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Around this time in the Turning of the Wheel, I usually feel a slow-down as I approach the great gate to the New Year. How does this transitional time affect you? Many cultures around the world celebrate this time with rituals and practices that involve banishing evil spirits or the unfavorable energy from the past year. Some also involve setting intentions for a favorable new year, including partaking of traditional foods intended to symbolize prosperity, including grapes (Spain), oysters (France), and rice (India and Pakistan). (Some of my favorite foods!) Do you have a New Year’s tradition?
Many also take this time to reflect on the year that has passed and make decisions about the future, including goal setting. Do you hate New Year’s resolutions? Are you a goal-setter? I always use this time to review my various journals from the past year; I reflect on my journey, the goals I set, the ones I did accomplish - and, yes, acknowledging (begrudgingly) those I have not - and what new goals and seeds I want to plant for the coming year. Some of my goals, like many intentions set all over the world this year, were not able to be accomplished due to the pandemic. I try not to be too hard on myself or see my un-met goals as failures. Rather, I strive to look at everything as “data” that helps me learn how to formulate a better plan to make progress with my intentions in this next “experiment” of New Year. Over the past year, some things worked, some things did not. In the New Year, some things will work, some things will not. It is all part of a process of unfolding and discovery. Taking a risk and trying an experiment is how we make discoveries and indeed engage in this magical process! I try to celebrate what I did accomplish, and offer appreciation for what others around me achieved as well. I realized this year, I struggled a little with time management and carving out time for my creative projects. I realized by reflecting on my journals and dreams from the previous year, I need to structure in more creative writing and art time in my weekly schedule, or it just won’t get done! This has helped me greatly in feeling enthusiasm for my creative projects again. It was not an easy year for so many, but it was a year of growth for practically all of us. If you are reading this, it means you survived 2020. This is no small thing! Hoorah! You made it! I am celebrating this with you, my friend. I am looking forward to continuing to reflect on all of the growth of the past year, feel the relief of letting go of what no longer serves me, and turn my attention and hope to the new potentials for this New Year Groups this month focus on using your intention to create your reality in 2021: In the Dream Circle, learn about using dreams for visioning and how dreams can help you understand what your Higher Consciousness truly wants to create this year. Explore exercises for creative visualization in this month’s Intuitive Development Circle: learn to use your intuition and imagination to visualize and create your reality. Learn about how each of these can help you create a vision board! Hope to see you there!
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The image of dandelion seeds floats gently in my mind this holiday. This plant is associated with the planet Jupiter, and metaphysical qualities of abundance, divination, and wishes. Dandelion is also very nutritious and healing to eat. We partake of Dandelion’s sacred essence when we blow off the seeds and make a wish, a magical ritual most of us have participated in as children. I believe part of the meaning and magic of the holidays lies in the joy of our children and the joy we experience through our own Inner Child! We must allow ourselves the time and space to get lost in play, dreams, and magic. How else can we nurture our Inner Child? How else can we teach our children to remember this magic secret, the joie de vivre, throughout life? Dandelion reminds me that a child's open mind and heart are the real sources of eternal youth.
Dandelion also teaches us a quiet resilience during tough, or “different”, holiday times: dandelions are one of those persistent little plants that will sprout up in the most unexpected and desolate places, such as in-between the cracks in a sidewalk. Their taproots dig very deep into the earth to find the nutrients that may be missed by other plants with a shallower root system, allowing them more opportunities to flourish.. They have been used as symbols of strength in the face of adversity because of this. I can almost see a sad, lone little dandelion, growing on some pavement, the little yellow flower head turning up to me, smiling: What a blessed day! My roots have easily reached deep into the fertility of this soil. I am alive and thriving, and magic is afoot! Life is good! Have you ever met someone who, despite many struggles and tribulations, still seemed cheerful and grateful? Perhaps you can think of someone who has had major setbacks or losses, but amazingly, this person continues to radiate gratitude, hope, and even a lust for life! That is a dandelion person, and I know a few dandelion people. I’d like to think I have a dandelion side. This plant wisdom is the ability to see past obstacles to the true divine fertility and blessings that were always there below the surface. These can take many shapes. Intellectual, emotional, financial, creative, or spiritual fertility! Dandelion can tap into it! Do you have a dandelion side? I am inspired to find surprising cracks in my sidewalk this holiday, where I may blossom, and spread the joyful wishes and magic! The soil is still fertile for us to cultivate more love, wellbeing, abundance, and joy! Let us reach our little roots deep into the Earth to tap into the natural flow and blessings. Play. Get lost in a dream. Be one with the birds and the trees. The world opens to you as you open to yourself. -Channeled message from Dandelion plant spirit 11/10/20. Yes, Dandelion. Life is good. We can always begin again. It is election day here in the United States as I write these words. I am feeling the intense collective energy swirling around the planet this night! Do you feel it? Did you feel it? I reflected recently on my radio show/podcast Mystical Adventures how important it is for us to engage in positive and meaningful action (such as voting), but also equally important, to choose our thoughts carefully. This is a way we tend to our overall mental-emotional state. I believe this has deep effects on our psyches, relationships, experiences, the community, and the planet. I also recently discussed on my show thoughts about staying motivated during what some may call “challenging times”, “crazy times”, or “the apocalypse”. I discussed how taking care of our bodies, increasing social support, engaging in a spiritual practice, as well as recognizing and appreciating the bigger cycles in which we function are some ways we can increase our life energy and open ourselves to experience more inspiration. This month, I felt I should expand this list by adding spontaneity, creativity, and embracing imperfection. I would like to talk about the latter two, specifically: I sometimes use visual journaling as a way to transmute some of my own emotional angst (or the angst I absorb from others, or both). Expressing yourself creatively is a great way to externalize overwhelming energy, thoughts, and feelings and even transform these into something meaningful. Sometimes, even if I don’t feel creative, and I force myself to visual journal, write, or make art, it elevates my emotional state and something interesting finds its way onto the page. Sometimes, it is not exactly interesting or worth showing to others, but it is still meaningful because it helped me to engage in a process of creative transformation. It often requires I push through a certain wall, however. I have come to realize this. I feel this relates to my experience starting a radio show/podcast, and it reminds me of the importance of facing and overcoming things like perfectionism and self-criticism when engaging in any creative endeavor. Inspiration is closely linked with this, I believe. If you can practice your craft, whatever that may be, in the face of lack of motivation or inspiration, in the face of self-criticism, this can lead to true inspiration. Even a small creative gesture can get the juices flowing. For most creatives, this means taking that step even when the inner critic is screaming in our ears that it is not good enough. We must learn to negotiate with our inner critic. Perfectionism can shut the whole process down. We’ll never get to the great idea if we’re too self-critical to allow ourselves to think of ideas because we’re too afraid they’re not perfect from their inception! This is the key. When we can have fun with the process and give ourselves permission to learn as we go, spontaneous and inspiring moments start to occur. Shifting into the present moment and a curious mindset, we find ourselves appreciating the imperfect thing that just happened, that is now surprisingly funny or beautiful, that never could have been planned in our perfect scheme. I feel I am learning so much about letting go, trusting the process, and embracing the beautiful mistakes as they happen. Life is so much more fun (and inspiring) when we can move towards this, isn’t it? I hope your November is filled with beautiful mistakes and divine surprises, dear reader! Stay safe. Thanks for spending this moment with me. Hope to see you at a future event! Namaste, Anne Connection. Community. These words have a new meaning for most of us due to the changes this pandemic has brought. For many, 2020 has brought unexpected obstacles to connecting with friends, colleagues, and loved ones as well as to the larger community. The world has also seen more global upheaval and movements towards the renegotiation of power. Many people are experiencing transformations in positive ways of course, and I hope you are too. Most people are experiencing some degree of increased isolation or loss, even if it is simply not seeing coworkers or being able to attend live music events. Others have experienced bigger losses and changes as the human race enters a cycle of transformation.
Video chatting with a loved one is the next best thing to an in-person visit, but sometimes socially-distanced visits or video chats are not possible. Even if you are able to video chat, it still pales in comparison to a hug or exchange face-to-face, possibly leaving one to feel disconnected, isolated, and cut-off from the world. Isolation can lead to other problems, such as decreased energy, depression, and, of course, loneliness. This past month, as I have been working on a video series called Intuition 101, it occurred to me how amazingly helpful our intuition can be right now. Have you ever just known something was happening to a friend and felt an urge to contact him/her, then you called or texted this friend to find out they were indeed in trouble? We are all connected in a mystical way, truly, and using our natural intuition (which everyone possesses) intentionally can provide more doorways of connection when are usual options are “altered”. So how do we connect with each other intuitively? First of all, keep in mind we are already all connected on some level in spirit. Just consciously reminding yourself of this can help you become more likely to have more of these experiences. Here are some tips for using your natural 6th sense. Of course, if you are already in touch with your intuitive abilities, these will be easier, but anyone can use these and develop them. (Also, check in with yourself about the boundaries with any of these exercises. Do what feels right and comfortable to you).
Those a few beginning suggestions for connecting with your tribe in multidimensional ways, and I’m sure there are many more! Can you think of some? I’d love to hear your experiences! It is my hope that we can take advantage of all the multiple avenues we have available to stay connected, maintain our sense of community, and put love and positive energy into the world during this cosmic shift. Speaking of mystical and intuitive podcasts, you may have noticed I started my own online radio show/podcast/Facebook Live show, Mystical Adventures with Anne Vivian! I am so excited to start this mystical adventure! I just finished my first three shows, and it has been a mystical adventure of its own creating and filming this show! I joined A1R Psychic Radio network, and they broadcast to an international audience with weekly shows hosted by psychics and mediums. I invite you to check it out and go on a mystical adventure with me each week! I explore mystical topics, have mystical guests, and give live mystical psychic readings to callers on-the-air! Please see details below! Mystical Adventures, Thursdays, 8:30pm EST (to change to Tuesdays at 4pm EST starting in November) ask1radio.com moonstruck.tv Facebook.com/psychicradio Find the podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms! Love and Blessings, Anne How are you faring during this, shall we say, unique, summer, my friend? Are you excited and relieved to be able to go more places with the restrictions slowly lifting? (Some places being more or less restricted than others.) Or, are you frustrated and drained with all the mask-wearing, social distancing, threat of illness to self and others, and virtual, instead of in-person, activities?
Quarantine fatigue is a phenomenon experienced by many during these times, and can include increased anxiety, decreased energy, social withdrawal, among other symptoms (https://www.massgeneral.org/news/coronavirus/quarantine-fatigue). In an article put out by Massachusetts General Hospital (see link above), tips for coping with quarantine fatigue include practicing mindfulness, self-care through healthy diet, sleep regime, and exercise, and connecting with others. Many of my clients have found these very useful, as have I. However, there is something else I want to address: How are you feeling lately? How is your body feeling lately? I was reflecting how in this current summer of the pandemic, so much has become virtual and nonphysical (for good reason), and the truth is, so much of this takes a toll. The boom in video chat and online forms of communication has been undeniably helpful to our society as a way to maintain connections while preserving safety. However, this new practice of virtual relationships can contribute to experiencing increased isolation and quarantine fatigue, and also can lead to a feeling of disconnection from one’s body and physical senses. The threat of contamination can create a certain psychological affect: chronic thoughts and feelings of threats or danger. Some of this is helpful to keep our wits about us and follow proper cleaning and hygiene guidelines. Some of these thoughts and feelings, however, may be affecting us in not-so-great ways though. The lack of our usual in-person engagement with others (for many, but not all of us), combined with constant reminders of the threat of contamination and ongoing media overload can add to feelings of anger, disorientation, decreased energy, and disconnection with our bodies. So what can we do? I would like to suggest some holistic ways to ground and reconnect with ourselves and our bodies, (to add to the Massachusetts General Hospital solid list from above):
I am grateful to stay connected with you, reader. Thank you for reading! In our Dream Circle this month, we will focus on using dreams for just the these topics: body awareness, nurturing, and grounding. The Intuitive Development Circle will empower you to expand your clairvoyant abilities, (which we could all use right now, more than ever)! I hope you can join us! Take care of yourself. Namaste, Anne “Tidying is the act of confronting yourself.
-Marie Kondo I love this quote from the Japanese organizing consultant (she has a hit show on Netflix, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo). I have been decluttering and organizing this past month. I noticed, painful though it was, the end result has made a world of difference in my energy and quality of life. Honestly, I had a modest amount clutter or chaos in my office space and home, (it was not reality-show worthy, not quite at least!), but this small increase in order has left me feeling an undeniable increase in the flow of clarity and chi through my psyche and space. I am reflecting this month how exposed we all have been to a huge amount media information lately, as well as social media activity, some of which is very important or empowering, some of which is rather anxiety-producing to the mind and body. Is this a form of clutter? I argue: yes, it is. (Or it can be!) For many, the past few months of quarantine has forced a sort of slow down, “the great pause”, as many media groups have referred to it, and pushed some to face difficult physical or mental clutter that otherwise would have become lost in the chaos of this work-a-day world. This has certainly been the case for me, (at least to some extent). When forced to look at my own clutter, I have begun to ask myself: What is cluttering my life? What is the right amount of media exposure to being informed? What commitments, thought patterns, or physical items are keeping me from putting my energy to better use? I invite you to ask yourself these questions. (Of course, sometimes an investment in a particular commitment is not necessarily pleasant, but worth it, based on an important value or reason). Sometimes, unfortunately, confronting physical or nonphysical clutter involves confronting hard issues, such as our fear of hurting someone’s feelings, disapproval, rejection, facing our own limits, the uncomfortable prospect of making a change, letting go, or just being uncomfortable for a temporary period of time. Clearing and decluttering our mind, (media exposure!), space, and schedule has the potential for opening oneself up increased life energy, clarity, prosperity (according to the practice of feng shui, as I understand it), love, creativity, and balance. Is it worth it? It might be time for a change! As we come back out into the world from this quarantine, I pray you are protected and blessed, and that you take the lessons learned from these past four months and use them powerfully for the next chapter of your life. Namaste, Anne |
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January 2021
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