Category Archives: metaphysical

Blog Post, editorial, Major theme for Epiphany, metaphysical, Preview of Epiphany

When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Appears

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I have written Epiphany all the way through, and am currently editing and polishing it. It is easy to see themes in this novel. “Kiss Yourself Goodbye,” is the first line. Certainly the very word “goodbye” elicits visions of letting go and moving on.
Often in my life, I have gotten lessons dealt to me when I most needed them.  Sometimes, my teacher is an image. In the following excerpt,  Lori, the protagonist in my story, choses an archetype from the teachings of Tarot, the Queen of Wands that symbolizes the qualities and strengths she needs to go forward. Notice the pictures on these cards and follow her thinking as she recognizes her own creativity, and begins to use it to inspire her students to use their talents.

the-four-queenshttps://mjhernandeztarot.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/of-empires-and-kingdoms-part-/

Lori looked at what had once been her first choice, the Queen of Cups.  Solitary. Reigning from  a throne embellished by shells, she seemed almost transparent, for  her face was reflective as the sea at her feet, and she gazed with expectation at the golden cup she held, enchanted by its sweet potion. Lori did not wish to drink from her chalice of love. Not today. The aloof Queen of Swords, her blade cutting the air as she coldly contemplated truth did not tempt Lori,  and not even the splendidly adorned Queen of Pentacles, luxuriating in the riches of the earth, interested her. Indeed, having tasted abundantly of the elements of  water, air and the good earth—Lori looked to the fourth queen-the Queen of Wands and the element of fire. She faced forward to the ready, opposing lions of  fire and strength guarded the sides of her throne, and she held sunflowers. Sunflowers bloomed all around her. Why even the wand was coming into bloom.  And the black cat at her feet mirrored magic! “Today,” Lori said, ” This queen is my symbol. The sunflowers, vibrant with the colors of fall, are the harvest I have planted. It is time to shine.

Order the Historical Novel by S.K. Carnes,  The Way Back, recently released in all e-book stores.

 

Blog Post, Major theme for Epiphany, metaphysical, Preview of Epiphany

The Art of Life: How to Channel Inner Knowing

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Above Image: Trees by Mondrian

The first day Lori (our protagonist in my almost finished novel Epiphany) spends in Eugene, Oregon, she purchases a used copy of Magic Doors by John Pearson. The images in his book of photography are all about entering another dimension, perhaps not even noticing the portal passed through to get there. Art is like that.
Next, Lori took lessons in building stained glass and began putting the pieces together that she cut. How did she know what glass to use? What colors? What patterns? She felt her way along and that became her way forward. Life is like that, an art project she could create, and she wanted it to be a masterpiece. Against the advice of her teachers, Lori chose to do a Tiffany designed lamp for her first ever project in stained glass. Why not? How hard can it be—The teachers are present, and the student is ready! And that is the theme for my next blog.
In the meantime, arrange things, put an outfit together, paint a picture, order The Way Back and get to know your inner knowing!

Order the Historical Novel by S.K. Carnes,  The Way Back, recently released in all e-book stores.

 

Blog Post, editorial, Major theme for Epiphany, metaphysical, Preview of Epiphany

You Teach Best What You Most Need To Learn

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How satisfying to help youth dodge some of the obstacles that block the way forward.  And with every triumph, the teacher takes heart. It is a vicarious blooming that happens, a win-win for everyone fueled by the teacher’s need to get it right, and the student’s need for clear headed guidance. But the teacher is drawn to a subject of interest to both of them.  Let me illustrate my point:
Jenny wants to ski the big hill, but is stuck on the bunny slope until she can ski safely, and not be a hazard to others. Lori (our protagonist) never had mastered this skill, but now, working with the Special Olympics, she must teach this child with Downs Syndrome how to ski in control, and in doing so, she learns the very thing she most needs for her own freedom on the slopes. Funny how fate works isn’t it? It is like someone is up there pulling our strings so that we get to overcome shortcomings. Here is an excerpt from Epiphany that tells about the moment it all makes sense:
Lori smiled, remembering Jenny’s face, her pink cheeks wet with melting snow, her wide set blue eyes dancing with insight as she looked at the skiers traversing the slope and said “Oh- Oh I SEE.” It was an epiphany.  Being able to turn and stop meant freedom on the slopes!
Perhaps that is why Lori has become a school counselor helping Elementary School children overcome fear. Could it be that is what she most needs to learn? Have you experienced this phenomena in your own lives? Please comment.

Order the Historical Novel by S.K. Carnes,  The Way Back, recently released in all e-book stores.

 

Blog Post, editorial, Major theme for Epiphany, metaphysical, Preview of Epiphany

The Law of the Universe

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“Take What You Want And Pay For It.”

I don’t remember where I first heard this idea, but it was a game changer. When I wrote Epiphany (presently being revised) I realized how much my protagonist, Lori Moyer, believed this phrase. It really says it all and I count it as a major theme for Epiphany. To show the way the Law can work, I made the below image a subtitle for the book.  Here it is fresh out of Photoshop:
BylineStarting over in the West, leaving almost everything and everyone behind, Lori paid dearly. This book is a mixture of humor and angst as she comes to understand the ramifications of the bargain she made. It wasn’t pretty. She had to come to terms with illusion and reality, with who she was, and who she was becoming. What an adventure! Following the Law, she came to realize that payments were not just financial, but emotional, physical and spiritual as well. And so was the path taken, lighted by the notion that she was in charge of her own life. Adopting that understanding can be terrifying. Watch for another theme for my newest book .

Order the Historical Novel by S.K. Carnes,  The Way Back, recently released in all e-book stores.

metaphysical, Preview of Epiphany, song, story, unforgettable

Together—Hand in Hand

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As I write Epiphany, my third book, I think about the children I met in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains where I worked as an Elementary School Counselor. A 4th grader by the name of Fawn comes to mind. One afternoon she was crouched, rocking herself back and forth outside the Principal’s office, wailing like her life was ending. I scrunched down to be on her level, feeling every sob tear at my heart. What could be so wrong?
“I did it to be pretty,” she sobbed. “I wanted to look just fine.”
“Why Fawn, you are pretty,” I said cupping her wet little face in my hands. And you are just as fine as you can be. What did you do that seems so awful? Did you burn down the school?”
“No,” she sniffled.
“Did you shoot your teacher Fawn?”
“No, she shook her head shedding tears all around, with the slightest smile showing that she wasn’t THAT bad.
“Well, what did you do then?” I asked, mopping her face and the collar of her dress with my handkerchief.
“I stole earings from Marsha Jane. She had ‘em hid and was showin’ off to the other girls in the washroom. So when she went out to recess, I stole ‘em— only Judy saw me. And now I have to see the Principal! I needed them earings to be pretty for my Grandpa.”
“Oh— well come on, I’ll hold your hand and we will go together to see our Principal Marshall Wayne,” I said. “Be brave. Let’s own up to this and take the punishment. Are you ready?” And so, I entered into Fawn’s world of fear and doubt, and found out all about needing to be pretty. After the experience —both horrifying and terrifying— I used the song “Where, I Can’t Find” that Lenore, Fawn’s sister wrote. We wrote it into  an original play we put together and performed. It was about feeling powerless, and not knowing what to do, until—well, sometimes being brave, strong, and hopeful comes only with an epiphany. And that is what we can help to happen for one another—together, hand in hand.

 Where I Can’t Find

When I want to feel like I’m pretty
When I want to look just fine
I’ll find my reflection in the eyes of my someone
Who lives only in my mind
Or
In some far-away place I can’t find.
When I want to do great things
When I want to mend what’s broke
Miracles circle  just out of my reach
That call to me in my mind
Or
From some deeper place I can’t find.
When I want to know the answers
When I want to feel like I’m smart
Bright bubbles of knowing blow by in the wind
That burst when I call them to mind
Or
Float off to where I can’t find.

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Order the Historical Novel by S.K. Carnes,  The Way Back,

recently released in all e-book stores.

Blog Post, editorial, metaphysical

The Body Knows

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 Find the above image at: http://www.arcticphoto.co.uk/gallery2/antarctic/antland/ant0501-07.htm

Many of us respond with feelings to an experience and don’t know why. It is OK to think about our feelings of course. In fact, poetry has been defined as just that—thinking about feelings.
It is a big concept, one that I had explained to me when I worked in a chronic pain center, that the only place to feel is in the body. That means that it is a life partner. Hmmm. It also means that certain parts of the body may jog memories of experiences. Hmmm. It also means that the body has a mind of it’s own. Hmmmm.
Any of the above thoughts could confound a regular person. But, one could think of it like an onion—a metaphor for how it all works.
In most countries where the temperature drops, it is important to dress in layers–like the onion. You and me-well we would be like the tender white inner core. But those layers carry the identity of that onion. The outside is what we see until we dig deeper and unpeel.
I always cry at a horse race. Why? Certainly it is not out of sadness, or even out of joy, but maybe because I relate to the experience of one-ness with that animal, and also the idea of greatness beyond bounds. Do you ever shed a tear over an Olympic performance? Is it because the boundaries are broken and the inner core shines through? Maybe. At the end of a yoga session, our teacher/guide says “Namaste.” That means the light in me sees the light in you. Now that is worth a tear isn’t it. The body answers the thought. Or is it the other way around? Hmmm.

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Order the Historical Novel by S.K. Carnes,  The Way Back,

recently released in all e-book stores.
metaphysical, poetry, Preview of Epiphany

The Novel as Framework for Memories

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Insight About Writing Down Memories

 I find the characters I write about have changed me.

As I write the folks in my novel
Yes, it’s all coming back to me now.
Each one has traits so familiar
Don’t ask me the why or the how.
But each one has stamped me with something!
Time’s passed and they are afar.
Sure’n the writing is making me find in myself
Some part of who they all are.
How did this come round to happenin’
I guess cus we followed our vibes.
And they say we get changed and are different
When we let others into our lives.
We’ve tangled and jumbled each other.
I knew them, their love and their pain.
I felt their sunshine and laughter
And we all got drenched in the rain
‘Cus of them I found my direction
They’re apart and within just the same.
We meet up again in my writing.
My novel sets round them a frame.
When I write, we’re together again.

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Order the Historical Novel by S.K. Carnes,  The Way Back,

recently released in all e-book stores.
metaphysical, poetry, Preview of Epiphany, unforgettable

Write Yourself

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“I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” — Flannery O’Connor

The Dame in Chapter 23

Life it seems is like a play
Sing and dance and act away.
But, step outside, and it comes clear
The highs, the lows, the sad, the dear.
I write these down, my goings ons
The rights I did, the good, and wrongs.
I make a plot and structure too
For my novel, I think it through
Until at last its polished prose.
A page to start and one to close.
So here it is, my life between
Down to the long lost smithereen.
I agonize in guilt and shame
But through it all I am the dame
Found in Chapter 23
Hiding here-the clue to me.
Find yourself in here too
Write yourself and find your you.

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Order the Historical Novel by S.K. Carnes,  The Way Back,

recently released in all e-book stores.
metaphysical, poetry, Preview of Epiphany, story, unforgettable

Writing Epiphany

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Image:By You Tube-Synthetic Epiphany Feat. CoMa - Icarus

I guess you could say I “struck it rich when I worked  for a school system in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains, so, I am writing Epiphany to  share the gold I found there. To tell my story, I’ve created Lucky Strike, a mining community seeking a school counselor, and Lori,  who applies for the job and lives out life changing experiences with Oregon’s children. This is what it is like to write about this turbulent time,when I lived my dream. Ha. This is what it is like to write about a break through that could be called an epiphany.

Writing Epiphany

Driven by knowledge road-marked with failures, on and on chasing deaththe radiant koan
Around the impasses, still pressing onward, dropping illusions, feeling alone
Upstream to the well-head, the lake that is hidden, the source, the essence the unsullied truth
To once again feel it, with surety, clarity, the rightness, the virtue, the dream of my youth.
Thoughts passing by on a ticker-tape ribbon, concepts, names, words on parade
I reach out and grab some, as they go by me, quick write them down, lest they vanish or fade.
Some stories linger, calling attention, like The Little Prince traveling on home, to his rose.
And I realize this wisdom, grows deep down inside me, waiting for water, and light I suppose.
So I struggle to tell it, to express what excites me, to spell out my towervision, my opinion, my take
What good would it be to leave unspoken, my part in the play, a crime, a mistake!
I want to contribute the best that’s within me, to write something lasting for someone to grasp
To keep them from falling, to pull themselves up on, to step on, to fly from, to love and hold fast
Like Silverstein did when he wrote of what’s missing, the broken place, that lets in the sun.
Like Kesey did when he wrote of the madness, the “Cuckoo’s Nest,” the lobotomy done.
Crashing and burning, losing and grieving, courting disaster with RWS_Tarot_17_Starnary a clue
That the circle leads inward in the grey of uncertain that listens in stillness, that opens the flue
So the smoke can rise skyward from smoldering mindsets, so fresh air ignites epiphany’s flame.
Inspiration fueled by new understandings, transforms, enlivens, leaves nothing the same.

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Order the Historical Novel by S.K. Carnes,  The Way Back,

recently released in all e-book stores.
metaphysical, poetry, Preview of Epiphany, unforgettable

A Legendary Character For Epiphany

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Lori is hired to be a school counselor in the wilds of the Oregon Cascades. Her new boss is legendary in the District. This is how she feels on her first day and her last day, and on all the days in between!

The PledgeEmperor

Engraved on his door is his name
The Principal Marshall Wayne
About excellence top notch supreme
His staff is the best—is the cream
Can I please him and still survive?
Can I finish this job alive?
I enter in hopeful and brave
To his office, his den, his cave
Putting all pretenses aside
My hopes and plans to confide
My very best service I’ll bring
I pledge like a knight to my king.The Chariot
He lays out what he expects
Less then that he soundly rejects
“Be early and never be late
We’re destined to win and be great
This job is really child’s play
You’ll work 36 hours each day”
My very best service I’ll bring
I pledge like a knight to my king.
 
 
Epiphany is the new novel  S.K. Carnes is formulating at present. She has been introducing (in this blog) some of the characters in Epiphany with poetry,pictures, and representative Taro cards. Soon  she will feature some “portals”—mind blowing experiences— that occur as the characters interact. Perhaps they will write the book—these characters I mean. Shall we shuffle the deck and see? What do you think will happen?  Please comment. Your opinions are valued!

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Order the Historical Novel by S.K. Carnes,  The Way Back,

recently released in all e-book stores.