In 1273 December 6th Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest Christian philosophers of all time, had his enlightenment moment. Sitting at mass that December morning, he experienced something so profound that it changed for ever how he felt about all that he had done before. And he had done a lot. Recognised by his teachers as a genius while still a young student he was assigned staff who were to follow him around and write down his words. By 1273 this had amounted to almost 8.5 million words through which he had laid the foundation for the Christian church to emerge from the superstition of the Dark Ages into the dawning light of the Age of Reason.

“Words are as straw”

However, following this enlightenment moment, he was to say that all (his) “words were as straw”. Presumably he meant that the direct spiritual experience went so far beyond that which words could contain that words became almost valueless. From then on till his death a couple of years later he scarcely wrote another word.

The Butterfly Moment

Why do I mention this? Because this happened in 1273 and B73 in the Equilibrium sequence is called Chang Tsu. He was a Chinese philosopher who is also famous for an enlightenment moment. Walking along the riverbank one day he saw a butterfly flutter by. In this moment he had some out of the body synchronicity moment. He famously remarked he did not know if he was a man seeing a butterfly or a butterfly looking down on a man.

A step into soul consciousness

The butterfly can symbolise the aura. Starting as an earthbound caterpillar, it goes through a process of transformation that results in it unfurling brightly coloured wings and flying up in the sunlight. In a similar way materialistic man can enter a process of spiritual transformation whereby his primary identification moves from the physical body to the light body. At this point man becomes like a butterfly fluttering by.

Life is a lottery

Nothing about colour this this time – just about humanity.

I have just spent 60 minutes sitting next to two very inspiring people. An elderly couple who were returning home to the USA after visiting her family back here in the UK. As we settled in to our seats the man turns to me and tells me he and his wife met in the war. !!! Yes. I did a double take. My mum was born in 1939 and she is 70. This couple had to be 20 years older than her. They were – both 89. I would never have guessed. They were sharp, alert, just the slightest shake when placing the luggage in the overhead locker. That’s it.

We talked about the war. In my whole life he is the first person I have spoken to who actually fought in the war. He was parachuted in to France, and then Holland, and then Germany. He carries shrapnel in his back to this day. They met in England. She was a war bride and travelled over to the US in 1946 in a hospital ship. We talked about war and peace, friends in foreign countries, retirement, geography and gardening.

It is hard to say why I feel touched exactly. More than anything I think it must have been the amazement I felt in the first moment. This unremarkable looking elderly couple who in a moment suddenly became so remarkable to me. Good people. People who have lived a lifetime and can still talk about it. People who have experienced the past but are still in the present.

Why do I call this post Life is a Lottery? From listening to some of their wartime stories it struck me how arbitrary life and death are in war. He lost fellow soldiers who died as they stood right next to him. Her wartime neighbours in London had fled Germany in 1937. Their house was hit by a stray bomb and the mother and son were killed in the blast.

Wrong time, wrong place. Right time, right place, how can we possibly know or choose. Life is so much bigger and fortune – good or bad is all around. This morning mine was to be sitting in 3F on flight KL1490.

I watched them being taken to their connecting flight and felt uplifted to have met something special in something so unremarkable.

My next post will be on twin souls. It seems to follow on nicely … Coming soon.

What happened to the titles of the past? Madam and Sir, Mister and Mrs etc. As we enter deeper into the turquoise age these words become increasingly rare in daily exchanges. How will we address each other in the future? I believe their replacements are already here, just emerging in a form we have yet to recognise: the Avatar.

This thinking began last week. A friend was telling me that Russians have some uncertainty these days in how to address each other. In Tsarist days the word was “Gaspardin” – the English equivalent would be something like “Sir”. In Soviet times the title was “Tavaresh” – (not Comrade as I always imagined - but something of similar meaning). Since the end of the Soviet system a new title has yet to emerge. They neither wish to continue the Soviet title, nor return to the Tsarist past. “Young man” and “girl” are two forms of address that are used but are often inappropriate.

In the UK we have a similar situation. When an insurance assessor visited my house recently, I did not know whether to address him as “Mister …”- (too formal) , or by his first name (too informal). In the end I simply did not address him by name at all.

So what has this to do with turquoise? First of all I have understood that titles require at least some social structure if not a social hierarchy. Thus in the USA – a country that offered a land of opportunity for all including the chance to be free of the social hierarchies of the Old World of Europe - names are far more important. In the USA for example, your waiter will introduce himself by name before serving you. The Aquarian Age is all about the individual – and to have titles would bury this. The all important question for turquoise is “Who am I?” Thus In the Aquarian Age our name – our most individual identity - is more important than any title.

So will there be a new title appearing? I think it is already happening – but in an entirely new form. The social medium of the future is the internet, and in this virtual world, the technology to create virtual representations of our self is well under way – from the choice to create our own user name, to the use of an image that represents something of us, to a full blown avatar able to move and express itself with its own style. For some the avatar will be their mask, for others their dream, and for a few their truth. In any case though, it will always be the unique presentation of our self to the world.

Titles are dead, long live the avatar.

PS And funnily enough – as I do a word count on finishing – I find this piece totals 462 words. That is a 4 - Yellow / Gold – the colour for the self, and 62 - Maha Chohan – the Pale Turquoise / Pale Turquoise which is the colour energy that is driving this change!

In a recent class a student asked “What can I say to customers who say “Give me another of those bottles - without them my life gets so bad.” Is there a danger of dependency with Aura-Soma?” This question prompted the following thoughts for me.

Look within the sequence of Equilibrium. The first Master is El Morya – Pale Blue. Blue is the opposite colour to orange. It is in orange that dependency issues lie. The first Master is opposite to dependency issues. El Morya shines the light into the blue grasping tendency. It inspires the realisation “I need nothing to be at peace”.

Equally, B1, the first bottle (after the 0 which is the nothing before the something) is also a blue energy – Blue / Deep Magenta. It is a rescue for the blue. This is the Magician in the Tarot. It carries the message “Come to realise that what you say becomes true”. Knowing this you will no longer depend on anything outside. The power to create derives from the magenta that lies within. It is enough to say “I will be happy” or “I will be at peace.” No more dependency on external circumstances, no product or drug we need.

In both these significant places in Equilibrium we find a message that is the opposite of dependency. The Aura-Soma energies nourish the being within; the soul consciousness, which is our greater power. Just as a child growing up on earth needs support before it is ready to stand by itself, the growing of our soul consciousness within this physical world also benefits from nourishment in its first steps. As time passes then, whether with or without the support of the Aura-Soma products, we attain the consciousness of the colours and the strength of the light. The Aura-Soma way is a bridge to this state of freedom.

I have been very inspired to explore the Aura-Soma Tissue Salts during my stay at the Vicky Wall Apothecary in Bratislava. The owner Janetka is a qualified pharmacist of 15 years experience who has been introduced to the Aura-Soma system of tissue salts through its creator - Alison Effting.

Most impressive to me has been the change I see in Janetka’s own family. Since she became a distributor for the salts at the start of 2009 they have been working intensively with them. Her father started taking the red salt - Kali Phos – and after 3 weeks of taking Kali Sulph – the red salt – they began to see a change in him. Before he could not be persuaded to venture outside the house, now, 6 months later, he goes out for 2 hours every day looking after the 2 year old grandchild all by himself. His comment is “The young mothers in the local park are pretty.” He has found the zest for life again.

The changes don’t stop there, her husband looks significantly fresher and her mother is free from an intense allergy that dominated periods of her life. It is for this relief that Janetka’s mother sees her daughter in a new light. It is rare in my experience to find parents who are convinced by their children’s interest in Aura-Soma. But Janetka has managed to achieve that result with the tissue salts.

So now I am really keen to try these salts too. Mike Booth’s view is that the salts supply the physical (crystalline) component which allows colour energy to be grounded in the physical body. In other words, the tissue salts support Equilibrium to do its work. I find it very exciting and have already ordered my full set of salts. If you would like to know more then visit Alison Effting’s website.
www.tissuesalts.com

I am proud to introduce my newest 3 day course. It has just been accredited by ASIACT as part of the Aura-Soma Continuing Education Programme. The first presentation will be in Holland at the end of August 2009. Contact myself or Brigitte Sutmuller at lightbow@planet.nl for details. Here is the description.

The Colour Rose is one of the central teaching tools of the Aura-Soma system. It contains many gifts and some secrets too. Its colour pattern provides a key to understand colour language and colour relationships. Yet the Colour Rose goes deeper, it is an expression of sacred geometry and its structure is intimately linked to further symbols such as the Vesica Pisces, the Star of David and the Tree of Life.

Each day the course addresses both these levels of the Colour Rose. With regard to colour, the first part of the course explores the pairs of contrasting complementary colours. Each colour axis of the Colour Rose is carefully considered in turn. Fascinating hidden connections are revealed as we go. For example, the green theme of direction requires the red association of footsteps to be complete. Once the six colour axes of the Rose have been explored they act like a key that is inserted into the Colour Rose. The key is turned and we experience the circular flow of colour around the Rose. Hidden colours, evolution of colour themes - all are illuminated in the second part of the course.

Yet the course goes deeper. Parallel to the daily development of the colour understanding runs the thread of a deeper research into the structure of the Colour Rose. Each day includes a presentation on an aspect of the Colour Rose’s structure in which its deeper secrets are hidden. These sessions explore the hidden geometric features of the Rose such as the Star of David and the Vesica Pisces. Symbols which in turn illuminate subjects such as the relationship between the Ascended Masters and The Cosmic Master Beings.

Like to learn more? Come and be part of this adventure of discovery.

This is a film review with a difference. It reviews the film Crash (Director: Paul Haggis; U.S. 2005) with the themes of the Equilibrium bottle B55 - the Christ combination in Aura-Soma.

The opening sequence features drifting lights, white and red, they are out of focus headlights and tail lights. This colour symbolism at the start of the film gave me a jolt to wake up and take notice. They are the colours of the Christ bottle in the Aura-Soma Equilibrium range, Clear over Red. The ideas that follow are the result of considering the film in relation to the teachings of Christ.

The narrative of the film is composed of brilliantly interwoven threads of lives, lives that cross and interact one fateful 24 hour period. The central theme of the film is anger and forgiveness (a strong Christ theme that is also expressed in the Lord’s Prayer “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us”. In a fairly subtle way the film shows that anger hurts the one who carries it. It is easy to strike out at the wrong person when you carry it. Either speak up in the moment against the trespass /wrongdoing, or forgive. Otherwise the anger continues and most likely erupts to hurt further innocents.

A lot of the anger in the story is caused by racism. The gunstore owner throws the Iraqi out of his shop for not understanding English well enough; the black thieves only rob whites; in the aftermath of the crash of the opening scene, the Hispanic and the Chinese ladies revert to attacking each other with racist taunts. It is hard to watch but brings into focus another key Christ theme; “Love your neighbour as yourself.” The film explores the way that judging and being judged affect us, how different people respond in different ways. It is fascinating how different characters are brought to their edges of pain. On the occasions when humanity wins through then there are truly moments of relief.

Strong secondary themes within the story are those of justice and fate. It is notable in the Tree of Life that the paths of Justice and the Wheel of Fortune (Fate) both point (albeit from a distance in the case of Justice) to the sphere of Netsach – the sphere of Feeling. Healing of feeling is an important part of the story too. Only after Sandra Bullock’s character acknowledges her anger does she come recognise her need for contact; the streetwise thief who initially has no empathy for his victims in the end comes to feel good in doing something positive for others.

Only one of the character interactions ends in tragedy and yet surprisingly it happens between two of the least offensive characters. On deeper thought though it is apparent that the habit of these two characters was not to confront the injustice of their fellows. It is yet another Christ theme. “Evil flourishes where good men do nothing”, the conclusion to draw seems to be “Have the courage to stand up”. Martin Luther King, a devout Christian lived this. As a human being he found the burden of being the figurehead for justice almost unbearable, he feared for his life, yet as a soldier of Christ he found strength to face the darkness and the danger. His observation was that it is only when man finds something he is willing to die for can he truly live.

It is a great film, the ingenuity of the story supported by the clever cutting between different threads of the plots make for a riveting watch. The message isn’t hammered home, different stories resolve in different ways, more or less neatly, the premise though is to do with justice and, underneath that, our common humanity - two things we innately hold to as children. Perhaps this is what we are being reminded of with the injunction “Be ye as little children in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

The whole story is set to the backdrop of the Christmas season, yet another Christ resonance. The time to remember Christ and Christian values: forgiveness and human brother / sisterhood. The film closes with snow, a miracle in itself in LA. Snow the return of innocence to earth, all is made clean white virginal once more.

It is a film I would highly recommend for anyone working with 55, 98, 104, and to a lesser extent any further Red / Pink / Clear combinations as well as 8, 13, 10. The film ends with another interracial argument kicking off in the wake of another car crash. The camera spirals out as the snow falls. Flashpoints arise every day. Yet in this film we are shown the other side of the coin too, a day of redemption, second chances and turning points.

If you would like to buy this film follow the link below.

71 and 1: a No and a Yes

In Numerology 1 (see previous blog) I looked at the 171 steps of the Statue of Liberty from a numerological perspective as a combination of a 17 and a 1 : B17 (the path of The Star) and B1 (the path of The Magician). It is however more orthodox to see the 171 as a combination of a 1 and a 71. This article explores the implications of this view. Since in numerology we read numbers from right to left we shall start with the inside number - 71.

B71: Born out of No

The Pink / Cear combination brings the intensity of the light to the red in the top fraction a very strong way. Pink is primarily the energy for love of course, but the red hidden within the pink has further themes related to it. Themes such as the tendency to say “No” (introduced in the Level 2 course); and also themes of separation and grounding (finding one’s place to stand on the earth).

Those who initially left the Old World of Europe to the New World of North Americas did so out of a “No”. It was the lack of religious freedom that led the Founding Fathers to sail from Boston UK (just down the road from Tetford). There was no Statue of Liberty then of course but the principle of No was present. Later waves of immigrants separated (red) from their homelands (red / pink theme of mother country) because of hardships at home such as poverty, famine, persecution and war. Notice too that red is about struggle - red’s complementary colour - green - is about flow and harmony. In green there is no struggle, no pressure to change. Red drives change.

In B71 we find the suffering (clear) that leads people to say No, separate from the mother energy and search for a new place to put down their roots.

B1: Inspired by Yes

Where red is No, blue is Yes. As much as emigrants from the Old World were pushed by No, when they arrived as immigrants they held a strong Yes for a new chance. A desire (blue) for something better. As discussed in the previous blog Numerology 1 - there is a resonance between B1 and the American Dream - the chance to achieve your dream.

Evolution

Reading numbers from right to left is like travelling from East to West. This numerological interpretation of the Statue of Liberty’s 171 steps begins from the inside (the eastern side) with the 71, and travels towards the outside number - the 1 - which is on the far left of the 171 (and so the western-most number). This is how the USA was born. Out of a No and towards a Yes.

Now the USA has extended all the way to the West Coast and the energy has settled there. In contrast to the the East Coast of the USA which looks back across the Atlantic to Europe the West Coast is definitively American and looks out to the Pacific. The West looks forwards to the future rather than back to the past.

Conclusion

In the Numerology 1 blog, I unconsciously started with the 17 and the 1 - reading uncharacteristically from right to left. But I now see that this choice reflected something about the USA itself. The USA has reached its West Coast where the quintessence of the American Dream may be found. For example Hollywood, the creator of dreams is situated here. The American message of freedom and dreams is now able to travel back from the West towards the East! This interpretation sees the 1 - The Magician - the power to create the American Dream - firmly rooted within (the 1 on the inside). And this inner 1 expresses itself through The Star - 17 which represents the freedom to flow and live one’s truth in the world.

Stars and Stripes

A fascinating confirmation to all this comes from the American flag. Known as the Stars and Stripes it is another key symbol for the USA. On its right hand (eastern) side are the 13 red and white stripes (B71 Pink / Clear) that represent the 13 original States that rebelled (red!!) against the British Empire of the Old World. In the top left (western) corner of the flag are the 50 white stars on the blue background which represent the current states of the Union (less Hawaii). From red to blue, from right to left, from east to west.

Can you believe there is yet a third way to interpet the 171. There is. It is creative and original and you can read about it in Numerology 3.

I read the other day that The Statue of Liberty has 171 steps. Naturally my mind turned to Aura-Soma bottles. The 17 and the 1 stood out. That is The Star and The Magician in the Tarot Aura-Soma connection. The Statue of Liberty is a US icon and the original gateway for all immigrants in to this new world. I was therefore interested to see if the Equilibrium bottles fitted the USA in some way.

B1 and the American Dream

I have long connected B1 with the USA since the International Dialling Code for the States is + 1 and the Blue/Rescue seems very fitting with US values. I consider “the American Dream” to be a defining US value, and the B1 with its rescue for blue providses the energy to declare (throat chakra) your dream and make it a reality. This is the power of The Magician.

B17 and Freedom

The Star B17 precedes the 1 (171) in this way of looking. The Star also supports the idea of “Live your truth anf follow your dream”. The path of The Star is on the male side of the Tree of Life, the side which that favours flow and freedom, the side connected to the energy of the Father. Again these are all very key themes in the US psyche: The Founding Fathers, and the Bill of Rights that guarantees freedoms. The Star resonates with the freedom to travel (flow) West (through the Wild West - again freedom) and find your fortune.

Conclusion …

All in all, the 171 steps of the Statue of Liberty, taken as the 17 and the 1, seem to resonate very strongly with the values and themes of the USA.

And still there is an alternative view of the 171. A view ultimately more consistent with numerology practice. And as i write now a view that is a perfect complement to the above view. Read about it in the next blog coming very soon …

I am often asked why is Aura-Soma so popular in Japan. Here is a thought. Some of the ideas beneath are not held be everybody in Japan, and Japan is changing. Nevertheless i think the ideas are true to the traditional Japanese way of life which all Japanese have been born into. The idea is inspired by some stonework i was admiring while staying in Kyoto earlier this month. I was on the edge of the city on a hillside close to the forest - the area has a traditional look. Here is the wall.

These are not small stones! You will notice that every stone is uniquely shaped, retaining some originality. Yet as a whole this wall is tightly knit. If a stone were removed another could not be easily found to replace it. This says several important things about Japanese society.

First it says that great care has been taken in building this wall. Each stone has been placed with care and attention to detail, small adjustments have been made at the edges to ensure a tight fit. These are magenta qualities: care and attention to detail.

It would be much easier and quicker to mass-produce regularly shaped bricks. But in Japan things are valued for their unique quality. Originality of form is prized, respect for each other is paramount. I once asked a Japanese friend if she would wear a brace to change her teeth. She replied that teeth were a gift from her parents and should be respected as such. The wall is more important than the stone! No stone in the wall requires another to be different, each is accommodated as it is, or at least the chipping away happened so long ago that now there is no memory of things being any other way. This gives greatstrength to society, yet, at the same time, it is impossible for any stone to move without upsetting the whole.

This is true of individuals in Japanese society. They live in cities of millions and millions. Any day at any hour almost every train is full. People moving together. People are expected to give a huge amount to work: traditionally you should not go home if your boss is still in the office. Everyone should know their position in society and bow to everyone else accordingly. So where is the space for the individual? Not much on the outside is the answer. “The nail that sticks up will be hammered down” is a traditional Japanese proverb.

But here is where Aura-Soma has something to offer. It presents a non intrusive, gentle, private way to nurture and explore your inner world. You may not be free outside, but you can grow inside. Come to know your inner shape better; like the stone in the wall, find your uniqueness and bring it to life with consciousness. Mike Booth used to like to talk about making pots, that every so often a pot would be made under his hands on the wheel that seemed to sing. It had an inner quality of aliveness. Aura-Soma helps to bring that aliveness to each individual life, and in Japan, that has a very high value indeed.