Today I want to discuss death and dying. This week my brother Marty Metzler died.  He slipped out of his body after a lengthy illness. His hospital room was filled with his family and friends, people who loved him in this life and will miss him terribly. For me Marty will always be sitting in his living room playing the songs he had written or was writing (very good stuff in a CW ballad kind of way). I didn’t get to see him often and that is the most dominant image I have of him. In some ways my brother was luckier than many people. He lived on his own terms. Had great kids and spent the last 10 years of his life with the woman he loved, who loved him. When we have love all the other challenges of  life seem easier. So thank you Sue for making my brother happy.  
         Being a reincarnationist has always made death less imposing for me. This is even more true now that I understand energetics and our existence as divine spirit energy. I am always sad for the people left behind, but for the departed I am so very happy. We may touch transcendent bliss in fleeting moments as human forms but I can barely imagine what it is to exist entirely as spirit able to assimilate with all divine energy. Even for those whose life has been harsh and perhaps  unfulfilled… the spirit self can choose to have another human experience. Another chance for the growth they may have missed this time around. We cannot hope to have every experience in one lifetime. Ultimately we want to have every  experience; so we come back life after life for more, different, and new  experiences.
       No lifetime is wasted and no-one leaves before their soul decides  it is ready. We may not be ready to see them go; it is only for us to cherish the experience of having known them.  Good bye little brother, you were loved and will be missed.   

          “Be the change you want to see in the world”.  We see this quote a lot these days and yes, this is more than just a rephrasing of the golden rule. Which simply says, “Treat others the way you want to be treated”. That deals only with your interactions with other people while being the change involves everything in your life. 
            To live in the Spirit of the 8th Fire I have to put aside all the old models of thinking and relating. Anything we have used in the past to separate us from each other is not in keeping with the Spirit of the 8th Fire which is a time when we will be one tribe and one people regardless of race, creed, colour, religion, socio-economic class or anything else. Such things cannot continue to matter in the world as I want it to be. So, I no longer put any value on these things. While it may be important to the
individual’s understanding of him/herself to know where they came from; that information has no place in our relationships with each other in a
“5th dimensional reality”. Living from spirit first means accepting the divine nature of everyone else (and all of creation for that matter).  
           And I hope that explains why I don't ask people (nor do I respond to) questions about ethnicity, income, sexual orientation or religion.  Knowing such things does not matter to me, everyone is connected to me by divine energy, and for that reason alone is deserving of love unconditionally.  
Have a joyous day

          Today I was listening to a Q & A call-in show on one of the many webinar series which I follow.  The spiritual teacher / new-age guru was taking callers' questions and advising them on various resolutions. It is said that by listening in, we can often learn something valuable about ourselves. Well I learned something very valuable about myself today. After listening for better then 10 minutes to some woman whining about how all she has ever wanted was a love  relationship. Men come into her life and leave right away, she just gives and gives; still nobody loves. She is broke because she has been repeatedly ripped off by psychic advisors who tell her what she wants to hear and take her money. The host reassured her over and over that she was lovable and the fault was not in her. But the woman would interrupt and continue whining. Finally I said (out loud alone in my apartment), “LOVE YOURSELF FIRST, BITCH”. Oops, I guess I just learned that I should NOT be a personal counselor or maybe I learned that I have a very low threshold for whining; which was the main reason I decided not to become a psychologist.  A few minutes later the host said the same thing with a bit more tact then I used, “whew what took you so long”.
          I think I have told this story before, “When I was in the 7th grade my
teacher asked the class, “Who here likes themselves?” I was the only one in the room (35 students) to raise my hand… for a moment I thought I may have been caught in some kind of trick question. Then she said, “If you don’t like yourself, how can you expect anyone else to like you?” That made a lot of sense to me even then.
           The most important thing you can do for yourself, everyone you truly love and the planet as a whole is to learn to LOVE YOURSELF
1st and BEST. The reason those other children did not have the audacity to answer yes to that question was because they had parents who taught them proper modesty. My parents where young, overwhelmed and dysfunctional; there were certainly downsides to that but on the upside it spared us becoming ingrained with the conventional “wisdom” of polite society.  Often oppressive beliefs about our value, our place and our roles within the family and community; which may need to be unlearned before you can fully love yourself. 
           Let me be very clear, I LOVE MYSELF. Everything I do… I do for me. I have been called an earth angel and even f’n Mother Teresa of the f’n
homeless. With all that I do for and give to others, I can very quickly tell you what is in it for me. I don’t resent or regret any of the things I do, and
every day of my life is abundant with peace, joy and love.  
          The entire world can only be changed from within the individual…everything is about you. In your life and in your world everything should be about you. Because that is the only thing you can control. If you are not happy and you feel something needs to change, take a serious look at your level of self love.
 
             I will give you a few exercises to help dislodge those old
          teachings and help you learn to appreciate the gift that is you. 

           First and foremost is gratitude (this is a little different then
the gratitude discussion we had in previous blogs), each day before going to bed list one thing about yourself that you are grateful for. In the morning read your list. Then add another self-appreciation item the next night and read the list again in the morning. During the day you should be looking for something in your attitude or behaviour to add to your list. By day 7 you should be waking up reading 7 things that you apprieciate about yourself.  I am not asking you to change your behaviour, I am asking you to be awake to the good LOVABLE person that you already are. Try to continue doing your list for 30 days, after that keep it beside your bed and take 2 minutes to read it each morning.  
           Next I would suggest that every time you do something, ask
  yourself, “What’s in it for me?”  Dig deep.  I’ll try an example, “You prepare wholesome meals for your family (they like it, hate, probably don’t even notice) so what’s in it for you? It keeps them healthy…if they get sick you are the one that is going to have to take care of their runny noses.” Ask yourself truthfully, do you put sunscreen on your wee
ones to prevent future cancer or to prevent today’s sunburn? That is what is in it for you, one way or another our kids' pain is our pain.  
          If you don’t already love yourself, try these exercises and your perspective will change. Love is the root of everything good, you will ever have, be or do;  spiritually and physically.   Loving yourself makes it possible to love and be loved by others. Do the world a favour and
 LOVE YOURSELF 1st and BEST.

Have a joyous day.

          For the past few weeks I have been trying to write a new blog, but I have been so scattered I can’t get much past 100 words on any one topic. So today I am going to share my random thoughts, I’ll colour them in post-it note fashion so it is easy to know when one ends and the next one starts. At this  moment I am writing your blog, preparing a canvas, reminding myself of 3 phone calls I need to make later and listening to a mp3 that is supposed to help me focus. LOL Welcome to the world of ADD.


            You have heard me say many times to live your truth and allow others to live theirs. The logical response is truth is truth, how can it be yours, mine or ours. If the planet implodes and everyone goes into spirit, I am sure we will all see the same absolute divine truth. As long as we exist as human forms our individual truth will be coloured by experience, genetics and culture; making our understanding/perception of truth very specifically ours’. This is o.k. as long as we understand and respect that fact; not only in oneself but everyone else.  Also what is truth, will change over time as you change, evolve and grow with age and experience. 

           Just as waking up in the morning is a process, awakening  consciousness is also a process. While it is similar for everyone it is also
unique to each individual.  Sadly there is no magic wand allowing everyone to simultaneously be enlightened. If you are alive on planet earth today you are facing the most amazing challenge, an evolutionary growth spurt. It is not about abandoning the physical; it is about connecting the physical and spiritual. The connectedness of the  individual’s consciousness to the collective consciousness is not so much
assimilation as it is an interdependence (the Buddhists describe it as a net of marbles). For those of you born in the digital age, I recommend you look up the mechanics of a Swiss watch… you will see a whole bunch of wheels, cogs and springs. Each of these is complete unto itself and within the watch together they create something really cool. What is really exciting is that if even the smallest of these parts is missing the watch does NOT work.  My point is that each and every person/spirit is important to the collective consciousness; not in that "we care about you"  kinda way, but in an "essential to the existence" kinda way. If you took your net of marbles, lay it across a stone and shatter one marble... all of the reflections are changed.
 
           Is energetics just another word for spiritualism? I have been  
thinking about this a lot. I was spiritual long before I was introduced to
energetics. So for me at least I think energetics describes the use of
spiritualism (metaphysical principles) to effect change in our physical reality. 
 
           Do I believe in angels? I believe in possibility, I always have. It is arrogant to dismiss any possibility just because it lays outside of our personal experience. If my spirit exists beyond my physical death, then I
have to assume that there are other spirits existing eternally. And what forms spirit beings would have, I do not know because spirit exists beyond my ability to perceive them with my 5 senses. So I believe in the possibility of ghosts, angels and god.
          Now I’d like to ask you a question.  If you believe in god and god can do anything; is it even possible to NOT believe in possibility?

          Sorry my brain has stopped working for now. Back to my canvas for a bit. Have a joyous day. 


 

          When I was a kid I memorized the Rudyard Kipling poem “IF” for school. After that it kind of became my bible, I would look to it for advice. Yesterday I met a racist bully on twitter. I say racist because she made judgments about me and my work based solely on the colour of my skin. She did not bother to even read my website; not even the link I sent which would have answered all of her alleged questions. I say bully because she chose to attack and publicly defame me, rather than take on one of the many hugely successful (read wealthy) spiritual teachers; who could sue her ass. I choose to see our encounter as an act of the Divine… for some as yet unrevealed reason.   This encounter reminded me of these lines from "IF", “…or  being lied about don’t deal in lies. Or being hated, don’t give way to hating.  And yet don’t look too good nor talk too wise.”    Sage advice indeed, so  I bless this sister and wish that she finds joy, peace and love (and perhaps a valium). 
           For the several new readers I will restate what I said in the blog of 1/22/2013. This is NOT a Native site. I am here to share what I learn  about spiritualism with all people, from ALL sources. Wisdom is wisdom whether
it comes from Lao Tzu or Black Elk. It would be impossible to talk about  spiritualism and not included Native sources. The Native teachings are very clear and to the point. As you can see with my posts on the Grandfathers’ Teachings… two sentences from the actual teachings (reference source linked)  then 400 words from me musing about how that fits into 21st life.
          Personally I identify spiritually through Native symbolism… I do NOT practice or teach any religion (Native, Christian, or other). I respect
everyone’s right to practice as they wish. I have Native friends who express their spirituality through Eastern symbols and teachings, many of my Native Brothers and Sisters are Christians, one of my best friends is a practicing Wiccan. These things all converge in the metaphysical truths that they are grounded in; our connection to source energy (the God of your understanding), our connection to each other and everything else for that matter. Also understanding the power we have as creators of our reality through that energy.
           The 7 Teachings are good advice for anyone in any culture. Living from these virtues of Wisdom, Love, Respect, Bravery, Humility, Honesty & Truth; you will be the best person you can possibly be. 
           As for co-opting the pretty names and symbolism without accepting the struggles of Native people. I openly support Idle-No-More, both  personally and on my blog sites ( here & Angels of the Road). I have carried signs in  marches, I have participated in round dances, and I spread awareness any chance  I get. Idle-No-More is a fight for justice which should be supported by everyone. I am not a racist… I support the poor, disenfranchised and marginalized in society regardless of ANY factors. I lobby against injustice whenever I see it. I do no harm and inasmuch
as possible leave every situation better than when I found it.  
I walk my talk…I choose love over fear and compassion over greed. And my life is joyous in each moment.

Welcome to Spirit of the 8th Fire & have a joyous day.


 

           Today’s blog will just be an update about me. You have been so patient over the past month, miigwetch (thank you). In early June, everything was coming at me at once from every direction, probably
something to do with the super-moon; things have settled down now in ways which have surprised even me. 
          Confucius said, “The road of life is long”; as a spiritualist I believe
that I will not leave this life until I have accomplished what I was put here to do. I know that Spirit of the 8th Fire one day soon will open as a
spiritual healing centre. I know that I am to share my Angels of the Road
experience through my writing. I know that I have a short allegory fiction to write. Also there was the possibility of going back to work in an industry that I love, working with street people. 
          After six months of trying to get something happening in Victoria. The job which I was interviewing for passed me over… so I asked the universe/god for guidance.  What do I need to do first to move my life  forward? The answer was clear (or so I thought) to write. OK don’t have
to be in the big city to do that, so I decided to move up island (Vancouver
Island), I chose Nanaimo because it is a medium size town with services, lots of green space and still on the coast. 
          I had a strong feeling that my art (I’m a pretty good painter & crafter) is to support me while I write and my writing will support the healing centre. A simple chain of events; now that I have been given some guidance. 
           So I moved into a little bachelor apartment, fully prepared to be inspired to create a few canvases and get this ball rolling. Here comes the surprise (the one I mentioned in my blog a couple of weeks back). There is a large children’s playground across the street from my building and I thought it would be fun to take my drum over and tell some Native legends to anyone who wished to listen. I know several Ojibwa Legends from when I lived in Thunder Bay and a few Mohawk Legends from when I lived in eastern Ontario. Suddenly one morning a new legend starting downloading into my brain. It came as a rhyme, a creation myth which introduces spiritual concepts of vibration, manifestation and interconnectedness to very  young children. I did not see that coming… the idea of writing for children had never entered my head. 
          Surprise! I’m a children’s author LOL. I guess the expression of art will be illustrating this book ;-).  It will be available well before the Holiday gifting season. In soft cover it should sell for about $12 - $15. No decision has been made on how it will be distributed. I will need to consult with my friend Justis Chase (a medium & spiritual coach) who has done some self publishing.  If I decide to self publish, I will go with a small run of 100 books. There is also something called publish-on-demand I will look into as an option. Until I learn more I really can’t say… If you have any ideas you want to share on publishing options please email me. 
 Have a joyous week.    


           

                KNOW THAT YOU ARE EQUAL TO EVERYONE ELSE.
        NO BETTER OR NO LESS, JUST THE SAME AS ANYBODY ELSE.

           As someone who was raised in a White (European) culture, humility was considered the opposite of strength. And therefore one would not
want to be seen as humble (or weak). To be humiliated was to be subjecated or oppressed. Today humiliating usually is applied to a specific incident; he walked into the meeting with his fly open. To understand this 6th of the Grandfathers’ Teachings we need to open our mind to a different view of humility; humility as simply being the opposite of arrogance. 
           Again there is the problem of judgment that humankind has become
so fond of. Usually starting from a place of I am not enough, followed quickly with “but you are less than me, so I guess I am ok”. When we understand humility in the context of the Grandfathers’ Teachings we can move easily beyond judgment to acceptance; not just of others but of
ourselves.
          I wish I could say more about this subject but really it is quite clear, ALL HUMANKIND HAVE EQUAL VALUE.  At first you might look at all the
people society has labeled as worthless (my beautiful street friends), and
assert “I’m not the same them! I work, I pay taxes; surely I am more valuable than those people”.  NOPE you’re not. Here comes the bonus of practicing humility. Once you accept that you are no better than anyone else, you realize that you are no less than anyone else. No matter how rich, powerful, or famous someone is they are no better than you are. Classism is part of the 3rd dimensional mindset of lack; assigning value to persons so as to determine who gets the lion's share of limited resources.      
          As we move into a 5th dimensional understanding of manifestation, we are able to stop worrying about "getting our's" we simply trust that what we need will be available to us when we need it. We no longer need to be more deserving, we only need to be trusting.

 Have a Joyous Day
 p.s. I have a surprise coming very soon  ;-)

           Thanks to my lovely friend, Brenda, I am able to watch video on my computer again. So I watched installment 3 of the 8th FIRE series by
CBC, not as uplifting as the previous episode but it was still very informative and positive about the future of Canada. It is titled, “Whose Land is It  Anyway”.  It shows us models of good and bad faith economic development as it impacts our Native Brothers and Sisters.
          I used to be smug about Canada’s diamond industry (no blood diamonds here) but DeBeers is an example of old school bottom-line
business practices which no longer fit contemporary models of corporate
citizenship. These kinds of businesses will evolve eventually or die out… just as the auto industry is changing and pulp & papermakers moved into recycled products; so too other industries will need to become civically responsible members of the global / local community.
           The Native model of custodial responsibility fits very nicely with the emerging corporate consciousness. The documentary shows us very clear examples of how incredibly successful collaborations between established industries and Native bands have actually been. NO GOVERNMENT INTEREFERENCE REQUIRED. When Natives are taken into the process as a fully participating partner amazing things can happen. The old model of worry only about this quarter’s stock report (or this 4 year term in political office) is being rejected by the current and coming generations. We want to know, “What is your legacy?”  By focusing our business activities (as Natives do) on the next 7 generations we can create long-term sustainable prosperity for all.  
           This is one of those times when spiritualism meets advocacy, so this post will appear on both of my blog sites today. If you haven’t done so I urge you to watch the whole 8th FIRE series (don’t let the 1st one put you off) they are well worth the time. 

Have a joyous day.

          This short note is simply an apology to all my Brothers and Sisters for being away from my blog site for so long; and I hope you will be patient a little longer. My world has been opening up so rapidly over the past few weeks I am having trouble keeping up LOL. Just sorting through this explosion of opportunity with so many options has been a fulltime job. The more we open to the energetic flow the more abundance comes to us. God/ Universe/ Source/ Quantum can be very generous when we are willing to receive.  
          Two weeks ago I release the Report of Finding from Angels of the Road and last week it was a feature in the CanadianSocialResearch.net weekly newsletter, thank you Gilles Sequin ;-). The paper has been well received with about 30% response (most academic papers get 3% response. This opens me up to write two books; a human services industry handbook, “OUT  REACHING: A Streetwise Guide to Social Work”. All the things I learned on the street that never made it into the textbooks. Then of course there is the autobiographical account of my experiences during the Angels of the Road journey. 
          I decided to moved to a smaller town; found a perfect little apartment and made an appointment to go up island to view it. Then out of the blue ( I had applied but thought I had been passed over again) I get a phone call from Our Place to interview for a residential support worker. These people do amazing work and I would be so fortunate to be a part of such a caring team of professionals. This position is so perfect for me because, it would leave time for other pursuits (writing, building my consulting practice and establishing the Spirit of the 8th Fire Healing
 Centre) everybody send energy for me on this one. As if that isn’t enough don’t I find just the most darling little bachelor apartment 3 blocks from Our Place.  How great is that… I love this life.
           So my friends please indulge me for just a couple of more weeks… I’m sure things will get back to normal by then. Migwetch

Have a joyous day.

It seems like every celebrity in Hollywood is claiming some Native heritage…apparently even the Boy Wonder (in the above graphic). I Google searched the “Gone Native” signature, but unfortunately couldn’t find anything
about the author/artist. So if you know this artist please contact me with more info… I would love to see more of his/her work. 
          So why do all these White people want to be Indians?  The short answer is that it is way easier to find a Native elder than it is to find a Druid priest. In this time of awakening people are trying to reconnect with their divine spiritual self and the most easily identifiable (non-religious) source of spiritual teaching comes from recently colonized new world cultures. I have said before Natives are only 5 generations removed from
their (pre-Christian) roots and Europeans are 50 generations removed. The
feeling that you have to justify your interest by asserting some level of “blood quantum” is just our 3-D self trying to validate our attraction to Native spiritualism.
          To my Native brothers and sisters none of these seekers are trying to cash in on your Status rights. At the risk of being a little too political here; first let’s give the Natives human rights, then let’s give them equal rights as Canadians. If that seems radical let’s just give them the same  
considerations the Geneva Convention demands for prisoners of war. I am not daring to dream that I will see the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples being respected, here. But it is worth fighting for, which is why every Canadian who believes in social justice, supports the Idle No More movement. That is my political rant for today, back to spiritualism.
          Native spiritualism will provide an introduction to metaphysical  truth. The Grandfathers’ Teachings, the connectedness of Creator to creation and the connectedness of those created things to each other are also part of every other spiritual discipline. The rituals which are part of Native religion will appeal to some seekers and not so much to others. Rituals created a sense of community whether Native, Christian or Masonic. It only becomes problematic when it is used to create a sense of elitism. I’m better than you because I chant Gregorian with my Masonic brothers. You are an evil sinner because you were not baptized. I am a better NDN than you because I went on a vision quest. Rituals used properly bring a sense of connect to a community of like minded  individuals, but that has nothing to do with keeping others out or making anyone less than or more than another. That is the foolishness of the 3-D existence which we are finally evolving past.  Don’t get sucked back in.  A thing is only good if it promotes unity, love and brotherhood/sisterhood.
          In 5th dimensional terms SPIRIT HAS NO COLOUR (race). It was foretold in the 7 Fires Prophecy that the elders would once again be asked to speak. The truth of their teachings will bring together the 4 races of man (humankind). And the wisdom of their teachings will lead us into the time of the 8th Fire, an eternal time of peace, love, and prosperity for all. 

Have a joyous day