Butterfly Journal – Returning Into The Cocoon

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Julianne Victoria

neptune-in-pisces-i-leave-the-fathers-home-and-turning-back-i-saveIt’s been nearly a year since I journeyed through my Butterfly Journal, sharing with all who have visited this blog some of my transformative journey of the past few years. With Neptune, the ruling planet of Pisces, going retrograde today in Pisces for the next five months, I thought this would be a good time for returning into the cocoon and making another journey through Butterfly Journal.

My natal Moon is in Pisces, my 8th house of transformation, metamorphosis, change, and all things deep, occult, hidden, and metaphysical. Pisces and Neptune symbolize the unconscious realm, the Psyche (Ancient Greek ψυχη means spirit/soul and butterfly), the dreamworld, and our psychology and mental well-being.

To re-intoduce my journey through Butterfly Journal, Monthly Contemplations for Spiritual Metamorphosis, I will begin by posting the introduction for you here:

Butterflies are one of Nature’s most beautiful and amazing creatures. They flutter about like free spirits, but only after having gone through a long metamorphic process of growth and change. They are the only known living being capable of changing its DNA entirely during its metamorphosis from caterpillar, or larva, to the adult butterfly. That is, they go through a total transformation. You could even call it a rebirth.

Spiritual transformation, like the physical metamorphosis of the butterfly, is a very difficult and often painful process. Transformation requires growth and change, and so for our souls to fly free, we must embrace the growing pains. Many of us fear change. Change is scary because the outcome is usually unknown, but it is only by stepping into this darkness, like a caterpillar inside the cocoon, that we can in time grow, change, and emerge to fly into the light. Living, healing, and growing physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually require change and transformation.

Butterfly Princess

Art by Josephine Wall

To be reborn like the beautiful butterfly emerging from its burial shroud-like cocoon, our souls need to break free from the illusions of the ego and free ourselves from attachment to the physical body and the material world. When we break free of this mental cocoon, we can spread our beautiful wings and fly free.

The Ancient Greeks’ word for butterfly was ψυχη, psyche. They equated these free spirits with life, breath, and the soul itself. Across Shamanistic cultures the butterfly represents:

  • Growth
  • Change
  • Transformation
  • Reincarnation
  • Courage to make change
  • Mental clarity
  • Freedom of the Soul from the Ego

These small delicate creatures have inspired people across the globe to face their own challenges and obstacles and to have the faith and courage to take on the growing pains of spiritually transforming from the inside out. May the butterfly be an inspiration for personal and spiritual growth for all!

bjcoverIf you are interested in embarking on your own journey of transformation, you can purchase Butterfly Journal from Amazon (and international stores), or Barnes & Noble.

To learn more about Butterfly Journal, Click Here. Also check out the Full Color Photo Edition Here which is filled with my own butterfly photography.

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Christ Consciousness & Judgement

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Julianne Victoria

Julianne Victoria's avatarBlazing Light of Glory

Michelangelo's Last Judgement Michelangelo’s The Last Judgement

Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.  ~ Luke 6:37

It’s hard to believe, but Lisa and I are into the 300’s out of 365 lessons in A Course in Miracles. As we near the end of our journey through the Course, we often reflect upon how there is truly only one underlying lesson for all the lessons, and that is the lesson of forgiveness, gratitude, and Love.

Lesson 301 in the section titled, What Is the Second Coming?, discusses: Father, unless I judge I cannot weep. Nor can I suffer pain, or feel I am abandoned or unneeded in the world. This is my home…Let me today behold it uncondemned, through happy eyes forgiveness has released from all distortion. 

Forgiveness is key. Forgiveness leads to peace. Forgiveness…

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Revisiting Butterflies, Transformation, Journaling, & Mandalas

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Julianne Victoria

In honor of Mercury Retrograde, which occurs from May 18 to June 11, Sindy at BlueButterfliesAndMe is hosting a Let’s Go Retro challenge to repost, re-blog, re-visit an old post. Inspired by Sue’s post Mandala ~ In Retro, I am reposting the following journal entry from my first year-long round of posting my Butterfly Journal entries:

Tibetan Sand Mandala

Tibetan Sand Mandala

In the last journal entry I discussed how breathing, Pranayama practices, and other yoga practices help me when I am challenged to be patient and calm. Another practice that I have recently returned to is art. Art is a wonderful meditative practice or activity because it is when we remove the mind from the process, when we are being mind-less, we become fully open channels of inspiration, intuition, and divine love. When we allow ourselves to be mind-less, we are in full acceptance of the present moment (mindfulness), and patience becomes the natural state.

images-4Last night I attended a mandala art gathering. Mandala, मण्डल, means circle, disk, and orb. The circle symbolizes the divine, the heavenly realm, and Source or the One that is All. Mandalas are an art form that has appeared in many cultures throughout the world. They represent sacred geometry, tell mythological stories, convey messages of the gods or the Divine, map out the Cosmos, and channel messages from the unconscious.

Mandala

My Mandala

The discussion at last night’s gathering reminded me of how I would turn to art when I was a child to deal with the stress and frustrations at home, and of how easy it was and is for me to empty my mind, become mind-less, while drawing and doing creative projects. I had no plan as I started, but used the suggested Valentine’s Day theme to start me off. Then I just let the pencils flow as they wished. Without the heavy burdens of the mind, I felt like I could fly like a butterfly. At the end, we were asked to write down a title and any words that came regarding our mandalas (see left). I noticed that when I am in a patient, present/mindful, yet mind-less state, I am most expansive.

Most mandalas have an intuitive, irrational character and, through their symbolical context, exert a retroactive influence on the unconscious. They therefore possess a “magical” significance, like icons, whose possible efficacy was never consciously felt by the patient. – Carl Jung

mandala

The Tibetan sand mandalas are an amazing example of patience and the acceptance of the present moment and the impermanence of this earthly realm. After spending days slowly and patiently creating elaborate, intricate, and beautiful mandalas “painted” with colored grains of sand, the Buddhist monks often destroy their works of art (sometimes the destruction is even artistic) demonstrating the impermanence of material life. In an act to spread the healing of the mandala, the sands are spread among any onlookers and also poured into a body of water to spread throughout the world.

Through patience, by cultivating mindfulness by becoming mind-less, we can all spread our beautiful and mandala-like colorful wings to spread love, light, and healing to others.

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 from Amazon (and international stores), or Barnes & Noble.

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

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The Key to Empowerment

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Julianne Victoria

Magpie Seven of FeathersAs I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I’ve begun to post Daily Insights Through the Peacock’s Eyes on my YouTube channel. For today’s Daily Insight I used the Animal Wisdom Tarot, and card that came up was Magpie, Seven of Feathers. The message that stuck out for me was the image of the key held by the magpie. As I was doing the reading (see video below), I kept having flashes of dreams I used to have about keys. This dream series probably began around 2005. For several years there were two concurrent themes to my key dream series: 1) I am getting my key back from someone, and 2) I am searching for or finding a keyhole.

With the first theme, though I was getting my key back from someone I had been in a relationship with, the dreams weren’t so much about him as they were about my inner growth and transformation process. There was a definite progression to me getting my key back in the dreams. For maybe 5 years (I would have these dreams about every 6 months) I was taking, either secretly or forcefully, my key back. Then something shifted. I would ask for my key back, and he would willingly return it. This theme of my key dream series ended in 2011 with: He show up and give me my key back.

When I had that last dream, I remember feeling both surprised and empowered. I had finally gotten all my keys – my power – back. I knew then, but understand much better now, that my psyche was healing. I am naturally very energetically permeable and used to have trouble respecting my own boundaries. This in turn allowed others too easy access (having the key) to disregard my boundaries as well. This first theme was about coming into my power at the unconscious level.

Key to Eternity

Key to Eternity by Josephine Wall

The second theme of these key dreams occurred just about as often and for about the same span of time. At that time I lived in Seattle, but all these dreams occurred in my hometown of San Francisco. In these dreams I was searching for or finding doors or very large keyholes that I needed keys for. I don’t recall ever having a key, but I do remember that in the last dream of this theme that I had, the keyhole was so large that I realized I could just walk through it. And I did.

If you’ve read any of my Butterfly Journal entries or some of my Psyche & The Dreamworld posts, you are already familiar with my journey, both conscious and unconscious. These key dreams ended not long before I suddenly knew that I had to leave all that I had and return to my childhood home. Though at that time I was not fully aware of the deep psyche and psychic healing this would entail, at least somewhere deep inside I had the key and the power to return to my roots and open up all the unconscious doors to the healing of wounds that had been closed and locked up long ago.

In the past few years I have only had four dreams (that I have remembered and recorded in my dream journals) with a key. In all them I already have the keys that I need and easily let myself in.

Natural transformation processes announce themselves mainly in dreams. ~ C.G. Jung

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When You’re Gone, Where Will We Bee?

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Julianne Victoria

I used to keep bees. Not only did I learn much about them, but I also learned from them. Also check out my post, Animal Spirits: The Bee – https://peacockseyes.com/2013/06/26/animal-spirits-the-bee/

smilecalm's avatarsmilecalm

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering.
Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

nature's sweet gifts nature’s sweet gifts

If only my words could fully express the luscious taste, smell, texture, experience of fresh, pure honey. Used as an medicine by ancient Egyptians. Used as a fragrant sweetener and immunizer to me and countless others. Breathing in, watching the honey drizzle slowly down upon a piece of bread. Breathing out, tasting an intense blossoming of joy in my mouth. Feeling a rapid rush of energy throughout my body. How can I express gratitude for having enjoyed honey all throughout my life, while sharing to those of you in the future who may not ever have this experience. Honey is a miraculous gift of bees, and sadly, now the bees are disappearing. It’s being called, “colony collapse syndrome.” Mindfulness is always of being aware…

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Animal Spirits: The Bat

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Julianne Victoria

bat1As I begin to write this post, I’m realizing that many of my animal spirit encounters occur when I am walking my two Alaskan Malamutes. As you have probably guessed, animals are very important to me, and for me, they have been important teachers in my life. Maybe they know what messages are coming and lead me to walk in a certain direction or point out what I may have missed on my own. This is what happened one morning earlier this week. The pups pointed out a strange-looking object on the ground below a tree, but they seemed uninterested in it. As I looked closer, at first it looked like a shriveled up frog, but then upon close inspection I could clearly see that it was a mummified bat.

Seeing a dead animal may terrify many, but as mentioned in Animal Spirits: The Mouse/Rat, “Death is a transition, and it signifies a time of a new cycle, new beginnings, and evolution.” Bats, too, are terrifying to many, partly because of their connection to vampires, and partly because, being the only mammal that can fly, they seem like something unnatural or supernatural.

batsskyBats, indeed, are extra-ordinary creatures. Besides being able to fly, they have a very strong sense of smell and hearing, including the ability to use echolocation, and some use ultraviolet detection to maneuver in the dark. Bats are creatures of the night, able to move about unseen yet see the unseen. They symbolize being able to see through illusions, to see past lives, dreams, and beyond the ego.

Most bats live in caves, deep in the womb of Mother Earth, so they also symbolize the Underworld and death and rebirth, especially the death of the ego so that the soul can fully express itself in our lives. Because they represent this process of journeying to the Underworld and the death of the ego, they symbolize initiation and journeying, both the shaman’s journey and the hero’s journey.

hangedmanI wasn’t grossed out by seeing this mummified bat first thing in the morning. Honestly I felt a feeling of freedom. The last few years have been quite a deep journey within, and I feel ready to take off in flight, though that next step has been on hold or suspended, waiting for things to fall into place, aka divine timing. Mummification is a means to suspend decay, to suspend death and rebirth, and seeing this bat now free from the tree it must have been suspended in and able to return its old body to the Earth for new life, brought into my mind the Hanged Man from The Wild Unknown Tarot deck. The Hanged Man symbolizes suspension, but also acceptance of the current situation. Through letting go, I release and open the way for new beginnings.

batAffirmation came the next day when I pulled my daily card from the Animal Wisdom Tarot deck. As I am sure you can guess, I pulled The Bat: Master of Suspension. Not only is it the card I pulled, but it had also popped out while shuffling! Release, Letting go, Acceptance, Patience.

The Bat symbolizes:

  • Seeing past Illusions & Seeing the Invisible
  • Awareness of the Spirit Realm & Dreams
  • Shamanic Journey and Initiation
  • Hero’s Journey
  • Death and Rebirth
  • Exploring the Underworld/Depths of the Psyche
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Who Am “I”?

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Julianne Victoria

the-divineWho am I? This physical brain is not posing the question, who is Julianne Victoria, but who is the “I” that lies behind the individual identity and separate physical body that is experiencing the typing of these words? Who am “I”?

In my post A Vessel of the Divine on the blog Blazing Light of Glory, which this body-mind co-creates with my Course in Miracles study-buddy Lisa of BloomLisa, I discuss how the body, including the individual mind in the physical brain, is how we mostly identify ourselves. The separation from God, Nature, and others that the individual mind believes, however, is just an illusion. This is a very challenging concept for the individual body-mind, the ego. However, what can be even more challenging is understanding who am “I”.

Firstly I’d like to point out that the ego, by which I mean the individual identity connected to each of our bodies and minds, is not something to hate. I feel many “spiritual people” are so attached to not being an ego and putting down others for being an ego, that they don’t see that they are letting their own egos control them. As the saying goes: The mind [ego] is a good servant, but a poor master.

As long as we are existing in and participating in this earthly world, we have to have an ego. The ego (which by the way, comes from Latin ego and means “I”) is how we function in this individual existence. I cannot be me interacting with all of you without having an ego to identify with. Until the day comes when I leave this body-mind – this ego – behind, I must experience and interact with others in this world through the vehicle of the ego. That is what it is for. However, a great lesson that we are all here to learn is to understand that the “I” behind the separate individual that we call the ego is truly who we all are. 

Mooji is very good at pointing out that there is nothing else nor nothing within our awareness if there is not “I” there first. There is no awareness of you, without “I” being there first. There is also no awareness of me, without “I” being there first. “I” is who is aware that my ego exists. “I” is the awareness. “I” is Consciousness. “I” is God. “I” is Divine. “I” is. “I” am.

In A Course in Miracles, the underlying lesson and message of the Course is that God, through the actions and intentions of love, forgiveness, and gratitude, is within each and every one of us. Lesson 283: My True Identity Abides In You: Now we are one in shared Identity, with God our Father as our only Source, and everything created part of us. And so we offer blessings to all things, uniting lovingly with all the world, which our forgiveness has made one with us. We are all the children of God and extensions of Source, interconnected beings within the web of existence. We are one “I.”

 God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM. ~ Exodus 3:14

Love says ‘I am everything.’ Wisdom says ‘I am nothing.’ Between the two, my life flows.
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj, I Am That

We all go by different names. Naming, labeling, and categorizing people, animals, plants, and all things in this physical world makes it easier for us to manage, function in, and experience life here on earth. We even give thousands of names to the non-physical because it helps our brains/minds to grasp intangible, etheric, and ephemeral concepts, yet beyond this, if we take all names away and see all as an interconnected Universe, we see that all names are names of God. All is God. All is One.

From ACIM Lesson 262: Let Me Perceive No Differences Today: Why should I perceive a thousand forms in what remains as one? Why should I give this one a thousand names, when only one suffices?…For he is part of me and I of him, and we are part of You Who are our Source, eternally united in Your Love.

Shiva Sahasranama – The Thousand Names of God:

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New Moon with a Bang – Literally!

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Julianne Victoria

Yesterday morning I recorded the New Moon Vedic Astrology General Horoscope, and I kept saying this was a New Moon with a Bang. According to Vedic Astrology, today’s New Moon is in Aries with the Sun (for those not astronomically inclined, all New Moons are conjoined the Sun) at 4° Aries with Mercury and Mars also in Aries. The Sun is exalted in Aries, and Mars rules Aries, so a lot of fire, energy, and vitality with this New Moon. Hence, a New Moon with a Bang!

Interestingly, last night at around 10:30 pm I awoke to the sounds of bangs or booms in the sky. They weren’t firework sounds, and they moved about in the sky. I had heard of mysterious booming sounds in the sky and did some more research this morning. They may have to do with earthquakes (this is earthquake country) or solar flares, but you can find out more and hear what I heard in the first part of the first video on this site here.

Shedding_Light_on_Jy_Cover_for_KindleShedding Light on Jyotisha, Vedic Astrology For Beginner’s, is now available online at Amazon, Amazon Canada, Amazon India, Amazon UK, and international Amazon stores, Barnes & Noble, and other smaller bookstores. It is also available as an e-Book at Amazon here! For more book information click here!

Subscribe to my YouTube channel, click here!

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Animal Spirits: The Stork

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Julianne Victoria

stork1Earlier this week I was out running errands when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a very large bird flying. I watched in amazement as it crossed the expanse of my view from left to right, from East to West, just like the Sun. With its enormous wingspan, long neck, and visible legs and feet, it reminded me of a flying dinosaur, but silent and graceful. I had to do some research to make sure I saw what I thought I saw, and yes, it was a stork!

My first thought was the ages-old story told to young children that storks bring new babies. In this, they symbolize a new arrival, a special delivery, and a pleasant surprise. Storks represent creation, newness, renewal, birth & rebirth, and new beginnings. They are also associated with motherhood, nesting, and protecting the nest, the family and the home.

FullSizeRender-4It is springtime, a time of creation, birthing, and newness all around. I’ve also been feeling a strong sense of new beginnings in my own life, energetically ready to manifest into the physical. This morning I received affirmation of this when I pulled the Stork card from my Animal Wisdom Tarot deck. And now I must allow myself to receive the new!

The Stork symbolizes:

  • Creation, Renewal, & New Beginnings
  • Arrivals – New Things to Be Received
  • Motherhood & Building a Secure Home
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A Vessel of the Divine

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Julianne Victoria

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Body by Leonardo Da VinciThe ten-lesson section (L. 261-270) that Lovely Lisa and I completed last week was titled: What Is The Body? This was not a new topic to us, as The Course has discussed our physical bodies many times in previous lessons, and as The Course is want to do, it revisits the lessons of previous lessons more and more in depth as it courses along.

In my post On Life, Death, and Original Sin I noted an early lesson, Lesson 72: It is the body that is outside us. This is something that is difficult for most to grasp because the body, including the individual ego mind in the physical brain, is how we mostly identify ourselves. The separation from God, Nature, and others that the individual mind believes, however, is just an illusion. In the introduction for What Is The Body? an analogy for this is given:

Body by Leonardo Da VinciThe body…

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