Everyday Mysticism: Grace Cathedral, Hildegard of Bingen, and Labyrinths

Hildegard of Bingen: Spiritual BadA**

Hello! After a long and much needed break, we're back and ready to chat about mysticism, astrology, and more!

What is everyday mysticism?

Everyday mysticism means to live your life in a conscious way. It means finding the small miracles in the world because small miracles are always there. Find the silence. Understand your heart. Listen, and if that doesn't work, listen again. And again. And again. (Turn off the cell phone to really listen to your soul.)

How can I do that? 

Journal. Even five minutes of writing can reconnect you with your true purpose. Meditate. Silence isn't just golden, it's the key to unlocking what you really need in the moment. Carve out time for YOU. In our hectic, tech-driven world, it's important to power down so we can plug our souls into something bigger than us - universal energy and love.

Sacred labyrinth power  with
Dr. Lauren Artress

On Happy Ganesh's Facebook and Twitter pages, you mentioned a book called Walking a Sacred Path by Dr. Lauren Artress. What made you recommend  that book to your hundreds of followers?

I'm a big fan of what I call "meditative walking" - when I throw on some sneakers, grab my iPod, and talk a very, very long brisk walk. I love either walking in our neighborhood or walking in the local woods. Trees inspire and revive me. Nature gives me a feeling of excitement and adventure: my inner five year old goes, "Where are we going?"

That love of contemplation and nature drew me to Walking a Sacred Path - but, as the universe truly works in divine and perfect ways, usually when I least expect it, I didn't know I was being "drawn" to it. I bought it at a book sale because it was fifty cents! Much to my great surprise, I learned later that Dr. Lauren Artress , the author, is  responsible for the labyrinth at the welcoming and wonderful Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, one of my favorite spiritual spots!

 I had a chance to visit Grace Cathedral over Christmas 2013 and I was so moved by the beauty and tranquility of the space that I began to cry. Due to the holiday festivities, I didn't have a chance to walk the labyrinth but I look forward to doing so very soon. Movement is sacred. And at the heart of the labyrinth lies awareness, answers, visions, truth? All of the above, perhaps.

 One of my favorite quotes from the book is about the spiritual philosophy of Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century mystic and theologian:

Hildegard of Bingen was [...] an author of theology that knitted together nature and spirit, cosmos and soul.  She described the [Spirit] as the greening power of God. Just as plants are greened, so are we as well. As we grow up, our spark of life continually shines forth. If we ignore this spark, this greening power, we become thirsty and shriveled. And if we respond to the spark, we flower. (Walking a Sacred Path, Artress, 1995, p.15)

What will you do this week to contribute to the "greening" of your soul and inner life? Will you use walking or hiking to hear your spirit? Or will you choose another form of awareness?

The Manifestation Station, July 8

First of all, there are still some small kinks being worked out on this site.

• The RSS feed and newsletter "sign up" button are still under construction. Those should be up and running in the next few days, so keep checking back.


• Ditto the Twitter sign up from this page. However you can still click through to the HappyGaneshInc Twitter account by using the Blogroll on the left side of the page. (See it? See it? That's right.)

Tonight was the weekly manifestation class at Modern Zen (the building formerly known as Griffin's Loft). This is a class that seems - by its very nature - to work best when I am not prepping and when I haven't read fifty theories and nine thousand books on Manifestation and Creation (which to me sounds an awful lot like Manifestation in motion -- just letting it be). I thought I'd take the bull by the horns tonight and actually prep - i.e. -- discuss notes and theory.

See, I recently went to the library looking for books on spirituality, on manifestation, even on being present. I came away with an armful of books (the same armful I mentioned in the July 1st post), determined to Learn More About Manifestation.

Riiiiiighhhht.

Here's what happened. I remembered that I knew a lot more than I thought I did. I also learned that at some point, manifestation links into many, many ideas of spiritual surrender.

1. Thoughts Create Beliefs Create Action


2. Letting Go Will Help You On Many Levels


3. In Letting Go, We Can Only Control Ourselves


4. In the space of "Letting Go", create.

• How do you know you're manifesting what you need?

Someone asked a really great question tonight. "I want to do X thing. How do I know if I am on the path?"

By how you feel. If everytime you think about X thing, about YOU being in this situation, purely, you feel awesome and amazing and want to dance in your shoes and kiss small puppy dogs, then this is GOOD. If , on the other hand, merely thinking about X situation makes you feel drained, unhappy, or angry, then maybe this is not really something you want to do.

• Feelings are facts.

My mom used to throw this one at me and I used to look at her like she was insane. "What do you mean feelings are facts?" I would say. "Facts are facts." Well, mom really meant that feelings show where you are in the middle of a situation. How you feel often shows you what your needs are or are not. Where are you? What is happening for you? It's a biggie.

• "Good feels Good" -- Esther Hicks

I love this one.  Look at that. Good feels good. Was there ever so simple a statement?

That's it? Centuries of people being taught that pleasure of any kind means surefire damnation?

All of us, going forth, thinking that if we reaaaaalllly roll around in pleasure and catnip, the great hand of Big External Force (and sometimes Big Mamma or Papa SuperEgo) will destroy us in a blazing fire?

Think about all the ways society teaches us to put this aside. Don't have too much fun. Have a good time, but after that, come back in because supper's on the table. Good feels good. Let's start there. Good feels like alignment. Good feels like being with yourself. Good feels like whole. Good feels good. Brilliant.

• Negative Manifestation: "I was waiting for the other shoe to drop"?

Does the Universe ever wear shoes? Shoes are there to move us from point A to point Z. They are not there to hinder me, or you, or to drop into our existence and end what was, up until that point, a perfectly lovely time. This reminds me of that Monty Python sketch about The Hand of God.

• Are there any absolutes? (Or, Oh My God, I'm the Teacher.)

I love teaching. I love it. I love connecting with people. I also find myself coming up against the 'image' of a Teacher Who Needs To Know Everything, Ever, About Manifestation. In general, I must have all the answers for you, my student. Some days I believe this. (Those are the days where my beagle looks at me like "Weren't you questioning that five minutes ago?" She's right. She's a smart beagle.)

I walked into class tonight and basically said, "Look, I am your teacher and right now I'm having a small crisis of faith around what that means. It does not mean I know all the answers." I have no idea. The truth is that I know what I have read and studied, and what has worked for me, and what I have seen.

I am also learning about manifestation and some days I break all the rules of it (clamping down, clenching down) five times before I'm out of bed. I'm human. It happens. Sometimes I let go and am able to create and pull things to me in all kinds of awesome wonderful ways. Often, I am able to let go and create more and more. That's fun and wonderful.

• In Class: Manifestation Fortune Cookies

Tonight we did Manifestation Fortune Cookies. I passed around a small bag and every person pulled out a quote on manifestation. Weirdly (or actually, Purely Manifested!!!), every person seemed to draw the exact fortune that somehow mirrored something they had expressed during the class. Perfect. Total Manifestation at work.

Manifestation is faith is creation is God/Source/Divine/Us is letting go. It's all tied up somehow. It's one weird golden thread where all of it -- - becomes something we can hold on to and let it hold us.

Here's to being held and holding back.

G'night, all. Sleep well.