Home

On the End of the World Today

Today I'd like to share with you a brilliant article written by my friend and music teacher extraordinaire Doug Goodkin from his blog "Confessions of a Traveling Music Teacher." Thanks Doug for your thought provoking ideas on this last day of the world as we know it :)

On the End of the World  (link)

Love

From Truth Beckons Blog online

Wealth

All True Wealth is Internal

Photo by Kevin Ambrose

Cherry Blossom Sunrise

The Winter Solstice

The season will soon change and with it comes the rebirth of light. But let's not forget the journey that brings us soon to that moment at the Winter Solstice when the wheel of the year will turn, the longest night will pass, and we will begin our return toward the Summer Solstice and the festival of the Celtic sun king Lugh.  Take a moment to reflect on what it is that you are creating at this time in your life, and light a candle Dec. 21st for it. Set your intentions, and watch them soar in the early spring when the first seedlings begin to spout on Feb. 2nd or Candlemas, the celebration of art and beauty. Peace and love to us all.

www.sun-gazing.com

Life Transitions

What’s a Monad Anyway?

excerpt from Spiritual Turning Points: A Metaphysical Perspective of the Seven Life Transitions

"A little background on where the term Monad originated: in the 1970s a small group of students of Metaphysics and more specifically George Gurdjieff, an Armenian/Greek mystic and spiritual teacher born in 1866, were meeting in the San Francisco Bay Area. One night while using an Ouija board they contacted Michael, a spirit entity that over time transmitted an entire system of soul evolution to them that was later published in a series of books by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. As part of this system, the term “monads” began to be used to describe both internal and external experiences.

The Michael Definition of the 7 Internal Monads:

“An Internal Monad is a process that is self-contained and experienced by one fragment as a result of a necessary and pivotal developmental phase....The monads are a process through which maturation occurs and includes the following: Birth, Separation from the Mother or the Terrible Twos, Independence from the Family of Origin, Casting off of the False or Learned Personality, Life Review, the onset of what is Fatal and causes Death, and Death itself or the last breath. We would then define the internal monads as self contained internal “units” of experience.”  (Marina-Tompkins c. 2009)

Anthropologist Vic Turner defined the concept of liminality, a threshold state where what has been known is fading away and what will be does not yet exist. In his seminal book ‘Transitions’, William Bridges introduced the concept of 3 transitional segments including a beginning, limbo or neutral state, and an end. Modern psychology includes Jean Piaget’s Stage Theory, Erik Erikson’s 8 Stages of Human Development, and BF Skinner’s studies in child development.  All recognize progressive natural stages of human development.  The addition of the spiritual or Soul perspective is a key element in understanding these life transitions and helps us to validate the higher truths of reincarnation that are not considered in traditional psychological theories.

The combination of higher spiritual perspectives with the aforementioned psychological studies provides a well-rounded understanding of the nature of human evolution. Singularly they each offer information that helps us accept the rhythms of life. Without the perspective of soul awareness we do not see the larger picture and one that offers us a glimpse into the nature of the Universal truths of reincarnation and choice."

c.2011 All Rights Reserved  

"The cave you fear to enter holds the treasures that you seek."

Joseph Campbell

Reed Flute Cave, China

Carrying God

A Sufi poem by Hafiz

No one can keep us from carrying God
Wherever we go.
No one can rob His Name
From our heart as we try to relinquish our fears
And at last stand -- Victorious.

We do not have to leave him in the mosque
Or church alone at night;
We do not have to be jealous of tales of saints
Or glorious masts, those intoxicated souls
Who can make outrageous love with the Friend.

We do not have to be envious of our spirits’ ability
Which can sometimes touch God in a dream.
Our yearning eyes, our warm-needing bodies,
Can all be drenched in contentment
And Light.

No one anywhere can keep us
From carrying the Beloved wherever we go.
No one can rob His precious Name
From the rhythm of my heart --
Steps and breath.

Your Daily Rumi: This is Love

This is love: 

To fly toward a secret sky, 

to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. 

First to let go of life. 

Finally, to take a step without feet.  

 -Rumi

Favorites from Our Archives

"I don't let my mouth say somethin'

my head can't stand"

Louis Armstrong

When it the right time to speak and when is it not?  Our thoughts tend to be constant as a continuous stream of ideas, perceptions, judgments and all manner of things which keep us trapped in what seems like mind-focused but can be mindlessness rather than mindfulness.

Enough mind patter to keep us distracted and busy rather than calm and centered.

And if our thoughts aren't enough to keep us tangled, there is the tendency to speak what we are thinking. Too often we step into another's space by offering our ideas; I know what you should do, how to solve your problem. Get out of your relationship, tell your mother what you really feel and so on and so on.....The faultiness of this approach lies in the assumption that we know what is right for another person and that it is our place to say what we think which in fact imposes our opinions on them. When we supply our friends, family, and anyone else with our non requested perceptions it interferes with their ability to solve their own dilemas, to create solutions based on their own internal processes.

Louis Armstrong, the brilliant trumpeter, coined the phrase "I don't let my mouth say somethin' my head can't stand." He was referring to the tendency to say whatever comes to your mind without considering the consequence of that action- when we speak so quickly isn't it likely that we may not have taken the time to consider with carewhat we are saying? Even if we are asked for our opinion, then taking a moment to gather your thoughts in order to express what you feel with clarity and non judgment can do much to foster positive communications.

We engender trust as we develop the ability to know the appropriate time to speak, providing the space for active listening and careful responses. Yes, it does take a little practice to put these principles into place, but once they are, then you will likely find improvement in your relationships as well as a quieting of your own mind which is all to the good.

Your Daily Tesla

Wonderful New A Little Book of Spirit Stories Review!

"Fascinating autobiographical account of extraordinary experiences. Victoria Marina Tompkins has an open spirit that is able to perceive the other realms. What she offers us is a documentation of amazing, true events and how they touched her and impacted her life and work as a teacher of shamanism and as a channel of teachings from the mid-causal plane. This book will be of great interest to students of metaphysical studies and shamanic journey-work, as well as those simply curious about paranormal events. Highly recommended!" 
Merideth Bowen Shamszad MFT

THE SEVEN LEVELS OF INTIMACY Excerpted from a private session with permission QUESTION. What are the seven levels of intimacy?  I am interested in both what happens at a personal level for the individuals involved, and what the larger implications are, whenever that comes into effect. Michael: "We will first of all comment on the nature of intimacy which is essence contact, one fragment with another, and is the most relevant method through which to progress through the cycle of human evolution. It is when two fragments experience the essence of one another that the larger awareness of connection to the Tao is emphasized and the illusion of separateness is dampened and it is in these very quiet yet dynamic moments that each essence is fully expressed as the chasm that so often exists between fragments disappears if only for an instant. The levels are connection, commonality, relationship, revelation, intimacy, agape, and union. We think it is most often the case that human fragments who are aware of the benefits of relationship will tend to focus primarily on what we might call the lower level or entry levels of the intimacy levels, that is to say in connection, commonality and relationship and do not easily make the transition past these introductory and often comfortable levels. We will provide examples to illustrate the levels. Connection begins when two fragments recognize that a pull exists between them and often includes the activation of the chakric system most usually the second and fourth ( sexual and emotional).  The moment that this occurs is often near the beginning or vector of the fragments but in fact can occur at any time. Co-workers for example can recognize feelings of comfort with another fragment and choose to leave it at that, that is to say as a connection but without making any efforts to further interactions with one another. Commonality begins when fragments recognize there are threads that exist between them that might then allow for a sense of similarity which can and we state can then open the door for a relationship to be developed. This is not to say that at the first and second levels that relationship is not extant, but there is not yet an exchange of energy that begins with the third level. At the second, fragment may well notice that they have things in common including interests, tastes ranging from wardrobe to dining, all structural in content but lacking the activity of level three..." Read on here.... (link) c. 2012 Victoria Marina-Tompkins

New Articles!

New Work at Flight of the Hawk (link)

I have just posted 3 new channeling pieces to celebrate

my newly redesigned website. 

More to come!

Music to Their Ears (Book Excerpt)

When They Came to Shore  

                                

All that said, once the ritual on the beach was in full swing, it was time to call in the directions. After the east and the south had been honored through invocation, it was my turn. I had been denoted to call in the west. On this particular day I did this by singing to the ocean:

Spirit of the West Carry Me

Spirit of the West Carry Me Home

Spirit of the West Carry me home to myself.

As I continued to sing the chant, the most remarkable thing happened

I looked up as the group became restless, whispering to each other. Jeannie, who was standing next to me and very fond of the ocean which she called “grandmother”, pointed to the water and said, “Look look, the dolphins have come!”

And there they were, about six of them. Little heads poking up out of the water, all lined up and bobbing up and down as they blew water out of their blowholes, and made making clicking sounds. I kept singing, as they seemed to enjoy it, plus I didn’t want them to leave. Imagine that, dolphins! We were all facing the ocean by now, big smiles on our faces, completely captivated and amazed by our visitors.

Of course, my song did end, the dolphins left, and we continued on with the ritual. But that wasn’t the end of the story.

Excerpt from the story Music to Their Ears, A Little Book of Spirit Stories c.2012

All My Relations

"Can we focus our conscious awareness on what’s happening to all our relations, feel the grief and anger of losing members of our family, and begin healing 

ourselves and our planet? Our future depends upon it."   

Sandy Olliges from All My Relations (EcoMind, Psychology Today, June 2012)

All My Relations (Article Link)

Book Excerpt!

THE MICHAELS AND OUR FRIEND BOB

Northern California 1978-present

Note: The entities presented in this story were first chronicled in the book Messages from Michael by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. The Michael entity was also present 2500 years ago when they taught as the Oracle at Delphi in Greece. My personal story with them began over thirty years ago and continues in the present.

My career as a medium and intuitive began rather imperceptibly.

I first heard about the Michaels, a reunited entity or group of 1050 souls teaching from the causal plane sometime in the mid 1970s when a friend of happened to mention he was attending group sessions in the Oakland hills. Curious, I asked him for more info about it, but we got side tracked. He was actually telling me about this during the house conversation from “The Ghost at the Top of the Stairs” earlier in this book and I suppose the ghost got more of my attention that night. When we have soul agreements in place, and when those agreements are central to your own life work, then usually if they don’t catch your eye the first time, they are likely to come back around.

Such was true for me, and several years later another friend, also a musician, mentioned to me over a dinner in between shows (we were both free lance violinists at the time) that he was in a small group meeting in Berkeley and that maybe I would be interested in some of the information they were getting. Was this the same as what I had heard about a few years earlier? Not exactly in that the people were mostly different and there was a different medium at the helm, but it was indeed the same teacher, the Michael entity. My friend promised to get some basic personal information for me, my “stats” which he did a few weeks later. I wrote them down in red ink on the back of an envelope that was handy, and put them in a drawer where they stayed.  Looking back, I realize I was just not ready for the life changing experiences that were about to come my way.

Onward

By the time I decided that I wanted to find out more about this reunited entity that now two of my friends had sung high praises of, I was concretely planted in the real world. Married and the mother of a young child, the last thing on my mind was getting involved in metaphysics in any serious way. However, shortly after I found the envelope in the drawer again, I suppose curiosity got the best of me; I got the number for one of the original channels. I called, talked to her, and arranged to meet. After the first meeting, I was hooked, and soon joined one of her ongoing groups.

c.2012 Victoria Marina-Tompkins  A Little Book of Spirit Stories All Rights Reserved

                                    

Little Book of Spirit Stories Book Excerpt

THE GHOST AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS

Northern California 1978

Roommate Wanted

"The night I met Dena and Alex I was looking for a place to move into after the year-long house sitting job I had been doing for a friend’s parents ended. Post college, I was finally living on my own and had just turned twenty- four. I had answered an ad in the local paper looking for a roommate to share a room in a sprawling house in the Eastern hills.  Alex was a professor at Cal Berkeley, Dena an artist, and the other housemates were a couple who were very active in the political scene in the Bay Area which I had little to no interest in. Still, the set-up seemed good and the rent reasonable at ninety dollars per month.

Sometime during our conversation that first night, Alex casually mentioned the ghost.

“You might like to know about the ghost,” he said quietly.

“Um, wait…a ghost? A real ghost? You’re kidding aren’t you?’’ I said.

“Nope,” he said more emphatically. “There really is a ghost. We’ve all seen him.”

“Him? It’s a him?” I questioned. I was becoming slightly nervous and somewhat agitated at this point in the conversation. I shuddered at the thought that there could be a spirit living in the house.

“Yes. Most of us have seen him, usually when we’re in the kitchen and we sense someone is there with us. He likes to stand at the top of the stairs that lead to the basement. He is usually wearing a uniform….kind of a soldier type.”

I think at that point I was speechless.

“Still interested?” He looked at me directly.

I can’t remember what I said then because at this point it was, after all, nearly thirty-five years ago. But since I did move in, I assume I nodded.  I am confident, however, that the whole idea made me really skittish, and that if I had any other housing options at that point, I probably would have taken them."

From The Ghost at the Top of the Stairs, A Little Book of Spirit Stories c.2012  Now Available!

And Now for the Mac!

Have an iphone or ipad? An Apple device with iBooks? Here is the download link for A Little Book of Spirit Stories.

Little Book of Spirit Stories for Macs

ENJOY!

Want to read A Little Book of Spirit Stories but don't have a Kindle? No Problem!

Many of us are learning the ins and outs of the new electronic age. Having just recently published my second book, and first as an ebook only, I soon realized that while many people made their way to Amazon to purchase it, the word KINDLE stopped some of them cold. Not having a Kindle reading device, they assumed they couldn't read my book. Let me assure you that Amazon has made sure that you can buy any Ebook with or without a kindle!

The easiest way to get ready to read a kindle ebook is to download the Kindle for PC or Mac application. Just download the application, and then go to Amazon and download the book. It will then open up with your new application. Easy!

Here are the links:

Kindle for MAC

Kindle for PC

Once you have downloaded, then go here:

A Little Book of Spirit Stories

We are waiting now for the direct iBooks and Nook links, but they could be a few weeks. Why wait? Get your copy today, you will thoroughly enjoy it!

Book Release Announcement!

 Most of us live with both feet planted resolutely on Terra Firma. Others, however, live with one foot in the physical realm and one foot... someplace else. Victoria Marina-Tompkins is one such person, and clearly has the ability to walk in balance between 

 natural and supernatural. 

A Little Book of Spirit Stories is the latest offering by this talented and otherworldy author. An avid reader of her writings, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this one. However, I was hooked from the very first story. The anecdotes alternated between sweetly humorous and somewhat quirky. A couple of them were downright creepy and made me shiver. My favorite, Music to Their Ears, was a complete joy; I’ll read that one often. No doubt about it; this little book is a big treat.  Tessa Jones, author

Fascinating, surprising, and compelling, A Little Book of Spirit Stories is a collection of first hand encounters with the paranormal. With insight and humor, Victoria Marina-Tompkins shares her experiences with ghostly apparitions, playful spirits, and voices outside the range of every day perceptions, giving the reader a glimpse into the realm of the supernatural. Beginning in 1978, the stories include, “The Ghost at the Top of the Stairs,” when a seemingly unfriendly ghost appears in all manner of ways, “Troll," an enduring tale of a young child’s perceptions and ingenuity, and “The Michaels and Our Friend Bob,” an in-depth look at mediumship from the author’s viewpoint that also includes verbatim examples of spirit transmissions. A Little Book of Spirit Stories is an unforgettable journey into the mysterious world of the occult.

Available online through AMAZON 

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Spirit-Stories-ebook/dp/B009I4S5GA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1348839899&sr=8-4&keywords=marina-tompkins

Soon to be available through Ibooks, Barnes and Noble, and all major booksellers!

Favorites from our Archives: The Life Made By Hand

During the middle ages craftsmen would sometimes take their entire lives to create a personal masterpiece. Stained glass windows would be created one pane at a time without the need to rush or have a product they could show off to family and friends. Weavers would create entire tapestries one thread at a time and it wasn't until many years later that the true beauty of the piece would emerge as the last threads were put into place.

In today's world, we have become focused on product rather than process, on completing many tasks in order to keep our lives running and manageable. Certainly, order can be a bi-product of this approach but at what expense? For some, the feeling of creative chaos may be uncomfortable and in fact may be avoided in favor of a task oriented approach to life. When we are in the midst of process, the threads of our life may feel like they are undone or unraveling, when in fact we are creating the larger tapestry that may be difficult to see.

What Are Your Personal Vignettes?

Looking at our lives as a series of vignettes can be a helpful way to bring to light both significant events as well as time periods that were marked by people, places, and things. What were you doing in your twenties? Were there certain people who come to mind, events that were important, changes made? If you were creating a stained glass window, what would the theme of that time period be? Think of a word or catch phrase such as education, meeting the world, marriage, children, or any other phrase that describes the gem or pearl of your experiences. Is there a symbol that represents the time without words? A spiral,  pyramid, a tree. Then follow the thread into your thirties and look to see what the new theme might have been. Did the tree of your twenties grow or did you change direction and plant something else? 

During our lives we create different stories or Personal Vignettes that encapsulate the gist of the time period  and when woven together later, create the whole of our lives. Think of a snapshot or picture-what would your personal snapshot look like when you were in your youth, mature adulthood? Decide on the setting for your Vignette. What was the tone? Calm, energizing, chaotic, fearful, adventurous? A combination of all of the above! You are painting a picture of your life and part of that picture is the way it felt to you. Then there is color- blues, reds, greens, all of the above? Once you have pulled together the threads of the past, then take a look at how they relate to where you are now. See the bigger picture. Nothing happens in isolation and every moment of life relates to every other moment, eventually blending together to weave the life we are living now. Enjoy these moments and trust in the process. 

Your Daily Gandhi

Certainty? Maybe not.

How can we truly know with any degree of certainty that we what hold as true is in fact true?

Our thoughts, attitudes, perceptions, affections, and relationship to the world and others are often based on feelings of surety, that what we are experiencing is truth. But what is a personal truth ("I like chocolate") cannot always be translated into a world truth ("Everyone likes chocolate") or certainly a Universal truth because it's unlikely that as much as we like or love chocolate that it exists in every corner of the Universe :)

Take another example: The roles in essence.  Many of us reading this blog know about The Michael entity and what they have to say about the 7 roles in essence, (slave, artisan, warrior, scholar, sage, priest, and king) that our world is composed of millions of people who are all one of these 7 roles for each and every incarnation, a choice they made at the beginning of ensoulment. We read about this, and then apply it to the world- can you validate the 7 roles by looking around you? Do you see slaves serving the common good, artisans creating? Yes.

Here is the intersection of a personal truth with a Universal truth.

So we adopt this truth as our own and begin to apply it to our personal world view.

Then, a question might occur to us which goes something like "How can I with absolute certainty know that this is true?".

We can't. But we can look to see if there is evidence to support our beliefs (which in the case of the roles in essence there is enough supporting evidence for me to validate it) and decide whether to adopt it as a probable truth. We can allow for the possibility that some of what we have come to believe as true could not be (think The Matrix) and some could be. Here we have the opportunity to hold our thoughts lightly which then allows for us to be open, receptive, and joyful without the need to be right, or to know. We can allow for different perceptions without the need to change others for in truth how do we really know what is true?

Lots to think about.

Music to Their Ears (Book excerpt)

When They Came to Shore  

                                

"All that said, once the ritual on the beach was in full swing, it was time to call in the directions. After the east and the south had been honored through invocation, it was my turn. I had been denoted to call in the west. On this particular day I did this by singing to the ocean:

Spirit of the West Carry Me

Spirit of the West Carry Me Home

Spirit of the West Carry me home to myself.

As I continued to sing the chant, the most remarkable thing happened

I looked up as the group became restless, whispering to each other. Jeannie, who was standing next to me and very fond of the ocean which she called “grandmother”, pointed to the water and said, “Look look, the dolphins have come!”

And there they were, about six of them. Little heads poking up out of the water, all lined up and bobbing up and down as they blew water out of their blowholes, and made making clicking sounds. I kept singing, as they seemed to enjoy it, plus I didn’t want them to leave. Imagine that, dolphins! We were all facing the ocean by now, big smiles on our faces, completely captivated and amazed by our visitors.

Of course, my song did end, the dolphins left, and we continued on with the ritual. But that wasn’t the end of the story."

 Excerpt from Music to Their Ears from the upcoming ebook "A Little Book of Spirit Stories"

Sneek Peek!

 TROLL  

by Brendan McCarthy c. 2012

from the upcoming ebook 

"A Little Book of Spirit Stories: Encounters with the Paranormal"

(late Sept release)

The Rose Cottage at the Old Mill Inn (book excerpt)

"The cottage was one room with two double beds and God-awful wallpaper that seemed to make it feel even smaller than its 450 square feet. A teakettle sat on the cutting board in what looked to be a quickly put together kitchenette, outfitted with the basics, including silverware, plates, and a small fridge. Not exactly the Ritz, but it would do for the night. We decided to unpack only what we needed for a quick walk down to the creek before dark. We took our jackets and wore sensible shoes for climbing.

Once down by the creek, we noticed the lower level of the inn with one room that opened directly onto the hill just above the water. At first glance it looked quite lovely, but soon that unsettled feeling began in my gut again, and I had no desire to take a peek inside even though Charlie was interested. It was like looking at a bright, shiny apple but knowing there might be a dark bruise inside or, worse yet, a half eaten worm. Something didn’t feel right. We headed into town for dinner and, since everyone was tired, we decided to drive back to the cottage after we’d eaten to get some sleep. It was shortly after that the “fun” began."

from A Little Book of Spirit Stories Upcoming Book Release late September 2012  c. 2012

Kindness

"Kindness is a language which the deaf

 can hear and the blind can see."  

Mark Twain

Enjoy the Day!

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes is hard to plan the day.”     E.B. White

TROLL (book excerpt)

"It happened then that one day Charlie was practicing and out of the corner of his eye noticed something move in the hallway outside the open doorway. At first, according to him, he didn’t think anything of it but after noticing it several more times decided to pay more attention. “Must have been the cat” he said aloud and turned back toward his music, a new edition of John Coltrane’s masterpiece

Giants Steps. Focusing again, he had played but a few bars and this time he was sure he saw something in the hallway. But what? Flummoxed, he put down his sax and decided to go for a walk. But first he went downstairs and told me what had happened." 

Excerpt from the story "TROLL" in my soon to be released A LIttle Book of Spirit Stories c. 2012

Your Daily Hafiz

Do you know how beautiful You are?

I think not, my dear.

For as you talk of God,

I see great parades with wildly colorful bands

Streaming from your mind and heart,

Carrying wonderful and secret messages

To every corner of this world.

I see saints bowing in the mountains

Hundreds of miles away

To the wonder of sounds

That break into light

From your most common words. 

Hafiz