Spirituality and Real Life are not mutually exclusive. You can intertwine the two to enrich your day-to-day life, and expand your consciousness.
I talked about mindfully following the breath in this post. The breath is the foundation. When life gets in the way – and it will – just come back to the breath. Maybe you’re wondering though, “how can breathing make me more spiritual?”
We are spiritual beings. We carry within the spark of Divine Creativity. But we also gotta pay the bills and get to work on time.
This division between so-called real life and spiritual life is a harsh one. Endless memes and jokes are made about those who follow a spiritual path. Usually making the spiritual person look flaky, or crazy. I might say that this is by design, but that’s for another blog post.
However, you’re here, so I’m going to guess you’re looking for some insight into things you’ve been experiencing.
You’re not crazy.
That’s right. The world is going through some serious shit right now, and it looks like it just might tear itself apart. I might say that this too, is by design. That is also for another blog post.
Right now, you just want some tools to help you navigate between the outer world’s needs and distractions, and the inner world’s messages and insights. Because I’ll bet that inner world is getting a whole lot more insistent. That’s why you’re here. Maybe you’ve seen and heard things all your life, maybe this is just the beginning for you.
Have you read some of those memes and blog posts and wondered if you were that flaky? You don’t feel like you’re any of those negative stereotypes. You manage your real life – bills, kids, school, job, but you see, or sense, or know, things at the most random times.
You dream, and then it comes true. You can tell when someone’s lying. You feel everyone else’s emotions exquisitely. You wish you had better control, or you wish you could turn it off. When you read about how people ‘manifest’ this, or ‘intuit’ that, do you wonder, how? Do you think they’re special? Do you think they have some uber-cool gift, and that sort of power is beyond you?
That is bullshit.
You are a Divine Spark. You carry part of Spirit within you, and you are a powerful, creative spiritual being.
I get it. It’s hard to keep that in mind when you have a bajillion other distractions. That ‘real life’ means you need to put food on the table, and a roof over your head, and get the kids to school on time. Instagram, selfies, that all-important status update.
But, I’m guessing, if you’re reading this, that you are looking for something.
So, I’m going to tell you a secret.
You will never, ever find it Out There. It is within you. It always has been. You just don’t want to believe it, because you find it so hard to believe in yourself. Because you’ve been told over and over and over again that you are worthless, that you are nothing, that you are just a sack of meat on a speck of dust spinning through an uncaring Universe.
That too, is bullshit.
Don’t take my word for it. Discover it for yourself. There’s the path, but you have to walk it. The bad news, there ain’t no shortcuts. Anyone who says different is likely trying to sell you something.
The good news. You are in control. You decide how far, how fast, and how much. Start slow. Walk away if you need to, and come back when you’re ready. I’m not the first to say this, but this is true:
It doesn’t matter if you trip and fall, it matters that you get back up.
How do I know? I’ve been that person. I have walked away from practicing. I’ve been forced away by life events, I’ve been too tired, too depressed, too lazy, too into Game of Thrones to want to go sit, and breathe, and meditate. I felt pretty guilty about it too, and not very spiritual.
Until I figured out, I do not have to spend 60 minutes morning and evening in silent, cross-legged contemplation. I mean, that’s nice, but really? Do you have time for that? Hell no. Grab that time when you can, and make it work for you. Do not wait for some magic, spa-like moment to grab your Zen and get spiritual.
You Are Spirit. You just need to look inward and find that spark. Practice in the in-between spaces and times, when you have just a few seconds to take a mindful breath or two. Why? Because Spirit is timeless, and Spirit is always listening. Spirit does not care if you only connect for a breath or two; only that you connect.
We get so wrapped up in the day-to-day that it’s easy to let spirituality slip to the side, if you even consider it for half a moment. Most people say they don’t have time to exercise, let alone the luxury of contemplating their own consciousness and place in the Universe.
Think you don’t have time to meditate? Think that spirituality is only something done on Sunday? Think again. You are a Divine Being in your own right. You carry within you a spark of Divine Creativity. You need to own that shit.
You can talk to Spirit at any time, in any place. The trick is, can you hear the answer? You can, I promise you. All it takes is a true desire and a willingness to open your heart to the answer. Want to know the best part? Spirit is infinitely patient. You do this work at your pace.
Obviously, the more diligently you work at any spiritual practice, the swifter and more dramatic your result will be. But – this is your journey. Take whatever time you need.
First, Naming. I use Spirit and Divine – I like the way they feel, and the positive emotions that come with them. You use whatever personal Name that you are comfortable with.
Next, Practice. To establish a personal connection to Spirit is not difficult. It only takes seconds, but it does take practice. No one ever got good at anything after one or two tries. So, practice, practice often. You’ll find it has all sorts of unexpected benefits – lowering blood pressure and stress hormones to name just two physical benefits. The spiritual payoff is immeasurable, and the joy of discovering those rewards is kinda the point.
Places to practice. Any place and time you have a few moments where you can pause, and take a few deep breaths. Closing your eyes, and twisting your legs into a lotus are not required. Need some ideas?
Doing the dishes.
Waiting to pick the kids up from school.
Waiting in line – anywhere.
In the shower.
Walking the dog.
Sitting at a red light.
Get creative. Let yourself play. Feel a little silly. Let all those negative thoughts, like “This can’t work!” wash through you. Don’t try and suppress them, just let them pass and keep practicing. You’ll find after time, your ego realizes it’s not silly, and stops sending them.
Does Spirit listen? All the time. Does Spirit answer? Yes. Practicing is how you learn to be able to hear that reply.
All You Gotta Do Is Breathe
So, what’s the first step? Easy, just breathe. Do it now.
In
Out
How’d that feel? Was it fast, or slow? Where did the breath go in your body? Your upper chest? Your belly? Could you have taken in more air? Did it feel like a sip or a gulp?
Meditative practice starts with following the breath because it is a direct linkage to your subconscious brain. Unless you turn your attention to it, your autonomic nervous system works diligently night and day, pumping your blood, digesting your food, and working your lungs. By following your breath and consciously regulating it, you are sending signals back to the brain that are then passed on to the rest of the body.
And this is important because?
The autonomic nervous system controls ‘fight or flight’. It interprets everything you see and hear based on whether it’s a threat, or not, and then yells, “Battle Time!” or “Run Away!” causing your heart and lungs to work harder and faster, plus a whole bunch of other biologic reactions. Millions of years of evolution have made it a highly efficient survival system. It is not however, adapted for our modern world. The noises and stresses of normal urban life cause us to live in a state of near-constant readiness for battle or escape. The effects of this are clearly reflected in the near-epidemic levels of diseases such as high blood pressure.
Control the breath, and the message you’re sending to your brain is “We’re chill. No saber tooth tiger is about it eat us.” Your brain then tells your heart, organs and muscles to kick back and enjoy some downtime.
The more often you do this, the better it is for your body, and this has been supported through research.
How to Breathe.
It is literally our first action on the planet. You probably think you’re pretty good at it, since you’ve been breathing all your life. Think back to that In and Out breath earlier. Now, you’re going to do it again. This time, though, you’re going to do it mindfully.
Close your eyes.
Empty your lungs by pulling your belly towards your spine and letting it push the air out. Don’t force it, just exert a gentle pull.
Pause, count to three.
Inhale by pushing your belly outward. Imagine the air rushing down and filling your belly as it pushes out. Only after your belly is full, allow the air to fill the upper part of your chest.
I like to do a slow count of eight – count to four and fill the belly, count to eight and fill the chest.
Then, hold the breath. Feel it circulate through your body. Visualize it as swirls of energy, or streaming through the blood. Watch it flow and fill you.
Release the breath. Again, pull your belly toward your spine, and exhale slowly, with control. Empty your lungs completely.
Hold briefly with your lungs empty. Pay attention to how your body feels without the breath in it. Visualize the breath leaving your body. You might want to imagine it taking away things like stress, or pain, or worry.
Then repeat the cycle.
I like to use a count of eight for each portion of the cycle:
The Inhale
Hold
The Exhale
Hold
But use whatever count works best for you at that moment. If you’re sitting at a red light, maybe it’ll be a three-count for two breath cycles. If you’re in the shower, try an eight-count for ten cycles.
What matters is that you do it. A lot. In the bathroom for a few minutes? Seriously. Brushing your teeth? Waiting to order your chai latte or caramel macchiato? Take some breaths.
Here’s the catch. Come on! You knew there’d be one.
For each breath, think only about the breath. Nothing else. Focus entirely on that air moving in, through, and out of your body. Any thought that pops up, just let go of. And they will pop up.
“What should I make for dinner?”
“What did he mean by that text?”
“Should I binge Stranger Things or Oroville?”
Just let them go, and bring your focus back to your breath.
And practice. Did I mention how important it is to practice this? Do it when it feels weird, or clunky, or awkward. No one is looking at you funny. Just do it. You will get past that clunky, awkward stage.
Practice until it becomes second nature for you to mindfully breathe multiple times a day. Even if it’s just for one breath.
Pay attention to how you feel before, and after. Are your shoulders a little looser? Your belly less tense? What physical changes do you notice, but also, what mental changes do you notice? What effects do you notice the longer you practice?
Mindfulness, attention to breath, and attention to your responses will help you learn focus and concentration on your inner workings and energetic shifts. Messages from Spirit can come through loud and clear, like a bullhorn. More often though, they’re subtle. Learning to discern what is “you” from what is Spirit will be that much easier if you are already familiar with the ebbs and flows of your own energetic systems.
She wasn’t dusting or scrubbing. She was cleansing the house energetically and releasing beings that were stuck in that physical location.
“Oh, that’s just a movie!” No. Sticky, dense, negative energies – and entities – are very real, and can attach themselves to you. Anyone who wants to engage in paranormal activities needs to be aware of this. If you’re already in the field, you know this.
Cleansing can be as simple as wafting a smudge stick, or as complex as a full exorcism. Exorcisms are best left to the professionals – shamanic practitioners, priests trained in exorcism, mediums who can speak to the spirits. However, personal energetic hygiene is just as important as washing your hands.
What Needs To Be Cleansed?
You dust, vacuum and mop, what else needs cleaning? People’s emotional detritus tends to collect and hang out, in living spaces, in public spaces. Pretty much anywhere you can encounter leftover emotions. We all leak negative emotions. Have an argument? A crying spell? Pissed because your boss yelled at you? Those emotions have energy, and the stronger the emotions the more likely they are to linger like so many emotional dust bunnies. If enough of them build up, they can start to take on a sort of life of their own. If the emotions or events are traumatic enough they can start to act like spirits or other supernatural entities.
Anyone, ‘sensitive’ or not can pick up on these lingering psychic dust bunnies. Depending on your level of discernment you may recognize that these emotions are not your own. Nausea, headaches, sudden, unexplained sadness – all of these can linger and reattach to you! You don’t need to be psychic to cleanse, but you do need to be clear on what you’re doing and how you’re going to go about it.
Here are three ways you can cleanse your aura and living spaces. Use them all, or find the ones that resonate best with you. With each though, your intention, your attitude and your mindset are all critical ingredients.
Thoughts Are Things!
Remember, when dealing with the spiritual and astral realms your thoughts make and shape the energies, so use them wisely. None of these techniques will work if you simply go through the motions. You must engage and be present when using any of these. Also, before using any method, prepare yourself.
Pause
Breathe
Calm your mind
Set Your Intention
This is essential. Say, think, or visualize that any negative or harmful energies be released, dispersed and returned to the Earth for renewal. Hold onto this intention as you are cleansing.
When your mind is calm and your intention firmly in mind, begin. You can use these methods individually, or sequentially. Using more than one has a cumulative, or additive effect. I usually try and get a sense for what I need, and if I need more, I do more. There is no harm in overuse of any of these practices!
Smudge
Smudging is the burning of sacred plants to clear out negative energies. Sage is the most commonly used, and nearly everyone will say “Burn some sage!” if paranormal activity is mentioned. But, it’s certainly not the only choice.
Sage is easily available; smoke shops and metaphysical stores carry it pre-bundled and ready to use. However, others, like palo santo wood, cedar, sweetgrass, and frankincense have all been used to clear spaces for centuries. Each one acts to cleanse, but they all have additional properties to be considered before using – protection, healing, blessing. Read up on your choice before smudging to ensure it’s in alignment with your intention.
Smudging is essential housekeeping if you actively participate in spiritual practices or seek out paranormal activity.
Trust me on this. I have made this mistake too many times to count. If you are in any measure psychic, or you investigate the paranormal – cleanse your aura and your space regularly. You will be amazed at the difference it makes in how you, and your home feel. You’ll also be amazed at how much your discernment and psychic abilities increase when you consistently clear out the “junk.”
So what does it mean to smudge? You light the sacred herb, and brush the smoke around yourself – top to bottom, front and back – and visualize the smoke dissolving any negative attachments. You can trace the herb bundle itself around your outline, or use a feather to waft the smoke over you.
To cleanse a house or other building, walk clockwise around the space, brushing the smoke towards the walls. Pay extra attention to corners, especially if they’re a little cluttered (like my house!), doorways and windows. Imagine the brushing dislodging the attachments and the smoke gathering it up and carrying it out of the space, really see it going out windows or doors.
Also pay attention if burning ash drops on to the ground. You may want to carry a small, fireproof tray to catch ashes as you walk. Make as many circuits of the room as you need until you feel the energies lighten. Continue moving in a clockwise direction through your entire home until you have cleared each room.
Smudging is excellent for:
Regular energetic cleansing.
Clearing new items that you bring into your home.
After guests leave to remove any lingering emotional traces.
After you’ve ‘had a bad day’ or are feeling as if you have attachments clinging to you.
Smudging is not typically how you get actual spirits to vacate. If you’ve got a resident entity, you will likely need more, and that is beyond the scope of this article.
Showering
Well, duh! But this isn’t your quick, jump in-and-out rinse. This is a longer, deliberate ritual to wash away negative attachments from your body and aura.
My latest career was in nursing. I have, in the past, worked with people who hated me. I have had daggers glared at me. I’ve been called every name in the book. Usually by people having the worst day of their life. Not their fault, but the emotional energies still bombarded me. By the end of my shift, I would feel loaded down with the psychic weight of every hateful thought directed my way. I could sense them sinking their hooks into my aura. Left there long enough, they would burrow in until they merged with my own energies.
Waving a smudge stick didn’t always dislodge those emotional daggers, although that was usually my first step. If I needed more muscle because it was a particularly bad shift – or if I’d neglected my energetic cleansing for a few days – I would charge the water coming out of the showerhead to remove the attachments.
To charge the water:
Bless the showerhead and water.
Visualize that the water is filled with pure light.
This light can be white, silver, blue, lavender, or whatever color feels most appropriate to you. But make it bright and strong.
As you scrub, visualize removing the energetic attachments. Or you can state affirmations, such as “I now remove any attachment that does not contribute to my highest healing good.” Visualize them swirling away, being carried down the drain and out to the sea where they will be dissipated and renewed.
As a Reiki Master-Teacher, I will Reiki the water and showerhead, and I can tell you that water is bright! You should use whatever energetic methods, prayers or blessings resonate with you. Whether you are initiated into an energy healing modality or not, realize that your visualization, your thoughts and intentions, carry a potent energy of their own. Use them to bless the water, and cleanse your aura.
When you are done, visualize sealing any holes in your aura, healing any tears, so that your energy field is whole. Picture your aura as a smooth, protective barrier that completely envelops you.
Grounding
This is a perfect spot to sit and ground!
Grounding is one of the easiest cleansing techniques, but it is powerful for all its simplicity. All you need to do is get your body in contact with the Earth.
Not standing in your high heels on concrete. Not sitting on the steps of your condo or school. (But, if it’s all you’ve got, then gotta do what you gotta do.)
Nope.
I mean get out and get in touch with Mother Earth. Take of your shoes, and get your toes in the grass, or sand, or dirt. Sit against the trunk of a tree and rest your palms against Her. Any spot where you are in full contact with the Earth, will do – a park, the beach, out on a hike. Minimize the man-made ‘stuff’ between you and Her and try to have some of your skin touching the skin of the Earth, even if it’s just your palms.
Close your eyes. Breathe deeply. Visualize yourself connecting to the Earth through your soles, palms, anywhere you’re in contact with Her. Open these connections wide and release anything that does not contribute to your highest healing good. Use affirmations similar to “I release any and all attachments…” as you did in the shower. Really see these attachments dropping off you and down into Mother Earth.
Synchronize your breathing to your visualizations. As you exhale, imagine the attachments falling away. As you inhale, visualize clean, renewing energy flowing up into you through your connections to Mother Earth. Sit as long as you need to feel clear and refreshed.
Don’t feel bad! You’re not polluting! As with the shower, think of it as putting those attachments into a giant recycling bin so they cannot move on and attach to another person. Mother Earth and the sea are vast, and readily absorb those energies, cleansing and renewing them.
Try all three techniques. Play with them! The real beauty of energy work is finding your best modality. Take your time; be observant of how you feel and what you experience. Adjust and adapt as you need to, just be sure to keep your intentions clear at all times.
I had a totally different post planned to put up, but then I found this trailer on Twitter. Have your tissues ready.
I watched this and thought it one of the most heartwarming trailers I’d seen. It’s based on the book of the same title by W. Bruce Cameron and it spent 52 weeks on the NYT Bestseller list! So I was more than a little startled to see some haters calling this trailer “horrible” and “depressing” and “worst dog movie ever” because, you know, the dog dies.
Sorry. Spoiler alert. But maybe the title of the blog post was a clue?
The hardest thing any pet parent has to face is the loss of a much loved pet. The very worst part of letting an animal into your life and heart is the sure knowledge that you will eventually bid them farewell. I’ve done this more times than I want to think about, and with more species than your average pet owner.
There was Pagan, and Domino.
Magic
Honda
Harpo
Akela
And that’s not even half. Each one takes a piece of your heart when they go, you feel like that spot in your soul will never again feel right. I have been so fortunate to have a deep bond to many, many animals, to experience the love, communication and understanding that looks magical to an outside observer. I know I’m not alone in this. I know that I’m not the only one to have a much loved pet return to me either, both in a body and in spirit.
What if the premise of A Dog’s Purpose were true? What if our pets (and us too!) come back to experience life after life? The above-mentioned haters also found this tragic. I’m sorry for them. I think it’s beautiful. It means we, collectively, never truly die. That we get do-overs, and a chance to explore every delicious, beautiful, and yes, painful, facet of life.
Reincarnation as a spiritual concept is found throughout many ancient, sacred texts. Even the Gnostic Christians claimed that reincarnation was the true, secret teaching of Jesus. The number of people who believe in reincarnation is staggering. Just counting those who claim to practice religions with reincarnation as a fundamental tenet you’re looking at about 25% of the human population. Even some quantum physicists are now saying our consciousness moves into another universe when we die. First Law of Thermodynamics, right?
But that’s humans. What about animals? Do animals have souls? Just ask that of anyone who’s had a pet that they loved and lost. You can read about how my cat, Magic, came back to visit after I lost her to bone cancer. The internet is full of stories about how the spirits of pets come back, both as ghosts and reincarnated into new, furry bodies.
But how do you know? Truth is, I can’t offer up any proof that would satisfy a cynic.
Answers to the most perplexing questions in spirituality are at their core inexplicable. They must be experienced. They must be lived. It doesn’t matter how many holy books you read, how many churches you sit in, or how many drum circles. They can guide you, point out a path, but you’ll never really know unless you make contact with the numinous.
I have. I know that everything has a soul. A spirit. That spark of the divine that is never extinguished. From the trees in my yard, to the cat curled in my lap, to the wolf puppy that greeted me with recognition in his soul. We had known each other in lives past.
How? You have to be willing to still your mind and listen for those subtle clues. You have to be willing to put in the time to practice – whatever method you choose. Yoga, meditation, dance, journeying all can help you with quieting the mind so you can hear the messages from your soul. More than that though, you have to trust the knowledge that comes to you.
That is the hardest part. Trust. Your mind will want to tell you you just made it up. So will science. So will some of your friends. You have to trust the message and put it into practice in your life. There is a certain element of surrender with this, because sometimes it’ll probably be pretty scary. Not in the ‘you should spend all your money on this stock’ sense. No, this trust usually involves risks of the heart.
Sometimes your heart will break. Sometimes the one you love will leave you. But what if the purpose of life is to experience love in as many different forms and varieties as possible? That’s pretty difficult to accomplish in just one lifetime.
Maybe dogs are the lucky ones. They have so much love to give, and we have so much to learn, that they voluntarily return to us again and again, helping to open our hearts and teach us about unconditional love. And loss. And how to love again after heartbreak.
I love hiking! Ok, so I don’t backpack into the back country. Yet anyway. But I am so fortunate that here in the Puget Sound I have access to so many different types of hiking trails to explore.
Being out in Nature forges a connection between you and the Earth that you just can’t get in the city. The energies of the water, the trees and the animals all combine in a way that can only be described as magical. It’s good for you on all levels, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
If you’re at all sensitive to these subtle energies, you very quickly realize that you aren’t the only one out there on the trail.
Hauntings don’t only happen in the city. The spirits and energies of the dead can be found anywhere people have been, even if no one lives there now. Haunted forests, trails, ghost towns are found around the world.
I know what you’re thinking. “I want to go to there.”
You can start here, with this article. It says it’s a list of most haunted hikes in every state, but a number of them are abandoned asylums or other facilities that appear to require more like a short walk from the street rather than a hike through some wilderness. But maybe that suits your hiking style – no judgement here! They all have suitably spooky histories attached. In my home state of Washington they list the Iron Goat Trail, site of an avalanche that caused two trains to derail. Now I know my next hiking trip.
So maybe you pick a spot from the list above, or maybe you google “Haunted Hiking Trails in California” (or Rhode Island, or – you get the idea) and set off on your adventure. Here’s tip Number One.
Don’t build up a great big set of expectations. Don’t count on the fact that you’re going to see or feel all the stuff from the descriptions. Because that’s one of the best ways I know of to not experience the paranormal.
Yes, some people have big encounters – physical, audible, visual – that are stunning. And yes, some places are notorious for consistent encounters. You may very well be that lucky; and if you are I want to hear about it!
Typically though these energies are subtle, and you need to practice tuning in to them. We can all do it to a certain degree. But it does take a conscious effort. The following can help you refine your paranormal senses.
Quiet your mind. Easier said than done, right? Thoughts creep, flit and fly through our minds constantly, and often we are not consciously aware of them. Thoughts resist being stilled and will work doubly hard to get your attention; especially when you first start practicing. Meditation is an excellent teacher of quieting the mind. It’s a skill you want to work on every day, so that when you are out in the field, you already know what to do and how to achieve that quiet mind.
Open your senses. More than what you see, what do you hear? Is there a smell that doesn’t belong – pipe smoke in an otherwise empty cemetery? Perfume in an abandoned cabin? Avoid attaching a judgement or analysis to what you experience such as, “that must be the miner’s pipe” or “the wife must’ve worn that perfume.” Did you feel a touch on your hair? Or feel someone brush past you who isn’t there? Be aware of, notice everything going on around you.
Go beyond your physical senses. Do you feel an emotion that seems to well up from nowhere? Or a thought that pushes at you from outside your skull? Again, avoid judgements and simply experience it. Or – do you get a sense of rushing or prickling inside your skin, like energy moving from one spot to another?
Wait patiently. You must be willing to sit in a quiet space for some period of time. Spirits do not appear on schedule like a show. This isn’t Ghost Theater. Sit. Breathe. Quiet your mind. Open all your senses. What do you experience?
Hiking a haunted trail gives you a twofer. You can connect with the nature spirits AND commune with the departed. Even if the haunted area does not bring forth ghosts, you can still use all of the above to reach out and connect with Nature. Water, Earth and Sky spirits are all around you. Can you sense them and hear their messages?
Is there a downside?
What do you do if the spirits you connect with aren’t entirely friendly? If you’re going to embark on psychic adventures you should probably have some psychic defenses. Because not everything out there in the other dimensions wants to be your friend.
Read about steps you can take to protect yourself next.
Even the little critters have decorated for the holidays. My spider friends have glammed up their homes with crystals and turned their webs to delicate lace.
I’m not much of a Christmas person; for most of my professional life Christmas and other holidays have simply been another day on the job. I have lots of nostalgia related to Christmases past but the religious aspects are not part of that past or my personal spirituality. And for the last few years, well, I’ve been something of Scrooge; the Day Itself has passed me by with barely a nod of recognition.
It was almost the same this year.
You might have noticed a lack of posting on my part lately, here and on Facebook. It’s been a crazy couple months:
My mom has been sick since November and a couple weeks ago she had a stroke. As strokes go, she was very lucky and has only very slight residuals. But I did go to southern California to see her and help out. As much as I wanted and needed to be with her, well, SoCal is not my happy zone and it was an uncomfortable time for a whole bunch of reasons. Including a whole host of paranormal ones.
At the same time my sister ended up in ICU with a raging case of pneumonia.
And just yesterday, my reliable vehicle threw a rod. I guess I really should’ve given Fate a safe word. She apparently thought I meant “screw with everything all at once” when I said I needed some changes in my life.
Fate: “Hey, cool! Here’s a metric buttload of crap for you to deal with!”
Me: “No, Fate, no I meant I want that whole bestselling author thing I’ve been working on, not fuck up my family.”
But, as these things often go, what seemed like a total chaotic shitstorm at first turned out to be a challenge and an opportunity personally. I’ve found peace with parts of me and mine that needed some serious attention. I’ve found some new, unsuspected strength and resilience.
Most important, I’ve regained the Spirit of this season that I’ve been lacking for quite some time. I decorated, for the first time in years and it felt great. Now as I sit here on Christmas Eve looking at my beautiful tree I have so many things to be grateful for:
I have my health, a wonderful husband and sweet home filled with pets.
My mom and my sister are healing and getting stronger.
Cars are fixable.
I might not have a whole bunch of money right now, but I am wealthy with the love I am surrounded with.
A friend recently pointed out something that I really took to heart. My Scrooginess in the past has been based on my disgust with an overly-commercialized and hyped Christmas. I just wanted to ignore it as much as possible and get through it to the other side. I Bah-Humbugged my way through it and even took a twisted in glee in my bad feelings.
“Not this year.” My friend said. She told me that it was important to celebrate the Season so that we can fill our hearts with Peace and Love. It’s not about buying the latest doodad, or seeing who spends the most. This isn’t a competition. It’s a way to practice opening our hearts and having compassion for all. Even if it’s only for one day, you need to really feel it, and carry that feeling with you throughout the coming year.
Wouldn’t that be a beautiful thing?
How do you celebrate the Season? What traditions do you hold to, or what ones have you developed? I would love to hear how you share the joy of this time of year.
I’ve been talking to dead people for a very long time. It started when I was just a kid and I would see the old lady in my house. Over time I’ve developed my own inner system for communicating with the other side. But in the interest of full disclosure, it is just kinda all in my head.
It’s sort of the big elephant in the room, and the main way that skeptics and debunkers dismiss psychic phenomena. But I presume, since you’re here and all, that you’re okay with the whole psychic, telepathic, etc., experience. And until fairly recently, the only way to know if a spirit was around was either some sort of physical manifestation, or a psychic medium told you what the being on the other side was saying.
Enter technology. Modern ghosthunters have adapted devices to measure the electromagnetic spectrum and record voices that are not immediately audible to the humans present. In the early days these devices were rather large and bulky. Today you can buy a variety of apps to download on to your smartphone. Which I did before heading out on the ghost tour I did last weekend.
In my excitement I started randomly downloading apps that looked good, and then I went and did some research. A lot of the apps were rated as crap less than useful when seriously looking for paranormal phenomena. They all state plainly that they are strictly for “entertainment”. Remember how we creeped ourselves out with the Ouija board in dark closets when we were kids? And you were scared even though you were sure someone was really pushing that planchette? This is the new brand of that. Is it real? Hard to say. I suspect in the presence of other paranormal activity – knocking, orbs, apparitions – that a positive reading on these apps could be considered confirmatory. But if it’s just randoms bleeps on a screen with no other data, well, you have to be your own judge on that.
In this Wall Street Journal article, it describes how some pro ghosthunters think they work, and some don’t. Seems opinions can get fairly heated.
I’ll be the first one to admit I’m not very techno-savvy. I’m still surprised I manage to get blog posts up. But it was fun to play with the apps I downloaded, and I did find one in particular, Ghosthunter M2 by Jedasoft that has produced some surprising results. I saw a fair-ish number of positive reviews. It even has it’s own Facebook page. While the ones that liked it made a point to say that it couldn’t be used to produce viable scientific data, they noted that it could be useful to get a sample of spirit activity.
Now normally when I attempt to interact with the spirit realm, I take steps to protect myself. I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t really expect the apps to work, or I was just lazy, but I started turning the app on at random times without engaging any of my spiritual protections. And I got a mixed bag of results – some blips on the screen, high EMF readings where there was no other source of EMF nearby, creepy digitized voices pronouncing random words.
But then…
I started to notice my senses tingling a little more than usual around my house. Yeah. I turned those apps on in my house and around my yard. I keep my home pretty clean spiritually. Usually negative entities don’t even bother because I move them on as soon as I detect them. This was definitely something of a darker aspect, and it was elusive. It hid from me when I actively searched for it, retreating beyond the borders of my yard.
The first night, my dreams were only vaguely unsettling and quickly faded out on waking. The second night it was a completely different story. This being attacked me in my dream, multiple times. The dream evolved through several scenes, and in each one a person was trying to do me harm. In each case the people would grab me and draw me toward them, attempting to pass the negative energies into me. In the last attempt, a woman pretended to know me, to be my friend. She drew me in close to give me a friendly kiss, but at the last moment I saw her eyes change to a weirdly pale light. For a flash, they went milky white. Behind her shoulder I saw a dark hooded figure appear and place it’s hand on her, lending her strength. A dark fog rolled out of her mouth and she stabbed one finger into the hollow of my throat in an attempt to distract me so this fog could move into me.
I woke with a start and could still feel the pain of her finger digging into my throat. My arms were crunched up protectively toward my face and throat and my muscles were still shaking and cramping from fighting against her pull.
So here’s the deal, I haven’t had a bad nightmare like this in a very long time. I’m not the best, most all-powerful psychic there is, but I have spent a good deal of time honing my skills. Let’s just say that I usually have sufficient protections that my dreams are typically untroubled by beings attacking me. This thing had gone right through those protections and had managed to attach itself to me.
Awake now, I scanned the room and saw it looking at my husband next. I quickly centered and grounded myself, called in my spirit allies and protectors and did the psychic equivalent of tapping it on the shoulder.
Hey. You’re really not welcome here. And what you just did was really rude. I told it. So I’m asking you to leave. Now.
Awake, I could see this being was just a small, confused creature. It wasn’t even fully human, more like just a fragment of some poor soul’s anger and pain. In short, it wasn’t very smart. All it knew was how to cause pain and terror, because that was all it had ever experienced.
When it realized I could see it, it went into The Scary Dance. This is something spirits will do when they’re trying to convince you they’re big and bad. Sometimes it works, because the spirit I’m up against is one of significant power. This little being dancing around my bedroom was hardly that. It’s gyrations were almost cute.
Let me tell you, spirits hate it when you’re only amused by their Scary Dance. They try harder.
Look, I told it, You have exactly two choices. I can help you. I can point you toward the Veil and help you get to the other side so you can find the rest of you and be healed. Or you can leave.
It laughed and gnashed phantasmal teeth and told me it was going to kill me.
Um, no, you’re not. I said. You’re going to make your choice. Cross over or leave my premises.
You can’t make me! It cackled. I do whatever I want.
You’re right. I can’t make you. But They can make it very uncomfortable for you to stay here.
When dealing with beings who project negative energies, it’s important to maintain your own center and calm. If you maintain your heart and mind in a loving space then the power these beings have is greatly reduced. Plus I had help.
“They”are my allies in spirit. Big, bright, beautiful beings who help me in my work. They manifested their presence in my room, and though the room itself remained dark the energies of love and light poured in. The little being took one look, squeaked in dismay and popped out of my awareness.
I did an energy sweep of my house, and my allies likewise assured me it was gone. Then told me using the phone apps had opened me up and called it in. Because I didn’t have all my usual protections in place it had found a weak spot to slip through.
Lesson learned.
Have you tried any of the ghost hunting apps? Been on a ghost tour or a ghost hunt? I’d love to hear your experiences.
Hi there! Notice anything new? I know, I know, I let this blog just sit for a very long time, but it’s time to get it up and running again. If you’ve been with me for a while, you know I kind of bounced around on topics – animals, training, ghosts, conspiracies, gardening. Yikes! It was a mish-mash of everything I love, but I figured it was time to give my writing and blogging better focus and direction.
I’ve given the blog a whole new look, and I’ve activated my Facebook Page – go ahead and give me a Like.
Now, here goes. I hope you’ll stick with me.
Serena Dracis is all about the paranormal. Supernatural. Spiritual. Whatever name or label you like, if it’s strange or unusual, I’m going to write about it. Hold on, it’s gonna get weird in here. But you like that, don’t you?
You can expect to see posts about UFO’s, alternative histories, conspiracies and ghosts, like this one:
I like how the apparition just casually walks right through the gate. And how appropriate is it that this spirit is walking away from the Haunted Mansion? Maybe it’s break time and the ghost is off to see other parts of the park?
I used to work at Disneyland and heard about the ghosts supposed to haunt the Happiest Place on Earth during my two summers there back in the ’80’s. I never saw or heard anything personally but I heard about the ghost on Space Mountain that would open doors and the guy that died swimming from Tom Sawyer’s Island. Speaking of the Island, I always got a creepy vibe in those fake caves.
If you loved the posts on dogs, training and gardening, check out my “sister” blog here. My new look and focus should make it much easier to find the posts you love.
How about you? Do you love the paranormal? Have you had a ghostly encounter? Have you seen a UFO? Do you know there’s more to this life than what we see with just our eyes? You are definitely in the right place. Let me know what you’ve seen and experienced in the comments. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
The tour guide was only half kidding when she said “We aren’t responsible if any of the ghosts follow you home.” It brought back memories of The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. I could almost hear the sonorous tones of the heavy male narrator’s voice from the ghostly Disney ride override the tour guide uttering the same phrase. She added cheerily, “but if they do, please call us, we’d love to come investigate!”
No need, the ghostly lady in the back seat wasn’t the first to hitch a ride with us, and I’m sure she won’t be the last. I can see and talk to the dead, and help them cross the veil to the other side if they are earthbound. Hub and I were almost home when she made her presence known. Thin, willowy, but too heavily scarred by sorrow to be called beautiful, the dead lady kept looking longingly at my husband from where she perched behind him in the car. “My husband? Where is my husband, and my baby?” She asked repeatedly. She was confused, didn’t understand how she was suddenly in this strange carriage, didn’t completely understand she was dead, and far out of her own time.
It took a little effort to get her attention, she was fixated on Hub, mistaking him for her long dead husband. I reached out, snapping my fingers in front of her face and calling sharply to her. When I got her to finally look at and respond to me, I got her story in an instant. Husband and baby both sickened and died. She wasn’t sure of what, just showed them to me as feverish and coughing. She answered “Marie” when I asked her name, but kept reaching toward Hub with her insubstantial hands. Her pain was a tangible presence in the car, she’d died of a broken heart.
“He’s not your husband. He’s mine. Your husband and baby are dead, and you are too.” She turned big, pale eyes to me, uncomprehending. “You are dead. You’re a ghost, stuck here on the earthplane.” I told her. By this time we had arrived home. Hub got out of the car, leaving me alone in it after he parked it in the garage. Just me and the ghost. Outside the car door, my chickens began to stir and cluck uneasily in their darkened henhouse. It felt dark and heavy in the garage, as if the lights weren’t bright enough.
“I miss them so.” She whispered. “Why can’t I find them? How did I get here?” She was full of questions. I don’t know how other mediums communicate with spirits, but I find it easier and truer if I stick to emotions and images with minimal words. I show them what I mean. So you’ll have to forgive me for translating some of those images, emotions and thoughts into sentences. It makes an easier read and description of something that is sometimes difficult to transpose into words.
I also work very closely with my guides and guardian spirits. I ask them to come close and aid the spirits I work with, easing their transition across the veil to home. There in my garage, sitting in my car, I called in my guides and asked them to help locate this woman’s loved ones on the other side. Marie continued to stare around the car and darkened garage, she was starting to get frightened and tune me out. “Where did the man go? Is that my husband?” She continued to fixate on Hub.
“Hey, Marie. I need you to listen to me for just a moment.”
“No.” Indignant. She didn’t want to listen to some random woman, she wanted to find her family. I could understand that, but she wasn’t going to find them at my house. “Why should I listen to you?” Disbelief, scorn. She sneered.
“I can try to help you find them, Marie.” Again she turned those big, pale eyes on me. Anger showed in them. “You don’t know my husband. I don’t know you. Where am I?” She was starting to get agitated, the atmosphere in the car darkened more, and it was hard to see out the windows.
When the spirits get upset, the only answer to their fear or anger is love. I powered up my heart chakra, and offered her pure spiritual love. I showed her I held only compassion for her and real desire to help. “I want to help you, I want to try, and my guides want to help you too.” Her expression of anger slowly melted, as she took in that I meant what I said, and that I wasn’t affected by her anger.
In Reiki II, my class learned a technique called the Bridge of Light. It is a spiritual energy bridge offered to one who is about to die, or to spirits who have not yet crossed over. For the dead, and the dying it eases their transition, and connects them with loved ones already on the other side of the veil. I showed Marie the bridge, and offered the energy to her. I offered her additional Reiki energy to help her heal her psychic wounds, and to help her retrieve the parts of her soul that she’d lost along the way.
Anger and mistrust dissolved. “Truly?” She was afraid to hope.
“Yes.” I told her. “And my guides mean it too.” Marie touched the Bridge of Light with one foot, and her whole being lit up. She took two steps, and smiled tentatively. Her lips stretched wider as she followed the path laid out on the Bridge, aided by her own guiding spirits who met her and welcomed her before she’d traveled halfway across. Her spirit lit brightly as the missing parts of her soul flew home to join her as she fully crossed the veil.
With an nearly audible pop, the atmosphere in the garage lightened. It had a bright and sparkly feel, and the hens uttered soft coos as they settled back into sleep. Marie blew me a light kiss and a thank-you as she joined her family on the other side. I smiled and got out of the car.
“Everything okay?” Hub asked as he threw the ball for our Lab to chase. It glows in the dark, so she can find it at night. I took a deep breath and looked around our yard, then back into the garage. No ghosts.
“Everything’s just fine.” I told him.
I’m pretty sure Marie was hiding in this room on the tour.
Oh the best laid plans…you know the end of that quote. I had all these plans to get so much writing done on my time off! Blog posts queued up, WIP work, but darn reality anyway, threw me for a huge loop.
On the 19th, I woke up early to blood spattered all over the downstairs. No kidding. It wasn’t exactly a bloodbath, but someone had a big problem. My 13 year-old male kitty, Jasper, had a ruptured abscess.
I know, ick! He’d given no sign of having any issues, so it was a complete surprise to me. I had a crisis and a meltdown. I thought it was something way worse and I was convinced I was going to have to put him to sleep. I cried a lot, then my brain kicked back into gear and I was able to get Jasper a little more cleaned up and a better idea of what was going on. By the time Hub got home from work to help me get him to the vet’s, I had stopped crying hysterically calmed down, and figured out that maybe it wasn’t as bad as I had originally thought. Note to self: It’s better to think things through before going straight to “He’s gonna die!”
Kitty came home from the vet’s that night, and I said many grateful prayers while I watched over him. He was pretty weak the first couple days, and it’s a good thing I did have time off. He wouldn’t eat or drink on his own. He would drink water if I gave it to him in sips from a syringe. He nibbled delicately at the baby food that I presented to him on a spoon, but would turn his head away after a bare half-teaspoonful. Which meant I was spending an awful lot of time on the floor of my bathroom to keep him hydrated and fed.
Sleeping is what he’s best at.
Now we’re in the home stretch, and he is well on his way to a full recovery. Yay! Stitches come out Wednesday and my two weeks of keeping Jasper isolated from the rest of the animals can finally end. His brother, Sage stands outside and paws at the door, missing his wrassling buddy. Sister Magic, on the other hand, has appropriated Jasper’s favorite sleeping spot in his absence. It will be good to finally be able to get things back to quasi-normal.
Then, it was the holidays. Meh. I just was not that into them this year, the commercialism seemed overdone and tacky. I wasn’t even sure I would put up a tree, I was in such a bah humbug mood. But Jasper on the mend seemed like the best present I could ask for, and I began to feel a bit more celebratory. So when Hub put up the tree on the 20th, I put up the ornaments.
I did end up decorating the tree once Hub put it up. Can you find Han Solo and Gene Simmons?
Then, there was visiting with the grandkids. Let’s just say, I never knew how much fun it was to run and scream and race through the house wielding an inflatable sword while chasing down a three year-old. It got better when youngest grandson would abruptly slide to a halt and reverse course to dash after me, screaming just as loud. I let him catch me and beat me up with his own inflatable weapon… a mallet with who on it? Thor of course! Joy! I haven’t had so much fun since I was a kid! Writing anything was a distant second to running and playing with small children I haven’t seen in months.
But what about that Mayan Apocalypse? Big Nothing? Or…?
Oh Mayan Apocalypse, you were hyped and feared, but where were you? No asteroid slammed into the Earth, no massive pole shift rearranged the continents and, to my utter disappointment, no aliens appeared in the skies above. Worst of all, NO zombies! So what was it all about?
It doesn’t matter what everyone else said. In short, the Mayans said this was the end of one age and the start of another. Sure other ages had ended in cataclysms, but this one was different. This one was about a spiritual change. You can read about it yourself, in this interview with a Mayan Elder.
There were lots and lots of expectations and predictions about this date. What was I expecting to happen though? Nothing so Earth-shattering. But I wanted to observe the solstice and the galactic alignment as a sacred day, so I took the 21st off. (And I wanted to be home, just in case there were zombies!)
The winter solstice is a time of rebirth, renewal and sparking the sacred fire of creativity, and I treated it as such. I did a little something that day of everything I want to achieve in the coming year; writing, gardening, eating better and exercising, taking better care of myself and opening myself to greater spiritual growth.
It worked. I felt the shift within, and I felt my meditations, my awareness step up to a new level. I felt that influx of energy from the universe and knew that everything I wanted was within my reach. More, I realized that the only one holding me back was…me.
I’m not saying I’m suddenly this perfectly aligned, spiritual being. Ha! The one thing about this date that got left out of all the hype: December 21st marked the shift, the end of one age and the start of the next. It was never about instant enlightenment or instant change, but about one cycle ending and another one beginning. ‘Beginning’ being the operative word in that sentence. We are at the very start of something wonderful, but all change comes with a measure of chaos and upheaval. This next cycle is about raising our consciousness, about tapping into all those wonderful abilities that are latent or sporadic and bringing them fully to fruition. We have a very long way to go, but I feel confident we can all get there.
I found this meme making the rounds on Facebook:
I take great joy and hope from watching old, outdated systems of thought and behavior die away to be replaced gradually with ones involving more humane treatment of our ecosystems and ourselves, greater awareness of Spirit, and greater realization of just how powerful we really are.
