The Sweet Power Spot BEFORE Winter Solstice (sending to elist)

Inside Chi Flows Naturally:

1. Best time for a Winter Solstice ceremony this year is the powerful triple conjunction of New Moon with the New Sun cycle on Wednesday at midnight, Dec. 20. Short essay below on how to tap sun, moon, and earth power, and use their cycles to empower your intention during Nature’s New Year. Plus instructions on how to construct a powerful ceremony to receive, gestate or birth whatever you truly need in your life.

2. Free meditation to celebrate Winter Solstice is on Friday Dec. 22 at our home, 7 pm to midnight. Three sittings of silent meditation (you can leave during any break), with refreshments afterward. The copper roof is beginning to charge up our house with a very palpable vibration as the metal elementals “mature” and begin to circulate the chi between the sky and earth. Please rsvp if you are coming/need directions: winn@healingdao.com

At the Solstice meditation we also hope to initiate “the Great Jade Stone” which I discovered on last year’s China Dream Trip. After thinking about it for months, I finally had Cherry Li, our lovely guide, buy it and ship it to me as the center piece for our Taoist home altar. It is a gorgeous two foot tall chunk of petrified wood which turned into a brilliant green jade quartzite. U.S. Customs seized it because they thought it WAS jade being smuggled in on the cheap…..and want beaucoup bucks for import duty! I’ve asked the Dark God/dess of solstice to intervene and help me liberate it – cheaply, please.

I bought the “Great Jade Stone” as a beautiful example of the natural transmutation of elements. Wood/tree (phase of growth) has transmuted into earth/stone element (phase of stability and balance). In my chinese astrology chart, my wood/liver element is a bit weak, so the green jade will be personally balancing.

Note: Within a few months we should have superb chinese astrology charts online so that everyone can calculate their strong and weak natal elements. The charts are developed by Los Angeles Healing Tao instructor David Twicken and Senior Instructor Albert Chan. I will also be making David’s feng shui and astrology ebooks available. He is one of the few to integrate these arts with the internal qigong arts. There will also be their updated version of Mantak Chia’s health report

3. Reminder: discount sale of Qigong DVDs and Tao home study courses lasts until midnite Jan. 5, 2007:
Sale price of all my Qigoing DVD’s is $29.95. (35% discount off $45. retail price), plus s/h. AUDIO CD & DVD PACKAGE prices for Fusion of 5 Elements, Taoist Sexual Secrets/Healing Love, Dream Practice, and Lesser Kan & Li are discounted 10% off their web price (note: no further discounts on Qigong Fundamentals 1-4).

VHS videos are all $19.95 (50% off) plus s/h. AUDIO CASSETTE courses are discounted 25% off web price while stock lasts. VHS and Cassettes are being discontinued, except for the Primordial and Fundamentals 1& 2 courses and a few higher Kan & Li courses. Everything else will be in DVD/CD audio format only in the future.

To receive discount, please phone the super-efficient Wendy, manager of our new Office of Satisfaction: 888 999 0555 noon-4 pm Eastern time, or email: info@healingdao.com. Local numbers: 828-505-1444 (-1044, fax).

4. Wu Zhongxian, the qigong artist who creates beautiful and energetically powerful calligraphy, will be ending the discounts currently posted on my website. Prices will rise by about 35% after Jan. 31, 2007. His artwork is getting popular and prices are rising for them. If you have been thinking about getting one of his beautiful scroll paintings, now is the time to at least put a deposit down for one (extended payment possible). http://www.healingdao.com/calligraphy.html

5. Summer intern position is available for Healing Tao University’s summer retreats at Dao Mountain in New York Catskills June 15 – Aug. 5, 2007. Applicants get free room, board, and four retreats in exchange for work, which includes lifting heavy boxes. Apply to winn@healingdao.com.

6. Great things to ask for in the coming year: attend a summer retreat at Dao Mountain in NY Catskills, or go on the Dream Trip to China, May 18-June 4, 2007. Plan NOW – plant the seed of what you want to birth in your cultivation process. The retreats and the China trip are both wonderful; you will be in a field of lovely people and powerful healing energy.
The schedule of 2007 summer retreats: http://www.healingtaoretreats.com/#c.
China Dream Trip 2007 details: http://www.healingdao.com/chinatrip2007.html
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Dear Lovers of Natural Cycles of Light and Dark,

It is that magical time of the year again, my favorite. We get to sink into the dark, mysterious arms of the Dark Goddess, who then rebirths the Light God of the Sun. I am speaking of course of Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, when the six month Great Cycle of Yin magically turns into the six month Great Cycle of Yang.

This solstice event has been recognized by many major religions as expressing some divine power, and they have aligned their major holy-day celebrations around it. Its interesting that they chose winter solstice over summer solstice – perhaps the need of patriarchal religions to honor their yin side and process of maternal birthing. Thus did the Romans declare that Jesus was born around this time, and so on.

The Taoists simply stuck to the natural facts, since that suited their natural cosmology – no need to dress it up with a humanized divinity. Why not just have each human being BE that divinity? Well, if you are like the typical excess-yang Westerner, who is stuck in a dominant head mode, it is not so easy to experience your body as that divinity. It takes a lot of qigong or other body centered practice and body-centered meditation like inner alchemy to get deeply in touch with that Dark Goddess.

This year we have a special opportunity to tap into a Triple Yin cycle, the conjunction of the maximum Yin points of the solar, lunar, and earthly cycles. We know the darkest point of the solar cycle is Thursday, Dec. 21. We always can choose to celebrate solstice at the darkest moment of the earthly day cycle, which is midnight of any given day. But this year we have the unusual near conjunction of the new (dark) moon on the day before winter solstice: Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 10 am Eastern Daylight Time.

This triple conjunction creates a very powerful “sweet spot” in this year’s natural cycle – a kind of an orgasm of dark light. A dark moon, a darkened sun, and the darkness of midnight as the earth spins and births a new day. If we stay up until midnight of Dec. 20, we can celebrate all three dark cycles at the same moment. (Some might argue for Tuesday night going into the new moon, which could also work).

This month’s New Moon is in Sagittarius, in Western astrology a great time to initiate a quest of some kind, whether it’s inner or outer. And the Sun just passed through a conjunction with Pluto on Dec. 18. Although recently demoted to “planetoid” status, tiny Pluto is still considered to symbolize our deepest spiritual will at the outer reaches of our solar system. Pluto will be conjunct with the massive black hole at the Milky Way’s Galactic Center on Dec. 29, so its passing presence can be expected to intensify this solstice event as well.

If we do our ceremony at that triple-dark moment on midnight Dec. 20, we can plant our seed-intention deep into the womb of darkness, when it is most fertile and fecund. Farmers know well that if you plant by the new moon, the earth chi is stronger and your crops grow much bigger. (It’s not a superstition, but a fact supported by numerous studies). Similarly, if like the farmer we plant a seed using ceremonial movement, a focused thought, a strong feeling, a color seen within and our breath released without – the Life Force will more powerfully respond to our request. The Life Force will hear us more clearly, because our intention has penetrated so deeply into the womb of Nature.

The Power of Physical Movement in Ritual

I feel the most powerful ceremony includes a ritual qigong (chi kung)
form. The movement of the physical body invokes your deepest soul essence
(jing) if you are deeply centered while moving. When you combine a
movement ritual with specific intention, it becomes nei kung
(neigong), or “internal skill in cultivating the life force”.

My favorite ceremonial form is one developed by the Taoist sage Chang
San Feng, the creator of the original tai chi form and its esoteric
sister, wuji gong. Wuji gong I translate as Primordial Chi Kung or Tai
Chi for Enlightenment. (For more about its origins and efficacy, see
http://www.taichi-enlightenment.com. Its available in dvd or video, and has
an optional audio training as well).

The Yang family tai chi chi kung 8 movements/5 directions form taught
by Mantak Chia is also a lovely ceremonial form, and very grounded. It
circles left and right and interacts with the chi of all five
directions. But it doesn’t evoke as much heaven chi as wuji gong does.

The Deep Healing Qigong form (available on dvd) is also very
ceremonial in nature. It faces all the directions and harmonizes the
center of the Sun with the deep center of the Earth Being. Doing just
one of its six movements – the three part mandala of Sun-Earth exchange
– transports me into an altered state. It’s called medical qigong
simply because it was developed with that intention. But it could be
directed to any other goal, or used to add power to a solstice
ceremony.

You don’t have to know a qigong form, although doing the same form
every solstice/equinox is more powerful. Using the same form
“programs” and empowers your energy body to contact the yuan chi at
those times. It helps to capture/embody the elusive yuan chi, which
our polarized egos don’t want to notice because it threatens our
illusory belief that we are an island. Original Chi is boundary-less,
so it challenges our belief that the energy we feel is uniquely
‘mine”, under “my” control.

The truth is no one owns the chi field, and it is not controlled by
any one deity or external agent/God. It just IS. It is self-generating
and self-regulating. Everyone can use its abundance if we have the
skill to do it. We use it unconsciously all the time. But if we
consciously use it to promote harmony and balance in our life, the Tao
will give us more chi to play with. If we abuse it or over control for
selfish ends, a natural contraction occurs. We will face increased
resistance in our life and chi flow, resulting possibly in suffering,
disease, or death.

Suggestions for a Solstice Ceremony

1. SACRED SPACE. keep it simple. Find or create a sacred space where
no one disturbs you, indoors or out. The more neutral the better – if
any element (wind, noise, sun) is too strong, it will distract you.
Turn off all phones. Face all the directions, and smile or tone to all
beings in that direction, and ask them to help you purify your ritual
space. Don’t forget to smile to the inner space of your body, and
attune to its highest, most core divinity. Invite in the Tao
Immortals, your personal guides, and any other beings you feel are
important.

During the actual ceremony I invite the Beings of All Directions and
All Dimensions into my ceremony. Don’t exclude the dark side – it is
holding part of the balance. It is important to align yourself with
the whole field of the Life Force, as it carries your greater self –
including the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. If we embrace
the whole within our personal self, then our ceremonial intention will
come out balanced.

If you light a candle, put it in the North to symbolize Winter, or put
five candles – one in each direction and the center. Timing: midnight
is perfect mini-solstice moment that matches winter, with the sun
at its most hidden. But any time can work. Its a big event, the chi is
flowing strongly for three days at least.

2. FOCUS INTENTION. Get a clear intention as to the ONE thing that is
most important thing to RECEIVE, IMPLANT or GESTATE in your life in this moment. Do not
attempt to wish something for other people or even your own children to receive – –
let them unfold their own nature. Be specific, be concrete as to what
you want to change and gestate deep within yourself NOW. Do not use language
delaying anything into the future. Receive it NOW.

Don’t feel guilty about asking to receive material things if they truly
would serve you best at this moment ( new car, a different job, a
lover). It is not selfish to ask that your material needs be met.
Harmony and balance arrives from each individual completing their
worldly destiny, which it the desire of our soul to complete.
Just make sure your request is for authentic needs, not the idle desire for a million dollars.
Do not ask to receive money except for the exact amount needed for a specific purpose
– you risk growing unconscious greed or fear of not having money.

So you would say, by example, “I need to receive four thousand dollars for
the trip to China I’ve been dreaming about next May”. Or “I need to receive
a new relationship in my life, someone who shares my deepest spiritual values”. You
don’t need to focus on getting rid of old relationships, just focus on whatever it
is you want to begin birthing, starting NOW.

You can use the ceremony to ask for and receive a specific spiritual quality in your inner body-mind space, such as a greater capacity for self-acceptance, other-acceptance,
abilty to heal a disease or a broken relationship, deeper power of
meditation, deeper service to humanity, or deeper movement practice.

3. RITUALLY COMMUNICATE WITH CHI FIELD. After you have established
your clear intention, face NORTH (direction of Winter, dark sun birthing new
life). Open your heart, share your sincere need to merge more deeply
with the Life Force and all beings. Do your movement ritual, which may
involve facing and gathering chi from all five directions, as well as
above and below. If you don’t have a qigong or a short piece of a
tai chi form, do spontaneous movement, song, dance, or poetry. After
you finish, face north again.

4. RELEASE PERSONAL INTENTION TO NEUTRAL FIELD OF YUAN CHI. Infuse a booster
shot of yuan chi or Original Breath into your specific desire. As Great Yin cycle changes to Great Yang cycle, it must first shift into neutral gear. At that moment of pause during the Solstice darkness, you 100% feel and mentally focus on your desired goal very strongly, with all the personal chi you can muster. Your specific desire to receive or birth something polarizes the neutral chi field.

Then release your desire/intention into the larger chi field. This acts like a cosmic lube job, as the field of yuan chi at Solstice will spontaneously attempt to balance your desire. Nature now knows EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED and has an easy path with little resistance to delivering what you truly need. But just because you did a ceremony, it doesn’t mean you are done. You still need to take all the worldly actions that support the manifestation of your intention.

5. BE PREPARED TO ACCEPT CHANGE. A lot of people forget about this
part of the deal. You want something new, and you do a powerful
ceremony at a powerful fluctuation in the chi field. But that means
YOU have to change in order to receive what you asked for.

If you ask to receive more power in your life, it brings greater
responsibility as well. This can come as a nasty shock to some. You
get the new lover you asked for, but s/he makes a lot of demands on
your old comfortable way of life. Change is not just external — it
must be matched by internal changes.

I wish you a powerful ceremony and the power to digest what you
invoke!

Love, Chi, and Blessings of the Dark Goddess,
Michael

“Who takes Heaven as his ancestor, Virtue as his home,
the Tao as his door, and who becomes change – is a Sage.”
– Chuang Tzu, Inner Chapters

“The Tao is very close, but everyone looks far away.
Life is very simple, but everyone seeks difficulty.”

— Taoist Sage, 200 B.C

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