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A Cosmology of Self Picturing The Personal Universe and How It Works

Richard H. Geer

Contents Part I “Never Feel Alone” – Poem

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Introduction

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Background



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What is Star Journey

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Ways to Enjoy This Book

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a. As a Symbolic Journey

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b. As a Model of the Mind 10



c. As a Tool for Insights & Decision-making 11

Experiencing Intuition and Synchronicity 13 Tapping Intuition With The Goal Journey 19 Levels of Living – The Inner Landscape of Star Journey



27 Continued

Part II The Cosmology “The Light”– Poem

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The One

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The Two

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The Four Directions - Cornerstones of the Cosmology

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Symbolic Journey of the Self 1. The Stars 2. The States

Consciousness as Energy

(Symbols A – L)

Consciousness Creating Form

(1 – 12)

3. The Star-Crosses Consciousness Expressed in Being (13 – 36) 4. The Gifts



40 70 96

Inherent Abilities of Consciousness (37 – 48) 152

5. The Keys

Consciousness in Transition

(49 – 60) 178

6. The Gates



Postures of Consciousness

(61 – 72)

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7. The Signs



Sources of Satisfaction

(73 – 84)

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Appendix 1. The Star Journey Circle Pattern

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a. The Cycle of Growth

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b. The Twelve Gateway Galleries

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c. The Twelve Seas

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2. What is a Cosmology?

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3. The Simple Glimpse Game

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4. Origins and Future Direction

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5. For Further Information

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Background

Star Journey was published for the general market starting in 1979, and was released as a series of titles under the trademark title STAR+GATE. The basic components were the set of 96 Symbolic Cards, the Circle Pattern showing the organization of the symbols, and a how-to book Keys To The Kingdom. An earlier limited edition was published in 1969. The STAR+GATE titles were sold in bookstores throughout the U.S. and around the world through mail order. Now nearly 40 years since initial conception, this unique cosmology and game of insights are being re-launched as Star Journey. The content-rich, 3-dimensional and interactive environment of Second Life provides the ideal format for presenting this tool. This book, first drafted many years ago in 1986, is now updated and released to coincide with the launch of Star Journey island. It is the most comprehensive guide and source of information today about this dynamic tool for insight.



What Is Star Journey?

Star Journey is a tool for personal insight and decision-making. It consists of 96 Symbols and a circular diagram (Circle Pattern) that show how these symbols are organized into a pattern. Taken as a whole, the pattern describes the many varied facets of the psyche, of the self. In that way, Star Journey can be considered a cosmology, that is, a way to express the parts of a whole in order to paint the picture of the complete person or even of the universe. There is much discussion, psychological, philosophical and religious, about the relation of the individual to the greater whole, or source, or God. This tool does not answer those questions of exact relationships between self and God. But it does demonstrate that the universe and personal experience are intimately connected, that we affect what we experience in life. It shows the reflective nature of reality and the universe, that inner states of mind can appear as outer conditions or circumstances. Most importantly, Star Journey shows how you are in control of shaping many aspects of your life. When you can see more clearly how you become involved in situations, you can make more informed choices which can lead to a happier and more satisfying existence.



Ways To Enjoy This Book You can enjoy learning about Star Journey in several ways. Overall, what you will encounter in this book is a framework for better understanding the human psyche. The core of the book can be read as a story, it can be considered as a model of the mind, or it can actually be utilized as a tool for insights and practical decision-making. The relevance of each of these ways are explained below.

STAR JOURNEY AS... A SYMBOLIC JOURNEY First, as a story it tells of the course of the self in human form. Not that it could duplicate the unique experience of human life, but the material describes facets of real life of which we are all aware at some level. The cosmology is a journey in successive steps through various levels of experience. The path begins at the building blocks of archetypal energies and leads ultimately to signposts of personal fulfillment. Not all people live their lives in exactly the same order. And we do many things at once; living never seems to be as simple as a straight line. The cosmology is symbolic. It touches upon and describes many significant parts of living, but it does not pretend to capture everything one can be or feel. In reading the Star Journey Cosmology, the symbols can be considered as a series of steps along a path, one following the other. Each new step is a development, building on prior progress and advancing one to the new levels of experience. The cosmology contains seven Levels of Living, marking significant layers of personal experience. These range from expansive, exterior qualities sensed as moods or energies to inner, more deeply experienced



aspects, such as those involving satisfaction. Each of the levels has twelve parts, reflecting an overall twelve-part Cycle of Growth. Although the course of the journey is based on a circular pattern, experiencing it may seem more like a spiral. You may also see connections between the “head” and “tail” of the series and other ways the symbols link together. All this is part of assimilating what the cosmology is and making it meaningful for yourself.

STAR JOURNEY AS... A MODEL OF THE MIND As an organized system that brings together many attributes of being a person, the Star Journey cosmology can also be considered as a model of the mind, of personality, and human development. Each symbol or step in the cosmology depicts an aspect of the self. As you become familiar with Star Journey, you will be able to pinpoint aspects of yourself when certain situations occur and evolve. For instance, you may feel a condition you are in is just like the symbol “mud”, or that you had to become a “knight” to make something happen, or that in a certain instance the desire to have your “cake” has grown into wanting something deeper. These reference points can be an aid in the overall understanding of a situation, where it is leading, or what might be done to improve it. This is based on seeing the various parts, the symbols, within the context of a whole. Star Journey is a valid model of the mind, not so much for being utterly accurate but more for its ability to serve as an accessible matrix for plotting the evolving knowledge of who we are. This is a vantage point for the self that cuts across many categories of knowledge, allowing many disciplines to converge and allowing many people to be a part of the process. In general, this may be the system’s best long-term function – as a framework which you consider over the course of time, in the interest of having

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Star of Impulse

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A Star of Impulse The Doer: Experiencing Within the arc of a starry sky appears the shape of a black cabinet; upon its darkened face a door. Without sound, a faint edge appears, then a glow which widens. Light streams forth, filling space and vision with The Wanderer spectacular strength. It moves, it dances, it excites, it...is. This is the light and the energy of The Doer, the universal impulse to go forth, to be, to do. In its presence, you and those around you are stimulated to action. Fly, exhibit, ride. Act. The burst is the initial vitality, the impulse that truly IS. Before anything more can occur. First is the spark, else there can be no fire. Experience this vitality and bring new energy into your life.

GATEWAY GALLERIES: I. The First Cause II. The Matrix POSSIBLE INTERPRETATIONS: As a Goal: As a Problem: As You Now:

Exhilaration: Fun Lack of Direction Enthusiasm

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Magician

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13 Magician The Expression of Adeptness Keywords: ADEPT, TRANSFORMER, MANIPULATOR, INGENIOUS “There is no situation that cannot be handled. Place it before me, and I shall work with it, maneuver it, and if need be overcome it. I have dwelt with dreams and now I stand in the lighted world of reality. An instrument of mind blended with matter, I have seen what can be done and am prepared to bring those dreams into being through my action.” When the Magician comes forth, the adept and confident side of you, anything can be accomplished. With a direct and forthright style, the moment is addressed and whatever is at hand is dealt with. Many tasks can be handled at once, and without great effort. The Magician’s actions are often acknowledged as ingenious, artful, although some may wonder if he is manipulating people or is caught up in his own ego. Yet he performs many feats, focused on his tasks, and tackling the seeming impossible with ease. Continued

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Symbols as Part of a Timeless Cycle of Growth The symbols in Star Journey take on additional dimension and meaning when viewed against the backdrop of the system’s Circle Pattern. The Pattern, as shown here, provides the visual context or arrangement of Star Journey, while the symbols themselves create the content. Symbols, for example those obtained for the Goal Journey, can be located within the Circle Pattern and their placement and other relative positions considered. This will enhance your understanding of the symbols and of Star Journey in general. With the information provided here on the Gateway Galleries and Seas of Star Journey, individual symbols can be seen as part of a classic cycle of growth, development and change. In the preceding cosmology section, symbols were arranged according to the Star Journey’s seven Levels of Living. Within each level were twelve sequential steps, depicted by symbols. Now the same symbols are viewed from a different perspective. Each group of symbols denotes a particular repeating pattern. Visually, the sum of the various parts of Star Journey is the Circle Pattern diagram shown on the facing page. This shows how the parts – primarily the symbols – are grouped together and interrelated into the whole. The location of each symbol on the Circle is found by its corresponding number or letter from symbol pages in the text. The Circle Pattern’s perimeter has twelve divisions, as shown by Roman numerals around the Circle’s edge. These indicate pie-like sections of the overall Circle, which in Star Journey are called Gateway Galleries. The simple concept of these Gateway Galleries and their progression around the circle reveals a timeless, recurring Cycle of Growth. This cycle reflects certain stages of the self, stages that all things go through, from a beginning to ultimate completion. The cycle applies to the development of 271

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The Spirit Incarnate Uif!Hbsefo!pg!ÓJ!QSPKFDUÔ The preceding four Gateway Gallerys (or stages) have established a basis for the self, which is now enlivened by spirit, projecting energy and essence into the world through the individual personality. The symbols of this area therefore describe initial steps involved in the self’s quest for expression, for showing creativity, and for receiving validation and praise. LEVEL:

Symbols in The Spirit Incarnate

STARS: STATE: STAR-CROSS: GIFT: KEY: GATES: SIGN:

D. Star of Inwardness E. Star of Laugh 5. Fire 17. Moon 29. Duck 41. Circle 53. Chain 65. Hole 66. Sword 77. Star

Astrological Association: Leo, fifth house

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The Grand Plan Uif!Hbsefo!pg!ÓJ!CFDPNFÔ This Gateway Gallery is involved with refining one’s self expression, determining howenergy will be put to use. The self has awareness and feedback about the universe as well as discovering its own strengths and style. Now the individual learns both how to better itself and perform meaningful service in the world. LEVEL:

Symbols in The Grand Plan

STARS: STATE: STAR-CROSS: GIFT: KEY: GATES: SIGN:

E. Star of Laugh 6. Water 18. Jester 42. Chair 54. Robe 66. Sword 78. Lamp

Astrological Association: Virgo, sixth house 281

F. Star of Bowing 30. Leaf

67. Token

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Sea of Birth Uif!Fofshz!pg!BEKVTUJOH! Here, the Star of Change brings forth new things. “The Mover” acts. The energy of adjusting makes way for new emergence. This is the East, where dawn always brings new opportunity, new outlook. The self-expressions (Star-crosses) are the Egg and the Chest. The challenges (Keys) are in the Powder and the Serpent. The Gate to birth is the Stone, providing entry through the attitude of integrity and exit by way of the posture of steadfastness. The Sea of Birth lies between the Gardens of III. The Motion and IV. The Pure Water.

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Sea of Kings Uif!Fofshz!pg!JOUFHSBUJOH In the Southerly position reigns “Majesty” the Star of Bowing. The energy of integrating calls for our best, seeking the blend of inner and outer urges and a glimpse of our transcendent nature. We see the promise of personal fulfillment in the light of a collective heritage. The self-expressions (Star-crosses) are the Leaf and the Maiden. The challenges (Keys) are in the Robe and the Gate. The Gate to Kings is through the attitudes found in the Token. Entry comes from appreciating others, exit from expressing intent. The Sea of Kings lies between the Gardens of VI. The Grand Plan and VII. The Perfect Union.

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Star Journey’s Origin and Future Direction Is Star Journey the product of a gifted seer, was it found in a cave somewhere, where did it come from? Although the questions have some mystery attached to them, the answers are not very mysterious. It has been a very interesting personal journey, though, and it started many years ago. I wanted a tool like this, and I couldn’t find what I wanted among the things that existed. So I decided to make something for myself - something that had the qualities I was looking for. That might sound easy, but things don’t always turn out so simple. I didn’t have any particular qualifications for getting into work like this. My background is art and writing. It was a personal search that led me into Star Journey, and once it started, I realized it would become a major commitment, a life’s work. And that’s what is has been, in one way or another, since the system was first conceived in 1968. When it started, I was finishing college. Many questions loomed before me about the future, my work, the rest of my life. I wanted a tool to help deal with these questions, one that would allow me see beyond where I was, something that would cut through the obvious circumstances and tell me as much as possible - both in relation to immediate concerns and to longer range, or deeper, purposes. Most importantly, I wanted a tool that would help me reach within myself, to gain understanding and insights, to draw upon deep inner consciousness with which I feel we are all connected. As I looked all around me for existing tools, I realized there really wasn’t much available that was oriented to the Western mind or to recent thinking and research about the nature of reality. It seemed to me that we have much potential as human beings and more capacity for understanding the

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processes of life than we normally use. People hold much truth and creativity, yet have few tools for tapping these in concrete ways. Certainly, systems like the I Ching and Tarot had their validity, but it seemed something else was out there that didn’t exist yet. And of course, whatever it was, that was what I wanted. Consequently, I became embroiled in both an inner, soul search and an outer, world search to clarify and find what I was looking for. Soon I had two major pieces of my solution – and as it turned out, the basis of Star Journey. One was a simple diagram, something I gleaned by chance from astrology. It was nothing more than a circle overlaid with four equal triangles. The other part was a list of symbols. I wrote down the names of about a hundred things from the everyday world - water, a rose, lightning, cup, eye, etc. These were things that people had imbued with a great deal of meaning over time, although each was basic and widely known. The diagram was relatively simple too. What I saw in it seemed plausible and appropriate to the search. The triangles in the circle divided it into 12 parts, signifying signs of the zodiac (which we also think of as personality types). The triangles showed a relationship between the signs in terms of the physical elements - earth, water, fire and air. These are considered symbolically, one birth sign as a fiery nature, another watery, and so on. The diagram’s triangles simply joined signs related to the same element. There were two simple parts – a diagram and a list. Inside I had a feeling that there was something to this - something that had not been done before - and it was going to come out, be revealed, if it would just be pursued. To me, the diagram was a fascinating table of elements, one that related to people and their nature. It also reminded me of the periodic table of elements from science and chemistry classes in school. I was incredibly intrigued by the similarity of the two tables. The contents of the table I contemplated were simple, yet powerful things that were all around us, symbols sprinkled through everyday life. Could this be the crux of a cosmic explanation of things?

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