Astral Awareness and Paradigm Tweaking

Calls went out in the fall of 2006 when an astral node blew and a shooter began killing children in a rural school. Healers and facilitators felt the urgency and responded. As mentioned in an August 2007 post, a healer and journey worker friend of mine and I were among those who gathered.

Spiritual disaster work isn't always clear cut and obvious … it certainly wasn't for us that day. Because our customary roles involved interaction with participants, our thoughts focused on tending those in need. What happened was more like watching a movie at a drive-in.

From a distance, we saw concentric circles of protective light surrounding the devastation … within the circles, workers administered to the casualties, their families and community. Except for my friend's tenuous connection to one of the children, we stood back.

Our expectations differing from the reality, we were measurably disoriented. However, we trusted the validity of the call we'd received and we knew the event wasn't trivial. Repeatedly we re-grounded and re-balanced.

Best we could determine, we were called to witness … exactly what we were to see, we didn't know. Lack of an overview was of no consequence; we committed to provide, do, whatever guidance disclosed. It was with acceptance of the unfamiliar and alignment with greater intention that we became aware of the furious, terrible hole in the ground beside us.

It's an understatement to note the hole was an unexpected anomaly. It was a dreadful aberration. It felt as if it contained legions of horrors … some recent, some from times past. We could hear it raging ~ filled with sounds of gale force winds and echoes of screams. We could see it squirming ~ frantically sucking the emotionally charged atmosphere. We caught glimpses of the system's interior … we felt its ferocious greed and determination.

Bizarre as it was, we didn't pause to mull its implications, much less consider why it was on the periphery, where it had been or what it had been doing before we saw it. In the moment, all we knew was that it was a component of the tragedy.

We snapped to: … perception of the astral opening was only a partial task. The system needed to be disengaged from 3d and the hole sealed.

Using an etheric disk equivalent to a massive manhole cover, we severed the connection. It held. The sounds subsided and the quaking ground around the opening calmed. There was no pleasure in our action … truthfully, we didn't know if what we'd done had any affect on the immediate circumstances, on the injured or the healers and workers involved.

We were, at most, only semi-relieved. The disk wasn't a permanent solution … it was an adequate solution for the current incident but it didn't address the fact of the manifest hole or the massive amount of energy the system behind it wielded. What was it? Where did it come from? Why did we see it? Clearly, this experience would require more than a little debriefing.

Astral Buzzsaws & Axial Ages … The Boat of Reality is a-Rockin'

Without interference, energies in motion continue until they atrophy. Astral networks perpetuate and propagate. They avoid deterioration by using energies from manifest events to fuel themselves and create offspring.

If everything is part of the Greater Whole, is it right to thwart these things? That's a razor's edge question. Make no mistake: … for healers, psychopomps and warriors alike, it is a spiritual determination. Not to be wishy washy, but: … the answer is yours.

Resolution to service is chock full of variables ~ ethical, personal, mechanical. Mere recognition is a form of participation. In a sense, then, we all handle astral events … some just more consciously than others. Observation we can regulate somewhat. Attendance is a commitment.

Middle ground meddling is neither prudent nor advisable … it plays to and with weaknesses. The lure to dabble can begin in innocence, as a product of curiosity. It can be insidious ... sans the counterbalance of understanding, it can lead to very ungrounded behaviours and manifestations.

Calls are deep knowings accompanied by feelings of responsibility. They often produce physical agitation and a sense of urgency. When dealing with calls of attendance, we function from our strengths.

Just as event groups vary, individual callings differ. It's not unusual for them to come progressively, in stages with each new summons building on its predecessors. There's wisdom in the process … paths to commitment follow the lines of our development. We may spend years, decades even, wending our ways through unseen matters before we accept the charge of facilitator.

Know thyself. Evaluate yourself clearly, without the rose colored glasses of personal or external expectation. Declining the role is not passport to damnation and it doesn't make us bad people. I may fully appreciate a welder's art and craft … I may learn all I can about it … but my path may not be that of a welder.

That said, numbers of us do engage in the tasks of astral impingement. Many of us work alone ~ more correctly, alone in 3d ~ and we work without a standards manual. In my opinion, any how-to handbook for dealing with everything astral would be questionable.

I say this because I believe the times they are a-'changin'. It's not that what worked in the recent past ~ in recorded historical times ~ is invalid … rather, I think there is a very big possibility it's insufficient.

German psychologist and philosopher Karl Jaspers, when he published his work The Origin and Goal of History in 1949, released the notion of 'axial ages' into the collective. The term he coined referred to pivotal times of transition in which "… the spiritual foundations of humanity were laid simultaneously and independently …"

According to theory, the first axial shift occurred in the period from 800 bce to 200 bce. It gave rise to the foundations of civilization ~ economic, social, and political ~ and it birthed the world's religions. Since public introduction of the idea, axial age reality has been bandied about … some dismiss it; others have expanded it, suggesting additional axial ages as well as the fact we are either in one, or on the cusp of one, now.

I suspect multiple axial ages have occurred ~ some poking into larger time frames like overlooked little ice ages … some so ancient as to be evident only in trace memories of Atlantis and Lemuria. I also agree with the premise that one is underway. Entire new sets of conceptions and behaviour are taking shape.

What does this have to do with astral entanglement? Two things:
(1) I suspect astral consciousness is aware of the change, fully intent on taking advantage of diminished institutional holds on 3d reality.
(2) I believe it's foolhardy for us to rely solely on past definitions and models. Now is the time to envision with new eyes.


art link: http://www.silverblades-suitcase.com/index.htm

The #3 … Triskele Formation and Buzzsaws in Consciousness

In his 1938 work, Medieval Number Symbolism, Vincent Hopper noted: … a single occurrence is of no statistical significance … a second occurrence might be coincidence … a third, however, gives the impress of law.

Across civilizations and for who knows how long, the number three has been crowned special. Contrary to what some writers say, the significant triple is not exclusively a western concept … the I Ching's hexagrams, for example, are composed of two figures of three lines each ~ double trigrams.

Since the why and the how of threes may well have practical application with a quantum twist, let's try to get a handle on the number's mannerisms and techniques.

We all have repertoires of stock concerns keeping our minds busy ~ family matters, jobs, finances, health issues, favorite interests, must do lists, want to do lists, etc. We're conditioned, voluntarily and involuntarily, to ignore what isn't pertinent.

These walls-pass-not are defense against incoming data to help us maintain focus. Advertisers spend bookoo bucks trying to break through our liminal barriers. Current marketing wisdom holds it takes a minimum of 3, sometimes 6, but most generally 9 exposures to a product for a potential buyer to notice and form an opinion about it.

hm-hm-hm-hm-hmmmmm … 3 or a multiple of 3. Could it be that humanity is hardwired to heed the number and its multiples? Nothing's impossible and some things are probable. What is clear is that three is a trigger.

By function, it appears astral energy spikes from invisible astral batteries/nodes (just like propaganda and sales campaigns from behind the scenes mind control specialists) have purpose:
event #1 = The Harbinger … fixes an astral hook in the physical;
event #2 = The Setter … establishes the relevant field of operation;
event #3 = The Activator … breaks through the threshold of consciousness.

The symbol that best approximates this triple whammy is the triskele … this is the venerable three armed, three legged, three appendaged image associated with rotating movement. This motion-oriented template is especially meaningful … because a thought or intention of any origin loosed into the collective absolutely has the ability to hack through it like a buzzsaw.

Several months ago I mentioned I was harping on astral matters because I felt they are an unacknowledged element of entanglement in modern society and that it behooves those of us whose purpose is to assist in transformation processes to know the circumstances and characteristics of the realities we encounter.

I still feel that way. Detecting harbinger events is a first step toward thwarting havoc wrecking, astral-serving destruction ... knowing astral intrusions strive for buzzsaw status is a new informational tool.

Whether we deploy as warriors at the outset of an astral series or later as healers, there's a quantum catch: … the observed and the observer have a relationship ~ to insure we don't further fuel matters, we must function consistently with clarity and without responsive passion.

Admittedly, we're walking a fine edge here but I truly believe it is possible to follow the admonition of the Roman physician, Galen: … Above All ~ Do No Harm.

Repetition = Key to Identifying Astral Networks

In the astral entanglement quest, what do we have so far?

In the astral, we've got a network of holding cells. The purpose of the cells is dual: … they collect energies from 3d events … and they release energies into new events. This process creates cycles.

In normal 3d reality, we've got seemingly unrelated hairball events happening over time which contain like ~ and sometimes identical ~ energy signatures and patterns.

Depicting an astral network as it appears from the astral plane is the easy part … delineating it from the 3d perspective is something else.

Astral entanglement indicators in 3d defy logic. More often than not, they are patently, convolutedly, implausible and dubious ... they're routinely discounted as figments of fertile imaginations. Nonetheless, coincidental flukes and statistical anomalies are hallmarks of astral provocation.

And just what would these flukes be? Well, this is the tricky, messy part … they can be anything. Physical objects as well as the notations used to identify them ~ names, numbers, dates, modes of transportation (airplanes), types of buildings (schools), etc. ~ are easily spotted. Less visible are embedded sequences ~ alliterations, numbers in series ~ and the frequent presence of objects or images, of words or phrases, of colors or shapes.

Whatever they happen to be, they're detectable by virtue of their repetition.

Repetition is cardinal. In addition to signifying astral entanglement activity, repetition reveals something about the nature of the networks themselves: … while they appear disjointed, astral networks are not altogether chaotic. This is precisely what the German root word for entanglement ~ verschränkung ~ implies.

Good examples are things in threes: … three planes crash … three celebrities die … three friends take ill ... three cars wreck at an intersection. Trilogies aren't solely an astral standard … but triple-manifestation is one modus operandi.


ps
I encourage you to check out Merlin Wood's August 22, 2007, blog entitled Could there be a cause that acts universally in addition to the known forces. The article contains an excellent graphic of non-local connections.
http://rebelwithaformconservingcause.blogspot.com/

Astral Nodes … Anatomy and Feeding

Nodes are points marking intersections where two or more objects or phenomenon converge … this is their simplest description. In astronomy-speak, they are points where orbits cross planes.

In organic contexts, they are more than points: … they are points+. In botany, nodes refer to joints in stems and branches on trees … the plus being a visible product of growth.

Anatomically, they are knot-like masses of tissue … they are either part of a structure, like the lymph system, or seemingly stand alone encasements, like cysts. This anatomical plus refers to node capacity to collect and hold some volume of matter.

These scholastic definitions hold true for unseen realities as well. Thought nodes arise whenever notions intersect. Without energy input, thought nodes amount to little more than minute dots in the ethers. Thoughts invigorated with any type of feeling, however, constitute a horse of a different color … interest adds pluses to points.

By way of a highly unlikely example, if I bothered to ponder Paris Hilton's behaviour for a day, the trail of thought nodes I'd generate would require a microscope to track. That's because I really don't give a hoot ... I cannot muster any enthusiasm for things Paris.

The only node that might stand out from the bulk would be the one created the moment I kicked my doofus butt for wading around in absurdity … there's a real possibility that chastising thought would flick out as an emotional spike with a touch of substance!

To the eye of the publicity hungry whale of a machine that is the PH syndicate, these doppy musings might resemble a cloud of delicious plankton. My self-disciplining emotion spike, in all fairness, might equate to a morsel of embedded krill. Regardless, the entire set of nodes would have little density ... they'd be a fog of astral fodder.

The point is: … greater feelings at intersections create proportionally more vitalized nodes. Like the battery and 3d plug example earlier: … the process is interactive. The difference is that when we do the thinking, we are the batteries providing juice. Node umph is very much a matter of personal investment, of passion and emotion.

Altered States of Consciousness and Perception

Normal 3d states of consciousness routinely morph into altered states of consciousness during energy work. ASCs vary in nature and depend most heavily on the natural attributes of practitioners.

Healers, for example, who are medically intuitive may perceive visuals ... images of a person's body with color highlights indicating areas of malfunction. Where one sees in color, another equally adept practitioner may sense via objects or sound … heavy metal contamination may look like an anvil or a frying pan, pinched nerves may sound like fingernails scraping a blackboard.

An intestinal blockage may make a healer feel like s/he is lugging a belly full of golf balls. Yet another may recognize the acrid aroma of dis-ease or catch whiff of an herb the body needs to augment its immune system. Many receive guidance from higher consciousness and angelic helpers.

There's no set standard in ASC perceptions … as a consequence, decoding them is a lot like interpreting dreams. With practice, however, workers become familiar with their personal penchants and develop repertoires for future reference.

My primary bent is toward the visual with auditory assists. What has become evident to me as well is that my role is often on the periphery. I work with environments surrounding subjects ~ which often turn out to be not people but the functional energies manifest in circumstances enveloping them.

One example of this is end of life transitions. In these settings, I am regularly an auxiliary facilitator, tasked with clearing emotional fields, subduing charged energy barbs and providing support in terms the individual as well as his/her relatives and friends accept.

While the calls I receive are sometimes local, the preponderance is non-local. 911 was the pivotal event that made me aware of my general propensity … it was also where it dawned on me that the supporting niche I fill includes assisting others also called to help.

There is no question whatsoever in my mind that many of us experienced analogous epiphanies then. It does not matter whether we are acquainted in 3d or cyberspace ... it's of no import if we are complete strangers from different lands ... the etheric connections created at that time, I have zero doubt, now serve as our operational templates when need arises and calls got out.

~ Namaste ~

Dynamic Astral … Nodes ~ Batteries & 3d Plugs

Collective subsets are invisible and real … they are also dynamic.

In a collective subset, there are two aspects of dynamic to consider: … (1) between individuals and (2) between 3d and invisible astral anchors. We've touched on the first; now let's look at the second.

The simplest illustration is the connection that sets up between two points or, more properly, nodes. In the bare bones example above, the invisible astral is represented by the battery and the 3d complement by the plug. Although it's not neat and tidy, the entire subset could be called a field or a sphere.

In this arrangement, energy from an astral storage cell wouldn't have a problem hauing pattotti to an engaged receiver. Batteries, though, are famous for running out of juice … which brings up the question of how an astral set up might gather sufficient energy to perpetuate itself.

I believe this process is what I witnessed at the site of the school shootings a year ago. I was called to the location in what I thought at the time were psychopomp and healing contexts. Once there, it was apparent those roles were attended and I had been called to serve in another capacity ~ as best I could tell at the time, I was supposed to observe a hole in the ground.

To save you the boredom of reading back, here's the abridgment:
" … the hole opened into a tube with a multitude of forked off, smaller branches. It wasn't red but it reminded me of the body's circulatory system. It's inaccurate to say it wasn't pumping anything into the 3d scene because it may have been ... it was laboring to hold its field of manifestation.

However, its primary objective was to drain the scene ... it was a furious energy sucking vacuum cleaner. Instead of funneling into a central canister, the energy acquisitions surged ~ harum-scarum and at breakneck speed ~ through tunnelettes. I couldn't see where any of them were ultimately headed but I felt sure they wouldn't end up in dead end receptacles."

What this means to me: … astral systems collect emotional energies from violent 3d events. The systems have windows of opportunity in which to do this. Energies syphoned from a brutal scene are funneled into resonant astral storage cells ~ batteries ~ where they are held until another 3d node plugs itself into the invisible system or field.

This astral collection and distribution model sheds light on the seemingly improbable connections between event groups. They are not copycat events … they are alike because each one utilizes the energies provided by another.

More importantly to my mind, this explanation offers potential strategy to quell negative energy flows. For lightworkers, healers, shamanic practitioners, energy workers ~ all who attend the human condition in the etheric ~ knowing the feed lines can be severed is more than a little significant.

The Greater Whole & Collective SubSets

The notion unseen networks of thought and emotion affect human behaviour isn't novel.

Everything that exists is a part of The Greater Whole. That Which Is, indeed, is the grand and awesome Totality, the Mystery worthy of ponderment … knowing It is the goal of mystics, of science and religion alike.

That Which Is ~ the universe, multiverses and all of creation anywhere and everywhere ~ isn't easy to think, though … it's really, really, really big! In normal consciousness, size alone renders it impossible to fathom.

What people do, instead, is focus on smaller units, on countless sub-collectives. For the most part and without passing judgment, we rely on subsets borne of cultural affiliation ~ local, regional, national ~ religion, politics, class, gender, appearance, etc. to define and position ourselves.

Resonant bonds between individuals within subsets are products of agreed upon, communally honored, foundational thought forms that underpin peer groups and societies. Despite invisibility, subsets are quite real.

The moment a sub-collective takes precedence in thought over The Greater Whole, there is division. Division + human capacity to categorize and judge = oft certain birth of polarity.

Besides effectively easing the onus of personal inquiry into the vast Everything, polarity creates framework through which we can easily identify who we are, here and now, in terms of recognizable relationship. We know which end is up, who's who in the pecking order and what to expect … these are is polarity's practical conveniences.

Within the boundaries of collective thought forms, we can find comfort being one of the better these instead of one of the less desirable those … it's flawed, yes, but still one honkingly seductive rating scale!

Quantum Model ~ Template for Event Groups?

Can quantum models serve as templates for larger forms of manifestation? I think they can.

The hole in the ground experience mentioned in Astral ~ Why Go There? Part 3 demonstrates a method ~ an entanglement ~ by which energy from one event can be syphoned and routed elsewhere. If this is viable, the possibility of 'event groups' is a reality.

An event group of the hairball type can be defined a collection of happenings that share communal energy. Because the energy tunnels connecting them are not obvious, individual eruptions appear to arise in isolation.

While there's nothing to say it's impossible for group events to manifest simultaneously, the ones that have shouldered into my awareness present in series … varying from rapid fire, with one event following another within days or weeks, to slow fire, which allows up to a year or more between occurrences.

Despite separation in time, event groups exhibit eerily similar, multiple energy patterns. Readily recognizable, common hairball elements include: … forms of abuse, individuals targeted, staging locations and types of weapons.

Even though copycats and hairballs differ, the possibility of an event group exists whenever there are parallels in occurrences. In copycat events, perpetrators consciously seek to replicate previous incidents.

Copycats employ conscious scheming … basically, they purposefully manipulate reported energies into new settings. Hairball violence outbursts, on the other hand, carry intentions of 'purity' … they are embraced by perps as specific, unique, one of a kind occurrences.

The feasibility of hairball energy fields being wired to and fueled by an unseen and unknown system of supply ~ of being astrally entangled ~ reveals a reality that's both ironic and deceptive.

Quantum Definitions and a Pile of Salt

When it comes to communication, things quantum are crazy makers … they are for me anyway. I hear about quantum this or that and my truth bells start ringing. I experience an instant of synchronized brain harmony. It doesn't matter if a concept originated in the mind of an Einstein or the mind of God. I'm there ~ I'm connected … soaking up insight and happy dancing.

In these twinkling states, I greet quantum on equal terms. Aware these points of awe are fleeting, I make mental notes to pursue quantum nuances when I come to ground. Once back in normal consciousness, I pull out the research and resource tools.

Whappo! Talk about getting smacked down like a fly headed for pie! Reality check: … I'm so not a scientist. I'm not much of a messenger, either ... carrying data from an altered state to daily life is a skill I have yet to master.

It's not a completely lost cause, though. One thing my logical and intuitive mind-sets agree on: … truth is where you find it. Intuitively, I understand ... it's my intellect that needs assistance. To help my logical self over the hurdles, I make notes ~ it's sort of the mental equivalent of pacing the floor.

daDancinCrone's Unofficial Guide to Quantum Stuff

Quanta:
… plural of quantum

... small, distinct units

Quantum:
… from Latin meaning 'how much'
… refers to the smallest amount of a physical quantity that can exist on its own

Quantum Packet:
… a single amount of quantum energy is identified as a packet
… light waves, for example, contain multiple energy packets

Quantum System:
… an organized grouping of recognized principles and peculiarities relating to a quantum observation

Quantum Physics, Quantum Theory, Quantum Mechanics:
… these terms are often used interchangeably

… read slowly when encountering them

Quantum Physics:
… branch of physics that deals with matter on the atomic level ~ ie, it's the physics of the very small
… describes and predicts properties of a physical system based on quantum theory discoveries

Quantum Theory:
… group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for quantum phenomena
… explanation(s) of matter and energy that views energy in small, distinct units ~ quanta ~ which are released and absorbed
… says all matter displays properties of both waves and particles ~ as does light

Quantum Mechanics:
… how quantum things function
… another way to say = deals with the operational qualities of matter
… suggests the behavior of matter and energy is inherently probabilistic
… indicates an observer of a physical system is part of the overall equation ~ ie, there is a relationship between a physical system being observed and the observer her/himself

Quantum State:
… deals with quantum relationships
… a defined environment that describes the conditions in which a physical system exists
… not all quantum states are alike ~ they vary
… states are based on properties like energy, motion and magnetics
… in addition to identified quantum states, new ones are emerging ~ gravity is one of the recent additions
… state(s) are delineated scientifically sets of numbers ~ which sounds like a remote viewing protocol

Ouachita Celebration!

Views of Queen Wilhelmina Lodge and the Ouachita National Forest that surrounds it.

Blog pause: ... I'm heading up this mountain, Rich Mountain, for a few days 'cause that's where daParty is! B's birthday was last week … the celebration is this weekend!

It's a big deal for us ... quite without warning and with zero grace, B fell into the River Styx in 1996. Getting him out of there, oh that was a to-do ... but a mission accomplished! It's time to make happy!!!

Entanglement Word Morph

Having danced with astral terminology, let's waltz with entanglement:

… the act of entangling
… the state of being entangled
… something that entangles; snare; involvement; complication*

Oh, for pete's sake, is it too much to ask a definition to exclude versions of the term it's defining?

Okay … let's take the backward step and look at entangle:
… to twist together or entwine into a confusing mass; snarl
… to complicate; confuse
… to involve in or as if in a tangle**

That's closer … no cigar, but closer. Obviously, the word entanglement isn't out of morph mode yet. In the mid-1930s, entanglement ~ as applied to quantum activity ~ was christened. The father of this baby: … Austrian theoretical physicist and winner of the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics, Erwin Schrödinger.

The word Schrödinger used, however, wasn't entanglement … it was verschränkung. As per The Center for Quantum Computation, there was loss in the translation:

"Entanglement" and "Verschränkung" are examples of translated words that indeed conjure up different images in their respective languages.

The German "Verschränkung" translates literally into English as "folding" or "crossing over", as in the folding or crossing of one's arms or legs.

The English "entanglement" translates literally into German as Verfangen, which is often used to describe a tangle of strings or of cables.

Both, it seems, bring out the correct notion of inseparability: the binding or linking of two systems in some physically fundamental way.

However, the meanings of these two are undoubtedly quite different."***

Quite different, indeed. German verschränkung implies far less anarchy than English's balled up entanglement version. It's important, ultimately, to keep this in mind because the bottom line is the difference in hodgepodge and harmony ... and that's a matter, whether we ponder the nature of the void or not, that underpins our personal world views and determines how we structure our lives. It certainly had an effect on Albert Einstein.

Einstein, who believed God didn't play dice with the universe and who had his own baggage when it came to quantum entanglement's non-local implications, objected. His take on the concept:

Spukhafte Fernwirkung ... aka ... Spooky Action at a Distance.

Well, spooky may be correct … but spooky doesn't mean it isn't true.

* Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006

** The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company

*** The Center for Quantum Computation

Astral ~ Why Go There? … part 3

Ask and ye shall receive

I'd asked … it took a hole in the ground for me listen up.

At first it was mildly interesting ~ obviously relieving but not captivating ~ to note I wasn't called to every atrocity I heard about. Thinking back, it was a good half a year, maybe more, before it dawned on me these brutality alerts weren't guiding me to individuals … they were about the dots, the events themselves. *Big Duh Moment*

When that light bulb switched on, I did the decent compulsive thing … I decided to track the calls. My plan was to identify hairball markers … my hope was they'd shed light on the links ... my goal was to discover whatever it was I kept missing, to find the why behind the calls.

That meant spreadsheets, monstrous spreadsheets. In addition to regular data ~ names, ages, times of day and criminal backgrounds ~ I plugged in natural events ~ phases of the moon, solar flares, concurrent earthquakes and storms.

I sought out feng shui pathways and obstructions ~ rivers, aquifers, highways, intersections, mountains and molehills … any discernible line of flow or holding pot that might foster energetic effects.

I'm easily dazzled by details. One day while clicking along in data entry mode, I realized my method was faulty. The mapping approach was equivalent to diagnosing small pox by poking each little lesion.

Air out of my sail, I stood down from the spreadsheets to reevaluate. Popular advice was: … go within. Fact of the matter, I was reluctant to enter an altered state with nasty astral on my mind. I didn't know what to do … but I didn't worry for long.

In the autumn of 2006, soon after I hit the pause button, a friend ~ an experienced healer and journey worker ~ and I responded to a shooting. We weren't lone attendees … a multitude of workers had been called.

Amid the gathering of lightworkers and facilitators, something else was visible: … a big hole in the ground.

To my perception, the hole opened into a tube with a multitude of forked off, smaller branches. It wasn't red but it reminded me of the body's circulatory system. It's inaccurate to say it wasn't pumping anything into the 3d scene because it may have been ... it was laboring to hold its field of manifestation.

However, its primary objective was to drain the scene … it was a furious energy sucking vacuum cleaner. Instead of funneling into a central canister, the energy acquisitions surged ~ harum-scarum and at breakneck speed ~ through the tunnelettes. I couldn't see where any of them were ultimately headed but I felt sure they wouldn't end up in dead end receptacles.

I didn't like it and I wasn't pleased to see it … but there it was, bigger than day and un-ignorable. It had my attention and ~ ratso fratso damn ~ it pointed in the one direction I didn't want to go: … toward the astral. I whined before I considered the trail of clues.

Underground was symbolic … this was a dimensional portal, replete with pathways. To say it was angry would be an understatement … my take was that it was steeped in bloodlust and malice. Moreover, that the entire network was a conduit, frantically transmitting highly charged emotions and thought forms, meant it existed in relationship to something other.

The hole marked a hairball dot ~ a terminal of manifestation in 3d. The system's branches demonstrated how the invisible links operated. The driving force that permeated the vision was a great sense of urgency. That sense was key to my understanding. *Big Eureka Moment*

The system had a limited window of opportunity! It had a quantum structure! This was entanglement ~ astral entanglement ~ in action!

Astral ~ Why Go There? … part 2

As to the other question ~ Why scrutinize the astral? Why not let the sleeping dog lie? Perhaps I could if it was resting … but I don't think it is.

'Things always happen in threes!' … Is this a superstition? an expectation that's fulfilled by waiting for semi-comparable incidents to occur? an acknowledgment of similarities noted coincidentally? or does it have a somewhat mysterious, yet bona fide, basis in fact? I believe it's the latter.

In fact, I believe beyond the three-in-sequence scenario: … I believe many presumably unconnected events are 'somewhat mysteriously' bound together. It wouldn't surprise me to know there are legions of invisible links. The ones I can name off the top of my head are:

• consequential … these fall into the obvious "if this, then that" category;
• archetypal … these are restagings of great romantic legends and cultural dramas;
• hairball … these don't appear to be consequential and they don't cater exclusively to standard themes. They come in waves but they do not fit a classic copy-cat theory.

Several years ago, hairballs began grabbing my attention. The uncomfortable truth is: … I've been drawn to some really ugly incidents. Primarily these involved abuse and slaughter of innocents. My interest wasn't relegated to rubbernecking … it was more like a calling. The nature of the calling, though, was unclear. It had a high weirdness factor and I was repulsed.

I did the normal thing ~ I ran through the checklist of possibilities: … Was I careless? Had I allowed myself to be caught up in media frenzies? Were unrecognized karmic wounds popping open? Was I undergoing a complete identity rewrite?

With each gruesome event, those questions were never far from the top of my mind. Never far below the surface was something else as well: … a deep feeling of responsibility. I knew I had to pay attention … there was something I was to witness, to ascertain. But what?

When it comes to end of life transitions, my role is customarily indirect … that is, while I offer support to the ones who are passing forward, my job is to secure peace in the environment surrounding them. This, then, is what I began doing with real time transpersonal hairballs.

When called to an incident, I offered the tools in my care … at the very least, it beat gawking.

Astral ~ Why Go There? … part 1

Models are helpful for pondering because thoughts do well in containers … containers are like cauldrons, bubbling with ideas that you spice up with new notions.

In astral discussions I've had with myself over the past years, the model I've used is one that closely parallels the emotional definition of latter day Theosophists. Unlike them, however, I've expended zippo effort to create a hierarchical structure.

This is because: … unless it's a matter of utmost consequence and as positively necessary as it can be because there's no viable alternative, I don't do astral.

It really doesn't matter to me if it's labeled a plane or a dimension. This astral is as heavy as it is dense, harboring vile and nasty thoughts and forms. It's toxic and it's volatile, with all manner of host-seeking elements trying to implant depraved seeds and adhere to wanderers. I agree it's not exclusively an after-life realm and I have no dictate telling me it's restricted to earth's humanity.

So, if I don't go there and I don't invite it to wherever I am, why talk about it? For pity's sake, isn't discussion a form of invitation?

Valid questions. I'll start by addressing the invitation potential. Yes, chatter about anything can stimulate and solicit its energies. Knowing this happens is essential to the manner in which a topic is reviewed. I have no intention whatsoever of empowering astral jigglies.

We don't have to swim in a septic tank to know there's one the in neighborhood. By sidestepping emotional involvement and focusing on intellectual examination, I believe we sufficiently distance ourselves from astral junk to permit discussion.

This isn't an exercise undertaken for adventure. It's mandatory. Those of us whose purpose is to assist transformation must know the circumstances and characteristics of the realities we encounter.

If we don't look at the largest reality pictures we're capable of getting, we end up in fire fighting mentality. It's like when you're juggling a dozen things at work and an unexpected something happens that overrides all of your pressing projects. You extinguish the new fire … and when you return your attention to where you were, you discover another fire ignited in your absence.

It's the same whether we're on the job or spiritual workers. On a personal level, fire fighting leads to burn-out. How many lightworkers and healers have you witnessed longing for home? loving hearts who are tired to the bone, craving respite and nurture from the ceaseless chaos of living?

Similarly, fire fighting jerks ~ and subsequently divides ~ our attention to the point where even easily accomplished, routine tasks fall through the cracks. We feel ineffective. It doesn't take many episodes of subjective impotence for us to deem ourselves ill equipped for any task, our 3d job or our greater purpose.

So how do we abort the downward spiral of reaction, of darting recklessly from fire to fire and refocus? It is doable.

The first step is to stand tall on the spot and survey our landscape … in short, regain our clarity of vision. Whatever is within our range of perception, regardless of whether it's judged positive or negative, isn't there on accident.

By whatever tags we've chosen to append to our lapels ~ lightworker, healer, energy worker, priestess or priest, shamanic practitioner, bridge builder or warrior ~ we're facilitators. To fulfill our purposes, it's essential for us to know the operational lay of the land.

Astral Word Morph

Mental, structured awareness of Theosophy
+
Organic, less rigid awareness of Spiritualism
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Awareness Moving Itself into Mass Consciousness

The morph for the term astral went something like this: … in the final quarter of the 1800s, astral was the Theosophical term-of-choice for the plane of reality immediately adjacent the physical. To the movement's founder, H.P. Blavatsky, astral corresponded with the Sanskrit Linga Sharira ~ the refined vehicle of individual consciousness.

Blavatsky's understanding had historical backing but it didn't stand alone for long. Theosophists ~ who felt astral more aptly referred to Kama, the principle of desire ~ and Spiritualists ~ who were deeply concerned with afterlife validation ~ concurrently promoted re-definition. By the 1930s, astral as equivalent to the emotional plane/body was entrenched.

This re-understanding had staying power in no small part because it wasn't removed from accustomed beliefs: … it was a version of Dante's hell, filled with foul and tortured souls. One of the hardest things anyone can do is move her/his perception beyond local and learned confinements.

Standards of duality ~ of here and there, of us and them, of right and wrong, of reward and punishment, of polar opposites ~ are time honored, cross cultural denominators. Tinkering with these mainstays can be the social equivalent of messing with Mother Nature. But forerunners and seekers do it anyway.

Branches on the tree of astral definitions grew outward with ripples in consciousness. The ferment spurring astral re-definition a century ago included the Science of Mind concept of thoughts-as-things … a major tenet that facilitated the feasibility of thoughts ~ from waking and dream states alike ~ as energetic entities.

Reports of the Roswell incident further advanced astral's scope by including the possibility of off-worlders in the unseen population. The paradigm supporting pillar of duality ~ the closed-system, vertically linear model implied by angels & demons ~ became suspect with the inclusion of alien beings.

On the Metaphysical Richter scale, this shift ranks as a 9.7+ quake in perception. The fallout from the upheaval is ongoing: … the astral now presses toward dimensional revision. Consciousness is keeping pace, perhaps setting pace: … beyond the universe, we glimpse the multiverse.

Other than noting that it morphed, continues to morph and means different things to different people, why fret over the definition of astral anything? I'm harping on it is because I highly suspect it is an unacknowledged element of entanglement in modern society.

Zones of Ambiguity

Ever wonder if angels are dakinis by another name? if a dopplelganger is identical to a shadow person? are ascension and rapture the same thing? are soul and spirit interchangeable? is it correct to call the etheric template an aura?

If you've questioned along these lines, you're familiar with zones of ambiguity. Zones manifest when definitions overlap. It's organic ... words morph and terms adapt. Change is a function of living language.

Of course, a lot of words are deliberately skewed … marketing gurus do a lot of it. As a sales device, wordplay is a biggie. Morphing is spin in politics and it's used to dehumanize opponents in combat. Beyond insidious manipulation, however, natural morphing serves consciousness.

The universe is ceaselessly creative. After it propels a volley of seed ideas into the collective, receptive resonant minds in labor grab handy terms ~ concretely parallel or conceptually correspondent ~ and use them to communicate their newborn insights.

It's a logical enough thing to do and re-definitions make sense, of course, to word-parents anxious to share their infant epiphanies with humanity at large. Re-directed meanings, however, don't necessarily mean squat to new ears … assimilation can be messy and take time.

In academic, religious, scientific and philosophical arenas ~ systems where ideas are held in place by formalized rings-pass-not ~ it's not unusual for morphed terminology to be ridiculed. People paying it the smallest attention are denigrated. Reactions from this front tend to be low key, in keeping with the rules of etiquette. Make no mistake, though ... subtlety can be an effective weapon.

Google "New Age Definitions" and you'll get a ton of bona fide hits … you'll also get servings of objection. Some schools of indoctrination simply don't take kindly to what they consider the external hijacking of their proprietary glossaries! For seekers who are not hidebound, navigating these designated zones can be treacherous.

Disruptive zones ~ some directly definition related and some using terms as fulcrums for agendas ~ arise inside movements as well. In the early decades of Wicca, in the days before the internet, there were published debates concerning valid use of the word priestess … basically the dispute was over whether or not the term could apply to an independent, even solitary, practitioner or if the role, the word, rightfully ~ a la the diving right of kings ~ belonged solely to a chosen member of an accepted tradition.

In the same general timeframe, a similar dirty laundry tussle took place in Reiki circles … there was more controversy than you could shake a stick at about the necessity of proper lineage. Obtaining Master status was quite pricey then ~ so the money issue wasn't moot, either. Although her take veered from officially sanctioned lines, Diane Stein helped end the hoopla by granting public access to guarded attunements and symbols when she published Essential Reiki.

Both of these internal struggles were very much aligned with the hierarchal models of power and authority prevalent in the collective mind of the time. Even though separated by millennia, the modern day zones echoed the ancient Lao Tzu pattern: … in the same way the Old Master didn't emerge from a thought vacuum, neither did Wicca and Reiki. They, too, held forward visions … likewise, they contained constructs of their predecessors.

The smaller point is: … when we're in a zone of verbal ambiguity, there's wisdom in knowing what definition we're examining and who's claiming ownership.

The larger point is: … what happens in a verbal zone is not different from what happens in the overall field … you know: ~ as above, so below ~

Essence of Change

Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso, or more simply Ovid, is credited with fixing the notion of transformation ~ all things change, nothing perishes ~ in Western mind forever ago.

Although he's afforded glory for coining the phrase and lauded as a muse for medieval poets, he didn't hold sole intellectual property rights to the famous observation. One of his predecessors, Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus, made similar statements ~ all things flow, nothing abides & nothing endures but change ~ several centuries before Ovid further tweaked them.

In the East, possibly contemporaneously with Heraclitus, Lao Tzu ~ the Old Sage or Old Master and legendary author of the Tao Te Ching ~ was likewise deeply into the concepts of rhythm and transformation. The body of thought forms that nurtured him, moreover, predated him.

China's oldest classical text, the I Ching aka Book of Changes, originated during the reign of Emperor Fu Hsi, circa 2953-2838 bce. So, for at least two millennia before Lao Tzu tackled the untackable and spoke of that which cannot be spoken, implicit patterns of change were not only recognized ... they were studied and honored.

It's easy to see how Asia Minor, poised between worlds, served as a cultural passageway. It's no big step to acknowledge it as a scholastic melting pot where orators, philosophers, students and teachers flocked to water in wells of corroboration and inspiration. Yes, Anatolia was a portal on an ancient land based web of dusty trails.

Be that as well and good as it was, perceptions of change before codification were no more anchored in any geographical location than they were tied to a single individual or school of thought. Recognition of the process of transformation didn't require an academic degree. It wasn't an insight specific to any one civilization: East or West, North or South.

All that exists, exists in consciousness. Dry rocks get wet in rain. Trees weather seasons, their life sap pulsing in time with temperature. Coral reefs blossom and spawn in the wake of a full moon. Bears hibernate; butterflies migrate. Babies become children and grow to old age. Every form of consciousness that registers flux is familiar with change.

Change is fundamental. It comes with the teritory ~ any territory: ... physical, emotional, mental, spiritual.

It doesn't matter what names and analogies we use to tag and describe it. It doesn't matter if we like or loathe it. It doesn't matter if we anticipate it and cooperate or are overcome in surprise. It proceeds, invited or not. It makes no apologies. Individuals or entire civilizations, it treats the small and the large without prejudice.

Change is the most dependable aspect of reality-experience there is.

Linear Models ~ Trans-3d Realms & Correspondences

In vertical format, energetic flow logically addresses the notions of weight and gravity … heavy thoughts and emotions sink to lower levels while lighter energies rise.

This upright form also parallels standard representations of the chakra system.

Viewed horizontally, the sequence moves left-to-right in the same way prism charts depict long-to-short light/energy wavelengths/frequencies.

In greater context, of course, directions don't matter. Low-to-high and left-to-right are merely constructs that resonate in the Western mind. If the image was flipped upside down and/or turned backward, it would remain accurate because direction is relative to center ... and center is any tiny point of everywhere.

True as that is, reversed or backward would require an extra mental processing step, so I'll stick with the norms ... they're simple and make sense to me! *S*