Feng Shui and the Way of Vastu: The Energy of Space

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Julianne Victoria
Space is the most abundant "thing" in the Universe, including our bodies!

Space is the most abundant “thing” in the Universe, including our bodies!

In preparation for the Summer Solstice and the new stage that my life is embarking on, I decided to deep clean, clear out, and re-arrange my space. In my old home that I had for nearly 10 years, I had completely transformed it both inside and outside, based on the principles of both Feng Shui and the Way of Vastu, and though I had those principles in mind when I moved in here, I felt it was time to re-energize my space.

Both Feng Shui and the Way of Vastu work to enhance and maximize the energy of space so that our lives are happy, healthy, and full of abundance. Both systems can be applied to land, a house/home, a room, or even a small space such as a desk or altar. Feng Shui and the Way of Vastu each work with balancing the five elements so that we can live in harmony with nature and within our space. Because they come from different traditions, Chinese and Indian respectively, the five elements involved are different. Feng Shui, as with Traditional Chinese Medicine/Acupuncture and Chinese Astrology, uses the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The Way of Vastu, as with Ayurveda and Jyotisha/Vedic Astrology, uses the five elements of earth, fire, water, air, and ether/space.

Times of new beginnings, whether already begun, about to, or desired to begin, are great times to work with the energy of space. It helps us clear out old stuff and old energy and vibrations, and clear the space and the way for the new to come in. When our physical, mental, and energetic space is cluttered, there is no space to welcome in the new or more abundance into our lives. This energetic cleansing and clearing of our external space will also reflect itself in our internal mental and physical health. We will feel lighter, freer, more energized, and clearer about what we wish to flow into our lives, and the Universe will match those vibrations that we put out.

Space is the most abundant thing in the Universe. Invisible and seemingly empty dark energy is said to make up about 73% of outer space. Working with our space – home, room, cubicle, garden, etc. – to allow the universal energy (chi, prana, vastu) to flow free of obstructions and in harmony will create the space for healing on all levels and allow greater abundance and joy to flow into our lives.

Click here for Simple Feng Shui Tips for Healing, Balance, and Flow

From my book Flying From the Heart, A Collection of Poems on Loving and Being:

space

it is everywhere

it is in everything

it is

always

it cannot be grasped

but it can be held

in space

Vibrate with the cosmos and the cosmos will clear the path. – Yogi Bhajan

Posted in Health & Healing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Butterfly Journal 10th Month: Gratitude (Entry #1)

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Julianne Victoria

mer_fairyThe prompt for month ten: We’ve all noticed that when things are in harmony, they flow smoothly, and we’re happy. However, when things don’t go how we want or planned, we get upset. Nature likes to keep things in balance, so when things don’t go smoothly it’s likely that Nature is trying to tell us something. This is when we need to stop, take a step back, view things from a different perspective, and say thank you for this opportunity to learn and grow.

For the tenth month, think about all the things that you have been and are grateful for, and then think about the things you have not been grateful for. With the transformations that have taken place inside you over the last nine months, take a new look at those people, incidents, or situations, and find gratitude for them. What have or can you now learn from them? Did they or can they help you grow in some way that you had not been aware of?

In life we all have many teachers. Sometimes teachers come in the form of a human – a school teacher, a priest, a guru, a healer, etc. Sometimes our greatest teachers come in unexpected forms, like animals and pets, such as Simba. But oftentimes, our teachers are the experiences themselves, often the most difficult and challenging ones. We can learn from these struggles. These karmic lessons, if we allow, will take us to the deepest and darkest places in our psyches (The Ancient Greeks’ word for butterfly, life, breath, and soul was ψυχη, psyche), and though the darkness in such a cocoon is frightening at first, we will come out of it into the light as beautiful transformed butterflies.

In the past nine months my life has greatly shifted, changed, and transformed. Of course I am thankful for all the “good” things that have come about, such as new work, increased clientele, and new business and social connections. However, I am most thankful for the people and experiences that brought strife and frustrations. Why? Because they challenged me to grow. They gave me opportunities to choose, to use my free will, how to handle those people and situations, whether to match their negative energy and not grow, or to not feed their suffering, help if possible/wanted, and then let go and freely grow. By embracing the difficult times, confrontational people, and struggles, we metamorphose and grow into more light and beautiful beings.

There have been experiences of the past nine months that have challenged me, taught me, tested me, and inspired me to grow. The most difficult was caring for my mother with Alzheimer’s, whom I have never been close to in any way. This was an inner conflict/challenge. Though I was willing to help my father care for her, “Julie” had no personal desire to do this. I had to delay developing a new life here in California (See this journal post about my major life change) to do this. I struggled between being the healer, helper, and kind soul and the wishes and desires for what “Julie” wanted her life to be.

In spite of this inner conflict, I knew deep down that there was purpose to all this (layers actually, of course) and could see those layers of meaning. Making sure I had time for prayer, meditation, and self-reflection helped me stay in awareness, especially when my mother was violent and my father would take advantage of my presence and dump more on me when I was already stretched to my limits. This experience reinforced for me that I need to be better at standing up for myself and holding my boundaries firm, among other lessons. This lesson had been one of the most difficult in the past, and putting myself in this incredibly difficult position was actually the best thing I needed at the time.

Suffering, challenges, struggles have their purpose(s). When we learn and grow, and embrace and have gratitude for them, they can only become the most beautiful and freeing experiences of our lives.

From the Heart Sutra: Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi, Svaha! (Go, Go, Go deeper, Go even deeper, Awareness, Light!) 

In the deepest darkness, we find the brightest Light. Namaste _/l\_

In the next entry, I will discuss some of the major, and sometimes terrifying, challenges of past years that I am very thankful for, for without them I would not have learned to fly.

To read all previous Butterfly Journal entries, Click Here.

If you are interested in embarking on your own journey of transformation, you can purchase Butterfly Journal for under $10 from Create Space, Amazon (and international stores), or Barnes & Noble.

To learn more about and read reviews for Butterfly Journal, Click Here.

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Guest Hosting Tonight & Upcoming Teleconference!

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Julianne Victoria

flammarion1I am very excited to announce that tonight I will be guest hosting on BlogTalkRadio with Gwendolyn of Readings by Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn is a Numerologist and Tarot & Destiny card Reader. Tonight at 8:00 PM Pacific Time we will briefly discuss the current Mercury Retrograde, the Magician card, which is ruled by Mercury, and the number One. Then we will give some free Tarot, Oracle, or Destiny card readings to those who call in! Click here to listen in! (It is recorded, so you can listen any time!)

And for those interested in learning more about Numerology and Tarot, Gwendolyn and I will be teaching a Teleconference on Thursday July 10th from 7:00-9:00 PM Pacific Time. Here are the details:

Numerology, Life Path, and Tarot Workshop: Understanding your Life Path through the Major Arcana

Thursday, July 10th, 7pm (PST)
Teleconference Call & Online Workshop
$10 per person – Sign up Here

In this workshop we will cover:

  • The Personalities & Themes of each of the Nine Numbers
  • How to calculate your Personality Number & Life Path Number
  • What each Life Path number represents in coordination with the Major Arcana of the Tarot

This workshop will be accessible via teleconference call and simultaneous online webinar.

To be emailed the dial-in telephone number and access code, as well as the link for the web conference, please sign up below, and the information will be emailed to you upon registration.

To register, please email Gwendolyn at contact@readingsbygwendolyn.com
or reserve your spot here:

registration paypal button

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On Life, Death, & Original Sin

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Julianne Victoria
dance_seasons

Dance of the Seasons by Josephine Wall

As I study A Course in Miracles with my friend and study buddy Lisa of BloomLisa, I have often pondered the concept of original sin. Having gone to a Roman Catholic school from ages 5-13, I studied in depth the teachings and philosophies of the Bible and Christianity, and according to that view, I was taught that we are all born with original sin because of the sin of Adam and Eve – that they ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. As a child, though, I did not feel that we are all born sinful and bad beings, and often wondered what this original sin really was.

When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, they became aware of their nakedness. That is, they became aware of their bodies and their separateness. From this sprung shame, insecurities, fears, anger, and attachment, or as the Course states: grievances. In Lesson 68: Holding grievances…split you off from your Source (God) and make you unlike Him. The illusion that we are separate physical bodies, that we are lonely creatures separate from God, the Universe, and all beings, can drive us to seek attachments and possessions, escapism and addictions, and actions controlled by our fear of being alone.

When I counsel and coach others, especially if from a yogic philosophical view, I explain to my clients that the physical body is an external object. It may take some time, maybe many lifetimes, but once that is understood, we become free of so much stress, worry, anger, fear, and desires. The physical body is our vehicle for experiencing this life here on earth. It should be respected and well-maintained with great gratitude for the experiences it allows us. In Lesson 72: It is the body that is outside us. 

Freeing ourselves, our ego-minds, from the mindset and attachment that we are these separate bodies alone in the world, frees us from original sin. Being born into life as a physical body with a brain that thinks it is separate is original sin. But, we are not our bodies, for our souls, which are the extensions or children of God, are always One with God, even as we journey through these lifetimes in these miraculous vehicles. This awareness, not only frees us to truly live life to the fullest, but it also frees us to not fear death, for death is just our souls leaving these vehicles to return to God or embark on a new journey with a new vehicle.

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.

– Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Jesuit priest and philosopher

From Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue, Irish priest, author, poet, and philosopher:

DEATH TRANSFIGURES OUR SEPARATION . . .

It is a strange and magical fact to be here, walking around in a body, to have a whole world within you and a world at your fingertips outside you. It is an immense privilege, and it is incredible that humans manage to forget the miracle of being here. Rilke said, “Being here is so much.” It is uncanny how social reality can deaden and numb us so that the mystical wonder of our lives goes totally unnoticed. We are here. We are wildly and dangerously free. The more lonely side of being here is our separation in the world. When you live in a body you are separate from every other object and person. Many of our attempts to pray, to love, and to create are secret attempts at transfiguring that separation in order to build bridges outward so that others can reach us and we can reach them. At death, this physical separation is broken. The soul is released from its particular and exclusive location in this body. The soul then comes in to a free and fluent universe of spiritual belonging.

DEATH AS AN INVITATION TO FREEDOM . . .

If you really live your life to the full, death will never have power over you. It will never seem like a destructive, negative event. It can become, for you, the moment of release into the deepest treasures of your own nature; it can be your full entry into the temple of your soul. If you are able to let go of things, you learn to die spiritually in little ways during your life. When you learn to let go of things, a greater generosity, openness, and breath comes into your life. Imagine this letting go multiplied a thousand times at the moment of your death. That release can bring you a completely new divine belonging.

From the Katha Upanishad: a young boy Nachiketa goes to Yama, the god of Death, to face, learn about, and understand death. He learns from Death that it is really only the soul (Atman) that exists, and all souls are extensions, or children, of God (Brahman). Understanding this, he sees that death occurs only to the physical body (ego), that part of us that is born into a separate existence. To die is to return to complete union (the “divine belonging” as O’Donohue wrote) with God; Union with God is to become immortal. 

Yama states:

When the five senses are stilled, when the mind is stilled, that is called the highest state of the wise. They say yoga is this complete stillness, in which one enters the unitive state, never to become separate again… There are two selves, the separate ego and the indivisible Atman. When one rises above I and me and mine, the Atman is revealed as one’s real Self. When all desires that surge in the heart are renounced, the mortal become immortal. When all the knots that strangle the heart are loosened, the mortal becomes immortal.

Life And Death

 By Julianne Victoria, from my book Flying From the Heart,

A Collection of Poems on Loving and Being

 Life and Death

are they not just misnomers

isn’t everything life

and how much beauty

all that change

of life

and death

creates

without the nourishment

that death provides

there would be no life

life and death

death and life

inseperable

it is all creation

it is all a beautiful process

of life and death

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Animal Spirits: The Bumble Bee

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Julianne Victoria

A_bumble-bee_on_a_flowerLately I’ve come across many more bumble bees than usual, indoors and outdoors. The most exciting encounter was late last week, when I saw a queen bumble bee mating in the garden. I had never seen a bumble queen before and was amazed at the size of her – more than twice the size of the male drone! From my research she was an extraordinarily large queen. When I saw this I immediately “knew” that my industriousness, busy-ness, and productivity were going to grow and be prosperous. The fertilization of the next stage of my life has already taken place, and now the seeds that have been planted are sprouting towards the Sun.

I already wrote Animal Spirits: The Bee about a year ago, which discusses the symbolism of the bee, but there is one big thing that differentiates bumble bees: they build their hives in the ground. This reminded me of the hidden people, the fairies, who live in the earth and under and within rocks and tree trunks and roots. They live within and along side of Mother Earth.

Living connected to and with Mother Earth and being out in Nature is very grounding and healing. While I continue to joyfully be as a busy as a bee healing, counseling, coaching, teaching, and guiding others, the bumble bees are also telling me that I will remain grounded in my own being and that the Nature Spirits are there to assist me as well.

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महा मृत्युंजय मंत्र Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Julianne Victoria

images-3The Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra is a beautiful and powerful meditation mantra. With the epithet “three-eyed one”, this mantra addresses the god Rudra, the fierce and destructive aspect of Shiva. The transformative vibrations of this mantra can assist us in overcoming illness, mental and physical, and promote rejuvenation, healing, and longevity. But, more importantly, this mantra is sung to conquer death and bring us immortality – not immortality of the physical body, but of the soul, the Self. It invokes Rudra, the destroyer of the ego, to strengthen (nourish) us through the process of transformation towards greater awareness. The Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra is a prayer for moksha, spiritual liberation.

महा मृत्युंजय मंत्र:  

ॐ त्र्यम्बकम् यजामहे 

सुगन्धिम् पुष्टि वर्धनम्

उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्

मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मा ∫ मृतात्

Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra:

Om tryambakam yajaamahe 

sughandim pushti vardhanam

urvaarukamiva bhandhanaan

mrityormukshiya maamritaat

The Great Death-conquering Mantra:

We meditate on (worship) the three-eyed one (Rudra/Shiva)

Who is fragrant and nourishes fully all beings

Bound down like a cucumber (bound to the body/physical world)

May he liberate us from death with immortality (amrita, the immortal nectar)

Posted in Sanskrit Studies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Butterfly Journal 9th Month: Harmony (Entry #2)

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Julianne Victoria

peacock_dazeIn the last journal entry I discussed how clear and honest communication is key to harmonious relationships, as well as an interesting dream I had that led me to review in depth the symbolism of Mercury (Hermes). This post fittingly comes while the Sun (I am discussing Western Astrology in this post) is in Gemini, as was the recent New Moon. Gemini is an astrological sign ruled by Mercury, the god of communication. Gemini, being the traditional 3rd house, is also the sign of communication. Though Mercury himself just left Gemini and is now in Cancer, he turns retrograde in about a week and returns to Gemini from June 17/18th to July 13th/14th.

Communication is truly the key to healthy, happy, and harmonious relationships – all relationships including the relationship we each have with ourselves. It allows interactions and life in general to flow. When we create resistance or try to invoke conflict, we create discord even if just on the subtle energetic level. Just like music that is out of tune or poorly played, no one wants to listen to it or be around it. By letting go of resistance and the ego’s desire for conflict and control, and by opening our hearts to embrace, forgive, and fly free like a butterfly, we will discover that the natural state is harmonious flow. Communication is the key that opens the door to living and being in love and harmony.

This discussion of “key” has had me re-evaluating a series of dreams I had had from about 2005 through 2012. I call them my “key dreams,” and in them I do one of the following in this order of progression over the years:

  • Someone has my key and is in my home, and I want my key back.
  • I take back my key from someone who has not return it.
  • I receive back a key from someone.
  • I have a key, but am looking for (and usually find) the keyhole for it.

The “someones” in these dreams were people that I had been in relationships with. Communication issues, usually the lack thereof and lies/secrets on their part, were the major issues of the relationships. These dreams occurred after these relationships had ended, and now looking back upon them, I see more to their meaning. Getting and receiving back my key has many meanings for me, among which the two most significant are: the “someone” letting go and me taking my power back. Now I also see it as me taking my voice back, since in those relationships I was not able to fully express myself because I would be shut down by the lies and verbal abuse.

Since the key dreams had ended, I have been much better at standing up for myself, expressing myself, and not engaging with those who choose not to communicate honestly and clearly, i.e. those who seek conflict interactions. Through coming into my power, coming into being able to communicate freely with others, relationships and interactions with others flow mostly harmoniously. I have my key that opens the way to fly free. >|<

If you are interested in a Spiritual Counseling session, where I can help you interpret and understand the messages of your dreams, Click Here for more information and the contact form.

To read all previous Butterfly Journal entries, Click Here.

If you are interested in embarking on your own journey of transformation, you can purchase Butterfly Journal for under $10 from Create Space, Amazon (and international stores), or Barnes & Noble.

To learn more about and read reviews for Butterfly Journal, Click Here.

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A Study in A Course in Miracles

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Julianne Victoria
gossamer_magic

Art by Josephine Wall

At the beginning of this year, I read a fellow blogger’s (Lisa from the blog BloomLisa) inquiry for a study-buddy for A Course in Miracles. As it so happened, I had “inherited” this very thick book from a former boyfriend, and though I had read bits and pieces of the text here and there, it mostly just sat on the shelf waiting…waiting for the right time for me to study it. Lisa’s call out into the blogosphere called to me, and since then we have been studying “the Course” together. We study four lessons each week and then meet via Skype once per week to discuss what we’ve learned, any insights, lesson parallels in personal life, as well as ways the lessons and messages of the Course could be more accessible to people of all backgrounds.

About a week ago, after Lisa mentioned how she hasn’t found many helpful resources for A Course in Miracles in the blogosphere and social media, I asked her if she was up to starting a new blog together for the Course, and we did! The new blog is Blazing Light of Glory, A Study in A Course in Miracles. Click on over and follow if you are interested, but here is the Introduction re-posted for your convenience:

Though it is non-denominational, A Course in Miracles is written from a Christian perspective. I (Julie) went to a Roman Catholic elementary school from ages five to thirteen, so the wording and semantics are very familiar to me. Interestingly, as I read and study the Course, I often “translate” the terminology into Buddhist or Yogic terms. Lisa, however, comes from a non-religious background, so for her the Christian terminology is sometimes challenging to see past. Together, however, we are able to give each other different perspectives and insights into the lessons of A Course in Miracles.

During our last Skype meeting last week in this month of May 2014, we decided to start up a new blog together to share what we’ve learned, our insights, and any messages we’d like to put out there to help others, both those who are studying the Course and those not studying it who are looking for some spiritual guidance. We hope this blog will be helpful to you and shed some light upon the miracles occurring all around.

Here is the Introduction from A Course in Miracles:

This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time. The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is what is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite. 

This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:

Nothing real can be threatened.

Nothing unreal exists.

Herein lies the peace of God.

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A Gift to All the Mothers and Nurturers…

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Julianne Victoria

MamaLionHappy Mother’s Day to all the mothers and nurturers of children, animals, plants, the earth, and each other! If you are looking for a gift for yourself or another, I am offering for free the e-book version of my poetry book: Flying From the Heart, A Collection of Poems on Loving and Being, for the next five days, which can be downloaded from Amazon here. If you do not have Kindle, you can also download a Kindle App for free here!

Have a beautiful day everyone!

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Butterfly Journal 9th Month: Harmony (Entry #1)

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Julianne Victoria

queen_nightAs we continue to expand with greater awareness, both on the inner soul level and outwardly among others, we will see more clearly our own selves and how we can influence and affect others. Here is the journal prompt for the ninth month:

By noticing the interconnectedness of all things, we have opened our eyes to the impact all our actions, including our thoughts, emotions, energy, and intentions, can have on everyone and everything we interact with. This wisdom can deepen our awareness even more leading to inner harmony and balance, and to harmonious relationships. 

For the ninth month, develop your awareness further to bring harmony into your life. Are there still inner imbalances that you need to work through, or are there disharmonious relationships in your life? Contemplate on allowing patience and compassion to bring harmony to you internally and externally.

All the things mentioned above – actions (including words), thoughts, emotions, energy, and intentions – are all ways in which we communicate with each other, and clear and honest communication is key to harmonious relationships. When dealing with others who are not clear, dishonest, secretive, fearful, or outright deceptive in any of their means of communication, I am challenged to maintain my patience. Much of this challenge is because I empathically pick up on all those subtle forms of communication, and can feel overwhelmed, flustered, even traumatized, by these interactions. At these times, the practices I mentioned in this journal post become very helpful.

Allowing my heart to understand others’ struggles and suffering that might be driving their poor communication also allows me to see the situation with compassion. Through compassion I can see through their eyes/mind and see how I can help them in their lives and on their journeys.

Recently I had a dream that brought some communication stress and its solution to my conscious awareness: I was getting ready to go pick someone up when I saw a AA sized battery on the ground. I went to pick it up, but it had split in half the long way. I got mercury all over my fingers. I called my dad and said he had to take me to the doctor right away so I could get a shot to clear the poisoning. He was moving very slowly, though this did not stress me, and I felt I would be fine.

At first I did not understand the dream, until I started listing all the symbolism of mercury and Mercury I could think of. Though, as with all things, there are layers of meaning here, the most important message for me was about communication with my father.

Mercury (Hermes), also known as Quicksilver, which is also the name for the thermometer-like mercury that came out of the battery, is the god of communication. This dream also occurred about the same time that Mercury in the heavens transited across 13° Aries and into my fourth house of home and family, adding an extra layer of activation to the Grand Cross in my natal chart, and hopefully activating clearer and expansive communication at home and among family members.

Interestingly communications with my father, and others, has become smoother, clearer, and less stressful from all parties. This had made it much easier for all of us to see things from the other’s perspective and to respond in more compassionate and harmonious ways. As in my dream, even when in a stressful situation, slowing down to communicate clearly will allow any situation to be in the flow of harmony.

To read all previous Butterfly Journal entries, Click Here.

If you are interested in embarking on your own journey of transformation, you can purchase Butterfly Journal for under $10 from Create Space, Amazon (and international stores), or Barnes & Noble.

To learn more about and read reviews for Butterfly Journal, Click Here.

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