spirit
Spirit Is Always With You
How do you connect with your inner guidance? You soul essence? Ponder this question for a moment. Then shut your eyes, breathe deeply three times… and ponder this question again.
Spirit is always present within you. It does not take a time out to go get a coffee, or have a nap. Spirit simply is a part of you that never dies.
When you close your eyes and simply breathe, you will feel lighter. That is spirit trying to be more prominent than the ego.
Spirit never causes stress, discomfort, unease or negativity. Spirit is pure 100% unconditional love, and every person has this inside of them.
However, as you move forward in life, ego will always try to override spirit, whether in decision-making or choices that are important (or simple).
Ego can create discomfort, doubt, fear and the wrong type of attitude to live a spirit-filled, love-filled life.
How do you change these patterns? At least once a day, simply sit, breathe slowly, eyes closed, hands on lap. No parts of your body should be crossed, i.e. legs, arms or hands.
Now feel the essence of your true spirit flowing in your body and around your soul. Feel the essence of goodness that comes to you from this energy. Spirit will never make you feel down or negative. It will always be uplifting or at least instill a sense of calm or peace inside of you…even if only for the moment.
The Difference Between Soul Rescue And Soul Retrieval
In shamanic and spiritual traditions, soul recovery practices are based on the understanding that a person’s soul essence or ‘life force’ can become fragmented or lost due to trauma.
While these two shamanic arts are closely related and often assumed to be the same practcie, they refer to different contexts of healing. There is a subtle, but key difference.
Soul retrieval is the most common term used in modern shamanism and it is based on the idea of soul loss.
When a person experiences a severe physical or emotional trauma, such as an accident, abuse, grief, or a difficult breakup, a part of their vital essence may abandon the body to survive the experience. This is essentially a spiritual survival mechanism, similar to dissociation in psychology.
This disassociation might be related to the trauma of a car accident or extreme injury, or perhaps a memory of a time in someone’s life when an attribute of their soul felt threatened or fearful.
Other typical examples include physical, sexual or emotional abuse as a child; a feeling of abandonment after the death of a relative; financial ruin; nearly dying; or loss of a job.
Someone suffering from this kind of soul loss might feel “spaced out,” numb, incomplete, or like they are watching their life from the sidelines. Chronic depression or a sense that “I haven’t been the same” since the traumatic event are common indicators.
The True Meaning Of Spiritual Surrender
When life becomes too challenging, and things begin to fall apart for us, we usually seek spiritual guidance and comfort.
In these circumstances we often tend to hear terms like surrender, release and acceptance. We are told to just let it go and simply be in the moment.
But what does it really mean to surrender? It’s a term often used in spiritual and metaphysical circles. Is there even such a thing? And if so, what does it entail?
According to the dictionary, surrender means to stop fighting and admit defeat. It also conjures up the vision of waving a white flag. But is spiritual surrender truly nothing more than throwing in the towel, and graciously accepting our defeat?
I prefer to explore the meaning of spiritual ‘surrender’ through the metaphor of a painting I made, which is my way of meditating and reflecting on life.
The painting is of an angel and I even named it Surrender. I chose this name, because it is the energy this angel emanates. His pose and posture also symbolizes the act of surrender.
At the time of working with the energy of this piece, I was in the process of leaving the security of a mainstream finance career, to establish myself as a full-time artist, energy healer and spiritual reader. Meanwhile, I was also very busy navigating a family separation and divorce. There were so many major changes in my life, and so much about my future and my life path that remained uncertain and unknown.
Remember To Treasure The Living Years
Many of us attach personal meaning to songs. Perhaps it is a song played at your wedding, or a family member’s favorite tune, or something meaningful from your childhood years.
Psychics often have songs come to mind during readings, or we find they are playing on the car radio after we were just thinking of that special family member or friend. We then take that as a sign that they are watching over us and that they had just stepped in from the Spirit side of life to make their presence know.
These songs can be the triggers for memories that we once treasured, or continue to treasure, or to remind you how precious and loved you are.
For me Ave Maria and Unchained Melody (from the Ghost movie during the pottery making scene) are songs that I have attached over the years to my mother’s presence. Ave Maria because that was one of her favorite songs. When she was younger she apparently sang it on stage a few times in Vienna.
I never did get to hear her sing it, but family said it was incredible. Later in life, when I found this out, she said her voice had broken and would not sing it for me. I often tried to imagine how great it must have been to hear her sing, as I looked at her picture.
The Who’s Who Of The Spirit Realm
Communicating and working with Spirit can become confusing when you need to discern who exactly it is that you are engaging with.
Terms like Spirit Guides, Ascended Masters, Angels, Ancestors, among other, are often used in this context, but the distinction between these entities is not always made clear. It can be very confusing.
For this reason, I have compiled a quick guide to the ‘who’s who’ of the spirit realm, and how to best work with each group of spirit energies.
Angels
Angelic beings are pure Love and Light. Angels have never experienced a human incarnation. They serve as our guides and protectors.
Angels are our constant guides, steering us on our journey through life and helping us to achieve our dreams and goals.
They gently nudge us forward along our life path and deliver to us unconditional love from the Divine, but only if we ask for their support.
They never overstep the Law of Free Will, unless it is a life-threatening situation that demands divine intervention.
You know you are in contact with an Angel if you feel warm ‘tingles,’ and a sense of unconditional love, inner peace and well-being.
A Cuddly Message From Grandma At Halloween
All of us have lost, or will in time lose someone very dear to us. Like it or not, all of us also have to ponder the concept of life after death at some point in our life. Some of us have very strong beliefs on the subject, one way or the other. We either believe in the afterlife, or we do not.
For me the answer is simple and easy. I strongly believe, because of both my personal and professional experiences. For example, I have been visited many times by my grandparents, and I have communicated with many loved ones in spirit in my daily work, when I do readings for my clients.
My grandma often communicates with me in the dream state. She tends to show up when I least expect it, usually to give me a guiding message or to warn me about something. She always has been a worrier, in this life and the next! Right up to the very day she departed this life, she was telling us what to do to keep safe, and she was always giving us good advice. She is very wise.
I was asking her just the other day to give me a sign that she was around, and sure enough, she did. But this time she did not show up in a dream. She spoke to me…through a teddy bear! Yes, indeed.
It is one of those plush toys that makes a cute kissing sound and says, “I love you very much,” when you squeeze it. I was in the tub and this little teddy bear was right next to me, on top of a shelf. After drawing the bath, I was leaning back in the soothing, warm water, letting out a sigh of relief that a long day was over. Next thing you know, this teddy bear goes off on its own, making the kissing sounds and saying I love you, over and over. I knew right away that it was grandma making contact.
The Blessing Of Mediumship
As a medium, there is nothing more rewarding than bringing through a loved one who has passed on to Spirit. It is tremendously fulfilling to be able to deliver messages from another plane and to put someone’s mind at ease here on Earth.
Often, departed loved ones will come through to give a progress report of sorts, so that family or friends will know that they are happy, pain-free and adjusting beautifully to their new surroundings.
In addition, they might weigh in on a family dilemma, reassure a friend that the right decision was made or confirm that everything is currently on track for success.
Readings of this nature are a win-win-win for everyone: for the person who has passed on to Spirit, for the person requesting the reading, and also for me.
Over the years, I have received countless confirmations from readings given privately and in the various spiritualist churches. Although I would never take Spirit’s work for granted, because all messages are important for different reasons, there are many that stand out because of the wonderful reactions they caused.
Once, I was attending a potluck supper at one of the churches and, as I was standing in line for the buffet, I felt a tap on my shoulder. As I turned around to see who was there, an older woman said, “Well, here he is!” She pointed to a man standing beside her.
A few years before, Spirit had advised that she would be getting remarried and, at her age, she didn’t believe it for a minute. Fast forward a few years and she brought him to the church supper in the hope that I would be there to meet him in person. She was thrilled beyond belief and beamed with pride as she told me the story of where they had met and how their relationship had progressed so beautifully. Continue reading