Ghost Hunting Part Two – The Ghost That Followed Us Home

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.

 

Weird Weekend – Reiki, Is It For Real?

Two years ago I completed my Reiki Master Teacher training.  Reiki has been a journey that has quite literally transformed my life.  I am a better person because of it; I view people with far more compassion, I am kinder to myself, and I have level of contentment that I had not thought possible.  Yeah, really, it’s that good.

In this post, I wrote about what Reiki is, but the bigger question people want to know is, does it really work?  Ask someone who’s had Reiki, and you’ll probably get an enthusiastic ‘Yes!’  The most commonly reported effect of Reiki is relaxation; which everyone needs more of!  Our western society today is one that is driven by stress…we speak of needing caffeine (to speed us up), deadlines, gym, angry customers or bosses, after school stuff for the kids, not to mention paying the bills, keeping a roof over our heads and, especially in today’s economy, getting and keeping a good job.  We go, go, go, nonstop from the moment we crawl out from under the covers bounce out of bed till we drop our heads back onto our pillows late at night.

This is not normal.  This is not healthy.  If you think differently, you’re fooling yourself.  The whole body needs to be cared for; not only the physical, but the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of our life require tending and nurturing.  We all need ‘down time’ or ‘me time.’  That is, we all need time to recharge and re-energize ourselves; we need to de-stress, to relax and to connect with the divine within.  There are many, many paths to this, Reiki is only one.

But does it work?  This is what most people want to know before they shell out hard earned cash for someone to lay hands on and say that healing energy is channeled through them.  I mean, can you think of any more woo-woo statement than that?

So, can its effects be measured?  In this study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Reiki was found to improve outcomes in patients after a heart attack.  This article discusses how Reiki produced measurable physiologic changes associated with relaxation and stress reduction.  This last article is not Reiki focused, but discusses how distant healing techniques produced statistically significant improvement in outcomes for AIDS patients.

In case you don’t follow the links, I’ll let you know that these are not blog posts, or opinion pieces in popular literature.  These are clinical trials published in peer reviewed journals.  Do they “prove” Reiki works?  Absolutely and conclusively?  No.  Do they demonstrate that Reiki, and other complementary spiritual healing techniques are worthy of further study?  Unequivocally, yes.

Reiki is not a magic bullet, it is an adjunct therapy.  It does not ‘heal’ or ‘cure’ the recipient, but it is doing something to facilitate improved health in those who receive it.  For those who are looking for a gentle, non-drug alternative to increasing their well-being, Reiki is a sound choice.

Here’s hoping you find that which helps you heal.

I really love hearing from you!  Drop me a comment, tell me of your Reiki experiences, let me know what you think.

P.S.  All pictures are under copyright to me.  Please ask permission before use.  Thank you!

Weird Weekend – Surgery And Spirituality

 

I had surgery, a hysterectomy, on Wednesday.  Everything went well, I’m healing nicely.  I want to send out huge thank you’s to all who offered prayers, good thoughts and healing vibes.  I firmly believe you all helped me get through something that was, if not very dangerous, very stressful, and I am grateful to each of you.  In the grand scheme of things, this wasn’t earth-shatteringly important, but it did cause me some worry and anxiety, and it was a good lesson in how to cope.

I’m basically a healthy person, and surgery was last on my list of desirable options.  Even though I work in healthcare, and understand intellectually that these procedures are safe and routine, the thought of surrendering myself to nurses and doctors I didn’t know freaked me right the f*** out was unsettling.  I’m a Type A, something of a control freak and letting someone I barely know cut me open, while someone else I don’t know at all keeps me asleep and alive was not emotionally easy to accept.  I spent most of the last month or so fretting.  Yeah, it wasn’t very helpful.  My mind knew that I’d be fine, I had no huge risk factors, but my emotions and fear-driven lizard brain were all screaming “You’re gonna DIE!”  Sometimes calming the internal lizard can be like trying to put out a volcano with a teacup a little challenging.

You’re all familiar with phrases like ‘give it up to God’ or ‘let it go’ or even ‘you create your own reality’ right?  There are any number of self-help books, gurus and websites who tell us that the universe will give us what we want, we only have to ask.  Have you ever read someone’s glowing report of how ‘the universe provided this’ or ‘I prayed and got my answer.’  But, how do we ask?

I had worked myself into a bit of a state.  “What if they find something really wrong down there, something they’re not expecting?  What if something goes wrong during the anesthesia?  What if I have a stroke, or a heart attack?  What if I die on the table?”  Seriously, I thought every one of those things and more.  I was worried about bad things happening during the surgery, and after; wound infections, internal bleeding, you know, sometimes having too much medical knowledge is too much.  I was so nervous I would cry when no one was around, I worried, I even thought about cancelling my surgery.  I stopped meditating, and that only made things worse.  I reached a point where I just wanted everything to stop, I needed to make the right decision, but I just didn’t know what that decision was anymore.  To cut or not to cut?  Surgery would help, would likely cure what I had going on, but there was no guarantee it would fix everything.

And then, one day when I was scrolling through Facebook, I saw a couple inspirational pictures.  The gist of the messages were ‘you create your own existence.’  Something clicked within me.  “Huh,” I thought, “if ever I needed to be able to create my existence, it’s right now.”  Then, I heard my spirit guide.  “You can do this.”  She told me.

“Do what?  Create my existence?  That would be awesome, because I’m sure not liking how I feel lately.”  I answered.

“Then, change it.”  She said.  “Here’s how.”  She showed me; it was beautifully simply and incredibly hard; she summed up in one word, Trust.

What is it you truly desire?  What reality would you create if you could?

I needed a perfect surgery and recovery, I needed for everything to go smoothly and easily, but I was expending far more time and energy worrying about, and visualizing everything that could go wrong, and being afraid.

The universe (or God, or whatever label you prefer) listens to us every moment of every day.  This one point is key:  The universe is always listening to you.  Always.  Now think about the day-to-day chatter that runs through your brain; what phrases do you tell yourself over and over?  What does the universe hear you saying about yourself?

What was I asking the universe for?  What was I telling it I wanted?  Fear, pain, anxiety.  I started asking for it months before my surgery, and it gave me exactly what I was asking for:  more fear, more worries, more stress.  Again, not very helpful.  As my spirit guide said, I had to change it.  It would take a conscious effort of will.

I took some time to rearrange my thoughts and tell the universe how I really wanted my surgery to go.  I pulled out everything I had in my spiritual bag of tricks and put it into play.  I smudged, I meditated, I spoke with my spirit guides and I poured Reiki over the whole process.  The message I got back from my spirit guides was:  “This will show you that ‘it’ really works, you really do create your reality.  You can do this, but you have to Trust.  Trust that this will really work, Trust that you can make this happen.  You have to let go of all that fear and anxiety, and replace it with love and trust.”

When asking the universe for something, it helps to keep it short and simple.  I adopted “Uncomplicated surgery and recovery” as my intention.  I said it out loud, I visualized it in meditation, and I offered Reiki to it, frequently.  If I found my thoughts creeping back to the negative, I brought them back into line by restating my intention.  Even if you’re not a Reiki practitioner, you can meditate on and visualize the outcome that you want, the energy will get where it needs to go.  When stating your intention, always keep it in the present, in the now.  Instead of using “I will xxx” or “When…” phrase your request to the universe as if it already exists.  In my meditations, I always say,  “I am a best-selling author” never “I will be a best-selling author.”

Here’s the trickiest part:  You have to let go of the outcome.  Yes, you’ve spent all that time visualizing and asking and meditating, it seems counter-intuitive to then just ‘let go.’  We want what we want, or we wouldn’t expend the effort to try and bring it about.  But if you get attached to the outcome, you start to attach definitions and restrictions.  The more defined and detailed your outcome is, the more desire and want you attach to it, the less likely it is to manifest.

Think of it this way:  I needed my uterus removed, but it would have been really stupid for me to try to tell the surgeon where to make the incisions, or how to operate.  Even though I have a nursing degree, and a fair amount of medical knowledge, how helpful would it have been if I’d insisted the anesthesiologist only use one drug, or that he could only start an IV in that vein, never this other one?  When you ask the universe for something, then try and tell it how to give it to you, it’s like trying to tell a surgeon how to operate on you.  It just doesn’t work.  You ask, then get out of the way and let the universe do it’s job; don’t try and micromanage!

I did everything I could on my end to ensure that surgery would go well; I started making better choices about my eating and exercise habits.  I rejoined the gym, and was pleasantly surprised to find that, although I’d added quite a few extra pounds, I could still do a good 45-50 minutes of cardio.  In the process, I lost 6 pounds!  Yeah!  If I worried, I repeated my intention, and I consciously made the time to offer Reiki daily.  In the end, though, I just had to Trust, I had to let go of my control and allow the surgical team to do it’s job to bring about my ideal outcome.  My stress level dropped amazingly, and I felt calmer, clearer and started to look forward to ‘the big day’ and how good everything would turn out.

Day of the surgery, and I feel the stress creep back in.  It’s harder to find my calm, and I’m a little snippy with the admit nurse.  I take a few moments to center, and I apologize.  She was gracious and compassionate; blessings on her!  I have a few quiet moments, so I ask my spirit guides to be near and they tell me “We’ve been here all along.”  Their loving presence is comforting, and I relax.  I smile and joke with the nurses and doctors.  My surgery was robot-assisted, and no one got my jokes about being operated on by Toasters.  How could it be there was not one Battlestar Galactica fan on my surgical team?  Tragic.  Hub rolled his eyes at me.  “Give it up, hon,” He advised.

Not the robot that operated on me.

Then, it was time.  The drugs started to flow and out I went.  My last thoughts were “I trust that everything will work out for the best, and I accept whatever happens.”  I woke up in recovery, I had wonderful care from excellent nurses, and I was home by 8:30 Wednesday night.  As I fell asleep that night, safe in my own bed, my guides said, “Now do you believe us?”

It really does work.  Try it for yourself!  You’ll probably be surprised.  Remember:  Simple is best, and don’t try and imagine what the process looks like.  Imagine the finished product and let the universe work out the details.

Reality check?  I realize that everything likely would have gone off just fine, even without all my spiritual practices.  I AM healthy, but my mental state…oh my!  If nothing else, my meditating gave me calm acceptance, and it certainly lowered my stress, which decreases the hormones associated with stress, which reduces tissue damage and inflammation.  Lots and lots of scientific evidence supporting this, as well as personal experience that demonstrates attitude is key to recovery.

Do you want to know the weirdest part of this whole experience?  The pregnancy test.  Even after I told them my husband was ‘fixed’ years ago, and asked, were they aware the surgery was to remove the baby incubator?  Yes, go pee in this cup so we can make sure you’re not pregnant, or we’ll cancel your surgery.  I guess the universe has a sense of humor too.

What have you asked the universe for?  What kind of answer did you get?

 

Meditation and stress reduction

More research on benefits of meditation

Spring Gardening

I’ve been busy NOT writing.  At first, I was stressing, because I wasn’t doing it ALL!  You know, 10 pages a day on the WIP, blogging multiple times a week, social media socializing, AND raising a bunch of baby chickens, getting my garden started, plus that little day job and keeping the house running, keeping Hub happy.  Does the list ever end?  What’s a multi-tasking, writer/Reiki Master-Teacher/blogger supposed to do?

I went to play outside.

Here’s some of the planting I did:

It doesn’t look like much now.  But that green mist on the left is actually two rows of carrots.  The skinny green spires are onions, and I’ve sown more carrot seeds on the right.  Those are still under a cold frame at night.  Behind them are garlic, some spinach and lettuce seedlings.  At the far back, bush and pole beans.  So Yummy!

 

 

I’m toying with the idea of putting in an herb garden.  One of those that’s just packed with plants, no stuffy borders, just the plants making a showy display.  So I’m experimenting with the spot I’m thinking of, and I put in a bunch of herbs in pots to see how they do.

 

Yeah, I’m dangerous in a nursery.  I have to avoid them or I just end up with more plants.

My garden just was too tempting to resist.  I find gardening rewarding on so many levels; first, I’m out getting exercise, always a plus!  It’s also a very meditative and spiritual practice; it helps connect me to the earth and the seasonal cycles by planting and nurturing growing things.  I love watching them grow.  It helps keep me grounded, and I always offer Reiki to my garden and chickens when I’m out there.  Some of my best insights, and writing inspiration have come to me while I was out in my garden.  Today was gloriously sunny and gorgeous, I even had to put on sunscreen! My chickens were loving the sun too!

No, they’re not dead, they’re dust-bathing!  They have a grand time flinging the dry, loose dirt over themselves, and they kind of coo with pleasure while they’re doing it.

Hub and I also put the baby chickens outside for the first time.  They learned about sunshine, and grass, dirt and rocks, and bugs.  Now they’re all sacked out, tired and happy.

 

Hard to believe these dinosaur looking birds were once these tiny balls of fluff!

 

Hey, I managed to get some writing done after all!  I love weekends like this!

How did your weekend go?  Were you enjoying the sun?  Running around with friends?  Hanging out with your kids?  Hope that it was awesome!

 

 

Energetic Cleansing For Anyone

Do you ever feel just worn down?  Maybe it’s been a really stressful day, maybe you’ve been running around like your hair is on fire, chasing after kids or pets or errant employees.  Have you been sitting in a cubicle staring at a screen for hours on end?  It may be more than just physical or mental exertion wearing at you.

Is this how you feel at the end of the day?

As an energy worker and healer, I am especially sensitive to the emotional and energetic auras of the people surrounding me.  As a healthcare worker, and a natural empath, I feel an almost constant drag on my own energetic resources when I’m at my ‘day job’, and take extra steps to protect myself from being drained.  But by the end of the day, I usually find that I’m at a pretty low ebb, and it’s not entirely due to being on my feet for most of my work day.  I’ve developed a quick and easy energetic cleansing method to help remove any negative, or heavy energies that may be clinging to my own aura and energy field.

Negative energies?  What’s that mean?

Even if you don’t buy into the whole metaphysical and paranormal aspect of what I’m talking about, I’m sure you can all relate to these scenarios:

The co-worker who can suck all the life out of the room, just by walking into it; this person makes you cringe, internally at least, as soon you spot him because you know he’s going have something to complain about.  He’ll tell you how a work task went wrong and it’s not his fault, or just how generally terrible his life is.

The acquaintance who always has the disease du jour, and can’t wait to tell you every excruciating detail of her symptom progression.

That other acquaintance that dumps every emotional upheaval on you, cries on your shoulder, and is always in crisis.  But then has no time for you when you need to vent.

Have you ever noticed that after an encounter with one of these people, you suddenly feel less spring in your step?  That you feel, well, drained after being around them?  It’s not your imagination, they are sucking off your energy, and this is what’s making you feel so low.

The good news is, you can help yourself feel better, and you can do this very easily.  All you have to do is take a shower, something I’ll bet you do every day.

No need to stand under one of these, although it does feel amazing.

Really?  That’s all there is to it?

Not entirely.  For those not metaphysically minded, I’d be curious if you tried this experiment, and how it goes for you.  Stand in your running shower and still your mind.  If you need to hold some sort of image in your head, try for a clear running stream, or waves crashing on the beach, or you can just try for soothing blankness.  The idea is to still your mind, and halt the thousand odd thoughts jamming through it, just for a few moments.  If worries about paying the phone bill, or helping the kids with their homework intrude, just sort of gently push them away, and return to that stillness.  Take six deep breaths.  Try and imagine the air, packed full of relaxation, filling your lungs from bottom to top.  Count to four, slowly on each inhale, then exhale out for another count of four and imagine letting go of all your stress and tension.

Six slow breaths, while keeping your mind still and focusing on breathing calm in and stress out.  Does that really work?  Try it, and you tell me.  But if you want some science behind it to satisfy your left brain, then here it is:  Running water produces negative ions; a negative ion is an electrically charged particle, floating around in the air.  Natural settings, beaches, running streams, waterfalls are full to brimming with these negative ions, while indoor and city setting may have levels in just the hundreds or even zero.  Negative ions have been shown, in multiple studies, to have positive effects on human cognition and emotions.  When you breathe in during your shower, you breathe in these negative ions.  Once they hit your bloodstream they trigger the release of serotonin, the feel-good, mood elevating neurotransmitter.  Thank you, WebMD.  Now, you can go buy a fancy, spendy negative ion emitter, or use the free one you already have in your home shower.

An ideal negative ion generator

I’m going to move on to the metaphysical and paranormal aspects of energy cleansing now, so I’ll say goodbye to the strict left-brainers and thanks for stopping by!

A clean energy field leads to a happier, more balanced you!  We all know the energetic vampires of our acquaintance, and if you’re actively engaged in energy work, spiritual healing, mediumistic or other paranormal activity, keeping your aura clear is of paramount importance.  Bits of psychic detritus will be attracted to you and cling, just as you go about your daily life, even when you’re not doing psychic work.  Humans, both living and dead can and do attach lines to your energy field and will drain you.  Many spiritual traditions draw a direct linkage between energy drainage and physical sickness, so it is important to cleanse yourself of these energetic attachments to maintain your overall health.

Removing these attachments requires your focused intention.  It’s not enough to just jump in and rinse off, if you have significant attachments that have burrowed deeply into your aura or physical body then they will need a little boost to get them to release.  The other thing to remember is this; on some level you have given permission for this attachment to form, it could not attach otherwise.  This happens on a conscious as well as unconscious level.  When we share our feelings, when we empathize with another, when we give an ear to a friend, we help shoulder a little of their burden, we lighten their load temporarily, but we are not obligated to bear it indefinitely.  So while you do, on some level, give permission for attachments to form, you can also withdraw that permission, and that is key to energetic cleansing.

Focus your will and attention.

Before I begin my energetic cleanse, I take a moment to ground and center myself, and take the cleansing breaths I described above.  I bring my full attention into my body and aura, and let outside cares drop out of my mind; this moment is wholly for me and my health.  I take the time to reconnect with my body by focusing on every part, from the soles of my feet to the crown of my head; I let my attention ‘look’ at every part.  I also let myself feel every sore spot, ache and pain, relaxing the grip I have held on suppressing these sensations through the day.  I take full ownership of my body; it’s joys and pains.  Then I direct my attention outward to my aura; I’ll even put out my hands to feel it’s gentle curvature as it surrounds me, and feel for any rough spots.

Once I am fully connected to my body and aura, I then state my intention, I use this phrase:  “I completely remove from my being any and all attachments that do not contribute to my highest healing good.”  I hold this intention firmly in my head, and let the water cascade over me completely; ducking under the showerhead is a great idea, but you can also pass your hands over your head and face if you don’t want to get your hair wet.  I visualize the water removing every piece of heavy energy; everywhere the water goes it removes those attachments.  I hold this image, along with my intention for several breaths, imagining a curtain, or veil, travelling down from crown to feet, washing away that heavy energy.  You’ll feel it when that last bit washes away.

Next, if I sensed any gaps in my aura, I’ll seal and smooth those over with a little Reiki.  I like to hold one hand over my heart chakra and the other over the gap while I’m offering the Reiki.  I take a few last moments to visualize all the attachments being carried down the drain by the water, holding my intention of release until they disappear.  By the time I step out, I feel like a new woman!  Little aches and pains are usually swept away and I feel renewed and energized.

Remember these key points:

Hold that intention!  If your attention wanders and you begin to fret about the day you had, or the one still to come, you are not cleansing.  Refocus your attention back to yourself and repeat your intention:  release those attachments!

It may take some practice get the feel of holding your intention and focusing your attention.  Give yourself permission to make mistakes, this is how you learn; just remember to keep trying and it will get easier.

Breathe deeply!  Move that air and circulate those negative ions, get as many into your bloodstream as you can.

Take a moment to really feel yourself free of that heavy energy, notice how much better, how much lighter you feel.  When you step out, clear your mind and ‘check in’ with your body and your aura, feel it completely whole and shining.  Tell yourself this is your body’s natural state!

I find that this exercise, used daily, highly beneficial.  My psychic senses are clearer and my stress levels greatly reduced.  If I’ve had a hard day on the job, and just want to turn in to a slug, this cleansing will restore me.  But don’t take it from me, try it yourself; I’d really love to hear how it works for you.  Drop me a note and tell me how you felt before and after.  Try it for a few days, then hold off for a few, and see if you notice a difference.

Waves and beaches are natural energizers

Reiki On

What Is Reiki?

For the last several years I’ve been studying this fascinating practice.  You can find a lot of information about Reiki on the Web; how it originated, developed and spread.  Plenty of people will offer to make you a Reiki practitioner through online courses.  You can even find local Reiki practitioners and practice circles.  In very brief:

Reiki was developed in Japan by Dr. Mikao Usui and brought to the west by his student, Mrs. Hawaya Takata.  Reiki is a method of energetic, spiritual healing.  Reiki is a universal, healing, life force energy.  Reiki is channeled through the practitioner to the recipient; none of the practitioner’s energy is used.

Learning Reiki

Reiki practitioners progress through three different levels, or degrees:

First Level, or Shoden.  Reiki flows through direct contact, or minimal distance.  The practitioner lays her hands either directly on the client or can hold them a couple inches above the body.

Second Level, or Okuden.  In this level the practitioner learns symbols that enable her to offer Reiki at a distance.

Third Level, or Shinpiden.  The Master level is divided into two types of practitioners.  A Reiki Master is one who has been given the Master attunement and symbol, but does not instruct or attune others in Reiki.  A Master-Teacher is given an additional symbol and training in passing Reiki on to others.

At each level, the student is ‘attuned’ by the Master-Teacher.  An attunement is a sacred ceremony that enables the student to channel the Reiki energy.  It can be thought of as an opening up of psychic doors within the student.  Many Reiki students experience enhancement of their other psychic senses following a Reiki attunement.

Is It Safe?

My friend, and fellow student when I was studying to become a Master-Teacher used to say,  “You can’t fuck up Reiki.”  It’s true; the worst thing you can do with Reiki is spend some quiet, meditative time, either alone, or with someone else.

What happens in a Reiki session?  The client will lie down, fully clothed, or can remain seated in a chair.  I recommend the client close her eyes, and focus on her breathing.  I encourage clients to let go of any preconceived notions of what to expect, and just relax.

Maximum benefit is obtained from Reiki if you consciously accept it, so I encourage clients to repeat to themselves “I accept this Reiki for my highest healing good.”  I emphasize that it is her choice to accept the Reiki healing; I only offer the energy, the client is the one who allows it to work.

What is happening during a Reiki session?  Reiki is spiritual energy, it is a healing energy, but it does not do the physical healing, rather it supports and encourages the body in healing itself.  It operates on four levels:  spiritual, emotional, mental and physical, but it starts on the spiritual level.

Really?

Is it real?  I could give you a very wordy dissertation on the nature of reality.  Which might be fun, sometime.  Or share with you some of the things my clients have shared with me after a Reiki session:

“I’ve never had the pain go away without having to pop a pill.  I’ve never had the pain go away that quickly before.”

“I felt something shift in my back, my muscles relaxed.”

“I felt something release inside me.”

“First my arm went numb and tingly, then the pain went away.”

“I could feel the energy moving through me.”

“Your hands got really warm.  Almost hot!”

Was it ‘real’ for them?  What do you think?  What have you experienced during a Reiki session?  Do you practice Reiki yourself?

Pictures taken by and under copyright to me!  Please ask permission before use.  Thanks!

Helping Spirits Get Home

Sunny's favorite place

I’ve always been in contact with ‘the other side.’  To varying degrees, true, but the ability to perceive it has always been there.  I had never heard the term ‘psychopomp’ until just a few years ago, while taking my Reiki II class.  It was then that I also found out that I am a psychopomp, although I can’t say I was surprised.  Every place I’ve lived, and most of my workplaces have had resident spirits, and during my time there, that resident spirit has moved on.

Ghosts like me; several have told me they’re ‘drawn to’ me.  My friend and teacher explained it like this:  being a psychopomp means there’s something in my energy signature, or aura, that is a big bright shiny beacon to spirits.  I’m easy for them to ‘see’ both earthbound spirits, and those on ‘the other side.’  I work very closely with my Guides, who have taught me how to use this shininess to help those who are stuck here.

I’d never been to my friend’s apartment, and as soon as I walked in my skin started to crawl.  It’s a tactile sensation that brushes across my shoulders and arms, even my face; depending on the spirit’s energy this can be pleasant, painful, ticklish…it varies.  This time, it felt prickly, warm and angry.  My shoulders tensed and I felt a tingling line trace up and down my neck.  This place did not have a happy feel.

“How long have you lived here?”  I’m sure my tone came out sarcastic and critical, because I was thinking she’d been there too long already, an emotion that was coming through from the spirits I was sensing.  We’d already talked about paranormal subjects, and I knew she was open to them so I didn’t hesitate.

“You know there’s at least one spirit here, right now?  Have you been having any problems?”  She was taken aback by my directness,  “Well, yes!”  She sounded both relieved and exasperated.  I asked if I could walk around and get a feel for the place.  The bedroom was a windowless corner in the basement apartment, and the fulminating presence made the room even darker.  Passing my hand in front of the doorway was like touching a wind made of deep anger.  Oh, she is pissed, I thought.  Out loud though, I told my friend,  “It’s in here, she’s in here.”  Still standing in the living room my friend only nodded and then told me, “I can’t sleep in that room, I can’t hardly stand to be in it, it just gives me the creeps!”

“Really?”  But I knew she was telling the truth, the bed was piled with clothes and boxes.  “So, you sleep, where?”  I asked.  “The couch.”  She waved her arms at the large, comfy looking black leather loungers.   “Look, we’ve gotta go, or we’re going to be late.”  The spirits were amping up their energy in response to my psychic poking around, and neither one was happy.  It spilled over onto my friend and she was anxious for us to get out.  It was a few weeks later that she asked me to come over and see if I could do anything.

There were two spirits sharing the apartment with my friend, and they were not getting along at all.  One was attached to my friend, something she addressed in the ensuing weeks, but the other was attached to the residence.  This resident spirit was a woman in her 40’s who showed me images of the sun, and beaches, when she finally calmed down.

But right now, these two were like feuding roommates, and my friend was caught in the middle.  She was practically vibrating in response to the tension being generated between the two spirits.  The spirit attached to my friend was primarily concerned that I would try to separate him from my friend; he was very protective.  I reassured him and asked him to move back and away, then I turned to the other one; at that time all I could determine was that the spirit was female.

She was in the doorway of the bedroom, wailing and complaining.  “This is my place!  He can’t push me around like that!  He is all over, telling me what to do, and this is my place!  My room!  I can’t even keep him out of my room!”  I let her go on for a few minutes, tried to get her to calm down and couldn’t.  She did not want to listen, just wanted to make everyone else around her pay for her misery.  So I separated them.

I made it clear that either could chose to move on at any time, I showed them the veil and invited them to cross.  But when both quite rudely refused, I told the woman,  “You cannot continue to fight, here, and upset my friend.  So for now, go to your room and stay there.”  My friend had some sea salt, so I sprinkled a line across the doorway to the bedroom and told the woman.  “Stay in there, or cross the veil.  It’s your choice, but stop fighting with the other guy.”  I was equally firm with the male spirit, he could move on, or remain near my friend, but he could no longer antagonize the female spirit.  The sea salt would keep him away from her as much as it would keep her in.

I knew though, it was only a temporary fix, and that the salt wouldn’t hold them forever.  I didn’t intend for it to.  I told my friend I’d come back soon and we’d all have a longer chat.  Sure enough, she reported a few quiet nights.  When things started back up, they weren’t quite as angry, but both were definitely still present and generating intense emotions.

I went back, and walked into my friend’s unused bedroom.

“You were really rude!”  The woman, who called herself Sunny, complained as soon as I sat down on the bed.  I’m not sure if Sunny was really her name, or just her favorite thing, because a big, warm sun always accompanied images of her.  “You threw salt at me!  Rude!”  She was right.  I don’t like pushing spirits around, but I’d been short on time; they’re still people and deserve to be treated with respect.  I focused on slowing down and giving Sunny my full attention.  “You weren’t exactly listening to me, or helping the situation, but you’re right, it was rude and I am sorry.  I really am here to help.”  I told her, while I looked around my friend’s bedroom, it was dark, and the air felt tight and hard to breathe.  Sunny’s presence swirled around me, and my skin and face tingled.  She was angry still, but at least now she was willing to talk.

“Help, how?  Why?  I was happy, lying on the beach…” Sunny filled my head with warm golden days, and I saw her as she last remembered herself.  She had curling gold hair shot with grey, and the slightly leathery, perma-tanned skin of a woman who has spent a lot of time in the sun.  She saw herself lying on a towel, gazing out across the water; an older, but still trim bikini-clad body lay with toes pointing toward the shore.  I heard the music she was listening to; a crackly radio played the Beach Boys, Led Zepplin and Boston, and I felt the heat of the sun as it hung low in the sky, sinking into the west.  Sunny spoke again.  “Then she moved in, and he’s here, and everything’s gone to shit!  Why’d he have to harsh my high?  I just want to lay here in the sun.”  She drifted a little, losing herself in her memories of life.

I reminded Sunny that she was dead, and she snapped back.  “Yeah, I know!  This is it, I’m stuck here in this apartment.”  She was bound to this place for some reason, and so spent her time lost in her happier memories, until jarred out of them.  She was constantly disturbed by my friend’s male spirit, and so made her displeasure well known, because it kept her from her dreams of life and the beach.

“You do not have to stay here, Sunny.  You can move on, go home.”  Sunny just scoffed.  “What, go to heaven?”  She rolled her eyes.  “Right!  Just leave me alone, let me go back to the beach.”  She drifted around the room, retreated into the back of the closet and sulked.

Sometimes, they need to be shown; they don’t know there is a home to go to.  I asked my Guides to bring the veil in closer.  But where is home?  What is the veil?  I don’t know, really I don’t.  They are convenient terms and labels I use to describe places and states that are difficult to put into words.  As I have experienced it, ‘home’ is the place where we reconnect with Spirit, capital ‘S’ Spirit, the Big One.  Heaven, Valhalla, ‘the other side’, ‘into the light’ take your pick, I use ‘going home.’  The veil is what separates ‘home’ from ‘here.’  I see it as a large, shimmery wall that feels soft, like fur or cashmere and kind of tingles when I touch it.  When I ask my Guides to bring the veil in closer it makes the veil more apparent.  I don’t know what the physics of it might be, but it makes the veil and what’s beyond it more discernible, to me and to the spirit I’m talking with.

When the veil appeared, Sunny focused her attention on it.  “What is that?”  Her emotions were a blend of fear and awe.  It was beautiful, but she didn’t know what to expect from it.  I did my best to show her, that she could cross the veil, go home, and she would no longer be stuck here.  “You can lay on the beach forever if you want, and never be disturbed again.”  I told her.  She only scoffed, and retreated further into the closet, more fearful now than interested in the veil.  She turned her attention away from me, sinking back into her summer dreams.  I asked my Guides to see if they could find any of Sunny’s loved ones who were in spirit, or her Guides, and reconnect them with Sunny.  At that time, they could not, she’d been disconnected and lost in her memories for so long my Guides could not immediately locate Sunny’s Guides.

“Here’s the deal Sunny, you can do whatever you want.  Go home, or stay in this closet, it’s your choice.  Take your time to think about it, and I’ll have a chat with the male spirit, and ask him to leave you alone.  You’ve been here so long, you don’t know if you want to move along, that’s okay.  If you change your mind about crossing the veil, I’d like to offer you something to make it easier for you to find.”

In Reiki II, I learned an energy medicine technique called the Bridge of Light.  This is an energetic bridge between the earth plane and home, made using Reiki.  I then ask my Guides to bring any of the spirit’s loved ones or Guides to the Bridge, to help when the spirit decides to cross.  I offered the Bridge of Light to Sunny; she looked at it with suspicious curiosity.  “You can cross at any time, or never.  But, please, for my friend’s sake, tone down the heavy, scary vibes.  I’ll ask the male spirit to leave you alone, tell him you don’t mean any harm.”  I stood, and brushed at my arms and legs, sweeping away clinging energies.  “Are we good, Sunny?”  She turned her back on me, but nodded in assent.  Her emotions were quieter now; less angry, more speculative.  She sank again into her own thoughts, fading from my view, and the mood in the room lifted.  Even though I’d left the lights off, it suddenly seemed brighter in there.

I checked in with my friend, and Sunny a few days later.  My friend was happier because her invisible roommates were no longer fighting, and Sunny was more curious about the Bridge, but still wary.  I was pleasantly surprised then when a week later Sunny came and visited me.  She’d decided to cross the veil and had come to say thank you, and goodbye, disappearing into a dark gold sunset.

I waited a few weeks, and then asked my friend how things were going at her apartment.  “Quiet, it’s been amazingly quiet.  I’ve been very happy!”  There was no more emotional turmoil from her spirit roommates, and she could no longer feel Sunny’s presence.  The last thing she said was the best news I could have heard.  “I’ve been sleeping in my bed for the last two weeks!”  She declared happily.

 

All images are taken by and under copyright to ME!  Please ask permission before use.  Thank you!

Holidays, Traditions and Family

I don’t have a lot of traditions that I follow around this time of year.  Well, baking, but I bake all year long, so I guess that doesn’t really count.  I do put up a tree, because I think the lights are pretty, but it’s a pre-lit tree and I don’t pull out my vast collection of beautiful glass ornaments because I have unpredictable cats and big dogs with big tails.

I’m not a Christian, and don’t practice any of those rituals.  I was Wiccan for a time, and find a great deal of comfort and joy in observing solstices and equinoxes, but in my own quiet way.  Up until three years ago, I worked at jobs where working on holidays, any holiday, was an expected thing; zoos and hospitals are up and running 365 days a year, so celebrating on the day before, or after, or the following week has been the norm for me.

I grew up nominally Christian, we observed the forms, trees, Santa Claus, Christmas services at church with the grandparents.  In fact, the only time we went to church, as a family, was when my grandparents were visiting (although I was born again for a while, too).  The one tradition we had when I was a child was being together; grandparents came into town and stayed for a few weeks, school was out and it was playtime.  Yippee!  But kids grow up, move out and grandparents pass away.  Somewhere in my early twenties, my siblings moved to distant states, while I was the one close to my parents.  My siblings were unable to come for holidays for the most part, for multiple reasons, so our family gatherings dwindled.

Years pass, people move about, careers change, or come and go, and sometimes, family members fight and become estranged.  I haven’t spent a lot of time with my siblings lately, largely because of their prejudices against my husband.  Parts of it have become better over time, and I’m trying very hard to let go my anger, and come to some level of forgiveness.  I’ve managed to find that in my heart, but what I find I can’t do is be around them at the holidays.  I’d rather be with my husband’s family, and feel love and acceptance.

The biggest rift is between my sister and I, and boy, it’s a doozy.  Along the lines of, ‘you’re not my sister anymore’ and ‘you can’t be part of my life’.  This year, for my birthday, she sent me ‘Happy Birthday’ by text, where there had been no communication for some time.  Hmmm, knowing her, she could just be acting snarky, neither one of us has been above it in the past.  But, in the hope that it’s a gesture, some sort of reaching out, I did one of my own.  I baked for my family, something I’ve never done before.

I baked them holiday treats, but extra long hours at my work and hubs meant that they never made it into the mail, before Christmas.  So tomorrow, the 26^th, I’ll head my post office and mail off their orange-cranberry loaves that I made while thinking loving thoughts, and blessed with Reiki to heal our family.  I’ll send them off with more Reiki prayers and wait to see if anything comes of it.

Have you managed to overcome rifts in your own family?  Do you have time honored traditions you follow every year?  My husband and I are minimalists, we neither like to decorate or go crazy with the spending spree, and I’m not a fan of the malls right now.  Do you love to shop, and take in all the sights and smells of the season?  How do you make this season of peace and love special for you and yours?

 

All pictures are taken by and under copyright to ME!  Please ask permission for use.  Thank you!

Reiki, Reiki, No More Achy!

I need to say a little bit now about Reiki, because it really has transformed my life.  Reiki is amazing, Reiki is healing, and Reiki is simple.  About 4 or 5 years ago I took a class in Reiki, and received my level 1 attunement.  It was truly a life-changer, but I didn’t know that at the time.  Last year I completed my Master/Teacher training; Reiki is something I’m still discovering.

What is Reiki?  You can find it defined all over the web as ‘universal life energy’ or ‘life force energy’.  It is a form of spiritual energy healing, or you can think of it as a very intensely focused prayer.  Reiki energy is said to flow through the practitioner and into the recipient.  Reiki can promote healing on 4 levels:  emotional, spiritual, physical and mental.  Practitioners and clients both claim to have experienced various physical sensations during a treatment, including; heat, light, cold, pain relief, nausea relief, muscle relaxation as well as energetic flows, emotional releases, a sense of deep peace and stress release.

Reiki is generally thought to be energy, universally accessible to all, channeled through a practitioner to a recipient.  There is some question as to whether a formal Reiki attunement is necessary to be able to channel Reiki.  The practitioner does not generate Reiki from within; rather she acts as a channel for the energy to move through her to the recipient.  Reiki is offered, not given or otherwise imposed onto another; acceptance of Reiki and its potential to heal is strictly at the choice of the recipient.

I’ve used Reiki personally to control chronic pain, offered it to friends who were suffering the same, to spirits to help them cross to the other side, and to animals that were distressed or in pain.  I’ve felt its effects personally, heard them echoed by the people who’ve received it, and watched animals visibly relax, even fall asleep, under its influence.

More than the immediate pain relief or relaxation, Reiki provides me with deep, personal satisfaction, and an abiding sense of peace.  I use Reiki every day, and over the years I’ve found my attitudes changing on certain issues.  I find that things that used to irritate me before:  too long a line at the grocery store, whining, crying kids, or petty, mean spirited people, now I find it much easier to step back, and see people and situations with greater compassion.  I stress less about the little things, and the bigger things too.  I used to be a hardcore conservative and now I’m a complete lefty liberal.  Go figure.

Reiki encourages it practitioners:

At least for today:

Do not be angry,

Do not worry,

Be grateful,

Work with diligence,

Be kind to people.

I am very far from perfect when it comes to accomplishing all of these every day, but I try, every day.  I am constantly astonished at how very good it feels.

Have you ever had a Reiki session?  Are you a Reiki practitioner?  Let me know what your experiences with energetic healing have been!

All pictures in this post are taken by and under copyright to ME!  Please ask permission.

It Can’t Be Like That, Really?

But what is truth? Is truth unchanging law?
We both have truths – are mine the same as yours?

-Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jesus Christ Superstar

I put off writing down my experiences for most of my life.  It was like there was this block in my brain that kept me from putting words down on paper or storing them in gigabytes.  Believe me I doubted as much as any and I’ll give you here my disclaimer: these are my stories as I experienced them.  They are my truths and hold great meaning for me, but when all is said and done (here I borrow and paraphrase from my friend and teacher) they are just that, stories.  I saw these things and experienced them in all their technicolor glory, but as with all supernatural and paranormal interactions, they are highly subjective.  I certainly hold opinions on them and I am sure dear readers you will have some of your own but I share my stories for a variety of reasons; to entertain, to enlighten, and to show others who may have similar tales that they are not alone.

I recently finished Supernatural  by Graham Hancock (a plug for you here, Graham) and can say that I recommend it highly.  He examines in great detail altered states of conscious and how they have impinged on our spirituality, ancient and modern.  Throughout he consistently delineates common features from a multitude of cultures and across the span of history.  I found much of what he described fit closely to my own personal experiences.

On a very fundamental level we all have the ability to part the veil and see the worlds that lie beyond.  Why some do and some do not is a matter of very personal choice.  Some do not think to look, some have forgotten they can and some willfully close their eyes.

For me, it’s been a roller-coaster ride, scary, exciting and profound.  When I was very young I fluctuated from being extremely fearful of the paranormal, to being open and practicing Wicca for a while, and the long journey that has brought me here.

I spent a brief time in my teen years as a born-again Christian.  Really.  I had the faith, I read the Bible, I went to church and I prayed every night.  And it wasn’t for me; never once did I feel an answer in my heart to any of my seeking.  From there I became agnostic with atheistic tendencies until a coworker shared a couple of books on Wicca and I dove in.  I spent a good many years identifying with Wicca and practicing it’s rituals.  It spoke to me as Christianity never had and I finally heard within my soul the hint of answers to my questions.  But it still wasn’t quite right and I gradually moved away from considering myself Wiccan or practicing that faith.

Now, I don’t know if it’s necessary to put a label on my spirituality and views of what comes after physical death.  Recently, it’s become more common to hear the phrase ‘I’m not religious but I am spiritual’ and I frankly love it.  The truth of it speaks to me and I find fascinating conversations when I hear someone say this.  One of my purest joys is hearing how someone else views the cosmos; it’s at the very least educational and often uplifting and inspiring.

So I’ve had paranormal experiences all my life, and I’ve practiced in some form or another religion, meditation and peeking into the astral realm.  But I will freely admit that while I had the passion and desire, early on I often did not have the internal discipline to achieve really consistent results when I tried activities such as astral travel or communicating with spirits.  I was something of a dilettante in my younger days.

None of which stopped things from actually popping up in front of me and intruding into my life.  It was by times thrilling, terrifying and awe-inspiring.  Over the last ten years I have deepened and expanded my practices; I began to study Reiki and recently completed my Reiki Master-Teacher training.  I am always looking for paranormal classes, lectures and ceremonies to participate in.  The worlds beyond continue to unfold and reveal themselves in ever-fascinating complexity.  Even though I have experienced the paranormal my entire life I am continually awed and inspired by what I see.  I really feel as if I am only starting on a thrilling and adventurous journey.