There is a myth at the heart of things and some element of genius in the heart of each person.
~Michael Meade,The Genius Myth
The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.
~Joseph Campbell,Reflections on the Art of Living
In the Sun/Moon Tarot, the cards that work with me, the Hierophant is represented by a person sitting in the lotus position at the base of a great tree whose heart shaped leaves are draping down above him/her. S/he wears a star of David (the symbol of integration of masculine and feminine) that contains the image of a baby (the inner child) and holds a symbol of 3 intertwined circles (the holy trinity of mother/father/child) and a white cow (taurus/grounded spirituality) sits beside.This card brings to mind the story of the Buddha. The Buddha was born a prince, insulated and protected from any suffering himself and from any knowledge of the existence of the suffering in the world. As a young man he took up meditation and one day as he was meditating sitting in the roots of a great Bodhi tree, he instantaneously became aware, not only of the all of the suffering of the world, but also of how to ease that suffering. At that moment he rose from his meditation, released all of his worldly goods along with his princely position and went out into the world to help ease its suffering. There was no questioning, he knew what he came here to do and at the receipt of that knowledge simply went out to do it.
The hardest thing in life may be to learn to truly trust that there is something noble and generative in ourselves. This is a greater sense of the notion of believing in our self; to truly believe in oneself means to uncover the inner core of imagination and authenticity that can also be called the genius within us. When we connect to the inner resident of the soul, we also learn how we are woven to the Soul of the World.
~Michael Meade,The Genius Myth
When hierophant card enters a reading it is a sign that the querent (the person asking the question) is in some way accessing, or about to access their information, their special form of genius they were born to offer here during their brief time on earth for this lifetime.Each of us, like the Buddha, and Jesus, Mother Teresa, Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Anthony Robbins, Mr Celis my Jr High Photography and math teacher, Christin the curly haircut genius at LunaBella and the man who builds amazing sand figures down by the wharf for spare change, has come to this planet with a specific genius, an individual gift to share with the world. And when we discover our gift and allow it to inform our lives we find connection, not only to ourselves but to all of life.
Human beings long for connection, and our sense of usefulness derives from the feeling of connectedness. When we are connected — to our own purpose, to the community around us, and to our spiritual wisdom — we are able to live and act with authentic effectiveness.
~Michael Meade,The Genius Myth
I have spent many decades unknowingly fine tuning my gifts; as I searched for what I have to offer, I followed my intuition on what would best serve my heart and the world, often against the advice and logical and well meaning suggestions of others. From the age of 16 to 36 I worked with young children, I had imagined it was in preparation for the children of my own I was most certainly going to have. And during that time I concurrently studied romantic relationships and the healing arts in preparation for the marriage that I had assumed was going to be the foundation of my family. And yet it appears that something entirely different has been in process all along. Rather than marriage and procreation being the basis of my young adult life, I have been able to spend literally decades doing self work and learning about the world and relationships, sociology, human/child development and psychology, energy work and healing.
You must give up the life you planned in order to have the lifethat is waiting for you.
~Joseph Campbell
Now, at the age of 47, still single, footloose and fancy free, I am continuing my exploration and journey of radical authenticity. Rather than regretting what did not come to pass, I am dedicated to living a life of exquisite self care so that I can serve the world in bigger and more wonderful ways. How is this all going to unfold? I am so excited to find out! I KNOW it's going to be so much more amazing and fantastic than anything I could ever plan with my tiny little brain. So far my life has proven to work that way, and I’m ready for the next step, although I have no idea what it is actually next.
If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That's why it's your path.
You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path.Where there is a way or path, it is someone else's path.You are not on your own path. If you follow someone else's way, you are not going to realize your potential.
~Joseph Campbell
What I do know is that my life involves not only honoring and my authentic self and journey, but also helping others to do so for themselves. The meaning of life, the meaning of existence itself, is for each and every one of us to honor and authentically BE OURSELVES; actively realize the little drop of god/goddess/creator/creation that IS each one of us. Each human beings is so unique and so beautiful, and this lifetime we are living is the only one in which we get to offer who we are to the world, right now. And we must offer ourselves, in our authenticity, not as imitations of anyone else; whilst we simultaneously honor the authenticity in everyone. (While Imitation may be the highest form of flattery, Self Realization is actually why we are here.)
Education at a deep level means to ‘lead out’ what is trying to be born from within. The job of a true teacher is to help awaken the inner pupil that has its own way of being and unique way of perceiving the world.
~Michael Meade,The Genius Myth
If you’re reading this, you have made it through the last weekend in February. According to Kaypacha (in the Pele report linked to the mantra below) the astrological implications and movements of Mars, Pluto and Uranus are portents of some very difficult (even “bad”) times, along with the solar eclipse last Sunday, so there are likely to have been some pretty powerful events in the last few days. Not to mention the already difficult times we’ve been facing so recently, with the election of a president who has no connection to the sacredness of the earth or the inherent beauty of every human spirit.
~Kaypacha (Mantra for last week of February LINKED)
So many of us are likely looking at the world right now and wondering how we are going to make positive change. Some of us are even wondering what the heck are we doing here anyway? Well, it's often during the most trying times that the human spirit is elicited in all its glory and our potential is achieved.
We may be closest to hearing the call when we feel most alone or in trouble, for genius hides behind the wound and one of the greatest wounds in life is to not know who we are intended to be or what we are supposed to serve in life.
~Michael Meade,The Genius Myth
Being a part of the “Human’s March for Tolerance & Inclusivity” (aka the Women’s March) on the day after the inauguration was one of the highlights of my life so far. 750,000 people showed up to make their points in Los Angeles, 8,000 in Santa Barbara (where only 700 were expected), and over 4.5 million in the United States, with over 5.5 million around the world. The largest movement in the history of the United States and on the planet!!! That’s what I’m talking about, that is why I am here, why I was born! This is where my soul and spirit literally realigned itself with the experience that this change is really happening. What I’ve “seen” and felt and known to be true is mamafesting as we speak: the world is transforming and we are an active co-creative part of that change!
The issue is not simply one of needing to save the world, but also of needing to solve the problem of the loss of soul throughout the modern world. Part of what has been lost in the reckless rushing of modernity is the sense that each life has an authentic interior that shelters important emotions as well as inherent purpose, and that the dignity of existence includes a necessary instinct to unfold the unique story woven inside each living soul.
~Michael Meade,The Genius Myth
I have this sense that it is actually easier than we think. What if, the authenticity expected of & being elicited from us is really what it's all about? I read an article recently (Humans Are Waking Up LINKED) that speaks of the resonance of the planet leaping from 7.8 to 36+ in the last few years and an article within that article mentions that “As human beings we have extraordinary potentials we have hardly begun to study much less understand. Creative gifts, intuitions, and talents…”What if we are simply waking up as a part of the process? And in honoring what we love and using our heart & our joy to navigate the journey, that in that very act of authenticity (and often times rebellion) we are doing exactly what we’re supposed to? Is that why the powers that be in the old paradigm structure are trying hard to grab all they can before we all wake up and bring sanity back for the love of the earth and each other?
Some might ask whether the path is before us or within us. The answer is: Yes. We are both driven from within by our resident spirit and something outside calls forth the genius within us.
~Michael Meade,The Genius Myth
And what if, despite all appearances to the contrary, all is truly well? (All Is Well - Matt Kahn LINKED) What is truth and what is illusion? As we sit ourselves underneath our individual Bodhi Trees, and look inside, connecting to the childlike aspects of ourselves, our divine truth falls down upon each one of us like the leaves of a tree, calling out our inherent genius. As this happens, to each person in our own timing, we automatically align with our individual authentic selves, with our spirits. Once this has occurred there is nothing left to do except walk out of the gates that held our truth hidden from us and offer ourselves as the gifts to the world that we are.
Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.
~Joseph Campbell
Please come by on March 24th (the fourth Friday) to see how, with the assistance of the cards, we can elicit more of your authentic self, (your inner genius) so you can further embody the change you want to see in the world! Blessed Be.
There is another kind of tablet, one already completed and preservedinside you. A spring overflowing its springbox. A freshness in thecenter of the chest. This other intelligence does not turn yellow or stagnate.It’s fluid, and it doesn’t move from outside to inside through theconduits of plumbing-learning. This second knowing is a fountainheadfrom within you, moving out.
~ Rumi,This Longing Mathnawi IV:1960-1968
