POST FIRE INITIATION CEREMONY

p.s. Will the gentleman in the ball cap please be in touch~*~

UTILIZING OUR SKILLS

Learning to assess my skills on a conscious level is new territory unfolding all about everything that comes into my awareness...life. Skills such as what are my feelings in reference to all questions, actions, and input of information on a moment to moment basis. Reacting to stimuli as opposed to responding is a very old pattern for me, & for all of us from birth I am told. Then responding with a breath gives me a moment to process how best to possibly respond. The breath allows for the oxygen to fill the cells and spaces everywhere else for a clearer flow or vibration in a split second so that we may respond with 'I will get back to you on that', or maybe no words but just a pause to look at how the input feels from a gut level right now.

Peggy dear, awake! Please allow yourSelf to stay awake as the changes continue to unfold. No matter how prepared we think we are, regardless of the circumstances, personal, death, monetary, and vernal. It is that time for one or maybe all of us in different respects, and regardless of where in the world (“…of this world or another…” to quote Dr. Earlyne) we are in this moment. Remembering to breathe was as hard as staying aware of my deep feelings while watching the early morning news Friday March 11, ’11. It reminded me of utilizing tools and skills this soul has gathered and became awake too in this life time. I almost slipped into the unconscious stupor television puts me into, like during the 9 11 devastation. I decided not to stay home in a disbelief coma and to go to ASTARA where divine, miraculous, and versatile energies of heart felt lighted love flows to all who avail themselves of the master teachers, avatars, and loving spirit guides. Mostly these unseen energetic beings from beyond the veil are who help encourage the spirit of humanity to develop regardless of what something looks like, feels like, or apparently appears to be physically happening.

“APPEARS TO BE PHYSICALLY HAPPENING”! you might gasp. True. It is happening. The sadness is overwhelming for many, as myself. We are experiencing the pain and suffering of Mother Earth shifting and changing, as well as the “…great tragedy of misery…” ( to partially quote Rev. Laura Miller’s LET US PRAY from Sunday Service on 3-6-’11 which can be found and heard at Astara.org.) Those of us who woke up breathing on this physical path experience what we call life yesterday, today, tomorrow, and everyday for that matter, have a responsibility to be mindful of what might seem like a small effort. Our prayers and loving thoughts collectively are more helpful than some can imagine. Trust me, or, give yourSelf permission to play with this idea. The massive intent of healing prayers for all concerned may again seem like very little to some, when gargantuan efforts will be needed on a scale of the ‘ONENESS OF ALL CONSCIOUSNESS”. It takes more than a village. No kidding. Over and over we share~~~ “WE ARE ALL ONE”. You, me, yours, mine, your friends, our friends, people over there, those kinds of people, people up there, people down there, ET's…you name it. We are it, we are them, they are us. We are one people, we are one consciousness. We all need to do what we can, share what we have, be the best we can be in love and light every day.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO, ALL YOUR ARE, AND ALL WE WILL ALWAYS BE.

Some one told me once upon a time that in the beginning, there was only God. God was all. God was all energy. God was love. God was and is all loving energy and that is all there is. Like Mother Earth who has to go through her physical path of existence, we all must also change and grow until we get to go back to that all love~~~GOD.

Profound gratitude & love radiates out from my center as well as Astara’s center. Thanks again for reading this far and being the wonderful loving people you are in this physical experience now.

peggy

PRAYER FOR JAPAN

We probably don’t need to ask that you send your prayers and Light to the people of Japan - you’re Members of Astara and know what do when your prayer, light and healing energies are needed. Keep sending the Light that you know to be healing, deepen your practice - whatever it may be - of invoking compassion and healing for the people, the life and places of Japan and anywhere affected by the tsunami. Keep working through your heart to bring the good of things together for the good of all.

You may also have been wondering what this might, or might not mean in the context of changes taking place on different levels all over the world, many of which have been just as sudden and unexpected, some just as deadly. Keep in mind the teachings of ageless wisdom and know truly that within every collective revolution (whether political, social, evolutionary, religious, spiritual, natural, energetic) is the element of divine law and divine order. And know that within you is what is needed in the face and in the aftermath of destructive change. You’re equipped in many ways to live in these times and you’re connected with others equally suited who have also chosen to be here now as life altering events take place at what may be an unprecedented pace.

Be not anxious of what you are a part of by remembering that there has been just as unprecedented a rate of really, really good change as there has been devastating change. You may not hear of all of them, they’re generally not headlines, but you’ve been part of these, also. You’re equipped for good changes, too, and they, too, are part of divine law and order. Keep sending the Light you know to be healing, deepen your practice, work through your heart to bring the good of things together for the good of all, in every change.

For now, for the people and land of Japan, for all people and all lands a prayer from the heart of you - Light from the soul of you - let the Soul of the Universe flow from your essence to wherever it is needed in ways it will move most efficiently - that in this holiness and intention the Creator will enter into Re-Creation.

Thank you for all you do in so many ways, so many times with so much love and light ~~

THOUGHTS ON EVENTS IN EGYPT

Something glorious has happened. A beautiful, extraordinary potential has been given life. A light has shone in the darkness of political machinations and intrigue. Political manueverings have been necessary in this world, but the light of this movement has shown that, if left unchecked, how dark and pervasive they can and have become, spilling over borders and into the lives of millions of innocents around the world. This light of people bound by hope that has hung by a thread through years of repression and things we will never know now shines for all to see and celebrate.

This was not just a revolution, it has very real potential for a very real shift. Eighteen days and nights of tens of thousands of people protesting through intentionally peaceful means. Around 300 died and there were incidents of deliberate assault, imprisonment and injury perpetrated by Mubarak forces. But when you think about it - People at the end of their rope, an unflinching government, secret police roaming the streets, a constant and dramatic show of force by a large well-equipped, well-trained army all in the middle of a huge, densely populated city would in the past have been a tinder box for serious death and destruction of lives, livelihoods and public property, leaving even deeper scars than before. Technology played an important role in tempering the volatility. News was real time all over the world, and tweeting kept things personal and up to the minute. This live coverage helped keep things in check and gave the world the feeling of being there. Revolution will never be the same.

The protesters that you saw were not the whole story. There were unseen others supporting them, giving out water, tents and food. Were you aware that Gazans handed out bread they had made? Refugees from the Gaza Strip, even more forgotten and voiceless than Egyptians, gave of what little they had in belief of this light. And when the internet was blocked, people as far away as Scandinavia, part a network of web freedom fighters, found ways around it. One revolution helping another. Overcoming injustice for one group is akin to victory for all.

One of the real gifts in this was the chance for the world to see Islam as a living practice of faith. It was heard in the words "Peacefully, peacefully" spoken when there was potential for even one to vent through an act of violence. It was seen as thousands of people bowed all at one time to calls for prayer. It was acted on by medical professionals who donated skills and supplies. For eighteen days and nights men together with women, alongside Egypt’s Coptic Christians, it was unstoppable in the face of earthly power. This Islam showed its sham, radicalized brothers the strength of itself and what Muslims can accomplish in the Islamic world without the use of violence. This needs to be remembered.

Of course this is not the first revolution, not even in recent years. Remember the Green Revolution, the Orange, the Jasmine? Many in the past, probably most, were precipitated by an act or acts of violence, perpetrated by political or religious factions. More recently it seems revolts have swelled from people’s hearts and sense of dignity. Long strides have been made toward the Light that has been calling and that many around the world have been beckoning and blanketing this beautiful plane with. These revolutionary shifts are some of the tangible beginnings. But, euphoria, although justified, is a sense and cannot sustain itself or the work to be done. It’s not the more solid substance needed to form a new world in this world. This revolution of Tehrir Square, called at least tentatively, the Lotus Revolution is significant of the age we’ve been anticipating and there is much that can be seen as parallel. If we watch closely the events over the next weeks and months we may gain real insight, a real sense of the old and the emerging new, and see the symbols of how to enter a new era.

What follows is an excerpt from the Suppressed Introductory Chapter to T.E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom, written as an afterpiece to his account of the British supported Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire which eventually became the movie "Lawrence of Arabia"~~

We were fond together because of the sweep of the open places, the taste of wide winds, the sunlight, and the hopes in which we worked. The morning freshness of the world-to-be intoxicated us. We were wrought up with ideas inexpressible and vaporous, but to be fought for. We lived many lives in those whirling campaigns, never sparing ourselves: yet when we achieved and the new world dawned, the old men came out again and took our victory to re-make in the likeness of the former world they knew. Youth could win, but had not learned to keep: and was pitiably weak against age. We stammered that we had worked for a new heaven and a new earth, and they thanked us kindly and made their peace.

All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find out it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did. I meant to make a new nation, to restore a lost influence, to give twenty millions of Semites the foundation on which to build an inspired dream-palace of their national thoughts. So high an aim called out the inherent nobility of their minds, and made them play a generous part in events.

Many circumstances have changed since then, and while many remain the same, collective consciousness has moved forward and an age is working with those already in and who will become part of its flow. It’s playing out in changes and revolutions on many levels. Some will bring joy and deep insight while others may open hearts through grieving. And some will bring responses like those who in the middle of this revolution began to grumble that the stock market was down and oil prices were up and how long can this go on? For now, if there is to be healing through truth, an important lesson may be to learn how to keep the old men at bay

Keep spreading your Light to this magnificent land and its remarkable people and their parts in what is unfolding. Keep all things in balance and keep becknoning and blanketing this welling of Light, this bold and glorious experiment in Oneness, personal and spiritual dignity, this dream dreamed in daylight.

Namaste - Em Hotep ~~

Pam

WHERE ARE OUR FEELINGS TODAY~~~RIGHT NOW

Today, right now, feelings of gratitude and love are playing on my mind, in the near surround, not to mention between and within each of the cells in this physical temple on this plane of existence. Sounds far out or too general to reach up and grab ya? Seriously. There are sooo many aspects of life that illicit loving feeling of gratefulness. I just went on line to re-read Pam Rau’s “Ophiuchus”. “…we will have absorbed a full course of healing through wisdom…” to quote one of the meaningful bits of information that rings my awareness to the moment. The numerous points of interest demanded a twice read over for me. Guess the hubbub slipped past me because this was the first time ‘Ophiuchus’ had come into my world. I have been ‘of this world and another’ most of my Aquarian life, at least this time around. Thanks Pam for opening this learning curve in the direction of astronomy and astrology.

Also my feelings are excited about Astara.org now having three different new Sunday Service talks to choose from for your delight. Delighted am I to be able to encourage you to listen to Reverend Samantha Pennala as well as Ma Nithya Sarvasudah which means “Eternal Nectar of the Cosmos”, who you may already know as Maria Perez-Goodman. Both of these powerful, beautiful, and extremely gifted women are only a couple of the regular Sunday Service speakers that are being offered up for your utilization and joy. Possibly the idea of enjoying Sunday Service in the comfort of your own home will appeal to some members or just listening while in meditative position helps me remember valuable stuff. A dear friend and member did not realize we even had audio recordings of services, which we are intending to be more diligent about. True we have not changed them up much in the past, but the positive side to that is a few of Reverends Fred Stewart's and Rev. Steve Doolittle's talks are saved for all to enjoy now as when they were recorded. On occasion rehearing these friends makes me feel like they are right here with me now. Tears of truth flow down my cheeks each time I listen to my twin flame Fred, while a smile of gratitude radiates for the blessings shared by Steve.

Please be aware that we are doing the recording a little differently as of late. The four older recordings were just of the Sunday speaker. The last addition of Sarvasudah is all of the service. My tone deaf singing has a lot to be desired, so please forgive me for not removing that part. The service was profound on many levels, synchronicity wise, intuitionally, vibration (which by the way does not come through to the listener due to certain tones not being picked up by the microphones at the recording time). The music vibrated every cell in the bodies of the congregation, as did the testimonials that were shared per Sarvasudah’s request of input by supportive friends who came up completely unprepared to speak.

We as a group of liked minded beings felt the very special service needed to be made available to all. For me specifically, Veterans of all time, past lives included, would have another perspective if they allowed themselves to hear this moving account of one persons experience. So, if you are a vet, or know a vet, please consider making it all the way through this particular service on audio.

As always, I am open to feedback, and yes, please forgive my singing~^~ LOVE

OPHIUCHUS - AND NOW FOR THE REST OF THE STORY

I know, it’s had it’s 15 minutes, telecommunicators had fun mis-pronouncing it, all the cool folk who are all right all the time had a field day with astrology in general and astrologers for the most part gave it a yawning dismissal -- let gentle Ophiuchus be.

Except - maybe there’s a back story. Maybe it’s profundity doesn’t lie with what it means to who we are astrologically, or the events in our lives, but in the timing of our being made aware of it.

Ophiuchus didn’t just pop into our galaxy on January 13. It’s been floating in the equatorial region near Scorpius and Sagittarius since forever, finding its place behind the sun between November 29 and December 17. Meanwhile, things like tropical and sidereal, boundaries, precession, ecliptic coordinates, arc degrees, and celestial spheres, longitudes and latitudes formed the basis of the 12 sign astrological system set down in Babylonian times and further rationalized by Ptolemy sometime in the 2nd century AD. Interestingly, it was Ptolemy who decided to leave out the already 300 year old concept of precession of the equinoxes, which led, in part, to Ophiuchus having been such a surprise. Astronomically, Ophiuchus is a non-story, astrologically, thanks in part to Ptolemy, it’s a non-story. That aside, it didn’t mean the “new” kid wouldn’t fit in rather nicely as the juice story of a 24 hour news cycle.

And now the back story. It was an astronomer in the 4th century, known (get this) as Anonymous of 379, who first associated “the bright star of Ophiuchus” with healers and physicians. It’s representation, a man carrying a snake, was introduced by an astrologer (Schmidt) in 1974. It’s symbol was proposed by another astrologer (Berg) in 1995 and added to the Unicode standard in October, 2010. A man carrying a snake, long the sign, among other things, of wisdom and truth. Healing - through wisdom and truth. The symbol for Ophiuchus is (see image at right) .

Ophiuchus has been there all this time, with echos of its presence in 1974 and again in 2010. But because of the way our attention is gained, it took a few remarks from an astronomer at a recent conference in Minnesota to a local reporter to make it hot enough and personal enough to take notice, even if briefly. Am I reading too much into this? Maybe. But the timing and manner of rediscovering Ophiuchus, the sign of healing through wisdom and Ophiuchus in this, the Year of Our Lord 2011, strikes me as brilliantly, celestially impeccable.

Astronomically and astrologically our sun will align with the center of our galaxy on December 21, 2012, a fairly rare event. Ophiuchus will have just moved from its position behind our sun, leaving a shadow of its energies still active. If all these heavenly bodies do each have their own prana, we will have absorbed a full course of healing through wisdom, and could still be under that influence when this cosmic event takes place. If I am reading too much into this, if there are too many ifs, if it’s not substance I’m finding, that’s okay, in this moment it’s not substance I seek. Sometimes there is the gift of things which seem little and forgettable, things that slip in sideways and in their own way, and usually if you’re not looking for proof of them, present huge and beautifully shimmering alternate possibilities. Possibilities are unmanifest substance, like healing through wisdom and things slipping in however they can, like a reporter landing the interview of her life at a non-descript astronomy conference, and a constellation with a message for our time.

Ophiuchus and Namaste

Pam

APPRECIATION STORY

CHRISTMAS SERVICE 2010

As I begin to compose my thoughts here in my 'creative primordial space', looking out at the heavier than usual rain, seems we have broken all California records at this point, and we are told this is not the worst which is yet to come. The wonderful Christmas tunes of CELTIC THUNDER are playing for our Astarians on hold, but staff can listen as well. Loving the peaceful, heartfelt hope this musical offering is bathing my senses with, Thank You William for your gift of sharing NOW as always. Is not the Christmas spirit all the time? It is NOW from my experience.

Christmas spirit was strong here at our Sunday service as well. Thanks to Astarians on the east coast, and from all over the world who tuned in energetically. And a extra special blessing goes out to the numerous Astarians some three generations strong, some who made deals with the universe to get here, and one who had to twist some arm to be at Astara's Christmas Service.

Each of these three groups drove more than an hour in challenging whether to be with us. A true testimonial to the Chaney legacy with Dr. Roberts original Christmas story of "THE THREE ANGELS" which he personally read to the congregation for Christmas 1997.

Some of the congregation remembered the story. This story is not in the "VISITS TO THE MANGER". If the service recording came out ok, maybe you would like to get a copy for an exchange of a monetary gift? You get that we are here serving you and yours ONLY by the grace of God and your gifts. We truly appreciate your keeping "THE BOOK OF LIFE" alive for humanity, and from a quantum physics perspective...All Consciousness is effected by your supporting Astara's teachings. We the staff and the Board of Directors, volunteers, like minds such as Pranic Healers and other friends are all stepping up sharing in ways that work for them. THANK YOU.

Astara is a radiating Light of God consciousness. We experience this truth numerous times a day. One example yesterday, for me was when a member who came from a town about forty-five miles away greeted me with a hug, as usual, when a beaded angel around her neck caught my eye. The face of the angel was descriptive in color and design as was the attire of the angel. I commented on how beautiful the angel was and was told that after the service (The Three Angels) she would tell me the story of the healing angel necklace. Sure enough the story starts out at The Living Temple, in a local beach area of southern California. A talented musical healing man named Rafael had told the young lady I am speaking of this story about the healing angel. In Mexico there is a young girl who makes the beaded jewelry to sell. But this special healing angel was not to be sold. She told Rafael he would know who to give it to when the time was right, and he needed to tell the person who was receiving it that it was not to be sold but only given as a gift from one to another. My friend Patricia had taken the angel off her person and held it in her hands as she told me the story.

Tears welled up within as I received and placed this precious gift about my person. The energy was powerful, with a sense of healing and belonging. I felt like it had always been mine. I still do even though a few moments after I had been wearing it, Rev. Ruby came up to me to get a bubbly hug and commented "what a beautiful angel, where did you get it?" So I passed on the story as Patricia quietly listened as I told her story. I placed this awesome energy of the healing angel on Ruby. I know the expression on her face was like mine had been a few moments before. It felt like the right thing to do. Patricia and I shared some thoughts and she said if it felt right, it was right. I am looking forward to hearing Ruby's story when the time is right. Thank You Patricia, Ruby, and all the other members who shared precious moments and stories yesterday, for this is but one, and there were many,,,really.

Profound appreciation is mine to be a small part of Astara's radiant Light. Reverend Samantha Pennala facilitated for our Christmas Service, Janis Bryant worked the bookstore, Brandon Ecks played the piano wonderfully as he always does, Pat Young sang a heartwarming song and brought persimmon cookies she had made. Leona Sanchez made a pumpkin cake with pecans, Bill Blackwood and Alex Sanchez ushered and served us goodies...only a few of the many reasons I have to appreciate every moment I am blessed by Astara~~~one way or another. Please forgive me if I have failed to tell your story. Please feel free to send me your Christmas Service appreciation story.

Peggy

REMEMBERENCES OF SUNDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2010

WISE WOMAN CRONE CEREMONY RECIPIENT

Sitting here Monday morn before most of my fellow staff are here for the day, with my WISE WOMAN CRONE CEREMONY purple shawl about my shoulders, and my Unikite stone in my pocket, and I wonder how to express my deepest most profound feelings and realizations.

Allow my wonderment to flow through a few of the highlights. To quote Astarian Line-Josee White of Australia “ It was the time of my life.” All but one or two chairs were filled (yes, really) with people I admire, mentors, Astarians, fellow staff and Board members alike, friends from near and far, family from age six to ninety years young, and all are love ones and friends of love ones. No wonder my response in accepting their generous, loving thoughts and wishes was and is hard to express. Flashing back to the tears of devotion (I know this because Thomas Ashley-Ferrand taught us if the tears flow from the outer corners of our eyes, this is devotion), being gently wiped from my cheek by Rebecca my eight year old granddaughter, who is one of the four guardians who stood beside and behind me, makes me well up even now.

Unikite is a green and pink colored “…stone recognized for it’s ability to enhance ones sense of personal power and brings about an acceptance necessary to acknowledge ones self worth and self reliance.” Everyone in attendance held this beautiful and powerful stone in their hands and either thought blessings and wishes or audibly expressed themselves for a physical representation to be carried as a reminder of my role as a Crone. Anyone who knows me knows rocks are my best friends: - ) I have rocks from all over this world and some from other worlds I think. This Unikite is new to my awareness. Love the way she looks and feels…”she?” Thank You Rev. Laura and all who participated in my life and this honoring of my second half of a spiritual seekers adventure.

Everyone knows the feeling of having wished you had said… I tried to stay present, tried to look each precious soul in the eyes and Namaste to their sharing of their wisdom, faith, hope, charity, and blessed talents. Nancy read a poem she wrote to me and Pat sang “White Buffalo Woman”, both very moving on numerous levels not just for me but by all who allowed themselves to be present. The energy in the sanctuary was almost thick enough to cut with a knife, almost visible, but definitely electric for sure. There may have been a dry eye in the house {Please come forward and share if this is you; - } but I did not see anyone untouched by this ceremony of celebration. Reverend Laura Miller worked very hard compiling, preparing, gifting, and presenting me [and You] with profound seeds of wisdom and love, inviting all to borrow riches of the past to create visions of the future NOW. My Friend Laura ends the program with “All life is essential, celebrate!” This is truth, of that I am sure.

Sincerely. Most sincerely.

Your Shepherdess Crone, Peggy

WILD TURKEY MEDICINE

While in the beginning stage of formulating what would become a letter for the November issue of The Voice, a good friend suggested writing about turkey medicine. That’s not what the letter ended up being about, but after digging into it, I found the subject really fascinating, so thought I’d share it with you now, in time (just barely) for Thanksgiving ~~

(Most of this was lifted from Jaime Sams work and other websites about Wild Turkey Medicine)

KEY WORDS – cunning and agility, fierceness and courage, being able to project your voice and your truths, tenacity, gratitude, renewable resources and cultivating a spirit of growth, living in accordance with the spirits of the land, a worthy adversary, being desirable to others, effective use of energy.

LESSONS – The tenacity of the wild turkey has allowed it to adapt and populate many areas, and despite regular hunting, thrive in large numbers. There is an innate strength and tenacity associated with wild turkey totem that can be learnt from.

A person who hunts wild turkey generally has an immense respect for this challenging quarry. It is not possible to hunt wild turkey without at least having some understanding of its behavior and the land in which it lives. Wild turkey teaches us how to live in accordance with the spirits of the land. To understand the seasons, ecosystems and cycles around us, both in order to nourish ourselves, and nourish those creatures, beings, and spirits in the landscapte (whatever it might be) around us.

The wild turkey is a worthy adversary, challenging even seasoned hunters. The presence of wild turkey can suggest worthy adversaries in your own life. Are there people who - by their very presence - challenge you to grow, learn and expand the way you think and look at the world? Has someone come into your life who you only see in context of how uncomfortable they make you? Have you considered viewing them instead as being a worthy challenger to your own long-held views? Even wild turkey as a totem animal and/or guide can be extremely challenging, and reminds us not to stay stagnating in views that do not lead to growth.

Wild turkey teaches gratefulness for what is already around you; instead of encouraging you to constantly seek new forms of nourishment. Remember to give away or share the things that nourish you from time to time, so that you may more freely receive when bounty is offered to you.

Wild turkeys make effective us of small bursts of energy. It’s capable of high flight and running speeds, but only in short amounts, which requires an excellent sense of energy stores and great timing. Having both of these, wild turkey is able to out-fly and outrun many predators, a teaching in how to use your energy as effectively as possible, preserving energy when necessary so as not to leave yourself drained at crucial times in your life.

Wild turkey challenges us not to underestimate the nature around us, what it is capable of, and how much we actually rely and depend upon it to live and survive. Wild turkey as a shadow totem can caution against excessive greed and over-consumption; or using up the bounty of nature and people around you without ever giving anything back.

Like all animal helpers, wild turkey appears only when appropriate, and cannot be forced to visit or share messages with you. In nature wild turkey may seek you out through a chance encounter. Since wild turkeys are more than capable of disappearing from view, sighting one can represent the relevance of their lessons in your life. If you’re not able to walk the land where wild turkey resides, it can be reached in visualization and journeying. Wild turkey can be an elusive totem to find if it hasn’t reached out to you first, but communion with wild turkey at any level can be very rewarding.

Wild turkey teaches us about the need to cultivate skills of cunning and agility. It is important to know how to read your environment and how to avoid arguments and unnecessary confrontation, through using skills of observation, cunning and agility.

Wild turkey teaches us the value of fierceness and courage as a personality trait. Courage is about feeling frightened of something, or fearful, and still doing everything in your power to protect yourself and move through that fearful stimulus. Fierceness allows us to actively confront the things that challenge us, in the same way that a male wild turkey will actively confront other males during breeding season.

The wild turkey has a distinctive gobbling that can be heard across great distances. This quality can teach us how to project our voice and our truths. It is important to know when to say your message, truths or opinion; and how to say it clearly and loudly enough that other people take notice. Wild turkey can help you to learn appropriate timing for sharing your voice with others.

Turkey is the symbol of the Mother Earth and her abundant harvest. All of Earth’s blessings and the ability to use them to their greatest advantage are part of turkey’s teachings. The Turkey is also a symbol of sacrifice. In Turkey’s death, we have our life. This reminds us to act and react on behalf of others. Act not out of some sense of self-righteousness or religious guilt, but out of the realization that all life is sacred.

When the turkey visits us, it’s a sign that we must be mindful of the blessings bestowed upon us each day. Further, it is a message to express our strength and brilliance – it’s time to show our own plumage and reveal true selves. Wild turkey can be challenging to work with, but always brings the abundance of its wisdom and knowledge with it.

HISTORY and CHARACTERISTICS - Turkeys have been a symbol of thanksgiving and abundance long before the Pilgrim’s "first meal" in 1621 with the Northern Native Americans. First Peoples view the turkey as both a symbol of abundance and fertility. Indeed, the turkey was the guest of honor (sacrificial, that is) in various fertility and gratitude ceremonies. The Creek tribes still practice the turkey dance during their annual fire festivals. The feathers of turkeys are also used in ritual. Aztecs, Mayans and Toltecs viewed the turkey as a "jeweled bird" and also referred to it as the "Great Xolotl" Male turkeys were honored for its beauty and essence of cocky pride. Turkeys are at their peak of power in the autumn months. As fall season animals, turkeys are symbolic of harvest, new beginnings, cycles and preparation.

The Turkey is linked to the third eye, the seat of feminine energies within, and the center for higher vision. Turkey is also the symbol of Mother Earth and her abundant harvest.

Wild turkey is telling you that you have much to be thankful for, even if you can’t see it at the moment. Life is a wonderful gift and the world is full of abundance. And not only do we receive, we can also give back. What are you giving back? How are you helping replenish what has been given to you? Turkey is asking you to be aware of the needs of others. Generosity sent out will be generosity returned. Genuine gratitude and giving open the door for good to enter.

All of Earth’s blessings and the ability to use them to their greatest advantage are part of Turkey’s teachings. ~~ Enjoy ~~ And a beautiful Thanksgiving from all of us at Astara

GIFTS OR TOOLS

Sixty years of evolving and still going beyond. Life from a fertilization process witch continues the evolution of the of the soul growth is a choice is my belief. Spinning out, sliding into a stall, & sometimes crashing and burning, are some of those many paths home we hear about. You know there are many roads to Rome (or to God). There are many mansions in my Fathers house, says the same thing in this experience. Letting go of judgment, comes with maturing even if it is not a constant. Breath is constant, from a deep gasp, to some times it speeds up, slows down, or can become tight & sometimes even sounds like a full fledged band or even stops. Again each of these sets of examples vibrates similarly to me. Constant isn't even constant in breath or life. So it appears.

'Still going beyond' refers to personal expansion. Fertilization starts the physical process it seems. If the karma literature is correct, and from the position of limitless possibilities, and through observing perennials in the garden, my gut tells me the karma stuff is very possibility correct. Ancient stories like Quan Yin coming back by choice to help humanity through compassion and peace reinforces the idea of loving unconditionally I feel. Of course the Jesus stories also reinforces the same principles. Like 'What would Jesus do?' stretches my paradigm (my thinking outside of the box; meaning my comfort zone) to NOW! Right NOW!!! Is there any other time? If I think of being in utero, that is now. If I choose to imagine differences, the way I would have liked that experience to be...that is now also. 'Going beyond' is what I just have done and am doing now. Recreating a moment or two in time NOW.

Gifts are often thought of as things that have been given to us or could be given to us by us, or love ones, friends, teachers, and any number of examples. Think about the gifts that are yours. The gift of imagination, possibly the gift of breath. Again we could go on and on and on..... What about tools? Yea, we can call gifts tools. My friend Rev. Ruby and I have had conversations about coming into this world with a bag of tools. What we do with these tools is determined by an unlimited possibilities. Gifts and tools may be a better title. Both are available to us all all the time. Even my gifts and tools are a service to be offered to ya'll:) Yes. Yes I share my gifts and tools with all. They were given to me to give to others like shining a light out there beyond this small space.

Harvest time is here. Abundant Harvest time is now. Even though I do not think of my self as a tradition kind of gal, the underlining current of cooking, cleaning, and preparing flows through the energies all about me in this time of year. Being of service through sharing my gifts and tools pours from this space every moment and yes with each breath. Bet ya yours does too. In Love & Light Always~~~Profound Blessing are ours to share in each moment of this physical experience.

Peggy Tennent

CURB YOGI

A yogi sat himself down on a curb in front of my car in a parking lot while I was shopping. While getting into my car he told me I was lucky, he could tell by my forehead. His long, sparse beard was twisted into two lengths, one on each side of his chin and drawn up like thin black ribbons against his skin along each side of his face, to disappear under a hat into I can’t even guess what. I sat down next to him and we talked about life and he told my future in little ways after fishing in little ways for the information he gave back to me. He said I would be happy after Dec. 25, I told him I already was, he said he knew, but my luck will change for the better. I said I already am lucky and don’t look for more. He said he knew, and regardless, it will and to make a wish. I couldn’t think of one, not one beyond the usual - causes of peace and plenty breaking out, and changing all that maybe just has to play out to see who we really are. He waited while I looked up and around trying to gather a wish, and he again asked for just one wish, and I fought for the words,"that my children and their children survive this." The "this" was undefined in my mind and heart, but in these words was a wave of profound sorrow more deeply felt than ever before over being part of the cause, for maybe many lifetimes of "this" and an even larger awareness of where I am in the larger picture of past, the very present and future. He immediately responded by asking for a fee. Unsurprised, even at having my wish and its undercurrent of thought seemingly blown off, I offered, he countered, I gave, he asked for more, for the orphans shown in a worn, laminated picture he’d just whipped out. My guess is these orphans are now probably middle aged, some of them sitting on curbs telling fortunes. I said, "no more."

I did, I paid a fee, and gladly, feeling somehow part of the workings that brought this man to me, part of the workings that created orphans in an impoverished and ignored part of the world. Somehow part of all things so different that didn’t in that moment seem different at all.

He ended up giving me a mala of tiny seeds with a little red tassel of beginning and end that was so small I doubted it would fit over my head without breaking. I tried, but it was so tight I suggested wearing it as a bracelet, but he insisted I try again, and it fairly glided over my head down onto my neck. It shouldn’t have, really, but it did.

After telling me to drink milk and eat a banana first thing every morning for good health, we parted. He saying, "Good bye, good lady, you have a lucky forehead". "Good bye, good sir, be well." The rest of the afternoon into evening into night was increasingly uncomfortable in all manner of feelings. Then out of nowhere I was remembering someone who it had been best then to let go, and I damned that teller of fortune, what had he done? Did I not give him enough? But by morning all those feelings had turned into a kind of new sweetness without reclaiming anything back into my life again The old way of remembering, the discomfort of all the feelings since that chance encounter on a curb and donning the mala were gone. No, can’t explain what happened, and maybe nothing really did. One thing I do know, I have one lucky forehead.

MAY THE BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS FOREVER SING...

...In Your Living Room

Dr. Robert always had a way of knowing when you needed a little pick-me-up. At the Astara center in Upland he would walk down the halls singing and come into each of our offices and greet us. During some tough times he provided a quiet understanding and comfort without even being told it was needed. One of the things I always remember him saying is “may the bluebird of happiness forever sing in your living room.” I always found this funny, yet spoken at the exact perfect times I needed it.

The other day I was walking through the lounge here at Astara and noticed a little glass bluebird. I turned it over and on the bottom it says “bluebird of happiness.” I smiled and thought of him. Then last night while at a restaurant I saw the same glass bluebird. I took this as a sign. I guess this is the month for signs as Rev. Steve had just spoke about Spirit Signs this last Sunday.

Thanks for the cheering up Dr. Robert, and to everyone...may the bluebird of happiness forever sing in your living room.

PLEASE EXCUSE ME ; - E....

Forgive me for interrupting but...(the but means never mind what i said before). ; - E... the drooling buck toothed vampire symbol really made me laugh out loud as well. Steve was loving making me LOL with different texting shorthand the other morning. Need all the help i can get these days~~~well always for that matter. Part of me sees me as the one interrupting all the time, because i do ya know. But...if i do not ask now when can i ask? Our wonderful Astarian staff is busting tush around here ALL the time. Blessed is who i am to be with my fellow Astarians each moment of the day in one way or another...excusing me...again i ask, how do you get what ya need and want if you do not allow yourself to 'PARDON ME' frequently?

Confessing to you 'guilty' is my name applies to my eight fellow staff members. We have all heard 98% of all phone calls are favors. So it is understandable when we go looking for answers be it on the phone, into others space, or stopping someone walking down the street, we are interrupting the flow of energy on some level.

Thank You profoundly for being kind, generous, and loving with your time, energy, and light~~~each and everyone i know and have the honor of being part of your experience now and always <3.

Peggy

MAY I INTERRUPT YOU FOR A MOMENT?

Do you ever find yourself interrupted by what you are doing by a phone call, a knock at the door or something that needs your immediate attention, maybe a crying child or a broken down car on the way to work? It’s hard to keep your cool and give the interruption, whatever form it may be in, your full attention. Thoughts may go through your head like–“ I was almost finished with what I was doing” or “why can’t I just get a moments peace to concentrate” or “not again!” This can also lead to anger and impatience with the source of the interruption, especially if it is a person, and after the dust settles we sometimes regret our reactions or not giving someone our full attention and caring in that moment.

Interruptions used to fall short of infuriating me. But I have recently discovered a calmness and acceptance of what I USED to consider an interruption. We are given 24 hours of the day. These 24 hours, or at least the waking portion of them are filled with the daily tasks of survival, getting from one place to the next and interacting with countless others. They are also an empty space for spiritual experiences and moments of seeing beyond this physical existence. What we think we should be doing for the entire time is not necessarily what God’s plan may be for us for the day.

Each “interruption” may possibly be an opportunity to see the synchronicity of the spiritual life we live in along with the physical we are so pre-occupied by at times. Taking a moment to see this and completely stopping what we are doing to give the person on the other end of the phone, or the person, or child standing before us our full attention, caring and patience with the realization that “this may be exactly what God wants me to be doing at this time, there is a reason why this has come at this moment and is supposed to be part of my day” can really make a difference in the quality of our lives, how we spend our day, and our interactions with others.

“You never know when you may be entertaining angels.” You also never know when a stranger may need some kindness on an unknown birthday, or after a loved one has passed, or is going through a really tuff time, like we all experience occasionally in life. A little tender loving care can go a long way and make the difference in turning what would have otherwise been considered a bad day, a good day—or even a great day.

God is speaking to us through “interruptions.” Are we listening? Of course, this is not something easily changed over night. We will still get angry and impatient sometimes, but the point is realization and practice, practice, practice. Sometimes it can be fun to practice seeing and doing something differently than we’ve done our whole lives. It’s great to try new things and an adventure to set out on a new way of thinking and acting. You just never know where it will take you!

~Jenny

FROM A FRIEND

Dear Astarians,

The following message was sent to me from Pam Rau the day after my mother made her transition. I wanted to share it with you....

No need to respond, unless I can do anything for you.

You know, and we know you know because our hearts are one in an ancient act of the sacred letting go of a soul - you know each of us are with you. May this time offer gently profound moments amid all else. And amid all else, despite all else, the huge thing of a Silver Cord retreating has quietly taken place - may it be the beginning of a blessed and powerful journey toward greater being.

Gentle arms, gentle wings surround you. Our hearts call your name with a great deal of love away from weariness and the sounds of a world that moves on as if nothing has happened, to which you will return soon enough. Never quite the same through these things, but more - always more.

We love you, and hold in love all that has taken place -- Take extra good care of yourself - listen and follow your own body's wisdom (just a reminder ...) and if you need anything, please - let this friend know

Pam

Love and Light, Rev. Peggy Tennent

THE TIME OF MY LIFE

Astarian Line White of Australia came to our PRANIC HEALING class i wrote of for the January VOICE. After Master Co walks us visually through and shares the TWIN HEARTS MEDITATION with us for the closing works of the priceless teaching of Grand Master Choa Kok Sui's Pranic Healing, the only words i could think of to say was "...profound...". Pretty much speechless was i. Full of Gratitude, moved to emotional tears of joy, and down right speechless with the blessing of love that radiated to and from a room full of like minds. As participants slowly began to begin gather their senses, saturated, no...overflowing with the same joy, blessings, and love experienced by myself, Line White hugged me. Sharing the energy of the oneness of our living life to the fullest, i asked her "...how would you describe you experience?" Only a moment of thought as her eyes seemed to look up, like she was looking in the card catalog for the words to express her experience...

"The time of my life." YES!!! The time of my life!!!

Later, after a bowl of minestrone soup we shared stories of times of our lives~~~i have been blessed with many wonderful times of my life. Memories i will always treasure. Thoughts, feelings, sounds, visions, knowings, realizations, and extra sensory perceptions of the profound blessings of love share from so many like minds this weekend will...are bathing Mother Earth, her inhabits, all consciousness...from rocks,the waters, plants, critters on all levels, to humankind all over the world are receiving the profound blessings of love through service, sharing, and the oneness of the "Divine Providence and the Great Ones, whose boundless love and blessings make everything possible." ( ACKNOWLEDGMENTS by Master Stephen Co in YOUR HANDS CAN HEAL YOU)

We are looking into getting an Advanced Pranic Healing class together with the outstanding teacher presenter and official representative of Grand Master Choa Kok Sui's works, and authorized U.S. senior instructor (and we all experienced why) in the near future. Exponentially generous gratitude to all concerned with the putting together of the most precious moments in more than fifty some attends~~~'The time of their life'.

Enthusiasm poured from Rev. Ruby Morrow as part of our Astara Sunday Service. A surprise visit from Dr. Robert Chaney come out like the energetic being we all know and love. You would of had to of been there! And i am sure Rev. Fred loved the music as well. All the '...Great Ones...' were with us...of THAT i am sure. Thank You each and every one.

REMEMBER our Pranic Healing Clinic the first Friday of the month. February 5th here at Astara from 2:30 till 4:30 pm is the first opportunity here in Rancho Cucamonga to experience Pranic Healing from advanced students from The American Institute of Asian Studies! Thomas Ashley Ferrand taught us..." those who are here, are the people who are supposed to be here..." Looking forward to your being here with us.

Love and Light to You and Yours Always,

peggy

WHAT TO DO ... WHAT TO DO?

I’m writing this from home – in the wee hours of the morning. Oddly, rising about 3am after three or four hours of sleep has become the norm for me. At first I fought it, but when months and months went by with seemingly little negative impact, I started to appreciate the extra time. Now, I’ve come to really value these quiet, pre-dawn hours. I work with prayer petitions, I meditate and I write. Lest you think I’m becoming a contemplative, I should tell you I also watch television, surf the web and even read novels. But back to this morning....

I finish my meditation, make some coffee and pick up my laptop. I’m stretched out in comfort, one dog at my side and the other sleeping at my feet, I sip on a cup of hot, sweet coffee as I write this, wondering briefly what I’ll have for breakfast. Oatmeal and fruit, maybe an omelette...? I just felt a little draft so I get up and set the heat a few degrees higher. The central heating kicks on.

I turn on the tv – CNN reporting on the earthquake in Haiti. While horrific scenes of death and devastation flash on the screen, the dog at my side cuddles up against my thigh and the one at my feet yawns and rolls over. The heater goes off and now the temperature’s perfect. I turn up the sound on the tv. The faces on the screen are twisted in agony, or worse yet, emotionless – almost as lifeless as those of the corpses piling up on the streets. Anderson Cooper’s eyes betray a flash of fear as he describes the stampede toward a rumored source of drinking water, he standing just yards from the rushing river of human desperation.

I want to turn off the tv now, or change channels to something banal, or at least turn down the sound again. But I can’t. It’s the old dilemma: I don’t want to look, but I can’t look away. It’s terrible, really unimaginably terrible, yet strangely surreal. The juxtaposition of my comfortable, serene life against this what? – this hell – strikes me yet again. I remember this feeling most recently after Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean tsunami. This sense that we don’t live in the same world, those victims and me. How can we? Here I am, all secure and comfortable. And there they are, desperate, suffering, tortured. My worries and challenges, even the greatest tragedies of my life, just can’t be compared. Their situations are truly beyond my comprehension.

So what do I do with all these images that will continue to flash in my head long after the tv screen goes dark. What about the sound of the cries from the battered and dying still ringing in my ears? And those numbers and statistics that we’ll hear for weeks and months as they grow – rapidly and erratically at first, steady and slower as time passes? For me, there’s only one way to deal with this. I have to do something.

Denying that events happening on the other side of the globe really affect me doesn’t work anymore. (It never really worked, but I once tried to believe that.) Nor does telling myself that somehow those people are completely separate from me, inherently different and living in another world. I just know that’s not true. So I just have to do something.

Some believe prayer, simply praying for someone is a cop out. In our culture, it’s often the last resort – “all we can do now is pray.” Some believe that directed meditation, sending someone Light, is a platitude at best and bogus at worst. For me, prayer and meditation are the first things I do. Why? Because for the last two decades, I’ve seen countless miracles as a result of the humble efforts of dedicated Lightworkers. So first, last, and in between, I pray. And I meditate about what more I can do, how I can help on the physical plane. Then I try very hard to listen and follow my guidance. When I do, I know the horrific images and desperate cries may not disappear from my head – perhaps they never should – but I will be able to deal with them. I’ll receive the strength to do what I should, and the comfort that comes from expressing my true Self and accepting my purpose and mission here.

If you’ve stuck with me up to this point, you’ve got patience – thanks. Thank you for helping me work through some of my feelings. If you’ve been deeply troubled by the devastation in Haiti, I hope something I wrote here may help you deal with your feelings and your desire to help. After all, we are all in this together.

– In Love & Light, Steve

THE LIGHT NEEDS TO SHINE

All we are called to be in the Light of who we are needs to shine on the people and land of Haiti.

Death and destruction came to every level - wealthy, poor, professionally religious, international representative, elderly, infants, man, woman, all levels of life were lost, whole buildings, mansions and small hovels, crumbled. To have the foundations of whatever life you’ve formed ripped from under you in under a minute, left with death and dying all about, scores of injured needing whatever help you can give - unable to feed, to wash, to set bones, to bind wounds, to quench your own thirst. To have most hospitals in ruin, and no electricity to power what little remains, to see little lives clinging to their love of lives gone, when mountains of rubble, once neighborhoods and streets, defy the gravity of the needs of so much suffering, Light in every manifestation is needed. Your Light, our Light as Astarians, and the Light of our collective Human Being. Be a voice today, be a prayer, give of yourself somehow, in blood or money, but first and last, now and ever, give in Light. To this day, to this place, give your Light.

This kind of loss and suffering become questions asking who I am - which sounds the feckless luxury we of a “first world” have of making everything about the individualized me - but these events do ask what kind of world and future I choose to support through my soul as it moves through this life. Thousands of miles from the extreme and sudden losses that have stripped other lives, other souls down to only that which is absolutely essential, the questions the suffering of this little land framed within the Tropic of Cancer begs to have answered becomes absolutely essential. Who am I? Who are We? Who is this One?

Any safety nets in place for the poorest people in the Western Hemisphere were fragile at best on January 12, and ceased to exist at all around 5 PM that afternoon. With roads impassable, help will be very long in coming. Since that moment there has been little or no food, no sanitation, no water and no assurance of the hows and when even basic resources will arrive. At this moment Hope must seem like one of those four letter words and we, if we believe truly we are One, of the One, have right before us the opportunity to help form which of those words will speak of who we are. At this moment there are very, very limited physical means of dealing with this tragedy, these tragedies, and why all we are called to be in the Light of who we are needs to shine on the people, the quick and the dead, of the land of Haiti.

LAYERS, LEVELS & LESSONS

Just a quick few words from here to you, to all of you who read them from, I think all of us. May you continue to be blessed and to know your blessings, no matter what you have been through this year, or what comes your way in the next.

Only minutes ago I was going through a book of the Degree Lessons, checking for any minor changes before it’s reprinted. On my monitor was Hubble’s sharpest view of the Orion Nebula. Playing on my little CD box was Mannheim Steamroller’s Holly and Ivy. Next up is Oh Holy Night, Cantique de Noel.

I mention these things because as I paused in my work with the Degree Lessons, I found myself drawn into the image of the Orion Nebula. I wondered about the light year thing and what the nebula really looked like in the light year of Orion when the shot was taken and how much it may have changed even since then. My eyes took in the layering upon layering of gorgeous billows and belchings, wisps and swirls of vapors and gasses holding red, white and orange spheres scattered randomly through it. Hundreds, thousands of them. An image of a moment in time, the time of Hubble taking a shot of a light year’s configuration of Orion. Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel. How much movement there must be, of the mists and gasses, the spheres expanding their trajectories, maybe rotating, spinning on axi, the gravitational pull of larger spheres, the suns of Orion bending space, creating orbits, pulling, pushing, kneading the nebula. And this is only one nebula in one galaxy. Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming.

Last night on BBC radio was a report from Bethlehem. There were the interviews of pilgrims, obviously touched and deeply moved by being there at Christmas time. Then the interviewer went to The Creche, not what you think. The Creche is a home for abandoned and abused children up to the age of five. He spoke with a few of them, asking their thoughts about Christmas and the manger scene that had been set up. Little voices said wise, touching, wonderful things. Then there was a commotion as a young woman, heavy into her first stage of labor entered. The people of The Creche had made arrangements with the woman some time back, and lately had become concerned that she hadn’t yet arrived. She was traveling alone from Palestinian territory on public transportation and been held up at various checkpoints along the way, six hours at Nablus alone. She was led away and the interviewer continued to talk with children and staff and describe the murals, the gardens and play areas. He interviewed the music teacher as little fingers strummed a guitar and giggles arose. Most of the babies and children there had been crippled in some way, either through their mother’s attempts to abort them, or through the abuse they suffered after daring to be born. He then described the golden stars hanging from the ceiling that had been made to honor the birth of Jesus. Mannheim Steamroller is now playing What Child Is This. And I don’t know. Just as I don’t know about the light year thing - maybe Orion hasn’t changed any more than the road to Bethlehem has. Seems it’s still an ardous, long, politically charged and perilous journey for some. For others the journey of a lifetime. For those born at The Creche, a chance, a hope, a start, and the first golden star many of them have seen in a troubled part of the world, in troubled bodies, some with hearts so broken the staff cannot find all the pieces.

A little baby girl was born in Bethlehem, in the land of Judea early this morning. Her name is Feya. Her mother is married, but the baby was not her husband’s. He had agreed to take his wife back, but without the child and sent her off alone for a difficult two day journey to Bethlehem. And so a child was born in the city of David, at The Creche, of a married mother and an unnamed father, but with quite a different outcome from the Bethlehem birth story we now celebrate.

Silent Night is playing now. The same song a German soldier sang so plaintively in the trenches one Christmas Eve that troops of two armies put down their weapons, shared provisions, stories and handshakes. They took up their arms again the day after Christmas and in battle the young soldier whose clear, pure voice had brought them together was shot dead.

Feya’s mother will leave her within the next day or so, never having seen or held her.

The BBC also reported that Rwanda, one of the first countries to institute Truth and Reconciliation Commissions following the genocide is now the first country to be land mine free.

A couple of lines from O Little Town of Bethlehem, third verse, I think, come to mind, How silently, how silently the wondrous Gift is given, Still God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven. . .

So many layers, levels, so many ways, so many Lessons, so many light years

In Dolce Jubilo

SHARING

Thanksgiving sharing came Monday November the 23rd of 2009. Staff, Board Members, and friends gathered here at Astara's center. Gifts of the culinary spectrum were as tasty as any banquet ever. The salivating at the herbal aromas and memories of past delicacy were going on all morning. Up until or prior to the prayer and getting into line to fill my plate was almost torture...almost...i am salivating now reliving the moments of this torturous positive pleasure.

Gifts of sharing each others' being in an open bubbly atmosphere of Divine joy, happiness, and excitement of community is and was unlimited. The conversations i had the honor of being privy to, and part of were only maybe one fourteenth at best of all that was being enjoyed. The hugs, laughter, and enjoyment of topics of information really seemed a profoundly enormous treasure of life. Each person in attendance would need to spill their guts here to give a whole picture (no one spills their guts physically of course).

The subject of Dr. Willard's Water was only one small part of the conversation i was part contributor. Do you know of Dr. Willard's Water? Personally, Dr. Willard's Triple X (XXX) Water has been a part of my life since 1992 when a COPD diagnosis labeled my breathing difficulties. There are a number of respiratory factors being experienced that we do not need to elaborate about. Fact is putting sentences together often stimulated hard non-productive coughing, wheezing, and tearful attempts to catch my breath...and i turn red in the face easily. So peoples expressions looked like "Oh no...I am going to have to do CPR : 0 )" Seriously. One week there were three invaluable teachers unbeknownst to each other shared with me that i needed to drink Dr. Willard's Triple X Water. A half a glass the first day. A whole eight ounces the second day. Then all the water consumed was Willard. With in six months when retested for my lung conditions though doctors said there must of been a misdiagnosis. No one wanted to hear an alternative possibilities. I was off the breathing treatment. Medications to keep my airways open at night and steroids were no longer needed. When ever you take this wetter than water liquid, medications are enhanced. So if you are taking meds...you need to tell your Doc. Not that they will believe you will need less meds to do the same job, you do need to be very careful and aware of what is happening with your body.

So we chatted about sharing this information in The Voice...but there can be no claiming of 'HEALING' for reasons we do not need to express here. As ALWAYS i am open to your feedback and if your know of Dr. Willard's Water what your experiences have been. Your Thankfulness stories are more than welcome too. And~~~You are our Gift.

In Love, Light, and Divine Consciousness, Peggy

NATURE...NURTURE...OPPORTUNITIES

I am excited about a class we...Staff and The Board of Directors, took together here at Astara, our home away from home (pretty much a unanimous feeling among the group). Laura Miller our friend, family member, and fellow Astarian at heart shared her expertise, personal stories of example, and a tool box full of information which poured out upon each of us stimulating AHHAS left and right. Nature, nurture, and opportunities were some of the tools named for our utilization now and for always. Realizing this work is part of me forever, like the Book of Life, and other profound awareness. Today is a whole new life just like this month is the beginning of a New Year.

Personal brief "my name is..." kind of introductions were given by those of us who wanted to say a word or two, and we were reminded "...this is still a free country so no one is forced..." was one of the first of many laughs I enjoyed during the Paradigm Shift presentation. Three hours flew by and left me wanting more, much more. The homework and group chats about the assignment is expected and encouraged. Laura told us the best way to learn something new is to explain it to someone else. So here goes. Remember i love your feedback. Thank You for being in touch in advance.

We each have a bunch of perspectives we may of had since birth (or maybe even when in utero because as a fetus we experienced life as our limited awareness allowed). Name it: spirituality, religion, comfort zones, beliefs about everything, right or wrong, age, skills, death, life, rules, responsibilities, meanings of the way things have always been...we could go on almost unlimitedly. Every person has these and many more aspects to their being. Not everyone looks at the ONENESS OF ALL but the maybe the illusion (per A. Einstein) of the separateness of humanity. We are thinking of ways we can each learn to honor and humbly work with other personalities and behaviors which may seem like universes apart in understanding. Being willing to look at all (yes ALL) communications with suspending judgments and no evaluations of others and the self by giving a breath and thinking 'I can look at this differently'. I just counted 9 tools in this one sentence. {Allowing, looking,suspending judgments, evaluations, of others, & self,giving, thinking,"..."} Maybe I am pushing the balloon a little, but this is my take on a paradigm shift.

Nature of this perspective says ALL LIFE is precious. Nurture ALL Life. Each perspective is an opportunity to allow ourselves and others to be the best humankind has to offer Mother Earth, Divine Infinite Father, and ALL else everywhere for eternity. Exciting, to me this is exciting stuff to practice for at least this year or better. GOD SPEED.

In Love and Light from the Heart,

Peggy

RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE

Sometimes we’re just too close to a miracle to take it in and fully appreciate it....

As I sit here writing this morning, my dog Sam lies peacefully sleeping at my feet. Just last week, that wouldn’t have been possible for him. He’d been restless, uncomfortable and even his sleep was fitful. Now, as he softly "yips" in his sleep – maybe at a squirrel in his dreams – I realize I'm looking at a miracle.

Sam has faced a number of health issues in his ten years, starting the first night he was rescued from the pound, when he nearly succumbed to some mystery virus. Genetically malformed hips and knees have presented his greatest challenge – until recently. Early this year, a large mass on one of his legs proved to be malignant. It was surgically removed, but very involved with muscle and nerve tissue. Recurrence, or even spreading systemically, was likely. That’s when the petitions and prayers started.

Everything went fairly well with Sam until a few weeks ago, when I discovered a new little tumor on his belly – then another on his side, and yet one more on his neck! Those, along with subtle signs of pain, had me afraid to take him back to the vet. But I knew he had to go in. Biopsies were taken and miraculously, the new tissue samples were benign. By all indications, he’s still cancer-free. Yet the signs of pain remained, and even increased. Finally, x-rays revealed the source. Some pretty significant osteoarthritis around those hips was the culprit. And now, with the help of a pretty amazing new medicine, we’re clearly managing his pain.

At Astara’s center, we get calls, letters and email messages almost every day telling us about miraculous results from our prayer ministry. These accounts still never cease to amaze me. Yet right under my nose (or, more accurately, right at my feet) is my own little miracle and I confess, I didn’t recognize it for the miracle it is until this morning. Right under my nose....

I’m sharing this as a reminder to be on the lookout for the miracles in your life. And, remember to send in your petitions and use our prayer ministry. That’s what it’s there for – for you.

-- In Love & Light, Steve

SKILLS

Learning to assess my skills on a conscious level is new territory unfolding all about everything that comes into my awareness...life. Skills such as what are my feelings in reference to all questions, actions, and input of information on a moment to moment basis. Reacting to stimuli is a very old pattern for me, for all of us from birth I am told. Then responding with a breath gives me the moment to process how best to possibly respond. The breath allows for the oxygen to fill the cells and spaces everywhere else for a clearer flow or vibration in a split second. Giving permission to respond with 'I will get back to you on that', or maybe no words but just a pause to look at how the input feels from a gut level in the now.

Skill learning process does not come easy for me and the feedback tells of a less than positive response. Uncomfortable feelings at best for some. I am taking responsibility for coming from my heart in the moment of the decision making process which does not help all concerned by any means. The clearing prayer I love helps me profoundly. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. And then Albert Einstein being one of my heroes allows me to utilize a partial quote "...It takes a touch of genius-- and a lot of courage-- to move in the opposite direction." This supports and fits the idea of coming from my heart in this moment of life. Genius no! Compassionate yes.

As always, gratitude is mine for the feedback that helps me be a better servant of my perception of God's will. This or better I pray. Thy will be done.

In Love and Light, Peggy Tennent

SUBTLE CHANGES

I know people say we don't really have seasons in Southern California. Or that we do have two -- hot and smoggy, and not as hot and smoggy. We do have four seasons here, though. Honest! They're just more subtle than in most places.

I was thinking about seasons yesterday morning when I stepped outside with the dogs. Something was different. The air, the light, the temperature, the humidity -- there was a subtle shift from the morning before, and all the mornings of summer. A week or so short of the equinox, fall has come to Southern California. My realization was confirmed yesterday evening when I was again outside with the dogs. There was a gentle breeze of cool air; even a slight edge of crispness. Definitely the characteristics of autumn here.

I've rarely seen the dramatic signs of fall common to other climates. They are beautiful. Yet there's a kind of beauty in the subtle signs we see here, too. I think the fact that we have to look more closely, work harder at discovering these signs helps us to appreciate what we notice even more. It also helps us fine tune our senses and powers of observation.

Spiritual growth in ourselves and others is frequently a gradual process. Rarely does our growth come in overnight spurts, where we suddenly awaken one morning to a whole new self. The changes are usually very subtle. It takes some effort to recognize them. Yet if we make that effort, we more fully appreciate ourselves and others, and the work we're all doing toward soul growth. The encouragement is always helpful.

I hope you enjoy the change of season wherever you are. And even if the change doesn't usher in your favorite weather, that you can appreciate both the obvious and not-so-obvious signs of nature's intricate plan around you.

HOLY SMOKE