A sample of recent postings on the Crimson Circle Message Board from Shaumbra around the world:

     I’m a New Consciousness Teacher….
      Geoff wrote in the last newsletter that he wanted to hear our stories about telling 4 people. Here is my story.
     Though I have been practicing and teaching [new consciousness] for about five years, I have not been willing to talk about it with the other parents or teachers at my kids' schools. During my divorce 5 years ago, my ex (a school psychologist) told everybody that I was crazy, believing in psychics etc. and to not let their kids come to my house. Quite a few moms avoided me and I sure felt the sting.
     Yesterday I was at a Girl Scout beading event with my 9 year-old daughter. There were four other moms helping. Two are psychologists, one is a lawyer and the last is the Northwest Advertising Director for "O" Magazine. Everyone was chatting away, you can imagine what ten 9-year old girls sound like!
     I "outed myself" to one of the psychologists and while I was talking, the room went silent and almost every head – parent and child – turned to look at me. Amazingly, none of this bothered me. The psychologist asked me if I was psychic (not a word I use a lot, but I knew what she meant) and I answered "yes" and gave examples of psychic experiences. Later, I talked to the "O" Magazine gal about the Eckart Tolle event, about being a teacher like him, etc. The psychologist asked for my card so she could check out my website.
     Boy that felt good!
     Sarah
     United States

     No Stopping Me Now
     I live in a very small town, only 285 permanent residents, and was dreading having to tell anyone. Amid all the drama and gossip of a small town I have managed to stay very private and out of the dramas. A group of us meet every Friday morning at a coffee club before we start our day and this Friday there were only two for coffee, so I decided to tell them who I am. I did have to do a lot of breathing before hand as my heart was pounding, my mouth was dry. Tamara was my inspiration, her story allowed me to find the courage within myself, so I thank you so very much Tamara.
      After telling the two, there was no stopping me! My business partner was the next person to find out who I am, and although none of them asked me any questions. (I received "That's great", "well done" and "congrats" it truly does not matter. I even went one step further, by placing who I am on facebook (Facebook.com) for all to see. There is no stopping me now. This is shared with much love
     Michele
     South Africa

    Be Who You Are
     I and my sister, also Shaumbra, were in Chinatown having dinner at a large, round table. We were discussing Tibet and China, when a young Chinese fellow sat at our table. After a bit, he said that he had overheard us talking and wanted to present the Chinese point of view, which he did.
     I then jumped in and introduced myself as a Higher Consciousness Teacher and presented my views on what China has to offer the world and also how, he, as a young engineer, was in a unique position to contribute new thought and energy to the situation. It really is quite liberating to be who you are, no holds barred!
     Nina
     Canada

     Northern Lights
     My name is Gael and I live in the far north of Scotland where we often see the beauty of the Northern Lights - like me they are fleeting, unpredictable, and awesome, and they too have to be experienced in person to really be appreciated. However, I don't profess to being beautiful. Enough about me though!
     Yesterday I was researching cults and secret societies (such as the Illuminati) as part of a design I am working on for a garden (the essence of the design is to incorporate symbolism, form and colour to dispel any negative or harmful energies in the vicinity of the garden).
     As the day progressed I became more and more caught up in the conspiracy theories and tales of a New World Order and also came across pages of information about terrible atrocities allegedly commited in the name of these societies. I have Aspergers Syndrome so I find anything that could be even slightly harrowing or upsetting very, very difficult to read and I often become extremely distressed. But rather oddly, when reading about these ritualistic physical and psychological abuses I did not feel distress, but a sense of highly uncomfortable recognition, as if I had had such experiences visited upon me.
     I was very, very bewildered by this, and dismayed that there could be potentially so much calculated evil in the world so I sent out a silent and very brief prayer for my eyes to be turned back to the universal beauty.
And this is where Tobias comes in, I believe. I had been creating some address labels that I wanted to save, but in the middle of doing so I fell asleep and on waking I found I had saved them as the filename 'borrowed lantern'. What on earth, I thought! And then when online a little later I came across the list that had been prepared about aches and pains, strange sensations, odd sleeping patterns, etc. It could have been written about me - I was enthralled and spent ages looking around the rather wonderful Crimson Circle site, and listening to the April information; now I have not really been that struck by the idea of channelling so I was very sceptical, but it was sooo authentic and made such fabulous sense, and resonated so well.
     To me it felt as if I had been looking through a crack of a door at what I perceived to be a privileged, clever, and I have to say rather cool group led by the most popular teacher in school, only to be invited into the group and finding myself immediately accepted and welcomed (a rare occurance for an Aspie!).
     So my points (at long last) are:
a) have I really stumbled across something that is so very pertinent to me (and yes I know you will say that I only I can know this, but I have to ask)?
b) was it easy to find you because I 'needed' something as a foil for my unpleasant feelings earlier in the day?
c) is it normal to feel as if one has grown 'taller' (I am 5'1"), and as if the cogs have started to fall into the right places, and is this a temporary thing or does it get even better?
     Of course I know the answers to these, but validation is often a very interesting (albeit rather egotistical) experience, and I would therefore be so keen to hear about other's discovery of Tobias.
     But back to that lantern. Today it made sense. From birth we are fed many words and lines of wisdom but these are often presented in a way that leave much to misinterpretation (I want never gets, living in the moment, etc.). The one I have always been told is that my body is a temple; perhaps it is, but to me temples are made of stone and are solid and unmoving.
      Today it occured to me that my body is not just somewhere to house my soul, but a place of grounding and retreat. I am, and perhaps everyone, is however I believe more akin to a lantern: carrying the light of our souls to illuminate our path and to guide others. If we neglect this lantern (which like our bodies, is not ours but merely borrowed matter) we cannot see beyond the darkness and we will be shunned by those who also seek the light.
     With all love
     Gael
     Scotland

    Question and Answer Sessions
     I listen to the Q&A sessions (which are 1:00 AM in the morning on my side of the world) glued to the computer with the hope of hearing a question that reflects such current issues, so you can imagine my frustration when I hear a question on the Goddess of Vespa, which even Tobias almost refused to answer. I asked other Shaumbra friends to see if it was only me, or they were also frustrated and everyone I talked to said they felt the same.

     Note: please don't misunderstand, I am infinitely grateful to all the amazing work you are doing at the CC, but this is one issue of Q&A questions selection has been really frustrating and I thought you should know how some of us feel out here.
     Alev
     Turkey

     Editors Note: We receive about 50 – 100 questions each month. The Q&A questions are selected at random, although we occasionally remove a totally irrelevant question or one that personally identifies someone. What you experience during the Q&A sessions is therefore a good cross section of questions that are submitted. Regarding the actual answers to questions, Geoff states that he just “channels them as he hears them.” For whatever reason, Tobias didn’t want to go into detail about the goddess Vespa. Linda also adds that the specific questions are not nearly as important as the answers and that Tobias can bring out important information even with the silliest questions!

     Dear Shaumbra, this new column, Shaumbra Speaks, will be part of each monthly newsletter. We welcome your comments, feedback, suggestions and questions. Those that are of general interest will be published the following month. (We reserve the right to edit letters for length, grammar, etc.) Please send your comments to: [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you!