ISAAC GEORGE

Lunar Eclipse – March 23rd, 2016

By Isaac George
March 22nd, 2016




"In true love, happiness is not an individual matter. There is no distinction between the one who loves and the one who is loved. Your suffering is my suffering; my happiness is your happiness. Lover and beloved are one." ~Thich Naht Hanh

The bookend to the Solar Eclipse of March 8th-9th will arrive tomorrow at 12:01pm GMT. This is a partial or annular Lunar Eclipse of the Full Moon, with the Sun at 3 degrees 17 minutes of Aries, and the Moon opposite at 3 degrees 17 minutes of Libra. As I recounted in my Sunday blog, “Creative Chaos”, there are strong connections to what happened six months ago during the Solar and Lunar Eclipses of September 2015. You can read or re-read that post here.  Suffice it to say that this is a fundamental reset of the “game”, and it will not only set the tone for the next six months, till the eclipses of September 2016, but quite conceivably for many months beyond that juncture. Time will tell, as it always does.

Into the Way Back Machine!

I’ve been looking back to when there were any lunations (New Moons, Full Moons) or eclipses in Aries and Libra between 2011 and 2013. I selected 2011, because Uranus entered the sign of Aries on March 11th, 2011…the day of the massive temblor and tsunami that devastated Sendai province in northeastern Japan. I found two charts, one in March of 2012 and another one also in March of 2013 that are very close to the one this is coming up this Wednesday, and is also strongly connected to the “Blood Moon” Lunar Eclipse of September 28th, 2015. In all of the four charts the Sun and Moon are tightly arranged between 2 degrees and 7 degrees of these two signs. I’ve included them with the chart for our Lunar Eclipse tomorrow at the end of this blog.

Finally, the last blast from the past to reveal was that there was a Lunar Eclipse at almost the exact same degrees of Aries-Libra as the next one this Wednesday (chart below as well). If you can reel in the years and go back to March 24th,1997,  reflect on what was happening for you at that time, it may put a huge spotlight of understanding on your current situation, and provide you with the wisdom and courage to act in accordance with your Inner Truth.

"With Aries-Libra, relating is the name of the game. The challenge is how do we balance the needs or desires of the Self (Mars-Masculine) with the needs and desires of The Other (Venus-Feminine)?  The seemingly eternal dance between these two forces makes for a lot of interesting poetry, music, art, fables…and tragedies."
​

Oh, You Again…”

Simply stated, Aries is all about the Self…”I Am.” Equally simple is that Libra is about “The Other.” There is always a relationship happening in everything…throughout the Cosmos, from the subatomic level to the galaxies themselves. Some physicists theorize that there are bonds and bleedthroughs between parallel Universes. Anyway, the Aries-Libra polarity represents the astrological version of The Lovers card in the Tarot, or the Sacred Marriage from the mystery schools. It manifests from the strictly personal level to the Universal Level.  Beyond the duality of form, they are Divine Principles that emanate into all manifest forms, and yet are completely fused in the Absolute and are completely indivisible. That’s big supra-metaphysical theorising on my part, but feels right as a model.

With Aries-Libra, relating is the name of the game. The challenge is how do we balance the needs or desires of the Self (Mars-Masculine) with the needs and desires of The Other (Venus-Feminine)?  The seemingly eternal dance between these two forces makes for a lot of interesting poetry, music, art, fables…and tragedies.  From an evolutionary astrological perspective for the past four years we have been on a revolutionary road of dismantling and reforming our psyches through the uncomfortable crucible of intimate and challenging relationships, and all of them have been steeped in a shamanic unravelling and healing of our relationship karma. When I use the word “karma”, I’d like for you to reference that word in a new way. Think “unconscious patterns based on equally hidden vows or beliefs”.  Throughout time and space, we have met ourselves again and again with many of our “other selves” and have sought to balance the eternal dance that is ultimately about realising Love as a state or condition of being.

"Perhaps the age of digital love is about to have a rude awakening, or perhaps we are awakening to the rudeness of digital socialization."

Is there a manual for this thing?

Okay, it hasn’t been easy, and it’s not a process that is culminating with Wednesday’s latest edition of Aries-Libra lunations/eclipses. I don’t have a crystal ball, or a road map, or even a factory issued user’s manual, but I do sense that this event on Wednesday may be a gateway to the final purification of eons of relationship trauma and drama. At least that’s what my instincts are saying just now. We are being given an evolutionary push to change our beliefs, and more importantly, our understanding about the purpose and potentials of human intimacy and conscious partnerships. It can be sometimes difficult to discern, but almost every challenge our species now faces, from how we care for ourselves or look after each other, to how we reinvent and reimagine our economic, political, scientific and societal structures… to how we end our mistreatment of the planet and her resources, hinges on how much we trust in ourselves and the ones we love the most.

We pump the message that we need to love ourselves, and yet we are starving for connection. In his cynical and disenfranchised tone, Elliot, the hacker in the new television drama “Mr Robot”, bemoans the current state of human love: “[…is it because we’re] spamming with our running commentary of bullshit masquerading as insight, our social media faking as intimacy?” Perhaps the age of digital love is about to have a rude awakening, or perhaps we are awakening to the rudeness of digital socialization.

"I feel that real spiritual love, one that is rooted in mutual respect and deep honesty, is extremely romantic. It gives us that sense of “coming home” that we all long for…and know we deserve."

The Rest of the Story

While the foreground is the Sun and the Moon in the Lunar Eclipse, the background cast is equally important.  The day after the Eclipse Saturn will station retrograde in Sagittarius. He will move direct on August 14th at 9 degrees of Sag, and be very close to Mars at 5 Sagittarius. The upcoming Mars retrograde in Sagittarius and Scorpio is a story in and of itself, so I will save that for an April post.

On the day of the Eclipse Saturn will be in a stressful T-Square with Venus and Neptune in Pisces, and retrograde Jupiter in Virgo. I feel that having this happen just before Saturn goes into inward (retrograde) motion is a phase of reviewing and integrating the energies and lessons of all the previous eclipses, and indeed, or all the Aries-Libra contacts of the past four years. It’s a time for introspection, and it won’t work to be doing hard-nosed analysing (Virgo) about matters of the heart and soul. The Venus-Neptune conjunction will be the main energy here…asking us to be compassionate and forgiving, and to also re-image a Higher aspect of romantic and intimate Love. I use the word romance not in a story-book way, but in a way to celebrate the “lift” that we experience with romantic love. I feel that real spiritual love, one that is rooted in mutual respect and deep honesty, is extremely romantic. It gives us that sense of “coming home” that we all long for…and know we deserve. I highly recommend this amazing video clip to get a better feel for what my poor words are trying to express. True Love and the Four Elements of Love – Thich Nhat Hanh. The first seven minutes carries the nugget of the message.

Mars in Sagittarius will be trine the Sun and is sextile to the Moon. This adds a strong but egalitarian tone of asking that we tell the Truth…to ourselves and whomever we’re currently partnered with. Even if we are not with a significant other, our intention towards emanating compassion and love to those we are in connection with, in whatever form, will still have a potent effect. Ending conflict both from within and towards others is the idea.  Mercury will be conjoined to the Sun as well, so there may be an impulsiveness to ask questions in a very rapid-fire style, like a special interrogator questioning a suspect in a crime. Uncomfortable but necessary truths may suddenly come to light. The juxtaposition between Mars and Mercury will be daunting, and a bit paradoxical. You may be thinking, "Do I stick to the hard facts only, or do I allow leeway for compassionate understanding?" I suppose the answer to that will depend on what type of information is unearthed. If there is no longer any resonance with your current situation, then this eclipse may signal that it’s time to move on and open to a higher more resonant partnership that is based on true love, transparency and equality.

The asteroid goddess Juno is retrograde (inverted) in Scorpio, and will be in a harmonious flow with Venus and Neptune. The need for passion within our partnering is denoted by this placement. Juno typically is associated with the traditions of marriage, but in Scorpio, marriage is elevated to a sacrament through passion and sexuality. There can be no true intimacy without being naked in body and soul to the Beloved. This is soul Tantra, and is something we all possess, but has been civilised out of us and forgotten. Tantric practices were invented to reawaken us to the primal truth that is in the divine nature within our bodily forms. Ecstasy is a natural state that exists when we are in harmony with Nature, with the Goddess.

"We all deserve the love that we give away, and the love that we receive. The union of hearts will be a potent power for changing the course of the future. Give freely…it all comes back to you in some way, and at some time."

The Next Steps

Between now and the next set of eclipses in September I feel that it will be a time of greater movement and greater clarity in our understanding of ourselves, of others and what our hearts and souls truly desire to create in this world. Everything is connected, and the arena of our interpersonal relationships echoes throughout the human and planetary construct. If we truly wish to have a different future, then the ghosts of our past must be confronted and lovingly and empathically embraced. We cannot cure prior wounding without acknowledging our held emotions and deep longings. The relationship issues we had with our parents are reflections of all of our previous bonding experiences with each other as lovers, spouses, siblings, parents or even just workmates and friends. To change the story of our personal and collective past is to alter the future.

We have the potential to live the life of our dreams. I suggest that those dreams include others in many ways. To balance our needs with the greater needs of our entire species is the way forward. Everyone has a right to clean water, good food, warm shelter, comfortable clothing and personal safety. And everyone needs closeness, affection, recognition and love. Dr. Dean Ornish’s book, “Love and Survival” is a wonderful testament to the power of connection and what it means to be fully human. I recommend it to you as one of many potential guides to how we can imagine and create new and sacred ways of relationship, ways that don’t cause us to fall back into martyrdom or self-effacement. More importantly, we can end the cycle of heartache and heartbreak that is at the core of our spiritual wounding…the false sense that we are separate from our Source, and from each other.

Move forward into the sacred marriage with your inner Beloved and invite that Beloved into your purpose for being here on this planet at this time. Let your deepest dreams and yearnings be expressed. Begin with yourself, then with your beloved, then in communion with others of your “tribe”, then in wider community. It grows exponentially when we choose love, collaboration and cooperation.

We all deserve the love that we give away, and the love that we receive. The union of hearts will be a potent power for changing the course of the future. Give freely…it all comes back to you in some way, and at some time.

With Love,
Isaac

I specialize in mentoring and coaching for singles and couples in the arenas of relationship and self care.  I love to work with people and give them the tools they most need to navigate these times and to create more satisfying experiences in their lives. For more information and to make an appointment for a FREE Discovery call, just click here.

by Isaac George
11th November, 2015

Well, it’s 11:11. This date is etched in my memory for many reasons.

By November 1994 the spontaneous kundalini awakening I had been experiencing since January was finally calming down enough that I could start socializing a bit. I ran into an old friend who invited me to the first channelling event I had ever been too. Some ex-investment banker named Loren was channelling an entity named Jabbar. I was clueless. The night of November 10th, 1994 I was in the audience. The channelling began, and this big hulk of a man seemingly turned into a shuffling character that reminded me of a Chinese Shaolin monk. Speaking in an odd accent and time signature, he addressed that packed meeting room about “ascension” symptoms, like seeing triple digit numbers on clocks and license plates of cars…seeing 4:44, 5:55, 1:11, and especially, 11:11. He talked about it being 11:11 the next day. As I sat there transfixed, I realized that my cheeks were wet with tears. I’d been having these experiences for 11 months now, and here was a roomful of 50 people all going through the same thing? I didn’t know what to think or say.

Now I am going to fast forward to 1998. I’d moved to Sedona, Arizona the previous March, and without wanting it to happen, and in fact resisting it every step of the way, I began channelling a being named Archangel Ariel. My first public event was on November 11th, 1998. I sat among another 50 or so people and I don’t recall much of anything that happened. It do remember it was recorded, and people afterwards were wowed and grateful. What followed on from that was six years of road travel to facilitate private sessions, group presentations and workshops, and also having my newsletter -based channelled messages published in New Age publications worldwide.

My long-running tour pretty much culminated during the week of November 11th, 2003 on the Big Island of Hawaii. For two consecutive years I had been invited to Kailua-Kona to co-facilitate Dolphin Swim Seminars with Joan Ocean. These were magical times for me, and very powerful too. The Harmonic Concordance was happening on November 8th, 2003, and I was slated to do a public channelled event at the Royal Kona Resort on the night of 11:11. Another magical night, made more so by that fact I met the woman that evening  I would marry the following September…in Scotland!

The time signature of 11:11 also figures prominently in another year around November 10th-11th, 2013. I was attending a conference in London that weekend about lucid dreaming, out of body experiences and shamanic practices. The “moment” of significance was the keynote talk by Tim Freke on the evening of November 10th, and a flurry of correspondences with a dear friend that happened the next day – November 11th. It was the start of many huge changes that would proceed from that weekend to the present time.

Today is also a New Moon in Scorpio, at 19 degrees of Scorpio at 5:47pm GMT. The Sabian Symbol for this is 20 Scorpio, which has current significance for me, as I’m about to spill the beans about a major change in my work. The Symbol is:

“A Woman Drawing Aside Two Dark Curtains That Closed The Entrance To A Sacred Pathway”
(from The Sabian Symbols by Lynda Hill)

So, what this is saying to me is so timely, I can hardly believe it. For about four years now I have been putting myself out there as an astrologer, a soul-based or evolutionary astrologer to be exact. I’ve always been into astrology, and it was a major part of my healing journey in the wake of my spiritual emergence/Kundalini awakening 21 years ago. I enjoy it immensely, and felt that it would be a natural replacement part for my old channelling/counselling function, so I could use my intuitive abilities in a different context. However, just recently it came to my attention that; 1) being an astrologer wasn’t financially supporting me,  2) there are many more people who are out there doing astrology for a living than there were five years ago…the market is a bit saturated, and 3) it is NOT, professionally speaking,  my first love. It does utilize all my natural listening, counselling, intuitive and psychological skills, but something’s been missing.  The past two weeks, the missing components have been returning.

I don’t intend to go into giving you an entirely new CV right here, but I have come to realize something very important. I have been hiding out…been keeping certain parts of who I am in the shadows all these years. With all the talk of showing up as authentically as possible, I am now repatriating some of the biggest gifts, skills and genius that I’ve always had right there, just where I could tap into them if I needed them, then conveniently put them out of sight again. My first love is Love itself. What I know goes with that is my intense desire and passion to help others break free…to live from authentic passion…and yes, with Desire.

My Kundalini experience was multi-fold. It was triggered by some astrological transits, I know that, but the ignition point was love. Love of the Divine Feminine and Nature, and it was spiritual, cosmic, intimate, sexual, emotional, and very transformational. It reminded me of the “I” within, and has taken me back to Nature and the knowing that this planet is a living Entity. My First Love includes relating, relationships, communication, communing, feeling our feelings fully, sacred intimacy with safety and boundaries, the merging of the senses, Spirit and Self, to assist others to live in the way that is from their truest and greatest vision of Who They Are. And, it’s about returning to our nature, and to Nature. This is the core of all our healing work.

This may all be sounding and looking like a hodgepodge at the moment, but it will get more concise as I work with it. This past week has been some of the most profound reconnections to inner guidance that I’ve had in ages.  I’m receiving visions and direction on how to revise my work, and how I want to share it. It is a work in progress, but it is going very fast. Thanks for you for your patience, as this is just writing itself at the moment.
 
So, the website is undergoing changes already. I’m going to get out in front of people more. I was going to teach an online introduction to astrology course, and although I love to teach, this subject is so broad, so deep and complicated, that I am feeling to let it go in favor or a series of webinars and podcasts on key subjects (which I love and know inside and out) that I know you will be most interested in. Then I will begin crafting courses with practical applications that yield real results! I will continue to use my astrological skills in the context of coaching, mentoring and some group work and webinars. It is relevant, but I see that there are many other very important ways in which I can create a greater impact and love what I do more, and not (hopefully) have to strive to make a living to express my unique Genius. If I can help a few of you do that too, then it’s all worth it.

Look for more in the next few blogs…I’m going to be enjoying seeing what happens next. Whatever happens, it will be done from the heart.

Have a blessed 11:11, wherever you are. I love you.

Peace,
Isaac

Venus Retrograde in Virgo/Leo – July 25th to September 6th-7th, 2015

By Isaac George
July 24th, 2015

 “One birth was given to you by your parents, the other birth is waiting. It has to be given to you by yourself. You have to father and mother yourself.” - Osho

This month we have a four planet pileup on the celestial motorway, and a fifth vehicle is approaching the scene of the accident and she is too busy texting her boyfriend on her smartphone to notice. Prepare for impact!

I’ve been reading too many other astrology posts about the Venus Retro, and so perhaps I should get that out there front and center. Instead, I’d like to take a different tack regarding astrology, the current spate of retrograde planets, and Venus in particular. 

Between July 25th and early October it’s going to be one thing after another, and since I feel to wander into the nether regions from my usual astro-babble in this report, it might still be useful to provide you with a map of the roadside attractions over the next few month or so. Try not to linger too long at any one of them though. The term “tourist trap” definitely applies here, along with cheaply made souvenirs and questionable snack foods. My focus next week will be on Uranus in Aries retrograde, and then I'll be back in mid-August with a more in depth examination of the action coming up in September.

As we begin, please keep in mind that Saturn, Pluto, Neptune, Chiron are already in retrograde motion.

For your entertainment, I present the line up between now and August 31st –

1.       July 25th: Venus at 00 degrees of Virgo stations (stopping) in preparation to go retrograde (time for review!). (Note: this is also the “Day Out of Time” in the Mayan Long Count Calendar)

2.       July 26th: Venus is now  retrograde at 00 degrees, 45 minutes at 9:56am UT (10:56 BST).  Mars at 21 Cancer trines Chiron at 21 Pisces, and squares Uranus at 20 Aries. Mercury is conjunct Sun at 6 and 3 degrees of Leo. The Moon and Saturn are almost exactly conjunct at 28 Scorpio. Uranus is stationing to go retrograde!  (Note: July 26th in the Mayan Calendar is the first day of their New Year)

3.       July 27th: Uranus goes retrograde at 20 degrees Aries.

4.       July 31st: Full (Blue) Moon at 7 degrees of Aquarius.

5.       Aug 3rd: Saturn goes direct at 28 degrees of Scorpio.

6.       Aug 5th: Venus and Jupiter at 28 degrees of Leo will be in a waning square to Saturn at 28 degrees of Scorpio. Remember – Jupiter expands the effect of this square!

7.       Aug 14th: New Moon at 21 degrees Leo, Venus conjunct at 23 Leo.

8.       Aug 29th: Full Moon at 6 degrees Pisces. Neptune conjunct Moon, Jupiter conjunct Sun.

9.       Sept.1st: Mars conjunct Venus at 14 degrees, 55 minutes of Leo, quincunx Pluto at 13 degrees, 6 minutes of Capricorn, trine the Moon at 12 Aries (Uranus not far away at 19 Aries), and Pallas Athena at 14 degrees of Sagittarius. Sun and Neptune almost exactly in opposition to each other at 8 degrees Virgo and Pisces respectively.  The Nodes are at 2 degrees Libra-Aries, and getting closer to moving into Virgo and Pisces, and the South Node is now in a loose out-of-sign trine to Saturn in Scorpio – old patterns from past lives emerge. A very active day!

10.   Sept. 7th: Venus goes direct in Leo at 14 degrees, 24 minutes. This is close to the same degree Venus was at when it entered the shadow period just around the Solstice on June 21st.

As you may surmise, the next 35-40 days are going to be quite a journey of discovery…in many guises. I would like to remind my readers that the overall tone still in effect during all of these transits is the Uranus-Pluto cycle recently completed in March. This still rings on through all of this…a fundamental note that our inner ear is listening to regardless of the noise levels in the foreground. The subharmonics to the Venus Retrograde are Saturn, Pluto, Uranus, Neptune and Chiron all retrograde as well. A change of consciousness is taking place, but is it all that we are hoping for? Here is where I may diverge from the conventional path regarding the nature and values we assign to Venus.

Venus isn’t just about our love life, or money, or creating a beautiful living environment. In the sign of Leo, it is not just about love affairs, frivolity or fun. Leo can also take itself too seriously, as in trying too hard to be the center of attention. Venus can be lazy and lackadaisical…inattentive and selfish. There can be a tendency with Venus in Leo to become narcissistic or obsessive with the reflection of others (“oh yes, your Highness, you ARE beautiful!). This is the archetype of the Dark Queen in the fairy tale of Snow White. Who the heck is the fairest of them all! Above all, this transit will test all of us in one particularly sensitive area – the wounded or immature Feminine within all of us, whether male or female.

I would like to illustrate this point by quoting from a recent article about  Venus Retrograde from astrologer Sarah Varcas. I was particularly touched by her following words…

“The challenge of this Venus retrograde is to bridge the gap between isolated self-reliance and nourishing interdependence. We do this by embracing those Virgoan nuances. Venus cannot live only within and remain happy, healthy and whole. She needs connection, comfort, affection and attachment to thrive. Venus fans the flames of love and brings us together to share it. She naturally reaches out to connect, not within to detach.” (Read the full post here).

With Venus moving retrograde from staid and analytical Virgo back into Leo, there may be a danger of spending too much time in self-reflection. Yes, it doesn’t help to constantly seek attention from outside of ourselves, and demand the loyalty and admiration of others. Nor is it healthy for us to feel that the only way to feel empowered and safe is to look at our outer relationships as inferior or as a threat to our independence. People will test us, and our patience, during this time; however, I would caution against making any snap judgments or taking any unilateral action to wholeheartedly embrace or strongly disengage from anyone.  Regret is not something you want to be fiddling around with come the middle of September.

There may be painful relationship memories arising, or some long lost love from the past may show up that will activate these patterns. Someone new may enter your life to complete unfinished business that looks and feels like someone from your past. Caution: is this in your best interest...or will there only be more tears?

Perhaps you are in a relationship that is teetering on the brink. Decide if it is worth staying in or getting out, but don’t take any firm action until after Venus moves direct on September 6th-7th.  Or better yet, make a plan, and don’t make it real until after October 9th, when Venus moves out of the retrograde shadow period. This doesn’t mean remaining silent till the last minute, so engaging in dialogue consciously to discover what is really in the hearts of all parties, especially your own, is certainly appropriate. Honour yourself first, but respect the feelings of others as much as possible.

I feel we are just now learning how to merge and unmerge consciously with each other. Empowerment does not include distancing from, or exiling yourself or the other. Merging does not have to mean a loss of self, at least not in the old way. However, unless you are willing to relinquish some control, you cannot even know your larger Self, or the Self within the Other. 

I wonder if some of our current focus on authenticity and empowerment is in some way caught up by our egos attempting to assert even more control. As most spiritual disciplines teach, only a reduction of ego can accompany a corresponding degree of realization of our real “self”, which is inimically connected to the entire Web of Life and all beings in it. We need to  become more aware and self-compassionate, not more egocentric.  We are in the midst of re-parenting ourselves, and we will need others to assist us in this quest for sanity. Life is not at war with itself…except in our own minds. An inner marriage will also have to have its counterpart in the outer…it must in order to demonstrate something different to human consciousness. This is how we learn and evolve…we observe and emulate from something that looks and feels better.

Ultimately, this is a quest for Love…love that is real, sustainable and fulfilling. True to the nature of Leo, it’s all about the Heart. A lion is fierce, protective, and diligent. The opposite polarity of Leo is Aquarius, so it is essential to be mindful that this work of the Self is bound up with and benefits, or harms, the wider community we belong to. What we think, how we express our thoughts and feelings, and how we act upon them in our lives touches everyone at some level. We must be just as eager to receive as to give, to be nurtured as to nurture. What that will look like and how you desire for it to show up in your life, in equality and in tenderness, is completely up to you.

Let us be courageous as is possible. Don’t fear Love, for Ecstasy is our natural state of being. But first, we will have to be surrendered to it.

With love,
Isaac

(I give a nod to Diva Sarah McClachlan for the inspiration of this blog title)

“If you cannot directly face your sexuality, you will never discover your true spirituality.” - From the Taoist text “The Bamboo Immortal” c.1748.*

The river of Life has, and is, creating a torrent of change in my own personal universe. Since publishing Part 2 of “Finding Love – The Purpose of Attraction” on July 14th, I had originally titled the third part of this series as “Sexual Healing, Eros and Heart Therapy”. But now I’m having a laugh…for Life does intrude when you’re making other plans. Obviously the times have changed since mid-July, and so has the title. I too have changed, and so have my personal circumstances. Nonetheless, the way is clearer within and without to bring this particular series of articles to a close.

We all are looking for love and a sense of belonging and security, and so seldom do we find it. Or when we think we’ve found it, something always seems to be missing or it all goes awry. We are now being exhorted almost daily to love ourselves instead of looking outside for fulfilment or happiness in our relationships. “If only I were more spiritually-minded, and more self-sufficient, or loved myself more, I would be happier…”, or so the spiel goes.

The very innate human desire and longing for meaningful connection with not only other humans, but also with non-human life and the wider Universe is at the core of our souls and awareness. We are inherently capable of behaving in a kindly and loving way, so why is happiness and the experience of love that we know we should experience seem so elusive?

To deeply surrender to Love that occurs in a seemingly serendipitous way requires a certain degree of ego death and a temporary relinquishing of our usually strong sense of self-identification, and that can cause big problems. Fear enters the picture. Projection replaces perception, and whoever has the most ‘self’ to lose will tend to retreat hastily back into the safety of the familiar. A dear friend and professional therapist describes this place as the abode of “comfortable uncomfortableness”.  Then, when the coast is clear, these souls will come out of their shell and gradually wonder what it was that may have happened, followed by a sense of grieving or relief. Usually, the searching for ‘it’ starts all over at some point in the future.

Now this is an oversimplification of the nature of Love, and I don’t mean to imply that all encounters with Love that have a capital “L” are predicated on meeting one’s soul mate or twin soul. However, this notion cannot be dismissed entirely and nor should it be held up as the only way that any human being can come in contact with Love or Eros as part of The Mystery.

Indeed, many have touched the face of Love, or shall I say been touched by it, during some of the most ordinary moments one could imagine. Moments in Nature or just staring at the stars in the night sky can evoke a sense of awe that is a prerequisite for entering into the sublime state that the Mystery of Love offers. We all long for that which will take us out of our small selves, and expand us into something greater than our sense of “I”, and we do sometimes desire it to be a shared experience with another human being. This is where real poetry comes from. And the “Other” in song, prose and poetry is just another “you” after all. Though some may view the human fascination and need for deep bonding as co-dependent, I prefer to recognize in it the core of interdependence that underscores and validates the very web of Life.

 “The Sin of Original Guilt”

I coined the above term for a chapter in my book “What Really Matters: A Guide for Spiritual Awakening” in 2007. It means something different to me now, as I’ve been shedding many belief systems over the past year. A good example of this turn of phrase is covered in Wilhelm Reich’s book “The Function of the Orgasm”, which wasn’t just about the potential for human beings to realize and accept their sexuality and capacity for pleasure. It was a vivid and impassioned condemnation of salvation-based religions and the patriarchal notions that gave birth to it. He equates the deliberate suppression of our sensuality as the main cause for the rise and existence of fascist tendencies and movements. To believe, even in the slightest, that we were ‘born into sin’ is to make a grave error that ends only in paroxysms of shame and guilt. We feel like victims of circumstance, which is not a very healthy state of affairs. Even worse, we then find that we are now separate from our own natures and Nature itself.

As a species, we seem to have inherited a manipulative program, a deception that colours how we perceive ourselves and our relationship to love, to each other, and to the Life Force itself. Think about it; if you have to be ‘commanded’ to love, as we are told in Christianity, then why? When you love someone or something, you are just responding to what love is and does. You don’t need commandments, or threats of punishment, in order to make you a good and loving person. So, the trick of shame and guilt that has been handed down to us for over seventy generations has done immense damage, to our psyches, to other humans and life forms, and it is now this distortion threatens the very biosphere itself. So, how do we heal ourselves…how do we end the suffering, depression, violence and confusion?

“Return to the Garden”

“Religion protects man, so long as its foundations are not revealed.” - Rene Girard, “Violence and the Sacred”

A major part of our growth will be to learn what it means to love ourselves. That cannot happen if we still are invested in the false story of humanity, about its so-called “Fall” and it’s Redemption through some non-human extra-terrestrial means. We must reforge our connection to the planetary sentience of Gaia, through Nature, and refute the doctrine of the victim-perpetrator bond that is at the core of redeemer-based religions. Our sexual and spiritual healing must come from more than immersion in Tantric practices, techniques and philosophies, as these are still human inventions that arose out of a culture steeped in patriarchy-based spirituality, and which carries the seed of the belief that we must transcend the flesh in order to realize our inherent divinity. The body is the Soul, expressed.

In terms of so-called ‘modern’ or contemporary spirituality, there have been some recent but minute shifts away from transcendental philosophies that regard Nature, the physical body and material world as impediments to self-realization and holistic living. The New Age, with its obsession on ascension and merging into some elevated super-human state of mastery, misses the mark entirely. The Anthropos, the genomic core of human identity, is already divine, already connected to the divine spark that is both Goddess and Earth-based. It is already in harmony with the benign and generous Originator that dreams and emerges through all that exists.  

Upon closer examination, non-dualism is another strategy…a lofty view that holds material reality as inferior and illusory. It is the mirror image of another aberrant belief...split-source duality, the belief that evil and good can come from the same Source.

It is interesting to note that the original meaning of ‘Maya’ is not illusion. It is the appearance of illusion. Bump your head and you will feel it! And the more you try for stillness, the more you will encounter the Life Force…in constant and passion-filled motion. Underneath the quietest landscape the telluric currents of Life are swirling. We can become still to observe it, but we cannot and should not endeavour to distance ourselves from it. This is one of our core errors, the religion of self-reflection, which has been useful, but which we now need a bit less of if we are going to discover our true natures. The world needs less mindfulness and more soulfulness.

“The Future of Love”

What I can recommend to you, the Reader, is to start where you are and look objectively at all of your belief systems, sacred cows and cherished pets. Are they really your core structures? Do they feel liberating or stifling? Can you change them, and if so, what would you change to? Ask yourself, really honestly, what your role might be in the repatriation of your humanity to its original intent. How would that look, feel, sound, feel or taste like? Where are you avoiding being embodied? Where do you retreat to when you feel ‘less than’ or shameful, and do you feel weak or inferior when you cannot deal with uncomfortable emotions or challenging people and situations? For your own sake, don’t feel like you have to be supermen or superwomen, and think you ought to be over this or that. Seek out help and counsel if necessary, as we are not designed to operate as closed systems of consciousness.

Love a lot…whatever that might be. Nurture and be nurtured. Fall in love, get and give cuddles, cook and enjoy food, dancing, sunrises, walks on the beach in bare feet, your sensuality…just connect with whomever or whatever and be fully present, fully engaged. To fall in love again and again is not an error. Only not learning and growing from your mistakes leads to error. The future of Love depends on our expression of it, both towards ourselves and outwardly towards others. In actuality, there is no ‘falling’ in love. What falls is our resistance to Love.

Love is always there for the finding, because it always seeks Itself. Soulmates are proof of that.  The Garden of Eden is a state of happiness. Happiness is possible to a heart that is open and believes. Gaia is awakening and wanting the best outcome possible for Her children, for all of us.  Yes, it will feel like work...hard work, at times. And yes, you will notice more happiness as you shed the skins and the veils fall from your eyes, and the emotional scars heal. Then the Garden will be seen…in all of its glory and sweetness, within and without.

I leave you with the lyrics of from this old song, and recommend you have a good dance along with it when you have a chance.

“We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon, and we got to get ourselves back to the garden.” – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (Woodstock)

In Love,
Isaac

Links:
Finding Love - Part 1
Finding Love - Part 2: "The Purpose of Attraction"

Isaac offers spiritual counseling sessions worldwide via Skype and is available in person in Cork City and West Cork, Ireland.

To make an appointment contact Isaac via email: archariel@hotmail.com, or call in Ireland: 00353 (0)870 978204. In the United Kingdom call: 0044 (0)7875 123406.

www.isaacgeorge.com