October brings to mind the bounty we’ve received from the miracle of the harvest.  The grain has ripened beneath the warmth of the great golden summer sun, with the assistance of spring showers, and the sleep during winter's icy grasp.  It is only in autumn, the end of the cycle, that we can begin to enjoy the fruits of the earth, and rest.

“The seasonal cycle is no longer a big part of our daily bread, accustomed as we are to helping ourselves to the good things of the earth at any time of year.  Food preservation methods are now so sophisticated that we can enjoy cherries in December or hazelnuts in March.

The mysteries of the grain were hallowed by our ancestors, because grain created two stable items of diet: bread and ale.  The complex processes of flour refining and fermentation were discovered millennia ago, bringing their own special gladness to everyone's hearth.

Though the celebration of harvest no longer brings us together in communities to rejoice that the cycle of life can continue into another year, we can still be blithe and thankful that there is sufficient food for all to share.  Every time we eat bread, every time we drink beverages brewed from grain, we also partake in the mysteries of harvest.”
~ From the archives, source unknown.

This is the time of year that our thoughts turn to consider what we’ve gathered, learned and achieved out of this year’s harvest.  Consider the riches of this year's experiences, ponder how they will fuel the year to come, and envision the future.

Those who are spiritually wealthy have much to be grateful for.  What have you learned and experienced this year for which you are thankful?

How many blessings can YOU count? 

It’s worth thinking about…

          To every mind there openeth,
           A way, and a way, and away,
           A high soul climbs the highway,
           And the low soul gropes the low,
           And in between on the misty flats,
           The rest drift to and fro.

           But to every man there openeth,
           A high way and a low,
           And every mind decideth,
           The way his soul shall go.

           One ship sails East,
           And another West,

 By the self-same winds that blow,

'Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales,
That tells the way we go.

Like the winds of the sea
Are the waves of time,
As we journey along through life,
'Tis the set of the soul,
That determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Do you always have a magical goal you’re working on achieving?  Do you keep a list of your goals somewhere you can refer to when you need to start on the next one?  

I saw a sign in an office once-upon-a-time that was a picture of a turtle looking ahead and moving with focused attention.  The caption read: “You’ll never get anywhere unless you stick your neck out.”

“Looking forward to achieving our goals causes a chemical reaction that causes happiness,” says Berkeley psychologist Keltner.

“Brian Knutson, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Stanford… uses MRI to monitor the brains of test subjects.  The mental mode he studies is anticipation.  “When people think of happiness,” says Knutson, “they think of feeling good, but a big part of happiness is also looking forward to something.”

“Harvard psychologist Laura Kubzansky has chosen to study optimism. In a large study she tracked 1,300 men for twenty years and found that heart-disease rates among men who called themselves optimistic were half the rates for men who didn’t.”
~ Excerpted from TIME Magazine’s article ‘The Biology of Joy’ by Michael D. Lemmonick, 1-17-05

What are you working on right now? Could it use some magical help?

The more you practice something, the better you get.
Are you looking forward to your next magical manifestation?

It’s worth thinking about…

Most likely there is a major issue burning in your thoughts right now.  Scorpio urges us, during this first decan, to bring the Power of Intensity to this desire. Intensity is the amount of force or energy that is brought to bear upon something -- hence, a concentration of power upon a point.

Be clear about what you want.

"Focus is the hocus pocus of creation."
~ Karen Karbo

In order to do this in our magical work, we first must be clear about what it is we want. 

• Where does your passion lay? 
  
• What inspires you and fills you with happiness? 
  
• What gets you up out of bed in the morning?

• If you could follow your bliss what would it be? 
  
• What does it look like? 
  
• How would you like to see your goal manifest? 
  

Scorpio is a water sign - a sign of strong feelings.  The magical strength of this first decan of Intensity lies in the concentration of these strong feelings upon a single point.  Intensity is the amount of force or energy that is brought to bear upon something - hence, a concentration of power upon a point.   During the month we will discover that the most important point to concentrate upon is what makes us happy.

“Follow your bliss and doors will open where there were no doors before.”
~ Joseph Campbell

Sometimes this is harder than it sounds, because in order to do that, you have to know what it is that you want.  Make that decision first, and everything else will fall into place.

Thus this turning of the Great Wheel of Life focuses our attention on the contrast between what we Do Want and what we Don’t Want.  It’s fairly easy to list the things we Don’t Want, but don’t stop there.  Now list the things that you actually Do Want, instead.

So many people stop right there, listing the parts of their lives that they don’t like and wish would change, but instead of thinking about what that change might look like and feel like, they continually go over the list of undesirables.  How many times have you heard someone going through a rough time explaining why they don’t like being where they are, and why it’s probably not their fault… it’s probably their mother’s fault – or their teacher’s fault – or someone – anyone else but their own fault.

“There must be a positive and negative in everything in the universe in order to complete a circuit or circle, without which there would be no activity, no motion.”
~ John McDonald

Placing blame is not necessary to change the circumstances of one’s life.  Explaining to your friends why you dis-like being where you are and how much you’d rather be over there, is not necessary either, and can, in fact, be detrimental, because when you do that, you are then offering a vibration about what you are thinking about.  You are offering a vibration about what you Don’t Want.  Do you really want to attract more of THATinto your life?

“A set definite objective must be established if we are to accomplish anything in a big way.”
~ John McDonald

The Law of Attraction says that which is like unto itself is drawn.  In other words, if I talk about what I don’t like, my thoughts are offering a vibration like that which I am thinking.  Our thoughts are powerful electro-magnets constantly drawing to ourselves whatever we dwell upon the most.  What we experience today is the result of the thoughts we have been thinking up to this point.  In order to change the momentum we have to change our thinking.

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
~ Dr. Wayne Dyer

So in order to move forward toward what you’d rather have, you have to put in MORE time deliberately putting some positive thinking into what you’d rather have.  Until you can do this, you’ll be stuck in the muck re-creating more of the same… because this is what’s on your mind and this is how you are constantly feeling… and this is what you are attracting into your experience.

"The intensity of your desire governs the power with which the force is directed."
~ John McDonald

Remember this…
Very often something old must be torn down in order for something new to be created in it’s place.  When things go wrong, this could very possibly be the breaking down of the previous structure, that you don’t want any longer.

The trick here is to remain firm in the vision of what you’d rather have in it’s place.

“You return and again take the proper course, guided by what? -- By the picture in mind of the place you are headed for...”
~ John McDonald

How do you feel most of the time?  Is your normal “set point” happy?  Or are you usually worried and fearful?  

Which feeling would you rather have more of?

“Your mind, which is yourself, can be likened to a house. The first necessary move then, is to rid that house of all but furnishings essential to success.”
~ John McDonald

In order to benefit from Scorpio’s influence to intensify your thoughts…  you need to be very clear about what you want.  

Once that decision is made, it’s time to magically get your vibration lined up with it.  Every time what you Don’t Want is brought to your attention, use this as a cue to think about what you’d rather have instead.  When Scorpio’s intensity is focused upon a point… not only will you be more focused upon what you want, but what you focus upon will then be attracted into your experience.

So, it’s time to make a decision.  Decide now!  What is it that YOU want?  

It’s worth thinking about…