LIVING WITH HEART

Hearts in Celestial Connection

Candace A. Croft, Ph.D.
© 2007 Candace A. Croft

I looked out across Puget Sound.  Ferries that carried specks of people and vehicles partnered in a spellbinding water ballet as they gracefully navigated the strong current and each other, bringing their cargoes safely into port.  Waves generated a relaxing flow as they rose and fell in synchronous rhythm, lifting away from the earth’s pull only to succumb and drop back.  That maritime rocking chair lulled me straight into peace.

Spectacular ribbons of neon pink and gold streaked the sky with hope and reward before evaporating to leave the mountain backdrop silhouetted by a setting sun on its other side.  Shrouded in dusk, the seascape assumed a deeper aura of mystery, its potential for magic increased.

Hesitantly and with deliberation it seemed, the stars peeked through the veil to gradually enlighten a world drawn toward sleep.  The ferries picked up the theme and, turning on their lights, mirrored the heavens by dotting the scene with liquid sparkle.

I sat on the beach transfixed, mesmerized by the stars.  To me, they were kindred spirits.  I felt as connected to them as one would family.  Even as a young child, I conversed with them, seeking their guidance in life.  It was comforting to know I had a loving family watching over me and providing the security of home, no matter how distant and seemingly unreachable, especially on those days when I was teased for having freckles or braces or when I just did not fit in.

I felt his presence beside me before I actually saw him.  I wasn’t alarmed; I had enjoyed his company on many occasions.   In one of those paradoxical moments, I was surprised that I would run into him while on vacation and yet not the least surprised at all.

An old salt, his lined face was wizened by experience and his hands, red and chapped from lengthy exposure to the elements, had been transformed into protective, leathery gloves, impervious to normal stings.  His soul radiated through his eyes, sparkling and magnetic.  The sunset of a rosy glow colored his cheeks that sat like plump hills atop the wide expanse of a craggy, grey beard.  A non-smoker who found the smell of cigarettes distasteful, I somehow found the woodsy aroma of cedar wafting from his pipe reassuring.

After a few thoughtful puffs of the pipe, he said, “I see your universal family is calling you again.”

He had told me of the stars.  For example, I knew that because Cassiopeia imprudently boasted that she and her daughter were more beautiful than Neptune’s daughters, the king chained her to a throne in the sky and left her dangling upside down when the sky’s wheel rotated.  The sailor had concluded the lesson with a warning.  “The undertow of pride and vanity can pull a person in over her head.”

Andromeda fared better than her mother after being rescued from a sea monster and marrying her hero, Perseus.  Perseus, however, was placed in a family constellation said to exert an evil influence because it contained Cacodaemon, the Demon Star.  That led to a reminder to be careful when choosing one’s associations.

Then, there was Orion, the hunter, a tragic figure whose love for one of the seven sisters of the Pleiades was spurned and his life ended when he stepped upon the celestial scorpion.  Feeling sympathy for the lovable dolt, the gods placed his loyal canines, Canis Major and Minor, near him for consolation, while wisely re-locating Scorpius to a neighborhood on the other side of the sky. . .

A clearing of the old salt’s throat brought me back to current reality.  “I feel the stars tugging at me, calling to me.”

His eyes fixed on the obscured horizon, he responded, “As they do.  Just as the magnetic north of a compass aligns with the earth’s magnetic field to keep a traveler’s direction true, the magnetic pull from the lunar sky tugs at all living waters.  Learn to read your compass accurately and you will journey the authentic life meant for you.”

“What compass?”

 “The connection to the magnetic north for your way rests in you.”

“It does?  I have a compass inside of me?”

“Yep.  Factory-installed, as they say.  You and every person mirrors the stars.  They flow in spiral motion through your DNA.  They are found in your cells and organs.  They radiate from your eyes and skin.  They arise from dust and return to the same even as they are reborn in one’s name. ” He tapped a leather glove to his chest.  “Your guiding star lies within.  Right here.”

A flash of starlight suddenly illuminated my mind.  “I feel a tug when I look at the stars and my heart connects with my magnetic north.  Like the North Star, that magnetic pull is a stable force for anyone seeking direction.”

 “Yep.  Your heart does not connect with the North Star itself, of course.  Different magnetic field.” 

My wave of encouragement crashed with disappointment.  I had hoped one of my celestial kin was a guiding force.

With a puff on his pipe, but without missing a beat, the sailor answered my thoughts as if I had spoken them aloud.  “Stars have guided travelers across time and seas of sand and water.  The Magi, those Three Wise Men of Christmas who aligned with the three stars on Orion’s belt, gained prominence, not because they could navigate the terrain by the stars, but because they could discern the star connected with the Divine Child and, so, identify Him.” 

“I wish I had a star.”  I whispered the statement as a prayer.

“You do.  Every child does.  Like the Divine Child, each child is guided by the stars from the moment of birth.”

“You make it sound like wishing upon a star is the direction for a successful life.”

“Hardly any star.  But, by aligning with one’s true star and wishing upon it, hopes and dreams can come true.  Why do you think stars and miracles are prominent symbols during the season of advent when hope for a divine life is born?  When a child aims for the stars, her sacred inheritance of an abundant life will become manifest as earthly paradise.”

“What if I aim too high?  What if my dreams are unreachable?”

“Impossible.  A child can never aim too high when aiming for her true star.  It is when a child allows herself to be guided by the wrong star that things go quickly off-course.”

“The wrong star has the wrong pull.”

“Yep.”  I waited as, from the corner of my eye, I watched him witness the seamless intersection of heaven and earth while savoring his pipe.  With time, he clarified his meaning.  “Aligning with the wrong star would be like mixing a child’s AC energy with celestial DC energy.  A child caught in that beam would short-circuit and, unable to support life’s weight, the child’s radiance would fade.”

“Like a salmon struggling against the current.”

“Yep.”

“But, when giving in and being pulled by the magnetic energy from one’s true star, I need only stay grounded by the powerful current and journey on my way toward a dream come true.”

“Yep.”  The word served as a period punctuating the end of his thought.

I watched as gravity held the breaking waves and brought them back to earth.  Not yet aligned with my magnetic north, I expressed doubt.  “Even the waves cannot break free.”

“Nothing corporeal can, no.  Like the stellar energy of one’s spirit, the spray that contains the waves’ essence is lifted to a far-away place only the stars can see.  But, that is a lesson for another day.”

I turned to face him directly for the first time that evening, but he was gone.  He had evaporated into the night with only the misty glow of his twinkling soul left to mark his time.

The advent of a renewed life is upon you.  Align with the magnetic pull of your star true and let it guide you to your dreams.  Life is truly miraculous when you—

KEEP YOUR HEARTLIGHT SHINING