Expansion - The OrionWisdom Newsletter
Winter 2010

Greetings From Elisabeth...
 
As I write this the maple trees in the yard are still vividly red in their last days, falling into swirling brown heaps on this windy and cool day.  I didn’t travel to the Washington DC area this Fall for an Orion event as I often do, but do hope to be there in the Spring.  Now I can feel the Winter energy coming present and want to stay home, warm and cozy.  I'm beginning to think of gatherings with family and friends and reconnecting with those who are far away, including you who share in our Orion connection.   I hope this newsletter 'Hello' finds each of you most well indeed.
 
 
This issue includes two pieces from Orion.  The first is a piece Orion wrote especially for this year end/year beginning time, holding the focus on Not Fooling YourselfAn Idea to Carry into 2011.  The other is edited from Orion's Opening Talk at the June Event in Washington, DC, with Orion focusing on Connecting to Unity through Dis-Connection, which I feel you will find simpatico with the 'Not Fooling Yourself' piece.
 
Dancers Between Realms, our book on Empath Energy, is now available at Amazon.com in a Kindle version, for all you e-book fans.
 
And lastly, as some of you may celebrate the year end with gifts and special things, I’m reminding you of some very talented people who offer beautiful, thoughtful and often moving things that might be just right for a special person or as a gift to yourself.
 
I treasure our continuing connection and wish you all a touch of Wonder now and in the new year.
 
As ever, wishing you each all the best, Elisabeth

Dancer's Between Realms on Kindle


ORION ON... 'Don't Fool Yourself' - An Idea to Carry Into 2011
 
A client of ours shared how the thing she liked and respected most about her partner was that he never fooled himself.  He always looked at himself clearly, apologized if his actions warranted, admitted when he didn’t understand, acknowledged when he over-reacted and basically, always tried to look himself and life straight in the eye and proceed from there.  A useful example, we would say.
 
Not fooling yourself is the first step toward being with the 'what is' of life. Not fooling yourself leads to looking at life clearly and finding a way with being with things just as they are.  Being with 'what is' does not mean you are 'stuck' with things as they are. Change can occur, but you cannot begin to move toward change without that very first acknowledgment of how things actually are in this moment. 
 
Some people come to 'not fooling themselves' early on in life.  Perhaps they have a parent who does fool themselves, who impacts the family with not seeing clearly or avoiding obvious things that need attention.  A young person may emerge holding the idea that they were going to call things as they truly are. 
 
Other people may come to value 'not fooling themselves' through retrospect and introspection. They also learn to not fool themselves by having to deal with challenging consequences from the times they overlooked or convinced themselves everything would be alright or otherwise avoided taking the moment to see how things truly are.
 
'Not fooling yourself' acts as a support and strength.  It is not a negating or pessimistic attitude.  It is simply one that realizes the actual lay of the land has to be considered before changes, additions and other options can come into play.  It can feel like an impediment, though.  It may interrupt the forward movement of our idea or ideal of what we want or how we want things to be.  It may feel like we have been caught up short.  But that is only the effect when what is seen needfully interrupts our desire, as the truth reveals our desire was not aligned. 
 
And when the truth shows us that we cannot proceed as we first thought, we actually really do want to know that information.  Ideas and ideals that proceed only by hiding truth and clarity will, in time, be impacted in a way we had not hoped or expected by that which we didn't want to see.
 
'Not fooling yourself' is an active attitude of awareness.  It is an attitude that says, 'Okay, let me see what is here.  What is here with me in the situation, with others, with the timing, with situation itself, with as much as I can.'  It is an active attitude of inquiry, beginning with you in the situation and then perhaps proceeding to actually get more information about the situation. 
 
It is an attitude that is willing to risk that seeing clearly may change something – you may alter a plan, not proceed, need to back up, need to apologize, need to rebalance with someone else, need to be cautious, need to act immediately, need to say no, need to say yes.  But in the end, clarity will be the most aligned path – with both the inner and outer dynamic.
 
'Not fooling yourself' is the essential foundation to developing and experiencing the beauty and strength of being true to yourself.
 
We cannot see everything at all times.  Truth is sometimes unclear and can take time and experience to be revealed, understood and recognized.  Truth is often explored in retrospect and simply cannot be understood in the now as it can be from looking back.  In the dance of clarity through retrospect, we evolve and inform our present and perhaps create markers and sign-posts to assist us in our future.
 
Many people have had to deal with a disappointment of ideas and ideals in 2010.  Changes did not happen as one thought they would.  Some change reverted to more of the same.  Other things simply did not change.  Leaders do not lead as we want them to.  The economy impacted or even took away personal choices and options. New limits continue to show up and impact our daily lives.  Truths are revealed but it does not affect anything.  Lies are revealed and they do not affect anything.
 
When the outer world seems overwhelming, we quite naturally turn our attention to our personal world, including our inner-world.  Considering, exploring and perhaps, embracing, an attitude of 'Don't fool yourself' may be gift of awareness you want to take into the new year. 
 
And in the idea of the 100th monkey -  that your change may have an impact on others in ways you cannot fathom - not kidding yourself, honing your capacity to seek the truth through inquiry and conscious attention, may be the gift of awareness you share by living it yourself.                     
                         Orion                                                                      
                                                                  
                                                                                   


ORION ON... Connecting to Unity Through Dis-Connection
This piece is excerpted and edited from Orion's Opening Talking at the Orion Event in the Washington, DC area June 20, 2010.  I have included Orion's welcome to the participants.
 
Good afternoon and welcome.  And we'd like to say thank you so much for being willing to come, to share your openness, to share your curiosity, to engage with such as us to explore something perhaps a little different or perhaps, for you, something very customary.  But your attention is always a gift to us and we always appreciate it and like to begin with honoring and appreciating it.
 
We've been talking a lot, with others, about Unity - the interconnection of all things.  Talking about the movement towards Unity which includes the desire for comprehension and understanding with one and other, and on the larger scale as well.  Many people experience disappointment when they reach towards sharing Unity and it either is not expressed, experienced or even rejected.  They ask 'Cannot others see what seems so true and apparent to me?  How can I share this so it will be received and understood as I understand it?' 
 
We find is there are elements of paradox at play in the dynamic of sharing the sense of Unity.  Often to reach the place of recognition of interconnection,  you have to begin with acknowledgment of disconnection, acknowledgment of difference. 
 
We're very specific when we say 'recognition' of interconnection.  You are all connected.  Culture is all connected.  The planet is all connected.  You are embedded in Unity.  You are - we are – actuality itself -  are expressions of Unity. To us the interconnection of all things is the root of existence.
 
But as inherent as the interconnection of all things is, people also carry a very strong capacity to not recognize the interconnection of all things.  Therefore, the movement of many spiritual  and philosophical teachings, is to remind people of the interconnection of all things; supporting them in finding ways to 'see' and recognize that which is present; helping people to seek again and again the wholeness of all things.
 
Yet, seeing the wholeness of life is not a constant.  Rather, the myriad things which get one's attention in life, interrupts our capacity to really stay in such recognition.  That is often why it is considered a special moment when one fully recognizes or experiences interconnection – a moment of bliss, a moment of 'aha'. 
 
We feel that when you engage your intellect and give yourself a framework to conceptually consider the interconnection of all things,  you enhance the possibility to consistently discover and recognize this underlying truth – that it is all connected.  We are all a collective and in that, it is a constant, moving, dancing exchange of being. 
 
But how do we actually tend to live? – by not recognizing the interconnection of all things.  As opposed to this, many people who carry a spiritual perspective of Unity, want to come and speak to each other, saying, 'Do you not see we are all connected?  Do you not want to celebrate our interconnection?  Don't you see that you am I and I are you?'  Beautiful indeed.  Perhaps everyone in this room can understand that language and move to that resonance and follow it. 
 
Often, what happens is that language of Unity does not reach someone.  Rather, the person has a reaction and thinks 'I'm not like you.  I don't think like that.  Well, maybe those words are okay, but I don't feel like that, I feel like this.  I feel differently than you.'  And in response there may be movement to say, 'Oh no, you are like me, see?'  And rather than them opening their eyes and hearts and feeling you, they feel threatened, uncomfortable, not seen, invisible and connection is simply not experienced.
 
In our view, most people are not resonating to this inherent connection. They are, naturally perhaps, seeing the world through their own eyes, language and consciousness first.  They want to be seen as they feel they are.  They want to be acknowledged as different from those they do not feel like. This can be on a very broad scale – 'I am this kind of believer and I am not like you, that kind of believer.' 
 
It can be very personal, as in this exchange –
'I am very afraid of this. Aren’t you afraid of it too? 
'No, I'm not.' 
'Well, don't you understand how I am afraid?'
'No, I don't.' 
'Well, can't you feel into how I'm afraid because, you know, we're really all one?'
 'No, I don't really understand you and I'm not afraid.'
 
What is happening there?  How are they not feeling each other?  How is the unafraid person not moving into empathy with the afraid person?  Because the difference is not being acknowledged.  The difference isn't being allowed to be the card laid on the table.  
 
To actually communicate, the dialogue could go this way.
'I'm afraid.'
'Well, I'm not afraid.' 
'Oh, that doesn't scare you.' 
'No, it doesn't scare me.'
'I see that, but it really scares me.' 
'Okay, I see.  It really scares you.' 
'It really scares me so much, can you help me, even though you don't really understand it because maybe sometime you've been afraid about something else?' 
'Well, I'm not afraid about this, but it is possible I was once afraid about something else.  So in the big picture of being afraid, although I'm not afraid about this, maybe I can now understand that you are afraid. So how can I help?'
 
And so the two people in this simple scenario can move to a recognition of a possibility of a shared place and perhaps from there they can move into a true empathy. Further, maybe from there they can move into recognizing that perhaps it's true that many humans at some time or other have experienced being afraid.  And from there, they might be able to consider fear at one time or another might be a universal experience that we share and where we can support each other.  But the exchange had to begin with acknowledging and recognizing difference.
 
We feel people are so concerned that acknowledging difference will amplify difference - making it be bigger and stronger - that they want to pretend it doesn't matter or it's not there.   There's a problem with this, though.  Something that actually is, works best if it is seen and acknowledged. 
 
Now we're using this word acknowledge Acknowledge does not mean acceptance.  It does not ask you to immediately  give up your fear because the other is not afraid.  It is simply noting the what it is – 'Together we can simply say, you are like this right now and I am like this right now.'  And we can almost guarantee you, that when you find that the conversation of  'We are the same' – be it  personal or global – is not being received, it is a clue to pause. To consider, 'Aha – something or someone here needs to be acknowledged just as they are now, before there can be any movement to what else they might be.'  
 
We have to start with honoring and acknowledging - 'I see how you are different.  I see how you are not like me.  You don't have to be like me.'  'Whew, that's great, I don't really want to be like you.'  And from that place – permission to be as one is – in that moment you can then bring the conversation, in language and energy, back to 'But you know, underneath it, we're sitting in this room together, okay.' And you can begin to build the language of what indeed may be our commonalities. 
 
A way to do this also, is for you to remember your own direct experience of Unity -  that moment of feeling connected with All There Is.  When you can have an emotional, let's call it even a mystical trust, that there is this interconnection,  that experiened trust can support you in riding the waves of difference. It can support you to not need another the person to be like you in every way. 'I can see you as different and I'm happy to find how we are alike and I know that no matter what ends up and what we say and what we do, to me the nature of reality is the interconnection, the wholeness of all reality.
 
The principle of interconnection pulses in the background of your being.  Echoing over time in spiritual philosophies, in philosophy, in science.  Interconnection alluded to in language, archetypes, imagery.   Let Unity simply be a flavor of the complex stew of life, embedded in the broth of being.  Let it support you.  Don't worry when it moves from your attention.  Trust your recognition of interconnectedness will arise again.
 
And consider, that sometimes the way to find connection is to really begin with the acknowledgment of difference, of disconnection – within your own aspects of being, as well as with others.                    Orion


HOLIDAY TREASURES from Dear Friends of the Orion Work...
 
Exquisite prints, cards & magical DVDS by Deb Booth
 
Anyone familiar with this newsletter and our website, knows that Deb Booth is an important enhancement to the Orion work.  She created a wonderful line of OrionWisdom note cards and prints, as well as the image that became the cover of Dancers Between Realms.  I am sure you can find most apropos gifts for special people at Deb's DifferentLightStudio online.
 
I have been especially taken with her images printed large-scale on fine quality artists' canvas and wrapped around wooden stretcher bars.  These truly have impact – no frame to stop your eye's journey around the image. 
 
Explore all Deb's newest images, including her wonderful meditative, renewing DVDs which combine her images with some truly beautiful music. And you can always treat yourself by signing up for her free e-newsletter, chock full of inspiring musings and her latest images.

Click here to Explore Deb's world at differentlightstudio.com


The Search for the Crystal Key by Ellyn Dye
 
Ellyn's book, The Search for the Crytal Key, is the perfect gift for any young adult or young at heart in your life. This book is a delight. Not only does our spunky heroine have magical travels and experiences, she deepens her sense of self, learns about the world of relationship and connection, explores new ideas and concepts and most of all, integrates all this and grows and matures. Non-dogmatic spiritual principles are interwoven within this lively tale. The characters are engaging, alive and fully realized.
 
You can find this wonder-full book at Amazon.com and at Ellyn's website.

Click here to the 'Crystal Key' and more at ellendye.com....


Bone Sigh Arts - Terri Urban
 
Terri Urban at Bone Sighs Arts offers magical, tender, powerful cards
and books combining poetry and images.  She too offers a great free e-newsletter as a gift to yourself.

Click here for Delights for you, including free e-cards at bonesigharts.com...


Heron Dance
 
Heron Dance explores the mystery and beauty of the natural world through the art and words, featuring the incredible watercolors and paintings of Roderick MacIver.  Beautifully illustrated books, cards, diaries and more.  And still another free e-newsletter to inspire you.

Click here to Books & Art at HeronDance.org...


Unity - Wishing us all a great 2011!
 
While searching for images on Unity, this came up in my Google search and I felt it was a delightful reminder of same goals with different focus.


We look forward to hearing from you....
Reach us at orionwisdom@gmail.com

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