Guy Spiro: Jeff, I usually like to start by asking people to tell their story. What did you come through to get where you are now?
Jeff Primack: I began training in Energy Arts, Qigong, in about 1996 or 1997. I was a college student at the University of Florida getting dual degrees, one in Eastern Philosophy and one in Business. During my time there, I studied with a Siberian Shaman who had spent numerous years in a Taoist monastery. She was a Zen Master, could meditate for hours at a time, and had this huge...
'); break; break; case '02' : setPvText(idNum, 'Conversation with Duncan Lorian','by Guy Spiro','GS: What’s new in the strange and wonderful way you teach music?
DL: We’ve been coming at things from a whole different angle the last couple of years. We’re now including singing. I’d always taught singing prior to starting to do the Understanding of Music Seminar as it’s been, and time did not allow me to add singing. But so many people pushed me to I’ve put together the understanding the basics of singing seminar. Currently we’re going to do them in one location in each country. It’s a two day workshop...
'); break; case '03' : setPvText(idNum, 'Healing Our Religious Wounds','by Richard Smoley','One of the best-known horror films of recent decades is Carrie, based on Stephen King’s tale of a lonely and misunderstood pubescent girl. Some of the film’s scenes have become iconic: the naive Carrie shocked by her own first menstrual period; the bucket of blood that pours down on her at a high-school prom. And yet, in many ways the most terrifying part of the film involves Carrie’s relationship with her insane mother, who, obsessed with religious guilt, locks her daughter into a closet with a twisted and sinister crucifix.
While the portrait painted in Carrie is a lurid...
'); break; case '04' : setPvText(idNum, 'Swami Beyondananda’s State of the Union','by Swami Beyondananda','“We’re not here to earn God’s love, we’re here to spend it!”
-- Swami Beyondananda
Well, another 12-month episode of that long-running comedy of situations, Universe Knows Best, is in the can, and you’ll be happy to know the show has been renewed for another season. The Producer thinks it’s hilarious.
However, if you’re like most of us, you really had to strain to hear the laugh track in 2009. Certainly, there was plenty to not laugh about. Take our political system -- please!
'); break; case '05' : setPvText(idNum, 'Guy Spiro’s Original Astro-Weather Report','','As February begins, Jupiter has moved all the way out of orb to its recent conjunction to Neptune and semi-sextile to Uranus. This has been a very positive energy adding great power to the Uranus-Neptune which is very positive itself. Have a moment of gratitude for the progress that has been made with it. Now, however, Jupiter has moved into a complex with the Saturn-Pluto square that may seem to some as empowering conservatism, but in reality serves to further expose and weaken it. This will be especially so if they continue to offer nothing positive and are increasingly seen as trying to...
'); break; case '06' : setPvText(idNum, 'Sound Perspectives','by Steven Halpern','Starting the Year on a Good Note: New Frontiers of Functional Music
This may come as a surprise to many of you, but one of my New Year’s affirmations is to spend more time listening deeply to music than I did last year. You see, I’m usually listening to soundscapes that I’m currently working on. And when I am focusing on that, I usually prefer not to be distracted or influenced by other artists’ recordings.
But now that I’m nearing completion on these projects, I’m looking forward to auditioning...
'); break; case '07' : setPvText(idNum, 'In Print','','The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery by don Miguel Ruiz and don Jose Ruiz. (Amber-Allen Publishing, $19.95, Hardcover.)
The bestselling book The Four Agreements helped transform the lives of millions of people around the world with a simple yet profound message. Now don Miguel Ruiz has collaborated with his son, don Jose Ruiz, on its long awaited sequel The Fifth Agreement. This book expands upon the original with fresh insights and empowers us to recover our faith and authenticity with a powerful new agreement: Be skeptical, but learn to listen.
'); break; case '08' : setPvText(idNum, 'CyberWeave: Spirituality and the Internet','by Mary Montgomery','Become Part of the Playing For Change CommunityLast month, I briefly mentioned Playing For Change (www.playingforchange.com) as an example of how one small step can blossom into transformation that can impact not only our own communities, but the whole world. I discovered Playing For Change during a WYIN Pledge Drive broadcast and promised to give the group an in-depth exploration in this month’s column. Such synchronicity! Just as I was about to begin this column, the Playing For Change audio CD and DVD (the WYIN premium) arrived my...
'); break; case '09' : setPvText(idNum, 'Science Fiction & The Art of Storytelling','by Jacqueline Lichtenberg','Group Mind & Media Part II – SF
Dallas. TV Series, 1978-1991, from Warner Bros. DVD.
Babylon 5. TV Series, 1994-1998, DVD.
Conspirator by C.J. Cherryh. (DAW Hardcover, May, 2009.)
Riders of the Storm by Julie E. Czerneda. (DAW Hardcover, September, 2008.)
Rift in the Sky by Julie E. Czerneda. (DAW Hardcover, July, 2009.)
Crystal Healer by S.L. Viehl. (RoC Paperback...
'); break; case '10' : setPvText(idNum, 'The Pulse Calendar','','Monday, February 1
RAW FOOD in Oak Park , IL, 7-9pm. 623 S. Highland Ave., Dr. Jane Fresne, D.N. $25. 773-771-0271.
Tuesday, February 2
AVATAR ADI DA SAMRAJ video and presentation on this extraordinary Master. An introduction to His Life, Teaching, and Legacy. Tuesdays, 7:30, Adidam Midwest Center, 3301 Fullerton, Chicago. 773-661-0127. www.adidamchicago.org.
'); break; case '11' : setPvText(idNum, 'Green Chicago','by Kathleen Ellis','Things have been quiet in the Chicagoland environmental community, particularly in the bike advocacy sector. The mercury’s been below freezing more days than not ever since the Solstice. However, we needn’t fret, this month explodes the idea that cycling is for summer only—with the assistance of experienced winter riders, you can make it work for you, too!
There’s a very enthusiastic group of cyclists in the area who are devoted to spreading the word about year-round cycling, and the collection of events below are just a small sample of the many social...
'); break; case '12' : setPvText(idNum, 'Lightworkers Directory','','ANIMAL CARE
ANIMAL COMMUNICATOR Carol Schultz. Interactive conversations with your pets. Teleclasses and on-site courses in animal wellness through Animal Spirit Healing & Education® Network. www.animalspiritnetwork.com. Private consultations with Carol at 815-531-2850 or www.carolschultz.com.
GYPSY GLEN K-9 KASTLE. A serene country setting on a 23-acre lake. Aromatherapy, Feed Raw,'); break; case '13' : setPvText(idNum, 'The Story of You','by don Miguel Ruiz and don Jose Ruiz with Janet Mills','
For thousands of years humans have tried to understand the universe, nature, and mainly human nature. It’s amazing to observe humans in action all around the world, in all the different places and cultures that exist on this beautiful planet Earth. Humans make a lot of effort to understand, but in doing so we also make a lot of assumptions. We distort the truth and create the most amazing theories; we create entire philosophies and the most amazing religions; we create stories and superstitions about everything, including ourselves. And this is exactly the main point: We create them.
'); break; case '14' : setPvText(idNum, 'Mala Of The Heart','by Ravi Nathwani and Kate Vogt','Mala Of The Heart is a collection of poems that celebrate the heart. Great spiritual and religious traditions teach our hearts to open and heal. Silent practices of prayer, meditation, and contemplation give rise to an ever-deepening awareness and opening of our hearts. Similarly, poetry written by saints and mystics consoles the heart, helping it to open in a way that is quite unique from that of other art forms. Such poetry represents the resounding silence and brilliance of the infinite “supreme.” When we read or listen to poetry of the spirit, we come to see with a certain clarity the one thing that has...
'); break; case '15' : setPvText(idNum, 'Odin: The First Rune-Master','by Galina Krasskova','Odin is the high God in the Northern Tradition. In both in the surviving sources and in modern Heathenry, He is referred to variously as the All-Father, Victory Father, Hanging God, Old Man, or Old One-Eye. One of the defining aspects of His nature, as attested to in the Norse myths, is His insatiable thirst for knowledge and wisdom. This thirst for knowledge led Odin to seek out the runes, and He did so by sacrificing Himself on the Norse World-Tree: Yggdrasil. Modern Northern Tradition Shamans such as Raven Kaldera refer to Odin as the God of the Ordeal. The Ordeal Path as practiced by...
'); break; case '16' : setPvText(idNum, 'Mindy’s Story: Umaya Leads the Way','by Jane Miller','There’s something calming about the presence of a dog.
When I began to bring Umaya to my office, she spread joy wherever she went, but when she walked among my clients, her tail wagging so hard that her entire rear end wiggled in turn, it was just about impossible to ignore her enthusiasm. She would move from person to person in the waiting room, inviting them to play. The clients simply loved her, but Umaya would ultimately prove capable of so much more. There was no design behind my discovery of Umaya’s gift. It was, you might say...
'); break; case '17' : setPvText(idNum, 'The 8 Calendars of the Maya','by Hunbatz Men','Our Mayan ancestors were true sages, not simple speculators. They developed an elaborate set of principles that they applied to their religion, their philosophy, their sciences, their architecture, their medicine—indeed, all aspects of their culture.
These principles of the ancient Maya arose out of a single spiritual conception: that the entirety of the cosmos is permeated by sacred energy, and as the cosmos unfolds in countless permutations it constantly reveals the sacred—and thus determines everyday life. In the Mayan way of thinking, human beings are harmonized with divine energy, such...
'); break; case '18' : setPvText(idNum, 'Awakening the Shaman Within','by Linda Star Wolf','Have you recently had a wake-up call in your personal life? Do you recognize that, on a planetary level, there are signs all around that we need to heal ourselves and change the outer conditions of our world?
Amidst continuing violations of civil rights, accelerating conflicts among nations, and severe economic issues, humanity is experiencing a collective time of crisis. All cultures are struggling to find ways to communicate with each other, to respect differences of opinion and belief, and to treat each other with integrity, dignity, and respect.
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