It’s All Done With Internal Mirrors

 

“The difference between magick and therapy is that, for magick, truth lies in experience, whereas therapy is concerned with questions of “meaning” and “interpretation”. The therapist traces the meaning of symptoms back to the unconscious, over and over again. In other words, issues on the surface are exposed as being the product of issues hidden at a lower level. It is all “about” issues. Magick, on the other hand, enables us to experience issues directly as something else—as a “demon”, an “angel”; as something other.”
— Duncan Barford

 

Symbolic battles actualized
the gods battle outside
I side with demons
so I can understand their ways
and realize their nature’s illusion.
No sides exist but perspective
The energy is in the realization
I tear down my internal walls
and seek what lies beyond
as the universe spins me in place
— G A Rosenberg

 

Blessings, G

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Angel of the MorningAngel of the Morning by G A Rosenberg

 

Tesseract UnraveledTesseract Unraveled by G A Rosenberg

 

Walk Beneath the Secret Moon

 

“The moon likes secrets. And secret things. She lets mysteries bleed into her shadows and leaves us to ask whether they originated from otherworlds, or from our own imaginations.”
— Charles de Lint

 

The moon is waning now but still close to full. The clouds tonight held it shrouded, mysterious with its light spilling out from the bottom giving just enough illumination so that I could see the road while walking my dog. The shadows held sway and I wondered at the secrets that they held. Sounds and smells hold sway when you cannot trust your eyes and the imagination fills in the rest. I love walking beneath the shadowed moonlight for there within illusions I can recreate the world and make of it what I will. Come walk with me beneath the pale light and together we shall have an adventure.
Blessings, G

 

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Vision of a Crystal KingdomVision of a Crystal Kingdom by G A Rosenberg

 

Strange DepthsStrange Depths by G A Rosenberg

 

Quote of the Day – July 11 2012

“Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but the mark of a false messiah.”
― Richard Bach

 

It’s funny really. I began this collection of quotes about identity this week thinking I would quickly reach a destination and yet it seems that the journey like most has taken me down some routes I didn’t quite expect. Yesterday’s reflection on authenticity vs social expectations was one and it started  both externally (through some brilliant comments) and internally some side streams that are still ongoing.

Nicholas Ambrose (http://nicolasambrose.com/) was one of the commenters and he offered this quote from the book Illusions and that book so connects to this topic that I included it as tonight’s quote. One of the biggest issues that Donald Shimoda, one of Bach’s main characters in Illusions has to resolve is the relative importance of other people to his mission in life. For me of late similar issues have come up. How can I balance the relationships I have in my life and still be true to myself? Both of Bach’s main characters in Illusions were loners mainly living solitary lives. This is not true for me and while my relationships challenge my sense of self they also provide the stability necessary for me to pursue inner discovery. What is the higher truth? When we know the answer to that question how do we act on it? How do we learn to trust it? These questions and more have arisen and many feel unresolved. Resolution exists tho of that I am sure.

Blessings, G

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Atomic Chamber by G A Rosenberg
Phoenix Blood by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – February 13 2012

“Perspective – Use It or Lose It. If you turned to this page, you’re forgetting that what is going on around you is not reality.
Think about that.”
–Richard Bach

Perspective

A while back I got into a conversation with my friend Rob. He was having some problems and obviously wanted to discuss them. Like many of us, Rob tends to have a dramatic streak. I think it might be useful to share the conversation as I found that what i told him was inspired (i actually felt the light bulb come on in my head) and gives some much needed perspective:

Rob: My life sucks
Me: What do you mean?
Rob: I can’t get a job. My parents want me out of the house..
Me: that’s rough
Rob: I don’t have a girl I’m SICK of feeling alone. I can’t concentrate when i meditate
Me: Are you just letting what comes out comes out?
Rob: Whatever man. I just want to kill myself. I’m not just saying it either. I’m going to
Me: (Somewhat at a loss) Have you tried talking to anybody?
Rob: Like who? Shrinks are just going to want to medicate me. My friends don’t take anything seriously. Just some people here to talk to. It’s not worth it. I’m just gonna do it. You can read about it in the paper or online tomorrow

At this point I was flailing a bit mentally trying to come up with the right thing to say.
Finally I had a flash

Me: Ok Rob, so you want to do this. To some extent, I believe that people have the right to end if if they want to but before you do I have one question. Do you believe in reincarnation?

Rob: uh..yeah
Me: Have you ever stopped to consider that this might be one of your easier lives and that your next one may be even more challenging?
Long pause
Rob: Fuck you.

Long pause
Rob: 🙂

After that the conversation got a lot lighter and we were able to bounce possible non-lethal solutions to his problem off of each other.

 

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Gazing on the Infinite by G A Rosenberg