Intuition
Using The Mandala In Your Spiritual Practice
Years ago, I taught a class on sacred geometry. My favorite section of the class was related to using mandalas as a tool for the inward journey and I would like to share this practice with you.
When using a mandala as a form of meditation you begin by creating a large circle. I have always found it easier to start with a graph based on concentric circles, but others start with just a circle and their imagination or intuition. Start at the outer edge of the circle to begin your session and work your way around the outer edge. Gradually work your way to the center of the mandala – this represents the inward journey.
We start by creating patterns and designs on the outside of the circle. This is the largest part of the circle and represents the universe. Understanding the expansiveness of the universe we can feel very small and insignificant, so it is important to move inward to find our grounding within the cosmos.
As we move inward in our mandala we contemplate our planet, then our country or large group of people we identify with the most. For many people this can be a religious tradition. We then move to contemplating our acquaintances, family, and friends.
Towards the center many mandala meditators will create four sides, or a square that leads to the center of his or her mandala. These four sides represent the four cardinal points, South, West, North, and East.
Divining With Dowsing Rods
I have always loved working with my dowsing rods and have used them in various ways over many years. I have used dowsing, for example, to track down missing car keys, find lost jewelry, and locate various other household items. However, yesterday was a dowsing first for me.
I received a call from a friend whose husband had mysteriously lost his partial-denture plate. Apparently, he has the habit of frequently taking it out and then leaving it lying around in unusual places in their home. Of course, it irritates my friend, both from an aesthetic and hygienic point of view, but she has never been able to get him to be more conscientious with his false teeth!
Well, yesterday, his dentures were nowhere to be found. They had searched everywhere inside the house, until their four-month-old terrier-mix puppy sauntered in with soil all over his face. It was obvious that he had recently buried something.
The search for the missing teeth was thus taken outside to their large fenced off plot with its many olive trees and shrubs. The needle in the haystack was nowhere to be found. As a last resort, I was eventually called in to assist with my dowsing rods.
It took me about 20 minutes to locate the missing teeth. The dowsing rods took me directly to an area that was being prepared for planting. Once I reached the spot, all I had to do was sift through the soil with my fingers, and ‘voila’…the missing teeth were restored to its rightful owner!
Painting As A Powerful Spiritual Practice
As a visual artist, I find painting to be a powerful tool for spiritual growth and manifestation. Art has been used as a medium for self-expression and energy channeling for centuries. Painting in particular is an enlightening way to tap into one’s innermost thoughts and feelings and connect with your higher self.
One of the ways that painting can be particularly helpful in growth and healing is that it offers a way for us to let go of what no longer serves us. We too often hold onto old traumas, fears, and limiting beliefs that keep us stuck in negative patterns. Channeling these toxic thought patterns and emotions into art can help us to release it and create space for new energy to flow in.
The act of painting itself can be deeply meditative and calming, allowing the artist to quiet the mind and tap into their intuition. When we allow ourselves to be mindful and entirely present in the moment and focus solely on the act of creating, we access a state of energetic flow that is incredibly soothing, healing, and transformative.
Additionally, painting can be used as a powerful tool for manifesting. When we create art with a specific intention in mind, we are essentially using our thoughts and imagination to give physical form to that intention. Making an original painting is much more powerful and intentional than creating a vision board, for example. By painting images and scenes of the things we desire, we are sending a clear message into the universe that we are ready to receive it.
Struggling to Make A Decision?
One of the most common themes in psychic readings is the struggle to make a choice or decision. People often come to me for a reading because they are seeking a broader perspective or an assessment of their situation.
Whether their struggle is about love, health, finances, career, business or relocation, I have found the answers from spirit and their guides usually fall into three categories. So, here are my top three spirit-guided recommendations for making difficult life decisions:
Take Some Time Out
Most important decisions do not require an immediate response, even of it may appear to. Take some time to clear your head and think things through. Take a walk, focus on something else, sleep on it, or even just taking a deep breath.
Studies have shown that when we are in the stress response mode we are unable to access parts of our brain that think creatively and logically. Moreover, relaxing your body and mind, and stepping away from the sense of urgency and stress response, will allow you to create space for your intuition to speak up.
Do what you can to relax so you can access those two important aspects of decision making: the problem-solving mind, and your inner guidance.
Tune Into Your Inner Wisdom
Once you have calmed down the physiological stress response you are ready to ‘tune in.’ A great way to do this is to take a deep breath and call upon the wise part of you that already knows the answer to every challenging situation.
Go within and ask that you be shown the path that is the highest and best for all involved and be open to the answers you receive. These can come immediately, or over the next few days. Pay attention and see what signs you see in the form of overheard conversations, billboards, songs on the radio, angel numbers, dreams, gut feelings, and so forth. These are many ways spirit communicates messages to us, so keep an open mind and be aware.
Making Peace With Nature’s Plan
Nature’s plan is perfect, whether we understand it, or not. I have been distraught by this much of my life. I have also over-thought it at times, especially when I see animals suffering in nature, or the damage sometimes done to fauna and flora by raging wildfires, floods, and other natural forces.
I often ask myself what the lesson is in all of this for me? Why am I sometimes so profoundly upset by the way nature take its natural course? Apart from humanity’s awful neglect, exploitation and abuse of animals and natural resources, I have often also questioned nature itself, and how animals can be so cruel in their treatment of one another – and not always just for the sake of survival.
I have looked into the subject for some kind of resolution or understanding as to why nature is designed this way. The teachings of Emmanuel, as channeled by Pat Rhodegast, insist that nature’s plan is perfect and that each creature chose the role of predator or victim for the experience it would bring them in their own evolution process.
The Amazing Afterlife of Animals by Karen Anderson suggests that an animal will never depart this world before its their time to go, and that when it is their time to leave, they often prefer to be alone. They wander off and find a secluded place to end their lifespan naturally. They may even be chased away by other members of the herd, or other family pets. This is nature’s way.
This was the case in my home very recently. Ten days prior to my youngest cat, Prince, becoming really ill, my smallest female cat, who never liked Prince, was marking her territory and trying to keep him away from her food. She was hissing at him and tried to chase him out of the house.
A Message From Grandmother Moon
The Moon is traditionally revered as a beloved relative by the Anishinaabe peoples, a large group of culturally-related indigenous people in the United States and Canada. She is known as Nookomis, or ‘My Grandmother.’ Throughout the ages the elders of Ojibwe, one of the largest tribes of the Anishinaabe, shared with younger generations the creation story of their people.
The legend begins with Manitou, the Great Spirit, who created the Universe by dreaming it into existence. Manitou then decided he wanted to create a special creature like himself who could also dream, imagine and create. But he could not accomplish this on his own. He needed the help of the divine feminine energy of Geezhigo-Quae, the Sky Woman.
So, he ascended to her in the sky and asked her to be the mother of his children. She agreed and came down to earth to give birth to twins on the back of a Great Turtle. She named the boy and the girl ‘Anishinaabe,’ meaning ‘human’ or ‘person’ born from the mind of the Creator.
Before she returned to her home in the sky, Manitou gave her a new name: Nookomis, the Great Mother of the Anishinaabe. Grandmother Moon now lives in the sky world as a nurturing, protective energy watching over her many grandchildren by providing light and reassurance in the darkest of nights.
During my meditation today, I received a message from Grandmother Moon, which I am to carry forward myself this year and share with others who also wish to embrace her guidance. The message I am to share is simply this:
When A Prediction Timeline Slows, Or Stalls
Spiritually aware people are always on the outlook for omens, signs, and synchronicities. We know from experience that these everyday sightings and experiences are reassuring nudges from spirit. It serves as indicators that we’re on the right path, as well as forewarnings when we are not.
Spiritually wise people take it one step further by supplementing their intuition and inner guidance with predictions and forecasts obtained through various forms of divination, psychic reading, mediumship, and channeling.
But psychic predictions do not always unfold exactly as we expect. The outcome of any prediction is always subject to modification. This is especially true in the forecasting of time. In any reading, time is usually the most tentative and fluid. This may happen for various reasons, but there are two important influences that most often determine timing.
The first important reason things do not always happen when we want them to, is known as divine timing. In this case, the outcome or manifestation occurs at a moment in time that will best serve our highest good. Things always happen for a reason, because God, Source, Spirit, the Divine ensures that it unfolds in our best interest. It is therefore vital that we practice patience and forbearance when it comes to the timing of outcomes. We might think we know what is best for us, but the Universe always knows better.