B98 is often known as Margaret’s bottle. In fact her aura bottle was B1. But when she saw B98 she loved it so much. She said it reminded her of her beloved Australia. I think it reminded her of the blossom of the jacaranda trees in the evening sunlight.

Lilac with coral tints - a Jacaranda in full bloom

I have long felt this combination also reflects something of Margaret’s place in the Aura-Soma world. Through their working lives Margaret and Vicky worked side by side as equals- each had their own professional skills. However Aura-Soma was born through Vicky and that placed her in centre stage. Everyone wanted to hear what Vicky had to say, and that put Margaret into the background. She found herself playing a secondary, supportive role. In a way she could not be her natural number 1 energy!

B98 Margaret's bottle

The colours of B98 show both the challenges and gifts of Margaret’s new role. From the perspective of challenge we can see in the pale violet of the top fraction the theme of invisibility. Violet is opposite yellow - the colour that shines; yellow is the colour of Vicky’s B5 top fraction! Emotionally violet can also be sadness, in this case the sadness of not being seen, and this becomes especially poignant in when combined with the coral in the base fraction. The coral will resonate with any feelings of of unrequited love, where we feel our giving is greater than our receiving. Margaret was very much put in to this situation. People did not come to see her, instead she had to be the one who took Vicky away from her adoring fans.

There is another side to these colours though of course. Violet is transformative, healing. If we let go of being number 1 then service to something else can become fulfilling and nourishing - not to the ego but to a deeper level of being. Number wise i could say that 98 represents an inner flow 8 that nourishes itself within while the face to the world is that of the 9 - the awareness and completion of the Hermit, who asks nothing from the world as his attention remains focused inside.

The Aura-Soma years asked Margaret to give something up but in return she was able to be part of a much bigger picture and with that came many opportunities for insight, healing and nourishment at deeper levels of her being.

In a future post i will show how the very same violet / coral opportunity is at the heart of the Aura-Soma consultation and how my consultation skills course nourishes this gift.

Many happy returns to Vicky Wall on the anniversary of her birthday. 20th August. Considering what to write here today I find my mind goes back to my first meeting with her. It was a phone call in July 1985. Little did i realise what an important step i was taking.

I had seen Aura-Soma at one of the first New Age exhibitions in London and had taken their brochures home to read. Something about their message attracted me and so the next day i nervously picked up the phone and rang the number on the leaflet.

I was not prepared for the bright, strong and direct voice that greeted me from the other end of the line. “Hello. How can i help?” it said. “I am looking for something for my mother” I stammered in reply. A diversionary sentence of course but she did not fall for it. “Well you have reached me so that must mean something. You must come for a consultation at the next exhibition.”
That was it. My first encounter.

In this meeting I met two of her defining characteristics. Her perceptivity and her certainty. She saw through my poor attempt to keep the attention away from me using the excuse of my mother - that was maybe not so difficult. But more importantly it was her certainty that struck me and which continued to work on me even after i had put the phone down. It was that certainty which drew me to the Aura-Soma stand at the next exhibition and ensured that i did book a consultation - though it was not with Miss Wall who was already fully booked.

This certainty is for me part of Vicky’s yellow / red character. She was fully committed to standing up for her convictions. I am sure that this confidence was not ego based. Rather it sprang from her sense of mission. Within her own mind she was sure that bringing Aura-Soma to the world was the only reason she was still on the Earth. Consequently her every meeting was coloured by this sense of mission. And it worked. It was her certainty that attracted me deeper into the system. Step by step I arrived at her door.

Thank you Vicky.

Last year Aura-Soma celebrated 14 years in Japan. It is not a traditional anniversary in the way that 10, 20 50 years etc are. However i have always considered B14 to be an important bottle in the Aura-Soma process. At the request of a friend I started writing about this bottle late last year but the article just got too big - too many things to say - and so it was never finished. Now i am back to the subject again because of a very exciting new course i did in St Petersburg, Russia this summer.

The course was called The Alchemy of Creativity. It was 5 days long and everything about the course was based on 5. Each day I took one bottle to be the focus of the process. First it was B5, then B10, B15, B20 and finishing with B25 on the last day. The aim of the course is to initiate students into their own creative power. Thus B25 is Florence Nightingale and she had the power to bring her dream (nursing the wounded soldiers overseas) into reality. We all have dreams and this course is to nurture our ability to fulfill these dreams. So the course finishes with an initiation into our own creative power.

Along the way there is a turning point day on day 3 where the B15 corresponds to the Devil in the Tarot. This is the card where we see the man and woman chained at the throat - their creative power (blue) is limited. And it is on this day that we look for a release from these chains, leading to B20 on Day 4 where the blue is now present again supported by pink.

The other image in the Devil card is the upside down star on the devil’s forehead. It shows that we have bowed to the earth, And in bowing to the earth we surrender our creative power. So to turn that star around is the key. And this is where B14 is so important. It is the path of Temperance. It connects soul and ego. The alchemy happens when these two layers of our self come together. Moon (Clear) and Sun (Gold) consciousness.

Perhaps you remember during 2009 many clear fractions in the Equilibrium bottles were turning to a pale gold. It shows that now is the time to integrate these two kinds of consciousness, daily habits - moon - and soul awareness - sun - together. That the clear may become suffused with a soft gold. Spiritual awareness integrate in our daily life.

This course is a process. It is full of exercises, activities, questions and skills to lead you into your creative power. Though i did not expect it, this course is about awakening the Star!

Hello.
Not my usual kind of post.
This is a diary entry and some link that may take your breath away.

They show performances by Cirque du Soleil - a company originally from Canada who are famous the world over for their shows that combine breathaking physical virtuosity with drama, costumes and atmosphere.

I write this now because i recently finally saw them after years of wanting.
The show i saw was Saltimbanco.
However these two links are to acts in other shows of theirs.
The first is full of beauty and grace.
The second has a darker atmosphere but the performance kept me on the edge of my seat.
Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTZcg4dCuV8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4DfSBnBR08&feature=related

I recently became a PPS teacher! I completed the course with Claudia Booth at Dev Aura at the end of May. We were a small group - seven altogether - but there was a lot of experience in the room: five of us had been with Aura-Soma since the mid 1990‘s so it was good to reconnect with old friends - as well as make new ones. Spending time together is an important part of this course. As i write this now I remember that the feeling of (Aura-Soma) family was always very important to Vicky and Margaret and I believe that encouraging family is also an important part of Claudia’s gift to Aura-Soma.

Claudia and Dominic on Shire Farm

As the TPPS is a 6 day course (the PPS is only 3 days) the course had lots of time to explore different things. At times it felt more like a holiday! I particularly enjoyed the times we spent outside in the garden; the making of artwork / mind maps to explore and organise ideas in a more feminine and creative way. I also enjoyed very much our visit to the Aura-Soma land. (I include several pictures from that trip at the end of this post.)

The big discovery for me on the course was that it is our gifts and being centered which are at the heart of this course. I had joined the course thinking that presentation and consultation skills were the most important. The great thing about gifts and centering is that they bring us to the magic of Aura-Soma - a system specifically to develop our gifts, to become more centered in consciousness.

There are a lot of activities and information packed into the PPS course but I feel I now have the line, the measure with which to create a joyful and nourishing learning experience for students. And so I look forward to sharing this course with students. I love to be creative and this course has many opportunities to explore both ourselves and what is important in Aura-Soma. I shall be presenting PPS courses in Japan and Europe in the future. Let me know if you would like to join one.

TPPS class at the red chakra - Shire Farm

Dominic at red chakra - Shire Farm

Walking the chakras on Shire Farm

Reflections at the heart chakra

Previously I wrote about the synchronicity of the release of the movie Avatar with the release of B107 - Aura-Soma’s most recent bottle. Recently I saw Avatar for the second time and once again I found some very exciting Aura-Soma connections. This time through the numbers that appear in the movie.

When Jake Sully - the lead character - records his video diaries there are two significant numbers that appear on the screen. One is his ID number and the other is the date. When these numbers are associated with their corresponding Aura-Soma Equilibrium bottles some amazing coincidences of message and meaning can be found.

Jake’s ID number

It is 0256 **** 0004. (**** - there were some letters in the middle i ignored).

We can interpret these numbers as follows:
02 = B2 is the blue/blue combination, and blue represents a yes to something
56 = B56 is the pale violet/pale violet combination, and pale violet represents transmutation - a deep level of change.

00 = B0 royal blue / deep magenta, 0 represents mystery and the potential for the new. In the Tarot this is the Fool, the one at the start of the journey. To return to zero is in fact the only way to make a new beginning.
04 = B4 the yellow / gold combination. These are the colours that underpin our separate self consciousness. It is on this separateness that our sense of identity is built.

Yes to change

Taken together his ID number, seen through Aura-Soma bottles, could be read as “yes (02) to change (56) … returning to zero (0) a new identity (4) can emerge.

This is exactly the process Jake Sully goes through in the movie. He starts as a human in an alien body, yet by the end of the film his inner identity has also chnaged - he now considers himself Navi. He has changed not only his form abut also his identity!

2154 - the context of time

The other significant number appearing in Jake’s video diary is the date. Avatar is set in the year 2154. Here we should also consider the Aura-Soma / Tarot perspective.

21 = is the green / pink combination, but perhaps more importantly here it is the path of The World in the Tarot, it represents consciousness entering or awakening in matter. When i think about the Navi’s relationship with their world - one of conscious interaction where they talk to the planet and vice versa this makes sense. Furthermore
54 = is clear / clear, and from the Tarot perspective, it is the Page of Swords. The Pages are situated in Malkuth - the sphere of inanimate matter which is connected to consciousness through the path of The World. The clear / clear combination is paradoxical in Aura-Soma. It represents both consciousness and unconsciousness. Taken together 2154 concerns itself with bringing an impulse of consciousness into the material world.

One of the main messages of the movie is to change our consciousness with regard to the planet we live on. In the movie the humans are in the Navi world for mining. I have long thought that mining is a telling word. To mine is to extract from the earth and so take possession of - “Its mine now.” At another level of course the Earth could regard humans in the same way - that we belong to her since our body is made entirely out of her elements. What belongs to who is hard to say!

A final note - 08.24.2154

The date of the final video diary entry was 08 24 2154
that is (if i change around to english way of writing) -

24 - violet turquoise - the bottle’s name is New Message
08 - yellow / blue represents a return to balance (the Tarot card is Justice). The question B8 poses is
“Are you living in harmony with your heart? With life around you?”
This is the question that the movie leaves us with. Remember it was released the same week as the Copenhagen Climate Conference reached its climax!

To summarise:

Jake’s ID number shows Jake Sully’s process - a transformation of not only form but also identity. The date shows the bigger story in which his process is set. It is a message to find a new balance and harmony with nature, a new beginning for our conscious relationship with the material world.

One of the abilities I encourage in consultation skills is that of accepting whatever the client says without judgement or excessive reaction. I like the flow of information to be smooth. Recently though my surprise just had to show through.

I was giving an example consultation to a student. In fact she had already surprised me the previous day when she told me the reason she was a little late for class was that she had taken sunday lunch over to her mother before coming to class. She told me her mother was 97 years old. I could hardly believe it - i would never have said this student was old enough to have a 97 year old mother … (but of course i was too much of a gentleman to ask …)

During the consultation she spoke about wanting to inspire her daughter to be more free. “What does she do? Whats her situation?” I asked. “Oh she still lives at home with me” she replied. “She is 16 years old.” I couldn’t believe my ears! Yesterday a 97 year old mother and now a 16 year old daughter! For once my jaw dropped.

I wrote these words recently as i was waiting to have my hair cut in Budapest. I speak no hungarian and my hair dresser no english. I showed her approximately what i wanted. Imagine my surprise when she got the shaver and immediately shaved the front of my head! I had to laugh when she asked me if i liked it. Whatever i felt made no difference. I let her continue. The good news with haircuts though is, even if i don’t like them, they always seem to grow on me!

Timothy’s birth, a broken computer, and what seems like almost 3 months full-time travelling since April has seen my blog writing slow down hugely. I hope that this is the beginning of regular posts again …

The big news of the last three months is that three new courses have been added to my portfolio.

Secrets of the Colour Rose

I taught this in Japan this May for only the second time. It is such an exciting course full of fascinating ideas. The course has become so much more than I expected and has opened a whole new dimension of understanding to this key symbol within the Aura-Soma system. I have written a series of articles about my evolutionary journey with the Colour Rose since 1985 and they will soon be available. Watch this space …

Alchemy of Creativity

In June in St Petersburg, Russia came a totally new course - the Alchemy of Creativity. It is a 5 day course designed to awaken our creative potential. The number 5 is central to the course. Each day an Equilibrium bottle provides the focus for the process and each of these bottles is part of the 5 sequence: B5, B10, B15, B20, B25. B5 starts the process with an awakening energy and it finishes on Day 5 with a ritual designed to initiate students into their creative potential, empowering them to create and live the life they dream of in the way that Florence Nightingale - the B25’s namesake managed to do.

The course was a great adventure and i learnt so much from doing it - especially about alchemy, the tree of life and the inner star. So exciting - I shall soon be writing more about this course too.

The PPS course

In addition to these two courses I have also (finally) qualified as an Aura-Soma PPS course teacher. I attended Claudia Booth’s TPPS course at Dev Aura at the end of May. We had a good time together as a group and I look forward to sharing this valuable course with students in the future. There will be a post about the experience of this course soon too.

Well those are some of the professional news items. For the rest we can say that Tetford is sunny and warm and that here today in the village we could hear the sound of excited children cheering as they enjoyed their school sports day.

All best wishes

Dom

Aura-Soma keep bees on their land. Last week 50,000 bees left the Aura-Soma hive and flew onto a nearby tree. It means that it is time for a new bee colony to be formed. I was told this by Paul Dicker, the excited and very happy General Manager at Aura-Soma Products. He had helped bring the bees off the tree and into their new home, a second hive on the land.  It means there will now be two bee colonies on Shire Farm.

Paul was clearly excited I asked him what this event meant to him. He said this event made his day-to-day problems seem very small. This move was a miracle of life. Especially so since in recent years bee colonies have been disappearing at alarming rates. This disappearance is called Colony Collapse Disorder and you can read about it on the web.

So it is great news that on Shire Farm bees are moving in the right direction.

A month since my last post! That’s what a new baby can do for your life. Timothy is well, but feeds a lot so Elena is pretty tired. Thank you to all those who wished us well on the birth.

Meanwhile since the birth I have taught two courses at Dev Aura, the second being a Teacher Level 1. I so enjoy teaching teachers. All week I was singing to myself as I walked around Dev Aura. We had 9 students, plus a translator for the two Italians, so including myself we were 11 in the room … more on that in a minute.

Teacher level 1 students at Dev Aura

Growing as teachers

What I love about Teachers courses is getting the students to think as teachers. Being a teacher is so much more than simply knowing the content. Being an artful teacher also includes  considering the sequence and flow of information, how to engage students in the learning process, and when and how to change the pace or focus of the class. Most importantly when giving a Teachers course I want to get the students to “own” the course. That means that they come to have an overview of the course structure. They know the key elements within it, how these elements fit together, how they can use presentations to build on, reinforce and revise what came earlier. In sum as teachers they understand the goals, content and structure of the Level 1 course. For this course I have created a whole series of exercises to develop this thinking and I believe the students really grew in this way through the 6 days.

Initiation

A highlight from the course came at the end of day 4. Each student got to be the teacher for 10 – 15 minutes during the course, selecting and presenting a topic from the Level 1 material. The last session on Day 4 was on the Quintessences and Masters. The teacher placed the Master bottles, quintessneces and New Aeon Tarot images in a circle in the centre of the room and spoke. A peaceful and powerful energy was created, so much so that when it was time for me to end the class for the day, it was clear the students wished to remain in the circle. So I left them there with my good wishes.

I arrived the next morning to find students very excited because during their sitting after I left there had been the sound of a crack and they discovered that B81 - Pink/Pink - had burst on the display. I was very pleased too because I consider a vital part of the teacher level 1 course is for the students to receive some kind of initiation. It is not something that comes from me, but from the system itself. This pink bottle with its energy of fire, spirit and unconditional love releasing its energy as it did seemed a perfect initiation. It was noticeable that the final two student presentations on the morning of Day 5 were full of love.

love and light at dev aura

11 A gateway for Love and Light

And so back to the theme of 11 for a moment. There were 11 of us in the circle, and there were also two B11 bottles in the circle. This was because on day 1 I had asked each student to choose one bottle (in addition to their 4 bottle selection) which represented their potential for growing as a teacher through the week. Both myself and Monai – one of the students chose B11. As I sat on the left of the display and he sat on the right, these B11s created a kind of gateway between the Equilibrium bottles and the teachers. B11 is not only a gateway – simply by the number itself, it is also I believe one of the key bottles in the system, love and light, pink and clear, the energy (pink) that supports consciousness (clear) to grow. It all made sense in the final session. When it was Monai’s time to say his final words he announced he had a present for each person – a pink pomander. This was the perfect balance to my final idea which was for each student to apply some of the contents of the exploded B81 - now placed in a bowl in the centre of the room.

So it was that in finishing the course the students – now teachers - received pink on their body and also a pink for their aura as they stepped back out into the world as teachers.  It was a perfect ending.

graduating as teachers