Shine the Divine Gratitude Quilt by Laura

Please visit Laura's blog

Shine the Divine : Creativity is a spiritual practice

for the most amazing

Gratitude Quilt

http://www.shinethedivinecreativityisaspiritualpractice.com/2013/11/2013-gratitude-quilt.html

Two hundred and ten contributions from across the planet!

You may want to make a cup of tea before you sit down

and don't leave the tissues behind!

Reading this quilt humbled me yet again

witnessing such open hearts and

such a powerful reminder that we were

all created in the same Image.

Thank you Laura!

Mornings with Mary - Mary of Avalon

In the arms of
Mary, Our Lady of Avalon,

mystical isle of sacred apples.

A few years back I followed the Michael and Mary leylines

through the countryside of England.

My journey started with a pilgrimage to Monte Sant'Angelo in Italy to the grotto

of Archangel Michael which led me to Glastonbury, also known as the Isle of Avalon in myth and lore.

Mystery works in many strange ways.

I read the book The Sun and the Serpent by Paul Broadhurst and Hamish Miller and was so inspired

that I decided to do the Michael and Mary pilgrimage. They dowsed the energy lines across

the entire England, discovering the 'solar' Archangel Michael line

which interweaves with the 'lunar' Mary line.  The Mary line flows

through all the sacred wells and through many many churches

including the great St Mary's Churches and Cathedrals.  It was obvious

that the ancients understood the flow of energy and built their

sacred wells and altars on this ley line.

Here is a map of the St Michael alignment

On each of these major crossing points stand a church today and these were all

ancient places of worship before that.

The pilgrimage starts at St Michaels Mount, at the seaside

This picture of the beautiful statue of Mary I took in the church at Penzance - needless

to say the Mary line runs right through this church.

The Michael and Mary leylines run from St Michaels Mount, through

Cornwell, Avebury, Glastonbury and the east coast.

This is the famous St Michaels tower on the Tor in Glastonbury.  The leylines circumambulate

this entire man made mount.  This was built even before the time of the Abbey.

A side view of the ruins of the old Glastonbury Abbey with an apple tree in blossom.

 Blossoming apple trees in the Glastonbury Abbey orchard.

And this is my pendant that I created for Mary of Avalon.

With a glistening red apple for the sacred orchards of Avalon,

a pomegranate as symbol of the eternal feminine,

a sword for the Archangel Michael and a chalice to drink deeply

from the sacred wells of Our Lady.

I am joining in with Rebecca at http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/2013/11/mornings-with-mary-.html

for mornings with Mary

Please visit and pay it forward

blessings,

Hettienne

The Call to our True Selves - Poetry Party - Abbey of the Arts

Image Credit: © Brent Bill#

Courtesy of Abbey of the Arts

Used with Permission

A ladder of light
stretching mind and body
into infinity

A spine becomes fluid
inspiration
sending branches
of love into
ancient limbs

My fingers move in the breeze,
touching the
loving gaze of God

I am participating in the Poetry Party

at www.abbeyoftheheart.com

Click on the link in the side bar and participate!
or click here
http://abbeyofthearts.com/blog/2013/11/17/invitation-to-poetry-the-call-to-our-true-selves/

#Brent Bill is a Quaker minister, photographer, and author. His blog isHoly Ordinary: Musings and Photography from a Quaker Perspective. He lives in rural Indiana.

Miracle Thinking

Miracles - Soulcollage card by Hettienne

A miracle is when the cross of suffering

blooms with roses of forgiveness, healing, courage and wisdom.

As lovers of the mystical and divine mythos and living event

of Divine Love we are daily reminded
of Miracles -
and its ability to triumph over

the darkness of life -

we celebrate an immaculate conception,
a resurrection, an assumption into Heaven
and so much more.

But maybe we feel too far removed from these
cosmic events to realise that they reflect such
wisdom for our own daily living.

And we are taught that we need to be special
to have a miracle in our lives! Yet, there are many
who can testify to miracles!.
But still we do not believe that these miracles

are our right - they belong to saints, or holy ones,

or sages or the enlightened ones, or such.

Faith and the belief in miracles,

is a way of thinking :

A way of thinking that allows for miracles to happen.

Inner peace is one such miracle.

Have you ever observed your mind, and its endless

monologue, or dialogue with itself?

How it never admits that it is wrong?

How it switches sides in order to avoid being wrong?

Or how it supports your decision in one moment

only to oppose it in the next?

If you observe your mind closely, and you move

into the 'witness', the one who is listening,

you will notice that the mind moves from side to side,

looking for a place to rest.

If you stay in the witness and you observe your

mind and your body, you will notice how

these thoughts are not without effect -

you will notice how your breath becomes shorter,

or how you even stop breathing because

of a thought;  how your stomach tightens

and your heart beats faster!

All because of some random thoughts

which are not you.

If you are the one listening, how could you be the

one talking??

So why not create a place of rest for the restless mind?

A pool of peace and tranquility;

a garden within which miracles are possible.

But in order to do that, you have to change your mind

and you have to abandon your mind;

you have to let go of the misplaced loyalty that you

have to your thoughts, believing that they are your

thoughts.  

Have you noticed how fickle the mind is at times

and how stuck it is at other times?

So why even bother with following its train??

When you hook your coach to that engine

you will end up in distress and confusion

and soon the old familiar feelings of hurt, betrayal,

sadness and loss will follow.

Once you have become aware of your mind

and its ability to draw a veil of fear

over the reality, one nail in your cross

will bloom into a rose of courage!

When you forgive yourself ,

another rose will sprout.

The rose of healing appears,

seemingly out of nowhere this miracle takes place

and we are amazed!

The rose of Wisdom is handed to us by Grace

as we realise that the uprooting of the mind

is the key

Om Shanty, Shalom, Peace