Spirit
Y’know what? Some things just make me happy.
I realized this pretty obvious fact this morning as I sipped tea after my yoga practice.
I felt happy. Which is kind of odd since I am in the middle of crunch time for my upcoming workshop. And my list of things to do kind of stretches into the foreseeable future and beyond.
But the feeling was real, so I went with it.
I started making lists of things that make me happy.
Le Madeline’s’ lemon tart makes me happy. Not so much sweet as … lemony. It is very satisfying at so many levels. But the key lime one from Whole Foods is a good stand in when I am rushed for time.
To be truthful, the main thing that makes me happy is great sex, but I haven’t had any since my stalker ex-boyfriend … no more need be said about that. (Yikes!)
But after sex and the aforementioned lemon tart, there is of course chocolate. But leaving food for a hot minute, we wander into my happiness with a sunny, crisp fall day. Especially if said sunny and crisp day is spent walking in the park. My current source of this happiness is Sligo Creek Park, but any park with lots of trees, moving water and places to sit will do.
Then comes lime fruit pops on a hot day in the city. And oh yeah, dancing is on the list. Dancing makes me very happy!
A good film, filled with depth and humanity along with something that surprises and/or delights me … makes me oh so happy.
And music, especially dance music. If the bass line makes me wanna get all hot and funky – yeah baby! So of course, Prince makes me v-e-r-y happy!
A real connection with another human being makes me happy. But I also can get there with a room filled to capacity.
I get very happy inside whenever I witness someone having a breakthrough. This is true if they are a close friend or a complete stranger.
My cats make me happy … sometimes …No! Bad Kitty! Where was I?
Oh, yeah. Hot tubs! I just love them! And a great massage makes me happy too.
Come to think of it … I am happy with my life.
Right now, in this here minute, I am so happy!
And I hope you are happy too.
Because, happiness has nothing to do with getting everything right, or having finished all of your chores or even being healthy. Happiness is just some thing that sneaks up on you every once and awhile. And you can miss it if you are not paying attention.
So right now, take a moment and check. Are you happy?
Cuz I am!
Love, love, love …
Posted in
Submitted by katrina on Fri, 02/08/2008 - 5:08pm.
priestessThe main thing to understand about my mystery school is this, Reflections is not for beginners.
Reflections is a place for people who have already made a commitment to their spiritual path. We provide mentoring, training and community. What you get out of it is pretty much up to you. I often refer to it as the equivalent of a graduate school.
I even successfully hid a description of the school, the tradition and our work on our web site under the menu heading About. I do get that for some people, reading the web site can be problematic. And I also get that many folks want more information than what is offered. But it seems to me that what folks really want to know is if Reflections is right for them.
And I cannot answer that question, that is a question that only you can answer for yourself.
And so instead I will address Del's question, " I'd love to see more detailed explanation on what your official definition of a 'mystery school' is, and how it applies in a world where the Secrets of the Occult are becoming more and more accessible to the everyman."
Well, that is the problem in a nut shell, Del. We are all swimming in information and at the same time, the quality of the available information has deteriorated.
heirophantFirst off a secret is not a mystery. Mystery is all around us, waiting, watching and staring us right in the face. We turn away from mystery every time we go searching for THE answer or THE solution or THE secret key formerly held secret by the secret society of secret keepers. Mystery can not be taught or read about -- mystery can only be revealed in the now, in the present moment.
... circling around a large stone that blocks my path and just as suddenly, the entire mountain is revealed in its glory. ..
That moment, that precious now means absolutely nothing unless you were there to experience it. I can describe it to you, i can share my reactions and insights ... but until you take that path or something like it ... it is just as if it never happened for you.
Mystery is ever present, it is ever accessible and it is your birth right.
My job as a shaman, mystic and priestess is to take you to places ... if you are willing, able and ready ... where you can encounter mystery. All the rest is up to you.
magicianAnd how do I do that? I lead you to the liminal places, the 'tween places and I show you .... yourself. I hold up a mirror, probably for most of us the clearest mirror you have ever seen and I say ... Who is this?
I walk you right up to the edge of your comfort ... and despite what my students claim ... I neither push or nudge you over the cliff ... I stand with you as you face your darkness, your edges and your feeble first steps toward flight ... and I catch you midflight if you fall... depositing you back on level ground so you can try again.
Reflections is in short a formal apprenticeship with someone who is humble enough to appreciate the gift of a Student's trust, and strong enough to take on the mantle of Teacher.
What I offer is my humanity, in all its gloriousness and all its limitations.
You are the one who decides whether it is enough, whether it is what you need, or whether it is right for you.
And for me at this very moment... that is what a mystery school is all about.
blessings,
Katrina
Posted in
Submitted by katrina on Fri, 11/30/2007 - 2:46pm.
I shared during one of my workshops recently, how as a child I had prayed almost every night. I mostly prayed for finished homework and chores. I also shared how disappointed I was at what I considered a general lack of response. I thought this meant that the god of the Catholics was uninterested in my heartfelt prayers to escape work and tedium. I ended this story by saying that what I had learned over time was that I had simply been praying to the wrong gods.
I now know who to direct such prayers. And nowadays, my prayers are answered. I do not mean in that universal abstract kind of way either. My prayers are answered concretely and in the here and now.
One of my answered prayers was revealed to me yesterday. I had set November 15th as the go/no decision date for my Descent workshop and as of yesterday, my workshop is a go! Yay!
I had asked for a sign that this was the kind of work I should pursue, and the answer was revealed with a resounding Yes!
And yes, I have enough participants which is wonderful, but more than that, I discovered an error in my tracking spreadsheet that when corrected suddenly made these workshops less risky and overall easier to plan. So in the same day, I received sufficient registrations AND discovered a way to do more of them. Wow!
Some may say that this was simply a revelation of an error I had made, and thus it does not count as divine intervention. And in many ways that is a correct statement. But here is the woo-woo part, as Thorn often refers to situations like this, I have used this exact spreadsheet in many guises for event planning over the last eight years. And in not one of those events, had there been an error of this magnitude or scope. And the fact that I did not notice this particular error till after I made my heartfelt prayer is also significant.
To me, timing is everything. And today I feel remarkably better about my work and the steps I have taken to share it with the community at large.
I guess I could also say, I have learned what to ask for in prayer too. I no longer ask the gods to do the work for me. I ask them instead to guide me in my work, to help me do my work, and more importantly, to reassure me that I am on the right path.
And today, I feel reassured … cuz my prayers have been answered.
Ashe. Amen. Blessed Be!
Katrina
PS: Also as of today, I will open late registration for Descent. So there is still time to join us for our journey into mystery.
Posted in
Submitted by katrina on Fri, 11/16/2007 - 1:40pm.
Posted in
Submitted by katrina on Sat, 08/11/2007 - 3:43pm.
This sounds like something I need to do. I hope that I can work it out.
Connect DC is TEN?? Wow. Time flies.
Did I ever mention to you that I think the impact that working had on me was to connect me to DC? I'm so hooked in here ... just call me "swamp thang."
Speaking of which ... isn't it margarita weather? Let's get together.
Much love,
Reya
p.s. So cool to see my drawing again! Thank you for publishing!
"Such beautiful dreaming! Such clear work. You sound so much in-focus just now.
I honor this work and delight in reading your words ... and I'm moved to participate in the dreaming-work, perhaps more than is appropriate.
I think I'll take the risk, and I hope you'll tell me if you'd rather I not do it again.
In the dream group I used to work with, we would read one of our dreams aloud and then go around the room, each one beginning their remarks with "If this were my dream..." and then sharing whatever the pieces seemed to illuminate for them. And then the next person might see something quite different in the same images, the same words.
In that sense, if this were my dream just now, in my dream I am surrounded by water -- my life is filled with emotion, covering and drowning everything else, so that all I can see is my feelings.
The gathering of song and all these incredible people -- my life, friendships, the harmony we make together. And in my dream, I am beginning to see myself moving on. Does this mean a change of geography? a change of emphasis? in my life this minute this could be about gradually shifting some of the focus of my everyday spiritual community from the UUs to the Yoga studio, or it could be something quite different. If I had this dream last week sometime, it would look like the impending end of an important relationship.
And in all of those possibilities, I am so present to the sadness with which I gather up what is mine to take with me, make my farewells, and lose my ability to remember the words. In all of these possibilities, even as I'm leaving I'm rethinking the choice to leave ... do I really have to? why?
In my dream, I look for my car because I want to escape ... and I can't find my car because there's no way out. As I'm searching the beautiful dark man in the hotel uniform helps me -- the hotel uniform telling me that wherever I am is only a way station, his beauty telling me that I can enjoy and appreciate his help, his darkness telling me that sometimes I need to look closely to see what is important (other times everything is well-lighted).
I keep looking for the way out even as the hotel man would make me welcome, and eventually the welcome is withdrawn as he leaves. And then I am lost and wandering, trying to find my way home -- having ignored help and support, I find I can't find the way alone after all.
And now that my dream has ended, I see there is much here that I can use in my waking life, too. So thank you for dreaming this dream, thanks for sharing it, thanks for letting me dream it, too.
Many blessings, Dear One"
"I sit staring out the window, not lost in thought, but feeling completely and totally blank inside." I have been sitting in a similar space.
Your post reminds me to trust and to listen for the song.