Moon Magick: 2-2-2012. “Blame It On The Moon…”

Moon Magick: 2-2-2012. “Blame It On The Moon…”

Friends,

I return to you…a bit late…but it’s ok. I blame the Moon. By now, some of you may have “gotten the idea”, when it comes to the Moon Phases, but just in case I’ll formally break it down simple. I don’t think I’ve done this yet in my short blogging life, so now seems like a good time. Moving on..

Phase Order: New Moon – 1st ¼ Moon – Full Moon – Last ¼ Moon – (repeat)

What do they mean?..

New Moon: A time for rest, Internal focus, home/family and NO New Endeavors

1st ¼ Moon: Begin pursuing new endeavors, relationships and activities. Focus on matters of Love, Money and/or work. The intention is to DRAW new positive influence into your life.

Full Moon: Focus on Mental, Spiritual and Emotional growth. Meet the endeavors set forth at 1st ¼ head on. Jump wholly into your efforts.

Last ¼ Moon: Release….of all burdens; mental, physical , emotional and material. Begin to cool down..Focus on the RELEASE of bad habits and negative influences. Ideal time to release debt and health problems.

Hopefully this will give a nice perspective on how the cycle is broken down.

What’s been going on?…Why is this blog late?…

I blame the 1st ¼ Moon I find that my datebook has been filled with meetings, phone calls and travel..not to mention the paperwork that goes with all of it, which can be daunting! But no worry exists here.. what I see before me, is an ocean wide view of the future. For myself..my family…Amber Blues..my teaching…and even my blogging, the 1st ¼ Moon has me running fierce! But a fire sure gets you moving. Ain’t it the truth.

Let’s Play…

So this week I want someone to interact..I know I have readers (b/c I can track my stats lol)..but so far everyone has been silent. Let’s warm up our conversation shall we!

What do you want to draw into your life at this very moment? What is it you desire?..

SPEAK it aloud !! Even if it is but a whisper.

Post 1 Desire you have. Let it be heard by the universe…The universe will respond.

It may all seem a little silly, but I assure you. This stuff works. I live it every day. I keep many notebooks and post –it’s. I speak out loud my wishes, and will them to reality. And it’s all rather fun because I call it magick. For me, it’s not as stiff as the word “praying”, or being “religious”. These terms don’t work for me. Of course this is merely how I am. We are all different, but have similar ideas that we decorate however we feel best.

I ask for your comments at this time. Chat with me..I answer all comments! I will return with a full and normally scheduled blog this Monday (2-6-2012).

Thanks for reading!

Jimmy Clark / Amber Blues

“I found that when you start thinking and saying what you really want then your mind automatically shifts and pulls you in that direction. And sometimes it can be that simple, just a little twist in vocabulary that illustrates your attitude and philosophy.” -Jim Rohn

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Moon Magick: 1-22-2012 “The Healing Power Of Darkness ..”

Moon Magick: 1-22-2012 “The Healing Power Of Darkness ..”

Friends, “In cover of darkness may you work your dreams” … The New Moon is upon us and it brings healing power. The new moon is traditionally a time for rest, rejuvenation and a break from engaging in new endeavors. Be sure to accentuate rest and relaxation over the next few days, while promoting a sense of peace both internally and externally. Use the cover of darkness to retreat from worry, stress and confrontation. Try to AVOID taking on any mental, spiritual or physical burdens at this phase. So literally…chill out for a few days…then get moving again later in the week..but start slow. As if you were nurturing a fire…let all new endeavors grow from seed all the way up to the flower (Full Moon). Enjoy this process and use patience.

Suggested activities for New Moon… 1. Read: I personally like to read lite and entertaining books at this time of the cycle…meaning NOT work related, or thought/idea provoking in a “I have to act on this now!” kind of way.

2. Reconnect with your inner inspirations by making a play-date with yourself: My play-date this New Moon, was to have an energy healing session with our coach/mentor John Germain Leto (formerly John Battaglia Jr.). During this session we did a Destiny Retrieval meditation and Root chakra cleansing. I highly recommend it 

3. Animal Cuddles: If you have a pet, spend the night at home and catch up on some cuddle time. Nothing makes me feel better than chilling at home with my Shiba Inu Niko. I’m sure all you critter owners can agree!

4. Early to bed and Late to Rise…but that’s OK!!: Take an evening to wind down early. Make some tea (chamomile makes you nice and mellow), maybe take a relaxing shower or bath and curl up with a nice warm blanket. Then just let the darkness of the New Moon put lull you into a peaceful rest. Sounds nice doesn’t it! Why don’t we do that every night!?!

The Snow Moon During the Snow Moon, the seeds of earth and springtime feel their first stir. This is an ideal time to lay the foundations for anything you wish to create in the coming year. As stated above, start slow and with focus, patience and clarity. I suggest: Lists, Charts And Notes I am a HUGE fan of these tools. At the beginning of each cycle I re-visit my large whiteboard and re-calibrate my monthly goals. This board is like 3 feet by 5 feet…and I fill it!! I also use notebooks to brainstorm..i sketch out any graphic design ideas I have for Album Art, Promos, Online etc. I make a broad overview of a period of up to 6 months ahead and work backwards. I try to identitfy all the steps that will be needed to complete my goal. I make small To-Do lists, usually of 5 items at a time, and ALL of which can be completed in about a 48 hour period. Check this out!- I love reading Dale Carnegie (How To win Friends And Influence People). He has many books out that often deal with destroying worry, conquering fear and being organized. I can vouch for the awesomeness of these 2 particular books: 1. How To Stop Worrying And Start Living 2. How To Develop Self Confidence & Influence people by Public Speaking These are both great reads that really help the working professional break through their hang-ups and barriers.

So in short...the Snow Moon is a time to organize…But Not Until After The new Moon! Start these techniques no earlier than Wednesday of this week (1-25-2012)

Be well and REST! This concludes my blog for the week. As it’s a time to rest…I’m going to do just that…starting well…Now :) JC

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Moon Magick: 1-16-2012 “Coming Down”

Friends, The last ¼ moon is upon us!.. But what does this mean?...How does this affect the energy flow of the month?... How can you best wrap up your endeavors for this month?.... Let’s explore and discuss. The Last ¼ Moon is the mid-point of the 14 day period from the full moon until the new moon. During this period, the visible part of the moon decreases daily. For everyone..This is a time for release. A time for conclusions. This includes work on bad habits and negative emotions or thoughts. It is also an ideal time to peacefully end relationships and reduce debt and health issues. For all the musicians following this weekly blog, this is a GREAT TIME to release a new song into the world. If you have one ready that is. If something is mostly done..wait till the First ¼ Moon (1-31-2012) to release it. If you are in a position to release a new work of art or music, do so, and spend this week giving it the proper release support. Once all the posting, submitting, and hyping of your release is done, sit back and relax. Take the week of the New Moon to reflect and to let your fans digest your newest masterpiece. Only engage them after this period. In short..let everything cool off after this coming week. Use this week to wrap up all current business affairs. The Wolf Moon We are in the last phase of the Wolf Moon. To remind everyone, the theme of this moon is internal protection. As winter drags on, it is necessary to be as efficient with your energy as possible. Only engage in efforts that directly benefit your life in the moment. Tree Divination We are entering the period of the Rowan. This tree has strong..almost exclusive.. associations with protection. An old belief exists, where people tie a red thread around a Rowan sprig and carry it for extra protection from negative or harmful energies, intentions and/or entities. This tree is ruled by the sun, and therefore has the protective qualities of Male energy.

Wrapping Up.. As always, thank you for taking a few minutes to read my post, and hopefully for participating. Enjoy your last week of hard work before a well deserved break. I urge you to use this coming week to push yourself to new heights through the completion of your January goals. May you have focus, stamina, and positive influences around you to help bring this phase to a close. Be well and come back next week! JC p.s. – I have no idea if anyone actually sees these posts. Please share your thoughts!

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Moon Magick 1-8-2012...Moon Magick: Reaching Your Full Potential.

Friends, As promised I have returned with another installment of my Moon Magick blog. I'm a believer in the natural powers of the universe, and in the effect it has on us down here on the blue-green ball known as Home. Over the years I've taken a particular interest in the moon, and as I collect knowledge and experience studying it, I like to share :) So here we are..January 8, 2012 and on the brink of this cycles peak. This is a good time to focus on your own protection. As winter drags on, it is necessary to be as efficient with your energy as possible. Partake only in efforts that directly benefit your life in the moment. To take advantage of the properties of the full moon, it's best to focus your full energies in the three day period which includes the day before and after the full moon. This time of the cycle is best used for practices focused on spiritual, emotional, material and physical growth. Put your full effort into all projects that you may be involved at this time. Make moves to see your endeavors through to levels of full completion by the beginning of the last 1/4 Moon on january 16, 2012..meaning, get the gig booked, send in your copyrights, build that Flickr account, write that song...whatever it is. Get,. er. done. Once the next phase begins, you want to be winding down and cooling off the energy till after the New Moon. Tree Divination : January:Birch The birch represents New beginnings and rebirth. The trees long white slivers can be seen shedding as it's new skin makes way for a new season. The representitive color of the tree is Silver/White. These colors can stand for purity, cleansing and rebirth. The wisdom of this tree (following the system I use), is this. "A Good Beginning Leads To A Good Conclusion." Ain't it true. And what a time for such a message. Here we are at the the height of action in the lunar month...ask yourself... Am I in a fully commited state of action?... Do i have a set goal?...What does winning look like this month?... What can I do over the next week to increase my productivity and efficiency?.. Write these things down, and travel with them. Let them surprize you when you go to take a dollar out of your pocket and with that dollar, you that little piece of paper. Enjoy the reminder and honor the agreement you made with yourself to accomplish your goals. Enjoy the post, and please feel free to interact. A conversation is always more fun when there's more voices! Be well, and I'll be back on January 16. Jimmy Clark Amber Blues LLC 908-616-5716 AmberBlues.com

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Moon Magick 12-30-12011...Draw Positive Influence Into Yourself and Your Art

Friends,

December 30..Friday. In 2 days the 1st quarter moon of the New Year will be upon us.The first quarter moon is the mid point of the 14 day period from the new moon until the full moon. During this period, the visible part of the moon increases daily. This is the appropriate time to focus on ways to draw things into your life. As the moon increases, it is a reflection of your desired qualities approaching you. Especially common at this time are any intentions, spells or blessings addressing your home, finances, employment or romance.

Take a moment...ask yourself: "How can i increase the positive influences in my life..how can this help my music..my band..my attitude.?" "If I devote 15 minutes a day to nurturing the presence of each of My good habits, and contemplated simple ways to move them further into full completion, who would I become?..Is this new version of Myself a happier, more satisfied, and accomplished version?.. Write these things down, and keep them on yourself,,in your pocket..on your mirror..wherever. Just try to happen upon this note as you get through your day. And when you see it take a moment to reflect on the words you write down.

Try not to focus on negative influences at this time....let the light shine bright on the things we want to Create and Develop. There will be a time (Last 1/4 moon on1-16-2012) to let go of the things that drag you down.. for now, ALL POSITIVES. The Wolf Moon: This is a good time to focus on your own protection. As winter drags on, it is necessary to be as efficient with your energy as possible. Partake only in efforts that directly benefit your life in the moment. This is also a good time to organize your home.

I'll write on this topic again on Jan. 9..Monday..to share thoughts about the Full Moon and how it's influence can be used to help move your goals towards fruition.

Feel free to share your experiences, or to keep them private..whatever is most comfy for you. Take these offerings and use them well. They are beliefs that I follow and perhaps they can help my fellow Musical Travelers on their road to Success. Jim Clark, Amber Blues

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As The Summer Draws To a Close...

So this summer has been a doozey. It reminded me of a few years ago, when we had something like 50 shows in a 4 month period..this year came pretty close to being just as busy. This season we returned to New London CT for our 2nd Sailfest--where we played 3 shows back to back in 1 day...we played our first sports stadium..twice!!, and we performed at our 4th consecutive Valerie Fund Walk-a-thon--which raised over HALF A MILLION DOLLARS!! We also did a solid 5 state run, something we haven tdone in about 2 years.

A totally new thing for us, was that we took on our first intern, Vernon, who successfully completed the program we built for him, and has since moved forward as a permanent AB team member. He's become a very visual and vocal member of the crew, as I'm sure many of you have noticed, and its our hope to add some new interns in the near future so Vern has a team to lead :)

Another major development for us, was that we managed (for the first time) to record a full album in under 2.5 years..we actually did it in 3 months!! And now as we approach the end of August and we prepare to mix and build the album, i cant help but feel that the Fall season will be just as satisfying, challenging, and exciting as the summer has been.

Its hard to re-cap 3 months of craziness in a spur of the moment blog..perhaps i should go back over all of the FB and Twitter posts to get a clearer picture. lol. But this basically touches on everything..i think...

I'll be back sooner than later with other updates. cheers.

-Jimmy Amber Blues

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Tales of Amber Blues Street Team and Promotion Captain: Days..END

1. Officially today is the last day of my internship.

2. Yesterday, because I met my sales quota, I received a nice guitar! Her name is "Blu". Thanks Jimmy! I sold $180 worth of merchandise.

3. Facebook messaging sucks; it's unattractive - the system that is, of constantly receiving messages and such.

4. You want to know why I'm still blogging? Especially considering my last post was like a recap...

5. I'm hired baby! Can you say Employee??

6. ;) Thank you all who supported, and Thank you Ms. Gayle for hooking me up with this internship!

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Tales of Amber Blues Intern/Street Team and Promotion Captain: Day 25

Your "Ambassador of the Band", Vern, here:

I feel like my internship really ends tomorrow... It's all settling in, and I can say I've learned a lot! Wanna see my book full of notes and quotes from Jimmy?? I remember after day 1, feeling like a ball of dumb and tired energy. Never before was I so tired of staring in front of a computer - I wanted to break every computer I came in contact with! (This includes my very own Dell Netbook.) But, surely things got easier and more exciting: I was to apply info I'd collected; talk to my friends and family about Amber Blues. Then I hit the road that Friday, July 15th and I got a real taste of raw advertising! This was exciting, so we exerted so much energy that day - I left downtown with a sense of accomplishment. We murdered China town with stickers! And a bit of Market st. too!

Now, just last Saturday, I'm shopping in Willow Grove mall and I was able to get someone to buy a CD in their store! They're now interested in Amber Blues, and I owe someone from Zumiez a shirt!

I've grown to be a member of the Amber Blues family; a mixed family of musically-crazed, business-crazed and charity-crazed individuals. Music is intended to heal and help (as origin has it...), and Amber Blues has patched the bridge that is my brain and made me very useful. Thanks! I can't say thank you enough. Learning is forever. Learning and taking and grabbing opportunity should be a part of our everyday lives - especially if you're an artist! Amber Blues reinforced that memo. I'm stronger as a person and as a student because of this internship; I'm exploring and trying things a year ago I couldn't see myself doing. I mean promoting a band? No! A year ago I wanted to be the band. Marketing is easy, who needs it? But all those prior assumptions have been shut down. So when my EP is released I know I have people to sell to.

I'll say it again: "I've grown to be a member of the Amber Blues family; a mixed family of musically-crazed, business-crazed and charity-crazed individuals. Music is intended to heal and help (as origin has it...), and Amber Blues has patched the bridge that is my brain and made me very useful. Thanks! I can't say thank you enough. Learning is forever. Learning and taking and grabbing opportunity should be a part of our everyday lives - especially if you're an artist! Amber Blues reinforced that memo." Goodnight World, Vernon; Amber Blues Street Team Captain and Promoter

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Tales of Amber Blues Intern/Street Team and Promotion Captain: Day 23

Happy Thursday! Happy Birthday Mr. President and Happy , Happy Music is the way I start off my day! How about yous guys? So yesterday I sold about $100 worth of merchandise alone in my house! This was exciting! Not to mention I did a sale prior to going home yesterday of a shirt and a CD, and I'm doing another today! I'm learning how valuable it is to push, Push and PUSH for what you want - and it's paying off so greatly! When I see on my Facebook notifications that a plethora of my friends have interacted with Amber Blues it gives me shivers. Like, this is my work....This IS MY work, or rather the consequence of it. This is my first job ever and so it feels good to have success and be paid for it; there's a sense of maturation and growth. I feel like a growing man, and with applying to colleges, Senmior Prom, and Graduation right around the corner, I can say this internship has helped me to develope greaty. In a matter of six weeks! (And btw, I LOVE the number 6, because it's twice of 3 and I'm the 3rd. Not to mention all of my names (THREE OF THEM!) have six letters in them!) Nothing can ruin my hype, so dont try to. Alls love folks - Vern "Ambassador of the Band" the Intern! ;)

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New Beginnings...

This week has already been more than generous with providing AB with some new help. This past few days we gained several new street team members as well as a possible co-manager, something I'm very excited about!! We also have the V-man hard at work, completing his 5th week of his summer internship with AB. Things are very prosperous right now, and I'm grateful for the help that the universe has been sending.

Another group of people have really helped make a difference lately. They are the produce workers at ShopRite of Spotswood NJ. They have so kindly been donating fruit and veggie scraps for our rescue, 'Helping All Little Things almost daily'. They have been very very cool about saving the particular scraps we need (melon rhinds, corn husks, romaine) and every donation from them gets us through another day keeping our piggies nice and fat. Many of them have come from situations where they were not properly cared for, and some were even starved and outright neglected. The extra food has helped make everyone nice and healthy, something that we are eternally grateful for.

We have also opened relations with some new music partners, including 'Recovery Council' from NJ and Skye Claire from NYC. These people are energetic, hard working and totally on the level about developing a much needed music scene, much like those of past fame. We will certainly keep everyone up to date regarding upcoming activities and events with these fine peoples.

All in all, we have several great networks developing and it's an honor to be involved with such outstanding individuals. We are truly blessed to have the oppurtunity to keep such wonderful company.

-JImmy Amber Blues

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