SHINING LOTUS™ METAPHYSICAL BOOKSTORE NEWSLETTER
The Original Metaphysical Bookstore, since 1972
MAY 2013
2178 South Colorado Blvd, Denver Colorado 80222
303-758-9113
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in this issue
SPRING CAN BE KEY TO SPIRIT by Denise Montoya
PROFESSIONAL TAOIST FENG SHUI FOR AMERICAN HOMEOWNERS by Mario C. Veo
SOLAR AND LUNAR CATS AND DOGS by Bruce Johnson
NEW MEDITATION SESSIONS with Mario C. Veo
MOTHER’S DAY SPECIALS: $1 A MINUTE PSYCHIC & TAROT READINGS by SuEllen Shepard, $1 A MINUTE CHAIR MASSAGE by Edna Garcia
SO YOU THINK YOUR MIND CANNOT DECEIVE YOU, EH? by Mario C. Veo
HOW DO YOU DEFINE YOURSELF? by Pura Isham
ESSENTIAL OILS: PRACTICAL USES FOR CLEANING & HEALTH with Kristina Welch
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SPRING CAN BE KEY TO SPIRIT
by Denise Montoya
Our true beauty can be found by enjoying what nature has to offer. For instance, thinking that winter has left us may bring us relief, but the surprise of a heavy spring snowstorm can be tranquil. As it falls in its perfect stillness, let your mind release all stresses and focus on the moment. Let us welcome any and all moisture as a blessing from the universe and feel it cleanse our soul. The snow can be a chore, but rejoice in what it does for our gardens. Furthermore, as moisture comes in those heavy spring storms, let your unproductive thoughts fall away to the ground with the snow. Welcome to your heart and mind what nature brings for a new season and winter has gone for now.
Let the radiance of spring come into your body, mind and spirit. The beauty peaks through our lives bringing inklings of plants. This freshness of spring can be encouraging to go forth and create favorable expressions for our life. Spring is the promise of the many blossoms we look forward to, but remember you too are a blossom in your own special way. See the differences in the bountifulness of flowers and colors which come forth for us to enjoy; recognize that you too are unique and have your own beauty. Stated by Rama Jyoti , “allow nature to fill our pores with its majestic beauty,” continue to discover yourself with the transformation that spring brings. Finding peace in the beauty of a tree or a flower can give us grace and compassion for the creator of such blessings. In return you may receive more calm to your mind. Each thought we have today can inspire and make our tomorrow better, so let’s enjoy what we can and take on each challenge with fullness.
Notice how the air changes in spring, to a renewed light breeze; offering your body the song of “prana” (breath) take it in fully to let it rejuvenate you. As the rain comes it provides us with great moisture, find cleansing with the water to release and bring you more of your natural allure.
As wind blows in our spring months it brings renewed creation, let us listen to its howl hearing the song of the cosmos and unseen. Everything is there for us to enjoy, may your time in the outdoors rejuvenate you. Our lives can be happier if we use our senses, to take time to notice what has been put in our surroundings. This may make the challenges of everyday life seem a little easier. As you find beauty in the sky, clouds or plants which come to fruition in spring remember and capture your true beauty- within.
Denise Montoya has over 1000 hours of training and over four years experience teaching yoga, breathing, and meditation techniques. Let yoga be an avenue for your inner calmness, peace and tranquility. Yoga can offer many benefits for your body and mind. It regulates our heart rate and increases oxygen up take. It can increase your energy, improve digestion, and reduce stress.
OMYoga, LLC. denisemontoya7@msn.com 303-507-3388.
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http://www.lightinternal.com/pages/index.htm
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PROFESSIONAL TAOIST FENG SHUI FOR THE AMERICAN HOMEOWNER
by Mario C. Veo
Much of Feng Shui is limited by cultural symbolism and even superstition – the number 4 in Chinese ‘sounds like’ the word for ‘death’…well, its Western symbolism is linked with the four directions, with the Alchemical Elements of Creation, with the Native American Sacred Circle…very different from its Chinese perceptions. Here is the problem in executing Feng Shui treatments – are we blindly following some obscure model (do ‘money-frogs’ really attract wealth?) or do we know the Laws of Energy Movement and apply these correctly so as to shape new patterns?
I offer you a professional level workshop where I will share with you my 30 years of expertise over 7 classes. This Program will cover 3 major aspects (Sections 1 & 2 must be taken together):
- Exterior Energies – how the environment shapes the qualities around you home/office. This is very important and too often neglected.
- Interior Design and Energy Flows – to determine how well Function is expressed in your space.
- Effective Treatments and Cures.
Dates and Times:
Section 1 – Saturdays, May 11, 18, and 25. from 2:00 – 3:30pm. $20 per class, $50 for all three classes in Section 1.
Section 2 – Saturdays, June 1, 8, and 15. from 2:00 – 3:30pm. $20 per class, $50 for all three classes in Section 2.
Section 3 – Saturdays, June 22 and 29. from 2:00 – 3:30pm. $20 per class, $35 for both classes in Section 3.
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SOLAR AND LUNAR CATS AND DOGS
by Bruce Johnson
Associating cats and dogs with dual symbolism was widespread among ancient civilizations. Like today, dogs and cats were bred as pets, and both were linked with the forces of light and darkness.
The cat of Re was a solar form of the cat to the Egyptians, because it destroyed Apap, the serpent of darkness and chaos. The lion, as the king of the cat family was also sacred to the Sun, and guarded the doors of the ancient temples. The forerunner of the Japanese Maneki Neko or “beckoning cat”, like today’s version, was a solar cat who was said to bring good fortune to its owner.
Bastet, as the cat goddess sacred to Isis, was very popular during Egypt’s Late Period. Although best known as a lunar cat, sometimes Bastet was combined with the cat of Re and demonstrated both lunar and solar qualities. To the Chinese Buddhists the cat was a representation of astral forces, and symbolic of transformation. The cat is the fourth sign of the Chinese zodiac and corresponds to the sign of Cancer. The shape- changing Scandinavian goddess Freyja drove a chariot pulled by cats.
The Egyptians held the dog as a symbol of intelligence, loyalty, and devotion. Chinese tradition shows the dog as an indication of coming prosperity, and is the 11th sign of their zodiac, corresponding to the sign Aquarius. Dogs were often depicted as vigilant guides who accompanied travelers on their journeys in this world and in the afterlife. This type of companion dog can be seen in the tarot card named The Fool. Some goddesses of history were accompanied by dogs, including the Greek goddess Diana and Astarte of Syria. To the ancients, dogs were often messengers of the gods as well as protectors of man. The dog was known as a “clean animal”, and special to the Zoroastrians.
Ferocious dogs were commonly guardians of the underworld in ancient times. Examples of this type of dog include Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Hades, and the four-eyed dogs of Yama, the Hindu god of death, Garmar, the monster dog of the Scandinavian Hell.
Bruce Johnson has over 30 years of study in the fields of Ancient Wisdom and occultism. He has taught classes on a wide range of topics, from Atlantis to mediums to Zoroaster. He is also a spiritualist minister, with a background in spiritual astrology. He lives in Colorado with his wife and their cat.
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NEW $5 DROP-IN MEDITATION SESSIONS WITH MARIO C. VEO
“One summer afternoon during a meditation retreat, I discovered that I contain the entire universe. It happened quite unexpectedly, all in a rush. I was sitting with my eyes closed in a room with several hundred people, very much aware of the sensations in my body and of the faint rustles, coughs, and other sounds around me. The next thing I knew, there was a kind of implosion. Instead of being around me, the room with all its sensations and sounds was inside me. My awareness started to swell until I could feel the earth, the sky, and even the galaxy inside me. In that moment, I understood, with a surety that was both exhilarating and terrifying, that there is only one thing in the universe — that it is Awareness, and that Awareness is me.” ~~excerpted from Meditation For The Love Of It by Sally Kempton
Lawrence LeShan said, “We meditate to find, to recover, to come back to something of ourselves we once dimly and unknowingly had and have lost without knowing what it was or where or when we lost it.” It is this loss, whose recovery we search for, that we strive to find ourselves more at home in the universe, more at ease with ourselves, more able to work effectively at our tasks and toward our goal, closer to our fellow humans, less anxious and less hostile. We work – in meditation – as part of this process.
Join Mario C. Veo on Tuesdays, from 12:15 to 12:45 for a half hour of lunchtime meditation to de-stress, re-energize and recover that part of this process that has been lost in your day-to-day life. Then, Saturdays, from 3:45 to 4:15pm for a half hour clearing meditation to de-tangle you from the weekend stresses and struggles.
GUIDED MEDITATION…FOR FUN AND WISDOM — open the doors to the Power within you (it keeps you young and rejuvenated).
Tuesdays, May 7, 14, 21, 28 from 12:15pm to 12:45pm. Just drop in – $5.
Saturdays, May 11, 18, 25 from 3:45pm to 4:15pm. Just drop in – $5.
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MOTHER’S DAY SPECIALS
SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013 – 10am to 6pm
$1 A MINUTE TAROT AND PSYCHIC/INTUITIVE READINGS
$1 A MINUTE CHAIR MASSAGE
Show Mom how much you care by setting her up with a Psychic or Tarot Reading and a Massage.
It will do both of you good to come and share a fun day together. Call early to reserve your times.
303-758-9113
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SO YOU THINK YOUR MIND CANNOT DECEIVE YOU, EH…?
by Mario C. Veo
Jack was seen walking around New York City frantically beating two wooden sticks together.
“What are you doing?” asked the cop.
“I’m keeping the lions away!” replied Jack, striking the sticks even harder.
Bewildered, the cop said, “There are no lions in New York!”
To which, Jack wisely replied, “You see…it really works!!!”
So now I ask you: who is ‘right’ – Jack or the cop? Both of their belief systems were proven to be correct – in their own minds…but only because they believed in it. Now then is the next question for you: as the Wise Outsider to this outplay, what do you believe in…and why? It is the Mind which drives and directs us, frequently without us even questioning why…and through this, create the demands imposed upon us by ‘Life’.
I recently bumped into an old friend who was wearing a glorious purple coat – when I complimented her on it she told me that it was her favorite…yet I have never seen her wear it in all the many years I have known her. Was she wearing it now because she felt good about herself – thus wanted to ‘reward herself’…or did she do it because she needed ‘pampering’? We all have ‘favorite colors’ (and we know the powerful effect Color has on our wellbeing), yet we never stop to consider “why??”
Much information is locked within our Minds – especially our Subconscious Mind – so this month I have dedicated a series of classes to explore this intriguing mystery…from the Obstacles it programs, to the Success it yearns for…from its ability to manifest (or not), to the Curses it attracts. Fascinating…simply fascinating.
Classes are on Tuesday evenings, from 7 to 8:30pm – registration is required.
OUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND & THE OBSTACLES IT CREATES with Mario C. Veo.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013. 7 – 8:30pm. $20.
HOW TO USE OUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND TO CREATE SUCCESS with Mario C. Veo.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013. 7 – 8:30pm. $20.
MANIFESTATION…TAPPING INTO SPIRIT’S ENERGY with Mario C. Veo.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013. 7 – 8:30pm. $20.
DO CURSES EXIST…AND HOW DO YOU PROTECT YOURSELF…? with Mario C. Veo.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013. 7 – 8:30pm. $20.
Mario C. Veo was born in Italy and grew up in Africa. From an early age his love for Spirituality and Metaphysics led him to explore a wide range of disciplines. He has studied with Sufis, Shamans and Spiritual Masters from around the world. Mario is a senior T’ai Chi and Chi Gong instructor, a Spiritual Counselor, Shaman and Healer, and teaches classes and individuals on Personal Transformation, Empowerment, Manifestation and Spiritual Alignments. He is available for personal guidance and consultations. Mario is the featured reader on Tuesdays from 12:30pm to 6pm at the Shining Lotus™. He is also available from 12:30pm to 6pm on the last Sunday of every month.
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SO…HOW DO YOU DEFINE YOURSELF?
PURA’S INSIGHTFUL APPROACH TO A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
by Pura Isham
I really define myself as an individual with desires to live life, with desires to grow in a more vertical, spirally way with discernment and compassion. As I contemplate this question I sense that different aspects of who I’ve been, who I am, and who I am becoming have gone and will go through a process of fulfillment, development, and satisfaction with and without stagnation. I am aware that there may still be areas in my life that need to be healed and reintegrated, a process of closure, commitment, growth, expansion and many other things, and possibilities which will bring or create their own challenges and joy.
I think that for now and in the long future (other lifetimes) there is going to be a critical, a social voice, a scale that will define through impositions who and what I am. Most of this answer is so concrete and tangible, and at the same time I am ever so aware that I am more than this. There is the spiritual Divine component of who I am and yes, to a certain extent, my concrete and tangible answer is somehow intertwined with my spiritual process of fulfillment, of the development of growth and expansion.
The extent that I define myself as a creator begins so far as accepting the responsibilities of my participation in the things I have accepted, that I have chosen, that I have decided upon, that I have enjoyed, that I have screwed up in my life. All of these and more have I created whether I have been aware of it or not.
So, it has taken a while in this lifetime to really become aware of claiming, truly claiming myself as a creator, and to be conscientious about the kingdom of Creationship which is mine because I am part of Creation Itself. Great Question! This answer, so far, it’s a very powerful beginning and continuation of experiencing, conscientiously, this integral aspect of who I am. Because of where I am on my Spiritual Path, on my Discipleship Path, I am learning and remembering with understanding and consciousness that I have always been a creator and that I can’t be otherwise. Sai Ram.
This essay was in answer to a homework assignment from Mario C. Veo’s Esoteric Studies Class. The assignment was to write about your definition of yourself as a spiritual being, the scale on which your definition is based and to what extent do you define yourself as a creator.
Pura Isham is a student of spirituality, metaphysics and esoteric subjects. As a very inquisitive person, Pura has been studying these areas for many years, most recently with her teacher, Mario C. Veo. We thank her for the inspiration she is to us, and letting us peek through this window to her personal spiritual path.
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ESSENTIAL OILS: PRACTICAL USES FOR CLEANING AND HEALTH
with Kristina Welch
Wednesday, May 22, 2013. 7 – 9pm. $20.
This 2 hour class will explore the many everyday uses for essential oils. Knowledge of essential oils will empower you to improve the health of yourself and your family by ridding your home of many toxic chemicals and expensive processed products. This class will demonstrate simple techniques for making your own all natural cleaning products. We will explore the history and specific aromatherapy benefits of several of the most healing essential oils. By the end of class you will understand how to use essential oils in your everyday life for healing, cleaning, and for beautiful fragrances in your home. You will also be creating your own all-purpose cleaner with essential oils to take home with you.
All materials included in $20 class cost. Call 303-758-9113 to register.
Kristina Welch is a certified community herbalist and aromatherapy specialist. She handcrafts organic spa products for her botanical spa party business, Botanix. She has taught classes at Moondance Botanicals and Minnesota State University. Her greatest passion is exploring the magic and mystery of herbs and their essences.