William Sebrans
OTHERWISEWORLD SERVICES
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Astrology • Human Design • Life Coaching & Creative Renewal
"What matters most should never be at the mercy of what matters least." ~ Johann Goethe
Inspired Action, Thought Leadership, Astrology, Human Design, Gene Keys,
Awakening, Coaching, Business, Services, Art, Healing, Cool Stuff, Culture
"Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
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anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.”
― David Whyte
Allies and Uplifting Influences ... I am happy to recommend.
I like good people who do good stuff, and I enjoy equally sharing their magic with anyone who has been destined to cross my path. And here you are.
Nearly all of the people referred here, I have had some personal contact with, and with many of them, an extended interaction.
I imagine that people in my circle of influence will inspire you as they do me, and I invite you to be a part of the extended family.
This page will have no more than 25 well-vetted referrals, so as to make your perusal accessible, interesting, and focused. I placed them in some intuitive non-linear order.
Rob Brezsny is a re-source of relentless goodwill, practical surprise, gorgeous news, and artful uplift. His uniquely festive and fertile use of language, along with his informed curating about what works in this world (and beyond), is a savvy and effective trance-buster for the downer state of mind currently fashionable in our media culture.
My recommendation: savor frequently and employ dutifully for a
substantial life upgrade, or even a simple refinement to the moment...
Pronoia - The Antidote to Paranoia: http://tinyurl.com/pn2awao
Freewill Astrology: http://www.freewillastrology.com/
Richard Rudd and the Gene Keys:
Richard was for many years a key teacher and writer for the Human Design transmission. His current offerings have constellated around his own transmission of the Gene Keys which mark out in uncommonly elegant language the evolutionary potential of Human Design and spiritual growth imperatives in any life and on any path.
As powerful and oracular as a modern day I Ching, Gene keys is a companion for life, as is the community currently constellating around it.
Richard has a wonderful manner of sharing his gifts with a warm, whimsically English and Merlinesque flavor, and brings to his spiritual work a rare psychological savvy, cultural breadth and emotional depth. Many fine gratis offerings and inexpensive forays for getting feet wet.
The Gene Keys Resource Center: https://genekeys.com/
The book: Gene Keys: http://tinyurl.com/os37vu3
Rosy Aronson For a warm-spirited, heart-centered, and professional dive into The Gene Keys and the Human Design System, Rosy is a wonderful place to both begin and continue along the path of your soul's richest unfolding.
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Rosy brings to her offerings a seasoned, humanistic counseling background,
with an emphasis on expressive arts, infusing the often mechanistic focus of
Human Design with a sense of creative joy. Her program Designed to Blossom
is particularly resonant with women.
Rosy's https://www.wisdomkeepers.net/
and the 64Faces project is an awesome** resource
that will bring into your life —
—art, inspiration, and oracular learning;
it's an optimal companion to Richard Rudd's
richly poetic Gene Keys transmission.
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**I use the word "awesome" in its original form,
—as in evoking awe & wonder.
David Whyte has been a positive influence in my life for over 25 years,
— in print, in person, and now online.
His poetic and prose musings are uniquely crafted to source both deeper presences within us and to encourage exploring wider frontiers. Traveling in Ireland with David and an intimate group that included the inimitably remarkable John O'Donohue, ranks up there as maybe the most fertile rambling experience in all my days.
I encourage any of his books, CDs, or current online offerings. The CD set: Clear Mind, Wild Heart is particularly excellent, as is one of his early small offerings: The Poetry of Self-Compassion...which is fiercer than one might think by the title.
Julia Cameron - the Artists Way. I first encountered Julia's work in 1994 around the same time I knocked into David Whyte, and am still impressed.
She's savvy, successful, and wickedly perceptive about what works for the creative state and life. Though her program is now widely known, I continually encounter people who say they are familiar with her work, and who have even done the program, yet then essentially fall away from its smart content and holding structure, — off to the next new thing.
I say: revisit her wise offerings for inspiration, encouragement creative initiation and recovery.Definitely Not onlyfor artists - - but for anyone who wishes to live large and well.
Sherri Goldstein: Intuitive & Hypnotherapist.
I have known Sherri since 1997. She is one of the few intuitives I have encountered who 'carries the Force'. I appreciate her quick-take, nuanced perception, literate articulation, and subtle grasp of the many forces at play in any life situation. Though I do not follow her readings blindly, I do take them with considerably more than the grain of salt she modestly encourages.
Interactions with her are like consulting the I Ching, in that they always reveal something spiritually savvy and practically useful. I find her approach to her work and how people are attracted to it to be pure and without self-positioning.
Byron Katie —I encountered her book Loving What Is in 2000, and a few years later I flung myself to the 10-day desert retreat. As I only recommend here what i have experienced, I will say first that I do not think The Work by BK (not to be confused with Gurdjieff's The Work ) is necessarily the most effective approach for everyone who seeks resolution to internal discord, nor is it unilaterally for all occasions. Astrology, Human Design, and The Gene Keys instruct me in the wide swath of dispositions, styles, and appropriate timings for different influences...
That said, even though the Work can seem quite mental at first, Byron Katie and the core process she facilitates is anything but mental. She is one of the most present, spontaneous, passionately dispassionate, and simplified Earthlings I have ever met. The Work is the quintessential antidote to limiting stories and judgments. I have found it humbling, empowering, and liberating to discover that what we judge in another or in the world may well reside within. We are reminded that liberation is an inside job, "but only 100% of the time." Make sure your facilitator in her extended circle has love at the core.
Jovian Archive —official central hub for the Human Design System, as transmitted & taught by Ra Uru Hu (Robert Krakower). The transmission is a remarkable synthesis of Astrology, Hindu chakra system, Kabbalah, & DNA genetics.
HD is clearly not a whimsical pastiche of New Age derivatives, but rather can be experienced as a profoundly subtle lens, rooted in a cosmological objective basis, for understanding human mechanics at a very precise level.
That said, there is an incredible amount of language involved in its formulation, — some of it colored by some of Ra's biases. As well, I suggest being mindful of any conclusion-jumping and jargon-hopping that earnest, but over-zealous nubie practitioners fall prey to when in proselytizing mode.
The graphics are sexy-smart, — but I say focus on the direct experience of the ideas. As always, the map is not the territory. Courses are not cheap, but lots of good free introductory stuff. For many people, it is a life-changing perspective.
OPA: the Organization for Professional Astrology:
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There are several notable astrological organizations and associations, worldwide. OPA is the one I have been most associated with, where I currently serve as Director of Publications which essentially involves putting out the artful and content-rich quarterly journal.
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Contrary to what the name suggests, OPA is for anybody seriously interested in astrology and the cosmic Mysteries, whether they wish to advance their career, become an astrologer, study for kicks, be in the conversational mix, and/or are an "amateur" -- in the original sense
of the word......" a lover of the art and craft."
It is $65 for a yearly membership (good deal!) which entitles members
to all manner of excellent presentations & opportunities to participate if called to that.
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My bias is that this particular organization, dedicated to the cosmic Mysteries, is one of the more creative and forward-thinking.
Magic Carpet: store and internet site.
I am a beauty lover, and fine oriental carpets have my enduring devotion. My friends Peter Cohen & Carolien Van Straten, artisans in their own right, have assumed the proprietorship of one of the finest boutique oriental carpet stores anywhere.
Honoring values of tribal integrity, fair trade, and with a devotion to the craft - you will find magic there at an affordable price delivered with welcoming warmth.
Given the location in small-town, historic Nevada City in the California Sierra foothills, their overhead is half what it would be in SF or Los Angeles, allowing you to grace your home or work environment with a life-time investment that is surprisingly accessible. Peter is both carpet craft and internet savvy, so any internet purchases have both the human touch and professional outcome.
Adyashanti: Spiritual Ambassador & Liberation Agent
In the realm of the spirit, Adya is a clean shower. He is simple, transparent, and reliably focused on what is larger than the personal story, without discounting it. There is little controversy in his world, - a rarity in transformational and spiritual communities.
His life is his message and it is aligned with Truth. He is pleasing to listen to, and the scale he brings to everyday issues is real, commonsensical, and transcendent in a gentle way. His book: The End of Your World is...well, a good place to begin.
https://www.adyashanti.org/
Carlos Grasso, artist:
I have known Carlos a long time from the years of the Gurdjieff revels. He is a passionate and consummately accomplished artist in both classical and contemporary abstract expression. He has been a long time student and publisher of the work of David Leffel, who himself was influenced by Armenian painter Hovsep Pushman(ian). He currently resides in Ojai and his work is frequently juried and exhibited in Southern California.
On Being Radio with Krista Tippett: NPR
A most excellent program I attend regularly like church or darshan. Krista Tippett approaches the most interesting subjects and people with depth, candor, ease, and grace. She is a preciousness-free zone and explores the realm of spirit as it shows up creatively in people involved with the arts, sciences, social causes, and overt spiritual practice. Her best programs are often people who do not overtly call themselves spiritual.
On Being is the one program to take to the desert island, or tundra. She is the one person in this string of pearls I have not had personal interaction with, and it is to her credit that I feel as if I do.
Klara Soukalova - Visionary Artist.
Klara's work is infused with sacred wonder.They are sourced from a blend of her natural talent as artist and dancer, and then honed from many life experiences exploring the Mystery in Europe, the US and sacred journeying in Peru. I am the happy owner/custodian of one of her fine works.
The Temple of the Way of Light - A virtuous, spiritually elevated and safe destination in Peru for exploring the hidden dimensions of oneself and the Cosmos via plant spirit medicine.
Additional opportunities for exploring permaculture, indigenous wisdom and shared community. Conceived and developed by Matthew Watherston and his wife, artist Klara Soukalova, with conscious intent and artful goodwill.
Maurice Fernandez is a consummate astrology professional and has served as President of the Organization for Professional Astrology.
He is continually breaking new ground in understanding the subtle layers of planetary influence and applying it to the issues of our lives. I am consistently upgrading my perspective in my interactions with him. If you are looking for someone who grasps the subtle and deep nodal evolutionary arc in the charts, as well as the influence of the transpersonal planets, I would suggest you consider a session with him or consider his training.
Other notable things about Maurice is that he is an active animal rights advocate, a dedicated practitioner of Kundalini yoga, a soft-spoken person (usually), and convinced me that Madonna has a Virgo rather than an Aquarius Ascendant.
Lekha Singh of Nomadic Camera:
Lekha has for me one of the most mystical and innovative eyes in the photography world. Her images roam the globe capturing and sharing unique moments in the human condition across all cultures. Given their wide variety of settings and colors, the one common denominator is that they are always startling and excellent. This one here is from Burning Man in the Nevada desert.
John O'Donohue - Irish poet, priest of Celtic spirituality, author, wise-heart.
I met John and spent two days around him on tour with David Whyte. The group experience was royally heartened by his presence and soulful scholarship. This book Anam Cara, meaning soul-friend in Gaelic, has become internationally a ready source of warm inspiration and is a go-to for me personally to uplift me and circles I traffic in. He died unexpectedly at age 54 in 2008, and all those who knew him miss his 'fecund' presence. He remains a truly Ally & Uplifter.
