Merry Christmas!

I think that heaven is the final destination after we are done with all our reincarnations.  Reincarnations happen, perhaps, to give us enough life time to experience all we wanted to experience, and to learn all we wanted to learn.  When I say 'we' I mean our higher self, our soul...  I suppose that when I become a 'disembodied' soul again and would see my path more clearly, I would be able to choose (if there is such a thing).  Being who I am now, I simply don't know enough about the ultimate goals of my soul to choose one way or the other.  Sorry if my terminology is kinda mixed and matched here : )

I was born in the faraway city called Baku, on the shores of the beautiful Caspian Sea...

Faraway, because now I live across the globe, in US Northwest... 
Faraway, because now I live in a completely different era of my life...

I don't have too many memories of my life there, as it seems to have happened so long ago.  I left Baku when I was still a child.  I remember my childhood friends.  I remember the glittering sun on the sand beaches, and slow gentle waters of the warm sea, and the grape vines growing right out of sand.  I remember the white and pink rich lace of the apple and cherry and peach trees in bloom.  And I remember the winds, winds, winds....  It was a very happy place to grow up.

I also remember the other side of Baku.  When the happy started changing into confused surprise, then into sore heartache, and then into apprehension, panic, and terror...  It was late 1980's.

I would not go into politics of what had happened, or the philosophy of it - social terror, displacement of thousands of people based on their nationality, unspeakable violence...  The world has seen examples of such happenings many times and in many places throughout the history of humanity.  Such examples can be found in the world today.   I do not take upon myself to predict the future, but I would be very surprised if such atrocities would never happen again on our planet.

My memories of those times still make my soul squeeze with hurt.  I remember my school "friends", with whom I used to play before, turn away from me because I was in the "wrong camp".  I remember my parents not letting me out alone anymore, even to walk the dog - it was too dangerous.

I remember my family and I deciding on the best escape route from our home if "they..." came for us.  "They..."?  Who were "they..."?  I had a very vague idea of people with guns, maybe masked, with 'bad' intentions - I couldn't picture those intentions precisely at the time.

And then we left our home.  Taking only what we could carry, leaving most of the possessions behind.   We left into a nowhere.  Into a mere promise of more security.  Into the promise of survival.

We were among the few of the lucky families who decided to leave early.  There were many who stayed behind, hoping that the authorities would "fix" the situation for the better.  Hoping for protection and for the return of the old peaceful life.  Their hope soon turned into dismay, hope for which they had to pay an unbearable price.  Murder, rape, homes set on fire...  Some managed to escape, and many did not.

That happened many years ago, on the normal scale of time, and eons ago on the scale of my heart.   The memories of the events have faded, the pain in my soul had subsided.

Yet, the memories of my city remain...  My city, my Baku, somewhere far away...  Built by the human love and cooperation, torn by the human brutality.  Although it has been rebuilt, and revived, it is quite different now from what I remember it to be.  Some day I hope to muster up enough bravery and visit it again.  When (and if) I visit, I know I would cry...  maybe smile too...  Would I find familiar places?  Or someone I knew from the past?  Perhaps... 

But mainly I will be looking to find that part of myself that got lost, long ago, in that faraway city on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

Our outside world is a reflection of our inner world... Or is it?

This implies the system of duality - inside vs. outside.  But how about putting both 'worlds' into one?

Do you have an insight into this topic?  Please share....

A baby.

Believe it or not, but here is a true story. 

We recently had a termite infestation.  Those huge confident-looking termites especially liked to parade around the window sill in my bedroom, climb up and down the curtains, litter on the carpet under that same window, and generally behave in a very naughty way. 

After a few days of such nonsense, I'd decided that I'd had enough.  I called in the termite extermination service, and they promised to come in for an inspection on Tuesday.   I had plans to be out that day, so I left a note on the window sill with an arrow pointing to the place where the termites were spotted - for the exterminators.

Smiling to myself, and half-jokingly, I looked at the note and said in my head (addressing the termites):  "well, guys, if you value your lives, you better pack up and flee before the exterminators come!" 

In a short while a termite showed up out of its termite hole and, as usual, started the promenade along the window sill - right where I placed the note with the arrow.  I watched.  The termite stopped by the piece of paper, then climbed on it, and slowly inspected it from all sides.  Then it climbed hastily back into its hole. 

Guess what.  In the next few days that were left until the Tuesday Extermination date, no matter how hard I looked for those pesky termites, I couldn't spot a single one.   They disappeared!  I cancelled the exterminators, and haven't seen termites since.

Hilarious?  Delusional?  Mystical?  Those termites either read the note, or they read my mind! 

How would you call it looking through the prism of your perception?

New Year's Eve!  I love it.  It's the celebration, the joyful party, but mostly it is the time of reflection on the past, and the hope for the future changes.  And of course icecream and cakes :)

My husband's...  He smiles very rarely, so when he does smile it becomes a special holiday for the whole family.  And my kids'...  They smile and laugh a lot, and are so full of joy and happiness that it overflows and makes everyone around (including me!) want to join in the fun :)

A one of a kind night...  Fresh translusent air...  Unusually bright blue of the evening sky...  And the moon - beautifull full moon, not its usual "cheese" color, but bright shining silver disk, radiant and inspiring.

It was my very first time watching the moon eclipse.  For those of you fellow sky watchers who enjoyed the scene, it was a great sight to remember I am sure.   To make the evening more fun, our family decided to have a "moon eclipse party".   We set up a camping tent in our living room, got the fireplace going, and put some chairs and binoculars out in the patio. 

It was truly an unforgettable experience for me.  From the beginning to the end of the "show", it was supposed to take about 3 hours - starting at about 2 a.m.  There was not a cloud in the dark sky and the view was excellent.  As the time approached, the moon seemed much brighter than usual.  Then, slowly, a small shadowy "cap" started to settle over the top of the moon, covering it more and more. 

Over the next hour and a half, the shadow of our planet completely covered the face of the moon - that I expected to see.  What came as a total surprise to me was that the moon turned RED!  It was a beautiful deep dark red, glowing so mystiriously and with such ageless wisdom that it took my breath away.  But that's not all. 

I could distinctly see the circular shadow of Earth projected onto the dark surface of the moon, and it made me feel even more breathless.  How small we are, I thought.  That small circle out there, not bigger looking that a dime, is the projection of OUR PLANET!  The planet where we live, the planet that seems so huge from the window of my room, the planet where great wars and discoveries and dramas are hapenning!   

This sight elisited a familiar feeling - I felt this small before, when I first watched the closing moments of "Men In Black".  If you remember, that's when the "camera" starts moving away from our streets up further and further out of our solar system, out of the Milky Way, and finally our whole World is presented within a simple marble being used as a toy by some out-of-the-world creature, playing with many similar marbles and just having fun.  

It does help to step away, I guess, to see the big picture better. :)

Anyway, I didn't see the second half of the "show" as I fell asleep - that's when the moon slowly got uncovered again and then set beyond the western horizon.   There are some pictures of the eclipse that I found on the net (mine didn't come out well at all), I hope you enjoy them.  And happy sky watching in the future!

Exploring Energy Healing
Your comments are welcome!

For those of you who don't know me, I am The Explorer.  As a part of my exploring lately, I've been trying myself at Energy Healing for the past sometime, and found that it works!  I feel better, my friends and clients feel better... 

Yet there is still some confusion going on in my mind (and heart) - what is it exactly that is taking place during healing?  And why it doesn't work sometimes?  I feel a lot like a todler studying a new toy - if you push that button, it makes a sound, wow!  But now this todler inside me wants to know the deeper truths and the mechanisms, and the theory behind it, and the bigger picture of why and how. 

Here is my stab at Healing. 

We all have pains one place or another (if we are alive, that is) - physical, emotional, mental, spiritual,...  you name it.  Pain is the indication that something is wrong.  It is a vibration coming from the "hurting place" trying to reach our "brain" in a petition to take action, to correct the situation, to right the wrong.

When we look at the "hurting place" (at the true source of this vibrational disturbance) and properly address the issue, the vibration representing pain changes into a more calm and peaceful vibration, now sending the signal that the situation is corrected.  And we say Healing has occurred.

So Healing to me is the process of transforming pain into peace...

Who /  What can experience healing?

Any body of energy, anyone or anything containing an energy field around them can experience it. 

And I believe that in our world all matter contain an energy fireld around it.   And not only matter, of course.

Why?  Well, on a purely physical level, all matter is made of particles that vibrate and behave a lot like energy (just ask the physisists).  Each of those vibrating particles create an energy field around themselves.  So any material object (a bunch of particles lumped together) is a synergetic combination of smaller energy fields - each object (a cell, a rock, a tree, a human being, a planet, a galaxy) contains an energy field with unique vibrational signature.  (Physisists would have a more elegant explanation of this, of course.)

What else?  Our words, thoughts and emotions contain energy fields (or we can say "vibrational signatures" - that sounds more fancy).  I think the experiments with water and other items that Dr. Masaru Emoto performed clearly show that.

More?  We can venture into the realm of our souls and their energy fields...  (I am floundering a bit here, so someone please help me out!)

So, we can heal ourselves, our planet, our pets, and our vegetables in the garden, our rivers, mountains...  well, you get the picture.  We can heal our environment!!  And our thought patterns!!  And our emotional state!!  And our inner / spiritual world(s)!!  Wow!  (The inner toddler is getting really excited now...)

WHAT can be used to heal our pains (and transform them into peace)?

Anything with a "healing" energy field around it can be used.  Color.  Sound.  Aroma.  Homeopathic remedy is one of my favorite ones.  Universal energy channeled through hands.  Love.  Light.  A breath of a Spirit Guide.  Prayer.  There are so many "tools"!

What do I mean by "healing energy field"?  I understand it as a vibrational signature that brings the vibrations of the "hurting place" back to normal / healthy state. 

It's very simple, really.  Just find the vibration needed for healing and apply it.  What can be easier???

What is the CATCH?

Then if everything is so wonderful and limitless, why is there still SO MUCH PAIN in the world?!  And so little peace???  What is it that healing cannot work on?  Why?  What can be humanly understood and changed?

I'd like to find answers to these questions...

What do YOU think?

Please feel free to post any and all comments no matter how outrageous :)