The Way of a Seer~What I’ve Been Told
Namaste, A gifted reader and friend once told me that I would live in a foreign country in a house on a hill overlooking the ocean. She saw the house as Mediterranean style, whitewashed by sunshine with an inner courtyard. Because I adore Mexico, for years I thought it would be Mexico as I have often traveled there. Greece is also a favorite of mine. The mainland and the islands are joyous to me and I often imagined it to be a Greek Island. My first visit to Athens in 1978 was like coming home as I walked the streets I knew where to go and identified what alleyways to take as shortcuts through the ancient city. I seemed to know the city well although I was traveling there for the first time. Returning to Greece each time I feel like I am returning home. Nafplion on the mainland about a two-hour drive from Athens, on the Peloponnese penisula resonated with me in the same way as Athens. It happened by chance that I went there with my son in 2009 as an afterthought. Like all who travel to the islands, I love the beauty of Santorini and it’s volcano. The first time I visited we anchored in the harbor and I went uphill by donkey and walked back down to the port in the evenings to board a private yacht. Now on my last couple of visits there has been the cable car. My son and I loved Mykonos, also. What is there not to love? Mykonos, Greece Why does this happen? I don’t live on an island or beside the sea. Most everything the same reader has told me has happened. Still, I live in the desert. The reader also told me that I return to America when I am very old. Time is flying by and pray tell. . . when is old? Am I invested in the outcome? Maybe in the beginning I was dreaming and fantasizing of a life I did not have. I do love to travel but my life in America is filled with family, friends, and happiness. I do not speak Spanish well nor can I say but two words in Greek. I was engaged to a Greek fellow in Seattle many years ago and with true serendipity, Greek people and opportunities involving Greece come into my life and consciousness often in the form of Greek friends every where I go. However, I have no plans to sell my house and leave for Greece. I have learned to no longer invest in the outcome of my destiny; it is the process not the outcome that is the journey. Instead, I try to live in the moment. It does take some practice. We plan, we fantasize, we imagine, we manifest. Our logical mind sets up the scenario that we want to happen and we hold that image so powerfully that we invest emotionally in the outcome of our desired intent. When it does not happen, we are disappointed. We try not to plummet into despair and create a state where the dark night of the soul dwells. Nafplion, Greece Hearing that prediction so long ago by another trusted reader, I took it as a reminder to see all the places I long to visit and if the opportunity for change beckons to to me...
read moreThe Vietnam Cookery Center
Namaste, In 2008 I visited Vietnam with my artist friend Caroline http://www..carolineorner.com and we were interviewed by Tracey Teo a freelance travel writer. The article was later published and I want to share it with you. Tracey is currently working on a documentary about the Smoky Mountains in the US. You can follow Tracey on Twitter. Asian cruise lets foodies learn to cook Vietnamese cuisine By Tracey Teo Special to the Herald-LeaderTracey Teo The Vietnam Cookery Center in Ho Chi Minh City HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – Susan Stockton Koss and Caroline Orner are on a gastronomic odyssey, eating their way through Vietnam as the cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas sails down the country’s coastline. But Ho Chi Minh City is what the friends have their hearts and palates set on. Orner lives in Hagerstown, Md., which has no Vietnamese restaurants, so to satisfy her craving for those sweet, salty and sour flavors unique to Vietnamese food, she wants to learn to cook it herself. That’s why she’s at the Vietnam Cookery Center. For her, this is the highlight of a new Asian itinerary offered by Royal Caribbean’s during a 12-day cruise that originates in Hong Kong, includes stops in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, and ends in Singapore. Vietnamese is my favorite Asian food, Orner says. If you don’t live in a big city like New York, it’s hard to find. After today, I’ll be able to make Vietnamese food by myself and won’t have to search for it. Stockton Koss lives in Phoenix, where Vietnamese food is more readily available, but she also is determined to master the culinary arts of Vietnam. About 20 other passengers of various nationalities have chosen this shore excursion from the numerous Ho Chi Minh City tours offered. The students are seated in pairs at small bamboo tables, each with a miniature gas stove. Orner and Stockton Koss are trying to identify ingredients inside the delicate blue and white bowls. After their “field trip to the market this morning, they think they should know what’s what, but after some discussion, they can’t agree. During the visit to Ben Thanh Market, the group was introduced to foods common to Vietnamese cuisine. Vegetables like elephant ear and morning glory the vegetable, not the flower are as ordinary to a Vietnamese cooks as iceberg lettuce and spinach to an American homemaker, but quite extraordinary to most Westerners. The market has many varieties of fresh fish, sometimes really fresh: alive and swimming in the tank. If you want fish in Vietnam, simply look for the conical hats. Under those hats are fishmongers, sitting on stools so low they appear to be squatting on the ground. Point to the fish you want, and what was swimming in the ocean that morning will be on your dinner table that night. When chef Nguyen Thai Binh announces (through a translator) that it’s time to make the first course, lotus stem salad with pork and shrimp, Orner and Stockton Koss are all studious attention. Don’t worry, he says. If you can’t find lotus stems at home, you can substitute cucumbers or other vegetables. With the patience of Buddha, the chef guides his culinary disciples through basic Vietnamese cooking techniques for the next hour. He encourages students to eat with all five senses, incorporating...
read moreThe Way of a Seer~ To Robb
In Memory of my Beloved brother Robb who died November 3, 2009. CROSSING THE BAR Sunset and Evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea. But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, From that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place, flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar. -Alfred Lord...
read moreThe Way of a Seer~Egypt, Turkey and Greece
Namaste, I returned last week from a trip to Egypt, Turkey and the Greek Isles. It did not occur to me until I was flying home that I indeed had experienced a “Kairos” event, preceded by a Kairos moment when on a whim I asked my son, Barry, what in the world he wanted to see in this lifetime and if he could go anywhere where would it be? He immediately answered, “The Pyramids.” The fact that he is single once more and I could take the time off from my practice was nothing short of a miracle. Also, our ability to pull the money together for an extraordinary trip was in itself miraculous. We did not book until quite late with only a few cabins left on the ship as my son‘s passport had been stolen and we could not book until his new one arrived. But alas, it came and we obtained a choice cabin with a wonderful view from our large window looking out to the sea. We had not taken a trip together since he was a teenager but somehow all the stars aligned to create a vacation together as mother and son. We flew to Istanbul staying a few days in town seeing the sites, the Blue Mosque, Sophia Hagia, the Grand Bazaar and recuperating from jet lag in our luxurious hotel, before boarding the Norwegian Jade for a 12 day cruise. The Biblical words, fullness of time,” came to mind as interpreted by the noted Lutheran theologian Paul Tillich who described Kairos time as “the fullness of time,” or “moments in which conditions are ripe for events to transcend in linear time and take on greater, even eternal, significance.” My son had not been to this part of the world and I had been to all but lovely Mykonos which we both truly loved. Santorini, Mykonos and Napflion on the mainland of Greece were our favorites as was Istanbul and of course Cairo with its mystical Pyramids. We left the ship in Alexandria and traveled to Cairo, staying at the Mena House close to the Giza Plateau where we could almost touch the stone. The experience was fantastic and we were blessed with a wonderful guide for our tour of Egypt. He was associated with the North Africa Tour Company and was without a doubt the best informed, charming guide I have ever had anywhere in the world. I salute you Hamy! I learned more from him in a few days than my entire previous tour of Egypt some years ago. It was indeed an “opportune” time. The trip itself was true Kairos. The Sphinx at Giza Plateau “The two meanings of the word apparently come from two different sources. In archery, it refers to an opening, or “opportunity” or, more precisely, a long tunnel-like aperture through which the archer’s arrow has to pass. Successful passage of Kairos requires, therefore, that the archer’s arrow be fired not only accurately but with enough power for it to penetrate. The second meaning of Kairos traces to the art of weaving. There it is “the critical time” when the weaver must draw the yarn through a gap that momentarily opens in the warp of the cloth being woven. Putting the two meanings together, one might understand...
read moreThe Way of a Seer~ Kairos
Namaste, Amid all the frustration I learned painfully that I needed to let go and flow with the river rather than swim upstream. We all know what it feels like to move effortlessly forward without obstacles, it is like floating with the current of a river, or riding a wave in the ocean. This begins to happen as we release our inner resistance based on fear and become in sync with the energy flow of the Universe around us. It is as Eckhart Tolle describes in his book, “The Power of Now.” Resistance breeds new difficulties at every turn; in my earlier years it became a game of my strength and endurance as I kept pushing against, rather than with the energy flow. Old patterns within us and outside influences of the environment (i.e., no time, no money no partner, no access, no education) reflect like a mirror upon us guaranteeing more resistance leaving us with fearful negative feelings and an overall lack of trust in ourselves and the Universe. Trust is a difficult issue for many of us. We have been disappointed so many times in life, we find it hard to trust our partners, our lovers, and our boss, let alone the Universe. “Letting go” means moving with the energy flow, flowing with the river and not emotionally investing in the outcome of a desired effect. That is a difficult thing to do as the “Course of Miracles” teaches us we are paralyzed by fear rather than love. The irony of life is that when we “let go” of a person, a desire, a place or or a job and pay attention to our selves, everyone around us responds in a different manner and things fall into place. To quote my dear friend Caroline,” if it is not “easy peasy” let it go! The hardest thing about the wonderful things you hear in a “reading” are the wanting of them in the “now”. However, in a quote attributed to the writings of King Solomon; “to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:) (King James version) Divine timing or the right time divinely inspired, or what the ancient Greeks called Kairos, meaning the right or opportune moment in time is a concept we have all experienced. It is a moment when time stands still whether we are quiet in illness or active in the physical. It is the moment in love when we forget about time as we embrace our beloved; it flows when we are in a creative endeavor, painting, or writing, playing a musical instrument or conquering an intellectual challenge, mathematical or scientific, or simply running or swimming. In Greek mythology Kairos was the youngest child of the God Zeus. The original allegoric statue sculpted by Lysippos of Kairosis beautiful, and we know that beauty is always opportune. The naked Kairos has a tuft of hair streaming from the front of his head representing the fleeting moment taken before it flies away. That is illustrated by the fact that the back of the head is bald signifying that the moment when gone cannot be grasped from behind. The wings on his feet represent how swiftly Kairos time passes. In his right hand he holds a razor letting all know that Kairos has the sharpest edge. Bas-relief Kairos Kairos in our lives is the perfect moment in the divine sense. Kairos is qualitative time, it cannot be measured; it is the right thing at the right time, when the...
read moreThe Way of a Seer~Magical Manifestations
Namaste, So, you had a reading and you didn’t know if you actually understood it. Yes, a relationship is coming, but when? My job is changing, but how? More money in my life, Where is it? To understand the world from which the psychic pulls information off the universal timeline, you must first understand that it is you that has control over your life. You can manifest the possibilities now or in the near future, or you can hold the future in abeyance by never clearly defining your intent. Or by not clearing out the old negative relationships, jobs, and patterns that keep us stuck. There are no but’s to getting what you want. I want a relationship, but . . . I want a new job, but . . . . Sometimes we cannot declare the parameters of the things we so desperately want in precise detail. Focus on what you really desire. I want to share a few thoughts with you as you walk your spiritual path. A “reading” is a glimpse of what your life can be and how you can attain not only the worldly illusions of success so powerful in our culture but achieve the serenity of letting go of worldly wants. These concepts need not be mutually exclusive. Why are we not always told the outcome of our most pressing issues? The answer is simple. You can go to a plethora of “readers” and they can all see the same thing in front of you but free will plays a part in the outcome and karma, that of our own, and of the others involved in our desire. In the end the answer is for you to decide as that is the journey that carries us towards enlightment. Your spiritual guides will not reveal to you an answer that will interfere with or is part of your lesson to be fulfilled. It is always interesting for me to see what a client is told and what is not told. Some clients are so in tune with their lessons that within a six or eight week period all that has been foretold will transpire. Others will pine for their “soulmate: who has not arrived in their bed, or for the job that seems elusive or the move that is on hold. When this happens it is time to re-examine the Laws of the Universe and our intent. We have the ability through our thoughts to manifest what we want. If one is on a spiritual path living in an Ashram but has moved to the Ashram so as not to pay delinquent taxes, and/or unpaid consumer debt then how does the person confront his or her truth and progress his soul? To quickly manifest all that is wished for one must seek out the positive truths about ourselves by confronting our shadow. Or if the lover we seek is not into us and we push what is not meant to be and ignore the nice alternatives at our doorstep do we progress our soul? Or if we lust after someone who is already in a relationship, can we trust our intuition and determine if it is a karmic debt or is it Dharma or destiny which cannot be modified. As the Hindi Bhagawan Baba once said, we have no choice but to follow our Dharma,...
read moreThe Way of a Seer~Comments Please
Namaste, Please send me comments whether you are a new client or an old friend. As some of you know I have moved from Virginia into my house in Arizona and I am settling into the Southwest lifestyle. Spending a summer in the desert when all who can afford to leave for eight weeks, do, I am enduring the heat by spending most of my time in the swimming pool. Freckle faced and suntanned for once in my life, I am in the desert doing what I love best, my “readings,” and following Spirit. I want to write about the subjects that bring me joy and to explore metaphysical questions we so often ponder. I invite your input and will share with you my thoughts and abilities as we start a dialogue of metaphysical musings. My expertise lies in my readings and my dream experience. Initially I want to do a series of comments on “Understanding your Readings” and invite you to share your experiences. Psychic visions, mine and yours, can be used as tools to gain insights along the pathway, and to break the patterns that block light to the soul and limit our joys. Used in conjunction with thoughtful meditation, the results can be quite dramatic. Join me for an adventure within!...
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