symbolism
Jupiter, Pluto And The Judgment Of Solomon
One of my favorite astrologers, Christopher Renstrom, is an uber-wise storyteller who has a knack for bringing profound astrological messages to life. He recently spoke about the separating Jupiter-Pluto energies, likening both Jupiter and Pluto to judges: Jupiter symbolizing Zeus, the benevolent King of Mount Olympus, and Pluto to Hades, his brother, the King of the Underworld.
In many ways these energies are opposite to one another, one reigning in the light (Jupiter), the other in the dark at night, beneath the surface of things (Pluto). Yet, both kings preside in judgment over matters brought to their attention.
Christopher went on to relay the story of The Judgement of Solomon from the Hebrew Bible, in which Solomon rules between two women both claiming to be the mother of a particular child. The explained that this story beautifully exemplifies Jupiter and Pluto in their role as judges over life and death.
In the story, two women had given birth, but tragically one of the babies did not survive when the mother accidentally rolled over on the child in her sleep. In the morning, she secretly switched the two babies, giving the deceased newborn to the other mother. This mother awoke and found the lifeless child, but knew this wasn’t her baby. She knew the living child belonged to her instead, but the other mother denied this and wouldn’t give up the living child.
The case went before King Solomon, who agreed to listen to anyone’s complaint, no matter what walk of life they came from. And so, each mother, in-turn, argued her side, with no corroborating witnesses to back them up.
Solomon listened intently, then asked for a sword. He then ordered the living child be cut in two, with one half handed to each of the mothers as a fair resolution of the dispute. But the true mother of the living baby implored the king not to kill the innocent child, but instead willingly relinquished the baby to the other mother. The illegitimate mother, however, demanded the child be killed so no one would have it, dispensing her own morbid sense of justice.
Ritual In A Modern Spiritual Lifestyle
Rituals, rites and ceremonies are the oldest forms of spiritual practice and essential aspects of all religions and belief systems. A ritual is a meaningful or symbolic action or series of actions that has a standardized format or sequence and can therefore be repeated in exactly the same way by individuals, groups or even communities.
The metaphysical energy generated when we focus our intent using symbols, tokens and metaphoric activities during a ritual that has special meaning for us personally can be highly transformative! Whether you practice ritual in a group or solo, it can supercharge your manifesting ability and aid in any mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual healing processes you may be going through.
When some people hear the word ‘ritual,’ they tend to imagine darkened, smoke-filled rooms with mysterious people in long robes, chanting strange refrains perhaps, all choreographed with everyone knowing their roles. I’m sure there are people who practice rituals in this way and elements like incense and chanting can indeed be party of a rite or ceremony. But a ritual can also be more simply crafted in a way to fit into a modern lifestyle and everyday spiritual practice.
In my own practice, I created a little ‘altar’ for myself. A small sacred space where I have placed a few candles, some incense, crystals, feathers and a few other symbolic tokens which hold special meaning for me. I also added a picture of my mother and a statue of an angel given to me when my grandpa passed away. In this way I created a sacred space that has deep meaning for me personally and brings me into a spiritual mindset.
You don’t need to have a lot of room for this in your home. So, you can even create a small sacred space for yourself on the corner of a dresser or table top. As my practice has evolved, I now find that any spare surface or quiet corner in the places where I have lived can become a nook for little spiritual treasures that I find during my adventures. Once you start creating a sacred space, the Universe will send you little gifts to help you along.
Combining Cartomancy With Pendulum Dowsing
Every psychic is different on how they do readings using divination tools. I like to challenge myself and push the envelope. I have developed my own divination method by combining the use of a regular deck of playing cards and a pendulum to do psychic readings.
A pendulum is a weighted object at the end of a string or chain and it can be used for both dowsing and divination. The ‘bob’ of the pendulum is usually a crystal, piece of metal or some other gemstone. Pendulums have different sizes and shapes and they come in many colors. I use a quartz crystal pendulum with a 12 inch chain. Divination with a pendulum can be done in many different ways, including using charts. You can even use a simple chart you draw on a normal sheet of paper.
The idea to use a pendulum and deck of cards at the same time came to me many years back, when I felt the need for a new psychic challenge. When I do psychic readings with playing cards, I find it helps to open up my psychic abilities even more.
You may wonder how anyone can use an ordinary deck of playing cards, instead of the Tarot or oracle cards, to do readings. Well, I can feel the energy or ‘vibes’ better by using ordinary playing cards when I do a reading.
When I was younger I used to give readings to friends, and I discovered the cards give off a very strong energy for me. I am guided by spirit when I read, and when my psychic abilities kick in I feel a ‘heat’ or I feel my hand drawn to certain cards. I get an even more accurate result when I use a pendulum, instead of my hands.
How I Do Psychic Readings
I am often asked how I receive information in my readings, as I do not use any divination methods or tools. I don’t know how or why I am able to say what I say in reaction to the question on hand.
It’s almost like there is two versions of me (no, I’m not bipolar, nor do I have split personalities). One is the everyday me who lives in this physical world, and the other is my higher self. It is this higher self version of me who channels the information during readings.
I get information is various ways. I spontaneously ‘know’ things, ‘see’ images and symbols, ‘hear’ words and sounds, as well as physical symptoms, sensations, and tastes.
I simply say what I ‘get,’ exactly as I receive the vibration, notion, energy from the question. I am not paid as a psychic reader for offer my own personal ideas or opinions. My clients pay for metaphysical insight and spiritual guidance to help them with their life challenges.
Now, how do I get this symbolic information from my mind to your ears, so that you will receive it in such a way that you will understand or identify with it? Well, simply through practice, practice, and more practice.
Psychic reading is like learning to play an instrument. Musical talent alone is not enough. You have to learn to read the music symbols on a piece of sheet music and transform it into sounds through that instrument.
Psychic readers build their personal set of symbols over many years. For example, for me seeing a ‘tree’ is about self or home. If the tree is twisted-looking or has wires holding it up, it means the person, or their home situation is not doing so well. If the leaves are brown, there is grief, loss or sadness involved.
The True Power Of Your Worst Nightmares
When I was 24 years old, I was a somewhat disempowered young lady who went to work for the city council. All the girls in the office had an active social life and a boyfriend, except me.
In fact, I was bullied for it and became a bit of a joke around the water cooler, to the extent that I could not properly concentrate on the task at hand and ultimately lost my job. Looking back, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. But, at the time, it did not feel like it.
About a year ago, I started to have a recurring dream that I was 24 again, and sharing an office with the same mean girls, supervised by the same misogynist boss. But this time I had a very different mindset.
In my dream, the boss had criticized my work. So, I pick up the documents he complained about to, walk up to his office, put it on his desk, and tell him politely to type his own letters in future. I was going home now, because I am no longer prepared to put up with his nonsense.
Well, if only I had the same courage back in the old days, I might have suffered far less emotional anguish! I felt really empowered in the dream, and it brought me the realization that I no longer have to suffer fools and that I need to stick up for myself more often. However, the dream also revealed to me that I still had not entirely made peace with the past, otherwise the dream would not be recurring.
The moral of the story is that dreams do not only reflect how we are doing in the present, and how far we have advanced in life, but also what we need to do to work on ourselves to be even better in the future. How powerful and life-enhancing is that!
Another compelling dream I have been having of late is of myself flying a light hovercraft over the estate where I lived as a child. I faced several challenging, traumatizing things growing up there, including poverty and domestic abuse. However, this liberating dream confirms that I have managed to rise above those childhood setbacks and obstacles, and I am now in control of my own life and destiny.
The Magic Of Dream Astrology
Dream interpretation using astrology is a wonderful psychic tool few people are aware of. My clients know they can come to me with any recent dream that ruffled their feather quilts, and I can help them sleep on smooth sheets again.
Of course, before you seek such counsel, I advise you first begin to practice strengthening your dream recall. It is handy to keep a notebook or dream journal by the bed, and record your unusual sleep adventures whenever it presents itself.
Distilling the important dreams from the more common ones is an art of discernment that does take some practice for most people. However, in time, you’ll learn to distinguish when a dream has value, as opposed to what astrologer Nina Gryphon calls ‘a spicy pizza dream.’ In other words, the ordinary dreams are like a passing movie reel that has more to do with what you ate the night before, than being a profoundly prophetic dream that has the potential to manifest and change your life.
In ancient Egypt, Greece, and the Middle East, there used to be ‘dream incubation temples’ that required the querent to first fast and purify themselves, before a deity or oracle would show up to interpret their dream.
Today, all that is required is an astrological chart – either an event chart of the moment you actually experienced the dream, or you can use a horary chart, which is the constructing of a horoscope for the exact time at which the question is received by the astrologer.
Dreams are traditionally associated with two archetypes: The ‘gate of horn’ or dreams that stem from a divine source; and the gate of ivory, which is those muddled mind trips we can never fully translate (otherwise known as ‘spicy pizza dreams’).
A Beginner’s Guide To Rune Casting
Rune casting is not the most well-known form of divination. Nevertheless, once you start working with it you will discover that it is a potent and fascinating means of divining the future.
The runes are an ancient Nordic alphabet called the Futhark that existed long before the Latin alphabet was adopted in the late Middle Ages. Each of the mystical rune symbols represent a particular phonetic sound.
The history of the runes is as fascinating as the runes themselves. Believed to have been developed in Scandinavia during the time of the birth of Jesus, the runes can be used to write from left to right or from right to left, and the words are based on the sounds they represent. The shape of the runes varied widely from region to region.
It is said that runes must first be activated before it can be used in casting. There are various ways to do this energy charging or intention setting. All good quality rune sets come with an instruction booklet on how to get the most out of their use.
It has become a modern trend for runes to be read in a similar way as tarot cards, by drawing individual runes and laying it out in a formal spread. However, rune casting is traditionally done in a similar fashion as African bone casting. Similar to Tarot and the I Ching it is an intuitive art that is not limited by strict interpretive definitions and pedantic rules.
When you’re new to rune divination, it can helpful to start by choosing one or two runes to focus your intention for the reading on. Then mix all the stones by shaking the bag. When you’re ready to cast, simply drop the runes onto a cloth and randomly spread them out.
Essentially the same rune is never interpreted exactly the same way from reading to reading. Each new interpretation will depend on the traditional symbolism of the particular tune; the original intention or question; the context of the surrounding runes; as well as the reader’s unique intuitive interpretation in that moment.
