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Introducing CHUMA SPIRIT eBooks, My Ancestors Traveled Them Home, COMING SOON Taylor Siluwé's Book, Dancing With The Devil

Written by CHRISTOPHER HICKS-MARSHALL a.k.a. CHUMA With the print market of book publishing crashing and the digital media part of it successfully taking over, Chuma Spirit Publications is proud to present our new electronic book division entitled Chuma Spirit eBooks, found at www.ChumaSpiritEBooks.com. To kick off this groundbreaking introduction, I am excited to bring to you my third book, My Ancestors Traveled Them Home. As a sufferer and survivor of death and bereavement, I used memoirs and poems to speak about the demise cancer imposed on my mother and my favorite aunt, and the anguish I suffered when AIDS took the life of one of my closest friends. Despite enduring melancholy, loss, and hopelessness, with the help of the ancestors and my imperiled loved ones, I realized that death is merely an entryway to everlasting existence in a different form. I hope you will consider reading my book, which at times can be heartbreaking and painful, and at other times triumphant as I discovered a celebration of the afterlife through the power of love. Also, (with the exception of The Third Eye of a Butterfly) every book from Chuma Spirit Books that was previously published in paperback is now available in ebook format, as well. All you have to do is go to Chuma Spirit eBooks to download free sample versions and preview our ebooks for consideration of purchase. As a free gift to you, whenever you buy an ebook, you will receive a complimentary paperback copy of my very first book of poetry, The Third Eye of a Butterfly. Just follow the instructions on the website to redeem your gift. Also, coming this year, Chuma Spirit Books will be releasing other books of poetry, short stories, novels, erotica, self help, creative thesis, and memoirs from me and other amazingly talented authors. Go to Chuma Spirit Publications for more details about these announcements. For a detailed catalog of our books, please go to www.ChumaSpiritEBooks.com or review the company's myspace page. If you have any questions, I can be reached at 888-88-CHUMA. Thanking you in advance for your interest in our literature and please take a moment to read The 24 Reasons Why You Should Read eBooks. From this information, you will appreciate an ebook's benefit. COMING IN FEBRUARY     More Than Mortar and Stone - The Meandering Mental Path of a Brokenhearted Woman by FISIWE Dancing With The Devil by TAYLOR SILUWÉ P.S. Please review our free downloadable sample ebook teasers below: 1. My Ancestors Traveled Them Home by CHUMA WHAHID RASUL 2. Lovewords - Poetry From a Place Called Love by FISIWE 3. The Affectation - Overcoming Shame and Removing The Mask by CHUMA WHAHID RASUL 4. alifepoeminprogress by TANTRA

Chuma Wisdom: The Love of Falling In Love

Written by CHUMA

Love. In summary of the few definitions found in the dictionary, it has been described as the most profound and passionate emotion for another, inciting affections and personal attachments that are strong, enthusiastic and endearing. It is a feeling that can be extremely inexplicable and, at the same time, deeply plausible, enough that it can be recognized in someone's eyes, smile, body language, speech, touch, attentiveness, and overall aura. The rush of it is the highest elevation of ecstasy and zeal, and I can attest to being fortunate enough to have experienced various levels of this sensation many times.

When first I became acquainted with falling in love, I remember the dichotomy of feeling fearlessly naive, and yet nervously anxious about the newfound implosion that was bursting in my heart. I hadn't been infiltrated by heartbreak yet, so at the time responding to those feelings came without hesitation or caution, but with everything that had to do with being sensitive and flustered.

I can recall the stars and rainbows that appeared in my consciousness from love's first kiss, and the electrifying bolt that traveled through me from love's first touch. What came over me was a sense of arousal that was far deeper than anything sexual. It was spiritual. However, I think at the time that particular awareness was unbeknownst to me, and the new emotions that were powerfully moving through me were confusing, fascinating, and irresistibly addictive. It was intoxicatingly better than anything that I had ever experienced, and I wanted no division from the pleasure.

And then the letdown happened. My first heartbreak.

The enemy of depression defeated me, and I couldn't understand how and why. Innocently, I thought I had found a trustworthy and everlasting friend in love, and I couldn't conceive how this supposedly friend of mine could betray me and inflict an anguish unimaginable. I was crestfallen and perplexed. The color of everything was gone and unhappiness became my adversary. Soon, I became somewhat afraid to love, and this began the cycle of the many lessons I would learn regarding the ambivalence of love.

The joys and pains, the vulnerabilities and contradictions, the enchantment and downheartedness—all helped me to understand and express everything that I was discovering and enduring. Through this experience, came wisdom and an emancipating convalescence that was liberating. Eventually, the fear diminished, and I felt nothing but absolution from the consequences of falling in love, which gave permission for other relationships and experiences to occur.

With astuteness, I began to love again.

Love. When exchanged in its pureness, can be one's crown of happiness and shield of devotion. It can surmount fearfulness and rejoice in harmonious association. Although pain and complexity may, at times, extend from its happenstance, its true foundation is abound with soulful euphoria and heartfelt sensibilities. However, the true essence of love is a cycle, somewhat like a birth that inevitably becomes a death only to be reborn over and over again. I have experienced this powerful cycle enough to know that ultimately love is all there is.

Innately, it is that which we all desire to experience. We dream of it. We long for it. We even rearrange our lives in a quest for the possibility of obtaining it. Some even sacrifice, cry, and fight for it, experiencing an agony in hopes that it will eventually become felicity. It is evident that the joys and pains of love transpire contemporaneously—sometimes shifting back and forth between the two—and in order to appreciate the joy one may have had to experience the pain in order to return to the joyfulness in gratitude.

I learned to appreciate this cycle.

In realization of love's rhythm, I learned to allow the dance of my heart to continue and not stagnate in the name of caution, and, most importantly, fear of heartbreak. I learned to embrace the imperfections that showed up in the midst of a loving or strained exchange (as long as it wasn't detrimental), realizing that a perfect lesson was there to learn which prepared and enlightened me for a higher love in myself and from others. Enduring was difficult at times, as I could have chosen to shut down the possibility of continuing to experience love because of the disappointments and perplexities that came with it. But after comprehending that love is an oxymoron of simple complexities and heartrending exaltations, I came to a place of fluid acceptance, ready to receive and accommodate the cycle, which then became a rebirth of jubilation and achievability.

Then peace emanated and I began to know a special love.

I became cognizant of a love that was spiritual and authentic. An absolute way of love that overcame the restrictions of religious dictatorship. An unshackled love that surmounted and crossed over the forbidden lines of interracial relations and traditional constructs of cultural differences. An equality type of love that prevailed and expanded past gender prohibitions and sexuality prejudices. I came to know an intimate and romantic standard of love, abundant with endless possibilities and infinite potential with someone very special.

And this higher form of love conquered everything.

It was an expansive love that didn't constrict or remain still. It was a free love that moved, opened up, leaped, skipped, flew, soared, and laughed. It didn't strangle, debilitate, suppress, restrain, shut down, deceive or punish, because love doesn't perform as such. Love is honest, loyal, happy, forgiving, and understanding. Love is a listener, a communicator, a friend, a parent, and a mate. Love is that which we all interpret as God.

In this practice of this knowledge, love gave birth to itself in perpetual repetition, and it is a rebirth that I am wiling to experience a million times over.

Chuma Whahid Rasul is also known as Christopher Hicks, author of two books of poetry and CEO of CHUMA SPIRIT BOOKS, LLC. He is also Editor-in-Chief of his own blog, CHUMA SPIRIT Magazine. Check him out.

Chuma Wisdom: Confronting Your Fears

Written by CHUMA

When we live from a love-based foundation, usually the various aspects of our lives tend to come together and flourish successfully. Because love expands, supports, strengthens, multiplies, and breathes, that which we aim to accomplish using this attribute eventually triumphs. Our goals may be to find peace, to graduate from college, to disengage from an unfulfilling relationship, to travel the world, to start a second career, to fly in a spacecraft to the moon, to become more spiritual. Whatever it is, working from a love-based structure of self-love will help us surmount all that we desire. But when we allow the opposite to infiltrate our roots, our growth becomes stagnant.

Fear is the polar opposite of love. It constricts. It hides. It shuts down. It suffocates. It silences. Eventually, all that is possible is seemingly bleak, resulting in the feeling to give up. It feels safer to live inside of the box that we’ve fooled ourselves into believing is our rescuer. But in actuality, we’ve been abandoned by our own selves, because we haven’t allowed who we really are to manifest. Instead, we remain who we are not, and completely betray ourselves.

Many of us don’t realize this self-betrayal because fear has fooled us into believing that where we are is where we need to be, even if we desire else wise. Oftentimes, people decide to blame the conditions of their lives on spaces in time, other people, events taking place, happenstances around them, and, most commonly, the devil. If they are not blaming the devil, then they are putting their lives in the Lord’s hands. While they are waiting on the Lord, time is ticking away, and in many instances they are not totally aware that they are avoiding taking responsibility for their own circumstances. Unfortunately, the act of proactively making a change and stepping out the box scares most people, causing opportunities lost. However, this doesn’t have to be.

As difficult as it may seem to tear down fear-based constructs, it is very possible with just a little courage, discipline and belief in you. You can start off small and then work your way up. Make a list of all the things that you would like to do, and then next to each item try to write out a few sentences of all the reasons why you haven’t done them. Be honest with yourself; don’t sugarcoat your answers. By confronting yourself first, you will discover reasons that you probably never even considered before. I know I did. When I did this exercise with myself, it was quite helpful to see the reasons organized on paper as opposed to jumbled or suppressed in my mind. Then one by one ambitiously challenge yourself by facing those fears and tackling those obstacles. Believe that it is possible; that you have the ability to accomplish anything you so dream of. Trust me; it can really happen when you operate from a place of loving yourself, but only when you stop fearing who you are meant to be.

Chuma Whahid Rasul is also known as Christopher Hicks, author of two books of poetry and CEO of CHUMA SPIRIT BOOKS, LLC. He is also Editor-in-Chief of his own blog, CHUMA SPIRIT Magazine. Check him out.

Chuma Wisdom: When Vulnerability is Taken for Granted

Written by CHUMA

Making ourselves vulnerable can be a difficult feat. By opening ourselves to others, we reveal and express parts of our being that we normally feel comfortable keeping locked away. In many cases, showing vulnerability takes courage, trust, and the ability to overcome any insecurity associated with what we desire and/or fear to express—which makes sharing this special part of ourselves a gift to others.

But have you often felt that others haven’t recognized this offering as a gift? Do you feel as if there have been instances whereas your vulnerability has been unappreciated? You may have gone out of your way to do someone a favor you normally would not have done, and they weren’t grateful. You may have shared a secret with someone, and they betrayed your trust. You may have written someone an emotional letter sharing your inner most private feelings about them, and they didn’t acknowledge it or respond. You may have simply decided to be the best friend and family member or the most loving lover to someone, and unfortunately they used you, deceived you, stole from you, and, even worse, abused you and broke your heart—all examples of when vulnerability is taken for granted.

What do you do when this happens? How do you resolve this? Anger, resentment, and bitterness may show up, but is that truly how you want to feel? Those emotions can trigger behavior that is vengeful and destructive. The objective is to do something proactive that won’t give way for your vulnerability to ever be misused and/or disregarded. Since you can’t control others, you must enforce control within you, and take back your power.

I suggest, at your own discretion, to communicate your feelings. Sometimes people aren’t as conscientious about their inconsiderate actions because they may be distracted by whatever busyness and chaos in their own lives. They may not intend to neglect you and may be burdened by the demands of life. So having a talk with them to make them aware of their disservice towards you just may redeem things back to normal.

But if that doesn’t work or if discernment cautions you that talking about it may lead to conflict, I suggest, with your most pleasant disposition, to pull back from them. You decide how much space is needed. Sometimes you have to snatch back your vulnerable side, and place the focus on yourself. This can be hard for those who are dependent on their relationships with others, or who may be deeply in love. But it is possible and necessary for the protection of your peace of mind. Sometimes you have to love people from a distance or with some form of boundaries so that they can’t hurt you. Set parameters and release all expectation of them. The wise saying “expectation is the mother of disappointment” came forth from experience and good reason.

While you are exercising this useful practice, tap into the things about yourself that elicits happiness and acknowledge the people who are truly worthy of experiencing your precious vulnerability. Spend time with them, and, most importantly, spend quality time with yourself.

You may be creative or you may love to travel. You may love to shop and go out dancing or you may just love to be a homebody. You may love to read books, listen to music, or mediate. Whatever it is, give that your attention. Cultivate it and watch it grow. Discernment, kindness, wisdom, dependence on self, and self-love should all flourish with peace. With that peace you can be as vulnerable as you desire, which is very powerful, and with this power no one will ever be able to take the gift of your vulnerability for granted ever again.

Chuma Whahid Rasul is also known as Christopher Hicks, author of two books of poetry and CEO of CHUMA SPIRIT BOOKS, LLC. He is also Editor-in-Chief of his own blog, CHUMA SPIRIT Magazine. Check him out.

Chuma Wisdom: Letting Go of the Littlest Mishaps...With a Smile

It is human nature to make mistakes. It is human nature to experience misunderstandings. But how we deal with them is the key to moving through life conflict free.

In our interactions with people, there will always be differences of opinion, different ways of doing things, different perceptions, and different ideas or belief systems. Sometimes you may be on the same page with someone, and other times you and that person may be in two totally separate chapters, thus causing imbalance or a clashed way of doing things. It could be the smallest thing. For instance, the disapproval of where someone placed something, to that person forgetting to take care of a task, to someone putting too much seasoning in the dinner they cooked, to someone losing or misplacing something. Yes, people freak out over these things, but is it really worth it?

Feeling annoyed and frustrated over the many mishaps that take place in our everyday existence is absolutely normal, but reacting to it, sometimes hurting others who care about you in the process doesn’t have to be. At times, that negative energy festers and mutates, thus giving way for it to blow out of proportion into something ugly and painful. This is why we must learn to let go of the little mishaps, because they are always going to happen, regardless, and most of the time they are unintentional and without malice.

Many engage in the art of complaining. Everything little instance bothers them. It seems to them that nothing turns out right. Usually, when someone carries this mindset, there is a part of them that is entrenched in being defensive. And when the smallest happenstance occurs that displeases them, the opportunity to react in conflict is triggered. This creates arguments, and sometimes emotional and physical altercations, or most commonly the seemingly disrespect of the silent treatment.

But was it really worth it? Was it worth a day or more of not speaking to one another or experiencing feelings of hurt and detachment, all stemming from a conflict that had to do with putting too much sugar in one’s coffee or forgetting to wash the ring from around the bathtub? Believe it or not, people are having major disagreements about these things, when the conversation should really be about the solution and not the pointing of the finger in blame.

Should a goodbye kiss in the morning from a spouse go undone? Should a birthday card to a friend remain not purchased? Should a holiday go uncelebrated? Should two people go on in silence, stuck in their pride of not apologizing to one another over these small mistakes and misunderstandings? I think not.

While human emotions of anger and dissatisfaction have its place in regards to some instances, overall one should consider not applying them to the smallest mishaps, especially when someone was being thoughtful or trying to accommodate with the sincerest of intentions. For the most part, we should plant ourselves in the foundation of forgiveness and lightheartedness, and you will find that letting go of the little mishaps will be easier. Before you know it, you will be free of those negative emotions. You’ll not only be greatly affected by your own happiness, but you’ll also create that positive atmosphere for others around you as you let go of the littlest mishaps with an assuring and absolving smile.

Chuma Whahid Rasul is also known as Christopher Hicks, author of two books of poetry and CEO of CHUMA SPIRIT BOOKS, LLC. He is also Editor-in-Chief of his own blog, CHUMA SPIRIT Magazine. Check him out.

Chuma Wisdom: Time vs. Timelessness - A Brief Take on Spirituality and Love

Throughout my lifetime, I keep learning the same lessons, coming across similar paradigms over and over again in regards to the constructs of love and the prelude leading up to feeling that emotion. Again and again, I have discovered that anything occurring outside of ourselves requires the examination of time, even though that which we feel from within—emotions, spirit—are all very much timeless. Love has no time. It doesn't follow a clock or a calendar. It just is. But how we choose to experience love comes with time.

As human beings, we err in judgment at times, allowing our emotions to guide our decisions when time should be of essence. While it is quite natural to fall in love with someone in only a few days, it is obvious that the decision to move into someone's home with them at a whim without full knowledge of their habits, mood swings, daily culture, and other attributes that determine how people relate to one another come with time and investigation. Yet still, how you came to feel endeared to that person was timeless.

Have you ever watched a movie and cried for a character you personally did not know? Have you ever viewed the news and felt deep sadness for an event or tragedy that happened to people you had no relationship with? Have you ever looked into someone's eyes that you've only known for a few hours or perhaps a day, kissed them, held them, or maybe even made love to them, and felt deeply espoused to them in your spirit? Have you ever had thoughts of someone swirling around your head from the moment you awoke from your slumber to the time you went back to sleep and couldn't explain why? Those are the timeless events of emotion that are naturally imbued in the human vortex by the God in us. Love!

Furthermore, have you ever been mesmerized by someone you were totally attracted to, talked on the phone for hours at a time with them, and in their presence felt totally pulled and arrested by their spirit in just a matter of days? I have. I know the feeling all too well, a rare feeling, but a familiar feeling nonetheless. It feels good; so good sometimes that we find it to be unbelievable, and create reason by the notion of time and fear to thwart the feeling or slow it down. "I've only known you for a few days, this can't be possible." "It's too early for me to feel such strong feelings for you." But when the natural Godlike feeling of emotion is timeless, and one becomes aware of this magnificence with acceptance, the possibilities become endless between people. One should never stop allowing themselves to feel, to experience, and explore love. One should just stop allowing the happenstance of haste to occur outside of oneself under the machine of love.

Love can either be a feeling, guiding you into knowing your higher self as you relate to another or it can be a machine, driving you to make unwise decisions that will evoke regret, resentment and long term hurt. It can be your greatest friend or your most daunting adversary. Love has the power of God, and that is why I believe it is important to know the distinction between how it operates timelessly and with time.

I find that when you discover an exchange that has the strong possibility of love, you should never fight it, stifle it or be afraid of it. Welcome it into your existence confidently and fearlessly. Talk about it. Touch it. Taste it. Hear it on all levels. Know it like the palm of your hand. Don't push it away because of time. Let the timelessness of it be fluid and free. Let that part of it happening within you grow, share, and be alive. But know that as love evolves, deciding how far you proceed sexually, build a foundation together, exchange gifts, take trips together, make financial decisions amongst each other, jointly invest in property, and create a family are decisions that occur with time, which is the part of love that is happening outside of yourself. See the difference?

Just remember this. 1. Occurrences of love happening within you are timeless, and thrive better when not controlled or denied, but experienced unabashedly. 2. Events of love happening outside of yourself come with time and flourish at best when decided with discernment and wisdom.

In my experience, if we can master this thought and practice it, the inherent power of love will come into fruition like a blessing a thousand times over. Trust me, it is the next best thing to God!

Chuma Whahid Rasul is also known as Christopher Hicks, author of two books of poetry and CEO of CHUMA SPIRIT BOOKS, LLC. He is also Editor-in-Chief of his own blog, CHUMA SPIRIT Magazine. Check him out.

Chuma Wisdom: Finding Your Purpose In Life

Have you ever asked yourself “What is my purpose,” and found yourself short of an answer? It is a question that baffles most, and in some cases tragically eludes others until their demise. All too often, these people end up feeling misplaced, oftentimes running through life mechanically making a living doing something they hate for the sake of surviving and not for the joy of living. For some reason, many people accept their habitual and monotonous existence, and somehow interpret that they weren’t assigned a purpose. They convince themselves to believe that a predestined plan was designed for some and not for others, but I believe that is not so.

Pervasively, through many materialistic images projected in society, the meaning of having a purpose sometimes means accomplishing something that equates to money, power, and social status. But this superficial way of approach to existence has caused some to feel less significant than those who have decided that their personal purpose is to achieve material, but not spiritual success, thus bowing to unhealthy convention. This ultimately leads to division based upon class and economics. Consequently, people develop a purpose for the wrong reasons, and never realize that their underlying goal is to be accepted by society, eventually leading to unhappiness.

I believe that a purpose does not have to be artificial. You can achieve your purpose and find genuine spiritual fulfillment. All you have to do is believe that you can create a meaningful purpose instead of settling for less by assuming that the powers-that-be in the celestial conference room somehow overlooked you when they were assigning purposes to each of us. Why accept the untruth that the ability to create your purpose is impossible? It has been said many times over that we are created in our maker’s likeness. And that maker is often referred to as The Creator, hence your ability to create as well.

So instead of asking yourself “What is my purpose?” ask yourself the following: What is my passion? What do I love to do? Once you have answered those questions (and it may take time to figure it out; try making a list), tell yourself “I can do anything that I believe in because I can create.” Unlearn all the limitations you were conditioned to believe in, and recognize the infinite possibilities that abound. Detach yourself from the ideologies and expectations of the world, and stop comparing your accomplishments and purposes to those of others. Look deep into yourself, and recognize the passionate inspiration in your heart and the yearning to be your best and most productive self. Determine what that desire is, whether it is being a stay-at-home parent to being the president of your country. Regardless of what that goal is, if it is positive, and it gratifies your desires and enlightens you, it is relevant. Upon discovery, pursue it. Give chase to it as if the peacefulness of your life depended upon it. Do this by tapping into the God within you, and from this practice your purpose will be born. I suggest not believing God assigns a pre-destined purpose to some and not others. Instead, understand that you have a god within yourself, and that you possess the ability to create your own purpose. Now go for it!

Chuma Whahid Rasul is also known as Christopher Hicks, author of two books of poetry and CEO of CHUMA SPIRIT BOOKS, LLC. He is also Editor-in-Chief of his own blog, CHUMA SPIRIT Magazine. Check him out.

For every Boy who ever cringed when he heard 'Faggot'

(My review of The Affectation: Overcoming Shame and Removing the Mask, by Chuma Whahid Rasul.) For every Boy who ever cringed when he heard ‘Faggot’. By Taylor Siluwé An affectation can be a mannerism, a ruse, or a grander more destructive deception. When a same-gender-lover pretends to be otherwise, for family, for friends, for church—whether for a lifetime or a single tour of duty—something unseen shivers unloved and alone. There are moments though, rare moments, when we encounter things that tap into the unseen. It can be a movie, a book, or even a soul which arrives with a cold and knowing tingle down the spine. In her best-selling memoir, Find Me, Rosie O’Donnell called it a ‘spingle’ – when your deeper consciousness knows something profound just happened. Something spiritual. I was on the PATH train reading a book ... sorta. I’d just started and I wasn’t into it yet. My mind wandered. My eyes followed. A young Latino kat got on, catching my eye, confused if he should take the one remaining seat which happened to be next to me. His eyes were warm and feminine and relinquished things he tried to keep hidden beneath a façade of thuggish masculinity. I nodded almost imperceptibly and moved my bag off the seat. I wanted him to sit. I wanted him to stay where he was. I wanted him. But he averted his gaze, leaned against the door and remained standing. I was happy and pissed and returned to my reading ... sorta. The experience was hardly unusual and not at all profound. I got no spingles. Days later I finished reading that book – The Affectation: Overcoming Shame and Removing the Mask, by Chuma Whahid Rasul. Once I’d set aside my desire to capture that beauty on the train, to fulfill a need almost as old as my birthday—to be loved by those who won’t truly love me back—I spread my mind and let Chuma have his way with it. Yeah. He fucked my head. Not in a ‘wham bam’ internet hook-up kinda way between strangers afraid to look at each other ... no, this was a slow, sweet coupling of souls who shared similar scars, similar persuasions maligned and marginalized through time. Ancient lost loves sweating in the dark and gasping for air. The Affectation is a salve for the soul of every boy who ever cringed when he heard the word faggot. It’s a book, a memoir, a fantasy, a theatrical ride conspired by Gods long forgotten. Yeah—Gods who knew me even before I did, one’s who still snuggle up to me at night, whisper in my ear and expect great things from me. It’s a seduction which aroused ideas, stroked emotions and exploded possibilities about my past and future that, let’s just say, left me panting and glowing like no hot boy on a train ever has. Well, a few, but that’s another tale. Do yourself a favor though, pour a glass of something special, set the mood and curl up with The Affectation. Let Chuma lubricate your mind with forgotten Gods and lost loves ... but prepare to gasp for air. mySpace.com/ChumaSpirit ChumaSpirit.com