Are we negotiating? ALWAYS!

What are you negotiating? Are you settling for less than your fair share in this abundant universe? Do you cut your dreams short because you don´t believe they can come true? Let me tell you... Dreams do come true but you need to be ready to believe and have a crystal clarity of what you want to achieve because the Universe is listening to you and it´s making your choice come true. Reality is that YOU are always choosing, whether you are choosing or not. Your lack of choice is a choice after all. You can sit in the bog as long as you want but you are choosing to do so and you will have to deal with the consequences. You are not going to be able to go blame anyone for your lack of action because it is YOU who is choosing to sit in misery instead of making a different choice.

The other day, I was trying to get clarity on what I wanted to achieve for 2014.... I started listing the things I wanted in my perfect job and I realized.... mmmmmmm.... this is what I have now. You can picture my shocked face. Then I started delving a little deeper and I said... this is what I would want in my mental structure. No wonder why I am still in this job after 8 years.... yes I am choosing even when it does not make me 100% happy because this is what I believe I deserve. Do I deserve to be a full time Priestess? Yes.... come on! Reality or the mental structure is just limiting what you can have and what you can´t have. Do you get what I am saying? How many times have you found yourself not believing in your own dream and thinking it was too far fetch to come real? Then you see somebody that seems to be lucky because she or he has all you want to have and you wonder... why do you get my dream and I don´t? Once again, reality is telling you that you chose not to believe in your dreams or feel that they were too far fetched to become real.

I was with one of my friends last Friday and she told me she thought she was not artistic because when she was young she would get out of the box and paint purple hair on people. She said the teacher said people don´t have purple hair and I said that´s not true... You know our mutual friend... she has purple hair so that´s not reality, people CAN have purple hair. How many times have you been told of a structure that is not based on reality but it is placed there to limit you?

I usually consider myself a very flexible person but I have come to realize I am quite rigid at times. Once I make an opinion on something is hard for me to compromise and that could work to my detriment because I do have several societal myths  that I follow. You may wonder what are those? Societal myths are those myths that are carried by your society and you follow them such as:

- Marriage is forever
- You need to work hard to make money
- Relationships involve sacrifice
- Life is hard
- Money does not grow on trees
- No pain, No gain
- Life is not easy
- Dreams don´t come true

And I could keep adding to the list but I will keep it short as you understand what I am talking about. What are those things you believe they are real but they are not? Like my friend with the purple hair.... She is very much real and even when she does not fit the standard or normal hair color, she is real!!!!

When you think about this, what does come to you? What are those things you don´t think that come real but if you believe they can come reality, they will? Where are you cutting yourself short out of misguided beliefs that are not based on reality because YOU know they can come true? We are always negotiating and you are deciding what the deal is about! Choose your best choice! Avoid not choosing because in that you are choosing! The Universe is listening to you and wants to make your dream come true, be clear and determined, believe and wait for the results.

When the Universe asks you, "Are you negotiating?" Just respond ALWAYS!

Many blessings,

Lady Carolina Amor

Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis
www.circulodeisis.org
Member of the Archdruid Union
https://sites.google.com/site/fellowshipofisiscentral/fellowship-of-isis-foundation-union-triad---archdruid-union
Founder of Tienda Roja
https://www.facebook.com/groups/441201419296609/

2014 - An Opportunity to Rebuild

2012 did not bring the End of The World as predicted but 2013 did bring a massive amount of transformation that has felt like a Tsunami hitting the shore and taking everything I know with it. I never experience a Tsunami in this lifetime but I´ve heard that in those moments, before the big wave hits, you can see the bottom of the ocean. Let me tell you that I have seen the bottom of the ocean this year in many areas of my life. 2013 has felt like the year of total demolition picturing the Tower card in the Tarot, lightening has struck and brought down many structures I thought were solid. 2013 has also made me question my issues around trust, around my intuition, about my magickal power of manifestation and many other things. It has presented an opportunity to bring everything down so I can have space to rebuild my life the way I want it in 2014. It´s true that we can build around an existing structure but there are certain times in life when we just have to demolish and make space for the new. Start again with a white canvas that allows us to create what our dreams and visions are in the present moment.

2013 brought changes in many spheres in my life that made me wonder whether I could weather the storm and how much it would take to blow me away because I firmly believe that we have the power to choose our reactions in life and how we respond to events in our life shapes the experience. It all started with the company I work for being sold and having to move offices... this made me start thinking how committed I am to this place and whether I would be better off in another place. What do I like? Is this job the right fit for me? If money was of no concern, would I be in this job? There has always been the underlying current in the past four years that I am not good enough to reach the next level, there is always something missing and I am never getting there. When I look at my spiritual practice, I know that if things are not going the way I am envisioning is because Goddess has a better plan for me and is trying to show me with different situations that I need a change. The problem is that my Moon in Taurus makes me so stubborn and I will bring the wall down if necessary but I do reach times when I see reality and I move on. It may take days, weeks, months, even years, but I do get to that point of no return and I move forward.

This same principle applies to other areas in my life as well. The other day, a friend of mine told me that some relationships have an expiration date. When I heard that I was like... I know what you are talking about. 2013 was the year where my marriage expired. Some people say divorce is equal to experiencing the death of a loved one and I would agree with that since the entity that was created by two ceases to exist. This process brings lots of emotions, grief and pain for all those dreams that brought the two people together but never came true, the expectations each partner had that may or may not have come true, and the realization that it did not work out. 

Death has also been a part of 2013 as I said goodbye to my granny and my spiritual mother. October and November are bringing the final push so I can burst out of my cocoon and I spread my wings of freedom and transformation. I still remember my grandmother looking at my Buckland´s Book of Witchcraft and saying to my ex-boyfriend "She is into that......" and you could see the rolling eyes but I know deep in her heart, she knew that path was my path and I was meant to be a Priestess of the Goddess. 

I also recall Lady Olivia Robertson when she initiated me as an ArchDruidess and looked into my eyes and said "Now you go make it your own, this is for you to transform into your own" and I have. Every day as I light my candle and say her name and ring my bell, I feel she is still there, very present, telling me it´s my game. It´s my time to make it my own and create my community the way I envision for the good of all.

As I look back, I see 2013 had a domino effect in my life. When one piece fell then many others fell with it. I could look at it and become a victim but I am choosing to see the blessing in disguise in all that has happened so far. As I read Power Spellcraft for Life by Arin Murphy-Hiscock, she states that spells are used as an active way to shape our reality and they are used for positive change. 

After touching bottom in 2013, I am still sitting in the driver seat of my life, my GPS are my emotions and intuition, and I am ready to transform my life making 2014 an Opportunity to Rebuild. What is your 2014 looking like? Where are you now? Where do you want to be? What do you need to change? We create our future in the now moment. We are only one month away from 2014. What do you want? What does 2014 stand for for you?

Many blessings,

Lady Carolina Amor

Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis
www.circulodeisis.org
Member of the Archdruid Union
https://sites.google.com/site/fellowshipofisiscentral/fellowship-of-isis-foundation-union-triad---archdruid-union
Founder of Tienda Roja
https://www.facebook.com/groups/441201419296609/

When you are going through hell, just keep going!

A friend of mind told me a few weeks ago when everything seemed to be collapsing in my life the famous saying of Winston Churchill "When you are going through hell, just keep going!" and I think it is a great saying for Mercury Retrograde times. Thank Goddess Mercury turned direct today at 4:30 pm so we are out of the retrograde period but it´s not over yet, my friends! We know that there is a Shadow period when Mercury transits the degrees he retrograde before and once Mercury passes the point in the zodiac when he turned direct, that´s when it is finally over but the light is at the end of the tunnel and we begin to feel the energy moving forward and we can start putting in action all those things that we re-visited, re-vision, and re-evaluate during the retrograde time.

October was a very challenging month for many of us. Do you ever feel when it rains it pours? I think that´s reality for many of us. During October, I had to move offices after the company was sold a few months ago and it seems that when it comes to work, you never get a dull moment or know what type of monster will come out of the woods to attack you. Many times have I felt like Alice in Wonderland in this company as I never know what creature I will greet in the morning. It feels like a pill will make you larger and another pill will make you smaller. You get blown out of proportion to be deflated with unrealistic expectations a minute later. You are never good enough to get to the next level because there is always something missing and you have no clue what that is... like a video game where you are looking for the hidden clue but you have absolutely no idea where to find it or how to get it and you never reach the next level. "When you are going through hell, just keep going!"

In the relationships realm, I faced a few storms during this Mercury retrograde period. It seemed that we were all in our own stories and couldn´t see the other person for who that person was. Hidden agendas, mysteries, lies and deception... Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio brought a lot of the Scorpio issues in relationships. If you wonder what the scorpio issues are, they include but they are not limited to "deception, mystery, power over or power fights, death and transformation" and yes - I said not limited to so there goes the disclaimer!!!! I was in a legal conference last week and they were paying a lot of attention to different words and disclaimers so that stuck with me! When you are going through hell, just keep going!

Talking about Legal  vocabulary and the Legal System.... This Mercury Retro time was fun in that realm... yes, fun is a very sarcastic way to put it. First, I got some papers back from the court that I had to refile even when I was told everything was ok and spent hours in court to verify it. Then I get called to jury duty and have to go to court once again.... and top it, I got a speeding ticket in June and I had till December to complete traffic school but my insurance decided to up my rate now- before the legal timeframe of completion of class... legal world..... challenging and definitely.... "When you are going through hell, just keep going!"

In the end, we all survive Mercury Retrograde and now it has turned direct once again and we are still standing. Things return to normal and the lessons we learned during these periods are those of revision, reevaluation and revision. We need to go back to the drawing board and rethink what we are doing and whether that is helping us reach our goals, are those things really working? Are you following the definition of insanity that says do the same thing and expect a different result? Can you change your actions to impact your results? So when you are in your darkest hour and everything seems to fail just remember "When you are going through hell, just keep going!" there is a light in the end, you will find it too.

Many blessings,

Lady Carolina Amor

Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis
www.circulodeisis.org
Member of the Archdruid Union
https://sites.google.com/site/fellowshipofisiscentral/fellowship-of-isis-foundation-union-triad---archdruid-union
Founder of Tienda Roja
https://www.facebook.com/groups/441201419296609/

Trust! Press the reset button!

Press it now!!!! Press what?!?! The reset button that will bring the catalytic change that will bring your life back to harmony with the Divine plan. There are times in life when you feel everything is collapsing, the life as you know it is transforming in front of your eyes. The people you thought were close friends bring you down, the boss tells you that you are not good enough, the red tape does not go through, you have change in your life, you have to deal with the unknown as you don´t know what will happen tomorrow and all you can do is hold on tight and wait for the hurricane to stop blowing and pray you will come out ok to the other side of the storm and see the rainbow.

Have you ever had that moment in life when you hope you can fall asleep and wake up when everything is done because the transition time is just too hard? I´ve been going through some big transitions in my life lately and I know that in the past, I would have used different techniques to numb the pain and the fear I felt. I would get extremely busy or I would start a new diet... yeah... it´s much easier to think about calories in and out instead of realizing that the dreams you had will not come true, the visions you created when you were young and that motivated you to leave your family and friends behind did not come to be. It´s hard to sit with the broken dreams and feel the grief that broken promises bring.

Change is like a domino effect, when one piece falls, many fall at the same time. The Divine has a way of helping us rise our vibrations by bringing several challenges at the same time but She never pushes us to the limit we can not face. The thing becomes whether you accept the challenge or you deny it and look at the other side. If you look the other side, you may find the same lesson repeated again and again until you take the challenge. As I always say, different people, different places, same core lesson. If you accept the challenge, you may have an earthquake and everything may shake but you will come stronger the other side.

I have run way too many times, it is time. It is time to face the fears and really peeled the layers of lessons down to the core so I can then move on. There are patterns that are showing themselves once again but the one that is very predominant is the over-giving mother. I am beginning to question how much I give and how much I receive. How´s the flow? Is it my expectations that make me feel left with not much? Are people taking me for granted? The other day I was telling a friend that she had to teach people how she wanted them to treat her, the level of respect and appreciation, and I couldn´t help but think whether I do the same. Am I teaching people it is ok not to respect me? Is it ok not to appreciate me?  What are my standards in relationships? I have a tendency to give a lot but I also need to learn it is ok not to give. It´s time to set up some boundaries and make some new rules. I know some people may go away or rebel but I also know that many things are changing and I am not the same person I was before so it´s time for the next move in the chess board of life and if that means check mate to some things, people or events, so it be.

When I got the Death card yesterday, I finally understood that it was time to let go. It´s time to accept that the time has come for some patterns to die out. The only certain thing in life is change. We are always changing and evolving and if we are not, we are dead. Rebirth is not that bad and like the butterfly we spread our wings and fly away in a beautiful new way. Today, I was shown that even when we have irrational fears, things can be ok. We moved offices and the whole thing was such a pain but when I saw the place today, I was like... mmmm .... new is ok, new is nice actually. The breezes of new air, of new energies, of new location brought a sense of safety because everything was ok. The bigger message was that no matter how bad you may think it is, it is all going to be ok. Trust the unknown because it´s the void of opportunities and in that void is where creation happens.

Storms come and go but there is always a rainbow.

Trust! Press the reset button!

Many blessings,

Lady Carolina Amor

Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis
www.circulodeisis.org
Member of the Archdruid Union
https://sites.google.com/site/fellowshipofisiscentral/fellowship-of-isis-foundation-union-triad---archdruid-union
Founder of Tienda Roja
https://www.facebook.com/groups/441201419296609/

Trust - The Universe will provide....

When you are open to the Universe and willing to take a risk, good things happen. This weekend I got to experience that first hand. I was planning to go to the Isis Convocation at Isis Oasis when I found out that I had been assigned to the general dormitory. Every time I had attended this event, I had been with my father and we would get a room together. This time, I was on my own and I was not feeling too eager about sleeping with 50 people I did not know. I tried to see if there was a room available but everything was taken and that was the only option. As you may know, I am a planner so I thought about Plan B.

My Plan B involved sleeping in my car. I brought my sleeping bag, some blankets, my pillow and even my teddy pet owl, Kukoo. I was determined to make my own nest in my car and sleep in the peace of my own company as I was 100% sure, I did not want to sleep in the common dorm. When I arrived at Isis Oasis, I once again asked if there was anything available for a room and I was told no so I said, "I think I will sleep in my car", I was met with faces of surprised and shock because I would be better sleeping in the dorm. In my mind, I prefer to sleep alone than sleep in a bed with many people I don´t know.  As the evening progressed, I met my teacher and two of her students, my Priestess sisters! We had dinner together and when I said, I am going to sleep in my car, they said "No way". I was invited to the house they were staying to spend the night. Yes! The universe said "TRUST" because it is going to be ok.  During dinner I was also invited to be a Priestess in a ritual that Isadora Forest was leading the following day. This was very exciting, not only because I was doing a ritual with Isadora, the author of one of my favorite books - Isis Magic - but I was also doing a ritual with my teacher and my two Priestess sisters! It was so exciting!!!! We spent part of the night at the house talking about the ritual and rehearsing this impromptu ritual priestessing but once you are a Priestess, you are always a Priestess no matter where you are or what tools you have with you.

Yes, tools! I had no crown... no cord... no sistrum... I was definitely not prepared for leading ritual but what do I always say to my students? It´s not the tools that make the witch but the witch that hold the power! So I dressed as ceremoniously as I could, used a piece of cloth in my head to symbolize the crown and I believed it was ok just to be me... no outfit... no tools... but I could use my power to hold this container with my sisters. It was just an amazing experience all together. I love the ritual "The Mysteries of the Beloved and the Two Sisters" and at the end, I got the validation that the ritual had been great. Therefore,  I felt that at times we feel we have to have a plan, all the tools, and everything set up and things go extremely wrong but when we let those spontaneous things to happen, we take risks and we jump, we meet the greatness of the now moment.

One thing I learned during this weekend was that you got to trust, sometimes you have to be like the fool in the tarot and just jump. I had million excuses not to go to the convocation last weekend but I decided to trust and even if I slept in my car, it was ok. Getting there was the one step it told the universe I was open and I was ready. It´s time to just flow and even if I am scared I have to jump. Even if I can find million excuses to not do something, it´s time to push through fear and do what I want to do and take care of myself, not anyone else, just myself. It may sound selfish but in the end we are all one and what I change in me, I change in the people around me, in my city, in my state, in my country, in the world. It´s time to push against the Virgo fear and be more like a Piscis and flow, let the tide take me to the proper destination..... Everything will be ok. Everything shall be ok.

Blessings,

Lady Carolina Amor

Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis
www.circulodeisis.org
Member of the Archdruid Union
https://sites.google.com/site/fellowshipofisiscentral/fellowship-of-isis-foundation-union-triad---archdruid-union
Founder of Tienda Roja
https://www.facebook.com/groups/441201419296609/

My Heart is my Radar

As I look at the sunset today, I begin to feel the energies of the year to come. With each birthday, our wheel of life turns and we begin a new experience with a new rising sign, new moon, and new locations for our planets. The way it connects with our natal chart also gives us some clues of what the lesson of the year is to be.

This year, I have Pisces rising and for a Virgo, that´s quite the challenge! Let me tell you about it :-) Pisces has many positive traits such as being very compassionate, showing unconditional love, selfless, intuitive, imaginative and a dreamer. If you know the symbol for Pisces, you know it is two fishes, there is the positive fish and the challenging fish. The challenging fish for Pisces is an escapist, pessimistic, over-sensitive, lazy and weak-willed. The question becomes "what fish will I choose to swim with this year?" So far, I´ve been a little over-sensitive and dramatic as well as pessimistic and filled with fears of the future.

My Moon is originally in Taurus what makes me very resilient and perseverant. I may give people a tons of opportunities to prove me wrong. I tend to be like a bull trying to bring the wall down and at times a little stubborn and I don´t give up easily on anything unless I feel the situation, relationship or thing is complete. Then I can move on easily and close the door and never open it again (thanks to my Uranus in Scorpio). This year, my moon is in Aries. Oh Mighty God of War! Aries brings a spark and the call for action, the call for fire, the call to initiate and to be fearless. It also bring explosive reactions and fast thinking and combined with my Pisces rising can create an over-sensitive bomb! Awareness is a bliss. Not that we will be able to prevent the reactions but we will be aware and work on damage control more easily.

Planetary alignments usually help us understand the energies that are around us and that at times are more noticeable than others. They give us the push to keep growing in our journey of life and evolving as human beings. This year presents a unique opportunity for me as I am finding my rising to be the opposite of my Sun sign and I have so many other planets in Virgo that Virgo is a strong trait of my personality. Pisces, as the opposite, shows me that at times I have to surrender, I have to go to the flow and I have to follow my heart and my intuition and not second doubt my intuition because if I do, I would be doomed. There may be no plan B, C, D and E this year, there just may be me in the now moment. Sometimes we need to forget about the illusion of control and just surrender to the power of the Now Moment that creates the future vision. As I stood on my favorite beach on the day after my birthday, I realized that during this year, I will need a radar. There will be strong fogs that will prevent me to see reality because my emotions may cloud my vision but in those times, I will resort to my radar. I will let go of the intellect and just let myself be guide by my heart. My heart knows what´s right for me and has no judgement, it has the perfect vision for my life.

Trust is also necessary this year. Trust that I will be ok, trust that no matter how horrible the storm is, there is a rainbow after that storm and the sun will always come out and shine one more time. I have to remain honest with myself and shed those areas that don´t follow my heart´s calling because at this point, I am facing a big reset and life has just began. The past is gone, the future is not here, just the present moment is my reality and my heart is my radar.

Many blessings,

Lady Carolina Amalia Amor

Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis
www.circulodeisis.org
Member of the Archdruid Union
https://sites.google.com/site/fellowshipofisiscentral/fellowship-of-isis-foundation-union-triad---archdruid-union
Founder of Tienda Roja
https://www.facebook.com/groups/441201419296609/

One adventure at a time....

It was the by-pass!!!!! That´s what we kept saying with my Priestess Sister as we were driving to Malibu last week. As soon as we hit that weird by-pass in I-5 everything changed. Yes, you read right.... weird by-pass. We were going on I-5 and all of the sudden we see orange cones and we have to go left (the feminine side, the Goddess side) and then we find ourselves within two lines of traffic.... one going to one side, the other one to the other and we were in the in-between. After leaving the by-pass, we had to take a road we had never taken before and started passing acres and acres of land but no sign of civilization. The temperature kept raising as we hit 105 and we were both super warm. We decided to stop in a store to get some sun block for me as I was driving and I was scared I was going to get sun burned. This town´s energetics were very strange. It felt like we were in a different dimension.

After we left the store, we headed towards Malibu. As we were reaching destination, we realized that there were some military buildings in the area what made me feel strange for some reason. It only took us to see the ocean to feel like home. The air was warm and the ocean smell different from the ocean in our area. We could see lots of places where you could camp on the beach and I so wanted to do that!! As we kept going, I noticed that we passed the location my GPS said the camp should be. There was nothing like a camp in that area, only one restaurant (a crab shack like my Priestess Sister called it). As we passed it, we drove for a few miles trying to find a gas station and when we did, we stopped and put gas then turned around to find the mysterious camp that we did not see the first time. This second time, I saw the sign as we passed it... here we were again trying to find a place to turn around but there were none so I did a daring maneuver and turned around like the dukes of hazard, lol.... That covered for the crazy driving for that trip.

When we arrived at the camp, the placed looked more like a hotel than the camp. That was when I realized I have packed everything wrong! I did not bring linens but I brought my sleeping bag... we were camping... well that´s what I thought. The weather was so warm and I brought more warm clothes than shorts. Everything seems to not fit the description I had in my head for what we were doing. I was basing my experience on previous experiences and it was not matching.

That´s when I realized that I had to let all my expectations go out of the window and try to make the best out of this new adventure. One day we decided to go to the beach as it felt so warm we were thinking about swimming in the ocean. We had this idea that the ocean would be warm as we were down south but that was not correct. This ocean was as cold as the one at home. The only difference was that it was warm outside on the beach. I told my Priestess Sister that we should get in and she was tentative but in the end she got in the water with me. It felt so good to jump the waves and feel the energy of the water. The waves would push us and there was a moment when I went all in. I hadn´t been in the ocean that way since the time I was in Cancun several years ago. It was one of the most amazing experiences ever. I felt recharged!!! 

Sometimes, we embark in adventures with a set of expectations that do not come true. The trick is to just let go of those expectations and go with the flow. If you are too attached to the expectations, you will not enjoy the adventure. They say you only need to know what to do in the now moment, not based it on the past or focus on the future. This adventure had its ups and downs but overall, it was fun and I was glad that I did not let the little downs take over the overall experience.

I know there will be more adventures to come... just one adventure at a time....

Many blessings,

Lady Carolina Amor

Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis
www.circulodeisis.org
Member of the Archdruid Union
https://sites.google.com/site/fellowshipofisiscentral/fellowship-of-isis-foundation-union-triad---archdruid-union
Founder of Tienda Roja

https://www.facebook.com/groups/441201419296609/