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Divination and Oracles
What Divination Is; What Divination Is Not; Why Divination works (most of the time). |
 John William Waterhouse "The Crystal Ball", c.1902 |
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Between the idea and the reality Between the motion and the act Falls the shadow. ~~ T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men |
The first essential concept to master in the arts of Divination, is that Time is possessed of many different qualities.
Graha Shri Shani embodies Time.
Burning Questions Q: ( Reply to a person who asked for a) Jyotisha answer to "only one simple question". A: Namaste ,
Things you can do ... to get an answer, in lieu of a Jyotisha answer to your question:
Build your own future on the basis of unshakable faith. As Edgar Cayce often said, "Mind is the builder". To reduce victim-mind anxiety and replace the fear of external forceswith True confidence , I recommend working through the steps described in these and similar books:
Quick Divinations Many people find that the pressure of intense, immediate anxiety, regarding a decision that seems tobe controlled by others(will XX marry me? will I win the lottery? will my new business succeed? will I get the job-visa-diploma-permission-prize?) can be relieved by more simple forms of on-the-spot divination.
Other forms of quick divination such as "bibliomancy" can beaccurate and calming. Bibliomancy =opening randomly to a single page in a book of religious scripture (e.g., a Veda or Purana, Bible, Qur'an, analects of Confucius, Buddhist sutras, or any book of treasured religious teachings). Although it was designed to accompany the throwing of yarrow sticks or coins, the Chinese classic divination manual "Yi-Jing" can also yield accurate results through bibliomancy. Faith is the antidote to superstition and the degradation of mind that jealous superstition can cause. When personal anxiety runs extremely high, no form of divination will work due to the turmoil in the mind. Interference from the native 's deeper fear of knowing the truth blocks the desired certainty.
One thing that is ALWAYS within your power to do is to set POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS and release all forms of blaming . Blaming gives your power to outsiders. Blaming is erroneous. Forgiveness is the way to reverse blaming. Whatever those outsiders did wrong, "give it forward" - give it back to them, it's their action, not yours. Get out of the blaming loop!
The High Importance of Visualization It is not necessary to wait for the "perfect quiet moment" to visualize. Just close your eyes for a moment. SEE oneself doing the desired action or receiving the desired object. If one can see the desired scene in full detail, this event will manifest SOON.
Common blocks to psychic visualization Family members are the most likely source of resistance to you meeting your goals. Ask yourself the honest question: are there people in your family or very close friends who do NOT want you to take your next step? For example, a man very much wants a particular work permit which will allow him to develop a career outside his own land.
Responsibility and control Full responsibility, and full control Over one's future, rests entirely in the partnership between each human and the Divine. Ultimately, every single thing that happens in one's life is completely within control of the partnership between oneself and the Divine Intelligence. Don't let the other-blaming ego-mind mislead you. Every single moment of every single day is the product of this core creative relationship. Let it be based on personal accountability , positive expectations , and rust. Sincerely, Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotisha
Q. Good morning Barbara ~
Namaste
I hope you had a wonderful holiday and are doing well! Without adding all of the preludes I'm going to cut to the
chase: I need to ask you this question that I've asked so many
times before! Each time it arises in my mind I feel like this is just
the ONE thing I need to know ... that if I can get a clear answer to
THIS question then ALL of the other parts of my life will fall into
place. You know it is about this relationship. I just have a burning need to know! Thank you so much and I hope, Barbara, that you have a GREAT
New Year!!
Namaste, Here is my recommendation this very common, anxiety-driven situation that we all face during our quest for self-validation. When you have anxious and urgent questions like this one (which we have both reviewed dozens of times) may I recommend that you do your own divinations? I think you have the gift for it, and once you learn the skill you can help others as well. I personally like to use Tarot cards for "single question" inquiries. Here is a website that gives absolutely free Tarot Deck card-turning in several card layouts. The screen also displays a brief, digestible reading text that explains the meaning of each card. In addition on this site you can choose to work with a card deck that suits you artistically. What another person does or does not do is a result of the projection of one's own expectations, plain and simple. However, since most expectations are subconscious, it is often difficult to get a clear view of them. That is where divinatory devices are useful.
Before a successful divination, it will be necessary to release the anxiety in order to get a clear image of the meaning. I recommend regular use of the Bach flower remedy "Rescue Remedy" to calm the anxious divinatory mind. Most of us worry about how to obtain lasting and deep emotional security, and in particular we classically worry about the future. Human love change but yet we fear change! And this split mind, one side exhilarated by growth and change whilst the other resents, fears, and resists change, can result in a mental 'thrashing'. The word 'anxiety' is related to the words 'anger', 'angst', 'angina' and it means a 'tightness' or 'constriction'. Therefore, before settling down to do a reading regarding one's own personal concerns, let us release the constriction just a bit. A drop of Rescue Remedy under the tongue, or a sip a clear water after putting a drop of Rescue Remedy into the water container, will do the trick.
So, that's my recommendation to you for the present question: self-empowerment is best! Have a look at http://www.facade.com/tarot/and when you can, find a small bottle of homeopathic "Rescue Remedy" to calm the nerves and clarify the question before proceeding. Wishing you all the best, Sincerely, Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotisha Seeking Divine Instruction in Patterns of Psychic Imagery "Occult" =
"Shadow"=
~~ www.etymonline.com Recommended divination technologies: Choose a divination method that is easy and culturally accessible for you. Use the chosen method to answer your most urgent questions immediately! The ancient Chinese scripture has recently emerged as a high-value divination technology in the West. The Taoist and Confucian values loaded into the I-Ching (Book of Changes) seem to be universally accessible. Like Jyotisha, the Yi-Jing provides a *mirror* of one's own intuitive thought process. There are numerous excellent resources on the internet that allow push-button divinations - no longer necessary to wait for coins or yarrow stalks to fall! When asking an anxious question, the diviner must apply the discipline to go *carefully* through the answer provided by the ancient oracle. If one has the discipline to frame the question carefully and inspect the answer in close detail, one will generate a very useful data-set of repeating questions and repeating answers. Do not confuse the divination with superstitious notions of a spirit being "inhabiting" the book or the teachings. The book itself knows nothing. The wisdom contained in the book is a blessed reflection of one's own mind. Great praise to the sages who composed these 64 hexagrams! The 64 hexagrams each have 6 changing lines giving a mirror that can captureseveral thousand possible thoughts and fixed-combination (yoga) thoughts. The Judeo-Christian Bible is found not only in designated houses of worship, but also in hotel rooms across the world. Anywhere that the Bible can be found, this book can be used as a divinatory tool. The holy scriptures of any religious tradition can function similarly. One should form a sincere and reflective question, in a state of prayer. Praying "to" any deity or none is OK; but the state of mind should be open and prayerful. br>Although the card images derive from Renaissance Italian court culture, the wisdom of the archetypal drawings and the thought patterns that can be reflected in the card spreads are possibly universal. Kinesthetic patterns in the body can also reflect the thought patterns. Divination by dowsing or pendulum is extremely accurate once the practitioner has established "yes/no" and learned to frame a starkly clear question! Still-water gazing; mirror-gazing; candle gazing br>hese methods allow the imagination to project itsexpectations directly in "movie" form onto the mirror-like surface of still water, glass, or even a flame. br>Although vividly accurate, the results may be frightening. Only a skilled practitioner should use these methods. Unlike still-water gazing, dream results are evaluated after the fact. Most of the emotional charge has gone out of the dream - even a nightmare - by the time one has regained consciousness and begun to write or mentally evaluate it. The contents of dreams are instructional and validating. However the native must be attentive to "shape-shifting" which is the mind's permission to use the bodily appearance of familiar people and things to *represent* other less familiar people and things. Therefore dream messages must be carefully reflected upon. The person doing an action or bearing a message in the dream may be only a recognizable stand-in for the real agent. Jyotisha is a divinatory system of considerable accuracy but also great complexity. The skilled Jyotishi must negotiate thousands of factors and eliminate hundreds of logical contradictions en route to the proper prediction. Many Pranams for computers! Yet even with the computations now performed quite accurately at the push of a button, the amount of intuition and knowledge base required in Jyotisha is truly daunting. One may wish to acquire knowledge of the Vidya of Jyotisha over time. Jyotisha really specializes in the predictive "long view". The Vimshottari Dasha predicts a pattern involving 120 years with no repeats! That view is highly complex, and that view can only be stabilized with a good deal of patient practice. The art of "prashna" or immediate-questions-answered might be a good introduction to the on-the-spot powers of Jyotisha. However even this service does require a knowledge of the characteristic behavior of the planets. Palmistry is an adjunct method which complements Jyotisha or can be used independently. Palmistry is very useful and easy and accurate regarding matters of career, fame, longevity, marriages, children, etc. General predictions for timing of events are straightforward. More precise timing of events with an accurate month or year are quite impossible. Accurate timing predictions are best gained from the dasha systems of Jyotisha. On the other hand, the difficult longevity predictions of Jyotisha and matters of multiple marriages can be resolved quickly by a glance at life map on the human palm. (Feet have their own map too.) Each cultural has its own traditional divinatory methods.
It is important for the diviner to use a culturally accessible method.
The Taoist priest in his mountain temple will prefer yarrow stalks, ancient coins, or sacred stones. The Tibetan lama may prefer traditional gamblers dice (sho); while the Pashto landsman may see a pattern in strips of Holy Qu'ran verse shaken in a jar of water, or in the movement of newly-shorn, closely herded goats. The guiding spirits are always willing to utilize the patterns with which the conscious mind is culturally familiar. The predictive powerof all forms of divination derives *entirely* from the specificity of the question.
The question must be precise, such as:
Sincere questions will be answered. The answer must be acknowledged and carefully studied in relation to the question. Divination = Dialog of Subconsciously Held Beliefs Observe the patterns in your questions and answers!
The chronic uncertainties, doubts, and fears of the mind will expose themselves in the divinatory process of asking and answering. Keep a record of the divinations! Keep accurate records of all divinations to see repeating patterns. The repeating patterns expose your subconscious expectations. The seeds of karma areburiedin yoursubconscious expectations. Helping others with Divination It may be helpful to provide divinations for others, to get personal practice in precise formulation of the question. One's own anxiety to get a fast answer to a burning personal question can damage the accuracy of predictions.
If one offers divinations to others, one becomes responsible for maintaining a calm and reflective conversational environment, free of superstition and fear. The diviner is simply offering a mirror view of the native 's own mind. The mirror should be clean. Divinations must always *confirm* the native 's own intuition.
Divination is a spiritual practice. It only works when the mind is fairly calm. "Fortune", the predictable path of future events, is not a mystery. One's fortune in the future is quite naturally the result of one's beliefs, thoughts, and actions in present-time. Why then divination? Why tea leaves, yarrow stalks for Yi Jing, fire-cracked tortoise shells; patterns of stars, clouds, pig entrails, or the flight path of birds? Why "mo" dice, color patterns in the electrical field around a human body, almanacs, medieval Italian playing cards? Why pages of Giddeon's Bible, a crystal pendulum poised from the elbow bone? Why dreams, omens, astrology, or stock market reports? Because, despite the future being rather predictably the result of the present - which itself is the natural result of the immediate and distant past - very few people have The least idea Of what One is Actually doingin the present! he divination is a precious moment during which the Reptile Brain's frenetic survival signals are consciously, temporarily, shut down. In this brief and precious moment, one gives oneself permissionto take a snap-shot of a thought-and-behavior pattern, and observe its consequences. The miracle of synchronicity and the blessing of permission It is the miracleof what Carl Jung called "synchronicity"that such a mirror-reflection "photo" of one's own thought-behavior pattern can be exquisitely captured in a moment of fully-focused, conscious attention to specific phenomena in the "outside world".
For a privileged few, however, there comes a light through the clouds. The reptile brain can be calmed, and - if only for a moment - contemplative awareness becomes possible.
Specifically, this "photo moment" contains a detailed reporton what one is indeed doing, consciously or not (usually not!) in real time, in the real world, which is generating a very specific "fortune". hat's how it works. Divination just freeze-frames the spinning cosmos for a split second and allows anyone who has permission to look- to look! Catching the Moment, Freeze-Frame seed of the Future It is indeed a miracle that humans are even capable of these brief, intentional "seizures"during which the attention can be focused on the specific mechanism which drives the creation of one's "fortune".
Can the result be changed? Yes of course. But sadly, change is quite unlikely. The reason change is unlikely is that, except for the occasional Ascended Being working incognitoon our little Earth, most of us are sleep-walking. The reptile brain is hard to redirect. It's difficult to calm it and quiet its fears.
It is a huge blessing, perhaps the greatest blessing in human life, that even some people have earned the right to claim permission to interrupt the driving survival machine for even a brief moment, to "catch oneself in the act" of creating the future. Jyotisha = Easiest or Most Difficult Divination Method? Jyotisha is in a sense the easiest divination of all, because the movement of the heavens is extremely regular.
Jyotisha is in another sense the most difficultdivination, because there is such a massive amount of information available in each freeze-frame.
Still, we try. Divination in worthy battle against the Reptile Brain Most of us poor specimens live tightly imprisoned in the grips of the animal-survival portion of human nature. Most of us are unable to notice one's own interactive partnership in the process of creating reality. The Life Force fuel-tank seems inevitably to be consumed by "work" and "family".
Most folks' awareness is completely dedicated to managing the fear of deaththrough a neurotic (but compelling!) life practice of "meeting essential needs". However, what one is conscious of is not the neurotic response to rationally unnecessary striving, but rather the "need" for social approval and praise. Virtually all requests for divination are driven by the querent's need to know when and how much social approvalthey can obtain. Divinations regarding "success" and "money" Will this strategy "work"? Will that relationship "succeed"? What is meant by "succeed" is, almost always, "will one receive social approval and praise for the outcome?"
What is the daily utility of Money in the money-economy? The rational mind would answer that Money (represented by electronic bytes in a computer, or cash papers, or value of merchant trades, or other mode of exchange) is simply a means to an end. The logical ends are food, clothing, and shelter. Logically, when one has enough money to eat well and be sheltered, one should be free to turn one's attention to other things. But there is not a moment of rest! Even after a good meal in a warm house, the hungry mind cannot rest! The reptile brain keeps signaling. The minute one has enough money, the reptile brain doubles its efforts, signaling aggressively for more, more, more! It becomes impossible to think about anything else! The hunger for "more" and for the social praise that comes with "having money" is unbearably intense! Recently a woman in her sixties asked me to tell her precisely "when" she might receive the monies she felt were "due" her so that after a lifetime of feeling disliked and uncomfortable she could finally be "secure". This woman, a former nurse, lives in a wealthy European country where she does not work. She is supported by the State due to a documented medical condition. She lives in comfort, has no family relationships, and - except for petitionary prayer to money-statues - has no religious life. She offers no charitable service. Yet she was sure that More Money would correct all of her life imbalances. The amount she "needed"? Approx. 10 million Euro. This amount seemed very reasonable to her, as the proper amount she should receive for her produced efforts in this life. Why would a person of apparently rather selfish inclinations assert an entitlement (expectation) to a huge, and rationally unlikely, amount of money? Why not "enough to buy a house" or "enough to fund my retirement"? A normal happy citizen can live very comfortably in a much lower relative income bracket. She was quite clear on the point, that her question was strictly and solely about whether and when she would receive this fixed count of money, and no other information was wanted. She seemed convinced that this amount was a "necessary" and "appropriate" payment for a business scheme that she had devised which would pay rich profits. Her only divinatory query was "when". A cursory look at the Jyotisha chart indicated, not surprisingly, a lifetime of Rahu-driven manipulative and fraudulent behaviors. Bandhu bhava (the root-core of life) showed severe trauma in the childhood home, caused by a never-satisfied (Rahu) emotionally volatile and lashing-out mother. the native became a profoundly insecure and manipulative adult, seething with vengeful "I'll show them" anger, and desperately needy for exorbitant levels of social approval. The nativity displayed traits of deep emotional and financial corruption, which materialized as extravagant spending and seductive, exploitive relationships intended to squeeze the life out of her victims (Azlesa).
And her solution to this situation is... money? Yes, that's right. Because the reptile brain says precisely that it is money - which by its exchangeable nature can be converted into all things (food, power, sex, security, protection) - that solves all problems. Not honesty. Not service. Not cleansing of old wounds and forgiveness. Not healing the awful childhood trauma that left her feeling victimized and used, obliged to perpetrate the cycle of being exploited by her never-satisfied mother, carrying on to appropriate the wealth and dignity of others. Not even a sincere puja, asking for help from any one of a pantheon of loving spiritual guides. Just "money". And since she had a *lot* of problems - some very deeply rooted and quite obscene - her internal reptile calculations announced that she needed a huge amount of money to "solve" these problems. Wow! As you might imagine, the Jyotisha chart showed no evidence of lasting wealth via windfall monies (or otherwise). There could of course be some Rahu-style "flash in the pan" wealth caused by trickery, but it would not last because it was not earned. The nativity suggested that , no great wealth or indeed any improvement in her static unhappiness would occur unless she got into intensive trauma-recovery therapy and started doing significant charitable work. The client was angry, and accused me of - you guessed it - Fraud. Greed IMO, divinations must take into consideration that humans are fundamentally programmed for greed. It is a terrible truth. Greed, like fear of death and anger, is a mental illness This is certainly no one's fault, and greed shouldn't be punished as a crime. Rather, it is a mental illness and deserves firm compassion.
Unfortunately greed and other fear-driven reptile anxieties can completely ruin the positive, healing values of a divination by preventing the native from hearing anything more subtle than a "yes/no" answer. These divinatory situations require attentive psychic management, starting with rigorous grounding and protection of the diviner against the predatory fear agents who feed on the terror of the triggered reptile brain. Divinations are necessary because few people can look accurately into their lives and see the answer plain as day. The answer is always embedded in the question! And it is always "right there" for the diviner, who has permission to see the patterns which express the answer. However the taboo on self-knowledge (which includes knowledge of the timing and circumstance of death) is quite fierce, and the average person simply cannot see their own stuff. Due to the historic structure of the human brain, it is really quite a challenge to get a rest from the survival signals. Despite what the rational portions of the brain may be saying, the reptile brain is a 24/7 engine that drives an obsessive cycle of compulsive acquisition. The Reptile Brain wants to Sleep The reptile brain is biologically programmed to acquire, and it fiercely resists any type of loss. Therefore instantly when one acquires a precious resource such as food, money, shelter, historical knowledge, a sexual partner, etc. -- the reptile brain goes into overtime, planning and scheming for how to acquire more money. There is as my mother used to say, "No rest for the weary."
Catching and Holding the Wisdom Most people, when they sit down to meditate on their lives, simply fall asleep. How hard is it to imagine a pattern in one's own mind and let it tell you a message? It's kindergarten simple. But shutting down the survival brain, into order to create the sacred space for it, is too scary. The base brain says, if you're not looking for food, you should be asleep.
Talking to Deities: Envisioning Deities: Instructions
Q. One school of thought says that a competent astrologer's special intuition and spiritual readings are what really counts - the mechanics of astrology (that is planetary positions and their interactions) are only tools to guide and awaken the intuitive and spiritual power. Other tools of divination can also work in the same fashion. If this is true, then can these special powers be awakened from a distance, without the astrologer meeting the patient face-to-face? A. Yes, . Face-to-face is not only unnecessary, but physical contact is often an impediment to a clear divination. Unfortunately, clients bring in loads of nervous anxiety to a reading room. I once worked in a psychic school where clients were not allowed to approach the reading room until they had meditated with both feet touching the ground for 30 minutes. That helped somewhat! But indeed, an anxious or emotionally unstable client (or the spirits who are controlling them) can throw so much disruptive energy at a still-mind divination that the still-minded practitioner inevitably gets disoriented. All of my readings are remote for that reason. I do not even communicate by telephone.
When I look at a Jyotisha chart, which is a map of the person's "default" inherited karma, consisting of a set of defaultexpectations and beliefs, which then manifest on the material plane on schedule, my conscious mind is looking into their subconscious mind. The same thing is happening when the Tibetan lama throws Mo dice, or the indigenous shaman reads an oracle in the flight patterns of migrating birds. When a Christian minister prays together with a congregant for a deeper understanding of a Bible passage, they are sharing a subconscious mind. They clear a psychic space in a state of gratitude-prayer, concentrate on the image, and let Providence do the talking. The two things required in any divination are:
After the question has been asked by the client, the client can be in the same room on in another galaxy - it doesn't matter, because the client is not consciously participating in the reading. In fact, if the client does try to consciously participate in a reading, unless the client has extraordinary awareness (is him/herself a diviner) the interruption/intervention of the client is usually so disruptive the flow of divination will usually stop. Classic cause of interruption is the client's lack of faith/insecurity/anxiety. See above.
The trick to getting a good and useful reading is to not interrupt the intuitive instructions which constitute the divinatory flow. And IMO the best way to not interrupt the flow is to have the client be somewhere else. In traditional village settings where the clients have full respect not only for the diviner but also for the ritual process of divination, and clients will accept the judgment without arguing, this psychic interruption by the client problem is not so acute. But in the modern age, most "educated" people are so seriously lacking in faith, that having the client present will force the diviner into a conventional modern "counseling" or "negotiating" role -- and that is NOT divination! If folks want talk therapy I suggest they go to a therapist. If they want a Jyotisha reading, they will need to have some faith in the Jyotishi as a middleman, but more importantly they will need to have faith in the divine source of the knowledge and in their own entitlement to receive divine truth.
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Psycho-Mental Strength via Deity Yoga (Tibetan Tradition) Tsong-ka-pa and H.H. Dalai Lama. (1987). Deity Yoga in Action and Performance Tantra . Jeffrey Hopkins (Ed.). |
"The initial period of deity yoga is called prior approximation because one is accustoming to a deity through becoming closer and closer to its state, whereupon the deity grants the feat, either directly or in the sense of bestowing a capacity to the mind. Actually effecting the achievement of feats is done by way of carrying out prescribed burnt offerings or repetition of mantra, etc., after the approximation has been completed. The se feats are then used for the welfare of others in the third stage, which involves activities of (1) pacification such as overcoming plague or relieving others of demons, (2) increase of lifespan, intelligence, wealth, and so forth, (3) control of resources, persons harmful to others' welfare, etc., and (4) ferocity, such as expelling or confusing harmful beings." |
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file update: 17-May-2012 Copyright © 1994-2024 by Barbara Pijan Lama - Contact - How to Request a Jyotisha Reading -- barbarapijan.com Barbara Pijan Lama Jyotisha Vedic Astrology Surya Sun Chandra Moon Mangala Mars Budha Mercury Guru Jupiter Shukra Venus Shani Saturn Rahu Ketu Graha Planets Dasha Timeline Nakshatra Navamsha Marriage Children Wealth Career Spiritual Wisdom Cycles of Death and Rebirth |
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Anxiety
and "Rescue
Remedy"