Monday, December 31, 2012

Living a Magickal Life

Last day of 2012 and here I am writing again! Although it is 2013 in other countries, in the place I am located I am still enjoying the last few hours of 2012. A year filled with magick and poise, expectation and change. The world did not end in 2012 but we have definitely evolved as a planet and we are reaching a different level in our evolutionary journey where we are starting to become awake. People everywhere are becoming to wake up from one dream and beginning a new dream, one filled with peace, harmony, and joy. A dream where the Goddess, the Divine Feminine, is coming back to life and being present in the every day activities.

I am really looking forward to 2013 because I know it will be a year filled with life-transforming change but I am committed to live it in a magickal way. I am ready to work towards manifesting my own dream using magick and letting the Goddess guide me. I want to be the river, flowing to the destination without pushing, without trying to hard, living in the now moment and trusting Goddess and the Universe are putting in my path the lessons I need to learn. Even when thing seem to be collapsing like in the Tower, I will sit with those feelings in my altar and know that no matter what is happening, I will be safe. When Yeshe Rabbit told me the phrase living a magickal life in my reading yesterday, this phrase resonated with me. I am the one casting spells to manifest my dreams. I am the one ritualizing every moment so it becomes meaningful and filled with purpose. Everything has a meaning and I am beginning to discover that. Even when I am walking on the street and see a little fellow (a squirrel), I know he or she has a message to me and I am awake, I am aware, and I am paying attention to the magickal messages that the Universe send my way every day, every minute, every moment.

2013 will be a magickal year and I can feel it. As I told a coworker today... it is lucky 13 so we will make it a great year. Goddess is alive and magick is a-foot.

Happy New Year to All!

Many blessings,
Lady Carolina
Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis
www.circulodeisis.org


Saturday, December 29, 2012

On Quitting and Resolutions

The Joy of Quitting is the name of the article that captured my attention yesterday. I was reading the magazine Spirituality and Health and I came across this piece. The name intrigued me because I never associated joy with quitting. We live in a society that usually frowns upon quitting. We can see book markers with the writing "Never Quit" on them and many popular phrases that motivate us to continue, to persevere, to not give up. The question becomes why are we sticking with those situations, people or things that do not serve us anymore. I have nothing against perseverance but there is something to be said about hitting your head on the wall with a situation and expecting something to change. Sometimes, we have to quit. Sometimes, we have to choose our battles and realize that maybe the battle we are fighting for is not meant for us. Are we sticking with it because of our parents mandates? Do we believe that once we conquer that battle we will be happier and feel whole? Are we afraid to let go of a relationship because it may mean we fail? Failure, fear, tribal myths and structure prevents us from quitting when we do know that we would be better letting go. When we face these feelings, we are asked to look within, to look at what our soul and heart want and let go of the rest. It makes no sense to struggle when you are pursuing the wrong dream. If you sit quietly and listen to the voice within, you will know whether the test you are going through is one meant to help you attain your purpose or it is meant to help you decide to quit. If you can sit in silence and listen, you will know.

As 2012 is coming to an end, I start seeing people writing their resolutions, talking about their plans for the coming year and I can´t help but think that I have spent many years writing the things I wanted to achieve in the coming year and the things I wanted to change. This year is different for me, I decided I don´t want to have a long list of goals and resolutions. I only want to have one "Be fully present and live in the Now Moment." The past is gone and the future is not yet here so I want to live in the now and spend time manifesting the best now moment I can. When we live in the past, we may regret things or think that the past was much better than the now. When we live in the future, we tend to have anxiety and fear that it will not turn out to be the future we wanted. Living in the present allows us to just be, to manifest our reality and to have the power to change our thoughts now so they create our vision for life. Our vision is not for the future, it is for the now and we can change it and transform it as we are walking our paths in the now. What are your resolutions for 2013? 

Many blessings,
Lady Carolina
Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis
www.circulodeisis.org

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Storms and Rainbows, Endings and Beginnings

Sometimes we look outside and we see a reflection of what is happening within us. Last Friday, it supposed to be the end of the world as some people have predicted the Mayans had said in their calendar. I am pretty sure there was an error in translation as it is December 25th, 2012 and the world is still spinning so they may need a new dictionary to translate the symbols. Having said that, there was also the theory that the world was going to ascend into a higher vibration and a New Era was going to start so it was the end of the old and the beginning of the new. I do agree with this interpretation of the Mayan Calendar more than the catastrophic interpretation of zombie invasion  and extraterrestrials attacking the Planet Earth.

Having survived the apocalyptic predictions that turned out to be wrong, I can look back and connect the dots as Steve Jobs used to say. Just looking at the weather outside starting Friday morning, we could see huge rain periods with short periods of sun so we could observe a beautiful rainbow. Since I was little, I have always associated the rainbow with good things to come, with happy endings and joy. When I saw the rainbow on Friday, I knew the world was not going to end!!! How could it? There was a rainbow outside and that means the storm has passed, the bad has been washed away and let space for the sun to come out again. This situation repeated again on Saturday and Sunday... yes three days in a row! This made me realized that the New Era has started and that from now on, we have a chance to create our reality the way we want it. 

Looking at the outside signs and symbols, I noticed that I have been living a little bit like the crazy weather that was taking place outside. I had big storms followed by rainbows and then followed by sunny days. The one thing I have to remember is that the sun always comes out after the storm, no matter how terrible the storm is. Yesterday, I went for a walk and as I was going down a hill, I slipped and fell down scratching my left knee. I got up and kept walking but I started thinking... wow, what is it with me and my left leg while I walk? A couple of months ago I broke my left foot so now falling down again six month later felt like a weird thing to happen. Maybe I haven´t learned the lesson, maybe I need to know that even when I fall down, I am strong enough to get up and keep walking because those events just make me stronger. This time, I did not break any bones but the situation really took me back to the time I fell before. It is easy to be grateful about good things happening in life but not as easy to be grateful about the challenging ones. 

Talking about challenging situations and gratitude, last night one of my favorite rings broke. I never had a ring break before but this time, I was trying to fix it and it broke down. I´ve been wearing this ring every day for the past few weeks as it has a stone from my homeland and made me feel connected during the holiday season when we are apart. Needless to say I was really sad when I saw it falling apart and I thought about ways to fixing it until I realized maybe it was time to let it go as it was part of my old self. Maybe it is time to accept that it is what it is and move on, not try to fix it. After my ring broke I went for a walk and when I came back, I noticed I have also lost one of my favorite earrings. I had bought these earrings many years ago in Miami and now one is gone.... yes, the universe was telling me it is time to detach, it is time to let go and accept that the time has come to build a new beginning. That´s why when I was doing my gratitude daily practice this morning, I gave thanks for falling down, I gave thanks for my favorite ring breaking, and I gave thanks for losing my earring.

Even when there are big storms, there can always be a rainbow if we learn to see the sun in the situation. When a door closes, another one opens. There has to be an end so we can have a new beginning.

Many blessings,
Lady Carolina 
Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis
www.circulodeisis.org

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Depletion Recipe - Yes and No Reversal

I was reading the materials from Ava Park´s Queen Teachings Online Class when I realized I´ve been living in this reversal most of my life. This is the type of reversal we, women, are prone to be because it is really drilled into traditions and cultural programming. The reversal I am talking about is saying yes when we mean to say no, for example, when somebody asks us to do something we don´t want to do but we just say yes because we feel guilty or we don´t want to disappoint that person, or we want to be liked. Those are the times that we should say NO if we are true to ourselves, if we are putting ourselves in the center and setting clear boundaries.

Then there are those times when we say NO when we should be saying YES. For example, those times when people offer to help us when we are tired, or when we need a hand, and due to our superwoman complex we say NO, we have it, we don´t need help, we can do it alone.

Do you see this? Can you see the reversal and how it keeps us depleted? We say yes to all demands on our energies but no to help so at the end of the day, we are burned, we are exhausted, we have no more energy to give to anything, not even trying to manifest our dreams.

When we become aware of this reversal, we can gain the power of awareness and start saying NO when we should be saying NO and YES when should be saying YES. Starting tomorrow, say no to any type of request where you are not 100% you want to do or help with what the person is asking you and say yes to all help offered. Yes, from the person opening your door when you are coming with your hands full of things to your partner cooking dinner for you because he or she sees you tired. Say no when you feel doubt and it does not feel right to accept another commitment. Say yes when somebody is trying to give you a hand. Accepting help does not mean you are weak, it means you are strong enough to know that you are conserving your energy to manifest your vision for life and you need all your energy to make your dreams come true. There is nothing wrong in accepting help and there is nothing wrong in saying no and setting clear boundaries.

Start today! Stop the depletion recipe - say Yes when you mean Yes and No when you mean No, don´t play the tribal rules... just play your own.

Many blessings,
Lady Carolina
Presiding Priestess of Circulo of Isis
www.circulodeisis.org

Note: Check the Queen Teachings by Ava Park. These are priceless teachings that can change your life!
http://goddesstempleoforangecounty.com/About_Rev_Ava.html

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Strong Before, Strong Again

As time passes, we tend to forget the hardships from the past. The tests that destiny has put in our way to make us stronger. As I continue going over the boxes in the storage, I keep finding little pieces of my now forgotten past. The other day, I found the journal for my first year in the US. It was very interesting to see how much I struggled, how much I felt like an outsider and that I did not fit in, my worries about money, security, and survival. I even found two American English Accent Training Materials - I guess I wanted to sound American and feel like I belong here. Now, seeing where I am and where I´ve been, I can see that I gave up trying to fit in and instead, I have made my environment fit me, LOL. I have released the need to try to fit a model or a standard and instead I am shining with my own light, the light of authenticity and inner power.

Yesterday, I had the honor to receive a healing session from one of my students - Hester Aira. After the session, Hester provided me with wonderful feedback about things that were going on in my life and how to improve my situation. How to move from fear to love and from passive planning to action. Everything that she said made sense and I have incorporated into my life as it is meaningful and also relates to the journey I am going through.

After the session, Hester mentioned that I could ask my helpers for signs and they will show me the way as at times I feel I am not seeing situations clearly, I feel like there is too much turbulence and I can´t really tell good from bad, right from wrong, truth from lies. As I walked today, I asked my helpers to send me a sign and here it was, a beautiful egg shape stone. This stone really called my attention, so much so that I picked it up and brought it home with me. This stone meant rebirth and it also meant strength. When I saw it, I felt I was being born again with new foundations, solid foundations that will support my journey to come. These foundations are based on my beliefs and not on societal coding, these foundations are my true self. When I look back, I know I have faced challenges and I have come out victorious. Now, as I am navigating troubled waters, I know I will find my safe harbor if I stay true to myself and build a solid foundation with my helpers by my side. I was strong before and I will be strong again. 

Many blessings,
Lady Carolina
Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis

Note: I highly recommend a session with Hester Aira, her healing powers are incredible and she will really shed light in your path (lucky for us, she does sessions in person and in the distance!)

Saturday, December 8, 2012

There are no mistakes... only experiences!

Failure... Mistakes... Broken Dreams... We all have times when we look back and see all those things that did not go the way we wanted them to go. Those things that left us exhausted and depleted. Those people that broke our hearts or disappointed us. Those situations where we felt we lost or wasted our time. If we could move from a victim place to a power place and see those events and people as our teachers in the journey of life. This journey is an adventure and if we did not have things to learn, we would not be here anymore, we may be in another planet where the situations and people who let us down don´t exist. 

It´s easy to be grateful for the good things in our lives because those make us happy, those make us feel good, but can you be grateful for those things that brought you pain? Can you be thankful for all those people that hurt you in the past? Can you express gratitude for the journey of life with the good and the bad? 

The other day I was watching the movie "This means war" and one of the main characters used the phrased "there are no mistakes... only experiences" and it really resonated with me because so many times in the past I have looked at my life and complained about what did not go the way my ego wanted them to go, my pride got hurt, my heart got broken, my dreams did not come true. If I really look back with detached feelings and honesty, I can see that everything that has happened had a purpose, everything has a meaning, and I would not be the person I am today if I have not had those experiences in my life. 

As I continue reading Stuart Wilde´s books, my way of thinking is transforming and changing. My way of seeing life is evolving and I am letting go of many qualities that I had before that did not belong to me but they were a by product of what he calls the tic-toc (tic toc meaning society and tribal myths that are not real for the infinite self but they are real for ego slave people). In his book "Infinite Self - 33 steps to reclaiming your inner power", one of the steps is "Acceptance" and in this step he says that we need to learn to accept that it is what it is. You may want it to not rain, but it is raining so accept the rain and move on. You may want this person to love you back but he doesn´t, it is what it is, accept it and move on. He also has another step when he talks about accepting negativity as a learning experience. These two steps really combine with knowing within yourself that there are no mistakes, there are no failures, just experiences, just learning experiences. 

If we can start seeing life in this way, we will let go of many feelings that are leaking our energy and preventing us to use that energy to manifest our realities. In the end, it is what it is and we can either accept it or fight it. We can either be thankful for the learning or complain for the rest of our days. As I always say, we always have a choice and it´s up to us to decide. I choose to think and believe there are no mistakes... only experiences!

Many blessings,
Lady Carolina
Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis