Molly Brogan, author

Christmas according to Leonard

2011-12-05T06:38:00.000-05:00

Without a Word, an excerpt

2011-11-13T06:55:00.000-05:00

Word

If only I could get into their minds, get to their words, since I cannot leave this chair to accept their offering. If only I could understand, could know exactly how they color me, color themselves, then maybe…

Light

If only I could crawl behind their eyes and see what it is they select for their minds, select for the feelings that flow from their senses beneath their soft white skins. The feelings that build and subside like ocean waves. Together we could ride those waves. And in this togetherness we could create a life for the ocean, a level for its motion.

Word

We would ride those waves as I do now, alone, in dream…Imagine – floating on top of the surf that rises, in rhythmic, undulating changes. Rises to meet the white sky. And as it descends, the sky is cast with the color of a prismic sunset. But now, in this space, my thoughts sink through coherent light, falling lower and lower into my darkness, searching for a semblance of time. And as it sinks, my mind tells me that there is no connection. That my thoughts cannot be theirs, even in word, in knowing, in screaming…for my scream is silent.

Dream

Space sinks in mink like a semblance of screaming connection, like a silent thought that falls to meet a final word, the word that sinks in sunset

Their my sinks in thought like darkness, searching the silent light for connection, for semblance like a scream searching for space

My mind sinks, searching for connection, searching for the light of thought in space, lowering the scream into a final, knowing heart

The connection sinks in word, a final, even darkness as in my heart a sunset screams for light, searching for a silent knowing

Shadow

During dream, shadow moves across the stage using her/his arms, in almost a swimming motion, reaches the door, and claws it with his/her hands like a dog paddling.

Mirror

The door opens, mirror appears with a mask painted with the colors of a sunset. Mirror rocks head back and forth a few times, then slams the door.

Shadow

Shadow rolls back to the rug.

Word

Oh, that door…

Dream

That door that door that door that door that door that door that door that door

Word

Thoughts and visions

Dream

Thoughts and visions thoughts and visions thoughts and visions thoughts and visions

Light

Thoughts come in vision.

Word

That’s it! What is known is know through vision. I take it from me, and give it to their words, so that they may have it. But how do they take it?

Dream

Take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it

Word

Take this silent offering that screams in word. How can this window be? When what I see within, they see without. Without me, but with me.

Shadow

Shadow stands and begins to shuffle in circles.

Dream

Within without within without within without within without within without

Word

I am within, I am without. Here in this space, now looking to see the vision welling up inside in waves

Light

I see it, I feel it, I understand it, I know it, I take it, I give it, they see it, they feel it, they take it, they give it…

Word

Yes, I dreamt it last night.

Light

I dreamt myself sitting above a massive white sphere, with color revolving, the color mine, evolving around it.

Word

And in the dream I reached for the color and as I reached and touched, the color entered me, entered my body and rushed through my veins like a surging stream. And as the color took shape in my mind, the shape of a million faces, color poured out of my eyes and returned to its orbit around the sphere.

Shadow

Shadow approaches the door in circular steps as dream:

Dream

I you he she it we you they I you he she it we you they I you he she it we you they

Mirror

The door opens, Mirror appears wearing a white, circular mask painted with orbital colors. Shadow and Mirror meet in motion.

Dream

Me you him her it us you them me you him her it us you them me you him her it us you them

Mirror

Mirror recedes, the door slams.

Shadow

Shadow returns to rug in circular steps and stands while dream:

Dream

I me you you he him she her it it we us you you they them I me you you he him she her it it we us you you they them

Word

But what if…loathsome chair, I am not a child again.

Dream

Am am not am am not am am not am am not am am not am am not am am not

Word

But what if…

Artwork Robert Parker Many thanks.

Excerpted from Without a Word by Molly Brogan

To Resist, or Resist Not - Does It Make a Difference?

2011-09-13T06:47:00.001-04:00

RESISTANCE RECONCILES OPPOSITION AND GUIDES US FROM DUALITY TO NON DUALITY

Resistance itself is a tool for learning. At the age of two, we learn the wonderful power of NO, and continue to use it until sometime as an adult we learn, that there isn’t no, there is only yes. Because even when we use the word no, we are consenting to something – either feeding our ego by insisting that things go our way, or allowing our experience to flow with grace by offering “no” to others as a learning tool. When we know the difference, we know that there is no other. And no becomes yes.

Resistance itself is a measure of opposition, and there are enormous lessons to be learned and skills to acquire in reconciling opposites. Indeed, many of the sacred teachings see the soul as having a function of reconciling opposites in fulfilling karma, repenting sin or mastering kundalini. On the conscious level, problem solving, conflict resolution and negotiating are all basic skills that are learned from childhood to adulthood. They define our resilience and efficacy, and require mastery of resistance. It is in the reconciliation of opposites as, often through paradox, as in the practice of Tao (“The cause and the effects are aspects of the same, one thing. They are both mysterious and profound. At their most mysterious and profound point lies the "Gate of the Great Truth.") The practice of Tao requires that we can finally let go of our need for resistance and move in unity.

If we are living in a state of mind that is peaceful, does not judge, allows each their own view, and can hear and see spirit in all of experience - our direct experience will reflect peace, not violence to us. Each step of the process is formed by who we are in the moment.

Artwork Wassily Kandinsky Black Violet. Many thanks.

Excerpted from All About Living by Molly Brogan

Imagination is THE Key

2011-06-13T06:08:00.007-04:00

AWAKENED IMAGINATION IS OUR CREATIVE AWARENESS AND ACTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

Our imagination is our biggest asset and tool for creating our lives and daily experience. If we limit our imagination, we limit our lives. Although our imaginations are unlimited, there are different stages of imagination, from the more mechanical memory and fantasy, to the more creative awakened imagination. All play an integral part in our lives, but the awakened imagination really holds the key to our quality of life. We use it when we are experiencing vivid dreaming or creative dreaming. It ramps up the quality and functionality of our dreams. We use it when we are in the witness, seeing ourselves doing, thinking, feeling and living. We use it when we are praying, unifying the one and the many within us. We use it when we move our subtle energies through our chakras in meditation. In other words, when we step out of our mechanical functions and move into our creative functions, we do so by using our awakened imagination.

I reached a point in my life where I understood unity consciousness, meaning that I am connected to everything in life, and everything in my experience is of me. After this, I developed a greater awareness of my role in creating this experience, and what it reflects to me in each moment. Imagination is the key to this creative process. As feelings arise that tell me I am limited or separate from everything and everyone, I have learned to habitually evoke my awakened imagination to create feelings like joy or rapture. These feelings allow me to realize that I am part of the infinite wonders of creation and completely connected. If I find myself with negative thoughts about another, I can recognize them and then evoke my awakened imagination, to think of something wonderful for myself and another. Using this tool of imagination to corral thoughts and feelings allows me to create an internal environment according to my highest potential by maintaining a resonance of creative good, thus bringing what is good into my experience.

Exercising my awakened imagination has become a daily routine for me. I think that the most efficacious times are right before sleep and upon waking. Before sleep, if I can imagine the qualities and experiences that I desire in my life with awakened imagination, the quality of my sleep and dreaming is dramatically improved. I engage more in vivid and creative dreaming and feel better rested during the day. I truly believe that in this way, what I imagine my life to be, will become my experience.

Excerpted from All About Living by Molly Brogan

Guardians of the Threshold

2011-04-12T06:30:00.005-04:00

OUR OWN FEARS GUARD THE THRESHOLD TO SPIRIT AND OUR ENTRY

I love Rudolph Steiner's story about the Guardians of the Threshold, who guard our entry into spiritual awareness, until we understand that one Guardian is the golden part of us who's beauty is too blinding and we must look away (or accept our self worth) and the other Guardian is our dark nature that holds the archetypes of the thief, whore, and all other undesirable natures that we look away from and cannot own up. Until we do, we cannot cross the threshold. Once we do, the guardians vanish, because they ARE us.

I think it is worth noting, that according to the Steiner teaching, once the threshold is crossed, the experience of the seeker changes to one who's experience does not contain direct violence and chaos - because duality is transcended, harmony can rule the day. It does not mean that duality no longer exists, only that it is no longer the experience of the seeker who has crossed the threshold.

You cannot cross the threshold into integration until you know that you can illuminate darkness yourself. The first Guardian contains all of our fears in aspects of good and evil. These fears prohibit our crossing the Threshold until we reconcile all good and evil within and see them interwoven into our whole being. The unseen then becomes seen.

The second Guardian, our golden shadow, is a sublime, luminous beauty impossible to describe. It holds our highest potential, and our low self image and our perceived limits keep us from embracing this Guardian and crossing the Threshold. To embrace the second Guardian we must realize that our highest possibilities (unseen) within ourselves creates our character and that our world of sense is a seed ground for the higher world. By embracing the second Guardian, everyone is redeemed and all are connected. We cannot cross the threshold in separation.

Excerpted from All About Living by Molly Brogan
Artwork by Alejandro Silveira Bruno. Many thanks.

An Excerpt From the Upcoming Novel Shadow Dancing

2011-02-24T06:36:00.005-05:00

Next to me, a boat appears, small but seaworthy. Stepping into it, I feel my spirit torn asunder. Like an infinite mirror, I become the deeds of every man, and feel all matter of the earth move through me. I feel the pulse of my being, involution drawing in, evolution giving out, my worldly conditions alternating between the two activities. My mind reaches out into form, my heart reaches in to love, and both have limits. And within these endless limits shines the blaze of eternity that lays my soul to rest. I reach my hand out and touch the guardian, and in the touch, I am immediately humbled. All feeling is drained from me. All thought is gone. I become the divine vessel, empty and ready.

I close my eyes now, and by releasing the gaze of this guardian, feel it unite with the lesser guardian before it. In the unity comes the knowing that I am connected to every one, the many are one in all that I am. Everyone is redeemed, and in the redemption is harmony. My love involves all others, who receive my spirit of love and evolve toward the future.

My eyes open and I am dropped back in time. Lifting my hand to rub my eyes, I look around my hotel room and wonder where I am. I notice the clock by the bed reads 2:00 PM, and fall back to sleep after feeling my entire body moan.

Excerpted from Shadow Dancing, a novel by Molly Brogan
Copyright invoked, 2011
Artwork by Jules. Many thanks.

The Exquisite Mystery of Lifelong Friendship

2011-02-05T06:54:00.002-05:00

Halfway through my first day of high school, at the tender age of 14, frightened and overwhelmed by my own small feelings, I was ripped away from them when a slender hand slipped a note onto my desk during English class. I looked up to see a beautiful stranger attached to the hand. The note said, "I like your laugh."

From that day forward, the presence of Vivian George in my life continues to uplift and inspire me. Even when she is away, in my heart, she is my confidante, and I speak to her often. With the spirit of her presence in my life, when we are able to get together, as we have not lived in the same state for almost four decades, it is like we never left each others' side. We immediately pick up where we left off and each leave the encounter re-energized and inspired.

There is a mystery here about spiritual intimacy that cannot be denied. We have allowed it since our paths combined. Over the years, we cultivate it, appreciate it, marvel at it. There are times we include it in our life’s work. She makes an appearance in my first novel, Remember Me as the recipient of the main character's letters, acting as a mirror character. Her wedding gift to me, a painting, is now included on her website: viviangeorge.net

Someday, I hope to include myself in her Tuscany Workshop, but unfortunately, not this year. Here are the details for anyone interested. Believe me, you will be transformed:

The Inspiration of Art

A Painting Workshop In Tuscany with Vivian George MFA

Dates: May 21 - 31, 2011

Colorado artist Vivian George finds her inspiration in nature. "Nature has all the components that are in painting - rhythm, color and harmony. Individually and together plant forms show energy and light, texture and pattern, repetition and color; and when confined to the flat, square format, their geometry is revealed," she explains. In this workshop, Vivian works with each participant individually to find his or her vision. The colors of the late afternoon sun on the olive grove, the repeating patterns of a hillside vineyard or the symmetry of a narrow drive bordered by native cypress . . . each person's view is different and leads to a unique interpretation.

Artwork by Vivian George. Many thanks.

Forsaking All Others Brings Us to Unity

2011-01-25T06:26:00.002-05:00

WE ARE REALIZED BY BEING THE GOD WITHIN

Most of us feel that there is a source or creator or God or ultimate order to life. Connecting to this for some of us, is fleeting, takes effort and may even be something we think very little about. How do YOU connect with the spirit within you? How often do you connect? How does this connection effect your life?

Do we have to have a God? I believe God is. God is within us all. Not all of us recognize or understand that it is this God within us that creates our experience according to our own filters of belief and viewpoint. Our experience is created whether we recognize this aspect of it or not. I believe that the quality of our experience improves with peace, harmony and love, if we do. Does this mean that folks who don't believe in God are doomed or suffer more or are wrong? No. It simply means that some of us believe in God and some don't. I believe that everyone is living to express who they are and moving into their potentiality that will be included in their expression. This is change. I can feel the harmony and completion of the entirety.

We all live a different experience. Our relationship to our experience creates it. This includes our relationship to ourselves, others, God, the earth etc. That is the many. There is that part of life where we are all one. Some say this is the God within us or Christ consciousness. Paradoxically, the oneness doesn't negate our individuality, it empowers it.

My viewpoint is that nothing is external to God, and God is not external to me. God is an essential part of who I am. God is I AM in me. The paradox is that I am both differentiated (individual), and undifferentiated (God). I am God (Father), myself (Son), and my experience (Holy Spirit), expressed in states and stages and dimensions of consciousness.

All material copyrighted 2010: excerpt, All About Living, Molly Brogan
Artwork by Ron Isom. Many thanks.

A Welcome for the New Year

2010-12-27T15:16:00.003-05:00

The Call

I stand ready

To embrace

The challenge.

I stand firm

In the truth

Of my soul.

I stand tall

As my heart

Races forward

At unimagined speeds,

Following spirit

Following the call.

I look upward

For a vision

Of my soul’s longing.

I see possibility

So sublime

That is whisks

Me away.

I fill quickly

With emptiness

And wait for you,

Quietly wait,

And wonder

What is real

In the waiting.

Excerpted from A Blaze of Light by Molly Brogan

Artwork by Alejandro Silveira Bruno. Many thanks.

Color the World With Generosity of Spirit

2010-11-22T06:06:00.001-05:00

UNCONDITIONALITY OF LOVE AND FORGIVENESS IS EXTENDED WITH GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT

Have you ever had a day when you felt completely in love with life, when you could see and feel spirit all around you, in everything and everyone? When you feel like this, you are generous of spirit.

Generosity of spirit can also be accomplished with thought. One of Neville Goddard's sayings is "Think of something wonderful for yourself and another." If our thoughts create our reality, then being generous in our thoughts will bring a generosity of spirit into our life that translates into peace and joy.

Giving our loved ones the space and love they need to work out their difficulties without agency or intervention can be generosity of spirit. Often, if we see someone struggling, we feel compelled to do something for them, fix things, or give our opinion or words of wisdom. Almost just as often, this makes things worse.

There are those times when we can be helpful. Usually if someone needs our help they will ask for it. It sometimes isn’t easy to stand by and watch someone struggle. But sometimes – our generosity of spirit is all that is needed for others to feel loved and supported. Knowing that someone is in our lives that we can ask for help when necessary, who loves us enough to allow us to try and fail and try again – empowers us to continue to try.

If you can look out at everyone, and see them as becoming, remembering their highest potential and, in spite of their apparent mistakes and foibles, as doing the best they can in grace with their state of mind and stage of life - then you truly do have generosity of spirit.

At times, the world can be a big, unfriendly, cold place to live, full of darkness and shadow. Relating to others with respect and kindness is to be generous of spirit. Encouraging others around us to shine is a gift that we all can offer each other. In fact, when we extend this gift to others, we extend it to all of life. When we remember that it is more important to extend love than to be number one or front and center, we express our generosity of spirit.

All material copyrighted 2010: excerpt, All About Living, Molly Brogan

A Glimpse at My Upcoming "Early Poems"

2010-11-04T09:24:00.009-04:00

If Love Is

If love is, then,

A meeting

And a meaning,

Just one meaning,

One shared meaning,

Then listen gently

To the sound

Of its tender sigh,

Its soothing,

Wind sung note.

Do not look for words,

But the low

Plaintful moan

Of lovers’

Sweet release.

Drink it as I do

With no thought

Before

Or after.

Nip the cool

Sensation

Of hushed

Wet gasps

That echo

When lips meet

And mean

The warmth,

The oneness,

The fusion.

Excerpt from unpublished Early Poems
Artwork by Moira Marshall. Many thanks.

Free Will Is and Is Not

2010-10-14T16:28:00.002-04:00

ALL POSSIBILITY EXISTS ALWAYS. OUR FREE WILL ALLOWS OUR AWARENESS OF POSSIBILITY WITH A CHANGE IN VIEWPOINT

I think the notion of free will is simple. God is the realm of infinite possibility. We choose possibility (free will) to create our individual experience. At some point in the journey, the two are integrated - the one and the many. Some people argue that free will is not the same as choice.

I think that all possibility is the realm of God, and we choose possibility, according to our viewpoint in the moment. Yet, if we are coexisting in an infinite number of possible realms, we are, in the same moment, living all different possibilities, each from a different viewpoint. As space time opens and all possibility is reached, each one limited viewpoint is simultaneously one in the all possibility. Everything you can imagine, you are. As you are experiencing yourself in separation from others, you are choosing, with free will, which possibility to include in your viewpoint to shape your experience. You can change by choosing again. As long as you are separate and limited, the choice remains. There is a state of being where all possibility and all viewpoints are realized. Here, the choice is all of everything. This is the God within us.

We cannot change what is, which is everything possible. But we choose our state of consciousness, our viewpoint, and in this, exercise our free will. By doing this, we change our experience of who we are and live our potentiality of all that is. This is how we, as some say, co create. We do by making the possible real. We don’t really change what is possible, we change our experience by changing our viewpoint, and that changes what is possible within our experience.

We generate meaningful connections in our experience of consciousness, not the intellectual speculation of consciousness. States like cosmic consciousness (experience of all time and all others and all that is) can and are experienced in sleep and deep meditation or contemplation. Also, the undifferentiated, ineffable, omniscient, realm of all possibility can be experienced in sleep or deep meditation and contemplation. Once accessed, these states are in our awareness like a background programs, running though all our experience. Like this, they become a part of our complete experience. We all have the potentiality for this. We recognize and then experience when a change in viewpoint allows the possibility to manifest as real in our experience. Intellectual speculation may lead us to a change in viewpoint, or it may not. Our viewpoint manifests the experience. Our free will allows our choice.

All material copyrighted 2010: excerpt, All About Living, Molly Brogan
Artwork by Beth Nash. Many thanks.

Wedding Tribute

2010-09-08T14:33:00.002-04:00

All I know of angels

I can see in your eyes.

The deep blue of heaven

Moves me like the sea.

Lifts me up with wings

Of unending possibility,

Into the depths of my soul.

Your love guides and protects me

Like a steadfast guardian,

Sentry at the threshold of my fear,

Banishing all potential harm

Allowing light and love to fill me,

Your golden glow surrounds me

Like a pocket of tender safety.

Your hands reach out to me

And reveal your sacred gift,

So simple and so elegant,

Merely all that I AM

And all that I can be,

Because you love me enough

To let your eyes lead the way.

And so my humble heart opens

And reaches for you in kind,

With an overwhelming desire

To move you completely,

To move you with me in tones,

In the rhythm that is ours

And ours alone.

Within that glorious rhythm

We connect to all creation,

Your angel wings enfold me,

Your gentle spirit infolds me,

And we become the divine creator

And all that is our good experience,

In truth, in love, in faith, through you.

-- Molly Brogan

The Soothing Power of the Spoken Word

2010-08-03T17:17:00.001-04:00

I was honored to be told by my friend Dr. Brenda Carson, that she reads poetry to her mother, Mardine Carson, from my book A Blaze of Light. Dr. Carson owns an Alternative Health and Wellness Clinic in Detroit, MI, and reads to her mother regularly to facilitate her speedy recovery.

Mardine Carson is 87 years old, and began writing poetry in her 60s. She has always been a home-body, and very involved with family, friends and church. Dr. Carson tells me that she knows her mother is enjoying the poetry as she reads it to her by the serene smile on her face.

As a writer, I think there is no greater honor than to hear a story like this. Thank you both, Brenda and Mardine, for sharing it. Good health and God bless you both.

Forgiving or Giving For Love

2010-07-11T08:15:00.007-04:00

EXERCISING FORGIVENESS UNCONDITIONALLY LEADS TO THE AWARENESS OF ONENESS

There seem to be many faces to the process of “forgiveness” being worn these days. Many books, lectures and workshops are available to help us contemplate and adopt forgiving behaviors. We are all taught as children that forgiveness of friends and family is an important part of social life.

The poet William Blake tells us: "In heaven, the only art of living is forgetting and forgiving." This leads us to the notion that forgiveness is key to finding heaven on earth.

It can be difficult for us to understand that forgiveness cannot happen when we are focused on the tangibles, on what we feel we have lost, on our injuries. No matter what has occurred in our experience, what happens is an invitation for greater self awareness. It is an invitation to understand that by bringing our awareness of the spirit in our experience into focus, we can forgive and create harmony.

To complete the process of true forgiveness, whatever our actions, we must be willing to let go of the memories that create anger and resentment. And we must be willing to hold all others in our heart with love. The paradox here is that as we learn to live with unconditional forgiveness for ourselves and all others, we no longer experience the conflict that requires forgiveness.

All material copyrighted 2010: excerpt, All About Living, Molly Brogan

All About Living With Our Fears

2010-06-14T07:48:00.009-04:00

GUARDING THE THRESHOLD TO OUR POTENTIALITY, FEAR CONSUMES OUR ASPECTS AS WE INSIST ON IT

You need only watch the evening news to see how fear driven humanity has become. So much of what the media presents displays and exacerbates our fears that we have to wonder, how much of our daily individual experience includes fear? Do we need fear? Can we live without it?

From my experience, I can tell you that the longer I treat fear as a signal to feel my total connection to life, and have faith that what will happen next will be in accordance with my highest potential, the less fear I experience. Things that triggered fear 5 years ago do not now. By not allowing the feeling to become emotion, (feeling becomes emotion by including memories of other fearful experiences or dread of future difficulties,) the fear is quelled. What comes up more and more now instead of fear, is a mild interest, sometimes amusement, but always faith that what is occurring is reflecting to me what I need to recognize in the moment.

It is not possible to find harmony in our lives when it is filled with fear. Sometimes letting go of fear is as easy as taking a deep breath, and finding our faith or compassion in the moment. Sometimes it is as difficult as a dark night of the soul, where we face our fear by understanding that what we fear is a part of us, and accepting the divinity of all that we are by letting go of every ”thing” in our experience.

The emotion of fear needs to be recognized and released, so that we can feel our harmony. Life with an unattached and fearless viewpoint allows us to live in tune with the infinite.

All material copyrighted 2010: excerpt, All About Living, Molly Brogan
Artwork by Rachelle. Many thanks.

Remembering Dr. Peggy Zellner

2010-05-05T19:24:00.001-04:00

I had my birthday this year at MIX in Las Vegas, remembering all of the other birthdays in Las Vegas and my friends there. Among them, was my good friend, Dr. Peggy Zellner, who passed away unexpectedly on my birthday one year ago. Peggy was an intuitive Naturopath who was very gifted and had a large practice in the valley. She was also a genius of spirit, and able to speak fluently, the language of the unseen. Over the years that I spent in Las Vegas, I watched her touch many people, professional and gifted in their own right. She led us all to the spirit we commonly share, and showed us how to express it. She taught me many things and I find myself still unpacking some of it every day. I love and miss her, bless her soul. Rest in Peace my friend.

Reconciling the Problem of Evil

2010-04-02T10:16:00.001-04:00

THE FEELING THAT WE ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF EVIL IS OUR INVITATION INTO HEAVEN ON EARTH

There is a wide variety of opinion on the existence of evil. Some see any opposing force as evil, while others think that to be termed evil requires an act resulting in an injury to life of some kind. What are your thoughts? How does your belief about evil affect your life?

I think that "evil" is much like fear. Overcoming fear doesn't mean that I will never experience it again in my life. It means that I understand it differently and process it differently than I once did. Overcoming evil is much the same. Once we understand that evil is a value judgment of negativity in our world, and that judgments assigning positive and negative value are a function of mind, but we are much more than our minds, we can transcend our dualistic mental constructs. When seen at this viewpoint, the world is in balance; what we value as good and evil can be seen differently, as aspects of the same experience.

We sometimes take identity in holding ourselves separate from others as we judge and value the differences. Not good or bad, it is something we humans do as we identify ourselves. This is a function of our ego, which is limited to duality because it creates our identity separate from the world. Here, good and sometimes evil is established as we explore the "I am not" of I AM. This exploration is important to raising consciousness and expanding awareness.

Who we are and what is possible is reflected to us in the moment. We can live these moments in a separate string, or in the eternal moment or both - the one and the many. But however we choose to live these moments, they are a reflection that invites us into spirit and the possibility of more, all ways.

All material copyrighted 2010: All About Living, Molly Brogan
Artwork by Val Jean. Many thanks.

We Dwell In Possiblity During Deconstruction

2010-03-11T11:48:00.001-05:00

IT MAY FEEL CHAOTIC, BUT DECONSTRUCTION REMOVES LIMITATION MAKING SPACE FOR POSSIBILITY

Sometimes, when things seem to be falling apart in our lives, it is happening to allow us to move on in ways that we would not otherwise, because we would hold on to what we have now. Our will is to keep something the same, divine will is to allow change. What we don’t see is that the change is wonderful and so we get wrapped up in the bad feeling that things are falling apart. Resist not! It isn’t easy to enjoy deconstruction. But when it starts happening to me, I have begun to notice it now, and I can have faith that something wonderful is about to occur in my life.

Deconstruction is a difficult process for all of us. As we create, we are reaching within to experience God and feel our oneness with God and all his glory. As we deconstruct, we are bringing the energy of God back to the world, and making room for divine will in our experience (the deconstruction.) When we have fully embraced both processes, creation and deconstruction occur simultaneously. As we reach within and connect to all creation, we express creation as divine will makes it “more” than ever before, adding the possibility that is ours in the moment. This is the crux of coherent integration. There is joy in feeling the connection and honoring the individuation.

All material copyrighted 2010: All About Living, Molly Brogan
Artwork by Andy Kehoe. Many thanks.

Living the Change

2010-02-25T10:47:00.003-05:00

WHERE THERE IS A DISTINCTION BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH, THERE IS CHANGE

Change happens. It is part of the human experience. It can be a wonderful gift, if we understand the process. There is a great deal of information available about skills for managing change. But the most important skills that we can master are the ones that give us an understanding of ourselves, and how we, ourselves, facilitate change in our lives.

Our capacity for paradox is probably the most important factor in our ability to change...In every paradox, what seems to be opposing can be seen as complimentary and in fact, part of a larger spectrum, from a wider viewpoint...Determining the spectral nature of paradox might require an ability to develop and sustain relationship. If the change you are experiencing affects not only you but a larger group, your understanding of the nature of relationship may be the key to successful change.

Another critical element of change is anamnesis, or the remembrance of our own essential being, that part of us that we bring to manifestation, our own spirit...This change in viewpoint is the crèche of experience manifest. This, is essential change.

All material copyrighted 2010: All About Living, Molly Brogan
Artwork: Newton, By William Blake

The Art of Being is All About Living

2010-02-04T17:06:00.006-05:00

OUR BEING NATURALLY INCLUDES OUR PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL ASPECTS IN CONSCIOUSNESS

I think that our “being” covers every aspect of who we are, including the trendy "who we really are." Essential being - that part of us that is infinite, that holds our absolute truths, grounds us to the universe, is our awareness, moves the Logos - is just as important as finite and changeable aspects, such as our cellular components, ego, sacral, or consciousness.

The art of being may just be recognizing finite aspects of being while creating experience in harmony with the infinite aspects of soul and spirit.

If we have the wisdom to see it, our experience presents us with opportunity for the possibility of becoming, and leads us to our own infinite nature if we do not resist. What parts of us are finite and which infinite can be presented in a clash of light and shadow, or in the whisper of the cool wind on our face. Recognition tells us which is which. If seen from the non dual viewpoint, there is no division between.
All material copyrighted 2010 All About Living, Molly Brogan
Artwork by Jean Delville Many thanks.

Age of Ethics

2010-01-19T09:19:00.002-05:00

extending us at once internally and externally, technology ushers us into the age of ethics

The transition into the age of ethics has just begun and will take decades to emerge. It will be, I think, a fascinating transition. Our notions of trust will, out of necessity, become central and evolve. The transition from the information age to the age of ethics is a dynamic dialectic. Trusting ourselves to know that despite our fallibilities and mistakes, we will persevere and grow is essential.

Just as the personal computer ushered us into the age of information, the personal communication device will usher us into the age of ethics. With communications technology developing at an accelerated rate, there is little happening in the world that can be hidden anymore. Sure there are areas of the world that are underdeveloped, without technology and operating at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy. Yet, as this is the age of global experience, they will be carried along. Could this be part of life’s grand design as well? Can we trust that it is?

All material copyrighted 2010 All About Living, Molly Brogan
Artwork by Ron Isom, The Oracle of Gadfly. Many thanks.

Merry Christmas One and All

2009-12-24T09:51:00.009-05:00

I wish everyone the best during this season of love and renewal. For me, Christmas has always been a time to confirm life by expressing my love to those around me. And although my surroundings change each Christmas, within me, there is an essential Christmas that I express with love, now, to you.

Dylan Thomas said it best in the opening paragraphs of A Child's Christmas in Whales: "One Christmas was so much like another, in those years around the sea-town corner now and out of all sound except the distant speaking of the voices I sometimes hear a moment before sleep, that I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six. All the Christmases roll down toward the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street."

As I diligently work to get through the editing phase of my latest book, I take a deep breath and give a life affirming shout, "Thank you, my friends, and Merry Christmas!"
Artwork: Alessandro Botticelli, Mystic Nativity

All About Living Serial Posts

2009-12-10T10:19:00.007-05:00

After receiving several emails from readers asking about the publication of my next book and its contents, I surrendered to the idea of posting excerpts from it on this blog. Over the next few months I will post the occasional snippet from All About Living, as this format does not allow whole chapters. The book itself will be available for purchase around the beginning of the year. This makes it easy for me to post here more often and inspire conversation about my books! I would like to encourage readers to comment on these bits, and also to continue to pose questions to me that pertain to my work, specifically or on the whole. I appreciated each contribution and conversation, from the book club conferences and book signings to the blog posts and blog network discussions. To live a life that provides the technological extensions of self that allow me communion with my readers all over the globe, I am fortunate indeed. I look forward to more in the upcoming year! Artwork: Biomorphic dance by Ron Isom Many thanks.

The Setting of Emotional Turbulence in Remember Me

2009-10-20T07:47:00.006-04:00

Linda said...: In your book Remember Me, the character Mary Margaret goes through alot in her life, and I don't understand why she gives up in the end. It seems like she's smart, but she doesn't "get it." I just wanted to smack her and say, "wake up!"

Thanks for the great question, Linda. During my own divorce in '95, I watched many families struggle with the family court system. If people cannot agree, the cases go on and on, family resources are depleted, and when domestic violence is present, it is often exacerbated because the inept system is used as a weapon of abuse.

In researching for the book, I spent a great deal of time interviewing family members in divorce and family court, and heard countless stories of suicide, hopelessness and despair. I felt there was an important statement to be made, and that we can do better with our laws and in our courts for families in these situations. I also spent a great deal of time consulting with psychologists and therapists on the subject, and on how to develop a character that would eventually succumb to despair.

While half way through my second novel, I was inspired to create a trilogy that would resurrect the Mary Margaret character from Remember Me, and redeem her. I agree with you, she is smart and has many possibilities before her, but in Remember Me she also is trapped in a mindset of worthlessness that family violence reinforces for her. It seems to me a slap would be just another slap to her, as it is to many men and women caught in the web of domestic abuse that our current societal norms and laws support by inadequate court action and looking the other way.

Your good question, Linda, leads me to one of my own. At what point in our lives to we begin to examine and understand our emotions, what role they play in our lives, and how they enrich or limit us?

All About Living Is Next in Line

2009-10-01T12:28:00.003-04:00

Nick said...: Do you have a date for publishing Shadow Dance? Waiting for that third novel of yours is not easy. Your fan, Nick

Thanks for the question, Nick. My friend, Nick, and I have been mutual supporters since we were in college together. It is true that my third novel is taking much longer than expected to publish. This is because somewhere along the way, my blog readers encouraged me to publish my ideas in some form. I have been working on this, and am on track to publish the first in a series of books called All About Living by the end of this year. I settled on the format of Einsteins book "The World As I See It," first published in 1932 in the form that Einstein envisioned it. It is a very simple compilation of his ideas on spirituality. (In later editions the publishers took out pieces that Einstein felt important and replaced them with papers that they felt more important, losing the intent and flavor of the book.)

I thought about this wonderful book of Einstein's, and decided that in lieu of journals, diaries or letters, I would simply offer short presentations of my ideas in book form a few at a time, along with original drawings. The first in the series will include my ideas on ethics, God, being, free will, forgiveness and several others.

I am at the same time writing Shadow Dancing, the third novel in my trilogy. The novel will be written as a prose poem in the first person, a very different format than the other two. I chose this form of expression to meet the character's challenges as she comes to fruition in her spiritual journey. Because this stage includes non dual and more sublime states of consciousness that can be difficult to convey in words, I felt that poetry was my most effective tool. I hope my readers agree. This book will be published sometime next year.

Cover art by Vivian George. Many thanks.

The Unexpected Rewards of Being Published

2009-09-14T16:03:00.005-04:00

When I decided to publish the script for my play Without A Word in 2007, I asked my friend Robert Parker for the right to use his blue self portrait shown here, for the cover art. His painting spoke to me, went straight to my heart the first time I saw it. I knew, it was the right cover for this book. He enthusiastically said yes and I was deeply grateful.

I could not have anticipated the reader response to this image, and it has been tremendous. People are drawn to this image, as I was on first seeing it. If all of my books are displayed, people will first approach this one, often needing to reach out and touch the picture, even if they don't open the book. Recently, I received a package in the mail, elaborately engineered and masterfully wrapped. It was this beautiful painting, which now hangs framed in my office directly in front of me, so that I can see it as I work.

Thank you, my friend, for this inspiring gift. You are an artist of great talent, and I will treasure it always.

Artwork by Robert Parker Many, many thanks.

Writing Comes Back as Miracles

2009-08-22T12:29:00.006-04:00

The online groups where I share my writing have enriched my life over the last couple of years in many ways. One of the most extraordinary ways is with an online friend named eric, who I met in the gaia group ZenChrist. We exchanged many thoughts and ideas and I always look forward to his comments because he has a very deep understanding of the Zen and Buddhist traditions, and a keen insight into the symbolic nature of Christian scripture.

One day I got a post from eric: "the Slips Naturally poem you posted awhile back in that part got me thinking differently about parenthood. I never had any desire to be a father, maybe because mine was not the best example growing up. In many ways I resisted it over the years. But when my wife and I were talking about it, this poem of yours came to mind. I have never really bought into societal norms and have been a bit of a lone wolf and this poem made me realize the duties I may have as a father do not preclude me from slipping naturally into spirit."

A few weeks later, this message: "Arete Metta was born 8-1-09 @ 7:16 a.m weighing 7lb 12oz after 55 hours of labor!! Mom, dad and baby are happy as clams (what does that mean btw)."

My heart goes out to eric and his beautiful family as they begin life as three. It feels good to be a writer today.

Tapestry of Characters in Each Story

2009-07-16T10:38:00.003-04:00

e said: Molly is a writer, maybe she can tell us where her characters come from?

Thanks for this great question, e! My characters are drawn from aspects of myself. I spent a good deal of time in research to clarify for myself how to best develop characters with believable motivation and behavior. In other words, based on the belief system of a character, how would that character behave. Each character plays an aspect in the overall development of the main character.

Our Own Asemic Symbolism Leads Our Way

2009-06-29T12:23:00.003-04:00

I firmly believe that we each have within us a pattern of archetypes or symbols that lead us in our conscious and unconscious recognition and responses to them. The symbols we see in our dreams over and over are much like the symbols we see in our waking life again and again. Can we pay attention to them differently than we do now, and what would we learn if we do?

One of my favorite contemporary artists, Ronald Isom makes this idea of asemic symbolism integral to his artwork. He sees it like this:

Asemic symbolism has no verbal sense, though it may have a clear contextual sense. Through its design, composition and symbolic content, asemic symbolism may evoke an understanding, meaning or intuition. Through its composition and symbolic content, asemic symbolism may provide an understanding of complex ideas. This form of art depends on the viewers knowledge of philosophy, art history, mathematics, religion, philosophy, physics, sociology, nature and other esoteric subjects for it to make sense, or it can be understood through aesthetic intuition.

Asemic symbolism is truly a product of the Internet. Search engines have made it possible to generate thousands of links for words, and images. It also provides a way to unify esoteric ideas in a spontaneous manner.

The asemic symbolism process has five parts:

1. Creation of a spontaneous drawing (the genesis or nexus of all asemic symbolism; proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint )

2. Manipulation of the drawing through the use of a computer (with image software)

3. Formation of a spontaneous title using Asemic Symbolic Divination a technologically advanced form of scrying.

4. Researching the title on the Internet to provide possible explanations or meanings of the drawing ( link the drawing title to as many sites as possible)

5. Publishing the manipulated drawing, title and links to a web site

The bi-product of this process is an acute awareness that everything in our universe is related. Much like the physics concept of a "theory of everything", asemic symbolism is rooted in the ancient idea of causality. Publishing on the Internet allows the asemic symbolic art work to grow in geometric proportions. Linking is the key to provide a self sustaining life to the art work.

Asemic symbolism is not an art movement. Movements have almost entirely disappeared in contemporary art where individualism and diversity prevail. It is however a creative process that utilizes the manipulation of materials to find or define unity in the known or unknown universe.

Asemic symbolic predation is an organic metaphor that describes an
interaction where a predator design feeds on another design or visual source known as the prey

An example of an asemic symbolic listing on the internet: http://metrogadfly.blogspot.com/

Artwork also by Ron Isom Many thanks.

My Apologies to Sarah Palin and Her Family

2009-06-20T15:57:00.008-04:00

I recently submitted an article to Subversify Magazine at the advice of an associate. The magazine states it "provides alternative perspectives to mainstream media. Our content features commentary, fiction, reviews, cynicism and just about anything else that disturbs the mainstream population." Unfortunately, I found out the hard way just what was meant by "disturb" when my article appeared in an issue that also featured an article titled, "...should Sarah Palin and her daughters be sterilized?"

I find this idea so absolutely abhorrent and reprehensible that I immediately notified the editors that I will no longer be associated with the publication. The fact that a publication would entertain the notion of sterilizing children because of their parent's celebrity is hateful. I apologize to the Palin family, and especially Governor Palin's daughters for my name being in any way related to this article. I am sorry for having an article in the same magazine as this one. No one in the world should diminish this family in this way for any reason. Please forgive me.

Sincerely,
Molly Brogan

Love as Becoming

2009-06-04T10:17:00.008-04:00

Anonymous said...
A beautiful expression of love as emanation.

I would like to thank this anonymous viewer for this comment on my poem. It got me to thinking about emanation, or the unfolding principle, the outflowing from the source of creation. To me, this statement speaks to love as becoming in ways that completely connect us to all of creation. How wonderful.

The expression of primal urge into an emanation is also conveyed in one of my favorite James Russell Lowell poems, The Vision of Sir Launfall:

“And what is so rare as a day in June?

Then, if ever, come perfect days;

Then Heaven tries Earth if she be in tune,

And over her softly her warm ear lays:

Whether we look or whether we listen,

Every clod feels a stir of might,

An instinct within it that reaches and towers,

And groping blindly above it for light,

Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers.”

We Share Together

2009-05-11T11:00:00.006-04:00

Jim said..

I was surprised to find that your poem, We Share Together, was not included in A Blaze of Light. I saw it here on the blog and am wondering if it is another of your books.

Thanks for asking, Jim. This poem is not included any of my published books. It may be included in my next book of poems, now that I know you like it.

I have posted it again here for your enjoyment. I try to change the poems on this blog from time to time to freshen the landscape. I will be glad to discuss the poem further here or elsewhere, if you are so inclined. Molly Brogan

Beauty as the Path to Inspiration

2009-04-07T11:01:00.003-04:00

Sioban said...
This is an interesting post. In your books, do you connect beauty and inspiration?

Thank you, for the wonderful question, Sioban. I do think that when we allow ourselves to contemplate the beautiful, we are taking ourselves to the state of connection with spirit. This is a sure and easy path to allow ourselves to feel connected to everything and all that is, which is our God nature. Sustaining this state of awareness puts us in a place to receive inspiration, starts the creative juices flowing. When we are connected to all of creation, we become creation and are moved to express creatively.

I think that usually my poems express a state where everything is coming together into such a flow. My trilogy of novels also, follows the main character as she is able to appreciate and express this more and more until finally, she is living from it. Byron’s “she walks in beauty like the night” is the perfect example of a character that learns to live as the creative force, in a state of inspiration. My third novel, Shadow Dancing, portrays the main character moving beyond her own shadow to fully embrace her own beauty and live from it. Seen from the broad pallet of the trilogy of novels, this character has come a long way from allowing life to happen to her, to creating a life expressed as her own highest potential.

Bright Zellner

2009-04-01T16:58:00.003-04:00

My friend, Peggy Zellner, ND, PhD, passed away suddenly on my birthday last Saturday. I discovered Peggy (or should I say, she discovered me) shortly after moving to Las Vegas at and IONS meeting. She was giving the crowd a hands on presentation of Kinesiology, a method used in her practice as a Naturopath, and I fell in love with her on the spot. She invited me to a "group meditation," held every Tuesday evening at her office. I was skeptical, and immediately pictured craziness and woo woo. She put me at ease and I was there the next Tuesday, and every Tuesday that I was in Las Vegas afterward.

Peggy had a method of meditation that, I quickly discovered, allowed us to witness the formation of group soul. I was blown away by the process and the potential. I will never forget the beautiful feeling that was shared each week by the participants (often different). Because the participants were different, each experience was different. Peggy guided us as we each described the images that came up for us in the meditative state. As the 90 minutes unfolded, these images revealed to us, without fail, how we connect at the soul level; how the group soul forms into a cohesive connection; how we are all and each left more than before. I was fascinated and devoted to this process. I now wonder if I will ever see anything like it again.

The genius of Dr. Peggy Zellner shed a light on this world that will never be dimmed. Why she made her sudden, final exit is one of life's mysteries. Somewhere, I suspect, she is smiling. At least, I hope so. I will continue to smile whenever I think of Peggy.

Arms of Mary

2009-02-26T08:47:00.000-05:00

The Map of Beauty Translates

2009-02-18T10:25:00.012-05:00

The Semanticist S.I. Hayakawa believed this about general semantics: “The end product of education, yours and mine and everybody’s, is the total pattern of reactions and possible reactions we have inside ourselves. If you did not have within you at this moment the pattern of reactions that we call “the ability to read” you would see here only meaningless black marks on paper. Because of the trained patterns of response, you are (or are not) stirred to patriotism by martial music, your feelings of reverence are aroused by symbols of your religion, you listen more respectfully to the health advise of someone who has ‘MD’ after his name than to that of someone who hasn’t. What I call here is a ‘pattern of reactions,’ then, is the sum total of the ways we act in response to events, to words, and to symbols, signs and symbol systems. Our reaction patterns or our semantic habits, are the internal and most important residue of whatever years of education or miseducation we may have received.”

As I view the artwork of Ronald Isom, these feeling responses for my deepest archetypal signs and symbols well within me. I am inexplicably moved and left with mystical feelings better left unspoken.

To a person who asked for a definition of jazz, Louis Armstrong is said to have replied, “Man, when you got to ask what it is, you’ll never get to know,” proving to be an intuitive semanticist as well as a great trumpet player.

To give the artwork of Ronald Isom an intuitive semantic response is not to ask for a definition, but to know our own intrinsic value, as we are led right to our core with each view.

PW Bridgman, Nobel Prize winner and physicist, once wrote, “The true meaning of a term is to be found by observing what a man does with it, not by what he says about it.”

Ronald illustrates his intuitive semantic reactions to his symbol systems. His paintings and drawings are kinetic in ways that allow us to FEEL what he feels. Organic in inspiration, his artwork brings us to our own symbolic systems, as they emerge and fly free, allowing us to see and know our own semantic responses.

In this way that the symbols of Ronald’s artwork brings us to ourselves and allows us to feel, I aspire, as a writer, to bring my readers into their intuitive core, and allow them to explore the possibilities of their lives, through the eyes of my characters.

Artwork: Spiritual Growth Form by Ronald Isom

Keep Up The Good Work

2009-02-11T12:57:00.001-05:00

I recently received the following mail from a site visitor: "You're obsessed ... It's not healthy ... Get a life."

Which I took to mean: you're doing a great job. Keep up the good work!

Our Own Wonderful Infinite Nature

2009-01-27T09:07:00.005-05:00

Ronald D. Isom said...

Great response to the question! The Goethe quotation is outstanding. Artist absorb what they see, hear, taste etc. and it emerges as new thoughts and idea. We must continue to absorb the world around us and keep the internal silo filled with fodder for new idea and creative thought.

Thank you, Ronald. Your artwork is an excellent example of just that. For any of you who have not seen his artwork, I heartily recommend checking out Ronald's blog through the link on his name. Like Dr. Carl Jung before him, Ronald has given life to the symbols of his unconsciousness and mapped the archetypes of his soul in his marvelous artwork. In Jung's memoirs, he recounts the three years that he spent documenting and categorizing the symbols of his dreams and fantasies, leading to his theories of the unconscious and archetype.

I know that developing this kind of intimacy with my own infinite nature allows me a clear path to my creativity. I am most inspired when I allow spirit to speak to me in this way, and all ways.

Artwork by Paul Klee

A Brilliant Moment of Inspiration

2008-12-25T10:22:00.004-05:00

Mia said...

I like this post. How do you think of the things you write? Where do you get your inspiration?

Thanks for the questions, Mia. My inspiration comes during quiet times, and feels like the purest parts of me coming together. It can happen while waking from a dream, reading a book, meditating, watching birds in a tree, speaking to a friend - any time really. Something within me is triggered, and my ideas come together in a way that formulates an original statement and the desire to express it. I carry these statements around with me throughout my life, creating my life's work from them - like our symbols create our dreams.

I'm not sure I can explain it any better than Goethe did when he said, "It is not the material the artist takes from nature that makes a work of art, but what the artist puts into it from within. The most elevated work of art causes us to forget that it is based on a content from nature and awakens our interest only through what the artist has made of it. The artist forms naturally but does not form as nature herself does."

Owed to Robert

2008-12-04T11:03:00.003-05:00

reinventor said...

Big Kiss Mary! You make my life Brighter with your light!

This is a comment from my friend, Robert Parker, whose genius is behind two of my book covers. His paintings don the covers of Without a Word and Shadow Dancing. We will all be hearing more from Robert over the years, I am sure. Currently, he is a free lance feature writer in the Knoxville Tennessee area, having recently moved there from the Santa Monica, California. Working on advanced degrees in Philosophy and life in general at the University of Tennessee, Robert moves into becoming one of the worlds great artists and thinkers.

Thank you Robert, for supporting me in my work. You brighten our world too.

Each Character Their Own Voice

2008-10-28T11:17:00.005-04:00

Kim said...
I finished Chasing Twilight! Whew. I have lots of comments and questions but need to think about it some more. To begin with, I wonder, was it hard to write such a big novel in the format of letters between two characters? Developing the story in the things that two people say to each other can't be easy, but I will say it worked here.

Thanks for your question, Kim. You are right, this format for the novel was one of the biggest technical challenges that I faced while writing Chasing Twilight. This technique is tantamount to writing in the first person for two characters, which proved to be an exacting task. The first person is considered by many to be the most difficult voice in writing fiction because the story has to unfold in the confines of the psychological filters of the character. They may not be seeing events clearly because of intense emotion or immaturity. Yet in the first person, the writer can only convey to the reader the thoughts and feelings of the character within these confines. The format for Chasing Twilight doubled those confines because each of the two main characters wrote in the first person and conveyed their own version of the story as it unfolded.

While I found this difficult at times, I thought the technique reflected our contemporary world, and allowed a wonderful exchange of spirit between the characters. Romance beginning with emails over the Internet has become common place. The increasingly popular use of computers and the Internet has expanded our individual worlds and led us to a more worldcentric view. We can now develop relationships and exchange ideas with people we will never see. It is easier for us to stay connected with loved ones without having to take the time to physically visit with them. The technology not only expands our worlds, but offers us insights into who we are and opportunities to explore our consciousness. All of this came into play as I wrote Chasing Twilight.

I have also found that when people are writing to one another, they are much more profound and poetic. They can take as long as they like to write a paragraph, writing and deleting until the words are just right. We can’t do this in conversation. Using this format gave me a chance to explore what two people might express to each other, without the problems of emotional reactions, body language or time constraints. Letters allow our very best expression. The more we write them, the more profound we can become. I think this allows our hearts to open, not only to others but to ourselves. Molly Brogan

Molly Brogan Books in Development and Soon to Be Released

2008-10-21T15:54:00.004-04:00

Janie said...: Are you going to publish more poetry? I've read A Blaze of Light several times and enjoy the spirituality. I wonder if they are primarily love poems because they were from your novels. Do you have poetry that is not simply love poems? Will you publish more?

Thanks for the questions and the interest, Janie. You are right about A Blaze of Light, the poems are from my trilogy that portrays the love and loss experienced in the life journey of the central character. It is the first book of poems that I have published, and although I have a file drawer of poetry written over the years, I have no immediate plans to develop my next book of poetry. I am currently writing the third novel in my trilogy, Shadow Dancing, and some of the poetry from this unfinished novel is included in A Blaze of Light. I am also, after much encouragement from my associates, writing a book about living life as I see it: All About Living. This book is not fiction, but is my first non fiction sojourn, and presents my view into the depth of my spirit. The material is taken from intimate conversations with folks all over the globe concerning explorations of consciousness. Both new books should be available sometime next year. After that, another book of poems is ultimately possible. Thanks so much for the encouragement. Molly Brogan

Keep the Spirit Alive

2008-09-27T08:36:00.004-04:00

Robert said...: I thought about this (Logos), and decided for myself that it simply means the spirit of the word. This I can get my head around. Thanks Molly.
Thank you, Robert, and all my readers and supporters. You keep the spirit alive.

General Comments

2008-08-02T07:58:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the blog created for readers of Molly Brogan books. All are welcome to post comments and all insights are appreciated. If you have a general comment or a question about a Molly Brogan book that does not relate to any of the posts below, post your comment here. Thanks for stopping by, your time and consideration are most appreciated. Feel free to contact me if you would like me to participate in your book club discussion of a Molly Brogan book.

Logos Moves Between You and I

2008-07-13T18:34:00.005-04:00

Robert said...

"We are the writers, and the readers and the stories and the Logos."

What do you mean by Logos?

Through this Word – Logos – all things became. In it was life, the light of human beings. It shone in the darkness, and the darkness received it not. It was in the world, and the world did not know it. It entered in individual being and, to those who received it, it gave the ability to become children of God. Its radiance was seen, full of grace and truth.” – Georg Kuhlewind

In Carl Jung's analytical psychology, the logos is the masculine principle of rationality and consciousness. Its female counterpart, eros (Greek, love), represents interconnectedness. I think the term is really both.

To become aware of Logos is to become aware of logos in ones self. Logos shines through the visible and invisible alike. It is the light in relationship between persons, between words and meaning, between God and man. It is the knowing that you are. The speaking and knowing to what you are speaking … is logos. It is a living, present truth. What man cognizes, what is communicable, is the world. That man cognizes, is Logos. It is brought into meaning and passes between. This world exists for and through the knower, through Logos.

Thanks for the question, Robert. Molly Brogan
Artwork by F. Rassouli

The Death of a Character Gives Life New Meaning

2008-06-29T11:22:00.010-04:00

Jim said...

I finally got around to reading your book, remember me, something I've been meaning to do for awhile. One question, why did you kill of your main character?

This is a great question, Jim, thanks for asking it. The Mary Margaret character in Remember Me died for reasons intrinsic to both the story of Remember Me and to the larger story of my trilogy of novels. Each of my three novels examines love and loss from different viewpoints, and all three together examine love, life and death, as they fundamentally effect our experience.

Because Remember Me was written as a plea for reform in US family courts, it was important for the main character to die because each year, thousands of people take their own lives or have their lives taken as a result of the ineptitude of the US family court system. To research my book, I spent countless hours in family court, listening to these stories and interviewing litigants. There is an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness in domestic violence cases because weak laws, inexperienced State's Attorneys, and burned out judges allow cases to go unresolved or perpetrators to go free, empowered to continue the violence. The death of this character and destruction of this family was a common story in US family court.

Looking at the larger canvas of the trilogy, on the journey of the spirit, the death of the ego is the first step to be taken toward enlightenment. Some say, for instance, that the Tibetan Book of the Dead is actually a manual for ego death. The Mary Margaret character in Remember Me never catches on to this process as she cannot let go of her egotistical concerns, and suffers her losses, defining herself with loss and pain. Because this is a dead end for a journey of the spirit, her death frees her spirit to begin again.

In the second novel, Chasing Twilight, the character is resurrected, and begins to understand the importance of ego death and resurrection of being – or consciousness raising. So, her journey can continue and the concept of death takes on new meaning. With death, comes rebirth and the cycle of life is felt in the soul.

This will bring up interesting questions in the third novel, Shadow Dancing: What is death? What parts of us die while we live? How is this integral to being and becoming?

I sincerely hope you enjoy the stories and the concepts. Thanks again.

Artwork by Moira Marshall Many thanks.

Writing About Essential Being

2008-06-10T16:36:00.003-04:00

Ulysses said...

"energy that moves through the matrix of our being that we can FEEL." Interesting. What do you mean by "being?" I know this is a topic of discussion on your other blog, but I'd like to know what your idea of being is, and how it applies to your books.

The Essene’s think that being is consciousness, and consciousness is everything. Like that, I think being is that part of us that is connected to spirit, and as such, is all of us. Even those parts of us that feel separate from spirit, devoid of spirit, opposed to spirit, are those parts of us that eventually lead us back to spirit, and so, are of spirit. Like the notions of Lucifer being God’s favorite angel, or Judas the favorite apostle of Jesus, or Brahman – being is all pervasive.

That said, I do believe that there is an essential part of being that we can give to our attention. It is that part of us that is the witness to our life, the one that observes before we assign meaning or belief. I think that the more we can move through life posited in this essential part of our being, the more our lives will become what we can conceive is our highest potential. When I say highest potential I mean the best life that we can dream - and better, because spirit is leading the witness always.

I construct my poems from the position of the witness, although I will say, that in order to reach the reader I find that I must include not only observation but interpretation to bring feeling to the experience. I suppose this may be poetic license.

My play, Without a Word, is an examination of being from all aspects of character. It was written to be an exercise in consciousness raising while giving the audience a more holographic than linear experience.

My three novels, when looked at in succession, are one journey to this realm of essential being. On the way, like all humans, the characters make mistakes and self discoveries that create the stories. And they learn, in the end, that we write our own stories. We are the writers, and the readers and the stories and the Logos.

Thanks so much for posing this great question.

Recognizing Emotions and Feelings

2008-05-19T17:23:00.006-04:00

Morgan said...

I have given this some thought. I think I understand what you say about negative emotions that keep us from finding any happiness. But I don't quite get what you think about the difference between emotion and feeling. Please explain. Thanks.

Thanks for the thoughtful question, Morgan. I think the words feeling and emotion are often used interchangeably, but I am convinced that there is a distinct and profound difference. Gregg Braden tells us that prayer consists of thoughts, coming from the crown, brow and throat chakras - and feelings coming from the base, sacral and solar plexus chakras - into the heart. I think that this feeling that moves through us is the energy that moves through the matrix of our being that we can FEEL. By remembering the feeling, we can move energy through our system. If we are feeling low, we can imagine feeling joy, and our energy will rise to the feeling of joy. By understanding our feelings like this, we learn to command our energies and can heal our bodies and raise our consciousness.

Emotions, on the other hand, are like feelings because we feel them too. But they are responses of our emotional body to events in our experience. If we lack emotional body maturity, our emotions can be based on patterns of previous experience. We feel fear when our hand is near fire because our hand has been burned before. When we are young, our emotions occur naturally, like the physical body functions of breathing and digesting. As our emotional body matures, we understand that the emotions that occur naturally can be changed by the way we formulate our responses or even our perceptions. We can choose to feel caution instead of fear. We can perceive fire as a thing of beauty instead of danger, because we have learned to respond appropriately.

In my first novel, Remember Me, Mary Margaret comes close to understanding the nature of her emotions and feelings, but in the end, is overwhelmed with loss and grief. In my second novel, Chasing Twilight, Molly has the emotional body maturity to not only pace her emotions, but utilize her feelings for healing and consciousness raising. This character will go on to explore the possibilities that feelings allow in the third novel.

Thanks again for this great question, Morgan.

Life Begins With Awakened Imagination

2008-04-24T10:29:00.004-04:00

Morgan said...

Your character in Remember Me, Mary Margaret, has a lot of imagination. And yet, she is never happy. You say imagination is the key to how we create our reality. What does that mean?

Hello again Morgan and thanks very much for the question. The answer requires depth and is difficult to put into brief blog form, but I’ll try and would be glad to discuss further.

I understand that this is a mystical statement. The journey of my characters in my trilogy of novels is the journey of my spirit, written in a form meant to entertain. The characters are not me, but their journey reflects my own. In my own journey, I reached a point where I understood unity consciousness, meaning that I am connected to everything in life and everything in my experience is of me. After this, I developed a greater awareness of my role in creating this experience and what it reflects to me in each moment. This is where imagination is key.

Neville Goddard, the 20^th century mystic tells us, “Every moment of time you are imagining what you are conscious of, and if you do not forget what you are imagining and it comes to pass, you have found the creative cause of your world.”

I believe this to be true. More of his lectures on imagination can be found with this link:

http://www.nevillelecturehall.com/Lecture54.html

Molly Brogan

Artwork by Vivian George Many thanks.

There's a Blaze of Light In Every Word

2008-04-08T08:58:00.007-04:00

Makram said...

In your book, Chasing Twilight, you begin to explore the role of the artist. Can you say what you consider the role of the artist in society to be, and why you write?

Thanks for the question, Makram. For as long as I can remember, I have written down words that allow me to feel the joy of living in one form or another. I was probably 10 when I put it into the form of a poem and thought about the experience of another reading my words. I have also pondered the divine for just as long. Between the ages of three and seven, my family lived near a large and beautiful church in the Midwest US. I would sit in that church for hours, fall asleep, and the nuns would chase me home.

I believe that the artist inspires our imagination with the works of art that they create. This inspiration can be anything from titillating interest to awakening imagination. We can be inspired in unity or separation but ultimately we are all one expression of the divine, as we are reminded by timeless works of art. It is here that the artist plays a role like no other because our awakened imagination is the key to how we create our reality. We are moved to include new possibility on the foundation of our current belief, and invited into our highest potential. The artist guides us through this movement with an inspiring work of art, transcending the separation between the artist, the work of art, and he who appreciates and allows the inspiration. In this unity process, we awaken. Molly Brogan

Developing Timeless Characters

2008-04-04T17:38:00.005-04:00

Blythe said...

Why did you choose for the love interest in Chasing Twilight to be a Scientologist? Was this character taken from real life or did you write his as a Scientologist for a different reason?

This is a great question, Blythe, thanks for asking. How do we create our characters when we write? There are probably as many answers to this question as there are fiction authors. Part of my research for my first novel, Remember Me, was to work with a psychotherapist, who gave me wonderful suggestions as to how to base a character on my personal experience, and yet give it a separate personality that would be congruent with the outcome of the story. In Remember Me, the Mary Margaret character gives up on life. I had to create character traits and behaviors for her that would ultimately lead her in that direction.

For the second novel in my trilogy, Chasing Twilight, the love interest or anti-hero is a Scientologist so that the main character has someone who can understand her spiritual quest. The book is a dialogue between two people, and through the dialogue, the plot of the story and development of the characters are revealed. I chose Scientology because it has a new age, yet rigid doctrine and could provide some resonance, yet stark difference for the main character who believes only in the golden thread of truth that runs through all.

I did quite a bit of research into Scientology, reading and interviews, to build this character. I worked very hard to portray this character as an anti hero in the true sense, not as a villain. The constraints of his character are reflected in his passive aggressive attempts to control the relationship. The value of the faith of Scientology itself is never brought into question, but the main character does present some challenges and is answered, providing an interesting Q&A. I found it to be and extremely effective tool. Thanks again, Blythe. Molly Brogan

Artwork by Cindy Hesse Many thanks.

One Journey, Three Novels

2008-03-16T15:27:00.003-04:00

Linda said...

How about the second novel, Chasing Twilight - what part does shadow play with these characters? Their emotions are so intense. And what about all three books together? Do they all relate to each other in terms of shadow?

Thanks for the question, Linda. In Chasing Twilight, the characters have evolved in their recognition of their shadow aspects. Molly does some wonderful shadow transformation, not only when it comes up in the love relationship, but in her past life regression sessions. However, her lover, the Scientologist, will not acknowledge his shadow behavior, as he is unwilling to give up his attempt to control outcome. This shatters the sacred space which requires honesty, appreciation and psychological safety for the relationship to flourish. Molly is, however, able to recognize this and move on.

Shadow transformation can be very intense and takes a great deal of courage. Since this post, I have had several folks tell me that most people don't live like this or understand themselves this way. I think that more and more, we do.

The trilogy of novels is a journey of spirit for one woman, so yes, quite naturally, her ability to integrate her shadow is reflected in the stories of each book. When the novels are read in succession, I hope you can see her process and triumph. Molly Brogan

Personal Mythology Expressed in Dream

2008-02-16T13:30:00.008-05:00

Callie said...
One of the things I like most about Remember Me is the dream diary. Does this have anything to do with shadow?

This is a great question, Callie. In Remember Me, Mary Margaret takes the wonderful first step necessary in understanding her dreams at a very early age. She begins a dream journal at the suggestion of her mother, who does not want to have to hear about them anymore. This is significant to the character because while it gives Mary Margaret a place to record and examine her dreams, she is also given the message that they are not worth attention. So, throughout her life, she records her dreams, but does little interpretation or integration of the dreaming process.

I see our sleep time as a time for our body-soul-spirit to relate in ways unfettered by conscious constructs. Vivid dreaming, creative dreaming, and dream analysis are all wonderful processes wherein our soul speaks to our mind and spirit in ways that allow our conscious, continual becoming. The spoken language here is symbols, devices by which ideas often too complex or highly charged to articulate in ordinary language are transmitted. Developing a personal mythology of dream symbols involves using a body of personal myths to form a system for organizing one's conception of reality and guiding day-to-day behavior. Mary Margaret’s soul was instructing her to examine shadow through her dreams, she did not understand because she never learns the language.

Writing the dream journal in Remember Me was like writing a novel within a novel. I began by establishing symbols that were related to Mary Margaret’s current age and daily events, but also her collective unconscious. I then developed the symbols in her dreams to speak to her of life unfolding – trying always to guide her into becoming through soul. It was one of my favorite parts of writing the book and you may see this device used again sometime in the future! Dreaming, and all it can offer us, is a true joy for me! Thanks for asking.

Heroes, Villains and Rudolph Steiner

2008-02-07T10:02:00.001-05:00

Linda said...
Can you tell me about "the Opposing Spiritual Powers," and how they are like anti-heros?

Thanks for the question, Linda. I should preface the answer by saying that I have read the Rudolph Steiner teachings for several years now and find them to be mythical and complicated. I feel that whatever organization there is to life is much, much simpler, but I do admire some of his concepts. One of my favorite is his idea that humanity has a soul that influences and evolves along with our individual souls, much like CG Jung’s collective unconsciousness. Another is that our awareness unfolds, and humanity evolves due largely to the interplay of opposing forces (the tree of knowledge or good and evil.) The Steiner teachings tell us that in the course of human history, three specific opposing forces have provided our common soul and individual souls with opposition to our perfect nature (the Christ impulse) or the God within us. The dynamic of these forces are such that either we transcend the opposition and realize freedom by reconciling the forces (transcending duality) or we continue to battle.

Lucifer was the first, providing our natural, darker side. He is closely linked to nature and the mechanics of human nature so that the opposition he presents are storms or plagues or the fall of an civilization or the domination of our ego nature. His gift to humanity was free will, obtained in the choice to realize the Christ impulse and to transcend.

Ahriman was the second. His influence was first felt about 4M years ago and is still present today. He is associated with technology and materialism and prevents us from not seeing through the material to the spirit. He is also closely linked to the laws of karma, and keeps us from understanding the process of our freedom from karmic debt. But once the Ahrimanic forces have been reconciled, and we are free from karmic debt, we enter the age of Azuras. The Steiner teachings tell us that humanity is just beginning to enter this age but is still primarily ruled by Ahriman.

Not much is written on the Azuras and to research, I joined the Steiner library in New York, and read several of his books and lectures that hadn’t been taken out of the library in decades. I also joined Steiner discussion groups all over the world, talking to folks who had their own ideas about where Steiner was going with this. The forces of Azuras distract us into looking away from spirituality and convince us that our material experience is reality, not a reflection of our conscious awareness. It tricks us out of taking our objective into the subjective and becoming the creator with it, and believing the reverse is true. The Azuras has both the natural quality of Lucifer and the Ahrimanic qualities of technology and materialism. There is a bit written and much discussed about Steiner’s notion that once we give any part of ourselves to the Azuras, it can never be recovered. My (controversial) belief was that Steiner understood that once we transcend duality, mind and soul (karma), our lives and the formation of our experience is more immediately effected by universal laws. Once we consciously understand how to reconcile the opposition and realize our connection with all of life, we are distracted less easily even though the distractions become more dramatic. Ken Wilber would say it hurts more but we suffer less after the One Taste.

It’s easy to see how these opposing forces can be used as the hero/anti hero of a novel. I develop the characters of the three anti heros in my trilogy to reflect the nature of Steiner’s opposing forces. This allows me to develop the character of the heroine along a natural line of spiritual development, learning to release her karmic debt and move into a more harmonious storyline. And who doesn’t love a happy ending?

The Process of Writing a Novel

2008-01-31T16:43:00.000-05:00

Pat said...
What is your process for writing a novel?

Thanks for your question, Pat. I thought it would make a good post. I've been asked this many times and must say that the process evolves. I begin with a journal of the book where I write notes and ideas. I've begun tabulating the journals into categories: characters, storyline, symbols etc. I begin the journal for a book as I am writing the pages for the one before it. Luckily, by the time I have completed a novel, I am ready to begin writing the pages for the next. It has been a good flow for me.

While I am writing the pages, I have diagrams and notes taped all around the work space so as I work on the computer, I look around to make sure I am where I need to be with character development, storyline, symbolism etc. It can be messy in my office at times, but the system works for me! When I feel I am ready to "let it go," I give it to at least three editors for feedback. I have found that the opinions of multiple editors give me a broad range of suggestions. I choose the editors knowing that each will probably get something different out of the experience, and have suggestions based on their expertise or perspectives.

I say "let it go," because finishing a book can be an extremely emotional experience for many reasons. I always need to be sure I have done justice to the characters and to the ideas of the story. I also need to be ready to receive the feedback, which can be an emotional process. But also, I need to be ready to come out of the womb of creation that I have been gestating in for so many months (years.) Emerging from the creation of a novel is like giving birth to yourself. You go through the process as the parent and the child. What a miracle and a blessing. Molly Brogan

General Comments

2008-01-27T14:08:00.000-05:00

Journey of Spirit

2008-01-26T11:37:00.000-05:00

Michelle said...
I have a question about your book of poems but did not know where to post it until I found the archives. You might want to have another general post on the mainpage. Where do the poems in "A Blaze of Light" appear in your books? Have the poems in Shadow Dancing been published elsewhere? Why were they included if that book is not published?

Many thanks for the good suggestion, Michelle. I will follow this up with a new welcome post.

The poems in my book, A Blaze of Light, are all from my trilogy of novels. It is true, the third novel, Shadow Dancing, is a work in progress and not yet published. At the time that I considered publishing a book of poems, I was far enough along in the writing of Shadow Dancing to have several wonderful poems ready. I thought that the series of poems was enough to adequetly portray the journey of spirit of the main character of the trilogy. When Shadow Dancing is finally published, it may have more poems than those included in A Blaze of Light, but the poems already included will not be changed or left out. My hope was that the book of poems might pique interest in the third novel, and I will have anticipation for its release. Thanks for asking. Molly Brogan

Transforming Shadow Into Possibility

2008-01-18T13:23:00.000-05:00

Linda said...
What happens when shadow emerges? Why does it happen in our closest relationships?

Good questions, Linda. I think the answer can stand as a new thread on the nature and importance of our shadow. Here is a short poem that sums it up well:

As I was going up the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d stay away
- Hughes Merns

That man is our shadow, and our ego instinctively looks away because shadow holds our limited portions of personality and habits developed in the past that no longer serve and are not part of conscious awareness. Our dark shadow holds repressed negativity while our golden shadow holds our repressed potentiality.

The shadow can also be comprised of portions of our collective psyche. This comes up as circumstances or emotions that separate us as a group. It can also present as external fascination or spectacle that holds our attention, and thus keeps us from accessing internal resources and connecting with the group in spirit.

We usually project our shadow into places where it is “safe” to show this side of us, like our closest relationships. We instinctively know that the people we love the most give us the best chance to transform our shadow aspect by recognizing it, and then initiating and sustaining expanded awareness. This transformation process removes limitation and allows us to release what no longer serves, having recognized that it does not fit the “big picture” of integration and unity.

Molly Brogan

Fulfilling the prayer for love

2008-01-12T11:30:00.000-05:00

Catherine said...
I will read that part of the book over again, but it sounds like you are talking about getting in touch with an archtype of love, by creating a prayer for love. I wonder if connecting like this with ourselves doesn't "attract" others with those qualities into our lives. Just thinking out loud...

Catherine,

Your comment encompasses so much more than a section of my book, I thought I would begin another post. By thinking out loud, you bring up the concept of how we create our lives. I have more of a “feeling” for this than a theory that I can articulate. So much has been written about this, including portions of the bible. I am currently reading Thomas Troward, 19th Century mystic, who does a pretty good job of giving us an outline of the process as he sees it, without becoming terribly “religious.”

He begins with the concept of Alpha and Omega – the entire series of causation from the first originating movement to the final and completed result. Everything has its origin in an idea, a thought, and it has its completion in the manifestation of that thought in form. Many intermediate stages are necessary, but the Alpha and Omega of the series are the thought and the thing. This shows us that in essence the thing already existed in the thought. Omega is already potential in Alpha.

Like Greg Braden, Troward thinks that it takes thought and feeling to create prayer. He says thought creates form but it is feeling that gives vitality to thought. “It is this indissoluble union of Thought and Feeling that distinguishes creative thought from merely analytical thought and places it in a different category… it is that entering into the Mind of the Spirit.”

This leads us to the idea of the prayer including archetypes: “Now the images in the Mind of the Spirit must necessarily be GENERIC. The reason for this is that by its very nature the Principle of Life must be prolific, that is, tending to Multiplicity, and therefore the original Thought-image must be fundamental to whole races, just what Plato meant by archetypal ideas. This is the perfect subsistence of the thing in the thought.”

Troward on the relation of the prayer to the manifestation: “This specialization can only take place through the individual himself, it logically follows that the Life, which he thus specializes, become his own life. This self recognition through the individual cannot in any way change the inherent nature of the Creative Sprit, and therefore to the extent to which the individual perceives its identification with himself, he places himself under its guidance, and so he becomes one of those who are 'led by Spirit'. Thus he begins to find the alpha and omega of the Divine ideal reproduced in himself, in a very small degree at present, but containing the principle of perpetual growth into an infinite expansion of which we can as yet form no conception.”

There is so much trendy information today about the Law of Attraction and how it can get us what we want in life. I think much of this info misses the point that Troward hits right here, and that is, that the will that makes manifest is Divine Will. Our self will must be in agreement. Unless our prayers connect with the archetypical ideas, and our egos detach from the “things” coming into manifestation, how can our prayers be fulfilled? This is the crux of “Thy will be done.” We direct our thoughts and feelings to the universal, or archetypical, place ourselves in the flow of infinite expansion, and have faith that what will come from it, will be just what we need, to allow us to be led by spirit on our beautiful journey.

Thanks for the conversation. Molly Brogan

Wishing a joyful 2008 to my readers and supporters

2008-01-03T21:28:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers,

As we begin the New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who purchased my books, followed my blogs and joined in discussions. The conversations have been rich, and I have been greatly illuminated by them. I feel as if 2007 launched a new beginning for me, as I published four books and moved across the country to start again, with a sharper focus on my writing and relationship with my readers. I would like to especially thank my beloved husband Jerry, whose continued support inspires me to take flight with my own company, and discover new ways to express the vision we share.

As I wrote a book about a relationship that develops through the written word and across a distance, it never occurred to me that I would eventually get to know hundreds of people from all over the world in just this way, by sharing ideas on my blogs and web pages. I have been blessed to have the ability to connect with humanity this way.

I am elated daily, as I read your comments and participate in conversations about life and living. Please feel free to continue to post or email me with your questions and ideas as they arise. The computer translation tools aren’t perfect, but they do allow us to understand and encourage each other. With one click, my blog is translated and readers all over the world are included in the dialogues. What a miraculous world we live in, and I am infinitely grateful to share it with all of you.

Best wishes for everyone in 2008. I look forward to your words.

Much love,

Molly Brogan

The Sacred Space of Relationship

2007-12-29T11:53:00.000-05:00

Linda said...
You say, "in the sacred space, anyone who understands can become your twin..." Please explain what is meant by "sacred space."

Hi Linda: When I refer to “sacred space” I am referring to the conditions that people allow for relationships to flourish. To achieve this, the people involved need to create the space for themselves that includes complete honesty, appreciation and (psychological) safety for one another. This space allows for self exploration and connection with spirit. It can only occur when each person is first able to witness themselves and maintain an internal balance that allows them to experience without “charge” or judgment of positive or negative.

This means that before we are ready for a sacred relationship, we each have to have done the internal work necessary to allow the sacred space. A good understanding of anger and how to effectively process it is essential. An understanding of our shadow aspect is necessary, that part of us that holds the unrecognized fear, and projects a victim – villain - hero triad or good and evil dynamic into relationship. It is also important to have an understanding of golden shadow, and how an over involvement with the beautiful parts of ourselves can interfere with the appreciation or psychological safety of another. It is widely thought that once we have “readied” ourselves, we have cleared the way for twin flame and soul mate relationships to enter our lives.

Having sacred relationships does not mean that problems or crisis will not enter our lives. As long as we are alive we are drawn to all levels of the mirror experience, even what we judge in the moment and the dark night of the soul. But the sacred space in relationship provides the foundation for our experience to be clearly realized. We must make sure that our partners are provided honesty, appreciation and safety at all times and that includes not assigning blame for deconstructing circumstances or emerging shadow. If we can provide our loved ones with the room to explore all aspects of themselves and appreciate who they are and who they are becoming, they can do the same for us.

Once we have learned to create a sacred space for relationship, it becomes easier to walk away from relationships incapable of providing it. It becomes the kindest thing to do because it establishes the model for all relationships to follow. You will be surprised at how many people can rise to the understanding, if given the time and sacred space.

The characters in my book, Chasing Twilight, are discovering how to create this sacred space. Thanks for asking. Molly Brogan

Symbols as the Language of the Soul

2007-12-15T10:10:00.002-05:00

Dorothea said...
Without a Word is quite a play. It isn't easy to imagine the audience reception to it in the 70's. How did you work the dream chorus? I can think of many ways that it can be done because the book form leaves it open to interpretation.

This is a great question, Dorothea. Thanks for posting it. When writing the Dream chorus (a cluster of voices in echo) for Without a Word, I used the motif symbols from the play such as: night, day, sunset, window… The character Dream uses these as symbols and recreates interpretations that are not limited to linear or rational structures, just as our own dreams do for us during sleep. Ernest Hemmingway is the master of using motif symbols. He gradually defines character development throughout a story with motif, and then constructs sentences at the end of the story using these motifs that will decode for the reader, the characters’ triumph or tragedy. Motifs carry the reader along on the subconscious level and complete the story’s imagery.

I originally wrote the Dream character for Without a Word, as a chorus, with each voice expressing a different motif. This concept is obviously very complicated and while I could hear it in my head very clearly, I was never able to direct well enough to pull it off. Both of my productions of Without a Word had one person as Dream. In the Chicago production we combined the Dream and Light characters to accentuate the integration of the Word character.

I hope that the play is flexible enough to be staged any variety of ways, just as each one of us has individual characteristics of word, dream, shadow, mirror and light that make up our characters. I hope that any director could adapt the play to express their own voice, or the voice of their theatrical group. Molly Brogan

The Realm of Possibility and a Blaze of Light

2007-12-04T10:33:00.000-05:00

Anonymous said...
I've read your book of poems several times. You talk about "possibility" as if it was a place to go. Can you please talk about what this means to you? I'm not getting it.

Thank you for posting this intriguing question. Most of us have some idea of the meaning of the word “possibility,” Merriam Webster defines it as: 1 : the character, condition, or fact of being possible whether theoretically, in general, or under a specified set of conditions 2 : something that is possible : CONTINGENCY : a particular thing that may take place, eventuate, or be manipulated to some end 3 archaic : one's utmost power, capacity, or ability especially as determined by circumstances

Wikipedia defines it as: Possibility comprises that which can happen, such as what one can achieve. The Latin origins of the word hint at ability. Possibility is also referring to something that "could happen", that is not precluded by the facts, but usually not probable.

These definitions are commonly known and we refer to them. But when I think of the realm of possibility, I think of something more. I am thinking of becoming conscious of the eternal spiritual life that encompasses all time and no time and allows us, always, to become more than we are. I am thinking of transcendental possibility.

Today’s scientists are entertaining the notion of an electric universe, where plasma (earlier known as ether) permeates space and holds life. It is there that the idea of a holographic universe comes into play. It is through our etheric bodies that we bring spirit to life.

To answer your question, in these terms, possibility is not a place “to go” but more like an energy to recognize and allow. I have included a pretty good u-tube video about the idea of a holographic universe at the end of this post. Please feel free to continue the dialogue if this does not directly answer your question.

Many thanks. Molly Brogan

http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=fg5us8isW7M&rel=1&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//i.ytimg.com/vi/fg5us8isW7M/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskLvVM11TCPfpb92yic2xw0I