Endings
I have now been actively practicing the PQ (Positive Intelligence) Mental Fitness Programme on a daily basis for almost two straight years. In addition, I completed my 18 months of training as a PQ Mental Fitness Coach, gaining certification in July of this year. The support of my fellow coaches, peer group, and clients has been invaluable on this exciting adventure, and I am looking forward to more discovery, creativity, and growth in this arena in the new year. It is my conviction that this PQ Mental Fitness modality will establish itself as a fundamental element of transformation coaching in the years to come…
Solstice
Then there was the question as to how the architects got the solar alignment correct, to such a degree that the Winter Solstice spectacle functions perfectly. How could they have known what to do and how to execute such a plan? Surely the people who built Newgrange had both know-how, resources, and wisdom at their disposal which we cannot even imagine today. What cosmic forces guided them in this endeavour? How can we, as humans, tap into such forces and cultivate the connection?
Roots
At the end of this seemingly successful treatment, Rowland Hazard, now several months dry, was confident that he could remain abstinent and return to the US to continue his recovery. He only got as far as Paris, however, where someone asked him the wrong question: `Would you like a glass of champagne, Sir?´
Returning to Zurich with his tail between his legs, distraught and depressed, he once again sought out Dr Jung. He asked him what hope, if any, there was for him. Jung was frank with his American client…
Samhain
My father’s death and, in particular, how he handled the experience, has also shown itself to be a great gift. By leaving this incarnation in a conscious state of humility, faith, and gratitude, he demonstrated how best we can embrace the ultimate human challenge. Almost half a century later, I still find myself unwrapping further layers of this precious gift…
Bealtaine
My sense is that the TV has superseded the open fire in the homes and psyches of our people. I much prefer the fire, a preference based on countless hours of `fire-watching´ in my childhood. You will find no TV in my abode…
Sweat Lodge
I sat in complete blackness, except for the glow of the red-hot stones and the firefly effects of the herbal offerings placed upon them before the dousing with water began. When the water did hit the stones, there was a loud sizzle, both audible and tangible. This moment was cathartic. I found myself sweating profusely in what seemed both the `Womb on Mother Earth´ and the actual womb in which I was gestated so many years ago. The former gave me great comfort and solace, while the later came close to inducing panic…
Expansiveness
I am reminded of the image of a group of famished people sitting around a huge cauldron of soup with only spoons of ridiculous length at their disposal. Far longer than a human arm, they make it impossible to feed oneself. Then one person gets the bright idea that they should each feed the person opposite. In this manner an individual problem is solved by means of a collective solution. All are ultimately satiated…
Halloween
For our Celtic ancestors, the Festival of Samhain (Halloween) marked the beginning of winter, and it heralded the start of the new year. For many of us, the encroaching darkness brings a shiver, not so much from the cooler temperatures, but more from anticipation of the shorter, colder days and the long, silent nights ahead. The green of the once fresh leaves is giving way to shades of brown, bronze, russet, and red. They will soon have fallen, leaving behind the skeleton-like silhouettes of the majestic crowns they once mantled.
Unity
In preparing my thoughts for this essay, it struck me for the first time that the term `unity´ is embedded in the word `community´. The healing experience of recovery is a community experience. When we arrive, hopeless and apparently broken beyond repair, we are lovingly taken in by those who know our predicament, for they had been at that turning point and had overcome their state of bondage. When they helped us, all they asked is that we `pay forward´ to the next wave of those who needed the solution, that which we were so freely given..
My Tribe
And the man told how he had been ailing so long and was still waiting to get into the bath first, upon the waters being moved, in order to be healed; but for these thirty-eight years he had been unable to get in first, others always getting into the bath before him. And Jesus saw that he was old and said to him: `Do you wish to get well?´ He said: `I wish to, but I have no one to carry me into the water on time. Some one will always get into the water before me.´ And Jesus said to him: `Awake, take up your bed and walk´. And the sick man took up his bed and walked…
