This weekend we experience the Equinox: for those of us in the Southern hemisphere, it is the Autumnal equinox; for our friends in the Northern hemisphere, it is the Spring or Vernal equinox. In both cases, the Sun illuminates both halves equally, with most places in the World experiencing about 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night.

My friend Paulina Howfield has posted about the event and she sums it up eloquently… here are jut a couple of short extracts from her:

“Change and transformation are part of the cycles of living on this planet, and all change is fed by the cycles of light and the warmth of the Sun. It is our personal and collective response to the 'Call' for change, that makes the difference in our inner and outer worlds, not the change itself.

“So, (…) as the Equinox approaches, why not create an intention to let the warmth of the Sun, and the encoding in the light frequencies fill your subtle bodies as you go about your daily life. When you can, take some moments, minutes or hours to let your mind and body be a focused, purposeful, channel of the higher vibrational energies/frequencies that are currently available, and calmly 'hold space' for All That Is and All That We Came To Be in the coming months of 2021.”

 Last week I posted a new blog on my Southern Sunlight site, posing the question “Who Am I?” I will be following up on that questioning theme in blogs in the near future, and in the meantime, I would like to add the following additional piece here. In my blog I quoted a technique taught by the great author Dr Paul Brunton (1898 – 1981). I did not include his final paragraph on the matter, because it is more suited to appearing here on this page. It reads:

“As the wise Greeks declared, we are all rays of the central spiritual Sun, and just as you cannot separate the golden orb from its individual rays, so you cannot really separate the Absolute Being from the individual souls emanating from it. Because of this fact in Nature, the way to the discovery of your self-divinity exists unbroken for each one of you.”

I believe the following quote from the works of the alchemical philosopher Paracelsus (1493 -1541) is also very relevant to the same topic:
"There is an earthly sun, which is the cause of all heat, and all who are able to see may see the sun; and those who are blind and cannot see the sun may feel the heat. There is an Eternal Sun, which is the source of all wisdom, and those whose spiritual senses have awakened to life will see that sun and be conscious of an existence of a sublime power; but those who have not attained spiritual Consciousness may yet feel this power by an inner faculty which is called Intuition."

This week, I came across a lengthy article posted by a friend on social media. While I did not agree with all of its content, it included the following extract from the work of Rudolf Steiner, which I did find most interesting:

Zarathustra's Two Disciples- Hermes & Moses
Zarathustra said this: “So great and mighty is He who revealed Himself to me in the Sun that I surrender everything for him. I rejoice in sacrificing to Him the life of my body, the etheric existence of my senses, and the expression of my deeds” — the astral body. Such was the vow that Zarathustra made a long time ago.

Zarathustra had two disciples. To one of them, he revealed through spiritual means everything that one can perceive with clairvoyant astral organs. This disciple was reincarnated under the name Hermes, the Egyptian Hermes. To the second disciple, he imparted truths that one can know through the clairvoyant etheric body: the wisdom of the Akasha Chronicle. This second disciple was Moses, and you can find the wisdom imparted to him in the Book of Moses of the Old Testament.

-Rudolf Steiner, lecture at the International Congress of the Federation of European Sections of the Theosophical Society in Budapest, May 31, 1909

There was an interesting report online from Heritage Daily (25 Jan 2021), concerning the discovery of a bas-relief depicting an American golden eagle, by a team of archaeologists from the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH), Mexico.

For the Mexica, the bird of prey was closely related to war and sacrifice, while being considered a nahual of the Sun and, therefore, also of its tutelary god, Huitzilopochtli.

The relief was excavated at the foot of the Templo Mayor (the main temple of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan in present-day Mexico City), in the central axis that crosses the ‘chapel’ of Huitzilopochtli and the monumental sculpture of the goddess Coyolxauhqui.

It reminds us that historically, many deities have been linked to the Sun by various civilizations around the globe. In Central and South America, they were given various names by the Inca, Maya and Aztecs. The three manifestations of the Sun recognized among the Incas were: Inti, Viracocha, Pachacama.

I believe that, just like the ancient Greeks and Romans, they discerned the difference between the physical Sun; the invisible Sun-behind-the-Sun; and the deity who personified the Sun as its representative on Earth.

It is interesting that so many significant archaeological discoveries have been made over the past 100 years, and I believe the coming one to two decades will reveal much more of our hidden ancient origins.

Whenever we speak of the unseen parts of ourselves, we mention the mind, soul, spirit and “heart” when we are referring to our heart-of-hearts – our inner nature or soul personality. It is through the metaphysical heart first, then the physical heart, that our Vital Life Force flows and enters our being.

This week I was drawn to once again visit the Marian Valley in the Gold Coast Hinterland. On the 13th of every month, the fathers, brothers and sisters of the Pauline Monastery carry a statue of Mary from the Black Madonna Chapel in a procession through the valley, down to the Grotto of Our Lady of Fatima. I joined this procession, after the mass and rosary, to partake in the Benediction and Novena.

I am not entirely sure why I am being drawn back to these traditions lately. No doubt it is partly because the world is going through a time of crisis; but, more than that, there are mysteries of religion that I feel I did not adequately understand when I was younger, particularly concerning the images of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart. They are both depicted as being the source of a Flame. I now think we all have such a heart within us or, at least, we can have such a heart. I call it the Solar Heart.

The realization of our true heart goes hand in hand with attainment of our higher consciousness. It is this ascended consciousness – the awareness of the “I Am” within us - that will survive after death, not the lower sense of self that is trapped inside the mortal brain.

Mary herself stands as a symbol of peace, and the Marian Valley is indeed very peaceful.
I will, no doubt, visit again when I am called to do so.

On my bookshelf I have an old book which I just picked up again after many years. It is titled Breathing Alive and the author is Reshad Feild. The following is part of a chapter titled, The Sun Behind the Sun – A Visualization. It begins with all the usual preparations for meditation, including correct breathing and playing some appropriate music. Please note that it is a visualization and does not require you to actually look at the Sun, although I suggest it is probably best performed if you are sitting in the Light of the Sun at the time.
 
“Slowly, still awake to the breathing, sense the golden rays of the sun permeating every cell of your being. Bring the sun into the centre of your chest and let its rays of living gold pour out into the world. Now you are the centre of your own universe! No more are you breathing; you are being breathed.
“Be very still.
“There is a light from a greater sun giving light to your own sun. Open yourself to this light. Let it pour through the crown at the top of your head. This is the ‘Light of Pure Intelligence,’ a light without colour as we know it. It is pure, unadulterated light, unfathomable to the normal human imagination, but always there, ready to illuminate us. Through this light we can see the world as a world of patterns, continuously unfolding from the one still moment of creation.
“Now we can be in the world and yet not of the world. We are like a chalice made of the gold of the sun, able to receive the Spirit from the Breath of His Compassion.”

Have you ever had the experience of reading or watching TV when suddenly, from the corner of your eye, you see what appears to be a dark, shadowy figure moving in the room, even if it is a very brief glimpse? When such figures are humanoid, they are known as Shadow People, and to the many people who have studied them or experienced them firsthand, they are very real.

According to Wikipedia: A shadow person is the perception of a patch of shadow as a living, humanoid figure, and, interpreted as the presence of a spirit or other entity by believers in the paranormal or supernatural.

I admit that, since I began Sun-gazing about 6 years ago, I have experienced a greatly increased number of these sightings. I believe the reason is that Sun-gazing enhances periphery vision, enabling you to see things you would otherwise miss. In my case, the figures are not always humanoid, but often they are winged creatures darting by in an instant.

This week I re-watched an episode of the 1985 Twilight Zone series titled "The Shadow Man," which dealt with a teenage boy who had a Shadow Person living in his bedroom. The episode portrayed the Shadow Man as fitting the "Hat Man" appearance often ascribed to shadow people.

According to Natalia Kuna, a psychic medium, "Shadow People are said to be conscious, intelligent, inter-dimensional beings that can shapeshift into various forms and figurations, and move back and forth between dimensions." In 2001, Heidi Hollis published her first book on the topic of Shadow People. She describes Shadow People as dark silhouettes with human shapes and profiles that flicker in and out of peripheral vision. She believes the figures to be negative, alien beings and suggests repelling them by invoking the Name of Jesus.

Personally, I have never had any reason to fear them, although I sometime wonder if there is a message I am supposed to be picking up, but miss. If you are seeing Shadow people and they bother you, start by having a talk to a reputable psychic to determine what the cause might be.

The Importance of being able to instantly access to your Sanctum Within.

One of the best resources you can have at your disposal to centre yourself in this brave new world is your own private, safe, inner space that you can access quickly, whenever and wherever you need to. Some disciplines teach this practice as a way to calm yourself in times of panic; others use it as a meditative technique. Once created, your sanctuary within will serve these purposes and more. It may be entered for prayer, contemplation and connection to the higher realms.

No matter what our day-to-day activities demand of us, we can build a ‘virtual backroom’ to which we may retreat when necessary, retiring into our own soul. Long before the pressures of high-tech living, the coronavirus pandemic and economic recessions, and the toll they take on our mental and emotional wellbeing, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius spoke of such a sanctuary and called it an Inner Citadel. I also like to use this term.

A note for those who intend to use their inner sanctum as a place to contact guides, angels and beings on the higher planes: Yes, this is a good platform for doing just that and, it is important to note, you are in control here, and no being, person or thing can be present in this place without your express invitation and approval. Always let this be so.

Here is a quote from Shakti Gawain (in her book, Meditations) “In this deep, quiet, restful place within yourself you are in contact with your own deepest wisdom, your own natural inner knowingness, the part of you that’s very wise and knows everything that you need and is able to give you guidance in your life, moment by moment.”

The above is an extract from a longer blog that appears at https://southernsunlightcom.wordpress.com/2020/10/27/your-inner-citadel/

There are invisible, non-material spheres surrounding the Earth, where beings of a higher vibrational frequency dwell. Our world is embedded within a larger rotating sphere – concentric with the Earth - that is made of an aethereal, transparent fifth element (quintessence), like a jewel set in an orb.  The spheres above us go by different names, such as the Noosphere, and the outermost one is called The Empyrean.

I know the invisible layer that immediately surrounds us as the Celestial plane or sphere. We can access this level consciously by connecting with our Overselves. If you are among the increasing number of people who expect that a change of frequency will affect our world on 21st December this year, my suggestion is that you would be best to establish this (re-)connection with your Overself in advance.  

There are those who believe that yet another sphere has been intelligently and artificially placed around our planet, to prevent human consciousness from reaching the next step and becoming self-aware on this plane of existence. Some have referred to this dark force as a “matrix grid”.

The best defence against darkness is Light. If you ensure that your Inner Light is activated and shining, you will not succumb to the darkness that will try to prevent the coming ascension.

In the past two days I have come across the following quotes. It is easy to blame some outside source for our Fall. We were given Free Will, and this is what we chose. A lot of truth in that song by INXS: Devil Inside!

From Michael Roads: A great irony of life is that unwittingly, humanity is the opposition to God.  By maintaining ignorance and believing in separation, we create and maintain nothing but opposition to the holistic Truth of God. […] Every war, every deliberate lie, all our anger, our negativity, adverse criticism, self-righteousness, Self-denial, on and on, all this constitutes our unrealised opposition to God.

From Aurelio Peccei, co-founder of the infamous Club of Rome: For the first time since the first millennium was approached in Christendom, large masses of people are really in suspense about the impending advent of something unknown which could change their collective fate entirely.... Man does not know how to be a truly modern man.... Man invented the story of the Bad Dragon, but if ever there was a bad dragon, IT IS MAN HIMSELF.... Here we have the human paradox: man trapped by his extraordinary capacity and achievements, as in a quick- sand - the more he uses his power the more he needs it. […] Since man has opened Pandora's Box of new technologies, he has suffered uncontrolled human proliferation, the mania for growth, energy crises, actual or potential resource scarcities, degradation of environment, nuclear folly and a host of related afflictions.

In the story of the Fall, Angels – or the sons of God - came down and intermingled with daughters of Man. We are the descendants. We act like passive victims of Fate, rather than acknowledge the base qualities of Human Nature.