Battle Scars

So the month of September was my month of quiet. I was not trying to post messages from Spirit on my blog.  I spent more time alone. I tried to meditate more frequently than usual. Some days I was more successful than others in my quest for spiritual contemplation.

I still drew a tarot card every day. Most of the time they were fairly good cards. I can't say that the entire month was spent receiving amazing inspiration and Angelic guidance. Most of the time the Voice that speaks to me was silent as well. I took this as a message that this was my month to reboot.

We all need that time when we reboot our internal computer. Just turn everything off and allow ourselves time to just enjoy our everyday lives. Get outside. Rescue a squirrel. Clean the pond. 

I still enjoyed teaching some classes and seeing a few clients. When the connection needed to be on, it did not let me down.

In the past week or so, however, I drew this card. More than once.

The first time I drew this card I took it as a message that it might be a difficult day. I might have to work hard to make any headway.

The second day I drew this card was only a few days later. Hmmmm.

I took this as a message that I didn't get the message the first time. (ha ha.. yes sometimes this happens.)

So I asked the card.. "what are you trying to tell me?"

I heard, " describe what you see.."

I saw the man. The wands (representing ideas, inspiration, etc.) were firmly planted behind him. He is holding one in his hand. He is looking off to the side. He is a bit wounded in the head but seems to be mostly okay. There is a bit of a scowl on his face.

"Joy, getting to where you are has not been easy. You have worked hard to learn the things you have learned, to accomplish the things you have accomplished. Along the way at times you have felt like you have been "wounded" by those who are not on the same page as you.. correct?"

"Yes, I guess you are right."

"It is time to let go of those battle scars. It is time to release and forgive any who have intentionally or unintentionally sent you energy that was less than loving or helpful."

I have been reading E-Squared, a book that gives you experiments on energy and teaches us that we are all connected, a concept which I already know and believe, but the particular chapter I had been reading had taught me that my thoughts, sent out toward another human being, are captured by their energy and known at a deep, if not unconscious level. I had always kind of wondered if the thoughts of others, directed at me at a critical or unloving level, could affect me, and this book theorizes that, yes, it does affect us. I had heard arguments both ways, some saying that negative energy directed toward us does not affect us if we are walking in love. Others say that, yes, it does affect us, just as if we love our plants and send them kind thoughts and words they grow better, a fact that can be documented by experimentation.  Or that the thoughts we send our bodies has a factor in our appearance. Or that the thoughts we send others is "heard" by their energy bodies.

We are all guilty of sending less than loving thoughts out toward others. How about that inefficient store clerk? How about that driver who cut you off in traffic? How about your spouse who points out your shortcomings but seems to be unaware of theirs? I think you get the direction I am heading.

My conversation with this tarot card seemed to be urging me to let go of my battle scars.

I thought I had done that long ago.

However, just to placate the "messenger" within the card, I decided to forgive and send loving thoughts to everyone who came to my mind who could, in my estimation, possibly have less than loving thoughts about me, or, for whom I could have less than loving thoughts about towards them.
I imagined myself giving each person who came to my mind the gift of a ball of light, symbolizing the light of love and acceptance. For if I say "forgiveness", I assume that there is something to forgive, or an offense that is in need of releasing the weight of. However, who am I to assume there has even been an offense? In "acceptance", I am saying in essence that there has been no offense, and I am completely accepting of that other person and any discrepancy in our words or thoughts. I thought it important to release any and every person who I have come into contact, either in person or by just the mere fact of having come into contact by some sort of communication (for example, by reading something that I have written or they have written). I also completely loved and accepted anyone from any previous lifetimes or even lives between lifetimes for whom there may have been any offense or assumed offense.

Is there someone or a group of someones for whom you have gained "battle scars?"

Are you holding onto those wounds, nursing them sometimes, or perhaps, wishing for some retribution?

Is there someone for whom you wish a less than loving "retribution"?

It is time to release those thoughts!! Believe it or not, your thoughts are like arrows in that person's energy field! It might be that they are small and relatively harmless, such as that "you idiot!" remark as  you slam on your brakes due to someone's driving skills. Have you ever had a sharp pain in your body that came and went relatively quickly? Who's to say that someone was not sending you a "thought dagger"?

I don't want to be the recipient of a "thought dagger" so I want to make sure I am not the perpetrator of one.

And then there are those "thought daggers" we send to ourselves.

But that is another blog for another day.



I love you all.

Thanks for reading.

Baby Squirrel

Yesterday morning hubby love and I decided to go out and take a walk on our new favorite walking path, which is actually the location of a civil war battle, but which has been turned into a beautiful five mile walking path, with tunnels of trees, a babbling brook laced with wildlife and wild flowers galore, and yes, fields of hay where probably many soldiers met their Maker.

We had walked about a mile or so I guess when we happened upon a tiny shivering baby squirrel. I may have walked on past, but hubby love noticed the tiny creature, and remarked that it was not scurrying away when the sound of our footsteps grew close, as is the custom for most squirrels.

This tiny little critter did not move when we got close enough to snap this photo.

I am not so sure we had ever been in the presence of such a tiny little squirrel, and we couldn't help but feel that it was probably cold and for some reason had been separated from his mom.

Now hubby love and I are  not in the habit of rescuing tiny creatures, so we were unsure what to do next. I put my hand out close to it, thinking of sending it some reiki, and immediately the little furball found its way onto the palm of my hand, and made no haste in crawling up my shirt sleeve!

I guess the little critter figured I was a safe substitute for its mom.

We decided to take it home, and get it warm. I called one of my friends who is known to be a wild animal rescuer, and she told us of the local wild animal rescue, the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center, where we took him/her to be rehabilitated and then released back to the wild where she belongs.

I guess the reason I share is because on the path of life, we may be tempted to walk right on by others on the path, who are in need of rescue. No it is not our job to rescue everyone on the path, only those who are less fortunate and unable to find their own way. No it was not our job to take her home and try to make her a pet, or take it upon ourselves to feed her or decide what was best for her. We took her to those who were more knowledgeable than we were.

Sometimes there are those who are in need who we may not even notice. They are sidelined, for whatever reason, and we are focused on our objectives. But it is so important to keep our eyes and our ears open to what or who may be lurking on the path, always be open to help others if we can.

We never did finish our walk that day, but we did something more important. We helped another traveler through life as she attempted to make it through a scary situation. We helped bring her warmth and comfort in this traumatic experience of being separated from her nest and family.

We are all travelers on the path of life. Sometimes we may be the squirrel, facing a scary situation. We have lost our way, and are in need of rescue. Sometimes we may be the passer by, who may or may not even notice those along the path in need of a helping hand.

May we all open our eyes and ears to those who happen across our path in need of a helping hand.

And if we are the squirrel, may we trust enough to nestle up inside the shirt of a warm helper until we are strong enough to get back out there on the path again.

Blessings to all as we each travel our own paths, and as we come across each other, each in a different stage, but each on the same path.

Two Inspirations Equal One Blog

As I have posted recently, I have been instructed by Spirit to take some time of rest and reflection. I did not decide beforehand whether or not I would be posting any blogs, and I had decided to lay aside any agendas other than the things that were already on my calendar.

My agenda was to meditate, to reflect, and maybe catch up on some reading.

I did have some already scheduled classes and private sessions on the books, which I am happily engaged in.

Here are two of my observations so far.


My two week vacation from the Post Office ended and I was back to work on Monday.  I walked in after two weeks off to a war of sorts. Management vs Union. Even my dream job that I have been happily engaged in for a few months has come into question. Ah.. the temptation to panic. To confront one or other side and try to do damage control.

My dilemma.... do I take sides? do I do whatever I need to do to make sure my job is intact?

My decision.. I think I will let the Universe take care of it. I am going to say my newly learned mantra.... OM MA NI PAD ME HUM... (loosely translated I think it means.. thank the Universe for taking care of everything in the best possible way)... and watch cartoons with my grandson.

As grandson fell asleep watching cartoons, I happened upon this article which explained some of the power struggles.... http://spiritlibrary.com/sarah-varcas/9th-september-2013-cosmic-reflections-on-power.  

As chance would have it, or Source, or Divine Comedian, it seems I have taken the proper course. My message from the Universe.. " just let things occur naturally, Joy. Don't take matters into your own hands."

Now I am not saying that no course of action is always the best course of action. I am saying to listen to your Divine Inner Guidance. In my case, I was instructed to do nothing.

Coincidentally, or not, I came upon this blog... http://www.anaelisamiranda.com/1/post/2013/09/the-day-i-refused-to-crawl-under-my-blanket-and-sulk.html

As synchronicity would have it, I also read a chapter in the book E-Squared (link for it later in blog) which gave instructions for asking for guidance on a decision that needed to be made.. ta da!! Already did that, Universe.. asked.. the answer: "do nothing."

Next observation:

Has anyone noticed all those butterflies? Everywhere I go I am seeing butterflies! I started noticing around the beginning of summer but now they are multiplying in even greater numbers!!

Butterflies represent transformation. They start out as caterpillars. They eventually build cocoons around themselves. When they emerge from their cocoons they are these beautiful magical creatures that mesmerize us all!

Recently I began noticing that butterflies seemed to be appearing in other places as well. On the cover of books I was reading. On walls. Towels. Toothpaste holders. I asked Spirit if there was a message in that for me. My message was that butterflies to me personally also represented psychic awareness. I was recently doing an experiment via  the Hay House book.... E Squared  a book about the law of attraction which included fun experiments that you do to prove to yourself that the law of attraction works. One of the experiments was that you were to ask the Universe for a butterfly. The funny part about my experience was that at the time of the reading of the experiment I was sitting outside on my patio enjoying the summer day reading my book and just before I read the page about asking the Universe for a butterfly, I had enjoyed the experience of a monarch butterfly taking a moment to say hi to me by landing on my knee. It sat there for a moment, then fluttered away. After it flew away, I returned my attention to my book and started reading the experiment to ask the Universe for a butterfly. My Divine Source said to me at that moment.. "see I know what the page is going to say even before you do.."

It also reminds me of that verse in the Bible that says something like... even before you ask, your prayers are answered.

It was a little coincidental, but not, that soon after I was catching up on reading some other lovely blogs when I came upon this one about butterflies..

 Shambalah: and the butterflies came again...:

What comes to me as I am writing this is that we each individually and collectively are in various stages of the butterfly stage. Some of us are still caterpillars, crawling along through life. We wonder why everything is so much bigger than we are and we sometimes feel helpless to change our lives. We sometimes feel that life is too big and too hard and we are ill equipped to handle it. At some point we build a cocoon around ourselves. This is our time of rest and reflection. Or denial. Or withdrawal. Some call it the dark night of the soul. This is the time when we may think that all is dark and closed in. We may feel like sleeping a lot. We may take this time for meditation or prayer.  The time we spend inside our cocoons is different for everyone so we must not judge those who are in their cocoons. Why? Because eventually we will all emerge as butterflies!! Transformation!!  Who knew we were that beautiful when we were just a caterpillar? And then there are those who would say.. "who does she think she is, that butterfly? I knew her since she was just a caterpillar! She is nothing special.." (ha ha, I think that the people in Jesus' hometown said that about him too!)

Anyway, there it is. Two observations so far in my month of personal reflection. Maybe one or the other of my experiences will resonate with you.

Another observation is that I am not the only one in a month of personal reflection. This sentiment was the subject of John Holland 's newsletter this month. It is a good thing to be on the same page with John. I am soon to be in a week long mediumship class facilitated by him in New York..  woo hoo!

Enjoy whatever stage you are in as you transform from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Don't judge where anyone else is on their path to transformation. And don't get into any power struggles. A packed blog with multiple messages. Pick the one that is right for you!

The View From My Patio

It's time for my morning me time. Have you had yours yet? Here is a pic of my litle slice of heaven right in my backyard.

Whether you have access to a real live slice of heaven or you have to find your Sacred Garden within the recesses of you imagination, let me encourage you to take some time today to go within. Find some time to connect with your own soul, your Higher Power, or whatever inspires you or feeds your soul. You will not regret it.

The treasures of the Universe are so close, closer than you think. Find your place of restoration,  your place of joy, your place of peace. There you will find your treasure.

Quiet Time

Everyone needs some time to take a break from the doing doing doing.

August was a busy month for me. Weddings, classes, private sessions, the birth of a third grandchild,  and, oh yes, I work at the Post Office.

Then my vacation time from the Post Office came and I was looking forward to catching up on all those things I just didn't have time to do.

Then the dizziness started. And the congestion, sore throat, sore lungs. The doctor said it was allergies, but I felt like I was recovering from a three day drunk. The medicine helped a little. But not much. I was exhausted. Some days I could barely hold my head up. But thinking.. this is just allergies forced me to forge ahead with my life. As much as I could. I performed outdoor weddings anyway.. I conducted my first class in Leesburg on shamanism.

I had received the message that September was to be a time for going within for me. Thus the lack of blogs. I started one to just let my readers know that I was taking some time off but would be back.

So, now, my second week of vacation almost over, I am happy to say that my symptoms have all but disappeared. I always look within myself to discover where my energy has gotten depleted enough to allow sickness in and I think I was just needing some rest.

My suggestion for this blog today is that maybe the energies for September are all about going within. Live in the present moment. Take some time to access your own spiritual side.

There may be a blog or two in the midst of my time of going within. But for now, I am feeling like it is time to take some time to connect with Spirit and get recharged. Yes the classes will go on.

Sometimes Spirit sends us a message. And we may or may not listen. We continue on our merry way. We continue business as usual. And then Spirit sends it again. A little stronger this time. We continue once again on our merry way. And then the ball drops. Something to reinforce the message.

For me it was my two week bout with whatever I had (not convinced it was allergies).

For you it may be the loss of a relationship, a job, a home, a computer crash, whatever to you could be devastating. Usually it will reinforce the message that had been coming from Spirit.

For me the message was: take some down time. Go within.

Luckily for you, my readers, this may result in some amazing blogs. But it may not. I have no agenda.

For those of you attending my classes, I am looking forward to some amazing classes. Other than the classes my slate is relatively clean. Believe it or not, I conducted my first class on shamanism and two weddings in the throws of my three day drunk illness. No one knew. Spirit seemed to take the symptoms away long enough for me to conduct the events and then as soon as they were over, the symptoms returned.

The message from Spirit is that we all need time to recharge our batteries, reboot our hard drive, and then move forward again. A car will not run without gas. This is my refueling time. I am not sure how long it will last.

If you are traveling at the speed of light, going going doing doing thinking thinking... take heed of my message. You can't run a car without gas. You can't take pictures with a camera that has a dead battery. Sometimes that computer needs to be rebooted.

Take some time off. Sit outside. Go for a walk. Take a nap. Your life is not going to be waiting for you when you get back. On the contrary. The present moment is your life. Enjoy it. Savor each moment. Be grateful for each blessing. The blessing of waking up in the morning. Of the crisp cool mornings and enjoying a cup of tea out on the patio while the squirrels play and the spider webs dance in the breeze, glistening in the morning dew. And life.

Just for today, take a little down time. Go outside. Breathe in. Breathe out. Thank your Source for life and breath. Find a mantra you love and say it over and over. Something inspiring. Eat chocolate. Take a bubble bath. Go for a walk.

Now get off the computer and do it!