"Super-Crunchers"
I am passing along a message that came through my intuition network, from a colleague, PMH Atwater, which you may find interesting. She says, >>In the Sept. 3rd issue of Newsweek is an article called "Era of the Super Cruncher," and it refers to "the end of intuition." They say, "An explosion of computing power gives companies powerful new tools." Law professor Ian Ayres, at Yale, talks about this new trend that will shape our economy for years to come — "the replacement of expertise and intuition by objective, data-based decision making, made possible by a virtually inexhaustible supply of inexpensive information." This is huge. I know because I've already been affected by it.

This spring, when my latest book was offered to bookstores — with an incredible cover (the best I've ever had) and a gangbusters title (I thought) — my publishers gave it to the super crunchers at Barnes & Noble and Borders first. These people did their crunching, and reported back. The cover was old hat, people were no longer attracted to things that looked "spiritual." The title was wrong, it would not entice anyone. Then they made a recommendation based on their data as to what kind of cover would sell and what type of title would catch on. Let me tell you it was painful to change, but, in the long-run (after much prayer), I went with the cruncher's cover and title. To see the cover they came up with, check out the home page on my website at www.pmhatwater.com. Their title is:"The Big Book of Near-Death Experiences: The Ultimate Guide to What Happens When We Die."

Now, everyone I've shown the cover and title to loves it. And so did amazon.com. They have already sold 2,000 copies, and the book isn't due out until October 19th! We'll see after that, but, at least for now, and in the business world, that super crunching, I must admit, works.

I am reminded that on January 25, 2008, Pluto makes its initial entry into Capricorn. During the many years it was in Sagittarius, religious and spiritual and mystical and intuitive issues flourished. So did gambling, identity theft, long-distance travel, higher learning, sports, the power of the sun and global warming, and anything to do with animals. All of these are typical Sagittarian issues.

You always feel the movement of the "heavy" planets about six months before they change signs. That means, we are already being faced with "colorations" and trends that associate with Capricorn. Capricorn says quit fooling around in netherworlds, fantasy, gambling, taking chances, and with stuff like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, with religious beliefs and spiritual longings, and get down to business. Like, who pays the bills? when? and, how much? Capricorns are drawn to business, places of business, chambers of commerce, service employees, the economy, farms and farming, the government, government officials, land owners, mines and their products, politicians, real estate, mortgages, banks, interest rates, money, time and timekeepers, discipline, and on and on. It's like Harry Truman yelling, "The buck stops here." And the advent of super-crunchers fits exactly into this new and growing "forcefield" of agents and individuals who are now stopping, taking a deep breath, and readying themselves for "payment time," as, not only is the bill due for our mutual excesses, but a new and different way of living, more in accord with sustainability and energy conservation, is now at hand — and needed.

On September 2nd Saturn rolls into the sign of Virgo, another Earth sign like Capricorn (well, sorta like Capricorn). Saturn is the disciplinarian, that quality in life that says "wake up, get real, and be honest with yourself. It's time to be more practical, down-to-earth, and reliable." Phew! See what's coming, and what's virtually here? For those of you involved in business pursuits, now is the time to redesign what you are offering, and maybe find a way to combine intuition with super-crunching. Both are valuable, and we need them both.<<

To me this is very thought-provoking. We certainly need to come down to earth, to bring our visions into reality. We also need to be in our bodies more, rather than in the logical structures of thought that the intellect, science, and computers call home. I see intuition as continuing to be extremely important if we are to survive with our highest humanity intact.

Appreciative Inquiry
A friend just sent me an article on this "new" method of problem-solving, a subject I've been thinking alot about lately. I've been contemplating the whole idea of having "problems" and "solving them" intuitively instead of just with the head. In my meditation the other day, I heard, "Don't solve problems with the mind." I understood that when we are in the heart, merged with the Field, problems only occur when we stop the Flow. But back to "Appreciative Inquiry," the method my friend was telling me about. . . Here's an excerpt from the article you can download with the link, above:

"Appreciative Inquiry is about the coevolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, and the relevant world around them. In its broadest focus, it involves systematic discovery of what gives life to a living system when it is most alive, most effective, and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. AI involves, in a central way, the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system’s capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and heighten positive potential. It centrally involves the mobilization of inquiry through the crafting of the “unconditional positive question” often-involving hundreds or sometimes thousands of people. In AI the arduous task of intervention gives way to the speed of imagination and innovation; instead of negation, criticism, and spiraling diagnosis, there is discovery, dream, and design.

"AI seeks, fundamentally, to build a constructive union between a whole people and the massive entirety of what people talk about as past and present capacities: achievements, assets, unexplored potentials, innovations, strengths, elevated thoughts, opportunities, benchmarks, high point moments, lived values, traditions, strategic competencies, stories, expressions of wisdom, insights into the deeper corporate spirit or soul — and visions of valued and possible futures. Taking all of these together as a gestalt, AI deliberately, in everything it does, seeks to work from accounts of this “positive change core” — and it assumes that every living system has many untapped and rich and inspiring accounts of the positive. Link the energy of this core directly to any change agenda and changes never thought possible are suddenly and democratically mobilized."

Problems are points of focus, calling our attention to how we may be off-purpose, where Spirit wants us to go next — remembering that we are ALL "Spirit," cocreating each other. By willing a problem to be gone, we may miss a deep lesson the soul is trying to bring us.

Pleasure Without a Cause
Here is something I said to a client in a reading this week, that I think I needed to hear myself. Perhaps it will be of use to you, as well. We were talking about his being more successful in his career, being able to put out the kind of energy that attracts the money he's worth. I said, "Entitlement is a function of centeredness. It's a function, really, of — gravity. When you occupy yourself fully you are naturally magnetic and what you need in order to express yourself next will just show up, simultaneously with the idea of what you're going to do next. As long as you stay in yourself, and don't vacate with your mind, don't split your mind, just stay in it, what you need and WANT will simply arise.

"To fully be yourself, stay in the real center-place where things are pooling. Natural entitlement comes out of the pooling energy of the Self, which naturally pools when you rest. It pools and then it expresses again. Like a fountain. You don't have to make an effort at expressing yourself, you just have to bring your mind into the pool, into the resting, and that collecting of Self feels like pleasure. It's the simple pleasure you knew when you were a child and were 'full of yourself' and had lots of energy, felt goofy and playful.

"Trust the pooling. It will fill you up with motive and bring ideas. And the more centered you remain, the more you will become visible, and the more you will become a creator that expresses originality, which will attract other people who are interested in that, who want to learn that, and who will value your talents. So you'll just sort of snow-ball into an expanded life.
Focus on the feeling of 'Pleasure without a cause.'"

Photo copyright by Penney Peirce 2007

Split Mind, Partial Results
I have been coaching a client through the emotional part of buying her first home, late in life. She now has definite parameters for what she can spend, and what would be smart to have as features of the condo she needs: an extra room and bath in case she needs to take on a roommate, for example. But originally, she didn't know her financial limits, wasn't sure what she wanted in terms of features, didn't want to upset her strong-minded and rather impatient real estate agent, and was dealing with the sheer courage it was taking to take this "risk" at her age. So even in this buyer's market, she was finding surprising setbacks. The condos were in poor condition, too small, or the owners wanted all sorts of contingencies — some of them couldn't find new places to move to so she couldn't move into the place she was bidding on. Her agent was bossing her around and pressuring her to get done with it, already. Over the last few weeks, she's been getting clearer about her own boundaries — what she will accept, what her agent is supposed to be doing for her, what's simply too expensive and unrealistic for her. She is learning to unify herself in her own sense of "deep comfort," and the house-hunting process is narrowing and looks like it's progressing into clarity. This is one situation where the connection between inner state of mind and outer results seemed so directly correlated, that it impressed me, and reminded me to look into my own life for places I don't feel entitled to something, or hold too much humility and adaptability, or am conflicted about what I want. I heard myself say to another client in a reading today: "Entitlement is really about being centered." When we're centered, present, and saturated with our own soul energy, we become super-magnetic for that which we need.

Attack of the Mutant Rice; What About the 7th Generation?
Thought I'd pass along another alert from The Arlington Institute, about genetically engineered rice. The pertinent article is at: http://money.cnn.com/magazines. . .
In linking this topic to intuition, it seems to me this pertains to our need to wake ourselves up out of the lethargic hypnosis state created by the media spokespeople, by television's droning affect on our awareness, by comfortable consumerism, and by our own internal denial about facing unattractive realities and emotions. Many years ago before the term "global warming" had become common, I heard a late-night Art Bell radio interview with a man who claimed to be a time traveler from the future, sent back to the midwest as part of a team who were gathering seeds. It seemed, according to him, that the future had become much hotter, that genetically engineered seeds no longer worked, and there were food shortages. They needed the kind of non-hybridized seeds that were still potent and adaptable. It seemed preposterous that this man was who he said he was, but something about him seemed so normal, and what he said about many things in the future seemed to make common sense. Then, last night, I heard Bill Maher on Larry King say that the push toward shifting land toward the production of grain for biofuels was really the current administration's attempt to funnel money to Archer Daniels Midland. Even "small" things like this should capture some of our attention. Remember that the matriarchal decision-making process of the Iroquois tribes always depended on the affects of the decision on the 7th generation down the line.

10 Ways to Feel Spirit in Your Life — #4

1. Do some kind of volunteer service for other people. Notice how you get as much value from it as you put into it.

2. Ask 6 people to make a list of the things they like about you, and the things they think you could work on to improve your character.

3. Read the inspiring words of the great, spiritual world teachers: Jesus, Buddha, Pythagoras, Zoroaster, Mohammed, Lao Tzu, Gandhi, Yogananda, Swedenborg, etc.

4. Make an altar in your home. Or make a shrine somewhere outside in nature. Keep tending it.

5. Smile at people you don't know.

6. Learn to feel the energy in various kinds of rocks.

7. Turn off your TV, radio, stereo; put down that newspaper, magazine, book— and be with your experience.

8. Care for an animal as if it were a god. Feed the birds.

9. Find a special tree. Visit it. Talk to it. Hug it. Bring it offerings. Send love and messages to others through it. Lean back against it and let it absorb your tensions.

10. Give admiration freely to others, especially to younger people and older people.

See March 19 for part 1, April 30 for part 2, June 18 for part 3.

Remembering Our Roots in Space
Here's a movie recommendation, one that will help you remember many things you know at a deep, visceral level — if you watch it with the innocence with which it was made. It's called THE LAST MIMZY, and stars Joely Richardson and Timothy Hutton along with 2 perfectly cast kids who follow their intuition without fear, to discover pathways into the inner realms of energy and consciousness. The special effects are marvelous, building off Tibetan mandalas and crop circles, and though many may criticize the film as shallow, I loved it. I suppose what touched me were the representations in the special effects of the mechanics of the "toys" from outer space, discovered by the children on a beach. The film wove in the idea of paying attention to dreams, the subtle inner senses, and the unifying power of heart. I remember walking outside the theatre after I saw Close Encounters for the first time, and looking up at the early evening sky glowing turquoise and Prussian blue, and feeling SO connected to the sky and space and what was behind space. I felt the same after this sweet little movie. As I flipped back to the TV, and ran around the channels, I was appalled at the drivel we watch, the out and out stupidity and primitiveness in the programs that program and hypnotize our minds. I realized that nothing — silence — was more satisfying.

The 212-Degree Attitude
A friend forwarded this link for a short, inspirational movie; you might enjoy it. It's from a website called www.simpletruths.com. It really is a simple idea: put one more degree of effort, or originality, or spirit, or passion, into what you're doing. . . View the 212-Degree Movie.