celtic
May Our Souls Continue To Rejoice
We have indeed so much to be grateful for today. May the joys and rememberances of this post-pandemic holiday season keep our hearts alive with hope, faith and gratitude throughout the coming year.
May our souls continue to rejoice with the miracles of joy, hope, faith and love of the Christmas of the Christians; Yule of the Pagans; Candle-mas of the Celts; Hanukkah of the Hebrews; Eid ul-Fitr of Islam; Pan-African festival of Kwanzaa; and Hindu celebration of Diwali.
In the old days, before the reformers came, the Old Oak King conquered the Holly King every year around this time. Mother Earth would then sleep under a white blanket of snow, the quiet ice of still waters, everything waiting for the Summer Solstice, when the Holly King would win the battle in turn.
We face the same battles of duality in our own lives. At times we are happily progressing along our own path, expanding, learning, growing spiritually, when suddenly an impasse comes along that requires us to become still, to be patient, to wait, to rest, to contemplate, to accept. We are seldom thankful, as we would prefer to continue rushing towards our goals, our dreams, our desires. We grumble, we complain, we resist, we fight the wait, and then we wonder why we are waiting so long.
Sometimes we are meant to just take the time to rest, draw strength, find ourselves. The true lesson and miracle of this season is the wait, the peace, the rest, until we once again see our dreams more clearly.
Using The Four Elements In Your Spiritual Practice
Our ancestors worked with the elements in their metaphysical and spiritual practices. The four classic elements are found in many wisdom traditions, while some also employ additional elements such as metal, wood, and spirit.
The four primary elements can be a meaningful resource in one’s personal practice. It is powerful in prayer, meditation, manifesting rituals, energy healing, divination, psychic protection, and self-care. For example, I use all four elements in my New Moon and Full Moon ceremonies. Depending on what I am working on, I also create specific rituals throughout the year focusing on one metaphysical attribute of a particular element and call upon that energy to assist me in my own life.
Air Energy
The element of air represents consciousness, intuition, understanding, and the mind. I call upon this element when I am attempting to figure out something complex or when I need to make a decision about something important.
To work with this element, I light an incense stick. Since the movement of air is not something visible, the smoke from an incense stick is a symbolic way to represent it. I then focus on the smoke and use an invocation to call upon the element of air.
I call upon the element of air to provide me clarity and understanding.
I invoke the element of air to elevate my consciousness above this fear
People often assume that intuition is the innate ability to know absolutely everything, especially about the future. However, authentic intuition is about knowing what we need to know regarding a specific situation. The element of air can awaken what we need to know without providing too many spoilers along the way.
Astrology Forecast October 24 – 30, 2022
Today’s Libra Moon sets the scene with an air of balance and harmony. The Libra Moon’s trine with Saturn in Aquarius this morning, as well as its conjunction with Mercury in Libra by midday, makes today an excellent time to conduct business, with productive meetings, effortless financial decisions and powerful sales presentations inspired by mental sharpness and sound judgment.
The highlights of this week are tomorrow’s Scorpio New Moon and a Solar Eclipse. The first of two eclipses (the second occurring in Taurus on November 8th), this celestial event opens the door to change, calling for us to go internal for a few weeks to look more closely at our feelings, our spiritual beliefs, and our intentions for the future.
The Moon will continue to wade through Scorpio on Wednesday, setting the tone for our spiritual transformation.
A lighter energy will prevail on Thursday and Friday as the Moon dances through fun-loving Sagittarius, encouraging us to embrace the festivities of Halloween and Samhain, the Celtic festival this holiday is named for.
Mercury will move into Scorpio on Saturday, turning our focus to all things spiritual and metaphysical for the next few weeks.
On Sunday, Mars, the planet of action and assertiveness, will turn retrograde and travel backward for the next two months. This planet typically only goes retrograde every other year, so this cycle will have us going back and reviewing our movements, actions, and dreams to make sure we are operating in the most effective and authentic ways possible.
The Mysteries Of Ancestral Roots And Past Lifetimes
In readings spirit will often show me the regions and nationalities of a client’s ancestry. For instance, if I see symbols of Scotland or Ireland, I will mention it to them, and they may already know that they have those regions in their bloodline, or they have always felt a strong resonance with that particular area.
I find this interesting, because it is often the case that a person’s ancestry and family origins in this lifetime often also has a metaphysical connection to their past lives. I have had flashes during psychic readings of certain events and scenes from a client’s past life in certain place, with the client then informing me that their ancestors in fact come from that area.
This made me ponder my own Celtic past lives and how this also happens to be where some of my ancestors originate from. This also brought me to think about our spirit guides and how they also tend to link to these ancestral regions. Ireland, for example, is a place that has always held a magical energy. Egypt is another place that generates very strong past life memory and associations for me.
I have also noticed that spirit often sends me people for past life readings who are also connected to these places and cultures. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if I knew some of my current clients in those past lifetimes. And did we also engage in joint spiritual practices back then?
I have always found it intriguing why psychics tend to find some people incredibly easy to read for, and others not. Sometimes, I feel as is if I have known a new client for years, as if I recognize them from a former life, with no logical explanation.
Astrology Forecast October 25 – 31, 2021
Happy Samhain and Halloween! This final week of October culminating in the sacred Celtic holiday should run quite smoothly. A Gemini Moon today, followed by tomorrow and Wednesday’s Cancer Moon, will put us in the mood to embrace the spiritual tones of the season.
Two favorable aspects join forces today to inspire personal power and achievement in our lives. The Gemini Moon trine Mars in Libra will boost our willpower and resourcefulness to get some practical things done, while the Gemini Moon trine Jupiter in Aquarius will have us feeling positive, optimistic and popular.
We often present different facades and keep up appearance for the different people in our lives and this is a great time to examine why we do this and how well it is working for us. There will be an energy in the air this week to express ourselves more authentically or to show more of our true nature to the world, especially as the Moon travels through Leo on Thursday and Friday.
There’s a tendency to overthink things as the Moon moves through Virgo on Saturday and Sunday, so try to avoid those mental gymnastics and be sure to watch for critical thinking or high idealism, as these two mental activities can only get you into hot water this weekend!
Mars will move into Scorpio on Saturday, where it will spend the next two months shifting our actions and movements in subtle spiritual ways. Though our journey may not make sense or could change direction at a moment’s notice before the end of the year, we can trust that spirit is in charge now and directing the traffic.
The Symbolism Of Wedding Ribbons And Cords
In a recent reading, I had visions of a wedding and a shotgun! I did my best to diplomatically convey what I was seeing to the client. I also mentioned how I saw lots of colored ribbons, and a rather large gathering of people of all ages and cultures.
He laughed, and said that two years ago, he felt a strong urge for himself and his partner to get married. They both came from large families and wanted to make sure that certain ailing, elderly members would still be able to attend and join in the celebration.
He also said he was so glad spirit prompted them to marry sooner than later, because the pandemic would have prevented not just the large gathering of guests from attending, but also many from traveling from various corners of the world as they had done. Apparently, the ribbons I saw related to the traditional pagan handfasting they had chosen as the ceremony for their special event.
The handfasting ritual had always fascinated him, because of his own Celtic origins and he explained how both his and his partner’s hands were bound together with a ribbon during the vows and exchanging of rings. I later learned from a Pagan friend that cord is sometimes also used for this purpose in such a ceremony.
In many traditions the use of colored ribbons and cords is of spiritual significance at certain ceremonies, especially weddings. They are typically used to physically connect the couple, or they are placed in or around an altar. The cord is a symbol of the lifetime bond the couple is entering into.
For example, a wedding cord, also known as the ‘wedding lasso,’ is used in some Catholic wedding ceremonies. It typically consists of a loop of rosary beads made out of white satin or silk, and formed into a figure eight shape, and placed around the bride and the groom after they have made their vows.
Astral Travel To Your Favorite Destination
Traveling to sacred sites has always been something I love doing, ever since I was a young girl. There is something undeniably magical about visiting a spiritual place that has much lore or mystical history associated with it. Some of my favorite destinations include Mount Shasta in Northern California, Sedona in the Verde Valley of Arizona, and Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains in Peru.
These sacred sites are all home to powerful energy vortices and ley lines in the Earth’s electromagnetic field, containing more metaphysical energy than ordinary places. Visiting here feels as though you have stepped into a different dimension, or another place in time. Millions of people around the world travel to these locations in search of enlightenment and healing, gaining a broader perspective, raising their awareness, or simply to have a special spiritual experience.
With the advent of Covid-19, few people have had the luxury lately of air travel and long-distance trips. Many spiritual travelers are feeling frustrated and trapped. Some are going stir crazy not having the freedom to travel anywhere in the world. Even local excursions and short-distance trips are challenging these days. I enjoy traveling in the Mount Shasta area, for example, since it is not too far from where I live, but I am reluctant to stay over in a hotel during this time.
However, spirit recently reminded me that I could still travel to my favorite sacred sites by way of the astral realm. It made me think of the Celtic concept of the immram, which refers to the taking of a soul journey, a sacred pilgrimage, a wonder voyage to a sacred site where the soul needs to go. Spiritual seekers and metaphysicians have been taking these inner voyages on the astral plane through the ages.
We are not limited to the physical body or the mundane world. In the same way we can physically visit a physical place of interest, we can also journey there on the astral plane. Traveling in this way, we can journey anywhere we want to, while remaining in the physical comfort of our own home.