Throughout the month of August, I will be offering the serial email version of my latest book "The McAllister Code" for FREE. That’s right! It’s my birth month, and I’m giving away gifts. Sign up at www.themcallistercode.com to receive 72 consecutive emails, starting on 9-9-09, that tell the story of my abduction by aliens and how they want to turn Sarasota into a marketing mecca.

Also on 9-9-09, "The McAllister Code" eBook will finally be available in its entirety for the low price of $4.00. But if you go to the site now and preorder your copy, you can get 50% off – the entire eBook for only $2.00!

The newly revamped McAllister Code website also includes eight years of archived blogs including the complete collection of "The Rucksack Letters", all for your perusal, at your convenience. Not enough for you? You can also watch two of my films – the documentary "Attention Deficit Disorder: Life at a Different Pace" and "Lesson Learned," starring country music legend Little Jimmie Sizemore, and order the DVD’s. Also available is the eBook of "The Rucksack Letters".

So go browse the website, watch some films, and sign up to be one of the first to read my new book.

In Kabbalistic teachings, the mystical aspect of Judaism, the actual being of God is beyond understanding. However, he is represented by a collection of traits known as the sefirot into what is commonly called the Tree of Life. There are ten sefirot that make up the Tree of Life, each of them playing off of each other in triads and as methods of achieving balance as phases of God revealing Himself to man. They are the building blocks of creation, the archetypes of existence, the traits of God, and the primary values of the world.

 

The Ten Sefirot are

Keter (will)

Chochmah (wisdom)

Binah (understanding)

Chesed (sometimes referred to as Gedolah or Gedulah) (mercy or loving kindness)

Gevurah (sometimes referred to as Din (justice) or Pachad (fear)) (severity or strength)

Tiferet (harmony or beauty)

Netzach (victory)

Hod (glory or splendour)

Yesod (power or foundation)

Malkuth (kingdom)

 

Keter Elyon is the highest of the Sefirot and the one from which all of the others are formed. It is understood to be beyond all existence and is nonetheless the cause of all existing things. It is the hidden potentiality of divine wisdom before it is revealed. It is called the Supreme Crown and represents Will, that which inspires creation even before thought.

 

Will is the greatest power that we have. When we realize our will, we begin to conjure and manifest ways with which to achieve our goals. Through our will, all of the other aspects of our soul are brought into alignment to meet our desire.

 

Keter, or will, is most fully explained in the quote, "the end is buried in the beginning." For within the will is the vision of its goal, and it generates every aspect necessary to achieve it.

 

There is a revolution underway. It goes by many different names depending upon a person's upbringing and station in life. It has been called the Rise of the Cultural Creatives, the Environmental Movement, a Spiritual Revival, the new Renaissance, and many other things. We have come to call it the Modern Hippie movement.

Though it is perceived differently by the subgroups of people taking part in the movement and by those on the outside looking in, it is heralded mostly by a growing awareness. It is defined by a choice to take a more active part in the collective life we are creating. It is a movement of conscious living.

The first Hippie movement brought an anti-authoritarian attitude that bucked the system, fought for peace, and found joy in the simpler things in life. Building upon the stamina created by the civil rights movement, this generation of rebels and dreamers all but defined the 1960's. But alas, the rebellion eventually petered out and the dreams remained as only visions lost in the ether as many of its proponents gave up the fight and merged into the mainstream.

But the spirit of the movement, though it seemed vanquished, never truly died.

Four decades later, we look back past the caricatures of the tie-dyed pot smokers that have been portrayed to us over the years and see again the essence of what the movement was really all about. It was about caring for the environment. It was about helping your neighbor. It was about attaining world peace by attaining inner peace. It was about achieving social justice for all. It was about living simply and simply living.

That is the spirit we wish to celebrate at Modern Hippie Magazine. That is the revolution that is rolling our way once more.

We are constantly seeking creative answers to the questions that plague us. We are seeking a cleaner environment and healthier living in body, mind, and spirit. We are forging new paths apart from the antiquated methods which no longer serve the greater good. We are finding new opportunities to serve one another and build communities. We are realizing the potential to use new technologies to bridge gaps and to build a more solid foundation for the generations to come.

Forty years ago, this spirit seemed to die. We cannot let that happen again. Humankind has come too far to falter now. We, as a people, have developed revolutions based on agriculture, industry, and information. It is time for us now to come together and take part in the Revolution of Wisdom. Though we will surely find opponents to the good that we try to create, just as all revolutionaries have before us, there is a spirit in us that can never die and never be defeated. Let us hold dear to it, allow it to flow through us, and be created anew by it as it creates the world around us. 

Welcome to the new Revolution.

For more information, go to www.modernhippiemag.com.

The Major Arcana of the Tarot, what is often known as the Fool's Journey.
Fool
Magician
High Priestess
Empress
Emperor
Hierophant
Lovers
Chariot
Hermit
Wheel of Fortune
Justice
Hanged Man
Death
Temperance
Devil
Tower
Star
Moon
Sun
Judgment
World


The Fool is the first card in the Major Arcana of the Tarot. It is given the number Zero because it represents the nothingness from which we all come and the field of infinite possibilities. The character portrayed on the card is rather androgynous and is meant to portray all of us - each of us is the Fool, for we are all on this journey of life in search of our own experience.

The card depicts the sun rising behind the Fool as if it is a new day and we are at the beginning. The Fool steps toward the edge of a precipice, eyes toward the sky, unaware and unnassuming of what the next step will bring, just as we all are at the beginning of our endeavors. The Fool carries all that is needed for the journey in a bindle and has a flower in hand in appreciation of beauty. At the Fool's heel yaps a dog, perhaps warning of the impending danger, perhaps saying goodbye. In the distance is a range of mountains symbolizing the ups and downs of the adventure in store.

As each of us steps off on our own Fool's journey, we must move forward with a leap of faith, unsure of what lies ahead, but with the full knowledge that there is no challenge that we cannot handle.

 

A few years ago, I was approached by an artist by the name of Gale Fulton Ross. She said that she wanted to write a book that could serve as a guideline for artists who wanted to make a career of their craft. She called the book Artists Must Play CARDS, the anagram representing the five things that the professional artist needs in order to be successful.

 

Commitment

Ambition

Resourcefulness

Dedication

Solitude

 

I will be discussing these elements more in further blogs as I find the Solitude to work on my own art. But suffice it to say that I marveled at the idea and was almost instantly drawn to how her concepts (minus the Solitude) aligned with the four cards of the regular playing deck.

 

Spades

Clubs

Diamonds

Hearts

 

Furthermore, I was engrossed in the idea of how these aligned with the four elements of material being.

 

Air

Fire

Earth

Water

 

I began to see how these four concepts further aligned with the four aspects of humanity

 

Mind

Spirit

Body

Heart

 

I was drawn back to the concept of cards. Though it recommended that I fear and shun it as a young Christian, the deck of the Tarot cards have been a source of much wonder for me. Though there are many different styles out there, I've tended to stick with the classic Rider-Waite deck. I find the artistry in the cards very telling, the way they interpret both the numberology and the meanings of the suits.

 

Swords

Wands

Coins

Cups

 

Looking into the many self help gurus and business consultants, I began to see more of this occurance. For instance, Wayne Dyer has his Pathways to Mastery.

 

Wisdom

Surrender

Discipline

Unconditional Love

 

Stephen Covey discusses the four modes of creativity

 

Pathfinding

Modeling

Aligning

Empowering

 

As well as the four styles of leadership...

 

Directing

Coaching

Supporting

Delegating

 

And the four human desires...

 

To Live

To Love

To Learn

To Leave a Legacy

 

These four principles, in whatever words describe them, are the basis for The McAllister Code. Go to www.themcallistercode.com now to be a part of the adventure.

 

 

 

 

I am looking for inspiration.

 

I have written a fictional book based on the tenets of excellence espoused by a number of ideologies. I am looking for individuals and businesses that exemplify these tenets so that I may further write about them and share their stories with others. Basically, I am looking to write about heroes. It has been said that we are the change we have been waiting for. I want to write about those changes.

 

So if you have been inspired by someone or by a business, please let me know. Send

me a link or tell me their story in your own words and let me share it.

 

If you want to hear more stories about good things going on in the world, subscribe to my blog at www.inkensoulpress.com, or better yet, go to www.themcallistercode.com, buy my book for only a dollar and get involved in the adventure of making the most of the lives that we have.

 

Thank you and God bless,

Steve

 

I opened my eyes with a few blinks as reality rolled to a stop like a slot machine register. I saw two faces look down upon me. They were unlike any faces I had ever seen before. They were... well, alien. Large, soft black eyes blinked at me from cocked heads shaped like eggplants. Their skin was the color of ivory and just as smooth, their eyes the only protrusions with two small holes for nostrils beneath them and small slits for mouths upturned as if they were... smiling?

I didn't know what to do? I didn't know what to say? Though I recalled what brought me here and how the events took place, I didn't understand what happened.

As if reading my thoughts, one of them spoke. "You fell," he said. He had a voice like melted pudding, smooth and silky with a slight bubbly rasp to it.

"I fell?"

"Yes," the other one said with a slightly higher lilt to his voice. "It happens quite a lot with your kind."

"What happens a lot?"

"You fall. Would you like some help up?"

I looked back and forth between the two of them. They looked almost identical except for a slight difference in size and color. "Who are you?"

They looked at one another, and then back to me. The lighter, darker one said, "You may call me Yewell." He nodded to the other," And this is Iman." Iman instantly grew a bit in size and deeper hue.

"Are you... aliens?" I asked.

"Not where we come from."

"And where is that exactly?"

"Somewhere else," Yewell said.


This is an excerpt from The McAllister Code. To be a part of the adventure and read the entire story for only one dollar, go to www.themcallistercode.com.

Though Sarasota has many things to be proud of (the great weather, the pristine beaches, the scores of art galleries and theatres), one of our most recent bright spots is a girl who just wanted to dress up for Halloween. A few years ago, when Jenna Norwood tried to fit into a showgirl costume, she didn't like what she saw in the mirror. So she took her journey to a better figure and turned it into a small empire.

Jenna has been a vegetarian for most of her life, but admitted to herself that she was a junk food vegetarian, binging on pizza, chocolate, french fries and other foods that don't exactly scream "healthy." Jenna started doing her research on a way to clean up her diet and raise her energy. She chronicled her choice to wellness in the documentary "Supercharge Me: 30 Days Raw."

An answer to "Super Size Me," the biting commentary (no pun intended) by Morgan Spulock on the way fast food (McDonald's in general) is largely responsible for our country's obesity problem, Jenna decided to take her film in another direction. Instead of eating nothing but fast food for 30 days, she ate nothing but raw food. A fan favorite and award winner at several film festivals, "Supercharge Me: 30 Days Raw" opened up the door for Jenna to develop her own podcast of raw food recipes and even open her own raw food restaurant in Sarasota called Vibe Cuisine.

Sometimes called "Rachel Raw," Jenna is truly making a name for herself and raising the consciousness of the community toward a healthier diet and a more sustainable planet. She's been featured in over a dozen newspapers and blogs, radio, and television. For more information on Jenna, "Supercharge Me: 30 Days Raw," or to find some really great raw food recipies, visit her at www.jennanorwood.com.

Tell her Steve says "Hi."

I took a few steps forward and froze. As I approached it, a soft glow began emanating from the back room. I slowly walked toward it, my heart rate quadrupling with each footfall. I reached my hand forward and pushed the door open, my eyes opening widely at the spectacle that appeared before me.

In the center of the room, a glowing orb hovered a few feet above the floor. About the size of the beach ball, the orb was mostly blue with clouds wisping through it, as if it encompassed the sky within its circumference. It drew the light from the rest of the room, and I forgot for a moment where I was.

I took a few more steps toward it, mesmerized by its motion as swirling clouds began to take shape inside of it. As my consciousness was drawn into the globe, I experienced what can only be described as deja vu, however, it was unlike any deja vu that I'd experienced before.

This is an excerpt from The McAllister Code. To be a part of the adventure and read the entire story for only one dollar, go to www.themcallistercode.com.

As we come out of this slump in the economy, which I hear we are on our way, wouldn’t you like to do things the right way? Wouldn’t you like your money to go to something other than companies that are only going to cause more woe for the planet and its inhabitants? Consider SRI’s (Socially Responsible Investing).

 

My wife introduced me to a new website (she introduces me to most new websites) that specializes in educating people on socially responsible investing. It’s called Ethical Market Media. It’s truly outstanding and offers a wealth of information through articles, video, audio, and more.

 

According to the website, “EthicalMarkets.com provides news and perspective on socially responsible investing, global corporate citizenship and LOHAS through reports, articles, newsletters and video gathered from around the world with analysis by our editor-in-chief, Hazel Henderson.”

 

So do yourself and the rest of the world a favor, when you consider investing, consider investing in the planet.