Earth Dance of the Star Wizards

    A wizard exists in all of us. This wizard sees and knows everything. The wizard is beyond opposites of light and dark, good and evil, pleasure and pain. Everything the wizard sees has its roots in the unseen world. Nature reflects the mood of the wizard. The body and the mind may sleep, but the wizard is always awake. The wizard possesses the secret of immortality.

    ---Deepak Chopra, "The Way of the Wizard"

WHAT IS A WIZARD?

I've always loved the word "Wizard." I've always been drawn to pictures of Wizards....usually older men with long hair and long beards, wearing flowing robes and a conical hat festooned with symbolic moons, planets, and stars!

When I made conscious contact with my life-time Spirit Guides (two of them), I found that one of them identified himself to me as "a Wizard." Since I had always thought of Wizards as fictional, I was quite surprised.

    "You've got me right—a Wizard of sorts.
    Not the brightest spark, but a spark nonetheless.
    I spring from Darkness."

    –Zohar

Zohar (my Guide) promptly informed me that Wizards are found throughout the cosmos. (Of course, Wizards can be found only when they allow themselves to be found!)

Zohar is a Star Wizard. By that, he means he is a Scientist of the Spirit of the Cosmos. And he enjoys the process of creating stars!!!

We are made from the stuff of stars. As Joni Mitchell sang, "We are stardust; we are golden." But that is only one part of the process. The other part is that IF we have within us the stuff of stars, we can give birth to NEW stars!

But more about that later. First, I want to talk about Wizards.

    "Nose, smell, is a wizard."

    —Helen Keller

Zohar often tells me to "follow your nose." I think what he means by this is to "trust your impulses." Or "trust your instincts." (IN-STINKS?) Zohar is a bit of a trickster!

Of course, it's always good to "look before you leap," but once you have the understanding of the consequences of your actions, and set your intention, remember that your FIRST impulse will hold the most power. It takes a bit of practice to live from a point of being completely focused IN THE PRESENT MOMENT, but it is the most powerful way to live.

    The PRESENT is the point of power.
    –Seth (channeled by Jane Roberts)

Wizards work (and play) with TIME. Deepak Chopra maintains that Wizards perceive TIME from a different vantage point than most: backwards! Or, that time itself runs backwards for them.

(NOTE: When I was writing this article, I happened to meet a Wizard in real life. I asked him if he lived backwards in time. He thought about it and then answered, "It's more that I step outside of time." He thought some more. "Like when I do card readings for people, I have to travel into their timeline." So there you have it!)

    I simply believe that some part of the human self or soul is not subject to the laws of space or time.
    –Carl Jung

Wizards, most of all, love to learn! They enjoy Sacred Geometry and Mathematics. They enjoy Science and Architecture and Explorations of all kinds. They like to experiment with symbols and signs. They enjoy Metaphysics, Astrology, Numerology, History, Futurology, Technology, etc.! Inspired, they create new forms of art, music, writing, games, and all sorts of things! For instance, you will recognize music created by highly evolved Wizards because of its transcendent quality; seeming to reach beyond the boundaries of time and space.

Nature, of course, is the Wizard’s greatest Teacher. It is not surprising, therefore, that Wizards like to dwell in places that serve as portals to other worlds. Mountains, caves, beaches, forests, oasis, etc. Wizards have been known to inhabit towers...perhaps to be able to study the sky, and to get a good overview of the land. They are also capable of living completely in Nature, and some have been said to live in trees. Trees, and all plants, are important to Wizards, giving them not only a place to live, but also much knowledge and magic! (Zohar tells me that trees, in particular, teach knowledge about how to work with TIME.) The Sea is especially important to Star Wizards: A Tower of Crystal in the middle of the ocean has been mentioned as one Wizard's home....

Wizards are often involved in technology....and the more highly evolved Wizard will key their work to Nature, and the wiser the Wizard, the more appropriate and Earth-friendly will be the technology!

The Druid-Wizard John Young defines a Wizard as "a male figure, at home in the outdoors, alone but not lonely, a technician of magic as of life, and a master of many competencies; all this beneath the cloak of wisdom and the mantle of authority." John Young happens to also be an Environmental Engineer for the U.S. Navy!

Although most Wizards are male, there are quite a few female Wizards! One of these, Galadriel, says one can recognize a Wizard in this way: "Look, then to the eyes of the people you meet, of whatever color. Is that ‘divine spark of intelligence' written in the eye? Stop looking for cosmic or galactic signs; start looking to the individuals among you who spark some - or any - reaction? Even if they piss you off - as solitary wizards - they must have something going for them if they got your interest. Does the eye hold a spark? That's about as close to ‘galactic' as we can get right now. Look for ‘spirit within the mind.'"

"Wizards represent all that the true 'Muggle' most fears: They are plainly outcasts and comfortable with being so. Nothing is more unnerving to the truly conventional than the unashamed misfit!" – J.K. Rowling

Galadriel writes of Solitary Wizards as feeling a bit out-of-sync, like "4th dimensional beings in a 3rd dimensional world." She describes the situation like this:

    It's like taking a test, the teacher leaves the classroom, you finish the test and you feel utterly confident you made an A, but you're not allowed to leave the classroom until the teacher returns - and the teacher hasn't been back in three hours. You're sitting there doing nothing, waiting to be dismissed, promoted, failed or whatever, but you're frozen in a useless time and place doing nothing. You begin to suspect the teacher may never return, but you have no power to do anything about the situation because you followed the rules, and if you take the initiative to break the rules, or come up with a creative solution, who knows when the situation will revert back to normal, and the minute you leave the classroom, the teacher returns, and you get flunked because you walked out - even though you did everything by the book, and you observed all the policies and procedures, the agreement was broken by the other party, and the other party has the authority to hold you responsible for their negligence.

    That's what being a fourth-dimensional soul in a third-dimensional body feels like right now. Where the hell is the teacher?

    If we had to sum it up, we'd say the teacher has left the building, and it has become our job to start teaching each other. We also suspect this was not by design, but by default. (This last statement is worth at least two meditation classes and one discourse.)

WHAT DO WIZARDS DO?

There are all kinds of Wizards.....I see them as very Creative people who are also very curious, both in the ways of the Word and Wordless Magics, Mythologies, Histories, Alchemies and any other study that catches their interest. They are Resources. They also know how to discover repositories of knowledge within themselves, and sometimes, wisdom. ;-)

    Wizards work intensely with magic in what is known as the creative process. Wizards are the builders; the carpenters if you will, of reality. In their early stages of development, Wizards tend to create haphazardly, sometimes with seemingly little regard for the consequences of their creations, reaping karma for their later lessons along their path. As a wizard evolves into a mature soul, s/he seeks to clean up his or her own vessel of expression so as to manifest clearly his or her intent.

    Much of a wizard's time during the middle stage is spent in laborious studies and ritual practices, not to learn "spells" but to purify their own bodies (physical, astral, and mental) to better align them with their Soul. Because of this time-consuming effort, many Wizards along their path pick up the erroneous idea that they must be solitary; unable to work with or interact strongly with others. This erroneous concept has led to many a lonely Wizard who became disgusted with their life's work and chucked it right before they were about to make a breakthrough.

    In truth, Wizards need human companionship and interaction far more than do some of the other Soul groups; they thrive on human interaction. When they are isolated, they tend to numb their pain with alcohol and other chemical substances, or revert to destructive behavior patterns and vengeful actions. Thus you see the rising of the "black adept," the wizard who creates solely out of the separative will aspect, usually to get revenge upon his or her "enemies" or to garner a degree of power that they feel they have given up or lost. Such wizards must repeat these lessons until they have concluded that the path to evolution stems from conscious co-creation using the Divine Will aspect.

    --Paris Soulier

So where did the word "Wizard" come from?

The word "wizard" simply meant "wise one" in olden times. The root word can be traced through the Indo-Aryan word "Vizier" and the Arabic "Waz-ir", who were at one time valued advisors to those who ruled, taking the role of the now modern-day prime minister of a nation. In the Nordic tradition, the word for wizard was "Vitki", again, meaning, "the wise one." The words "advise" and "advice", as well as the prefix "vice" in "vice-president" or "viceroy" derive from the same root as does "wizard." The ancient roots of all these words meant "burden-bearer," "carrier," or "he who assists." Throughout history, the role of the wizard was as an ancillary; a power behind the throne. In the game of chess, the Persians still refer to the queen piece as "Wazir".

Paris Soulier classifies Wizards into ADEPTS, ALCHEMISTS, BARDS, DRUIDS, MYSTICS, SHAMANS, and THAUMATURGISTS.

http://www.wizardrealm.com/wizards/types.html

These, of course, are just one way of classifying Wizards. Ultimately, Wizards define themselves in what they DO.

What turns a simple "researcher" into a "Wizard" is the quality of CREATIVITY. Knowledge is fine, but WHAT TO DO with that knowledge is the essence of Wizardry. A Wizard has "mad skills!" But what good are these skills, unless they are somehow shared with others?

As Soulier puts it: "Every human being has the potential for becoming a conscious co-creator of his or her own reality. . .in whatever aspect the person may envision through the right application of Free Will. In doing so, the Wizard seeks to become a Conscious Soul Incarnate; that is, to manifest the energies of his or her soul through the mental, astral, and physical bodies and render conscious creation in his or her world." That's all! ;-)

Creativity is a way of perceiving the world. It’s about taking what we are given and making something brand new out of it! It's a bit tricky, isn't it? In a way, it's like going to the Crossing Point, picking up the 2 sticks that are placed there, and rubbing them together, in a spinning motion, to make fire! I think that's why my Guide calls himself "Zohar"; it means "a spark"! He is the spark that bridges the gap between the “old” and the “new.”

A Star Wizard creates the first spark that attracts other sparks and eventually becomes a SUN, uniting all the components of its own Solar System. Of course, the SUN also revolves around other "centers." It's all about "CENTERING." Think of throwing a pebble into a pond...and the rings that proceed outwards from it.....

Wherever a Wizard stands, he IS a STAR; he stands at the CENTER of his Solar System. From such a vantage point, the perspective is unlimited in every direction. Time is a dimension of different frequencies, and a Wizard can synchronize his vibrations and access any level or dimension. Zohar uses the metaphor of "Centering" in the process of creating a clay bowl on a spinning wheel: First you have to "center" the clay. That is the synchronization needed in order to create a new form, a form that can dwell completely and fully within the dimensional field.

    Time is not a line nor an
    arrow. Time is a
    frequency - the frequency
    of synchronicity.
    – Ricardo Serrano, Earth Wizard Workshop

    "To synchronize is to be within one's Time, like being on your game, feeling good, going with the flow."
    –Nick Cumbo (via "Jacob")

Wizards enjoy feeling good. Once they are synchronized, they enjoy all that is there to be enjoyed, centered in that dimension! And they flow with it.

ZIPPING, ZOOMING, and CREATING A STAR TOGETHER

But Wizards DO have faults: since they are "one step ahead," they can be somewhat impatient at times.

Soulier speaks even of Jesus as a Wizard: "Like most all wizards, he was a sensualist; he loved good food and wine, the company of his friends, and being comfortable (and he could be peevish when awakened suddenly). He could be impatient, and was NOT perfect even though he was stationing a Divine Spirit; as evidenced of his blasting the unproductive fig tree or his driving the merchants out of the Temple of Jerusalem."

Soulier explains that "Wizards must overcome two different challenges: that of arrogance and of self-deprecation. Arrogance is used in the early cycles of Wizard evolution as a karma-engendering device. As the soul matures, Wizards must guard against falling into the opposite trap of self-deprecation, or the tendency to beat themselves up over the tiniest failing."

It's true Wizards are not perfect. And some Wizards are downright nasty! But the more ALIGNED they are....both with outer and inner reality....the closer they are to being effective and harmonious with their chosen world. And what saves them from just being insufferable know-it-all's is accessing their passionate/compassionate nature. What saves them is the opening of their wonderfully huge HEART! Wizards find that if they open their hearts, the synchronicity quickens exponentially!

    "A wizard is never late; nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.”
    --Gandalf (Lord of the Rings)

Peter Russell, in his article, "How to be a Wizard," explains how Wizards do this through Inner Wholeness (to be rested, relaxed, centered and clear), through Clarity of Intention (knowing what they REALLY need and then letting go of attachment), and something he calls "Zipping and Zooming" (Playing our part in the world, and allowing cosmic choreography to play its part).
This "Zipping and Zooming" means sharing and respecting the visions of others.. . . .and sometimes adding one's energies to those visions, when appropriate.

    Although we may not be able to make synchronicities happen, we can create environments that foster their occurrence. We can create an inner environment of wholeness and high intention; and in our outer lives we can engage ourselves fully in the world, mix with the social field, go out and play. Play whatever game and role best fits our intentions. Play it with our soul, fully. Play it in whatever way brings us inner wholeness, enjoyment and fulfillment—there is, after all, no point in suffering while we play.

    –Peter Russell, "The Spirit of Now"

So, with all this "zipping and zooming," where does the "STAR-creation" happen? Zohar says it happens when LOVE and POWER combine in creative ways. Jimi Hendrix, who has been called a "Guitar Wizard" made popular the quote: "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." This quote echoes the words of William Gladstone and Sri Chinmoy Ghose, both of whom can also be considered Wizards in their own right. And it is true that love and power are related. Perhaps they can be considered the two sides of polarity within a Wizard's heart. Combining and balancing the two in a creative way creates a Whole that is greater than the sum of its parts: a STAR!

LOVE is the mystery all Wizards must bow to. It is the one thing they can't really figure out! And so they respect it. Any Wizard who has loved, knows the power of it!

It's not really about CREATING stars. It's more like KNOWING that one's heart-fire/center-fire and the energy of a star are one and the same...

    "To know the stars, you must burn as they do." Twin Dreamers (Star Woman)

As Nicki Scully puts it, we each have an “eternal flame that dwells in the sanctuary of our heart center.” Some call it “the Fire from Within.” In order to synchronize with the Planet, Wizards:

    1. Draw the power, vitality, and intelligence from the heart of the Earth up through all the strata of the Earth, drawing from all the elements, minerals, and plants.

    2. Draw the power, vitality, and intelligence down from the Sky, from the star nations and all the intelligence of the universe that surrounds and permeates all of the cosmos.

    3. As the power of Sky above joins the power of the Earth below in their heart center, they see-feel-know-imagine the further nourishment of their heart flame. They then feel the alignment and the synchronization happens automatically.

    http://www.shamanicjourneys.com/articles/heart_breath.php

This practice was illustrated to me by Zohar. He had me visualizing 2 Triangles, with one of them turning itself upside down...then jumping up and touching points with the one below! The finished figure looks like a combination of the letters “X” and “Z.” I call it an “Hourglass,” or a “Helix.” It is a symbol of how the Earth Wizard works....combining Earth Energies with Cosmic Energies in the center-fire of the awakened Heart!

The process pulls us down to our deepest roots, and then up to our best visions of the future....and combines the two in most creative ways! The more of us who then connect at the heart-level, the more real the ancient-future vision will become. (And, of course, the future will be a COMBINED result of our COMBINED visions and efforts; we are ALL Wizards...some of us just don’t know it yet!)

It is a Paradox...at the end of knowledge, there is only the wisdom of experience, of BEING. Beyond knowingness is only beingness. One can only be truly oneself by giving away everything. One can only be still by dancing. One can only create by getting out of the way of All-That-Is!

    "I, a loving and responsible Wizard, know that Love is the true foundation of all Creation. Therefore, I will incorporate that Love into all Light Creations I weave within the constructs of Humanity and of the Divine Plan."

    –Galadriel, Wizard Affirmations

    "The basis of everything in the wizards' world rests upon the insight ‘All this is myself.’ Therefore, in accepting the world as it is, the wizard views everything in the light of self-acceptance, which is the light of love."
    --Deepak Chopra, The Way of the Wizard

    Am I willing to give up what I have in order to be what I am not yet? Am I able to follow the spirit of love into the desert? It is a frightening and sacred moment. There is no return. One's life is charged forever. It is the fire that gives us our shape.
    –M.C. Richards, Potter and Artist

The energy of Love completes the Wizard’s connection and takes the synchronization spiraling into the eternal dimension. Sometimes the Wizard willingly bows to the loved one, as Merlin did with Vivian, in order to bring about a true equality of connection. But, in truth, the Wizard never gives up his freedom because everything he does is a matter of free and conscious choice.

In this TIME, I see our planet as passing through that tiny space in the middle of the Hourglass, through the crazy twist in the Mobius Strip. We might feel that we are under great pressure, as our perception of TIME compresses. But this is simply part of the process. If we can endure the pressure without losing our minds, we can come out on the other side as creators of a NEW EARTH that is expanded and transformed in its dimensions! It’s similar to the way that pressure creates a Diamond out of Carbon (Coal).

Now is the time for all good Star Wizards to feel our Connection (through our burning hearts), and let our LOVE lead us through the passage! In order to get through that tiny space, we must let go of a lot of things....of fear, of jealousy, of regret, of pain, of impatience, of arrogance, etc. We give up anything that keeps us from changing. And we will see, as the poet Pierre Auguste Renoir said, “The pain passes, but the beauty remains.” And from that beauty we will have a wonderful, fantastic, magical, mystical, rip-roaring time creating our new world and living from our spacious and open hearts. That’s where the spiralling spinning dance begins!

    Let’s re-join the choreography of creation, align with the wildly creative collaborative mojo being so generously proffered to us by the guiding sky-earth story of now.
    –Caroline Casey, Coyote Network News

    You must get off your sitting commentary and boogie to the tune of a holy pipe. Only then can the big vibration penetrate your whole being, leaving you inseparable from creation and its creator. The whole on high is a dance, a sacred vibration, a song, and a singular encompassing breath.
    — Bradford Keeney with Hillary Keeney

    Spiraling motion draws energy into the spiral. It was a spiral of energy that originally formed the universe. It is the Cosmic Heart Spiral of Love that awakens our hearts.
    --Yogi Sharanananda

    We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars, the stars form a circle … and in the center, we dance. – Rumi

    Love is the frequency
    living blooming harmony
    turning out and turning on
    tiny cells so true.

    Night-time sky now
    hungrier to fly now
    Could it be the stardust
    glowing in my bones?

    Fireflies and galaxies
    circling ever so free,
    never-ending dance of
    round and round we go.

    Spiral dance of life and love,
    As below so is above,
    Fern, shell, cell and star
    Come and see who we are.
    Come and see who you are.
    Come and be who you are.
    Come and love who you are.
    Come and love.

    –Zorah Staar

    "Be humble, for you are of the Earth,
    Be noble, for you are of the Stars."-Slavic Proverb

    He whose face gives no light shall never become a star.
    –William Blake

    The whole cosmos, above and below, turns in our dancing.
    Whoever does not enter the dance, does not know what is happening.
    --The Round Dance Hymn in the Acts of John (JLL trans.)

RESOURCES:

Christopher Hills: Evolution of Consciousness
–all his books, but especially: “Nuclear Evolution: Discovery of the Rainbow Body”
http://hillsfoundation.org/#

Deepak Chopra: "Way of the Wizard"
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Wizard-Spiritual-Lessons-Creating/dp/051...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk7ISELF6G8

Consciousness of the Sun:
http://www.lifebridge.org/historySun.cfm

Dreamspell Wizards:
http://www.holisticwebs.com/earthwizard/index.html

http://www.mysticmamma.com/find-your-mayan-sign/

https://galacticwizard34.com/2016/12/17/the-journey-back-to-square-...

https://itzadragon.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/ancient-future-wisdom-p...

http://www.13moon.com/not_the_mayan_calendar.htm

Galadriel:
http://www.wizardrealm.com/Galadriel/ideal.html

http://www.wizardrealm.com/Galadriel/solitary.html

http://www.wizardrealm.com/Galadriel/affirm.html

God is a Vibration
http://sacredecstatics.com/god-is-a-vibration/

Jane Roberts: Working and Playing with TIME
All her books, especially the novel "The Education of Oversoul Seven (trilogy)"

Joan Ocean: Time Capsules and Time Travel
http://joanocean.com/Timecapsule/

http://www.eyewithin.com/ampli.html

JOSÉ ARGÜELLES: “Surfers of the Zuvuya”
http://www.holisticwebs.com/earthwizard/merlyn.html

http://lawoftime.org/timeshipearth/dreamspell.html

http://www.holisticwebs.com/earthwizard/index2.html

http://www.holisticwebs.com/earthwizard/zuvuya.html

http://surfersofthezuvuya.com/

Lynn V. Andrews: “Love and Power: Awakening to Mastery”
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/humanity101/2009/04/24/humanity101-hos...

M.C. Richards: “Centering” “The Fire Within” “The Crossing Point”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akh6enU6Gds

Nick Cumbo: Galactic Waves
http://www.improverse.com/ed-articles/Nick_Cumbo_2004_Apr_Galactic_...

Nicki Scully: "Heart breath"
http://www.shamanicjourneys.com/articles/heart_breath.php

http://shamanicjourneys.com/articles/fromtheheart.php

http://innerself.com/content/spirituality/meditation/love-a-compass...

One Way to Slow Time Down
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/08/11/be-a-time-wizard-how-to-sl...

One White Horse Standing; “Dissolving Time Crystals”
http://onewhitehorsestanding.com/index.htm

http://onewhitehorsestanding.com/Downloads/time-crystal-brief-manua...

http://onewhitehorsestanding.com/resources.htm

Paul Hawken: Reversing Global Warming
http://www.drawdown.org/

Paris Soulier: WIZARDS, TYPES, HISTORY
http://www.wizardrealm.com/metaphysics/wizard.html

http://www.wizardrealm.com/wizards/types.html

http://www.wizardrealm.com/wizards/history.html

Peter Russell: "How to be a Wizard"
http://www.peterrussell.com/PassingThoughts/Wizardry.php

http://www.peterrussell.com/pete.php

http://www.peterrussell.com/Odds/Popular.php

Rumi
http://www.hooping.org/2011/01/centered-while-moving-rumi-poet-laur...

Top Ten Movie Wizards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcpDOLofIlI

Wands and Wizards
http://www.macfies.com/wands--wizards.html

Zorah Staar: Spiral Dance of Life and Love
http://www.allmusic.com/album/pagan-pop-mw0000213481

Djab, Djinn, Devil, Demon...what’s in a word?

WHO ARE THEY?

I have always been fascinated with the Djab and similar spirits.

The word “Djab” is an interesting one. I first heard of it as part of the lore of Haitian Vodou. Some say that the Creole word is derived from the French word diable (meaning “devil”). Others say it is related to the Arabic word “Djinn” or “Genie,” like the Genie in Aladdin’s Lamp! I have even found it in Bali, where the original culture of Bali is called “djaba, “ meaning “outsiders.” (Oddly enough, 90% of the people of Bali are called djaba, which means these “outsiders” are really “insiders,” but were branded low-caste by the descendants of the invading Hindu-Javanese invaders of Madjapahit, conquerors of the island in the 14th century.)

In many places throughout the world, the original indigenous people are often labeled “low caste” or “outsiders” or such, by the invading cultures. Also, the Spirits that they work with, the Spirits of their ancient traditions, are often called “devils” by the invading forces’ religion. As the old saying goes, “The gods of the old religion become the devils of the new religion.”

Otherkin beings (such as faeries, elves, gnomes, etc.) are also called “devils” or “demons” by the prevailing Christian, Islamic, or Buddhist religions. In some cases, these Otherkin beings are said to be spirits; in other cases, they are said to be the actual Indigenous people of a place who have been able to “shift” into another dimension, or to merge with the natural elements of air, water, fire, or earth. The “faeries” of Northern Europe, for instance, have a lot in common with the earliest known inhabitants of those areas.

In the spiritual tradition of Vodou, the main spirits are called Lwa (or Loa). Sometimes Lwa (or Loa) are called “Djab”:

    “With origins in shamanism, Vodou clearly involves connection with spiritual forces and these are understood as being of three primary types; the Loa (the most powerful of the spirits), Gede (spirits of the ancestors) and Djab(nature spirits). Connection is made with these spirits, sometimes involving complete possession, and the shaman can receive power (known as ashé) from the djabs and spiritual gifts from the loa.”
    (Neil Hocking)

    “A Lwa can be referred to as a djab when he or she is working in an aggressive manner. But more usually, when one talks about a djab , one is speaking of a personal spirit. This is a spirit that belongs to a specific person. Oftentimes, the way this relationship is struck up between the person and the djab is a magickal contract. Djabs are more about magick and less about spirituality. They work to get rid of enemies, increase one's wealth, and to create other material successes. Djab are fast to punish if their services are not correctly attended to.”
    (Houngan Hector)

Houngan Hector has a Djab which he inherited through his family line. He writes of the Djab here:

http://www.ezilikonnen.com/services/empowerment/

In this description, Hector’s Djab (Siete Puntas) has a signature move where she “balances on the tip of a machete.” This is something that reminds me of many shamanic practices in many cultures. For instance, here is a video about the South Korean shamans who “dance on knives”:

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/southkorea_knifedancing

These feats are performed to prove to the people (including the shaman) that there is a change in dimensional focus, so much so that the rules of the 3rd dimension are blurred.

Another interesting word is the Arabic word "Djinn." Sometimes spelled "Jinn;" the word "Genie" is related to it. From my research, I have concluded that these Djab/Djinn/Genies are part of an ancient race that actively engages (or embodies) the energy of Nature, especially in the form of fire/heat or wind/air. In that, they are part-elemental, part shape-shifter

    "I am a genie. You may wonder what that really means. . .Well, first of all, I am not from or of your world. I live in a dimension of fire and light. I am basically a fire spirit. Just so you know, we genies are alive. We don't experience life as you do, but we are living, thinking creatures.

    "You humans take us genies for granted. Most of you have very little idea of the tremendous service that we provide for your kind. Everything in your world that is of a fiery or electrical nature is administrated by a genie or djinn assigned to that function. Without us, your world as you know it would cease to exist. Even the very sun that is the source of life and nourishment for your planet is a mighty Djinn."

    –from “1, 2, 3, Your Wish is Granted” by Genie (through Max Rose)

I like Hillary Raimo's definition: "A djinn is a supernatural creature which occupies a parallel world to that of mankind." In some cases, a Djab/Djinn/Genie can move from one dimension to another, especially if a container is used for the spirit to occupy.

So, from where do these Djab, Djinn, demons, devils come? Ancient Arabic writings speak of a race of beings named Jinn or Jan (Jinnee m., Jinniyeh f. sing.), which were created and occupied the earth several thousand years before Adam. They seem much like the Fairy, or Peri, race described in European folklore, even to their abhorrence of iron. They know how to merge with the natural world and often become guardians of certain places:

    "The chief abode of the Jinn of both kinds is the Mountains of Kaf. But they also are dispersed through the earth, and they occasionally take up their residence in baths, wells, latrinae, ovens, and. ruined houses. They also frequent the sea and rivers, cross-roads, and market-places. They ascend at times to the confines of the lowest heaven, and by listening there to the conversation of the angels, they obtain some knowledge of futurity, which they impart to those men who, by means of talismans or magic arts, have been able to reduce them to obedience."

    http://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm006.htm

In the limestone caves of Bode near Trouin in the south of Haiti, a Djab named Met Set Joune, Master of the Seven Days, is believed to reside. These kinds of spirits seem to like to stay in enclosures, and also to mix with others in the different dimensions. They like to inhabit places that are “liminal,” that is, places that is “in between.” In this way they can reach out and have contact with the human world, and also be able to retreat into their own “home” dimension.

In modern times, some postulate that there was an elder-race that colonized Earth before humans evolved, and that this race may have joined with the natural elements in order to live in the 4th dimensional world, or in a parallel dimension to our own.

It is possible that this race had some relations with humans down the line, resulting in families that have Djab/Djinn/Faeries in their ancestral pool. But since the elder race has a much longer life span than modern humanity, the Being stays with the family, adding its Power to that of its descendants, for a long long time.

More than anything, a Djab is a magickal being. It can shapeshift, it can move between dimensions, and it can act invisibly to change reality. But in its natural (WILD) state, it simply IS.

In Witch families throughout the world, spirits can become attached to the family and can be passed down through the family line. Sometimes these spirits are called “Faeries” or other kinds of elemental entities. There are families that are said to have Faeries in their Ancestral Family Tree. I know one American Witch who has a “spirit dog” who guards her home and possessions from any kind of harm. The dog has come with her family from Europe and has been with the family for many generations. It seems to me that the Djab are similar kinds of entities.

Djabs are called “Wild” Spirits. What does this mean, this “wildness”? Is it related to the concept of “wilderness”?

    “Wilderness then means 'self-willed-land' or 'self-willed-place' with an emphasis upon its own intrinsic volition... This 'willed' conception is itself in opposition to the controlled and ordered environment, which is characteristic of the notion of civilization. While control, order, domination and management are true of civilization and domestication, they are not essentials of primal culture... Nature worship evidences a traditional theme of sacred natural places, free from desecration by humans and their technology. Such sacred places were wilderness in the deepest sense; they were imbued with will- force, - willed, willful, uncontrollable - and with spirit. Thus, they held about them a sacred mystery - a numinous presence. It is from this tradition that the 'will-of the-land' - wilderness - concept emerges.” ( Jay Hansford C. Vest.)

The Djab are often described as “hot spirited” and “strong-willed;” and even powerful Magicians find them “difficult to control.” They are said to made of “spirit fire” (a kind of electro-magnetic energy) and they love spicy food, crazy rhythms, gunpowder and explosions, dangerous and awe-inspiring feats, like sitting on the edge of a sharp saber, eating glass, walking on hot coals, etc. Perhaps they are expressing the hot “center of the Earth” which spews forth in volcanoes, ultimately creating our islands and continents. Like the “wands” in the Tarot deck, they are full of passion and desire, dynamic force, ambitions, creativity, vitality, self-development, growth, and perception. When out of balance, however, they can express restlessness, anger, violence, pride, mischief, disruption and stubborness.

The Vodou Lwa most likely to be called "Djab" are the Petro Lwa. This is said because of their “fierce” and very individualistic natures. These are the group of Lwa who were the catalysts for the Revolution in which the slaves liberated themselves from their captors in Haiti. Obviously, the Revolutionaries were empowered by “WILD” spirits because the quality of WILDNESS cannot be caged or captured. Wildness contains a certain kind of Power that is not contained in “civilization.” It’s a power that is connected to “ALIVENESS” and to “FREEDOM.”

It seems to me that the Petro Lwa empowered the slaves to rise up because of their connection to the WILD aspects of Nature....wind, rain, lightning, wild predatory animals, darkness of the night....and their ability to rise to a challenge! It has also be suggested, notably by Maya Deren, that the Petro Lwa may have been connected to the Native American sprits of the island. These indigenous Spirits were surely willing to help kick out the slave-masters!

In modern times, most “troublesome” spirits, if recognized, are candidates for the “Exorcism” of the established religions. However, more ancient traditions often do their best to “strike a bargain” with the spirit, in order to work together for some kind of goal, usually to help and heal.

    "If not channeled, electricity can go where it pleases." (Rob King)

So, how can one work with WILD spirits (Djab) in a positive way? Obviously, it’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of knowledge and wisdom. Supposedly, King Solomon (of Biblical fame) used Djabs to build his Temple because he was able to control them by means of a magical Ring. My own intuition, however, tells me that a magical Ring would not be enough to get the Djab/Djinn to do all the things that Solomon wanted them to do. Something tells me that Solomon respected their many talents and abilities.

    According to another story, Solomon summoned the Djinn to his crystal-paved palace, where they sat at tables made of iron. (In folklore, iron weakens supernatural entities.) The Qur’an tells how the king made them work at building palaces, making carpets, and creating ponds, statues and gardens. Whenever Solomon wanted to travel to faraway places, the djinn carried him on their backs. (Rosemary Ellen Guiley)

That sounds to me that the Djab/Djinn had great skills and technologies. Yet, for some reason, the Iron (and some add Copper) somehow made them subservient. There are also stories of the Devil being pained by Iron (see the story of St. Dunstan below). This puzzles me.

    One reputed origin of the tradition of lucky horseshoes is the story of Saint Dunstan and the Devil. Dunstan, who would become the Archbishop of Canterbury in AD 959, was a blacksmith by trade. The story relates that he once nailed a horseshoe to the Devil's hoof when he was asked to reshoe the Devil's horse. This caused the Devil great pain, and Dunstan only agreed to remove the shoe and release the Devil after the Devil promised never to enter a place where a horseshoe is hung over the door. (Edward G. Flight)

For me, this speaks of a cultural difference between an Ancient Culture (the Djab/Djinn/Devil) and a New Invasive Culture...an encounter between Bronze Age groups being invaded by Iron Age groups.

Yes, I believe that the Djab/Djinn/Devils consider US the invaders! Much like the spirits of the Aborigines and other indigenous peoples are said to “haunt” the old sacred places....

    "And when the last red man shall have perished from the earth and his memory among white men shall have become a myth, these shores shall swarm with the invisible dead of my tribe, and when your children's children shall think themselves alone in the field, the store, the shop, upon the highway or in the silence of the woods, they will not be alone."

    "The white man will never be alone. Let him be just and kindly deal with my people, for the dead are not powerless. Dead - I say? There is no death. Only a change of worlds."

    - Chief Seattle, 1854

FREE SPIRITS

Ancient Shamans and Magicians learned to trap the power of the Wild Spirit into different objects....statues, rings, bottles, even lamps! How could they entrap such a Wild Spirit? Well, Djabs have one soft spot—they love to “make deals.” And sometimes, humans can be trickier than even Djabs! (But, usually, not for long! After all, Djabs can outlive humans!)

In his series of Mythadventures books, Robert Aspirin wrote of a world inhabited by interdimensional travellers. One of his main characters is a “demon” which he explains “is slang for Dimension Traveler.” One of the dimensions is called “Deva,” and its denizens “Deveels.”

    “Merchant capital of the dimensions. Inhabited by the Deveels, traders supreme. As Aahz puts it, ‘If you think you've gotten a good deal from a Deveel, first count your fingers, then your limbs, then your relatives.’ The Bazaar on Deva is a dimension-wide round-the-clock flea market which sells every conceivable magikal device and artifact.”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythAdventures

The Jeannie (of the 1960s TV show “I dream of Jeannie”) could be considered a Djab! Of course, if you’ve watched this show at all, you know that Jeannie was able to manipulate things to her own advantage, more often then not!

Anne Rice wrote a kind of “autobiography of a Genii” in her book “Servant of the Bones.” Throughout the novel, Azriel (the Genie) is struggling to understand whether he is a ghost, a demon, or an angel. He is trying to understand why his god has denied him the Stairway to Heaven by allowing him to be made into an immortal spirit who is bound to the gold-encased bones of his mortal body. As a genie, he must obey the Master of those bones (whoever has them at the moment) and become the Master's Servant of good or evil. Thus the title, Servant of the Bones.

In Sarangerel’s book Chosen by the Spirits, she wrote of some spirit entities which are “quite strong and difficult to overcome in the process of healing or other ritual.” She says:

    “Although some are hostile and cannot be changed, at times they can be ‘mastered,’ and redirected to become a shamanic spirit helper.’” She tells us, “You will be able to decide for yourself whether a spirit is worth mastering.”

In Vodou and also in the East African Zar ceremony, Djab spirits are fed, given honor with drumming and dancing and special songs. Sometimes, special scents (perfumes or incense) are offered. The spirits, as they come in to the person who is embodying them, are greeted with their own special clothes and effects, decorated and given much praise. An animal is usually sacrificed to them, and those who are possessed also partake of the animal. This special respect usually results in an acknowledgement by the Djab that it is being treated well, and this results in healing for the human to whom it comes. As long as the Djab is given its due, it will work with the human in whatever way the human needs it.

In these ceremonies, a person who is magnified (“possessed”) by a Djab is given a chance to be “wild,” to act in a way that would be frowned upon in regular social circumstances. These ceremonies can be a chance to “blow off some steam,” and let the unconscious play its emotions through the body. These ceremonies take place within socially proscribed boundaries and give the participants a great tension-release from their stressful lives, while they are watched over by caring community members!

It is interesting that the Zar and other similar ceremonies happen in societies where certain groups of people have tremendous power-over other groups. These ceremonies function as a kind of “pressure valve” to help the oppressed group cope with living everyday under such domination. The “hot spirits” who possess the participants are often angry, confused, traumatized, lashing out in an emotional way. The participants can express their negative emotions in a safe place until they are exhausted and, after resting, can be able to function again in a calm way.

This reminds me of the method given by Tibetan Buddhist Lama Tsultrim Allione, in her book “Feeding Your Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict.” Allione based her book on the Chöd lineage of Machig Labdrön. In this view, the Demons and other “wild spirits” are not outside of us, but within us! She writes:

    “Do not be fooled by the idea that demons are external to us. We are seeing our own mind projected in living color all around us. Train yourself to see things this way. Generate love and compassion toward whatever demon appears—without or within. When you finally understand from your own experience that there is no need to cater to the concerns of the ego, you will no longer cling to hopes or fears, or gods and demons. You will see that the source of your pain is clinging to your ego. You will rest in the limitless expanse of awareness—your true home. And you will be free.”

Freedom is the goal, always, for the human being. Keeping other humans or other entities enslaved is NOT freedom, neither for the slave nor the slaveholder. Of course, true freedom comes with responsibility. Freedom is about making choices, and one choice we can make is to discover our demons, name them, and then feed them with gentle compassion. When we do this, they are liberated, and are transformed into our Allies and Helpers in the Spirit World. In other words, conflictive emotions are (with love and patience) transformed into peaceful emotions.

As we humans look toward the future, we realize that we need a NEW RELATIONSHIP with Nature, including our own “human nature.” Instead of conquering and subduing Wild Nature (and Nature Spirits), modern humans are beginning to realize that it is better to work in HARMONY with Nature.....because, after all, Nature cannot really be conquered or subdued. That includes humans, of course, as we are also part of Nature!

MATURING INTO ADULT SPIRITUALITY

In her book “Initiation”, Elizabeth Jenkins speaks of her interaction with an Altomisayoq (a Priest of the Spirits in Peru) by the name of Ricardo. Ricardo was a 3rd-level priest in that system. He worked with the “Apu” (spirits much like the Lwa and Djab of Vodou).

Elizabeth watched Ricardo as he did whatever the Apu commanded him to do, including corporal punishment of a child and other things that Elizabeth felt quite uneasy about! As someone who was trained to deal with dysfunctional families, she recognized the signs of dysfunction and finally realized:

    “'Of course!’ I nearly yelled out loud with the impact of the sudden realization. Instinctively, it had bothered me from the very beginning that Ricardo’s Apus told everyone what to do. But now, I understood my discomfort on all levels, psychologically, esoterically, and in my gut. You simply cannot let children run the zoo.

    “As a therapist I had observed this family pattern frequently. If the children in a family are given too much power the results are disastrous, because the parents’ power is weakened and the family system collapses. Similarly, if the children are ignored or mistreated, the family as a whole suffers when the child fails, or acts out in school. I postulated that undoubtedly this pattern must hold true for our own UNCONSCIOUS IMPULSES as well.

    “If we are directed by our lower impulses, chaos results; but if those same impulses are repressed, we lose our life force. Perhaps the TRICK is to make sure one’s life force is guided and channeled by a firm, directing Consciousness.

    “The forces of nature...could not be in charge. The evolved human Consciousness was meant to direct and guide these forces of nature. Historically, we had once been dominated by nature, at the mercy of its overwhelming power. Then, Western society tried to dominate or repress nature in response to the feeling of helplessness. This created a society of lifeless people afraid of their bodies and their own spontaneous impulses. But neither extreme worked. What was needed was a strong, guiding hand that allowed the power of the unconscious to be used and channeled constructively.”

    –Elizabeth B. Jenkins, “Initiation (Return of the Inka)”

Of course these Djab are not bad or evil—they are simply (like powerful Children) in a role that is inappropriate. They are akin to what Starhawk calls our “Younger Self” (our "inner child" - our playful, unconscious self which responds to the use of symbols). Children and our “Younger self” function very much in the Right Brain mode of being, connected with All-That-Is, and very free. Their consciousness is unified with the Natural world and everything around them. Their intuition and psychic powers are prodigious. But they will often yearn for some sort of Structure and will rejoice when they get a job to do that challenges them, and helps them to grow. They function best when they are given “boundaries” within which to channel their energies.

As Juan Nunez del Prado (a Quechua 4th-level Priest) told Elizabeth:

"At the 3rd level, the Apu's are seen as punishing. But do not confuse the master with the path. A Priest's Apu's can only appear AS HIS LEVEL PERMITS. The transition from the 3rd to the 4th level is very important. At the 3rd level, the initiate encounters the invisible world and the forces there are experienced as frightening, indeed terrifying. You must learn to wrestle with them; you must learn to fight and conquer—your own fear. If not, you remain forever at the mercy of it.

"The 4th level is a completely different state of mind. You become free, the Apu's become your friends, and you learn to work in harmony with the invisible world. My Apu's are sweet, charming. According to the prophecies, the transition from 3rd to the 4th level is the MOST IMPORTANT OCCURRENCE OF THIS TIME!"

I believe this is the key. We are in a very pivotal time. We have come here in order to help the world make this transition. To do that, we must conquer our own fear and come out on the other side. It's not a one-time, cut-and-dried thing. It's a process. It's a maturing process. It involves humans and ALL OTHER BEINGS ON THIS PLANET.

We must “stand up” with courage, and become Spiritual Adults, developing a firm, directing Consciousness which holds and centers our own Power. We must not let the Djab or anybody else tell us what to do, or drain our energy with their demands. We must make our own decisions, because we were not born for anybody else, we were born for ourselves.

The energy of the Child Nature Spirit (by whatever name we choose to call it) is precious and can give a person or a group/family/tribe a great source of Creativity and Magic, Psychic power and Healing. It can bring us strength through our connection with Nature and with the Elements. But like any Spirited Child, it needs a strong guiding hand that allows the power of the Unconscious to be used and channeled constructively.

In addition, we need to develop a relationship with our own Guiding Star, our Angel, and our Spiritual Guides. By doing this, we will have our Divine Self backing us up, as we guide our own Inner-Child to work for the good of all, according to free will.

    “The Inka prophecies speak of this time period in history as a Time of Transformation. We in the Andes called it the TARIPAY PACHA (‘Age of Meeting Ourselves Again’). This is a time when human beings must really begin to work together. This is also a time when miraculous occurrences can and must take place.

    “This time period represents a ‘critical period’ in the development of human collective consciousness. We must be able to leave fear behind and learn to share our cultural gifts and achievements.”

It is about becoming a Spiritual Adult:

    “Achieving this (adult) level means that you can enter a synagogue, a Hindu temple, a Buddhist temple, or an Andean cave with the same feeling of sacred in your heart. The capacity to do this indicates someone who can see, feel, and recognize the sacred energy of people, places or objects, directly. They are able to see through the symbol, beyond it, moving into direct energetic perception. This is the real meaning of being a Mystical Seer.

    “When you move into the (adult) level, you become one with PACHAMAMA (the Earth). This means that your energy bubble literally resonates with the spirit of the entire earth. At that point in your development, you can no longer be under the tutelage of an APU, but you must come under the tutelage of a being from the HANAQ PACHA (the dimension of the Stars).”

Elizabeth also realized that, at the child-level or even the rebellious teenage level, the fearsome and punishing God of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition system was a lot like Ricardo’s Apu—a frightening supernatural being that punished and rewarded. But this was related only to the child-or-teenage level of human spiritual development! At the Adult level we learn to face down any fear of authority and develop a more responsible and mature relationship to it! We can finally take up our own true AUTHOR-ity–becoming the AUTHOR of our own life--and live in strength, truth, and compassion. . . as well as love, joy and peace.

So can we also warmly embrace the Child Nature Spirits (including our own Inner-Child), and Nature itself, and acknowledge our family relationship, as we resonate with our dear Earth, and become united as a Planet. Then, we can each connect with our Guiding Star, and bring this Star Knowledge to the Earth plane. As we acknowledge our family relationship with the great Star Nations, we will truly be able to take our place as Spiritual Adults in the Cosmos. And this kind of Spiritual Adult is not dour, glum or grim (although seriousness is called for, from time to time). A true Spiritual Adult’s defining characteristic is JOY.

    Yes, it is worth it to seek spiritual adulthood just as we need to value adulthood in our cultural lives. Who among us would not like to live our lives from a place of joy and peace?

    The outer world of the spiritually-awake is often pretty much like anyone else’s, although one might perceive a little more thought and preparation. The inner world is where the difference lies. Joy and peace form the foundation and many other qualities are built from there. Qualities such as gratitude, love, wisdom, kindness, and magnanimity underpin the actions of the spiritual adult.

    There was a time when we thought that only gurus, high-priests and priestesses, prophets, and avatars could live such lives. Then what would be the purpose? Is it not more important than ever that as many of us as possible learn to live from a place of joy and peace?

    When the time comes that we can see spiritual adulthood as attainable in this lifetime, when we can conceive of spiritual maturity as a natural state, then we will put aside the need to be shepherded like sheep or parented as children for our entire lives. We will not need to become teachers, father and mother figures to everyone we meet, or become inflated with a false sense of privilege. We will instead seek to learn and grow to adulthood so that we can take our rightful place in our families, communities, and societies. We will know that adulthood is normal and feel no need to be anything other than creative, joyful, and peaceful human beings.

    –Richard N. Potter

Resources for this article:

PODCAST and VIDEO:

Mona Magick’s Podcast: Interview with Max Rose on Genie’s book (see above)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/monamagick/2012/09/16/your-wish-is-gra...

“Supernanny” TV Show
https://www.supernanny.co.uk/

“The Zar”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIDg6KYieMk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KJFlDtT70c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhoPaWKUeVg

ARTICLES ONLINE:

Inner-Child Healing
http://www.wikihow.com/Embrace-Your-Inner-Child

http://www.creativecounseling101.com/find-your-inner-child.html

http://www.joy2meu.com/

"The Quest for Spiritual Adulthood"
http://llewellyn.com/journal/article/591

Personal Spirit/Family Spirit
http://hoodooq.blogspot.com/2011/04/samedi-djab.html

Trance Dancing your way to happiness:
http://www.llewellyn.com/journal/article/2605

The Zar:
http://thebestofhabibi.com/vol-14-no-4-fall-1995/zar/

https://blackwingangel.wordpress.com/tag/djab/

BOOKS:

"Born to Win: Transactional Analysis with Gestalt Experiments by Muriel James"
(This book teaches how to tell where we are coming from: Child, Parent, or simply Adult, and how to integrate all the perspectives in a healing way.)

"It's Never Too Late to be Happy! Reparenting Yourself for Happiness" by Muriel James

"Setting Limits with your Strong-Willed Child: Eliminating Conflict by Establishing Clear, Firm, and Respectful Boundaries" by Robert J. MacKenzie, Ed.D.

"Feeding your Demons" by Tsultrium Allione

"Freeing the Captives: The Emerging Therapy of Treating Spirit Attachment" by Louise Ireland-Frey, M.D.

"Chosen by the Spirits" by Sarangerel

"Dancing with Dragons: Invoke Their Ageless Wisdom & Power" by D.J. Conway

"Initiation" by Elizabeth B. Jenkins (Re-published as "Return of the Inka")

"MythAdventures" by Robert Aspirin (fiction)

"Servant of the Bones" by Anne Rice (fiction)

"The Spiral Dance" by Starhawk

"1, 2, 3 Your Wish Is Granted!"
by Genie (through Max Rose)

"The Genie Within: Your Subconcious Mind--How It Works and How to Use It" by Harry W Carpenter
"The Genie Within Training Relaxation Routines"
Audio CD
Harry W. Carpenter

"How to be your own Genie" by Radleigh Valentine
http://radleighvalentine.com/

"Trance Dancing with the Jinn: The Ancient Art of Contacting Spirits Through Ecstatic Dance"
By: Yasmin Henkesh

"The Vengeful Djinn: Unveiling the Hidden Agenda of Genies"
By: Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Philip J. Imbrogno

Who is Queen Zar?

It started with a small article about turquoise.  I had chosen the article as a response to one of a dear friend’s posts of some beautiful turquoise jewelry.  The article said:

“Archaeologists argue that the love of turquoise preceded the ancient Persians. Egypt remains the site of some of the oldest pieces of jewelry ever excavated — four turquoise-and-gold bracelets encircling the wrist of the mummified Egyptian Queen Zar (5,500 B.C.). Laboring under the blistering sun, Egyptians mined turquoise on the Sinai Peninsula. Although the mine is now depleted and nearly forgotten, the area is still known as the ‘Land of Fayrouz,’ or ‘Land of Turquoise.’ This variety of turquoise stone was more green than blue, rendering it less valuable than its Persian counterpart.”

https://www.gaia.com/article/turquoise-a-healing-master-stone-of-the-anciens-2?fbclid=IwAR3esvictU8AIanFk8rqCpCFshyoUi3uz8__pmcIJqUBt7RZvNG8QxL0MNI

My friend was intrigued and asked if I knew more about Queen Zar.  I was as intrigued as she about the mysterious Queen!  And my mystical friend always inspires me on my Quests.  So I decided to aim for the source of the mystery....       

The first thing I found was that there were different versions of this same paragraph about turquoise all over the Internet!  Sometimes different facts were inter-changed, the dates were mixed up, some details were added or subtracted; but always there was Queen Zar and (at least one) turquoise bracelet on her mummified arm.

I found, for example, these variations of the story: 

* The tomb of Queen Zar was opened in 1990, OR in 1900!

* The bracelet had a cabochon of turquoise, OR there were four bracelets, OR the bracelet was made of gold and turquoise (BTW, the word “zar” means “gold” in Arabic.), OR the bracelet was of silver and turquoise.  Also, some articles say the arm was the only part of Queen Zar’s mummy that was found.

*Queen Zar lived in the time of “the second ruler of the Egypts First Dynasty (5,500 B.C.)” However, I found that most historians agree that Egypt’s First Dynasty started between 3,250--3,111 B.C., although I did find one site that called it “Egypt’s Early Dynastic Period, spanning the era from c. 6000-3150 B.C.”!  One site said Queen Zar lived 6500 years ago. 

It’s amazing how wide-ranging these facts are; all you have to do is SEARCH for “Queen Zar” and “turquoise” and you will find hundreds of the same sentences.  Supposedly, they all come from an article by Lee Anderson.

So...try as I might, I couldn’t find anything about a Queen Zar (besides this turquoise bracelet story).  So I decided to message one of the sites, www.barlowsgems.net
Bruce Barlow was kind enough to answer me promptly.  He told me that sometimes she was called Queen Zar and sometimes she was called Queen Zer!  He sent me another small article:

“The oldest pieces of Egyptian gold jewellery, four bracelets, were found in the tomb of King Zer at Abydos. They date back to 3200 BCE, during the first Egyptian dynasty. When discovered in 1900, these bracelets were still in place on Queen Zer’s linen-wrapped arm; her arm was all that remained of her body. The bracelets were made of gold, lapis lazuli, and turquoise.”

http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitDa.do?method=preview&lang=EN&id=26094

Ah, here was my clue!  There was a KING ZER and a QUEEN ZER.  This turned out to be the key to the solving of this puzzle.

Here is a site that tells of Egypt’s First Dynasty, which was the beginning of an inherited rulership of a united Egypt:

http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/science-timeline-ancient-egypt-first-dynasty-01357.html

As you can see on that page, the SECOND RULER of the FIRST DYNASTY was named DJER.  When translating these words to English, the “DJ” is often changed to a “Z” because the sound is similar.  So DJER would be changed to ZER.  And from that would be derived ZAR.  (It is interesting that ZAR is also an Arabic word meaning “Gold” as well as a Hebrew word meaning “Red.”  Both “Gold” and “Red” are associated with Royalty in the ancient world.)

King Zar/Djer According to Manetho, Djer ruled for 57 years from Memphis, the city that his father (Aha, also called Menes) founded. There are inscriptions of his name as far south as the first Cataract of the Nile, which shows that he ruled most of the known lands at the time. Egypt was prosperous and the arts flourished. Djer himself was renowned as a physician and many of his writings about disease were still in use three millennia later.  Militarily, he ran successful campaigns in the Sinai and expanded Egyptian influence.

This site says that his “daughter/wife” was Merneith.

http://phouka.com/pharaoh/pharaoh/dynasties/dyn01/02djer.html

The first five rulers of the FIRST DYNASTY are usually said to be: Aha, Djer, Djet, Queen Merneith, and Den.  During the FIRST DYNASTY, women has more power in rulership.  Djer (Zer, Zar) was found to be the father of Merneith.  Djet (Zet) was her husband/brother and Den was their son.

MERNEITH!  The name means “beloved of Neith.”  Neith was a strong warrior Goddess.

King Zar (Djer) was accustomed to strong women ruling, as his reign was preceded by a regency controlled by Neithhotep, possibly his mother or grandmother.  His main wife was Herneith (Face of Neith), but she died early on and is buried in a separate tomb.  Here’s a page that has a little information about Neithhotep, who must have had much influence on her granddaughter(?) Merneith:

https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/revealing-identify-first-female-ruler-egypt-hint-it-was-not-hatshepsut-007390

King Zar (Djer), himself, ruled for over 40 years, but when he died, Djet/Zet (who became the new King) did not live long.  So Djet/Zet’s son with Merneith, Den, became King.  However, since Den was very young, Merneith was the true ruler...at least until Den became of age.  And when she died, she was honored as a true ruler!  Here are some pages that speak of her:

https://www.ancientegypt101.com/queen-merneith.html

http://www.ancientpages.com/2018/03/20/merneith-mysterious-queen-in-the-land-of-the-pharaohs-could-be-earliest-attested-female-ruler/

https://www.parcast.com/blog/2016/10/26/5-powerful-women-rulers-of-ancient-egypt

http://www.mummies2pyramids.info/egyptian-queens/queen-merneith.htm

https://women-s.net/egyptian-queens-names-list/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merneith


Merneith also has been called Meritnit, Meryet-Nit, Meritnit, Meryt-Neith, and many more variations.  But the most common one, and the one I will use, is MERNEITH.  (BTW, the Goddess Neith is one of the most complex and oldest deities of ancient Egypt.  She inspired her daughters to rule the world.  The first female rulers of Ancient Egypt dedicated their power and lives to this deity.)

“A carved funeral monument discovered in 1900 CE has on it the name Meryt-Neith. The monument was among those of kings of the First Dynasty. Egyptologists believed this to be a ruler of the first dynasty -- and some time after finding the monument, and adding this name to the rulers of Egypt, they realized that the name likely refers to a female ruler. Then those earlier Egyptologists automatically moved her to the status of royal consort, assuming that there were no women rulers. Other excavations support the idea that she ruled with the power of a king and was buried with the honors of a powerful ruler.”

https://www.thoughtco.com/meryt-neith-biography-3528380

I still wasn’t sure this was the “Queen Zar” who was described as wearing the turquoise bracelet.  I had to find the story of the discovery and opening of the tomb!

“In 1900 William Petrie discovered Merneith’s tomb and believed it belonged to an unknown king. However subsequent findings proved that Merneith was a queen. A clay seal found in the tomb of Den was engraved with ‘King’s Mother Merneith’ proving that Merneith was a woman.”

https://mysterieszone.wordpress.com/ancient-mysteries/ancient-egypt/merneith/

So, there I had 2 more clues: 

1.  The Tomb of Merneith was opened in 1900!
2.  It was William Petrie who discovered the tomb.

On the Wikipedia page for King Zar/Djer, a further clue was found:

“A mummified forearm of Djer or his wife was discovered by Flinders Petrie,[3] but was discarded by Emile Brugsch.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djer

The discussion about Emile Brugsch was the only mention of an “arm” that I was able to find!  But I did find it!  (And I am not going to discard it!) ;-)

So that did confirm to me that Queen Zar was Merneith!

The footnote about the arm was said to come from the book by W. M. Flinders Petrie: “The Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties,” 1901, Part II, London 1901, p.16-17.

I did some research on Mr. Petrie and he was, indeed, the archaeologist who opened the tombs of this First Dynasty!  In fact, there is a whole museum built on his findings:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/petrie-museum/about

The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology is part of the University College London, England. 
Here’s their page for Queen Zar, who they called “Queen Merytneit”---
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//chronology/queenmeritneit.html

Here’s some pictures that illustrate how jewelry was worn, according to the findings:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//jewellery/jewelryexamples.html

Here’s a page about Abydos, the place in Egypt where the Tombs of Merneith and her family were found:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//abydos/index.html

Considered one of the most important archaeological sites of ancient Egypt (near the town of al-Balyana), the sacred city of Abydos was the site of many ancient temples, including Umm el-Qa'ab, the royal necropolis, where early pharaohs were entombed. These tombs began to be seen as extremely significant burials and in later times it became desirable to be buried in the area, leading to the growth of the town's importance as a cult site.

As for evidence of the turquoise;

“Among the rare examples of turquoise dating to these periods are beads on several bracelets (Egyptian Museum, Cairo), found on the arm of an unidentified woman buried in the tomb of the Dynasty 1 king Djer at Abydos “

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/turqe/hd_turqe.htm

Unfortunately, though, the Archaeologists who discovered these early tombs were a bit strange.

“Burial Place of Djer:

“Large tomb in Abydos (Tomb O), Umm el Ga'ab. The tomb was originally believed to hold the remains of Osiris and was the focus of pilgrimages. The tomb was excavated by Emile Amelineau in 1895 -- he was a very poor archeologist and cleared out the tomb between January 1 and January 12, keeping only the complete objects and discarding entire hoards of artifacts that he felt had "no value".  He found a small statue and a skull in one chamber of the tomb and quite arbitrarily decided that he had found the tomb of Osiris himself -- even though the skull was later identified as a woman, his view never changed.

“The tombs were completely re-excavated by Petrie in 1900 and found many things that Amelineau had overlooked or discarded. The volumes he produced to document the excavation became the model for future archeological work. There are some 300 subsidiary burials nearby. These burials of human servants and retainers would later be replaced by shabti burials.”

http://phouka.com/pharaoh/pharaoh/dynasties/dyn01/02djer.html

Flinders Petrie (who excavated in 1900) had no school training, yet he was a prodigy and he practically invented modern Archaology.  However, he often had a hard time of it!  For instance, this story from a page about Flinders Petrie:

“Mummified arm from Djer's Tomb

“    A mummified arm was discovered in Djer's tomb, which he believed to be a woman which is likely as the skull of a female was also discovered.
    When the arm was discovered inside the tomb Petrie wrote:

“    ...the arm of the Queen of Djer was found, hidden in a hole in the wall, with the gold bracelets in place. The lads who found it saw the gold, but left it untouched and brought the arm to me. I cut the wrappings apart so bared he bracelets all intact. Thus the exact order could be copied when my wife re-threaded them next morning.
    When Quibell came over on behalf of the Museum, I sent up the bracelets by him. The arm - the oldest mummified piece known - and its marvelously fine tissue of linen were also delivered to the museum. Emile Brugsch only cared for display; so from one bracelet he cut away the half that was of plaited gold wire, and he also threw away the arm and linen. A museum is a dangerous place…”           

https://ancientegypt.fandom.com/wiki/Flinders_Petrie
                               
It’s interesting that Emile Brugsch also assisted author and occultist Aleister Crowley in 1904 by having the “Stele of Revealing” translated by his assistant. “The Stele”, and the translation, became integral parts of Crowley's subsequent writing of “The Book of the Law” and his founding of the philosophical practice and religion of Thelema.  Weird. 

Nevertheless, we know that in King Zar/Djer’s tomb, many copper and turquoise artefacts were found, and Sinai is the area where ancient Egyptians traditionally obtained these materials.
                                               
So there you go.  But at least we know WHO WAS QUEEN ZAR!  ‘Twas Merneith.

And perhaps NOW is the time she can begin to get the respect that she certainly deserves.

Exploring the Colors of Love

So much has been written about Love. So many songs have been sung about Love.  Yet, people keep looking for it, trying to define it, and, yes, lamenting it! 

Love can encompass so many human experiences and can inform so many human activities and feelings; it is one concept that cannot be limited in any way. 

My Spiritual Guide, Saji, tells me that Love is the power that moves the Universe.  It's what the Universe is made from!

For me, Love has infinite dimensions and expressions!  Since I am an Astrologist, let me give you an example of the variety of ways in which Love can be expressed, according to the Zodiac. This particular list was written by astrologer Linda Goodman:

ARIES:  to teach... that Love is Innocence; and to learn... that Love is Trust.

TAURUS: to teach... that Love is patience; and to learn... that Love is forgiveness.

GEMINI: to teach... that Love is awareness, and to learn... that Love is feeling.

CANCER: to teach... that Love is devotion; and to learn... that Love is freedom.

LEO: to teach... that Love is ecstacy; and to learn... that Love is humility.

VIRGO: to teach... that Love is pure; and to learn... that Love is fulfillment.

LIBRA:  to teach... that Love is beauty; and to learn... that Love is harmony.

SCORPIO:  to teach...that Love is passion; and to learn... that Love is surrender.        
               
SAGITTARIUS:  to teach... that Love is honesty; and to learn... that Love is loyalty.

CAPRICORN:  to teach... that Love is wisdom; and to learn... that Love is unselfish.
                             
AQUARIUS: to teach... that Love is tolerance;  and to learn... that Love is Oneness.

PISCES: to teach... that Love is compassion;  and to learn... that Love is All.

This is just one person’s interpretation, but it illustrates the variety of expressions and feelings that the act of LOVE encompasses!  Since we carry ALL of these energies in our astrology charts, we can embody any and all of them.

Here’s astrologer Ffiona Morgan’s interpretation on how Love is expressed through the Houses in a typical Astrology Natal chart:

1st House: Expression of love by giving of the self.

2nd House: Expression of love by giving of possessions and talents.

3rd House:  Expression of love through words, the mind, education.

4th House:  through admiration and esteem, parents, or ancestors.

5th House: through romance, children, self-created art, and sex that includes romance.

6th House: through work, duty, and obligations.

7th House: through relationships.

8th House: through sensual sex, which is used as a process of tranformation.

9th House: through spirituality and God/dess.

10th House: through healing.

11th House: through friends and the joys of companionship.

12th House: through compassion for the lost and unfortunate.

The Houses show the area of life through which the energies of Love can be expressed.  And each House has many levels and nuances.

Other expressions of love include:

Love for country

Love for land, sea, wind, forest, etc.

Love for animals

Love for plants

Love for the Earth planet, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars....Space itself.

Love for artistic products: movies, paintings, songs, kind of music, etc.

Love for spiritual mentors and spirit guides

Love for activities, such as doing crafts, playing music, advocating for change, etc.

So........how do you know that what you are feeling is truly Love?  First of all, the act of loving makes you feel good; it feels like an expression of your inner joy, or joie de vivre!  Even in the midst of grief, you can feel good that “Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.”

You can also love someone whom you don’t even like!  The thing about love is that it accepts the loved one “as is.”  That doesn’t mean you have to spend any time with them or even give them the time of day!  It’s enough to know you are connected, deep down.  So you don’t send them any negative energies by speaking meanly about them.  You don’t pity them, because you have faith that they will learn through their lives here on Earth to use their free will for the good of all.

In fact, if you don’t like someone, or even if you hate them, there is a lesson there.  They can be your shadow-teacher if you learn the lesson!  They may be reflecting something in you that needs changing.  Or perhaps they are reminding you of yourself when you were a younger, more immature soul....and your lesson is to be patient and set a good example.  Maybe they are giving you a challenge which, in meeting it, sharpens you.  Or maybe your “revenge” is living well.  Who knows?  But once you learn the lesson, the path to love is as wide open as your heart becomes!

The Shaman-Artist Imelda Almqvist wrote a powerful piece about “Staying in the Place of Love.”  In her words, "Staying in the Place of Love is a blog about a vision that appeared in a recent dream, about asking The Divine Mother (as you understand her) to create a temple in your heart for her to lovingly tend to those people you cannot actively love or embrace just now.”

This is one way to express love to those we don’t exactly “like,” or those who we feel have harmed us or others.  We can also “bless” them with prayers like, “May (this person) be taught what he needs to know by his own greater self.”  “May (this other person) find what she needs to grow into her true self.”  You can easily think of your own blessings.  You can also use imagery; for instance, see that person inside a rose (or whatever symbolizes spiritual wisdom and goodness to you).  Then imagine an angel (or spiritual guide) taking the rose to a place of healing, wholeness and happiness.

"Love is a travel.  All travelers whether they want or not are changed.  No one can travel into love and remain the same."  –Shams Tabriz

Sometimes love grabs ahold of you and won’t let go.  And what a wild ride that is! 

The great writer William Shakespeare said, “Don't waste your love on somebody, who doesn't value it.”  But he also wrote this Sonnet 116:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
 Admit impediments. Love is not love
 Which alters when it alteration finds,
 Or bends with the remover to remove:
 O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
 That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
 It is the star to every wandering bark,
 Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
 Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
 Within his bending sickle's compass come:
 Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
 But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
 If this be error and upon me proved,
 I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Truly, if love is what we ARE, what we are made of, we cannot be other than love.   

The Witch and Lawyer Phyllis Curott (who wrote a great novel about Love called “The Love Spell”) reminds us in her video (How to Cast a Love Spell) that all great Love spells start with loving ourself!

The Teacher and Healer Jesus (who I believe to have taught Pleiadian knowledge) said we need to love others AS WE LOVE OURSELVES, not more than we love ourselves.  And loving ourselves sometimes means we need to have strong boundaries and keep our energies from harm.  And yes, I do believe this is what we are here (in the 3rd dimension) to learn.  As as we move into the 4th and 5th dimension, the sense of Self-Love becomes even greater.  And AS OUR SELF-LOVE blossoms, we are able to love our friends and family all the more.  And we can also RECEIVE the love of our friends and family more joyfully and easily. 

Here are some affirmations (written by the great Teacher Louise Hay) about this important foundation of self-love in our life:

Deep at the centre of my being there is an infinite well of love.

I now allow this love to flow to the surface.

It fills my heart, my body, my mind, my consciousness, my very being, and radiates out from me in all directions and returns to me multiplied.

The more love I use and give, the more I have to give, the supply is endless.

The use of love makes me feel good; it is an expression of my inner joy.

Yes, I love myself, therefore I take loving care of my body.

I lovingly feed it nourishing food and beverages.

I lovingly groom it and dress it and my body lovingly responds to me with vibrant health and energy.

I love myself, therefore I provide for myself a comfortable home, one that fills all my needs and is a pleasure to be in.

I fill the rooms with the vibration of love so that all who enter, myself included, will feel this love and be nourished by it.

I love myself, therefore I work at a job that I truly enjoy doing, one that uses all my talents and abilities, working with and for people that I love and love me, and earning a good income.

I love myself, therefore, I behave in a loving way to all people for I know that that which I give out returns to me multiplied.

I only attract loving people in my world for they are a mirror of what I am.

I love myself, therefore I forgive and totally release the past and all past experiences and I am free.

I love myself, therefore I love totally in the now, experiencing each moment as good and knowing that my future is bright, and joyous and secure, for I am a beloved child of the universe and the universe lovingly takes care of me now and forever more.

And so it is.

As for being partners-in-love, it is important that self-love does not get trampled in such a relationship.  The poet Kahlil Gibran wrote:  "Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls."

Can both partners in a love relationship find their individual inner-power AND their power with each other?  I believe so, as long as they don’t drain each other.  They both need to get their power from within and from their own connection with All-That-Is.  The relationship of love and power is important.  Writer and Shaman Lynn V. Andrews wrote a book about the interaction of these two qualities (“Love and Power: Awakening to Mastery”) and concluded:

“The power to rebuild what is broken is born from love.  Always.  Power and love are mates. They live together in deep appreciation and support of each other.  Without that marriage, there may be force, but there won’t be happiness.  There won’t be fulfillment, nor the joy and freedom you are looking for.  When you waken to the power of love in even the simplest aspects of your life, you begin to grow.  Then you stop fighting yourself."

Healer Anne Jones specializes in healing the heart with love.  Here’s one of her videos (Healing a Shattered Heart) that will show you how to heal the heart in the event of heartbreak, grief, or heartache.

Love starts with loving ourself and ripples out into the world.....changing ourself, each other, and (eventually) everything!  If you feel you can’t love more than yourself right now, try loving a plant, or a pet.....that will be enough to get the love flowing....

“Most people know intuitively that when you fall in love, the world is full of magic. What they don't know is that when you discover the universe is full of magic, you fall in love with the world.” 

                 ~Phyllis Curott

"It is time to redefine power, to expand our concept of what being powerful really means. True power is love. It is not power over someone. It is everyone, all of us, standing together in a circle, building power side by side.  As I build my power, I create a mirror, a reflection of power that you can use to build your power…I inspire you and you inspire me; and together we create a world of healthy, interdependent, creative people."

                ~Lynn V. Andrews

It is said that we are in an Ascension at this time on this planet.  Love changes our vibration and leads us into something new.  We joyfully dance to the new beat of PlanetDrum!  The HEART is the bridge to the 5th Dimension, but only if we are grounded from the earthly dimensions.  Being grounded comes from loving the Planet and experiencing Nature in a positive way.  A simple way to ground ourself is to touch an element, hold a stone, feel the warmth of a fire, immerse in water, savor the scent of something we enjoy.  Feel the energy of our bodies rooted to the Earth and open to the Sun, Moon, and Stars.  Once we are grounded, we can safely open our hearts, and in this way, open to being a channel for Universal Love. 

“The desire of the fifth dimension is to get deeply involved in your feelings and to serve as your center and radiate love to you and all other things.

“I am the dimension of your heart, and if you remain intensely centered in your bodies responding to all things that are drawn to you, I funnel waves of love through you, so that you have endless energy to offer kindness to all the beings in your world. If you stay completely grounded in the sacred space you occupy with your heart open as a conduit into the center of Earth, you will be in samadhi with me. I am the center of all nine dimensions that you access. When you are centered in your body and connected to the center of Earth, my energy funnels through the fourth dimension and flows directly into your heart. When this river of love flows into you, the four dimensions above myself begin to flood your awareness. The more you hold your heart open while you are grounded, the more you feel the subtle vibrations of the higher dimensions.”

  ~from The Pleiadian Agenda: A New Cosmology for the Age of Light by Barbara Hand Clow

As we enter (dancing, singing, drumming, smiling, letting go) into the 5th dimension, we know that love is magic, and love is joy.......as the Byrds sang:

I found all the surrounding
Who showed me the joy that innocently is
Just be quiet and feel it around you

And I opened my heart to the whole universe and I found it was loving....

-- Fifth Dimension by the Byrds

By:  Peggy Andreas

Path of the Sacred Thief

RAVEN was a great Thief who stole the Moon and the Sun from the Sky Chief, and brought them to the sky above Turtle Island.(1)                    

    A powerful and wealthy aristocrat, who was also a Sky Chief, owned the Sun and the Moon.  He kept them in boxes in his house.  After a nasty crash into another tree in the dark, Raven was very angry.  “Who does this Sky Chief think he is that he can own the sun and the moon, and keep the rest of us in the dark?” he cawed with righteous indignation.

                                 – Larry McNeil’s retelling of Northwest Native American myth

Raven’s “righteous indignation” or “anger” describes his FEELING that a boundary has been crossed by Sky Chief.  This boundary has to do with what is NEEDED for the Raven, and for the world he inhabits.  Sky Chief doesn’t have to live in the world below, so he really doesn’t care what happens there.  So Raven decides to DO something about it!

In the story, Raven transforms himself into a spruce needle which falls into the Sky Chief’s daughter’s water bucket.  The Sky Chief’s daughter drinks the water, and swallows the spruce needle.  This causes her to become pregnant with Raven’s spirit!  When Raven is born, he is white.  His grandfather (the Sky Chief) dotes on him.  Eventually, Raven gets his grandfather to show him the Sun and Moon, which Raven snatches immediately and flies out the smokehole in the ceiling, getting all colored black (with soot!) in the bargain.  He then places the Sun and Moon in the sky so ALL can enjoy them.

When Raven becomes black, he is marked as Shadow for all eternity. “In Native teachings, the color black means many things, but it does not mean evil.  Black can mean the seeking of answers, the void, or the road of the spiritual or nonphysical.” (2)  Black is the color of the soil, the color of Silence, the color of Wisdom, the color of the Night.  Black is also a symbol of Raven’s “smudging.”  In Native American lore, smoke carries blessing and communication.  Ironic, isn’t it, that Raven was marked by the darkness, even as he brought light into the world?

Many Native American traditions speak of “the black road” that represents “the mind.”

    Our life journey starts in the far southwest corner of the first cycle. The road from east to west, we believe, is the intellectual, mental road, the linear road. This road is called the black road. When we live only in our mind, we create emotions from our thoughts that can be very dangerous. When we are disconnected from our heart and only live in our linear mind, we cannot see in a holistic manner. When our heart is not connected to our mind, we lack clarity and insight. This can create fear, anger, hatred, jealousy, and can also destroy our self-identity and spiritual-identity.

                                              – Marilyn Youngbird, “What is Medicine?”

A Thief is a Shapeshifter...and that shift comes from the power of the Mind!   When the mind is wounded, it shatters into a million pieces.  The Path of the Sacred Thief heals the MIND by searching for every last piece and fitting them into some kind of Whole.  In other words, the Path of the Sacred Thief links up the MIND with the BODY, SPIRIT, and SOUL.  Perhaps, the mind IS the link between the body, spirit and soul!

Mind is represented by the Moon, which waxes and wanes, becoming more white or black, stealing the light of the Sun as its own.  The Moon has special magnetism for Wolf and Coyote, other animals associated with the Sacred Thief.   One story describes Coyote thusly: “Coyote himself was lazy and always looked for the easy way to obtain his wants and desires. He never told the whole truth about anything.”(3)

    Coyote is often a teacher by counter-example as he employs base human traits including lying, cheating, and sexual misconduct. He is also a master at physical transformation. The frequently foiled Coyote, who interfaces with humans and transcendent deities, is often credited with human creation as well as human evolution consequent from his treachery.”                                    

     ---Michael Eldridge

Some other animals associated with the Path of the Sacred Thief are Ant, Weasel, Rat, Wolf, Cat, Squirrel, Wolf, Raccoon, Crow, Rabbit, Fox, Mouse, Dolphin---animals that are attracted to humans and often steal from humans and “collect” objects out of curiosity, fascination and desire.  Some might call these “power objects.”  What the Sacred Thief really wants is POWER; yet it seems to take a long time for the Sacred Thief to realize this!

Like the Sacred Clown, the Sacred Thief gives us a mirror; but instead of seeing ourselves in the eyes of the people who love us, we see ourselves in the eyes of the people who hate us, or (at the least) people who do not understand us, or who want to steal our power.  This is a different kind of mirror, a dark mirror.  Yet, it is good to honor the Darkness. “We all have a dark side; never forget that it is the darkness which defines the light. . . By honoring the dark side, you destroy her power over you. Then she can’t take you.”(4)

What exactly is a Thief?  A Native American might consider the White European Invaders thieves because of the way their Chiefs broke treaties and took over lands, pushing the Native Americans onto “reservations,” or worse.

Conversely, a common insult in present-day White America is to call someone an “Indian Giver,” meaning that the person gave you a gift and now wants it back.  This came from the Europeans’ misunderstanding of a Native American cultural tradition--that of expecting gifts to be shared among all, and periodically re-given.  Native Americans were also considered thieves if they decided to drive out the White settlers, or simply because they existed in a place that the settlers coveted.  Plus, they had a different concept of ownership, and did not understand the concept of “property” in the way of the European.

There are many examples where the epithet of “Thief!” was thrown at each of the groups involved, or at individuals caught in the crossfire.  What we know for certain is that the world of the American Indian changed drastically with the coming of the European Explorers, Colonists and Exploiters.  In some Native American prophecies and stories, it is said that this was meant to be.  The white strangers were very very different; but both races would learn from each other.  To many Native Americans, the White invaders were the long-lost younger siblings who had returned, but had not yet learned a vital lesson, the KEY to living upon the Earth.

    The "white intruders" brought much change to Indian people. Who is to say that it was not meant to be that way? Yes, all of the North American continent has been taken away, except for about two percent that American Indians still have that they call their homelands. The American Indian almost disappeared with the buffalo when less than a thousand buffalo were left by the turn of the 20th century, and only 225,000 Indians had survived the deadly new diseases and more than one thousand wars. But life was hard; it was never meant to be easy -- not for anyone! Perhaps, that is what all of us must learn for the 21st century. That we should not waste our natural resources and that we should value the natural environment, or else we will destroy ourselves.

    --Donald Fixico, Thomas Bowlus Distinguished Professor of American Indian History and Director of the Center for Indigenous Nations Studies at the University of Kansas

Indeed, it could be said that the indigenous people of Europe originally held values that were very similar to the Native American values.  In fact, the concept of “I own this land” is a relatively recent concept in the evolution of human culture all over the world!  The concept of Boundaries seems itself to have been stolen in this era of Corporate Ownership of natural resources!

Thieves, like children and certain animals, love to steal things that entice them.  Children (especially very young children) are natural Thieves.

As children, Sacred Thieves are likely to have experienced ongoing situations where their personal boundaries (both physical and emotional) are routinely crossed.  Sometimes it is their own families that cross these boundaries; sometimes it is someone outside of the family.  Sometimes this boundary-crossing is semi- or completely unconscious; it amounts to ABUSE nonetheless.  Because of this experience, young Thieves become confused and have a difficult time (as they grow) getting clear about their sexual, emotional, and relational needs.

    When we visited the Boston Aquarium several years ago, we saw sharks swimming in the big tank alongside all sorts of exotic, much-smaller fish. "How do you keep the sharks from eating the little guys?" my son asked one of the keepers. "We just make sure the sharks are very well-fed," she answered. Like fish, people usually only try to steal what they can’t come by honestly.  Most of us are pretty good at examining ourselves for things we don’t like, ought to change, could improve on. A lot of us are not as good at routinely asking ourselves, "What do I need?" and then allowing ourselves to answer in full. Feeding oneself is one big step toward eliminating the tendency to prey on others, but you can’t feed yourself if you don’t know what you’re hungry for. Self-examination has for centuries been recognized as a useful spiritual practice. Adding a regular assessment of one’s own needs to the practice could be the beginning of understanding the boundary between oneself and others. When we know what the limits are, we can find healthy ways to connect with each other.

                                 – Elizabeth A. Horst

Taking what is not yours because you lack the ability to provide for yourself implies the need to learn Self-Respect. A Thief moves into the Sacred dimension when she starts to get in touch with her own identity, to know herself inside and out, especially her thoughts and feelings.  She must learn to recognize what it FEELS like when one of her boundaries is crossed.  Once she knows her TRUE feelings and desires, she can finally go after what is TRULY hers!  In order to love herself, a Sacred Thief must first KNOW herself.

Realizing that she has been abused, that somebody has stolen precious bits of her identity, can be a bitter pill to swallow.  It takes courage, strength and steely determination for the Sacred Thief to ferret out the unresolved events in her life and deal with them one by one.  There will be anger and many other emotions; but they will be HER emotions and nobody’s else’s!

As soon as she knows herself, she knows that somehow, someway, things must CHANGE.  No more abuse, no more crossed boundaries, no more mistreatment.

The Sacred Thief makes changes by “bringing in the new.”  Paris Soulier has done some fine work on “Soul Groups,” and he counts “Thieves” as necessary to the balance of all things.  He calls Thieves the “Innovators of the Universe.”(5)  His observations on the “Thief Soul Group” include these:

    Thieves work best with that which is NOT, rather than that which IS.  By their very nature, Thieves work against the crystallization of society by constantly challenging reality and finding alternative methods for performing action.  If there is a loophole, an escape clause, or a back door anywhere, you can bet a Thief will find it.

    Thieves love to see what they can get by with.  They tend to be on the cutting edge of society; bringing in that which is overSHADOWING and disseminating it to the rest of the soul groups.

    You can tell who your Thief friends are; they are the first ones on the telephone to you with the new gossip or news.  Thieves are the first to try any new innovation or gadget.  While the other groups are saying “it can’t be done,” Thieves say, “Yes it can.”  They don’t know the meaning of the word “No.”

    Among the various soul-groups, Thieves have the fewest boundaries of all, if any.  Consequently, they may relay to you extremely embarrassing or intimate personal information, and be surprised at your mortification or shock.  It’s best not to trust a lesser-evolved thief with intimate secrets.  Thieves are the last to learn the meaning of “mine and thine,” be it physical objects or shared thoughts or feelings.

    Thieves are some of the most joyous beings to have around.  They naturally gravitate to comedy, performing arts, written word.   They are very verbally talented.  They love word play and twisting around meanings.

            – Paris Soulier, The Wizard Realm: Thief

I would add that Thieves are also great Samplers of other peoples’ music, lyrics, and art.  Many Thieves have become great Channellers of metaphysical information.  Thieves are often Romantic Charmers who make successful “con men” or “con women.”  Thieves are the “Players” of the world, and they are very aware of all the varieties of “games people play.”  They can also be artists like the Surrealists, Impressionists, and Cubists, who destroyed convention in visual art.  Iconoclast writers such as Allen Ginsberg (poetry) and James Joyce (fiction) also operate in the Sacred Thief style of innovation.

The Path of the Sacred Thief is all about KNOWING OURSELVES, warts and all, and ACCEPTING OURSELVES (even our shadow-parts that we hide from others), with love.  Once we do this, we can simply take our power when we come upon it, because it is part of our own essence.  And we can also let other people have their own mistakes, and let them have their own power, and love them for it.

    In their dreams the old ones saw that the Indians would go through a very bad time, that they would lose their spirit, that they would be split up into many parts by the different kinds of religion of the white men.  Like the white men, they would try to find what these strange people call success.  But one day the Indians would begin to wake up, the old ones told me.  They would see that those white people who chased after personal pleasure left behind the truly important things in life.  The Indians would see that their people in the old days were in tune with something far more wonderful, the Spirit of Life.

    And you must realize that this is not all the old ones saw in their dreams.  They saw that just when the Indians seemed to be all becoming like the more foolish white men, just when everybody thought they had forgotten about the ancient days, at that time a great light would come from the east.  It would come into the hearts of some of the Indians, and they would become like the prairie fire, spreading not only love between all races, but also between the different religions.

    And in that day, all the little circles will come under the big circle of understanding and unity.”(6)                     

Remember Raven? Raven was filled with “righteous indignation” when he realized that his boundaries were being crossed.  He decided to take what was HIS.  Yes, the Sun was his!  The Moon was his!  He was really the Shadow-Self of the Sky Chief, birthed through the Sky Chief’s daughter, which represented his own female side.  He was really the Sky Chief in disguise and incarnated into the world, so that he would learn from his own experience.  But he didn’t know it, until he acted to “right the wrong.”

Eventually, the Thief becomes The Sacred Thief by realizing her own identity as both Creator of the World and Savior of the World.  She does this first by being herself, and secondly, by being not-herself!  That is, she claims her own identity, but she does not cling to it.  She sets her mind free, unbound, unattached.  She knows the peace of clarity and the joy of true being.  She sets her boundaries, but allows herself to let go, to transcend those boundaries when the time is ripe. She feels her feelings, but does not carry them around with her; she releases them when she has learned what she needs to learn.  She embraces the paradox: When we let go, we know that we are all connected.

Identity is not a “thing;” it is a ongoing process of awareness. The Mind can link us with All-That-Is if we relax and simply “be.”  When we are not grasping and holding on to things, we “default” into our true identity, a process of awareness connected to the essence of all beings and all creation, ever-changing and ever-new.

The Sacred Thief epitomizes not only the transformation of the Mind, but the spiral process of Consciousness evolving itself!   It has been said that Conscious awareness is the next frontier of knowledge, and the Sacred Thief likes to learn new things.  The Sacred Thief (dark as she is!) becomes the Deity of Light by finding Illumination, taking it for herself, and bringing it, THROUGH herself, to the people.

It seems to me that there are more people on the Path of the Sacred Thief at this time in our world than any other!  I don’t have to wonder why.  The Path of the Sacred Thief brings the NEW into the world....in fact, brings in the NEW WORLD itself.  The Thief thinks; the SACRED THIEF thinks “outside the box.”  The time is ripe for such a feat!

And it is on behalf of the suffering that the Sacred Thief acts.  Her own suffering is the catalyst that convinces her that CHANGE is necessary!  Her sacred task is to CHANGE that suffering by bringing something NEW into the World.  She brings in something NEW by thinking outside the box.  She’d never be happy in a box, anyways!

    Too many of us are trying to keep a tight grip on things that are out of our control. This is like trying to grip the water flowing in a river. Put your hands into the river. If you try to get the water by grabbing it and clenching your fists, it goes right out of your hands. If you relax and open, gently cupping your hands, the water flows into your palms. By relaxing, opening, and trusting, we can hold onto more of what is precious to us. By letting go, we actually allow more of the mystery of life to come in for us.

                            --Leslie Lobell             

By:  Peggy Andreas


FOOTNOTES:

1.  Haudenosaunee word for North America:

“Turtle Island = The symbol for North America, also referred to as Mother Earth, is a turtle.  The thirteen plates on the turtle's back represent the thirteen moons of the year, showing a connection between the Mother Earth and the Grandmother Moon.”

2.  Jamie Sams and David Carson, Medicine Cards, St. Martin's Press; Rev Bk&Crd edition (July       30, 1999.

3.  Weagle, Coyote and the Cry Heard 'Round the World

4.  Zoila Gutierez,  Jaguar Woman by Lynn V. Andrews, 1985, Harper & Row, NY, pg. 47.

5.  Paris Soulier,  Wizard Realm: Thief

6.  Eyes of Fire, Warriors of the Rainbow (Strange and Prophetic Dreams of the Indians) by        William Willoya and Vinson Brown, 1962, Naturegraph Publishers, P.O. Box 1075, Happy Camp, CA  96039.