childhood
The Old Man And The Christmas Bells
With Christmas upon us I have been hearing church bells every Sunday in recent weeks, just like in my younger years. Going back to those years in my mind, I can remember being very young when my mother was stopped by a man who told her he was the new pastor at this church far from our house. He looked younger than my parents and he asked my mother if we had a church that we go to. She told him we did not and the man gave us an invitation to attend his church.
Since this church was reasonably close to where I grew up, it was fun to walk there at first, but after a while it seemed like forever. But my mother made a promise to us kids that after church we could get a soda pop or an ice cream cone if we were good. Mom knew how to persuade us kids to go to church without a fuss.
When I first looked at the church is seemed big, but it looked very different from the Catholic church across the street. We opened the doors and were greeted by two old ladies who handed out the programs for the service. They also told me that I would meet my mother down here in the same place after Sunday school.
Next I met my Sunday school teacher. His name was Rusty and since I was the ‘new kid on the block’, he introduced me to all the other children. Since I didn’t know any of them, I didn’t know what to think. Then Rusty started with the lesson and once again it seemed like forever for Sunday school to be over.
Later, I met mom downstairs and as I was walking down the hall a older man greeted me. I greeted him in return, not thinking much of it. After we had been seated and the pastor opened with prayer, I remember looking around and noticing that the old man was not sitting in the same pews anymore. He seemed to have left.
Teaching Your Child ‘Magic’
My son, who is 4 years old, is also psychic. I have nurtured his psychic ability since birth. I listened to his stories about the other side, angels and how he chose me us as his family and chose his looks. I never doubted him or questioned whether his statements and experiences were real, or not.
I also teach him about setting intentions, deliberate creation, manifesting, affirmations, energy healing and the Law of Attraction. We call it ‘creating magic.’ We wave our hands in circles and say something like, “Magic, magic, magic…sending love and healing light to protect and strengthen you!”
Whenever there is a commercial or television show about children in hospitals, or animal welfare, or experts talking about Covid-19, or anything else that causes suffering in our world, my son and I do ‘magic’ to help those people heal, or save the animals, or make the world a more loving and peaceful place.
Teaching your child these metaphysical principles not only cultivates empathy and compassion, but it also helps them feel that they are powerful and have enough agency to take good care of themselves and to help others.
I have noticed the difference between my son and other children, who have not been exposed to this kind of spiritual outlook. My son seems empowered, confident and in control, while some of his peers tend to be insecure, fearful and quick to complain that they cannot do something, or that certain things are simply too difficult for them to handle.
Because of this, my son has developed both his natural empathic abilities and his natural healing abilities way beyond his years. He even makes magical healing potions outside, using his own recipes and ingredients. I find he also is more aware of other people’s struggles and life challenges, and he is more attentive with the needs of others than some of the other kids he is sometimes playing with.
The Power Of The Human Spirit
My maternal grandparents were very significant people in my life. We called them Mama and Papa, and we were extremely attached to them, and loved them dearly. They taught me important life lessons about love, loyalty, courage, and the resilient power of the human spirit.
They were married very young, which was not uncommon in those days, and went on to produce large family of 15 children. My grandfather worked on the docks in the small town where we grew up, and made very good money doing it.
Their lifestyle should have been more comfortable than it was, since his income was quite substantial for that time. But it was not, and this was not due to them having so many children either. The real reason was that he was an alcoholic and a gambler, so there were many times when the family did not fare so well financially, for obvious reasons.
This was not something we realized as children, and if we were told we would probably not have given it any credibility. We simply worshiped our grandparents too much to believe such a thing!
My own parents were quite poor, so when Papa gave us a nickle or a dime, and sometimes even a quarter, he certainly seemed a hero to us. It was not just the money. Papa gave us the most profound love and attention that poor, neglected children crave and we reciprocated in kind. We absolutely adored him.
Although Papa was in truth not always conscious of the daily needs of his family, it was still abundantly clear he cared for all of us with a strength that is not always understood, especially when it came to our grandmother. One could not only see, but also feel his intense love for her.
They had mostly lived in very humble homes during the many years they were married, and while we are now certain Mama must have found it trying at the best of times, she was never heard to utter a complaining word. Such was her loyal devotion to her life partner.
The Dreamy Neptunian Waters Of Sean Connery
This year, on All Hallow’s Eve, I received news that truly rattled me. Halloween is normally a magical time for me, but I was left shaken with sadness this year, because one of my most beloved heroes, Sean Connery, had passed.
I think of Connery as Indiana Jones’s ingenious, funny dad, or as Daniel Dravot in The Man Who Would Be King, as well as the handsome love interest Mark Rutland in Hitchcock’s Marnie. But most of all, he is the true James Bond 007 original, of course, to which all subsequent iterations pale in comparison (although Daniel Craig does come a close second in my opinion).
Taking a peek at this iconic movie heartthrob’s astrological chart, one discovers some interesting nuggets as you dive deeper into his mysterious Neptunian waters!
His humble beginnings on “the street of a thousand smells,” as Connery once described it, was anything but easy. This is evident in his natal chart, with the serious nature of Capricorn, with its retrograde ruler, Mercury, sitting on his Ascendant.
However, this is also why he managed to make something of himself, often by using purely his wits, versatility and ingenuity, because Mercury is a capable planet placement that ruled his house of hard work! True to his Virgo nature, he worked diligently on his physique to become a notable bodybuilder, for example, which laid the foundation for his future stardom. The Moon in his 9th House further gave him the imaginative mind and empathetic understanding he needed to become so successful internationally.
An 8th House Virgo Stellium (a cluster of three or more planets in a single sign or house), made this meticulous, down-to-earth Virgo very much the perfectionist, and contributed greatly to the legend he ultimately became.
The Haunted House From My Childhood
Every year, around this time, I go to the same cemetery to visit the final resting place of my childhood friend. It is located in one of the neighborhoods we would often frequent on our bicycles. It is also where we went trick-or-treating for Halloween. My return visit this year was not only nostalgic as always, but it once again reminded me how important it is to trust your gut when it comes to paranormal phenomena. We live in a cynical, digital age, where adults too easily attribute encounters with the paranormal to the overactive imagination of children, or simply disregard it as ‘old wives’ tales.’
Throughout our childhood years, into our early teens, my friend and I would often stop to admire an abandoned old home in that neighborhood. At the time we firmly believed to be haunted! Well, amazingly, that old house is still there after all these years. It has never been demolished, despite the rumors of what went on there. There used to be talk of a vicious, gruesome murder that took place there. A well-known antique dealer in the community used to live there, and it is said that he received a surprise visit one night from two men with baseball bats, who forcefully entered his home and killed him.
Sometimes, early in the evening, on our way back home on our bikes, we would see mysterious lights flicker inside the empty old house. We always wondered who possibly could be there? There were no curtains, nor furniture inside. At least this is what we were told, when we were cautioned not to go anywhere near the place. There were also never any cars parked outside. The neighbors would take turns to mow the lawn, to keep their street looking neat.
On my recent visit, as I was getting ready to leave the cemetery, I had the idea to drive down that street, to see the old haunted house again. Feeling nostalgic, I slowly turned the corner on the dead-end street and spotted the house right away. There was what looked like a chair, out on the front lawn, and a thick layer of fallen leaves on the grass. As I drove by, I noticed a faint light in one of the windows.