The Bell-Ringing Knight Sails the Wide Sea: CycleCast through December 20, 2008

As we move into the final weeks of 2008, dear readers, we're seeing some of the energies we've worked with over the past year cycle back around, perhaps giving us one more chance to learn the lessons Or practice the moves. Or savor the moments. Choose the metaphor that gives you the most comfort!

This CycleCast is rather straightforward, and it looks like an easy flow for the next few weeks. The themes identified in the previous CycleCast, of building relationships and seeking truth, are repeated, but with a bit more focus on the inner journey and being in touch with the soul:

Finally, travelers, we're ready to go out and rescue that which is worth preserving. But before you charge off on your steed, remember that the Knight whose archetype you follow is a noble image, not a grasping one. Be sure to have a reliable map, so you don't fall into a Hole ~ or, make the grail you seek into an Empty Vessel and receive your guidance moment by moment. Feeling lost? Ring your Bell and draw in everything that you need: It all lies within. Knowing this, you can feel secure within your own soul's boundaries. Once your innermost needs are satisfied, you can take to the warm, nurturing Sea and bask in the knowledge that here, fellow-traveler, you truly belong.

This CycleCast goes into effect two days from now, on November 26-28. We'll have much to be grateful for on the Thanksgiving weekend. By December 12-13, the inner-journey phase of this Cycle will peak, and as the lessons coalesce by December-19-20, the energies of mixing with others with prevail. Looks like we'll be having some mellow parties this holiday season!

Are you seeking guidance for your inner journey? My intuitive readings are just the thing! You can visit my website www.GeoGlowConsulting.com for information about my intutive services and prices; or write to burchjan@gmail.com with your request. Namaste.

Notable Quote: Barbara Ehrenreich on Magical Thinking

Maybe, too, our critical faculties have been dimmed by the habit, endemic in the early 2000s, of magical thinking. The biggest self-help best seller of the last year tells you how you can have anything you want, simply by willing it .... Girls are forsaking feminism for a princess fantasy that culminates in weddings lavish enough to bankrupt a young couple before they can take out a car loan. Karl Rove derided the press for its membership in the "reality-based community," and the fastest-growing brand of religion is of the magical "name it and claim it" variety, in which the deity exists only to meet one's immediate, self-identified needs. It would be shortsighted to whine about rising debts and falling incomes, when, with a little spiritual effort, the miraculous could happen to you.

~Barbara Ehrenreich, from This Land is Their Land

Your Reaction is Very Important to Me. Please press "1" ...

Here's a fun post, dear readers. No, seriously, your reaction to my blog's posts and pics IS very important to me ~ and our geeky friends at Google have just come up with a FUN way to capture your reactions on the fly!

No, I'm not talking about anything that would require you to register or other give away your soul. Look at the bottom of this (and every other) post and you'll find a line called Reactions. It's followed by some boxes you can check to show how you've reacted to the post. That's it - you don't even need a #2 pencil, and you definitely don't have to worry about completely filling in the box or your vote will not be counted, or whatever. Just move your cursor over the box of your choice, and click. That's called "clicking on the box" in tech-speak.

This new Reactions feature allows each individual blogger (and boy are we a bunch of individuals) to set up their own categories. After much thought, I decided to Keep It Simple and use those universally-recognized thingies known as emoticons. Of course, I wanted to offer your, my dear readers, a full range of emotions to select from. I'm not going to skew the reactions by not giving a "negative choice, no sir, I can take it!

So, in the interest of clarity, here are the official definitions of Jan's emoticons which the elves hidden in the Inter-tubes will be tabulating, as soon as you guys start clicking away:

• :-D = Totally, screaming awesome!
• :-) = Neat-o, cool!
• :-] = Works for me!
• :-P = Phhhttttttbbbtttt. Try again, Jan!

Disclaimer: This new process is completely non-scientific, just for fun, and subject to change or disappearance without notice at any time. And if you don't like them apples, well, phhhtttttbbbtt.

I Have an Award!

My Lemonade Award ~ bestowed by Kat of Kat's Candles

~ Thank you, Kat!

One of the neat things about the blogosphere is the way bloggers help each other out, pat each other on the back, and give awards. Yes, given the power of the Internet, we can create and give awards to whomever we want, whenever we ~ how cool is that!

This refreshing Lemonade Award comes to me from Kat of Kat's Candles, a friend from Blog Catalog. Kat is also executive editor and art director of Angelz Ezine, to which I am now a contributing writer.

But this award doesn't just let me toot my horn and rest on my laurels. No, it comes with responsibilities! Because what goes around comes around, I am obligated to pass it on! Here are the rules of this award:

• Put the logo on your blog or post. (In Blogger, paste the logo's html into to "insert picture from the Web" tab)
• Nominate at least 3 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
• Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
• Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
• Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

So here are the blogs I nominate for this award:

http://dotart.blogspot.com/

http://ecoluxuryliving.blogspot.com/

http://greyandred.blogspot.com/

{Note to Reader & Friends ~ there are many more blogs that are worthy of award. However, the process of copying & pasting & linking is beyond my capabilities, so I will stop and here refer you to the "Jan Loves These Blogs" box in the sidebar. You're all my awardees ~ so drink up, folks, the Lemonade's on me!}

The Economy Stinks, and the Autumn Colors are Beautiful

Okay, I admit it, I am a bona-fide current-events and political-news junkie. And one of the ways I like to get my political-news fix is in my car, listening to public radio as I'm driving around doing errands. I mean, the rock-oldies station gets old after a while, but the news is always new!


So I'm driving around on this beautiful day, today, listening to all the bad news on the news: Bailing out the automakers. Or not. Highest unemployment since whenever. Ripple effects spreading through the economy. You know, the usual stuff. And I'm looking out my window, noticing: Wow, this is one super-beautiful fall season:

Which puts me right square into this universal paradox I've pondered for a long time: Why, when times are so difficult on the human scale, does Nature give us her best, most beautiful show? Is it just to break our hearts even more, or is there some other reason?

I can remember one springtime, when I was particularly devastated over the loss of a significant relationship, and the lilac bushes by my front door were glorious with fragrant blossoms. Even in the depths of my heartbreak, I noticed. And, I've seen it reported that areas across which have been bloody with battle and mass murder, after a few years of Nature's recovery, become green with new growth and flowers.

No, the picture above has never been a battle scene, at least not as far as I know. I'm using it to break up my text :-) and also to illustrate the beautiful western autumns I've fallen in love with, since I migrated from the east coast in search of the geographic cure many years ago. This picture is from the Emigrant Wilderness, in the Sierra Nevada just north of Yosemite.


You have to agree, battle or not, Nature has given us an abundance of beauty, nurturance, and uplifting vistas. And She is still doing so, despite humanity's sad lack of care for her or for each other. Which helps answer my question: Why all this beauty in the center of humanity's turmoil? I believe it is Nature's way of offering us consolation, like when we give flowers to someone who has faced bereavement or personal tragedy. And it's an visible symbol of endurance and perpetuity.

Some folks like to use affirmations to get themselves out of a bad space. With all due respect, affirmations have never worked that well for me. Instead, I look to Nature and her vistas of tranquility, beauty, and persistence. That is affirmation enough for me.

Dive into Life notable quote

Consider the constant cycling of death and rebirth; the endless going and return. Everything you experience has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and is followed by a new beginning. Therefore, do not draw back from the passage into darkness. When in deep water, become a diver.

~Ralph H. Blum, The Book of Runes

All My Relations: CycleCast for Most of November 2008

Now that the week of the U.S. election is over, fellow-travelers, it's time to get back to the so-damn-dailiness of life. Today I actually got caught up on laundry and housework! And, I sat down and did a CycleCast to guide us through this November's psychic-energy weather:

It's time to come out of your shell, traveler, and look at your relationship with the larger world. The selfish-Self wants to cry, "Me, me, me," while the Universe is saying, "WE." On top of that, we're being challenged to use our abilities! What's a poor ego to do? No worries; we have the freedom to cut away what doesn't suit us, just be careful not to turn the Knife against oneself. If you're tempted to cut off your nose to spite your face, wait - there is Hope. You might turn to a higher or wiser source, and ask if that's a good idea.

It's in the WE that we can speak the clearest truth: the Tongue in this reading is collective. We began this Cycle giving out the Token of intent and appreciation, then went and hid behind the Mask to keep our identities safe. Now the Letter is waiting in the inbox ~ open it, travelers, and know what your dreams are really telling you. Ahead of us is the Field where we can shine in our skills, and explore like happy children, newly-freed for recess. The test is over! And when opportunity calls, don't reject it out of hand. The Gate swings both ways, and you just might like what's on the other side.

This CycleCast is loaded with themes of relationship, truth-seeking, and the power that comes from combining with others. We'll be comfortable seeking out harmony and exercising independent judgment. Above, we'll be supported in rising above fear. This is no time to let False Evidence Appearing Real get you out of balance. It is, however, a long forecast. We won't really feel the benefits of this journey until the energies peak during the last week of the month, from November 22 through 28.

So, I asked my guides to show us how to get through the short term. There are two significant energies. The Cup (November 9 and 10) challenges us to accept - even better, embrace - that which the Universe gives us. And the Stone (November 15 and 16) grounds us in our integrity. Staying the course and going with what feels right within is a good guideline to follow.

A Lovely New Mexico Autumn

I took a break from the election-week online frenzy (not to mention my post-election news junkie withdrawal) to notice that my part of New Mexico is having a beautiful fall! And I captured some pictures of it, right in my own backyard. Enjoy~

Bright blue sky, and a brilliant pear tree (no partridge, though):

My cat Luvlee enjoys the view ~

A sparkling curtain frames it all ~

Sparkle is Good! and a good way to end this post. Have a sparking autumn, everyone!

Yes, We Did It! Post-Election CycleCast Reflections

I woke up this morning knowing that it really is the dawn of a new day, fellow-travelers. The world had a big, blow-out party last night, and we all went to bed knowing that the power structure of the U.S. has changed dramatically with the election of our 44th President, Barack Obama.

Since it's no secret who I've been supporting in this election, I'll say that I was thrilled, overjoyed, teary-eyed, and pinching myself when the news came in. I shared this historic moment with a joyous crowd of fellow supporters in the convention-center ballroom in Albuquerque, and with crowds of thousands around the world.

Much has been written and said in the 24-hours since the announcement. I won't add to the general volume, although impressions and reflections are still swirling around in my head. Instead, I'm thinking about how the CycleCasts I've been doing have reflected the energies as they manifest in our reality. (And it's not my intention to toot my own horn with this - but sometimes the forecasts I've written seem so eerily right-on, even I get spooked!)

The energy that stands out for me on this new day is the Ring, which was noted in my last CycleCast dated October 31. The Ring represents our challenge of how we join our energies together. Do we see this joining as limiting, or does it allow us to deepen and unify our bonds - to be able to accomplish more together than we ever could alone. Now, that's a real challenge for Americans, with all our cultural emphasis on individualism (and I'm an individualist if there ever was one.)

And wasn't that what it's all about: Are we going to work together to face our real-world challenges of the economics, international relations, environment and global warming, health care and education for all? Are we going to be an inclusive society, or one that slices and dices among ever-finer divisions of "real" Americans? Are we going to step forward and do what is needed, or are we going to be self-interested consumers who want we want, and don't want to pay for it?

As John F. Kennedy said on that bright, snowy day of his inauguration, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask instead what you can do for your country." And so we did. This was not only an election with record-breaking turnout - we're talking about folks who stood in line up to seven hours to vote - this was an election that saw enormous participation in getting out the vote, and making sure the vote was fair. I know of so many people who've phone-banked, canvassed, blogged, e-mailed, forum-posted, provided transportation, poll-watched, and more, to help even one more person cast that precious ballot. And let's not forget to give kudos to those who overcame their long-standing difficulties with "politics" to do their own research and make their voices heard through the ballot.

I've never been more awestruck and proud of my country. I think we more than met the challenge of the Ring. Good on you, America!