GUEST COLUMN: REV. CRISS ITTERMANN, 2nd of two parts —The Sanskrit term “Namasté” (nah-mahs-tay) is loosely translated to mean  “I honor the Spirit in you.”  It is a word for the feeling of our Higher Self greeting or recognizing the Higher Self of another.

It is recognizing the divinity in others, the connection between all things, the reflection of our own sacredness when we see the sacredness of another.  I suggest using Namasté when you mean it, when you feel the connection with another person and are sourced in your own sacredness.

During this celebration of sacred and unconditional love, remember to be sourced in your own sacred higher powers, and to recognize that higher power in others.  Use this day as an opportunity to go out of your way to honestly say, “Namasté,” to everyone you greet.

When we honor the spirit in everyone we meet, we increase our own capacity to love and spread love unconditionally.  Love is one of those incredible commodities that grows the more you give it, so nurturing your capacity to love relies on finding more reasons to give love, and thus to feel loving.

Honoring your lover

The word “love” is a verb; love is an activity. To feel more love and have more love, perform loving acts.  It’s not about how much money you spend, or on whom you shower your gifts, but how much heart you put into your gifts.

Find ways to spend sacred time with your lover this week, and go out of your way to make it fun.  Read my scenario below and ask yourself, “How does this weigh against a dozen roses and dinner at a restaurant?”

You come home to a trail of notes around the house, giving cute instructions from your beloved.  These flirtatious notes lovingly lead you to the bathroom . . . where you find a new fluffy robe and slippers set out with a note asking you to shower before coming to the bedroom.  As you  enter your bedchamber, you find your beloved wearing a matching robe, reclining on the bed.

A picnic blanket drapes the bed, arrayed with trays of delicious finger foods. The lights are dim, the music soft, and you’re asked to recline comfortably on the bed.  Your lover spends time feeding you morsels of food, filling the air with laughter and talking about how much he or she honors you.

When dining is done, he or she offers a massage — a bottle of massage oil sits in warm water next to the bed.  You let yourself be carried away, pampered by your honey.

Give me an inexpensive and romantic evening where I’m the center of loving, sensual attention over flowers and expensive chocolates any day.  Bonus points if some of the finger foods include chocolate covered fruits.  If you’d like someone to do this for you some day, why not try doing this for your love?  And this sensual scenario is not just for Valentine’s Day.

Honoring yourself

Why should you stop yourself from indulgence and sensual treats just because you’re alone for the evening?  You can still shower, wear a fluffy robe and slippers, treat yourself to delectable treats and chocolate-covered fruits, give yourself an oil body rub and carry yourself away in self-love for the evening.

You are the only lover you’re absolutely guaranteed to have for the rest of your life, so get to lovin’!  Self-love, self-stimulation, and masturbation do not need to be cold clinical “get the job done” affairs, no matter what your gender.

You can honor yourself with a list of what you love about you, ignite the senses, tease, turn-on, and fool around whether someone else is there or not.  Treat yourself the way you would either want to be treated, or you would want to treat another.

Four ways to celebrate sacred passion

1.  Start your day with a gratitude meditation or prayer.  Really reach out to the Sacred to give thanks until you feel your heart glowing fiercely with passion.  Once you reach that point, you can start to think of the people you love, and how grateful you are to have them in your life.

2.  Look for the commonality in yourself and others.  We all breathe, love, wonder, fear, eat.  Whether you can find that common thread or not, cultivate the understanding that we are all connected.

3.  Stay connected with Spirit all day.  Incorporate the greeting “Namasté” into the day, for the whole day.  Explain it to people who are not familiar with the concept and with the activity.  Truly feel it when you say it.

4.  Honor yourself or your lover.  Create a spontaneous in-home “spa-cation”, surprise treat, or fantasy-come-true.

Please pass the torch of burning desire on to others, and go out of your way to touch someone else with true love.  Together we can make this holiday of sacred and unconditional love a memorable and life-altering event for everyone we meet.

I honor the Spirit in you.  Namasté.

Read part one of this series: How to make Valentine’s a sacred day.

Rev. Criss Ittermann, life coach, Shamanic practitioner, and Tantric healer is the creatrix of Loving Possibilities™ and Take Your Consciousness Higher™.

For seminars and articles, or to join her mailing list for free audio recordings and book excerpts visit: Liberated Life Coaching.

BY DR. ANGELA HEPPNER — When was the last time you said to someone “I love you”?

These have to be the three most precious words uttered when spoken from the heart with genuine meaning.

Is this not what everyone wishes to hear? It can be so easy for us to express our true feelings to some and not to others. Why is this?

There are four main reasons why this phrase is prevented from being expressed freely.

• Fear of rejection
• The risk of expressing genuine feelings
• Perceived unworthiness
• Fear of being hurt

Don’t let fear of rejection run your life

It is common behavior for some people to have very strong feelings towards another and to not share these emotions. Fear of rejection is a preconceived idea and condition that is completely tied into lack of self-esteem and confidence.

We can be afraid that if we share our true feelings and thoughts with another then they will not be reciprocated, or denied and turned down. Honestly, the worst anyone can ever say is a “no”, but so what? Life goes on without waiting for anyone.

On the other side of the spectrum; what if we did take that brave step forward, opened up our hearts and genuinely shared our true feelings, then they were accepted lovingly on the other end? We don’t know until we try. “Love can be a risk; do it anyhow.”

What have we got to lose? Let me clarify something here on the “ifs” listed here. Replace those “ifs” with “do”, and as Nike so wisely put it, “Don’t just think about it, do it, do it, do it!”

Not expressing “genuine feelings” can get in the way of love

That brings me to the point of having genuine feelings for someone, that is holding very deep loving feelings. These are true and indeed genuine, but some people do not wish to share them.  These are heartfelt feelings that are being stifled and prevented from surfacing.

What follows is an inner struggle. Our ordinary commonplace feelings can be so easily shared; yet those deep-stirrings-of-the-heart type of feelings cannot surface.  The no-strings-attached attitude is a lot easier to share freely because there is no fear involved in this scenario.

To share those deep, genuine feelings could mean a commitment to another person due to the very fact that we are committing our innermost emotions to another. The heart is talking, and not the mind.

Perceived unworthiness of self is another barrier

A lack of “worthiness” on our part can be another obstacle to love.  We may even lack the courage to express our love for another because we believe we are not worthy enough share ourselves with others, or think our feelings of love are unmerited.

If we do not feel that we are worthy of something or someone, then we fail to pursue it. This could be a dream, even a lifelong dream. As fate would have it; if it is not meant to be ours, it will not be ours regardless. So why not try? The worst result of not achieving one’s dream could be the learning of a very valuable, even necessary, lesson and perhaps gaining a great friendship.

Fear of being hurt

We have all had a relationship (or two) with someone very special and near to our hearts.  Many of us have also experienced hurt due to losing someone that we once loved, and maybe even still do to this day.

Our pain and fear of future pain can prevent us from opening our hearts again to allow love in. Here the fearful “ifs” come again: what “if” I get hurt again? What “if” this happens to me yet again?  Everything happens for a reason; there is nothing that does not. There was either a lesson that needed to be learned and was missed presenting itself to us yet again; or many missed opportunities that have come and gone.

So at one point in our lives we have all wished to have that special relationship with someone; to find the “love of our lives.”  How are we able to do this or to ever have this dream come true if we do not let love in and try?  It is very true that some have been presented with this; it landed right in their lap and they did not pursue it; yet they are still hoping and wishing that this will happen for them one day.

Don’t let love pass you by

We may think at some point that we are not ready for a relationship or a commitment; yet this golden opportunity presents itself to us and we pass on it.  We then wonder later why we are alone and have no one significant in our lives.

Everything is constantly changing and ever evolving, including us. There will come a point in time when we think we are ready, but that wonderful, glorious opportunity has already passed us by.

It’s a good idea to put full trust into the Universe and the divine in this process and completely follow our hearts. This is the only way to assure that no golden opportunities will be missed out on. When you feel it, do it. Do not allow the mind to interfere in this process and lead you astray.

The heart’s call arrived and was not heard. The mind took over and gave many reasons why something should not be or cannot be. Doubt, worry, skepticism and fear are, in all actuality, parts of the mind; these are not parts of the heart.

Time waits for no one; when these divine gifts and blessings present themselves to us, we are responsible to take them and have the choice whether to act upon them or not.

Regrets come from the heart, not the mind. Regrets are felt because the heart’s call was ignored. There is an inner struggle when the head and heart are at odds. The heart and higher–self speak very loudly and clearly, but cannot be heard when the mind alone is in full control in the drivers seat.

So why ignore the heart? What is to gain from this? The heart is where pure truth resides and only truth. The heart is where only goodness is found. Where do you think love truly resides? Is it of the heart or in the mind?

Love is a feeling, not a thought. It is divine energy and emotion that is fully expressed through the heart, soul and higher – self. The key to happiness, balance, harmonious relationships and divine love is the heart. This is the only key available to us.

Dr. Angela Heppner is the author of The Book of Life and is an ordained minister, journalist, poet and song writer.  Her academic accomplishments include earning a Bachelor of Metaphysical Sciences (B.Msc.); Master of Metaphysical Sciences (M.Sc.), and a Philosopher Of Holistic Life Coaching (Ph.D) degree.  Angela’s passion is healing with the help of the arch angels.  Visit her site, Angel Aura Healing.

This Friday Sunni Muslims across the world will celebrate Mawlid, the birthday of the prophet Muhammad.  Though the celebration is centuries old, historically Muslims were divided over the issue of permiting the holiday and how it should be celebrated (maybe it appeared too similar to that religious birthday among Christian neighbors: Christmas).  Festive processions and parties can be found in several nations, particularly in India, and though Mawlid is celebrated in nearly all Muslim nations, Saudia Arabia (the birth place of Islam) has not made Mawlid an official holiday.

The gospel according to Elton John: Jesus was gay

Elton John courts controversy by announcing in an interview in Parade that he believes that Jesus was gay. Without elaborating why he held this view on Jesus’ sexual orientation, Elton John lauded Jesus’ ability to forgive, and his calling us to do the same. Elton John’s comments are sure to anger many Christians, as so many celebrities have done in the recent past (Madonna, for one). Is Elton John revealing something about the historical Jesus?  Or is the “gay Jesus” a projection of his own mind (and wishful thinking)?

Tiger Woods’ Buddhist reversion

After figuring out who Tiger Woods is (apparently the Dalai Lama has better things to do than watch golf or read the tabloids), the Dalai Lama stated that Tiger should practice self-discipline.  This after Tiger stated in his recent apology that he plans on rededicating himself to the Buddhist teachings of his youth. Tiger, in his public apology, summarized a few buddhist teachings; for one, that ”a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security”. Woods’ apology included strong words against the media, demanding that they cease stalking his wife, children and mother; sounds similar to the Dalai Lama’s recent command to the media, ”Don’t ask silly questions.”

Ark of the Covenant . . . in Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe’s Museum of Human Science has recently displayed a wooden vessal claimed to be an original fragment of the Ark of the Covenant of biblical fame.  It might sound shocking to some, but African Arks are nothing new.  Ethiopia’s city Axum claims to house the original ark of the ancient Hebrews, concealed to all except a lone guardian who dedicates his whole life to living in the sanctuary protecting the ark. Replicas of the ark are kept in every Ethiopian Orthodox church, where they are treated with the utmost reverence and carried in religious processions.

Apple computer wedding in the Big Apple

Couple marries at Apple store in New York on Valentine’s Day.  The couple had their priest dress as Steve Jobs, read their vows from their iphones, and the groom stated, “I used to joke that the Apple Store is my church because I am not religious, and I loved everything Apple.”  Apple was not responsible for planning the wedding, but only gave permission for the use of their store; but it seems unlikely that funerals will be permited any time soon.

A sound mind in a sound body

Chest pains caused by a broken heart can be real.  And in a reverse scenario, holding hands with someone who is experiencing pain can lessen the sensation for them. Recent studies has shown how emotional pain and healing are closely linked to the body.  Expressions such as “heartbreak” are more than emotional descriptions, but also physical states. Also, friendly social contact produces health benefits ranging from reduction of physical pain to feeling less depressed.  The lesson: maintain a healthy balance of mind and body.

GUEST COLUMN: ALAN ANNAND — Woody Allen famously joked, “I believe in karma and reincarnation, because nothing else explains how I could get so far behind in just one life.”

But seriously folks, a full half the world’s population believes in reincarnation, which obliges us to be reborn again and again, working on our soul’s multiple-life lessons, like some poor kid who can’t get his college degree until he passes Ethics and Morality 101.

Karma and reincarnation are linked.

According to Universal Law, every action generates consequences sooner or later. Therefore, actions in one life may carry over into consequences in subsequent lives, creating conditions of happiness or sorrow for reasons we don’t understand.

Karma is pretty complicated, which is why Mahatma Gandhi said, “After inventing karma, God was finally able to retire.”

And because God wasn’t satisfied with just a “one-size-fits-all” karma, He actually came up with four different models.

The Four Types of Karma

Sanchita karma is “accumulated”, like an eternal biography in which all of your actions in all of your lives are recorded for posterity. If you were Cleopatra in a previous life, it is etched in energetic stone. If you were naughty or nice, it’s been noted.

Prarabdha karma is “ripened”, like fruit on a tree that falls when it’s ready to be eaten. If your accumulated karma is a full deck of cards, your ripened karma is the hand you’re dealt, and to play as best you can in this game of life.

Agama karma is “thought”, whether you act on it or not. Although it’s a grey area, even the Bible agrees with this notion that it’s almost as bad to, say, commit adultery in your mind.

Kriyamana karma is “action”, the exercise of your free will. Perform good or bad deeds, chances are you’ll be rewarded appropriately. If it happens in this life, we jokingly call it instant-karma!

How does karma affect love relationships?

Some people’s karma is “fixed,” and no matter how much they try, they’re stuck with it. On the other hand, some karma is “flexible”, and if people exercise sufficient free will in performing right actions, they can rise above it.

For example, in relationships, one person’s karma may be for long-term marital bliss, while a second person’s karma may be for a series of loveless affairs.

If both circumstances arise from “fixed” karma, where the intensity of their past-life is powerful, pleasurable or painful scenarios may be destined to play out, no matter what the person does. One remains happily married, the other unhappily single.

In a third situation, however, the person’s “unfixed” karma may promise both a love relationship and multiple partners.

For example, one could enjoy the love of one’s life, and then screw it up by having affairs with other partners. Conversely, one could overcome a sex addiction and find happiness in a monogamous relationship. With this kind of karma, the person’s free will is a force that can shift the balance toward one outcome versus another.

Your astrological birth chart provides a map of your current life’s karma, which is why astrology is considered a divine science.

But it takes training, experience and judgment to assess the balance between fate and free will, which is why the practice of astrology is considered a divine art.

Alan Annand is an astrologer with 28 years experience, professionally trained and certified in both western and Vedic (Hindu) astrology. He is also a palmist and the author of five novels, which you can check out on his website.

Alan’s last column for Soul’s Code was:  What is your dosha?

Fred Phelps not gaga over Gaga

According to Reverend Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, Lady Gaga has a “whore’s forehead” and is destined for Hell.  Are we to believe the “Reverend” whose congregation is known for protesting at the funerals of American soliders who have died in battle, insinuating that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is what is killing them and not conventional weapons?  Apparently Lady Gaga’s huge gay following and support of the gay community is making Phelps nervous, if not overflowing with hatred.

Charlie Sheen’s Christmas rumble

While holidaying with their twin sons in Colorado, Charlie Sheen and his wife Brooke Mueller had a violent marital fight early Christmas morning.  Sheen reportedly choked Mueller and threatened her with a weapon, and both are reported being intoxicated and argumentative during a party earlier in the evening.  Sheen was arrested and released on bail, and he and Mueller have made statements of their planning to work on their marriage. Holiday celebrations can invoke a great amount of stress and anxiety, sometimes resulting in a weakening of internal guards , as appears to be the case of Sheen and Mueller’s indulging in alcohol and violence.

How the terrorist almost stole Christmas

Christmas attacks were also airbourne with an attempted bombing of an international flight to Detroit.  The arrested suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was subdued by a passenger and crew members after attempted to ignite a small explosive strapped to his leg.  Reports are filtering in that Abdulmuttallab has links to Al-Qaida and was a “devout” Muslim, furthering a continuing conversation about the links between Islam and violence. Ironically Abdulmuttallab was nicknamed by classmates “the Pope” because of his amiable personality and giving money to an orphanage.

Benedict and the Christmas rush

Susanna Maiolo

Speaking of Popes, of a different kind. . .it’s deja vu for Benedict. During the Christmas Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Susanna Maiolo jumped a barrier and rushed the Pope.  Last year she was quickly tackled by Vatican security, the Swiss Guard, who are sworn to protect the Pope even at the cost of their own lives.  However, this year one of the guards, in plain clothes, was not fast enough to prevent the same woman from grabbing Benedict’s vestments and pulling him to the floor.

The pontiff was not injured in the fall and many are speculating as to the motive for the attack, but evidence suggests that Maiolo is psychological unstable.

Ashoura celebrations and attacks

This week Shiite Muslims celebrate the holiday of Ashoura, the commemoration of the death of the grandson of Muhammad, Husayn ibn Ali, who was killed October 10, 680.  Believing Muhammad’s descendants to be the true successors of authority for all Muslims, Shiite Muslim view Husayn ibn Ali as the last successor to Muhammad, or Imam, until a future Imam will reveal himself as a true descendent of Muhammad.  The commemoration of Husayan’s death is observed through mourning and processions, often accompanied with flagellation.

U.S. missionary to North Korea goes missing on Christmas

Kim Jon II

Robert Park, a 28 year old American missionary, slipped across the North Korea border on Christmas night with a special message for Kim Jon II: step down from power and free all political prisoners.  Park, who is now likely a prisoner himself, has not been heard from or seen by any associates of the activist group he belongs to, Pax Koreana.

Park’s message had a stunningly Biblical flavor, as if he were declaring to King Herod that his kingship is no more, captives are to be set free, all on the day of a new king’s birth, Jesus.