Self-Compassion

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology23 Comments
Photo Credit: Andrew Conte | Trib Total Media
Photo Credit: Andrew Conte | Trib Total Media

A friend of mine died recently. I am mourning her; but mostly, I am inspired to write this message.

Yesterday one of my classes was canceled – it was a relief because I spent some time at my favorite neighborhood Kwan Yin spot: the Mission. I just let it flow. The rain sprinkled on me, and my hot coffee in my hand transported me to my  undergraduate years. I do know that I have to make up for the day that we missed in class [graduate school] – because that’s just how work is. It still needs to get done. Test next week. The routine continues behind the scenes.

I know she is with me.

I would never have known that she had died in a tragic bike accident, if it weren’t for the fact that she is with me. Sometimes my own faith amazes my doubting mind. I trust that I’ll always know what I need to know *when* I need to know it. So, I don’t do a lot of the normal, conventional “keeping in touch” with people type of stuff. I let life lead me. I’m not really into schedules, for that matter. I follow nudges from my inner cosmic awareness. I don’t cling to people when they need space. (I like space.)

Yet, I look at the “two minds” as equally beneficial. I really don’t see it as a problem.

Susan and I used to discuss the mind, and what is beyond it.

Her name was Susan Hicks:  please continue to light up the path for her. Susan is.

A song from the heart

can only be heard

with the silence of presence.

Silence need not be silent in the English sense of the word.

~Aloha nui loa~

You are remembered for our precious times together.

Susan was my dorm neighbor during undergrad. It was my sophomore year, and her freshman year. I finally got a room all by myself, thanks to the lottery system; and of course, after completion of my freshman year, I got to be in the housing lottery system.

I would see her in the hallway when I came home from work or class. She’d have her books open, and we talk about the 3D geometry she was working on.  There was a cone shape inside a bowling ball. It was challenging stuff. We would talk about lucid dreaming, and discuss lots of things that compose a personal connection and exchange. She was uncertain about her major. I was an anthropology major. I thought it was the greatest substitute for indecision. I thought I was clever, picking a major that wasn’t very focused, ‘in and of itself.’

I really want to honor her family, and their healing process.

I stayed at her parent’s house during one of our holiday breaks.

Susan and I had become roommates off campus, and coordinated our travel with another roommate. Then after I returned from some of my travel, we shared a house with other roommates. We were in touch in 2013, and I was able to congratulate her on her job at Pitt as well as for completing her PhD in Cultural Anthropology. We connected with more depth than that, but that’s no one’s business but ours.

We were pretty much always on good terms – just busy people.

Susan, your light shines. Thank you for touching my life, and for letting mine touch yours.

As we strive to be “something” FOR the world, never forget what really matters. This is my message to people with ambition. Live fully, love fully, and remember there’s no place to go. There’s only the road. Self-compassion means honoring the process. Self-compassion means following the light of the inner spirit, and letting the gentleness of reality just really be love.

The Marathon of Enlightenment

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology4 Comments

~I’m interrupting my blogging break~ for a moment to thank Susan for writing such a beautiful and touching blog article. Her thought to include me on her journey is beyonds words available to me at this moment.

We all encourage one another to continue along our path to realization. _/1\_

My blogging rest and break currently comes from the divine order of my body 😉 I can’t wait to return to y’all here! ❤

Living in the Parallel, Holding in the Center

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology41 Comments

This blog post is written in response to a Time Machine Challenge given from Linda, over at Litebeing Chronicles.

To my surprise, I hopped onto my timeline, and I went parallel!

Delorean

Also, I didn’t go parallel to just one place, but to many places along my timeline.

#1). Vacation on Molokai

#2). Art making periods along my timeline

#3). My back injury in 2012 that influences my current path.

***************************************************************************

tripadvisor.com

#1) For this parallel timeline, I picture myself as vacationing on Molokai, and I’m incredibly healthy. I am meditating all the time on this timeline, so it seeps into the experience of my busy course load and fills me with the sense of always holding my center.

#2) Some of you, my dear readers, may have seen my recent blog posts where I published some of my old art pieces. One of the skills that I value in myself is my ability to live through my art, to express through color, and to step away from words. Though I value language, I do find so much contentment in the silence of visual imagery.

#3). Regaining myself/my life after my back injury.

I had to retrain myself to walk after the disc herniation.

My husband and I got me through the toughest time of my and our lives through this experience. What I know now is something far more valuable than I could ever learn in school about healing, from any person or book, or anything else. When I reach back into my past, I realize that I can overcome anything that weighs me down.

What’s happened is that there’s a level of confidence that I can tap into here, and it will get me through every failure, every false start, every terrifying moment of working with needles, fire, smoke; and if it doesn’t, and I decide: Hey, I’m not really into needles that much after all, that’s okay, too. I got my body back, and it became mine again: not necessarily ready to have it become a human pin cushion. Recently I had an acupuncture treatment that left my arm feeling a little bit numb, and that made me feel uncomfortable – it has made me question and doubt my path.

I’m in this,

and I know I could get hurt again.

After all, I can walk now. I made it through without the surgery that loomed in my mind as a possible next step to walking again.

That’s good enough for me. I value my mobility!

Note: I will be away from blogging for a little while 🙂 Best to you all in the interim.

Much Love, Ka

******************************************************************************

Next Time-Machine Post: Julianne

#Tribus 3 Loves +

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Artworks24 Comments

Tribus is a holiday now 🙂  Ra, over at Rarasaur [because obviously she’s a dinosaur] has launched the celebration.

There are no Non-Sequiturs in my writing, whateversoever!

We here at Fiestaestrellas, are always celebrating, so we love joining the fun, even though we’ve got A LOT of herbs to memorize, and some heavy studying to do for our course work which gets priority over these 3 loves (+Blogging! +Astrological Sharings +Community Conversation).

Here’s MY 3 without any further ado.

#1     Making Art to Make Art – Older Styles of mine

IMG_1204   IMG_1206  IMG_1209 IMG_1207

IMG_1208

#2 Towergardening!

IMG_0540

#3 Exploring, Eating (Gluten Free Pancakes with Raspberries), Drumming, Writing on my Dry Eraser Board (in no particular order).

IMG_0574 IMG_0989      IMG_1210  IMG_1212

It was a lot of fun to be freely messy all over my blog post – and still in list format! 🙂

Tabula Rasa

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Transformation22 Comments

Hello my lovely readers and co-creators!

Here are some blank images. I mean, here are some white spaces that may not stay white for long – although, I’d be fine if they did! In the pure state, there’s so much potential!

Tabla Rasa2

TablaRasa2 TablaRasa3

Here’s an interesting side note. When I went to purchase my head, the cashier said, “I found the prettiest one I could find.” I said, “Oh really?       Thank you.”

She said that we students tend to be picky with our heads. I said, “You know what, I’ll work with whatever I got!” I also thanked her very much for her consideration. After that I noticed a little “birth mark” next to the ear. There’s no name yet for this new man. I’ll take name options, and consider it.

*When I named my post originally, I was thinking of the Tablas or Tabla drum, and merging the two ideas in my title* Though, I did not photograph my drum here, I gave it away a few years ago as a gift to the person who gave me my first medicine bag.

A Lily, Horses, the Trust Technique & Reiki

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Reiki28 Comments

IMG_8700

I did a unique meditation sequence this morning. Since I awoke at 5am to my surprise, I had plenty of time this morning. I started with a guided meditation, for which I used the 5 minute mindfulness meditation track. Then I practiced some new Qi Gong techniques I learned yesterday. Following that, I joined with my study buddy for A Course in Miracles, day 8. I practiced more Qi Gong, and then I  meditated and opened the Akasha .

I am completely new to opening the Akasha, so I’m just just briefly relaying what came up for me. It was while I meditated on my experience afterward that I was guided to share this video below, following a brief description of my vision.

I had this vision of lightning that struck a barn and caused a fire. There was trauma associated with a beloved horse’s death, but it has now been put to rest.

In honor of our animal friends.

Please see the Trust Technique here:

As an attuned Reiki master practitioner, I am often guided to be of service. I became a Reiki I practitioner in 2007, and I became a master practitioner in 2012, attuned via my teacher, Barbara Jeanne Igoe.

Photo credit: Ka Malana

Hunger for Life

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Creative Writing20 Comments

Cannot fall for deception when
hungry for life.

There’s an angel inside of me
her name is ‘faith.’

Life is eating, breathing, loving.
Loving is the eternal present
moment.

Every face is beauty
and it always works out somehow.
I don’t know how how, but it does!

The angel and the warrior in me
are merging. The face of what I cannot
see, nor need to believe.

I am alive now. What matters is
all the past is now gone. There’s this
wonderful now moment, even in the midst of fear.

I do not fear fear today.
Moving toward my life, living in my breath.
What other temple is there?

Sitting at the alter of my broken shadow,
loving all parts, and trusting in the sacred.
Seeing the monsters on the walls have
shapes that form into smiles, too.

I will hug myself through it.
I CAN do it!

Today I don’t have survivor’s guilt. Today I DO for my family, for my sangha.

Today I find a little bit more bravery than I had yesterday.

Creating a *daily* “DONE LIST”

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology, Meditation5 Comments

Morning Glory_Ka Malana's Garden

When building a new schedule, and accessing “just what is it that I need to do during my day?” I create a “done” list. I started doing this a little while back, and it’s offered me:

  • A sense for my own accomplishments
  • A sense of peace about my vision for the future (& the present)
  • A sketch into the real-world of my life in terms of my values

Today as I created my morning “done list” which consisted of meditations of various types, as well as fixing the bed, making breakfast, eating, dishes, cleaning, reading/writing, taking care of my plants, visualizing, stretching, communing with my self, and then others. I was able to see that there are sets of actions and values that I’d need to prioritize and sort out. Without my daily “done-list,” I’d be thinking I accomplished nothing – which while good in certain contexts, is not so good in others.

Wishing everyone a happy, smooth, peaceful, productive, enjoyable, pleasant day – filled with the sweet breeze of accomplishment and a self-renewing sense of peace. _/1\_

Astrological Transits: The Beginner’s Guide…by April Elliott Kent

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Books Published, Friends & Authors14 Comments
Astrological Transits_April Elliott Kent
Ka Malana holding up April Elliot Kent’s book: Astrological Transits.

Some people are just so easy to converse with!

That’s how I feel about April Elliott Kent.

When she and I met, I didn’t realize that I’d be taking my astrology anywhere. As a solo practitioner of astrology, I didn’t really have any astrology friends. I was mostly closeted about it for a while. I was discovering it all on my own, with the help of books, while maintaining and editing my own constant reflections upon the transits. To me, it was my private scientific investigation.

Eventually, I had this blog, and I was meeting with the occasional client. I was still feeling out what exactly I wanted to do with my clients in the astro realm. I kept looking for the “WE,” the co-creating. How could I really be of service in a way that also worked within the flexible framework of my highest values and within my integrity? These were the types of questions that I began asking myself while healing from a major back injury, when I met April two years ago, in my new city.

I didn’t realize that April was such a popular and well-established astrologer!

She was just such a great friend to me from ‘go,’ and I noticed that we linked up nicely when comparing our charts, but I really only looked ‘after the fact’ for any astrological connection. Then, after a while, I started to read her blog posts on the New and Full moon (just like I had been writing about on my blog!) and I kept getting more and more of this sense about her as a WISE woman, with a delightful conveyance of the astrological archetypes. Truly her writings are highly accessible, and contribute to anyone’s monthly astrological undertakings.

To say that I have developed a deep respect for this woman as a person far surpasses even my own understanding for what she knows about astrology! That being said, I want to move onto a review of her book. Yes, I will basically be doing that from the perspective of being a friend and a fan.

A Beginner’s Book is a beginner’s book; it is something that you can understand if you don’t have a lot of background knowledge. The full title of her book is Astrological Transits: The Beginner’s Guide to Using Planetary Cycles to Plan and Predict Your Day, Week, Year (or Destiny). Side note, I can admire a woman who uses parentheticals. It’s one of my favorite features for writing in TODAY’s complex world. I applaud her use of parentheses in the title of this book.

If you notice the way I photographed the book, it appears as though it is as big as my heart–no, even bigger. It takes up the entire space of my chest. Why did I photograph it that way? Although this book is a “beginner’s book,” I see the value in all things “beginner,” and recognize that this book is for me. ☺

I commend this text for its concise organization, while containing a lot of solid “How To” information. April writes to TODAY’s astrologer: Astrological Transits makes what is classic, accessible.  I am also referring to her writings, here, where her style really shines.

For the non-astrologer: Other books like it (Beginner’s Guides: sure there are some exceptions but…) rarely do they include a tiny little box of helpful tips specifically like, “how long this transit lasts,” and the approximate age that you may experience a particular transit.  You do not have to be an astrologer to learn from this book!!! Whether you are an astrologer or not, consulting with another astrologer can be very helpful, as it helps to guide your understanding of what you are learning, experiencing, and evaluating.

Here’s an excerpt: I like April’s advice here about the Sun transiting the 10th house of a natal chart; it’s good advice for anyone, at any time!

The trick to enjoying the Sun in the tenth house is to imagine not that you’re in an inferior position that must be escaped at all costs, but rather that you’re in the perfect position to get where you’re going. Part of that journey begins with a plan—for your career or even for your whole life. If you already have a plan, revisit and revise it. If you don’t know where you are going, you won’t recognize it when you arrive. Also, since you probably work plenty hard already, work smarter—and learn to delegate. Even if you can do anything, you don’t have to do everything. Partner with others who like to do things you don’t care for, and vice versa. You’ll go much further with help from others than you can alone.”

Please visit her here  @ BigSkyAstrology.com, where she’s been publishing for 15 years! Astrological Transits: The Beginner’s Guide to Using Planetary Cycles to Plan and Predict your Day, Week, Year (OR DESTINY) is her newest book!

In Astrological Transits, astrologer April Elliott Kent teaches you:

  • How Today’s astrological weather affects your birth chart and what is going on in your life
  • Ways to make the most of good transits and harness and transform the energy of challenging ones
  • The roles recurring planetary cycles play in your life and how to anticipate important transits

Astrological Transits Full Book Image

In the Razor-Sharp Focus of My Red Tail Feather

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology, Creative Writing12 Comments

Make me into the softest
razor blade
of your truth-edged clarity,

chiseled by your loving warmth
and compassionate understanding.

Your [Mars-meets-Venus]
Soft Electric Love Touch –
Let the sparks fly!

You should know
that I am forged from the fire,
every day.

Yes, I am phoenix –
8th house
Mars and Pluto conjunction in Libra,
in love’s service.
Follow me and our spiritual marriage transforms!

I have seen my
own demons more than enough!

God dresses
up for Halloween.

The treats are always
the unexpected visitors that come
in and rescue any memory of OUR grace,

with a smile and a little open bag.

Jupiter and Neptune do not disagree.
While they transit,
they play Rummy.
I’ve got the leftover
potato chips to prove it – all those
notes I took for 20+ years of transits
are plenty crusty from love.

At the middle now,
I eagerly anticipate
sitting down
to attend
to the details
of expressing my perfection,

from the fruit of thy womb.

I am babe and elder
the in-middle years,
receiving and
sending off
souls of yours,
at your request.

Please do not
give me more than I can bear!

Love us, dear divine!
Bring us into an understanding where
the atheist, theist, pantheist do not
care if they agree or disagree.
The agnostic does not need to know
what she knows. It’s still none of
her business!

Where the word ‘I’ is
not a message in and of itself,
but a vehicle
for courageously attending to our truths
beyond divisions
and seeming perceptions
of splitting hairs.

‘I’ is one of the
tiniest words i know.
ya know? I still like it, though!

For all is
impermanent and pertinent.

Let us recover
the child lost to the shoreline of
warsome devastation,
Join in the only prayer worth
having:

A request for freedom in peace,
peace inside freedom, and justice for all.
Hallowed be thy…
Kingdom come.

Where and when the vague admissions of
the heart are seen as the clear
night and day offerings
of refuge.
We do not care
when we are needing help,
In Who’s arms we are held, just
that we are loved by you, Divine!

Here I am. Ready.
Amama, A’ho!

Sarah Starts Living, a novel by Gina Medvedz

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Books Published, Friends & Authors22 Comments
A novel by Gina Medvedz
A novel by Gina Medvedz

Do you see that thin line on the book in the picture above, just to the right of the book’s spine, that’s a “reader’s crease” ?    That’s a love mark.

A few words about where I met the author:

When I met Gina Medvedz at our Sangha in Bethlehem, PA, it was several years ago. This is the group where I also met my husband. It’s a place where I regularly meditated with our Sangha on Monday nights. There’s a part of my spirit that is still joining every Monday night and sharing in “Evening Aspirations,” as the group continues on. Meanwhile, it was there that I took my meditation practice to a deeper level. I cultivated a place of refuge within me; indeed, it was my first ‘true’ community in every way that I needed it to be. Sitting in silence, alone beside one another, is how I’ve felt the most connected spiritually. As my husband and I have since moved our residence 3 times, each group I’ve discovered along the way has been different, and so much to be appreciated about each. In Santa Cruz, CA is where I met a group that I also miss very much, but our live connections (via online or in person have not continued due to loss of contact information and “life happens,”) and so far my Bethlehem Sangha has lived in my heart and since widened to include a much larger online community. My new meditations have expanded in ways that I would have never expected.

About the Author: Gina Medvedz

“Rev. Gina Medvedz is a certified Akashic records reader, spiritual healer, and certified nutritional consultant with a MS degree in holistic nutrition. Ordained in the Order of Melchizedek, she uses divine guidance to clear the fear and self-doubt that prevent her clients from living an inspired life. Her passion lies in reconnecting people with their spirit guides and teaching them to bring all areas of their lives into alignment with their soul values and purpose. In this, her first novel, Gina continues spreading her message of healing through self-love. She currently resides in Lehigh Valley of Pennsylania with her husband and two children.”

About: Sarah Starts Living 

“For eighteen years, Sarah has been a devoted wife and doting mother. When her only child leaves for college, Sarah wonders how she will spend her days. But when her husband announces that he is leaving too, Sarah is forced to reexamine everything that she holds to be true. On a dare from her best friend, Sarah agrees to listen to God and do what He suggests. Following signs that she interprets as divine, she winds up in a convent in Connecticut, on a mission in West Virgina, and in a metaphysical bookstore in Pennsylvania. Learning lessons along the way that shift her belief in the nature of God and her mindset about herself, for the first time in her forty-five years, Sarah Starts Living!”

What really struck me, what made the text so easy to read, was the way the dialogue between the characters directed the plot. The characters’ voices were audible in my own mind while reading. They basically started to live with me for the couple of days during my reading of the book. The main character, Sarah, had a lot of inner dialogue and guidance, and she was keen to follow her cues to integrate and make decisions about her guidance, regardless of any contradictory feedback from her family and friends. The book includes a series of questions at the end for further discussion and is helpful as a springboard to the readers’ intuitive development through inner responses and group discussion.

To read more about “Sarah Starts Living,” visit her at her website here.

Castles in the Sky: Pisces Full Moon

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology, Pisces11 Comments
Castles in the Sky by Marcel Pirosca

Full Moon in Pisces
August 29, 2015 11:35am (PDT)

This Full Moon in the Tropical (Western Zodiac) of Pisces is referred to as a Supermoon. The term “Supermoon” refers to the lunation being during, or near the Moon’s perigee. Perigee is the closest point of the moon in its orbit around the earth. The term Supermoon was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979. The exact perigee occurs on Sunday, Aug. 30, at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), about 18 hours after Full Moon.

It’s the following Full Moon, on September 27, 2015, 7:51 p.m. PDT
that will not only be a lunar eclipse, but it will be the closest to the Earth of all the lunations, aka, the “Most SuperMoon” for the year.

With the August 29th Full Moon in Pisces, we look to both Jupiter (the ancient ruler of Pisces) and Neptune the modern astrological ruler for Pisces, first. Jupiter is conjunct the Sun within a very small orb, while opposing (180 degrees) to the Moon as it conjoins transiting Neptune. The energies of Moon and Neptune are co-joined which mixes together the two principles. The Moon and Neptune combination, from Reinhold Ebertin’s book, “The Combination of Stellar Influences,” p.106 on Probable Manifestions of Moon/Neptune:

(Positive) A sympathetic understanding of other people (psychometry), the activity of the subconscious, a state of relaxation, receptiveness, impressionableness, an intensely vivid dreamlife.

(Negative) The danger of being exposed to peculiar and strange influences or being exploited by other people. Instability or unstableness, weakness, crises in life are caused by laziness or indolence.

These attributes are in opposition, or in a “pull-pull effect” at the full moon with the following expressions of the Jupiter/Sun combination. The opposition can manifest as a “push pull,” essentially a calling to balance opposing forces.

(Positive) Advancement in life, recognition, success in the material or spiritual sphere.

(Negative) Conflicts caused by arrogant and pretentious demeanour, illness through wrong nutrition, differences with people in one’s environment or with superiors, a person in conflict with the laws of the land or realm.

Saturn and Pluto also feature in this full moon, and there’s a lot going on. There’s this combination of catharsis and intensity with Pluto, while there’s also some restraint and compression with the energy of Saturn in Scorpio forming a T-Square (tension) configuration with the Sun/Jupiter in Virgo and Moon/Neptune in Pisces. Saturn transiting the last two degrees of Pluto-ruled Scorpio further intensifies the energy of this lunation with Scorpionic vibes. With Pisces and Neptune there’s a desire for escapism and/or transcendence through spiritual retreat.

The Piscean experience can be fuzzy and elusive. It can even embody the energy of release and renewal through sacrifice. If we hang out too much on the Virgo side of the balance we may find ourselves too critical of ourselves and/or others, not maintaining an awareness of our health, or being too overly focused on a health or fitness detail, potentially even as an escape. Jupiter expands whatever it touches. The keyword with Jupiter in Virgo is discretion. Otherwise, we too may be prone to flights and escapism through romanticism and experiencing some intense dream times! The unconscious is very much alive with Pisces, and the grounding energy of Virgo is balanced in structure and routine. Finally, let’s not forget the Venus/Mars applying conjunction forming, too, at the Full Moon! It might even be exciting!

Reference:

Ebertin, Reinhold. The Combination of Stellar Influences. Aalen, Germany: Ebertin, 1972. Print.

McClure, Bruce. “Most “super” Supermoon of 2015 on September 28 | EarthSky.org.” EarthSky. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.

About Ebertin Reinhold, courtesy of Wikipedia:
[February 16, 1901 – March 14, 1988] He was a German physician and astrologer. Ebertin’s book was first published in 1940 and the most recent updates in the English translation were added in 1972. Ebertin’s greatest and most truly original contribution was his research in the field of medical astrology and his addition of more psychological correlations.[2] Ebertin worked with the “Anatomical Correspondences of the Zodiac Degrees” as presented in the “Organuhr der anatomischen Entsprechungen” of Fritz Brandau.

News Article with similar theme to this lunation: Here
Jupiter conjunct Sun in Virgo (health/vitality/optimism) opposite 180 degrees (reflecting or mirroring the awareness via contrast) Moon conjunct Neptune (beliefs about the past/emotional body/dreams and possibilities/placebo) squaring Saturn (time/age/limitation). Sun conjunct Jupiter trine Pluto in Scorpio (self-mastery & deep healing through transformation).