traditions
My Great Grandmother’s Mysterious ‘Sugar Cookies’
My great grandmother made incredible cookies. She called them “sugar cookies,” but perhaps a more appropriate name for them might have been mysterious mystical magic cookies! Everyone loved them – youngsters like myself, as well as our family’s elders, and every age in-between.
Those cookies still bring back so many wonderful memories. They had a special aroma of freshly-baked delight that wafted all the way outside her kitchen window and down the lane beside her charming little home, where she lived with my great grandfather. As a child I couldn’t wait to get to their house, so that I could partake of those delectable sweet treats.
They were round, but not perfectly round. They had that authentic homemade look, which made them even more exquisite to my childlike enthusiasm. And, there was a rather unique spiciness among the ingredients; it was a spice that I had never tasted before in anything else. Oh, my! I especially loved the barely charred edges they usually had, as a result of leaving them in the oven a bit longer than necessary. Those crisp little edges made them all the tastier to me.
I remember sitting at her kitchen table, watching her scoop up the ingredients, one by one, and adding them to her mixing bowl. I didn’t know how much of each ingredient she was using, because she never used a measuring cup. She just knew how much to add of everything. I believe this style of instinctively cooking from scratch is practically becoming a lost art, with all the digital recipes and modern utensils we use nowadays to cook even the simplest of things. And perhaps some of the true character and originality has also been lost in many of our ancestors’ recipes.
Our Loved Ones Are Always With Us
Several months ago, I found myself traveling near the city in which my grandparents bodies were laid to rest. I decided to drive the few extra miles out of my way, to visit their gravesite.
Pulling up to the cemetery, I realized I hadn’t been there in so long that I couldn’t remember where the grave was. Finally, I located it. I grabbed a folding chair from the back of my car and sat down under a tree close to their tombstone.
Immediately my awareness was overflowing with the presence of their voices. I could hear both of them talking to me, just like when I would go to visit them during the school holidays. It felt like they were alive again, and right there with me. I was literally hearing grandma talking to me. Just the way she did in life. It as if she was right there! I could hear my grandpa as well. It was very comforting.
They were very pleased that I took the time to come visit them. They are very much together now and happy in their new existence, after they had been separated between this life and the next for well over 15 years.
They are still with us, just in a different dimension. If you listen carefully, you may just hear them talking to you. Our loved ones, who have crossed over, continue to be with us. They love it when we take the time to communicate with them, or honor them time in some way. It shows that we love them, and still value and appreciate them.
The Spiritual Cleansing Of Negative Energies
Negative energies and dark entities are sometimes misunderstood and misused concepts in spirituality. The term ‘negative energy’ is typically thought of as an ‘evil force’ that is intending harm to you, or something sinister that lies hidden in your home. But this is often not the case. I have a somewhat different view of this.
I believe much of the modern day fear and superstition around ‘dark entities’ may be due to the misunderstanding of old texts scribed in a style that may be too cryptic for today’s language and worldview. There are many instances in both Christian and Buddhist religious literature, for example, in which ‘demons’ are mentioned, but in my opinion they are referring to these phenomena in a poetic manner, as a metaphor.
One clear example of this is the so-called ‘Noonday Demon,’ or ‘Midday Devil’ found in Psalm 90:6 of the Hebrew Bible. It is a demonic figure believed to be active around noon every day to make people restless, distracted and excitable, causing its victims to neglect their work or duties. Well, we all know that sluggish feeling we tend to get after a lunch hour. The digestive process takes quite a bit of our energy, and spikes in our insulin levels, as well as neurotransmitters like serotonin and melatonin, doesn´t help to keep our focus on a specific task.
The solution proposed in traditional texts for this ‘demonic activity’ does not, however, involve exorcisms with Holy Water or other radical metaphysical interventions. Instead what is recommend is mere tenacity and patience. It is evidently more of a normal, physical challenge that one has to overcome, instead of it being a ‘psychic attack by the devil.’
The Ancient Art Of Dowsing
If you live in a rural, arid area or grew up in a farming community, you might be familiar with the practice of ‘dowsing’ to searching for hidden, underground water. But did you know that dowsing is also used as a divination tool, as well as a spiritual practice?
The art form of dowsing dates back to ancient times, as it can be found depicted in old artwork found in Egypt, China and Babylonia. Dowsing for water, as it is practiced today, is believed to have originated the 16th century in Germany, where it was first used to search for metals.
Dowsing, however, is not only used to find water. It is also used by diviners and metaphysicians to predict future outcomes, perform healings, locate missing objects, and even to help solve crimes.
Instead of a dowsing rod, psychics use a pendulum or weighted item to ask their spiritual guardians or angels for guidance. The pendulum serves as a connection between the physical realm and the spirit realms. The answers from spirit is interpreted through the motion of the pendulum. For example, if the pendulum moves up and down, or counterclockwise, the answer may be no, or negative, while back and forth or clockwise usually suggests yes, or positive.
A skilled diviner is usually able to translate the results very accurately, although a beginner can also practice this art with some success. This allows someone who is new to the practice to ask simple yes or no questions to get results. For more advanced readings, with more complex questions, it’s best to consult a dowser with more experience, who can accurately interpret the results. Dowsing scales and charts are often used for this purpose.
Tibetan Prayer Flags Are Blessings In The Wind
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to constantly have your prayers and blessings emanating into Universe? Well, you actually can achieve this by hanging a Tibetan prayer flag. Also known as lungta and darchor prayer flags, these beautiful, colorful flags are traditionally found festooned along the Himalayan trails. They are believed to bring peace, prosperity and good fortune to all.
Although it is a Buddhist tradition, you don’t have to be a practicing Buddhist to hang your own prayer flags. Anyone can use them with the intent to spread positivity and blessings in the wind, far and wide.
One of the most beautiful aspects of Tibetan prayer flags is that they are unique in design, and calming to look at. Each flag carries a variety of prayers, incantations and sacred symbols that represent specific blessings to be carried by the wind. Each set of flags has several different prayers written on it – one even has a special prayer specifically for the person who is hanging the flag!
A set of lungta flags feature five separate rectangles that represent the five elements, to create energy and a strong connection to the Universe. They start from the top with a blue flag representing sky or space, then a white flag representing air or wind, a red flag representing fire, followed by a green flag representing water, and lastly a yellow flag representing earth.
Most often hung vertically, with the blue (air flag) at the top and the yellow (earth flag) at the bottom, these flags aim to bring good fortune, blessings of opportunities, abundance and prosperity, inner strength, compassion, and wisdom to all.
Divination Tools 101
Every psychic has a different set of gifts and abilities, and because of this different psychic tools work better for different individuals. Let’s take a closer look at some of the more familiar divination tools used by readers today.
Tarot cards date back to the Renaissance and represent different archetypes and symbols. Each card pictures a specific individual or action, and the cards are used in different layouts, or spreads, to provide insight and meaning. Usually, a specific question is asked, to which the cards help provide an answer.
Angel oracle cards are similar to the Tarot. As the name suggests, each card features a different image of angels and archangels. Angels cards help us to communicate with our spirit guardians, as they look out for us. Each card typically has a short message, which help us figure out what our guardians are trying to say.
Crystals are very popular metaphysical tools. They come in many types and colors, and each has a unique set of properties, For example, rose quartz is used for love energies, and hematite for strength, and so on. No two crystals are alike. They can be used to channel, intensify, deflect, or purify energy sources, depending on an individual’s needs.
Many practitioners have an entire toolkit of just crystals. The crystal ball is often seen in depictions of psychic readings. A crystal ball is used to scry, in order to practice seeing the past, present, and future. They are also useful in finding missing persons or objects.
Transcending Turbulence And Restoring Peace Within
One of the most moving metaphors I have ever heard, describes the calm that rests beneath the surface of the ocean. While there may be waves and turbulence on the top, if you dive down deeper, you will come to waters that are more still.
Similarly, the troubles of life that bring disturbance to the body, mind, and relationship dynamics of the world, occur at levels which are external to the eternal self. By going deeper, peace within can be found.
Spiritual traditions of the world define the self and the soul in varying ways. The ancient Vedic texts, for example, identifies the individual soul as measuring one ten-thousandth the size of the tip of a hair, and states that it is located in the region of the heart, seated beside the Paramatma, or Supreme Soul (God).
In the Vedic tradition, consciousness is recognized as the symptom of the soul, which is carried throughout the body by the blood, as it is circulated by the beating heart. When the heart stops and consciousness leaves the body, it is because the soul has departed.
Lord Krishna further describes in Bhagavad-gita that this atomic soul is never born, and never dies. It is immutable, unchangeable, indestructible, and always aloof from matter and its influences.
These spiritual teachings go on to highlight that the pure eternal soul is one’s real identity – the ‘I’ or ‘me’ felt by each and every living being. In this world, it has become temporarily covered by a subtle body made up of mind, intelligence, and false ego, as well as by the physical body comprised of earth, water, fire, air, and ether. In this state, the modes of material nature act upon it, and one acts out various behaviors compelled by the energies of those coverings. But the soul itself remains untouched and unaffected.