sadness
The True Tale Of The Praying Hands
Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with 18 children. Yes, eighteen! In order to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost 18 hours a day at his trade, as well as any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood.
Despite their seemingly hopeless condition Albrecht and Albert, two of the older children, had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they were fully aware of the fact that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to the art academy.
After many long discussions at night, in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother who would attended the academy.
Then, after four years, when the brother who won the coin toss completed his studies, he would in turn support the mining brother to also attend the academy – either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.
They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg to study art. Albert went down into the dangerous mines, and for the next four years financed his brother whose creative work at the academy was an almost immediate sensation. Albrecht’s etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his fellow students and even those of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.
When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht’s triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled him to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were: “And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you.”
Finding The Courage To Heal
All of us will experience some heartache, adversity and grief in our life. It may be a serious health scare, the ending of a relationship or marriage, the tragic loss of a loved one, retrenchment from a ‘secure’ job, sudden bankruptcy, becoming homeless due to a foreclosure, or becoming the victim of abuse and violence.
These major setbacks in life can be truly devastating, and the pain and trauma extremely difficult to rise up from again. In such times of loss or trauma, it is vital to allow yourself to feel your true emotions. To effectively process and heal from traumatic events. hardship and bereavement, we must acknowledge our raw feelings. Grief and trauma are deeply private and personal journeys with no rules and no deadlines.
However, do not allow the ego to keep you trapped indefinitely in a place of anger, bitterness, hopelessness, or self-pity. If left unattended for too long, our initial emotional responses to the negative event can become toxic in a way that simply keeps us away from our truly divine self and our future happiness.
Yes, it is always hard work to release intense loss or trauma and move forward. It takes courage, self-awareness, and inner strength. However, if you proceed with faith, trusting and believing that this too shall pass, and that there is a reason for everything, even if you don’t understand it right now, you will ultimately be able to move forward in a healthy and productive way.
No matter what happens to you in life, you will grow stronger and wiser by working through it. Regardless how intense the dark night of your soul may be, move forward step by step, day by day, trusting that you can heal and will become stronger. Focus on self-care and loving yourself and hold the faith that better days are coming into your life. We all deserve to be happy and have inner peace.
Astrology Forecast April 19 – 25, 2021
Today the Sun moves into Taurus, the sign that will inspire us to manifest our dreams over the next four weeks. Creative ideas will turn into tangible movement and we’ll have the power to reclaim our physical and financial balance.
Later today, Mercury will also join the Sun in Taurus, adding our logical and practical sides to this creative energy for the next couple of weeks. Problem-solving will become child’s play and accessing the information we need will be as easy as typing the issue into a search engine. Today’s Moon-Neptune Trine will further stimulate our creative impulses and imagination!
The Moon will travel through Leo on Tuesday and Wednesday, calling for us to make ourselves the priority. If we’ve been lacking in self-care, now is the time to regroup and put our own needs first. If you are highly sensitive, especially take heed the Leo Moon in opposition to Saturn in Aquarius on Wednesday, as it can trigger a low mood, or even sadness, loneliness or depression. If such feelings arise, reach out to someone you trust and remind yourself that you are never alone. There are kind people in this world who care.
Detailed work is best done on Thursday and Friday under the meticulous Virgo Moon. On Thursday Mars will move into the sign of Cancer, which tends to slow outer movement and direct us to work on our inner selves for the next two months.
Regrouping and restoring balance will be the theme this weekend as the Moon dances through Libra and illuminates where our focus needs to be; mainly on our relationships and personal surroundings.
Helping Others Is A Great Way To Help Yourself
Ten years ago was a very difficult time in my life. I had a lot of time to reflect and put my own needs in perspective. My experience with that stress gave me coping skills that I want to share with you in today’s difficult times.
We all have choices in life when we believe that we have hit ‘rock bottom.’ We can choose to stay at that bottom and focus on that negative energy, or we can look for the positive side and see that there is nowhere else to go, except back up to the top.
A decade ago my mother was fighting cancer. She was strong and healthy and had always focused on a healthful and active lifestyle. Why did this happen to someone who does all the right things in life, when there are so many people that do not take care of themselves and then live a longer life?
In those days, I could choose to focus on such negative thoughts about how unfair life was, or I could choose to find the positive in that situation. Spending time with my mother, taking her to doctor’s appointments, cooking her favorite meals and offering my listening ear instead created a positive spirit for both of us.
I tried to spend as much time with her as possible, giving her time to live, love and laugh. We focused on one day at a time, but also made plans for tomorrow. Keeping busy and reminiscing over the positive memories we shared, truly helped me through that very stressful time with my mother.
On top of dealing with my mother, I also had a nine year old Doberman dog that was very close to me. He had just been diagnosed with liver disease and his prognosis was not good. The added stress of my dog’s health made matters even more challenging. I still think sometimes that if it wasn’t for bad luck, I would have no luck at all! But I make an effort to snap out of this kind of thought process as quickly as possible. It serves no purpose in the long run.
A Healing Spirit Visitation And The Haunted Toy
A few months ago, my best friend, whom I’ve known since I was five, had her mother pass away. Shortly after that, I woke up in the middle of the night because my son’s educational toy was spontaneously activated and said: “Learn.”
I then instantly felt my friend’s mother’s presence. She was visiting me to apologize to me for something that happened when I was a little girl. It was a deep wound for me at the time, but I rarely thought about it since, and did not harbor any ill will because of it.
When I was 11 years old, I had told my best friend that I had “seen my goddess.” I did not know about spirit guides and had not yet been exposed to any related spiritual philosophies or belief systems. However, I was already interacting with my spirit guide back then, whom I called ‘my goddess.’ Today, I know her as Lily.
I also told my friend that my goddess had said that she was going to give me gift. Later that day, in the cow field that I had to cross to get to school every morning, I found a silver ring.
My friend knew that we were not wealthy, so there was no way I could have bought the ring with my own money. It clearly had been found. It was too much of a coincidence for my friend to not link it to me saying my goddess was giving me a gift.
Unfortunately, these events really scared my friend. She told her parents. That night, my friend’s father, who was a rather intimidating man, came to my house and yelled at me in front of my mom. My mother was confused, since she did not know what had happened earlier that day.
My friend’s parents never got over it. They assumed I was lying and telling stories that scared their daughter. They treated me quite badly after that. This is too often the lot of many psychic children. We are frequently accused of lying or exaggerating, among other things.
Walk In Faith As You Move Forward
“For we live by faith, not by sight.” I have relied on the words of this verse from 2 Corinthians for most of my life with much success, no matter how tough times have been.
What does it mean to walk in faith, and not by sight? Well, it means to keep going and to keep your faith in God, Spirit, a Higher Power, even when you are not sure of where exactly you are headed.
This past year these words could not have been more relevant. It has been very difficult for all of us, especially for those who have lost loved ones. Sadly, in our day and age, when a loved one passes, we don’t always get the support we need in order to get through the loss and get the help we need to move forward.
Processing grief on your own is no easy task. First we have to accept that our loved one is not with us in the physical sense anymore, but their soul is always with us. They will tell us that they are still here, but they do not want us to have an unhappy life, they don’t want us to be alone.
In our soul contract one of us agrees to leave before the other, whether it is a parent, husband, wife, child, sibling, whomever it may be, and that the one left behind would be experiencing what it means to endure such a loss.
As we struggle to move forward, people might say, why aren’t you feeling better yet? Time to get over it. Life goes on. Why are you still so sad? Well, it just doesn’t work that way, and anyone who has experienced such a loss understands that it takes a lot of time for the heart to truly heal.
I lost my husband of 31 years a long time ago. You don’t ever get over it completely, but it does get easier with time. It’s a step-by-step process, and having people that support you means so much to help you get through.
The Spirits Of The Mountains Are My Soulmates
There are times in our lives when we know that our inspirations are coming from something beyond the personality. These visions come from a land beyond the physical, even beyond words. They are concepts we have no words for, we have only our inner knowing. The personality moves over and we find ourselves relying upon something beyond the five senses, or sheer logic.
Perhaps that sixth sense is the emerging force, which is the next step in the evolution of the human race. A developing being knows it is no longer appropriate to depend only upon the physical world. This being will develop the skills it needs to see and feel and work within the unseen territory of the soul.
Once we acknowledge the soul’s existence and approach it with respect and sacredness, the personality becomes aligned with the soul. With this alignment comes respect for all life, and many difficulties usually experienced with the unconscious personality can be avoided.
When our soul becomes mindful and directly involved with the physical world, we greet each day with the deepest part of ourselves, and all activities become gratifying and purposeful. It is the gratitude that we give each day that gets us off the karmic wheel of debt, because we now see the sacredness of all life. W
I have much to be grateful for. The desert’s barrenness, along with the mountains’ majesty, stripped me of my ego long enough to allow the healing forces of the sagebrush to greet my soul. Sage has healed my physical body during illness, my emotional and mental bodies during depressions and confusion, and it has healed my soul of desolation.