Thursday August 21, 2025
– Balsamic Moon Phase – release, transform, healing, forgiveness, prepare for the new
– Moon in LEO – Void of Course 8/21 2:13 PM – 8/23 1:24 AM moving to VIRGO
– Retrogrades –
- Pluto – May 4th – Oct 13th
- Neptune – Jul 4th – Dec 10th
- Saturn – Jul 13th – Nov 28th
- Chiron – Jul 30th – Jan 2nd
– Best Days (from the Farmer’s Almanac) – Aug 20th – 21st – Ask for Loan, Cut Hair to Slow Growth, Dig Post Holes, Get Married, Host a Party, Kill Plant Pests, Mow to Slow Growth, Paint, Perform Demolition, Pick Apples and Pears, Quit Smoking, Start Diet to Lose Weight, Wash Wooden Floors
– Planting Calendar (from the Farmer’s Almanac) – Aug 20th – 24th – Best for killing weeds, briars, poison ivy, and other plant pests. Clear wood lots and fencerows. First three days are good harvest days.
– Sabian Symbol for the Solar-Lunar Year: – 11 ARIES: the ruler of a nation
– Aspect of the Aeon Sophia: (Wisdom): – Kali – The Destroyer
– Aspect of the Aeon Thelete: (Will/Desire): Kathe (God of The South)
– Sabian Symbol for the Solar-Lunar Month – New Moon in LEO – SUN/MOON – 03 LEO: a mature woman keeping up with the times having her hair bobbed (EARTH – 03 AQUARIUS: a deserter from the navy)
SUN – 29 LEO: a mermaid emerges from the ocean ready for rebirth in human form
EARTH – 29 AQUARIUS: a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis
What Does it Take to Become a Master?
Yesterday I began to talk about learning Qigong. I related the story of the kung fu master and throwing a punch and putting out a candle. This was one of many stories told in this training that related to the way that we learn and the intentions we set when we set our minds to it.
My goal right now is to find a way to reduce pain in my knees, and specifically to determine in the Eastern practice of Qigong may be one of those solutions. And with just a a little bit of research in the past few days, I know that it will take a while. It will not happen overnight.
So far, I have not learned much. The first lesson was from a youtube video. It is called the Arm Swing. Pretty simple. Stand in a comfortable place with your feet shoulder width apart with your knees slightly bent. Raise your arms in front of you to about your head level and then allow them to swing down past your sides. Then repeat it.
The teacher said that now you should do that for about 20 minutes. Or maybe 10 minutes. But 20 would be better. And every 5-6 times, bent your knees just a little and push up on the upswing,
Now with so many repetitive exercises, you start to ask yourself why you are doing it.
That brings me to another story from that training I mentioned yesterday, Your Wish is Your Command. Kevin Trudeau was again talking about his own martial arts training. He mentioned about Martial Arts Champion (and Hollywood star) Bruce Lee.
Bruce became famous for his fighting skill in Martial Arts matches. Instead of long and drawn-out fights, he would drop his opponents very quickly with a quick and yet brutal attack. When asked about it, he commented that really it was only a single punch that he would use.
You might ask with all the arsenal of techniques why he would only use one. He commented that it was one that he had practiced over and over and over again. So that way he would get it right.
So you ask yourself, who would you rather face? A person who had practiced 1000 punches one time each or someone who had practiced a single punch 1000 times?
For any of you who happened to see the movie The Karate Kid (the 1980’s one with Ralph Machio). Daniel begins training Karate with his teacher Mr. Miagi. And for the first week, he is put to work. First there is waxing the cars, then sand the floor and paint the fence. All seemed like silly repetitive work. But in the end had profound effect. The repetition taught him techniques he would use in fighting – and strengthened muscles needed to perform them.
So, what does this have to do with me learning Qigong – and specifically the Arm Swing exercise? The Arm Swing is my first foray into this world. It is foundational. It teaches you to move your body and helps you to feel the energy.
Which brings me to the message that these stories were to convey. And that is, that in order to become a master, you must first become a master of the basics. Bruce Lee’s basic punch became something much more significant after he spent years practicing it over and over. Daniel wants to learn Karate but can get nowhere until he practices the basics over and over.
Will Swinging my Arms over and over make me a master of Qigong? Probably not. But if I should become a master in the future, you better believe I will know how to do this and about all of the significant energies I move during the process.