metaphysical practice
Is It Safe To Use A Ouija Board?
I have been asked over the years if it is safe to use the Ouija Board as a spiritual or divinatory tool. This is a simple question with a complex answer, as it depends very much on who will be using the Ouija, as well as the intended purpose or goal.
To simply say yes or no would be the same as saying someone should or should not use tarot cards, runes, crystal balls, or scrying mirrors, as they all involve communication with the spirit realm.
While I personally do not use Ouija as a mediumship or divination tool, it certainly should not be used as a toy, especially by people who are simply curious and unfamiliar with working with the spirit realm.
I do not know of anyone who has been physically harmed by contacting spirit via Ouija, but I have worked in the past with a client whose mental health and emotional well-being were severely affected by it.
I’ve also heard from a fellow psychic involved in paranormal investigations that she was called in to deal with disturbing paranormal activity in someone’s home that was triggered by a botched amateur séance.
Contrary to popular belief, the Ouija board was originally created as a fun family board game that seemed to have nothing to do with spiritualism or the occult. The truth is that the concept actually has spiritual origins. There is evidence, for example, of a planchette-like device used for divination in ancient China around 1100 A.D., and it is a historical fact that the commercial Ouija Board “game” actually has its roots in spiritualism.
Work-Life Balance For The Single Parent
Single parents face many daily challenges and can easily feel overwhelmed. This is especially difficult when juggling childcare, household responsibilities, and your career or business.
It is undoubtedly important to maintain a healthy work-life balance in your life, but it is easier said than done. How does one balance work, family, life, and love as a single parent in the busy world we live in?
Here are some simple strategies for single parents to achieve a better work-life balance.
Work-Life Boundaries. The first important step is to set boundaries between your work and home life. I find that this is often a key element that is missing in the lives of many of my clients.Without clear boundaries between work and home, it is very difficult to be fully present and focused on one or the other at any given time. Without defined boundaries, the single parent is constantly straddling two worlds.
Creating work-life boundaries simply means not mixing business with pleasure. You designate specific times and activities for work and specific times and activities for spending time with your children. This means no thinking about work, no work-related texting, no checking email, and no taking phone calls outside of your designated work time.
The Spiritual Symbolism Of The Circle
The circle has a profound and universal meaning in spirituality across cultures and belief systems. It symbolizes a variety of spiritual concepts and offers insights into the interconnectedness of life, the cyclical nature of existence, and the infinite potential for growth and transformation.
The circle represents unity and oneness. It is a symbol of completeness because it has neither beginning nor end. This circular continuity reflects the eternal nature of the soul and the interconnectedness of all living beings.
In Native American spirituality, for example, the medicine wheel represents balance and harmony between all aspects of life, including the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Similarly, in Hinduism, the concept of samsara refers to the continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth, with the circle symbolizing the eternal journey of the soul.
In Christianity the circle represents eternity and sacred union. It is referenced in the Bible as the shape of heaven, and as the beginning and ending of time. For Christian couples, the unending circle of a wedding ring is also the symbolic expression of their sacred, eternal union.
The Ancient Art Of Scrying
When the evil queen in Walt Disney’s animated classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), says, “Magic mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” she is not merely admiring the beauty of her own reflection. Instead, she is practicing an ancient divination technique known as scrying. In this case ‘mirror scrying,’ also known as catoptromancy.
Scrying is the metaphysical practice of gazing into a reflective surface, such as a crystal ball, mirror or water, in order to perceive spiritual insights, spirit messages or clairvoyant visions of the future.
In most societies, since time began, people used different tools in attempts to scry for answers about the present and future. It seems to be human nature to want to know what is in store for us in the future. Often scrying was done in the confines of royalty or religion – reserved only for the privileged few deemed worthy to do it.
Scrying was often a practice learned and applied within a family, as children often watched their elders scry. People did not write down how to do such things in the early days. The secrets of scrying was handed down from one family member to another. However, this metaphysical practice can be learned by almost all people with some dedication, concentration and patience.
Many objects can be used to scry. Apart from the traditional crystal ball or mirror, one can also make use of a candle, water, ink, smoke, tea leaves, or even a glass of dark wine. In ancient Egypt there were sacred lotus pools used by priests for scrying. Shallow scrying bowls, carved from dark stone, have been found in many parts of the world. When filled with water, ink or dark red wine they too became ‘mirrors’ for scrying. The crystal sphere that many modern practitioners use is a more recent innovation. The earliest examples, used primarily for divination date, from about 1500 AD.
Spiritual Self-Care Or Ego Indulgence?
Spiritual or metaphysical practice is a pursuit designed to help bring greater meaning and fulfillment to our lives. It is a lifestyle that requires us to be very honest with ourselves and very intentional about the choices we make. But lately I’ve seen a lot of discourse around spirituality that basically encourages you to do pretty much whatever you want in the name of ‘free will’ and ‘self-care.’
Free will is sacred. Yes, it’s true that we are divine, spiritual beings who get to enjoy this incredible adventure of physical life. We get to choose how we move in the world, what we want for ourselves, and how we want to live. But there are two sides to this coin. Yes, we can choose what we want to manifest and how we wish to live our lives, but that does not absolve us of our karmic responsibilities and the consequences of our actions.
I’ve written before about karma and how it’s not meant to be a punishment, but rather a teacher. There are to metaphysical laws that are the basis to our karmic responsibility in this lifetime, namely the universal law of cause and effect and the spiritual law of karma.
The universal law of cause and effect is that for every action there is a reaction. There is a natural order in the universe in which our actions always have consequences, both good and bad.
The spiritual law of karma is a more specific application of the law of cause and effect. According to this law, the totality of our actions in this life, as well as all of our past lives, determine our future. This means that our actions create the conditions for our future experiences, both good and bad.
The Empowering Wisdom Of Forgiveness
Although I consider myself a very spiritual person, forgiveness has not always been one of my strengths. In fact, I used to struggle with forgiving those who had hurt or wronged me.
Fortunately, as I matured in my spiritual evolution, I eventually realized that by not letting go of negative events and experiences in my past, I was only being haunted and held captive by them, which was not serving my highest good.
For several years, I was stuck in a downward cycle of replaying certain past events in my mind, reliving every excruciating detail and allowing the past to negatively influence the present and my future. Over time, it became clear that this issue was holding me back in more ways than I could have imagined.
To find some answers, I decided to shift the focus of my spiritual practice for a few months to consult my guides on this issue. During this time, spirit guided me as follows.
Letting Go
To truly forgive, we must let go of the past. There is no true forgiveness if we still somehow hold on to the smallest regret or resentment. Forgiveness is all, or nothing. There are no half measures or gray areas.
Forgiveness is more than just an emotional healing process, it is also an empowering metaphysical practice. If we do not release something completely, we continue to hold some level of negative energy that continues to affect our current vibration, which diminishes our quality of life and negatively affects our future happiness.
How To Manifest The Love Of Your Life
The Law of Attraction has become a widely practiced metaphysical principle in popular culture since the success of the 2006 book and film The Secret, which is based on the spiritual teachings of the New Thought movement that began in the late 18th century.
New Thought is a spiritual philosophy based on the notion that everything in the universe is essentially energy, including our beliefs, ideas and thoughts, and that like energy attracts like energy. This is known as the Law of Attraction, one of several universal, metaphysical laws that govern the Universe.
The practice of this universal law to manifest personal goals or outcomes has become more common in post-modern metaphysics and alternative spirituality, especially as information has become more readily available through the Internet.
But while there is a vast amount of information available on the subject today, the Law of Attraction is often misunderstood and poorly applied in the practice of manifestation.
There are certain avoidable pitfalls that cause many inexperienced practitioners to become frustrated, disappointed or to give up before achieving their goals. This is especially true when it comes to manifesting romantic love.
If you have not had the best results with your manifestation efforts and are still hoping to attract a better love life, try the following improvement strategies to increase the success of your manifestation efforts. These techniques can be used to attract a new relationship, as well as to improve an existing relationship or marriage.