Snake Medicine

In an earlier post I shared about my decision to destroy, clear and cleanse part of my life that I was never truly aligned with and that created tremendous stress in my life and some of those around me because it was never in alignment with who I truly am. Today I received the final word that this unraveling process is totally complete and I am relieved, grateful and happy. Within moments of receiving the news a 5 ft. long snake slithered out in front of me. WOW! Now that's what I call an instant message.

I feel very fortunate to always receive very clear guidance from life about my life's path and the decisions I make along the way. The trick is to follow that guidance, which I neglected to do with the thing I had to destroy. The natural world and my true nature of clarity, insight and wisdom constantly speaks to me and when I follow it I know and feel that I am living life in alignment with my highest and best good. I feel on track. In the case of the thing I destroyed, nature, my intuition, my family and friends all were constantly saying, "STOP! DON'T DO THIS! THIS IS NOT WHO YOU ARE! THIS IS AN AWFUL CHOICE!" But I went against the grain and fought the very clear current. Of course there were fantastic periods of lucidity for 3 months here and 3 months there when I temporarily stopped my participation in that thing, but I would always be drawn back in, perhaps so that this huge life lesson would be drilled into me. 10 years ago when I did the Hoffmann Process (check out www.hoffmaninstitute.org), Raz Ingrassi, my group leader told me that the one thing that I need to be mindful of is a tendency to "play God with God" by going against the clear guidance that God, Nature and Life are giving me. I guess it takes doing that with a big life decision, seeing that it is not a good idea and then CHANGING, which I have, thank goodness, to get that. In the case of the thing that I had to destroy, my insight was right on and I got out of a terrible mess just in the nick of time. One of the big signs for me then was sobbing for a week straight...hmm, if that isn't a clear sign that I'm off track then I don't know what is. I am so grateful that I  am totally living life watching, listening to, paying attention to and tuning into the "signs" and "guideposts" that I am so clearly given. Thank you life! The last 6 months of my life has been a continual and uninterrupted flow of clarity, insight, intuition and total spirit magic...I feel and know that I am being guided, protected and cared for. I am surrounded only by people who have super high integrity with clear missions and all around good vibes. I am living life with a high degree of discernment and deeply paying attention. It took me making that very questionable life decision that I gratefully destroyed to get to where I am now. I bless, forgive, clear and cleanse myself and everyone involved because it clears the way for "the way", the Tao, the guidance, clarity, insight and wisdom to shine through.

So, it was a real blessing for me to be visited by the Snake today. What strong and clear medicine to mark this highly auspicious day! The key gifts of Snake are: Transmutation, Life Force, New Me, Wisdom, Growth and Awakening...yes! Snakes are a symbol of shedding the old ways to allow for new growth and fertility. They represent wholeness, totality and completion that provide a matrix for lasting stability. Snakes have a heightened sense of smell and sight. Snake sheds her skin in the transmutation process bringing forth her new self. Allowing all that was to be released as she has outgrown it, she now welcomes all that is positive and new to be engaged. Snake is the Life Force within, the rising serpent to our own awakening. The affirmation of Snake is: I am Life and I renew daily. 

Thank you life!

THE NEW CONSPIRACY

A friend of mine recently sent me a movie about Obama and a conspiracy theory that he is just a continuation of the Bush Era. I watched about 2 minutes of it and hit the STOP button. Don't need that flowing into this mind. Toxic vampire energy that can only drain my mojo, not uplift me...yuck! It's a little something I like to call "Mind maintenance" or "Mind Gardening"...I don't let those kinds of ideas take root in my consciousness because it makes me feel bad. I like to cultivate positivity in my garden. Who knows what is really going on with the big business of politics. I personally am on a permanent fast from news and world events. Call me misinformed, but it's my way of staying on the super high vibration of light and love consciousness. In my humble opinion, essentially, in our own individual Universe it doesn't matter what Obama or any other politician is doing. What matters is what I am doing. The last message I received as I was pulling up to the airport in Bombay when I was there last Spring was on a billboard that read "THE BALL IS ALWAYS IN YOUR COURT". YES! We must be the change we want to see in the world and the time is now, is it not, my friends? What are we waiting for? Let's get it on! My friend who sent the movie has had this realization too and sent THE NEW CONSPIRACY out this morning. It rocks! Cheers to LOVE and LIGHT and SUPER GOOD VIBES!  THE NEW CONSPIRACY On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence and things seem dark. But calmly and quietly, at the same time, something else is happening underground An inner revolution is taking place and certain individuals are being called to a higher light. It is a silent revolution. From the inside out. From the ground up. This is a Global operation. A Spiritual Conspiracy. There are sleeper cells in every nation on the planet. You won't see us on the T.V. You won't read about us in the newspaper You won't hear about us on the radio We don't seek any glory We don't wear any uniform We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles. Most of us work anonymously We are quietly working behind the scenes in every country and culture of the world Cities big and small, mountains and valleys, in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands. You could pass by one of us on the street and not even notice We go undercover We remain behind the scenes. It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit But simply that the work gets done. Occasionally we spot each other in the street We give a quiet nod and continue on our way During the day many of us pretend we have "normal jobs" But behind the false storefront at night is where the real work takes a place. Some call us the Conscious Army We are slowly creating a new world with the power of our minds and hearts We follow, with passion and joy. Our orders come from the Central Spiritual Intelligence We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music ~ Photography ~ Movies ~ Kind words ~ Smiles ~ Meditation and prayer ~ Dance - Art ~ Social activism ~  Websites - Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness... We each express ourselves in our own unique ways with our own unique gifts and talents, Be the change you want to see in the world That is the motto that fills our hearts We know it is the only way real transformation takes place. We know that quietly and humbly we have the power of all the oceans combined Our work is slow and meticulous Like the formation of mountains It is not even visible at first glance And yet with it entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come Love is the new religion of the 21st century You don't have to be a highly educated person Or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it It comes from the intelligence of the heart Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings. Be the change you want to see in the world Nobody else can do it for you. We are now recruiting Perhaps you will join us Or already have. All are welcome The door is open ~ author unknown

Real wishes

wish

As a lover of setting clear intentions, consciously manifestating my Spirit's visions and ritual, a friend thought to send me the link to www.real-wishes.com...check it out...I am on day #3 and have had some rather amazing synchronicities. For instance, yesterday the website told me to start becoming aware of whenever I see the #s 1111. About 10 months ago a friend of mine gave me a gift certificate for a facial and I finally redeemed it yesterday (of all days). The facialist works out of a spa in a hotel. I had 4 different routes to choose from to get to the spa and I chose to walk through the restaurant. I did not realize until after the facial as I was walking out of the restaurant and back to my car that the name of the restaurant was BISTRO 1111...pretty cool instant manifestation and a little indicator along the way that the power of my intention is being heard and felt by the Universe. LOVE IT!

Siva, Ganesha and Kali...kickin' some major booty in service to this here Bhakti

2008 wrap up...so much went down this last year and this is just a little catch-up without major details... What a super transformational year for me...how about for you? There has a big part of my life that I had been dancing and struggling with for 6 years and by the time 2008 rolled around I realized that I needed to remove myself entirely from this situation for a wee bit to get some perspective and clarity. So, where better to go to than back to the Mother Land, India? It was Valentine's Day 2008 and I was in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico when I booked my ticket and I knew some heads were going to roll when I pushed that "confirm" button on my laptop. One cannot go to India and not have their reality turned upside down and inside out....but that was the whole point and the heart of my mission. India has always been a stillpoint of pure soul realization for me and is always just what the doctor ordered, even if she kicks my ass, which is exactly what I needed. I am one fortunate lady in that I have always felt like I have a very blessed life, however, I had been saying "THIS IS NOT MY LIFE!" regarding one arena of life way too many times for way too long and something needed to radically shift is I was to continue on feeling at home in my own life. The choice to get really mentally and emotionally clear and the choice to return to India after 10 years in and of themselves seemed to invoke Siva the Destroyer, Ganesha the Remover of Obstacles and Kali, the fierce Goddess themselves and they began their work inside of me immediately.

India was a major turning point and a Divine adventure in every way as always and helped me to start clearing out the things in my mind that were no longer for my highest and best good. I was blessed to encounter many a charming and enlightened soul along the way to illuminate my being on multipIe levels and guide me along the way.

It was Spring and I started off in Tiruvannamali in the South, where I circumambulated the Holy Mountain Arunachala (again - last time was 10 years ago) and stayed at Ramana Maharshi's ashram in a simple and rockin' room with clear views of the mountain. There's nothing quite like practicing yoga in the aura of that mighty mountain. Check out www.sriramanamaharshi.org. My favorite Ramana quote that I discovered this time around is: "The ordainar controls the fate of souls in accordance with their parabdhakarma. Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen, try as you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do as you may to prevent it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain silent." Right on, eh?

Next, I was in Pondicherry on the Eastern Coast at an amazing guesthouse called The Quiet Healing Center right on the beach. I had the pleasure of eating an organic salad everyday...which is almost unheard of in India. I had a lovely room on the 2nd floor with views out to the ocean and slept with the lulling sounds of the sea. I visited Sri Aurobindo and The Mother's community Aurovillle nearly everyday...check out www.auroville.org. I was given some pretty epic chants while I meditated in Matrimandir, the most enchantingly gorgeous temple I have ever encountered. I rode a scooter all over that crazy city, something I coined "air-conditioning" amidst super hot days and was grateful for my uninjured body the day I returned the scooter...the risk was worth the video game like adventure. Here's a quote by Sri Aurobindo: "The yoga we practice is not for ourselves alone, but for the Divine; its aim is to work out the will of the Divine in the world, to effect a spiritual transformation and to bring down a divine nature and a divine life into the mental, vital and physical nature and life of humanity. Its object is not personal Mukti, although Mukti is a necessary condition of the yoga, but the liberation and transformation of the human being. It is not personal Ananda, but the bringing down of the divine Ananda -- Christ's kingdom of heaven, our Satyayuga -- upon the earth."

Then, I flew up to Pune to Osho's Meditation Resort. Check out www.osho.com. Being there was like being in a giant Zen Garden. Whenever I left the resort I said, "I'm going to India" because inside the resort's walls it was not at all like being in India. Everything in the resort was sanitized and clean...great for anyone who is spooked by getting sick in India...been there done that in a really dramatic way 10 and 12 years ago...GOOD GOD! This trip to India I was healthy and balanced the entire trip...very nice. Osho developed many styles of meditation including Active Meditations involving a whole lot of movement. My favorite is Dynamic Meditation and it involves a lot of vocalizing, shaking, jumping, dancing and stillness...so good. Osho's Mahasamadhi is there...a very opulent room filled with marble, mirrors and crystal chandeliers...so Osho! Every time I meditated there it was the same as every other Mahasamadhi I've visited: Papaji, Sri Aurobindo, Lester Levenson, Ramana Maharshi...they are all just laughing...and the laughter always reminds me of what a doodlebug my mind can be. Every night they'd show videos of Osho and I was blown away by the silent transmission of love and wisdom in between his words in the stillness. Osho said, "I am not interested in creating beliefs in you and I am not interested in giving you any kind of ideology. My whole effort here is - as it has always been of all the buddhas since the beginnings of time - to provoke truth in you. I know it is already there; it just needs a synchronicity. It just needs something to trigger the process of recognition in you."

I finished off the trip in Bombay at the lotus feet of Ramesh Balzakar. I was very lucky to have been chosen to ask him a question. I don't remember all of the details of our interaction because there was so much that was being said beyond the words. What I walked away with is a sense of needing to accept everything exactly as it is...that was pretty much the whole theme and the answer to the question I was asking on the entire journey. Isn't it one of the greatest spiritual teachings amongst many traditions? Alas, if I can accept everything exactly as it is then I can see things exactly as they are and then align with them in a way that I can still be in integrity with myself or remove myself from the situation so that I can be in integrity with myself. This is the greatest gift that India gave me this time around. This is the "Letter to God" that Ramesh wrote:
Dear God, This is my record of eternal gratitude to You. You gave me birth in a most respected Hindu family, but not high enough in social status to make me proud. You gave me a physical form well-admired for its perfection, but it was small enough to keep me humble. You gave me education high enough to be most useful in life, but not high enough to make me proud. You gave me success in sports high enough to be satisfied, but not proud. You gave me a career in which You took me high enough to be admired, but not high enough to make me arrogant. You gave me a wife and family for which I have always been eternally grateful, but You did not spare me some grief to remind me not to forget what life is all about, and to be always grateful for what I do have. You did not forget to place an adequate number of temptations in my way so that I may not be too critical of others who have to face their own temptations. I am now 84, and perhaps the only wish that remains is that the long life You have given me will not carry a burden at the end. But in that case, I know You will also give me the necessary courage to go with it. You gave me a lot to show me how little is needed to be content and how much could be given away. And, undoubtedly, the most important of all - as if the bounty You have showered on me were not enough - You crowned Your achievement by using this psychosomatic apparatus to convey to the world the most important message of Advaita. Truly I am blessed. Or, indeed, my Beloved, have You not blessed Yourself?! Finally, it occurs to me, if You were to design for Yourself a life in phenomenality, could it have been much different from this one? And, for this thought, no tears are enough to wash Your Noumenal feet. - Ramesh S. Balsekar

India was truly amazing and it was easy too...an unusual feeling in that great land of order/chaos, light/dark, beauty/ugliness. Perhaps India was a little more "home" to me on my 3rd visit and thus I was able to navigate her twists and turns with more grace. It was a short and sweet trip...just 15 nights...which was perfect.

Upon arrival back in SB I put into action this practice of accepting things exactly as they were. Life began to be easier and easier, more in flow with the Tao and the things that were not in alignment with who I am in essence were becoming less and less tolerable and was actually obstructing my natural flow of good. By the end of Summer I wholeheartedly knew that one area of my life had to be released. It was hard to let go of this thing that I had been cultivating and many tears were shed. When I was met with major external resistance it was if Kali herself took over me and I wielded a sword of such immense destruction that there was no way for this thing to survive. Uggghhh...not my #1 choice of doing things...it's so clear that I should not be growing things in my life that I am not 100% certain are right for me. One of yoga's purposes is to keep the weeds under check so that a giant hacking isn't necessary from unattended overgrowth. But alas...sometimes these things happen and boy did i learn my lesson. For me, doubt means don't (as Oprah once said) and as I was tired of living in constant doubt and my essence booted my weebly-wobbling mind and did some good ole fashioned hacking. The next day there was total surrender and total release and I was at last set free. Even though I achieved my desired outcome I was questioning, "What the heck did I just do?" Well, I rescued myself from something that was not right for me in a very dramatic way and it was going to take a sec for me to adjust and to heal. That is exactly what transpired during the the Fall. There was more and more clearing, including the fire (which was so totally metaphorical and transformational for me) and the reclaiming of my power, peace, happiness and vitallity as the phoenix rising from the flames. Just a week after the fire there was a big rain and within days there were already little green sprouts emerging from the blackened earth...the green looking more vibrant than usual against the burn. That perfectly describes 2008 for me...the new life that emerges through the process of destruction. The greatest gift of it all is that I have reclaimed my true nature as a Bhakti, a lover. Everything in my life now is something that I totally love and adore without question and I feel like I am living in integrity with my essence which is one of my great missions in this mysterious, magical and miraculous existence.

Grateful for GOD

Happy Thanksgiving dear hearts,

We all have so much to be grateful for and I am so grateful for you as the living embodiment of God's love, beauty, and goodness. So many of you have been a tremendous support to me through the many powerful changes and transformations that I have been experiencing in my life in 2008 and I am incredibly thankful for the light of your presence. This has been an amazing year of returning fully back into God's Grace and removing anything that has blocked that Grace so that it can fully shine. I have put God back at the center of everything and everything that is blossoming forth from the center is manifesting in a Good Orderly Direction (my favorite acronym for GOD). God to me is the Tao, alignment with things as they truly are and always living in harmony with where the currents carry me. Life as it always has, has carried me into greater Grace than I have ever felt and I know it is because I have aligned with my Highest Good which is God's Love. At the center of my heart I truly am a Bhakti, a devotee of God. When I live in alignment with who I am I know that everything in life is unfolding perfectly. I wish you all a Grace filled Thanksgiving overflowing with gratitude for the countless blessings in our lives. There are some amazing e-mails that I have been receiving from Circle of Light...they perfectly express what I am feeling and experiencing in this beautiful time of Thanksgiving.

Excerpts from the Messages from God
Through Yael and Doug Powell at
Circle of Light www.circleoflight.net

Let Yourselves Be Loved By Me
It is the Source of the World’s Healing
10-19-08

Beloved ones, please let Me love you. Please open your beautiful hearts to Me and let Me shower you with My Love until it penetrates all the illusion of your life on Earth – until you remember your Love for Me and that My Love for you is that which informs your life in every moment in every way.

You have come into this world to heal it, to transform separation into Love but you have gotten caught in this hall of mirrors in which you are trying to free yourselves. Beloved ones, it can’t be done. I Am your only answer. You are meant always to find your truth in Me and to recognize not only your identity but your true value in the communion of this Love.

Instead, succumbing to “the reversal,” you have continued to look outside yourselves for Love and you have sought through the whole world for the answers of how to at last be joyous and free. You were meant to find your truth and beauty in My Love and in the deep assurance of your place as My heart.

In this world you have looked, first, as infants to your parents who themselves were wounded by the lack of true Love and could not give you your true identity, an unequivocal acceptance, an absolute unconditional positive regard. And so you have sought through the world endlessly to find things to fill you up. Your prayers have risen to Me continuously as to when you will truly be loved.

Again and again you look into another’s eyes and wait for that acceptance that you long for, wait for the warmth of that Love rushing over you that sees you fully and cherishes you to the depths of your being. When you don’t find this, then you turn back to yourselves and say, “Well, I must learn to love myself.”

But dearest ones, you cannot love yourself, not with your ego and not through the little self that the ego has created. Can you see that this is like an animal chasing its tail, attempting to love something with something that cannot love? So I call to you daily, hourly. I sing in your being and My song says, “I Am your only answer. I Am your only Love. I Am the Real Love that gives you your true identity and fills you up with the joy of life and with the deep awareness that you are loved beyond forever and nothing can ever interfere with this Love that is unconditional and limitless.”

Your hearts are what create the world and it is your hearts, beloved ones, that must create Heaven on Earth. It is your hearts that are the bridge between the world and the eternal, and your hearts are now called to heal, to heal the deep belief in separation from Love which is born of your separation from Me.

Only when your heart lives in this Light, bathed in this Love every moment – only then can you see Love’s reflection before you as the beautiful countenance of your Twin Flame and as a world that truly is a Paradise of truth and beauty. All of it begins here with Me. It begins in this hourly communion. It begins when you allow at last your heart to be healed from all of its dreams of pain and brokenness.

It is healed in the warmth of remembrance that your Love is given unwaveringly by Me and in it and only in it can you find your true identity. Only in My Love can you be free. And oh, beloved ones, the ego’s great lie, the greatest deception it has perpetuated is that you must be afraid of Me and that you cannot live in this communion that is the sweet fountain of your Real life and the only way that you are ever wholly free.

So everything that you have come into this world to do rests on your return to Me and on your ability to choose beyond the ego’s fear and to truly, truly let Me in that I may be for you this touch of freedom and the Love for which you long. When I reach unto you, My humanity, precious cells of My eternal heart, what I feel is this great desperation, this search for Love in which you turn outward from yourself and dear ones, that is the reversal in a nutshell. That is the lie of the ego embodied.

I call you back into unity that comes from living in this Love that I Am ever and always giving you. I have asked you to bathe in the Light. Now I call you to come unto this Love and let it be for you the awakening at last of your true heart. Let it be the remembrance of your Real identity as that which breathes My name and beats in the rhythm of Creation, taking in this Love that I Am and only then, giving it forth – receiving it back again and returning it Home to Me.

This is the law of Creation but it can only begin at the true beginning that is the alpha, that is the Love I Am, that is the center, the truth of all life. It is what some have called the “zero point” of being. It is that place in which you know beyond all need for knowledge and feel in the greater well of feelings that you are loved completely and forever.

This Love is unconditional and nothing the world can dream can interfere with it. All the ways the ego has invented to keep you away from Me by convincing you … whatever it is… that you have sinned, that you aren’t worthy, that you aren’t good enough, that if somebody knew the deep secrets within you, you wouldn’t be loved… The truth is I know you down to your very atoms and electrons and I love you with All I Am, and believe Me, that is “huge”…as you say. All I Am is All That Is and that is how much I love you.

My Love is the balm to your spirit. It is what is meant to be your daily food, your true nourishment and that which gives you right relationship with All That Is. As you return to Me, as you turn back, dear ones, as you truly are reborn in the living spirit – you do bring all of humanity with you and mend the nightmare of broken hearts. For your heart can only know its truth when you accept My Love and I Am the focus of your life.

If you come and simply call to Me and say, “God, I am ready to accept your Love,” you will feel this Love warming the very depths of your being and washing away the anguish brought by the world. It brings to you the true peace in which you are meant to live, in which you know you can live on this Love. It is to be your food, your “meat,” your life, your sustenance. From it comes all life that surrounds you, abounds in the abundance and joy that comes from knowing your true place as the recipient of the very energies of Creation, the heart of God I Am.

Tea Fire

Hi there everyone,

So many of you have been reaching out to me and I am so grateful for your immense love and support. Thank you for your kindness and generosity and prayers. I am sorry if I have lagged in returning calls, e-mails and texts so I thought it best to write a group e-mail to keep you informed if you want to know what's happening with my part of this story.

Here's the update...I evacuated my home last night after my dear friend Liesel Rigsby (thank you...I love you) alerted me of the fire just after it broke out. Thank God I was home. I drove over to Mountain Drive to see the inferno beginning to take over the hill. It was intense with whipping winds that were nearly knocking over those of us that watched. I immediately called my Mom, sister, brother-in-law and friend Lais (thank you - I love you all) who all were on the scene at the house within 1/2 an hour. Peter Manchak also tried to make his way up the hill but it was blocked...thanks for the effort sweetheart. I went back to the house, got my cat Luna safely tucked away in a carrying case and began the process of deciding what the heck to try and save. We managed to gather up many of the valuables amidst candlelight and flashlight after the electricity went out. I climbed up on the roof as Lais held the ladder and sprayed it down chanting and calling upon Vishnu, the Hindu God of Preservation. We left and headed to my Mom's house where we holed up, watched the news, went out for fire watch drives and tried to sleep (I'm operating on 4 hours).

I was up by 6am and back on the watch, wait, pray, cry, panic, trying to get my s*** together patrol. By 10am I was having a meltdown on the phone with my sister. Thank God I have a warrior Goddess for a sister and she whacked me with the sword of Truth and said, "Practice what you preach Anne...your powers of prayer, manifestation and light are needed right now and you know how to do this! Do not succumb to fear." Now whether or not those were her words, I cannot exactly say, but this is what I heard. Thanks for kicking my ass Brooke! I summoned my inner Shaman and remembered that I AM THE ONE I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR and that I am here on the planet at this time to be of service and that this is the moment to dig deep. I shifted into healing mode and began to send light out to the house and out into the hills of SB imagining that there were 72 boundary shields of protection around it (thanks for the visual Alex Tolken!)

Then I rallied with my Mom and sister to go down to Cottage Hospital where we watched the fire from the 6th floor. We had to go out onto a prohibited balcony but this is no time for following all the rules. With tears in our eyes we looked through the binoculars and saw the glitter of the airstream on the property amidst the untouched hillside of my neighborhood. It was such a relief to see my sweet neighborhood was safe. We drove back to Montecito and then my friends Peter and Lisa (I love you 2 and Brad too) who are neighbors just down the street called to let me know that I could get into the neighborhood if I wanted to get any more valuables. So my Mom and I were lead through the backroads by Peter via cell to the house. It was devastating to see Rattlesnake Canyon and the hillside up at Mount Calvary burnt to ash. As we approached my street all became relatively clear and calm. My neighborhood miraculously was untouched. With multiple helicopters flying overhead we gathered up more valuables, watered down the house and plants and got out of there. I have had reoccuring dreams for years of floods, earthquakes or fires raging up all around the property but it being protected and untouched and here it was...happening. We drove down to a view of Parma Park and the entire stretch of Mountain Drive and were heartbroken to see see a gray expanse of near nothingness. The enchanted emerald green valley that I drove through yesterday is no longer there today. Just a house here and there is popping up out of the ashes and I am at this very moment praying that one of those homes is Peter and Pieters. I love you guys and am so here for you. We drove on down Stanwood where everything was just gone. A news crew from ABC stopped us and interviewed us. You can see the story at http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/state&id=6505191. Click on "Tea Fire destroys Montecito Monastery." We drove on through Montecito where many of the homes on Coyote were burned and on to the Westmont area that lost 9 buildings and about 15 teacher's homes from what I understand. I have been back at my Mom's house hanging with my family, talking non-stop on the phone, texting, e-mailing and still praying and invisioning everyone safe and sound. My aunt Ruthan is here also, evacuated from her home off of APS. I am so grateful for the generosity of my family who have My original plan for the night was to be with Sara, Lais, Mia and Tracy up at the house for a slumber party where we were going to do a cleansing fire ritual...sadly ironic.

Here are the latest stats: •1,500 acres burned •Approximately 100-200 homes damaged or destroyed •5,446 homes evacuated •More than 500 firefighters •10 injuries from smoke inhalation •3 burn injuries...I did just hear that an elderly person who had to be evacuated has died. :(

I know many people who have lost their homes and I am so devastated for you all. I am here to help however I can. Our lovely little town has suffered quite a blow and it is going to take some time for us all to heal. We are so blessed to have each other and to have been helped by our dear friends and the very courageous firefighters and volunteers. I continue to expand all the cooling, still, love, peace and compassion that I can from my heart to you all and trust that there will be some mighty phoenixes that rise from these ashes. OM.

ALL LOVE,

Anne

Faith Like Flowing Water

If I had to choose my favorite element I do believe I would choose water. Just now I was looking through my master book of Vedic Astrology that my Vedic Astrologer Nalini Kantha put together for me back in 1999. In the back of the book I wrote down some quotes that I came upon at some point in time and I cannot remember how I found them. I have seen this writing many a time but for some reason decided to read it this morning. Here is what is says...

"We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course.

Water never waits. It changes shape and flows around things and finds the secret paths no one else has thought about.

Draw upon your strengths in living your life.

All we can do is flow where the landscape of our lives carries us.

We must use whatever methods we can to understand the movement of the Universe around us and time our actions so that we are not fighting the currents, but moving with them."

These ideas remind me of one of my on-going intentions which is to do my best to live up to my name. Anne means "graceful", Franklin means "truth" and Van de Water means "of the water". So, these quotes are supporting me today in drawing upon the fluid, supple, surrendering, yielding and flowing power of water that finds a way to move around and through opposition without getting stuck and stagnant, tapping into the yet unchartered secrets of my true essence.

Recently when I was flying from Kauai to the Big Island I was looking through Hana Hou magazine on Hawaiian Airlines and read an amazing article about free diving. I learned that humans have now surpassed dolphins in our ability to hold our breath. At one time dolphins were land dwelling creatures and evolved into sea dwelling creatures. There are scientists who believe that we humans are going through a similar evolutionary process. Recently I was getting a pedicure and the Oprah show was on the TV and David Blaine was the guest and was in a huge on-stage tank underwater challenging himself to beat the world record for holding his breath. He beat it when he stayed underwater for 17 minutes! It was amazing! Within a few weeks I received a call from a man who was a world record holding freediver seeking my help with pranayama and relaxation techniques. And just last week I came upon the article about freediving. I am beginning to feel like life is steering me in the direction of exploring my evolution back into being a more water bound being. I did swim before I walked...maybe that was a early cue...I was sharing all of this with my friend Mia today who reminded me of the Chumash legend that the Chumash will one day walk across a rainbow from Point Conception to the islands and some will fall from the rainbow into the sea and become dolphins...what a lovely image.

I found this image when I searched for a photo of flowing water. It's called "Faith Like Flowing Water"...what a beautiful name and a attribute to embody.