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 
 

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

PAINTING A PICTURE OF MYSELF

Good Morning!

Being that I'm smack dab in the heart of promoting my books in the White Bird Series, I feel compelled to share a bit of background about myself and my story: why I began writing it, what I hope to accomplish, who inspired me to begin, where the information came from, and how my characters came into being.  I will mention also that I've included a Mission Statement on my website which explains a lot, but not everything.  Feel free to drop by and read it, at your convenience of course.

So then, where to begin? I guess as any good storyteller can tell you, starting at the beginning is probably best. I am an entertainer. Yes, you heard me correctly. At the heart of everything lives a young girl who was born to be in the limelight, however, it didn't really work out because she, she being me, was, and still is at times, extremely shy.  How can someone who shrinks when looked at by a stranger be the center of attention? Good question, and one that took me dozens of years to understand and then conquer.  I don't know when this began, but let's say it started in the school-age years when I first walked through the school's doors.  Immediately, I knew that I wanted to go home...and stay there. Forever.  Homesick on the first day of school is probably more common than I'm aware of, yet to me it didn't matter. I'll never forget how my stomach flip-flopped and my throat felt like someone had shoved a sock into it. My knees shook, my lip trembled, my head throbbed and I was terrified I was going to do something horrific, like throw up, or worse. Home is where I wanted to be, where I felt safe, where I could be myself and play with my dolls, where I didn't have to pretend to be someone that I was not, brave and confident, not someone who was going to burst into tears because she was terrified of the unknown. At a very young age, you see, I was already too concerned about what others thought of me. For those who understand, it's a hard cross to bear, not trusting others to like who you really are.  Anyway, because of this uncertainty, I shoved my enthusiasm for life down and kept it there until I felt safe enough to share it.  My mother has claimed over and over that each year in school, my teachers would basically tell her the same thing at winter conferences. "Paula is finally coming out of her shell. She is such a quiet thing, but I can see she's finally getting comfortable here." Again, for those who know me, you can understand. It takes a bit for me to warm up, then, bam! Silly me comes bursting out! Fortunately for me, I have a solid handful of girlfriends I've known for a good 30-40 years, they and my family know me better than anyone and they can attest to this fact.  I'll be the first one to make a spectacle of myself, as long as they are with me of course.  Their unconditional acceptance of who and what I am helps me feel strong in the face of the unknown.  Well, I could go on and on here, but I think you get the picture. As the years have gone on, I've gotten more confident to be myself and let others see the real me, but it's still not easy, something that most likely I'll work on my entire life.  

As I mentioned earlier, I am an entertainer being as I love to entertain, make people happy, tickle their funny bone, push their buttons, excite them, unnerve them, inspire them to find their passion. When I was five or six, my sister always reminds me, I wrote a play in our basement, then urged the neighbor kids to be in it.  I think it lasted all of two minutes, but it was a start. I wrote stories, made up card games, forced my parents to watch me and my friends act out commercials, you name it, and all the while I carried around with me a story about a girl, brave yet unsure, unaware of her abilities yet aware there was something unusual about herself, something special: she was born for a purpose. (A hint about my own purpose.)   As the years went on, this story slowly settled into the recesses of my imagination, then disappeared.
In 1986, my girlfriend and I became owners of a clown business, Miles of Smiles, and Axel the Clown, me, was born. Now I had a license to perform, act child-like, be insanely silly, bop people over the head with animal balloons, chase kids around with my over-sized scissors threatening to chop off their locks, delighted with their shrieks of glee. Basically, do anything that I wanted. When I put my clown pants on, watch out, I'll find you...  Being a clown satisfied a deep down need to entertain and this worked for a while, but very slowly the story about the young girl crept into my dreams: a story about a young girl who was born to somehow save the world. 

During the 1980s I discovered, then fell in love with divine metaphysics. I couldn't get enough. My mother and I went to class after class, workshops, weekend spirituality conferences, traveling to England, Sedona, Hawaii, Canada, anywhere there were known vortexes where we could tap into other realms, I was there discovering that there was more to life than I thought. I was more than just a mere human. I was an angel having a human experience. Wow. I was special!

 Then in 2000 I was introduced to certain groups that I mention in the Acknowledgements in my books who opened my eyes and heart even more. These channellers helped explain so much about the aspects of the divine human, then slowly, oh so slowly, my story began to resurface.  I had already sat down in 1995 at a very archaic computer and began pounding out a story about a young girl named Alex Farraday. She worked in a bookstore and loved a boy named Larry, a young man whose heritage was Lakota. He was the only person who could see her blue aura.  I dribbled out a few chapters, but my kids were small and I needed to be present with them, not at my computer, so I put the story away but never, ever forgot my characters.  As I explain in my bio, the characters evolved, their names changed but the story remained the same and then voila, something incredible happened in 2009. I was hit with the Adam Lambert bug. After seeing his performances on American Idol, something magical happened the story was unleashed.  I can't explain what happened with this guy. Every time that he sang I thought I was going to jump out of my skin! I got so excited! (This happened to me in my teenage years with Elton John.) Adam (hence the name Adam in my story) touched a cord in me that literally ignited Crystal's story. Whether or not it was the fact I thought he was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen, his incredible voice, the way he moved, his sincerity, his passion to be real, to be himself, he inspired me to finally embrace the fact that I am a storyteller and I do have a story to tell.  I also adore Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, stories and/or movies that transport you to other places. I thought to myself, why not blend my passions? My story about this young girl and boy, sharing my love of divine metaphysics and how this knowledge can make ones life so much happier, and magical realms where characters transcend you into another time and place. Crystal Blue was born and so was her story.

The premise of my books is this: In reality, mankind and the earth are moving into the 5th Age. Because we are shifting into an Age never seen before in the history of humanity there are going to be certain occurrences, in the animal kingdom, to nature, and with people and institutions that some might find frightening, unimaginable, heartbreaking, and many might fear their world is ending.  What I hope to accomplish with my stories is letting readers know in a roundabout way, through Crystal's travels, that everything is going to be okay. As my Mission Statement explains, I hope to encourage everyone to look at their life from a higher perspective, to see the bigger picture. The world is not going to hell-in-a-handbag, the world is going through the greatest compassionate shift in the history of humanity and it will get intense. We've already experienced certain weather events never seen before, the jet stream is changing, the ice caps are melting, fires are destroying millions of acres of forests, floods are wiping out cities, tornadoes ripping apart communities, animal species are disappearing, governments are falling.  Even though these incidents are heartbreaking and terrifying, they should not be feared but rather embraced.  We as a species are evolving into higher conscious beings and change is necessary.(This being said, I in no uncertain terms, feel apathetic to those whose lives have been turned upside down. Compassion is the lesson for this lifetime and this is what everyone needs right now.)
  Okay, back to Crystal's story. In reality mankind is moving into the 5th Age. We got that part. Now, in comes Crystal Blue. In Book One, Illuminating Crystal, readers are introduced to my heroine who wears her long dark hair in dreadlocks, a testament to her rather rebellious nature.  As the story goes along, readers discover that she's not your ordinary teenager. After finding an ancient manuscript in the basement of the bookstore (the manuscript is the Akashic Records in 3D,) Crystal meets some rather interesting characters and subsequently undergoes an intense transformation harnessing her with unique gifts so she is able to walk between worlds. Her human template changes due to the fact that her DNA was adjusted and her pineal gland was altered, her hair even turned blue. Just like the masters who walked the earth before her, she now has the ability to transcend time and space, to walk where only the bravest shaman dare tread, within and between the many overtones of earth.  This needed to happen because Crystal is a Child of the Stars, born for a purpose: to illuminate humanity by uncovering ancient secrets held and protected by indigenous tribes around the world. Crystal's ancestor is a Goddess from the Stars, a Star Warrior who made a contract with the ancient caretakers of the earth. If humanity survived until a particular date, if they did not annihilate themselves and the planet, then humanity would be shown certain gifts. Crystal's birth satisfied this contract and now it is up to her to see it through. She must travel the world within one years time, unveiling ancient secrets--the secrets of the divine human--as she goes which will enable mankind to survive the imminent changes ahead. However, she's a bit reluctant and would rather not go. After all, she's just found a bit of happiness in her life and would rather just stay at home (sound familiar?)  So basically, readers know this about Crystal: she's 18-years-old, she tends to swear, nothing too drastic just a 'damn' and 'bloody hell' now and then. She's just moved in with her older sister, Claire, a student at the University of Minnesota, and she doubts herself a lot. She's had a bit of a rough life, finding solace in her books and her music. And, she's fallen in love with the bookstore where she now works and with Adam. She doesn't want to go anywhere.  

So then what about Adam? What's his role? Well, for starters, he's the only one capable of seeing Crystal's blue aura.  These two have a special connection, yet they're warned not to get too close, otherwise certain destructive forces are at risk of being released.  Readers know this about Adam: He's handsome and when Crystal talks or even looks at him her ears begin itching and her palms start to sweat, which makes her want to scream. He's half-blooded Lakota and his eyes are arctic-blue, belying a certain heritage that's not from the plains of the Midwest.  He, along with the elderly Cosmo Attis, own the bookstore in Minneapolis where Crystal discovers this ancient manuscript.  As you can see in the picture I've provided above, there's a large black dog who looks at Crystal adoringly.  Readers who've read my books know who this is, but for those who haven't I will not divulge how and when he and Crystal meet.

There are many, many characters in my books.  If you visit Shelfari, you can meet some of these characters, but not all of them.  You can visit my website and read more about each book. What I've done beginning with the third book, Little Blue Star, is I've added a Cast of Characters so readers can keep track of who everyone is. 

At present, I've written and published three novels in the White Bird Series. Illuminating Crystal. Crystal Blue Sky. Little Blue Star. I will continue writing and publishing these novels I've found are hard to categorize and written for a wide audience until Crystal's story is completed.  Each time Crystal visits, honors and meets with the Elder of an indigenous tribe, whether it's in North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Europe or Antarctica, secrets of divine metaphysics, or, secrets of the divine human will be shared and  I promise you this: there will be no less than 8 books in this series and I am honoring my promise to publish at least one, if not more, each year.  I understand how it is to finish a book and want to read more, especially if the characters and the story leave me wanting more! At the end of each book I post a release date and as yet have honored this and will continue to do so. After all, this is my passion: Writing. Sharing the fact that we as a species have already ascended into masters, we just don't know it. Now, we get to experience the shift and will bear witness to something never seen before in the history of humanity.  I can only hope my books will be embraced as a record of this event.  I now truly believe that my purpose for being here, being alive at this moment in time, is to share my story and entertain anyone willing to read it.  However, if I'm really honest about all of this, I don't really believe I have a purpose for living, but rather a passion for it. I don't think we need a purpose anymore, I think being alive and bearing witness to this shift, experiencing life is enough.  But finding and pursuing your passion can enhance life, breathe energy into it. Then, if one wishes to share their passion with others, I think it can magnify a certain light that can illuminate the dark recesses of another's own imaginings, help them to discover how truly special they are.

So then I bid you all adieu.  I hope that you've gained a bit more of an understanding about why I've written my books and what I hope readers can gain from them.  As I mentioned earlier, as an entertainer I like to make people happy, tickle their funny bone, push their buttons, excite them, unnerve them, inspire them to find their passion.  My greatest wish is that my books do this and I can touch an audience of readers so that they too can discover they are angels having a truly incredible human experience.

Have a lovely, lovely day.

Paula    

  

COMPASSION FOR THE SUFFERING: HONOR OR AID?

Over the last few years, I've buried myself in my writing, my research, my family and my friends, all the while keeping one eye on current weather patterns, political uprisings, and trends in technological research and

science, doing the best I possibly could not to get emotionally involved as that often proves toxic to my sanity and ability to deal with my own life.  The world is much smaller than it was twenty years ago, subsequently it's much easier to be fed news about events occurring one hundred miles away or all the way on the other side of the world.  It's often extremely difficult not to get emotionally charged and dragged into another's heartbreaking drama when it often times seems the world is going to 'hell in a handbasket.'   The world is filled with humans of all types; those who harm and those who do not, those who watch others harm without interfering, turning away, not wanting to become involved; and those who interfere, who work tirelessly to expose and shut down, arrest and incarcerate those who should be held responsible for their harmful actions, and those who allow another to experience their full potential of suffering by not interfering. Many claim we are in the greatest compassionate shift in human history, but why does it seem that everyday more and more people are suffering?

Billions of souls on planet earth experience suffering in some way or another.  The Masters, those who've walked the earth with elevated consciousness, declare that we are here to experience life in all its dimensions and struggling makes us stronger.  E.A. Bucchianeri, in his book, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly, says this about Jesus's suffering:"If Christ is God, He cannot sin, and if suffering was a sin in and by itself, He could not have suffered and died for us.  However, since He took the most horrific death to redeem us, He showed us in fact that suffering and pain have great power." The bible verse, James 1:2-4 says this about suffering. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Helen Keller, a tragic, yet powerful figure who overcame huge obstacles said this: "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience, through trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." Kahlil Gibran, author of the infamous book, "The Prophet" says this: "Out of suffering has emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars."

So my dilemma is this: If I see a homeless man or woman, should I have compassion and feel sorry for him or her? Should I try to help if they have not asked me to? Should I look upon them with pity because I have a home to go to? Or, should I honor them for their choice? Should I let them evolve in their own way into that most massive character with scars? Should I acknowledge the fact that they are learning what they came to earth to learn? Should I take home their worries? Do I even know what their worries are? Can I presume to know them better than they know themselves? How about the millions of souls in Japan after the tsunami? How do I as a compassionate human being fall asleep at night knowing how they suffer? I live thousands of miles away, yet the media coverage brought it into my living room and it was extremely difficult not to be moved by the devastation.  As a compassionate human, what can I do for them?  They are experiencing trials and suffering, and according to Helen Keller, their souls are strengthened because of the tragedy. Millions of animals a day lose their lives in kill shelters, by hunters, poachers, brutes who gain pleasure in torturing and killing innocent animals.  How can I stand by and let this happen? How can I not inflict the same atrocity upon them, as I am sometimes want to do? Children suffer at the hands of adults who should be protecting them, not hurting them, exploiting them, destroying their chance at ever having a normal life.  How do I as a compassionate human being allow these horrors to happen? Are they seared with scars, making them massive characters? Does their pain and suffering have great power? I don't know about you, but if I am alerted to anyone, especially an animal or a child, who is being harmed in some fashion or another, I cannot stand idly by and let them gain a greater understanding of themselves at the hands of a brute even if it means placing myself in danger.  Compassion for their suffering compels me to act, to alleviate their suffering, to save them.

How about his scenario, much less graphic than the a fore mentioned, but sometimes tragic all the same.  Let's say, for instance, my son/daughter makes a decision that I am quite aware will place them in danger, or if not danger, the consequence will most likely be unpleasant.  If I am a compassionate human being, should I let them suffer? What if they don't ask for my help or advice? If I know they will suffer as an outcome of their choice, should I step in? Or should I allow them the greatest gift one can give to another; the gift of experiencing what they came to earth to learn.  Oh, it's a tough call and riddled with uncertainties, especially if a loved one is in trouble, begging for help as they've done dozens of times before, saying they promise they'll change if you help them one more time, and, you know they won't.  Maybe compassion for the suffering in this scenario is to allow them to feel the nip of the wringer, to experience their consequence, live their choice, otherwise you've taken away their opportunity to learn, you've stepped in and become their higher power.  Maybe compassion is honoring another's choice even if it interfere's with yours. Maybe compassion is honoring yourself enough to allow another human to struggle. Didn't Buddha say: "If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete?" In Buddhism, the ideal of practice is to selflessly act to alleviate suffering wherever it appears.  We may argue it is impossible to eliminate suffering, and maybe it is, maybe people are supposed to suffer, yet, according to Buddhism, we're to respond anyway.  And, according to Buddhism, having compassion for oneself is paramount to having compassion for others and puts oneself on the road to enlightenment. We should not ignore our own suffering.

Being a compassionate human, I suppose, does not mean standing idly by and watching another suffer if something can be done.  The key here is understanding if another is suffering.  Is the homeless man or woman suffering? Is the teenager stealing and selling drugs suffering? I know I cannot and should not be the arbiter of another's suffering, yet on the other hand, I cannot and should not be the arbiter of another's choice in how they wish to experience their life.  Compassion for myself has led me to this understanding.  Honoring another's choice, not interfering unless asked, understanding that if I do help it will not hinder my serenity, is the greatest  gift I can give myself and another.  Helping in service, not in servitude is how I determine when it's appropriate to step in.  Honoring another, lending a hand, offering aid is offering compassion, but not when it interferes with my or my family's safety, health or well-being.  These are things I must consider if I wish to practice compassion for there is often more at stake than offering a friendly hand.  Compassion is first and foremost something I must give to myself in order to be effective.  If I cannot help, I can honor the sacrifice others have made when they struggled with their suffering such as the victims of the tsunami tragedy in Japan and the victims of the recent earthquake in the Phillipines.

Humans are the highest form of life in the universe, so I believe.  There are no other beings with higher consciousness than a human being.  Seems a bit convoluted when there's so much drama, heartache, heartbreak, and sadness happening around the world.  But since we're in the greatest compassionate shift in human history I can only strive to believe that this shift is an inner shift contrary to what the media presents to us daily.  Around the world there are huge uprisings by those tired of the heavy hand of tyranny.  The compassion millions are beginning to feel for themselves has thrust them from their homes, demanding better treatment from officials and employers, cleaner water, higher wages, fair trade practices, democracy.  Compassion is not just about offering aid to the suffering, it is believing with your whole heart that you deserve better and you'll do anything to see it done.  Maybe the brutes of the world, those who harm, will begin to feel compassion for themselves and stop their brutality. A compassionate person does not inflict harm.  Buddhism is built on compassion and complete harmlessness.  My hope is this: One day, soon, humanity will have fallen in love with themselves so completely it would be impossible to inflict harm on themselves or anyone else, then, peace will surely come to planet earth.

And so, I go forth from today with compassion for myself first and foremost.  Knowing this to be true, I will do my best to alleviate my own suffering so that I might alleviate someone else's.  I will strive to hone my passion, for with this comes compassion.  I will honor other's for their choices and help if they ask if it doesn't interfere with my family's safety, health, or well-being.  I will honor and put into the highest light those who've chosen a life of struggle, of pain, and of lack.  I will not feel sorry for them, this will only dishonor their choice, but I will, if asked, attempt to alleviate their suffering to the best of my ability.  If I have to 'stand behind the short fence' when struggle and strife happen on the other side of the world, or even in my own neighborhood, I will if it means honoring another.  I will not become emotionally involved in the drama, rather I will infuse the situation with light and compassion and understand the outcome as appropriate to their life's plan.  This is not easy, but I will do my best not to add fuel to the fire.  My job, this time around on planet earth, is to anchor light, anchor love, and anchor compassion by being a match holder, a lightworker, a light house.  The light house does not get involved in the drama of the sea, it shines its light so that others might see.  I will do my best and hope I do not let myself or anyone else down.

Namaste,
Paula