheel. One cup is half empty and one cup is half full. The Truth is that we are the cup. Each part of us is beneficial or detrimental depending on how we perceive the event. The perfection is acknowledgement of the order to all of this.

I form part of a long line of perfectionists. My daughter is a Capricorn just like me and a perfect perfectionist. She holds me firm to a higher standard in every aspect of life. She is the voice outside of my head, the pebble in my shoe and the flame, which inspires me to shine.

Listen To You

As a child of the 80s, memories of big hair and odd wardrobe choices, I loved Roxette’s “Listen to your Heart”. It was a very simple song, definitely cheesy with a pretty melody. However I have always noticed a power in the repetition of those particular words “Listen to your Heart”.

In this mythology and culture that I have created in my life, a ninth generation Australian with Celtic ancestral lineages, conditioned by a standard education and suburban philosophy, I grew up being told that “intelligent people use their head”. “Think, use your logic, be rational and do the right thing” - these have been encrypted onto my mind vibrations. I have greatly benefited from doing that in 50% of my experience. However if I apply that to everything, my world is limited and I miss out on the vital information the rest of my body, heart and soul is giving me.

Now using my logic, research shows that the same neurological tissue found in the brain is found in the heart. The heart is a second "brain" and our emotional center. It is the voice of the sub conscious mind. The sub conscious mind is always acting as a secondary reflector of thoughts and ideas in the body. So rationally by listening to your head and your heart you have more options for decision-making about your life, your business and your relationships.

Listening to your heart is like tuning into your intuition – your higher self – your inner voice – your universe – your God. The labels are endless and are used in belief systems to identify in language that fits a specific mythology and culture. Call it what you want, you will know it when you feel it.

Your inner voice also speaks through your body.

Listening to your body provides a tremendous amount of useful information that you may not be conscious of. For example, when you meet a certain person, does your stomach tie up in knots? When your boss yells at you, do your shoulders turn into stone? When you feel passionate and alive, does your chest feel warm and open? When we ignore the body's message, we lose out on valuable information designed to let us what works for us and what doesn't. For many people, fear manifests as tightness in their chest. This is valuable information, especially if you aren't aware that you are afraid. Your body alerts you to what makes feels passionate and what doesn't. The body is a source of wisdom designed to tell you when you're on the right path and when you aren't.

The keys to listening to your heart and your body is your Intuition. You know – when you know something without knowing exactly how you know it. The "gut feeling" about something - the job that you knew you shouldn't take, even though it looked good on the surface or the relationship that just felt right for you. That's your intuition talking to you. These feelings are a wealth of information.

The word INTUITION itself means instinct, perception, insight or sixth sense. However if you break down the word it becomes `in-tuition'. The word Tuition means guidance, training, teaching or instruction. Consider that INTUITION is like your personal internal guidance system, helping you negotiate today's fast-pace in every environment – business, relationship, health etc.

Like the hard drive on your computer, your INTUITION is always available and alert, waiting to be accessed to help you make decisions with more confidence. Intuition can improve communication, access information about people and situations, and `sift' through volumes of data.

Intuition is never wrong as it is our access to our Higher Self. However the Logical side of us may sometimes provide the internal critic. "You are not good enough." "Who do you think you are?" "You cant do that." Our logic is designed to protect us – consider our Logic as our own personal Risk Management team. There are benefits and drawbacks to both. However learning to have faith in your Higher Self by collapsing the fearful conditioned critic and following our Truth is a powerful and life changing tool.

In this mythology and culture that we create in our lives we establish a value system which is dictated by a set of beliefs accumulated via this mythology both consciously and unconsciously.Beliefs develop out of past experiences and our interpretations of those experiences. Some of the conscious and unconscious beliefs that we develop limit us. e.g.: You may have a goal to be a successful entrepreneur and create wealth. However you discover that you have a belief - a limiting one - that it's wrong to make a lot of money. Collapsing this perception, breaking it down to see the benefits and the drawbacks to achieve equilibrium where you have no attachment to either belief, will reduce resistance and move closer and clearer towards the manifestation of the abundance that you can create in whatever unit of exchange you choose.

The quality of questions dictates our quality of life. To identify a perception that requires breaking down ask "What do I want?" or "What's the right choice for me to make?" Listen to your heart, body and intuition and trust them. You possess all the answers you need to live a life that feels successful and fulfilling. Listening to your inner voice can lead you on a path that feels deeply satisfying. Your life as expressed in each of the seven areas will flourish with this new level of trust in yourself.

Genius, creativity, and a silent power emerge from your heart and mind the moment you do. The secret of tuning in to its magnificent messages is living with an attitude of gratitude. When your heart is opened wide with gratitude your inner voice becomes loud and clear. If your heart is filled with gratitude, it is almost impossible to stop your inner voice from speaking clearly and profoundly.

The immortal masters of life have been those who have mastered the ability to attune to their great inner voices. Those great beings that mastered this talent left their marks in history. From Christ, to Dante, to Buddha, to Gandhi and many others who listened to their guiding whisper, all have impacted humanity with the resultant immortal expressions of their inner voice.

Be your own Guru. Your intuition is your guide. Imagine a life where you have mastered the art of tuning into your own Guru? How?

Ask
Listen
Practice
Trust
Appreciate

The expansion of your wisdom will grow with the faith and trust you place in your own inner Guru.

Demartini says when the voice in the inside is louder than the voice on the outside, you have mastered your life.

Feeling grateful opens your heart. Opening your heart has a physical affect on your molecular structure. You feel better. You feel lighter. When you are light, the energy around you flows through you. You become a part of everything. You are connected to a spiritual internet. So go ahead and google your question. Your genius, your inner wisdom, the universe, your Higher Self, your inner voice, your God – will answer.

Now your logical side will throw doubts at you. History has shown where individuals who have heard their inner voices are considered to be insane. Your logic, as your Risk Manager, will want to protect you from this perceived threat. However history ALSO has preserved the incredible list of the Who’s Who in life who HAVE listened to their inner voice. Consider the Artists, Philosophers, Scientists, Musicians, Politicians, Rulers and Leaders who have followed their own inner Guru and expanded the greatness of themselves and the world. Appreciate the voice of the Risk Manager and Trust your Intuition. Your Risk Manager provides a structure and a system for your Intuition to be expressed, expand and manifest.

Remember - there are 2 sides that the earth will face towards the sun – the day and the night - the positive and the negative – the logical and the intuitive. Know that the sun will come up tomorrow – every single day – and it will set – every single evening. The master sits at the equator as an observer without attachment to either day or night as he KNOWS the earth will continue to spin on its axis no matter what. Appreciate and expand your logic and your intuition in trust and faith.

Balancing Act

It seems as if the world is going crazy. Or evolving at a faster rate? Or the Mayan Calendar is true and as we gravitate to 2012, life alters. Or Global Warming is killing us. Or the world is on the verge of a deeper financial collapse? Or humanity is on the edge of Armageddon. There are thousands of conspiracy theories out there.

I read countless articles and books each week about looming issues that will change our world forever. I believe that every word is correct and true according to the perspective of each author.

What’s really happening in our world right now? Is it any different to how it’s always been?

There is a large market for Personal Development globally. Does this mean that as an entity, humanity is raising its awareness? Awareness of what? If we shine a torch in a darkened room, whatever the light falls upon is what we see first. It doesn’t necessarily mean that lit item is the only item in our darkened room. Similarly, our awareness of personal development may be focused on something that organized religions may have in the past.

The greater the awareness of people on a value or an aspect - the greater current reality of another value or aspect will be fractured and broken down. The matrix is balanced mathematically so if one side goes up - naturally another side will go down to counter balance.

So as more information is released, the more personal development (so called) that people study, the more we transform the matrix. This is similar to in the movie Back to The Future when Marty went back in time, it had an effect on the future. Same thing.

Demartini speaks of this in his work. The Collapse process works on your personal vibration - which when balanced - seeing the charge in yourself or another as part of the reflection process - this has a non local affect because it shifts the energy in the matrix and it readjusts accordingly. This is why when you collapse someone you are charged about, it transforms the relationship - one way or the other. The matrix is real - not just some science fiction movie - and NOW we are beginning to see the effects of this heightened awareness. To balance the breakdown of our charges, of COURSE the financial matrix will readjust! Naturally our bodies will also shift energetically as the traditional paradigms no longer apply.

ADJUSTMENT is only GOOD or BAD according to your values and belief system. Seriously it is just an adjustment and even deeper, there is nothing to adjust as it simply always is.

All the predictions and prophecies and doom and gloom conspiracy theories that abound are basically made up - meaning - filtered and communicated according to one perspective. Giving attention and power to fear adds to the creation. To counter balance, we have the choice of looking at the opposing and balancing POSITIVE possibilities and highlighting them. However, the more we publish the POSITIVE, the more the atoms will readjust to the NEGATIVE to balance - an effective balancing act.

So what does this mean ultimately?
Is life evolving at a faster rate as we empower or disempower our current reality - creating and destroying at the same time?

Or are layers and cycles and seasons simply duplicating and repeating squeezing 2000 years into 1000, 1000 into 500, 500 into 250, 250 into 125, 125 into 62.5, 62.5 into 31.25, 31.25 into 15.625, 15.625 into 7.8125, 7.8125 into 3.90625, 3.90625 into 1.953125, 1.953125 into .9765625, .9765625 into .48828125 , .48828125 into .244140625, .244140625 into .1220703125 - until the great cycle of create and destroy of 2000 years is over in the blink of an eye.

How do we know that this isn't happening right now in another season, another cycle, another measurement, another paradigm?

The simple answer is that we do NOT know and we are making this stuff up - literally!!!

So therefore is there a challenge that needs a definitive solution?

The Secret Is There Is No Secret

Ssssshhhhhhhhhhhh don’t tell anyone – it’s a SECRET!!!! And only you know!!!

Its funny - my brother and sister in law called me yesterday to say they just watched The Secret.
My children are now talking about it and everywhere I go, I hear people raving or bagging about it. For a while there I was caught up in the infatuation that maybe humanity was becoming more open to Universal and Natural Laws and that we were preparing globally to face the next five years in a greater state of enlightenment.

With the globe going crazy for The Secret, and all these media shows gunning for the Philosophers with equal fervent, I realized that perhaps we - humanity ARE heading for
an interesting shift - a transformation.

Remember the Law of Conservation – we have what we have – nothing more and nothing less.
Nothing is missing and nothing changes – it is already here in another form. Is it possible that the so called New Age Philosophy is actually all about this Transformation process?

The Law of Cause and Effect dictates that there is a balance – a natural law balance 50/50 – Yin and Yang – Day and Night – Up and Down. To know yourself, to know life is to understand universal and natural law. Natural Law needs the system and Universal Law provides the balance – the duality – the polarity. These laws are Philosophy and Science.

The Law of Cause and Effect is a Universal and Natural Law.
For one thing, It explains the Holy Trinity Game: The Victim, the Perpetrator and the Hero.
Eg You caused me this effect with your action.
Either I am hurt (victim), I hurt (perpetrator) or I stopped the hurt (hero)

Consider that We are all three.
Consider that We have been all three.
Consider that We will continue to be all three.

Whichever part you play in that game is a matter of perspective. This is the great paradox of life. This is one of The Secrets. This Holy Trinity Game is played when we live our life in judgement.We live our lives in judgement 50% of the time. A Judgement is a label that identifies a trait so we can understand it and manage it in a system. Every system requires labels. Life also requires us to dissolve labels and see ourselves as the SAME as everyone else.

This is the Law of Polarity and Duality.

Apply this to The Secret.

50% will infatuate The Secret and expect it to work without really understanding
the science. After a while, when things don’t CHANGE in the form they ASKED for, they will sink into a deep depression or resentment. (Depression is the manifestation of an unfulfilled Infatuation.)

50% will resent it and bag it straight away. People playing the Holy Trinity Game will pounce on so called New Age concepts like The Secret. Why? Because they feel RESPONSIBLE for others to tell them the truth. RESPONSIBLE = HERO – Truth – whose truth? There is the ego truth and the universal truth. TRUTH – Universal – may be perceived differently to the ego truth. Both truths are TRUTH. Playing the Holy Trinity Game is part of playing the Human Game. It provides an important balance.

Perhaps in approx 18 to 24 months a shift will occur in the 50% who infatuate The Secret. If it doesn’t work and doesn’t manifest and attract what we want, how will we feel?
For The Secret to have an impact, study and understanding is a pre requisite of the universal laws of duality, polarity and quantum physics (to name but a few) by first identifying and labeling and then collapsing judgment, in line with Life’s paradox, while living in gratitude and faith. (This concept is the basis of every theology that has ever been expressed. This is NOT a new concept.)

The infatuation % will actually have a greater % of perceived failures and the disappointment and resentment will create a greater resentment % than the original 50% who resented it in the first place. Those resentment 50% will gradually grow in appreciation of the same concepts but in a different form until both % are balanced with transformed beliefs.

The balance AFTER The Secret frenzy dies down is that it will be that the same % of people who study The Ologies, seek enlightenment (for want of a better word) and are willing to do the research and work will remain the same.

The benefits are that humanity gets the opportunity to raise its global frequency in alignment with the increase of the earths hum and balance the dying religion numbers. The drawbacks are that popular culture (movies, TV, art, and music) will be released to balance The Secret mania that will be reflecting darker and blacker frequencies. Become aware of popular television concepts and the ratio of horror movie releases. The more positive humanity becomes, the more we attract equilibrating events around the world to most certainly bring us all back to earth with a thud.

Therefore all will remain in order as it always has been and always will be. Nothing will change, a transformation will occur in our perspectives. That is what The Secret is all about - a Transformation. There is a Power to Positive Thinking and there is also a Power to Negative Thinking. BOTH are in order. Never expect to just think POSITIVE. Consider that when it is day light in Australia, it is Night in Italy. Both sides of the planet can NEVER be daylight at the same time. This is a natural law. There are benefits and drawbacks for BOTH.

The Secret is there IS NO SECRET. There IS NO rapid answer or quick fix. The Law of Attraction is true insofar as interconnectivity defines the universe. As a society, we do not have time to read philosophy, to engage in esoteric discussions, or to formulate theories. Even psychotherapy is too long and too costly an undertaking. We want the ready-made, the microwaved, the heat-and-serve, the wash-and-wear; we do not want to be bothered with serious study and careful analysis. We want answers at a discount, nicely packaged and ready to go. And that's what The Secret is all about. Ingenious marketing for the masses! I appreciate it and love Rhonda Byrne’s work!! Good on her!

My only suggestion is that she re markets it THE SECRET PART ONE. Then balance it with PART TWO so audiences can see the OTHER SIDE of the planet and therefore 100% of the picture.

The real secret is that all this New Age stuff that people love to ridicule and find so amusing is actually for real. Just like every major religion is at its core, before they've been perverted through the centuries. Quantum physics has tied together all the mysteries of consciousness that have been explained by Ancient cultures since the dawn of time.

Ssssshhhhhhhhhhhh don’t tell anyone – it’s a SECRET!!!! And only you know!!!

Age of Aquarius

My sun is in Capricorn however my rising star is in Aquarius.

The piece of software that I laboured over for many years and became the bane of my existence was named Aquarius - by me - no idea where that came from.

John was the first Aquarian I had ever been in a relationship with. As it turned out, I wasnt - however time with an Aquarian certainly was an educational experience.

The legend is that we are living in the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

Here is a little background to the previous ages.

The Age of Gemini (c.6000 - c.4000) corresponded to the flourishing period of early Hinduism. It was under this sign that Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu was manifested by the birth of the two pair of brothers: Rama and Lakshmana on the one hand, Satrughna and Bharata on the other. Rama Himself had twin sons: Lav and Kush (in harmony with the name of the constellation where the Sun was at that time.) Lav went to Russia from this we get the name of Slav. The other son, Kush went to China, hence we get the name Kushan. These two divine principles were also incarnated as Buddha and Mahavira, then as Adi Shankaracharya and Gnyaneshwara.

The Age of Taurus (c.4000 - c.2000 B.C.).
The aeon governing this age was Krishna, the eight Avatar, the Lord of the cows (Govinda.) The age stayed under the sign of the bull (Apis, or sacred bull Mnevis of Helipolis, identified to Ra), of the holy cow (Hathor in Egypt, surahbhi or Kamadhenu in India or may be worshipped in many spiritual cultures), or the golden calf in the polytheistic beliefs (see Exodus 32:4), preceding the Judaic monotheism. Krishna was said to have lived at the end of Dvapara Yuga (Encyclopaedia Universalis, Paris 1968, vol. 9, p.711) considered by some to have ended in the year 3102 B.C. (Zimmer, quoted work.)

The Age of Aries (c.2000 - 1 B.C.) was characterized by the establishment of the monotheistic Judaism through great spiritual personalities like Abraham (19th century B.C.) and Moses (13th century B.C.). Generally, this period was dominated by the manifestation of the universal principle of the spiritual master (Adi Guru Dattatreya.) Indeed, before the Christian era, Zarathustra incarnated (7th or 6th or even 10th century according to some opinions), Confucius and Lao-Tse (6th century), Socrates (5th century), alongside with the two great Jewish prophets (see chapt. X.) The symbol of the ram (or the Passover lamb) appeared as an object of sacrifice instead of worship, as a reaction against the belief of the previous age. That could be illustrated by the cult of Mithra who stabbed the mythological bull.

The Age of Pisces (A.D. 1 - c.2000) during which Christianity appeared and spread out. The fish was known to have been the secret sign used by the early Christians to identify each other. The Greek word Ichtus (=fish) was made up of the following phrase capitals (acrostic): Iesous Christos Theou Uios Soter (=Jesus Christ Son of God, the Saviour.) In Hinduism it was also the symbol of the Saviour (Vishnu's first incarnation in the shape of a fish saved Manu from the flood)...Similar to Mahavishnu, Jesus represented the ninth Avatar, who opened the Agnya chakra within the Cosmic Being.

The Age of Aquarius (c.2000 ) starts at the dawn of Satya Yuga. The beginning of this age was estimated by various calculations around the year 2000. Some astrologers believe that mankind will step out of the mystical age of Pisces right into the luminous age of Aquarius between 2000 and 2050, which means the end of superstitions and of dogmatic religions .

Pluto, the mightiest of the planets, is the master of Scorpio until the beginning of the year 1995 and afterwards it will enter Sagittarius. It awakens the old demons to exorcize them completely and this cleansing will bring all the mud from the depths to the surface. The energy will serve to purify man, if it is well used; being perverted it will turn against him. Pluto in Scorpio indicates a token of life, death, rebirth. Then, it will enter Sagittarius, symbol of superior spirit, of metaphysical abstraction, of fundamental seeking.

The other three heavy planets will leave one after another Capricornus to enter Aquarius: Saturn in 1991, Uranus in 1996 and Neptune in 1999 indicating the entering of mankind into the age of Aquarius, generating a new awareness, a new spiritual order. In 1996 Uranus will enter Aquarius whose master it is. Thus, the dominion of materialism and selfishness will come to an end, leading at the same time towards a new society characterized by benevolence and universal integration. This will means the abolishing of the old concepts and the vanishing of any physical and spiritual frontiers.

If Pisces is a sign of water, Aquarius is much more so. Considering the last ages of the cycle, the transition from the zodiacal names of mammals to those of the aquatic beings can be interpreted as the tendency of returning to the Primordial Ocean along the regressive branch of the ellipse, meaning the absorption (dissolution) back into the Original Atom from where the cycle had started. The Age of Aquarius is interpreted as the water of life pouring upon the people (the Kundalini), of the Spirit, of the Holy Ghost, in sign of harmony between the human microcosm and the divine macrocosm.

Time will tell, :-)

Depression

Depression is natural.
Elation is natural.
Depression and Elation balance each other.

For me, growing up in a typical family, unbalanced views were espoused and life was broken up into good and bad. We lived in shades of black and white.

I was my own family urban legend and I willingly subscribed to it.
As with most families, I was a mirror and they only saw one side of me.
To my parents, I was such a Nicki.
To this day, I’m not sure what it was that they saw, but growing up, I was sure it was the worst thing in the world. Of course now I understand that they saw themselves.
But as a child, being such a Nicki was a negative.
Being such a Nicki was totally depressing.

I assumed I was always depressed; until I actually experienced real Depression for the very first time several years ago.

Now looking back I realise that I was a cup is half full kinda person and was upbeat, sunny, happy and positive as much as I was a cup is half empty, dark, sad and negative soul.

Great adventures shifted the parameters of my life, and I have periodically swung from Elation to Depression - just like every other human being does.

Thumbing my way through a dictionary, I recognise the press’s I pushed.
I was Depressed, Suppressed, Repressed and Oppressed.

To depress means to push down.
To suppress means to hold back.
To repress means to keep inside.
To oppress means to keep down.
To press means to force down.

There’s much happening DOWN and BACK and INSIDE isn’t there?

The most incredible discovery for me in all of this was that this journey did involve a perpetrator and a victim and a hero. However they were all ME as I attracted mirrors of them in every area of my life.

I pushed myself down, held back, and kept everything inside and down until there was nothing.

Nothing.

And in that nothingness, I was able to see what the hell it was that I was pushing, holding and keeping down.

It was me.

I would never have seen me without the gift of depression.
I would never have seen who I was without that period of intense depression.

Then once I saw me, I was still depressed.

WHY?

Depression is a symptom specifically designed to break fantasy. What was the fantasy that I held onto? OMG where do I start? My life has always been BIG. Grand vision, big plans, large expectations, major life purpose, monstrous mission all accompanied by a healthy helping of ego. I’m better than this. I can do this. I will not let this stop me. I can achieve that. I’m not a loser like everyone else.

Really? mmmm..............

I believed I was different. I was special. I was unique. I was better.

When I deemed I was NOT (while evaluating myself according to the benchmark of others), then I became disappointed with myself and sank into depression.

I had subordinated myself to someone ELSE's values and standards and expectations
and was judging myself based on THEIR values and NOT mine.

This cycle continued to perpetuate.

Aspire, Dream, Attempt, Fail, Fall, Despair and Depress.
time
space
Aspire, Dream, Attempt, Fail, Fall, Despair and Depress.
time
space
Aspire, Dream, Attempt, Fail, Fall, Despair and Depress.
time
space

All of these actions were very real however in my perceptions of them I only saw ONE side.
What was the OTHER side that I was choosing to ignore?

An aspiration takes one on a journey to seek to find.
A dream gives you the chance to seek what you wish for.
An attempt shows great courage and faith.
To fail provides the opportunity for feedback, education, alternatives and more information, which will lead you to success.
Falling can only happen from above. This shows how high you actually were in the first place.
Despair is felt when you recognize the joy that you seek in the first place.
Depress is to push down. You need energy to push. Pushing DOWN can only occur when you recognize that you were UP.

Doesn’t sound like you were in such a bad place after all now does it?

Here is the deal.
All of this serves us.
Everything we do serves us.
Everything that we experience is perfect for us right now.
Everything in our lives is in balance and in order.

I will always be depressed and always be elated until I simply observe these "feelings" and simply say" OK This is how I am right now. Not WHO I am, just how."

Who needs a label anyway? Hey I'm simply playing the human game and checking out as many traits and experiences as I can!

Whats the deal with Nine?

What is the significance of the number nine?
My old favourite 432 = 4 + 3 + 2 = 9. So why are numbers so significant?

The number nine is a most remarkable number in many respects. All who study the occult sciences holds it in great reverence; and in mathematical science it possesses properties and powers, which are found in no other number. It is the last of the digits, and thus marks the end; and is significant of the conclusion of a matter. Likewise nine added or deducted from any number gives a figure with the numerical total unchanged. It is akin to the number six, six being the sum of its factors (3x3=9, and 3+3=6), and is thus significant of the end of man, and the summation of all man's works.

In Roman Catholic Europe, when the Angelus tolls (at morning, noon, and evening), it ring 3+3+3 and then 9 times, in celebration of the Virgin's conception of the Savior.

In ancient Greece, 9 was the number of the Muses, patron goddesses of the arts. They were the daughters of Mnemosyne ("memory"), the source of imagination, which in turn is the carrier of archetypal, elementary ideas to artistic, realization in the field of space-time.

The number 9, that is to say, relates traditionally to the Great Goddess of Many Names (Devi, Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte, Artemis, Venus, etc.) as matrix of the cosmic process, whether in the macrocosm or in a microcosmic field of manifestation.

It is to be noticed, by the way, that 1+6+5+6 = 18, which is twice 9, while 4+3+2=9: 9 being a number traditionally associated with the Goddess Mother of the World and its gods. In India the number of recited names in a litany of this goddess is 108. 1_-0_8=99, while 108 x 4-432.

The ancient Greeks noticed the movement of nine planets around the Sun.

The Ennead, or nine-pointed star, is an ancient and sacred symbol. It comprises three trinities. The Egyptian, Celtic, Greek and Christian myths all have an ennead of nine gods and goddesses, representing the entire archetypal range of principles.

The tail feathers number nine, the number of degrees in the Chapter, Council, and Commandery of the York Rite of Freemasonry.

In traditional worldwide number lore, nine, or thrice three, was referred to as “the horizon” symbolizing the ultimate, the maximum, “the whole nine yards”. This class will look at the ways people have revered the number nine and its principles through their arts, crafts, architecture, literature, mathematics, mythology, religion and folk-sayings, from "cloud nine" and a pagoda’s nine levels to a cat’s nine lives. Casual attire: no need to “dress to the nines”.

Nine was considered sacred and not assigned a numerical equivalent to any letter in the Chaldean alphabet. It takes nine calendar months to bring a baby into the world from its initial conception. Nine carried a special significance for ancient Chinese regarding odd numbers as being masculine and even numbers as being feminine. "Nine", which is the largest single digit number was taken to mean the "ultimate masculine" and was, therefore, symbolic of the supreme sovereignty of the emperor. For this reason, the number "nine" (or its multiples) is often employed in palace structures and designs.

"The Ennead "flows around the other numbers within the Dekad like an ocean." Nichomachus of Gerasa" Multiplying by nine reveals mirror symmetry among numbers. If any number is multiplied by nine the resulting digits always add to nine. For example 2 x 9 = 18; 3 x 9 = 27, 4 x 9 = 36 and so on.

Thus, the Hebrews referred to nine as the symbol of immutable Truth.

The magic square is also considered sacred and full of power in the Islamic, Tibetan, Buddhist, Celtic, Indian and Jewish traditions. A magic square is when each number is used only once, but the horizontal, vertical and diagonal sums are all equal. The Chinese have patterned their architectural temples along the harmonious principles of the magic square.

In Indian philosophy the number nine is closely associated with the process of creation in the cosmic time cycle. The entire cosmic cycle consists of three phases -- creation, preservation and dissolution. Each of these three parts split into triads (3x3=9) brings the numerical order to nine.

Gurdjieff also uses it, called the Enneagram. This system is very old, and is believed to have originated with the Sufis in the Middle East. It groups people into nine types ('ennea' is Greek for the number nine.) The system teaches that people in a given type often behave and react in similar ways.

A Symbol of Truth, Source of Magic and Power and a System that categorises Human Behaviour - NINE certainly packs a punch as a number.

Watch your life this week and observe how much nine plays a part!