By Patricia Haggard

Remember Y2K?  “Y2K is the shorthand term for "the year 2000." Y2K was commonly used to refer to a widespread computer programming shortcut that was expected to cause extensive havoc as the year changed from 1999 to 2000 at the turn of the Millennium.”

For many months leading up to Y2K there was uncertainty, lots of it, in the air and on the ground as to whether the computer technology would handle the change in numbering sequence.  IT people slaved over updates, some people made pretty good money on books and programs selling either doom and gloom or “protection” from the chaos that was sure to come.  It was an exciting time.  I experienced a fun event at work.

At the time, I was employed in a regional office of a large insurance company.  When a call went out for volunteers to work a few hours New Years Day, January 1, 2000, I put up my hand.  For a single mom the money looked terrific and more than that, hey, it was historic.  They wanted one person from each area of claims management and administration to “test drive” the computer systems on Jan 1 by setting up a brand new claim - a real claim for a real person - and thus produce a check with that extra special date on it.  I got to be the employee to set up the actual payment on the company’s financial software system.  And the next morning if all went well a crisp new check should land on my desk, all ready to pop into the outgoing mail.

A random new claim application was chosen for this test drive, the only criteria being it would definitely be approved for payment contractually and medically.  Before the file got to my work station along the internal electronic queue, there would have been many new claim applications to pick from, and before the check would be cut there’d be even more details like policy provisions, salary amounts, payment offsets from that salary, and so forth – all those things that routinely go into determining the amount of the monthly benefit payment.  Someone picked a claim, sent it to the adjudicator, who would then approve it for payment and send it over to me.

All the volunteers were given a pager, just in case an IT emergency required us to run there in the middle of the night.  But no such fun, and on the morning of Jan 1st, 2000 I went into work, happy about the rare opportunity for up-front parking, an echo at every step inside as the building was essentially empty of staff, got to my desk and processed the claim.  That means keying in salary amounts, rates, codes, any offsets – calculations and numbers on a screen. Hit Enter. That was it.  Done.  Nothing unusual happened.  (A little disappointing.)

The next morning, back into work exchanging “Happy New Year’s” greetings with everyone else and sure enough when I arrived at my little grey cubby, there on the desk was THE CHECK.  Everyone would be pleased, most especially the IT people I was sure.  Following the mandated process, I opened the claim file on the computer to make sure the check was issued to the right person, the correct amount, date, and so forth.  All was perfect.  Then I noticed something.  The amount of the check was $381.62.  What?!

Working with numbers constantly can become like a sixth sense.  (If you are one of those people, you already know where this story is going.)   To confirm what my little sixth sense was saying, I pulled the hand calculator over and added the digits in the amount of the check, one at a time. 

On the screen of the calculator was a mini celebration of the new century.  How does that happen?  How does a random slew of variables chug through a complex process to deliver this magical result?  I’m not a believer in coincidence.  So, was this a ‘sign’ from the Universe?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that it added some magic to everyone’s day and a great start to the new century.

Patricia Haggard
December 2020

PS There will be some WAY more interesting magical stories shared by the group at an upcoming event online:
Sat, Dec 19th at noon Pacific
SIGNS ​www.bridges.academy/signs.html

By Anyes Cartry

My dreams don’t belong to me; your dreams are not yours…

What am I talking about?
​
Dreams happen on another plane, the plane C. J. Jung would call the Collective Unconscious. Some call it ether, aboriginal Australian people call it Jukurrpa or Dreamtime; others call it Akasha, or the Akashic field.

Dreaming is our most creative endeavor.  It’s when we are made director, actor, designer, stage manager, and observer or protagonist of the show. I say “we are made” because at the moment of dreaming, we are in some way plugged in to that other dimension, the collective unconscious, where we have access to everything that has ever happened in the universe, and morphed into these roles.

I have more questions for you today…

Did you know that if people are awakened three nights in a row at the beginning of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) – depriving them of their dream time - they will start hallucinating after three days?  REM sleep is that time late in the night or early morning when dreaming happens.

We dream every night. If we didn’t, we would experience psychosis. When people say, “I don’t dream” it is because they don’t remember their dreams.  But you can if you want, and you will thanks to DreamHarvesting®.

Remembering dreams is only the beginning.  Dreams have something to tell you, something important for the wholeness of your psyche.

​Are you ready for the conversation?

Right now, there are six sun spots and two of them are spitting out flares. One of them sent out the largest flare in three years, which fortunately was not aimed at this planet, yet. If it continues to flare in the coming week it will be directed at Earth. Its outburst the other day produced an X class flare. We will only get a glancing blow from that outburst. We are still supposed to be coming slowly out of solar minimum; this is unprecedented. It's impossible to forecast by past norms what this could lead to - anything is possible. Since the cause of these solar phenomena is not clear, it's assumed as this trend is now established over a few months that it could continue, to what level of activity is yet to be seen. 
 
I would say the thing science lacks and astrology provides is to view the sun as part of a whole body, the solar system.  It's one organ in the spirit body.  Instead of the medieval notion that the sun revolves around the earth, which was displaced by science observing that it's the other way around, for humanity in fact it may be more relevant that metaphorically the sun does revolve around the earth and our imbalances in our collective psychology are manifesting on the sun. Solar storms are a result of disruptive chemistry on any of the planets in the solar system or they may be a registry of the instability of our collective psyche here on earth.  Evolutionary indigestion.
 
It's similar to an unhealthy person who thinks their kidneys are not working properly and get kidney treatment, but in fact the kidney is not working because of another organ which is not being treated. The whole picture for the solar system is likely that other parts of the organism, other planets, are more involved in the convulsions on the sun and it isn't solely because of craziness on Earth. It's hard to tell intellectually because we don't know very much about the nature of the psyche on other planets in the way that we believe we know about life on Earth. We don't see physical life on other planets but there is life in the psyche, whether we see it with physical eyes or not. The whole organism is going through a transformation as the Pluto Jupiter Saturn Mars group ending their climatic year, handing off the drama to Jupiter Saturn Mars and Uranus, another epochal planetary aspect grouping that represents a cycle of several centuries.

In particular, the temporary union of Saturn and Jupiter ushering in this major shift in the collective psyche is a huge change from the patterns of this year. This change will probably feel refreshing when it arrives simply because it brings a departure from the pattern we've been in. But this will be a brief moment to enjoy. The union of these two titanic planets brings the establishment of what seems like a very different pattern. Saturn Jupiter can bring complimentary blending and benefits, as well as hugely contrasting patterns.  Maybe thinking of three dimensional chess is a good way to look at it; the Pluto influence in Capricorn remains to be worked out while on another level an even more dramatic move is unfolding.

Jupiter and Saturn, which in myth are father and son, rivals at that, will enter into a contentious square relationship with the original sky god Uranus in 2021. Uranus in myth was emasculated by Saturn, his son, when Saturn succeeded his father, and Saturn's definition or structure of life consciousness was undone by Zeus/Jupiter to usher in the golden age of Greece which again in myth is symbolic of humankind reaching a stable period of growth and expansion of the mind. It feels to me like grandad Uranus is going to show the two generations of upstart planetary epochal descendants that the old sky god is still a vital part of reality. 
 
The part that Uranus plays in our nature isn't as tangible as its descendants in myth, Saturn and Jupiter. Uranus the primordial sky god is the original wielder of the lightning, connecting remote aspects of consciousness eventually into our awareness. It's the internet when compared to a newspaper. Potentially the Tower card of the Major Arcana. The sky god slashing through the restricting structures of Saturn and the belief in progress that must come with Jupiter's ever expanding desires.  Of course these principles of our collective conscious body all work simultaneously, we  think of them in more archetypal ways but they are always in some kind of relationship. We don't perceive the more abstract realms of Uranus or Neptune. Neptune is too subtle, Uranus hides behind the curtain that its descendant gods put there and only occasionally sends out a flash of power like a bolt of lightning. That's about all we can take.

To me Uranus is reminding Creation that there are what seems like irrational patterns capable of imposing themselves and upsetting the perception of rational patterns, patterns that we presume to be normal.  Ultimately Uranus will bring growth and expansion of our being, but to do that it will break through the patterns its children and grandchildren have established; it won't be a smooth blending of energies. Mars is the great grandson of Uranus, the son of Zeus/Jupiter, grandson of Saturn/Kronos. The significance of them in myth as a family is to remind in the imagination that this is about one organism with huge planetary parts connected in the psyche.  All Uranus has to do in order to be present in our consciousness is interrupt the patterns of our lives we consider to be normal. Imagine suddenly not having the internet or phone service and you get the value of Uranus teaching or reminding us what it is.

We can't maintain perception on a Uranian level for very long; the electricity could fry some circuits. The primordial sky god Uranus hasn't ceased to be when it was displaced by Saturn and then further by Jupiter/Zeus.  It has recessed in consciousness, or from the other way around consciousness has escaped from it. It's worth remembering that every object has some measure of gravity; our consciousness never escapes the influence of any one body in this solar system.  We don't make room for Uranus in our consciousness because we can’t; we plod along in sequential time.  It remains outside and can only enter when consciousness isn't able to block it. 
 
To be more present in our consciousness, the sky god in the ether, Uranus, will have Mars conjunct it next year. Mars is far less abstract in human consciousness, and is unfortunately very able to deliver the disrupting presence of Uranus into human life. Jupiter and Saturn lined up for the bowling ball to hit both with one strike will be in Aquarius, which is Uranus’ native home sign. This emphasizes the intensity of the tension and likely area of life that will be affected. Uranus and Mars will be in Taurus, the symbolic sign of Mother Nature and a grounding in Earth influence for electrical Uranus.  Grounding is good but everyone knows that lightning often goes from the earth to the thundercloud in the sky because it must to complete a circuit.  Uranus will not remain docile by being grounded in Taurus. It will be allied with Mars in a conjunction off and on all next year.  Mars’ way of doing things armed with great grandfather's lightning bolt is usually pretty rough.  Allied with its great grandfather, the duo of Mars and Uranus will rejoice in violent sudden shifts to force changes with the rare alliance of Jupiter and Saturn. 
 
Any comfort that comes from the shift out of Pluto Jupiter Saturn and Mars as this year ends is going to provide a false and short lived period of relief. Mars and Uranus will aim to remind us all that all the trappings of Saturn's structure and Jupiter's expansion of consciousness must be realized as levels of existence built on the unstructured unexpanded formlessness of Uranus, the sky god who hasn't gone away. 
 
I expect sudden violent interruptions outbursts a few times next year.  I expect technology to be interrupted and cut off periodically. Uranus wants us to be caught off guard in order to reveal a variety of things we are otherwise able to ignore. When the lightning flashes in the dark of night for a brief second you can see everything. 
 
David Wheatley
Nov 30, 2020
​Contact David Wheatley at davidfinearts@gmail.com for a personal astrological consultation
​

David A. Wheatley has been a Fine Artist/Painter since first exhibiting in Soho, New York during the 1970’s. Since childhood David developed other talents as well, first as a tarot reader then extending into astrological theory, a practice which led to the development of ideas in his book, 2012 Before and After.  Working occasionally as a full time tarot and astrological counselor, David grew familiar with many other related disciplines through the years that add great dimension to astrological traditions, including psychological perspectives and the development of quantum physics.  David is originally from the Toronto, Canada area.  He currently resides in Florida. https://www.davidiste.com/​

Social dreaming is where we embrace everything
By Anyes Cartry

Dreamers need thinkers to understand them.

In this time of uncertainty and grief, things that have been unresolved at an individual level pop up on the background of unresolved collective difficulties.

Many people are afraid of their own thoughts, and of their ambivalence. There can be a desire to be clear, straightforward and self-directed but when things around us are unstable, our inner stability is tested.

Dreaming is not an escape, it is holistic thinking. Dreaming is the most important form of thinking, something both Freud and Jung agreed upon, because it gives us a different point of view. What we had forgotten, omitted to look at, turned away from, dismissed or despised, insists on being paid attention to because dreams are the language by which we become whole.

People frequently say they can’t remember their dreams. It’s often because the necessities of everyday life have shaped them into living-as-survival, living as self-defense against potential dangers. It’s often because they haven’t been taught to see reality from multiple perspectives.

Dreams encourage us to examine other perspectives, other ways to look at a situation, a problem, an opportunity, or a conflict.

Dreams teach us to think for ourselves, because their material is a symbiosis between what we have learned from others and from our own experiences, and our own individual make-up, feelings, perceptions and intuitions that are unique to us and that can’t be imitated or copied.

In a time of social crisis, people often have dreams with a similar theme.

This points to the porous nature of our psyche, to the shared space into which dreaming happens, a space where boundaries between in and out, you and me blur. In this psychic field, individual dreaming and collective dreaming merge, and we can find again our sense of belonging.

In a time when we are forced into physical isolation, when our family, friends, or lovers might be seen as potential threats to our own physical existence, our values are therefore turned upside down.  Dreaming together propels us into a sphere where we exchange, communicate, and share on a etheric plane where we find companionship, where we can be heard and where we feel our interconnectedness.

The dreamer and their witness need one another to contain strange, funny, disturbing, silly or prospective thoughts.

The DreamHarvesting® salon is a translucent container where our psyches can think safely, where no vision and thought is forbidden. When no vision or thought is forbidden, we can grow into maturity. Maturity is where fear has no place because we know we contain everything, and we know we are strong enough to embrace everything.

The most rewarding and life-changing part of DREAM HARVESTING® comes after remembering and writing down our dreams, doing so without connective tissue (explanatory or logical words, such as “but”, “so”, “because”, or “consequently,”, etc.) It unfolds through the use of Active Imagination. Every image, every protagonist, every scenery, every color and every word you choose to write the recollection of your dream counts. What we are seeking is to encourage dialogue between unseen parts of our personality as they manifest in a dream… This method is commonly used by writers when they write a novel or novella. For those familiar with Family Constellation, where other people enact members of our family, think of it as applying it to every character in your dream as if they represented a part of you (Karl Jung’s approach).
 
While some myths and metaphors are universally understood, the symbols, messages, colors and shapes of your dreams can only be understood by YOU. It is as though the myriads of associations created in your brain, like a network of spider webs through your unique personal history, have a unique path to be retraced. You are the only one to be able to do this. Hence, we speak of Dream Harvesting®. Dream dictionaries or glossaries have compiled thousands of possible interpretations of symbols, animals, emblems, shapes and more. Yet, “they do not attend to the subtle personal associations and feelings which are key to understanding YOUR dream.“(Williams, 2019, p. 120).

Joseph Campbell saw dreams as “our own private personal myths“(1993, p. 19). They may not make sense to anybody else than you, and you are the only one who can decipher their meaning. It is true that people who are versed in mythology and universal themes, such as analysts, can guide you towards understanding their message, but even they, as I do in this workshop, act as midwives to your own birthing.

Bamber said that “Dreams are a kind of biopsy of the psyche” (2008). They reveal our psychological imbalances, strengths, aspirations and wounds. These are related to our own personal history while at the same time are part of the whole body of the human experience. As it is said that the personal is political, we can also say that the personal is universal. By understanding the message and meaning that one of your dreams has for YOU, you add to universal intelligence. No dictionary or glossary can translate the language of the psyche. Dictionaries and glossaries are useful to convey linear data; they can’t give meaning to your own layers of interconnected associations emanating for your experience. Believing dream dictionaries or glossaries will answer our questions comes from the logical, analytical masculine-oriented part of our ego. Dream Harvesting® brings you to the “felt” experiential nature of your dream, the creativity of your self.

Regarding Dream analysis, Jung saw it “less as a technique than as a dialectical process between personalities (1961b par. 492).  When Dream Harvesting®, we practice conversation rather than analysis. This encompasses, among other things,  the art of listening, the art of putting oneself in somebody else’s shoes, respect, patience, responding rather than reacting and knowing how to ask questions without frightening the “other” (in this case, another inner personality).

It is said that Asclepius, son of Apollo, practiced Dreamwork as a method of healing at his temple in Epidaurus. People seeking healing had to take a ritual bath before entering the sanctuary to cleanse body and soul.
 
As you prepare for our workshop, it’s important that you approach Dream Harvesting® in the same manner.
 
Rituals are powerful. They enable our soma, the physical dimension of our being, to capture our intention through deeds and actions enacted in the physical world that translate the direction of our mind (intention).
 
Approaching the dream world requires a certain amount of reverence, or respect. If you ask somebody a question you don’t turn your back to them, or hopefully you don’t swipe your phone and read something else while they are answering you. You make space by choosing a place propitious for conversation (not too noisy or crowded) and you listen, not only with your auditory sense, but with all your being (your posture, your eyes reading body language, and even your sense of smell…)
 
Dreams help us live our lives to the fullest extent and encompass more than the ego - the limited part of us that gives us a sense of identity as we face the external world.
 
Dreams connect us with our Self, which encompasses the unconscious - that is, everything outside of the direct awareness of the mind (somatic experiences, spiritual experiences, feelings and emotions, and more…) Dreams often express what can’t be expressed verbally (through words, which are only one kind of symbol.)
 
To prepare oneself to this symbolic expression it’s important to cleanse the doors of perception.  That is, to cleanse all our senses including what has been called a “sixth sense” (intuition).

Practically, it is important to disconnect from your phone, social media, news, and all, for at least 30 minutes before you go to sleep. During these 30 minutes, feel your physical body, connect with your breathing, and allow your mind to quiet down and distance itself from the world of information, which is especially busy, demanding, and even disturbing in this time.

 
Ask yourself what is an important question for you in this time of your life, this week, this day. Then ask your dream world for an answer during the night. Ask as you would ask your most trusted friend for their most genuine insight.  Just like that.

To learn more about Anyes Cartry's live online Dream Harvesting® salon, click here  
​

For anyone having difficulty feeling connected to something More, or for those feeling alone, a tremendously easy option for interaction is to connect with orbs through a camera. There is activity going on beyond our 3D world, and lucky for us, the technology available today allows us to actually see it.

I have taken thousands of pictures of orbs over many years. It started as great entertainment. I’d go out with my inexpensive digital camera hoping to capture the circular form with a thumbprint that is an orb. I’d look for their different colors. While most were white, I was thrilled when I would get pink ones, and green ones, and gold ones, and my favorite, ones that were deep iridescent blue. Sometimes they would be far away in the trees and later on as my picture taking progressed, they would come and dance in my yard and hang out with my flowers.

All was truly Magical.

There was a friendly feel to their visitations. I hoped with anticipation that they would show up, and in turn they replied by giving me a growing depth of photos showing movement, and later on, believe it or not, purpose.
I was able to actually see the “other side.” I was able to actually interact with the “other side.”

This was all done in a safe, comfortable way. It was amazing. Knowing they were showing up for me, for my camera, gave me a sense of connection beyond this Earth -- and quite a bit of joy and fun along the way.
​
Orbs can be picked up on regular film too, although you have to wait to see the results of your photos. I have 35mm pictures of orbs, yet I’m not patient anymore and now want to use a digital camera. For fun, go back and take a look at old film pictures you may have. You'd be surprised to know how many people do this only to find they had captured orbs all along, but just didn't realize.

There is much more to my orb story. Over the years I have experimented and questioned, examined and explored. I've developed a process that I use for myself personally and for clients. For the first time I’m putting this information out online in a live presentation on the Bridges Academy platform. My desire is for others to take what I've developed and use it for themselves -- or to use this information to spark their imagination to create their own process for connection. There is not one way to make this connection using the camera. There are as many ways as there are people who give it a try. Yet having my information and experiences to reflect upon may make the getting started easier and may open people to more than they would normally think possible.

We are truly in a Magical time. There is Magic all around us if we will let it in. Opportunities abound to feel a connection to the Something More, and taking pictures of orbs is a simple yet profound way to gain the feeling of not being alone, of being recognized, and, may I even say, being loved.

Mary Gordon is a clairvoyant and clairsentient intuitive. She provides readings for clients who are wanting clarity, counsel, and help with decisions, or to check in to see if they are on the right track.

To review a small sampling of Mary’s Orb photos, see:  https://www.magicandhope.com/post/orb-images

Learn more about Mary’s presentation, and reserve your place:

Orb Magic, More Than Pictures
LIVE online, with Mary Gordon
Saturday Feb 27, 2021at noon Pacific 
​Registration is necessary, and free.
Click Here.

Lucid Dreaming has become quite popular in the recent years and I certainly understand the attraction. The idea of being able to remain aware of one’s dreams while dreaming and remaining in the driver’s seat to orient the unfolding of events can be quite satisfying. As a millennial friend recently told me, “Being able to have some control in a world where we are totally losing control is all that’s left to us.”

However, Dream Harvesting® is concerned with a conversation with dreams that are experienced in deep sleep (REM phase).  Although many of us may think dreams are a waste of our time and attention, dreams don’t ever waste our time.  As expert Robert Johnson says, “Even a short insignificant dream tries to tell us something that we need to know.”

There is in each of us a guiding principle (Johnson calls it the psychopomp) that is there to help us function in the outer world and know how to respond in a way that is aligned to our best benefit, that is to say, in a way where our intentions, values, and ideals are enacted through our actions.

Because we are so attached to the “story line”- the events that happen, that we read about, the so called “information” - we forget that what makes our reality isn’t so much the events per se, but the way you or I experience them. In this way, every dream is a portrait of the dreamer, as much as every “event” as we recount it is a portrait of who experiences it.

We need to go deeper, look into the dream as a mirror, to find out who we are. The aim of every dream is to bring each of us back towards our center, our point of equilibrium from which we are free to go in the needed direction (needed for us).  Dream Harvesting® takes trust, it takes questioning, genuinely not being afraid to surrender momentarily efficiency or smart thinking; it takes wanting to know what it is that we do not know about ourselves that is exactly what we need to be in equilibrium in our lives.

Click here to learn more about Dream Harvesting®

My workshops are more of the “salon” type than classes per se, in the sense that I stress the conversational aspect of the exploration.  Dream Harvesting® is about harvesting a wisdom that is mature like a fruit ready to be picked. I believe we wouldn’t dream a certain dream if we weren’t ready for it.  The dream pushes out of the ground like a new flower from a spring bulb because it senses the warmth and light of our willing awareness.

Dreams are some of the richest and more accessible ways our unconscious establishes communication with us.  As Greg Bogart judiciously points out, “Dreams spring from an underground stream that guides and heals” [2]

Many people either don’t pay attention to their dreams or think dreams are nonsensical because their language is out of reach, deprived of a continuous line and of the logic we are accustomed to. They take a holistic approach encompassing the language of the senses, somatic experiencing, feeling exploration, and word association. Although they can be intimidating, puzzling and in some cases even frightening, dreams invite us to open to a fuller mode of interaction, and that is what I will share and practice with you during this workshop.      Click here to view the course.

I’ve long wondered why some say it is short (that in astral travel one can only go so far away from the physical body) while others say it’s capacity to stretch is endless allowing our astral body to visit other galaxies.  Assuming all beliefs are valid in their own way, I decided there’s more than one type or meaning of the word “cord”.  Like the words their, there and they’re – they all sound the same but mean entirely different things.

And then I discovered when learning about ancient Hawaiian shamanic practices in the Fundamentals of Huna course, that aka cords are also an internal conduit between the three levels of Self:  the lower self, the middle self and the high self.  (the subconscious, the conscious and the superconscious.)  It was sort of mind blowing to finally see and understand how information and life force energy flows between these 3 parts of me.  I had never before considered or even looked for a mechanism.

This reminded me of the first time years ago when I realized that those squiggly shapes of light dancing in the air on a sunny day, or just above the earth in my garden, are not eye dust:  they are chi, or life force energy, or mana in Huna technology.  There’s a huge difference between intellectually accepting a concept and actually living it, breathing it and ultimately... BEING it by integrating it into your being.  As that revelation integrated into my daily life, I allowed myself to see the chi all the time, instead of blinking my eyes to block it out of my perception.  Thus finally I could actually see why my typically high enthusiasm for shopping would evaporate in a big enclosed mall with no windows, poor lighting and recycled air, and very skimpy amounts of chi.

It’s widely understood that knowledge is more valuable than mere true belief. Now that I know that aka cords are a conduit between the internal aspects of me, it’s faster and easier to connect within.  

In the Fundamentals of Huna course, we learn a “prayer-action” process that is actually an effective step-by-step process of manifestation.  Every day now I practice the Huna method of gathering life force energy (chi or mana) in order to create what I want or need in life, transferring it to my high self along those aka cords.  Several possibilities, including some that previously seemed unattainable, have come to fruition. 

Meanwhile, I’ve barely scratched the itch to learn about Huna under Kumu Michael Longshore’s guidance, and will return to the course for more.

My crystal skull has been hiding since we moved a few months ago.  No worries; based on previous experience I am positive it will emerge from its secret hiding place when the time is right.

My first real adventure with a crystal was a long time ago in a faraway place (late 1970’s in the Ottawa valley, Canada).  I had read about a fun way to cleanse my first crystal - a new rose quartz.  Ok, the rose quartz was new to me, certainly not “new”.  The average rose quartz crystal is, so they say, 1,700 million years old.  Also mind boggling for some reason:  their pink coloration comes from titanium.

The instructions were to bury the crystal for at least a week, but preferably as long as one full cycle of the moon, ie one 27-day trip around the Earth.  And then I was to bring it forth from the earth ceremoniously, with the feeling that a new child had come into my life.

I knew of a place not far from my home for the rose quartz to enjoy an undisturbed retreat.  Overgrown by trees and barely visible alongside a path lined with trees, was a broken cedar rail fence.  I reached in under what was left of the fence, found a soft spot, dug a hole, tucked in the rose quartz and perhaps most importantly - marked the spot.  About a month later, I returned, excitement increasing with each step as I got closer and closer to the spot where the rose quartz lay in wait for me.  Kneeling, I uncovered it from the earth, scooped it up to my heart in both hands, feeling an ecstatic surge in welcoming the rose quartz into my life.  And then, suddenly came the feeling of being watched.  I looked up. 

A white tailed deer was standing above me on the other side of the fence.  I was still kneeling. She seemed huge. Deer in that part of the world are about 4’ tall at the shoulder.  We held eye contact for at least one minute of wonderment for me until she nonchalantly turned, took two steps and vanished into the trees.

What a ceremony that turned out to be!  I kept that rose quartz nearby for many years, until the day someone needed it more.

So, back to the crystal skull.

Despite being drawn to them for various reasons from time to time over the years, I’d never had or worked with a crystal skull.  While reading Joe Mancini’s “how to” booklet called Crystal Skulls:  Old/New Tools for Transformation, I understood why I’d never brought one home:  Crystal skulls need special care, handling and preparation.  It was imperative for me to read a training manual.  So, now feeling ready I decided to keep an eye out for one in my travels. 
 
About a month later, Patrick and I decided on a whim to visit a favorite ‘new age’ shop, as a break from routine.  He saw several in a display case and called me over.  After some back and forth as to which one I might like, I chose the skull that we both liked the most.  It was rose quartz, so fitting somehow.  Brought it home, and buried it just outside the house in a soft spot under some trees. 

About 10 days later, unexpectedly, a crew of workers arrived to make repairs outside the house, disturbing the spot where the crystal was snoozing, ultimately making it impossible to find.  I looked everywhere in the vicinity of the original location.  It did seem odd that it would be gone, but there was nothing to be done about it.  Maybe it would turn up some day.

It did.  Pat saw it peeking out of the earth a couple of weeks later, not far from where I’d put it, and called me to come and see.  With an ecstatic happy feeling, I picked it up saying, “There you are!!”, holding it up to receive Pat’s grin too.

Obviously, the crystal skull had wanted us both there for that moment, just like when it found us in the store.

Then we moved house.  It was packed SO carefully.  And will turn up when it’s ready.  Then I’ll ask it to smile for the camera, and place the photo here.

I remember a time in the third grade when we were studying the Hawaiian Islands. I found the subject matter usually interesting and very intriguing. All of a sudden, I raised my hand asking permission to be recognized by the teacher. She looked woefully down at me almost as if she hated to ask what I wanted.

Excitedly I rose to my feet and began to tell a tale of a time I remembered when my father and I went fishing off the coast of one of the Hawaiian Islands. It was a bright sunny day; the ocean was a deep blue-green and I can remember the spray of the wave tops splashing across my face as my father and I enjoyed casting our nets out into the water hoping to catch a delicious evening meal. The hours passed by quickly; near mid-afternoon I became aware of a large thunderous clap. Looking towards our home, billowing up out of our mountain, was a plume of black smoke racing towards the sky and spewing out large chunks of red molten lava.

Immediately my father and I headed back to the island. Once we arrived at the shore I found myself watching our homes burn to the ground. There were many victims lying here and there; some were injured, some were deceased and I felt a deep sorrow and pain down in the pit of my stomach.

Well at this time in the telling of my story, the teacher instructed me to move to the corner of the classroom and stand there with my nose in that corner thinking about this far-fetched tale that I had just told. I remained in the corner until approximately 7 PM that evening and there standing in the dark I was found by the school janitor. He contacted my parents and took me home. The janitor told my parents why I had been punished by the third grade teacher.  I remember my parents thanking the janitor for bringing me home. They punished/scorned me for having told such an outrageous tale.

Fast-forward 30 years into the future, at approximately 40 years old and attending the Berkeley Psychic Institute in Sacramento, California.  One evening as I walked along the hall towards one of the many classrooms, I was greeted by a student psychic reader. She asked if she might give me a reading. Without hesitation I agreed to sit for the reading. This young talented psychic reader began to tell me a past life tale of when I was a Kahuna living in the Hawaiian Islands.  She quickly took me back to a time when I was fishing with my father out upon the ocean when without warning we witnessed the eruption of a volcano near our village. She said we returned to the village, helpless and unable to prevent the death and destruction that was taking place. Most importantly, she gave me the message that due to this event I had developed a deep sense of fear and apprehension regarding anything that involved being in a position of authority where the well-being of others was at stake. She continued to inform me that it was now time to release all of that guilt and any shame associated with that past life event.

Many months later I found myself in contact with the teachings of Max Freedom Long. (Max dedicated his life to the study of the Polynesian metaphysical knowledge that he had rediscovered and synthesized. Max referred to this knowledge as the “ancient magic of old Hawaii”. Soon after, this ancient magic became known as HUNA.) I spent the following 30 years learning to live the HUNA ways that I had known so many years/lifetimes before. And consequently my life has been enriched and joyfully empowered in more ways than my third grade teacher ever could have imagined.

Most of us accept the brain training given to us by the adults in our lives.  Linda Baker believed for a very long time that her thoughts were the truth until finally, after years of anorexia and low self worth, she finally woke up.  Realizing that other people’s thoughts and old programming were in her brain, she made a conscious choice to retrain her brain.  Linda now lives in fulfillment beyond any expectation. Through writing this book (and offering hands-on help via a live online training program) she shares her tips to accelerate our journey to a way of thinking that works for us, to a way of thinking that doesn’t hold us back from our heart’s desires.

Linda offers a simple exercise you can practice to become acquainted with your own vibrational energy.

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Online classes may be a departure from the traditional classroom, but for many it’s definitely a change for the better.  It brings the experience straight to you, allowing you to develop at your own convenience, making a better life for you and your family.   The ultimate Best of it all:  taking online classes lets you integrate your studies into your schedule, a convenience that fosters a golden opportunity to be successful lifelong learner.

Put simply, the answer is no.

It’s true that many online courses offer flexibility to learn at your own convenience, but that doesn’t change the amount of work you put in. You still have the same amount of work — just without the formal classroom setting.

The flexibility of online classes can be extremely helpful to busy adults, but that same freedom means that self motivation is vital to your success.  For live online classes, it’s up to you to clear your schedule for the allotted class time, planning ahead to avoid distractions in your environment during class and keep yourself on track with the group. Often the live classes (and the Q+A segments) are recorded for you to replay at a later time which can be a great help if you’re not able to attend at the last minute, however you will need to play the recording and do any assignments before the next class.

Students participating in online classes do the same or better than those in the traditional classroom setup. This is because the quality of education is the same; the difference is just in the delivery method.

Online lectures are a great option if you tend to feel lost in the crowd of a classroom. Recordings afford the ability to pause and take notes or even re-play parts you didn’t quite understand the first time. Plus, you can always reach out to your instructor for one-on-one help in various ways (like email, text or perhaps a private Facebook page) to ask questions about material you didn’t understand.

So true.  It’s your responsibility to take the initiative to keep up with your work when enrolled in online classes. It can be easy to let assignments slide and miss due dates because of the wiggle room and flexibility that come with online courses.  It’s fair to expect online courses to take about the same amount of time and effort as traditional courses. 

Procrastination is a slippery slope that can affect your outcome negatively. It’s important to stay organized and follow a schedule because, as in any class setting, it can be difficult to catch up once you fall too far behind.

In your planning, consider the amount of time you’ll need to spend to study or prep for class. Additionally, many online courses include required reading lists or videos to watch in addition to the time you spend in the live class.  Review the course description carefully, and email the instructor if you have any questions.

Group projects, a staple of the traditional classroom, is becoming easier and easier for distance learners to tackle. With collaborative tools like Google Docs making it easier for groups to work together, don’t be surprised if you find yourself assigned to a group project in your online course.  With the affordable live conference room technology today, breakout rooms are quite feasible.

One of the absolute most wonderful and enuring benefits of attending classes is meeting new people, kindred spirits. Friendships, mentorships and networking can all come from academic experiences—but is that still the case with online classes?

Yes. We recommend that you make an effort to get to know some of your online classmates and your instructor.  Outside of class there are numerous online services (like personal messaging) that provide excellent ways to interact and network with classmates, so be sure to take advantage of that and don’t hesitate to make the first move and reach out.

It’s easy.  You can connect via any device with an internet connection.  Bridges will provide you with all the contact information you need to connect easily and if for any reason you have problems, we will help.  Many of our instructors use a service called Zoom for their live classes.  With Zoom there’s nothing to join or download, just clicking on a simple link will connect you.

Many people say that online courses are less stressful because of all the precious time NOT wasted in driving or commuting to and from class. So much can be involved in physically getting to a classroom, whereas online you are in the environment you choose, safe from the stress of driving, parking, being out late, etc. Online classes save so much time, and that is something to be very excited about!

The instructor of your course may be located in another city, or even another country.  The cost to travel in person to their location can be significant and “stopping your life” in order to be away from home may take a Herculean effort that defeats you before you even set out;  you might have to take on extra debt or wait years for the opportunity to learn with this instructor in person.  Online classes can save tons of money, and that is also something to be excited about.

For prerecorded self-paced online classes, it’s great to log in when you’re feeling good and your energy is UP, rather than commuting to class after a long work day.

No need to drop all those other responsibilities that you enjoy (kids, jobs, commitments.)  And there’s no need to choose family or work over education; all is possible with online classes.

Your course goes with you, whether you’re at home or not.  You can travel without missing class. Some of us travel a lot during the year, whether for work or leisure. It’s possible to log into your online course from a hotel room or while waiting in the airport.  Or maybe you have a favorite little cafe that is perfect for attending online class discussions.

No uncomfortable desks or squeaky chairs; no sneezing classmates.  Some students attend class in their PJ’s, with a warm cup of tea.  It’s easier to focus and concentrate when you are comfortable.  Additionally, most people feel they learn more effectively in an online setting without the distractions in an “in person” classroom.  It is your choice whether to send the instructor a private message, or speak aloud to ask a question in class.

People read and learn at a different pace.  Online courses make it simple to find a pace that works for you; pause to make notes, or rewind the recordings and replay until you fully understand a lecture.  You decide how much time (and when) you want/need to dedicate to your courses.  And odds are that you’ll be enjoying yourself so much that your learning will be deep.

Online classes are a great way to meet individuals from around the world and form friendships with people who share your interests and passions.  Even though your classmates may have different motivations to attend, you obviously share common interests and goals.  No matter where everyone is located, it is easy to develop and grow your personal and professional networks of kindred spirits and like-minded people through online courses.

Substantial numbers of online students attend for personal knowledge and personal growth.  Lifelong learners are motivated to learn and develop because they want to: it is a deliberate and voluntary act to indulge in curiosity, invest in a passion, or unlock potential. Lifelong learning enhances understanding of the world around us, nurturing self-sustainability, employability, providing us with more and better opportunities to improve the quality of our lives and the lives of others.