Tag: Love

Leo New Moon 7/24/25 – Let’s Face it Together

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology33 Comments

I shouldn’t rush this one.

There’s a lot about Leo that isn’t captured by popular culture, or by “culture of astrology.” Of course, I am a Leo Sun (haha in my 7th house of others!!) So I will tell you what a Leo is! And you will believe me, of course! (silly!) Silliness is definitely a thing. It’s part of it. A bit of a performer… that too! Guess what else? Can you guess? Yes, yes, playful. Anything else?

If you guessed Shameless, well, no.

Brave.

Brave!

I wrote brave twice– you wanna know why? The first time is with a period. It’s the behind the scenes brave. It’s the actual brave. The show up and be brave behind the ready to be brave. Then there’s the other brave! is the one that looks cheery and courageous, but is probably just the product of this equation:

My LOVE > My Fear = Aligned Action

If you are looking at the truth: there’s no real difference between you and me. We have all the same possibilities and potentialities. Choice is what makes us different, and to a certain extent, circumstances also make us different. We all have different backgrounds, groups, families, environmental pressures, legacies and genes, and even experiences. Please keep reading for the substance…. You are special

This post is not going to be one of those posts that tells you “this is an excellent time for: x, y and z” It’s not even about what the sign Leo means. It’s more about an exploration into the depths of you. This new moon in early Leo at 2 degrees is in opposition to the planet, Pluto (overhaul), in Aquarius (each and every one). It’s in trine to Uranus (innovation) in Gemini (the mind). There’s a lot of pressure right now to find ways to survive. What are we surviving? We are surviving difficult living conditions that still manage to mostly look like the luxuries of modern life. However, underneath it all is the existential tension of not knowing the future, not having a stable sense of the cost of goods, not knowing how the slashing and burning and bridge dismantling of our institutions is going to affect America and the entire world. It’s already affecting America. What’s worse is the backdrop of environmental degradation and decline. The climate is changing so quickly that the *very* systems designed to protect us with early warning signals and organized response teams, even research around these pertinent topics: FEMA, EPA, and more, are being dismantled completely. How will we even know the true impact of what is going on until the years past when we are long and gone? This is not an easy landscape my friends! This is not an easy life. Yes, meanwhile, we have positivity consciousness telling us to “be grateful” and how each one of us can just “put our minds to it” and “have the life of our dreams.”

What is true?

Well, that is a moving target. So that sense for the scammers hunting us every day and the people who want to steal from our trust– well, are they creating a culture of distrust? I would say, “yes.” Now, I’m not laying all this out so that we all come together and agree to just give up. But there is a lot of war going on (in our hearts and on Earth, across nations) and very, very shady, nefarious characters are acting freely from their place of power. So, I must ask you, I must beg you to keep going. Keep finding the reason to LOVE. Keep finding the reason to TRUST. Keep finding the ways to soften your heart–while getting increasingly smart to the real danger that lurks for us. This is a life of survival for ourselves and our families. The values we have fought for need to stay intact. We do not sacrifice our freedoms for anything other than a higher vision. That higher vision must come from our hearts. It must come from the most courageous part within us. It’s the anchor that links us to the very air we breathe. The heart and lungs work in tandem, you know. So be the voice, be the hope. Be the authentic gift of your own life– and give to give. Love to love. You are not alone. I am not alone.

I’m just gonna do the same, okay?

I started a youtube channel and I talk about authenticity. Spoiler: I didn’t come to any conclusions. Go ahead and take a look; feel free to tell me what you think! Thank you 🙂 Do you like the silly poses I get caught in? What are your thoughts on the topics I introduced? Oh, and apparently you have to tell everyone to “like and subscribe” so if you noticed that in everyone else’s youtubes–that’s why I’m doing the same thing. 🙂

Freedom in Love, Love as Freedom

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology21 Comments

I just finished working with a client in the Entheos energy work that I do, and the moment opened up following it, with the opportunity to do some writing and sharing here. Right now the energy is so strong for liberation, freedom, and unwinding from the trappings of attachment, ego, and that which veils us from the reaches of Spirit. Today Neptune, planet of illusion and tricks of perception, retrogrades at the beginning of Aries, while Venus and Uranus echo a strong conjunction at the last degree of Taurus 29 (anaretic degree)/ beginning of Gemini. Traditionally this Neptune retrograde points to a time when we lift the veil and peer beyond it; seeing our delusions and addictions more clearly. It’s good for people to seek out therapy services and make honest progress towards overcoming their addictions.

On July 7, Uranus will begin its approximately 7 year long stay in Gemini. That same Gemini fueled Uranus will be in trine with Pluto in Aquarius for a while to come. Resultantly there’s much opportunity to change the way we communicate, and to free ourselves from out-dated concepts and constructs of mind. Underneath the labeling of the mind in terms of naming and conventions there exists a more pure consciousness. One without the trappings of past nor other mental overlays of experience, emotion, and memory. This is a very individual, airy dynamic, this “untouched consciousness.” The Taoists called it “Pu” or the uncarved block, to represent a natural, unforced nature of mind.

The pathway forward can be innovative and liberating, as yet unknown. Its roots run deep, as these changes require us to be deliberate and conscious around our choice for liberation. Our actions will have reverberations for a long time to come. Also, it might require several applications of our divine will to progress. Re-focus again and again into our purpose and marking our intention for liberation.

Change brings with it grief, almost always, because we cannot go back to the old ways–they are permanently severed. What matters is how we “choice forward.” There’s a lot of ways that the majority is not getting what it asked for. It doesn’t look at all like the Golden Age nor any new era of awakening. It looks a lot like the “same old,” old power, oligarchy and the governance of the few with the consolidated power at the top. I guarantee you that inside of you is the place and space where all the most profound changes are happening for this new era. Right now that Venus/Uranus conjunction is in a trine (easy flow/quick) energy with Pluto in Aquarius. This is not a simple day for America. It’s not even a simple celebration that you are either evading or celebrating–or captured in between a dynamic of both positions. If you are drawing from history, there’s a lot of inspiration around overcoming of obstacles, around coming up against powerful despots.

Each individual must choose what path to take into the woods that we are being shown. We are indeed in the woods, on our own journeys: separate but together. The only things that separates us is the way we conceive of and respond to the changes that are taking place. If we can really dial into our resourced place, today, and the days moving forward, it will help. Dial into your point of nourishment.

As you awaken with yourself on this path and journey into unknown lands, deep into making decisions you must make along the way, you will be asked to make it very clear to yourself and others: your purpose. Do not shy away from your inner clarity. Your inner clarity will be your guidebook, but it might even startle you at first. Spend some time journaling today and in the next several days around the following prompts:

1). What actions can I take that help me to explore my freedom today? tomorrow?

2). Where am I too sticky and too attached that is keeping me from seeing my options?

3). If I could embody one important value on this planet, what would I choose? How about now? And now?

Sending peace to all; May love always lead your way. May all beings be free from suffering.

WIP …

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Abundant Earth, Artworks, Astrology, Creative Writing, Creatrix, Sketches, Something altogether different, Transformation7 Comments

i could

summon you,

but you are already here

you’ve been in my shadow

clinging to my insides

waiting for my consciousness

to ripen

waiting for my signal to open up

our shared eye

with you,

all our ancient promises arise

like shoots of green tendrils

ready to break through the land

and renew our promises

for a new

peace

Sink into Earth with this Taurus New Moon

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology10 Comments

I have no doubt that my message for today’s New Moon will be aligned with the gardeners and nature lovers. I’ve been reaching out to Luna for the message and she’s been very clear that with the strong energies of Mars/Pluto opposition, all the Aries placements still in effect, and that challenging aspect of Saturn and Venus conjoined with the North Node, we’ve never needed to be sunk in with nature more.

Uranus is also still in Taurus in process of wrapping up its stay. From July 7, 2025 for the next 7 years, Uranus will ingress Gemini and fill the mental plane with communications, logistics, innovations, disruptions, and more. Fortunately Jupiter has been transiting Gemini and paving the way for Uranus, setting up a good vibe. Jupiter is known to be the great benefactor of the zodiac. Next month the Sun will be in Gemini and that will further light up that area of the Zodiac and this will all be in preparation for Uranus to transit there by July.

For now, we have dedicated moments to reflect on this New Moon in Taurus and set our intentions to focus on what grounds us, brings us deeply into ourselves, and most opens us for those unique and intuitive messages from nature and from spirit. It’s essential at this juncture to take a break from media—even just a small sector, or reduce its time.

For your meditations:

Here are some words from Rosemary Gladstar, one of the most renowned Western herbal pioneers,

Take a moment. Open a jar of herbs that perhaps you grew and dried yourself… draw in a long deep breath… and if you pause awhile with the plant, it can carry you forward into the future.

Let the plant speak to you—not with words, but in the way that only plants know how.

Let’s enjoy the ineffable this New Moon in Taurus. Gaze at the stars, sink your feet in the dirt or the sand. Roll down a hill in a meadow, blow off the seeds of a dandelion. Make dandelion wine. I have some tinctures that I am ready to strain, and the birds song has been especially poignant.

Another fitting way to celebrate the phases of the Moon in relationship with the Sun, valuing the cycles that nature gives us— those that repeat—and let us know that we do have a regularity in life, there is consistency, pacing and calm: Celebrate with music, drums, piano, whatever speaks to you. Perhaps you love the sounds of harp, accordion or trumpet. Enjoy the moments of non-verbal, enjoy the spaciousness of sound and sing or imbibe the air and earth with your voice.

I hope this post has stirred some calmness and pleasure within you. Let me know in the comments if this new moon is touching your natal chart and which houses! I’m happy to help with a consult in the future years when I open up more time in my schedule.

For now I will leave you all with some beauties:

My deepest wish is for all beings to experience happiness and be free from suffering. 🙏🏻💕

It’s not an idyllic wish. It’s grounded in a desire for the progress of moving in the that direction, for peace and kindness to flourish in the lives of all. This wish will continue to flourish no matter what circumstances show up or appearances of the world would submit that we are not gonna end up there, well and wise.

None of our Earth journeys are in vain, purposeless or random.

Mitakuye Oyasin

“To All My Relations”

Affirmation Saturday for your Aries Vibes

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology18 Comments

I know that greatness begins in the minds of the great. I know that what I believe about myself is what I will become–so I believe in the best for myself.

I am practical and realistic, and I keep my feet on solid ground. But I also give myself the freedom to live up to my fullest expectations.

I never limit myself by the short-sighted beliefs of others–instead I open myself up to the broad horizons of unlimited possibility.

When someone says I “cannot,” I answer “why not?” When someone says, “It’s impossible,” I answer that nothing is more impossible than I believe it to be. And I truly believe with my individual fortress of faith, with me, anything is possible.

I have drive, spirit, stamina, and endurance. I have a good strong winning attitude about myself and about everything I do. I am practical and realistic, but I also believe in the best possible outcome of any situation.

If I ever had any doubts about myself in the past, today is a good day to put them aside. It’s a good day to throw out any disbelief that ever held me back.

I know that I am headed in the right winning direction, and I look forward and never look back. I have the ability to focus on one thing at a time, so I concentrate my attention on the job at hand–and I get it done!

Today is one of those days when nothing can stand in my way. When I need extra determination, I’ve got it! When I need more energy and drive, I’ve got it! I’ve got the power to get it done and the patience to see it through, no matter what the job or challenge may be.

Right now, even while I am telling myself these truths about me, I know that I can succeed and I am succeeding. At this moment, if I think of any challenge in front of me, I know that I will become even more a winner because of it.

I keep my chin up, my head held high. I look, act, sound, think, and feel like the winner I am! Any-time a problem starts to get me down, I get myself right back up! I tackle problems and I solve them. When frustration or defeat threatens me, I just become that much stronger, more positive, better organized, and more determined than ever!

Right now, today, this very moment, I am capable of giving myself the gift of absolute self-assurance, self-belief, and powerful non-stop confidence in myself.

No matter what it is that requires the very best of me, I can do it and I know I can.

Today is a great day. And I’ve got what it takes. So I choose to do it right, do it well! I choose to live today with joy and love.

I know that it’s all up to me. One hundred percent!–every bit of it. All of it is in how I look at it and what I do about it! That’s what winning is. That’s why I am a winner.

I set my sights. I keep my balance. I don’t hesitate. I don’t hold back! I know that the world is full of opportunities. Look at what I can do; look at where I can go! Look at what I can do just by saying, “Yes!” to myself!

Just look at what I can do today! I am incredible… and today is a great day to show it!

Source: Shad Helmstetter, Ph.D. (1982), from What to Say When You Talk To Your Self.

I want you to know that it doesn’t matter where you start, or where you want to go. What matters is you remove any resistance that you have to reading and believing the above affirmations. You need to see your worthiness, and know that the world needs you. These are the two keys: 1). YOU MATTER 2). The world needs you to be fully in your own power.

If today is the day where you lost all your motivation, then let it drain out of you and commit the first thing in the morning tomorrow. Start making promises to yourself that you keep. Build your rapport with yourself and don’t wait for something ‘outside’ of you to make you feel worthy. No one and nothing can do that for you.

In peace there is confidence. That’s how we rest: we know the good that is on its way because it starts with us.

Poem 24, Day 24

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Abundant Earth, Astrology, Creative Writing, Something altogether different, Transformation8 Comments

Her hands

are little five-pointed stars

that used to fit 5 of them

in my

ONE hand

.

Her fingers,

would curl

around my finger

.

First by reflex

and now, even still

nearly 5 years later,

a little squeeze.

.

Every star ⭐️ would wish

to be the twinkle in her eyes,

the raised corners of

her mouth like red

curtains pulled open for

stage performance,

.

her smile corners

tied in little golden

boughs of excitement

when she makes a silly

joke,

.

understanding irony

beyond her years,

beyond time-limits.

.

She recites from her

memory, so vivid and

sparkling,

.

a crystal clear starfish memory

suctioning to knowledge

understanding,

and application.

.

Her Kee Ma Jaseh

developing into

deeper knee bends,

receiving high 5’s,

counting down from 5,

counting to 100,

5-Times

mathing, reading, sighting,

singing

.

cartwheels 🤸

another star ⭐️

5 points,

1 head, 2 legs, and 2 arms.

.

This star will never be alone,

shining on her friends.

with karate developing

in her hands,

her heart:

.

And with an Open, Golden, Bright mind.

⭐️🤸✋🏻💗🧠🧐💪🤸⭐️

dropped.

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology8 Comments
Ka Malana Photography

It’s a good thing that I noticed that this scheduled post i set up last night didn’t get posted right. I had mistakenly scheduled it for the PM. Nope, that wasn’t my preference. Did I drop the ball? LOL This year we are setting a “tone” for future traditions. It’s so much fun. Planning and dreaming together is working in my little mental “cave” of inspiration–we embark on the creativity train. There is some “choo-chooing” output for this Nanopoblano via my HOMAGE to Kauai and also my Homage to the Tao Te Ching, intertwining. Meanwhile, so much else going on behind the scenes. This is probably the best part of “social media;” that is, the real life. Social media backlights the “real life” and like Plato’s shadowy cave, social media only shows “some of it.”

How are you all doing? How is Nanopoblano going? I am visiting your blogs, best I can. I think i’m doing better than previous years, thanks to my partial scheduling strategy. Also trying to schedule ahead our family lives, 2024. There’s really just ONE more week of this NanoPoblano November Challenge! We can DO THIS! I’m gearing up for “December Delights.” I think I’m moreso just having fun with catch phrases and new potential blogging themes that inspire me.

brown breasted singer

melody me

sing me to fruition

sing me to glee

your black head

is a perfect thermostat

to deliver your colorful voice.

i sit on this branch with you

quiet, yet, filled with nature

sitting and feeling

feeling and singing

being in the praise

of this life.

And even, including. the bird. poop.

my good luck!

Tracing my daughter’s hand

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Aquarius, Astrology, imbolc15 Comments
I gave her fingers lots of space!

She says “draw my hand 🖐”

and this simple action

for me, is High art—

the art of masters, becoming young again.

Our combined intelligence

simplified into the elegance of

a single line drawn,

contour: a line developing into a form

One day she will sit in an art class

and draw what she sees, without

looking at her paper.

Because of me.

her request: “draw my hand”

is helping me illustrate one of the most

creative gifts of her body

As a baby,

she learned her hands quickly.

she studied intently.

Her hands were her first friends

enabling her into positions, and grasping my

finger well after that reflex had gone.

her fingers articulating quickly,

her hand in mine—always wanting my hand. Brave. And still always wanting my hand.

“Mommy, mommy, draw my hand.”

Catching glimpses of my Sun life

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Creative Writing, Creatrix, Something altogether different, Transformation23 Comments
Ka Malana Photography

A lifetime of memories

can show up at your doorstep

and sweep you up in love

like the wind that brings changing seasons

collects the leaves for colorful treasures

to be pressed and captured in scrapbooks and photographs.

We can live in the memory of love

as the wind that rushes through us with intensity just by

that one glance you just gave me.

Life moves so quickly at moments collecting all the fibers of our depths

at other times, still and proportional. Then, slow-silent as snow.

I’m experiencing a timeless place with you right now. It is not a crossroads,

a doorstep, nor a season.

It’s a glorious continuity, a never-ending, undying way for us to collect

ourselves, full of developing smiles and wet-touched by the tears of our trials.

My love is with you always.

Family love and life

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Abundant Earth, Astrology, Moon Phases, Scorpio10 Comments

So grateful for another day on planet earth with my loved ones. I’m grateful for all the genuine connections I have in my life with people who are not physically close, too, but are so so close to my heart. My friendships that are enduring are so valued in my life. I’m grateful for my loving family. I’m also grateful for my blogging connections and this month’s challenge helps me to keep centered on what matters most while being able to weave in and out as I need to and am able!

14/30

As people weave in and out of our lives, its so important to remember our inner lives. This new moon I embarked on a new journey with my Medicine Woman studies. It’s an incredible New Moon in Scorpio sextile to the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction. I received an initiation today and conducted a special ceremony; my path has begun on a deeper level, in private. Many of us walk between the two worlds, and as we anchor ourselves in the unseen world, we enrich the world we do for the consciousness of the planet. Today we also celebrate along with this New Moon, in many regions of the world, such as Northern India, Diwali, the festival of lights. It’s the celebration of good over evil. May we realize the goodness in our hearts, and come together on this planet. That is my hope each and every day.

Love Inspired Me

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Creative Writing, Creatrix29 Comments

Opening Love, widening arms

Love is my window.

Feeling the Sun’s Love

Shining, Dawning, in Love-light.

Love works through Ears

Recording incoming Love Spirals

Our Love is Seed

Opening from Love’s ground.

Love wants to play

While I love work.

I was inspired by Deanne to write a 10 line poem on love with 4 words in each line and the word love in each line. If anyone wants to write a poem on love, please leave a link to your poem in the comment’s section 🙂 or leave it on Deanne’s page, and/or both.

The Sound of Crickets, Hafiz, and the Moon

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Creative Writing, Creatrix11 Comments

Lately, we’ve had the pleasure of hosting a most lovely cricket. For me, the presence of a cricket (inside my house) and right next to me on the couch, is usually a sign. Yes, this has happened to me before, but not exactly in the same way. I have no idea how he got inside, but I did coax him out. I want him to live!

The night he was singing the loudest, I was writing, and I needed the support. I was reaching within myself for my inner voice, feeling for it, digging deep, and really just trying to use words evenly. Crickets are special. This cricket may even be my ancestor.

In China, people have been known to keep crickets as pets.

ImageWatercolor by Qi Baishi (1864–1957)

This morning I awoke at 4:30am.  My body/mind/spirit wants to move deeper into my spiritual practice. I received the message that this is what I am going to be doing now. I’ve been nudged. Now it’s up to me to “go with it.” By 5:00am, I decided to go for a walk, and it was a little bit on the chilly side. Yes, I live in sunny California, so when it’s dark – I get sensitive to the cold.

I turned to head back home, and there it was: the brilliant, large, glowing moon. I felt like I could walk to it… and maybe even hug it.

Full moon photo via Lee Capps. http://earthsky.org/space/video-the-moon-illusion
Full moon photo via Lee Capps. http://earthsky.org/space/video-the-moon-illusion

 

Also, this morning, I opened a box of special books that were in storage (I was looking for the Secret of the Golden Flower), and I found this poem by Hafiz, that I’d like to share with you:

I Took It as a Sign

Someone sent a band to my house,

And it started playing

At five in the morning.

I took this as a sign

God wanted me to sing!

Then the moon joined in

And a few of the tenor-voiced stars,

And the earth offered its lovely belly

As a drum.

Before I knew it,

I realized

All human beings could be happy

If they just had a few music lessons

From a Sweet Old Maestro

Like Hafiz

Venus Retrograde: revisiting old flames, loves, and daemons

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology, Venus12 Comments

“…How I longed to be over there with you…”

 Image

http://househistoryman.blogspot.com/2012/02/love-letter-mystery-from-capitol-hill.html

Dear Readers,

In lieu of Venus going retrograde, I thought I’d write you a letter and tell you about it. No matter what happens, I want you to know that the goddess of love is even closer to our hearts now than she is at any other time…

 

“Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.” ~Washington Irving

Venus turns and dances backwards on December 21, 2013—she’ll be doing a foxtrot for her winter solstice celebration.  Retrograding just about every 20 months or 1.6777 years, this is not a terribly uncommon style for Venus.  But just because the planet of love is reverting to her former astrological turf in the sign of Capricorn, does not mean that her love shall -in any way- wane.

Image

During this period, she will re-cover her retrograde shadow – last visited on November 20, 2013—at 13 degrees of Capricorn.  Check your charts. Check for other planets, midpoints, or other degrees of note at that point or by aspect to your natal chart. See if Venus left anything there for you to pick-up during her revisit from now until January 31, 2014 – for afterward, she will turn forward and proceed with dignified manner, lessons learned.

Like good jazz dances up and down the pentatonic scale, Venus was here and back, potentially making some swanky (or not so swanky) artistic moves along the way.  After all, Venus rules everything sensual – music, art, and the fine things in life. It may not be just an old flame you revisit; it could be that you are given the opportunity to get in touch with your artistic muses.

Regardless, what makes this Venus retrograde period so tantalizingly interesting and profound is that her return period takes her right back into the thrall of her Pluto mate – perhaps for one last dance—one critical opportunity to choose transformation over stagnation.

The whole idea of the goddess of beauty, Venus, dancing next to the god of the underworld, Pluto, got me thinking about how Persephone was wooed into the underworld.

“Persephone was picking flowers … but these weren’t earthly flowers … these flowers were the work of Zeus and put there for “a girl with a flower’s beauty.” The flowers were there to ensnare Persephone in a trap, a beautiful, divine trap. The trigger for the trap was an irresistible flower with one hundred stems of fragrant blossoms. When Persephone reached out with both hands to pluck the flower, the earth opened at her feet and Hades roared forth in his golden chariot and seized her before an alarm could be raised.”  http://mythagora.com/bios/persephone.html

So much for temptations.

You will be interested to know that Venus retrograde period lasts approximately 40 days and 40 nights. Does this sound familiar to you? Well, it’s very likely that it does, both Jesus and the Buddha were “tempted” and fasted during periods of 40 days and (40 nights) –and in some legends Quetzalcoatl, too!

Mara’s daughters

ImageImage

 

Temptation of Christ

http://ericarmusik.com/temptation_christ.html

 

Venus is also known as “morning star” and “evening star.” The morning star, or the light bearer, was named Lucifer. Originally, the two different appearances of Venus, one as morning star and one as evening star, were thought to have been two separate stars. This has to do with the perception of Venus based on its planetary orbit in relationship to the Sun. http://www.universetoday.com/22570/venus-the-morning-star/

It’s interesting to see how the period of temptation (40 days of Venus retrograde) aligns with a planetary body originally named Lucifer, only later to be associated with satan or the devil. More on that Lucifer name, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer

In classical literature, daemons (a term not always negative) were benign beings of inspirational nature. They could even be spirit guides. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemon_(classical_mythology)

 

Venus retrograde may be a time for temptation and for old demons visiting, but it also just may be a time to explore what value we obtain from stories and myths, a time to consider what really inspires us and urges us to make music, write poetry, or make a painting.  At best, these “temptations” that attempt to break us from our higher natures, also serve—once conquered—to strengthen our bond with those drives and motives that go beyond the senses. That is, it is actually by the hand of temptation that we come to seek spirituality, God, and the clarity of reason as a means for our redemption. Remember, in the words of Shakespeare,

 

“Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind. And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” 

Love always,

Ka Malana