Cover Artist: Jeanette Sellwood
Cover Title: Free Spirit
Medium: Pastels
Contact: 0415 359 518
www.freespiritartist.com.au
Recently, Jeanette Sellwood has started art classes at Yorkeys Knob Community Centre. They are held each Friday from 10am to 12.30pm. If you want to learn to draw, and understand how to see tone so your drawings can take ‘shape’, or if you’d like to learn to paint, explore your own creativity with guidance, or just share with like-minded, arty people, then contact Jeanette to enrol.
You become aware of consciousness when you become aware of your thoughts. Until we become aware of our consciousness, our mind thinks for us. But when we become aware not only of our thoughts, but also of the ability to control those thoughts, we become aware of many other things.
Things like: there IS more to life than what some people generally realise. And that we have a bearing on the quality of our lives by the things we think, the deeds we do, and the intentions we entertain.
To start with, once we become aware of what we are thinking, we can alter, if necessary, our thought processes, from negative to positive. We can cancel bad thoughts. We can project better thoughts instead. Because we get back what we give out, this can be a useful tool for starting the process of self growth and getting better results in life.
We can become aware of our consciousness even more through the practice of meditation. And through the practice of meditation we become more aware that our consciousness isn’t our brain, it isn’t our mind: it is the part of us that is part of all consciousness; a consciousness where there isn’t you and me, or him and her; where there is only One consciousness, where peace and love and light exist.
Through meditation, we cast our consciousness into the vastness of the consciousness beyond, and we bring that peace and love and light back to our real world when we return from our meditative journey.
That enlightened love is what we share with our families, our friends, neighbours, workmates and so on. And while this all sounds wonderful, the reality is that the light we encounter in meditation equates to knowledge that can help us have a happy and fulfilling life. But first we have to learn how to put that knowledge into practice. Take peace for example. We experience peace in our meditation, so life will give us situations to test whether we really have found peace within, or whether we only experience it when in meditation.
If we want to succeed in the University of Life, we have to learn the lessons that will allow us to pass our grades and make it to the top of class. And finding peace within at all times, in all situations is a lesson well worth learning.
A lesson will come in many forms, and present time and again until we finally ‘get it’. But every time we pass a test and move on to the next one, we become better for it. For example, instead of lashing back at someone who affronts you, being able to respond to what’s happening instead of reacting in the moment, makes you a better person and certainly will gain better results!
The first thing to remember is to take a deep breath in and exhale slowly, to bring your focus to the consciousness of the ‘now’. Giving your brain oxygen with another deep breath in, gives you the tool of conscious thought, and access to your mind, through which the knowledge of how to deal with the situation from a place of peace can filter in.
Sometimes you may have to put yourself in the other person’s position to understand why they are acting in anger. Sometimes there is a very good reason, like jealousy on their part, for example. People may be jealous of opportunities being given to you when they believe they equally deserve the same chance. Our ego will bite back (protect us) for as long as it can, but once we have the knowledge and we become ‘aware’, we are expected to cast the ego aside to make a more positive choice. The choice to bite back as usual is taken from us as our automatic reaction, and we become aware we need to bite the bullet instead, and find a way to a peaceful resolution, even if it is just to keep our mouth shut, or walk away.
If peace is not the way, something or someone has to yield, and if it is not you, this lesson or one similar will be presented again and again until you decide that peace really is the way, no matter what.
Our schooling comes quickly at times, and as we heal our situations to become peaceful, our consciousness experiences more periods of love and light, which lead to further expansion. We are continually becoming aware of how powerful we are as conscious beings, and of how wonderfully we can deal with the issues this life brings to us when we understand what is really happening.
To be at peace with one’s consciousness one has to be at peace with self, and that means being true to what your consciousness is helping you experience. When the answer is peace, there is only one course of action. So, be at peace whatever you do, and expand your consciousness whenever you can.
When we leave this life we leave our body behind, but our consciousness lives on forever. The more we are aware of our consciousness here and now, and understand how it serves us to know our selves and become better people, the more understanding we will have when it is our time to leave the earth. Our consciousness will live on and we will, as we do in meditation, go towards the light, which will show us the way home: the way back to the consciousness of the Universe, of which we’re all a part.
This, I believe, is the reason behind understanding our consciousness in the here and now.
Christine Scott. Author of My Good Book, a manual for the game of life; Owner/Manager of Chrysalis Relaxation Centre. Phone: 40 575471. Email: editor1111@bigpond.com
Moon
Just like you, the Moon has a light side and a dark side. Experiencing both is essential to achieving Wholeness. The Moon represents the unconscious, and this card can indicate new information arising from the depths of the mind. Taking note of your night dreams can help you to understand the inner workings of your psyche. If you seek to know yourself, then seek to know your dreams, your fears and your shadow.
There is a fine line between psychic and psychotic, and you may be in danger of crossing it. Take care not to get caught up in your own drama and beware of addictions and compulsive behaviour. It is time to ground yourself in the earth and find your stability again.
Crop Circle discovered 18th July 2004 Reigate, Surrey England
Tarot in Black & White is an original contemporary Tarot Deck illustrated with unique Crop Circle designs, written and developed by Misha Hoo and illustrated by Jakob Hronek. A modern interpretation of the traditional Tarot system, Tarot in Black & White follows the classic structure of Major Arcana and Minor Arcana through the four elements of Earth, Water, Air and Fire with Numerical Cards 1 to 10, Ace and Royalty Cards. Tarot in Black & White is for sale at the Happy Herb Shop, Cairns, the Port Douglas Markets and online at www.mishahoo.com