spiritual growth
The Karmic Trap Of Temptation
I love stories that inspires one to look at life differently. I had the pleasure of hearing just such a tale recently, and it was all about temptation.
Imagine Temptation unexpectedly knocking at your door one evening, bearing a gift-wrapped box. He bids you a good day and asks you to invite him into your home. He then offers you the box as a gift and tells you that every time you were to press a button on this box, it will immediately dispense $1,000! You will never have to worry about money again.
But with such an unusually generous gift there is bound to be a catch! Temptation then informs you that every time you press the money box button, a homeless person somewhere in a poverty-stricken community will pass away.
Temptation reassures you however that all people must die sooner or later. And besides, no harm will come to you or your family. You could even use some of the free money to help the disadvantaged in your own community! So, what do you have to lose?
Being human, we are all tempted from time to time. The question is, would you accept such a gift and press the button? Or would you tell Temptation to take the box and leave?
I remember my late mother telling me that when I was about two years old, she kept my baby stroller outside, in the garden, as she had nowhere else to store it when I no longer needed it. It stood there for many weeks, until a struggling young couple knocked on our front door (the woman appeared to be heavily pregnant) and offered to buy the stroller.
Growing Your Spiritual Garden
Many people ask how it is possible to remain positive, fulfilled, and have our needs met during times of crisis, despair, and uneasiness. The answer lies in meditation, creative visualization, belief and the realization that each of us holds the power in our inner being to achieve whatever we set out to do.
Our lives are not only physical, and emotional, but each of us has a spirit within that can do so much if we allow it to be set free. Sometimes that is not always easy. We, as people, would like to be logical, scientific, have some proof, or have the outcome right away. It is only natural. We are not only brought up this way, taught this way, but also have the brain power to feel a need for logic.
The answer is to let our spiritual beingness loose, to let our inner guidance start working, to start flying over and above the reasonable. Think about your dreams, your ideas, your needs, your hopes as a flower bulb you planted last September. You saw no growth, no movement, no flower, until this month, when the beautiful tulips, hyacinths, lilacs have finally bloomed. This is true belief.
We have no logic to believe a flower will grow from a mere bulb, but it does. That little tomato seed planted in late March is now a leafy green plant, but by late May it should also have some big ripe red tomato fruit on it! Wow, what little miracles we see that have no logic, no reason – they just are.
Today I looked out into a garden where every plant, flower, vegetable I planted was there. Not one did not grow, but they only now started to show up with hope.
The Paradigm Shift Of An Awakening World
Most people respond more strongly to negative than they do to positive news or events. No matter how hard some of us may try to live with grace and gratitude by looking at the brighter side of life, a piece of bad news, malignant gossip, or fear-inducing information is a lot easier to run with than good news. We also react to someone else’s bad behavior much more strongly than their good conduct. We seldom praise or sincerely compliment, but we are quick to judge and criticize.
Case in point is my own experience working as the curator at fine art galleries some years ago. Ten clients would be nice and easy to please, but if the eleventh person was having a bad day they would be the one to get most of my attention. I’ve since gotten a lot better at being able to tune out the negativity and drama resulting from low vibrational frequencies, but it still remains impossible for me not to be affected by it from time to time.
Due to our innate survival instinct as humans beings we are simply incapable of ignoring negativity – or in a more enlightened scope, not give energy to it. This is understandable, as our first instinct is usually to protect ourselves by knowing if bad things may be happening.
But, so many people seem to absolutely thrive on every possible fragment of negativity, fear or drama they can find. From messy family quarrels, feuds with neighbors, and rude, unkind behavior in public places, to the brutal, senseless wars that continue to be fought since time immemorial. Every bit of it is and has been based on human reactions to slights, hurts and trespasses – some of it petty and even imagined.
Receiving Spiritual Guidance From Your Ancestors
The ancient tradition of ancestor worship is a powerful, yet often misunderstood spiritual practice. It is typically viewed as a form of idolatry, mainly because of the inaccurate use of the term ‘worship.’
In truth most cultures practicing such rites do not refer to it as ‘ancestor worship.’ The more appropriate terms to use is ‘ancestor reverence’ or ‘ancestor veneration,’ because it is about living descendants paying respect to and seeking the guidance of their loved ones in spirit.
It is a common practice among indigenous people and an integral component of most shamanic traditions. It is not the same as the worship of gods or deities.
In fact, as a spiritual practice it is not much different from looking at old pictures of departed loved ones and rememembering them fondly. We might even tell them how we miss them or share our problems with them. Some of us have even asked them to help us find solutions to problems, or pull a few strings on our behalf from the Other Side.
Although I cannot say I have any special reverence for my ancestors, I do respect them for all the trials and tribulations they experienced while they were in this life. In my ancestral lineage there were courageous prisoner-of-war experiences, the conquering of grievous setbacks and material harships, and even suicides, to mention but a few. Several of my predecessors had truly unique, and even exceptional life stories that still dwell in my cellular memories.
The ancestral technique I use in my spiritual practice is similar to that of the Yoruba people of West Africa. My greatest connection is with my father, and he is the one I communicate with daily in the Yoruba fashion. You can create an altar or sacred space in your home for this purpose.
Less Is More When They ‘Know It All’
Some people just don’t like to hear the truth. Do you also know people who seem to avoid you, because they know you’re potentially going to say it like it is? They recognize you as a person who speaks the truth based on plain common sense.
I have known people who have very little common sense and really do not want help, advice, guidance or direction from anyone. They know it all. That is just the way it is with them. The ego can make us not want to take honest advice, and thus we do not have the advantage of learning and growing with help from others who may have more experience or wisdom. I have learned the fine art of silence when I am around these people. I feel awkward, because those who know what I do for a living realize that they are pretty much transparent in my eyes, when they are around me.
I especially have a very hard time when I am around certain people, because you see the damage they are doing to themselves and others. You want to share a better way with them, but you have to let them follow their own path. It may seem like an unnecessary struggle for them, but maybe they are supposed to go through all that pain and heartache. It may be a part of their unique spiritual journey towards soul growth.
Protect your energy by knowing when to practice the art of silence with people who ‘know it all.’ You can’t resonate with everyone, and it is especially pointless if they don’t appreciate it. Why use up all that precious energy if they are only going to be disrespectful?
Your Life Reflects Your Inner Being
Sometimes people have many issues with others in their life while they neglect to acknowledge that many of these problems are merely a mirror reflection of their inner being. This denial of personal responsibility is often the main cause of conflicts and drama in many people’s lives.
Everyone faces challenges in life. It is how these challenges are managed and released that gives one inner strength and peace. The answers are always within. But when we refuse to go within and face our inner truths, while instead venting our frustration, anger, envy, fear, and other pent-up negative emotions, it just brings so much more of the same crashing down on us.
That person you see with a huge smile on her face…her life is not necessarily all ‘sunshine and roses.’ Maybe she has just chosen to live with joy and gratitude in the present moment, instead of dwelling in the past or obsessing over the future. Maybe she has chosen to release that person or circumstance that had caused her pain or grief, and have chosen to move forward in her life with a knowing that bigger, better blessings are awaiting her on the other side of the pain.
The concept is simple, but the work is difficult. I am just as guilty of this human shortcoming as the next person. In my own life, I have also held onto things for so long that it stunted my spiritual, emotional, romantic, and financial growth. I held on to the resentment, bitterness, and vengeful thoughts, and it stunted me to the point that I found myself stuck in a very dark state of mind for a long, long time.
However, once I realized that both my psychic reading work and energy healing practice are absolutely dependent on clarity, love, compassion, and positive energy, I became determined to find ways to release the past and move forward, without any ill will towards another. Was it easy to find my way back to my inner truth and higher self? No, it was not. Was it worth the effort? Definitely!
Spirit Channeling In The Trance State
The term ‘trance’ is sometimes misunderstood in psychic mediumship. The trance state is an altered state of consciousness that enables a medium to communicate with spirit. This shouldn’t be confused with spirit possession, as depicted in some Hollywood films and television shows. There is nothing evil or demonic about mediumship and trance channeling!
In a trance state, the psychic medium’s consciousness serves as a conduit for spirit. It is a two-way communication, and the purest and most trusting form of partnership between the physical and spiritual worlds.
There are essentially two levels or types of spirit channeling, namely mental mediumship and physical mediumship.
Mental mediumship, sometimes also called ‘telepathic mediumship,’ is what most people are familiar with namely to communicate with spirit while fully conscious. Mental mediums use various levels of trance to channel spirit messages.
One of the most famous mental mediums was as the American psychic Edgar Cayce, also known as the ‘sleeping prophet,’ who channeled his higher self while in the trance state. Cayce was a devout Christian who in in a trance state with his eyes closed would answer questions on a variety of subjects, such as healing, dreams, the afterlife, past lives and reincarnation.
While mental mediumship is communication experienced only by the medium or channeler, physical mediumship is also evident to everyone who is with the medium. Mental mediumship involves only the mind of the medium, while in physical mediumship the body of the medium is used to channel information from spirit.
Physical mediumship can involve various physical manifestations of spirit energies, such as the moving of objects, table rapping, and spirit materializations. These phenomena usually occur during séances. There are not many physical mediums these days because this form of channeling requires extensive training and is a psychic practice that can take many years to develop.