psychology
Betrayal Blindness And The Family Scapegoat
I have a good friend who was raised by a mother who constantly belittled and talked down to her. She never defended herself, because she grew up believing that she deserved her mother’s abuse, because something was wrong with her causing her to always say and do the wrong things.
Once she graduated high school, she moved out of her mom’s house. Her life became much more peaceful for several years, until she started noticing that her brother was following in their mother’s footsteps by adopting the same kind of toxic, abusive language towards her.
It oddly became evident to her one year at Christmas time, when she gifted him a beautiful, crocheted blanket that she had been working on for many months and he rolled his eyes and made some disparaging remark about it. She then started noticing how pompous, ungrateful, and narcissistic he truly was. Growing up with him, she always assumed he just had bit of an ego or a macho attitude, but now that she had gained life experience and wisdom, she realized he was simply an abusive jerk.
Still, she chose not to criticize or judge him. In fact, she did the opposite, she encouraged his long-suffering partner to stay by his side and continue to support and love him, because she understood that he was also just a product of his upbringing, like herself. Meanwhile, he faithfully continued judging and belittling her. Because that is what he had seen their mother do all his life.
But one day, something inside her finally shifted. She had reached a point of no return and decided to start standing up for herself! Enough already.
Gratitude Is The Essential Spiritual Practice
In a fast-paced world with many distractions and challenges, it is easy to overlook gratitude’s transformative power. Cultivating a mindset of appreciation by acknowledging all the good in our life greatly enhances our well-being and quality of life.
Gratitude is advocated in many cultures, religious teachings, and spiritual traditions. It is generally considered the mother of all virtues and the essential spiritual practice. In Judaism, for example, gratitude is considered an essential part of worship. Islam encourages believers to be grateful and express thanks to Allah in all circumstances. Christians are encouraged to praise and give gratitude to God not just in thought and feeling, but also in deeds and action.
Gratitude is also a virtue that Hindus believe should be cultivated in order to live a fulfilling life of inner peace and contentment. Many Buddhist monks begin each day with a chant of gratitude for the blessings in their life. In fact, in Shin Buddhism, gratitude is seen as a primary practice that has priority over meditation and study.
In modern times, scientific research has shed further light on the profound benefits of having an ‘attitude of gratitude.’
While traditionally confined to the realm of philosophy, gratitude has garnered much attention in the field of positive psychology in recent years. Neuroscientists have also begun exploring gratitude from a scientific perspective, seeking to unravel the intricate workings of the brain when we practice and experience gratitude.
How To Deal With Toxic People
Toxic people can be incredibly difficult to deal with in both personal and professional relationships and can be detrimental to your personal happiness and well-being.
A toxic person is someone whose constant negativity and dysfunctional behavior causes drama in your life and drains you energy whenever they are around. Typical toxic traits include negativity, cynicism, apathy, lack of self-awareness, arrogance, entitlement, self-centeredness, domineering behavior, lack of empathy, being judgmental, dishonesty, anger outbursts, to name only a few.
The most extreme forms of toxicity includes personality disorders like antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorder. A personality disorder is a rigid, deeply characteristic way of thinking, feeling and acting that severely affects the person’s mental well-being, personal relationships and social life.
Toxic people can however be tricky to identify at first, as their dysfunctional traits and behaviors can be very subtle. Some of them are also very good at ‘gaslighting,’ which makes interacting with them even more treacherous.
Gaslighting is a very toxic form of manipulation, game playing, or crazymaking in which you are constantly being misled, confused, lied to, and made to question your own truth and reality. You increasingly feel unsure about the accuracy of your own memories regarding certain events and your personal opinions and perceptions of the world. You may even begin to think that you are to blame for the toxic person’s actions, or that maybe something is very wrong with you, or worse, that you are losing your mind.
Seeing Spirit Signs In Ordinary Things
Seeing see spirit signs and meaningful symbols in ordinary things is a common phenomenon among the spiritually aware. One way that many of us see such signs is by observing meaningful shapes or patterns in ordinary things.
As a child, while having breakfast, I would often see faces or animals in my eggs or oatmeal. I never gave it a second thought that other kids might not see what I did. It even became a game for me to count how many things I could see. And to this day, my morning cup of coffee or tea with cream often produces all sorts of wonderful shapes for my amusement.
In the fourth grade, while eating lunch at school one day, I asked the kids around me if anyone else also saw faces in their food. Two kids said yes, but most said they did not. The three of us who did see faces agreed to see how many more things we could see in this way, and report back our discoveries to each other. It created a special bond between us that lasted throughout our school years. To this day we still sometimes compare notes.
My sister and I also created a game of face counting while taking long car rides with our parents. We were only allowed to count the faces and animals we spotted on our side of the car. Once we reached our destination, the one with the highest count received a prize, which was usually a small trinket from the local department store.
Even my older sister, who does not believe in much that cannot be scientifically verified, sees chariots in the sky. To this day, at age 78, she will say, “Look! Do you see the chariots and horses in the clouds?’ Much to my chagrin, I have never been able to see it myself.
Chiron Retrograde Is An Opportunity For Deep Healing
A lesser-known celestial body to watch if one is metaphysically inclined is the planet-like asteroid or comet known as Chiron, which orbits between the planets Saturn and Uranus. It is named after the wise centaur in Greek mythology who could heal others, but not himself, and is associated with the archetype of the ‘wounded healer.’
Chiron went retrograde recently on July 19th and its reverse trajectory will last until December 23rd, 2022. This astrological event will challenge us, as Chiron symbolizes the unhealed pain and unresolved past traumas we still carry within. It represents our deepest, core wound and our efforts to heal that wound. The good news is, despite a retrograde cycle bringing challenge, it also bring opportunity for expansion and growth.
Chiron is currently in the fiery, action-oriented sign of Aries where it will remain until the year 2026. This is a difficult placement, because Chiron is all about deep introspection, delicate shadow work and patiently working towards the healing of old wounds, while Aries has little patience in such matters and just wants to ‘get on with it.’
You may feel tempted to rush into the core of your pain and trauma due to this retrograde, but be sensible instead and take a step back. This retrograde period does offer a powerful opportunity for working on inner healing and forgiveness, but take a measured approach and do not foolishly rush in where angels may fear to tread. Give yourself permission to honor slow, steady processing, healing and growth. Healing is like a seed we plant; it takes time for an acorn to grow into an oak tree.
If you find your temper and emotions flaring, remember to breathe, use mantras, and positively visualize your outcome. New growth takes place after a wildfire (Aries) and this is an excellent time to start anew, while overcoming old traumas.
Universal Psychic Symbols Versus Personal Symbology
Meaningful symbolism is everywhere, including in our dreams and subconscious minds. The earliest symbols known to modern man can be traced back to paleolithic caves of the early Stone Age. Spontaneous artwork done by both adults and children in a psychotherapy session often includes many archetypal symbols. Symbols are not only present in mythology, art, religion, and occult practices, but also in chemistry, road signs and even on the product packaging in supermarkets.
Symbols can convey a powerful, instant message and this is why people, often the young and vulnerable individuals, can be easily influenced by the media and the subliminal messages contained in the cleverly encoded symbols in political campaigns and advertising, for example. The everyday subliminal influence of symbolism in our lives is profound. Symbols speak to our mind, body and spirit.
Specific symbols make up a universal language and people with speech disabilities, or those with difficulty in communicating, use symbols and symbolic languages as an alternative method of communication. When doing animal telepathy our pets pick up the images and symbols we project to them, as opposed to words we might try to send them. Hence the need, for example, to send our animals happy images of being reunited with us if they are lost, rather than fearful images of them being lost and alone.
Symbols are the foundation of divination. Every Tarot, Rune or I Ching symbol, for example, has a documented, universal meaning, as well as a personal interpretation for the individual diviner. This is why it is important for a psychic reader to relay any symbol she receives during a reading to the client, because it may just be of great personal significance.
I Am Proud To Call Myself Psychic
I have been naturally psychic all my life, and have been working as a professional psychic for over 20 years. After all these years I am still curious about people’s responses when they ask me what I do for a living.
People’s responses to me being a psychic can sometimes be so predictable that you don’t even need to be psychic to know what they are going to say. No, I am going to tell you what your name, star sign or favorite color is, just because you thought it funny to ask. My typical response to these kinds of questions is inevitably, “Why, did you forget what it was?”
Now, I could tell them I am a Licensed Reverend or a Certified Life Coach. I could also tell them that I am a Certified Massage Therapist for over 8 years. I could even say that I am a Certified Reiki Master, or better yet, that I was a casino dealer for twelve years, before I ‘jumped off the cliff’ into the rest of my life. But my favorite thing to say is simply that, “I am a psychic.”
People have different ideas about what this really means. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term ‘psychic’ as being of, or relating to, the psyche. It is also described as lying outside the sphere of physical science or knowledge. The word is further also defined as someone who is sensitive to non-physical or supernatural forces and influences; or as a person who is marked by extraordinary or mysterious sensitivity, perception, or understanding.
As all psychics are well aware, we can be looked upon askance in the best of times, and with horror during the worst of times. It’s rarely an easy gig! But, oh, so rewarding.