•by Dawn King•We know how magnets work; south poles repel each other, but are magnetic to north poles. Did you know this applies to astrological Sun signs as well? I suppose it’s because being with a person of the same astrological Sun sign could be like being with yourself—same old, same old—or, nothing different to find new and interesting. Actually, I find it comforting to be with others who have the same Sun sign as myself. I can relax and enjoy our similarities.
But I didn’t intend to write about Sun signs exactly; this article is actually about Virtues, in particular the Sunburst Virtues that go with the zodiacal Sun signs. Yes, each zodiacal sign can be associated with a particular Virtue. Norman Paulsen, the founder of Sunburst, revealed these 12 Virtues and their zodiacal associations. He explained that these Virtues are the Divine Creator’s personality. As children of the Creator, we can assimilate and express these Virtues to exemplify our true own divine nature.
During the year when our Sun in the sky is transiting each tropical zodiacal sign, we are challenged to focus on the associated Virtue. During 50 plus years of my life in Sunburst, I’ve found these monthly challenges to be real!
On Sunday, May 18, 2025, Sandy Anderson led Sunburst’s Sunday service. She talked about the Virtue of the zodiacal month Taurus (4/19 – 5/20), which was near its end (they vary slightly year to year). Taurus is the month of Patience. Our challenge has been to be patient, and not fall into the trap of getting angry. Yes, each month has its temptation as well.
Of course, the sign we’re born under naturally challenges us to remain steadfast to its Virtue. Furthermore, in my experience and that of other long-time Sunbursters, we’ve found out something else also happens. The zodiacal sign opposite our Sun sign can also challenge us to manifest its Virtue!
So, if you are a Taurus (wonderful earth sign), you not only need to be patient, and keep your cool, you need to embrace the courage of Scorpio. You will most likely find courage is an important trait you need to exemplify. Incidents will come up to prove this out. Here is a list of the Sun signs, their tropical dates in 2025, their Virtues, and their temptations.
At the least, you can notice which Virtue you should focus on during the coming month, and see if it doesn’t challenge you during the time shown. it’s much food for contemplation. Have fun with it!
• by Vimala Rodgers • Honesty means always speaking to the God within the other person, just as we appreciate their speaking to the God within us.
Honesty is not to be confused with “the facts”, knowing that the facts are often bent and gnarled from our interpretation of them. To speak honestly is to speak in such a way that our words are never injurious but a source of grace and healing for both ourself and the person to whom we are speaking.
But honesty does not stop there. It stretches beyond the boundaries of simply telling the truth and embraces integrity. Like a body without a heart, without the one the other cannot exist. Integrity is that quality which prevents us from doing, acting, thinking, or saying anything that conflicts with our value system. To some it may imply keeping one’s word. When teamed with honesty, it shifts in depth to encompass “being your word.”
Brother Lawrence, from The Practice of the Presence of God: We ought to act with God in the greatest simplicity, speaking frankly and plainly, and imploring assistance in our affairs, just as they happen. I have often experienced that God never fails to grant it.
Norman Paulsen, from Sacred Science:
Integrity, an internal moral compass, starts at home and spreads outward into the world in which we live. Practicing the virtue of honesty reveals the law of cause and effect: whatsoever a person, group or nation sows, that shall they also reap. The law of cause and effect is the eternal law created by God, spoken of by the ancients. We cannot escape it. Another name for it is the law of karma, or action and reaction.
• by Norman Paulsen•The by-product of Christ consciousness is ecstasy beyond description. This is the ecstasy that exists far beyond the self-conscious mind and its perimeters of experience. It is divine in all respects, transcending states produced by the five senses. It is indeed the complete experience of the new Christ Sense, and that which all writers and poets have tried to capture in words. With Gautama the Buddha it was preserved in the sutras; Jesus in the parables; Paul in his epistles; Dante at the end of Purgatorio and in the beginning of Paradisio; Shakespeare in his sonnets; Balzac in Seraphita; Whitman in Leaves of Grass; Edward Carpenter in Towards Democracy.
Following this ecstatic state comes the illumination of the intellect, again quite impossible to describe. In that great flash of light, that moment when divine rays penetrate the realms of the self-conscious mind, all is known—or should we say, all is comprehended. The very essence of life force, the Breath of Life, which created all images, is now dwelling completely exposed, within and around the self-conscious ego. This penetrating force shatters all previous concepts held by the self-conscious mind concerning God, the visible and invisible universe, and life itself.
One no longer sees planets, sun and galaxies as inert, lifeless matter, but rather the contrary. All visible images now become alive and are pulsating with the rhythms of eternal energy combinations. God himself, within and surrounding all images, now becomes visible to the beholder.
In an instant, one learns more than many self-conscious existences could ever contribute. The infinite floodgate is breached, and that flood never ceases in this life or hereafter. Above and beyond this, the greatest realization is experienced. God, I Am That I Am, is experienced as a state of ever-new joy and peace, Cosmic consciousness.
This experience reveals that the very keelson of this creation is love. Ten, twenty, thirty, fifty years afterward, the flood of divine wisdom comes pouring down on the newborn being, the Christ child. For lack and want of words, how can one express this divine state, this pearl of great price? You, dear reader, can only know this through your own experience of it.
What else is there to seek in this life? when we see those before us disappearing over the horizon and into the grave. We can see that the material pursuits are for nothing. God is everything! When we lay down our energy in this pursuit, the reward is all space, all time and all images to play with.
•by Dawn King• One of my favorite books in childhood was The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley. The 1930 edition’s cover is shown in part above. It was a wonderfully imaginative tale of escape from a dreary existence into a delightful world of water. Since I wanted to grow up to become a mermaid this suited me.
In a recent blog I wrote: We are each inhabiting a physical body that is 60 – 70% liquid. This body has its own electromagnetic structure that is sensitive to solar storms and other influences—the Moon’s tidal influence for instance.
Oceanographic Magazine says: “Our bodies have been shaped and formed by water; we have an ocean inside us. Like the Earth, we are 70% saltwater. In 1897 French physician Rene Quinton discovered a 98% match between our blood plasma and sea water…. Like our mammalian cousins, dolphins and seals, we too have evolutionary aquatic markers. Take for example our brains. Simply looking at water changes our brain wave frequency, putting us in a more meditative state. Consider our nervous and endocrine systems. Cold water stimulates the vagus nerve, calming our fight or flight response, lowering cortisol and releasing feel-good hormones.”
Wow! No wonder we like to go to the beach or lake, or maybe to walk in the rain. And no wonder the element of water is associated with our emotions.
Perhaps you are familiar with Dr. Masaru Emoto who wrote a book called The Hidden Messages in Water. His experiments with water were an illustration of how our thoughts affect our surroundings. A review states: “He found that water from clear springs and water exposed to loving words shows brilliant, complex, and colorful snowflake patterns, while polluted water and water exposed to negative thoughts forms incomplete, asymmetrical patterns with dull colors. Emoto believes that since people are 70 percent water, and the Earth is 70 percent water, we can heal our planet and ourselves by consciously expressing love and goodwill.”
Reflecting on that statement reinforces my concern that my self-talk, my thoughts, affect my physical body in more ways than I realized. I’m programming the water molecules in my body by thinking positive or negative. Of course, keeping my body’s water content “unpolluted” by ingesting healthy liquids and solids would also be helpful.
So…be mindful of how you are programming your body’s cells. And always remember the symptoms of dehydration, which we can experience at any time of the year. Some of them are:
Early signs: Headache, thirst, dry mouth, dark urine
More severe symptoms: Dizziness, confusion, rapid heartbeat, reduced urination.
Yes, we are each encouraged to drink 8 glasses (64 ounces +/-) of water each day for optimum health. According to an early study, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%. Even our bones are 31% water. So let’s keep our miraculous bodies healthy by staying hydrated, and thinking all the positive, loving, and peaceful thoughts with which we’d like to fill the world.
•by Valerie King•Who am I? Who are you, God? These questions can only truly be answered from deep within. To find the answers takes effort, diligence, and obedience to the promptings of your own conscience, the voice of the Pure Self speaking to you.
Divine ecstasy, the true experience and realization of God, inhabits the space between the cessation of one thought and the birth of the next. You must be very still to catch it.
Sit quietly, and focus all your attention at the point between the eyebrows, the single eye. Bring your listening ear within to hear the white sound behind all outward sounds. Now go even deeper and listen to what is behind that white sound. Can you hear the sound of OM, the song of the universe singing to you? With full concentration of your heart’s love, someday you will hear the cosmic song and be immersed in it. You will pierce through the darkness of closed eyes to see the face of the Divine, the immortal Sun shining brightly
within you.
In the quiet of meditation, search the deepest desires of your soul. What do you really love? What would you do if this was your last moment on Earth?
Hafiz poem: A day of Silence Can be a pilgrimage in itself. A day of Silence Can help you listen To the Soul play In marvelous lute and drum. Is not most talking A crazed defense of a crumbling fort? I thought we came here To surrender in Silence, To yield to Light and Happiness, To Dance within In celebration of Love’s Victory!
