Wheel of Wonder March 29, 2015

May all beings everywhere
Plagued by sufferings of body and mind
Obtain an Ocean of happiness and joy
By virtue of these merits.
May no living creature suffer
Commit evil or ever fall ill.
May no one be afraid or belittled,
With a mind weighed down by depression.

May the blind see forms,

And the deaf hear sounds.

May those whose bodies are worn with toil

Be restored on finding repose.

May the naked find clothing,

The hungry find food;

May the thirsty find Water

And delicious drinks.

May the poor find wealth,

Those weak with sorrow find joy;

May the forlorn find hope,

Constant happiness and prosperity.

May there be timely rains

And bountiful harvests;

May all medicines be effective

And wholesome prayers bear fruit.

May all who are sick and ill

Quickly be freed from their ailments.

Whatever diseases there are in the world,

May they never occur again.

May the frightened cease to be afraid

And those bound be freed;

May the powerless find power

And may people think of

benefiting each other.

From Compassion and the Individual, (1991) Gyatso, Tenzin the 14th Dalai Lama.
Wisdom Publications, Boston

In some practices of modern spirituality the advancement of the individual practitioner seems to be the main focus.  I was reading an article from the blog "Magic of the Ordinary" suggesting that as a Human Race, we can only make our world better by exercising compassion for all, and trying to lead all to a better life, whether through magicraft or through our way of living.  If one is open to the idea of feeling and working with the energy of spirituality, or magic, can you imagine what could be done if large collections of Covens, Fraternities, and other Spirit Groups were all working on improving the lives of everyone?  That's what we'll be speaking about this week on Wheel of Wonder!

the picture above is called empathy compassion and I found it on EOC institute website

Aradia on Wheel of Wonder April 12th, 2015

New to me, the Electronic band out of Seattle ARADIA will be guests on Wheel of Wonder April 12th, one week before the KAOS membership drive.  Its Aradia's first performance in Olympia, and although its pre-recorded it will still be great.  This starts this season's schedule of Guests on Wheel of Wonder, there are still more to come, people practicing their craft locally, published Authors, Musicians and Leaders well known in the modern pagan community!
All this happens because of membership support for not for profit, independent media like KAOS.  Please think about that when it comes to the membership drive Wheel of Wonder and KAOS will need your help!
Check Out Aradia (and of course I mean her music not just the lovely picture below)!

Wheel of Wonder-----Celtic Echoes

This week and next I'll have the priveledge of hosting Celtic Echoes as well as Wheel of Wonder.  Celtic Echoes airs from 10am -12pm WEDNESDAYS on KAOS communtiy radio station.  This week, music wise, I mixed traditional and modern Celtic/Celt inspired music together, and even took a musical trip into the Hollow Hills with help from Spiral Dance, Alexander James Adams, and even Clannad.  Next week we'll travel the Road to Santiago, musicaly speaking.  The music will be French and Spanish Celtic music, not likely bringing anything from Ireland or Scotland at all.  The following information about the Raod to Santiago comes from a website out of Australia:
  The town of Snatiago in Spain is a world heritage site, and for centuries Pilgrims have been traveling there from  the Camino Francés (the French Way), often referred to as the Ruta de las Estrellas (the Way of the stars, or the Milky Way). This route starts in Saint Jean Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees, and travels westward for nearly eight hundred kilometres (following the yellow arrows and scallop shell markers) to the legendary city of Santiago de Compostela.

The Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James) is a unique and endless mixture of discoveries. Mountains, dirt roads, cathedrals, local legends, bridges and monasteries are but a mere handful of the memorable treats on offer. However grand these things may be, the journey is infinitely more. It is a beautiful combination of external and internal discovery, and a rare chance in this modern world to radically change one's life. Over the centuries, the Camino has been imbued with the powerful goodwill of a billion pilgrim footsteps, making it the perfect catalyst for a life-changing experience. :

In every way imaginable, the road to Santiago soars high above any efforts of definition or explanation. Whether describing the intriguing history, a host of past legends, or the differing routes across the nations, the words, however fascinating, pale in comparison to the experience. Some things just need to be tasted. It is literally step by step that the greatest truths are to be found, and in doing so, the Camino roars to life. Having said that, its origin and history are quite enchanting, and are more than worthy of review.

The roots of both Santiago de Compostela and the pilgrimage itself reach all the way back to the early 9th century. At that time, a hermit by the name of Pelayo discovered the tomb of Saint James (one of the twelve disciples in the Bible). Legend has it that James was beheaded in Palestine, and two of his followers placed his body in a boat and set him out to sea. With no captain at the helm, the journey defied all odds with the ship finding its way to the Galician coastline and the Apostle's body eventually buried on Mount Padrón. Month by month, and year by year, all was eventually forgotten. Until the year 813!

True to Camino form, the discovery of the grave went hand in hand with the miraculous, the story providing the key ingredient to its illustrious name. Compostela (or campus stellae), is so named because the light of the stars guided Pelayo to the ancient burial site. The magnificent Santiago Cathedral now stands on the very same spot.

A good time for me, and I hope you too, on Celtic Echoes April 1, 2015!

Wheel of Wonder March 22, 2015

Happy Ostara, Blessed Alban Eiler!  The Spring Equinox has arrived again, in the city of Seattle at the arboretum there seems to be miles and miles of blossoming trees, if your in the the area walk through the canopy , festooned with flowers. its so near the Oak Grove, you could even pay your respects to the budding Oaken King, if that's how the spirit inspires you.
Some notes about Alban Eiler, from the Black Mountain Druid Order of South Carolina, USA:
At Alban Eiler, the day and night are in perfect balance, and from this day forward to the autumnal equinox, the light shall continue to grow.  Alban Eiler is a time for balance and rest, before beginning a period of new growth.  It is a time to contemplate achieving balance within you.  Are your Mind, Body, Spirit, and emotion in balance (Sea, Land, Sky and Transformative fire in balance)?  What would that balance look like if it were already here?
I myself have noted, this year the equinox also includes a time of the new moon, and a solar eclipse, visible in some areas of the world.  If you use the new moon as a time to put in place an intention in your life, to come at least in part, if not fully into fruition by the time she is full, wouldn't the moon passing in front of the Sun and all the power attributed to it as a solar deity make that intention even stronger?  More likely to be fulfilled?

As you contemplate these questions, use the gathering energy of the coming brighter days to make changes within yourself that you would like to bring to fruition.  Its a time to set aside the slumber of winter.  Its a time to awaken from hibernation and to start to move, learn, and grow again.  It is also a time to celebrate your own personal growth in the past while looking forward to new growth in the future.
I hope the number of people who engage the message I try to share through wheel of wonder grows, as does my wisdom and ability to share it.  I also hope the raising of spiritual awareness through music, compassion, learning and intention also rises like the new son, transforming like fire,
the lives of we the children of this amazing Earth!
 The gorgeous picture above is off of tumbler and its origins trace back to a post by a Druid from the Order of Aspen.

Wheel of Wonder March 8, 2015

Water flows through all of our lives, life cannot exist without it.  Proof Positive that privatising of water is very ill-advised!  Here in the Northwest of North America, especially, water connects us all, whether through rainfall for our long growing season, or through hydropower bringing us electricity through the dams (some of which, in recent years have thankfully been removed, while more wind turbines get built), or unfortunately, carrying the oil tankers through the Salish Sea (called Puget Sound by colonial minded people).  For the first people of the area, water carries the Salmon a great deal of their indigenous culture and educational stories are built on!  Water needs our help, so we can celebrate diverse cultures, avoid pollution and those "dead zones", where no fish live anymore, or just to fend off the spectre of drought.  this week on Wheel of Wonder we'll share stories about water, written by Druid naturalists, and good news about water conservation, from people who have worked hard to protect it. We'll also briefly celebrate the full moon of March.  Remember to set your clocks ahead if you live in the area!  Perhaps then you'll join me in the flow of music on Wheel of Wonder

Wheel of Wonder March 1st, 2015

Our world is in a time of transition.  Many have said this as we've circled the sun the past decade and a half of the 21st century.  Some still say "We're facing the end of the world as we know it!" even after we made it past the predicted christian rapture of, what was it 2013? And the end of the Mayan Calendar in 2012, and yet we are still standing.  We still face climate change and economic inequality, but now on a global scale. Over the past few years, it hasn't taken much research to find that organized churches are seeing a sharp decline in membership numbers.  Yes, it is the end of the world as we knew it in the twentieth century, and the 600 years that led up to it when people from certain areas of the world met people from other areas of the world for the first time, travelling in their ships of wind and wood.  That time when the human race introduced capitalism and currency.  We've now begun to realize greed driven resource extraction is unhealthy for the life support systems that keep our planet and our fellow humans healthy, There are changes we need to enact now to avoid near extinction, we can't put them off until "sometime in the future," that future is now in the present!  This is a time of transition, and many people are building bridges between cultures, the Internet is the new medium for those explorers who will change the future, it is the ship of wind and wires.  Wind carries the signal, the culture's perspective and wires direct it, just as the hulls of ships directed the path of explorers 700 years ago.  Other people are changing the rules of the extractive economy, which is really a relic from the last century and the industrial age, unoccupied spaces in cities are becoming local gardens to raise local food, sustainably, new green areas are being introduced to process carbon emissions and in some cases, protect from floods and storms that kill people and damage property.  The amazing interconnected system that is nature is becoming more understandable to ourselves as people.  Indigenous ideas and intellectual understanding are joining forces to save our world, in this present time.  Perhaps the rebirth of earth based spirituality, and new age or ascensionist thinking, and new scientific discoveries are human expressions of true divine will and the will to survive, both, balanced as we transition into a race on a world that is not the world as we've previously known it. Perhaps that is the true end of the world that people are speaking of, the end of the bad world and the beginning of the good one!
we'll  be exploring this idea today on Wheel of Wonder with articles from Wendell Berry and David Korten  The pictures above and below are both of the good world "Presence o.f Gaia" and "Earth from Space."