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“Abundance is the process of letting go; that which is empty can receive.” -- Bryant H. McGill
“In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” – NIV, Luke, 14:33 “The root of suffering is attachment.” – Buddha “Let go. Let Be. See through everything and be free, complete, luminous, at home — at ease.” — Lama Surya Das Prosperity and spirituality; at one time we regarded them as enemies. Many of us now sense there is a possibility that these could enhance one another, should enhance one another, even if it involves some deep reprogramming of collective fallacies. How can we cultivate more abundance, wealth, and spiritual integrity at the same time? Many of us are contemplating this question around the holidays as the commercial industries, media, and various personal and collective expectations press our gift-buying buttons, while we are simultaneously aware of that voice in the back of our minds reminding us to surrender to a spiritual holiday experience of rebirth, fellowship, and generosity. The spiritual ideal of valuing the nonphysical over the physical is found in countless religions worldwide. Some even espouse poverty as a route to holiness. Many people are moving away from values associated with organized religion and creating spiritual practices that are more uniquely suited to their present values and beliefs. One of these collective values shifts has to do with the realization that money is not evil, and poverty is not necessarily an effective route to self-actualization. Although this practice of denial and asceticism may be the right path for a few, most of us find it is more difficult to live our divine purpose without the usual resources needed to move through this material world and provide for the physical demands of being a human. As we change our relationship with money (and the material world, for that matter), we find we can experience both the spiritual freedom of surrender and the divine flow of prosperity. To do this, we must think about the kind of prosperity that is in alignment with the values of non-attachment and trust in our Source. It is a practical principle. We’ve all heard the stories: The couple who tries to conceive for years and eventually gives up, deciding to adopt a child instead. As soon as they adopt the baby, the woman finds she is pregnant. The inventor who, despite thousands of experiments and calculations, cannot make his invention work properly. She finally receives the answer in a dream, and the invention turns into a success. The person searching tirelessly for love gives up in exasperation and embraces the single life, only to find their soul mate show up suddenly, in a most divine and unexpected way! In all of the above examples, the individuals first set their intentions, tried to force the result (arguably), and finally experienced success as a result of letting go. These types of examples also hint at the problem with being overly attached as one aspires to prosperity or success. Holding on too tightly or over-controlling leads to a distortion of the life energy. (What is money but energy, anyway?) The more evolved – and effective – way to manifest what our soul really wants to experience is to set our intentions, keep our faith, and then make room for the miracles to flow in by - yes, you guessed it - letting go! Source cannot enter and co-create with us if the channel is too cluttered with our control, worries, resentments, or over-analyzing. In my experience, my own “psychic clutter” happens when I focus on the things I want to have/be/experience that have not happened yet (emphasizing how they have YET to happen!), over-thinking about what I am “supposed” to be doing or over-analyze problems in my life. When I worry excessively, without taking action or surrendering to Spirit, I know I inadvertently clog up the psychic space. I aspire to the ideal of spiritual prosperity in which I can manifest the joy of my desire in the present moment (whether or not it is happening in my life at the moment), appreciate the miracles and blessings in my life that I do have, and be present. Easier said than done, I know, but I also love the idea that these things take a lifetime to master. (Or many lifetimes!). The truth is: things, relationships, and situations come and go, but the power of our consciousness and connection with Source are continuous and eternal. Hey, you can always rebuild, and it is easier to create new creations when you have shifted your powerful focus to the Eternal flowing through you/we/us. So, my friend, what are you baking up this holiday? I find a magical recipe from a few cups of clarified intentions, whisked together with a few quarts of faith, sprinkled with generous amounts compassion, and all fed through a massive sifter of divine surrender! May you experience divine prosperity, love, and blessings this holiday. May your prosperity flow with the ease and grace of the spirit, and may these provide the divine sustenance you deserve.
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It's the time of year when things get colder and darker, and you can feel the chill begin to spread. And yet, like the glowing smile of a jack-o-lantern penetrating the darkness on a cold Halloween night, there is a warm light shining within us despite, or perhaps because of, the darkness. There is a stillness as the leaves begin to fall from the trees, but there is a light in the forest as well. As the darkness deepens, the light approaches. The light within us, some may say, is more easily seen when we embrace the darkness.
After all, it’s easier to see the sparkle of a star in a midnight sky. Are you in touch with your inner darkness, the backdrop to your inner stars? This is a seasonal time of mystery and embracing the shadow. By embracing the unknown and, at times, scary darkness, we embrace the light and the mystery of it all. Hear the wisdom of the trees and regard the light in the forest. Sense the light within your heart speaking to you. The fall reminds us to loosen her grip, let our leaves fall to the ground, and begin to return to the stillness and our sacred worlds within. In the stillness is rebirth and the transformation into our new selves. “You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don’t trust enough.” -Dr. Frank Crane, Presbyterian minister
Trust is a mysterious thing, isn’t it? We can over-trust and under-trust. This month, an angel (Archangel Zadkiel to be exact) has been teaching me to understand the relationship between hope and trust. After a recent radio show in which I channeled his angelic message about this topic, I looked up the word hope in the dictionary,* and one of the archaic definitions is “a feeling of trust”. It seems one does connect with the other. If we can increase our trust, will we feel more hopeful and uplifted? At first, when I thought about it, it seemed to me hope is more time-bound, and trust is more grounded in present moment. After I reflected more, however, I can see how they both have a certain connotation related to not knowing what will happen as time goes on. This involves very often having a certain faith, outlook, or expectation the future will unfold in such a way as to be in alignment with one’s desire. I think of the Fool card in the Tarot as an elaboration of this idea. A man stands poised to step off a cliff into the unknown. One must have a certain amount of courage to trust and to hope, because it involves putting ourselves in a vulnerable position. What if I’m wrong? What if I am betrayed? What if things don’t work out? The key, in my opinion, is to put our trust and hope in the eternal dimension, and this helps us know how and whom to trust in the time-bound dimension. By placing your trust in that which transcends time - your Higher Self, that still small voice, your Higher Power, God/Goddess, Spirit – you will have the most stable guarantee all the resources, support, guidance and miracles needed to move those mountains will be provided. People, circumstances, and material objects may come and go, rise and fall, but the everlasting Spirit is behind all the cycles and changes. If you put your trust only in other humans, you are dependent on an ever-changing and imperfect source. By trusting first in the eternal, constant, and perfect Spirit, you open up doorways to increased trust with others. Divine consciousness provides us with the understanding of how to transcend the shortcomings of other humans and gives us the strength to recover when someone does disappoint or hurt us. Trust in others becomes natural when you trust you will always be Divinely protected and Divinely guided in all of your relationships and affairs. We can sense the Holiness existing within us and around us, and beyond the veil of space and time. Even if we stumble in our human experience, the gentle hands of Spirit are always there to catch us and help us to regain our footing. Trust invites the Divine Power to enter our lives and work Miracles. May you find your courage to trust in Spirit and see the Miracles and Hope flourish in your life. May you trust that still small voice inside! I will close with the full channeled message from Archangel Zadkiel from my radio show on 8/17/2021: You have been a soldier plodding along, my beloved. You have traversed a great expanse of time, space, and consciousness. You are ready for a break, and you are ready to move into a new reality in which your fears are not ruling your life. You are ready to make changes that truly allow your spirit and soul to rise above the ashes and start again. I am here to tell you a message of hope and trust. You cannot have one without the other. Hope belongs to trust, it breeds trust, and your trust creates amazing ripples throughout space and time that open up doorways to more reasons to trust and grow in your faith. Place your trust and faith in that which is truly most high, truly most holy. You are entering a period of requisition, of coming to terms with what has not happened and making amends, clarifying what it is that you want as you move forward, and making adjustments as you walk through the door of your new reality. Patience is required, but also trust. You were born to be free, you were born to create a more sanctified world by trusting in what truly matters, including yourself. You have new opportunities available to you and it is time to make use of the overwhelming abundance of beautiful and useful abilities, situations, and resources available to you. Your trust creates the resources you need to move mountains. * Google’s Oxford Language Dictionary: https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/ As I peeked into the nightstand drawer of my vacation hotel room this past weekend, I was surprised to see staring up at me both the Bhagavad Gita and Gideon’s Bible, side-by-side. The hotel is owned by a friendly Indian American family, and it made sense they would include a Hindu holy text in the nightstand, in addition to the ubiquitous Christian scripture. I thought for a moment how great it would be if all humans could take a page from these neighbors, and those of different beliefs and religions could exist harmoniously, side-by-side.
I mean, really though, how can this harmony exist between humans when there is so much strife? I remember meeting a special therapy dog in a hospital in which I used to work many years ago. It was some sort of a sheep dog, and it must have weighed one-hundred-and-fifty pounds. He was the gentlest canine I have ever met perhaps, and, according to his owner, he would not even bark or growl if a patient pulled his fur (maybe that’s why he was a therapy dog!). Neither would this huge creature react to other dogs, including their barks, if they should have been brave enough to come around. Things were different with my own tiny six-pound companion at the time. Unlike the gargantuan therapy dog, she would release a fury of barks if she even saw another dog, especially a large one! This, I believe, has to do with security. Animals who are larger than average in their species are often naturally more secure around others of their kind because they believe in their own power. They don’t feel as threatened by competition because they know they have an advantage. If you are small in the animal world, you may feel less secure, and compensate with more verbal aggression to protect yourself. (Of course, not all small dogs bark aggressively or defensively, and not all large dogs are calm and patient. But stick with me here, I have a point..). In human terms, our sense of power and security has a lot to do with our self-worth. Insecurity also often leads to disharmony and aggression in our relationships, both on a micro and on a macro scale. In the message I channeled from the Pleiadean Star Beings a few weeks ago on my radio show, the lesson was about decreasing violence by shifting out of the guilt and shame. The Pleiadeans advised that these feelings can be debilitating but are common and part of the human learning experience. However, these emotions seem to be collectively magnified and distorted at this time. Even though I usually try to focus on peace, confidence, and self-worth, etc., right now I will humor the Pleiadeans and explore the mysterious relationship between violence, guilt, and shame (which will hopefully lead to the alternative - peace, confidence, and self-worth!). I have worked with many clients over the years who been victims of bullying, and I’ve worked with the bullies too. It is ironic that the bullies themselves are often some of the most wounded, insecure individuals on the planet. They have very likely been mistreated, abused, neglected, or the victims of bullying themselves. Bullies are often acting out their distress from a sense of shame, guilt, insecurity, or fear. Our prisons are filled with people who suffer from many problems, the greatest often being a lack of self-worth. They have often been abused or neglected, and this can lead to a disruption in one’s sense of personal power or belief that help is available. I’m talking about power here! Where is your sense of power and efficacy? If you try to get it by dominating or controlling others, stealing, or manipulation, you will find that you are walking on a path of instability and misery. It is a misplacement and misunderstanding of power and how to get it. True empowerment comes, of course, from within. When we tap into our Divine Center, this energy is free to flow outward. This is the big dog mentality, whether our actual size is big or small. We are secure because our worth comes from within. Self-love and self-worth are the keys to healing so many human atrocities. I believe my Star Being friends were pointing out that as we teach our children to love and accept themselves, we create more evolved states of consciousness individually and collectively. Feeling ashamed means feeling less-than, and we tend towards destructive or self-destructive behaviors when this goes unchecked. This can wreak havoc on our relationships and our lives. To release guilt and shame, we must find a way to love and forgive ourselves. We must love and forgive our neighbors, see the spark of human sacredness in each one, and avoid responding to others’ aggression or competitiveness defensively. We can be like the big sheep dog and remain calm and self-assured even if those around us are trying to ruffle our …fur. This is an important part of stopping the cycle of bullying, shame, and violence. It can also help improve our relationships in general. Even on a micro level, if we are feeling good about ourselves, we are less likely to lash out or respond to others with irritation or criticism. We are more likely to have the capacity for patience, empathy, and understanding. We can allow someone who is “bigger”, has vastly different beliefs, or even someone who is rude or disrespectful to exist alongside us, replacing defensiveness and aggression with tolerance and the radiance of love. If you don’t react to a bully’s perpetrations, what very often happens? Over time, it really annoys them. They are not getting the desired reaction or stolen energy to boost their self-worth from you. Eventually? Yes, that’s right: they give up! You are not playing the game of victim/perpetrator anymore. You transcend to divine self-confidence and self-worth, which is a foundation of security. This opens the door for your neighbor to make a positive change as well. (Of course, bullying dynamics are sometimes more complex than this description, and can involve complex trauma that is requires complex trauma work to resolve. The underlying dynamic is one, on some level at least, most of us have some experience with). To add to the planet’s peace, remind yourself how amazing you are! Build yourself up with love and appreciation. Connect with your Higher Power and feel the appreciation from this Divine Source and let go of other’s judgment or misguided competitiveness. See past others’ mistakes and differences. Take the high road when someone becomes defensive or aggressive. Most people attack out of their own sense of personal lack, not yours. Rather than taking things personally, stop the cycle by seeing their inner light, despite their mean bark! By staying connected to your center and remembering your own divine worth and power, you show others how to do the same. In this month’s Intuitive Art Portal, the cormorant water bird image came out onto the page. As I tuned into the guidance for this month’s collective energies, I felt a strong sense of humanity “swimming through the murkiness” as a means to arrive at more clarity. I envision the cormorant spirit animal diving into the waters surrounding me. She dives deep, focused on making the catch. I sense the world has more opportunities for clarity and focus as we move onto this next chapter.
Once she has finished, the cormorant perches on a rock and spreads her wings, opening her heart to the sun. We must be brave and open our hearts to one another, ourselves, and our Source in order to receive this healing sunlight. This requires trust. I admit I am able to trust myself and the Universe enough to do this at times, other times not so much! Can you open your “wings” and embrace the Universe, not knowing? It’s part of the fun, isn’t it? We don’t know exactly what comes next. The cormorant uses her intuition and courage to guide her. She enjoys the thrill of the dive. She is teaching me to enjoy the dive, the present moment, as well as the harvest of the catch, the rewards after the work is done! Cindy and I, taking a page from the cormorant’s book, will be using our courage and intuition to dive into the Akashic Records next Intuitive Development Circle! Join us and you yourself can retrieve the wisdom from your past lives that is helpful in the here-and-now! Details below.. Have a blessed July, my love! A few tiny things swirl around my head this morning: 1. Almost stepping on, but then relocating to safety, a tiny baby turtle; 2. Receiving a refund check from the government in the amount of exactly one dollar; 3. Giggling at the "smile" of a toy fox terrier as she is pet by her owner; 4. Reading a short but meaningful text from a loved one that brings tears to my eyes. 5. Beholding the tiny magical sparkles of stars in the night sky.
Does size matter? Yes, I say! The size of your love, that is. The size of your consciousness. The size of your ability to recognize and appreciate these things. Whether they appear big or small, counting each sparkle of love, beauty, creativity, joy, and wonder leads to an irrepressible accumulation of sparkles, eventually coalescing into a brilliant star! I like to see in my mind’s eye all the little sparkles uniting. I imagine others’ sparkles, and the stars we make together, each day. In the words of one of my favorite country songs: Well, it's alright to be little bitty A little hometown or a big old city Might as well share, might as well smile Life goes on for a little bitty while (Little Bitty, by Alan Jackson) This month, I send you my admiration for all the tiny (and big) sparkles you are seeing in your life. Are you recognizing them? Let us do this and notice the solar systems and galaxies of wonder we can create here on the New Earth! How can I possibly get anything done in a world that seems to constantly whiz by, leaving me in an ever-expanding cloud of to-do’s? At times I feel this dimension has a mission to prove to me and all Earthlings that we can never catch up. We are destined, it seems, to always fall short: behind on our lists, our agendas, our goals, our shoulds. Many a client has echoed this dissatisfaction to me over the years – there never seems to be enough time in the day to get done what I want. What to do? What to do.
Thinking about my relationship with time often brings me a sense of disappointment and frustration, as if in some ancient time we used to be on good terms, but then somehow things deteriorated, and we are currently on the outs. What happened? It now appears we need intensive couples therapy to give any hope of salvaging our union, and somehow, I suspect forgiveness is needed. I would like to heal my relationship with time. Why is it so hard to deal with you?! As with many relationship discords, I believe the answer lies, at least partly, in the perspectives, assumptions, and behavior patterns of each respective party. As I’m writing this, sitting outside admiring the hickory tree blossoms, a giant bee flies right before my face, attacking some other bug, which falls onto my table! An omen if ever I saw one (or if ever one fell on my table). Bee spirit teaches us about hard work, but also the importance of a work-life balance (and not working oneself to death). The hexagram shape in the honeycomb has six sides, and in numerology six has to do with balance and harmony. There is a lesson here. Time teaches us to balance our energies, to balance the different areas of our life. It forces us to choose how to spend our time, as there is only so much each of us is given! Are we assuming everything needs to get done now, when maybe it could wait? Perhaps it can get done in slower steps, or we realize some things that seem important on the to-do list are minor, upon deeper reflection. I would like to share another sacred animal spirit’s wisdom here: that of the Kangaroo, who channeled through me a message about such a topic earlier this month, which I shared on-the-air on my radio show. Kangaroo spirit said: Learn to use your energy properly, in balance with the Earth and yourself. Understand that your relationship with this dimension of distance and space can be one of harmony, for the distances you traverse and the time you spend help you align with what is truly important; this allows you to choose a direction that will lead you to what your heart wants to experience. The Kangaroo spirit animal teaches us lessons about strength, stamina, leadership, decisiveness, grounding, and leaping forward. Kangaroo has been teaching me to leap even when I am unsure. I need to trust the bigger “I”, my Higher Self. This, I believe, is another key to mastering time here on Earth. If I can shift to the expanded part of my consciousness, I can transcend the lower concrete paradigm of time. Time is more fluid than it may appear. I know this when I use prayer or call on my Higher Power as I set an intention and find that events seem to fall into place in amazing timing, outside of the realm of possibilities from my human mind. Have you had an experience of a synchronicity, or even miracle, that seemed to transcend the bounds of time? These are the two elements that I am learning to navigate right now, using the limitation of this time-space dimension to understand balance and efficiency, and how to call on my Higher Power to relate to, and even love, time in a multidimensional way. Do I even know how to act in social situations anymore? After the “altered state of life” for the past year, many people are asking themselves if they are ready to re-enter the social world, assuming things continue to open up. Of course, the big news is that after a year of the pandemic, the vaccine is now being disseminated. The general assumption is, even if there are spikes, the COVID cases will decrease over time, and the world will increase more in-person activities and functions once again. Many of my clients, friends, and associates have expressed concern that they have been too isolated in the past year to even remember how to behave in public or other social situations! Many individuals have also noticed a new sense of apathy or resistance to social situations due to their experiences this past year. We may be confronting a fear or the uncomfortable prospect of change. Can I adjust to change (once again)? (Do I have to?) This is exhausting!
I spoke about the cycles involved in the Creative Visualization process on the March 16th episode of Mystical Adventures, and how sometimes we don’t see our goals and dreams manifest right away because we are in an inner cycle, or period that naturally favors reflection and release, which is needed in order to manifest what our hearts desire. Often only after going through this period of release are we able to get to an outward cycle, or a period that naturally allows external growth and expansion. In some ways, one could argue as the vaccine is being distributed and the infection numbers decrease over time, the world will naturally shift from an Inner cycle to an Outer one. It is also the beginning of spring here in the Northern Hemisphere, and a shift in Nature is occurring from the slow, reflective winter to a blooming renaissance of spring. We have confronted and released some things collectively. Do you feel you have individually? One can see how the universe is cyclical in nature, as are we. Speaking of your individual cycles, do you suppose you are in an inner-release cycle in your life right now, or an expansion-active cycle? I am just finishing an inner cycle myself, preparing to feel more energy as I shift into my own active phase; so, I feel in sync with the arrival of spring. (This is not always the case: sometimes Nature or those around us seem to be experiencing an abundance of manifestations while we are not, and perhaps we are then in a cycle of release. Being in an inner cycle does not mean one is out of alignment!) I can get very frustrated with the inner cycles, which often feel forced upon me, and buck at the slower pace. I know it is my humanly impatience. Embracing the inner work and releasing that needs to occur is always the medicine I need to move through such periods. I remind myself that cycles are an Eternal universal principle, and to embrace the changes in cycles is embrace eternity. I’m getting more comfortable with change and not knowing. (At least that’s what I tell myself!) Will we be able to adjust to more normal (or semi-normal) life again? Okay, maybe it won't be normal. Perhaps it is better to think about re-engaging in life with all of the lessons and tools we gained from this past Inner Cycle of 2020, in a new way. Are we allowed to dare to believe things might be getting better in this world? Maybe the answer is to reframe the question as a statement: I see positive change around me each day, and by observing it, it grows, in perfect cycles and timing. Favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honour and great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same kind).
What is meant by speaking thus of favour and disgrace? Disgrace is being in a low position (after the enjoyment of favour). The getting that (favour) leads to the apprehension (of losing it), and the losing it leads to the fear of (still greater calamity):--this is what is meant by saying that favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared. And what is meant by saying that honour and great calamity are to be (similarly) regarded as personal conditions? What makes me liable to great calamity is my having the body (which I call myself); if I had not the body, what great calamity could come to me? Therefore he who would administer the kingdom, honouring it as he honours his own person, may be employed to govern it, and he who would administer it with the love which he bears to his own person may be entrusted with it. -From the Tao Te Ching, Chapter 13, trans. James Legge: Are you swayed by praise… or criticism? Are you steadfast in your values and truth, regardless of the approval or disapproval received? That is what I think of when I read this passage from the sacred Tao Te Ching. I explored the importance of seeing past illusions on my radio show a few weeks ago; it seems to me this type of piercing vision takes courage. And what is courage but being in touch with our fears – the fear of failure, disapproval, (or success! or approval!). It is believing and doing what ones believes to be right anyway. Seeing the truth requires courage. This is a cornerstone of developing one’s ability to perceive intuition and inner wisdom. We must be courageous enough to face our fears, dare to be different, or even be wrong in others’ eyes in order to actually perceive the truth of the situation. We have to be willing to take a risk and cope with rejection or confusion if the truth is not particularly well-received by others. Of course, that does not mean that we need to share every insight and hunch we have with everyone. But true Divinity transcends the disgrace or dignity that is imposed by others. True Divinity recognizes its own Grace and Worth, regardless of outward appearances or judgments. If we are always protecting ourselves against disapproval or judgment, we have lost our power, our very authenticity. Here is the guidance I channeled from the Penguin spirit animal for episode 22 of Mystical Adventures on 2/16/2021: We realize our regality, we realize are not insignificant, but deserve the best! One of the things we want to teach you is that it is better to go as a team to dive to the depths. We are adventurers of the sea, adventurers of the depths. We wear a crown around our head, knowing we deserve to be guided. Understand the solutions to problems are not always apparent on the surface, they must be obtained by diving deep and journeying to the cold and mysterious places others may fear to tread. We always come back with something special on these trips, and it is time you learn to trust your instincts like us, to find the treasure, to find your gold. You’ll have better luck if you don’t go it alone, and have the courage to go where others may not want to go. Have the courage to leave your comfortable banks and travel to the ancient depths that hold both mysteries and answers. It's funny, Penguin spirit reminded me that many penguins have golden feathers around their head, like a crown, and some species have names like “Emperor Penguin” and “King Penguin.” It is important to remember our Divine “royalty”, our worth, as divine children of our Creator, and that can help us have the courage to dive into the depths of any matter and seek the truth. Sometimes we need to feel worthy, loved, or secure before we can mobilize what is needed to truly dive in and be vulnerable. Seeking the truth is a courageous act and involves both vulnerability and risk. We are in the last days of winter (here in the Northern hemisphere), and it is a time of turning within and seeking one’s inner truth. It’s a great time to reflect and face your fears. The sun is in Pisces and favors this type of introspection and inner growth. I dare you to dive in this month, and carry up to the surface the truth that you found in your depths. We now enter a new chapter on Earth. Cosmic and global shifts are occurring, and it is the perfect time for one to “administer the kingdom, honouring it as he honours his own person.” |
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November 2021
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