Puck, Oberon, Titania, Nick Bottom, these are the characters that I remember from my tenth grade literature class. This was the first literary work that I had ever read and it had a profound affect on me that has lasted to this day.

Shakespere’s A Midsummer Night’s Dreamis widely played and of world renown. This play captures the essence of the summer solstice as seen through the eyes of the esoterics of the 16th century. The play within a play is a reference to the lucid dream state achieved by oversleeping or by deprevation of sleep. In the case of oversleeping, one’s body becomes more and more fatigued as the mind “wakes up” more and more.

During ancient times the solstices were celebrated in many parts of the world. The idea is that during the the solstices the Earth receives and intensified period of cosmic energy so much so that the summer and winter solstices are the longest and shortest times of the year. The cosmic affect of planetary bodies can be demonstrated in the affect of the moon on the Earth’s tides. Individual’s being comprised of 60-80% water show a similar reaction to the moon, see ‘lunancy’. Although science has found no direct connection between the moon and mental states, anyone that works in a hospital or in law enforcement will tell you that there is much more activity during the days surrounding the full moon than typically during the rest of the month.

To get back to my point, during the solstices, individuals are much more open to change, get insight into past patterns and future opportunities based on these patterns. In modern times, many people have begun to use the solstice as a time of cleansing and fasting in order to make these alterations in their lives. I have done this fairly consistently for the past 10 years and I find it extremely helpful for looking at my past and assessing where I want the next 12 months of my life to go based on the insight that I receive. I have gotten ideas for business endeavors and educational activities as well as received a tremendous amount of personal healing.

I once had a student in her late fifties coming to my chi kung class. She had been in a very serious car accident and had a broken arm and could barely move her neck. Her appearance was somewhat distressed and she had a worn look on her face as if she had not been getting much rest. I allowed her to come to class and do as much as she did, which was very limited to her physical condition. Within two sessions of particiapting in our group class her appearance and color was much improved. She stated she felt better and was able to move with less pain and she attributed much of her ability to make the transition in her healing to the chi kung.

chi/qi/ki/prana/ra force is the name given for the electromagnetic energy that animates the body. In ancient times various peoples developed forms/sets/katta that they found would build the the life force. The ancient Chinese developed one of most comprehensive systems of cultivating chi. Tai Chi Chuan, Chi Kung, meditation and yoga are a few of the systems.

Over the past 14 years I have practiced some form of all of these art forms and have personally benefited from the healing affects. Through herbal preparations, meditation, Tai Chi Chuan, yoga and Chi Kung I was able to heal my body from a very large peptic ulcer. Over the years I have used the knowledge of these art forms to help my self and others.

My whole existence is predicated on the meaning of life … Yet when I think about it, that is something that I don’t fully understand. Therefore, is my life not completely understood or is it ever evolving?

When I think back to my younger days, I was always seeking understanding, especially, from those that I loved and cared for, however, because I did not fully understand my self, how could I expect any one else to understand me? This is a mistake that many of us make on a regular basis. Many people think they understand their selves and their purpose but whom among us really has put the time into what it takes understand our selves?

I once had a student that on our first meeting articulated clearly what she thought her path was about, but the more she spoke it became painfully clear that she did not have a clue as to what her purpose was despite how eloquently she elucidated her points. This fact bore out over the years that we have know each other since.

Knowledge of self is the most important thing we can have, but, Western Society has put so much emphasis on external things, bling bling, cars, clothes, cash none of these things, no matter how much is amassed, can bring fulfillment. While it is true that no one can tell us what our purpose in life is there are things that demonstrate that we are on the Red Road, the Path, the Way, walking the Tao.

No one every came into the world to be the best baseball player in the world, the highest paid model or the best basketball player, we come to the Earth for one purpose and that is to develop our spiritual selves. We all have different paths through which this is accomplished but ultimately our goal is the same to realize our true selves, for some people this life is about enjoying the fruits of past work, for others it is to right wrongs, others come to experience the cruelty and malice that they have dealt out for lifetime after lifetime. What ever our path is it leads us down a road of self discovery. Anything else is most assuredly ego.

Love is often an elusive thing, something that we pursue in different ways. They say men give love to get sex and women give sex to get love, I say both are futile attempts to arrive at a place called love. However, without experiencing Self love how can you find love some where else? How will you recognize something that is only a vague idea or memory from infancy?

We often pursue love as a feeling. This too is fraught with problems. The first being that Love is not initially a feeling. Love is an action, it is something you do it is an expression of maturity and an understanding of self, purpose and interconnectedness. The feeling that we equate with love is something that you experience after love is experienced it is a sense of joy, inner peace and yes pleasure that is felt. But the feeling is not the love and the love is not the feeling herein lies the rub.

We often experience things, perform rituals and practices without really knowing why we do them. When we seek love it is no different we are seeking that feeling that we associate with love rather than creating love within our selves. Like attracts like. If you don’t like the way you look, the way you sound, how you act, the way you smell? Then how can you expect someone else to like it much less love it. We become so focused on the physical we are duped into believing that the physical is what we are, when in reality we are so much more. The love that we must have for our Self comes from understanding and knowing Self, from understanding why we are doing what we are doing and what to do about the things we no longer want to nor need to do.

Love of self is an expression of spiritual maturity that enables us to give to our selves without conditions without strings without self denigration. When we can do this then we are ready to love another soul be it our children, our mates, our lovers, our friends, or our family.

Without self love we are destined to embroil one another in a desperate game of energy conquest, manipulation and mutual disrespect. With it the possibilities are limitless.