perception
What You Should Know About Spiritual Awakening
We live in a world that worships results. We proudly proclaim them: “I lost twenty pounds,” or “I was voted employee of the month.”
Tangible achievements deserve recognition. But in the spiritual realm, such milestones don’t exist in the same way. The universe does not operate according to human rules. The metaphysical realms cannot be measured by physical standards.
This is why when it comes time for us to experience a spiritual awakening — also known as an epiphany, illumination or inner shift — there is no outward certificate of success. It’s not something that can be counted or checked off a list. It happens organically, quietly, often unpredictably. And when it comes, it is only the beginning.
Think of it as a small ball of snow set in motion at the top of a hill. As it rolls down, it grows larger and more powerful, accumulating mass and momentum. That’s what spiritual awakening does: it starts with a whisper and becomes a roar. The journey that follows isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it.
But what exactly is a spiritual awakening? At its core, spiritual awakening is the moment when you begin to perceive reality through a higher, expanded lens. It is a fundamental shift in consciousness — a sudden or gradual realization that there is more to life than what meets the eye.
A sudden awakening is known as “satori” in Zen Buddhism — a sudden moment of awakening or enlightenment. Satori is a flash of insight into the true nature of reality—an experience where the ego momentarily drops away, and one perceives life with profound clarity and unity.
What The Mind Believes, The Body Perceives
Self-talk and inner dialogue play a crucial role in our overall well-being – body, mind and spirit. The way we think and talk to ourselves shapes our reality, affecting not only our emotions and moods, but also our physical health.
For example, if we wake up and immediately think, “I feel terrible. I’m still exhausted. I don’t want to face the day,” our body will respond in kind. We’ll move sluggishly, feel each ache more intensely, and reinforce a state of fatigue.
Negative self-talk can even affect digestion, metabolism, and immune function because the body takes its cues from the mind. When we repeatedly tell ourselves that we lack energy, the body responds by slowing down.
However, when we consciously shift our thoughts to a more positive perspective, we cultivate an inner environment that supports healing, resilience, and vitality.
The same principle applies to how we perceive ourselves physically. If we stand in front of the mirror and focus on perceived flaws, our posture and energy will reflect that self-criticism. We may unconsciously choose clothing that reinforces our negative self-image and move through the day with slumped shoulders and diminished confidence. Our bodies reflect the beliefs we hold about ourselves.
Conversely, when we practice self-talk that is uplifting and empowering, our body responds accordingly. By consciously choosing to carry ourselves with confidence, even if it feels unnatural at first, we initiate a shift in both our emotional and physical states.
Cultivating A Thriving Garden Of The Mind
Your mind is like a fertile garden, constantly nurturing and cultivating the seeds of thought you plant each day. Every waking moment your ideas, beliefs, and perceptions take hold and gradually grow into the mental landscape that ultimately shapes your reality.
If you could take a walk through your “mind garden,” what would you find? Would you see sturdy, thriving trees of faith, hope, and positivity, their roots deeply nourishing the soil of your thoughts? Perhaps vibrant, radiant flowers of joy, abundance and well-being brightening the landscape?
Or would you find brittle branches of lost dreams and dry, withered remnants of unfulfilled hopes? Perhaps the creeping weeds of negativity and doubt smothering your true potential, casting shadows over your hopes and ideals?
I actually do this visualization sometimes as part of my morning meditation practice. I imagine walking through my inner garden, tending to my thoughts and beliefs, nurturing them with faith and positivity, fertilizing those that are flourishing, and pulling out the weeds of doubt, fear, or negativity that had somehow taken root and are no longer serving my highest good.
I also ask for divine guidance, calling on God, my guides and loved ones in spirit to help me recognize innate talents and growth opportunities that I might have overlooked or neglected. Perhaps there are hidden seeds within me that still need to be planted or nurtured. With intention, I also visualize planting new seeds of goodness, self-empowerment, and spiritual expansion.
The True Meaning Of Judgment
Judgment is card 20 in the Tarot’s Major Arcana. Arcana means “hidden things, mysteries,” from the Latin arcanum meaning “a secret, a mystery” and arcanus meaning “secret, hidden, private, concealed.” Arcana are therefore “pieces of mysterious knowledge or information.”
In a standard Tarot deck, there are 21 Major Arcana cards. They define The Fool’s journey (the first card) through life and all of the life lessons we encounter along the way. As one of the final stages in The Fool’s journey, the Judgment card represents having learned sufficient lessons to now awaken from the illusion and limited perceptions.
The most well-known tarot deck is the Rider–Waite. Pamela Coleman Smith, aka “Pixie,” was a British artist who illustrated the deck. She deserves much credit for the brilliant way she captured advanced spiritual concepts in the deck’s artwork.
The Rider–Waite Judgment card depicts three resurrected figures, a woman, man, and child, reaching up to an Archangel overhead blowing a trumpet as a wake-up call. The scene is based on Christian imagery representing the Resurrection and Last Judgment. The flag of St. George hangs from the trumpet, which references 1 Corinthians 15 in The Bible.
The Judgment card reminds us that no matter what our background may be, we can rise up and transcend any trauma or adversity in life, regardless how challenging the situation. We also have the power to see through the illusion of life and wake up to the truth.
Reawaken Your Psychic Ability
Many of us are born with the ability to perceive the unseen, sense the future and communicate with spirit. Childhood conditioning and trauma, religious and cultural influences in how we were raised, and various circumstances and life experiences can suppress our psychic gifts, often because we were told it is silly, inapproriate, or even ‘evil.’
If you can relate to this, then you need to know that your psychic talent is never lost or destroyed. You can reconnect with your natural gifts by engaging in various spiritual and metaphysical practices that will reawaken and develop your psychic abilities.
I started this process myself years ago by experimenting with various forms of meditation. Meditation teaches one to achieve altered states of consciousness, to become more aware of perceptions and energies that we otherwise do not notice in our normal waking state.
I also started keeping a ‘psychic journal.’ I wrote down my dreams every morning, as well as any unusual thoughts and feelings I had about a person or situation. Using these notes as reference, I would later check the relevanc and accuracy of my perceptions and premonitions.
Studying various divination methods also helped me a lot. For example, Astrology helped me to better understand the ancient metaphysical concept of “as above, so below,” and how it affects our daily lives. Astrology references universal consciousness and divine design, and the direct affect it has on us. It gave me greater insight into why people born under certain zodiac signs behave the way they do, and how each planet affects us, especially when it retrogrades, or moves into a new sign. It also explains why people get more emotional when the Moon is full, or why communication breaks down when Mercury is in retrograde.
Spiritual Self-Care For Clairsentients
We all have access to the four channels of psychic energy and intuition. These include clairvoyance (clear vision), claircognizance (clear thinking), clairaudience (clear hearing) and clairsentience (clear feeling). While everyone has access to each of these channels of inner guidance, one or more of these tend to be stronger for every individual.
Clairsentience is the pathway for receiving divine guidance and spiritual information through feelings and physical sensations. You are probably clairsentient if you often saying, “I feel” or “I sense.” For example, you may say, “I feel it would be a good idea,” or “I sense a bad vibe in this place,” or “I just don’t have a good feeling about that person.”
You may also experience clairsentience as ‘tingles’ on your skin or the back of your neck when your Angels or Guides are near or sending you a message. You probably also get ‘gut feelings’ or ‘hunches’ about things and typically experience the sensations in your solar plexus area.
Some clairsentients also pick up strongly on people and animals’ feelings and emotions. This is an aspect of clairsentience known as being an empath or a sensitive.
No matter how one uniquely experiences clairsentience, it is vital to practice good spiritual self-care. Clairsentients are especially vulnerable to energy influences and can easily get sucked into drama, addiction, and co-dependency – all of which negatively affect your psychic abilities and distract you from your true path.
Seeing Colors In Music
When my dad became terminally ill in 2013, I turned to art and started painting. I had no ambition to become an artist; it was simply something I could do to take my mind off the stress of my father’s illness.
I started off blending and playing with colors, and eventually branched out to paint pictures that I soon discovered many people found appealing. When I became better at it, I started to incorporate music into what I was painting.
I would pick a song and play it on repeat to inspire me, until I was done with the painting. It was as if I was channeling the lyrics and melodies into the artwork. The music told the story of the art I was creating. I would then name the painting after that particular song and include the lyrics on the back of the canvas.
I also developed a new fascination with music and singing at that time. In time I began putting my art projects to one side, and instead began to focus on learning to sing. I continued the singing after my father passed away, and I found so much personal healing in it.
I didn’t realize how alive music really is and how intertwined my art would become with my singing. When I sing, I ‘see’ the lyrics as if they are being painted on a blank canvas in my mind’s eye. The main verses of the songs will often become large flowers, and the chorus and melodies will fill in the areas around the flowers with leaves and scrolled vines.
I learned recently that there is a scientific term for seeing colors and patterns when hearing music. It is a type of synesthesia known as chromaesthesia. Synesthesia is a perception phenomenon in which one experiences things through your senses in an unusual way. For example, a synesthete might experience a sound as a color, a word as a shape, or a number as a taste or smell. The person’s sensory perceptions are somehow combined or unified, almost like ‘wires that are crossed.’