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For more information about my work as a counselor, astrologer,
and workshop leader,
please visit my web site
by clicking here.
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Dear Dan,
 Autumn greetings! I intend this e-newsletter to be a gift. I hope you find here something that sustains or inspires you as you continue on your journey: some new music, a good book, a movie recommendation, a few words of wisdom shared in humility and hope, or news of a class or workshop that may serve as a bridge from where you are to where you're going. So browse through what follows, see what catches your eye, or stirs your heart.
~Dan
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Astrology & Christianity class Dec 3, 10, and 17th
I've long believed that psychology, spirituality, astrology, and the arts are "couisins in soul-making"--even if, in recent centuries, they haven't always worked and played well with each other.
As part of my work to help facilitate the "family reunion" for these cousins, I've been invited to teach a three week class titled "They Followed A Star: Astrology & Christianity As Allies On The Journey."
The class will be on three consecutive Monday nights, December 3, 10, and 17 from 7:00 - 8:30 each night at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, located at 111 NE 80th Street in Seattle. All are invited to attend. No sign-up or registration is necessary, just show up the night of the class. The suggested donation for each night is $10.
Here's the class description: "Just as the Magi followed a star to find Jesus, we can look to the stars for help in discerning Spirit's plan for us. Drawing on biblical theology, music, poetry, pscyhology, and more, we'll explore the connections between Astrology & CHristianity, and look at how astrology can support and deepen our journeys."
For more info, visit the
"Workshops" page of my web site (click here), call me at 206-523-1340, or contact Cherry Haisten at St. Andrew's (phone: 206-523-7576).
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Resources for a richer life.
(Music): "The Age of Possibility," (Carrie Newcomer). My favorite CD by an artist who consistently writes and sings with honesty, tenderness, and power. Her music is without pretense--like sitting down with a friend who "gets" it, and will be there, come what may: "Here I am without a message/Here I stand with empty hands/Just a spirit tired of wandering like a stranger in this land/Walking wide-eyed through this world is the only way I know/Wrapped in hope and good intentions and/Bare to the bone." For more info, visit Carrie's web site by clicking here.
(Women's Group). "Reclaiming the Goddess: A Circle for Women." A year-long, experiential circle to help women rekindle and reclaim the Goddess within. Using the archetypes of the Goddess and the seasonal wheel of the solstices, equinoxes, and cross-quarter days (the Sabbats), the circle will use ritual, shamanic journeying, witnessing, ceremony, and sacred crafting to bring the sacred energy of the Goddess more fully and consciously into life. Facilitated by Linda Lasz and Christine Marie Wallace. I know both the facilitators, and have had friends and others participate in this circle in past years--I recommend it highly. Begins in January; registrations are due by January 10th. For more info, call Christine Marie Wallace at 206-736-2446.
(Book): The Fisher King and the Handless Maiden(by Robert Johnson). A book about reclaiming our capacity for joy, worth, and meaning in life. Johnson tells the story of the Wounded Fisher King from the Grail Myth to illustrate the anxiety and loneliness that plague men. From the folktale of the Handless Maiden, he explains the the very different frustrations of women and describes how these disparities in the way we suffer account for much of the tension and miscommunication between men and women. His insightful analysis shows that these two stories, created centuries ago, are even more relevant today. A wonderful book, and only 103 pages long!
(Movie/DVD): "The Majestic" (starring Jim Carrey & Martin Landau; directed by Frank Darabont, who also directed "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile"). This is one of those rare films that is both a feel-good/get-lost-in-the-story fantasy AND an artful look at important themes: the nature of identity, the true meaning of patriotism and freedom--themes as important today as they were in the early 1950s, during the time of McCarthyism, when the film is set. Read Roger Ebert's exceptional review by clicking here.
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Quotes for inspiration and action
"So ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in."
(Leonard Cohen, "Anthem"--Google this to find the entire song lyric: wonderful!).
"To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go." (Mary Oliver, from the poem "In Blackwater Woods").
"Imagine what richness would be expressed if one had a specific word for the love of one's father, another word for the love of one's mother, yet another for one's camel (the Persians have this luxury, still another for one's lover, and another exclusively for the sunset! Our world would expand and gain clarity immeasurably if we had such tools." (Robert Johnson, The Fisher King And The Handless Maiden, p. 7).
"I would shelter you and keep you in
light, but I can only teach you night vision" (Suzanne Vega, "Night
Vision," from the CD "Solitude Standing").
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Essay: Holiday stress...
Below is a reprint of the postcard I sent to my snail-mail list just before Thanksgiving back in 2003; many people wrote or called to tell me how much it spoke to them. I hope it speaks to you again this holiday season.
"The antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest.
The antidote to exhaustion is living whole-heartedly."
~ David Whyte
With the holiday season fast upon us, questions of exhaustion, rest, and living whole-heartedly rise up from the same sacred source that beckons us to celebrate light in the midst of darkness and turn again toward a new year. There are no simple answers to "holiday stress," but there may be profoundly simple questions: "With this purchase, this party, this presence, am I living from my deepest, best self?" When we're living whole-heartedly, we apply ourselves to whatever task is at hand witih relish, and "time flies." We rejoice in the company of those around us. We delight in our daily bread. We experience moments of grief and sadness as opening us up, rather than shutting us down. When the time for rest finally does arrive, part of us longs to postpone it--like not wanting a good book, or a good movie, to end; renewal comes as much from living itself as it does from rest. May your heart be opened, and may you knkow light, peace, and hope during this holiday season and in the New Year.
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Counseling & Astrology Services
I offer professional counseling and/or astrology sessions for both individuals and couples. Whether you come to me with a "problem" (such as depression, stress, anxiety, relationship issues) or simply the sense that it's time for a change, I help you see how that starting point is calling you to grow, and how you can respond with creativity, vitality, and hope.
To learn more about how I might be of help,
please visit my web site.
To schedule an appointment,
or if you have questions,
please call me at (206) 523-1340.
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That's it for this issue. I hope you've found something here to light the way as the days grow shorter.
As always, I welcome your comments, stories, feedback, suggestions (send me an email by clicking here).
Look for the "Winter" edition of "Living With Purpose And Passion" in the New Year.
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Thanks!
Dan Keusal, M.S., LMFT
Counselor, Astrologer
(206) 523-1340
Email: dankeusal@dankeusal.com
Web site: (click here)
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