spirituality
The Power Of Your Totems
Those of us who are metaphysically inclined often believe in the power of carrying a sacred object, symbolic item, or ‘totem.’ The totem is worn or kept on one’s person for various purposes, including healing, protection, guidance, or support.
This spiritual practice is known as Totemism. It is a system of belief in which humans are said to have a mystical relationship or kinship with a spirit-being, such as an animal, plant or symbolic object.
Believing in the power of a ‘totem helper’ gives one the kind of spiritual self-confidence that can make the difference between success and failure. Actually, I wear on my person a medicine bag in the Native American tradition, which contains various totems or ‘alliances’ I have found in nature.
Some of them were gifted to me, because they resonated with my energetic frequency and “wanted to be with me,” as friends and fellow metaphysicians have stated through the years. It is our custom to save special things of this nature for gifting to each other, especially at sacred times of the year, such as when we celebrate the solstices.
Right now, I am surrounded by all of these charming personal offerings. There are the great horned owl feathers that were gifted to me, for example. I used it to make a prayer stick, that I now make use of during meditation, and sometimes also as an altar piece. In the tradition of Totemism, I consider it to be part of a living being, which is the altar. Indeed, every altar has its own ‘being-ness,’ the same as any other sacred deity.
The Angel Messages In Repetitive Numbers
Numbers show up as spiritual signs in the lives of many people these days. When we keep seeing certain numbers, or number sequences, our Angels are encouraging us to seek information or advice on the deeper meaning of these numbers. Each number has its own metaphysical correspondence and spiritual meaning, which represents the vibrational energy frequency of each number.
You may spot these repetitive numbers, or number sequences, on vehicle license plates, clocks, watches, house numbers, car pedometers, road signs, and anywhere else numbers may appear in daily life. For example, you begin to notice that every day, whenever you happen to look at a clock or watch, the time displayed is always 11:11. Or, you may find you are handed the same small change over and over, every time you pay for something in cash.
Personally, I have been seeing a lot of double and treble numbers on the TV screen and on my phone. Whenever this happens, I thank my Angels for trying to get my attention. Then I sit quietly in a moment of contemplation, and request their guidance in understanding the message. I also ask them to impress upon me any additional information I may need to know.
Below are some numbers most commonly asked about. Once we accept the universal energy which they are endowed with, they really can help guide us along our spiritual path. Keep your mind as clear as possible, once a certain number has made a repeated impression upon you, and then check this list to see if the Angel number symbolism resonates with your thoughts or plans at that particular time.
Gauchito Gil – The Cowboy Saint
There are many saints not officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, or by any other religion for that matter. One of the most popular among them is Antonion Gil, better known as the Gauchito Gil (Little Gaucho Gil). His popularity rose exponentially in the last few decades and he is considered miraculous by many people who venerate him. He might not be properly canonized, but he is informally considered to be a saint in Argentina. His cult is so widespread that everyone in the country at least knows of his existence.
When traveling from one town to another in the Argentine provinces, it is very common to see a tree with many red ribbons blowing in the wind, and underneath it a small wooden case that holds an image of Gauchito Gil. In some places there are even a small temple, or even a church dedicated to this saintly figure. None of them are recognized officially by the Catholic Church, but the service of a priest is not uncommon.
Gauchito Gil’s life came to a tragic end 142 years ago, on January 8, 1878, near Mercedes, Corrientes, in Argentina. His executioners were a group of policemen who had to transfer him to the courts of Goya, but who decided instead to execute him on the way there.
Gil was accused of being a deserter and a matrero (someone who lives in isolation to be out of reach from the law). But the laborers and peasants in the area knew him instead as a warrior for justice, who protected the weak, relieved the sick and avenged the humiliated. His enemies considered him a fearsome expropriator, as well as a healer capable of making people fall in love with him, or paralyzing them with his powerful eyes.
My Lives Between Lives
Recently, I had the privilege of being a ‘case history’ client for a friend of mine, who had recently returned from completing a past life regression on life-between-lives. I have been fortunate enough to have had wonderful experiences with past life regression in the past, but the ‘in-between lives’ experience was something new for me, and I felt honored that she asked me to partake as one of her case studies for her course assignment.
During our session I was taken back into the past, and received imagery of previous lives. Glimpsing previous lifetimes was to help me see more clearly lessons learned, or not learned. My friend was a wonderful facilitator, as was the help received from my own master spirit guide.
In our session, I learned where my fear of fire originated from. To date, no past life reading I have received has ever touched on the origin of this fear. I have now discovered that my fear of fire relates to a more recent life, in what appeared to be approximately a century ago.
I was a male soldier in the Navy. My uniform was white, and my father, like in so many of my other past life regression experiences, played a significant role in this life also. He was a senior staff member on that ship. I also saw the Star of David during the regression, which suggests I was of Jewish faith in that life.
That particular life experience ended for my father and I when our ship caught fire. My uniform also caught fire! I recalled the flames, and then drowning.
The Universal Law Of Karma
Karma is a universal spiritual law, the same way that gravity is a law of nature or physics. The Law of Karma basically states that ‘as you sow, shall you reap.’ Karma is therefore the spiritual principle of ‘cause and effect.’ For every action there is an equal reaction, or ripple effect.
Karma is also what keeps everything in the Universe in balance. The Chinese symbol of Yin and Yang perfectly illustrates this process of ‘karmic balancing.’ It shows how all the positive and negative forces in the universe balance each other out, because karma equalizes the energy that flows through everything.
Every single action that we take in life is therefore like a spiritual seed we plant. Some of the seeds will sprout quickly, while others may take lifetimes to come to fruition. However long it may take, one thing is for sure, in time every seed we sow will germinate… and we will eventually have to face the result of all our actions and choices.
Karma is therefore an endless chain of actions and reactions, which binds every soul to their good and bad deeds. The soul, born into a physical body, is constantly acting to bring about the results of activity from one life to the next. We choose to act in a certain way, and then become involved with the reactions or consequences of each chosen action.
After giving up one physical body, we eventually enter into another, and we mostly forget everything about that previous life. In this way the soul reaps the results of his actions, from lifetime to lifetime. Everything that happens in our lives is nothing but the reaction of past activities.
Guidelines For Spiritual Growth
Spirituality is a wide-ranging concept with many diverse perspectives. In essence it is the process through which our inner being seeks to relate to something bigger than ourselves. It is the search for the meaning and purpose of our human existence. Spirituality is about our soul or spirit, and the unseen realms, as opposed to material things and physical life. It is also the life-long pursuit of inner peace, unconditional love, and existential wisdom and understanding.
Many people believe that the secret to spiritual growth and development can only be found in a book, a lecture, dogmatic belief system, or some other product or service that will magically unlock the doors to spiritual insight, happiness, joy and fulfillment. However, spirituality is a unique, personal path that each of us can explore on our own, from within. The following guidelines may be helpful on your journey towards spiritual fulfillment.
Reflection
The first step in personal spiritual growth is reflecting on your life journey. To be spiritual is to be questioning and inquisitive. Spiritual growth is a process of constantly learning and improving. One must be willing to open yourself to personal and spiritual growth, and by doing this your world opens up and things become less scary.
Holding on to past events keeps us from experiencing new adventures, and the emotional baggage will only weigh you down. Accept your past mistakes and learn from them. Reflect on what changes need to happen for you to move forward.
We are all teachers. We are either teaching someone, or they are teaching us – both good and bad. Learn from your experiences and move on with life.
Love Is The Healing Force
I grew up in a Christian family. In fact, it was going to seminary, and exploring world religions, that eventually led me to practice metaphysics and intuitive consulting as a full-time profession. Being trained and ordained in a Christian organization has also given me a unique perspective on alternative spirituality and metaphysics.
Jesus is, in fact, one of the spiritual guides I connect with when I work with people. This has made me realize that Jesus, the central figure in Christianity, is often misunderstood by many people. In the many years of connecting with Jesus, I am confident that he never had the intention to create a formal, organized religion. In fact, often the religious attributes attached to Jesus are far more complex than his original core message.
Jesus taught very simple strategies for life. I think sometimes these strategies are considered too simple by some people. When asked, Jesus was able to sum up his teachings in three simple statements. Someone inquired about an authentic spiritual path and Jesus gave two commandments and then gave a third statement, “In these two commandments rest all of the law and the prophets.”
This third statement is quite profound. He was stating that every spiritual text that had ever been written, or would ever be written, could be summed up in two commandments. This means that in Jesus’ perspective, if a person simply abided by these two commandments, they would be fulfilling the fundamental guidelines associated with religious and spiritual practice.
If you are interested in Jesus’ teachings, or interested in following the path he taught, then the good news is that you are already following the second ‘commandment.’ I have been living on this planet long enough to recognize that every person is already following this second commandment, which says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”