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The basis of the Law of Attraction is that what you tend to think about, comes about. Seems so obvious, the effect can be overlooked. We attract things and experiences that match up with our thoughts.
This ancient spiritual law has become popular recently in the film The Secret but has been written about thousands of years ago in Hindu scripture and early Greek philosophy. This spiritual or mental law works on a mystical as well as an everyday level, in sayings such as “smile and the world smiles with you,” “attitude is everything,” “accentuate the positive/eliminate the negative” and many more. The Law lends itself to merchandising ploys – “use the law of attraction to sell more real estate!” Many criticize it as simplistic and a panacea – “just be happy!” And perhaps it can seem that way, but we have to start somewhere as consciousness develops. The process doesn’t work like a gum machine in instant gratification, where you put in your penny of thought and out comes your gum. The process is a little more subtle, working on an energy level of consciousness. What you want is yours by right of consciousness. Our consciousness must align with the feeling of having the desired product, whether a car or inner peace. For example, if we are desperately craving something, trying to lasso it in, we’re not in alignment with that desired effect, but in alignment with desperation and craving, so that’s what we attract. As Stephen Covey said in his famous book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Start with the end in mind.” We have to start with the thing or experience we desire, and the work of consciousness is to create a real sense of that. Our mind attracts like circumstance. Spiritual laws operate much like natural laws such as gravity, electricity, magnetism. You plant a seed, and that’s what you get; jump from a high building and gravity takes over. There are many spiritual laws, but they basically come under the major heading of the Law of Cause and Effect. We see this all the time. Stay up too late as you binge watch Absentia and are tired the next day. Overeat, especially sweets, you gain weight. Mentally, it shows up in thoughts of worry and fear tending to produce more of the same. Louise Hay, a new thought pioneer, says that negativity can keep you from obtaining the things you want in life, and that you can transform your life by staying positive. "You have to start saying things that you feel really good about yourself. 'I love who I am. I love life. Life loves me. It's going to be smooth and easy. Life works for me.' And you just start doing that—it's planting seeds. You're not going to get it the first day, but you plant a seed and you water it and you continue the affirmations, and things start to shift and change in your life." And yet look at a similar quote by an unlikely source, Groucho Marx: “Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” Both quotes involve affirming the desired reality as real now. The process is like changing identity, from “have not” to an identity of “have.” Yes, the Law takes some effort of changing consciousness from one to the other. Like the Bible quote from the chapter of Mark, “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath shall be taken away.” Seems terribly unfair, doesn’t it? We want to be on the hath side. It’s about consciousness: if you have a consciousness of have, more comes to you; if you have a consciousness of don’t have, even the good you have doesn’t exist. But how can I feel I have when I don’t have it? That’s the whole name of the game, the work of consciousness. Some of the tools discussed involve affirmations, which is a positive description of the experience as happening now. “My life is opening to greater good every day!” “I expect abundance and happiness.” “Everything I need is coming to me now.” I am fulfilling my purpose.” “I am a blessing to the world and the world blesses me now.” Make up your own words to describe experiencing what it is you desire. Another powerful tool is gratitude. Adding gratitude to your affirmations gives a quantum leap. “I’m so grateful for all the good in my life.” “I’m so grateful for immense love and abundance as my life now.” “I give thanks for my dynamic health.” “Thanks for my creative success.” Right now, add gratitude to the affirmations you wrote. Life can be seen as one grand experiment, where we’re always seeking greater good, greater purpose, and greater service. What are you attracting? What’s the state of your consciousness? Change your crave mode to have mode, right now. For more information: http://www.oprah.com/spirit/the-law-of-attraction-real-life-stories_1/all#ixzz595rhJUul
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But of course. In homage to its round of daily repeats, I continue with the theme, by looking at the origins of Groundhog Day.
Ancient cultures depended on creating a story around the yearly cycles and patterns. Like so many dates pertaining to the time of year, February 2nd has its roots in ancient Celtic culture and religion. The day was called Imbolc and was one of the eight festivals in the Wheel of the Year, the cycle of the Earth’s seasons. Looking at the year as a wheel, four of the eight are the summer and winter solstices, and the autumn and spring equinoxes. In between those, the other four were called cross-quarter days, which were associated with divination. As transition times, it was thought that the veil between the inner and outer worlds was at its thinnest and the balance of energies very significant. The type of divination is connected to the festival’s purpose. Samhain (Sowin), or Halloween, is between autumn equinox and the dark of Winter Solstice, so the divination is about communing with or honoring the dead. February 2nd was called Imbolc (lambs’ milk) because the lambing season began. It was also called Brigantia for the Celtic female deity of light, calling attention to the Sun’s being halfway on its advance from winter to spring. Imbolc is six weeks after winter solstice and six weeks before the spring equinox. When it was still very much winter in the cold, dark Northern lands, this was naturally a time to turn to divining the weather to anticipate the return of warmth and growth. Much of this day is based in estimating how soon spring-like weather will come and when to plant the crops. Our Groundhog Day is a remote survivor of that belief. From their observances, they thought it was not a good omen if the day was bright and sunny, for that betokened snow and frost to continue. If it was cloudy and dark, the warmth and rain would thaw out the fields and have them ready for planting. There is a strong association between Imbolc and Brigid, the Celtic Goddess of birth, poetry, and healing. On the eve of February 2nd, Brigid was honored with sacred bonfires, honoring and calling forth the heat of the life force, passion and purpose. Fires also symbolize purification and cleansing, to prepare to invite the spring to come. When the pagan holidays were transformed into Catholic equivalents, two holidays emerged from Imbolc. In Ireland, many goddess festivals were transferred to days honoring the Virgin Mary. Brigid, now made a saint, was celebrated on February 1st. Imbolc became Candlemas Day, or the feast of the purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Churches were filled with candles and a candle procession, still carrying the symbol of fire festivals and purification. And it still carried the sense of weather forecasting: An old English song reads: “If Candlemas be fair and bright, Winter, have another flight; If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Go Winter, and come not again.” As Roman legions conquered the northern countries, this practice of divining the weather on this day spread to Germany. To eradicate the Celtic influence, the Romans transferred the divining power to an animal, the hedgehog, thought to be a most intelligent and practical animal. They decided that if the sun did appear on February 2nd, so wise an animal would see its shadow and hurry back underground for another six weeks of winter. If he came out and it was cloudy, there might be an early spring. Many early European settlers in North America were German, especially in Pennsylvania, and they kept the tradition alive, but substituted the native version – the groundhog. The Punxsutawney Spirit is credited with printing news of the first observance in 1886, and so it has carried on to today. Groundhog Day is our only holiday that focuses on weather at a time when weather is on our minds. We've already completed the most difficult portion of winter's darkest days so that we can look ahead to the promise of the spring. Groundhog Day is the "looking-ahead" holiday, not so much celebrating the day at hand but on coming days. And whether it arrives early, late or on-time, one prediction will prove true: good weather will arrive, one way or another, in springtime. What does this mean for us today? Sometimes those on a spiritual path can be so focused on higher consciousness that they can be cut off from their earthiness. We need to come down to earth, to notice and interact with our physical surroundings. A deep awareness of the earth and honoring the cycle of seasons was crucial for survival for our early ancestors. As well, they deeply connected the cycle of the year with the human cycle of life and death and drew on it for inspiration and guidance. They were always Divine-ing the weather - making the weather a Divine part of life. At a time when we’d like to just move past this weather, we can instead enter the cycle of life. We can feel the dying of the year, and perhaps dying to old habits and beliefs, to make even more vivid the emergence of spring and new life. This was true for Phil in the movie. He was obsessed with fame and gain, so being trapped in one day brought him down to earth, to living in present and caring about his fellow earthlings. Being forced to focus on one day, he became more alive and fulfilled. To truly be spiritual beings means being fully embodied as Divine on this earth, this plane of existence. We make this life Divine, a heaven on earth, bringing consciousness and a beneficial presence to physical life and fellow beings. |
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