 Dear Friends,
Reading the newspapers, watching the world go by, we've been rather mesmerized of late by the precarious balance that seems to exist between the potential for total environmental disaster, global fascism and war on the one hand, and a new golden age of goodwill and spiritual understanding on the other. We've been asking ourselves, what can all of us do to help steer ourselves and our planet safely through the times ahead? How can we help tip the balance in favour of a future that will bring the most happiness, the most healing, the most light to all? What is the most important thing each of us can do, right now?
No doubt you've been asking yourself this question too, and of course we all know the answer. Surely it is to connect as fully and as closely as possible with our own Soul or Higher Self? Then our choices will be wise, our vision clear, and our actions guided and informed by Soul-power, and Soul-love. Though we act within the world of space and time, the Eternal will hold us to itself, protecting us like a cloak, and making miracles the substance of every day.
So what is stopping us, then? Well, there are two obvious answers to this question. The first is: 'Nothing!' Nothing at all is stopping us actually, unless we think it is, in which case a simple readjustment of our beliefs about ourselves and what we are capable of is all that's necessary, followed of course, by corresponding actions.
The second is: 'self-preservation' – the need, usually quite unconscious, to preserve aspects of our conditioned selves that actually stand in the way of the light and truth of our Souls. The cure for this is to put aside fear (and the idea that 'I know it already'!) and shine the searchlight of truth on ourselves, resting assured that life itself will show us anything we may have missed, if only we are willing to keep an open mind and read the signposts life gives us.
It was with these ideas in mind that we wrote to a number of authors, asking them to contribute to this year's Cygnus calendar by expressing, in just a few brief sentences, what they felt would most help us to 'Do It Now' – to bring more Soul energy into our individual and collective existences, and clear away any obstacles that may still remain within our own being.
One of the authors we invited to contribute was Clysta Kinstler, who wrote the novel Mary Magdalene, Beloved Disciple, which is published by Cygnus. At one point in our correspondence with her, she drew our attention to a passage from her novel in which an extract from the apocryphal 'Acts of John' is quoted (click here to read the whole passage). Well, if words can be carved in people’s souls, those words are carved in ours, and one sentence in particular struck us right between the eyes: 'If you would understand what I am, know this: all that I have said, I have uttered playfully, and I was not ashamed thereby.'
And then we remembered..... in all our serious-minded deliberations about 'doing it now' and the precarious world predicament, we had forgotten the one, most magical, most necessary ingredient: lightness of being, playfulness, laughter.
We are beings of time and space. We are also beings of eternity. And that is why, whatever happens, joy need never be more than a breath away. And joy – laughter, lightness – is not just a pleasant feeling, it's a transforming power. It raises vibrations and blows away the unreal, as if it had never been. Ha ha!!!!
So, thanks to Clysta, we wrote the following quote as our contribution to the calendar: 'Never forget the amazing power of laughter to raise your vibrations in a split second. Whatever is happening – remember, it's only a game. You are a being of Eternity. Nothing can change that. In your very essence, you defy gravity. So laugh.'
Then, leafing through an American edition of 'Messiah's Handbook' by Richard Bach, we came across this same idea again: 'You are free to smile in the midst of massive tests and challenges, knowing that you have chosen to play this game, and that you have dominion over all the appearances of earth.' Wonderful! Well, we had been wondering for a whole year whether we should publish a Cygnus Book Club edition of Messiah's Handbook, and that decided us! Everything in it seemed to match so well the ideas expressed in the calendar, ideas that let us step into our own 'lightness of being', so that we can spread our wings and fly – and expressed so simply and succinctly too, in language that you could share with anyone, from your son to your grandmother!
So, dear friends, we hope you enjoy reading this edition of The Cygnus Review and... let us laugh!
With much love from Geoff, Ann and all of us at Cygnus
Photographs © Cygnus Books 31-Jul-2007
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