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The power of pushback

At the end of last week in the US, one of the former president’s Cabinet picks Matt Gaetz withdrew. Surprising to some, especially given the threatening atmosphere that prevails in Washington DC post election, and more broadly across the US. However when former congressional rep Gaetz spoke to his own party’s Senators, it became clear they wouldn’t support his nomination.

For Democratic Party voters and the former president’s critics, this is a time of great vulnerability and, for some, great fear. Already there are threats of retribution and weaponising the Department of Justice – something he and Maga congressional representatives falsely accused the Biden government of doing. I do not need to labor the obvious fact that the former president projects what he himself is either planning to do or is doing. In other telling news, Maga Senator from Kentucky Rand Paul has decried the former president’s plan to use military on the streets of America to round up migrants. While we’ve seen many of the GOP congress eventually bow to the former president…opposition thus far, at least, shows that pushback can and will work. The midterms loom in less than two years. We all remember the ‘blue tsunami’ days of 2018 when the Democratic Party won back the House and in 2020 retained the House and took the Senate. Perhaps enough GOP reps and Senators do too.

Right now, lines are being drawn in the sand. Everyone is deciding what side of those lines they will stand firm on. Some will waiver and others cave like the Morning Joe anchors who travelled to Mar a Lago in what they described as a ‘civil meeting to keep communication lines open’. Many Democratic Party and Independent democracy warriors have already made it clear they are not taking one step back from their positions before, during and post election. That is, that the former criminally convicted president is more than unsuited for office; he’s a threat to the US Republic, the rule of law and to US citizens and its allies. Highly qualified psychiatric and psychology professionals maintain the former president is in the initial stages of Alzheimer’s. Before the election there was ample evidence of a decline in the former president’s health which has been well documented even by the legacy media.

I took this photo one evening post election and immediately the words to the Beatles 1960’s hit Golden Slumbers came to mind. The Universe will always have the last say…we should still have faith in the benevolence of yesterday and its renaissance in the future.

All this adds to feelings of instability and impending doom that has spread across Democratic Party voters, illegal migrants awaiting certain deportation and those who voted for the former president and are experiencing ‘buyer’s remorse’.

One particular demographic, that of women, are also fearful given emboldened Maga males who perceive they’ve been unleashed by a former president who is a self confessed sexual predator of women.

We could all be forgiven for thinking that the US and even the broader and often unstable world, is a cross between a dystopian horror film and the equally dystopian television series The Handmaid’s Tale.

Yet, when push came to shove and even with the newly minted former president’s decree to punish GOP Senators if they didn’t bow to his will, several thwarted his DOJ Senate pick who has been accused of sex with minors. Do not be surprised though when they pass his newest pick, former Florida AG Pam Bondi…truly weaponising a future DOJ will suit their political needs.

Lines in the sand…we are all drawing them. For some, retreat and rest away from a weak and inadequate US legacy media is the answer. Indeed, the legacy media’s sub standard reporting on the former president’s campaign is one reason he was reelected. They failed to push back against the gross and continual lies and distortions of reality in their reporting, nor call out his bigotry and violent rhetoric in their Opinion sections and when commentating.

However, while the Democratic Party regroups there are many in diverse communication spaces who are pushing back. The electorate still has power which is not so quickly and easily eroded. President Biden’s Democratic Party Senate is passing judicial nominations speedily. The law in the US is an intricate and often unwieldy beast that fails sometimes and holds often. Blue States are banding together to offer greater protections for their citizens. Many of the swing states who voted for the former president have Democratic Party Governors. We should remember, State’s run elections in the US.

There was also some surprising Democratic Party and non partisan judges who won seats on State Supreme Courts…and don’t assume all Republican Party appointed judges will not rule fairly and innovatively in this dystopian-like climate. In Wyoming, a GOP Governor appointed judge struck down the state’s overall ban on abortion by using a law passed following approval of the Affordable Care Act.

There are multiple checks and balances within the US Constitution that, yes, will be sorely tested if the former president takes office, however it is a mistake to assume that fierce opposition to his worst and most destructive actions will fail. It’s now up to everyone to decide where the line in the sand is drawn. For those who continue the fight, the resistance, know you are not alone.

Why did that happen?

Post US election and since the Covid pandemic hit, we are all still searching for the why? Why has the world become such a tough and brutal place. If you’re empathetic in any way, you’re having trouble reconciling all of this with your belief that the Universe is mostly benevolent.

After November 5, 2024 particularly, the world has changed for many of us. There is significant grieving in the US, so much so that it feels palpable. We are still searching for a reason why a serial liar, self confessed predator of women and would be insurrectionist got picked by 49% of those Americans who turned up to vote. The other choice was an ethical, female politician offering $25,000 to Americans to help them build homes. Understandably, we are looking for a narrative to explain the travesty. Was the election stolen? Let the incoming president blow himself and those who voted for him up? The media is to blame? Russia interfered in the election and tech bro Elon Musk did too? Ignorant MAGA and its supporters know no better? The vote was suppressed? Our society is misogynistic, racist and bigoted?

What if I said there was a degree of truth in all of the above to explain the why. Russia did interfere with massive misinformation campaigns and bomb threats, Musk potentially violated Pennsylvania lottery laws when he offered $1m to eligible voters who registered GOP voters and the US Department of Justice warned him about ‘buying votes’. The voter suppression was a fact. Huge swathes of voters were purged off roles in North Carolina and Texas. The media hasn’t even begun to investigate the real extent of voter purging and something else too, missing ballots.

The real kicker…all the fraud theories under the sun do not disguise the obvious misogyny, racism and ignorance out there in certain sections of society and the clear drift towards fascism.

There is no doubt that Trump will fail this term for many reasons including that he is a ‘lame duck’ president – one who is elected for one term only with no possible chance of a second term, and expiring by a set date under law. His bent for retribution, using the military to round up illegal immigrants, his shocking and unqualified cabinet picks, the razor thin majorities, his undoubted weakening of the economy in the future with tariffs…all of that is true and so is the buyer’s remorse that goes with it. Already record numbers are flocking to google to search for ‘how can I change my vote’.

There is ample evidence from recent studies that X was used to distort and boost algorithms in favour of the incoming president. Facebook AI allowed an enduring number of militia pages to spring up as MAGA supporters readied for another round of Stop the Steal violence. Intimidation at polls, burning of ballet boxes, all added up.

The recount in Pennsylvania between incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey and MAGA would be Senator McCormick is a litmus test for the electoral system. If any fraud is present, it will be outed in that recount. We will know if the election interference by Musk and his satellites is mere conspiracy and election denial or if it holds credence.

And so confusion, grief, outrage and denial is all well founded in the US and around the world at this time and we should recognise that is the space we are coming from…as people search for their narratives to ease their pain, it is important to remember that all is not lost. We will see that in time when the fog clears.

In the meantime, we can resist any attempt to back away from our values. While we may be cynical for awhile, and reclusive too, in the end we know we must continue to stand up to fascism, to fight for voters’ rights and to create the kind of world we want to live in, and for generations to come.

Stop searching for a narrative. Be in the present moment and know that, ultimately, MAGA will implode and its leader will one day be a nightmare from which we awoke. Stay away from election analysis because it’s currently distorted. A week ago they were telling us MAGA had a mandate. Today they’ve gone silent because after votes were being finalised in places like California, it turned out MAGA’s lead was about 1%. Vice President Harris finished on 48% and the MAGA leader on 49%.

Over the next months and years, if the election recounts don’t uncover fraud, you can take heart that this is an era where Trump voters get that kick in the ass, and you get your vindication.

Take care and take heart.

18/19th November 2024

The news you’re not getting

Hello subscribers,

I have finally given this blog page a name: The Note (The News Open To Everyone). It will consist of a news roundup and drawing your attention to the stories I am finding in all parts of the global internet, it will include informed opinion and finally, my great love, spiritual and psychic insights about the global events that impact on our lives.

Thank you for being here. I hope to post at least twice a week and will be taking a step back from Facebook and consolidating my time and presence on BlueSky and Youtube, and, importantly, here on my own website. You can find me at BlueSky here: https://bsky.app/profile/revealinglight.bsky.social It is a relief not to post on X anymore and finally deactivate (kill/remove) my account by inauguration day.

*Image attributed to D Feldman on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/dfeldman.org

Let me start with a breaking news story which came in directly after my reading which, among other things, brought up the owner of X. In this reading I pointed out something regarding money might arise for him in the coming days. It felt good to be back in the prediction hot seat again. After I uploaded my reading a breaking story came up on BlueSky about an FBI raid on the home of the CEO of Polymarket. This story comes from the good work of Axios. Shayne Caplan is the founder and CEO of Polymarket. It’s not clear what the FBI wanted, according to Axios, however it’s important to remember that during the 2024 election cycle a number of big multi million dollar bets were placed on the MAGA leader winning the election…one in the order of $40million….turned out the bet came from a French national and investigations later determined there was no manipulation of the betting market as a result of the bet.

The FBI has seized the Polymarket CEO’s phone. In another twist, Polymarket investor is JD Vance backer, Peter Thiel. Peter Thiel is also the former business partner of the X owner. Coincidence? I think, without assuming anything, we are about to find out.

So you’re wondering is this connected with the 2024 US election. It’s too early to say yet. Does it impact or draw in X owner and the major backer of the MAGA leader’s campaign – who invested around $200million in his campaign. Again, it’s too early to speculate. However I will say this: many Democratic Party voters feel they’ve been sideswiped with an election loss they thought was close and winnable, and they don’t know yet what has hit them.

There is that old saying:
“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth”.

Free to travel

One of my joys is travel. As a Sagittarius, I have always been on the move. I drove all over the countryside as a young adult and travelled overseas with nothing more than my backpack and a few pairs of jeans, t-shirts and jumpers. After marriage and babies, I travelled widely across Australia with my career and now that my children have grown, I love to travel again.

My husband Eric is able to join me in my current capers…vlogging for my platforms and social media, collecting history and a spot of ghost hunting when I can, or simply catching up with the sights and sounds, and the locals, in far off towns and villages. I especially love heading coastward, to the sea and its rolling green hinterland.

Last Christmas we embarked on the QEII to Tasmania and, I am pleased to say, we are doing the same trip this Christmas…only this time it is to attend a writer’s festival aboard the QEII. I can’t wait, learning and travelling…two of my favourite things.

Most recently we journeyed to the home of Australian motor racing, Bathurst NSW, and from there, wound our way through the rugged central western ranges to the goldrush towns of Sofala and Hill End. What a trip. I recorded them for you and here are the two videos: the first lapping the infamous motor racing circuit of Mt Panorama with Eric expertly narrating (he used to travel to the races as part of the pit crew for an old motorcycle racing buddy). In the second video, we head to Sofala and Hill End to meet the locals, enjoy a panoramic drive and try out hand at gold panning. I finish off at the old gold rush cemetery where tales abound of the dangers of working the gold mines. Hill End was once the fastest growing town in NSW due to the richness of the gold discoveries. Today, it’s a shell of itself with a pub and the remnants of civilisation.

Part 3 of our journey is to the Blue Mountains of NSW and the iconic and haunted Hydro Majestic. You can stay tuned for that video where I meet up with the ghost of a young boy who likes to swing from the chandeliers. In the meantime, please enjoy our Bathurst, Sofala and Hill End vlogs.

Mt Panorama, Bathurst NSW

Goldrush towns, Sofala and Hill End.

A spiritual evolution

When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 my world flipped upside-down. I went from being immersed in the day to day opportunities and challenges of life…family, career, friends…to having to contemplate my mortality. The view of my potential end seemed far too close and so my reality shifted to fighting a battle to survive. It wasn’t just altering course – get sick, recover, resume, it was a seismic shift that completely changed my life.

Anyone who has had cancer knows the uphill battle we fight from the moment of diagnosis and through the long months, and years of treatment. My final surgery was in 2017. Radiation, chemo, major abdominal surgery, infections, more surgery…and then adjusting to life afterwards. Nothing was or is the same. Yet life is deeper, sweeter and layered with more meaning now.

When I was diagnosed I did the only thing I know. I had been a professional writer since graduating from university, and so I wrote about my cancer years with such motivation. It made sense to record the biggest challenge in my life to date. It wasn’t until I lost my sister Jane to the same (familial) cancer that I had, in the same place, but at a later stage, that I put my pen down. I survived and she didn’t. We had gone through the same treatment and I had made it through…she had fought courageously for six long years. She was there for me every step of the way, and I for her…and then she was gone. It would be three years before I had the heart to write again.

Early last year, I began to look at my unfinished manuscript “Revealing Light”. So much had happened since 2015. I had fully immersed myself in my clairvoyant and psychic abilities which had only grown stronger with the cancer. I had grieved for my sister, and for myself…I didn’t want our story…the cancer story, to be lost and so I began to write again, documenting my spiritual evolution post cancer. I delved into survivor’s guilt, the astrology at the time of my illness and looked at the tarot through a physical and spiritual lens. I wrote about connecting with nature and animals, and the richness of living spiritually. Whatever physical abilities that had been impaired as a result of cancer, my spiritual abilities had soared and my writing documented the process from its beginning onwards.

After finally finishing the manuscript…it took me seven years…I sent it off to UK publishers Collective Ink and was offered a traditional publishing contract. The book, Revealing Light – How cancer illuminated my divine blueprint will be published in January 2025. Pre orders are now available through Amazon UK who distribute worldwide and I will be talking more about how cancer reawakened my dormant psychic and clairvoyant abilities over the coming months. More information on the book is here: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/o-books/our-books/revealing-light-cancer-illuminated-divine-blueprint

This book is about the gifts received through adversity, about learning in the fiery waters of a spiritual baptism that many cancer warriors experience and how crisis can shatter existence to reveal divine purpose in life – a blueprint we agreed to before we were born.”
Maryann, Revealing Light…

No wonder we’re confused

Photo by Soulful Pizza on Pexels.com

gray wooden maze — Photo by Soulful Pizza on Pexels.com

About a week ago I recorded a podcast regarding the slippery slope we create when we try and justify the mass slaughter of 34,000 innocent civilians in Gaza…13,000 of whom were children. This death and destruction was Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s response to the brutal attack by Hamas on Oct 7 which killed 1200 innocent Israelis. Two hundred and fifty two hostages were also taken that day – some have been released in a trade off to free Palestinian prisoners, some have perished including being mistakenly killed by the Israeli army, and many are still being held some six months after the October massacre.

I also raised the growing anti war cries of students across the world, and especially the US. I maintained that despite nefarious elements infiltrating student protests many, many protests were peaceful and focused on one theme: peace not war. Life not death. I spoke about the US female professor standing peacefully during what was a calm protest who was knocked to the ground by police, forcefully held down despite her pleas of “I can’t breath”, and zip tied. Distressing, terrible images.

In Israel over the weekend tens of thousands are protesting for release of hostages, ceasefire and removal of PM Netanyahu. Signs displayed saying “enough”, are mirroring how we are all feeling. We are desperate for the end of suffering…and peace. Israel’s Opposition leader has called for an election during ‘wartime’ such is the desperation of citizens who blame Netanyahu for the failure to secure hostage release despite the unprecedented killing of innocent Palestinians and the destruction of much of the GAZA strip.

When I recorded my podcast, I expected a barrage of criticism, a raft of allegations of antisemitism and downright abuse. Rather, I got only rational and compassionate calls for the end of suffering in GAZA and the release of hostages. A very small number accused me of antisemitism. Of course I pulled them up on that one. With the current US Congress passing a bill that would outlaw antisemitism, it’s important to remain calm about populist, politically tempting and far reaching legislation. I quoted Jewish author Sim Kern who had an excellent Twitter post on the meaning of antisemitism.

Firstly, the word semite is both Jew and Arab. No amount of arguing will change that meaning. Antisemitism is a modern day term “coined in the 1860’s by Wilhelm Marr, the original redpilled, alt-right racistbro,” says Kern. And Kern goes onto say that the word morphed again with “the violent, colonial creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Because Zionists, at this point, start claiming that any criticism of their Jewish state, is antisemitism. (A conflation that’s always been contested by antizionist Jews).” So antisemitism has undergone many meanings depending on the politics at the time and Jews themselves disagree with the actual meaning.

It is illogical to infer that the meaning of antisemitism is the criticism of Israel…that would result in an unchecked moral right to colonise/conquer no matter what, how, when and who. This would also mean jewish people protesting against Netanyahu’s government in Israel are antisemitic. Kern goes onto say that if you’re looking for a word that means hatred of Jews then Judanhass would be that word. Hatred of Jews would suffice for me, and anyone that has a hatred of Jews is not welcome within my orbit, nor are they tolerated if they harbour an explicit or implicit hatred of Muslims.

Politically, it is a very confusing time. Many find themselves abhorring the actions of Hamas on Oct 7th, followed rapidly by a disbelief and growing shock at the death and destruction in GAZA. Democratic Party members are also split on the continued funding and weapon supplies to Israel without conditions that such use of the weapons must be in accordance with international humanitarian law. (Israel has been accused by the International Court of Justice of plausible genocide). Meanwhile the spectre of another disastrous term of the former president Trump looms in the middle of an unprecedented attack on women’s rights in America.

Much is at stake in the coming months…freedoms, life and death, and absolute clarity that voters must reject at every level, the possibility of failed coup leader, Trump’s return. If the world is perceived as volatile at this time, throwing open the doors to the current MAGA iteration of the Republicans and their despotic leader Trump, would be disastrous for us all.

As a starter, many of Trump’s MAGA policy advisors want GAZA “cleansed of Palestinians”. Trump recently said he would not prevent Russia from invading NATO countries, and incredibly alarming, that US states would be allowed to monitor pregnant women to ensure they do not obtain an abortion.

Clarity, not confusion, is required at this time. We must all agree on that…

Postscript: Three important stories in the media emerged this week. Axios reports the Biden government may have stopped a shipment of ammunition to Israel. This comes amidst President Biden’s warning against laying siege to Rafah, where over a million Palestinian refugees are sheltering. The second story is Netanyahu’s rejection of hostage release and ceasefire and mass protests within Israel calling for his removal. The third is the release of a 2018 secret letter from Netanyahu seeking Qatari payment to Hamas of $30m a month from 2018 onwards. Here is the Axios story. I believe Rafah is a red line in the sand for President Biden.

Supercharged intuition

An early morning ride on this sunny, autumn day, in my hometown in regional NSW Australia, reminded me yet again of the richness of connecting with intuition. Around me the birds either sang their greetings or flew into the clearest of skies…blue with hues of soft sunlight only a morning in autumn can deliver.

Many said hello as I passed. The magpie with its warbling song, the crow with its oftentimes eery caw, the cheeky cockatoo wanting to be the loudest…and succeeding. I thought a lot about my father on that ride. A farmer, gifted in stock handling and especially horses, he spent most of his life outdoors amongst nature and with animals. My early life was spent with him and he passed onto me that connection with the land. Once it was a horse I rode, nowadays, I ride my e-bike every day.

As I rode down rural Forbes Street today, I was struck by how in-tune I was with the animals I encountered from the birds to the racehorses…all bringing memories of my childhood and my father’s love of the farm and its animal inhabitants.

I spoke to these animals, bowed and greeted them as I had been taught in my old Shaman classes, and received respectful and special communication back. I always ask the cockatoos to fly close and over my head…they always do as I celebrate their uniqueness. This is the way I roll, deeply connected to the animal world. Aside from my father giving me opportunities to grow up with animals, my Chiron (the wound) is in Pisces (psychic flow, the collective and spirituality). I literally feel healed when I am in nature and I know many of you do too.

The chart in this post is cast today over Washington, though we are very close to a new moon in Pisces no matter where you’re located. On March 10, the moon is new at 20 degrees Pisces at 5:00am ET. New moons are about beginnings. They are a time to set intentions, goals…a time to dust off your dreams and imagine their reality, to take concrete steps toward them if possible. As this new moon is in the psychic sign of Pisces, you have the opportunity to dig deeply into your intuition. What are your deepest hopes and dreams? Are you living in a way that honours them?

Last night we heard the US President Joe Biden deliver one of the best speeches I’ve seen from him (I make this judgement as a former speechwriter for government Ministers). It was a slam dunk, knock out blow to his opponents. The best headline is reoccurring across social media: “Joe smoked ’em all”. And he did. It was a good time astrologically for this speech. Look at the stellium (multiple planets) in Pisces in the Washington chart, in the 10th House (public, government). Everyone in that room, and many watching on their screens, knew he spoke the truth. The MAGA Republicans could not deny his strident points on consensus v hate, freedoms v imposition and loss of rights, real action and results v gaslighting and inaction, political violence v civility…I could go on. I imagined many were squirming in their seats. They looked and felt like losers, and those lost without the brazenness of unchecked power.

No one could argue with Biden last night. They ‘knew’ what he was saying was true. The evidence was there and the intuitive knowing as well. He really did ‘smoke them’.

I am convinced it is a finale that is unfolding now in the US. These turbulent times will be settled and settled well for a foreseeable future at least. Joe Biden, while imperfect as many politicians can be, is a strong and able president for these times and, as I have long seen, he beats his opponent, the criminally indicted ex president trump, hands down. He will well and truly ‘smoke’ him too.

Taking a breath & cruisin…

As many of my kind viewers know, I spent Christmas and New Year grappling with a severe asthma flare. I am pleased to say that thanks to persistent investigation…medical and intuitive, and the wonderful prayers of my viewers, my breathing issues have improved and I now have more asthma free days than not.

I consider myself very lucky and blessed to have found a way through illness and, as with most challenges, I’ve become wiser in hindsight. I know that my asthma and allergies were not adequately controlled and we’ve made changes that probably should have been made a few years ago. However it is often difficult to see the woods for the trees, especially when the right treatment is elusive. Thanks to my regular doctor who returned from leave, who was prepared to ask and, importantly, listen, we trialled new medication and switched the timing of my allergy medication around. Both steps, some 30 days later, have meant I am feeling more like my old self.

Before Christmas, and in the middle of an asthma flare, I went cruising to Tasmania on the Queen Elizabeth II. It was meant to be a restful break and a treat which had been planned mid year. Looking back on it, even though I was on a fair whack of prednisone, the cruise was exactly what was needed. The sea air meant my allergies calmed and the gentle motion of the big ocean liner, soothed me into deep sleep. At one point, I slept for 24 hours, only stirring for room service meals. When I awoke, I felt renewed…rest and sea air…and I was ready to get on with my cruise.

Cruising in style onboard the Queen Elizabeth II just before Christmas.

One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the Royal Tasmania Botanical Gardens. What a treasure of a place. As soon as we disembarked in Hobart enroute to the gardens, I knew we were in crystal clean air and, mostly, untouched land. For those who don’t know Tasmania it is a small state of Australia off our mainland. It is known for its stunning wilderness, its pristine environment and its laid back cities, towns and villages. Its largest city is Hobart with a population of around 247,000. Forty four percent of Tasmanians live in this city, with the state’s population is 572,800 as of June 2023.

You get the picture. I could not have gone to a better place to rest and recuperate…away from regional NSW’s wind and electrical storms which stirred dust and pollen almost daily to exacerbate my allergic asthma. But back to the gardens…

As soon as I stepped inside this magical place, I felt the healing balm of nature. Everywhere I looked, I saw green. It’s difficult to explain the sense of living heritage within the walls of the gardens and so I will let you look for yourself:

Royal Tasmania Botanical Gardens

Although steep in places, the gardens left me wanting more of Tasmania’s pristine, ancient habitats and nature. When I returned to the ship, and we headed back to Sydney, I realised there was so much of Australia and New Zealand I hadn’t yet seen.

As my health began to return, so did my wanderlust. As someone with a stellium in Sagittarius (multiple planets), it was time to dust off my walking boots and perhaps my sea legs also. Life waits for no one and exploring new places always stirs my soul.

Joy and spiritual evolution

Photo by Bekka Mongeau on Pexels.com

white printer paper — Photo by Bekka Mongeau on Pexels.com

I had intended on posting a New Year’s message, a bright chit chat post about intentions, hope and self responsibility…however I held off due to a pneumonia-like illness I developed between Christmas and the new year which kept me struggling physically and mentally until the last few days.

I am a lifelong asthmatic and the last 6 months have been rough as my preventative inhaler of 30 years stopped working. I’ve been on and off antibiotics and prednisone since last July, and a raft of different inhalers which all made the situation worse. I had given up on easy solutions and was waiting for a referral to the respiratory specialist. For those who don’t know my history, harsh cancer treatment in 2015…is there any other sort…worsened my auto immune issues. This has meant a necessary and dogged focus on my health and boosting my immunity since then.

I digress. Back to the inhaler problem. When I’m presented with a health challenge I rarely give up. I research and use my intuition to solve the issue. Sometimes I am successful. After seemingly being without options, I flagged one last dual inhaler they said would not work, so why try it? I persisted and got the script, albeit from a reluctant and cynical GP. It turned out to be the right move. This particular inhaler worked and was the least draconian intervention. I had known that it would. I guess the message is: it’s your body and your health. Use your voice, inquire and ask questions and make your views known. Doctors are not God-like. They are human beings with all our flaws and strengths, and expertise. They are also overworked and the medical system often, imperfect.

It pays to be your own health advocate.

Along with health issues, I have been contemplating the meaning of joy – not some fantastical, whimsical and passing ‘happy feeling’…rather I’ve been thinking about deep and abiding joy. Often after tough times (and let’s face it a lot do struggle around Christmas and New Year), we contemplate our circumstances with honesty and I have found myself realising that it has been ‘a minute’ since I was last ‘joyful’. Whether it’s the state of our troubled world, or personal circumstances, I remember now, that feeling of deep joy that goes with spiritual contentment and I know that is not how I currently feel. Rather than external events and people providing passing happy times, the deep joy of contentment is unwavering, consistent and not easily won.

This deep feeling of joy, takes real inner focus and meeting your own needs. It also takes self value and reflection. To reconnect with the deep joy which reaches all the way into your spirit, firstly takes awareness and acknowledgment of its absence.

I can hear you asking: well how do you get it back? You understand that you’ve only ever needed ‘you’. So start by getting back in touch with the essence of who ‘you’ are, and when you find that, value and nurture ‘you’. Leave the rest to Spirit. Once the process has begun, the right people and events will meet you.

Take that step. Deep joy and meaning await you on your journey.

A handful of sunflower seeds

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As I sit listening to the rain on my corrugated iron roof, I have one eye on my Washington Post subscription feeding through my email. On the one hand the rain…the wind howling a little at the corner of our home and the late afternoon sun on green grass, are worlds away from the tragedy unfolding in the Middle East. I am waiting for what my intuitive senses tell me is coming; an acceleration of the violence and bloodshed and the catastrophe unfolding in Gaza right now.

As I write this…from the safety of my Australian home and the gentle sound of that rain on my roof…I cannot comprehend the suffering that is occurring right now.

So much of the world is like a tinder box. Do I need to say one spark and the fire will ignite and grow? I don’t think so. We all know what’s at stake. We feel it and sense it.

In February 2022 we watched helplessly while Russian soldiers and tanks crossed the border into sovereign Ukraine, intent on a blitzkrieg and toppling its young democratically elected leader. The Russian Emperor proxy Vladimir Putin had longed dreamed of reuniting the former Soviet Union borders under his authoritarian reign. We then witnessed the courage and sacrifice of the Ukrainians, hundreds of thousands of lives lost, Ukrainian and Russian, on the fields where once sunflowers and blades of wheat grew.

I still have the t-shirt sold in a Ukrainian fundraiser, of an old woman standing in front of the Russian tank in defiance, hand outstretched and giving the enemy soldier a handful of sunflower seeds. “Put them in your pockets, so at least sunflowers will grow when you all lie down here.”

A simple scene highlighting the pointlessness of war, death and destruction.

Unfolding now is yet another tragedy which the world of humanity could not stop. A terrorist organisation trained by the Russian Wagner mercenaries (most likely somewhere in Africa) and financed by Iran, with weapons from Russia, stormed into Israel and viciously killed hundreds of Israeli’s, taking some of them hostage in Gaza, holding both the innocent Palestinian families and the Israeli’s hostage in what some describe as an ‘open air prison’…the Gaza Strip.

Bombs are dropped indiscriminately now on both sides, no hope for a peaceful settlement, and nearby Arab countries like Egypt, Iran and Lebanon one step away from joining the fray. US warships are anchored at the ready, as a deterrent against escalation.

In the US, the opposition party is actively discrediting the current President of their country, spouting Russian talking points on Ukraine, and its leader, the former US president Donald Trump talking up the terrorists. One chamber of its Congress is paralysed, held hostage by the extreme wing of the GOP, unable to function. The US at a time when the world is on the edge of the precipice, is legislatively neutered and leaderless.

What hope have we got when the world has gone so terribly wrong?

In times like this, when the darkness obscures almost all of the light, I focus on hope. I focus on what I know…that the world is changing and that old myths, tokenisms and narratives that suit the very people that led us into the darkness, are being exposed.

I focus on the light of truth and I know that truth-telling leads to justice, and justice leads us to balance. Perhaps this balance is the gift from God, to peel away the layers of detritus to reveal the truth because when we have truth, we have clarity, decision-making and a way forward.

I made this video a few months ago, using the Angel Tarot. It is relevant to this blog and for this time. I hope it provides some comfort.