A couple of days ago, Sue and I got together for a Supernal Session. These are times we meditate, pray and send healing energy to people and the planet. Each session is an adventure. We never know what might happen. Sue is growing increasingly clairaudient—she hears messages or receives blocks of information. Sometimes we pass them on; sometimes they are cryptic and we wonder what we’re supposed glean from them. This week she received “As Within, So Without.” It came through almost as a chant, aswithin, sowithout over and over. When the session was over, we Googled the phrase. Turns out an ancient Greek poet named Hermessianex penned it about 3,000 years ago.

Huh. Interesting. Obviously a referral to manifesting and “creating your own reality” as the current lingo goes. So, why now the message? No clue.

Until last night. I watched the coverage of Steve Jobs passing, knowing a huge influence on all our lives had departed. CNN played a lengthy clip of his 2005 commencement speech. He speaks of the power of death—“Death is the very likely best invention of life. All pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure, these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.” He also said he looked in the mirror  and asked him something to the effect “If this is my last day on earth, will I be spending my time doing what I think is truly important?” He said he asked himself that question every day and if the answer was “no” too many days in a row, he made a change in his activities.

Can you see how Steve Jobs set himself up for an eight year battle with pancreatic cancer? He imagined facing death every day. It was a motivational tool for him.

It ultimately became his reality. As Within, So Without.

Undoubtedly, the 2003 cancer diagnosis propelled Steve into action and changed our world with i-pods, i-phones, and i-pads.

But, it came at a high cost. A liver transplant is no walk in the park. Anti-rejection drugs can be debilitating. Only Steve and his family know the personal hell he walked through to keep his vision going. I wish someone had clued Steve in early on about the danger of his daily death battle. Surely there could have been some other powerful imagery to propel him to do great things.

So, Steve Jobs stands as a cautionary tale for me. A great visionary with the ability to manifest his best dreams and his worst fears.  As Within, So Without.