Edenmagazinejanuary2014

T h e

EDEN MAGAZINE

January 2014 Volume 4 Issue 1

spreading compassion to all sentient beings and Living in healing and peaceful world Editor

Maryam Morrison

Happy 2014 Front Cover ~ by Francene Hart Love & Power Eden Magazine is an independent monthly online magazine. Our aim is to create a better environment where we live among other living being in peace and harmony. We support artists that their work match our criteria. If you would like to submit your artwork, article or/and your Photography For our future issues please contact Maryam Morrison at; edenmagazine@hotmail.com or www.theedenmagazine.com 2 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♼ January 2014

Francene Hart

4 Holy Ray of Harmony

By Peace Mother Geeta Sacred Song

8 Om

By Melanie Levine

10 Everything Matters

By Bobbie Stuart

14 Spiritual Growth BySherri Cortland

16

C O N T E N T S

Desire & Buddhi Mind

By Rashmi Khilnani

20 The Christmas Spirit

By Cosmo Cavallaro

24 The missed Moments

By Katerina Kostaki

28 A Time of Promise

By Jan Diana

32 Third eye

By Daniel Butler

36 African Bush Elephant

48

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Francene Hart www.francenehart.com

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“The Kiss”

F

rancene Hart is an internationally recognized Visionary Artist whose work has been widely published in books and magazines and hangs in the homes of art collectors and the offices of healers and seekers around the planet. She utilizes the wisdom and symbolic imagery of Sacred Geometry, reverence for the natural environment, and the interconnectedness between all things to create watercolor paintings of beauty and spirit. Francene brings forth her visions and lives her bliss on the Big Island of Hawaii She is artist and author of the Sacred Geometry Oracle Deck and Sacred Geometry Cards for the Visionary Path published by Inner Traditions/Bear & Co.

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“Earth Prayer” 6 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ December 2013

“The Freedom of Love” 7 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ December 2013

HOLY RAY O

By Peace Mother

www.IWOLi

Dearest Mother of the Universe, Beloved Cosmic Ray of Harmony, I invoke You, I implore You, Infuse all beings with the Highest Brightest Consciousness!

Come forth Holy Ray of Harmony!

Let loose Your Mighty Power Free Your Children From their perception of separation From each other and their Light Essence!

Holy Ray of Harmony You are the shimmering Light That pervades the entire Cosmos!

As Your Luminous Nature is forever existent I petition You to flood each soul with Love, Light and Wisdom It is You who bequeaths to Mystics The Great Illumination!

I call on You to envelope Your children In the most miraculous and thorough way Saturate them with the Divine Essence of Harmony NOW, NOW, NOW, Dearest Mother!

Artwork by 8 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♼ January 2014

OF HARMONY Geeta Sacred Song

ig​ht.org

Maa, Holy Ray of Harmony, hear my cry!

As You have liberated me and all the Saints Who have ever existed throughout the eons of Time, Now free all beings from the delusion That holds them captive in the illusion of division!

You are the Timeless Wisdom, The All Pervading Knowledge That brings profound, lasting Peace You are the Ray of Equanimity that EnLightens fools, Transforming them into Harmonic Wise Ones Do not tarry any longer, Holy Ray of Harmony Wait no more dearest Mother of Light!

Blaze Your Unity Principle into all minds!

Through Your Grace each soul will shine Radiating Loving Unity to all Creation!

Hey Maa! As You gifted me the Vision of Oneness I pray that all souls have the same fantastic Fortune!

In my reality, all beings now eternally emanate The Highest Frequency of Peace-full Harmony!

Endless Victory to Thee, Holy Ray of Harmony!

Maryam Morrison

JAI MAI MAAAAAA! 9 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

5 Facts You May Not Know About

‘OM’

By Melanie Levine

You’ve chanted OM, hundreds maybe thousands of times, and the symbol is, well, everywhere. But have you ever wondered, what it is about OM, that makes yogi’s wholeheartedly chant its glory and live in its symbolic presence?

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Here are 5 facts you may not know, to At the end of AUM is a pause, a silence. help deepen your knowledge and connect This represents the state known as Turiyour heart to this ancient sacred syllable. ya, or Infinite Consciousness 1. The sound of OM encompasses all 4. The visual symbol represents the words, all sounds in human language meaning of AUM OM is a matrix of all sounds, when in its The symbol OM visually consists of three diversified form gives rise to all words curves, one semicircle, and a dot. used in language.

The large bottom curve symbolizes the Linguistically, all audible sounds are waking state, A. produced in the space within the mouth The middle curve signifies the dream beginning at the root of the tongue and state, U. ending at the lips. The throat sound is A, The upper curve denotes the state of and M is the lip sound; and the sound U deep sleep, M. represents the rolling forward of speech articulation which starts at the root of the The dot signifies the fourth state of contongue, continuing until it ends in the lips. sciousness, Turiya.

To pronounce OM correctly, remember, The semi circle at the top represents the sound vibration is pronounced “oom” Maya and separates the dot from the othas in home. er three curves. It signals to us that it is the illusion of Maya that is an obstacle to 2. AUM and OM realization of the Highest.

In Sanskrit, the sound “O” is a diphthong spelled “AU”. A diphthong is the blending of two vowel sounds where both are normally heard and make a gliding sound. As a result, the difference between OM and AUM is simply one of transliteration.

5. OM is associated with Ganesha

The physical form of Lord Ganesha is said to be that of OM. The upper curve, of OM, is identified with the head or the face of Ganesh. The Lower curve his belly. The twisted curve, on the right side 3. AUM represents the 3 Fold Division of of OM is the trunk.

Time OM Shanti Shanti Shanti A – is the waking state U – is the dream state http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0M – is the state of deep sleep 2776/5-Facts-You-May-Not-Know-AboutOM.html

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January 2014

Ever ythin

by Bob

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ng Matters

bbie Stuart

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“The roots of all living things are tied together.

Deep in the ground of being, they tangle and embrace… If we look deeply, we find that we do not have a separate self-identity, a self that does not include sun and wind, earth and water, creatures and plants, and one another.” ~Joan Halifax There are no secrets here. Nothing can be hidden. Boundless is our expanding multiverse of connective Oneness.

All and everything is part and parcel of the great cosmic web of Life. As jeweled centers in the luminous web, we continually receive and send energetic transmissions. Nuances of information pulsate and stream through the silver filaments of our sensate world, giving and taking for distribution to the All.

consciousness expands. We gain access to our spirit where guidance and messages reside. Our internal sacred sanctuary is our home base. We are each going through the same process.

Whatever I feel and do affects the greater whole of creation and is recorded for all time in our shared fields. The same goes for you and everyone else. Thoughts, actions, emotions, concerns - all circulates within our personal subtle sphere which is contiguous with the cosmic whole. We are sponge-like creatures immersed in attractor fields, pulling in and echoing back through the magic of energetic transmutation. All creatures, plants, and elements feel as we do. We all desire love and are repelled by negative constricting emotions. We delight in expansion. We all feel the same way.

We sparkle like stars in our wondrous subtle selves, harmonizing and shedding layers of residue. We are undergoing a constant process of purification, an unburdening to become clear channels.

Our true nature is Divine light. After constriction, fear, and grasping are drained from our personalities, we are released from the wall of pain and can reclaim our identity as spirit beings merely enacting human escapades.

By necessity we must advance. With raised consciousness we can affect all Nothing occurs in linear configurations. fields with positive and loving intentions Rather we travel the spiral path, revisiting for healing and wellbeing. Our struggling our conditions till the veils thin and we are ecosystem shows the temperature of facing our true selves. This never- ending mother earth to be rising to a fever pitch. story continues as we dance to the music Only we can, and we must, effect the and ride the waves. We must shift and greater good of our planet and her chilchange. We become better versions of dren. Healing can occur. ourselves as our vibration rises and our 14 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

Everything you think, feel, say and do matters. Every prayer you make and blessing you give intensifies the healing of our world. Consciously contribute through generosity of spirit and loving kindness in your daily doings. Enlist others to gather with you to create collective movements in our united field. Uplift and raise your vibration for the benefit of us all. When we each make this effort conscious, we can sway the tides and spread healing into ourselves, into each other and our precious world.

Bobbie Stuart, visionary artist and writer, spiritual counselor and teacher, holds a BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and an MA in Inter-Arts from Chicago’s Columbia College, where she was a faculty member for more than 20 years. She is a woman grown wise and intimately connected to spirit through a life of challenging and amazing experiences combined with extensive spiritual study and practice.

Bobbie joins sacred healing practices to visionary outcomes in various modes of transformative work.

Her artwork is inspiring and evocative of the multiverse of spiritual dimensions.

Bobbie is a Life Path Consultant and Spiritual Advisor and is available for Skype or telephone sessions.

Every Act of Unconditional Love Echoes in Eternity

Bobbie@bobbiestuart.com bobbiestuart.com or find her on Facebook.

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Spiritual Growth and the Four Clairs

By Sherri Cortand and Mitchell Osborn Art by Scott Zeigler 16 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♼ January 2014

Mitchell and I firmly believe that we all have psychic abilities; they may manifest differently in each of us since we are all unique individuals, but we all have them.

And when it comes to understanding and developing our psychic abilities, a good place to start is by developing an understanding of the four clairs: clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, and claircognizance. We feel this way because the four clairs are also methods or ways for us to activate/engage our intuition and communicate with Spirit, which is something Mitchell and I spend a great deal of time encouraging folks to do on a conscious level.

When it comes to the clairs, many of us have the ability to communicate and intuit using all four of them, and many of us tend to have one dominate clair (See the exercise below to help you determine which of your clairs is dominate). In this article, we’ll introduce you to each clair individually so that you can use this knowledge to (1) understand what they are in relation to developing our psychic abilities; (2) recognize messages and guidance that we’re receiving from Spirit; and (3) expedite our spiritual growth as we learn to make better choices based on the guidance we receive. Let’s get started…

adding that “It means seeing pictures and symbols in our mind’s eye.” By exploring clairvoyance, we can begin to expand and strengthen our psychic ability by becoming aware of the messages we see with our minds.

Clairaudience: Clairaudience means clear hearing, and as Mitchell explains, “Clairaudence means hearing sounds and voices other than your own.” By exploring clairaudience, we’ll expand our psychic ability as we begin to hear messages from Spirit.

Clairsentience: Clairsentience means clear feeling, is next on our list. Clairsentience is all about feeling messages from Spirit and feeling empathy for others, and as Mitchell puts it ‘Clairsentience means feeling it in your body or gut, often emotionally or empathically.’ By exploring Clairsentience, we start to listen to our gut, which is our Higher Self communicating with us.

Claircognizance: Claircognizance means clear-knowing or clear-thinking; or, as Mitchell defines it, “Claircognizance is simply knowing, or intrinsic knowledge.” By exploring Claircognizance, we tap into the knowledge of our soul and past lifetimes, Clairvoyance: and we learn to trust ourselves when it Clairvoyance means clear seeing, and comes to our psychic abilities.

Mitchell expands on that definition by

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Speaking for myself, I receive messages from Spirit in two ways: (1) via automatic writing, during which I hear the message in my own voice at the same time my hands are being moved across the keyboard or the pen is moved across the paper; and (2) during meditation or when I’m in the shower or driving my car, when I hear what I can only describe as word bubbles in my head--where the messages are like a fully formed thought you would see in a comic book.

If pressed to choose a dominant clair, I would have to say that I’m more clairaudient than anything else, although sometimes I can see the word bubbles, too. Mitchell is much more clairvoyant than anything else. Over the years his hearing has become very strong and lately he’s finding that he’s feeling much more of what his clients are actually feeling. Are you ready to figure out your dominate clair? With the definitions of each clair firmly tucked under our psychic belts, the next step is to actually explore and work with our clairs, and for this, Mitchell has put together a wonderful and very simple exercise that he designed to help us develop our abilities as well as help us define which of our clairs is dominate and how we receive information and data.

Here is Mitchell to walk us through this exercise:

cut the deck one last time. Take the top card off the deck without looking at it and hold it in your hand, close your eyes and try to pick up or see the color of the card, red or black. Select and try it with several different cards. There is a 50/50 chance of getting the color correct. Keep a log of how many correct guesses your have, anything above fifty percent is good.

Next, shuffle the deck again and this time attempt to intuit the number or court personality of the card, Ace-to-10 or Jack, Queen, King or Joker. The odds increase exponentially, so avoid getting frustrated and remain calm and relaxed.

Let’s quickly review the ways we receive information: 1. Clairvoyance - seeing pictures and symbols in your mind’s eye, or as thoughts 2. Clairsentience- feeling it in your body or gut, often emotionally or empathically 3. Clairaudience - hearing sounds and voices other than your own 4. Claircognizance - simply knowing or intrinsic knowledge

Often there is one way of receiving information that stands out or is stronger than the others (our dominate clair); but like our regular senses, the use of more than Select a deck of simple playing cards one at a time is normal. and locate a quiet place where you wont be disturbed. Shuffle the cards several Keeping a journal and making notes of times and allow yourself to ‘connect’ with your successes is a great way to see the the cards, their colors and suits as you work and progress of developing psychic shuffle. Place the deck on a table and and intuitive abilities.

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Photo by: Heidi Winkler www.HeidiWinkler.com

It’s like learning a new language or adding more tools to your toolbox of life and Originally building--confidence is key to even more from New York accuracy.

State, Dear Readers, please remember that Sherri when it comes to receiving messages Cortand from Spirit, we all experience it different- lives in ly—there is no right or wrong way, only Orlando, your way and my way. And...if you’re in- Florida with terested in automatic writing, please write her husband, Ted Dylewsk to me at SCortland@cfl.rr.com and their I’ll email you instructions on how to get many cats.

In addition to writing books for Ozark started.

Mountain Publishing, Sherri is also the Namaste.

Orlando Metaphysical Columnist for Examiner.com, where publishes new columns twice weekly, and she also About Mitchell Osborn: Mitchell is a psychic medium, soul coach, shares messages from her Guides on healer and wellness instructor who firmly her Facebook Author Page. believes that empowering and encourag- www.sherricortland.com ing balance across the body-mind-andspirit connections are equally important.

His personal quest to understand his mediumistic and psychic abilities has lead him through many years of study and practice under the guidance of other professional intuitives, mediums and metaphysically minded teachers from Cassadaga, Florida and The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. He works with both human beings and animals in his practice and on his radio show. Mitchell was featured in the book, Spiritual Toolbox. For more information about Mitchell, his sessions, workshop and radio show, please visit www.IntutitiveMessenger.org.

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An Excerpt from

Buddha Speaks

To the Buddha Nature Within

Artwork by Maryam Morrison 20 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♼ January 2014

Desire

and the Buddhi Mind

By Rashmi Khilnani Author of Shiva Speaks: Conversations with maha avatar babaji

Part 2

Going to an extreme of even these quali- that arises from the unconscious or the ties is not always for the Highest Good! undesirable part of the spectrum. Patience is a key to even temperedness.

Thank you for reminding me of this. One Acceptance is a powerful anecdote to part of my personality that I wish to mas- impatience, which comes from slowing ter, to a greater extent than has been down, meditating, from seeing all things achieved, is that when Buddha speaks as perfect within the imperfection. The feeling very, very pushed or righteous, I next time you feel an impatient impulse sometimes blow a fuse or disappear as about to explode in your head or your the case may be. Can you help me with solar plexus or your heart, take a deep this tendency? breath, and then another one and another one. In fact, maybe even take a physiAt times it is actually quite important, cal step back in slow motion. dear one, to have the courage to fight injustice. At times, it is also relevant to the If your intuition tells you to fight and you higher good to disappear permanently or can do so from a space at the center that temporarily as the case may be. is ultimately calm and non-judgmental, then do it, but try not to make a BroadI understand that you are asking for help way show out of the storm. on the so-called fight or flight syndrome 21THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♼ January

2014

If you intuit that it is a time for patience and tolerance and compassion, then trigger the breath/backwards step technique as soon as possible.

and energy closely with others we love, resulting in arguments, and when we feel we are starting from a pure and loving space?

If this feels like it is not going to work, then pick your body up and get out of the distressing space or away from the person as quickly as possible Then give yourself time and space in safety to process your angry emotions or thoughts. If you give yourself enough time and possibly distance, the opposite polarity of love and acceptance will pop back in due course.

As the Dalai Lama beautifully exemplifies, conflict resolution comes from allowing continued space of relative safety for ongoing dialogue and discussion.

When you start from a loving space, that space is a space of centeredness, and you may ask centeredness in what?

It is a centeredness in unity, oneness, and the all-inclusive, non-judgmental nature of unconditional love. Then as you interact with the other, moment to moment, you may slip out of this space of loving kindness into the energy of the mind, ego, or separate personality-self. In that moment, you have slipped out of the power of allinclusive love into separation and seeing the other as different, separate, and often as threatening to you.

In the discussion that ensues, I suggest that you focus initially on the points of A true spiritual warrior is able to fight inagreement to form a foundation of peace justice without losing their centeredness. before moving on to the areas of conflict. In that space, the energy will somehow come back to balance and harmony even Forgiveness is essential. You understand if a conflict, argument, or battle ensues. this well, my dear Rashmi. You found it in your heart to forgive the one who killed Many ancient Zen masters taught their your father in this lifetime. Jesus forgave students about enlightenment in what Judas for betraying him. There is no seemed to be a most harsh and cruel healing on the path without forgiveness of way: A monk would repeatedly ask the self and others. As you know, forgiveness Zen master various metaphysical quesdoes not mean condoning a particular tions on the subject of enlightenment situation or deed. The amazing channel and moving forward towards equipoise, of healing, Doctor Usui, made this one of and the master would sometimes throw the five ideals of Reiki. the student out the window, and as the poor man crashed on the ground in total This ideal is: “Just for today I will not hold shock, the master would jump out, land on to anger.” on his beaten body, and exclaim, “Got it?”

Lord Buddha, Amravati wants to know why we sometimes go through periods of extreme intensity around sharing our time 22 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

The poor monk would be in such an in- and rebirth. tense state of total shock that he would actually catapult into the space of nomi- Remember that within 3D, the Law of nd and become instantaneously enlight- Karma continues to be valid. ened.

The only way to transcend the Law of Another case of a master using the storm- Karma is to move into a 5D frequency— and-lightning technique is the story of a call it absolute reality—where all is one man who finally reached Maha Avatar and one’s consciousness is in a constant Babaji and his group of enlightened fol- state of unity beyond diversity and belowers in a remote cave in the Himala- yond time and space. yan Mountains. The man flung himself at Babaji’s feet and requested from deep Also dear one, remember the laws of heart-centeredness to be taken into the maya and detachment: Ultimately on the fold. Babaji’s response to this devotional deepest level nothing is happening, no enthusiasm and single-pointedness was one is saying anything, and if no-one is to pick up the poor man and throw him there, who is there to get insulted. The over the mountainside where he met trouble is, dearest, that you study spirihis dramatic end. This led the devotees tual qualities —the quality of detachment, of Shiva to exclaim, “How could you be non-doership and disidentification with so heartless, oh Lord of the Moon and mind, body, and intellect on the one hand; Meditation.”Babaji asked for the body to and on the other, when the challenges of be brought forth, and calmly he touched maya come up to test you and your spiriit. Lo and behold the man sprung back to tual progress, you panic and convince life and was embraced into Babaji’s holy yourself that it is all real, that you are being affronted, confronted, and so on. group.

To keep judging what is happening as be- www.rashmikhilnani.com ing too intense is what the mind and the book is on amazon.com and kindle ego are involved with in a chronic way.

Have you not observed that many, many of the unpleasant challenging and extremely intense experiences of your life propel you into new vistas of self- realization—expanded landscapes of a higher perspective, a deeper wisdom, greater humility and multifarious gifts?

Judging situations and outcomes from only the narrow perspective of what is happening is folly. I taught about Karma, about action/reaction, about life, death, 23 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January

2014

The Christm

by Cosm

“The joy that you give to others is the joy that comes bac And the more you spend on blessing the lonely and sad;

~ John Green 24 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

mas Spirit

mo Cavallaro

ck to you; not only for Christmas but all the year through. ; the more of your heart’s treasure’s return to you glad.”

nleaf Whittier 25 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

Now that all the gifts have been opened, and all the cookies eaten and a 50lb ball of used wrapping paper is waiting for the trash collector for pickup, Christmas day has come to an end. Now, we can sit back to contemplate and realize the true essence of happiness and joy. For most of us happiness isn’t the thoughtful gift under the tree but rather the unexpected visit from a loving friend or neighbor; the lightheartedness that manifests when talking and sharing memories with friends and families.

The true Spirit of Christmas isn’t the holiday decorations but the smiles on everyone’s face and the joyful noises of laughter and play from little children.

For me the true Spirit of Christmas has been diluted and contaminated with materialism. It can be so easy to get caught up in the dogmatisms of our modern materialistic life that we tend to forget that authentic and lasting happiness doesn’t come with conditions. The fact of Christmas, whether you agree with his divinity or not, is a celebration of the birth of one of the most powerful and brilliant personalities to walk our planet.

“We consider Christmas as the encounter, the great encounter, the historic encounter, the decisive encounter, between God and humanity.” ~ Pope Paul VI The accurate and potent message of Jesus has been lost and manipulated since his birth 2,000 years ago. Even some of the facts of his birth were twisted to accommodate the agenda 26 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

of the Roman Emperor, Constantine, in the 3rd century when Christianity became a law of the land. My purpose of this writing is not to be a discourse on the legitimacy of that statement. The truthful facts have been unearthed decades ago. But I will include the following verses from the Urantia Book: “And thither went these three teachers looking for this “light of life.” These wise men saw no star to guide them to Bethlehem. The beautiful legend of the star of Bethlehem originated in this way: Jesus was born August 21 at noon, 7 B.C. On May 29, 7 B.C., there occurred an extraordinary conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces. And it is a remarkable astronomic fact that similar conjunctions occurred on September 29 and December 5 of the same year. Upon the basis of these extraordinary but wholly natural events the well-meaning zealots of the succeeding generation constructed the appealing legend of the star of Bethlehem and the adoring Magi led thereby to the manger, where they beheld and worshiped the newborn babe. Oriental and near-Oriental minds delight in fairy stories, and they are continually spinning such beautiful myths about the lives of their religious leaders and political heroes. In the absence of printing, when most human knowledge was passed by word of mouth from one generation to another, it was very easy for myths to become traditions and for traditions eventually to become accepted as facts.”

“If you are happy, you can give happiness. If you don’t love yourself and if you are unhappy with yourself, you can’t give anything else but that.” ~ Gisele Bundchen If we truly want to experience joy in our lives, if we want to live in harmony with our environment, we need to be compassionate and kind to all people, all the time. The “Golden Rule” which was one of the main themes of the teachings of Jesus was: “Therefore, whatever you want someone to do to you, do also to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets “another variation of that statement is “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Also known as the ethic of reciprocity, this maxim, sadly, has never been embraced fully by humanity. I have always thought the second part of that verse “…as you love yourself” is the potent elixir to bring “peace on earth”.

From a psychological standpoint it is of primary importance to be kind and loving to ourselves.

“It is not how much we give but how much love we put into the giving that truly matters.” ~ Mother Teresa In reality, overwhelming joy is not the exclusive province of those with unlimited time and no troubles to speak of.

Many of the happiest people on earth are also those coping with the most serious challenges. Pure happiness is not derivative from objects “out there” that can disappear like a mist but from your connection to your inner self,

aligned with the knowledge that you are not your circumstances; you are pure Spirit experiencing the external world of Maya. Your happiness is something that is nurtured through self-referral and not object-referral. We must embrace this mindset with our full intention to have it become part of our perpetual awareness. It is in that relationship with yourself to your circumstances where your power lies. The true magic that radiates from the Christmas Spirit is the joys that comes from giving from your heart and bring a smile to someone’s face.

Cosmo has been an instructor of Transcendental Meditation since 1970.

He is a musician, writer, father, teacher, vegetarian, eternal optimist, court jester, spiritual warrior and a student of the human condition.

His mission is to inspire and arouse the spiritual essence in everyone. www.seekeroftruth.com Cosmo can be reached at 2-Cosmo@msn.com or on Facebook.

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From series : Inner Voices Within

THE MISSED

By Katerin

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D MOMENTS

na Kostaki

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Katerina are you looking for the lost moments? ... It’s witnessed by your look…

Which are your missed moments?

Is the nostalgia opalescent on your computer screen, while you seek for the oasis of Knowledge through the Unknown?

Probably not ..Is the glow emitted by those temporary friendly approaches by people caught on the net of your brightness ...

Again not ...Are those fleeting dreams that make you reminisce the beautiful shimmering moments of Awakening, even today they glimmer like aura in your world of yesterday.

I know ... again not .

Cry not again because you feel the missed moments, like a train that you could not catch and left the station without you ...

Yes ... that train, full of Universal Soldiers, embarked on for an intangible Universe, not a material Universe like the one of Earth, but a idealistic one, therefore elusive.

Apparently it left and you were holding the ticket in your hands ...

The next stop was invisible, the train and the destination as well, but it’s of no importance.

Here on the rear no etheric auras or shiny knights exist ... anyway knights belong to alter eras.

Back here people are weeping, laughing and suffering from many diseases, but mostly they are suffering from ignorance and boredom.

Sometimes they suffer from jealousy… you acknowledge that first hand.

Their heart is full of desire to experience life, and your creative madness make them sick.

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How can a mad like you dare to escape from the corral?

Let them be on those underground paths, because this is what they have learned to do, and live like a glamorous star.

Shine like a star upon the sky of LOVE. Get your own spaceship, you know what I’m talking about ... the spaceship of your imagination and travel with the fuel of your creativity .

TRAVEL AS FAR AS YOU CAN! ONLY YOU CAN MAKE IT! If you want others to follow you, they are welcome.

If not, never mind.Let them live their dream and YOU keep painting with love and compassion.

Because you are entrusted the KNOWLEDGE, they will never have!

Katerina Kostaki is a visionary artist, spiritual author, poetess, freelance article writer, mentor and video creator.

She was born in 1966 in Athens , Greece.

She was awarded as Mentor for participating to the European Union Program entitled “Implement” (May-October 2006) in contribution with two International Universities: Institut Technik Undbildung and Deis-Cork Institute of Technology. She attended lessons on Counselling on 2007.

She took a distant learning course on “ALCHEMY OF TRANSFORMATION ” by Classic Insight Org. (former Online Humanities Org.) on 2010. Her work related to spirituality, spiritual coaching/ counselling, mythology, esoteric research, self esteem, relationships, self improvement, historical reviews, Nature protection, New Age, mystery and metaphysics has appeared in several publications (trade –union, local and cultural) both in print and online. She writes and translates her books/articles /poems/newsletters from Greek to English language herself.

ACADEMY OF INNER LIGHT NETWORK http://www.academyofinnerlight.net/ http://endlesslifejourney.blogspot.com/ http://www.facebook.com/authorkaterinakostaki http://www.youtube.com/katerinakostaki1966 31 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

A TIME OF PROMISE

by Jan Diana Artwork by Maryam Morrison 32 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

Message from the Goddess Mother My Beloved Children, “I greet you this day with a Message of Heart. As we begin this New Year, it is a time for great celebration for the past, yes, for the past has led us to this New Year, this new moment.

Now we begin a new calendar year, filled with great promise.

Let us begin with a story of light. Many years ago in a very sacred space, you decided upon a desire to experience life in a singular consciousness, outside of the field of unity consciousness.

As your desire grew, a plan was made for this to be made manifest. The journey of lives was put into place with the opportunity for you as an individual self to be able to experience the joy of expression within your own field consciousness.

and had no expression of duality. As the journey unfolded through choice and experiences, new opportunities unfolded. Thus, an opportunity to live in a plane of duality became a reality.

You my children, chose this opportunity, to live and express in this grand adventure of duality, where for a time you would forget who you really are.

As the journey here on Earth has unfolded much has been expressed and experienced in great wonder. Now, new opportunities unfold as we move fully into the time of promise. This time has been prophesied throughout the history of Earth. It is known deeply within your heart.

Let me share with you what this time of Promise means for you, my children.

Within the promise is a lighthouse of information and truth that is unfolding into your present time. Many blessings are offered to assist you in accessing Of course, you would never be separate the loving flow that is singing to your from the fields of the forever oneness of hearts even now. heart, and yet you would have an opportunity to develop your own uniqueness It is much like a wakeup call, accessing with expression through an embodied information held within your heart which life experience. you placed there before your birth to access in this time. The many ways Thus the journey of lives was put into and means are flowing for you to access place. Many of you my children expe- truth in greater ease and clarity. rienced life on planes that were unified

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I can feel your excitement as you read these words, for within this message there is a stirring of remembering within your hearts. Yes, allow your hearts and minds to open, to flow within the sacred geometries of this message so that you will find the pathways to the gems that you planned to access within this very special time.

As the days unfold, you will find yourself accessing more and more of these hidden jewels. When you co-created your plan with the Creator for your life journey, you knew what gifts would assist you on your path.

Now, within the new Earth energies and the elevated dimensional planes, these gifts are more readily available for you to access and utilize. How your heart is singing with joy in recognition of this truth!

The pathways for the new ways of being are illuminating even now. As you open your minds and hearts, you allow yourself to embrace this truth.

Can you feel your heart singing in joy as you hear these words? These are the times we have dreamed together. You are ready my beloveds.

I offer each of you now a gift. Prepare to receive into your heart. Place your hand over your heart and breathe into your heart. I say unto you “Shah amana shah”, allow this sacred mantra in the language of love to enter into your very heart. It is my gift to you, a fulfillment of promise and so it is.

This sacred mantra is in my sacred language, the language of love. It is the language of my heart and comprised of sacred geometries, tones and vibrations. You will recognize it on many levels as your heart knows this sacred These times of Promise offer you advan- language. This mantra simply means, tages to reach these gifts, to find your “the Jewels of my heart are illuminating; freedom, to create free of resistance you are my Jewels of heart.” energies, and to live your dreams of heart which you planned for your life With this gift of promise comes the unjourney. veiling of many hidden treasures that you have been waiting for. The time of My promise to you my children of light the discovery of these is at hand. You from my heart to yours is that the ways will enjoy this process as you find within and means are unfolding. Your life jour- each jewel lies infinite potentials and ney will become easier and filled with possibilities to explore. You will create the promise of joyful expressions. It is the recipes that you desire to fulfill your your destiny to live your dreams, to be life dreams. Each of you is unique with abundant in all ways, to be free of im- your own specialness, creating your pediments or restrictive energies. very own flavor in all that you do, experience and express.

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As you go forth now into your heart following the pathways of light to discover and explore, know that I am always with you, supporting your every choice, always loving you with fullness of heart.

You are most precious My Beloveds, for you are My children of light, the Jewels of My Heart.”

With great love, Your Beloved Mother

As a Gift I am offering you a Free TeleClass, “Jewels of Heart” Discover the inner pathways to your jewels of heart.

Open to the treasury in your heart, which is filled with gifts and abilities.

Learn how to access these jewels, and to develop their use to bless yourself, to elevate your consciousness and to create the life you have always dreamed of. This class is a dream maker.

Note: Register by subscribing by email at: www.sunshineinyourheart.com (if the time is not convenient, register to receive the recording when available)

Jan Diana is an intuitive healer, spiritual teacher, and master practitioner.

Her mission is to assist clients and students in creating harmony, balance, heightened levels of clarity, develop innate gifts and abilities, empowering them on their personal evolution to create the dreams of their heart. She utilizes several modalities including SVH L3M, Animal healing, GHM, Language of love, Reiki Master, and more.

Sessions and Classes by phone. If you have questions or would like to set up a session, you can reach her at website www.sunshineinyourheart.com or by email sunsinyourheart@aol.com SPECIAL offer 20% discount for new clients. Free meditation journeys, articles, & classes. http://www.sunshineinyourheart.com/ free_telecasts.html

35 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

Third Eye” b

Third Eye Developm & Psychi

by Dani 36 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

by ecoartopia

ment, Crystal Healing ic Ability

iel Butler 37 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♼ January 2014

Crystal Healing This glorious well written a hundred and forty page book teaches you everything you would like to know on the way to observe crystal healing. Lynn will teach the historocal backround of crystals and the way to be in bit with the ‘Mineral Kingdom’ just by using nature.

She additionally shows how to begin using your third eye to the next dimension.

Visualization techniques and exercises are demonstrated, directing the energies in your inner system to activate the third eye. Your intuition is also accessed through the third eye development. As your intuition grows, your knowledge, understanding and memory of the astral plane can become clearer while during a totally wakened state. Through follow, your third eye will be activated a lot of and a lot of so permitting flashes of intuition come back with additional regularity. She explains that we tend to can focus our minds on the middle purpose between the pineal gland and therefore the piturity body making a magnetic field which permits us to possess larger imagination to visualise something additionally serving to the energy of the mind to allow life and direction to this form. Do you would like to understand a way to use a crystal pendulum.....? We tend to will all see pictures or shapes once closing our eyes, but not many people will understand the point to these images.

This book can show you ways to realise and where they came from as well as your higher self, your spirit guides or different spirit friends. Many traditions and mystical practices have the power of third eye seeing with the attention of higher 38 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

level energy fields. By utilizing the third eye we can access other layers or dimensions of the soul. The soul is known as what most folks would outline as time, the past, the present and the longer term that hold recollections from of these time frames. The third eye is the opening into another dimension where we tend to will travel. Tons of folks have already partially experienced this through visions and/ or dreams. Being able to tune the third eye permits us additional freedom and clarity. Moods, food, drink and medicine all have an effect on the very sensitive third eye. An over stimulated person typically indicates that their third eye is open virtually all the time and they could notice that tv or radio may cause them irritation resulting in sensorial overload.

This could stress the body and deform the communication of the soul. Using the techniques during this book to use your third eye, your senses will be enhanced feeling that you are floating on a ocean of energy.

Note: The activity will not generate the sense of the third eye but the third eye that generates the sense of focus and a focus allowing balance and co-ordination for your performance. The third eye is responsible for the liberty of alternative, individuality and creativity. Lynn’s straightforward to understand vogue of writing allows us to follow the additional complicated topics like:? the art of healing using crystals and their ‘build up’, ? the energies within gems and a way to feed your energies into the crystals,? general healing and healing with crystals as well as treatment using crystals ?

chakras, auras, colors and gems ? how to cleanse and use gems and using gems around your home ? sorts of crystals and how to choose and get crystals. Crystal Healing is jam full of data and is straightforward to perceive though terribly comprehensive. You will learn all there’s to understand to become a Crystal Healing Practitioner. This book can provide you the data to vary your own life with the powers of crystals, help your friends, even starting your own therapy business.

Strive this exercise. Sit comfortably in a quiet space and empty your mind. Take some slow deep breaths before starting to target the screen in your mind. You ought to be ready to determine colors.

Relax still respiratory slowly and deeply.

Keep watching the colours and that they will now modification into a shape.

Keep focusing, you might even recognize that shape. If you saw nothing then try once more later when you can be more relaxed and focused. Unleash your Psychic Ability In this book, Lynn Claridge will teach you how to perceive your emotions, your energy centers and your thoughts. You’ll remodel your life on an emotional level. You may notice how detaching yourself from your emotions can lead you to perceive your inner-self, your insecurity, vulnerability and management stress through inner guidance.

Lynn will help you discover how through meditation and relaxation you may gain inner peace and harmony. Enhancing your daily life, controlling stress and addressing problems. With this insight you may modification your life for the better.

She will teach you ways to trust your in-

tuition and insight and a way to use your third eye, your psychic vision. You’ll trust your judgment by making correct choices within the making things work process.

You’ll learn the way to balance the energy flow around your body through balancing your Chakras. You’ll perceive and see the colors of energy around the body as by reading other folks’s auras you can establish their physical and emotional well-being. Discover how you can relieve pain and stress by balancing the bodies energies, to assist others. Healing with, and thru crystals and healing through color. By understanding sleep and dream interpretation can enable you to see into your subconscious.

This can be an vital aspect as abundant can be learnt and told to you while you are asleep. I will teach you how you can control your dreams and the way you’ll reach the religious world through the astral set up and astral travel. Discover how by using psychic tools such as the Tarot Cards and Clairvoyant vision can empower you to predict future events. You may learn the way to contact your chosen spirit.

Understanding messages from the spirit world. And speaking and being attentive to your religious guide and how to communicate with loved ones. This 210 page book could be a must for anyone interested in unleashing their psychic ability.

39 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

Top Health Benefits of

Pomegranate

by Jeff Andrews

40 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

One of the oldest cultivated fruits, pomegranates first grew in ancient Persia and the health benefits of the pomegranate were recognized even then.

The Romans gave it its name - “pomegranate” literally means “seed apple” in Latin - and planted the sturdy seedlings throughout their empire. Spain so loved pomegranates that they named the city of Granada after them, according to some historians. The fruit also made its way eastward to India, where its juice was considered a health elixir that cured any number of ills. As modern researchers discover more about the importance of antioxidants to good health, it’s beginning to look as though the Ayurvedic specialists of centuries ago were right about pomegranates.

The round red fruit has a symbolic history as rich as its geographic history. Its profusion of seeds linked pomegranate fruit with fertility, while the long-lived trees became associated with rebirth and renewal. Garnets, the rich red gemstone prized throughout the ancient world, took their name from their resemblance to pomegranate seeds. Pomegranates have been the subject of poetry and allegorical tales from Greek mythology to the book of Exodus. Paintings and frescoes depict legendary heroes, gods and goddesses dining on pomegranates.

Nutritional Information However poetic they may be, there is also practical value due to the health benefits of pomegranate. Nutritionally speaking, pomegranates compare favorably to

many more familiar fruits. They contain no fat, low sugar and only 80 calories per 100-gram serving, yet they offer 5 grams of fiber and 15 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C. Pomegranate juice is almost as popular as whole fruits. Because it’s more concentrated, pomegranate juice is slightly higher in calories than whole seeds at 120 calories per 8-ounce serving. Like whole pomegranates, pomegranate juice is rich in antioxidants. This nutrition information applies to pomegranate juice, not to the sweetened mixture of juice and simple syrup called grenadine.

Going beyond the label reveals the full extent of the health benefits of pomegranate.

Pomegranates and Antioxidants Pomegranates’ deep red color delivers more than just plate appeal; that garnet hue signifies the fruit’s rich supply of antioxidant phytochemicals. Antioxidants counteract cellular damage due to free radicals. While researchers are still studying the effects of antioxidants within the human body and haven’t yet concluded that these compounds work the same in people as they do in a test tube, the National Cancer Society asserts that within the testing they’ve done so far, “antioxidants help prevent the free radical damage that is associated with cancer.” It’s impossible to talk of curing disease with antioxidants, but it’s clear that foods with antioxidants appear to be sensible preventive medicine.

41 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

Plenty of foods have antioxidants, but only pomegranates have a related set of compounds called punicalagins. That tongue-twister of a name has its roots in the scientific name for pomegranates, Punica granatum. Punicalagins have the same capacity to neutralize free radicals as other antioxidants, but preliminary studies suggest that these substances also actively seek out free radicals and may have an effect in reducing the chance of prostate cancer, lung cancer and breast cancer.

Pomegranate juice has an antioxidizing capacity of 2,860 units per 100 grams.

That compares favorably to prune juice, goji berries and melon juice. If research bears out the distinction between punicalagins and other antioxidants, then consuming both could have an even bigger buffering effect on free radicals.

help prevent muscle cramping, insulin resistance and adrenal insufficiency.

Vitamin B9, also known as folate or folic acid, took on greater significance in the world of nutritional science when researchers found that folic acid deficiency contributed to neural tube defects in babies. Adults also need this vitamin to repair DNA and create healthy blood cells. A single serving of pomegranate seeds contains 10 percent of an adult’s recommended allowance of the vitamin.

People who don’t get enough vitamin K may bruise easily and run a greater risk of developing osteoporosis. Usually found in dark green leafy vegetables, vitamin K becomes more palatable when it’s packaged in sweet pomegranate seeds. Pomegranate juice and whole pomegranate seeds contain about 10 percent of an adult’s recommended daiVitamins, Minerals and Micronutrients in ly allowance of vitamin K. Pomegranates.

Like many fruits, pomegranate supplies a healthy dose of vitamin C. Unlike others, it also contains vitamins B5, B9 and K. Potassium and zinc top the list of vital minerals that pomegranates and pomegranate juice contain.

Better known by its full name, pantothenic acid, vitamin B5 is essential to healthy skin and nerve function. The name might be more familiar as a hair-care ingredient, but pantothenic acid is also an important dietary requirement. Research into the importance of pantothenic acid is ongoing, but this micronutrient may 42 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

Allergies and Contraindications While pomegranate allergies are rare, anyone who notices itching or burning of the skin after handling pomegranates should avoid these fruits. The mild acidity of pomegranate juice could exacerbate GERD or heartburn symptoms; if heartburn is a common occurrence, try cutting down on acidic foods including pomegranates shortly before bedtime.

Most fruits consist of sweet flesh wrapped around inedible seeds. Pomegranates reverse that familiar formula; they’re full of translucent juicy seeds surrounded by a fibrous white pith. Separate the delicious seeds from the pith with a sharp rap from the back of a spoon against the back of a pomegranate half. The seeds should shower down from the pith and into the bowl with a few taps from the spoon.

The seeds in pomegranates may cause irritation for people with diverticulitis.

Like tomato, strawberry and raspberry seeds, pips in pomegranate seeds can get into the diverticuli of the bowel and cause pain. For other people, the relatively large seeds of the fruit cause no trouble at all.

Pomegranate seeds closely resemble the garnets to which they lent their name.

Their vivid color and translucency make them a beautiful garnish to ice cream dishes and desserts. Try them in salads, too, where their bursts of tangy juice add a new dimension of taste and texture.

Use pomegranate juice anywhere that other fruit juices would go: in glazes and People on certain blood thinners must sauces, with mixed fruit drinks and as a be careful of their vitamin K intake. Be- frozen treat. cause the vitamin prohibits clotting, too much of it combined with medications could cause an interaction between the Summary two. Account for the vitamin K in pome- However you decide to use them, whethgranate seeds and juice to ensure that er you learn how to juice pomegranate the food doesn’t interact with medica- or use it in salads or desserts, it is easy tions and the pomegranate health ben- to start exploring the health benefits of efits can be enjoyed safely. pomegranate fruit.

Selecting, Cooking and Eating Pomegranates Pick a pomegranate that has a bright red color and feels heavy for its size to get the best-tasting fruit. Pomegranates are in season throughout the fall, so buying them in season ensures a better product.

Jeff Andrews writes about the many common foods that are beneficial to your health.

For more on the health benefits of turmeric or how garlic benefits your diet visit www.thehealthbenefitsof.com.

43 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♼ January 2014

Positively Embracing

by Teal

Art by Marya 44 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

Your Negative Emotions

l Scott

am Morrison 45 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♼ January 2014

Those of us who subscribe to the power of positive focus and who consider ourselves to be the most “in alignment”, tend to be the ones that are the most resistant to negative thoughts, emotions and experiences. Where does this get us? Nowhere!

We have this habit of expecting ourselves to be “above it all”, meaning that we expect ourselves to be so proficient at focusing positively and fixing our own problems that we are unaffected by our experiences. But to expecting ourselves to be “above it all” is to add torture on top of pain. To resist where we are, and who we are currently is to abandon yourself in the quick sand pit of your own pain.

It is ironic that those of us who fancy ourselves to be “in alignment” would have so much resistance to “not being in alignment”. People, who subscribe to the power of positive thinking, tend to have extreme resistance to negative emotion and negative thoughts. We also have extreme resistance to the “breakdown phase” of transformation. We resist suffering, but resistance on top of suffering equals more suffering. It is impossible it is to focus positively when you have something that you are trying to avoid (especially strong fear or other strong negative emotion). When we are feeling strong negative emotion, we are feeling desperate. You always get that desperate feeling when you are trying to get away from something and go towards something else. And obviously, any time we’re trying to get away from

46 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

something, we are resisting it and therefore focusing upon in in a subconscious way. Whatever we resist persists. If we would quit resisting it, it would cease to exist. And so, there is only one option, to positively embrace the negative emotion.

The positive embracing of negative emotion is one of the most crucial skills to learn. Your emotions are like clay.

You can learn to mold them by virtue of your thoughts. But to try to mold your life into something pleasing when you are unwilling to acknowledge, touch and embrace anything other than positive emotion, is like a sculptor being unwilling to work with the clay as it currently is; in it’s raw and cold form. It is to reject the clay and demand that you will only touch it once it is warm and soft. This will never work because the thing that transforms that raw, cold clay into soft, warm clay is the non-resistant, loving embrace of the sculptor’s hands. Until we are willing to approach our negative emotions with acceptance, compassion and most especially willingness to feel them, we cannot mold the clay of our life into anything different that what it is. There will be no change; our emotions will remain negative in the same way that the sculptor’s clay will remain cold and raw.

You have been taught that negative emotion means you have gone wrong.

In fact, one of the things I hate about positive focus communities is that they tend to see negative anything (especially thoughts and emotions) as something bad, shameful, and un-evolved.

Do you feel the resistance to negative in that mentality? This is not an evolved state. And honestly, it is what gives positive focus philosophies such a bad name.

It makes us seem like “Polyannas”.

the bottom of the stream you’re paddling down. You have to turn around, unhook the fishhook first and then go on your merry way. And sometimes, it takes longer to get un-snagged than other times.

We only seem like “Polyannas” when we have gone into denial and are currently rejecting and resisting the negative. Negative emotion is part of your guidance system, which means that negative emotions are valid. Negative emotion is a part of life for every person in existence. When we say otherwise, we ostracize each other. We condemn other people (as well as ourselves) to being alone in their pain and being ashamed of their pain. If we really had a comprehension of the way this universe works, we would be encouraging people, when they felt strong negative emotion, to embrace and explore those negative emotions before encouraging them to then focus positively on something that makes them feel better.

When you can feel that you are resisting negative emotion (when you are desperate to feel differently), stop running away and just be with yourself and the truth of how you feel and what you’re thinking right here and now. Be with what you’re trying to run away from. Take time to sink into the feeling and really let yourself experience it and question it. Solicit the help of someone else who will aid you to explore what those emotions and sensations are trying to tell you. Use them to gain awareness. And express those emotions instead of suppressing them.

Embrace them in any way you can.

Many people would argue that it’s a bad idea to focus on negative emotion or thoughts, because focus fuels them and that it’s a better idea to just focus on positive thoughts and things that make you feel good. But I am here to tell you that you can’t focus positively while you are resisting something negative. If you’re resisting something negative, you are resisting focusing on what you are already really focusing on. The resistance itself is fueling that negative thing, on a subconscious if not conscious level. It’s like your fish hook getting caught or snagged on

Without negative feelings, thoughts and experiences, you would never know what happiness and love and freedom really is. You would not have any awareness.

The answers cannot come to you; unless you are first asking the questions and the questions nearly always come as the result of experiencing something that feels negative. Let’s all stop being ashamed of our negative emotions and thoughts and experiences. If we can learn to do that, we will no longer be resisting them and thus, they will transform our realities in the way they intend to transform our realities, into something better. http://www.thespiritualcatalyst.com/

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48 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

African Bush Elephant With the elephant poaching epidemic in Africa running rampant — and renewed ivory lust growing worldwide — experts fear the survival of the species is at stake.

The title of a recent New York Times article says it all: “Elephants Dying in Epic Frenzy as Ivory Fuels Wars and Profits.” It’s horrific and heartbreaking. Africa is in the middle of a monumental elephant massacre. Poachers are wiping out tens of thousands of elephants each year, more than at any time in the previous two decades — and the underground ivory trade has become dangerously militarized.

“Like blood diamonds from Sierra Leone or plundered minerals from Congo, ivory, it seems, is the latest conflict resource in Africa, dragged out of remote battle zones, easily converted into cash and now fueling conflicts across the continent,” notes the Times.

49 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

n 1989, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) passed a moratorium on the international commercial trade of African elephant ivory, except under a few rare circumstances.

In the same year, the Bush administration passed the African Elephant Conservation Act (AECA), banning the importation of ivory from the African elephant. Since then, the commercial ivory market in the United States has virtually collapsed.

However, that’s not the case in Asia. As much as 70 percent of the illegal ivory currently being plundered is being routed to China. Revered for millennia as a rare, status-boosting luxury item, ivory has long been out of reach for most. But as China’s economic boom has created a vast middle class, many are now in the market, which has elevated the price of ivory to a staggering $1,000 per pound on the streets of Beijing. The tusks of a single adult elephant can be worth more than 10 times the average annual income for an African worker.

The lust for ivory and the situation in Africa have created what is likely to be the greatest percentage loss of elephants in history. Many fear that the survival of the species is at stake.

warlords and poachers. If you’re in China and purchase ivory objects, you can decide to stop. But what about the rest of us? None of us can single-handedly stop the ivory trade, but we are not helpless — as much as it may feel like it. Here are six actions we can take to support these grand creatures.

1. Obviously, don’t buy ivory Or sell it, or wear it. New ivory is strictly banned, but antique ivory can be legally available for purchase. (The regulations are complicated; this is a good overview.)

Ivory has traditionally been used for jewelry, billiard balls, pool cues, dominos, fans, piano keys and carved trinkets. Shunning antique ivory is a clear message to dealers that the material is not welcomed, and it’s an easy way to show your solidarity with the elephants.

The lust for ivory and the situation in Africa have created what is likely to be the greatest percentage loss of elephants in 2. Buy elephant-friendly coffee and history. Many fear that the survival of the wood species is at stake.

Coffee and timber crops are often grown in plantations that destroy elephant habiWhat can we do? tats. Make sure to buy Forest StewardIf you’re a mercenary, you can strap on ship Council (FSC) certified timber and your Rambo gear and go to Africa to fight certified fair trade coffee.

50 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ January 2014

3. Support conservation efforts If only we could all be Jane Goodall or Dian Fossey, and move to the jungle or plains and thoroughly dedicate our lives to wildlife. Alas, for most of us that’s the stuff of daydreams. In the meantime, we can support the organizations that are actively committed to elephant preservation.

There are many, but here are a few: International Elephant Foundation •Elephant Care International •The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust •African Wildlife Foundation •Amboseli Elephant Research Project

ber of organizations that offer elephant adoptions so that you get cute pictures of “your” elephant, and they get currency to fund their elephant conservation efforts.

World Wildlife Foundation, World Animal Foundation, Born Free, Defenders of Wildlife and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust all have adoption programs and are good places to start looking for that special pachyderm.

6. Get involved with Roots & Shoots Founded in 1991 by Dr. Jane Goodall and a group of Tanzanian students, Roots & Shoots is a youth program created to incite positive change. There are hundreds of thousands of kids in more than 120 countries in the Roots & Shoots network, all working to create a better world. It’s a great way to get youth involved in conservation and pursue careers to help elephants and other wildlife.

4. Be aware of the plight of captive elephants Historically, zoos and circuses have offered elephants a life of, basically, indentured servitude. Fortunately, the zoo industry is starting to wake up and is beginning to develop more elephant-friendly environments, yet they have a long way to go. Circuses, even further. Make a difference by boycotting circuses that use animals, and by boycotting zoos that offer insufficient space to allow elephants to live in social groups, and where the man- http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/ stories/6-ways-to-help-elephants agement style doesn’t allow them to be in control of their own lives. See ElephantVoices for more information.

You can also support the Elephant Trails campaign of the National Zoo to improve the welfare of both wild and captive elephants.

5. Adopt an elephant Who wouldn’t want to take home a cute elephant, protect it from the bad guys, and raise it as their own? OK, so that’s not quite realistic, but there are any num-

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Vafa Shelter

Needs your help, many beautiful animals waiting for a loving home.

For adoption please contact: http://www.cal.ir/ ~ http://cal.ir/main/fa/contact ~ http://cal.ir/main/en/contact