totem
My Spiritual Encounter With A Bear
Imagine venturing deep into the forest, sunlight streaming through the ancient trees. The air is crisp, alive with the gentle whispers of nature. Suddenly, a colossal bear emerges from the underbrush, its presence a primal force in the serene scene.
Well, chances are this isn’t just another wildlife encounter – it’s a potentially powerful spiritual experience, imbued with profound symbolism.
My psychic mentor and I once had such a remarkable encounter with a bear that brought me some deep spiritual insights.
The forest has always been a happy place for me, and for this particular long-term retreat, I rented a cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. One crisp fall evening, while my friend was visiting me and we were enjoying the tranquility of twilight on the back porch, a large black bear wandered into the back yard.
At first, we were both gripped with fear. Seeing such a powerful creature up close is both awe-inspiring and very intimidating! Fortunately, the bear paid us little attention as he calmly foraged for food, his movements deliberate and unhurried.
After the initial shock, we found ourselves mesmerized by his presence. I am always on the lookout for signs and synchronicities from the universe. Decades of spiritual work have taught me that nothing is accidental or random, especially when you are in the wilderness.
Consciously Connecting With Your Spirit Guide
Have you ever felt a gentle nudge, an intuitive whisper, an inner knowing guiding you? It is your spirit guide supporting and protecting you. Sometimes our guides succeed in getting our attention, but sometimes the messaging fails, with potentially disastrous consequences for our safety, success, or well-being.
This is why it is wise to be more directly familiar and connected with your guide. It is like having the spirit realm ‘on speed dial,’ which can come in very handy in difficult times, and especially in emergency situations! Consciously connecting with your guide is a spiritually rewarding, uplifting and highly beneficial practice.
A spirit guide is a higher non-physical entity or spirit being who is dedicated to supporting our life journey and spiritual mission in our current lifetime by offering us ongoing guidance, support, wisdom and protection. Think of them as our celestial cheerleaders and bodyguards, always rooting for our highest good!
Depending on our chosen belief system and personal background, our guide may be one of our ancestors, a totem or spirit animal, spirit guardian, angelic guide, saint, bodhisattvasa, enlightened being, ascended master, deva, djinn, deity, or other divine being.
Regardless of who we personally understand our spirit guides to be, they are with us from the day we are born to provide support and insight to help us navigate life’s challenges, make wise choices and decisions, and pursue our spiritual growth and soul purpose. Our guides communicate with us through intuition, signs, symbols, synchronicities, physical sensations, dreams, and even other people, conversations and various forms of media. They are always guiding us toward our highest good and spiritual development.
I Am Soaring Free
When I do readings for clients to help guide them through the struggles or confusion they face in their lives, I understand what they are going through. I can relate on a deeply personal level, because I have been there myself, and I have experienced more than most.
Back in 2004, I had reached a devastating point in my life where my confidence, happiness, courage and self-worth were essentially non-existent. Fortunately, I was able to overcome those challenges with the guidance of spirit, and I now know from hard-earned experience that we can overcome much adversity.
As part of this journey of growth and healing, one of my guides gave me my spiritual name: Soaring Free.
Everyone has at least three guides in their lives. There are other guides and guardians that come and go in our lives, but the primary three stay with us throughout our lives to support and guide us.
It was my main guide who gave me my spirit name in a dream. I was to be known as “Soaring Free.” When I asked what this meant, I was shown that my life was to change direction significantly and that I was to live it as if I were soaring free like an eagle every day. I received several profound messages to awaken me at that time. It brought me to a higher level of understanding (and much confusion at first) than ever before.
What was the meaning of all this, I wondered? Why did I need a new name? Were these guides coming into my life real or just my imagination? Was I losing my mind? Was I really hearing and seeing these things, or was it just my own subconscious playing tricks on me? I had many questions at the time, and so began my journey of awakening and transformation.
Connecting With Your Spirit Animal
The concept of animals serving as spiritual guides and symbols for personal growth has deep roots in human culture, stretching back to ancient indigenous societies and persisting through to modern spiritual practices.
This enduring belief stems from the profound connection humans have observed and felt with the animal kingdom throughout history.
In many indigenous cultures around the world, animals traditionally hold a sacred significance and are believed to possess spiritual wisdom and powers. Many cultures also have animal symbolism in their myths, folklore, rituals, and everyday life.
For example, Native American tribes traditionally attribute personal qualities and character traits, such as strength, courage, wisdom, and cunning, to various animals, viewing them as embodiments of these virtues.
Acoording to these indigenous teachings our animal totems or spirit animals offer us guidance, protection, and insight on our spiritual journey.
We can connect with our spirit animal through meditation, dream interpretation, or rituals. By aligning with the characteristics of our chosen animal, we can gain strength, wisdom, and a deeper understanding of ourselves and our path in life.
The Angels, Spirits And Mystical Beings That Walk Among Us
When I was very young, I had a strange dream. I was in the living room of our house, and it was very late at night. I dreamed that I went to the window. The curtains were closed, but I pushed them aside to look out. There I saw a vision that I will never forget.
In our front yard stood an old woman with white hair. She was holding what looked like a glowing rock or quartz crystal.
I remember thinking to myself that this was all very strange, that it might not be good for her to be standing there in the cold so late at night. But I also remember not feeling surprised or scared. Instead, I felt comforted and curious at the same time.
Then the old lady turned around, as if she had noticed me. But instead of looking at me, she bent down, gently dropped the glowing crystal on the grass, and walked away.
Twenty years later, I was at the checkout counter in a supermarket and noticed an unusual old lady nearby. Something about her told me she was a very special soul. We are all unique, of course, but this lady was definitely not from around here! She was wearing vintage fashion that was clearly from the 1920s. Before I could figure out why she drew my attention, she started walking toward me.
Mystical Ways To Develop Your Intuition
Intuitive awareness is our inner pathway to the unseen. It is a constant whisper from the spirit realm that beckons us to a deeper understanding of ourselves and our place in the universe.
Intuition is our direct connection to our higher self and the wisdom of our ancestors. It is the primary channel through which we receive divine guidance and spiritual messages. The more intuitively aware we are, the better we are able to align ourselves with our higher purpose and divine plan.
Developing our intuition leads to greater personal growth and transformation. It is a tool for self-discovery and enlightenment, helping us to better navigate our life journey and make wiser decisions that align with our soul purpose. It also enables us to distinguish between what is truly aligned with our spiritual path and what isn’t.
Throughout history, intuitive awareness has been a common thread across diverse cultures and spiritual traditions, reflecting humanity’s perennial quest for direct, transcendent experiences beyond the limits of ordinary perception and everyday understanding.
We are all born with intuition, but some people are more intuitively aware than others for a variety of reasons, including genetic predisposition, personality traits, early life experiences, upbringing, supportive family dynamics, cultural environment, educational background, spiritual habits and practices, and so on.
Remember, You Are Never Alone
The night is creeping up so quickly. You had so many plans for the day that has passed. You were sure that today was the day that miracles would come, that they would begin to flow. Yes, you have made some progress, you have removed some of the obstacles in your path, but here you are in the darkest part of the night, still in that place where doubt, anger, worry reign supreme.
In such moments we begin to feel alone. like a ship without a life raft, no one to call, no one to care.
Remember, we are never alone. The energies around us, the old ones, the ancients, the universe itself is here to hear our cry, our call. There are answers not only within ourselves, but there are messengers sent to Earth to listen, to hear, to care. These divine messengers come because the Great Spirit sends each one to us at just the right time.
An animal or bird we don’t normally see may appear on our path to instinctively give us the strength we may need on that path. An old beggar on the street asking for a few coins may speak words that stun us because they are exactly the words we needed to hear.
We reach out to chat groups for online support and hear craziness, advice that we can barely realistically believe. We have become cynical, forgetting that the universe puts what we need in our path when we need it.
There is no such thing as ‘being alone.’ We have the whole universe around us. So, sing out to the universe your pain, your despair. Your heart will receive the messages you need, the answers you want.