Hi Everyone, 

First, I would like to wish all of you a grace-filled and healthy 2017. Wow. 2017. Seems like only yesterday that we were anticipating the year 2000, doesn't it? Amazing. Every day of our life is a wonderment. 

Secondly, as many of you know, I retired from writing my monthly Salons last month. On occasion, I would also write a newsletter to everyone but writing both was a bit too much. Because I released the Salon, I knew I was free to write newsletters. Then it occurred to me that newsletters are about "news". I don't have any news to share - at least none that you would be interested in reading. What do you care about what goes on in my hood? A newsletter just didn't feel right. But what about a Muse Letter? That's what I'm talking about... 

Musing is my specialty. I am always musing, thinking, pondering, imagining, envisioning something. I am always wondering: What's next? What's that? How come? Why not? If this isn't true, what is? And I amuse myself by imagining that I am "conferring with the Muses" when I go to my office to create something new. 

The Muses, of course, were the Greek goddesses of music, song and dance, and poetic inspiration. The Greeks believed that these higher arts forms that elevated the human being beyond his naturally aggressive physical nature. There are several stories about the Muses in Greek myths. Some say that Zeus in their father while another story claims that they are the daughters of Uranus and Gaea, among other possible parents. Where most stories agree, however, is that the Muses were assigned authority or influence within a specific artistic, creative or intuitive realm. Eventually most stories agree the number of Muses grew from the original three - music, song and dance and poetic inspiration, to nine with the possibility of many more. 

I can understand why the Greeks came to believe that the Muses exist. I am not sure they do not, in a manner of speaking. For where does inspiration come from? Or a "virgin thought"? Who or what source downloads a totally unfamiliar idea into your mind? Suddenly you are on fire as this new idea explodes into your imagination. Where did this idea come from? How does that happen? 

People can offer all sorts of explanations, such as: Well, you must have been thinking about something like that and you just didn't know it. Or, you obviously heard something from someone or you read something and you don't remember reading it and it formed itself into a great idea while you were sleeping and then bam! Out it came as a brand-new thought!!!!! 

Sometimes that may well be the case. But what about those other times when you are suddenly, unexpectedly hit with an idea for which you have no reference point at all? I mean, I'm talking about a sparkling inspiration that makes you stop and say, "Whoa, where did that come from? Who is talking to me?" 

Did that ever happen to you? Well, it's happened to me - and more than once. I think of the invisible world as another dimension filled with living beings, including angels, saints, nature spirits as well as our ancestors and family members - as well as everyone else's. It's a populated dimension. 

But consider that the ancient Greeks and Romans - as well as other civilizations - existed at a time when life was all about identifying the gods and their individual personalities and what spheres of influence each one was assigned. The veil between the heavens and the Earth was very thin in ancient times. The thick barrier of reason and doubt had yet to develop. Their intellects were wide open to dialogues with the gods. Homer, Aristotle and Plato constantly referenced the gods in their writings. Perhaps the Greeks identified Muses as the Beings/goddesses responsible for generating creative thought, action, pleasurable behavior. These were considered higher or more refined talents and abilities, beyond the reach of ordinary mortals - which in those days would include most of the population. The Muses were also viewed as the holders of Knowledge - including the Knowledge of the length of every human life along with remembering every detail of each life. Some Muses had planetary assignments. Urania, for example, is/was the Muse assigned to the sphere of Astronomy. Remember that the Greeks, as well as all the Middle East cultures of this era, looked to the heavens as an intimate part of the Earth. The stars and the planets were active life ingredients, a celestial code that the gods had carefully organized for Earth dwellers. 

So, while we no longer approach the heavens as openly and curiously - or in an on-going sense of partnership - as did the ancient Greeks or Romans, we have been nonetheless formed in our psychic and spiritual DNA by them - from the organization of the Roman Senate and rule of law, which our government is based upon, to how we separate our reasoning mind from our intuitive abilities. That clear distinction that we clearly draw between a preference for a logical, orderly universe and one that thrives on beauty and the higher virtues of humanity is the legacy of the Plato and Aristotle in the forming of Western thought. 

If you think that Plato-Aristotle legacy has nothing to do with the way you think and the vast world of thought and images that formed you, think again. Are you someone who considers your imagination as one of your inner senses, as vital and authentic to you as sight and hearing, or is imagination just free floating thoughts, nothing more than a line dance full of meaningless fantasies and valueless day dreams? Would you consider daily inner work with your imagination a silly, useless exercise or could you approach inner imagination work with the same discipline required to advance a physical talent? What if your imagination was the means through which the Muses communicated with you? 

You might think I've strayed from the path on that last question, but not true. We are wired to listen, receive, and communicate with the invisible world. And further, we long to be in touch with the sensation of awe, with that extraordinary micro-second hit of intense light that delivers an "original idea" into our consciousness. Nothing in life, absolutely nothing, can compare to the sensation of virgin Light downloading into your system and reshaping in one second your entire understanding of the order of life itself. 

A comparison to that extraordinary if not transcendent experience is being the recipient of Cupid's arrow. Not every human being is given the opportunity to become one of Cupid's targets: A immediate, unexpected mutual love explodes between two people the instant they meet. That sudden download of emotion reshapes that person's entire world in a micro-second. Nothing will ever be the same, regardless of how that relationship turns out. People may fall in love all the time. But falling in love is not the same as getting hit by Cupid's arrow. And when it comes to "musing about love", the experience that most women "muse about" is love arranged by Cupid's arrow.  

Musing comes naturally to everyone. I take my musings seriously. I pay attention to gut musings, intuitive rumblings, and soul whispers. Some musings lead to treasures and others to sand boxes and sand pits. Positive and inspired creative wonderings inspire soul wanderings...and off you go into the endless potential of the unexplored cosmos. So, when the spirit moves me, I will zip off a Muse-letter and hopefully activate one or more of the Muses energizing the field of grace in which you dwell. I want to encourage you to activate the sphere of the Muses around you. If ever we needed to expand our imagination, utilize our intuition and psychic resources and explore the potential of our creative abilities - it's now. 

How exactly do you "work with your Muses"? 

First, some practical Muse advice: 

Your imagination is one of your psychic or energy senses. Your five physical senses are your worker-bee senses that take care of you in the physical world. Your energy senses - imagination, intuition, emotional sensing and so many others - are your creative, decision-making senses. These are your powerful senses, the ones that order your universe, that set "choice and consequence" into motion. Respect the power of your imagination and don't let it wander down too many dark alleys, for choices are made in your mind and heart as well as what comes out of your mouth. 

Imagine that you live in an endlessly creative, ever-changing universe, because you do. Cooperate with the fluid design of the Universe. Everything is always changing. 

The unknown is only frightening if you expect to see the familiar. Expect the unknown to be what it is: New, different, intimidating. But every day is new. Change is constant. Nothing remains the same. New also means: Begin again; a fresh start; new ideas; only this moment. 

And now, some mystical Muse advice: 

Muses enhance creativity and spark new ideas. Do not look backwards for inspiration. Muses do not help people repeat what they have already done. Be open to discovering a new talent in yourself and a new way of seeing something. 

Muses spark ways for us to imagine news ways of thinking about any and everything. Be open-minded. Tell yourself everything and anything is possible - but never anticipate the "how". 

Be open to changes in your life. The "unknown" is unfolding around us all the time in big and little ways. Sometimes you see it and sometimes you don't. But no second in time is the same as the next. When are you not "in the unknown"? You are breathing in "unknown potential" even while standing in the familiar setting of your home. Life is only the journey of the unknown. See that clearly. 

Test your imagination. Imagination that today will be wonderful for no special reason at all. Just "muse" over that thought.  

May you be drenched in grace in this year and always, 

Love, 

Caroline