Monthly Archives: February 2023
The Wisdom Of The Cuckoo
Over the past year, I have become fascinated with birds, particularly thrushes. They are small to medium-sized ground birds that feed mostly on insects and fruit. My interest began with the American robin, but soon branched out to other thrushes worldwide, such as the fieldfare, the Eurasian blackbird, and olive thrush of Southern Africa.
One peculiar species I accidentally stumbled upon is the well-known, and also notorious cuckoo. Apart from being famous as the key feature in ornate wooden clocks from Germany, the cuckoo is also infamous for being a ‘parasitic’ bird that lays its eggs in other birds’ nests.
Yes, the cuckoo does not raise its own young. Instead, it takes advantage of other bird parents by laying in their nests. Once the egg hatches, the cuckoo chick attempts to push the other bird species’ eggs out of their nest, thus monopolizing the surrogate parents’ energy. The cuckoo chick typically also grows much bigger than the natural offspring of its adopted parents.
Watching some videos of cuckoos online, I became aware of many negative comments on YouTube about these amazing birds. Many folks apparently choose to regard the cuckoo as a devious villain of the natural world. However, I don’t see it that way at all.
Being a co-parent myself, who had to depend on my ex-husband to provide much of the care for my two children when they were younger, due to my personal health challenges after a near-death experience (NDE), I feel empathy for the cuckoo’s eccentricity and the unusual value it brings to the animal kingdom.
Astrology Forecast February 13 – 19, 2023
The imaginative, dreamy idealism of a Scorpio Moon trine with Neptune in Pisces this morning is a great opportunity to boost your usual spiritual practice. Make use of this inspirational moment to meditate on your goals and set new intentions. It is also a great time to pray, do meaningful crystal energy work, or consult your favorite oracle card deck.
However, do take care today, as the Scorpio Moon might also be casting illusions and misunderstandings our way. Be mindful of what you read and hear, but also take everything with a grain of salt. Do your research before reacting or moving in any direction. Stay calm and act sensibly, as the Scorpio Half Moon has the power to plunge us into drama at work, public disagreements, and conflict with our loved ones.
A lighter vibe prevails tomorrow and Wednesday under the Sagittarius Moon, casting a productive, yet balanced energy.
If you have any heavy lifting to do this week, or projects that urgently need to be completed, then Thursday and Friday are the best days to accomplish those tasks, as the Capricorn Moon exudes diligence and drive.
The Sun moves into Pisces on Saturday, so we will be spending the next four weeks in a more spiritual, mystical state of mind. Exploring our inner lives more deeply and investigating the metaphysical will be more prevalent. Also, as the final sign of the zodiac before a new cycle begins, this will be the time to wrap things up, review the past year from a spiritual perspective, and resolve long-standing issues in the area of health, wealth, and relationships. This is also a time when secrets may come out, so if you’re hiding any, be extra careful, or they might end up on the evening news!
The weekend’s socially-oriented Aquarius Moon promotes, unity, friendship, and catching up with loved ones.
We Should Be More Like The Turtle
Most people seldom give themselves permission to take a breather and just relax. As a hypnotherapist, I often see clients for stress relief sessions. In this case, they usually feel it is more justified for them to take some time out, because they are paying for a form of professional healthcare. After all, they made an appointment for the session and their doctor referred them. So, it must be okay.
Many people cannot even relax on a vacation! They feel they absolutely must do all the tourist things, even if they are tired, or the money they spent of the trip will be wasted. Or they feel compelled to spring clean the hotel room, instead of lying on the beach. Only to feel they need a second vacation to recover from the first vacation once they return home.
In the good old days, folks used to simply take a ‘joy ride’ somewhere with no real purpose or destination in mind. They did it purely for the enjoyment and the adventure. It was a standing joke in my family that if you chose to get in a car with my dad, you had better have the entire day off, because you never knew where you would wind up or what time you would get back home.
My kids still reminisce about our family taking a ride during the holidays to see all the Christmas lights and decorated homes. We used to stop for hot chocolate with marshmallows and everyone received a homemade cinnamon candy cane. It was the tradition.
Today, we live in such a busy, fast-paced world in which we feel guilty for taking time to take care of ourselves. But what is more important: the journey or destination? We all need to rest and restore our body, mind, and spirit on a regular basis. Neglecting one’s self-care is a prescription for poor long-term health, and making bad life choices.
The Truth About Ego And Spirit
Having a strong ego may be just as important as having a strong spirit. However, it can become a problem when we are confused or conflicted between the two, and do not realize that one is tied to the other.
Ego is all about our sense of self. It is about our self-worth, self-belief and how we feel we compare to others. Having a healthy sense of self-esteem is vital for our happiness and well-being.
For example, if someone chooses to stay in a toxic relationship due to their low self or sense of self is essential for our mental and emotional well-being. We must not confuse having a healthy ego with an over-inflated one.
People who have healthy egos do not think in terms of bold versus meek, or overbearing versus subdued. It is not about dominance or submission for them. They only view themselves as being worthy and competent, and strive to improve their life and become the best possible version of themselves. Self-love is not self-righteousness. People with a strong ego can confidently navigate whatever life throws their way without losing their sense of self.
However, those with an over-inflated, toxic ego tend to be arrogant, self-important and more concerned with how others are doing instead of their own achievements. They tend to believe they are so much more worthy and successful than everyone else, and constantly judge others for their mistakes and failures. Big egos are not very ‘healthy’ at all!
Also, when we strive for bigger or better things for ourselves, it is not only a case of satisfying our ego. Spirit operates with a similar agenda. Our soul or spirit is in fact strongly connected to our sense of self. This is why we traditionally say someone is in ‘low spirits,’ meaning they are feeling sad or depressed. But when someone is in ‘good spirits,’ they may have had happy news or some good fortune.
The Universe Will Always Match Your Energy
The Law of Attraction is a universal spiritual principle that we create our own reality. Whatever we send out into the world is what we will attract back to us. Whatever we choose to give our time, energy, and attention to is what will become manifest in our life.
If we choose to focus on the positive things we truly desire in life, such as abundance, prosperity, success, and well-being, we will attract more of that in return. But if we hold on to negativity, fear, lack, and pessimism, we will struggle to attract good things to us.
Our thoughts are powerful, because thoughts become things. If we make a habit of cultivating thoughts, ideas and beliefs that are hopeful, happy, excited, optimistic, inspired, confident, appreciative, and grateful, then God, Source, Spirit, the Divine responds to our positive mindset with matching manifestations, outcomes, and experiences.
The Universe will always match our energy wavelength and can only guide us towards relationships, opportunities, and events that we believe to be possible for us, and that we feel worthy and deserving of.
If you are constantly sending negative energy out into the Universe, you will only end up experiencing more toxic relationships, hardships, and challenging life. Events. If we are constantly in a negative mind space, then it is difficult, even impossible for us to see the many positive opportunities and potential blessings available to us.
We have all seen the Law of Attraction at work in our life in one way or another, whether we care to admit it, or not. For example, have you ever been in a situation where you needed to buy a car and then became interested in a specific brand, new model, color, style? Then, suddenly, you start seeing that car everywhere, while in the past you never noticed it on the road.
We Need To Reopen Our Hearts
If, like me, you are highly sensitive to energies, I am sure you have noticed the alarming increase in anger, hatred, callousness, and cruelty in our society in recent times. It seems many people’s hearts have hardened. In my view, this is due to a post-pandemic heart chakra problem in our culture.
For example, one issue I have been finding more of in post-pandemic readings is an inability for many of my callers to remain ‘in the flow’ with their romantic partners. Some of my clients are either overly focused on, and extremely loyal to a partner who clearly doesn’t deserve it, or they are too rigid in keeping their distance and even avoiding contact. I have also been noticing more of this with people’s friendships and interactions with their relatives.
Of course, we must set healthy boundaries in all our relationships for the sake of our own well-being. Without proper boundaries we will become too exhausted and energetically drained to be of any use to others. By taking good care of ourselves, we also take better care of others and will have more to give.
But there’s a difference between healthy boundaries and ‘excommunicating’ just about everyone across-the-board. ‘Blocking,’ ‘banning,’ and ‘ghosting’ every person who dares to express a different point of view on social media, and disowning every person in your life who has the nerve to do or say the slightest thing that may annoy you, is not exactly setting healthy boundaries. It is rather a sign of having very weak, fickle boundaries. If this has become your way of being in the world, then you may want to consider doing some heart chakra energy work.
What If There Is No Tomorrow?
A sense of anguish sometimes strikes us while we are experiencing something good in our life. In the midst of the delightful feelings of happiness and joy, we grimly remind ourselves that we must enjoy it while it lasts, because all good things come to an end.
Yes, everything does come to an end, right up to our own passing from this world to the next. Yes…our inevitable death. Thinking about this can be sad and depressing, but it also not… if we choose otherwise.
There is an ancient philosophy of reflecting on one’s mortality known as memento mori, which in Latin means ‘remember death.’ This profound saying does not only serve to remind us of that our death is inevitable, but also invites us to think about death in a more meaningful way.
In Stoicism, a school of ancient Greek philosophy, memento mori was seen to be a thought process to attribute deeper meaning to life. The philosopher Epictetus famously said, “Keep death and exile before your eyes every day, with all that seems terrible – by doing this, you will never have a base thought, nor an excessive desire.”
Although the notion of memento mori seems at first scary, sad, or tragic, it is in truth a reminder that everything and everyone will eventually come to an end. The moment we sensibly embrace this universal truth, we become so much more aware of how precious every moment of our life is. And ideally it then inspires us to live more fully and intensely, without wasting any more time on trivial things and petty issues.