THE TALE OF THE TWO SISTERS

Greetings!
Yes, I am back...its been exactly two months since my last post and I must first apologize, as I've promised

http://reconnections.net/blue_star_children.htm

to make bi-monthly posts, but I've been so caught up in researching and writing Book IV of the White Bird Series that I put all of my writing efforts into it and by the end of the day, there's nothing left in me.
It's been a wonderful spring-turned-summer so far. Here in the Northland spring was slow to start, but it finally arrived and summer's knocking at the door. When I can pull myself away from Crystal and her latest journey, I've tended my gardens which survived one of the coldest winters I can imagine, jumped on my bike and attempted to find my 'biking' legs, wandered around the gardens at the MN Landscape Arboretum (one of my favorite spots of all time) and other household sundries I need to pay attention to. Yes, I'm a writer, but this is such a lovely time of year, I have to pay attention to it!
For those of you who have read the first three books, I know you're anticipating Book IV and I'm putting all of my efforts into making sure it is perfect and complete and ready for publication as promised. So, here's what I've decided to do. I'm going to share with you a story that I've included in the beginning of my new book, due for release fall 2014..."Blue Crystal Mountain."
Now, I don't want to tell you where Crystal is, because that would spoil a wonderful surprise, but I will say this: the being sharing the story with Crystal that you are about to read is a goddess, well-known throughout Asia, known by various names. She shares this story with Crystal because, well, I cannot tell you that either, but it's really not important at this point. Important for Crystal, yes, but for you right now, let's just say, the story can stand on its own. So, I now present to you, the Tale of the Two Sisters, as told to Crystal by a goddess whose beauty and compassion is beyond compare.

The woman eyed Crystal curiously. “Has no one told you the tale of the two sisters?”

Crystal shook her head.

“Then before we continue, I must tell you and then you will understand the importance of your sister.  The story is this: Long ago when new worlds were being created, there were two sisters of royal birth, each known for their extraordinary gifts. The older sister was a great warrior whose skill in battle was unmatched. Her spirit was like the moon, dark and elusive, filled with powerful, mystical qualities, and her intuition, heat and passion in battle were legendary. When enraged, her anger was explosive and everywhere she went, a large snake with blue shiny scales would follow, a warrior in its own right.

“The younger was her opposite. Her spirit was like the sun, filled with powerful qualities of light. She was full of life with a strong clarity of mind, a warm open heart and possessed great wisdom. After heavenly battles were fought, many would seek her out to sit by her side—just being near her light would heal their bodies and their minds. And she was never seen without a glorious white bird at her side. The sisters were inseperable, spending hours in each others company, desiring no other.

“One day the younger sister was called away and told by her father, the king, that she must leave. A new planet was being birthed, a world where the angels could pretend to be human, and the galactic council needed her help in overseeing its construction. To make it complete, they needed her warmth, wisdom and light. The news distressed her when she learned her sister would not be joining her, but she had to obey the king. She and the white bird left that day. The sister left behind went into deep despair, speaking to no one, taking her grief out on unsuspecting foes in battle, and more elusive than ever. She soon discovered why her sister had left and vowed to someday leave her kingdom to search for this new blue planet and the only being she ever loved.

“Finally the day came when she wasn’t needed in battle and she left, bringing the blue snake with her, spending untold years searching for her sister and the planet in the vast universe. When she came upon a blue star she was immediately drawn to it. Tired after eons of searching for her sister, she settled on the star, establishing a strong connection with the light beings upon it and became their leader, remaining there until the day she decided to once again begin searching for her sister. However, this time she didn’t travel alone, she brought with her twelve beings from the blue star, hoping their special gifts could help.

“And so they set off, soon discovering a small cluster of stars and a council of six sisters. Without telling them why, the warrior sister asked them if they knew of this blue planet and they told her of a place that was newly born and how their sister, a warm compassionate creature with a sunny nature and open heart had traveled there to plant the seeds of compassion into the race of beings who were given the planet as a place to live. But she’d become trapped by an evil reptile who’d hoped to claim the planet as its own and who feared her light.

“The warrior sister, trying not to fly into a rage, calmly asked if this sister, like her, had traveled to them from the stars and when they nodded, she told them the truth of who she was, asking them to help her find this planet, promising them anything if they did. They told her they could help upon one condition: if she could release her sister, she must return to them for it was necessary for their number to remain seven. Without hesitation she agreed and the sisters sent her off.

“Finding the blue planet was easy compared to finding her sister so she sent the twelve beings in different directions. She had just begun to despair of ever finding her sister when she saw a white misty bird hovering over a mountain’s top exuding a light brighter than anything she’d yet seen on the planet. Overjoyed at finding her sister, yet suspicious of the reptile that had trapped her, she told the blue serpent to stay behind, instructing it to find the other twelve and return to the blue star if anything happened to her.

“She fled to the mountain, encountering a large bronze serpent that reared up, attempting to strike her down but she fought bravely until the wicked one bested her, dragging her to its lair, entrapping her like it had her sister. When she found her sister sitting like a regal queen of light in a golden cage deep beneath the mountain her heart broke. Her sister had always been filled with joy, her smile lighting up the stars, her warm spirit boundless and free. Now she was a captive, sad and confused with no sign of recognition in her blue eyes when they laid upon her.  The warrior sister knew her sister could not survive like this and called for the bronze serpent, making him a promise.

“’If you release my sister,’ she said,  ‘I will remain and share my warrior qualities with you and any that you choose. But if you do not, I will escape and use every means to destroy you.’”

“‘Very well,’ it hissed having witnessed her skills and realizing her request could make him stronger. ‘But once released, the light can never return. If it does I will destroy every creature upon this planet. And you must remain here forever, returning even after you die, using your skills to do whatever I wish.’”

“Satisfied that her sister would be safe, she agreed, and the bronze serpent released the light, sending it into the heavens along with the white bird where the light sister remained, becoming the seventh sister once again, vowing to return, knowing her sister had sacrificed everything for her. And the blue planet, without the warmth and compassion of the light, suffered and moved into centuries of battles and death. The twelve beings from the blue star, along with the blue serpent, decided to stay and hid deep within the earth, each caring for the planet in their own way, attempting to maintain its energies until the light could return.

“Lifetime after lifetime kings and queens of great wealth sought out protection from the bronze serpent who used the warrior and her skills to betray and corrupt Mankind. But the warrior sister separated herself from him and began protecting those who loved the planet, sharing the sacred information she’d brought from the blue star, knowledge they’d once had but forgotten, showing them loyalty and compassion, becoming more legendary every time her spirit returned.

“All the while, the seventh sister watched, sending the white bird to the planet every thousand years to gather information, becoming a witness to every life and event, recording with detail and great care everything that happened, witnessing the destruction of one age and the rebirth of another, placing the information into a blue stone. She even witnessed the contract made between her sister and the twelve caretakers of Earth, ensuring Mankind could regain their inheritance, their divine knowledge, if they did not destroy it by the year 2000. 

“Not until the great event of 1987 occurred when 144,000 lightworkers joined together in peace, raising the vibration of Earth and setting it on a new course, was there hope that the light return. Because of this shift, the bronze serpent no longer had power over the earth and its people and for the first time since the planet was born, the sisters from the stars would spend their first lifetime together—one fulfilling the contract, unveiling the sacred information she’d once shared with those who loved the planet, and the other called on to witness the first days of the Fifth Age, bringing her light and the white bird with her to herald the coming of a new world where compassion and love will once again prevail on earth.”

Crystal stroked Wyndon’s head, letting the story sink in. Even though the last few months were surreal and she’d done and seen things only the wildest imagination could dream up, the story of the sisters took the prize. 

Crystal closed her eyes, seeing her sister’s sweet, beautiful face, missing her and loving her now more than ever. No one, other than her grandfather, had loved her more than Claire, even in their youth when she’d tormented her, stolen her things, lied to her face, shut her out after their grandfather death, even growling when she’d stopped her from planting her fist in the moronic Luke Cob’s face. Her sister had stepped in stopping her from doing stupid things time and again, but she’d never thanked her, only ignored her more, but the love in Claire’s eyes had never dimmed. All because she’d been so jealous of Claire’s goodness. Claire was good and she’d always felt rotten, rotten to the core. Claire was like the sun, always bright and happy, she like the moon, dark and elusive. Her sister was her hero and she had to save her.

I hope you enjoyed this story! Some of you  might have a bit of deja vu...thinking I might have touched on this story once already in another book. But I will not say where, when, or how, I will let your own imaginations and intellect take you on that journey.
And so with a fond farewell, I bid you adieu. Crystal is calling me back to the page and I must heed her call for she is at another impasse and needs my help!
Have a lovely day
Namaste
PB 
 

Greetings!

Starting today and ending April 6, I am offering everyone a chance to win a free copy of Book Two in the White Bird Series, Crystal Blue Sky. Because I've just come off a successful promotion for Illuminating Crystal, I thought the timing appropriate. If you are not a member of Goodreads, signing up is easy and very, very rewarding. Being a Goodreads member allows you to share books with friends, share your thoughts on these books, write reviews for your favorites, take part in giveaways like mine, connect with authors, join Q & A seminars, join groups with readers who share your tastes, as well as a whole lot of other tantalizing things. But if you are a Goodreads member, well then, you already know how great it already is.

After you've signed up to win a free copy, stop on over to my Author Page and 'friend' me, 'follow' my reviews, or even become a 'fan.' And once again, if you are a book fanatic like myself, this really is a wonderful environment to spend time in, like having a library in your own home.

Just click on the 'enter to win' link I've provided for you below and Good Luck!
Have a wonderful, wonderful week,
PB

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Crystal Blue Sky - Book Two in the White Bird Series

by P.B. Morlen

Giveaway ends April 06, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Cheers! Starting today 3/24, and ending Friday 3/28,  as part of Amazon's KDP select program, Book One in my fantasy / Coming of Age White Bird Series, Illuminating Crystal, is free to download on Amazon with any ebook reading device. I love these free giveaways because it's a good way for readers to stuff their libraries with books. So, in honor of this week, I have decided to include in my blog something I've not done before--Satisfied reader reviews. Therefore, for your reading pleasure, out of 12 reviews, here are a handful of 4-5 star reviews posted on Amazon. After that, I've included a list of 7 character descriptions, highlighting important character qualities, strengths, and how these characters are related.

But remember, I have published three books in the ongoing series, with many more to come. Then, if you decide to visit Amazon, click this link and you can download Illuminating Crystal for free! 

• Illuminating Crystal drew me into a fascinating world of characters, some menacing, some innocent. The story unfolds in a way that challenges you as a reader to sit up and pay attention to Crystal's journey which includes many clues and hidden meanings that become apparent later on. There is no shortage of mystical and magical imagery which made it hard to put the book down. When I finished it, I couldn't wait to see what was around the corner for Crystal and the many characters intertwined in her life and adventures. PB Morlen opens the door to a new way of looking at life's experiences. It made me think about what I would do if I were in Crystal's shoes....would I want to set my idea of life aside to follow a "calling?" Read it and decide for yourself! ~ 5-star Reader Review.
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• I just finished reading Illuminating Crystal for the second time. I loved it the first time, and, as the song lyric says, love is lovelier the second time around. In these times of stress in the outer world, if you are looking for a book to take you away on a grand adventure, this will do it. The author's style creates a world where I would like to live. The adventure will unfold in the rest of the series, and I look forward to it. As an aside, I also enjoyed the proverbs from different cultures at the beginning of each chapter which helped to set the mood. My favorite was 'Thousands of years ago cats were worshipped as Gods. Cats have never forgotten this.' 5-star Reader Review
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• This was an unusual tale to be sure. Yes it is a fantasy and magic things happen and there are bad guys. But it was the premise or main theme that grabbed me the most. As much as you want to believe that this is all make believe, there are parts where I found myself thinking "hmmm, this could just very well happen, in fact very well might be happening."
  
  
  I loved watching as each secret was unveiled and how seeming unconnected people were in fact all connected to Crystal and her destiny. There are some very good messages hidden within the magic and power struggles and I am on my way to get the next two books in the series to see how it all turns out. 4-star Reader Review
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• This is not my usual genre and I really didn’t think I would like it….but I was so wrong!! I loved this book!! I quickly fell in love with all the unique characters. Their stories all intertwined with a good mixture of fantasy and "new-age" spirituality. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author. ~5-Star Reader Review
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• My dad bought me this book for Christmas last year, and I got hooked on it from the moment I started reading. I have read it twice now, and it is still such an amazing read. The characters are well developed and really helped add to the story. I found myself engrossed in the adventures of Crystal and her friends and I couldn't get myself to put the book down until I'd reached the end! I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something good to read. 5-Star Reader Review
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• I was honestly not expecting much from this book. I had read many others about the vibrations and a changing earth, humanity's chance to gain compassion and move to a higher existence or perish. Most of those had been very preachy and just not an enjoyable read. This, however, was an absolutely wonderful book. The mixture of fantasy and "new-age" spirituality was done so well, and did not try to force any new belief onto the reader, instead it seemed to mesh into the reader's heart.
  I fell in love with the characters quickly. Their stories so intertwined with many not knowing why. As the story continued I became glued to it. The author did a fabulous job or keeping me engaged as a reader. The unique characters and their flaws sets a wonderful path full of danger and adventure. I am truly looking forward to reading the next in the series. 4-Star Reader Review
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• This is a truly remarkable book. Quality wise I would say it is the new Harry Potter but than a slightly more mature version. This one actually managed to scare me a few times. Beautiful story that really captures you and never lets you go untill you reach the end. I highly recommend it and can't wait for the second book ! Way to go PB Morlen. Congratulations..... I am glad another writer of your caliber stood up, just keep them comming now.... ;-) 5-Star Reader Review
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Characters & Important People (7)

• Crystal Blue: 18-year-old heroine of the series. Crystal is not only the heroine, but she's also an Avatar, and a rather reluctant one at that. She wears her long dark hair in the ancient style, more commonly referred to as dreadlocks. Her eyes are honey-brown, usually covered by a pair of slim and dark eyeglasses. She's got a slight swearing problem, but nothing that would be too offensive, and the reason she's reluctant is because she's just found a bit of happiness in the bookstore where the most attractive man she's ever met works.
• Adam Walker: Tall, dark, and broodingly handsome half-blooded Lakota man who is Crystal's soul mate. Adam immediately sees Crystal's powerful, blue aura and is at once captivated by the fact that she is completely unaware of her unique qualities.
• Cosmo Attis: Elderly gentleman who owns and operates the Minneapolis-based bookstore, The Blue Crystal. Cosmo wears wire-rimmed glasses, which make his eyes owlishly-large, and he's all business until Crystal mysteriously appears in his bookstore one blustery winter day, begging for a job.
• David Lange: Middle-aged physics professor who discovers Crystal in a 7-11 and saves her from a botched kidnapping. David becomes a key player as he is the only one who can decode the ancient manuscript Crystal has found in the basement of The Blue Crystal bookstore.
• Claire Blue: Claire Blue is Crystal's older and rather bossy sister. Claire, whose blonde hair is long and curly, attends the University of Minnesota located in the heart of Minneapolis. It is because of Claire that Crystal now lives in this city.
• Madelynn Blue: Madelynn Blue is Crystal and Claire's grandmother. Not long after meeting her, readers discover that there's more to this woman than just a lovely Irish brogue, sea-blue eyes and fiery-red hair.
• Daniel Attis: A bit of a rebel, Daniel (Cosmo's grandson) is misunderstood. On the surface, this teenager seems to take a particular dislike to Crystal, but soon, his true nature shines through.
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I hope you can take advantage of this great giveaway and are also aware that on any given day there are thousands of books to choose from on Amazon Kindle that are free to download. If you're an avid reader like myself, you should take advantage of this free book option.

Happy Reading!!

PB

THE JEWEL TREE OF TIBET

Happy Almost Spring!

After a winter which included three, maybe four visits from the Polar Vortex, bringing us 55-60 nights of below zero temps and a handful or two of below zero days, I am happy to report that winter is almost, but not quite, over. Whew. As I've stated before, I am a Minnesotan, hearty through and through, thick blood and all. For instance, I love to run in single digit weather, I am not afraid to go get the mail without a coat when the mercury has dipped below the 0 mark, I don't find it unusual when my garden flags are buried under 4' snow covers for months at a time, or I start looking for signs of daffodils before the ground thaws, as they say, hope springs eternal! And the fact that it's still light out at 7:00 sheds light..haha..that spring is right around the corner. It has been one helluva long winter and I'm glad to see the backside of it. And yes, Minnesotans love talking about the weather, so there.

So, the topic of conversation today stems from a webinar I attended last week given by Robert Thurman. The webinar's title was: The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism, a book written by Robert Thurman, an American Buddhist writer and academic who has written, edited or translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism. The Jewel Tree of Tibet is considered one of the most explicit teachings on the steps on the path of enlightenment available. He is the co-founder and president of Tibet House and a professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies at Columbia University, the first endowed chair of Buddhist studies in the United States. He is known as a talented popularizer of the Buddha's teachings and after learning Tibetan and studying Buddhism he decided to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk and was ordained by H.H. the Dalai Lama, the first Westerner to earn that distinction. However, as his biography says, "some years later, he gave up his robes when he discovered he could be more effective in the American equivalent of the monastery: the university". He returned toHarvard to finish his PhD. A very popular professor, students call his classes "life-changing". www.bobthurman.com

During the webinar, Thurman focused on The Jewel Tree of Tibet. Tibetans think of their cherished tradition of Buddhism as a "wish-fulfilling jewel tree" for its power to generate bliss and enlightenment within all who absorb its teachings. Being that the webinar was only 2 hours, it was impossible for Robert to convey the message of the book entirely, but our meditations throughout the webinar helped us discover an esoteric teacher, one you might imagine and visualize to be indivisible from the Buddha himself, someone who is a living example of enlightenment. This 'mentor devotion' is a practice of acknowledging or worshiping the Buddha in a figure of your choice and you strive to emulate that model until you are able to understand and embody the teaching entirely yourself. 

However shortlived the webinar was, I took a lot away and feel a more personal connection to Mr. Thurman who is passionate, knowledgeable and very sincere about his teachings.

For anyone seeking the path to peace and enlightenment, I would encourage you to get your own copy of this book. 

Below, I've included an interview from the DailyOm with Robert Thurman pertaining to the steps leading to and during while writing this book and ultimately what the reader might discover about themselves.

The Jewel Tree of Tibet From "The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism" by Robert Thurman Posted by: DailyOM This book began as an intensive retreat with a small group of students. It is a teaching on the steps on the path of enlightenment that is common to all the forms of Tibetan Buddhism. The Tibetans have taken teachings from all kinds of Buddhism, especially those preserved and developed in India over fifteen hundred years before they traveled to Tibet. But there in Tibet, Buddhism was made into a systematic method for people to practice and perform in order to become perfectly enlightened in this life, or in a short number of lives, starting from wherever they started.  This is what we'll aim to practice on this retreat, on this quest for enlightenment in book form. You'll start wherever you are in your life, today. We'll retreat into one of the greatest sacred wisdom texts of Tibetan knowledge of the soul, called The Devotion to the Mentor, in which a glorious wish-fulfilling gem tree is used to focus our minds. We're on a quest to contemplate this great text line by line, so that we come to understand its full, rich meaning, the brilliant reflections of its many facets guiding us, lighting up our awareness. And we'll take this awareness with us, out into the world, into our lives. It is a powerful text, just the reading of which has the capacity to lift you out of your individual self and into a perspective of unity, refreshing your individuality immeasurably. It will help you cultivate the sensitivity and appreciation to love more fully, feel compassion more intensely, and become a fountain of cheerfulness for all you meet and know.  The steps on the path of enlightenment in this text are a distillation of the vast profusion of healing techniques dispensed by the Shakyamuni Buddha -- the historical Buddha -- to his many thousands of disciples, two thousand five hundred years ago. I first encountered The Devotion to the Mentor and the jewel tree, in this life, forty-two years ago, when I met the Very Venerable Geshe Wangyal at his monastery in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, which was in a little pink tract house on East Third Street in Freewood Acres. He read to me a version of this same enlightenment path, the way to a higher quality of being, that had been written by the great south Indian philosopher sage Nagarjuna in the second century c.e. Nagarjuna had written it as Letter from a Spiritual Friend to his friend and disciple the south Indian King Udayibhadra, whose name means "King Happily Good."  My teacher read this text aloud in a Tibetan translation, accompanying it with a commentary written by a great fourteenth-century Tibetan lama, and as he read he would translate and explain in English to me and my friend Chris. The three of us would sit together in the chapel room or out in the yard of the little pink house that served as a monastery in New Jersey, under the spell of the great wish-fulfilling jewel tree of Tibet. Then, in the evening and late into the night, I would memorize the Tibetan, learn the text's meaning, and meditate on the steps and themes -- incorporating it all into my mind and psyche and spirit.  The fresh and reasonable vision of life, the deep meaning of existence, the imminence of freedom, the vast horizon of my human potential -- all this leapt out at me from these words in the lovely Tibetan script, block-printed on beautiful, long, fibrous pages. I loved Nagarjuna and his friend the king. I loved the Tibetan alphabet, so logical and elegant. I felt totally at home in it.  At that time, I was in the middle of a long pilgrimage that had led me to drop out of college and had taken me across Europe on a motorcycle and across Asia on foot, all the way to India. There, I had met the Tibetans and begun to learn from them and work with them when the death of my father brought me back to New York City for a month of family sadness and mourning, as well as a reimmersion into the hypocrisy and anxiety of the world that I was eager to transcend. Yet there I also met my teacher and went to work with him in the Jersey Pine Barrens, in a Russian Mongolian refugee community. Through him, I met the path of enlightenment. I met a true mentor. I had come home -- to myself and my soul -- through this great teacher and the jewel tree text he revealed to me.  And it was not just the text and the teachings that affected me so deeply. It was the special context in which Tibetans meditate and use their teachings. I learned to look up with my inner eye, the third eye of imagination, which lies in the middle of our foreheads and opens a channel of vision into a subtle realm of reality. In this inner sky revealed by my third eye, I discovered mystical beings, buddhas, bodhisattvas (persons who strive for enlightenment in order to help others on their quest for their highest development), historical lama mentors, angels, deities mild and fierce, and all the saints and teachers and philosophers from all the world's spiritual traditions. I beheld the shining tree of jewels, decked with living jewel beings.  I recognized the jewel tree as the world tree, Yggdrasil, the great ash tree extending over the entire earth, growing from the well of wisdom, where Odin, the highest god, had to cast one eye as sacrifice in order to receive the eye of wisdom from the goddess of the tree. The jewel tree is the tree of life, the tree of wisdom, and it is also the giant fig tree under which the Buddha attained perfect enlightenment, the bodhi tree. It grows from earth to heaven and is filled with the wish-granting jewels that make up the family of living mentors who have reached immortal life and can share their bliss with you, protect you, bless you, and help you open up your own inner doorway to peace and fulfillment. The jewel tree opens its loving embrace to everyone and promotes happiness -- which is our natural state and birthright.  Since that time when I began to enjoy the luminous shelter of the jewel tree of Tibet, I have studied and meditated year after year. I went on to become a monk; I learned more and more advanced teachings, tried to put them into practice, and seemed to succeed with insight after insight. But then I began to realize that last week's insight was superseded by the next one. For a while, all I wanted was to stay in my Buddhist community of seekers of enlightenment, to be embraced as a monk. My inner life was rich, full of insights and delightful visions, with a sense of luck and privilege at having access to such great teachers and teachings and the time to study and try to realize them. Eventually, I realized that there was more I needed to learn from the world, from engagement with others, from developing compassion in my interactions rather than the solitary quest of wisdom. So I resigned as a monk and reentered the university, determined to find a way to continue to study while engaging more actively with others.  As I have grown older and become less sure about everything -- and even confused and discouraged when my inherited negative personality traits reemerge in the heat of relationships -- I have repeatedly turned back to the beginning of my studies of the jewel tree. I regularly rest under the jewel tree and reflect on the steps it provides us to enlightenment, freedom, and happiness. A golden ladder from earth to heaven, the great jewel tree is an inner space for a retreat, a spiritual vacation, a refreshment and recharging that comes from stepping back from our emotions and habitual perspectives -- even for a few moments. You can spend minutes under the jewel tree or you can spend entire days or weeks, depending on the time you can afford to take. Sometimes it helps to meditate with others on the jewel tree, since your thoughts will become amplified and intensified by the resonance of one living mind with another.  Whenever I conduct a retreat, I try to remember that the main person who needs the retreat is myself. The person who most needs to learn what I say, even though I may be saying it, is me. So, therefore, I'm very thankful that you're joining me in your reading of this text and on this quest. I don't pretend to be a great teacher, but I do claim that this, the wish-granting jewel tree of Tibet, is a great teaching.  We love and admire Tibet because Tibet is the guardian, custodian, preserver, developer, and utilizer of these great enlightenment teachings. Originally, all the teachings came from what the Tibetans call the Noble Country, Aryavarta, the country of the noble beings. These beings followed the Buddhist tradition and achieved nobility in the spiritual sense, they were selfless beings -- beings who did not live enclosed within their own personal, egocentric perspective but lived within a multiperspectival world. The perspectives of the others were to them as important as, or more important than, the perspective of the self. The noble beings realized the meaning and the reality of selflessness. A noble person is defined by the Buddha not in terms of social class or race or nationality or sex or religion but by whether you perceive things only from your own perspective or whether you perceive them simultaneously from all others' perspectives.  So, what we're going to try to do on this quest together is to go from the beginning of the Tibetan path of enlightenment to its end. And we're going to rehearse various short meditations that will help us get deeper along the path. And we're going to learn about what that path is so that we understand it, so that you can do this retreat yourself again and again, and I can do this retreat myself again and again, each time learning something new. We're aiming to develop a tolerance for cognitive dissonance, a greater subtlety of consciousness. You don't want to get all fascinated or obsessed or entranced with one particular thing that you experience as you go along, but keep moving and learning, seeing things freshly again and again.  Even if you are not a Tibetan Buddhist or any kind of Buddhist, I hope you will be able to follow along with this teaching and gain something from it. I follow His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He's my main teacher, my mentor. I follow his view that, in the world today, we don't want millions and millions and millions of new Buddhists. We're not competing with the Christians, the Jews, the Muslims, the Hindus. We're not competing for market share, for a population explosion. But we are looking to the quality of people's lives, hoping that people will become more enlightened, whatever their religious affiliation or secular humanist beliefs. Conversion is not the goal here. Therefore, in teaching a teaching like this, which we hope the public will use widely, we want to make it accessible to as many people as possible.  However, if we teach a spiritual practice in a completely bland, watered down way, then no one will really have much inspiration to use it. I love the Buddha, and I love the Dharma, which is the teaching of the Buddha, and I love the Tibetan versions of it. And I particularly love the version that was perfected by Tsong Khapa, who lived in the fifteenth century. It is the core teaching that the Dalai Lamas have practiced since then, including the current Dalai Lama, the Fourteenth, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso. So, I want to share my love for their vision and wisdom with you through the ancient text that inspires this retreat in book form.  In this book, I will draw from those teachings and focus on the particularly vivid teaching about the wish-fulfilling jewel tree by the Fourth Panchen Lama, called the Guru Puja, or the Devotion to the Mentor. A mentor is not considered merely a teacher but is seen rather as an exemplar of the teaching, a model to follow. So, in each lesson or subject or verse, I will veer away from my own narrow understanding and Tibetan images, and I will encourage you to meditate, whether you are Sufi, Christian, or another kind of Buddhist, and to draw in your own images and ideas to enhance your own understanding. This retreat is divided into six chapters that can serve as retreats in themselves, with different meditations and a regular review of the principles that form the steps on the path to enlightenment. I want you to figure out how to enter a kind of jewel space of awareness, to populate and retreat to that jewel space in your own way. There you will be energized to discover your own feeling of insight into your own soul -- and into the soul of the entire universe. The wish-fulfilling jewel tree will restore you to yourself and illuminate your path through life...and illuminate your spirit into the next life.  Copyright © 2005 by Bob Thurman, Inc. See Also: Book Excerpt, Philosophy, Spirituality, Buddhism Namaste, PB

MESSAGE FROM A STAR WARRIOR

Hey!

Some of you may know me, my name is Crystal Blue. I'm the one you see here, the main character in my writers ongoing series of books called The White Bird Series.

I thought it would be a great idea to step in today and help out with my writer's blog. Right now she is very, very busy writing our next book. You should see her! Intense would be the word I'd use to describe her expression lately, intense and happy because she LOVES to write, especially about me and my friends. For those of you who don't know me, I'll give you a review...I'm 18-years-old and only a few months back learned, after moving to Minnesota to live with my older sister Claire, that my life as I'd known it up until then was basically over. Not that I died or anything drastic like that, but I changed...I changed a lot actually. Heck. My hair even turned blue! You see, I lived in Albuquerque with my gran and grandfather and my sister for quite a long time, then things got rough. My grandfather died, which sent me spirally into a pit of despair and I did something really stupid, then my sister left for school in Minnesota, and gran sold our house. I didn't think I'd miss my sister so much, but I did. Since she'd been begging me to move in with her because she knew I was miserable living in Albuquerque, I finally did. I can promise you one thing, at first I hated Minnesota because it was so damn cold! But then I got the best job in the world at a bookstore in Minneapolis aptly called The Blue Crystal. I know, pretty coincidental. I'd been stomping around looking for a job, freezing to death, blind as a bat because my glasses were frozen, and the weirdest thing happened. When I passed the bookstore the wind literally picked me up off my feet and tossed me into the store, I almost knocked this poor old lady down. I immediately fell in love with the place and then both owners. Cosmo, he's 78 and I love him to death. At first he was cranky, and didn't want to give me a job, but he warmed up to me because, okay I admit it, I cried. I couldn't help it, I was cold and the bookstore reminded me of my grandfather. The other owner is my age. His name is Adam and he's pretty special, more than special really. No one has ever made me feel the way he does when he looks at me. My ears tend to start itching, which is very annoying, but I've figured out in the last few months that he's the one for me, no other man could ever match up. 

Okay, now I've gotten off track. Adam aside, one day I went down into the basement of the bookstore and began cataloging a huge shipment of books. The basement was dark and cold and I was freaked out about the spiders, but this is what I was hired for so I did my job without too much fuss. One day, one really big book in particular stood out because, well, the snakes on the book's red cover lashed out at me. I'm not making this up! They really did! After that I'm not really sure what happened, but I woke up in some strange blue room surrounded by these amazing animals, and then things really got weird because a blue dragon began talking to me and, well,  she sounded just like my gran. The dragon told me that I'd awakened the manuscript which opened the doors to other worlds that now awaited my arrival. "Holy Schmoly," was all I could say. Before I'd awakened I'd seen things and heard sounds, felt like I was on fire at one point, it really hurt and it was intense, to say the least. Then I woke up and this dragon proceeded to tell me that the eleventh layer of my DNA had been activated and my pineal gland adjusted.  I still can't figure that one out. Now all my cells are crystalline and my human template changed, allowing me to do the work I came here to do. Can you believe it? My writer has a fabulous imagination, but let me tell you a secret, she didn't make this stuff up, these changes are really happening to people all over the planet, just not as rapid-fire as mine. You are changing too! So anyway, now I can do certain things most people can't. David, my friend who is now deciphering the manuscript I found in the basement, the same book that tried to eat me (ha ha)...tells me that I'm like an avatar because I resonate at a higher frequency than most and can walk between worlds. It's pretty incredible. So far, I've met a lot of amazing people and learned a lot about myself. I was really sad, though, when I learned I'd have to leave some people behind, and I'm still sad.

Anyway, when I was in South Dakota, sitting with a Lakota elder named William Sun Bear, he told me my ancestor came from a place behind the sun, Sirius actually. My ancestor is a Star Warrior who came to earth from Sirius and whose descendants were goddesses who'd once walked the earth, protecting and guiding their tribes or clans all over the world. William told me that I'm the designated ascendee in this long line of goddesses and I chose to be here as a representative to my ancestors. I also learned that many light years ago, my ancestor made a contract with ancient beings, this is the contract I spoke of earlier that I was born to satisfy. These ancient caretakers, living deep within the crystalline core of the earth, have held the energies of Gaia since earth was created and they are ready to hand that responsibility over to humanity. They want to leave so that they can help create the new earths in the other realms. Earth is an amazing place and others are being created as we speak, so I've been told. Anyway, what this contract said was if humans did not destroy the earth by the year 2000 their gift would be enlightenment and it's up to me to see that they get it. We didn't destroy the earth, did we? Even though ancient prophets predicted we would and others claim earth was supposed to shut down by the year 2012. But the Harmonic Convergence happened and proved everyone wrong, so we deserve to become enlightened, illuminated to the truth of who we really are. The best way for this to occur is by learning and discovering the ancient secrets to being a divine human. This, I've been told, is our birthright, but over the years we as a human race have been sleeping under a heavy overlay which has made us forget how powerful and magnificent we are as a species. So now I know that I'm the Child of the Stars and I was born to satisfy this contract. My mission is to travel the world, unveiling ancient secrets held by indigenous groups as I go. By doing this, through something called the Cosmic Lattice, the knowledge will illuminate humanity, especially to those wishing to discover more about themselves, someone who is more than merely human, an angel having a human experience. What I also discovered is that I have a connection with nine different animals and I'll be able to utilize their powerful, ancient gifts if I'm in trouble, but only if I remember to ask. Wow, I guess I've learned a lot along the way. PB will be so proud when she reads this.  

Okay, so many indigenous groups around the world are very much aware of these secrets. They've lived by these philosophies for a millennium, and millions have died over the years because of this knowledge. When the heavy hand of Christianity and other religious zealots began invading countries, they were frightened by the grassroots people who did not believe in their God and the best way to deal with their fear is control. Unfortunately, those living close to the land, who knew their true natures as divine, who understood they and their creators were one in the same, were not easy to control, and posed a real threat to those seeking power over them, mainly because they wanted their land. Thus they were destroyed. We all know about the genocidal tendencies of power mongers seeking control. How they've marched over the globe, arrogantly wiping out entire races of gentle people for their own purposes. Remember the gentleman by the name of Christopher Columbus? And do you remember the Tainos of Haiti? He helped wipe out this entire nation in less than five decades. Are you by chance aware of a doctrine handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1823 to the Indian Nations? In a nutshell it said they didn't have title to their lands because they weren't Christians. That the first Christian Nations to discover an area of heathen lands has the absolute title. China's dominance over Tibet? Did you know the Dalai Lama is still in exile? Did you know that at this moment Chinese officials are destroying the Jokhang Temple, the most sacred temple in Tibet to build a shopping mall? Need I go any further?  These attrocities are happening today in our modern world and it is time for everyone to wake up and pay a bit more attention. I know I'm only 18 and still have a lot to learn, but I do know this is wrong. 

Well, now it's time to honor these groups around the world who have held these secrets and are now willing to share them with anyone who will listen. The secrets to a philosophy of life where you come to believe you are just as important as the next and should not be controlled. Once this knowledge is gained you cannot be controlled, manipulated or governed by the heavy hand of tyranny. It's no surprise almost every dictator around the world is at present, Ukraine and Argentina, under serious threat.

 As many of you will begin to discover, the goddesses who've often times given their entire lives to protect and guide their people are now stepping up and their gentle, compassionate yet powerful voices are being heard once again. My writer has posted topics such as this quite often, calling this revolutionary time in history the most compassionate shift humanity has ever witnessed, the time that we are moving from the Fourth Age into the Fifth. The philosophies of feminine goddesses in all walks of life, representing every nation and tribe around the world, are now seeking balance. It is no longer appropriate for our world to be governed by patriarchal societies, but rather a balance of masculine and feminine, with feminine acts of cooperation, compassion and justice leading the way. In PB's books, I and those who accompany me travel the world,  will meet and sometimes become these fierce yet loving goddesses who gave their lives to protect their people. Our history has been quite brutal, really, but because we did not destroy this wonderful planet, we are now set on a course for peace and the goddesses will lead the way.  The time of Illumination is at hand and I'm honored to represent the human race in this capacity.  My writer, PB, is also honored that you've taken the time out of your busy day to learn a bit more about us. She and I really are a team. There are many other characters in the story, most of whom I love dearly, but she and I have a special bond. She always tells me I'm her third daughter and that her other two daughters and I have a lot in common. 

I'll leave you with the links for her website where you can learn more about me and our books. Also, take time to browse through PB's blog posts as she covers a lot of what I've discussed with you today. Hint: I've highlighted a lot so that this might be easier for you. She's told me numerous times that she also has a purpose, her's is to tell my story. If you visit her website, you can read her Bio and Mission Statement, learn a bit more about her as a teacher and writer. 

This has been so much fun! Maybe I'll do this more often because PB really is busy. I can't tell you where I am at the moment because it might spoil a surprise. But if you'd like to catch up, you've got to read the first three books. I've done a lot in a few short months and I've gotta say I'm bloody tired! But, I had a free morning so I thought I'd take this opportunity.

Here's the links! 

PB's Website.  (You can read about and/or buy her books from here. She's also made three book trailers you can watch here.)

PB's Goodreads Author Page.  ( Go here if you want to find out what kinds of books she likes and who her favorite authors are.)

PB's Face Book Author Page  (There's a great picture here of me and Adam :-) And PB likes to post stuff here almost every day.)

PB's Twitter  (Yes, PB knows how to tweet :-) She has a lot of great friends too.)

Amazon Book Page (Our first book, Illuminating Crystal, is only 99 cents on Amazon Kindle...Holy Schmoly! Book Two and Three can of course be found on Amazon too. Crystal Blue Sky. Little Blue Star.

 

I hope to meet everyone of you very soon if we've not already acquainted ourselves. Oh, and make sure to leave any comments or questions for me. I'll check this every few days while I have a bit of down time. At present, I'm sort of stuck....Heck, maybe Claire, Adam or David will visit next. You just never know. 

Bye for now,

Crystal Blue

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

I hope all of you who've chosen to visit my blog well and happy! Today, I thought it would be fun to share with you an interview I did with a wonderful owner of a website called BookLoads.weebly.com.  Dawn Hustad is the operator/host of this website which promotes books specifically for indie authors like myself. As many of you know, first and foremost I am a writer having already published three books in an ongoing Fantasy/Magical Realism series titled White Bird Series.  

Many of my blog posts deal with various topics ranging from the Harmonic Convergence to my latest post, the Year of the Yang Wood Horse. I touch on a variety of topics, because, well, there's so much happening in our world I just never know what I'll end up talking about. But behind all of this, dancing in the background of my mind, is my story and its characters, the theme of the series being how today, we as a human race, have beat the odds and will continue enjoying life on planet earth for thousands of more years to come. This, in a nutshell, is the premise of my series. My heroine, Crystal Blue, must travel the world and visit with the indigenous to reveal ancient secrets that will help humanity move forward into the next age. We did beat the odds, yes. We won't experience the Apocalypse or Armageddon. However, we will experience changes of great magnitude and it will get intense. The impetus behind this series, the reason I'm writing these books, is to share with the reader how the indigenous, over the many ages, have survived the changes and remained constant to their true values and beliefs. They know how to survive and the secrets Crystal reveals are recipes for success for all humans so they might experience the changes coming with relative ease, little fear, and actually embrace the changes. 

So, without further adieu, I have attached below my interview where I answer a multitude of questions about my writing process, my characters, why I write, and who some of my writing heroes are. 

Enjoy!

INTERVIEW Q&A

What inspired you to write your first book? This story has been with me for so long I don’t really know when I began creating it. But during my journeys around the world exploring Divine Metaphysics, realizing as I went how very special humanity is and what an amazing time in history we are now living in, and subsequently being completely infatuated and ‘blown away’ by Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I decided to blend my passions by writing a story that would take audiences on the same kind of adventure I was taken on with Tolkien. Instead of Orks and Elves, wizards and hobbits saving Middle Earth, however, my story would center on an amazing girl, an Avatar of sorts, a child of the stars born to illuminate humanity. I was (and still am) passionate about sharing everything that I learned about divine metaphysics in a way that would inspire and entertain readers. I decided to infuse it into a story filled with adventure, action, magical creatures and characters committed to and passionate about the secrets of the divine human.  And so this story was born in the summer of 1995, but I had to tuck it away as my children were quite small and I wanted to be with them, not at my very archaic computer hammering out a story begging to be written.   Then in 2009, after struggling with writer’s block and developing my story for years, I came into contact with an enigmatic young performer who did something to me, created an electrical spark that fired up my imagination and I dove into the book, never coming up for air until completed in 2011. The novel, Illuminating Crystal, the first in an on-going and as yet incomplete series titled: The White Bird Series.  

Do you have a specific writing style?  This question always stumps me. It stumps me because I’ve always been a writer, never considering I had or have a style. However, as I know this is important to readers, I will give it a ‘go.’  My style, I believe, is descriptive and narrative.  Being an avid reader myself, I’m drawn to a book’s style that paints a picture with phrases and words guiding me through a scene, not flowery and ‘over the top’ but enough that I, as a visual reader, can begin painting my own picture of the characters and settings. As the writer, I’ve placed myself in the story, narrating it from my main character’s perspective. However, as there is quite a lot going on, I briefly look into more than one character’s perspective, guiding the reader along by explaining ‘what happened then.’ I don’t like giving too much away though. I like to encourage the reader to use their own imaginations of what might be happening, why this character said this and another said that, what their motives really are.  After a while, the reader will trust that they won’t be left hanging, rather they’ll be fed morsels along the way, hopefully interpreting it differently from another. This, I believe, is a key element to the impetus behind my reason for writing this story. I want the reader to take away their own ideas. 

How do you come up with your titles? How many books have you written? Which is your favorite? My titled come at me quite differently. Illuminating Crystal came to me after the story was written.  This was the only titled I struggled with, but when I realized this is exactly what happens to her by the end of book one, it was then very clear to me.  Illumination means: a source of light, spiritual, to brighten with light.  This is Crystal, my main character’s, purpose throughout the series. She, however, had to go through her own illumination before she was able to ‘shed light’ upon others. The titles thereafter are taken directly from the story, and, I will add, I’ve already titled the remaining 8 – 10 books in the series. This helps keep me on track as a kind of outline for Crystal’s journey.  To answer the second question is simple: I’ve written three and the third question I cannot answer as I have no favorite. Actually, these books, to me, are all a part of the whole. I do not think of them as one book, rather a part of this series that has been with me for more than 20 years and will continue to be with me for another half-dozen before the series is complete.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?  Do you have any advice for other writers? Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?  The message that I want my readers to grasp is this: Humanity is at this moment in history witnessing the greatest compassionate shift in the history of humanity. For real. This statement is not fiction, rather it is a fact. During my journeys, I encountered many, many teachers who describe this moment in time as a time never seen before. A time many thought would never happen because of 2012 and the fear around the ‘end of days.’ The knowledge I acquired through my years of exploring the world of divine metaphysics are the simple truths of the ‘divine human.’ Indigenous groups around the world operate and hold true to these beliefs. These are truths to a happy, simple life, not always easy to attain, yet entirely possible.  Many claim that once one begins understanding and living these truths, life then begins to ‘lighten up,’ their perspective changes and drama disappears. As humanity goes through this ‘shift in time,’ moving into a new Age, life will get chaotic as weather patterns change, political empires collapse, and earth adjusts to new energies coming in from ‘behind the sun.’ This is what I want to say to my readers. Everything is working out perfectly and they will be okay. Even though it often times seems that the world is going to ‘hell in a hand basket’ and bad things are happening everywhere, it isn’t.  Earth and humanity have set a new course for enlightenment and now it’s time to awaken to the truth of who you truly are. A divine human with all the powers of the masters.  As Crystal, my main character, travels the world unveiling ancient secrets, the readers will be exposed to these secrets of the divine human and hopefully choose to incorporate them into their own lives.  The advice I have for other writers is this: Pursue your passion and do not under any circumstances allow another to tell you otherwise.  Writing is a very solitary endeavor, yet we do it because we have a burning passion inside, a story begging to be heard.  Keep your heads up and your hearts open. 

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?   I guess I’ve pretty much answered this question already.  The events in my story, the characters and experiences are all based on my life, and, those around me I know and love dearly, but mainly myself. However, my characters are my family. They reside in my heart and in my head, keeping me up all hours of the night.

What song best describes the feeling of a book you’ve written? This is a hard question! But happily I already have an answer for all of my books.  There is a singer named, Brandi Carlise who I happen to admire. Her song: “The Story” came to mind immediately when I read this question. “All of these lines across my face tell you the story of who I am. So many stories of where I’ve been and how I got to where I am. But these stories don’t mean anything when you’ve got no one to tell them to it’s true…I was made for you.” 

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?  As a child my imagination took me to places I knew I’d never been and I wondered how I knew about them. In school I’d stare out the window and of course this would get me into trouble, but I was seeing things outside no one else was and I knew this, but I didn’t know how to explain it. So, I’d play with stories, sometimes writing them out, only to throw them away because I thought they were silly. As the years went on, the only classes in school I excelled in were the ones where we could write. I was born to be a writer, that’s all I can say.

What are your favorite movies and what book genres do you like reading/writing the most?  Favorite movies are all the LOTR films, by far. I love movies that sweep you away into other worlds, yet not so scary you hide under your seat. I do not like horror, blood and gore. I don’t mind a good sword fight; a good battle of good and evil, but unnecessary violence leaves me cold. I also love romance and I’ve created a romance with my characters I hope will satisfy the reader. Actually, it is the basis of my story but elusive.  I’m an avid fan of fantasy/fiction and magical realism.  I also love all of Jane Austen’s books, and a good love story from Nora Roberts.  

WHERE CAN READERS CONNECT WITH YOU?

My facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/pbmorlen
My Author website is: http://www.pbmorlen.com
My Twitter account is: https://twitter.com/PbMorlen
My Blog address is: http://www.pbmorlen.blogspot.com
My Goodreads Author page is: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5769785.P_B_Morlen 

I hope you enjoyed my reading interview as much as I enjoyed giving it! If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I'd be happy to answer! 

Namaste!

PB

2014: YEAR OF THE YANG WOOD HORSE

Greetings!

I'm back from 12 glorious days spent roaming around southern AZ, soaking up the beautiful desert rays, smiling and waving at the human-like saguaros (who, by the way waved back,) making sure I stayed away from the 'jumping' Chollas and barrel cacti, both intent, it seemed, on being quite close to our trail. I'd

http://www.123newyear.com/

forgotten how much I love the desert with its soft, muted colors and sounds, the throaty trill of the cactus wren perched high on top of saguaros and mesquite shrubs alike. Each morning I was greeted by a family of quail, navigating along the top of the brick wall separating our back yard from the other, and the soft gray doves calling to each other, rooftop to rooftop. I love our birds here in MN, hardy and happy as they are, but the desert birds reminded me, as I closed my eyes, hearing the gentle slapping of the palm fronds in the breeze, that I was in a special place, and sadly, not one I was able to spend enough time in. On the bright side, however, I am back home where the air is so cold we sometimes fear our noses will be stuck shut if we breathe in too fast, or worse, our lungs explode, but let's be honest, it's the Northland and we're a hardy lot. Still, I miss Arizona. Miss it dearly. I sometimes wonder if I'll ever move to the southwest. I do have family living in Albuquerque and am fortunate enough to visit often, but to live away from this state? I'm not sure if I ever could. But, as usual, I digress from the topic at hand: our new year, 2014, year of the Horse, said to be a year filled with opportunity, compelling inspiration, uplift and new beginnings. The Chinese New Year calendar commences tomorrow, Friday, January 31st, ending February 18th, 2015, so hang on to your hats, experts say, it's going to be a wild, wonderful year.
As I do quite often in my blogs, I refer to experts to help with the content that I cover.  I am by no means an expert when it comes to speaking of the Chinese zodiac calendar and how to interpret it.  What I can provide you, however, is a brief synopsis describing what the horse symbolizes in their zodiac.  The horse symbolizes graciousness, dignity, momentum and firmness. In Chinese culture, people born in a Year of the Horse are regarded as witty, eloquent speakers, elegant, and charming.  If you're like me, you don't know much about the Chinese zodiac so for the sake of this article, I will take this opportunity and bring you quickly up to speed.
The Chinese calendar comprises 12 animal signs featuring a cyclical dating method that repeats every 60 years. The calendar is based on 2 cycles that interact with each other - the Chinese zodiac, which is divided into 12 part, and the 5 elements: metal water, wood, fire and earth. (Chinese philosophy is built around the five elements and the belief that they interact with natural phenomena.)   Each year of the Chinese Zodiac, a different animal is represented: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The 5 elements are assigned to the 12 animals (years), giving different characteristics to each animal (year.) This creates 60 different combinations, resulting in a 60-year cycle. In addition,the concept of yin and yang, opposing forces, also affect the Chinese calendar.  Even years are perceived as yang: heaven, (male light, and active.) Odd years are perceived as yin: earth, (female, dark, and passive.)
This is how the horse - element combination looks:

• Metal Horse (1930, 1990)
• Earth Horse (1918, 1978)
• Fire Horse (1966, 2026)
• Wood Horse (1954, 2014)
• Water Horse (1942, 2002)

To find more about animal and element that represent the year that you were born, read more here.
So what will this year mean for us? As I mentioned before, astrologists and experts are claiming this year to be a year for new beginnings. Some claim it will be bumpy, others say it will be fast and racy, full of adventure and intrigue. I guess it depends on your perspective if you don't mind things like change, suspense, walking off the beaten path, wild rides, and even romance.
The internet is a plethora of infomation and I've provided for your reading pleasure seven websites dealing with the new year written by astrologists, geomancers, journalists, and even a Buddhist monk.

• Read here how astrologist Sarah Varcas describes the first month in the Chinese New Year. 
• Here is a fascinating article from Western School of Feng Shui describing the upcoming year from an astrologist's perspective, looking deeply into the horses's characteristic combined with the 'wood' element and what this means.
• A geomancer from Hong Kong says this about 2014. Read here.
• I love this article from Susan Levitt. The author describes, in-depth, the Year of the Horse, horse characteristics, everything about the horse, actually!
• Here is an analysis from the International Business Times.
• An article in the Sydney Morning Herald. 
• A fascinating account of how the Chinese calendar is created  and what this year entails by Tibetan Buddhist monk, Tsem Rinpoche.
• Information for the upcoming year by a Feng Shui expert here.

So, there you have it. According to these articles, 2014 should be quite a year, but then what year hasn't been lately? Whether it's a year of water, fire, earth, wood, or metal, it seems our new millenia has a lot in store for us.  Oh, and by the way, 2014 is said to be an auspicious year for pilgrims and tourists planning on visiting Tibet this year to circumambulate the sacred Mount Kailash (Asia's holiest mountain) during the month of June. It is said that your prayers will be magnified ten-fold as it is the Year of the Horse.  Hint, hint, future post regarding this coming soon! :-)

Namaste!

Paula