The Lions Gate

Once again the Earth aligns with the planet Sirius opening The Lion’s Gate Portal so that we may receive a flood of cosmic activations.  Although I had heard of this the last two years, it was in a teleconference call with a local shaman here in Santa Fe, named Robin Coale that I was reminded of this special time.

Since arriving to the high desert I have noticed an opening in my intuitive and psychic abilities, this I have been listening more deeply and paying attention to patterns, or what Paulo Coelho in his book The Alchemist refers to as omens.

Thus on this eighth day of the eighth month, with this special portal open I thought I would share a special meditation that started presenting itself to me a few years ago and has finally coalesced. If you have time today and for the next week, I suggest listening to Robin's teleconference and take a moment to embrace the flood of cosmic energies.

Here is the meditation that came to me:

Find a peaceful place to sit quietly, ideally outdoors. As you ground your self into mother earth and become aware of the circulating air, warmth of the solar rays, and luminosity of the stars and lunar beams,

observe a vertical figure eight before you, the same height as your body. The image slowly begins to pulse with energy moving along the path of the form.

Consider how the top of the form mimics the bottom, “As above, so below, as within so without." The form now turns on its side, finding its central axis at the solar plexus and begins to spin around you, resembling a flower. The spinning geometric form eventually generates a light bubble all around you.

Standing within this loving sphere of light, perceive how vibrant threads descending from the cosmos flood into your body through the crown of your head, pausing to illuminate your pineal gland and then both recharging and rejuvenating your entire system. While this takes place breath in gratitude for being here on this planet during this very special time, as we “activate” our ascension codes and manifest our individual and collective dream.

Above is a video Greg amended from when he did visual development for the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Narnia Film. He describes the symbolism like this:

On the 8th day of the 8th month, the Lions Gate opens. Metaphysically this is a powerful day for transformation and visualization. There is a scene I worked on for the "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" motion picture which encapsulates this concept.

One of the characters has been turned into a dragon through a greedy activity. He is in danger of being slain because no one knows that this is not his real form. After realizing his error he asks for forgiveness and Aslan, the sacred lion turns him back into his human form... with some intense dramatics.

This scene symbolically represents the dragon of our lower nature, and the power of transformation using right thoughts, and right actions.

The animatic shows our dragon/boy floating up from the ocean (his subconscious) as a sand bar pushes him above the water. When he opens his eyes (waking the portals of perception) he sees the sun rising which turns into Aslan standing on the water. Aslan roars and rushes the waking dragon (the wind of realization). He tears him open with his claws (removing the ego) and the transformation begins from lower nature to higher being. The changing consciousness is washed over by a huge wave (infinite love), setting in motion a rebirth.

Meditation and Visualization are tools that help us calm the mind and open the portals of perception.

Artwork by Greg Spalenka, concept design for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader film.

Word Rant Wednesday: Alchemy

While attending a lecture about honey bees in February 2017, the presenter Benjamin Pixie, mentioned an "alchemist" that lived in Taos. The equation of the words alchemist + Taos sparked my curiosity immediately. The word "alchemist” currently is an amorphous term with a myriad of definitions, which gets thrown about abundantly, without much gravitas.

At the time, Greg and I were contemplating moving from Los Angeles to another state, New Mexico was on my radar, specifically Santa Fe. The idea of moving to a beautiful location in a mountainous area that had a local alchemist combined with the proximity to our friends Cathy and Florian was extremely appealing.

Next step was to find out why the presenter was referring to this fellow in Taos as an alchemist, was he for real?  In our modern day, the term alchemy or alchemist usually relates to a transformative process with a product, especially if the process involves plants or gold. For example there are visual artists, psychotherapists, musicians, chefs and aromatherapists who use the term, often with another word acting as an adjective, like visual alchemist. Even I have used the term, first to describe my illustration work and most recently in reference to perfume.

After returning home from the very informative and fun lecture by Benjamin, I googled this alchemist named Avery Hopkins. To my surprise and further curiosity, he seemed closer to the real deal than anyone I had ever met or heard of. Thus, I became more committed to moving to New Mexico and meeting this Avery dude.

In November, 2017, after several attempts, our schedules aligned and we met for lunch at Clafoutis, a french bakery here in Santa Fe. I wasn't sure what to expect, from the photos and instagram feed he seemed like a very focused and intense fellow, besides being young and handsome. Sure enough, all those descriptives can be used to describe Avery, as well as charismatic, visionary, intellectual and compassionate individual—equating to a very magnetic person.

I remember quite clearly when he walked into the room at Clafoutis, he seemed part god, as if he were the manifestation of Mercury himself, the conductor between the mortal and immortal realms. Although it all happened within seconds, I wondered if everyone in the crowded cafe was aware that a semi god had just arrived. He had the same energetic dynamism and beauty that I noticed with Tom Ford, it's an extremely arresting, mesmerizing quality that includes beauty, charm and a heightened electrical charge. No one in the restaurant seemed to notice, thus I assume it was just me.

As I attentively listened to him speak of alchemy, his journey and processes, he seemed to be the real deal and I wanted to learn from him! I wondered if my intellectual capacity was at a level to truly understand, so much of the language he used was full with the scientific jargon that usually was way over my very artistic, poetic head.

Eventually we closed the place down and I left in a spellbound state. Since then I have had the extreme fortune to spend more time with him and ever so slowly begin to understand what he calls operative alchemy. This is where we transition "from 'interested looker' into full-fledged alchemical practitioner"1 we begin to fully absorb the various realms of alchemy by observing the internal and external dynamics within and without.

"Ancient alchemists used laboratory practices to not only heal the body and the mind but to solicit conscious evolution and render a mortal to be immortal at its highest tier of mastery."2

As with learning any new skill set or language, allowing material to gently to work its way in derives the best results. We move from base matter to a more refined understanding and then go through the process again and again, like the cycle of the Phoenix, the ouroboros, in a constant loop.

I learned the term alchemy to mean "transformation", the art of transmutation, referring to consciousness or a substance from a base form to an enlightened state. This definition appealed to me because it covered both the psychological (internally) and scientific (externally) aspects of the word. Avery, after years of research, has come to define alchemy as the understanding of how consciousness relates to matter, a map by which all experiences are generated and transformed.

Listen to an interview with Avery on the Pete Evans podcast at I-tunes and/or Spotify, Learn more about Avery and his business by heading over to the Kymia Arts website.

1-2 Avery Hopkins, Kymia Arts website
Images: Photo of Kymia Arts lab, Mercury oil painting by Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, 1898. Galería Belvedere, Vienna.