1/11/01 - Thursday

Last night Rich took me out to dinner, then to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  It was
beautifully filmed and after awhile of reading subtitles, my brain began to think the movie was in English.  The realistic martial arts sequences were the best part -- the fantasy martial arts sequences, well, I'm not sold on them.  The other best part was Michelle Yeoh.  I think she's terrific. And the character she played was wonderful: a strong, highly skilled martial arts warrior with a dignified and gentle strength.  Very good soundtrack, too.

1/10/01 - Wednesday - Birthday!

I get a daily numerology email newsletter from Las Vegas numerologist Linda P. Link.   Here's part of today's message:

Famous Birthdays......

1-10-1945...................Rod Stewart
1-10-1949...................George Foreman
1-10-1953...................Pat Benatar

This is a one calender day......One is the warrior..The Brave...The Original
One is a very mental energy......it is the thinker....very frugal with money....

Be brave in your new thoughts and actions....the sun in capricorn can bring
you confidence....

Mantra.......I am full of ideas.....I move forward with purpose and resolve....

I enjoy all her good thoughts.  If you'd like to receive "Cycles 5000" email Linda.

Linda used to live here in the Chicago area close to me.  We'd get together and compare her numerology predictions with my astrological ones and they'd almost always be in alignment.

1/9/01 - Tuesday - Solar Return

My solar return occured this morning at 9:06 a.m. in advance of my 50th birthday tomorrow.  I always plan special celebrations for my solar return -- the time when the sun returns to the exact location it was a your birth.  The theory is that the seeds that you plant at this time blossom in the year ahead.  So I never ignore my birthdays.  I've been contemplating my solar return chart for weeks and took time to write out affirmations signifying positive use of the energy in that chart.  I spent time in meditation at the solar return, affirmed my positive thoughts, and then went on to have a fun day.

For the first time in years, I had a real birthday party.  My solar return had Aquarius rising so I knew it was important to get together with friends.  It was Rich's idea to skip cooking and cleaning and take my friends to the fabulous lunch buffet at "India House" in Schaumburg.  Shelley, my friend since sixth grade drove out from the city.  She is a writer and rune-stone reader.  Constance, a pianist and meditation/yoga teacher, met us, along with Bonnie, an intuitive and energy healer, and Vicki, who is an herbalist and aroma therapist.  So it was part "ladies who lunch" and part "psychic friends network."

Then, tonight I got a birthday call from another important member of my "psychic friends network."  Davida called from L.A. and I got to hear the further adventures of "the psychic to the stars."  I call her that, partly to tease her, and partly because she's done tarot and palmistry at some major Hollywood parties.  Davida organizes a huge group of psychics to work at "Zazz Bash" every September to help raise money for the Chicago Sun-Times Charities.

1/8/01 - Monday

I took a look at a new website created by my friend and fellow astrologer Barbara Nowak.  Her artwork just blows me away with it's beauty.  Barbara has also created a series of astrological e-postcards available (free, of course) on the Zodiacal Zephyr Site.
 

1/7/01

My friend and sister disciple Lucia DeLaCruz made her transition on December 24, 2000.  She was 96 years old.  Today we had a "death & rebirth" ceremony for her at the Temple.
Lucia:  Awake, arise and continue the path -- we shall meet again at the right time, the right place, in the right way.  Om shanti, shanti, shanti.

(This is a picture of Lucia and our guru, Goswami Kriyananda taken April 21, 1985.)

After the liturgy, the ceremony was opened to friends who wanted to share their memories about Lucia.  Everyone talked about what a sweet and loving person she was, always telling us good things about ourselves, never complaining.  I said that she was an inspiration to me in her determination to be at the Temple.  Although sometimes she would get rides from people (God bless them!), even into her nineties, she would take two buses to come for the meditations and discipleship classes.

At the noon meditation, we watched Kriyanandaji on video.  He talked about making changes in your life for the new year.  "How do you make postive changes?" he asked.  "By changing your attitude, changing your internal environment, expanding your awareness, and attuning to the more subtle."

1/6/01

One of the features that comes with my new domain is mailinglists.  So I set up two lists:
one to let folks know about the classes I'll be teaching (just  send the message:  subscribe in this email)
and one to send a newsletter (maybe monthly) that will have reminders about what astrological events and aspects to pay attention to plus my observations on living by the stars. (send the message:subscribe in this email)

1/5/01

Welcome to my updated webpage on my new domain!  I'm learning a lot of new things in the process of getting it up and running.   I suppose I could say that working with something new is frustrating.  I could also say:  what a wonderful opportunity to see if I've gained any patience in this lifetime ;-)