self-awareness
My Spiritual Encounter With A Bear
Imagine venturing deep into the forest, sunlight streaming through the ancient trees. The air is crisp, alive with the gentle whispers of nature. Suddenly, a colossal bear emerges from the underbrush, its presence a primal force in the serene scene.
Well, chances are this isn’t just another wildlife encounter – it’s a potentially powerful spiritual experience, imbued with profound symbolism.
My psychic mentor and I once had such a remarkable encounter with a bear that brought me some deep spiritual insights.
The forest has always been a happy place for me, and for this particular long-term retreat, I rented a cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. One crisp fall evening, while my friend was visiting me and we were enjoying the tranquility of twilight on the back porch, a large black bear wandered into the back yard.
At first, we were both gripped with fear. Seeing such a powerful creature up close is both awe-inspiring and very intimidating! Fortunately, the bear paid us little attention as he calmly foraged for food, his movements deliberate and unhurried.
After the initial shock, we found ourselves mesmerized by his presence. I am always on the lookout for signs and synchronicities from the universe. Decades of spiritual work have taught me that nothing is accidental or random, especially when you are in the wilderness.
Learning To Interpret Your Dreams
While the exact nature and purpose of dreaming remains shrouded in mystery, science at least tells us that it is a universal experience. We all dream, most likely every night. Many people don’t remember their dreams and therefore incorrectly assume that they rarely or never dream.
Research on dreams and dreaming has shown that an estimated 95 to 99% of people experience dreams. Dreaming is most common during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when brain activity is heightened and our eyes move about every 90 minutes throughout the night.
On average, a person may have several dreams per night, although they may not always remember them when they wake up. The frequency of dreaming can be influenced by several factors, including age, stress levels, and sleep quality.
There are many theories as to why we dream. Most believe that dreams help us consolidate memories, process emotions, solve problems, or even prepare us for tasks. However, the most important reason we dream is often downplayed or even ignored, which is that our dreams are inherently spiritual and serve a higher purpose.
The fact that our dreams are messages from the spirit realm and a higher power is unfortunately one of the most forgotten truths of ancient wisdom deeply rooted in many religious and spiritual traditions. Dreams have piqued human curiosity for thousands of years. Ancient civilizations, from the Egyptians to the Greeks, revered dreams as portals to the divine, messages from the gods, or glimpses of the future.
Tarot Forecast July 2024: The Tower
This month’s card is the Tower, which predicts the energies of disruption, revelation, transformation and the breaking down of old structures.
The Tower card is a powerful symbol of sudden upheaval and change. It’s traditionally depicted as a tall tower struck by lightning, representing chaos and upheaval. It represents life throwing us a curveball.
As lightning strikes and flames dismantle the old structure, it forces us to confront our foundations and belief systems. While painful, this destruction can lead to necessary revelations and a chance to rebuild on a stronger foundation. By letting go of what no longer serves you, you open yourself up to new possibilities.
The Tower showing up in a reading, though scary and troubling at first glance, always precedes a period of significant growth. Destruction creates opportunity. Most situations we face are opportunities, even the bad ones. It’s all about the opportunity and how you see it.
Embracing chaos will be the key to clarity and growth this month. This is a time to rebuild and redesign your life in a way that is more in line with your true self.
Approach the month with an open heart and a willingness to let go of what no longer serves you. Whether it’s health, finances, career, relationships or personal growth, the Tower’s influence will lead you to a more liberated and empowered version of yourself. Trust the transformative power of the Tower. Embrace the changes and you will emerge from this month stronger, wiser and more in alignment with your true self.
I Am Soaring Free
When I do readings for clients to help guide them through the struggles or confusion they face in their lives, I understand what they are going through. I can relate on a deeply personal level, because I have been there myself, and I have experienced more than most.
Back in 2004, I had reached a devastating point in my life where my confidence, happiness, courage and self-worth were essentially non-existent. Fortunately, I was able to overcome those challenges with the guidance of spirit, and I now know from hard-earned experience that we can overcome much adversity.
As part of this journey of growth and healing, one of my guides gave me my spiritual name: Soaring Free.
Everyone has at least three guides in their lives. There are other guides and guardians that come and go in our lives, but the primary three stay with us throughout our lives to support and guide us.
It was my main guide who gave me my spirit name in a dream. I was to be known as “Soaring Free.” When I asked what this meant, I was shown that my life was to change direction significantly and that I was to live it as if I were soaring free like an eagle every day. I received several profound messages to awaken me at that time. It brought me to a higher level of understanding (and much confusion at first) than ever before.
What was the meaning of all this, I wondered? Why did I need a new name? Were these guides coming into my life real or just my imagination? Was I losing my mind? Was I really hearing and seeing these things, or was it just my own subconscious playing tricks on me? I had many questions at the time, and so began my journey of awakening and transformation.
Practical Techniques For Psychic Protection
Psychic protection, also known as spiritual or energetic protection, is a practice I hold dear because it helps shield me from negative energies, psychic attacks, and unwanted influences.
The concept is not new. Mystical protection practices can be traced back to various ancient civilizations, indigenous traditions, Eastern philosophies, and Western esoteric practices.
In ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, amulets and talismans were worn and protective deities invoked to ward off negative energies and evil spirits. Indigenous cultures in the Americas and Africa used smudging and rituals to summon ancestral spirits for protection.
Eastern religious traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism use mantras, yantras, and meditation for spiritual protection. Kabbalistic traditions emphasize the use of specific prayers and rituals to create spiritual shields. These practices reflect a deep-rooted belief in the power of divine intervention and sacred symbols to provide protection.
In Catholicism, believers recite prayers such as the Lord’s Prayer or the prayer to St. Michael for protection from evil. They may also use holy water, crucifixes, or medals of saints as protective symbols. In Judaism, the recitation of Psalms and the use of amulets inscribed with Hebrew verses are common practices for protection against negative influences.
Contemporary spiritual communities have adapted these ancient practices to include the use of crystals, energy healing, and visualization techniques. Workshops, books, and teachings offer a wealth of methods for psychic protection, all aimed at maintaining a balanced, protected, and positive state of being. These diverse traditions and modern adaptations underscore the universal spiritual need to protect ourselves from unseen negative energies and dark influences.
Overcoming Your Inner Saboteur
Have you ever wondered why people sometimes try to ruin an ideal opportunity in their life, or deliberately sabotage a promising relationship?
Even though I have done thousands of readings over the years, I cannot help but still be surprised when I work with people who are in the process of sabotaging a wonderful relationship or alienating a loving, caring partner. Reading for people of all ages and walks of life around the world has shown me that this behavior is relatively common.
Not all psychic readings are about difficult relationships, difficult or cheating partners, or boring marriages. Sometimes they are about perfectly wonderful relationships that one of the partners is doing their best to destroy!
In these relationships, the saboteur consciously or unconsciously creates a toxic scenario or behaves in a dysfunctional way that will ultimately lead to a breakup. For example, the saboteur will begin to find fault with their partner, subtly push them away, or find reasons to walk away from the commitment.
Relationship readings for self-saboteurs often begin with them saying something like: “Well, things are rosy now, but they always start out that way,” or “Knowing my luck, she’ll soon get bored with me,” or “To be honest, things are so good with him, I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop!”
It reminds me of my grandmother, who was abandoned by my grandfather when my mother and her sister were very young. She used to say, “All men are gorillas!” I later realized that my mother had adopted the same mindset.
Working Your Way Up The Emotional Scale
Is it not amazing how many different emotions we can experience? No one even knows for sure how many different human emotions there are!
Over the years, psychologists and neuroscientists have proposed various models for categorizing and understanding human emotions. The highest total number of distinct emotions identified by a single model is found in the research of Alan S. Cowen and Dacher Keltner, who identified 27 distinct emotions. Their model is one of the most comprehensive in terms of categorizing a wide range of human emotional experiences.
A concept closely related to the wide range of emotions we can experience is that of an emotional scale, also known as an emotional spectrum or hierarchy. This idea involves categorizing and ranking emotions based on various criteria such as their intensity, positivity or negativity, and how they relate to each other.
There are several emotional scales that are used to help us better understand and navigate our emotions. There is Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions, Russell’s Circumplex Model of Affect, David Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness and Abraham-Hicks’ Emotional Guidance Scale.
Emotional scales and models serve a variety of purposes, including therapeutic contexts, self-help, academic research, emotional intelligence training, spiritual growth and guidance, manifestation practices, and other esoteric and practical applications. They help people identify, categorize, and work with their emotions for improved emotional well-being and self-awareness.