“The Appointment in Samarra”
The speaker is Death
There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, “Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture. “Now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and, there, Death will not find me.” The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop, he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, “Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?” “That was not a threatening gesture,” I said, “It was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”
From an ancient Mesopotamian tale
Dear One,
May this missive find you and your loved ones relatively peaceful and well, considering the extraordinarily challenging times we’re living in.
I chose to start off with “The Appointment in Samarra” because the message of this enduring fable has been on my mind almost daily. Why? Because, over the last six months, in most of my readings with clients, there has been a lot of exploring options involving major life decisions precipitated by the pandemic and the cascade of economic and where to live questions engendered by our collective crisis.
I’ve advised many—who’ve been thinking of moving away from New York City or other areas where there is a legitimate fear of another lockdown quarantine when (not if) Phase Two arrives this coming Fall and Winter—to go where their heart/minds will feel most at peace. But I’ve always added the reminder that, whether you move to Samarra or the middle of a relatively unpopulated region, sooner or later: “If it’s your time, it’s your time”
That being said, what is luck or good fortune anyway? From my perspective, it’s simply another name for good karma, i.e., that which has been pre-loaded as part of the package deal of this incarnation. Our good karma has been well-earned from past lives and is also, simultaneously, a gift from the Divine. This last piece is especially important to acknowledge with gratitude so that we don’t squander our karmic rewards, which could actually translate into future karma if we become complacent out of a sense of entitlement.
Most of us come into a life with a mix of karmic strengths and challenges. Some of these are evident from our circumstances at birth on all levels, as well as in our personality predisposition, which can be gleaned from our astrological birth charts. This pre-loaded bundle of fate continuously unfolds throughout our lives at optimal times of ripening for karmic lessons—sometimes seemingly as accidents or synchronicity. In other words, coincidences are just the Lords of Karma’s way of remaining anonymous. In fact, our circumstances are the ideal vehicle which our souls chose for karmic healing and soul growth in any given incarnation.
The most important thing to remember is that, beside the kinds of luck and karma we came in with, we always have free will to make an empowered choice as to how we respond to our circumstances in any situation, as well as in the outlook we cultivate going forward.These two factors—how we respond to our fate and our mindset about our package deal of life going forward—are, in reality, the primary determining influences on our future luck, good karma and destiny. This means that our point of power is always in the present moment—how could it not be? YAY!
If clients ask me in a passive way whether they’ll ever meet their soul mates, make a bundle, or be at peace with themselves, I always ask them, “What’s your vote?” Many of them look at me in amazement, as if it never occurred to them that they had any say in their future probabilities. NOT!
Up until now, the reality has been that all of us on the planet will drop our bodies within the next one hundred years or so. But, with the Quickening speeding everything up (to help us evolve and awaken faster), combined with the pandemic and earth changes, (with major climate migration still to come)—which are all ongoing factors for the foreseeable future—I can project a probability in which 30-49% of the global population may transition (aka drop their bodies) within the next fifty years or so. (Please keep in mind that nothing is ever carved in stone when predicting the future as there are always so many individual free-will factors at play in the Flow—especially involving the collective destiny of the human race which is certainly not predetermined.)
However, if, just for a moment, we consider this possible acceleration in the rate of global mortality, while keeping in mind that, from the soul-level witnessing perspective, death is absolutely safe—as we get to drop our bodies without losing our higher Minds—I’ll ask the question again: “Do you feel lucky?” and, furthermore, add: “How would you envision what good fortune means to you at this time in your life going forward?”
For more: The Quickening Phase II Is Here to Rock Your World
If we want to make the most out of this most interesting period of the Kali Yuga, aka Dark Ages, while fulfilling our soul assignment for this incarnation, we need to really get that: Our future karma is determined by how we respond to WHAT IS, just as it is. That means we have the potential to be fully empowered by our choices now.
If we want to open up to our most positive probabilities going forward, we need to be willing let go of our karmic baggage—outmoded habitual patterns, unhealthy addictions and, specifically, parts of our identity, like victimhood. And, most importantly, to always keep in the forefront of our minds that as long as we’re conscious—until the moment of our last breath—we’re still in a precious human incarnation with immense opportunities for healing and growth ahead. And how lucky is that?
When I meditated on how to best utilize the current planetary energies to create our future good fortune and abundance on all levels, what I got was that first we need to reevaluate the last year, the last seven years, and even back to our childhoods, and review all the events we viewed as “unlucky” or “unfortunate” at the time.
Now, some of these circumstances, in hindsight, can already be seen to have been blessings in distressing disguises. But what about all the other twists of fate in the hands we’ve been dealt? If we can contemplate all the details of these events and reach a point of extracting the lessons from them, as well as utilizing 20-20 hindsight in our present circumstances, we can then transmute our life experiences into a distillation of wisdom and compassion that is eternal at the level of the Self.
To assist with this process, here’s one of my favorite practices utilizing the alternate-nostril breathing technique from yoga called pranayama combined with the following visualization:
I. Inhaling through my left nostril, while holding closed my right, I visualize taking in all the baggage that I am ready to transmute from my past.
II. After my inhale, holding my breath with both nostrils closed, I experience time stop, as that part of my Self which is unchanging transmutes and distills from my past that which is essential for my growth and illumination.
III. Exhaling through my right nostril, while holding closed my left, I send this illuminated energy out into new future probabilities, untainted from any past preconceptions.
If I start feeling like my witnessing perspective is slipping from following too much news or social media, (especially these days, observing the levels of collective mental illness and unhealed karmic PTSD that some pockets of the mass consciousness get infected with cyclically), here are some of the personal reminders which I find particularly useful to reboot my consciousness:
1. I’m cultivating an attitude of gratitude for All that I’ve received and will receive by thanking the Universe in advance upon arising for whatever the day will bring.
2. I’m holding the faith that everything happening is always for karmic healing and soul growth, especially if my “little self” is kicking and screaming.
3. I’m exercising patience as events unfold, since there may be FGOs yet to be revealed, especially in such dark nights of our collective Soul.
While I’m always happy to do readings to clarify your soul assignment at this leg of your journey and offer insights into what the astrological transits are bringing your way, please don’t be surprised, when you ask me questions phrased like: “Will my health improve?” or “When will I get a job or more money?” or “How will I transition?” if I respond: “Well, what’s your vote?” As the truth is that we have free will to choose to create a personal reality of what we desire going forward, but manifestation can only occur if:
1. We believe it’s possible for us.
2. We believe we’re worthy of what we desire.
3. We’re capable of holding the faith that it’s for our highest good and that, if it’s meant to be, it will unfold in perfect time in the Divine plan.
4. It’s for our karmic healing and soul growth in the Flow of Life.
5. We can vote “YES” for our desires on the soul level, not just from the ego, without equivocation.
The challenge is that limiting beliefs about what is possible for us can form deeply ingrained unconscious karmic ruts in our identity until they are unearthed and resolved. In fact, many of us have a scarcity mentality based on lifetimes of limiting beliefs of unworthiness that causes us to settle for crumbs from the banquet of Life because we think: “It’s better than nothing and it’s all I deserve.”
This Fall, our karmic final exam begins in earnest by letting go of any limiting beliefs which only serve to block our future good fortune. Then we can choose to risk pushing ourselves out of our known but boring comfort zones (before circumstances do it for us) and move through our fears of whatever is keeping us stuck.As we go for the growth of enjoying the exciting adventure of being fully alive, we need to accept the growing pains—and, ah, there again we may feel resistance or ambivalence arising to embracing our full emotional range in this plane of relative truth and duality.
But, if we choose to surrender now to the whole human catastrophe—from birth to death, and from joy to sorrow—then we won’t be carrying our resistance to 3D reality into future incarnations. It is, after all, our aversion to the messiness of the human condition which creates our ongoing chronic suffering because we’re afraid of going through the clean sharp growing pains which come with being a mature soul. Ah, isn’t free will grand:)!
On the astrological front, Karmic Teacher Saturn stations direct on September 30 and Transformational Pluto, just behind, stations direct on October 4, kicking off the official start of Phase Two of our karmic final exam. Thank goodness, Jupiter also stations direct on September 12 giving us some much-needed emotional ballast.
The Pluto-ruled deadly pandemic is a cataclysmic, ongoing global event, but one of the reasons the USA is getting hit the hardest, from an astrological perspective, is because America is experiencing its Pluto return right now. The exact return, at 27° Capricorn, occurs in February, 2022. Not so very far away, as Pluto moves veery slowly and thus has the most impact of any planet.
Added to this and exacerbating the potential for implosions and explosions in different forms is the retrograde cycle of Warrior Mars in dignity in impulsive and combustible Aries. Some of the key events of 2020 may be triggered by the Mars/Saturn square which repeats three times: exact on August 24th, September 29th and January 12, 2021.
Mars in Aries wants what it wants, right now, whereas Saturn in dignity also in Capricorn is very patient and methodical. This is a recipe for frustration if we try to get anything done with external authorities and our preferred rapid-response timetable is not met. Mars is all about taking quick, fearless action, even if it is not thought out fully, whereas Saturn is all about taking mindful responsibility for our actions.
The Mars retrograde cycle started when he moved into his retrograde shadow and started slowing down on July 25. Then he stations retrograde on September 9, has his direct station on November 14, and doesn’t pick up speed again fully until January 1, 2021.This whole Fall period, colored by the Mars/Saturn square theme will feel like one long slosh of trying to move through external structures of authority and getting nowhere fast (although we may try)—and this applies on the personal as well as global levels.
Therefore, this Mars RX cycle is an excellent period to let go of having ego agendas met on our personal timetable and choose to hold the faith in the Divine timetable instead.So, while we can still take actions as required, we just need to let go of any immediate results as the Flow is moving very, very slowly in terms of external manifestation and, rather than spinning our wheels in frustration, we can accept that waiting (without micromanaging) is an action too. A watched pot never boils, but our monkey minds might.
By the time we get to Jupiter conjunct Saturn at zero degrees Aquarius on December 21, with Mars direct and starting to pick up forward-motion speed, we may receive some good news represented by seeing some Light at least blinking on and off at the end of the very long tunnel of the Kali Yuga which we’ll be in for the remainder of this lifetime and beyond.
So, what’s happening starting this Fall, based on just about all major astrological indicators, is that we’ll we be entering Phase Two of the pandemic, especially in the USA, but globally as well. Added to this, there are also psychic premonitions of a pickup in planetary upheavals of a destructive and chaotic nature—both man-mad, nature-made and a mixture of the two.
Here are some key points to keep in mind for our karmic final exam:
1. We’re powerless over external events unfolding—but we do have power over how we choose to respond.
2. We’re powerless over the speed at which another person chooses to heal their karma and fulfill their potentials—but we do have power over how we choose to be with them—or not.
3. We’re powerless to change the past as it has affected the state of our finances, health or home, but we do have power in the NOW to take action to improve our good fortune going forward.
In closing, with all the chaos and madness playing out on the world stage, it’s more important than ever that we choose to hold the Light with faith in the Divine plan unfolding as perfect in the Flow. And, that this choice, in the ripple effect, feeds our collective future probabilities. So, yes, our vote always counts. Now, how lucky is that?
J O A N
“We are in the perfect circumstances for our Souls to learn whatever they designed this whole game to learn. During the stroke I died again, and now I have a new life in a disabled body. This is where I am. You’ve got to be here now. You’ve got to take the curriculum.”—Ram Dass
If you’re feeling ready, I would love to schedule a psychic and/or astrological phone reading to help you gain clarity by exploring your personal probabilities during the upcoming final karmic exam through 2021 and beyond. Please check out my Services menu and feel free to reach out to me by phone or email anytime to discuss creating the perfect customized session for you or your loved ones.
***NEWSFLASH***
Since the pandemic began, I’ve written seven newsletters to offer spiritual and astrological perspectives on how to maintain equanimity in the Flow with many reminders that our souls all chose to come into the Earth plane during this period in history for specific karmic purposes. I encourage you to check out my NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES for an overview.
In addition, I’m now offering a YOUTUBE CHANNELto provide audio versions of all the pandemic newsletters to date as well as current ones going forward, for those of you who prefer to receive your consciousness-expanding downloads from me by listening to my (so I’ve been told) hypnotic voice. Along with each reading, there’s a visual slideshow of my art and other images to enhance your listening pleasure. In the near future, I also plan to add podcasts of other channeled info of timely and timeless interest.
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If you missed my last Newsflash:
I’m overjoyed to announce the launch of my brand new, state-of-the-art, safe and secure, mobile-friendly website: JoanPancoe.com
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Do you feel the need for some help in dealing with “the Quickening” of energies now? Then it’s time for a daily mind/body/spirit practice that feeds your Soul! If you’d like to learn what keeps me sane, serene, internally stable and grounded, please check out my:
NEW AND IMPROVED, REMASTERED TAOIST STANDING CHI GUNG AND SITTING MEDITATION RECORDINGS FOR 2020
For details:
Taoist Practices MP3s for $20.00
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Also, of timely interest, from the Archives:
Five Stages of Mourning in the Kali Yuga
Your Fall 2019 Prescription for Maximizing Wellbeing: The Witnessing Protection Program and the Post-Traumatic Soul Growth Protocol
How to Be in Paradise During a Cosmic Flu Pandemic
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To help catalyze an opening to a higher perspective, I’ve written a number of articles on body karma, astrological themes, spiritual teachers, addiction, aliens, meditation and much more:WRITINGS
Most pertinent to read now:
Owning Our Inner Pluto Before . . . It Eats Us for Lunch
Becoming ONE with the Inner Guru . . . Or How to Make Saturn Your BFF”
INFINITE ABUNDANCE:Owning Our Inner Jupiter
On Pleasure, Joy and Bliss
If This Were Your Last Incarnation, What Would You Do?
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If you enjoy receiving these newsletters, I’m now posting more frequent planetary updates on my Facebook page and on Instagram:
Joan Pancoe, modern mystic
Hope you Like and Share!
https://www.instagram.com/joanpancoe/
Enjoy ALL the images—photos, paintings and much more!
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If you want to watch me performing past-life regression therapy, here’s a YOUTUBE Video of my A&E Channel TV Episode. It’s only 22 minutes:
CLICK HERE
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For more of Joan’s art:
GALLERY OF MULTIDIMENSIONAL DELIGHTS
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