PAN International 70

PAN Provisional Astroshamanic News

International Edition, 20 July 2007, Issue 70.

Editorial Director: Franco Santoro.

Cluny Hill College, Forres IV36 2RD, Scotland. (+44(0)1309-672289. PAN@astroshamanism.org

© 2007 Franco Santoro. All rights reserved. Permission must be granted by the author for publishing and use on websites. For permissions contact PAN@astroshamanism.org

What is Astroshamanism?

Since Nunzio’s (my father) passing on 30 June 2007, I am deepening awareness of priorities, moving into a space of intimate assimilation of my true lineage and inheritance. It is an initiatory death and rebirth, the shift into a novel territory, a more genuine understanding of who I am and what I am truly meant to manifest. In this process I am blessed by the heartfelt enthusiasm and commitment of all the astroshamanic groups and students. I am most grateful that astroshamanism continues to serve the voyage of so many friends, allowing them to unveil their precious gifts and promoting awareness upon the loving links of the planetary web of life and death.

We are all joined by the fullness of the void and whatever is experienced by me or you is part of the same collective experience that we share with all human beings. We cannot help being multidimensional no matter how the illusion of separation tries to confuse us. A fragment of who we are abides in all aspects of existence, in every possible dimension and time, in whatever existed, exists and will exist. Once we understand and accept that all pain is caused by the illusive perception of separation, we can finally start our journey home, retrieving one by one each piece of who we are and claiming our true inheritance. It is with relentless simplicity, patience and devotion that this path is best taken, which is what I learned and am learning from my father.

In order to respond to my current calling and take up new commitments, I am reconsidering my previous engagements. My guidance is to devote more energy to courses and training modules, forming healers and practitioners, devising new workshops, supporting astroshamanic groups and the healing work on the territory. This is part of the actualisation of the Astroshamanic Intentional Configuration (AIC), a vision process that astroshamamic core groups started nine months. A primary task of AIC involves the creation of a healing community centre, which an intention I aim at devoting my basic focus as from autumn 2007. The place and the country where this centre will be created, as well as the friends involved, are still to be defined, and will be part of forthcoming autumnal visionary and pragmatic searches.

I have just completed the Original Quest workshop at Findhorn, which I officially held as a memorial tribute to Nunzio. The topic of this unique week is traditionally the bardo of life and death, i.e. coming to terms with the pristine motivation that leads us to live in a physical body and what awaits us when we die. If we identify ourselves as a separate physical body, then it is no surprise that we fear death. When, on the contrary, we are open to embrace the true essence of our material form, perceiving its unity with a much larger physical body, which is the vast web of existence, then death becomes a supreme opportunity to move beyond the illusion of separation. Indeed all shamanic voyages and every kind of ecstatic experience in our life, including love relationships and sacred sexuality, as well as times of illness and crisis, are training anticipations of death, precious opportunities toprove that our authentic nature is the loving force permeating all existence. The key to face the ultimate gate, la Porta dello Spavento Supremo (the Door of the Supreme Fear) as the Italian artist Franco Battiato calls it, is to cultivate the awareness of our Core Multidimensional Identity, the part of us firmly linked to the web of existence. When this is the case, we are bound to realise that whatever we fear is ultimately and only the unconditional all-permeating vibration of Love. As Osho puts it:

Love always creates fear because love is death, a greater death than the ordinary death you know of. In an ordinary death the body dies, but that is not death at all. Body is just like a dress: when it is tatty and old you change for a new one.

It is not death, it is just a change: a change of a dress, or a change of a house or abode. But you continue, the mind continues – just the same old mind in new bodies, just the same old wine in new bottles. The form changes but not the mind, the shape changes but not the mind.

So the ordinary death is not a real death; love is a real death: the body does not die but the mind dies, the body continues to be the same but the ego disappears.

If you love, you will have to drop all the conceptions that you have about yourself.

If you love, you CANNOT be the ego because the ego will not allow love.

They are antagonistic.

If you choose the ego you will not be able to choose love.

If you choose love you will have to drop the ego.

Hence, the fear.... (Osho, Come Follow To You, Vol. 4)

The week leading to the Summer Solstice, I also held an Italian Original Quest in Corvaro, which also energetically included a separate two-day workshop in Ostra. It was the first time that I scheduled two Original Quest workshops in the same year, which aimed at supporting the six-year cycle (2007-2012) and the strategic opening of multidimensional portals. Between the end of the Italian and the start of the Findhorn Original Quest there was a gap of 12 days, one for each zodiac sign, intended to boost the related portals. The midpoint of this gap was the sixth day and coincided with the Full Moon in Capricorn, which was sheds light upon the Gate of Heaven, the esoteric portal to the multidimensional realms and hence tactically facilitates a shift in consciousness. When I arranged the above I was not aware that the sixth day will also concur with the passing away of my father.

I am currently hold an additional workshop (Spiritual Practice), which will be followed by the Findhorn Astroshamanic Summer Gathering (see details below) from 22 to 28 July 2007. I am very much looking forward to this unique event and to the synergetic healing effects that it is bound to create in the astroshamanic network. Also I cherish the forthcoming launch of new workshops and courses, such as the Sacred Relationships Intensive: Restoring the Fragmented Heart and the One Year Course in Astroshamanism and Experiential Astrology. I am grateful for the enthusiastic responses it has received so far. Workshops have already been scheduled in England, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland!

Summer blessings, Franco

Nunziato Santoro: Bridging a Life of Loving Simplicity

On 30 June 2007 at dawn my beloved father peacefully left his body in his home in Bologna. I celebrate his passing into the realm of ancestors with a personal tribute to a life lived as service to his family, community and, above all … welI, as a matter of fact, I do not know. In writing this memorial article I wish firstly to give space to the mystery surrounding Nunzio, the awareness that although I spent a considerable amount of time in his loving company, benefiting from his fruitful presence and receiving many gifts, I am not at all entitled to describe who he truly was. This I admit with no regret, since I sense that my relationship with Nunzio has only just begun to unfold and may reveal its significance in the years to come. It is my aim here to honour his memory by keeping him immune from any identification, prioritising his multidimensional self, which is indeed the Nunzio with whom I will relate as from now, the part that it is my task to inherit and integrate. Here I celebrate my father’s departure from his HAC identity, his right to expand beyond the limitations of separate realities and embrace the freedom to which he belongs. Now, in this respect, just as eight years ago, in one of my most significant visions of him, I contemplate Nunzio gloriously riding a white horse and venturing through his pristine realm of beauty. I dearly loved my dad, his simplicity, his calmness, his unconditional devotion, his pragmatism, his innocence, his natural capacity to serve, be helpful and caring, without expecting anything in return. He has been my great teacher in my life and work.

In describing some fragments of Nunzio’s life I speak from my provisional perception, which is bound to expand as my voyage proceeds. Now that his physical body has departed I am aware that something in me is also passing away, as I become available to take in his luminous inheritance and release my role as son. Hence, as I write what follows, my aim is to encourage this release process, also allowing what is being released to gently take its time to unfold and be honoured. The above is expanded in these weeks by Saturn’s exact transit on my Medium Coeli and Chiron’s precise passage on my Immum Coeli.

Nunzio’s departure occurred following the timeless hours of his last night, right on the apex of the Capricorn Full Moon. He chose a wonderful time to leave his body, at all levels. According to many ancient traditions and philosophers Capricorn is the gate through which souls ascend in the post-mortem return to the spiritual realm, while Cancer is the gate through which they descend into earthly birth. Capricorn is also the portal through which gods descend to earth, and is called Gate of the Gods or Gate of Heaven. A Full Moon in Capricorn widens the awareness of this esoteric gate, the portal leading to the multidimensional realms beyond the illusory perception of separation, as represented by the Human Arbitrary Configuration (HAC). Hence it was a most powerful time to leave third-dimensional reality. The glowing presence of the Moon in Capricorn pointed to the Gate of Heaven for the whole night until my beloved father breathed his last, just as he breathed his first when he was born, which was also on a Full Moon. He left with discretion and consideration, arranging all details and causing no disruption to any of my workshop commitments. His departure and funeral coincided with the only span of time when I was not holding any event, as if he had deliberately consulted my busy work calendar, and perhaps he did.

Nunzio was born on 25 March 1929, in Francavilla di Sicilia, near Taormina (Sicily). His name derives from the Latin nuntio and means “to announce, to report” or “messenger”. His official name was “Nunziato”, which comes from the Christian feast of Annunciation, celebrated on the day he was born. The surname Santoro is of medieval origins and derives from the Latin sanctorum, indicating the All Saints feast, as well as someone operating as a saint or who makes or deals with sacred things. Nunzio came into this world on the exact Libra Full Moon. This Full Moon is associated with the horizontal axis Aries-Libra, Ascendant-Descendant or East-West. It promotes a courageous involvement with the dynamics of everyday life, and also a path of self-realisation through the relationship with another human being.

Nunzio was in a deeply loving and devoted relationship with Marisa, his wife and business partner (and my mother), for over 50 years and until she left her body in 1998. During that time they were basically inseparable, living and working together, with a firm focus on creating good conditions for me and my sister Annamaria, and later also for other children through volunteer humanitarian activities. Nunzio also dedicated a dramatic portion of his life strenuously assisting Marisa during two long periods of illness, one of them fatal. After Marisa’s departure, as far as I know, Nunzio was not in any significant relationship, with the exception of Heleen, with whom he had a very close connection in the last months of his life.

My father met my mother in Bologna in a textile workshop, where they were both employed as tailors. My beloved mother was from San Venanzio di Galliera, a peasant village in the province of Bologna. Later in 1956, when after eight years of engagement they finally got married, they started their own business, creating original fashion designs. Their early years of work were full of strenuous hardships and sacrifices. Later their firm took off and expanded, though they purposefully continued to keep it on an artisan level so as not to affect their family life. In his work Nunzio had the amazing Uranian capacity of anticipating future tendencies, designing and producing clothes, which after a few months would become trendy in the fashion mainstream. The name of my father’s high fashion business was Confezioni Sartem, whose logos was the head of Mars. This head of Mars was originally incised on the black hematite stone of the engagement ring that Marisa (Sun in Libra) gave to Nunzio (Sun in Aries). Nunzio, inspired by the ring, decided then to adopt it as the family business logos.

My parents’ first home and workshop was an old house in via Santa Margherita, next to Piazza Maggiore, the city’s main square. This house, which was also my natal home, promoted my initial multidimensional experiences. There, as a small child, I had my first encounter with an inner voice who told me that everything and everyone in this world, including my mum and dad, was provisional and passing. This was the murmuring voice of death, the only one who has never lied to me. At the age of four, we moved to a new house, and my natal place remained enveloped for decades by a profound sense of mystery. It was gradually deserted, becoming a murky and burdensome relic in the heart of the city, until it was restored a few years ago and transformed into a luxury hotel (Hotel Novecento). Relationship and work, family and service have always been closely linked in my father’s life, and also in my childhood. In all our homes, the tailor’s workshop was part of the house itself and the place where the entire family spent most of the time. Surrounded by fabrics, leather, buckskin, labels, and by Nunzio and Marisa’s devoted presence, I had my early playful shamanic experiences.

Nunzio was born with Sun in Aries and Moon in Libra (1.7), integrating a courageous and pioneering spirit with balance, co-operation and harmony. Although the time of birth is not certain, his likely ascendant is Cancer, which transpired in a tender, cautious, caring and protective nature. In Cancer he had also Mars, while Venus was in Taurus. A relevant feature of his natal chart was the Uranus-Sun conjunction, which made him a Uranus Alien Power (see PAN 67). This was the non-HAC Nunzio, a reserved champion of originality and inventive creativity, with the capacity to stimulate change, liberation and non-HAC alignments in those around him, a master of eccentric simplicity and spontaneous, low profile wisdom.

Born in a traditional Sicilian environment, Nunzio left his home village and started to live on his own very soon, moving to Northern Italy already in 1946. He worked in Florence, Turin and then finally settled in Bologna, where he lived there until his departure. He didn’t seem to have any romantic or nostalgic attachment to his natal island, to which he would rarely refer, almost as if he wanted to keep his origins secret. With blue eyes, no accent at all and a basic lack of all the common Sicilian stereotypes, the only evidence of his origin were his Southern Italian name and surname. As a matter of fact, whereas his father’s lineage was Sicilian, her mother was not. His mother’s surname was Megani, a rare Northern Italian name, inherited by her grandfather, a police officer from Romagna, who was sent on duty to Sicily and then settled and formed a family.

Although he showed some discreet and most loving concern, Nunzio always accepted and honoured my unconventional choices in life and the out of the ordinary research work I pursued since my early years. In the last two decades he also developed a direct interest, providing major support, manufacturing several shamanic tools and taking part in workshops. In 2002 he came to Findhorn for an Experience Week that I focalised. This was a most touching and healing event for me and him. On that occasion during a ritual, we both tenderly hugged and tears of gratitude flew on both sides for a long time. We luminously forgave and blessed each other, and I did feel that this was our veritable completion. After that, no matter what could occur in our lives, I perceived that we had already achieved the best possible result as father and son. Then in 2005 and 2006 he was part of the staff during the Emilia Astroshamanic Summer Retreat at Tolé, which was a major blessing for him, me and those who took part. This gave me the special opportunity to share Nunzio with my students. On that occasion Nunzio took the initiative to make a shamanic conic cap (tutulus) as a gift for each participant. He did not know how many participants there were, yet to my amazement he managed to get the exact number of caps.

The first signs of illness emerged in September last year, when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He was not in any physical pain, yet he had short term memory loss, forgetting words and speaking with difficulty. He underwent brain surgery and all his faculties immediately returned as they were before, as if nothing had happened. There were some minor physical side effects for the first two months, yet in the end he enjoyed five months of good health at all levels.

My beloved sister Annamaria devotedly assisted him, making sure that he could have the best support and care. Soon after surgery he developed a close connection with Heleen, whom he had met during the Emilia Astroshamanic Retreat. This relationship reached its climax in the last months of his life, with Heleen being also lovingly present in some of Nunzio’s ultimate days. His conditions suddenly precipitated in June a few days before my visit to Italy. Although he was fully conscious, he had difficulties in speaking and voids of memory. He appeared like a little child who has something to express, but he does not know how to do it. The last time I saw him fully conscious was on the day of my departure for Corvaro. As I was packing, I realised that I did not have a suitable pair of boots. Hence I decided to visit my father and borrow his. He was very pleased to give them to me. Then I said good-bye and left. As I was walking on the street I heard my name being called. This was very unusual and at first I did not know who was calling me. Then I saw my father on the balcony, waving and smiling at me. It was like the scene of a movie, and in that moment I felt that Nunzio was probably giving me his last good-bye.

The seminar Grand Original Quest at Corvaro was about opening pathways and portals, physically trekking through the territory, allowing the outer landscape to reflect the inner. It was a special feeling to wear Nunzio’s boots on that occasion, especially when we went through the West path, the way related with the bardo of death, which was an amazing hidden Roman underground tunnel. When I returned to Bologna I found my father motionless on his bed, surrounded by two large shining white lights, who I perceived as winged angels. I sat on the edge of his bed in deep silence. The following day I held a workshop in Jesi, and then, when I came back, I spent three days in Bologna, mainly with Nunzio. At that stage it was evident that his departure was very close. He lay in his bedroom, which was once my childhood’s bedroom, the place where I was initiated to my earliest spirit adventures. Yet I did not feel comfortable. I perceived myself, the room and the whole environment as gloomy and depressing, full of all the conventional HAC feelings about death. I was haunted by guilt and obsession regarding the obligations towards my father. A myriad of compelling thoughts crammed my mind. I felt obliged to play the role of the shaman, priest and psychopomp, engaging in rituals, prayers and other aspects of my father’s departure. I did not feel any spontaneous call or motivation to do the above, which made me feel desolate and disrespectful. The first day I was swallowed by those feelings, unable to react, passively absorbing a sense of impotence and misery. Then the second day I find the power to respond to this situation. I made it very clear that I was not available to undertake rituals out of a feeling of duty or constraint, and that I was open to do only what would come to me spontaneously and through my heart. Having affirmed that, I felt cleansed and invigorated. Hence I immediately and joyfully got down to work. I put a sound system in Nunzio’s bedroom. The energy of the house radically changed when I began to play cheerful and powerful music. In particular I used a tape by Vangelis, that my father liked. I told the nurse and my sister to leave it on as much as possible. I also played a CD (Tibetan Incantations) which drew my attention. I had never noticed this cd, although Grazia, my beloved first wife (who I take the opportunity to deeply thank for her unconditional support in these days), bought it many years ago during her journey in Nepal. When I put it on I realised that the sound was very familiar, it was the same music I played during a most touching release ritual in a workshop in Vogelsberg (Germany). It is, as I hear it, one of the most powerful pieces of music ever produced. It contains the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum, which I played in my father’s bedroom over and over again for hours. I continued to use the same cd also during the Original Quest and other workshops. For a music video with this cd click here. The third day, I celebrated a whole ritual, with drums and tambourines, wearing the shamanic conic hat that Nunzio made for me. Also other things happened on that last day I saw my father alive, which will remain a secret between me and him.

The following day I flew to Germany. Although I had received guidance that he would leave his body in two days at exact Full Moon, I felt that the best way for me to be truly helpful in this circumstance was to leave him alone on his last night and celebrate a public Full Moon ritual, which is what I did in Goettingen. As expected, Nunzio passed away a few hours following the ritual. I returned to Italy the day after, spending a whole night alone at my father’s house, close to his dead body. This was an amazing blessing and gift. I had the unique opportunity to witness the simplicity of death and how clearly his physical body was merely a piece of cloth, which was not needed anymore. At the beginning I did not dare to touch his body, feeling all the HAC conventional gloomy feelings about dead people. Then I was captured by an unexpected playful energy and the whole situation of my father’s dead body appeared like a game. I felt like a small child who does not know anything about the way death is regarded by adults. A child who, in seeing a motionless body, lying on a bed, with shoes and an elegant suit, gets most intrigued. He wonders what kind of game that is, getting cheerful and excited. At first, I felt embarrassed about my attitude. “How can you be so disrespectful towards your father in this dramatic moment? This is not a joke! Are not you ashamed?” a voice inside grumbled. Hence I made an effort to suppress the child and adopt a more funereal stance, so as to comply with the grumbling voice. This containment made me feel very uncomfortable. There was only me and my father’s dead body in the house, and I could really do whatever I wanted, if it were not for that voice. Yet, the voice continued, until out of the blue I challenged it: “Why do you want me to be miserable and gloomy? Who are you? What authority do you have in this context?” There was no answer and the voice completely disappeared. I retrieved all my playful excitement, and claimed my right to explore death in the way I wanted. The true inner voice, the one of death, who has accompanied me since I was a child, began to whisper again in my ears.

When for the first time in my childhood I found out about death, I considered it the most puzzling and intriguing event. What surprised me more was that death, instead of being the most popular topic of conversation, was basically avoided, besides being seen as the most dreadful and painful occurrence of all. Initially I thought that this was done merely to put off children, so that they would not meddle with a matter which only adult people were allowed to deal with. Another topic treated similarly to death was sex, which is why I have always felt death and sex closely associated. To my disappointed later I discovered that death was a forbidden zone also for adults. I realised that it was indeed HAC’s supreme cover-up. In those last hours my father gave me the precious opportunity to access this out of bounds area. He offered his body so that I could explore death hands on. With a deep sense of gratitude I began to touch my father’s body. I was astonished to be so calm, relaxed, playful and detached. I sensed the coldness and stiffness of the body, which is what I had heard about dead bodies, yet never experienced directly. I also noticed that in the course of the night his finger tips and ears were getting bluer and bluer. Although it was rather hot and he had died already two days ago, there was no bad smell at all, and I wondered why. Is it a sign of sainthood? Or perhaps this is simply because he has not eaten anything for 10 days and has already cleansed his body? I also made many other considerations, and felt liberated that I could explore all this, alternating detachment and pragmatism, with sorrow, tears and tenderness. Then I lit a candle and put some music, and cried for almost one hour, revising all the memories I could get about Nunzio and many other things regarding my life with him. I realised that I was taking leave of my physical representation of fatherhood, and that very soon my father, in the form I was accustomed to see him, would be available only through my memories and imagination. I also became aware as a result, that the male aspects of physical reality would embody the father qualities from that time onwards, just as the female features of the earth began to represent the mother qualities when my mother left her body. On that last night with my father, I found in a drawer a picture of my parents, both lovingly looking at me as I take a picture of them. This is the opening picture of this PAN. During the whole night I felt that a silent transmission went on.

Despite my father’s conditions and many doubts I had regarding what to do, I felt that all the planned workshops and events had to take place, which is what happened. It was as if Nunzio was aware of my work commitments. He left his body right at the completion of my last workshop and in perfect timing so that I could also hold the next workshop (Original Quest). The four days of gap, including his death and funeral, I had originally decided to take up as holidays (the first official holidays in 10 years) and therefore kept devoid of any work. And they were indeed holy days, at all levels, since I also experienced amazing moments of joy, beauty and love. His funeral was held on 2 July 2007, which I call Pahai Idrah (Manifestation of the Sacred Cone). This is the day when I received the Vision of the Sacred Cone. It occurred between 2 and 3 pm, which is exactly when the funeral took place. His body was cremated on 4 July 2007. Nunzio has given his best in his lifetime, and this is the model I cherish on this plane, as he moves on into higher realms.

The mystic dies voluntarily. The mystic dies before the actual death; he dies in meditation. Lovers know a little bit of it because fifty percent of love is death. That's why love is very close to meditation. Lovers know something of meditativeness; unawares they have stumbled upon it. Lovers know silence, stillness. Lovers know timelessness, but they have stumbled upon it -- it has not been their basic search. The mystic goes into it very consciously, deliberately...

Osho, The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha

Loving messages from all parts of the world have been sent to my e-mail address after Nunzio’s departure. Please find below a brief selection:

Dearest Nunzio, I have never had the chance to meet you third-dimensionally, yet I have had many meetings with you through the words of your son Franco and those of many people I have met who had the pleasure and the honour to know you. Hence I have connected with your infinite goodness, with your love and constant presence, with your strength and your “being there” distantly in all the experiences that your dear ones and in particular Franco have lived in every moment of their lives. Dear Nunzio, in the ordinary reality it is difficult to leave this dimension for the pain of seeing the sufferance of one’s beloved people and this is right. Yet, next to this pain for those who stay on, there is the joy to know that such a beautiful and dear being reconnects with the divine part in beauty and light. To celebrate and accompany this passage is a precious gift. Hence in the opening rituals of the four directions at Corvaro you were with Franco and all of us. You were there physically with your own shoes, which Franco wore, lovingly leading Franco’s steps as well as ours. You connected with us in the West Gate and we were always next to you. I felt that before leaving your body you were waiting for Franco to complete his rituals. I thank you for this act of love. During the Capricorn Full Moon night, when you moved through the North Gate, I have also run a ritual with other friends, dancing and celebrating, feeling a deep heart connection with you and Franco. Touching tears move through my cheeks, of gratitude and acknowledgment. Buon Viaggio, carissimo Nunzio. Liliana Cozza..

Dear Franco, I have heard that your father has passed away. It touches me. I have thought about him in the last weeks and have just returned from a visit to my mother who will not be on this plane much longer as it seems now. I loved your father for his openness, his hospitality, his generosity, his humbleness in service, his warmth, his open-heartedness - and because he was and is your father. I bless him on his journey as I bless you and your family. Love, Astrid Gude

Dear Franco, I am happy that I had the chance to Nunzio and to appreciate all his goodness, the gentleness of his soul, his kind manners… I remember, as if it were today, how his eyes shined when I spoke about you. I felt all his pride for such a special son as you are. I also remember how moved I was when, at Findhorn, during the completion ritual, when one by one we were all hugging, he hugged you with his eyes full of tears! It is true that the good tree bears good fruit and you are the living example. I have not felt pain for his departure, but only joy, now, at last, a most beautiful blue butterfly can fly towards the infinite, and God. Annamaria De Juils

Dear Franco, I much appreciated the presence of your father during the workshop in Tolé. His refined distinction and tact, together with a great sensitivity, availability and a touch of “mystery” made him a most attractive and special feature. Often, when he smiled at me, both with a kind and enigmatic attitude, full of absent presence and close distance, I had the clear impression that he could perfectly understand the subtle mechanics that control the great joke of existence… I perceive a lot of serenity in his passing. F.V.

Franco, my thoughts are with you in your time of sorrow, and joy. Sorrow at the end of your physical relationship with your father, joy in the knowledge that he will now be free of the shackles of this dimension. I know that he will never leave you, in your heart and soul. Love endures beyond space and time, and Nunzio's Love will survive in you. When my own father died it was a time of great pain for me. For many years I had told myself I hated my father, only to realise that in fact I loved him,but it was too late to tell him so. Since then though, I have realised that I carry him with me still, and often seem to feel his presence in my mind. I know now that he knows I love him. I am sure that this will be the same for you - your love for your father, and his for you, was plain to see and will remain. I wish for you heart's ease at this time. Light and Love, Derek.

I didn’t have the chance to know your father well. I saw him only once in Tolé, when I passed by one evening. I was immediately inspired by his serenity and wisdom, stability and, most of all, integrity, which is one of the qualities that I appreciate more. I remember his friendly smile, his luminous and sincere look, the affectionate and thoughtful ways of a father, and his great dignity. It was a bit like a father for all those he supported, and it is like this that I remember him, with his protective “wings”, and I imagine him as he transits, smiling and calmly towards other destinations. I can only “see” his serenity and sweetness, the peace and love that surround him, the light that he emanates and his shy and peaceful smile. Also a lot of light, blue and soft, as he lightly moves away, good-bye Nunzio and see you again, Daniela

For me Nunzio is two large smiling eyes that penetrate without judgment. Feeling looked within and being accepted as I am, kind and distinct welcome, availability and service, jokes of ancient wisdom, the capacity to laugh and smile, this is Nunzio for me. I only met Nunzio once in Tolé, yet his memory his very vivid in me. Now Nunzio, you have returned home and I am happy that I managed to meet you, Maria Dojmi

Only the idea of death makes a warrior sufficiently detached so that he is capable of abandoning himself to anything. He knows his death is stalking him and won’t give him time to cling to anything so he tries, without craving, all of everything.

Carlos Castaneda, Separate Reality

The Astroshamanic Way of Cinema: Cancer and Leo Films by Franco Santoro

For an introduction to this series of articles please see PAN issue 62 and 63.

Cancer films involve the realm of family, motherhood, childhood, home and old memories, including ancestral traditions and roots. This cinema comprises films providing feelings of security, emotional nourishing or tension around Cancerian themes.

What follows is a provisional list of movies with Cancer elements. The list is obviously most incomplete since Cancer films are very abundant. Each title in the list is preceded by the name of the director. By clicking on the title you can get online details on the movie.

P.Almodovar, All About My Mother. A.Anders, Gas Food Lodging. R.Benton, Places in the Heart. I.Bergman, Fanny & Alexander. P.Bogdanovich, Mask. J.Boorman, Hope and Glory. G.L.Brooks, Terms of Endearment. J.Clayton, The Pumpkin Eater. C.Comunbis, Nine Months; Stepmom. F.Coraci, The Water Boy. F.Fellini, Amarcord. J.Ford, The Grapes of Wrath; How Green Was My Valley. C.Franclin, One True Thing. E.Goulding, Grand Hotel. R.Howard, Parenthood. J.L.Hubert, Le grand chemin. M.Leigh, Secrets and Lies. K.Loach, Family Life. G.Lucas, American Graffiti. S.Madden, Shakespeare in Love. P.Masterson, The Trip to Bountiful. V.Menshov, Moscow Distrusts Tears. M.Meszaros, Diary for my Children. N.Moretti, Dear Diary; La stanza del figlio. L.Nimoy, The Good Mother; M.Nispel, Pathfinder. E.Olmi, L’albero degli zoccoli. P.Pasolini, Mamma Roma. F.Perry, Mommie Dearest; S.Ray, Pather Panchali. R.Reiner, Stand by me. R.Redford, Ordinary People. M.Rydell, On Golden Pond. J.Sheridan, My Left Foot. S.Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich. G.Stevens, I Remember Mama; L.Visconti, Rocco and His Brothers; W.Wang. The Joy Luck Club.. Z.Ymou, The Road Home.

There follows a list of actors and directors with relevant traits in Cancer. Their names are followed by the binary or triad reference. When the term stellium is indicated it means that three or more planets and astrological factors are in Cancer. By clicking on the name of the actor you can get complete online details.

Isabelle Adjani (st), Lino Banfi (st), Tom Cruise (4.4.10), Harrison Ford (4.4,st), Ava Gardner (10.12.4), Olivia de Havilland (4.4.7,st), Akira Kurosawa (1.6.4), Gina Lollobrigida (4.10,st), Lawrence Olivier (1.4.4,st), Sydney Pollack (4.12), Renato.Pozzetto (MO/SC), Ginger.Rogers (MO/PI), Sylvester Stallone (4.7.9), Barbara Stanwyck (st), Billy Wilder (4.4.6, st), William Wyler (4.2), Nathalie Wood (4.2,st).

Leo movies are abundant with glamour and special effects, emphasising characters in the limelight and positions of power.

What follows is a provisional list of movies with Leo traits. Leo movies, like Cancer’s, are quite popular and the list below provides only a few examples. Each title in the list is preceded by the name of the director. By clicking on the title you can get online details on the movie.

Allens/Minkoff, The Lion King. R.Attenborough, Gandhi. R.Benjamin, My Favourite Year. B.Bertolucci, The Last Emperor. M.Cacoyannis, Zorba The Greek. F.Capra, It’s a Wonderful Life. M.Caton-Jones, Rob Roy. C.Chaplin, City Lights; The Great Dictator; A King in New York. Clemens/Musker, Hercules. A.Cuaron, A Little Princess. B.Fosse, Cabaret. P.Glenville, Becket. A.Harvey, The Lion in Winter. N.Jewison, Jesus Christ Superstar. B.Levinson, The Natural. M.Nichols, Primary Colors. A.Pacino, Looking for Richard. E.Rohmer, Le signe du Lion. R.Rossen, The Hustler. M.Scorsese, Kundun; The King of Comedy. L.Visconti, The Leopard. P.Yates, Breaking Away. R.Wise, Star! R.Zemeckis, Romancing the Stone. A.Mccay, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. B.Barber, Idlewild.

Here also follows a list of actors and directors with relevant traits in Leo. Their names are followed by the binary or triad reference. When the term stellium is indicated it means that three or more planets and astrological factors are in Leo. By clicking on the name of the actor you can get complete online details.

Maria Cucinotta (st;5.5.5), Robert De Niro (st;5.12.4), Faye Dunaway (10.5.5); Alfred Hitchcock (5.8.5), Dustin Hoffman (5.6.10), Stanley Kubrick (5.8), Robert Mitchum (5.12.5), Peter O’Toole (st;5.5.2), Robert Redford (5.10.12), Martin Sheen (st;5.5.11), Shelley Winters (5.3.3),

There was an astroshamanic fryer,

Whose business was somewhat dyer,

Until one day,

When his chip flew away,

And It kept going higher and higher,

For as soon as it was fried,

It transmogrified,

Into star chippy enterprise,

Chippy of the skys

Robert Vipond

Non-HAC Traits in the Astrological Chart – Part Three by Franco Santoro

In the previous articles I introduced the Alien Powers and Alien Vessels, while in this issue I feature the Alien Instruments, Adepts and Protectors. In this astrological respect the term alien was coined by Edwin C. Steinbrecher[ii] to identify specialised non-ordinary talents and skills, through the presence or absence of planets in specific astrological positions. Alien traits consist of powers, vessels, instruments and adepts. The Alien Powers, which were featured in PAN 67, are those with the Sun in conjunction with Saturn, Uranus, Neptune or Pluto (allowing a 8° orb), while the Alien Vessels, featured in PAN 68, have Saturn, Uranus, Neptune or Pluto in conjunction with the Moon

The Alien Instruments are born with Saturn, Uranus, Neptune or Pluto in the first house of their chart or in conjunction with the Ascendant from the twelfth house (allowing a 4° orb). They operate as amplifiers, receivers and broadcasters of the energies they represent. Their capacities seem to be intrinsic to their physical bodies, so that they often possess unusual anatomical features.

Please find below a sample lists of famous people with Alien Instruments traits:

Saturn Instruments: Faye Dunaway, Robert Graves, Aldous Huxley, Roger Moore, Ranier Maria Rilke, William Shakespeare, Orson Welles, Susannah York.

Neptune Instruments: Francisco Goya, Rex Harrison, William Holden, Akira Kurosawa, Paul McCartney, David Niven, Francesco Petrarca, Anthony Quinn, Pierre Renoir, Johann Strauss.

Uranus Instruments: Claudia Cardinale, Katherine Hepburn, Adolf Hitler, David Hume, Thomas Jefferson, Rudyard Kipling, Alexander Pushkin, Socrates, Franklyn Roosevelt, Paramahansa Yogananda.

Pluto Instruments: Rock Hudson, David Hume, Henry Kissinger, Jerry Lewis, Niccolò Macchiavelli, Steve McQuinn, Moliere, Albert Schweitzer, Paul Simon.

In general, Aliens “have the ability to contain and to radiate energies which in a non-Alien being would ‘blow the circuits’ unless the body and the psyche had been trained and prepared to receive and radiate them. Sometimes the Aliens have trouble with their abilities, which often frighten and disturb them - especially when these abilities awaken unexpectedly.”.[iii]

Another category of Aliens, called the Adepts, are those born with neither the Ascendant nor any planet in a particular quality (cardinal, fixed or mutable) or element (fire, earth, water, air). Far from being deprived of their missing quality or element, these people express them at their best, provided they are aware of their spiritual path. If this is not the case, the above faculties are blocked, although they can be used or exploited by other people.

Another category is that which Steinbrecher calls Protectors. These are individuals who have no alien patterns in their chart. They seem to function in a protective and understanding way towards the aliens, balancing their moods, warning them when they get too weird or scary for other people, and acting as mediators or interpreters for them to others. “They generally have not suffered the social rejection and alienation that the Aliens have experienced, and those people who have Alien patterns don’t frighten the Protectors or make them nervous as they do others”.[iv] As they have not experienced the early repression and distortion of non-ordinary traits typical of Aliens, they can support the latter while also learn from them.

Recurring Update Multidimensional Software by Anna Luna

The workshop Grand Original Quest has finished. The most immediate feeling is a wide emptiness, the lack of a world that filled in my life in a wonderful way over the last days. Connections, friendships, power spaces, emotions and the Group becomes an entity, a multidimensional being that has its own life and where each feeling and experience is the feeling and the experience of everyone. Inside the Group everything enhances and becomes more intense, penetrates unsuspected depths, moves through mysterious secret ways, pushing into the inmost recesses of the soul. It’s a sacred space where the sharing doesn’t need any words. I realize how all this is vital for me and how the shamanic work can bring changes to an inner level, which are not always immediately evident, but affect unavoidably the perception of the ordinary reality and the attitude about the life itself.

It is like an experience of a multidimensional download from a Multidimensional Central Program that happens when the individual is available to receive new drives and awareness from the web of life. In my opinion and without any doubt, Franco’s workshops are the most powerful tools able to trigger this download. I perceive these updates as extremely necessary for me, since they lead to expanded states of consciousness and help me to proceed more quickly on the path I have chosen.

When this happens, the awareness moves from a mental level to an inner space where there is the realm of heart and emotions and where the ancestral instinct is connected with the part that knows, the part which has never forgotten, longing of being contacted again in order to dispense its precious gifts. It’s in a hurry. Too much time has passed waiting for something that is finally here. “You have found what you have always been looking for. Now you don’t need to seek anymore”. This is the message I received during an individual practice in the Sector of Aquarius. My mind doesn’t know very well what it has found but my heart knows it and feels a great happiness, an endless emotion, a love without borders embracing everybody and everything. And the feeling of empty fades away. It was just an illusion, another trick of the ego, aimed to strengthen the idea of separation.

New files have been installed and further veils fade away, the vision is becoming more limpid and clear. Everything continues existing beyond my limited perception, in a non-time, in places where nevertheless I am allowed to enter when I claim my nature of divine multidimensional being. Another step has been taken and each step produces a shift of consciousness towards the retrieval of the original self.

Franco leads the group in a masterly way, with his usual transparency and integrity, honouring all parts involved, those seen and unseen, at any time. The involvement is total and moments of high intensity alternate with playful time. The activated energy is powerful and leads to known and unknown territories at the same time, where it is possible to move beyond the boundaries of the human mind, to perceive the fullness of the void, where the time is a place and where even the encounter with the West, the Unknown, the Dead, can be a space of power.

Time is a place and in that place I go back guided from tiny magic lights to live again the spell of a starry sky, in communion with the Whole, waiting for the next update….

Single Shamanic Mothers by Geline.

The workshop "Single Shamanic Mothers, the Crusaders of the Black Creatoress” took place on Sunday afternoon the 24 of june. It was for all women who can resonate on multidimensional level with this. I choose this day because the sun is in Cancer (nourishment of the primordial mother) and Moon in Libra (based on non duality, unification of the opposites) The venue was a beautiful yurt in the Park of the Findhorn Foundation. We were six women all together. During the afternoon we worked with the three directions and the three holy colours of unity.

We conclude by weaving the tribal web, the shamanic Family. We started with the lower world, lying in our Moon sign sector connecting with the womb. The wombs of all of us in the whole circle where connected by a black thread which we energized. Then we connect with the higher world, lying in our Sun sign sector. The white thread was around each right hand ring finger.(Apollo, Sun). We connected with our third eye and let our finger move to perform sacred touch on our body. After that we connect with the Middle world. The red thread was around each left ankle (release of guilt and open to receive) and we connect with our ascendant.

We worked in couples with an old shamanic twin goddess practice.

During each phase we connected with a power point or power animal and we integrated these symbols in this practice.

We conclude by weaving the energized threads on a circle shape white cloth with rings, representing the twelve sectors. Black from personal Moon to Moon sign. White from Sun to Sun sign. Red from ascendant to ascendant. At the end we weaved a red and white rose in the map as a sign of non duality. During the stages I revealed info about the secrets of the primordial mother. Also there was an intermezzo of black madonna and ave maria music in between the exercises. The weaving of the tribal astro map is an micro cosmos of the tribal circle.

Its my vision to find the tribal circle and live with man and women within the deeper knowledge of the secrets of the primordial mother. Depending on her energetic mother milk. Based on knowing that we all are born with a astrological gift and that we are here to support each other. The principle of non duality. With deep gratitude for all the support I received from the core group. (Geline)

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[i] All times in PAN are given in GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

[ii] For further information about this topic see: Edwin C. Steinbrecher, The Inner Guide Meditation: A Spiritual Technology for the 21st Century, Samuel Weiser, 1988.

[iii] Steinbrecher, op. cit., p. 225.

[iv] Steinbrecher, ibidem, p. 183.