(If you haven’t read the previous post, please do so now or this one won’t make any sense!)

“The Caterpillar Becomes a Butterfly”

Change and transformation is PART of life. It is a good thing. I am convinced that Wizards is a caterpillar struggling to become a butterfly. Caterpillars with their 100 legs or so (I never counted!) are slow moving and earth-bound. A butterfly is light and has wings! Before emerging from its cocoon, a butterfly must struggle and strain. The transformation is worth the trouble.

To those who would like to see a lighter, enhanced Wizards in “butterfly” mode keep your eyes peeled for a new location: We are NOT looking to make the new Wizards a retail “store.” The new Wizards will be more of a teaching institution and meeting place for classes, rituals, Open Mic Night.

We are OPEN TO ALL SUGGESTIONS, but here is what we think we need:

Either:

1. A permanent location with a main room suitable to conduct classes, ritual and a modest Open Mic Night (approx. 600 sq./ft plus bathroom) Rent can be no more than $600 – $700.
2. A pay-by-use location that will charge us by the day/hour/event. We prefer a permanent location we can decorate and use anytime but we will consider all possibilities.

Please note:

1. We do NOT require a typical commercial storefront, although we will consider it.
2. It can also be a 2^nd floor or even basement space (our main concern is that there be parking available and that we can host rituals, incense – you know the deal.
3. Wizards will only be open for classes, rituals, readings and other special events. There will be no “store” hours.
4. We have exhausted our cash and credit resources keeping this store open so we must find a way to secure this new place as economically as possible.

For over two years Cathy and I have had the great privilege of being the proprietors of Wizards in East Northport.  Honestly, unless you have spent some quality time in this magickal place and experienced it first hand, there are no words that can make you understand its special aura or the way it has touched individual lives.

Being the resident wizard of the world’s one and only Wizards, I’ve met the most memorable and extraordinary people!  It has been my honor to serve them.  The characters that passed through our doors have both enlightened and enriched my life in so many ways.  Cathy and I have forged friendships here that hopefully will continue for many years to come.  Wizards has been a labor of love and a dream come true for me.

No mention of Wizards would be complete without giving credit where it is due, and that means saying a few words about Cathy.  There is no way to calculate the contribution she has made to making Wizards what it was.  From the start she has been loyal and true to me in all ways.  In fact, I could not possibly be more proud of her than I am.  She is worth her weight in pure gold.  Despite being out of the ‘lime-light’,  I can honestly say that, without Cathy Wizards would never had existed here at all.  If you love Wizards, you owe a special thanks to Cathy for making it all possible.

With this post I announce that Wizards will be closing its doors at 275 Larkfield Rd, E. Northport on March 1st

So what now?

Well, there are a few things you should know.

1. We will cease business operations by February 20th.
2. Classes given by ME, both current and future, will continue. Of course, we will need a venue(s) and we are currently looking for an appropriate place(s) Current students should have no fear over their continuing education with me. Plans for the IATM remain unchanged.
3. Classes by other teachers scheduled AFTER March 1st are to be announced.  Stay tuned for details.
4. We will keep Wizards phone number and have no plans to discontinue it.
5. I am still available for readings and spiritual counseling, as usual, but by appointment.
6. We will ramp up the website so that the staples we sell at Wizards WILL BE available to you online. There will also be new products and publications I write available there as well.
7. We will need to sell off as much of our merchandise, display cases, furnishings and such, as we can before March 1st.
8. We will make every effort to keep our Wizards family in tact. Stay tuned for some ideas we have, friends.

First it was pedophile priests, then last week it was the Vatican secretly putting political pressure on governments not to convict said predator priests.  NOW it looks like illegal money laundering and ties to the MAFIA are coming to light!  What’s next?  The Pope’s secret drug cartel and a ring of prostitute nuns?  What’s going on here??!!

Once again I find myself in the uncomfortable position of commenting on outrageous religious goings on.  I’d rather not.  So why bother?  Because keeping silent about news bits like this kicks up my blood pressure a couple of ticks and makes that vein in my head bulge angrily.

It wouldn’t bother me so much if the Catholic Church (not the only church plagued by scandall and corruption by any means, but it is certainly the most prominent and powerful) were not holding itself up as the spiritual and moral “Gold standard” of the planet.  I would respect the church leadership soooo much more if they would just ‘fess up and admit something along these lines;

“Hey, what do you want from us flawed human beings?  Sure, we do immoral and illegal things occasionally and then try to cover it up to save our own asses.  Doesn’t everybody?  But despite our many human failings we love Jesus (or at least what we’ve been taught about him) and we want to follow and imitate him as best we can manage.”

Needless to say, my friends, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the Pope or any Church official with an international profile to make any such statement.

Finally, what follows is a clip of a report that appeared on Yahoo.com early today.  Curiously, whereas other stories might stay on the front page for days, THIS story appeared for only a few hours before going missing.  Nevertheless, you will find the link to the source article after the excerpt below.

“VATICAN CITY – This is no ordinary bank: The ATMs are in Latin. Priests use a private entrance. A life-size portrait of Pope Benedict XVI hangs on the wall.

Nevertheless, the Institute for Religious Works is a bank, and it’s under harsh new scrutiny in a case involving money-laundering allegations that led police to seize euro23 million ($30 million) in Vatican assets in September. Critics say the case shows that the “Vatican Bank” has never shed its penchant for secrecy and scandal…..”

To read the rest of this article: http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20101212/NEWS06/101212002/1002/rss

Much respect to faithful, honorable Catholics everywhere.  I hope, for your sakes, that the Church succeeds in getting its act together.

Whenever we perceive anything – ANYTHING AT ALL - we cannot avoid the distortion that happens when impulses passes through our individual sense-filters.  Ironically, our sense organs DO provide us clues about our environment but they also simultaneously obscure the truth.   It’s no wonder so many enlightened ones teach us that mundane life as we know it is an illusion.

Let us not forget that our senses are only capable of perceiving a TINY fraction of a far, far greater whole.  They say “seeing is believing.”  Well, seeing may be believing but it can ALSO be deceiving.  For instance, look up into the night sky and tell me, which is bigger, the moon or the stars?  The answer is the stars, of course.  Naturally, your eyes tell you the exact opposite of what is actually true.  In this case anyway, seeing is deceiving.  The moon only APPEARS larger because we are so much closer to it.  This is POV at work.   There are countless examples of how sense organs report misleading information.  Stationary objects feel solid to the touch but they are really porous and made of billions of energy clusters moving about near the speed of light!

The disconnect between reality and perception is not limited to your five physical senses.  There are other filters we all depend on to evaluate what is true, false, good and bad in the world.  The environment you grew up in, how your parents raised you, your religion, native culture, social circles and economic status - everything about your life from your conception until this very moment colors, and yes DISTORTS, your ability to understand what is really true and accurate.

Let me leave you with these questions.  What would the world be like if people tried to see past mere appearances?  What wars would end if we could see past the color of a man’s skin, or think ‘outside the box’ of our own religious programming?  How would the face of the world change if we saw differences between our fellow humans as a good thing instead of something to be feared and destroyed?

My humble advice?  LOVE the divine spark in everyone you meet.  Everything else is just window dressing!

I don’t golf.  Neither do I give a damn what “Tiger” is up to – on the course or off.  Football is my drug of choice, although, these days I have no opportunity to watch the game anymore.  With all due respect to golfers everywhere, golf is to football what your purring kitty cat is to a snarling saber-toothed tiger!  I mean, let’s be honest, folks; when was the last time you saw golfers leave a pint of blood on the field or continue playing with a broken arm!? Golf is like gentlemen sitting in a polite circle sipping tea from tiny Limoges china cups – pinky fingers stuck in the air.  Football is all the strategy and aggression of full-blown warfare.  Bloodletting, carnage and casualties – with commercials! I Luv it, luv it, luv it!!

So, you might be surprised to learn that our family spent our recent vacation at a GOLF RESORT in West Virginia!  Who wudda thunk it?  As you might expect we had a great time and enjoyed the MUCH needed R&R.  I learned a few things while surrounded by the ‘golf people.’ For one thing, as soon as the sun peaks over those mountains, the golfers are there – even in the rain!  There are balls flying every which way all day until the sun goes down.  One road on the resort even had a stop sign with a warning that people might be teeing off just as your car is passing.  Oh yeah, we LOOKED both ways before crossing!

I have an “issue” with heights.  Not being a John Denver fan, his famous song with the line “West Virginia, mountain MAMA” was the last thing on my mind when we booked this trip.  In our neck of the woods, at Lakeview Resort in Morgantown, (where golfers reign supreme,) you are always either going UP a mountain or coming DOWN a mountain.  There were, however, spectacular sights along the way.   In Coopers Rock Sate park there were warm smiles and friendly folks to greet us ‘city slicker’ New Yorkers.  Determined to confront and conquer my fear, I inched out onto a look-out point.  I watched hawks circling in search of prey.  The kicker was, we were so high up, we were looking DOWN on them from above!!  Wow, what a sight.

In our travels into Maryland we visited a wonderful and rather large store on a quiet country road.  Surprisingly, we discovered it was jammed with shoppers!  It was a delightful place with lovely home decor pieces, Halloween, Christmas and other rustic, adorable things.  The gentleman owner made it a point to welcome and tend to everyone present (quite the task considering how many people were there.) In the rear of his complex of three interconnected stores, there was a small farm with goats, chickens and llamas!  It was a great attraction for the kids and he provided food for them to feed the animals.  As we left we admired his pond which was presided over by statues of angels and – much to his credit – the god Pan. Evidently he is a liberal minded fellow without an intolerant bone in his body.  Bless him.

All and all we had a wonderful time away from the world we knew back home.  Now we are back and looking forward to a wonderful year ahead.  Challenges and troubles, sure, we have them in spades.  I have a feeling, though, that we have seen the worst of the fight.  Cathy and I are looking ahead with anticipation of pleasanter times.

The world is fixated on the outer appearances, the outer reality.  The outer truth is no truth at all.  You are like children that can see no deeper than what the eyes and fingers detect.  No, you say?  But I say yes.  True, some of you – a precious few – see with truer, inner vision, but most do not.

When your minds are fixed on the outer realm, the inner life atrophies. when your inner self lays sick, impoverished and neglected you CANNOT be happy, even if your coffers overflow OUTSIDE.  Indeed, money neither makes you sad nor happy but it is your spiritual core that is the issue here.  If you are healthy INSIDE, you will not be deprived of happiness.  There is a false belief that the OUTER is somehow more real than the INSIDE, because it is unseen and therefore less important for it being less tangible.  Indeed, the opposite is true.  Hear this; if your skin that you can see and feel is clear and fresh looking, but your internal organs are riddled with Cancer, are you sick or healthy?  Is your outer appearance the reality or merely the skin on the apple?  Truly, the unseen inner reality of you is of greater import and greater impact in your life overall than the OUTER appearances.  Heal the inner YOU and happiness will follow close behind.

Technology is a drug and the world is addicted to it.  Like most drugs it has legitimate applications.  It is not a bad thing of itself, but in the hands of short–sighted people technology deals death, sickness and pain.  All the horrors of life are made worse when technology is misused.  It is a drug addiction.

Children with bigger more sophisticated guns are still but children.  When wisdom and maturity rise up in the hearts of your leaders, power and knowledge will be used wisely.  But it is a long time before this happens.  None of you will still be nursing your current host (your body) by then.  Each of you will have gone on to other hosts and new adventures.  Not to worry, though, peace on earth already exists on higher, truer levels of reality.  Can you see it?

When peace is in YOU, there will be peace on earth.  Until then ….

Give thanks for every experience.  They are gifts to you. That which causes you to heal is a blessing in disguise. Hurt, healing and health are of the same movement, the same function.  The hurt that causes you to shed your realm of illusion altogether, that which you erroneously call “death,” ushers you into a higher understanding of your greater spiritual self.  You awaken in a place impervious to death.  There IS no death.

Stop calling yourselves “cursed!”  You are blessed with more opportunities to grow strong and radiant than the rest, that is all.  Embrace the day.  Embrace the moment.  Do you attend a workplace you hate?  Outgrow it.  Are you wronged by a lover?  These souls bond with you, although they do not know at the time their true function, to the end that some greater good is accomplished.

Every “evil” that befalls you trains and strengthens you.  Accept it.  Pain leads to pleasure in the same way that Ying and Yang forever flow one into each other.  Pleasure also leads to pain.  Indeed they are the same thing.  Intense feelings.  The miracle is that one moves us toward it and the other away.  Therein lies a great secret of life.  Pleasure and pain are tools the Divine uses to lead us down a path of discovery.   A relentless headlong search after pleasure leads us to pain.  It is imbalance.  balance pain and pleasure in your lives and find happiness in the process.

Happiness is neither pleasure nor pain.  It is union with Spirit.  Think on it.

Rage, hate, frustration, jealousy are all heavy weights around your neck. They HURT YOU.  Do not hold them so dear.  They cannot burn within you if you do not provide them kindling.  They DAMAGE you.  Kick them away as you would burning embers.  Fear is not who you are, it is not a part of you, it is an unwelcome guest in your emotional mansion.  

Your heart is the center of your personal universe.  Its heat, its force reaches out to every part of your world.  Whatever your emotions hold onto, positive or negative is held in place like planets orbiting the Sun.  Focus on hurtful feelings and thoughts and they are refueled and linger.  Focus on joyful things and they become more solid, more real to you.  Their vibration becomes slower and more tangible.

The frequency of any spiritual thing is too high for eyes, nose, tongue, ears and hands to detect unaided.  As ”it” becomes slower, denser, more mundane, it passes through levels.  From pure being into spiritual awareness.  Then down to mental planes.  It descends further into emotional, so-called “astral” realms.  Eventually, it manifests as a very limited version of itself in what you (erroneously) call the physical plane.  You would do better to discard the expression “material realm” and replace it with ‘realm of illusion.’  It is the tiny, extremely limited slice of reality your mundane body senses can detect. 

The realm of illusion was never intended to be your primary home where you put all of your attention.   You cling tenaciously to a single leaf when you exist in a vast forest of indescribable glories.  This land of illusion is the ‘end of the road’ in the cycle of creation before it begins to deconstruct (as a physical illusion) and circuit back to the higher planes.  Your true life is lived SIMULTANEOUSLY through ALL planes, not at all restricted to the illusion realm.

Live people, live the REAL life.

______________________________________________________________

Fear.  That which you fear is YOU.  You rage against the “other” because that one brings you face to face with what hurts.  Those that turn a mirror on you are most feared and hated.  You cannot abide seeing yourselves through others eyes.  You look and see ugliness and pain.  God does not see you that way…. but still you defy God’s view of what you are in favor of your own.  Those who judge themselves are the true blasphemers.  For if God sees you as a vessel of light, how dare you contradict?   Accept NO opinion that denigrates the divine in you.  No one that breathes is your judge – not even you.  Only I AM judge and I choose to dwell as you… or am I also defective in your sight?  Be silent and rejoice for you are ALL vessels of Spirit.

what of weakness? what of  sin?  what of misery?  are these not your helpers?  for truly, weakness, sin and misery bring to light the truth of spiritual power… that which is spiritual is real… that which you call matter is but a shadow … you see shadows, I see reality… which is greater, the mirror or that reflected in it?  Sure, the mirror is more ‘solid,’ but how much greater is that which is seen there when YOU gaze into it?

Happiness awaits you…

______________________________________________________________

Dream and you must awake…. you fear to awaken because you will lose what you have while asleep.  you fear to die because this dream ends….but when you are awake in spirit you fear to lose who you are to become awake in the flesh… you are not spirit and you are not flesh… you simply are… your sages speak of flesh within spirit and spirit being made flesh…. it is all to placate you… you cannot be spirit or flesh…. flesh is spirit and spirit is flesh but your minds say these are different and yet the same…. neither exists except as ways to understand things you are not able to grasp without labels….  your labels are secure prisons … and you crave them… fly…fly… the doors are open… being alive in the flesh you fear death and loss … having awakened in spirit you fear the change to flesh as you lose the real life for the dream… when you are alive you are dead and when you are dead you are alive… since you are ever alive in one form or another you are NEVER dead…

think on it and rejoice