Hello and welcome once again. As always it is hard to believe that the end of the year is here and as always it is a nice time to reflect upon what has passed in the last twelve months. It seems not only do the years move quicker but more is happening within them, which makes me quite excited for the year ahead! This time last year I didn't even imagine that this site would exist the way that it does. Now this month I am thrilled to feature musician Lars Anton Lautenslager who is creating a sister/brother site to NEWF called New Energy Music. It is quite exciting to share in the birthing of another portal for new energy consciousness on the internet. Lars is also the first musician to be featured as well so we are doubly blessed to share with him. Our featured author is self published author, Shontara. Shontara has completed a channeled work which tells the stories of the Apostles. Like NEWF Shontara also has a passion for supporting others stepping into the new consciousness through her own website. This month we do have a theme and it is "Aspects". I have just completed five days which included Crimson Circle's Ascension School followed by Norma Delaney and Garret Anofsky's "Aspectology" workshop. Aspects are the parts of us and roles that we create to experience and create. In the new energy we are now calling back all our parts to our centre and stillness to experience our lives here in synchronicity with our divinity. With the purest of self love we can now recognise and welcome every part of ourselves, past and present, to flow into our future of integration.

"People who think love prevents one from thinking clearly are wrong; for then one thinks very clearly and is more active than before. And love is something eternal--the aspect may change, but not the essence." Vincent Van Gogh

Featured Artist; Lars Anton Lautenslager What areas of creativity do you play with? What age did you start with these? At this moment I’m playing mostly with music. I occasionally doodle with the pencil to create imaginary things of nature or geometries and I very much like to write stories or poems as well but these are not very active now. I can’t really recall when I started with music or writing. But I do know that that from the period when I was at kindergarten I was really open to the world around me. I was very cunning with words and sounds always ahead of things and situations or it was just plain daydreaming. Music started to become really interesting when I went into puberty. Before that it was primarily listening and sing along. The first closest thing for me to play, was rhythmics. I just played with every texture or surface I thought was 'drummable'. Rhythm is a very strong influence in my music. Many of my songs start off from a piece of rhythm and from there the complete work starts flowing in to a symphony of that particular moment or expression. I love the freedom in drumming. Ancient and very close to the center of myself. When I was 22 years old I lived in Denmark. From there my musical creativity really started blooming. I attended an audition for a grand musical. I was selected and from there my artistic seed was watered. I found it was a whole new world that opened up. Singing, acting, playing music, drama (from scripts off course). How did you become involved with music? The real involvement with music as it is for me now started quite recently. It was in the beginning of 2005, where I was confronted with death of my mother, that was the moment when I started to awaken. This initial trauma birthed my new self. All my experiences of Life in general but particularly after that day started unfolding. My first conscious contact with death was the first conscious contact with my divine-self and other lifetimes. From that particular period I started to play and write consciously about my feelings and experiences. So liberating it was to write down my fears, joy, anxieties, morning, loneliness and consciousness-leaps down and to set a musical structure to it. It was initially not conscious to me that I was playing with other dimensions but as time went by I started to gain trust in myself. The songs were close to me and I wanted to share them. I felt there was a great potential in them a new way of sound or consciousness so to say. But who could listen? Who would understand this? Quite an isolating period, I must admit. Then after some period, I ‘accidentally’ came across the website of the Crimson Circle. At first there was recognition but I wasn’t quit ready to comply to it. I was wondering in the desert and to vulnerable. At a later moment via the site of the crimson circle I decided to call a new energy facilitator. When I figured out she was doing monthly meetings I started to visit monthly. I was very nervous at first cause it was also my first channel to be experienced. And nobody less then Adamus St. Germaine was visiting. So the standard was set. He’s quit an initiator. But I felt I was at the right place. A inner calling so to speak. The word Shaumbra resonated deeply within me. Now I knew I wasn’t the only one on this planet who was experiencing this. And definitely not alone when I was in that turbulent period of my Life trying to get by and started ascending. Especially Tobias, Kuthumi, Quan-Yin and Adamus St. Germaine have spend many nights with me and inspired me when writing and playing my songs. They gently shared and whispered their Love and inspiration into my ear to eventually see for myself who I really was and who they were. So to have meet them again is beyond words and very dear to me. That’s the beauty for me to live and play in new energy era. It is very multidimensional. One day I was asked if I could bring my guitar to the meetings to play/assist in the musical part of that day. It felt very joyfull at first but when the actual day arrived I was pretty nervous. Intimate, in a group of 20 people, singing the songs to them that are close and dear to me. But this time I felt that sharing them was very great. The songs came really alive. And people were sharing their feelings and reactions as well of what these songs meant for them. What a great start it was for what now is to be my real passion. I learned and saw the great joy in playing in a whole different paradigm. And if other people are inspired or touched by this, then I do believe the true nature of music is being displayed. What is writing a song like for you? What inspires you to write a song? To write a song for me is actually writing about myself. In the very now moment. About my own feelings, inner knowingness and experiences from daily life or just plain jamming and experimenting with rhythms and melodies. Music has always been close to my Heart. I can sometimes feel a song coming in days before. Then if I choose, I start to collect sounds and melodies, words or consciousness-bubbles. Most of the time it goes very gracefully and easy. But to be honest, as I keep discovering, I also meet other things of myself I really do not like to meet, but that comes with the recipe J. My inner desire to bring the entire recipe into play is great. And when the song is finally there it’s just a present that unfolds itself. That my own songs surprise me is very magical and new to me. Especially the songs I had written about 10-15 years ago. They also start to show their inner message which I wasn’t conscious of that time. I came to understand It’s actually channeling and meeting aspects of myself. They started coming Home rapidly from my awakening moment back in 2005. So when I choose to play and sing with them, they come Home safely and with a truckload of presents and booby traps to celebrate! No better way for me to get to know the real God-self that I am. It frees up a lot of space when I get to know myself better everyday so Life can be fully lived, every moment. There are many things that inspire me to write a song. Especially when I’m in the nature. The stillness and beauty give great inspiration to write and to be in the now. I can easily connect to nature and find even she has many songs to be discovered. But also meeting people in daily Life, collisions of energies, and ‘aha’ moments appeal to my inspiration. Also other musicians from the past and present inspire me. I listen to a wide variety of music. I’m very open to it’s many flavors. A few of my favorite artists and who have greatly inspired me are: Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Chris Rice, India Arie, Marco Borsato and Lizz Wright. To me they are great pioneers and have a courageous and open way of sharing their musical world with great Love and Wisdom. Modern technology seems to have given musicians a lot more freedom, such as being able to create home studios and make their own CDs. How do you relate to the technology? My relationship with technology is somewhat just started. I’m very interested in modern technology for it’s quit great to be able to have your own studio at home. I started redecorating my house for it to expand into my own home studio. There’s a tremendous growth in personal audio equipment and musical software. That is really cool. Commercially it’s kinda challenging to keep the products inspiring and playful. Also the software becomes more and more user-friendly to create an initial piece of music in a couple of hours. Burn your own CD’s and create your own cover-sleeves. The flipside is that some personal products such as mobile-phone’s or I-pods tend to make the customer dependent by it’s manufacturer. As I do not judge these products I wanted to convey that products should also be developed to support one’s creativity. I do believe that this era we live in now has great potentials for musicians to expand their music and creativity. How did you decide to create your website? The reason why I chose to create www.newenergymusic.com derives from my personal musical development and the desire to share and meet with others who are also exploring their musical creativity. As I notice for myself I see a lot of new situations and understandings when stepping into the world of musicality. i.e. How are copyright and laws involved with music and what set of guidelines need to be set in order to manifest my creations. A lot of questions and belief systems are touched. Within the new energy it’s quite challenging to pioneer belief systems and structures that are within music. There’s an initial three-dimensional structure to music so, it’s very exiting. I wanted to make a platform where a space is offered to give music a place to evolve and expand. Within this platform there’s the space for people to meet, to teach, to learn and inspire eachother. The building, puzzling, and creating this website is also partly passion to me. I learn a lot about structures behind website’s and organizing my own personal creations. I never really been involved with Forums but since I became a member on the Forum of the Crimson Circle, I saw the dynamics behind it. Especially when a Forum as such creates a safe space where respect, openness, interests en equality stand up front. Where every individual takes responsibilty for their  own words and experiences. But also with the intent to share and inspire others. When I bumped into the website of newenergywriting, I was very inspired. I was feeling that I wanted to make a website as such but then for music in the new energy. I reserved the domain and started off. This is where my experiences with musical creativity in general and my pioneer spirit melded together. It’s still in it’s testing and building phase but soon to be launched, I plan to launch it around Christmas. What else do you dream of creating? I would Love to be participating in Kuthumi’s movie “ What’s Missing ?” What a great project it is. When I heard him announce it, at the Quantum-Leap celebration, I started to twinkle inside and thought how I would like to write songs for the movie or be in it as an actor. To be working with Kuthumi and being present within his energy, is very joyful and sometimes very pioneering. I recently wrote a song for him and that was really exciting. It was a request he stated at Shoud 2; You, You, You ! of the Quantum-Leap series at the Crimson Circle’s monthly meeting. He asked how he liked to hear a song about his quote: “If you just let go of your old human ways”. I felt it resonating and appealing to me and wrote the song immediately. As I experienced, to write for and with others, opens new dimensions for me. The thing I also dream of creating is to be able to work with children. I have a strong connection to children and it is of no effort for me to connect with them. Especially with children who are labeled or seen as there being something wrong with them. The openness and honesty of how they perceive Life is wonderful. I see myself as a beacon of trust and creativity for the children to be around and with. In a center, in a private situation, anything is possible. I Love the way of communicating with kids. Just to let them be themselves and express who they are, so they can inspire the adults for a change. I have a lot of potential dreams that I want to create, but I decided to pick one out and really manifest it. Cause that’s my cup of Tea, how to bring it on this planet. Lars will launch www.newenergymusic.com with it's music retreat very soon. In the meantime drop by and listen to some of his music at www.soundsofyourbreath.com  Make sure you listen to "Old Human Ways" at least once! Lars is more than welcome for you to contact him via each site.

"Art is the child of Nature; yes, her darling child, in whom we trace the features of the mother's face, her aspect and her attitude” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

New Book Release

This month I am proud to announce the release of "Love. The Becoming of Me" by Anita Boom-Van Doorn. I had the pleasure of receiving my own copy this week and can let you all know it is just glorious. Anita has written some beautiful inspiring pieces that truly invite all your aspects home to that divine place of love within us all. Like my Kuthumi book, you can pick it up, read a random page and receive a simple message.   Available at http://www.lovethebecomingofme.com

"These are the soul's changes. I don't believe in aging. I believe in forever altering one's aspect to the sun. Hence my optimism.” Virginia Woolf

Featured Author; Shontara What areas of creativity do you play with? Writing, writing and more writing.  This is my passion and has been for the past 30 years.  I can’t seem to stop and later, you’ll see what I mean. What do you feel were the biggest challenges (if any) of writing your first book “The Angel Within”? And what were the joys? There were no challenges in regards to the writing of it.  That whole process of 6 months, was a pure joy, thanks to Queensland Rail trains for providing me with my mobile office away from home.  It was only after I finished writing and decided to self-publish, that is when the pain began.  I had to hand ‘my baby’ over to the unknown hands of a publisher, who in turn was in charge of a whole team of people, some of whom were the typesetter, the graphic artist, printer etc.  I had lost control and the next four months that followed was like being on an emotional rollercoaster ride.  The big lesson in all of this was – let go of my control over the outcome of all situations and most importantly, to trust the experts. Why did you decide to self-publish? And what has that experience been like? I’ve already answered the latter part of this two part question but I haven’t exactly explained why I decided to self-publish.  Below, I have listed some questions that I had to ask myself and this will give you an insight into my own thought processes as to why I felt self publishing was the best option for me. Have a go in answering them yourself.  In fact, I wholeheartedly invite you to do so now, before it’s too late to turn back. If you can answer ‘yes’ to the big majority of the questions below, then I would recommend that self publishing is for you.  If you answer in the negative for more than three quarters of the questions, please forget it.  Don’t waste your time any further.  Find a reputable publisher to do it for you instead.  But speaking from my perspective, I need to say that from day one, I have never regretted self publishing my first book.  Here are some things you need to take into consideration quite seriously: Financial Considerations- Can I really afford to sink my personal money into this project? How much money will I need? Am I happy to settle for less in regards to appearance, just so I can sell it? Marketing/Promotional Considerations- Do I have a high level of motivation, desire and passion to see me through the rough times?  Have I got a good moral, practical and emotional networking support system in place to cater for any situation? Am I willing to charge a high enough price in order to cover costs plus give myself a nice healthy profit at the end of it? Am I a business?  Am I a hobby? Can I maintain a balance between my personal and business life? I don’t wish to destroy your magic of adventure.  This is certainly not my intention.  I just simply wish for you to go into the seriousness of publishing a book, with your eyes wide open rather than half shut.  Besides which, any good captain worth his salt had a plan before he began the big journey. Your second book “The Apostles” is very different and involves channeling. How did you connect with the writings of this book? Any good author knows about channeling but most of them would call it something less mystical, such as perhaps being ‘in the zone’, where the characters step forward and take on a life of their own and where, if allowed, they also take over the life of the author.  It is indeed a truly wonderful place to be.  To answer this question now from a different angle, I have been channeling for a good 30 years now, in one form or another.  But initially I had my doubts and I would lament – I’m not capable of writing about your (The Apostles) personal lives; how can I write about something I do not have first hand knowledge of; besides which, I had never read The Bible in its entirety.  Well, they quickly came back at my weak objections with a strong argument.  In regards to the third point made, they said it didn’t matter whether I had read the Bible or not.  As the fact iss, this great book speaks very little of the Apostles.  Therefore, this objection was irrelevant.  In regards to the second point made, they reminded me of my lifelong friendship I had with Matthew.  We had known each other since young boyhood.  It was Matthew who taught me how to read and write.  Later, I became his personal scribe and travelling companion.  They reminded me of all these things.  At the same time I knew Matthew and his associations with Jesus, I also came to play, work, live, sleep and eat beside the rest of the twelve men who later became known as The Apostles.  Well, I couldn’t argue with any of that, because I had known this to be true for quite some time before.  In regards to the first mute point, they helped me to see that they trusted me to get it right, so why could I not trust myself?  Well, how could one answer that?  I couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse and there began the adventure of a lifetime.   From your own experiences with writing, what would you share with a fellow writer? Be aware of your motives – whether they be altruistic or money orientated.  It matters not.  Just know from which direction you are coming from.  Also be realistic in your expectations, otherwise you may become disappointed too quickly and give up too easily.  Be aware that miracles do, and can, happen to the best or worst of us but perhaps not overnight.  You can also write just for the sheer pleasure of doing so.  By writing our thoughts and feelings down on paper alone can be a real healing and turning point for some.  Just do it.  Don’t stop.  You’ll be so glad you did.  For those who have ‘writer’s block’, write one single key word, then a second, then a third word.  They don’t have to make a sentence or even make sense.  They could all be unrelated.  It’s a start.  You might also like to adopt the belief that each word you write, is worth $1M.  How much would you have earned for yourself by the end of an A4 page, do you think?  And here is one more tip – no matter how tempting it might be to get your book on the shelves, never sell on consignment. On consignment means you have no control and the shop owner has all the power and no personal incentive to sell your book.  Lastly, I must say to one and all – go forward and let the words pour forth, both fact or fiction.  Shontara's books are available through www.shontara.org

“Owing to ignorance of the rope the rope appears to be a snake; owing to ignorance of the Self the transient state arises of the individualized, limited, phenomenal aspect of the Self.” Guru Nanak

New Energy Publishing Guide

I am proud to announce that the NEWF's Publishing Guide is now available. I created this document after many people asked what was involved in getting my book released. The guide is a simple overview of the options available in the publishing world as well as a few tips that I found handy in my experience. It also finishes up with a directory of new energy creators who can support you in publishing. It is free to download at anytime HERE.

"It is an aspect of all happiness to suppose that we deserve it." Joseph Joubert

Thanks for joining us. I would also like to thank you all for your support throughout this year, especially to the authors and artists who have been so open and honest in sharing their experiences. I am so sure 2008 will be even bigger and grander for us all as we all continue to explore and expand our creativity. See you next year! Read past editions of Highlights HERE