Shakti Sutriasa
An Invitation from the Darkness

Have you noticed that certain times of year evoke different feelings or orientations?

What does December ask of you?

For me, it’s about LIGHT, about opening to it and receiving it.

How do you define light?

Perhaps you think about it as: inspiration, healing, divinity, truth, love- or something else. 

Whatever your definition of light, the dark days of December seem to call for a kindling of that spark, a nourishing of our inner light.

How about A practice to help you connect more deeply to that light?  

Here’s a simple one: How would you complete this sentence? 

An Invitation from the Darkness
Shakti Sutriasa
Death of Normal: Embarking on a Hero Journey

Last week I began an online class focused on the arc known as the Hero’s Journey. If you’re at all familiar with the mythologist, Joseph Campbell and his work, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about!

Essentially, the idea is that we are all the hero of our own story, and within our lifetimes are invited, encouraged, urged, and sometimes dragged onto a journey of self-transformation.

It all begins with the death of normal.

Death of Normal: Embarking on a Hero Journey
Shakti Sutriasa
3 Practices to Help You Live Life Your Way

Have you ever thought about the unique track of your life and your experiences as being tailor made just for you?

It’s kind of a radical idea, one I learned from the Manual for Teachers, which is part of A Course In Miracles (ACIM).

In it, it says that in our journey to God, we have,

“[A] curriculum [that] is highly individualized, and all aspects [of it] are under the Holy Spirit's particular care and guidance.”

When I first read this, I smiled.

3 Practices to Help You Live Life Your Way
Shakti Sutriasa
How to Move Through the Veils

According to Celtic tradition, we’re about to get to the time of year when the veils between worlds is purportedly thinnest.

The actual date is from sundown on October 31st to sundown on November 1st which coincides with Halloween and the Day of the Dead.

Supposedly, this 24-hour period is a powerful time:

  • for divination (since the veils are more porous)

  • for reflection on the balance of life and death

  • for connecting between the physical and spiritual worlds

  • for honoring and remembering loved ones who have passed on

How to Move Through the Veils
Shakti Sutriasa
How to Discern Between Love & Like

I'm sure you’re aware of the difference between liking someone and loving them. But would you indulge me for a minute?

Call to mind a friend or colleague. Someone you genuinely like who perhaps is reliable, trustworthy…Now think about someone you love. A family member or close confidante.

Can you feel the difference?

Yes!

Unfortunately, sometimes the lines between love and like get blurred, especially with members of our family.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.

When I was in my early 20s, I moved across the country to live near my sister. Growing up, our relationship was complicated. Sometimes we got along wonderfully, other times, not so much.

How to Discern Between Love & Like

Kali and the veil

Celebrate Samhain & Move Between Worlds

Celebrate Samhain & Move Between Worlds

This entire month, I’ve been kinda obsessed with the idea of the veil. Meaning the veil between worlds, or the veil that hides the truth from us.

In Hinduism, the goddess Kali is known to rip this veil from our eyes, to help us see the truth. Another way of thinking about it is that the goddess Maya is cloaked in the veil of illusion, which, in truth is as gauzy as a wispy cloud.

While I appreciate the imagery of both of these, the visual that has always, always, always speaks to me is the mists of Avalon. There the priestess stands in the prow of her boat and parts the mists, thus allowing her to enter the island of Avalon. Whereas, the others who are incapable of this feat wander forever lost in the gloam.