Love Is The Law

You Got the Mother You Needed Every person's relationship with their mother is different. Some mothers are warm and nurturing. Some are cold. Some are abusive. Some are absent.... My own relationship with my mother was terrible in my childhood; it's finally gotten better in my 40s, after a lot of healing work and forgiveness on my part. The thing to know is, each of us got the EXACT mother we would need in order to have the life experiences we intended to have. Who your mother is is no accident; you chose your mother and she chose you - at the soul level, before you both were born. Of all the relationships in your life, your parents are the most influential and important. You are biologically programmed to learn how to be human by mimicking them. The qualities your mother possessed when you were young might have been qualities you needed to emulate OR qualities you needed to rebel against. She may have given you EVERYTHING you needed or NOTHING you needed. If there's something she didn't give you, it's because your life path includes learning to provide that to yourself. For instance, because I didn't get the love and nurturing I might have liked from mother, I learned how to become my own best source of love, without seeking to fill that void through a relationship with another person. The healing I went through to repair that damage as an adult made me one of the most skilled healers on the planet. Meanwhile, I found the love I craved at its truest source: the Divine. Depending on your experience, it's not always easy to be grateful for who your mother is/was, but it is possible. I promise you this: Whatever bothers you most about your mother is her greatest gift to you. It bothers you because it's SUPPOSED TO get under your skin and inspire you to grow, the way that a grain of sand irritates an oyster and becomes a pearl.

You Were Born to Be a Hero Modern philosopher Joseph Campbell - the man who said "Follow your bliss" - is also known for capturing the idea of "the hero's journey." It's a concept found in great writing throughout time - from the ancient Greek story of Odysseus to the screenplay of "Star Wars" and many others. The stories we love most are usually hero's journeys.... This is the template of the hero's journey: A person is inspired to leave home and set out on a quest. Along the way, that person meets an antagonist (could be another person or a circumstance) through which they discover their true gift(s). They use their gift(s) to triumph over the antagonist, becoming recognized as the hero they always had the potential to be. They return home with their newfound sense of self. You are the hero of your own journey. If we apply this template to our own lives, then there are a few key takeaways to keep in mind: The hero doesn't turn back. Despite meeting the antagonist, the hero proceeds forward as if victory were assured. When we do the same in our lives, that's when we discover our gifts. When the journey is over, the hero ends up back at home, where things often look the same on the outside; it's the hero's insides that have changed. As Zen Buddhists say, "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." Certain responsibilities will not change, but how you go about them will change because you can use the gifts you have discovered on your journey.

Doing the Hard Work In his book Magick Without Tears, Aleister Crowley wrote to one of his students: "An ounce of your practice is worth a ton of my teaching." Crowley made this comment in response to all the questions she had been peppering him with. His point to her was that the questions were a way from distracting herself from doing the "hard work." ... But the hard work he meant isn't what we would think of as hard work. He wasn't referring to studying for countless hours or working a 10-hour per day job. The hard work Crowley counseled his student to perform was the work of controlling her own mind. The second hardest thing for any human to do, IMO, is to admit that they choose their own thoughts; the hardest is to choose new ones. Aleister Crowley was notoriously in favor of breaking societal norms. I perceive that he lived his life that way to demonstrate in the extreme what every person seeking enlightenment needs to do: excavate their mind to remove every unnecessary rule that they live by. That is the hard work but also the most rewarding: taking charge of your own mind.

Living in Balance Human life, especially here in the U.S., seems to be a celebration of up-and-downs. It swings from the highs of abundance and success down to the lowest lows of scarcity and struggle - or vice versa. Look at our favorite movies: A hero goes through battles and struggles (oh no! will they make it?) and comes out victorious at the end. (Hooray!) We enjoy drama so much that we pay to be entertained by it.... Even the real life people that society reveres as heroes tend to fall into the same pattern: They survived a dramatic, perhaps dire situation and so they are celebrated. We were taught to believe that this is the best way to live; that belief manifests into our realities. Does this pattern show up in your personal life? Do you swing from struggle to triumph and back to struggle again? Are you tired of those up-and-downs? There's a different way to be: living in balance. In ego consciousness (where you probably are now), the up-and-down is necessary, because in these lower frequencies only one half of a pair (the up or the down) can be experienced at any given time. You can be happy or sad, in lack or abundance, giving or receiving, but never both. You might know that both possibilities exist, perhaps flip-flopping so quickly that it feels like you're experiencing both at once, but in truth you can only be in one of them at a time. As you evolve in consciousness, you can reach the point where life becomes more balanced. You don't flip-flop all the time, and the swings you experience are much smaller. You tend to live life near the middle instead of in the highs and lows, especially emotionally speaking. You might be thinking, "Does that mean I won't get excited anymore? Does it mean I won't experience huge success?" No, but "excited" isn't necessarily the best way to live. Stress is exciting but not fun or life-giving. Would you accept a slower trend of steady success if it meant you didn't swing back down into failure and lose it all? Since the highest highs come at the expense of having to also experience the lowest lows, could be you content hanging out in the middle instead? If there was a way to always be peacefully happy and drama-free, would you choose it? The rituals and practices taught in our mystery school, along with the collective energy of the school, are specifically intended to help you reach that equanimity. You even out toward the middle, and because you're not constantly dealing with the stressors of the extremes, you can easily receive guidance and take action to live your own life in the best way.

Relating to The Knights Templar Throughout history, there have been countless schools and organizations that taught how to control one's ego (i.e., mind and emotions) in order to live a life in union with Source. Some of those have been small, operating quietly, like our school.... But others were much better known, like the Knights Templar. There's a lot of mythology surrounding the Knights Templar: Were they good guys or bad guys? Do they still exist today? Focusing on what we know is factual, there is much to learn from them - lessons that are still infused into trainings like ours. First, the Knights Templar military training taught them how to be singularly focused on an outcome, to be a group of men acting like a single organism, and how to do it all in the name of God when ego might have made them quit. Doesn't that describe how you want your life to be? Moving forward valiantly in the name of your purpose even when part of you wants to quit? I know it does for me. Outside of battle (most of them never faced battle, according to the Wikipedia article), they channeled that same focus and unity into other endeavors, especially finance. The Knights Templar established a financial network that criss-crossed Europe and anywhere else the Catholic Church had a presence. They amassed great wealth were essentially the first multi-national banking system, lending money to royalty and essentially funding Europe for a couple centuries. The truly amazing thing is, they built their vast network in only 25 years. Stop and think about how short that timeframe truly is, especially considering that the Knights Templar didn't have the Internet, telephones, cars, planes, trains, or any of the modern conveniences that we would use to build such a network. Anytime they needed to communicate with someone, they had to get on a horse and go to that person. And yet, they made it happen. It's an amazing example of how quickly quantum leaps can happen with singular focus and multiple people working toward the same goal. At Love is the Law mystery school, we don't officially teach about the Knights Templar, but we do talk about them on the side from time to time. Here are some of our favorite sources of Knights Templar materials: The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors by Dan Jones "Knightfall," a historical drama History Channel where Dan was a lead consultant (currently available on Netflix) "Buried: Knights Templar and the Holy Grail," which traces the history of the Knights Templar by exploring archaeological sites related to them "Curse of Oak Island," a History Channel reality series about digging for treasure in Nova Scotia that is said to be linked to the Knights Templar

How a Spiritual Community Can Uplevel Your Journey Doesn't it feel good to travel this spiritual journey with other people? To have friends who "get it" when you share your strange and awesome new experiences?... Having companions on the journey feels so much better than traveling alone. Did you know there are other benefits to walking the path as part of a community? When you're part of a community, it has a collective consciousness that you give to and receive from. In most communities, including informal ones like your group of spiritual friends, the give-and-take is unconscious and disorganized; no one is monitoring whether it's in balance or aware of the impact (helpful or detrimental) that it has on everyone. In contrast to this, my experience in the Love is the Law community has been very balanced and beneficial. We practice Karma Yoga, which is unselfish action as a way to give energy. Every student is asked to perform small acts of service for the school community - often simple things like cleaning or virtual activities that don't require specific expertise. Those acts of service increase the collective energy of our community, which then automatically uplevels all of us. I think of it like having a battery that charges itself by being used. The more that students experience this, the more we look forward to Karma Yoga. For me, I immediately notice the difference in my mood and focus every time. Shortly after that, more synchronicities show up in my life - things manifesting without my having to work hard for them. That's how Life is supposed to unfold, you know. We've been conditioned to believe that receiving more requires doing more, but the most important thing is always to raise your energy. When your energy is up, then it's easier to let Life conspire in your favor, and any action you do need to take is inspired and clear. And of course, the more people that are positively contributing to the energy of the group, the more beneficial it is to everyone. It's truly the more, the merrier.

3 Reasons Why You Need to Join an Experiential Spiritual Training A perspective offered by one of our third-degree students I love living in 2020, when there are so many sources of spiritual knowledge openly available. It's such a welcome change from when I started my spiritual journey back in 2002. I remember being nervous about mentioning my new interest in tarot, meditation, and chakras....Continue reading

Forecast: Continued Ugly followed by Total Revolution We are at the final years of Pluto passing through Capricorn before it moves into Aquarius. During this time we are going to see the worst of the injustices of the system. Capricorn is about work and the rules. Positive traits include ambition, persistence, realism and cool emotions. Negative traits are workaholic, relentless, pessimistic, heartless. Pluto is the underworld, all the buried forgotten dis-avowed parts of ourselves and our culture, the dark side.

In your heart there’s a place called home. It’s not bound by time or space or people. If you’re lucky you’ve made a bond with loved ones, the land, a pet. My mom passed away yesterday and I’m traveling to her home, Montana. Where she was born and where she chose to die. Now she’ll be home at last the home in her heart and soul. Be peaceful mom, enjoy your visit home.

People will trade Regardless of whether the economy starts up again sooner or later, people will trade and bargain for what they want and need. During this transition period where people are waking up to long buried desires we will also discover new talents. ... I am amused every day to hear smoke alarms going off around the building as people re-discover their kitchens and cooking. So too with our abilities to trade and negotiate for ourselves amongst ourselves and as groups. Money is not the basis of the economy, trade is.

Who are your quarantine mates? Part of this spiritual tradition is for students to live as a household, a spiritual family. Your interactions with other students allow you to see yourself - whatever annoys you about them is generally a reflection of some quality you reject in yourself. We learn to treat others considerately because it’s not them it’s us. Now that we’ve been quarantining for a while this exercise is available to many. Who are your quarantine mates and what’s wrong with them? Boom! Now you know how to improve yourself.

It’s the end of week 3 of shelter in place... And typical of my response to any enforced pattern change in life, whether it’s a new exercise regimen or a new job or sheltering in place - I’m sick. Not with corona virus, just the common cold.... I’m too busy, I’m too tired/sick, I forgot. These 3 responses to change are all our unconscious entrenched programs need in order to deter us from our goals. If you want something new in life you’re going to have to make it past these gatekeepers. Forewarned is forearmed.

What I don’t miss The incessant drone of a consumer society. What to wear, think, feel, who to be in order to be lovable or worthy and what car to drive. When I came out of my cloistered life as a student where there was no tv and cellphones were iffy, people were sober and we had to create our own entertainment with each other, ... One remarkable thing I noticed was that according to mass media I had the wrong boyfriend and even used the wrong toothpaste! And then after you spend your money on these things, spending money to go out on display so everyone knows you got the message.

You Got the Mother You Needed Every person's relationship with their mother is different. Some mothers are warm and nurturing. Some are cold. Some are abusive. Some are absent.... My own relationship with my mother was terrible in my childhood; it's finally gotten better in my 40s, after a lot of healing work and forgiveness on my part. The thing to know is, each of us got the EXACT mother we would need in order to have the life experiences we intended to have. Who your mother is is no accident; you chose your mother and she chose you - at the soul level, before you both were born. Of all the relationships in your life, your parents are the most influential and important. You are biologically programmed to learn how to be human by mimicking them. The qualities your mother possessed when you were young might have been qualities you needed to emulate OR qualities you needed to rebel against. She may have given you EVERYTHING you needed or NOTHING you needed. If there's something she didn't give you, it's because your life path includes learning to provide that to yourself. For instance, because I didn't get the love and nurturing I might have liked from mother, I learned how to become my own best source of love, without seeking to fill that void through a relationship with another person. The healing I went through to repair that damage as an adult made me one of the most skilled healers on the planet. Meanwhile, I found the love I craved at its truest source: the Divine. Depending on your experience, it's not always easy to be grateful for who your mother is/was, but it is possible. I promise you this: Whatever bothers you most about your mother is her greatest gift to you. It bothers you because it's SUPPOSED TO get under your skin and inspire you to grow, the way that a grain of sand irritates an oyster and becomes a pearl.

You Were Born to Be a Hero Modern philosopher Joseph Campbell - the man who said "Follow your bliss" - is also known for capturing the idea of "the hero's journey." It's a concept found in great writing throughout time - from the ancient Greek story of Odysseus to the screenplay of "Star Wars" and many others. The stories we love most are usually hero's journeys.... This is the template of the hero's journey: A person is inspired to leave home and set out on a quest. Along the way, that person meets an antagonist (could be another person or a circumstance) through which they discover their true gift(s). They use their gift(s) to triumph over the antagonist, becoming recognized as the hero they always had the potential to be. They return home with their newfound sense of self. You are the hero of your own journey. If we apply this template to our own lives, then there are a few key takeaways to keep in mind: The hero doesn't turn back. Despite meeting the antagonist, the hero proceeds forward as if victory were assured. When we do the same in our lives, that's when we discover our gifts. When the journey is over, the hero ends up back at home, where things often look the same on the outside; it's the hero's insides that have changed. As Zen Buddhists say, "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." Certain responsibilities will not change, but how you go about them will change because you can use the gifts you have discovered on your journey.

Doing the Hard Work In his book Magick Without Tears, Aleister Crowley wrote to one of his students: "An ounce of your practice is worth a ton of my teaching." Crowley made this comment in response to all the questions she had been peppering him with. His point to her was that the questions were a way from distracting herself from doing the "hard work." ... But the hard work he meant isn't what we would think of as hard work. He wasn't referring to studying for countless hours or working a 10-hour per day job. The hard work Crowley counseled his student to perform was the work of controlling her own mind. The second hardest thing for any human to do, IMO, is to admit that they choose their own thoughts; the hardest is to choose new ones. Aleister Crowley was notoriously in favor of breaking societal norms. I perceive that he lived his life that way to demonstrate in the extreme what every person seeking enlightenment needs to do: excavate their mind to remove every unnecessary rule that they live by. That is the hard work but also the most rewarding: taking charge of your own mind.

Living in Balance Human life, especially here in the U.S., seems to be a celebration of up-and-downs. It swings from the highs of abundance and success down to the lowest lows of scarcity and struggle - or vice versa. Look at our favorite movies: A hero goes through battles and struggles (oh no! will they make it?) and comes out victorious at the end. (Hooray!) We enjoy drama so much that we pay to be entertained by it.... Even the real life people that society reveres as heroes tend to fall into the same pattern: They survived a dramatic, perhaps dire situation and so they are celebrated. We were taught to believe that this is the best way to live; that belief manifests into our realities. Does this pattern show up in your personal life? Do you swing from struggle to triumph and back to struggle again? Are you tired of those up-and-downs? There's a different way to be: living in balance. In ego consciousness (where you probably are now), the up-and-down is necessary, because in these lower frequencies only one half of a pair (the up or the down) can be experienced at any given time. You can be happy or sad, in lack or abundance, giving or receiving, but never both. You might know that both possibilities exist, perhaps flip-flopping so quickly that it feels like you're experiencing both at once, but in truth you can only be in one of them at a time. As you evolve in consciousness, you can reach the point where life becomes more balanced. You don't flip-flop all the time, and the swings you experience are much smaller. You tend to live life near the middle instead of in the highs and lows, especially emotionally speaking. You might be thinking, "Does that mean I won't get excited anymore? Does it mean I won't experience huge success?" No, but "excited" isn't necessarily the best way to live. Stress is exciting but not fun or life-giving. Would you accept a slower trend of steady success if it meant you didn't swing back down into failure and lose it all? Since the highest highs come at the expense of having to also experience the lowest lows, could be you content hanging out in the middle instead? If there was a way to always be peacefully happy and drama-free, would you choose it? The rituals and practices taught in our mystery school, along with the collective energy of the school, are specifically intended to help you reach that equanimity. You even out toward the middle, and because you're not constantly dealing with the stressors of the extremes, you can easily receive guidance and take action to live your own life in the best way.

Relating to The Knights Templar Throughout history, there have been countless schools and organizations that taught how to control one's ego (i.e., mind and emotions) in order to live a life in union with Source. Some of those have been small, operating quietly, like our school.... But others were much better known, like the Knights Templar. There's a lot of mythology surrounding the Knights Templar: Were they good guys or bad guys? Do they still exist today? Focusing on what we know is factual, there is much to learn from them - lessons that are still infused into trainings like ours. First, the Knights Templar military training taught them how to be singularly focused on an outcome, to be a group of men acting like a single organism, and how to do it all in the name of God when ego might have made them quit. Doesn't that describe how you want your life to be? Moving forward valiantly in the name of your purpose even when part of you wants to quit? I know it does for me. Outside of battle (most of them never faced battle, according to the Wikipedia article), they channeled that same focus and unity into other endeavors, especially finance. The Knights Templar established a financial network that criss-crossed Europe and anywhere else the Catholic Church had a presence. They amassed great wealth were essentially the first multi-national banking system, lending money to royalty and essentially funding Europe for a couple centuries. The truly amazing thing is, they built their vast network in only 25 years. Stop and think about how short that timeframe truly is, especially considering that the Knights Templar didn't have the Internet, telephones, cars, planes, trains, or any of the modern conveniences that we would use to build such a network. Anytime they needed to communicate with someone, they had to get on a horse and go to that person. And yet, they made it happen. It's an amazing example of how quickly quantum leaps can happen with singular focus and multiple people working toward the same goal. At Love is the Law mystery school, we don't officially teach about the Knights Templar, but we do talk about them on the side from time to time. Here are some of our favorite sources of Knights Templar materials: The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors by Dan Jones "Knightfall," a historical drama History Channel where Dan was a lead consultant (currently available on Netflix) "Buried: Knights Templar and the Holy Grail," which traces the history of the Knights Templar by exploring archaeological sites related to them "Curse of Oak Island," a History Channel reality series about digging for treasure in Nova Scotia that is said to be linked to the Knights Templar