Archive - 2023

Yuletide Blessings to all my wonderful friends,
This letter brings my heartfelt wishes for a truly joyous holiday season and an
abundant New Year. In the Northern Hemisphere, December 21st is the time of
the longest night. The Winter Solstice is universally honored with lights the world
over. People have burned Yule logs and oil lamps, candles and bonfires. Currently
electric lights are strung around our homes. My mother used to tell me as a child
that these traditions reassured us that days of longer sunlight would be returning.
Yet there is much to appreciate about darkness. Indigenous wisdom holds that
darkness is simply the other side of light and there is great creative power in the
dark void. Lisa Thiel’s lyrics capture this knowing:

On the longest night, we search for the light

And we find it deep within

As we open our eyes, we embrace what is wise
And see the light of our souls shining
Enter the night and you’ll find the light
That will carry you to your dreams
Enter the night; let your spirit take flight
In the field of infinite possibilities
From Lisa Thiel, Circle of the Seasons CD

Leonard Cohen’s line in his famous song Anthem touches an essential truth:
“There’s a crack, a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.

I love to start my day with Thanksgiving. I believe as we count our good fortunes it attracts blessings.  Al would say what we give our attention multiplies.  I also like to count my blessings during times of challenge and emotional distress. It changes the channel from counting disturbances to counting joys.  I typically start my morning with “Thank you Father for a day.”  I am then thankful for birds that sing as I watch them fly through the sanctuary skies against a backdrop of beautiful mountains.

I am thoughtful of the magnificence of nature and the amazing power of Divine Forces to create and shape our material reality giving me the benefit of each breath. I am thankful for a hot cup of good coffee and I celebrate life with dogs and friends. 

     “I SHALL NOT WANT!”

    By Sami MERLYN, DD

     Hello dear friends of ESP LAB— thank you for your participation and support. Your ongoing interest keeps our organization alive. XOXOXO!

     It has been some challenging times for us folks on planet earth with economic, health, and political challenges.  “Tell me about it!” You may add. With the recent Solar Eclipse, the primal man within thinks the Dragon has swallowed the life source.  With very challenged Mars and Pluto energies some of our world has slipped into war.  It is easy to lose faith and let the dark side get to you.  However, we must be strong, through accessing the spiritual and peaceful side of the things and lift our spirit and consciousness to a higher level.

Samhain Greetings my friends,

The time period, between Oct. 31st and Nov. 2nd is one of the most widely celebrated ancient traditions honoring our ongoing connection with ancestors and loved ones who have passed. Samhain meaning ‘summer’s end’ heralds the thinning of the veil between the seen and unseen worlds. An example of the old ways is the celebration of the Day of the Dead in Mexico or here in the US. Connecting with our ancestors and expressing love and gratitude has always been the theme of this time for thousands of years, long before ‘trick or treating’ as goblins and ghouls became popular.

How did we go from honoring and loving our ancestors to not even knowing their stories, or feeling their loving presence in our lives?

Venus is RETRO!!  until Sept 4th, 2023     Mercury goes Retro Aug 23rd to Sept 15th 2023   NEW MOON Today August 16th v/c in LEO

HEY NOW, as Al Manning would say, “ILLIGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM”, which was his pet phony Latin Phrase for “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.” One way to transcend is to have fun!  Another is TUNE INTO THE BEAUTY OF NATURE!!  Al Manning in his light course said, “We all remember the legend of the “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.” That’s a gross understatement! The secrets of life itself are wrapped up in that rainbow. Today we tune into GREEN AS THE MIDDLE COLOR OF THE RAINBOW– THE POINT OF BALANCE AND PEACE.

August 2nd is Lammas, the first of three festivals celebrating Mother Earth’s bounty. Baking loaves from the first grains and offering them at a communal meal has always been central to these gatherings, going back to thousands of years before the Common Era. 

The Celts called this time Lughnasadh (loo-na-sa), Native Americans called it the Green Corn Festival and in Slavic Regions it is called the feast of the Big Glad Woman. Ireland celebrates Lammas as Big Sunday and farming communities gather at hundreds of traditional hilltop sites to set up craft fairs, feast, play games, and dance. A part of every one of these gatherings is a ceremonial meal where the first fruits of the harvest are shared in gratitude to Mother Earth.