visualization
The Real Secret To Smudging Is Your Intention
The secret to smudging isn’t just in the smoke alone. It is powered by your intention. The herbs may help to cleanse the air, but it is your focused energy and mindful purpose that makes the real difference.
This is what I learned from my mentor when I undertook my Ukuthwasa as a shaman initiate many years ago in Southern Africa. An initial part of my rigorous training as a Sangoma, or traditional healer, was a self-cleansing ritual using Mphepo, made up of herbs indigenous to Southern Africa.
“Smudging,” simply put, is the burning of certain herbs to create a cleansing smoke bath. The smoke is used to cleanse areas used for rituals and ceremonies, as well as any tools or objects used for such cleansing, as well as to cleanse people.
The practice of burning incense or herbs is held sacred by many indigenous cultures. It is aimed at protecting, cleansing and purifying the spiritual and physical bodies, with the smoke being the key to rid one of negative energy.
The intention behind any smudging ceremony is a very significant part of its success. With the focus and intent of the “smudger” fully aligned, spiritual, emotional, physical and mental balance can be achieved.
It may be a good time to smudge yourself, or your environment, when you feel depressed or angry, or feel that any exterior negative energy is affecting you, your surroundings or your possessions. Or you may just wish to ensure or enhance positive energy in spaces used for meditation or healing. Continue reading
Crystals Can Revive Your Spiritual Brilliance!
Life these days can be very demanding and it is often a challenge to successfully balance all aspects of mind, body and soul.
Busy work days, financial responsibilities, and the demands of our social and family life, can make it so easy to allow our spiritual practice to slip.
Fortunately, the metaphysical power of crystals can help us keep our spiritual motivation going. Here’s how.
Ask For Support
Should you feel the need for support from a particular crystal, then all you need to do is simply ask for it.
For example, do you think you need to increase your self-discipline, or that your resolve should be strengthened?
If so, gently hold some malachite in one hand and request that it helps and supports you to this end. In fact, you could carry it with you at all times whenever you sense the need of its help.
Meditate With A Crystal
Before getting up in the morning, lie quietly for ten minutes with your amethyst positioned on the third eye – that being the middle of your forehead. While breathing deeply, visualize the energy this purple stone contains permeating every cell in your body and thus spiritually motivating and invigorating you.
Why Curiosity Is Essential For Spiritual Growth
These days, it is customary to access information instantly using various modern technologies. All kinds of knowledge are at our fingertips whenever we need it.
While some research is required for school or work projects, and other inquiries are made to simply satisfy a general “need to know,” Spirit challenges us to view our world differently and conduct a different kind of search.
Take time to be still every now and then. Extend your curiosity internally. Go within and take time to reflect on your past decisions, your current situation, and your potential future.
The past is a wonderful place to visit to reminisce about great experiences, evaluate decisions, and learn from events.
Note: This must only be temporary. It does not mean that you should constantly “live” in the past or obsess over what might have been, because there is no present or future in the past. There are only lessons and insight to be found there.
When considering some of the questionable choices you may have made in the past, be kind to yourself as you ponder the decisions you made and why you made them. Remember that your younger self did not have the benefit of the experience, wisdom, and insight that you have now.
Also, be kind to others who might have influenced you in a negative fashion or hurt you to the core, whether it seemed to be intentional or not at the time. Understand that their chosen paths may have intersected with yours for a specific reason but that you now have the ultimate control over your present actions and future dreams.
Create Your Own Energy Cleansing Spray
Remember the last time you changed out a dirty air filter from your air-conditioning unit, vacuum cleaner, or your car? Remember how clogged with dust it was? In our living spaces, negative energies accumulate over time just like those ‘dust bunnies.’
Even though we can’t see these energies, there is a way to clear them on a regular basis. Think of it as the spiritual version of house cleaning.
Just as we’re drawn to refresh our surroundings with a good spring clean, our homes and sacred spaces crave energetic renewal, too.
Energies from arguments, stress, illness, or even just the daily grind can leave behind subtle residue. This energetic debris doesn’t vanish on its own. Left unchecked, it can affect your mood, your sleep, and even the flow of abundance into your life.
The first and most obvious step to take is to physically clean your space. Clutter and unwanted items work as repositories for negative energy, so it’s important to get rid of it.
After you’re done, imagine the space being deep-cleaned with an indigo or violet-colored flame. Use this as a silent meditation, and picture the flames consuming all that invisible ‘dust.’
And, just like your body or your car, your space can be cleansed and cleared of obstructions.
The easiest way to do this is to create a personal essential oil blend, which can be sprayed throughout your office and home. If made right, these smell wonderful, although their main purpose is for energy clearing and not aromatherapy.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own space-clearing spray blend. The ingredients can be purchased at an herbal supplies or natural products store.
Why Manifestation (Sometimes) Doesn’t Work
For many years, manifestation has been a buzzword in the spiritual community. An array of manifestation gurus advise us every day to journal, set intentions, clear our chakras, consult our pendulums, visualize our wishes and goals as if they are already real, and maintain a “high vibe” energy.
In theory, this should bring our desires into manifested form. But wha tif we do all the right things…and still, nothing happens?
If you’ve ever felt deflated after months, even years of affirmations, vision boards, visualized meditations, crystal grids, and candle lighting rituals, you’re not alone. There are real reasons why manifestation doesn’t always work the way we expect.
Years ago, a young man called me for a reading, utterly discouraged. He’d been practicing the Law of Attraction for months with no results.
“I still don’t have a Porsche in my driveway,” he said flatly. “This manifestation thing just doesn’t work.”
So, I asked him, “What have you actually done to get the Porsche?”
He looked confused. “Well, I’ve visualized it. I’ve journaled about it. I imagine myself driving it every night before I fall asleep. But it’s still not there.”
I smiled and said, “That’s a great start. But what else have you done?”
Confused silence.
That’s when I explained: manifestation isn’t just about imagining or magic. It’s about alignment. You can affirm, wishlist and believe all you want, but if your daily choices, habits, and actions aren’t in harmony with your vision, the energy stalls.
Communicating With Your Spirit Guides
Each of us has spirit guides that are with us from the moment we are born, right up until we take our final breath. Just as they are named, your spirit guides are here to help guide you through life.
There are spirit guides who are with you for shorter periods of time to help assist you through certain situations, and of course, your closest spirit guides who will accompany you through your entire life.
What differentiates your guardian angels from spirit guides, is that your spirit guides, at some point in history, lived a physical incarnation on Earth and grew enough spiritually to earn the honor of title of being a spirit guide.
They went through very similar issues while here in this world, compared to what you will experience in your own life. This is why they become your spirit guide, devoted specifically to you, and this is what makes the two of you the best team!
Your spirit guides work with you in a variety of ways, therefore you have different spirit guides working in conjunction with certain areas in your life.
In addition to your guardian angels, you have protector guides who give you warning signs when things can be unstable or off in your environment. You also have a doctor teacher, a doctor chemist, joy guides, master guides, inner and outer band guides, as well as ascended masters guides… and that’s just to name a few of them!
The Magicless Misery Of ‘Compare And Despair’
I once attended a Toastmasters meeting where a gentleman was delivering his first speech to this specific group. It was an ice breaker to have us get acquainted with him. Instead of the typical short autobiographical introduction this speaker chose to give us an overview of his philosophy of life.
He told his audience that he sees himself entering a new phase of his life right now. He spoke about how important it is to get to know yourself and to take care of yourself first and foremost, and to always live in the moment.
After the speech and applause, the toastmaster reflected briefly on what the talk meant to him as he had listened. He said it reminded him of a mentor who had once, many years ago, said to him, “Compare… and despair”. If in life you are constantly comparing yourself to others, or comparing what you have with what others have, or what you feel you lack, or need to achieve, then all that will do is bring yourself unnecessary despair.
The only thing you should ever compare yourself against, his mentor added, is yesterday. Today did you do something constructive or grow in some way that makes you a better person than you were yesterday?
Too often we compare ourselves with our peers, both in our personal and professional lives. Why did he get a raise and not me? Why can I not find a soulmate like she did? Why can’t I be a successful entrepreneur like him? How come they get to have all these wonderful vacations?