PAN International 92
Provisional Astroshamanic Network
Ezine of the Sacred
Editorial Director:
Edizione italiana: Anna Luna. For astroshamanic links in Facebook click here En español aqui. In italiano qui..
© 2009
Welcome to PAN in Gemini, the realm of wholehearted communication and distribution of healing thoughts, upon which we indulge a wee bit in the Editorial. This PAN also features Geminian flavours in our reports on recent astroshamanic corporate developments in
Gemini is the magical time of preparation for Summer, marked again this year at the Findhorn Foundation by the traditional Summer Solstice workshop The Original Quest: An Astroshamanic Journey into Space and Time from 20 to
For information on these and other events see details in the calendar below.
Also I am delighted to inform you that Celia McKenna has recently produced a video featuring one of our astroshamanic trance dances. We will cover in details this topic with our next issue, yet in the meantime you can see the video at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Forres-United-Kingdom/Astroshamanism/44471338710?sid=272892504eeb5c739891815e4cb3a0f7&ref=s#/video/video.php?v=1098219750157&ref=mf or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0lPKyvriQ8
There are other nuggets, which you can find in this PAN. Please also bear in mind that we are always open to welcome anything you feel inspired to contribute, comment and suggest.
Blessings, Franco
Editorial
Humankind has been plagued by many diseases, famines, recessions, swine-flu and other disasters, and yet the most crucial and ongoing pestilence continues to affect our mind rather than our body. This is the scourge of separation, the incapacity to truly relate with other human beings, genuinely expressing ourselves and allowing others to do the same. And yet the major consequence of this plague, far from being communication with others, may rather be an inability to truly communicate with ourselves, to connect with whom we truly are.
Throughout human history many healing tools have been used to cure the above plague. Astrologically there is a tool for each zodiac sign, which applies to all human beings regardless of what their sun sign or ascendant is. Here Gemini plays a major role, for it is the keeper of the circulation of thoughts, information and all types of communication or mental activities.
Words and thoughts cause substantial effects in the environment and generate most of our human experiences, and the way we perceive them. Communication is an ongoing process, regardless of whether I'm absorbed in my own thoughts or I express them with others. And yet, although there seems to be a large variety of communication, in the end there are simply two categories, one based on the separation and the other on unity. We are communicating at all times, and in any second of life, we have the opportunity to choose between these two.
As human beings we are affected by an ego mind, which constantly promotes separation, employing a huge assortment of devices aimed at sidetracking our perception. As a result it is inevitable to experience negative thoughts or emotions, and all types of grievance. Yet the problem is not experiencing grievances, the issue is what we do with them. Since we live in a consensus reality based on separation, we are bound to come across harmful emotions and thoughts. Getting rid of them completely is beyond doubt a forlorn enterprise. Yet we have the capacity to be aware of those thoughts, while tenaciously being engaged with the healing network of life. This entails employing practical ways to transform infected thoughts and emotions instead of dumping them on others or ourselves. In this way although we still experience grievances, we do not get stuck with them, nor do we forward them to others. On the contrary we convert grievances in healing thoughts and distribute them through the web of life.
In our forthcoming workshops and trainings we will explore pragmatic ways to transform emotions and thoughts, using a large variety of tools according to the seasonal cycles and the topic of the courses.
The challenge of Gemini is to steadily transmute toxic thoughts and emotions into blessings, up to the original toxic thought, which is also the gateway into the ultimate blessing.
Photo: a group meditation at the Universal Hall, Findhorn Foundation (photo by Sverre Koxvold)
IN THIS 92nd ISSUE
Scottish Government Workers Treated to Astroshamanism
Working with the Rhythm of the Big Corporations by Celia McKenna
The Astroshamanic Zodiac: Retrieving 12 Sectors of the Soul by
Restoring the Fragmented Heart: Report on the Workshop by Dave Mountjoy
Keep Clear – Access to Marriage Room – Road Ahead Closed by
Featured Member of the Sacred
The Magician - Mercury: An Astroshamanic Voyage into the Tarot by
Homecoming Scotland 2009: A Big Year for
What is Home to Me
The Singular Adventures of Mandarino Kid by Sergio Di Martino
Upcoming Astroshamanic Events & News
Scottish Government workers treated to Astroshamanism
This is what the Edinburgh Evening News, the Scottish capital evening daily newspaper on
Government staff get courses
SCOTTISH Government workers are being treated to courses in new age "astroshamanism", papercraft and Tai Chi, it is reported today.
More than 60 classes are being laid on for civil servants at Victoria Quay, St Andrew's House and Saughton House this week.
Other lessons included in the Learning at Work week include light-aircraft flying, adventure motor-cycling and line dancing.
In a country where the issue of politicians' lavish allowances and bizarre expenses has been for weeks the major focus of debate, the above seemed to imply further controversy. The following day on The Firm, Scotland's only independent legal magazine, a more measured article titled "Meditation time… meditation time" appeared, which also included an official response from the Scottish government (see below and also at: http://www.firmmagazine.com/news/1493/%22Meditation_time..meditation_time%22.html
"Meditation time...meditation time"
Workers at Scottish Government offices - including the three main sites of Victoria Quay, St Andrew's House and Saughton House- are being given the opportunity to take part in transcendental meditation-style astroshamanism as part of 'Learning at Work' week.
Astroshamanism classes are available to the 2,000 workforce at Victoria Quay. Sources who disclosed emails sent to staff said the course was described as "a system of healing and empowerment that uses shamanic techniques in conjunction with experiential astrology to enable people to develop connection with their inner sources of strength and achieve balance and harmony in their life".
Other skills on offer include jive and line dancing, Tai Chi, snooker, bowls, adventure motor-cycling and light-aircraft flying.
St Andrews House is offering aerobics and a two-hour line-dancing class. Gaelic lessons, anger management classes and guided walks through
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We are leading by example in encouraging employers to develop skills at work. This is about staff offering to share skills from outside of work with their colleagues, at no cost. These events are predominantly run in-house so that we do not incur costs for venues. No costs are incurred in relation to trainers — activities are run by staff for staff. This is a very low-cost learning opportunity and the total cost is approximately £200."
See: http://www.firmmagazine.com/news/1493/%22Meditation_time..meditation_time%22.html
Working with the Rhythm of the Big Corporations... by Celia McKenna
For some time I have been seeking a way of introducing the principles of astroshamanism within my work setting; a world that lies very much on the mental plane, concerned with matters of organisation, administration and leadership. There is a week held each year, dedicated to employees expanding their horizons and skills and learning from one another. For the second year I offered to run something on the programme, and this time I was a little more courageous and boldly proclaimed the title of the course "Astroshamanism"! I knew well that this would certainly get people talking and raise some eyebrows far beyond the hairline. To my great delight it appeared on the front page of the internal website and I was not unduly surprised that it made it from there onto the pages of the Scottish press. On the whole I think the coverage has been quite positive, although I am a little glad that I am away at conferences for a couple of weeks.
The event itself proved quite small in the end. But a full Ritual of the Sacred Cone took place; intents were set, grievances were released and blessings were received by participants. My drum echoed through corridors unaccustomed to noticing the beat of the human heart. The processes of the three stages were stimulated by some of my favourite pieces of Italian music that Franco has introduced me to over the years. You probably know which ones. I imagined the sounds seeping up through all the floors of the grand and sedate building... and inched the volume up just that little bit more. I felt a sense of joyous, glorious freedom and personal release.
It may well be the last time that a course entitled "Astroshamanism" takes place in this particular location! But the processes will continue. They will use different names and visible forms. Maybe the music won't even be Italian. And maybe I'll relinquish the drum... But translating this work into forms accessible to people at large, who occupy corporate as well as "spiritual" locations is very important. The work is just as relevant here as anywhere else and has the potential to have far-reaching effects. I have learnt that people are receptive everywhere. Where they appear not to be, we are just not explaining it right.
Blessings and keen to hear all your ideas and experiences.
Celia: celia@astroshamanism.org
The Astroshamanic Zodiac: Retrieving the 12 Sectors of the Soul by
In the previous article ("Towards an Energetic Use of the
Astrology in astroshamanism is merely a didactic device designed to remove the blocks to our expanded perception. In this respect while it starts off from our limited awareness of reality its aim is to lead us far beyond, yet if we are not ready it still provides our regular cup of tea. In other words astrology first employs a language familiar to our ordinary mind, working with the issues of everyday life, strategically appeasing all major fears, wishes and needs of consensus reality. Yet, as it does so, it gradually unveils other possibilities, which mature seekers can detect and assimilate through direct experience.
Astroshamanism is not interested in arguing about the existence of other realities, nor does it seek to desert the schemes of everyday life. Its aim is to offer tools aimed at expanding our awareness and to provide a direct experience, devoid of interpretations, trusting that the experience will ultimately speak for itself. Nevertheless, astroshamanism also includes a vast body of categories, structures and analytical options. Their function is merely provisional and strategic, helping the seekers to move through different stages of experience and assisting them in the process of integration.
The astroshamanic zodiac circle, or circle on the floor, is one of the main strategic structures used in astroshamanism. The astrological chart is grounded on the floor in a wide circle where the person sits, lies, stands or moves, directly experiencing the energy of the astrological signs. In astroshamanism the zodiac signs represent 12 energy centres, which strategically make up the complete make-up of our multidimensional identity. In other terms the zodiac signs embody the entire configuration of our original nature, with all its possible realities, which is meant to be recovered and restored.
A rather common shamanic term used to describe this recovery process is soul retrieval. This is a traditional practice based on the premise that our soul was once whole and then it fragmented. Some or most of its parts left, went astray, or perhaps were stolen or even borrowed by other beings. The task of the shaman here is to travel into alternate realities, which also include the past or parallel universes, in order to locate the missing parts, and then find a way to retrieve and restore them to where they originally belonged. This is basically a strategic metaphor aimed at describing a far more complex issue, which is essentially inaccessible to our contemporary minds. Yet ordinary people can resonate with this metaphor and make some sense of the whole process.
Many people experience something missing in their psyche, and this may often cause great pain. Psychologically this is mainly regarded as the result of traumatic events that overwhelm those involved, preventing them from facing or integrating what happened and being unable to cope with their lives. Such traumas can be caused by a large variety of factors, and yet the common trend seems always to imply an infringement of the individual's familiar ideas about themselves and the world, causing severe confusion, insecurity and upheaval. In this respect, from a multidimensional perspective, these traumatic circumstances have occurred to all human beings during childhood when they were trained to perceive the world according to conventional reality.
At a more ordinary level the traditional psychologist and the psychologically oriented shaman both operate so as to allow the client to properly function in everyday reality. Then once the emergency is over, and as long as this fits with their, and their client's, intention, they may work at a deeper level so as to retrieve more vital parts of the soul. In traditional shamanism various techniques are used, and they generally involve the client being passive and basically unaware, while the shaman carries out the retrieval work.
In astroshamanism the client is the active protagonist of the soul retrieval and the "shaman" operates as a facilitator. His aim is to help clients identify an area of power and, once they have had a direct experience of this, gradually support and fortify its expression in everyday life. Once the client has gained sufficient awareness and mastery of this area of power, the second stage involves facing more troubled zones, the critical missed parts of the soul.
Each part of our soul is strategically identified in astroshamanism with one of the twelve zodiac signs. According to various traditions, which are astroshamanically exemplified by the so called Epic of the Sacred Cone (for some fragments see:
These 12 pieces, which in astroshamanism are called the 12 Sectors, constitute the original matrix or, again in astroshamanic terms, our Core Multidimensional Identity. The strategic aim of the 12 Sectors is to make our Core Multidimensional Identity understandable for minds conditioned by the illusion of separation.
Often during individual or group sessions a deck of 12 cards or stones is employed to represent the 12 Sectors. Additional pieces can at times be used to identify the directions, planets and astrological houses. It is not at all necessary to know astrology to be involved in these sessions. The intellectual or cultural understanding of signs and planets is irrelevant, and can even be a hindrance, to the effective outcome of the work. What counts is instead to be open to contact that part, within us, that has an innate and authentic awareness of these energies. Usually, only a few moments of silence are enough, and it is amazing how significant emotions and experiences come out and easily take form, without the need of descriptions or interpretations.
For example, in the position of Mars or Sector 1, most people feel a great force, connect with their basic drives, find the courage to be themselves, manage to express what they feel, release anger, take the initiative and become self-assertive. Yet, they may also feel something totally different and this does not matter, for what counts is to have a direct experience and not to manipulate it according to intellectual understanding.[i]
We will provide further information on this astroshamanic approach in other articles in PAN. A lot of things can be written on this topic, yet in the end they are totally ineffectual if a direct experience is missing. All the writing about astroshamanism and similar topics serves mainly the purpose of stimulating an experience, and there is no way in which anything in this realm can be grasped intellectually. In this respect a major arena for experiences are the astroshamanic workshops, trainings (see calendar below), and individual sessions.
Photo: some members of the newly open astroshamanic healing centre, Provordo, in Jesi (
Restoring the Fragmented Heart: Soul Retrieval and the Way of Sacred Relationships - Report on the Workshop by Dave Mountjoy
A very quiet
So there we had it, right at the very beginning, from the horse's mouth so to speak. A clear message from the multidimensional broadcasting company that nothing is fixed. The structure is provisional and spontaneity a guiding force. The subject of death was also introduced during the initial stages. What relationships did we wish to give life to? To which ones could we give the kiss of death?
Yet another major focus for the week was the exploration and practice of recapitulation – the deleting of unnecessary folders full of file upon file of flotsam and jetsam. Such data continues to be recycled and replayed on the screen of everyday life until the moment of physical death. Practices such as recapitulation can provide opportunities for breaking this vicious circle and in so doing, creating space on the inner hard drive for a more authentic experience of life.
The richly laden banks of personal memory were trawled for human and non-human encounters which were then deposited into three differing categories: those that provided empowerment; ones which continued to create tension and finally, those that produced a neutral response. Twelve memory lists were thus created, with a loosely chronological structure. Each list could be seen as a folder, with the name of each person involved in the memory representing a file. After using the zodiac circle to discover which astrological sector of
Such intense work, which continued outside actual group meeting time with various practices and 'homework assignments', was balanced with periods of silence and rest. Franco encouraged us to be aware of how much energy we invest in maintaining what we might see as our social identity. Abstinence from such interaction and the temptation to tell one or all about personal feelings and 'the life story' can lead to the redirection of energy towards the Intent and the gaining of clarity regarding our essence and Function. During one such period of silence and the subsequent recycling of energy, it became apparent to me that the hidden forces populating the environment of
A trip to the coast [sorry, no buckets and spades] provided an opportunity for more silence and connection with the landscape. The wind blew and the sun really shone. Perhaps a time to begin to integrate some of what had happened in the earlier stages of the week? Perhaps an opportunity to wander with the waves, sit deep in the caves and relate with the shimmering beauty of nature? Perhaps, perhaps, a chance to question just what would be worth dying for? To what cause would I give my life, the breath and blood and bone? If death awaits and die I must, what deeds can be done before I rust? Such can be thoughts at the seaside.
As usual in most astroshamanic workshops held at
And so came completion and the official end of the workshop. Each member of the group chose their own way to express what had been experienced, achieved and discovered during a week of retrieval, restoration and recapitulation. And the work continues... (D.Mountjoy)
The songs Mi fido di te (I trust you) and A te (To you) by the Italian singer-songwriter Jovanotti were major hits during the above workshop. You can find A te online with English subtitles at: http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?q=jovanotti&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#q=jovanotti+english&hl=en&emb=0&client=firefox-a
Keep Clear: Access to Marriage Room – Road Ahead Closed by
This is what I saw (see photo) a couple of weeks ago in front of the access to the marriage room at the
On that occasion I was there for a ceremony, though it was not a marriage in the conventional sense. It didn't involve a woman or a man. It was a wedding with the spirit of a land. Well, you may find more details towards the end of this ezine, yet now let's consider Gemini.
This entrance to the marriage room reminds me of Gemini, the master of free circulation and movement. Gemini is Air at its best, thriving through unconditional viability and despising stagnation or blocks of any kind. In the art of Tarot, Gemini is the sign associated with The Lovers: a very glamorous card, featuring a handsome couple standing in blameless nudity, with the sun shining upon them and a radiant angel dispensing blessings.
The Lovers and Gemini convey the idea of a couple far beyond standard romantic or social connotations. Gemini immediately suggests a light, innocent and playful rapport, rather than a traditional relationship or marriage. It is brotherhood and sisterhood that the angel appears to bless. This is also the essence that emerges out of deep relationships, when the outer layers are stripped and the couple can finally stand in authentic nudity.
The Lovers teach that love is primarily an act of sacred communication and alignment with the web of life. It is about responding to one's life authentic calling and to what or who we are truly passionately drawn, regardless of whether this fits with a conditioning or belief system. It means courageously standing by whomever and whatever deeply motivates us, be it a woman, a man, a country, an ideal, a vision...
The Lovers are an invitation to trust the heart, no matter how irrational or paradoxical it seems to be. They exhibit the access to a gateway, gently inciting to go for it. Yet, there is deep purity and responsibility at work here, which can easily be misled by conventional implications of the term "heart" and cause confusion. What inspires the Lovers' heart is not a romantic, sexual or earthly orientation. It is a state of pristine transparency, a graceful and natural surrender to infinity, through which the Lovers spontaneously blossom.
The nakedness of the lovers is a sign of multidimensional transparency. This implies an alternate commitment having often little to do with what lovers or couples traditionally do or are expected to do. Since this commitment rarely receives official acknowledgment in our ordinary reality, those who experience it may easily feel confused or out of place. And yet it is this unlabelled bonding that continues to inspire and generate true love throughout all ages on this planet.
The Lovers illustrate a multidimensional connection, which on one hand is beyond human understanding, while on the other is profoundly anchored in the quality of the human heart. It inevitably triggers a conflict between two parts of our nature and yet its function is to encourage them to communicate and finally join in their original wholeness. The association with Gemini emphasizes sacred communication, the profound need of the soul to get in touch with her twin, retrieving the fragmented self in the evident awareness of its immaculate original conception.
And most of all Gemini here stresses the need to keep the access clear, while also having the power to leaving the road ahead either open or closed.
Now some words of Osho on marriage:
"Love marriage' came into existence but is not going to survive, for the simple reason that love comes, happens, and one day suddenly goes. It was not in your hands to bring it; neither is it in your hands to keep it. The old marriage failed because the insistence was that you should love your wife, you should love your husband. It was a `should'. And you could not even conceive how you could love; at the most you could pretend, you could act. But love is not a pretension, is not an acting. You cannot do anything. You are absolutely powerless as far as love is concerned. The old marriage failed.
The new marriage is failing because the new marriage is simply a reaction to the old marriage. It is not out of understanding, but only out of reaction, revolt -- `love marriage.' You don't know what love is. You simply see some beautiful face, you see some beautiful body and you think, "My God, I am in love!" This love is not going to last, because after two days, seeing the same face for twenty-four hours a day, you will get bored. The same body... you have explored the whole topography; now there is nothing to explore. Exploring the same geography again and again, you feel like an idiot. What is the point? This love affair, this love marriage is failing, it has already failed. The reason is that you don't know how to wait so that love can happen.
I am not against marriage -- I am for love. If love becomes your marriage, good; but don't hope that marriage can bring love. That is not possible. Love can become a marriage. You have to work very consciously to transform your love into a marriage. Ordinarily, people destroy their love. They do EVERYTHING to destroy it and then they suffer. And they go on saying, "What went wrong?" They destroy -- they do everything to destroy it.
There is a tremendous desire and longing for love, but love needs great awareness. Only then can it reach its highest climax -- and that highest climax IS marriage. It has nothing to do with law. It is a merging of two hearts into totality. It is the functioning of two persons in synchronicity -- that is marriage.
But people try love and because they are unconscious...their longing is good, but their love is full of jealousy, full of possessiveness, full of anger, full of nastiness. Soon they destroy it. Hence for centuries they have depended on marriage. Better to start by marriage so that the law can protect you from destroying it. The society, the government, the court, the policeman, the priest, they will all force you to live in the institution of marriage, and you will be just a slave. If marriage is an institution, you are going to be a slave in it. Only slaves want to live in institutions.
Marriage is a totally different phenomenon: it is the climax of love. Then it is good. I am not against marriage -- I am for the
Image: Access to Marriage Room at the
The Magician (Mercury): An Astroshamanic Voyage into the Tarot by
Please be aware that the articles in this series are merely an introductory overview on the topic. More plausible implications of the astroshamanic voyage through the Tarot are provided with individual experiential sessions or specific training. For a complete list of Astrology and Tarot correspondences according to the model used in these articles please see: http://www.astrologyweekly.com/astrology-articles/astrology-tarot.php
Before you read what follows please close your eyes for a while and imagine a Magician standing before you. Sense his presence and power. Be aware of how you feel as you face him. Notice if/how he looks at you and how you feel about him. Pay attention to whatever you perceive. Allow him to express if he has something to tell you or show to you. If there is something you want to say or ask, please feel free to do so, and be aware of his response or silence.
The journey through the Major Arcana meets here the Magician, associated with Mercury, ruler of Gemini and Virgo. This is one of the most alluring trumps within the customary idea most people have of the tarot, for it may conjures up references to Merlin, Gandalf, in The Lord of the Rings, Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, Don Juan Matus, the sorcerer in Castaneda's books, or other wizards throughout history, fantasy or both. Well, there is also a famous French tennis player, F. Santoro, nicknamed the Magician, yet that's another story.
In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the Magician stands in front of a table, on which are placed the four suits of the Minor Arcana, i.e. Cup, Pentacle, Sword, and Wand. His right hand is raised heavenwards holding a magic wand while the left hand points downwards to the earth. This personifies the Hermetic concept set out in the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, "That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above, corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing.", which is also the essential principle of astrology.
From the Magician's perspective Heaven and Earth reflect each other, so that whatever exists at any level constitutes the replication of the same system. The basic experiential notion here is that through the unbending awareness of opposites, with their apparent separation, it is possible to grasp and even accomplish the miracle of unity. In contrast ordinary human beings, while also being aware of opposites and separation, end up remaining only at that level, even promoting further opposition and separation. The Magician sees separation as a strategic game, in which he plays with focused intention, juggling the pawns on the board and directing them accordingly. Ordinary people instead are merely pawns, at the mercy of conditioned emotions and thoughts, moving within the board, yet unable to acknowledge the board itself.
The Magician is the official starting point of the Major Arcana, the first trump, number one, and the formal entrance into the mystery voyage through the Tarot. It is a card of primary initiation. Its basic teaching points to the awareness that the access into the mystery occurs at two levels: the above and the below, the invisible and the visible, the inner and the outer, the physical and the multidimensional. On one side there are the external tools, such as the tarot cards, with their images, details and meaning. There are also books, teachers, courses, schools, orders, traditions and communities, providing tangible teachings and implements to facilitate the shamanic journey. On the other side there is your own connection with the unseen features of the initiation process, your inner guide, the core multidimensional identity and the vast spectrum of alternate realities. It is in this realm that the real understanding and power of the initiation is meant to emerge, and it is here that the apprentice is required to engage once he moves through the first gate.
The Magician also portrays the power of unity through manifestation, the capacity to use the basic ingredients of creation (the elemental emblems of the four suits) in order to give form to one's intention, yet in accordance with a vertical and multidimensional alignment, which his pose immediately conveys. Hence he represents the faculty to go beyond separation by putting together different ingredients and giving shape to a coherent unit, so as "to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing."
It is a card of magical skills, authority, refined persuasion, implying the power to influence people and their environment. The quality of this power is neutrality, which includes the capacity not to be drawn by confrontation and duality, keeping an unbending intent that transcends the limited perception of our separate world. When this quality is absent the Magician can easily become an avid manipulator, operating beyond the curtain so as to achieve personal gains or promote those of alien forces. And yet, from a human limited perspective, it is impossible to judge where the Magician stands, whether his aims are low or high, and what is truly behind his activities.
There are elements of unavoidable contradictions in his perceptible behaviour: illusionist-genuine, trickster-liberator, misleading-trustworthy, demonic-angelic… He is a champion of duplicity, always bringing awareness to both sides of the coin, yet with the aim of unveiling the ultimate unity beyond oppositions, which also involves the transformative power to shift from one polarity to the other. This allows him to face any challenge and convert all adversities to his advantage.
The domain of the Magician is the one of shamans and sorcerers, lying far beyond ordinary human awareness. "To be a sorcerer doesn't mean to practice witchcraft, or to work to affect people, or to be possessed by demons. To be a sorcerer means to reach a level of awareness that makes inconceivable things available. The term 'sorcery' is inadequate to express what sorcerers do, and so is the term 'shamanism.' The actions of sorcerers are exclusively in the realm of the abstract, the impersonal. Sorcerers struggle to reach a goal that has nothing to do with the quests of an average man. Sorcerers' aspirations are to reach infinity, and to be conscious of it." (Carlos Castaneda, The Active Side of Infinity, p. 69).
The symbol of infinity, the Lemniscate, abides above the Magician's head exemplifying the nature of his unbending intention. There are only three cards in the tarot deck that shows the symbol of infinity and these are the Magician, Strength and the Two of Cups, three basically different cards, constituting a trinity through which infinity can express. The Magician stands here as infinite creative willpower, the unifying factor of all possible aspects of creation and the massive force of adamant focused intention. When this card appears in a reading it brings awareness to these elements either in ourselves, as we project them on other people or as they exist in the universe.
The emergence of the Magician in a reading emphasises the potential for an empowering new course of action and abundant energy to take creative initiatives according to the intention of the person involved. It can also mean that someone else is exercising this power, perhaps in a manipulative and controversial way, and yet this person may simply be strategically there as a mirror to show us what we need to acquire and integrate within ourselves. Whether we feel it within or perceive it through other people, the lesson here is how to incorporate the power of the Magician and use it in accordance with our intention, possibly connected with the wider function of this universe at its best.
Featured Member of the Sacred
Every issue of PAN will now feature a long term member of the
For information about becoming a member of the
Name: Letizia Mocchegiani
Sun Sign: Virgo 4th House
Moon Sign: Scorpio 5th house
Ascendant: Gemini
Astroshamanic Trinity System: 6.8.3
Other relevant features in your astrological chart: Uranus alien power,
Location: Jesi –
Where are you originally from? I was born in Senigallia, yet I've always lived in Jesi.
Tell us about yourself and your interests. I am a graphic designer. I have always loved design and creativity, since the primary school I expressed my passion drawing imaginary symbols and pictures, then translated in spiritual themes.
How did you first connect with astroshamanic work?
A special event when I was 4 years old marked the beginning of my journey. My childhood was full of unusual and uncommon situations, mainly at night, which brought me far from reality, with moments of loneliness and detachment. These experiences with "other dimensions" have increased through time and now as an adult woman I understand the importance of expanding my perception and seeking for knowledge. After many practices of meditation, reiki, crystal therapy and psychological counseling, the unceasing need for knowledge inspired me to participate in a workshop where I met Franco and astroshamanic work, my most important teacher and mission.
Why are you involved with astroshamanic work?
I need to seek freedom from the illusions of this world. Astroshamanic work can help me in this respect.
What sorts of things inspire you in astroshamanism?
My Intent is to go beyond the appearances, harmonizing Heaven and Earth, maintaining the relationship of exchange between multi-dimensional and ordinary reality, and creating balance between worlds.
How long have you been involved with astroshamanism and other forms of spiritual healing or energy work?
What types of astroshamanic activities, training and work do you take part in?
I'm concluding my third year of training, following three years of courses with Franco in Jesi, where I actually organize regular astroshamanic meetings. I helped to create and manage FLY, a Google group to share experiences and opinions on astroshamanic work. I give healing sessions on astroshamanic touch and core astroshamanism, using the circle on the floor and shamanic journeys. I designed the astroshamanic cards inspired by the energies of the Totem Spirits. I hold basic astroshamanic courses, events and rituals.
What are your favorite astroshamanic practices and experiences?
The Sacred Cone Ritual is my favourite practise. Initially I explored the Sacred Cone alone, now I refer to the cycles of Full/New Moon, and use group rituals to boost the energy of the practice, promoting exchanges between the multi-dimensional worlds. I am available to help those who are on their way and need support and encouragement to continue.
Why are they your favourites?
The Sacred Cone brings me back to ancient knowledge on the existing relationship between Heaven and Earth. The Sacred Cone solves my ancestral problems with the world differences and distances. I believe in a world of love and unity, where the truth is manifest, and finally the veil of illusions raised and I think that these Rituals can help me.
What is your current intent? becoming a competent astroshamanic facilitator, through Franco's coaching
Do you offer any astroshamanic or other healing services, sessions or events? If yes, what are they?
I offer a service and support for astroshamanic healing and release work, as an individual and collective, for the recovery of lost parts of the soul and to develop hidden potential.
What advice would you give anyone who was thinking of training or going deeper with astroshamanic work?
Join the game, and find your multidimensional self. It is essential to trust your energy, your experience. The change is absolutely possible, and depends on you. Thanks for the infinite beauty of life and thanks all those who live it with me.
Anything else you'd like to say to the group:
There is a divine plan that we don't understand and if we look only at our feet, we will not see it. Open your heart, mind, eyes! Only by saying it, it feels good. Try it!
Contact Information: Letizia@astroshamanism.org zone25@tele2.it
tel.+ 39 (0)731.206687 +39 348.9231998
Homecoming Scotland 2009: A Big Year for
2009 is a big year for
For the occasion various Scottish stars are featured in a television advert as they sing the
For more information see the official website of the programme: www.homecomingscotland.com.
What is Home to Me?
The place that feels familiar both in my dreams and in everyday life.
The place where I feel welcome and accepted,
the place that makes me happy,
for which I can live and die for,
and most of all,
the place where my deepest calling,
provisionally
and strategically,
leads me to be….
.....while beyond the playing shadows on the screen of death and life
at all times and spaces
the supreme abode keeps on being,
vanishing any trace of I
into infinity
A Memorable Time,
the vision of a life span, which I greet with an elfin tribute, yet without hesitation
for it deeply stirs in my vein.
I will not go into the details of this event, and its profound connotations, though I may perhaps one day articulate more.
As for now, I move into a reverent silence, allowing the picture to speak for itself, and the words to do so as well, conveying what they mean for me, and also what cannot be conveyed, what the pictures and sounds fail to unveil, what is most intimate and can only be grasped, when the eyes that look, with the ears that listen to, fade away, and the eyes that see, and the ears that hear,
finally emerge….
With all the very best of love, AFS
See also: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&suggest¬e_id=97883611631#/note.php?note_id=97883611631&ref=mf and: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCG7xuV6MIw
The Singular Adventures of Mandarino Kid by Sergio Di Martino
I'm not really sure what this photo blog is all about… Mandarino Kid was initially meant as a showcase for pictures of plants and gardens I would take quite casually while at work in gardens. Soon I realized there were more pictures I was going to show that would reveal quite a lot about me as well as the subjects I was trying to portray.
And who was this character slowly emerging through my pictures? With his own personality, similar but slightly different from my own, and his own way of relating with people… It's all been very interesting, this photo blog turned out to be a wonderful tool to explore personal issues, recover long forgotten aspects of myself and release old stuff.
I was not alone on this journey since a photo blog is designed to share our pictures and bear witness of whatever is meaningful and important to us, like the days I spent in Findhorn, attending Franco's and Sverre's workshop "Being with the Spirit of Cluny Gardens" http://www.flickr.com/photos/mandarinokid/sets/72157616820940962/
Forthcoming Astroshamanic Events
Please be aware that new events may be added with short notice. For further details or information please contact Franco info@astroshamanism.org or alternatively go to www.astroshamanism.org
To book Findhorn Foundation workshops, please contact bookings@findhorn.org or Bookings, The Park,
All events are held by
Findhorn Foundation, 20-27 June 2009, The Original Quest: An Astroshamanic Journey into Space and Time (with Franco & Sverre Koxvold) A unique workshop for healing and transformation, in the mystery setting of Cluny Hill College, offering practical tools for retrieving our most genuine and whole nature. If you have never been to the Findhorn Foundation this is your chance to deepen your connection with the original principles of our spiritual community. With shamanic journeys, soul retrieval, trance dances, astroshamanic touch, and rituals, we explore the power and depth of archaic roots and original lineages, translating personal stories into universal myths, transforming grievances, revealing potentials and bringing healing in our current life and environment. Income related price (click here for more information) £475 / £565 / £665. Bursaries may be available on request. If you wish to attend please book at your early convenience: bookings@findhorn.org or +44(0)1309/691653.
Income related price: Euro 496 - 466 - 436. The cost includes half-board (breakfast and dinner), accommodation in two or three-bedded rooms with bathroom and kitchen. The Gathering starts at
If you wish to attend please contact Letizia (see details below).
Information: Letizia Mocchegiani +39 0731206687 or 3489231998, zone25@tele2.it.
Jesi (Ancona, Italy) 11-12 July 2009, Sacred Circle Management - Formazione in Metodologie di Guarigione Astrosciamanica (in Italian)
Findhorn Foundation, 1-8 August 2009, Astroshamanic Trance Dance, Drumming and Chanting Reshaping the World Through the Healing Dynamic of Sound
This is one of the most popular events in our calendar. In this workshop trance dance and sound are used as transformational tools to open the pathway to expanded states of consciousness and a profound awareness of ourselves and our environment. During the week we employ movement to animate deep emotions and stagnant energies, redirecting them to support highest potentials, empowering our authentic visions and stepping into the healing flow that allows us to reshape the world within which we live. The programme also includes astroshamanic chants, planetary alignment dances, sound healing, shape-shifting rituals and the exploration of the basic astroshamanic drumming method. Please book early. Income related price (click here for more information) £495 / £625 / £735. Bursaries may be available if you book early. If you wish to attend please book at bookings@findhorn.org or +44(0)1309/691653.
For a video with an example of an astroshamanic trance dance click:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0lPKyvriQ8
Findhorn Foundation, 15-21 August 2009, Settimana di Guarigione Spirituale (Spiritual Healing Week) in Italian (yet also in Spanish, if required) with
Jesi (Ancona, Italy) 5-6 September 2009, Sacred Circle Management - Formazione in Metodologie di Guarigione Astrosciamanica. Corso Base di Gestione O perativa del Cerchio di Guarigione, con Elementi di Astrologia Esperienziale Energetica e Astrosciamanesimo Applicato (in Italian)
Malvern (
During this seminar participants are initiated into basic astroshamanic healing touch. The programme includes a complete experiential introduction to the three stages of shamanic healing and aims at defining and deepening the relationship with one's inner core and its connection with the outer reality. This is the first introductory seminar of the One-Year Course in Astroshamanic Healing Touch & Energy Work. It is possible to take part also if you are not attending the Course.
The assumption of energy work is that our body consists of energy fields, all deeply connected with the web of life. There are many techniques that allow us to become aware of these energy fields. These tools, besides promoting health, well-being and spiritual growth at an individual level, vigorously contribute to create major positive changes at a collective and planetary level. Energy work is the basic feature of the oldest therapeutic systems, which all involve the use of astrology and shamanism. This workshop will integrate methods of the Eastern and Western tradition into a pragmatic and healing whole.
About the One Year Course in Malvern: Astrology and shamanism demonstrate that our reality is a smaller scale duplication of a vaster universe, from which we appear to have separated themselves. Astroshamanic Touch is an energetic bodywork application of astroshamanism meant as a tool for bridging the physical with our multidimensional nature. During the Course we will discover ways of employing the physical body to foster expanded states of consciousness, retrieve soul parts, reawaken healing talents and integrate them in everyday life. Through healing practices derived from various traditions we will receive visions and insights to deepen the work. We will also explore the multidimensional features of relationships, sharing ways to release intense feelings, promoting forgiveness, transformation and unconditional love. The Course consists of four week-end workshops. Each workshop deals with a particular aspect of astroshamanic healing touch as applied to the elements and the astrological wheel.
Findhorn Foundation, 7-14 November 2009, Being with the Spirit of Cluny Garden in Autumn (with Sverre Koxvold & Franco)
Findhorn Foundation, 28 November 2009 - 5 December 2009 , The Blessed Way of Passion: Astroshamanic Healing and Touch. (click here for more information)
Findhorn Foundation, 29 December 2009 - 5 January 2010 , New Year Spiritual Healing Retreat
Astroshamanic Trainings:
For details on some distant learning courses please click here.
Astroshamanism Book I: A Journey into the Inner Universe and Astroshamanism Book II: The Voyage Throuh the Zodiac feature the core teachings of astroshamanism. Our newly published CD, Astroshamanic Basic Ritual, provides an excellent support for astroshamanic trance dance and rituals. Books, various CDs and the Provisional Astroshamanic Cards are available from info@astroshamanism.org
The Operative Training in Astroshamanism (OTA) is a certificate course in core astroshamanism which allows you to study at home as part of an ongoing interactive training. Participants will learn a wide range of techniques, exploring all aspects of their soul, individual and collective, as they are reflected in the astroshamanic cosmology of the 12 Sectors, the 4 Directions and the 3 Worlds. They will receive initiation into specific healing and ceremonial practices according to each zodiac sign, integrating shamanic experiences with information drawn from astrology and other esoteric sources. The OTA can ideally be integrated with the One Year Course in Astroshamanism and the Astroshamanic Practitioner Training. For information contact: info@astroshamanism.org
We warmly encourage our readers to comment on the articles in PAN. If you wish to write a comment or share your experiences related with the themes of our articles, please contact pan@astroshamanism.org.
PAN on-line: You can find an abridged edition of the latest issues of PAN on-line at http://panissue.blogspot.com/. The abridged Italian edition is at http://panitalico.blogspot.com/, while the full edition is available on request. The abridged Spanish edition is at http://panhispano.blogspot.com/ and the full edition is available on request.
Disclaimer: All information provided in PAN is presented solely for inspirational or recreational reading, and it is not meant to substitute the recipient's direct experience and investigation. The information is also given to strategically exemplify the different features of astroshamanic cosmology and is not intended to reflect Franco's opinion or astroshamanism in general. Franco does not necessarily endorse any of the ideas and views expressed in this literature, including his own.
[i] To help the above experiences a deck called Provisional Astroshamanic Cards has been recently designed. This is a simple and powerful tool that efficiently condenses the essence of astroshamanic cosmology and astrological language. Created by Letizia Mocchegiani and
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