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The Modern Practice Of Spiritual Healing
In a world driven by science and technology, the value of our spiritual health is rarely recognized or appreciated these days, yet it is an essential aspect of our holistic health and well-being.
The truth is that spiritual healing has been practiced since the beginning of time to promote physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. Our ancestors were much wiser in this regard. They had a holistic view of health and wellness that not only focused on the physical and mental, but also honored the spiritual or metaphysical aspects of our existence.
In ancient Egypt, for example, illness was treated as a battle between good and evil, and magical remedies were used in addition to herbal medicines. In ancient Greece, holism underpinned everything, and the soul, mind, and body were considered one.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, a holistic system practiced for at least 23 centuries, healing is achieved by balancing the yin-yang life force energies that permeate everything in the universe. In the indigenous healing traditions of Native America, holistic health is represented by the four quadrants of the ‘medicine wheel’ or ‘sacred circle,’ namely the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual states of being.
In Christianity, spiritual healing is documented with many references to the healing power of faith and prayer. The Bible also refers to the spiritual gift of healing, and there are several accounts of Jesus performing miraculous healings. In Hinduism, Ayurveda is a five-thousand-year-old Vedic system of medicine that seeks to restore the balance between the body, mind, and spirit.
The True Meaning Of Judgment
Judgment is card 20 in the Tarot’s Major Arcana. Arcana means “hidden things, mysteries,” from the Latin arcanum meaning “a secret, a mystery” and arcanus meaning “secret, hidden, private, concealed.” Arcana are therefore “pieces of mysterious knowledge or information.”
In a standard Tarot deck, there are 21 Major Arcana cards. They define The Fool’s journey (the first card) through life and all of the life lessons we encounter along the way. As one of the final stages in The Fool’s journey, the Judgment card represents having learned sufficient lessons to now awaken from the illusion and limited perceptions.
The most well-known tarot deck is the Rider–Waite. Pamela Coleman Smith, aka “Pixie,” was a British artist who illustrated the deck. She deserves much credit for the brilliant way she captured advanced spiritual concepts in the deck’s artwork.
The Rider–Waite Judgment card depicts three resurrected figures, a woman, man, and child, reaching up to an Archangel overhead blowing a trumpet as a wake-up call. The scene is based on Christian imagery representing the Resurrection and Last Judgment. The flag of St. George hangs from the trumpet, which references 1 Corinthians 15 in The Bible.
The Judgment card reminds us that no matter what our background may be, we can rise up and transcend any trauma or adversity in life, regardless how challenging the situation. We also have the power to see through the illusion of life and wake up to the truth.
Choose Your Words Wisely
Did you ever stop to think about the sounds that come out of our mouths? We use them to form phrases and sentences. It is how we communicate. But, have you ever considered the true nature of these sounds, or the power contained within our words, the power of the vibration?
Words are formed using the organs of speech that creates a vibration, thus causing a sound. We know that sound doesn’t just disappear. Sound travels – from our mouths, past the person it is directed to, past a few others, and on and on, into the ethers.
Words are more powerful than we realize. Maybe we should choose our words more wisely. If we send negative words out, whether we sincerely mean it or not, it never goes away. That negative vibration we sent out has an effect on the earth, the solar system and the universe. It may even come back and have an effect on you, without you ever even realizing it.
Historically soldiers have always marched as an army in one way or the other. It made me wonder why they march in sync and to a set rhythm, like they do. Because, it looks cool? No, they march in unison and uniformly, because their foot stomping causes a vibration. If the vibration matches the frequency of a target, it becomes a powerful weapon.
The Walls of Jericho is a good example. The Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years. Upon arriving at Jericho, they marched around the city for six days. On the seventh day they circled the city seven times. The priests then blew their trumpets and they shouted and the walls of the city fell down. Just another bible story? Well, we know vibration can bring down bridges and maybe those priests knew the note to play that gave a specific vibration that brought those walls down.
The Mystical Tale Of The Lovers Card
I have made an illuminating discovery regarding the Lovers card in the Tarot. In all the years I have been practicing cartomancy, I never realized certain aspects of this card’s mytsical symbolism and its portrayal of the healing power of divine love.
In the classic Rider-Waite rendition, it is commonly accepted the card merely depicts an archetypal Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, with a scheming serpent lurking behind Eve and the majestic figure of an angel looming overhead. Recently, I learned from a psychic colleague’s podcast that the angelic figure portrayed in the in card in fact represents the Archangel Raphael. I’ve always been fascinated by Raphael, the angelic healer of minds, bodies and souls.
Raphael is first mentioned the ancient Hebrew apocalyptic book of Enoch, as well as the deuterocanonical book of Tobit. Also known as the apocrypha, the deuterocanonical books are not traditionally included in Protestant and Jewish canonical texts, but it is recognized in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions.
The book of Tobit relays the story of a blind man named Tobit and his son Tobias, whom he sends to retrieve an investment of silver he had deposited in a town in Media in north-western Iran. With the protection and guidance of the angel Raphael, Tobias arrives along his journey in Ecbatana, the capitol of Media, where he meets a young woman named Sarah.
Sarah is in utter despair and praying for death, as she has already lost seven husbands. Each of her lovers had been murdered on their wedding night by the demon Asmodeus, who is obsessively in love with her. Angel Raphael encourages Tobias to marry Sarah and then helps him to defeat the homicidal demon.
The Empowering Symbolism Of The World Card
The World card in the Tarot remains one of my firm favorites. I am all for personal and spiritual growth, the completion of cycles, and new beginnings. The World represents exactly that: the ending of a cycle and pause in life, before the next major cycle begins with the fool.
The journey from the new beginnings of The Fool to the fulfilling endings of The World is a constant evolutionary process in our everyday lives that is represented by the sequence of the 22 Major Arcana cards of the Tarot. The World is the 22nd trump and therefore final card of the Major Arcana.
I have reflected on the imagery of the Rider-Waite version of this Tarot card in great detail. Rider-Waite is probably the most popular and universally recognized Tarot deck. The illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith at first glance appear simple, but the details and backgrounds feature abundant mystical symbolism.
The World pictures an empowered figure within a wreath – traditionally a symbol of victory, success, achievement, and eternal life. The figure holds a wand in each hand, which is reminiscent of the Magician card and the Two of Wands. However, while The Magician holds only one wand, the two wands in the The World card represents fulfillment, wholeness, balance and coming full circle.
The card is framed by four animals on the diagonal. The depiction of these four creatures parallels the four animal symbols used in Christian art to represent the four Evangelists, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The four animals also represent the zodiac signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, the four fixed signs in Western Astrology, which in turn represent the classical four elements of Earth, Fire, Water and Air.
A Brief History Of Astrology
The energies of the planets and stars affect us on many levels every day, whether we were aware of it or not. The earliest humans looked especially to the movements and phases of the Sun and Moon to guide them in their decisions about when to hunt, when to plant and harvest, and when to prepare for winter or migrate.
From this evolved the practice and study of Astrology. The early civilizations of Mesopotamia were the first to observe the patterns formed by stars in the galaxy as long ago as 3000 BC, while Indian astrology began to emerge as far back as 1200 BC.
The original astrologers identified five ‘wandering stars,’ which together with the sun and moon became the seven original ‘planets.’ More planets were of course identified over time, as technology advanced to introduce the telescope and other astronomical devises.
The Babylonians are generally credited for first developing formal Astrology, because they developed astrological charts to predict the recurrence of the seasons and certain celestial events. Centuries later, Ancient Egypt and Greece discovered Babylonian Astrology, where it soon became highly regarded as a science and was eventually also embraced by the Romans, as well as in the Middle East. In time, its popularity spread throughout the rest of the world. Today, we still use the Roman names for the zodiac signs.
Meanwhile, separate systems of Astrology also emerged in India, China, and Mesoamerica. It remains unclear whether the Babylonian, Indian (known today as Hindu or Vedic Astrology) and Chinese systems of Astrology evolved in isolation and independently, or whether they mutually influenced each other. There are many similarities between these systems, but also many distinct differences. Scholars have been studying and debating this for centuries, but the matter remains inconclusive.
Divine Love Abides All
When we have love in our life we can keep negative entities away from us on the lower realms, as well as on the earthly walking realm. There are both malicious people and malevolent non-physical beings in this world. Divine Love protects us from their evil.
When we live our life with unconditional love in our hearts, and keep a calm mind and spirit, we are easily read by others as being very kind loving people – it shows on our faces. You sometimes can’t tell on some people’s faces if they are good or evil, because Satan, or the Evil One, is tricky and manipulative. The Bible tells us that Lucifer was a beautiful angel in the beginning, before he fell and became corrupt.
It is so important to live with the Divine Spark inside of us and be mindful of what we put into our bodies, as I’ve seen energy shift and people’s faces shift when they open the door to negativity and evil influences in their lives. Some are more susceptible than others. For example, people who abuse alcohol allow really low spiritual entities into their lives, to seek and ruin and destroy anything good that they have going on – especially by way of relationships. Some people should just stay far away from alcohol, as they become very aggressive and belligerent, and just not themselves when they drink. I have seen people ruin their lives because of alcohol.
Anything that can deter you from Divine Love is not of the Light. Everything is best in moderation. But for some the negative energy keeps them wanting more as the negative entities around them wants them to fail, so that they themselves can grow stronger while their victim’s life slowly goes in a downward spiral. In some cases, their addictions make them so depressed they even take their own life, and it hinders their soul from achieving soul growth in this current incarnation they are in.