loved ones
Sleep Restores Body, Mind And Spirit
There is a saying ‘our issues are in our tissues,’ meaning our stress, fears and worries show up in our bodies. Keeping our body, mind, and spirit back in harmony and balance is essential for all of us. It ensures inner peace and well-being.
The restorative power of sleep and dreams has been a specific pursuit of mine in recent months. It has been my mission to reach that sweet spot for my body’s wake-sleep-dream rhythm and I have been discovering more of the magic that sleep and dreams can offer.
I find when I have good sleep, I remember my dreams more often. This not only helps with daily problem-solving, since my mind is at rest and not resistant, but I also receive valuable guidance and spiritual reassurance on matters I am worried about. Sleep and dreaming also help us process our emotions from our experiences of stress and trauma during our waking hours.
The dream state is also a time when we are free to explore and find new inspiration. We are in a world of our own making that belongs to only us. And the possibilities are truly endless; even time travel, prophetic dreams, loved ones coming to visit.
In the Harry Potter book The Prisoner of Azkaban, Dumbledore tells Snape not to wake Harry: “Let him sleep. For in dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own. Let him swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud.”
I’m a bit of a technology nerd, so that makes sleeping and dreaming even more of adventure. There are many cool technologies available these days to improve our sleep time. There are watches and other devices to create a record of not only time slept, but even quality of sleep, heart rate and other interesting facts. There are also amazing phone apps streaming sleep meditations and white noise.
I keep a journal to write down my dreams before I rise, and I also to jot down before I fall asleep those questions and life challenges I need answers for. It has further been my experience that you can even reach out in your dreams to loved ones who have passed for advice or guidance, especially if they had a passion for something you need help with.
Spirit’s Calling Cards Are Everywhere
Both experienced and novice psychics will tell you the spirit realm is in constant contact with the physical world. Although spirit may not communicate in the way we do, their messages are constantly here for us to see, hear and feel – if we know how and where to look for it.
The spirit realm exists beyond our time and space, but spirit is still able to interact with us. Hollywood movies would have us believe they can make objects float through the air, but it’s much more subtle than that.
Interference with electronic devices, such as clocks or laptops, is common when spirit is present. Take note if your computer seems stuck on a particular page or a clock stops at a certain time. Your spirit guardian may be sending an important message.
Static physical objects like family pictures may also change in the presence of a departed loved one. You may notice a photograph becoming blurrier or curling up on one side. Sometimes the frame is shifted or moved.
Take a walk outside every day. Are you seeing birds or butterflies? Both are messengers of spirits, so pay close attention to what you see, including their colors and patterns, and look up the meaning later. If you’re lucky a butterfly may land on you. Up in the skies, cloud formations, rainbows, and falling stars are all associated with spiritual messages.
Psychic or intuitive experiences is another way spirits speak to us. Have you ever felt like you ‘hear your name’ being spoken or called, or ‘feel the touch’ of a hand on your shoulder, while you are alone in a room? This is a sure sign a spirit presence is nearby.
Music Reaches Beyond The Grave
Can the dearly departed hear our music? Can we communicate with the other side through music? I am sure this is possible, as I have personally experienced evidence of it. Music can indeed influence the energy of a spirit or ghost.
When I was a little boy, my mother would always play the hymn Onward Christian Soldiers for us on Sundays, because we were still too young to go to church. Before she passed away she asked to visit her grave site every year on her birthday and play that song for her and I have been doing this every year since her departure from this life.
In those days my dad would go to church alone, while mom stayed home with us. But he was not as much into Christian music and hymns as my mother was. He was putting in many long hours as a fire fighter for the city of Columbus, Ohio, and he usually had hard time keeping his eyes open during services. The only real reason he went to church was to make my mother happy.
Dad did however enjoy the music played by the marching band before every Ohio State football game. We would have to listen to the music with him and it seemed like ‘forever’ for us kids. But we had no choice. The Ohio State marching band are after all the pride of the Buckeyes!
In those days my dad still owned an old-fashioned record player with a needle and a pressed vinyl record. His wish was that once he was no longer with us someday we would rememeber him by playing that very same marching band music. After he passed away, we had a major problem finding and ultimately playing that old vinyl recording, so we had to buy a CD recording instead. But were able to fulfill his wish.
The Special Magic Of Autumn
I’ve often wondered if in a former lifetime I might have had a birthday in the fall? More specifically, I sense it must have been in the month of September, because I typically experience increased awareness and great change during this month.
Being a Gemini, born in June, this makes absolutely no sense, but I don’t always pay attention to what makes sense. I rather go with what feels right.
I feel a special magic in the air in the fall that I do not experience in any other season. In the autumn the world of the living seems to move closer to the afterlife and our deceased loved ones.
Traditionally All Hallows’ Eve on October 31st is believed to be time when the veil between the two worlds is most thin and we can more easily connect with our departed loved ones on the Other Side.
In the Northern Hemisphere September is the time of year when Mother Nature is shedding her leaves as the cooler air moves. Might this also be a time for us to let go of the aspects of our lives that no longer serve us? And could it be that our deceased loved ones in Heaven support and help to facilitate this need for us to surrender and let go?
The energy of September is an in-between state of transition that will ultimately spark us into new beginnings. But sometimes we need a little bit of extra magic, as it takes much courage to let go of the old and familiar to step onto a new path.
Our family and friends in Heaven want to see us progress and grow while in the Earth realm. Our loved ones who have crossed over to the Other Side can see forward and backward in time. They have the ability to open doors for us who are still in this life.
When Spirit Comes To Say Goodbye
Many people assume that their loved ones will say goodbye to them before they leave this earth plane. I beg to differ. In my experience this is not always the case. I know this without a doubt from personal experience.
In 2010, for example, my favorite sister became very ill. She was taken to the emergency room with kidney and liver failure in early August. She was admitted on a Monday, and by the Wednesday around dinner time, I received a phone call from her husband telling me that she had passed away.
Seconds after receiving this awful news, as I turned to my left, I saw her sitting next to me. Her apparition was looking at me, as if to say, “Are you okay? How are you taking this?”
Indeed, she appeared to be more concerned for me than herself. After all, where she was going now, she wasn’t going to have any more health problems or human suffering. Once her spirit saw that I had regained my composure, she left my side and continued her spiritual journey to Heaven.
My dearest sister had merely come to say goodbye, until we meet again. Rather than despair about her passing, I was suddenly relieved her soul was heading to God’s Holy Kingdom. There is after all no finer a place in the entire Universe!
In the summer of 2012, my other sister informed me that she was having difficulty breathing and was seeking medical advice about it. Sadly, at the same time, my mother was also having medical issues. Soon after, my phone rang very early one morning. My heart raced as I ran to answer the call, fearing that my mom had taken ill.
Instead, a man’s voice was saying, “Where is your mother? I need to speak to her urgently!”
Grandma’s Love Was The Best
I remember what Grandma was wearing when she passed away. I also recall exactly what she said and everything else that happened that day, right down to the violets I picked in the backyard to place in her hand. She was wearing an oversized Winnie the Pooh T-shirt that could have been a night dress, I’m not sure. She had her red robe on and black slippers lined with greyish fluff.
She was told she was being taken to the nursing home, but it was actually hospice she would be going to. She could no longer walk and had fallen, and no one was able to pick her up. Not even myself. I wish I could, but I just was not able to.
I sensed she wasn’t to going be with us very much, and I was very upset about it. But constantly having to give her blood transfusions and her being in so much pain, it was the right decision at the time. I have made peace with that now.
Settling her into the hospice, Grandma was adamant the bed be taken out, as it was unbearably uncomfortable. She kept saying, “I just want to go home and die. This is no way to live. I’m ready to go.” She also told me, if I ever needed her after she had gone, all I would have to do is call her name, and she would be there for me. Grandma kept her promise to me. To this day I still feel her around me all the time, especially when I think of her and call her name.
I think the worst thing I ever experienced in my entire life was walking into that hospice room after she had passed and seeing her shell of a body. She was no longer there, obviously, but she was still around. I felt she was somewhere in the room looking at us and saying her goodbyes.
Pain had made her very bitter towards the end of her life. She wasn’t herself anymore because she was on so many different strong medications and invasive treatments. I sensed that she longed to be with her departed husband and her dear mother who passed when she was just a young girl. Her mom was also a psychic and apparently really good with things like Numerology and dreaming lucky numbers. I loved hearing all those stories.
The Who’s Who Of The Spirit Realm
Communicating and working with Spirit can become confusing when you need to discern who exactly it is that you are engaging with. Terms like Spirit Guides, Ascended Masters, Angels, Ancestors, among other, are often used in this context, but the distinction between these entities is not always made clear. It can be very confusing. For this reason, I have compiled a quick guide to the ‘who’s who’ of the spirit realm, and how to best work with each group of spirit energies.
Angels
Angelic beings are pure Love and Light. Angels have never experienced a human incarnation. They serve as our guides and protectors. Angels are our constant guides, steering us on our journey through life and helping us to achieve our dreams and goals.
They gently nudge us forward along our life path and deliver to us unconditional love from the Divine, but only if we ask for their support.They never overstep the Law of Free Will, unless it is a life-threatening situation that demands divine intervention.
You know you are in contact with an Angel if you feel warm ‘tingles,’ and a sense of unconditional love, inner peace and well-being.
Ascended Masters
Unlike Angels, the Ascended Masters are loving teachers. They are guides who have experienced human life on Earth. These beings have achieved self-actualization, enlightenment, or an ascended state of being. They have come into full alignment with their Higher Self.