February, 2004

This Issue: Table of Contents

Synchronicity--what is it? Hard to define, that's for certain! The best brief explanation I've heard is that it is "meaningful coincidence".

Synchronicity was an intriguing concept that intrigued the psychologist Carl Gustav Jung, the "father of archetypal psychology", whose theories the Goddess Quiz is based upon.  His speculations about the phenomenon are elegant and complicated. Simply put, synchronicity is when things that meet some need in your life just start happening around the same time, as if the powers that be are saying "Hey, you, wake up! Pay attention to this. It's important!" 

Yes, I know, some of us are more gifted with intuition than others, but all of us have some intuitive capacity, though it may be begging for development, but you don't have to be psychic if you are using your innate intuition -- this simple, yet extraordinary magic can become apparent in your life.

How to take advantage of synchronicity

1. Pay close attention to things that happen by accident and the people you run into unexpectedly. Listen carefully to what they have to say and to what pops into your mind while they are talking. You might even have a message for them!

2. Realize that the more you notice the meaningful coincidences, the more receptive you will be to their meaning, and the quicker you will discover the lesson it has for you.

3. Anxiety, anger and frustration stops synchronicity in its tracks. You must trust! Even when things seem very gloomy, trust that you will be shown the way when you are ready to "receive".

4. If you are dealing with a specific "issue" in your life at the moment, decide to turn it over to synchronicity. That means letting it go, releasing it, stopping the worry, and trusting that the solution will come to you.

Here are a few simple, everyday example of how synchronicity helped shape this month's newsletter. For several weeks I have been taking a few minutes each day to do computer searches on Mizu-Gami, the water goddess who is depicted on the patch I wear on my karate uniform. There are thousands of websites telling about her, but they all seem to say exactly the same thing (3 or 4 sentences worth) and none that I've found actually tell her story. Frustration was mounting.

At the same time I was reading the charming bestseller, Secret Life of Bees. (Strongly recommended if you haven't already read it.) Suddenly I was struck by the description of the "goddess" in the story and her resemblance to the "karate goddess",  Mizu-Gami. More research ensued. . . this time more focused. What I discovered was that Mizu-Gami isn't really just a name, it translates literally to "the goddess Mizu". To make a long story short, I discovered that Mizu was one of the many names/incarnations of . . .

It is claimed that the goddess Mazu, a Chinese sea goddess,  is the goddess most celebrated in modern times, with the number of her devotees currently estimated at over 100 million and more than 1,500 temples devoted to her worship. Her name, Mazu (Ma Tsu), means mother, and like Kuan Yin she is a goddess of compassion, one who is willing to intercede on the behalf of those in distress. But she is also revered for her courage, her willingness to fight for her principles. 

A few legends tell that she was sprang from the urine of the great creator goddess Nu Kua, but many experts believe that Mazu may have originally been a real woman, born around 960 A.D. to a devout Buddhist family that lived on a small island. This girl, Lin Mo, showed an amazing spirit and mind and asked to study with the Buddhist monks who, aware of her precocity, accepted her as a pupil when she was only thirteen. She blossomed under their tutelage and soon amazed them by developing a "second sight", an awareness of events that one usually has no way of knowing. She was also blessed with extraordinary powers and was known to calm storms and rescue sailors who were in danger. Some say she was proclaimed a bodhisattava (in Buddhism, a person who has attained perfection but elects to remain on earth to help others).

Faced with pressure from her family to marry, Lin Mo agreed to marry only if the man seeking her hand could defeat her in a match of Chinese boxing, a skill she had obviously mastered. She remained undefeated, and unmarried, throughout her brief life.  At the age of 28, Lin Mo told her parents that she must leave them, was surrounded by a dense fog of clouds that lifted her to a nearby mountaintop where witnesses saw her transformed into a magnificent rainbow as she was carried into the heavens.

You can read her story here:
Goddess Mazu

Granny used to say "If you can't do one thing, do something else" . . .

So I ask for your feedback on the idea that follows:

Who else? Valentine's day coming up, it had to be her.  The Greek goddesses, Aphrodite, aka the Roman goddess Venus, whose job was to make sure there was plenty of beauty and romance in the world, reminds us to accept ourselves as we are and to enjoy life to its fullest. You can read her story here:
Aphrodite

Aphrodite will be the goddess featured this month in the screensaver's meditations. Windows users can download it at: 
Goddess Screensaver.

Big news!  Exciting news! Scary news!

Reminiscent of the Chinese proverb "May you live in exciting times" (which can be used either as curse or a blessing), the website is being featured the February 3 release of "Woman's World" magazine, sold near the checkout stand at your supermarket, right next to the tabloids! They're featuring a "mini-" goddess quiz (not very scientific or accurate like the real one at the site, but great fun).  

The good news is that we expect a lot of traffic (and orders of the Goddess Quiz) at the website as a result. Bad news is this will be a real test of how well the system works. So please, light red candles and send positive energy up to Our Lady of the Lightening-Fast Connection (whoever you envision her to be) so that all goes smoothly!

Insider Tip: (Somehow I can't imagine the feds will come after you like they did Martha Stewart)
If you're thinking about ordering a gift certificate for the God or Goddess Report for a Valentine's Day present, I'd suggest you avoid what (hopefully) will become a mad rush close to the actual day and have it sent to yourself for forwarding to the lucky recipient at the appropriate moment. Here's a link to order:
Gift Certificate

Speaking of Valentine's Day, for a refresher course for those who read it last year, an adventure for the newcomers to our subscription list, here's a link to the goddesses and the . . .
History of Valentine's Day

The other big news this month was that the Men, Myths, Minds got hit big-time by the MyDoom mailings and was receiving hundreds of email an hour, all coming from different addresses and most of them filled with a virus.  Synchronicity again!!   Searching desperately for a solution we found this wonderful spam control program (effective, inexpensive, and very easy to install). So far it has worked wonders for us! If you're bothered by spam littering your mail box you might want to check it out by clicking on this link. You can sign up for a free trial:

And here's a link for those of you who like to read our monthly
progress report in full.

Let the lengthening of the days energize and uplift you.  Celebrate synchronicity and put it to use in your life, remembering . . .

"The eyes are of little use if the mind be blind."   Arab proverb

And let your life be filled with

Sunshine and Sparkles,

Sharon
The Goddess Path