Obama has been our president for 1 year now, and he already got a bum rap. Everyone is discussing how disappointed they are.
Don’t we just love creating celebs and then tearing them apart?
This guy’s major mistake was going for the presidency to begin with. Only a truly crazy, truly stupid (remember that other one?) or truly idealistic person would go for this most thankless job in the world.
Since Obama is obviously sane and smart, he must be too idealistic.
His second major mistake (according to many TV pundits) was saving us from THE GREATEST DEPRESSION and cushioning our financial fall.
Why was that a mistake? According to the TV pundits, this was a mistake because 1) he continued many policies initiated during the previous administration (not enough change), 2) he moved too much to the left (? was not it his platform when he was running?) and created bigger government.
(Personally, I don’t know what else he could have done, when the government was the only one left with the money as banks and insurance companies were collapsing left and right , but I am no pundit)
His third mistake was trying help those stupid insured and uninsured Americans whose medical expense soared and coverage did not hold very well. That did not go too well or too smoothly, or whatever. Does anyone know what’s in that health care reform bill?
(Personally, I don’t think Americans need it at all, since all I am hearing that they would rather pay $30,000/ yr for their medical insurance for a family of 4 -yes, I personally know such a family – and then keep their fingers crossed that their insurance would pay their medical bills when they get sick)
His 4th major mistake was apparently sending troops to Afghanistan after all that peace talk and the Nobel peace prize. Apparently, we are so tired of war, that we don’t care if the terrorists are not.
Oh, yea, the 5th major mistake was not personally watching who was getting on the plane in Nigeria (remember that guy with a bomb in his underwear?)
It is obvious, he has gotten nothing right, and now he is a lame duck.
I’m sure many are guessing now that Haitian earthquake would not have happened otherwise.
What we needed as our president in times like these was a MIRACLE GUY. You know, the one who could give everyone a $100,000+ job, instill brains in every kid born in America, abolish all illnesses, turn every criminal into a born-again righteous Christian and instill immediate peace on Earth.
It’s too bad that no one like that bothered to run. But then, again, the last MIRACLE GUY we know of was crucified on the cross.
1 YEAR OLD PRESIDENCY
Posted by Ella Moss on January 20, 2010
Posted in politics | Tagged: afghanistan, American Presidency, financial crisis, great depression, Haiti, Haitian earthquake, health care, health care reform bill, Jesus Christ, miracle, Obama, peace | 3 Comments »
MORE ON THE GREAT FINANCIAL DISASTER OF 2010
Posted by Ella Moss on December 1, 2009
As I was drinking coffee this morning and watching the news, the potential default of Dubai Government Fund perked my ears.
“This is it”, I’ve told myself, “My predictions are beginning to manifest”.
In my October 2008 article “Financial Crisis: it’s not over until it’s over” I’ve predicted that the world will tremble in December of 2009 from some terrible financial news, as Pluto enters Capricorn and begins to wreck governmental and corporate institutions.
I also said, “By the end of November of 2009, we would begin to cry for mercy, as our economy would get completely stalled: Saturn, the planet of lack and limitations, joins Pluto, the Terminator, in the assault on the U.S. Venus, the planet of Money. It begins to squeeze it from Libra, the sign of relationships and justice. So as global trade gets restructured, we get the foul end of the deal. Saturn would limit our reach into the packets of other countries. We may face the retribution for our misadventures on foreign soil and/ or for amassing huge deficit (read “debt to other countries”).
But I was wrong: it’s not our country’s deficit that is going to do us in, but other countries’ default on their debt obligations.
Since I am just an astrologer and not a psychic, I got timing and institutions involved right, but I could not foresee the actual turn of events. Who could?
Dubai has been swimming in gold, its coffers filled to the brim, it seemed, by oil it was sitting on. It was building the new world wonders and aimed at becoming the new world financial center. It appeared to be the richest country in the Middle East, and its only foreseen threat was depletion of oil reserves at some point of the far away future.
So a whole lot of pension and hedge funds from all kind of countries invested in it, thinking it was almost risk-free.
Think about it:
The first part of the world financial crisis that ruptured in the fall of 2008 was brought in by losses of private investors. As bad as it was, it was contained by huge governmental bail-outs by governments of the developed world.
This strategy indebted governments of the richest countries but defrosted financial markets.
Now comes the second part (i.e. the other shoe drops):
Governments begin defaulting.
Private financial institutions are already seriously ailing, and are held alive by financial transfusions by the governments. Now the governments need donors…AND WHO COULD RESCUE THEM??…..
Dubai is just a beginning of the falling dominoes. If it defaults, the legions of pension and hedge funds that invested in it are going to collapse, and THERE IS GOING TO BE NO FINANCIAL DONOR TO SAVE THEM.
This means that
1) many retirees all over the world are going to be left without pensions, and governments, already stretched to the max, would have to extend more social services to them and bleed more money.
2)Financial institutions are going to freeze once again, as investors lose a few more billions
AND WHO IS GOING TO BAIL THEM OUT THIS TIME? WHERE NEW MONEY IS GOING TO COME FROM?
The developed world is going to lose its footing and fall onto the developing world, crushing it.
3)The developing world (save for China, Russia and India) is going to default too. AND WHO IS GOING TO BAIL THEM OUT THIS TIME? WHERE NEW MONEY IS GOING TO COME FROM?
4) Unemployment and riots are going to shoot up. Would Obama be able to sign 3 yrs unemployment benefits? Where the U.S. money is going to come from?
Now the question is should I get my savings out of the bank before the summer of 2010 (that is when the world crushes)? I should take a good look at a horary chart on that one…
The good news is that the timing of events suggests that the actual birth date of the U.S. is actually July 2. Now we know.
Posted in astrology, economy, politics | Tagged: 2010, astrological forecast, bail out, developed world, developing world, Dubai, economy, financial crisis, financial institutions, global economy, government, hedge funds, pension funds, Pluto in Capricorn, predictions, predictions 2010, Saturn in Libra, summer of 2010, unemployment | 5 Comments »
PREDICTIONS: 2010 AND BEYOND
Posted by Ella Moss on November 28, 2009
As an astrologer, I’ve learned long time ago that I can predict timing of events with much greater certainty than their nature.
For instance, I can say that events that will begin to transpire this December and become more obvious starting in April of 2010 will crest around August 1, hitting Americans directly where their wallet is with violent force, because all potent forces of heaven will be attacking Venus in the U.S. horoscope.
Since Venus traditionally rules money and relationships, American relationships will suffer either within the country or abroad. I cannot rule out civil unrest, although I would not go as far as predicting civil war.
Unfortunately, I really cannot say what exactly is going to happen. I don’t believe anybody can. In my experience, even the best of psychics often make mistakes when it comes to future events, because we really have the power of the free will.
With this power we still cannot change the forces of time that spin the heavens, but we may lessen or even change their impact to some degree. Of course, our ability to do so is much more evident in our personal lives than on the national or international scope.
But even mundane astrologers are still handicapped in their ability to predict, since no nation has a birth certificate with official time stamped on it. The U.S., for instance, has at least 4 horoscopes that astrologers like to consider. Even its date of birth is in dispute, since historical facts point to July 2 rather than July 4 that we all celebrate.
I can assure you though, that no matter what happens around August 1 of 2010, we will survive, and the world is not going to come to an end in December of 2012 either.
About 100 years ago, a little known guru of a much more famous guru Paramahansa Yogananda wrote a tiny treatise “The Holy Science” that went unnoticed by even Yogananda’s disciples.
However, this little gem deserves almost as much reverence as Bhagavat Gita. There, Sri Yukteswar recalculated yugas (Divine divisions of time) based on precession of equinox and position of the Sun in relationship to the Galactic Center.
Yugas describe the relationship of Light and Darkness in terms of time.
There are 8 yugas in total in what is called 1 Divine Day of 24,000 years. They start with the Ascending Kali Yuga of 1200 years, during which the light of human consciousness gradually increases.
He pinpointed the beginning of that yuga at the year of 499 a.d..
This means, that in the 1699 a.d. the Ascending Dwapara Yuga began, and it will last until 4099 a.d..
During Ascending Dwapara Yuga, the light of human consciousness increases enough to develop amazing technologies based on atomic and molecular manipulations of material reality, as well as developing abilities to manipulate electricity, magnetic and gravitational forces and the like.
By the end of this yuga, humanity as the whole is also going to perfect mystical and occult techniques, enabling itself to expertly manipulate reality.
During the Ascending Treta Yuga, personal relationship with God is going to become commonplace, and during the Ascending Satya Yuga, the humanity, once again, would enter its Golden Age.
The Descending Satya Yuga will follow, and the Divine Light would begin to gradually diminish until it would be totally shut out during the Descending Kali Yuga.
If you look at the known human history, you would agree that the year of 499 a.d. falls smack in the middle of so called Dark Ages, and as of 1699, humanity began technological advancement in earnest.
Since we are at the threshold of the Advancing Dwapara Yuga, the technological advancement we have seen so far is only the beginning.
I predict that during the next decade technology is going to continue develop in leaps and bounds, particularly computer and nano technology, revolutionizing our relationship with the world. E-readers are going to become commonplace, and even catalogs are going to be on e-readers rather than on paper. TV and computer technology will merge completely. We are going to use “TV sets” for reading e-mail, solving “websudoku” puzzles, and reading news as much as watching them.
Cyber space is going to continue being the new gold mines of the world economy, and green technology is going to improve and cheapen enough to become common place.
Nano technology is going to affect every facet of our lives, from clothes to medicine, but it is in medicine where it is geared to make major impact. By the end of the next decade, we may finally defeat cancer, and our greatest concern is going to be infectious diseases.
I would be watching with interest the time period between October of 2010 and April of 2011 for some remarkable technological break-through, as Neptune – Uranus mutual reception returns for the last time.
Economically, during the next decade the U.S., Europe, Russia, China and India will continue to be the main engines, as the U.S. will continue to lead in consumerism, Russia will continue to dominate the market of natural resources, China will remain the world’s greatest factory, and India is going to finally reap the benefits of its investment in education.
But the U.S and Europe are going to be much poorer, and India, Russia, and China much richer.
This will change the political picture, as Russia and China will become the 2 main super powers.
I also believe that Pluto in Capricorn is going to undermine democracy everywhere on Earth and squash all civil unrests that flare up, and the U.S. is no exception. Of course, Orwell’s Big Brother comes to mind, but it would still remain the exaggerated version of reality. While all powers are going to strengthen their control, no country is going to descent to the fascist or communist regimes of the past.
Terrorist acts and the fear they spread are going to dominate the world politics. I am certain that Israel and Palestine are going to remain being locked in conflict, and Middle East is going to remain being the nest of terrorism. But acts of terror are going to be more sophisticated, using technological sabotage as well as suicide bombers.
During Ascending Dwapara Yuga, Light and Darkness fiercely compete with each other, and the world is full of shadows. But the Light is getting stronger every year, so, in my mind, the most important developments of the next decade are going to begin taking hold as of March of 2012. That is when Neptune is finally going to settle in Pisces, its own sign, while Uranus straddles through Aries.
I believe that spring is going to mark the beginning of the quiet revolution within human mind. I don’t mean the plentitude of small technological devices that would allow us to control them with the force of our thoughts. They already exist and are about to invade our everyday life. I bet, one of the most sought out presents this X-Mass is going to be the game where people can move a ball with their mind alone.
No, I mean the unbelievable rise in consciousness on individual level. We saw a similar spurt in consciousness during the early 80s of the last century, when Uranus and Neptune traversed Sagittarius at the same time. Sagittarius, the country of Jupiter is the sign of expansion of consciousness, while Uranus represents break-trough and Neptune is the symbol of oneness.
In Aries, Uranus is going to emphasize unique individuality of each of us, while Neptune, strong in its own sign, is going to bring mysticism and spiritual oneness to the forefront of consciousness.
Of course, for many, Neptune in Pisces would signify the descent into drugs, and Uranus in Aries coupled with Pluto in Capricorn could easily describe flare ups of anarchy. After all, Pluto walking through the sign of government and corporate structures is going to change them all big time, forcing many into quiet and not-so-quiet revolt.
Uranus in Aries is going to ensure that Big Personalities rule that moment of time, and independent contractors are going to outnumber employees everywhere. Even employees are going to be much more independent, often working from home thanks to continuously evolving technology and loss of all kinds of corporate benefits.
The Ascending Dwapara Yuga by no means signifies the end of suffering, and Africa is going to continue to be the epicenter of human suffering for a while. Changes of climate, poverty, infectious diseases and terrorist acts are going to continue being our terrible bane for a few decades longer, as Darkness does not give up so easily.
It is going to be up to us as individuals to uphold the Light, and Neptune and Uranus are going to give us a little hand there during the next decade. After all, all the disasters that befall the human kind are there to forge the kindness of the heart, so God may enter it.
Posted in astrology, enlightenment, spirituality | Tagged: 2010, 2012, Africa, astrological predictions, astrology, China, civil unrest, e-readers, enlightenment, financial crisis, guru, India, kali yuga, middle east, money, mutual reception, nano technology, Neptune, Neptune in Pisces, Paramahansa Yogananda, Pluto in Capricorn, precession of equinox, predictions for 2010, predictions for 2012, relationships, Russia, timing, U.S. chart, Uranus, Venus, YUGAS | 3 Comments »
THE ONLY RIGHT WAR
Posted by Ella Moss on September 11, 2009
Today is 9/11.For the first time in the 7 yrs I woke up without a pang in my heart on this date. I was actually annoyed that every tv channel this morning it seems was carrying a live broadcast of the memorial service. And I was annoyed when a slim crowd of demonstrators was blocking my way as I was rushing to a business meeting on the narrow streets of downtown Manhattan.
It was the evening news actually that brought the pain of that horrible day 8 yrs ago right back.
They were talking about the war in Afghnistan on the evening news, and that it is a lost cause we should forget about.
We’ve been there for 8 yrs now and are losing ground. “Why would we send more troops there” they questioned.
Well, 8 yrs of peace and general fatigue of endless wars abroad can make us forget, that it was Afghanistan where the tragedy of 9/11 originated. The Taliban that has gained back 80% of the territory was the breeding ground from where the enemy struck.
I have not lost anyone to the 9/11. But like everyone else, I’ve lost the carefree ease of life, maybe, forever. I am not even talking about having to show my ID and open my bags every time I step into a building in my city, or about endless security checks at the airports.
I am talking about the loss of innocence, high expectations, etc.
The lives of every American have not been the same, this recession including.
But by quitting all wars we are not going to get back the innocence of life in peace and prosperity. We have not won it.
No doubt that by starting the unnecessary war in Iraq, we forgot about the necessary war in Afghanistan, and all our gains there were eroded.
But if we quit now, Taliban and Al Queda will win and we can expect many more 9/11s.
In fact, we are likely to lose 3 countries to Taliban and Al Queda at once, as Pakistan is struggling to hold them off and is likely to lose without our presence there.
With Pakistan going unstable, India will tremble.
Who cares, you may ask. These countries are so far away.
Well, they still have airplanes that fly great distances, and very determined killers who hate us.
Whatever is left of our way of life, I would rather defend it.
Whatever it takes, even an endless war. That war is the only right war, because it keeps the enemies at bay.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: 9/11, afghanistan, Afgunistan, Al Queda, India, news, Packistan, Pakistan, Taliban, troops, war | 2 Comments »
MY OMNIPRESENT GURU
Posted by Ella Moss on August 26, 2009
In 2004, I had a gum infection that cost me $7000 to take care of and sent me over the edge into bankruptcy (so what’s the deal with the Universal health care idea? How many people should choose between financial and physical hardships before it becomes reality?…)
Anyhow, this spring an oral surgeon pointed to my x-ray and told me, “it’s baaack. Pony up another $6000 as an implant is now needed” (well, maybe, the words were different, but the meaning was the same) – where’s that universal health care again… Needless to say, I don’t have this money, so I left for my summer vacation with an uncertain future.
As time went on, I began feeling pain and sensitivity to cold. Dismayed, I made an appointment with another dentist. Terrible foreboding of the utter financial ruin killed many of my plans.
But before I went to see a doctor, I prayed to my guru, Sai Baba, and put a bit of vibuhti (a sacred ash He creates) in my mouth.
As I was doing it, I felt as if He looked down on me from His portrait up on the altar. At that moment I knew my prayer was answered.
I still went to my appointment. More x-rays were taken. I was cleared. No infections. Not even a cavity.
ANOTHER MIRACLE FROM SATHYA SAI BABA!
As my way of thanking Him, I’ve decided to dedicate this post to my experiences with Him, as I am so blessed to have Him in my life!
I first heard of Sai Baba either in late 1996 or early 1997 from my astrology student. She was his devotee and she gave me a few books to read about Sai Baba.
Although I found some of the books interesting, I could not believe their main assertion that Sai Baba is the Avatar of our age. Moreover, I regarded the whole idea of a guru as a dangerous fallacy. I thought that when people put gurus / priests and the like between themselves and God, they separate themselves from God, giving up on having direct connection with the Creator and relieving themselves of responsibility for their own spiritual growth.
Personally, I have enjoyed and cherished such direct connection with God since childhood. God has always been my Guru, and I did not see the need for another.
In December of 1997, everything has changed.
I was stuck in Katmandu, Nepal with my youngest sister and her 3-year-old boy, my nephew. Due to unforeseen circumstance, we had very little money. On top of it, my relationship with my sister was deteriorating.
In the beginning of our trip, we were planning to travel through India, and I still had Indian airline tickets, which I bought in advance.
My sister’s Nepalese husband has not arrived from Russia, as planned, and her Nepalese relatives were advising us against the trip to India. I did not want to go there by myself, all alone during the Holidays. I was afraid to travel with my sister and nephew, as money was unexpectedly tight, and the boy was so young. Spending another month in Nepal did not inspire me either. I felt like I was there already 1 month too long. But my ticket back to the U.S. was on 1/15, more than a month away.
As I was considering all these options in my mind, I was passing by merchants’ stalls, and I’ve noticed little medallions of Sai Baba on sale. Spontaneously, I bought one. I looked at it and thought: “If you are an Avatar, like they say, what should I do?”
Immediately, a thought came into my mind: “Go home for the Holidays”.
The thought felt foreign to me, there was unmistakable Indian accent there, not to mention, that I did not even consider such a possibility before. “How am I going to do that?”, I asked, “How can I change my ticket less than 2 weeks before Christmas?”
“Don’t worry”, I heard a thought with an Indian accent in my head.
That very day, I went to a travel agent, and asked him to change my ticket to December 20th or so. He was skeptical. “You are asking for a miracle,” he said.
Ten days later, he called me and announced, “The miracle has occurred. You are going to get home in time for Christmas!”
And I went home for Christmas, and it felt so good to be home!…
Since then, I started taking Sai Baba seriously.
Some time later, he came to me in my dream. In that dream, I was standing in front of a mirror, practicing a lecture on astrology. Suddenly, Sai Baba appeared, saying, “So, you like to teach?”. I was so startled, I woke up. That week, I related that dream to my student, Sai Baba’s devotee. “Yes”, she said, “he does scare people sometimes. But if he comes into someone’s dream, it is for real. They say, one cannot dream about Sai Baba without him actually coming into the dream”.
But that still was not enough for me to become a full-blown Sai Baba’s devotee. I was apprehensive, and I did not want anyone to bud into my direct relationship with God.
In the early September of 1998, I got very sick. My period has presumably ended, but I continued to bleed, and I was bleeding with such force – as if someone turned on a faucet. I was afraid to go to a doctor, and for a few days, I simply prayed for healing.
I continued to bleed, however, getting weaker and weaker. Soon, it was hard to get off the couch, but I continued to work and pray for healing. By the fourth day, I could hardly feel my body, and a few steps would make my heart beat, as if I ran a marathon.
That night, Sai Baba came into my dream. “What kind of healing do you want?”, he asked. Again, I was startled, and said the first thing that came into my mind: “A classical one”. Suddenly, pipes were playing, and I saw a huge stage curtain made of red velvet.
Sai Baba waved his hand, the curtain opened, and Jesus Christ came into the opening.
All I can say, that it was more real, then our everyday reality, and I was so overcome with joy, seeing Jesus Christ walking towards me, that I lost my mind. Like a little child, I was overcome with excitement. “Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ!..”, I kept screaming his name over and over again. He smiled, and as I realized that I was behaving like a child, I saw myself being a child in my dream. I felt embarrassed, but I could not help myself. I was besides myself with joy and excitement. Jesus Christ came over to me and picked me up. “So, what do you want?”, he asked me.
At that moment, my strange bleeding and the urgent need for healing have totally left my mind. I was so happy to see him, that I totally forgot I needed healing! All I could remember was one thing I have always wanted: “Faith”, I said.
For the longest time, I have wanted to have faith as strong as the faith of Jesus Christ. Even though God has created numerous miracles for me almost on everyday basis (from mundane (making onto a leaving bus, healing my puppy when all vets gave up on it, etc., to breathtaking (taking me back in time)), I knew my faith was rather feeble.
Jesus Christ smiled, put me down, and placed the palm of his hand on mine. I knew, that he was transmitting faith to me symbolically.
Then I woke up. Because the dream was so real and more vivid than my reality, I felt like I grew wings.
However, I continued to bleed. But that morning I was able to summon up the courage to go to the doctor.
At first, the doctor could not believe my claim. Then he checked my blood pressure, fixed the bleeding problem (at that point, I hardly bled, because, according to him, I hardly had any blood left) and sent me to the hospital for emergency blood transfusion. At the hospital I was told that I should have gone into shock or be dead already, because I lost some incredible percentage of blood. I do remember that, after the transfusion, the higher number of my blood pressure was 37.
In other words, I should have been dead, but I was not. Another miracle?
I also must say that my faith has grown slowly but steadily since then.
After Sai Baba brought Jesus Christ to me, any doubt that I had about him, has disappeared from my mind, and I became his ardent devotee.
Meanwhile, one day, as my boyfriend was fixing something in my apartment, some acid got into his eye, and he collapsed onto my rug in pain. That second I felt so helpless, I picked up the phone to dial 911. But suddenly I remembered: Sai Baba’s vibuhti!
My student, who told me about Sai Baba, gave me a tiny paper pouch with his vibuhti before I left for India. I totally forgot about it, and never took it with me. Now, almost a year later, I remembered it and found it immediately. I poured a bit of the grey powder onto my boyfriend’s eye, and immediately he stopped crying. “What did you do?”, he asked in surprise, “My pain is gone!”. I was just as amazed at the power of vibuhti as he was.
Soon afterwards, my boyfriend complained of the terrible pain in his liver area. As he took off his shirt, I saw his liver being so enlarged that it raised the ribs above it.
Without saying anything, I poured water in a glass, squeezed there a few drops of lemon, and mixed it with the rest of the vibuhti I had left. My boyfriend drank the mixture, and soon, within that day (!) he was fine.
I began to feel the need to visit Sai Baba’s center, and so I ventured there one Thursday.
I was unimpressed with the gathering. It did not have the charged meditative atmosphere I was used to, when I would come to meditate at the SRF center.
Afterwards I went for coffee with one of the ladies, and she said that next week they are going to celebrate Sai Baba’s birthday.
I remember that the day of celebration we were supposed to go skiing, and I begged my friends to postpone the departure, so I could be at the celebration. We agreed to leave early next morning, but I was to spend the night at my friends’ house, so we don’t lose any more time.
So I went to celebrate Sai Baba’s birthday dressed in skiing jacket and pants.
Actually, I ran, because I was certain that I was an hour late.
I was shocked to find out that I have arrived an hour early! There was no one there except for people in charge of arrangements.
In front of the stage, in the midst of the seats for the audience, there was a chair prepared for Sai Baba. It had flower garlands and his orange robe on it. There were also flowers spread all around it.
I was told that no one expects Sai Baba to appear in person. “He is here in spirit”, a lady said to my questions.
Boldly, I sat down to the left of Sai Baba’s chair and began to meditate. I felt his presence strongly, and my meditation was deep and satisfying.
But I had to leave before the festivities were over.
Before I left, I picked up an orange flower from the floor, where Sai Baba’s feet would have rested. I put it in my sack, that was already filled to the rim.
As I was going to the exit door, I’ve decided to take the flower out of my sack and put it in the pocket of my skiing jacket, so the flower would not get crushed.
As I left the building, I went to have a cigarette before heading for the subway. I sat down in the tiny square right across the street. My cigarettes were in the same pocket where I have placed the flower. Carefully, I moved the flower to another pocket, and light up my cigarette.
I could not truly enjoy that cigarette though, because, in about 10 feet away from me, there was a young man, who was obviously mentally disturbed. He was talking to himself, gesticulating widely (it was the time before cell phones).
“He is the one who needs a blessing”, I thought, and decided to give him Sai Baba’s flower. I finished my cigarette and unzipped the pocket where I have placed the flower. To my total awe, I found 2 flowers that were completely identical!
So I gave one flower to the young man, and went to my friend’s house.
While on my way there, I contemplated the miracle and realized what Sai Baba was saying to me with this gesture: God has enough blessings for everyone, so when blessing is shared, it does not lessen, it only grows!
A month later I had a dream I could not remember, but, because of it, I found myself in the morning talking outloud to my higher-self. I was given a choice: I may continue my life as it was then (happy, professionally and emotionally fulfilled, independent, but with romantic attachments), or I may choose to have a family (husband, children) and be able to express love and care. I was told / shown that the second choice is going to be painful.
To me, it was not even a choice. Of course, I want to be able to live and express love and care! After all, I know God as Supreme Love and Care, and I want to be just like Him!
So that morning I made a commitment to God to start a family.
My boyfriend was an obvious choice. We loved each other, and for the past 3 years he begged me to marry him and start a family.
But wait, just last night I threw him out, being totally mad at him for a good reason, and thinking that our relationship should be finally over!
I immediately called him, and told him that I am ready to take him back. He said something like: “Great! I am going to step by to see you as soon as I can, but I just got a lucrative contract and I am extremely busy.”
A month later, I found out that he got a new girlfriend, not a contract, and all this time he was extremely busy with her.
To be sure, I was pulling away from him for a good year, thinking that we should break up. But now, instead of feeling relief, I felt the most intense emotional pain. My self-importance was slighted as never before (he chose another woman over me!), but also my most important commitment to God was in obvious jeopardy.
For the next 18 days I could not either eat nor sleep. None of the sleeping pills were helpful, and I was afraid of losing my mind.
Since I could not sleep, I meditated. But, even as I would banish every thought out of my mind, I would still feel the most intense emotional pain.
And then I had two the most important meditations in one day:
In the morning, as I was meditating, I caught the presence of my higher-self. It felt as if It was staring at me with utmost interest, thinking “How dramatic!..”, while I was being pierced by intense emotional pain in the absolute stillness of my mind, voided of all thoughts. This allowed me to shift my perspective, and I got out of that meditation, laughing. The pain was gone.
In the afternoon, I meditated again, as it was my usual practice before starting teaching my regular astrology class.
Nothing unusual seemed to have transpired during the meditation itself. But I must have been in the state of “second attention”, as Carlos Castaneda would have called it. Because I got out of it truly feeling / realizing my Divinity.
Yes, intellectually, I knew for the longest time that I am part of the Divine, and Divinity is my true nature, which is true for every human being. But I never felt it before, therefore I could never own it.
This was the most significant realization in my entire life: finally, even if for a fleeting moment, there were no spiritual distance between me and God, finally I was able to “touch” God!
I have also felt the imprint of Sai Baba’s presence at that moment, and I knew he made this realization possible. He was not just an omniconscious miracle-maker, he was a true guru.
In less than a year, I’ve met a man, who became my husband and the father of my child.
In the fifth month of my pregnancy, I was stricken with lime disease. My husband went to Sai Baba’s meeting, asking for vibuhti. Incredulously, there was a man, who had a packet of vibuhti, given to him by Sai Baba himself.
It relieved my fever, and there were no bad consequences to this dangerous illness.
In the seventh month of my pregnancy, I performed a Hindi ritual, dedicating my child to Sai Baba.
Although I felt like my pregnancy was ordained by God, and I felt constant loving presence of the Divine, I was still worried about karmic intent of the soul that was about to become my son.
So Sai Baba came to me in the dream, saying that this soul is my friend, and how to name the child.
My son was born on Thursday (Sai Baba’s day), on the 9th day of a month, at 9 PM.
Giving him birth was surprisingly easy, and I had none of the usual complications and problems, except for occasional backache.
Sai Baba’s birthday was coming, and I was intent on coming to the celebration. I was thinking of it, while sitting in a rocking chair and nursing my son. My back was bothering me, and I thought to myself, that I should not forget to ask Sai Baba at his birthday celebration to cure my backache. Immediately, pain stopped never to return!
There were many big and little miracles of that nature since then. Although I stopped doing spiritual healings myself, because I was overly tired and overly stressed most of the time, occasionally I had either a request or an urge to do so. During those few times, I felt Sai Baba’s presence, and I knew it was his energy that facilitated healing.
In 2003, He summoned me to India, as I had hard time with my marriage and the terrible turn the world took in 2001. I did not know I needed help, but He did!
While I did not get the interview, He took my letter, and, on my last day at the ashram, despite the exceptionally huge crowd (there was some kind of celebration that day), He came out to the outskirts where I was and LOOKED AT ME. Our eyes met, and I felt my soul being scanned and cleaned.
Oh, there were many miracles, coincidences and teachings. Too many to put all in one post. But that moment of Him looking at me was a more defining spiritual experience than when another Indian guru raised my kundalini.
As I am about to end this story, I want to mention a few other interesting miracles I have received from Sai Baba in the past few years.
In 2004, my husband and I needed to move. A month later, after seeing lots of apartments, I have found the one we are living in now. It is a spacious 2 bedrooms, 2 baths apartment with incredible view of the park, in the building that is well kept, and it is cheaper then other apartments I’ve seen.
A few months after the move I found a letter to Sai Baba that I wrote in my PDA in February of 2004, asking him for a precisely such apartment! I wrote it obviously on my way to work, without much hope, and totally forgot about it!
Moreover, my neighbor next door just happened to be a Sai Baba’s devotee! He came to her in a dream and told her to to talk to me, so she went over and introduced herself to me. Even better, we have discovered that we both have memories of the same past live where we were sisters! (How’s that for a coincedence?)
Yes, there have been plenty of other miracles too, but I am not writing a book, just a “Thank You” note to Sai Baba. He has always been there for me, since He came into my life in 1997.
It’s been enormous privilege to have a true Avatar as a guru. With Sai Baba at the helm, my life is the greatest ride ever:-)!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: avatar, blessings, Faith, guru, healing, Jesus Christ, kundalini, miracles, Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Baba, universal health care, vibuhti | Leave a Comment »
MY KINDER UNIVERSE
Posted by Ella Moss on July 21, 2009
When my son was 1.5 y.o., I joined the majority of Russian community in NYC and rented a “dacha” in Catskills for a summer.
“Dachas” are cottages in a small community of summer residents, located in rural areas, often by a lake.
The cottages offer minimal amenities. “Dachniki” must bring with them bedding, pans and pens, and everything else that would sustain them for 2 months of mostly outdoor living.
Summers in NYC tend to be hot and humid. Working parents must either send their kids to camps or hire babysitters (could be more expensive). When kids are too young for camps, it could be especially hard on parents, as I quickly found out.
Luckily, someone suggested a “dacha”. I packed half of my apartment and the kid, and off to the woods I went.
Of course, I could not afford to spend the whole summer here, so we have arranged 2-weeks shifts with all the relatives we could find.
On dachas, kids and parents enjoy the company and freedom (there is no need to watch them every second, as they play in the meadows of an enclosed community, with plenty of friendly adults seeing their every move).
I fell in love with the lazy summer days by the lake, and could no longer contemplate a summer without dacha.
Of course, once my son was old enough for summer camp, we cut the season to a month (arranging shifts with relatives was too complicated), and for 3 weeks in August our son would shuttle daily to Nyak from NYC, where his day camp was located.
We could afford this kind of summer kid-care thanks to tax returns on my husband’s w-2 income. My business has been too tiny to afford anything like that.
Even though my husband and I separated 2 yrs ago, we kept filing jointly specifically for this purpose.
But as of this January, he has been laid off, and there are not going to be any tax returns for us next year.
I was coming this July to my little heaven in Catskills, knowing that this was to be the last time.
As my stay here began nearing the end (this Sunday we are leaving), I began to be more and more upset.
I was trying to imagine a summer with no dacha or summer camp:
My son would have to tag along to my work (and I work all over the city) every day. Of course, he would practice reading in Russian on the subway, and then quietly play his DS while I work, and then we would visit our park in the evening.
On weekends, we could go to beaches on Brighton Beach, Long Island or Staten Island. It would be hot, and the water would be cold and dirty…
It would be a very lonely summer for him (all his friends are going to be away on dachas and in camps, but life is life, right?
I thought about getting a dog to brighten his days, but how would we take a puppy to my work? – Scratch that…
Last night, thinking of all that, I could not sleep, so I went out on my porch to have a cigarette.
The lake at dawn was simmering, birds were having a big breakfast, while chirping away, and the beauty of all that was breath-taking.
“I cannot give this up”, I thought. “In fact, for years now my brain has been working over-time to find a way for me to live like that a year round.
This dacha is taylor-made for me by God: I’ve got the best view of the lake from my porch. I have a deck to do my yoga on. I can go for a swim without taking even a towel with me – my cottage is 25 feet from the incredible pristine spring water of this lake. People are great. My friends from NYC live on dachas a walking distance away. If I need company, it’s here; if I need solitude, I have it. I can work here. I have internet, and my cell is working here, so I can network and take orders.
And only $3,000 stand between this, and a 2-months torture for me and my son. This is not a big money. $3,000 can buy 10 days on Bagamas, 1 week of skiing in Catskills, or 1 month here. I am certain that just like God found this perfect place for me, He can find this money for me too.”
I prayed, and peace came upon me. That minute I knew, that I should leave a deposit for the next year. My Universe is kind. It knows no recessions, and is always ready to supply all my needs. This is what I beleve, and this is what I shall have.
Posted in enlightenment, spirituality | Tagged: Catskills, child-care, economy, Faith, God, kids, kind Universe, laid off, money, recession, spirituality, summer, tax returns, taxes, unemployment, vacation, worry | 6 Comments »
ABOUT HAPPINESS
Posted by Ella Moss on June 1, 2009
I’ve been pondering lately about happiness. Every human being wants this elusive state of existence. A few get it, but only for a short time. The rest of our lives we spent waiting for it, working for it, chasing it…
Literal translation of the word “happiness” from Russian (my native language) into English means “bringing all parts together”. Happiness is so elusive a state because there are so many parts to it: physical well-being, material well-being, emotional well-being and spiritual well-being.
Having it all at once is truly rare. That is because we are complex beings, consisting of Spirit, ego (self, persona), and physical body. Satisfying all 3 is not easy, as often their needs are contradictory, or, at, least, they appear to be so.
I’d say, much in life that we take for granted as a fact is a mere appearance of such, while the true reality is missing from the view. It is as if we are looking at life through a rear view mirror. Some objects may be closer than they seem, and some we may miss entirely as there is a blind spot.
This rear-view mirror is our ego. It is an intricate magic mirror that is alive like everything else in the Universe, and it is colored with many unique qualities, characteristics and sensitivities it has been endowed since birth.
Yet, as our Spirit peers at it in order to gauge the Earthly reality, It forgets that the ego is just a reflection. Like Alice in Wonder Land, it steps into the mirrored reality and assumes that the reflected world is the real one.
But a mirror is a mirror is a mirror. What appears to be far, is actually near and vice versa sometimes. Right is left, and left is right. God appears beyond reach, while He is The Nearest. Many imagine Him as an unseen yet omniscient Big Brother or an Administrator, whose favor we must earn. Some don’t feel worthy of His favor and don’t even bother asking. Some deny His existence altogether.
Yet God is the key ingredient of our happiness. Spiritual well-being is not possible without Him, because He is the Spirit. Denying God, or, at least, His Presence, is denying our own true nature.
Yes, I am blessed knowing Him (or Her – it’s the same), that is why I feel competent writing about Him. Long ago, when I was a 13 y.o. unhappy young girl looking for a meaning of life, God came into my life through series of revelations and never left. Or, rather, I’ve spotted Him in the rear-view mirror and never took my eyes off Him.
I still remember how the world felt without His Presence: it was a lonely, unkind, cold place, full of lonely scared people. My Spirit, like theirs, looked at the magic mirror of the Ego and did not see Itself. It saw existence which was virtually pointless, as it’s true nature was missing from the view. The Ego saw itself totally disconnected from the rest of the world. It was tiny and insignificant, helpless and terrified – like a 3 y.o. who was suddenly orphaned.
Many spiritual books we read say that we should deny our Ego (the little self) in order to achieve the spiritual well-being.
But our magic mirror is alive and it is a part of us on the Earthly plane. So, if we deny it, we deny any possibility of happiness to ourselves just as much as when we forget the Spirit, while staring into it without seeing.
So we should comfort our Ego as well. We cannot truly be whole, if we deny any part of ourselves. We cannot truly express our nature, which is LOVE, if we don’t love ourselves. If you saw a 3 y.o lost, hungry, cold, scared and crying, would not you take care of that child? That is what you should do for yourself too: comfort yourself. You are the Spirit first. As such, you are part of God. As part of God, you are The Mother and Father to all creation, including your Ego (your persona, that has a gender, name and various other characteristics).
On the other hand, if a 3 y.o. is not satisfied with a scoop of ice-cream, a toy, and a new jacket you gave him, but, instead, drops on the floor, screaming and crying, because he wants all the ice-cream in the store, all the toys in the store, and a fur-coat off another child’s back, would you give in to his demands?
No? But many of us work hard for a second house, a third car, a tenth pair of pants, etc..
In fact, the books like “The Secret”, “The Power of Attraction”, etc. that promise prosperity to all who reads them are flying off the shelves.
Then, of course, there are some of us who practice “tough love”. Such people would leave that screaming brat on the floor and just leave for some ascetic Spartan existence off the electric grid. That works too: their Ego sobers up as quickly as any 3 y.o. would and starts dreaming instead of such simple pleasures as taking a bath once in a while.
I, personally, believe in balanced mothering: I tell my Ego, “I love you, darling, but I don’t want you to get sick from eating so much ice-cream. Not to mention, that you would become too fat to get into a nice little life I have created just for you.”
You would be surprised by how well Ego listens if you talk to it lovingly but firmly.
As a young child, I lived in an orphanage, because my parents were too busy divorcing each other. There was no one to parent me but me.
When I was 5 y.o., I did something I was strictly forbidden to do: I hid behind the large book-shelves standing by the wall. I did not know that the book-shelves were hiding steaming-hot radiators. I touched a radiator with the back of my hand and burned it immediately. In pain, I looked at my hand and saw the skin popping up like little red balloons.
I could not scream in fear of being punished, so instead I told myself firmly: “The pain should go away now and the skin must return back to normal.” And it did. Immediately.
Of course, if I knew it was the 2nd degree burn, and all its serious consequences, it would not have worked so well. That is why now I have much harder time curing myself: my Ego is much more educated now.
But it still listens to me, as it trusts my parenting. I am a kind, loving parent to myself. Sometimes, I can even be indulgent. But I know where to draw the line. Most importantly, I know how to talk to my self.
For example, I never say, “This person/ situation annoys me”. Instead, I say, “I am annoyed at this person / situation.” That is because I have no control over another person. I can only control myself. So if I am annoyed to the point that my Divine nature gets obscured in the magic mirror of the Ego, I can stop being annoyed. I know my Ego has other qualities besides annoyance. So why should I live in a raffled reality? I can tell my self to be patient instead. And I reward my self for consequent patience by focusing on something pleasant. For example, if I get annoyed at my 8 y.o. son and summon patience instead of annoyance, I reward my self by concentrating on how pleasant it is hugging my son. Immediately, all I feel is calm, joy, and whole a lot of love.
Of course, like everyone, I can be overcome with anger. My Ego may feel belittled or threatened, and it may take a while for my Spirit to gain control back. But I always know I will. Because I keep reminding my self that no one has such control over me that he/ she can make me angry. I am the one who got anger, and I am the one who can get rid off it.
Of course, if I consistently get angry at the same person, I should do my best to avoid that person as much as possible. Why should I destroy my body by consistently filling it with such strong negative emotions? I’d rather make that person much less visible in the rear-view mirror of my reality.
I also don’t think that it is beneath me to ask for help when I am overcome with negativity. God is the Parent of me the Spirit, and I know He is always there to help
like any good parent (and He is the best). Forgiveness is such a good antidote to anger, that I always ask for more. In reality, the way I see it, forgiveness is one of the important ingredients for emotional well-being.
Another important ingredient is kindness. The existence on the Earthly plane is not an easy one. So everyone here deserves kindness: rich and poor, villains and victims, for there is no one without a serious challenge to overcome. As the preacher in my church once said, “Kindness and kindred have the same root”. We all are kindred spirits in the mirrored wonder land. In the true reality of Spirit (remember that all you see is but a reflection in your Ego’s eyes), Giving is Receiving and vice versa. Because when we give without strings attached, just because we want to, we are enriched by the sense of well-being so much more than the person on the receiving end. In other words, when we give freely, we feed the Spirit; when we receive, we feed the Ego. Blessed be those who receive, for they give pleasure of kindness to others at their own expense.
How is that, you may ask, that the Mother Theresa, who dedicated herself to kindness was so perpetually depressed according to her diaries, if giving is supposed to make one feel good? Well, according to her diaries, she was not giving from her heart out of pure desire to help out. The string that she attached to her kindness was the reward of God’s presence. In her mind, she stroke a bargain: she would serve God as He asked, and he would extricate her from loneliness by His sweet presence. But God does not bargain, and when we are kind out of sense of duty, giving becomes a chore.
Those who are truly kind live in a kinder Universe, because the world we see is the reflection in the magic mirror of the Ego. So when we are truly kind, our kindness is reflected back to us through kindness of others to ourselves. The trick is not to expect that kindness back. If you don’t feel like giving –don’t!
One should be kind to the Ego too. Sometimes, when you REALLY like that blouse in a store window, you should give your self the pleasure of wearing it, even if you have to buy it with your rent money.
In fact, when you do so, while putting your rent-payment worries aside for a moment, you show your self that you trust the Universe enough to take care of your necessities.
Since the Ego is just a mirror (albeit the magic one), suddenly you would see a kinder Universe. For instance, you may scratch a lottery ticket and win for the first time, or IRS may discover that it owes you money – just enough to cover your rent. So enjoy that blouse!
Just don’t go overboard. Those Egos that are spoiled rotten can create a real mess out of your life. Treat your self as another child of yours. Every child needs and deserves love, care and discipline.
This brings me to another ingredient for happiness: loving one another. How does that relate to happiness?
Well, anyone who loves his child would tell you: there is no greater happiness. That is because we love our kids with no strings attached. When we make them happy, our hearts light up no less than theirs. Since they are born, we take care of their needs and do so freely. We truly don’t expect the same of them (could a baby bring you a glass of warm milk when you feel under the weather?). We celebrate the smallest of their achievements (she said her first word!!! / he actually grabbed a toy!!! he skied down the green slope on his own!!!) with more pride and joy that we could possibly do our own.
Imagine loving someone else (not your child) in the same way. That someone else would make you just as happy.
Unfortunately, that is a tall order. We don’t even love our dearest friends that much, because we expect something in return. Our Egos are babies that we carry inside, and they are so worried that there would be no one to care for them when they need to, because God is not reflected by their mirrors. He is obscured by the blind spot.
So we should remind our selves on daily basis, that we are His creations, and, if we manage to love our creations (our children, art projects, businesses, etc.) so much, imagine how much greater His love is for us!
So we may stop littering the Universe with our fears and worries, anger and resentment, which are invariably get reflected back to us via the mirrors of selves as bad situations, illnesses, pollution, global warming, economic collapses. We have to take a leap of faith and trust the unseen God to take care of us. We are not lost. God is always here, and we are so dear to Him. Every normal mother runs to her baby when he screams for her. Scream for God, and He would appear in your mirror. Then grab on to Him and don’t let go. Then your magic mirror would reflect you in God’s arms and nothing would be all that scary any more.
When you are no longer scared, it is so much easier to be kind and give from your heart. When you discover your kindness, the Universe reflects it back giving you even more joy. Little by little, you begin to realize how beautiful and precious this life is. It is no longer a scary lonely place. Happiness begins to be reflected everywhere, and it becomes easier and easier to catch its glimpse.
One just needs to adjust the focus of the Ego’s magic mirror. The problem is, the Spirit (the Divine part of ourselves) knows only immediate present, while the Ego can typically see only the past or the future. That’s why God falls into its blind spot – God is always present in the most immediate way! But we can train the Ego to focus on the present. We can stop for a second and really smell the flowers, experiencing them as fully as possible.
We can snuggle next to our loved one and enjoy that feeling of closeness if just for a second without any comments inside the head.
When we focus on the future, we invariably worry. Worries cloud the mirror, and all we begin to see is monsters.
Do we really need goals? Our lives go by while we strive to achieve them. When we finally do, we rarely enjoy the moment anyway, since the magic mirror of the Ego is already showing us the next one. In a sense, we spend our lives striving for something instead of living them. At the end, death evens all out anyway. As I keep telling my son:
“Winning is far from being everything. Unless you enjoy the process, winning is worthless.” In short, you’ve got to enjoy what you do when you are doing it. That is another crucial ingredient for happiness.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: emotional well-being, God, life, Love, material well-being, money, mother, physical well-being, spiritual well-being, worry | 6 Comments »
2 MORE LIGHTS
Posted by Ella Moss on April 20, 2009
1.
She was down on her luck:
Her husband left, she was laid off.
Then a marshal came and saw her off.
She put her possessions in a plastic bag,
And holding onto her son’s little hand,
She walked off to the world’s farthest end.
And there she found a place to laid down,
At the very edge of the town.
She gave her son potato chips
(That’s all she could afford).
Then she dag into her bag and got out her coat.
She placed it on the ground
(Thank God, no one was around),
And made a pillow out of the bag.
“Tonight we are sleeping on this magic rug”,
She said to her child and snuggled up next to him.
And the breeze went quiet,
And the street light dimmed.
She sang to her child a lullaby:
“Shash, little baby, don’t you cry
Jesus Christ loves you and so do I”
Breathing in the sweet smell of his hair.
With her heart filled with love to the brim,
She thought, “Nothing better can be out there”
And, thank God, it is totally free!…”
2.
She looked at the stars: they were many and bright,
And she hugged her child so tender yet tight,
As the coat lift them up to the sky.
There an angel stopped by
The coat and gave them the sweetest of smiles.
He knew them by name and they talked for a while.
Then he said, hugging the child:
“These stars that you see are reflections of lights
That reside within each human heart.
By kindness of others they’re kindled this bright.
That is where Divinity starts.
What you see is the very image of God -
Every human’s inherited right.
When kindness lights up one person’s heart,
Everyone gets a little more light.”
And He added, while sending back
to the ground her magic rug:
“What you think of yourself being down on luck
is really you giving someone a chance
to brighten his heart with kindness for once”.
3.
Startled and suddenly cold, she woke up
and saw a man standing by the bus stop.
Let this story be truthfully told,
he was old, decrepit, short, fat and bald.
Their eyes’ve met, and he said with a laugh:
“Were you waiting here all night for the bus?”
“No. This is my place”.
“That must be tough.
Your hubby should get you a roof that lasts”,
And he laughed some more, enjoying his own joke.
“My husband left”, she said, folding her rug.
And they went quiet, both taken back
To the time when their hearts broke.
His was many a year ago,
When he and his wife fought for months in a row.
Then he left her and his son,
taking off after the setting Sun.
Since life was easier with feelings gone,
he never needed again anyone,
and that worked out just fine.
But now, as he looked at her boy, golden hair and all,
he thought of his kid and felt a jolt.
So he surprised himself with the following words:
“Come along. I need help with my pizza place.
And for that I would give you the room and board.
So what do you say?”
She said, “Yes”.
4.
And that is how it came to be that she got a job and a place to stay.
And that is how it is to this day.
She waits on his tables, she cooks and cleans.
She is always smiling. He always looks mean.
But he pays her cash and buys her son toys,
And seeing them smile makes his heart leap with joy.
5.
Then one day he got very sick
And spent in a hospital more than a week.
When he came out, he told her, “I’m old.
I can measure the rest of my life in days.
I’ve got to put my affairs in order.
Please, look after my place,
While I’m gone.
I’ve got to find my son.”
And that’s what he did.
He saw his son
From across the street,
while sitting in the van,
Then through a hole in the fence,
Then through a window at night.
His son was a handsome man,
Tall, with hair wavy and light.
He had a wife and 2 young kids.
He liked cars and had a tooth for sweets.
And, as he saw his son through a window at night,
Putting his kids to bed,
Kissing them on the forehead,
The old man cried.
Then he turned around and was walking back to his van.
That is when he heard the voice of his son:
“Hey! What’s up with you, man?!
You’ve been stalking me all day long!”
“I’m sorry”, his dad said, “I was wrong.
I was wrong leaving you and your mom
To fend for yourselves.
I was numb.
I was numb all these years.
I have wasted my life on money and stuff.
But I’m glad you’re making alright with your life
Right from the start.
Remember, my son, to be kind to your wife,
For kindness keeps the joy in your heart.
It makes men feel better than many a dollar.
Sometimes it requires of men real valor.
But that’s what it takes to become a man.
You can have no respect for yourself until then.
And I’m sorry I was not a man enough.
So you’d better take care of the kids and the wife.
Don’t worry about the stuff.”
And, swallowing tears,
he opened the van’s door.
“I’m sorry”, he repeated,
“that I could not be more…
That I was not more kind..”
And he disappeared
into the night.
His son went back to the house, scratching his head:
“What was that?!…Was it my dad?!..”
His wife stood by the kitchen sink,
When he asked her to fix him a drink.
Then he saw the tiredness set in her eyes,
And he thought of his dad telling him to be kind.
He hugged her and kissed, and said with surprise:
“Let me do the dishes tonight”.
Posted in poetry | Tagged: bad luck, children, economy, Faith, family, God, Jesus, kindness, life, Love, money, mother, parenting, poetry, spirituality, women | 10 Comments »
VENUS RETROGRADE
Posted by Ella Moss on March 21, 2009
On March 7, I was about to e-mail 1 piece of information to someone in my business network and go to bed. It was almost 11 PM.
But I could not find a file. That was a very important file, so I was searching for it all over, getting more and more upset.
As I was doing that, my file cabinet toppled over and broke to pieces, with papers flying all over the room. But I found what I was looking for.
It was simply misfiled.
All night long I was refiling my documents, and, as I was doing it, I was re-thinking my business – or, rather, the way I was doing it.
Ever since I’ve lost my major client on 10/25/07, I’ve been working on different avenues of expansion.
In slightly more than a year, I’ve got quite a few of them. So, while sifting through papers through the night, I finally realized that I was overwhelmed. If I don’t hire someone now, most of my efforts would go to waste, as I cannot follow up on all those leads and do my core work, and be the mother that I want to be to my child. Thank God for falling cabinets!
And thank God for Venus going retrograde.
When a planet goes retrograde (i.e. appearing to go backwards in the sky), we have the opportunity to re-think / re-do whatever that planet represents generally and in our personal horoscopes.
Venus deals generally with what we value. This means money, beautiful things, and, of course, this applies to people we value.
So we get the chance to revalue our important relationships as well.
That is why times when Venus retrogrades are littered with all kinds of painful break-ups.
In my chart, Venus also represents my business, and, invariably, every time it retrogrades, I dream of new ways of doing business.
As an astrologer, however, I know not to start anything new or make permanent changes until it goes direct again. That is when the world sobers up, and our re-thought values get the reality check.
Meanwhile, the world is drank with dreams and nightmares. Everyone is rocking the boat, and a few will fall over.
From 4/17 until 5/20 we are going to be re-thinking our revaluations, and the time to take definitive action would be the end of May. That when our vision finally gets corrected, and we can see straight.
Meanwhile, I will talk to a few people, see if that is the right way to go, see if they are right for me. I may even give them a try before 5/20. I may also decide to simply drop a few projects, and concentrate on those that are ready to be milked. I will also get me a new filing cabinet.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: relationships, retrograde planet, timing, Venus, Venus retrograde | 2 Comments »
New Economy, or Buy American, Stupid!
Posted by Ella Moss on February 20, 2009
So, the new stimulus package is passed, hopes are up, markets are down, and recession deepens. Everyone is blaming the housing market, unscrupulous bankers and inept previous administration.
But very few seem to understand the true roots of our woes, and how deep our economic problems go.
Believe me, the trillion dollar stimulus is but a bandaid on a very deep wound!
Everyone is stuck with the 20th century economic model:
an entrepreneur discovers a need->manufactures solution->gets rich->creates demands->someone else fulfills those demands->gets rich->creates more demands->those who supply solutions get rich too->created jobs create more jobs->society gets richer and richer
This is the 21st century global economics model:
manufacturers/suppliers find cheaper workforce in a poor country->enrich that country->the workforce gets more expensive->the suppliers go to another cheaper country->previous producing countries get poorer, their workforce immigrates to a new labor market->wages stagnate or get lower->more labor markets get poorer->no one can afford the supplies anymore->manufacturers go bust->everyone gets even poorer.
If you don’t believe me, here’s a news bit on Ireland. Ireland was in great demand as a labor market, because people spoke English, were educated, yet asked for much lower wages than UK or American workers. The labor market there was so hot, that Polish and other poorer EU brethren immigrated to Ireland.
But the workers grew too expensive in Ireland as economy there heated up, so the companies left for cheaper labor markets like Poland. Now Irish workers immigrate to Poland. But they no longer get the same wages. Living expenses are cheaper in Poland for now, so it makes some sense. Once Polish economy booms, however, and living expense there goes, accordingly, up, Poland would face the same economic bust, as now does Ireland.
India was also a popular labor market. But they started asking for too much money, so China became a place to be for manufacturers.
Lately, however, the “smart” manufacturers have been migrating to Africa.
Where does it leave the U.S. – the original place of labor migration?
I found an article in one of the New York’s free newspapers (Metro is it?) that the U.S. stills manufactures 65% of its products domestically (down from the 20th century’s 80%).
But it does not say, that the domestic wages went up. Because for the past 7 – 8 years they have not. Domestic salaries have not increased either. In fact, many went down. Because our labor force now competes for wages with Irish, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Mexican and other labor forces of the world.
The only market that saw increase in the U.S. in the past 8 years was the housing market, as speculators (flippers, real estate and mortgage brokers) kept pushing the prices up to the point of unaffordability by the impoverished middle class (the domestic labor force).
The feeling of prosperity that bubble has created had no base in reality. That feeling was based on the ease of credit (future income of financial sector ->future prosperity), which was given on a funny assumption that housing prices would continue to rise as wages have historically done so, affording better prices.
But our wages could no longer support our consumption on easy credit, hence prices and credit crunch.
No matter where our income was coming from, its sources were disappearing or getting smaller at best.
Not only manufacturing was leaving America, services were too.
Web design, translations, document processing, customer service – all were becoming outsourced. When was the last time you have heard a customer service representative on the other end of the phone that did not speak with an Indian accent?
People in this country that specialized in the services that were now easily outsourced could no longer ask for wage increase, if they were to be kept employed.
In the 21st century, the labor market is global. That means, the wages for the same services performed would eventually average out. If a Russian translator in the U.S. asks now for $.14/word, and a Russian translator in Siberia asks now for $.05/wd for the same job, eventually they will all go down to $.05/wd. If a worker at a Chrysler plant in Detroit asks for $35/hr, and a worker at a Chrysler plant in Mexico asks for $5/hr, eventually they will all ask for $5/hr – because it is natural for any company to seek out a cheaper labor.
Since the impoverished global workforce is not going to be able to afford $30,000 cars and $300,000 homes, those prices will go down too -unless they are artificially held high by governments’ bailouts. But bailouts cannot continue indefinitely. So the prices will continue to deflate in accordance with deflated average incomes. Middle class is going to disappear (it may take a few decades), unless the governments would wake up and set up some protection.
No, not trade protection – that is passe. It is the labor markets that must be protected, if we don’t want to go back to the economy we used to have throughout 10th – 19th centuries – the economy of a few very rich, and the rest being very poor indeed.
But I am not stupid enough to expect our government (or any other for that matter) to step in with labor force protection. Besides, the ease and cheapness of global communication and travel would create serious obstacles to any attempt to create such protection.
The only thing that may protect our domestic labor force is the consumer movement. Just as our demand for green products has eventually created green industries, our demand for products made in America may protect domestic work force..to some extent.
Incidently, when was the last time you saw something made in America in a store?
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: credit crunch, economy, global economy, global work force, made in America, payroll tax, predictions, recession, trickle-down economics, unemployment | 7 Comments »
