family
Learning To Deal With Toxic Individuals
If, as many teachings suggest, there is spiritual growth in every experience, and in particular the more difficult times, then being strongly affected by another person’s negative behavior must also be one of life’s lessons.
I have been pondering this because of the increase in psychic reading calls I have been getting related to this very topic. Some of my clients have been profoundly upset lately by the negative outbursts of people in their lives, including family, friends, partners, work colleagues, or even random altercations in public places.
I love these words from the poem Desiderata: “Avoid the loud and the aggressive – they are vexations to the spirit.” How very true. However, more often than not, we are not in the position to avoid those individuals altogether, in order to escape their toxic influence. Even in a friendship turned sour, we often want to give the toxic friend the benefit of the doubt, knowing that they don’t always behave that way. We might even be in love with a negative person, hoping we can change them one day. Continue reading
The Year Of The Dog
As an aficionado of all things metaphysical, from auras to a zebra jasper crystal, I have always found Chinese Astrology particularly fascinating. I’ve read any and everything I could lay my hands on and ultimately, I believe, I have come up with my own fundamental basic understanding of it.
I’m a simple woman and as a writer I have found the simple approach is best. Chinese Astrology is based on 12 different animals, and the traits of each species defines the characteristics of each Chinese Zodiac year. If you understand the animal, then you understand the Chinese astrological sign associated with it. You might say it is an easy key to understanding what may initially seem complicated.
According to Chinese Astrology we are entering the Year of the Dog this month. Associated with the element of Earth and the season of Autumn, the closest Western Astrology signs are Scorpio and Libra. Continue reading
Signs You Are Being Gaslighted
You’re crazy, that never happened. You’re too sensitive. You’re making things up. No one else has ever said that about me. I get along with everyone else except you. I’ve never had this problem with anyone else but you. Everyone says you’re crazy. I’m not cheating, so maybe you are… since you are accusing me. You are too sensitive.
These are just some of the things you might hear when someone is gaslighting you, when you have confronted them with their own issues or manipulations.
Gaslighting is a form of abuse that is more common in romantic relationships, but it can occur in landlord and tenant relationships, friendships, employee and employer relationships, and even in relationships with neighbors. It is basically the art of messing with someone’s mind or reality. Sometimes it is done in an obvious way, right in front of the person, and sometimes it is under the radar and you don’t you know who is gaslighting you, or even if you are actually being gaslighted. Continue reading
When Your Child Is Your Spiritual Coach
Coming from a family who never communicated their personal feelings, I learned a lot about the importance of communication between age groups in my early teens, when I was sent to live with a Dutch family with three children for several months.
I always admired their closeness, but it wasn’t until I actually moved in with them, that I realized just how far their caring and sharing went towards feeling part of such a close knit family. They prayed together too, and included me, always asking for healing for my mother who was having treatment at the time for her ‘nervous condition.’
In later years, as a recovering alcoholic in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), I would often hear the expression, “A family that prays together, stays together.” I am sure this family has stayed close all these years, even though we have lost touch. Continue reading
Dream Postcards From The Other Side
Recently, I had the most intense dreams and they were connected to a friend of mine who lives five thousand miles away across the globe. The dreams were random. I hadn’t been thinking of her prior to going to sleep, nor of her deceased loved ones, whom I had never met, or had only met a couple of times.
I once read an article that suggested such dreams are ‘asking for something’ and that there is a request in there somewhere for the dreamer to do something, or deliver something.
Quite frankly, I have passed on a few spirit messages to this particular friend over the years, and I always seem to do so with a little trepidation. Although it was never said, I always felt she possibly thought of me as being odd… and not very bright. The problem is, when I refrain from passing on any kind of message, a nagging sensation will haunt me until I deliver. So I did. Continue reading
Take Some ‘Me Time’ This Holiday Season
The current holiday celebrations, extensive to-do-lists and family gatherings is usually a hectic time of the year for many. But this year we can expect it to be even worse.
Whether you are battling the crazy crowds at the mall doing your last minute shopping, or trying to find a way to inform co-workers or family that you don’t particular enjoy holiday gatherings, or simply dealing with the stress of trying to do it all and be perfect at it, things are going to be just a bit more difficult this year with the incoming energy of Mercury Retrograde. Continue reading
My Psychic Family
Are psychic gifts passed on in certain families? In my family it would certainly appear so.
My maternal grandmother was married at the tender age of 14, had her first child at the age of 16, and just carried on from there. Her life was not a particular happy one. My grandfather worked a steady job with good pay, however he was a alcoholic, as well as a womanizer so money was not always prevalent in the home.
Although she was christened Flora Mae, she was always called ‘Mumma’ by everyone who knew her, because she was a mother figure to many beside her own family. As we grew to know and appreciate Mumma, we had a sense there was something unusual about her. Continue reading