We All Get To Do Everything, Because We’re All Everyone

Last updated on: February 9, 2020 at 10:02 pm By Tom Swiss

I seldom remember my dreams, but sometimes they are humdingers. From this one came a no-self revelation: given the transcendental truth that everyone I see is me, I'll get to do all the things! There is no "fear of missing out" because I -- ***I****, Big Cosmic I That Unifies All -- will do everything! Read more

Lady Liberty, American Goddess

Last updated on: February 6, 2020 at 12:25 am By Tom Swiss

She is the totem of the United States, and if her attributes seem contradictory and confusing perhaps that's best seen as a reflection of the animating contest of democracy. (Or maybe there's a little bit of my lady Eris in her makeup.) Read more

Broken and Golden (52 Make-Up, Week 3)

Last updated on: January 28, 2020 at 6:04 pm By Tom Swiss

There is no avoiding the breaking, the cracking, the flaws. But it is up to us how we interpret them, whether we see the world as a disappointing fallen version of some perfect Platonic realm, or revel in the realness. Read more

“You Will Not Be Left Alone” (52 Make-Up, Week 2)

Last updated on: January 20, 2020 at 1:34 am By Tom Swiss

Divine voices work mysteriously Read more

Who Am I?

Last updated on: January 7, 2020 at 2:39 pm By Tom Swiss

Fifty is a big landmark. And now that I've almost gotten there, in some ways it doesn't match what I dreamed about. So the question is, which story am I going to tell myself? The Most Interesting Man In The World contender, or the lonesome loser? Which is the answer to "Who am I?"? Or is perhaps neither the answer? Read more

January Robins (52 Make-Up, Week 1)

Last updated on: January 6, 2020 at 1:37 am By Tom Swiss

but I am a magician, a poet in the realm of acts and what I see means what I say that it means Read more

Finding: A 2020 Sigil

Last updated on: December 31, 2019 at 10:25 pm By Tom Swiss

As I considered what I need for this coming year, and what I think we all need now, the word that came to mind was "finding". Read more

It’s A New Year Until Imbolc

Last updated on: December 31, 2019 at 6:18 pm By Tom Swiss

The year remains New until Imbolc, more or less midway between December's winter solstice and March's spring equinox. That's when the energy of spring, of new growth, starts moving. Your work from now until then is just to prepare. Read more

Yule: Keeping The Pilot Light On

Last updated on: December 16, 2019 at 11:45 pm By Tom Swiss

I've done it every year since, and I'm come to think of it as keeping the pilot light on through the darkness of the longest night. And that feels highly relevant this year. Read more

Violence as a Koan

Last updated on: January 8, 2020 at 11:18 am By Tom Swiss

At first glance the 1980s action movie Roadhouse seems a world away from the eight-century-old collection of Zen koans titled the Mumonkan ("The Gateless Gate"), but "Be nice until it's time to not be nice" is something of a koan. Read more