Search A Light In The Darkness

Tuesday 31 October 2017

Cormorant - Totem Bird of the Day


"Oh, what a wonderful soul so bright inside you. Got power to heal the sun's broken heart, power to restore the moon's vision too"


"With The False Self under complete control the fledgling assumes an identity they would most desire..."


“Well, you never knew exactly how much space you occupied in people's lives.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald


Is Planet Earth Being Terraformed by Non-Humans?

Waking Times: Some things happening on planet earth today just don’t make sense if you’re looking at them from the perspective of an ordinary human being.

For one example, look at the amount of financial debt being accrued around the world. We’re talking trillions and trillions of dollars. It seems utterly cartoonish that human beings could owe this much money to other human beings. The numbers actually make more sense if consider that our creditors may actually be off-planet entities.

But if you expand the realm of possibility when trying to comprehend all of this, it actually makes more sense that the driving forces behind such wholesale destruction of the planet aren’t from here. Those pressing for all of this aren’t  dependent on these ecosystems for life.

Perhaps our earth is being used by off-planet entities for its resources, and the planet is being actively terraformed to maximize the efficiency of resource extraction.

Terraforming is, “the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its [a planet’s] atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to the environment of Earth to make it habitable by Earth-like life.” They use the term hypothetical because as far as we know it has never been done, however, a holistic look at events on earth at present fit the description of terraforming, except in reverse. Earth is being terraformed to look like some other place...read more>>>...

Image of the Day

Red Wattlebird - Australia

“Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it.” ― RenĂ© Descartes


Monday 30 October 2017

A Shamanic Awareness Of The One

Bowfell, Cumbria - Copyright Matthew James
One of the huge responsibilities of my own ancestral/genetic druid & shamanic tradition is to respect the world around me, and to impress this great awareness on people I come in contact with in my daily life. Without forcing my way of life onto them.

Without the earth plane, and all its wonders, mankind could not flourish as a species. We've disregarded the natural world for too long, and the natural world is attempting to pull our awareness back to our true inherent senses.

We need to remember we are nature, and nature is us. We are not separated from it. Every leaf, every tree, every bird, every rock, every animal ... are part of us, just as we are part of everything we see around us. We are all the same energy, part of the same collective vibration. From the greater picture we are seen as one entity, we have been made to forget this truth by the crazy and unimportant things we have in our lives.

It is important to be aware,in every single waking day, of the air we breathe, the trees and plants that are around us. The birds we see in the trees and in the sky. Nothing is insignificant. Everything is just as unique and important in this existence. We need to admire the world around us and be thankful for its existence.

My tradition involves acknowledging the birds, the trees, the rocks, the animals, the elements and treating them as equal consciousness as my own. Even the keyboard I write with, or the screen I read are just as equal to me as everything else - everything has a degree of awareness and a degree of consciousness. This might seem odd to some who read this, but it is true - all things on this earth plane are created from the same thought forms that hold together this vibration. By respecting this reality you respect the world around you - Matthew James

30th October - A Year On

New Holland Honeyeater - image captured on 30th October 2016
This is a treasured image of one of my favourite Australian Native birds - the New Holland Honeyeater. This image is part of a series of photographs I captured exactly a year ago at Stranger Pond in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It is a beautiful nature reserve, about five minutes walk from Bonython in South Canberra.

“Respect, the path you walk, because you never know if it is the last time you will walk that way” - Matthew James


Soul Retrieval

The shamanic practice known as soul retrieval is perhaps the most important level of healing in spirit medicine because once the spiritual-energetic nature of an illness-causing intrusion has been addressed, the cause is still unresolved, namely the tears in the fabric of the sufferer's soul cluster that allowed the intrusions to enter in the first place. As long as these empty spaces remain unfilled, there is no guarantee that the intrusions will not reinvade given an opportunity to do so because those holes are like open invitations.

All of us, in every culture everywhere, had ancestors who were hunters if we go back far enough. In doing soul retrieval work, the shamanic practitioner teams up with the spirits who assist them, then they go to work together, tracking the lost soul parts much like hunters.

And this is where spirit medicine has something important to offer the psychotherapeutic paradigm. Psychologists and psychiatrists know about dissociation, but where do the dissociated parts go? In doing soul retrieval, the shamanic healer and their spiritual assistants locate the lost soul parts in the Lower, Middle, or Upper Worlds of the Spirit World....read more>>>...

“It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien


Regret

Daily Om: Holding onto regret is like dragging the weight of the past with us everywhere we go. It drains our energy, leaving less available for life in the present because we are constantly feeding an old issue. This attachment can cause illness the same way watering a dead plant creates decay. We know that something new and beautiful can grow in its place if we only prepare the soil and plant the right seeds. We also know that we create our lives from our thoughts, so dwelling on the past may actually recreate a situation in our lives where we are forced to make the choice again and again. We can choose to move on right now by applying what we have learned to the present and perhaps even sharing with others, transforming the energy into something that is constructive and creative for ourselves and others.

Forgiveness is the soothing balm that can heal regret. In meditation, we can imagine discussing the issue with the self of our past and offering our forgiveness for the choice...read more>>>....

“Thus the fledgling misled by The False Self, that The False Self is in fact its True Self is likely to be unstable, untrustworthy and extremely paranoid and insecure” -Matthew James


The Origins of Halloween

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.

This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes.

When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter...read more>>>...

Raven - Totem Bird of the Day

When a Raven totem has flown into your life, it signifies that real magic is at play. Raven ignites the energies of magic permitting it to become at one with our intentions and will. This inspires great adjustments to be made at this time, meaning that dreams can become a reality. 

Raven will show you how to walk into those dark recesses of the mind where our inner conflicts are kept hidden, thus, opening the doors to the deepest power of healing that can then be in our grasp.

Raven is therefore assuring you of the "impeding change". With Raven, comes the ability to bend time and space for the perfect moment at the right time.

Raven is a significator of rebirth, of renewal, of reflection and of healing. 

When Raven enters into your life, human and animal spirits tend to intermingle. It is in the blackness of the hidden (Or the occult) that Raven symbolises that everything is mixed, and mingled,  until it is brought forward into "the light". Raven can help facilitate this passage from the darkness to the light, as well granting the power of shape shifting your life or your being.

Image of the Day

AUSTRALIAN RAVEN

Saturday 28 October 2017

Infinite Identity

All your deeds, and all your actions, should be done for self. Not just to please or impress others. Be genuine to yourself, and follow your own true path - don't judge all your deeds by how much you get adored by others.

When in the limelight, if ever at all, follow by your own example and show those who see you, the original and authentic you, not a carbon copy of someone else.

It's vital to rediscover the self you were, prior to your entry into this existence, to let that infinite energy shine through to outshine the sooty flames of the glamour - the personality you are expected to me when you enter this earth plane.

Forget what peers demand, and what the environmental controls dictate .... be strong enough to be your true self. You can only be your truest identity when you discover that infinite light. There are so many ways to do this, only you can find out the right way for you to discover your true self.

Don't let any false teachers demand they tell you who you are, or what you are. Only you can discover that infinite identity. Only you ... for there is only you in your version of this reality. Everyone else are figments of your mind, vibrations of your thoughts .... they are not as real as you are in your reality. Let no other blue print, than your own,  determine your real identity - Matthew James

Australian Magpie - Totem Bird of the Day


“All fledglings act the same, they all think the same, and they all do the same. Their naivety and their inexperience is like nectar to The False Self."


"Life has no remote .... get up and change it yourself!"


Image of the Day

EUROPEAN MAGPIE - UK

Friday 27 October 2017

Astral Projection: Just a Mind Trip?

The idea that humans can leave their bodies during dream states is ancient. Countless people, from New Agers to shamans around the world, believe that it is possible to commune with cosmic intelligence through visions and vivid dreams experienced during astral projection, also known as out-of-body experiences. Surveys suggest that between 8 and 20 percent of people claim to have had something like an out-of-body experience at some point in their lives — a sensation of the consciousness, spirit, or "astral body" leaving the physical body. While most experiences occur during sleep or under hypnosis, some people claim to do it while merely relaxing.

It may be a profound experience, but the fundamental problem is that there's really no way to scientifically measure whether or not a person's spirit "leaves" or "enters" the body. The simplest and best explanation for out-of-body experiences is that the person is merely fantasizing and dreaming. Because there is no scientific evidence that consciousness can exist outside of the brain, astral projection is rejected by scientists.

Why hasn't astral projection been proven scientifically? Some claim it's because mainstream scientists are closed-minded and refuse to even look at evidence that doesn't fit their narrow worldview. However, in science those who disprove dominant theories are rewarded, not punished. Proving the existence of psychic powers, astral projection or alternative dimensions would earn the dissenting scientists a place in the history books, if not a Nobel Prize.....read more>>>...

"Originality is the best form of rebellion"


The Places We Go

Daily OM: In life, most of us want things to go to the places we have envisioned ourselves going. We have plans and visions, some of them divinely inspired, that we want to see through to completion. We want to be happy, successful, and healthy, all of which are perfectly natural and perfectly human. So when life takes us to places we didn't consciously want to go, we often feel as if something has gone wrong, or we must have made a mistake somewhere along the line, or any number of other disheartening possibilities. This is just life's way of taking us to a place we need to go for reasons that go deeper than our own ability to reason. These hard knocks and trials are designed to shed light on our unconscious workings and deepen our experience of reality.

Often it takes something major to wake us up, to shake us loose from our ego's grip as it struggles to maintain an illusion of control. It is loss of control more than anything else that humbles us and enables us to see the big picture...read more>>>...

Image of the Day

Watendlath, English Lake District

“The False Ego controls the mind, and twists the truth. It can avoid love by looking for love.” - Matthew James


Blackbird - Totem Bird of the Day


Blackbirds medicine suggests mystery and seriousness, keeping secrets safe and even hinting at magic at work. Blackbird's  demand our devotion and commitment first, before they even consider opening up to us. For the shaman, the lesson here is to not give yourself away too easily. Intentions and motives are to be kept protected to a certain degree.

The flight of a blackbird is symbolic of the quest for higher knowledge, The Blackbird is a reminder to keep improving ourselves and to gain a better understanding of the world around us.

Wednesday 25 October 2017

Jackdaw - Totem Bird of the Day


Send Healing To Yourself

Daily OM: Most people, when given an opportunity to aid someone in need, are eager to do whatever they can to be of service. Those of us who have chosen to make healing the world a vocation are grateful for any occasion to send light and love to people in our immediate spheres of influence and beyond. As we apply our passion and our principles to this altruistic endeavor, we often forget to send ourselves the same bountiful gifts of wellness, though we ourselves may be in dire need of it. We overlook ourselves, not because we forget, but because we fear that focusing on the self is an indicator of selfishness. It is moreover much more difficult to heal oneself than to heal others because the seeds of uncertainty are more easily banished when we act on another's behalf. When we send healing light to ourselves, it is important that our intentions and our self-trust be stronger than ever to counteract doubt.

As we bless ourselves in this way, we serve as both an active channel and a passive destination. This should not change the way we interact with the valuable energy we wish to receive, however...read more>>>...

“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” ― Herman Melville


“The False Ego’s nature is jealousy and aggression, It’s primary fear is it won’t survive, thus it will do whatever it takes to be the strongest, or at the top of the pile” -Matthew James


Image of the Day

UK Corvus

Tuesday 24 October 2017

Totem Bird of the Day


"The False Ego creates paranoia, jealousy and greed. Promoting separation and falsehood not truth"


Image of the Day

Jerrabomberra Wetlands - Canberra, Australia

Finding Deep Strength

Daily OM: We have all faced moments in our lives when the pressure mounts beyond what we feel we can handle, and we find ourselves thinking that we do not have the strength to carry on. Sometimes we have just gotten through a major obstacle or illness only to find another one waiting for us the moment we finally catch our breath. Sometimes we endure one loss after another, wondering when we will get a break from life's travails. It does not seem fair or right that life should demand more of us when we feel we have given all we can, but sometimes this is the way life works.

When we look back on our lives, we see that we have survived many trials and surmounted many obstacles, often to our own amazement. In each of those instances, we had to break through our ideas about how much we can handle and go deeper into our hidden reserves...read more>>>...

“Even in the familiar there can be surprise and wonder.” ― Tierney Gearon