Epiphanies Part III

Never ask God (the Universe or your Higher Power) for more. The current version of you already has everything you could possibly hold. You are filled to the brim. Instead, ask God for a bigger container and recognize what you already have. To expand beyond that, you must become a new version of yourself. 

Hoarding signals to the Universe that you are insecure and financially unstable. It says, "I hold onto things I don't like just in case I need them one day. I have so little faith in myself that I don't think I could buy what I really want, let alone replace what I actually need." Ironically, it's the people who walk around with the most stuff on them that have the least. This is directly correlated to humans' subconscious desire to hoard. Get rid of the stuff and you're already integrating the new you and putting space between the old version.

Time flies whether you're having fun or not. 

The Sales Profession is a lot like surfing. You have to be completely in alignment with that energy to get your desired outcome. If you're even slightly out of kilter, you'll miss the wave entirely. But on the flip side- when you're in alignment- the waves ride you effortlessly. 

"Lord, grant me weak eyes for things that are of no account and strong eyes for all thy truth." - Soren Kierkegaard

To truly heal from trauma, you don't need to relive it by talking about it. You need to experience more times where you're safe, loved, and accepted than all the times you've been abused. That is how you heal from trauma.

It is much easier to listen to your body and practice doing what feels effortless rather than going out of your way to create problems for yourself. As humans we tend to create all these obstacles just to overcome them, thus expending all our viable energy just to stay at baseline.

Slow down. Slow your conversation down.

If you're a woman with money issues, you're not alone. You've been taught that you are to blame for your inability to maintain a well paying job. What you weren't taught is that all the well paying jobs that were historically taken up by women, the guilds, the landownership, was systematically taken from us, turning our careers as midwifes, female doctors and health experts into a criminal charge, and switching predominantly female careers like doctors to now male-assumed careers of modern times. Capitalism would not survive without your unpaid household labor. Check your natal birth chart for your black moon Lilith and eros. Together they show you where you have been stolen from and suppressed, and cohesively where you will be liberated and enlivened. 

30 years ago a single woman could not buy a home by herself. No bank or institution would loan her the money for a mortgage- no matter how much she made or how good her credit score was. 

Eliminate the words in your vocabulary “need” and “want.” Instead of need, say “I require.”

I require the highest quality material. Instead of saying want, say “I desire.” Need and want are words of lack.  They drain your energy. Desire means to birth or to -sire something into reality. Notice the shift in energy when you don’t say the words want or need. As you choose more empowering words, it’ll actually elevate your energy and make you feel more confident about yourself. What you desire and require you do deserve. Smile about that.

"Your personal experiences with money make up 0.00000001% of what's happened in the world, but maybe 80% of how you think the world works."- The Psychology of Money

The amount of money you make is directly correlated with how much value you bring to others.

If you’re a buyer’s agent, you have something that homebuyers don’t have, and that’s time to look at properties. Get to know your product. Preview every single home in your territory. This way when working with a buyer, you can say “that home looked good on Zillow but it didn’t have the right layout,” “that home smelled like cat pee. Don’t waste your time,” or “that home would be perfect for you. I’ve seen every home in the area. Considering what you want and what’s best for your family, that house is the one.”

If you hate everyone, eat some food. If you think everyone hates you, take a nap. If you hate yourself, take a shower. I live by these rules. 

Dearest Women, your body is an instrument, not an ornament.

Becoming a good writer is less about writing and more about becoming a keen observer. 

What is patriarchy? Patriarchy is the fact that if Harry Potter was written about a female named Holly Potter-with her two friends Rachel Weasley and Henry Granger- the book would be reduced to a frivolous fantasy romance rather than becoming an international sensation.

Home Baked Garlic Rosemary Artisan Bread

 

Artisan Bread with Butter

If you don't want to wait 8 hours, then bake it at night, so you can sleep while it rises. There's no getting around that. 

Ingredients:

For the Roasted Garlic:

1 head garlic

Extra-virgin olive oil

Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Bread:

11/2 cups water, room temperature (at or near

70°F/21°C)

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

3 cups bread or all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt

2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary, plus more to sprinkle on top

1 whole head roasted garlic, smashed

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions:

Roast the Garlic:

Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Slice the garlic head in half and drizzle the exposed cloves with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and roast on a baking sheet for 40 minutes. Once roasted, let it cool and remove the cloves from their skins. Set aside. 

If you don't have foil or don't want to bake it, you can also activate the garlic by throwing the whole thing with skin on in a pan on medium high-high heat with oil, salt, and pepper.

Activate the Yeast:

Add yeast to the room temperature water and let it sit for 10-15 minutes until it starts to bubble. Don't forget to stir it. If it sits on top, it won't quite activate as fast. The bubbles aren't grandiose, they're really small. 

Mix the Dough:

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, oregano, salt, and chopped rosemary. Add the yeast mixture, roasted garlic, and olive oil to the bowl.

Use a rubber spatula to mix everything until just combined. The dough will be sticky and stringy with a bit of flour still around the edges.

Let the Dough Rise:

Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm spot for 8-10 hours or until it has doubled in size.

Shape the Dough:

Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a floured surface. Gently fold it into itself to form a soft ball.

Place the dough, seam side up, into a floured proofing bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to 24-48 hours.

Prepare to Bake:

Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C) with a Dutch oven or covered baking vessel inside. Turn the dough out onto parchment paper, seam side down, and gently shape it if needed. Score the top of the dough with a sharp knife.

Bake the Bread:

Carefully place the dough (still on the parchment) into the preheated Dutch oven. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until the top is golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Left Brain | Right Brain: Cain and Abel

We've all heard the story of Cain and Abel. Cain was a gardener who offered his first harvest. Abel was a shepherd who offered his firstborn lamb. God was mad because apparently his dietary habits are pickier than my cousin Emma's, who survived off only chicken nuggets and Mac n Cheese the first eight years of her life.

If God isn't just a picky eater, what is this story actually trying to tell us? What if the Bible isn’t a historical record of ancient sibling rivalry, but a highly encoded psychological manual for the human body and brain?

Fast forward to the 1950s. Neurobiologist Roger Sperry starts snipping the corpus callosum. The corpus Callosum is the thick bridge of fibers connecting the left and right hemispheres of the brain. He started experimenting in animals, and later, he treated humans with epilepsy. What he discovered changed everything: when you cut the bridge, you get two distinct, independent minds living in one skull.

The Left Brain emerged as the talker. It’s analytical, verbal, logical, and obsessed with literal details. The Right Brain doesn't have the ability to formulate words; rather, it's silent, but incredibly deep. It deals with spatial awareness, emotional intuition, and the big-picture connection to everything around it.

Now look back at Genesis.

Cain is the quintessential Left Brain. He’s a gardener. He manipulates the earth, measures his crops, calculates his yield, and works within rigid structures. When it’s time to offer a sacrifice, he brings the literal fruits of his analytical labor.

Abel is the Right Brain. He’s a shepherd, dealing with life, flow, instinct, and raw connection. He offers the firstborn lamb which is a symbolic sacrifice of the ego, a direct offering from the heart.

Why was God displeased with Cain? Because the Left Brain was never meant to be the master. It’s supposed to be the steward. But because the Left Brain possesses the power of language, it thinks it’s in charge. It talks over the quiet, intuitive Right Brain.

According to Dr. Iain McGilchrist, who wrote a massive, groundbreaking book called The Master and His Emissary, the right brain is supposed to be the true master. The right brain silently receives, holds space, and sees the bigger picture of reality. It is deep and understands the true meaning of things. The Left Brain is supposed to be the Emissary. The Emissary is a brilliant servant sent into the trenches to handle details, manipulate tools, and organize data.

But the Emissary got arrogant. Because the Left Brain is analytical and possesses the power of language, it convinced itself that it was the true Master. It staged a coup, hijacked the system, and locked the real Master in the basement.

Let’s push the boundary even further. This goes beyond science and into the realm of gender archetypes.

The Left Brain, Cain, and the Emissary represent the Hyper-Masculine archetype: structure, action, penetration, logic, building, and asserting dominion. It says, Look what I built with my hands, I demand recognition. It overanalyzes, perhaps to a point of paralysis. And it never stops talking.

The Right Brain, Abel, and the Master represents the Divine Feminine archetype: nurturing, receiving, intuition, emotional depth, and holistic unity.

Cain couldn't handle that his structured, calculated offerings weren't the ultimate truth. He couldn't stand that Abel had a direct, effortless connection to the Divine. So, what does a threatened, power-hungry Left Brain do when its ego is bruised?

It eliminates the competition. Cain slays Abel. The Emissary murders the Master. The masculine suppresses the feminine. 

Perhaps, you could even say this subconscious awareness of the feminine's silent leadership is what causes men who aren't secure in their power to lash out in domestic violence. The abusers fear that the feminine wields more power than they're comfortable even considering.  

Regardless, when Cain kills Abel, it’s a metaphor for a society and an individual psychology where the hyper-masculine, analytical ego completely crushes the intuitive, feminine soul. In our society, there is a daily battle between the ego and the higher self, and for a lot of people, the ego wins. We live in a left-brain dominant world, wondering why we feel so disconnected from the divine, when the answer was encoded in the very first pages of the book: we let the left brain murder the right.

Relationships: Karmic, Limerence, Dharmic

Shakti and Shiva: The Essence of Dharmic Love

In Hindu philosophy, Shakti and Shiva represent two complete energies uniting as one, the essence of a Dharmic union. Relationships are fundamental to human growth. Our first relationships are usually Karmic. We get into relationships with people who push our buttons or push us to fix and heal something within ourselves that we might not have been aware of. Limerence is an extreme attraction to something. Have you ever had a type that you were attracted to, for example, I was super attracted to the funny guy who was super secure in himself, you might be attracted to artists, and it's because we're projecting what we really desire and actually have within ourselves onto someone else. I also want to talk about historically how women have felt the need to find a man to provide financial security. But once you become that financial security yourself, who you're attracted to will change. When you become and awaken these aspects in yourself, and when you no longer "need" someone to complete these aspects of you to make you whole, that is when you step into a Dharma relationship. In a Dharma relationship, two wholes come together to usher in a new wave of consciousness effortlessly, naturally, to our planet. Today, I want to talk about three different aspects of relationships: Karmic, Limerence, and Dharmic. 

When you find yourself attracted to men or women who seem to trigger your deepest insecurities, you are likely entangled in a Karmic relationship. These aren't meant to be your happily ever after. Instead, they act as a mirror, reflecting the unhealed parts of your psyche. If you find yourself repeatedly falling for partners who abandon you, ignore your boundaries, or require constant fixing, it's a good time to take a look at what the universe is guiding you to heal. The lesson here is to stop looking outward for validation and to start cultivating that worth within yourself.

The Illusion of Limerence

From there, we often stumble into the trap of Limerence. This is that intoxicating, obsessive infatuation where we put someone on a pedestal. But here is the plot twist: you aren't actually in love with them; you are in love with a projection of yourself.

When I was deeply attracted to the funny, fiercely secure guy, it wasn't just about him. It was because my soul was craving that exact sense of humor and security within myself. If you find yourself chronically infatuated with artists, free spirits, or hyper-successful tycoons, ask yourself: What quality do they possess that I am denying myself permission to embody?

The Evolution of Choice: From Survival to Soul

This shift becomes incredibly obvious when we look at our material world. Historically, women were conditioned to seek partners primarily for financial survival and physical security. When your baseline motivation is "I need someone to take care of me," your radar will naturally tune into providers, even if they aren't an emotional match.

But look what happens when the script flips. Once you become your own financial security—when you pay your own bills, build your own empire, and hold down your own fort—the old checklist crumbles. You no longer need a transaction; you desire a connection. When survival is off the table, your attraction elevates from a place of lack to a place of alignment.

Stepping Into Your Dharmic Relationship

When you finally heal the karmic loops, reclaim the pieces of yourself you were projecting through limerence, and secure your own foundation, something miraculous happens. You stop looking for a missing puzzle piece because you realize you are already a complete puzzle.

This is the gateway to a Dharmic relationship.

A Dharmic relationship is not about two halves desperately clinging together to make a whole. It is the collision of two fully realized, whole individuals. There is no codependency, no subconscious testing, and no desperation. Instead, you come together effortlessly and naturally. A Dharmic union doesn't drain your energy; it multiplies it, creating a peaceful, stable baseline that actually raises the consciousness of the planet just by existing.

So, take a look at your current relationship patterns. Are you healing a debt, chasing a projection, or building an empire of conscious love?

The Mentality Shift from a W2 to a 1099

 

The Lone Real Estate Agent

If you’re like me, you didn’t start in sales. You got a regular job, worked a predetermined set of hours, and got paid around the same amount every other week. You held a position at this job, with a title, glamorous or not, and you quickly learned that if you didn’t show up without notice one day, everything would fall into complete chaos for the work day. Not to mention, your coworkers and boss would seriously resent you. If you did this more than once, you were done-cut, fired, let go-and replaced by the next overly qualified resume that looked just like yours.

You then realized you were never going to get rich renting out your time anyway. You’re giving up the best years of your life helping someone else get rich and accomplish their dream. Anyway, you didn’t like the idea of only having the time and money to do something when you’re too old to want to do anything. 

After your 3 day couch bender of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, you decide you want to get into sales. You were enamored with the idea of selling real estate, getting commission checks on 8M dollar properties. You probably wouldn’t drive a Rolls Royce yourself because you’re not a pretentious a-hole, but you liked the idea of knowing it was possible.

You get your last check in the mail, scoff at those poor suckers you left behind, feeling sorry for them that they’re too scared to leave the endless grind. But a flutter of excitement dances from your chest to your fingers as you type your card number into the online real estate course shopping cart. 

Your $260.00 purchase completed, and you feel like a 15th century explorer charting the new horizon. 

After months of learning crazy words you never heard of, like encroachments, encumbrances, and other “legalese,” you pay $400 to take the exam and pay for the application fee- a fee that the online course conveniently forgot to mention in their advertising- and you pass. 

Letters from brokerages everywhere flood your mailbox. You feel worried for a second because you made a promise to yourself not to ever buy anything from an advertisement that reached out to you for business promising you’ll make big money (that time you got terribly swindled out of $300 for a dropshipping business that didn’t make a dollar, it actually cost you $100). 

You choose a brokerage, and suddenly, the cage door flies open. You have total freedom. No clock-in times, no manager breathing down your neck, no mandatory desk hours. It feels liberating for exactly twenty-four hours. Then the psychological shock sets in: if you do nothing, absolutely nothing happens. Your calendar is a blank canvas of terrifying silence.

To fill the void, you volunteer to host an open house. You spend ten brutal hours over Saturday and Sunday standing on polished hardwood, smiling until your jaw aches. Eighty people stream through the front door. Eighty opportunities, you think. Except almost every single one of them walks in with an agent already attached to their hip. You feel like a glorified tour guide, handing buyers to the listing agent on a silver platter.

Later that evening, your phone buzzes. It is a text from the listing agent. Five offers are on the table, and counteroffers are already flying. You type back a congratulatory message, forcing a genuine tone into the screen. You are happy for her, truly. But a cold realization settles in your chest. You just gave up your entire weekend, sweated through your clothes, and worked ten hours for zero dollars, effectively earning someone else a massive commission check off your sweat and tears. Welcome to the 1099 life.

Just as the internal spiral starts, an experienced agent stops by the house before lockup. She sees the exhaustion in your eyes and talks you down from the ledge. She started five years ago and remembers the exact shock of moving from a predictable paycheck to the wild west of independent contracting. She hands you a perspective shift about renting and the grind that sticks: W2 employees can buy a house with 3% down because banks love predictable stagnation. A 1099 entrepreneur has to show up with 20% down because self-employment requires proving your worth upfront. The day will come when you cross that threshold, she promises, but right now, you just have to swallow your pride, put in the work, and hunt for your own leads.

It clicks. It connects deeply with that concept from Naval Ravikant: play long-term games with long-term people. All the real returns in life — whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge — come from compound interest. Right now, you are just depositing the first, painful rounds of capital into a game that takes years to pay out.

But exactly what skin you have in the game is exactly what you get in return. 

“One day your net worth will match your sweat equity.”

Check out https://hannahjanicke.firstteam.com

Beating the Devil: Drifters vs. Non-Drifters and the 6 Basic Fears

In his book Outwitting the Devil, Napoleon Hill describes "drifters" as people going through the motions of life, motivated by one or more of the 6 basic fears.

These 6 basic fears, which Hill first outlined in Think and Grow Rich, are the fear of: poverty, criticism, ill health, loss of love, old age and death.

Drifters

The younger a person is when the seed of fear is planted, the easier it is for the devil to control them in this hypnotic state. Time does the rest of the work. According to Hill, 98% of people are drifters. Only 2% are non-drifters.

Two of these fears are the devil's favorites: the fear of poverty and the fear of death.

The fear of poverty robs people of their freedom, making them settle for comfort and security rather than taking risks and following their passion. They worry about money constantly and cling to mediocrity. They become dependent on jobs and institutions, focusing on survival instead of creation. The devil poisons their minds with indecision and pseudo-lack. This leads them to live out the very poverty they fear so much, both spiritually and financially.

The fear of death is just as insidious. It causes people to suppress their authentic selves and blindly obey authority figures. As a child, I was terrified of death. When I was 5, I got nail polish remover on my lips and truly thought I was going to die. That paralyzing fear was one of many experiences that led me to blindly follow authority, and it ultimately led to my rebellion against it. I realized that the people I thought had my best interests at heart were often only protecting their own interests and status. Because I gave my power away, I was vulnerable to betrayal.

You tend to bring what you fear most into reality.

Religions have used the fear of death to control people, leaving them full of shame and guilt during their actual lives and teaching them that real life (heaven) starts when they die. People who follow blindly are, in a sense, waiting to die before they start living and enjoying life. I don't believe that's what the Creator wanted for us. That said, I'm grateful I had such a loving and communal church growing up.

The fear of death is really the fear of the unknown. It runs so deep in society that people do its dirty work for it. Schools teach rigid obedience and memorization of a single narrative instead of teaching children to ask questions about the most important subject on this planet: themselves. Religious institutions instill fear of punishment and of the devil, suppressing divine expression and freedom.

Politics keeps people divided by creating "others," or false enemies.

Modern medicine often teaches us that our health is out of our control, waiting until we're sick to prescribe medications that can bring problems of their own. What we're rarely told is that our mindset and stress play a much bigger role in our health than we realize, and that the Creator gave us a remarkable ability to regulate ourselves toward wellness.

Status without self-mastery leads to corruption. Love, when uncontrolled, clouds judgment.

The other four fears work more quietly, but they keep just as many people drifting.

The fear of criticism keeps people small. It makes them dress, speak, think and even dream the way others expect them to. They hide their art, their ideas and their true opinions because they worry about what people will say. The fear of criticism kills creativity and initiative before they ever have a chance to grow. Most people who criticize you are simply projecting their own fears. The only opinion that can truly hold you back is the one you hold of yourself.

The fear of ill health keeps people anxious about their bodies instead of connected to them. They worry about every symptom, expect the worst and hand over all responsibility for their wellbeing to someone else. Worry itself becomes a weight on the body. When we care for ourselves from a place of love instead of fear, we become active participants in our own health.

The fear of loss of love leads to jealousy, people-pleasing and settling. People stay in relationships that drain them, abandon their own needs and shrink themselves to avoid being left. They mistake attachment for love. When you learn to love and value yourself, you stop clinging, and you begin to attract love that is freely given rather than anxiously held onto.

The fear of old age convinces people that their best years are behind them and that time is running out. It makes them stop learning, stop dreaming and stop taking chances because they believe it's "too late." But wisdom, clarity and self-knowledge grow with time. Many people do their most meaningful work later in life. Every age is an invitation to begin again.

Non-Drifters

To beat the devil and become a non-drifter, you must have a strong, defined purpose. That purpose creates a hypnotic rhythm in a positive direction, leading to connection with God and Source. Non-drifters with a definite aim aren't easily tempted by status, instant gratification or the gimmicks people use to numb their fears.

Don't be easily coerced or distracted. Don't get swept up in trivial matters the way drifters do. Be definite in thought and action.

10 Principles of Non-Drifters

1. Do your own thinking: Our thoughts are the one thing we fully control, so don't hand them over to anyone else.
2. Definiteness of purpose: You must have a clear, specific goal. A non-drifter knows exactly what they want and has a plan to get it.
3. Learning from adversity: Every failure contains the seed of an equivalent advantage. Non-drifters don't quit when things get tough; they pivot and learn.
4. Control of environmental influence: You become the people and environments you spend time in. Non-drifters choose their Master Mind group carefully.
5. Time management: Time is the only real capital we have. Non-drifters treat time as a sacred resource and don't let it slip away on drifting activities.
6. Harmony: Act in harmony with your own values and with the laws of nature. Conflict between your goals and your actions creates the drifting state.
7. Caution (the thinker's habit): Think before you act. Non-drifters analyze the why and the how rather than jumping at every shiny opportunity.
8. Decisiveness: Indecision is the primary symptom of a drifter. Non-drifters make decisions quickly and change them slowly, if at all.
9. Hypnotic rhythm: Habits become permanent over time. Non-drifters use this law of nature to automate positive habits so success becomes inevitable.
10. Absolute faith: Not necessarily in a religious sense, but a firm belief in your ability to achieve your definite purpose.

Sibilant Games

 

What is a mothers duty 
but to raise her little ones
and spark curiosity in them?
To show love is always the answer
And to protect your own 

before others 

A ducking raised
Around seething snakes
Refusing to partake in the 

killing of others
Or smothering of the 

younger through lies,
trickery, and shaming ways

They mock the little duckling,
her soft flesh so exposed. 
The arched spine, the dry, scaly hiss
A glint of enamel flashes in the light 
The ducks eyes wide-
then a SNAP

The siblings laugh at this game
The duckling frozen stiff 
as if she never played
Her posture of certain death 
gave the snake a slip away,
laughing at the 

duck's little scratch

The Return of the Functional Antique

As we try to make our homes smart, we end up causing more headache than efficiency. As a real estate agent, I see so many homes that look good in photos, but end up not selling because these "luxury" upgrades actually aren't luxury at all.  

Here is what we need to bring back from homes built decades, even centuries ago. 

1. The Problem: No place to get work done 

The Solution: Parlors with Pocket Doors

In the 80's, these became a popular trend. However, the doors were installed with cheap hardware, making it impossible to fix the door without ripping the drywall out. Let's bring this back with modern, soft-close hardware.

  

2. The Problem: Cramped fridges and spoiled groceries

The Solution: Built-in Earth based produce cooler

We used to have our produce stored in cupboards like these with vents and fresh air.

I say bring back something similar. I particularly like this one called the Ground Fridge (I am not a sponsor and I will never be an affiliate marketer- ever. I just really like this concept):

 

3. The Problem: Shrunken, wrinkly clothes

The Solution: Ceiling Drying Racks

4. The Problem: Flooded up stairs laundry that ruins the entire floor.

The Solution: Slanted Floor Drain

5. The Problem: You want fresh air but don't want the dogs (or kids!) getting out

The Solution: The Dutch Door

    

One of my personal favorites. I just love the way it looks and how you can keep your door open for your neighbors. My favorite is the French style Dutch Door. French style doors and windows are characterized by those vertical and horizontal slats in between the individual glass panes. It's reminds me of a geometric or architectural Tiffany lamp. 

  

Or you could even go wild with a double dutch door: 

Too much?

6. The Problem: Having to choose between a house plant or a bookcase

The Solution: Built in planters that double as bookcases

  

Kali Yuga Explained: The 4 Yuga Cycles and the Dark Age We Live In

Ancient Vedic texts outline the timeline of our Earth. There are 4 major stages in the evolution of our planet, called the Yuga Cycles. The cycle repeats through 4 yugas: Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and Kali Yuga.

In English, these are known as the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age (the Dark Age).

As a Yuga Cycle moves through the four yugas, each yuga's length, along with humanity's moral and physical state, decreases by one-fourth.

The Golden Age (Krita Yuga)

The Golden Age is when virtues are at their highest and vices don't exist. Everyone is in Divine Alignment and recognizes God within them and God as them. There is no separation between the universe and the individual. In fact, there is no such thing as an individual, because it is understood that everything and everyone is connected.

The Golden Age is also the longest of the yugas.

The Silver Age (Treta Yuga)

In the Silver Age, virtues begin to break down and vices are introduced.

The Silver Age lasts 3/4 as long as the Golden Age.

The Bronze Age (Dvapara Yuga)

The Bronze Age brings further destruction of virtues, and vices are used by almost everyone.

The Bronze Age lasts 1/2 as long as the Golden Age.

The Dark Age (Kali Yuga)

And then we reach the Dark Age, Kali Yuga, where we are today. Virtue has all but disappeared. People indulge in vices daily, vices take over people's lives, and everyone feels separate.

What's interesting about Kali Yuga is that everything is backwards. Police are criminals, judges are crooks, priests are perverts and bankers are thieves. Sound familiar? Education disables the youth, and spirituality is based on fear, separation and not being like the "others." Addiction runs rampant. There's a strong attachment to material things and unhealthy attachments to other people. There is a lot of suffering.

Kali Yuga lasts 432,000 years, 1/4 the length of the Golden Age, and is believed to have begun in 3102 BCE. Near the end of Kali Yuga, when virtue is at its lowest, a cataclysm and a re-establishment of dharma occur, ushering in the next cycle's Golden Age.

A Different View: Sri Yukteswar's 24,000-Year Cycle

Not everyone agrees that we are stuck in Kali Yuga for hundreds of thousands of years. In his 1894 book The Holy Science, Sri Yukteswar, the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda (author of Autobiography of a Yogi), proposed a much shorter cycle of 24,000 years.

In his view, the cycle has two halves: a 12,000-year descending arc, when humanity's consciousness declines, and a 12,000-year ascending arc, when it rises again. Instead of lasting 432,000 years, Kali Yuga lasts 1,200 years in each half. Sri Yukteswar believed the much larger numbers came from a calculation error made by later scholars.

According to his timeline, the lowest point of the Dark Age was around 500 CE, and humanity left Kali Yuga around 1700 CE. We are now in the early stages of the ascending Dvapara Yuga, the Bronze Age. He linked this age to humanity's growing understanding of energy and subtle forces, such as electricity, magnetism and the idea that matter is energy.

If he's right, the darkness we see around us isn't the bottom. It's the old age falling away as consciousness slowly rises. Either way, both views share the same message: the cycle always turns back toward the light.

The Life of A Woman

Initiation 
is finally over;
A light where darkness was.

The life of a woman 

is immensely cyclical

We may die many deaths 
but if our flesh and bones
take its last breath,
it is the creations we birthed
that guide people home.

Just like the lineage 
of female warriors before me,
what I leave behind 
will never be lost;
Eternal life has 

always been ours.

Keeping this in the forefront of my mind

It doesn't matter who the people are playing status games. They could even be family. As long as you remember you're playing two different games, it won't matter who they think you are in their game.