Command Your Blessings!!

I have to admit this is not an original, straight from Source, message. But it is an important one and one that has been rolling over and over in my brain for a day or two now.

I am always engaged in multiple projects. Right now it seems that the Universe has cleared my schedule so I can focus my attention in other areas. In January I will be teaching a class on the second level of Reiki, so I have been preparing for that class. In addition, I recently got my writing muse back and have started writing my second book, chronicling my journey through life thus far. In doing this I have had to go into my spiritual basement, so to speak, and relive some things from my past. I had a dream the other night that the walking dead were in my basement, and yes, although I know it may have been a result of watching the show, I also realized that I was delving into the deep recesses of my past to bring back to life some things that I have attempted to let die but which were crying out for resolution.

But this is not the subject of this blog. In doing a bit of research for my book, I went onto the website of a popular television evangelist to see if his message was the same now as it was when I was first exposed to his teachings at the ripe age of seventeen. I am now fifty and I have to say that he and his wife still look the same and are still preaching the same message.

I believe that messages from Spirit transcend time and space, and belief systems. I have the utmost respect for this man, and I clicked on a link to a particular message on his site. The message was about our commanded blessings.

What are commanded blessings? They are blessings we bring into our lives by commanding them in.

It is a universal principle that the thoughts we think and the words we speak have power in our lives. Louise Hay, the transformational genius that is the author of many books on self empowerment and has the largest new age publishing house that I am aware of, taught me the principle that what you focus on grows.

While taking a short break from my writing, I happened upon this blog from my favorite astrologist talking about how this weekend is apparently a really big opportunity for us to ask for what we want from our highest Source.

So, when I get a nudging from two or three different sources or one that keeps me awake at night and won't go away, I tend to take notice. This is that message.

What do you need? Do you need a new job, a new car, a new relationship? If you could ask God, or your Highest Source, whatever you call Him or Her for anything, what would it be? Maybe it is more enlightenment, or something that there is no pricetag on. Maybe it is inner peace. (we bring world peace by first finding peace within ourselves.) This weekend is the weekend to ask for what you want. And don't just ask.. command! No it is not arrogant to command your blessings! Some think that we should humble ourselves and never presume to command our higher powers anything. Hogwash!

If a particular desire is in line with your soul's purpose for this lifetime, it is completely within your rights to command it!! Our words have power and create that which comes out of them!!

What do you think happens when you say, "I quit!" All of the Angels and Higher Powers stop what they were doing to bring you your blessings and say, "hold it, legions of Angels. She just quit. Let's go back to heaven until she decides what she wants and sticks to her guns!"

The world of spirit is listening while you decide what you are going to command. If you say, "bad things always happen to me." you are commanding bad things to happen to you. Why not change that around and say, "wonderful things always happen to me!!" Do you see the emotion that rises up within you when you change your words?

Just for today, command those blessings! Get up and dance a jig because you are so excited that those things you have need of are approved and on their way!! Get excited! You have an audience with the Higher Realms this weekend. I am not saying that this is only going to work this weekend, but why not take advantage of the configuration of the stars and declare what you want to manifest?

I don't believe that the commanded blessings are only for a select group of people, which differentiates me from the television evangelist. We don't have to be born again to reap the blessing. We just have to believe that the blessings are ours for the taking!!

So how should you go about commanding your blessings? Find a ritual that speaks to you! It could be as simple as shouting it out to the Universe! "I command my new job to present itself!" (or whatever). You could light a candle and write your blessing on a piece of paper and burn the piece of paper, setting your intention that your request is being sent up to the Universe via the elements of fire, smoke and air. You could write your intention down and put on some funky music and dance around it! (I used to do this with my checkbook. I would place my checkbook on the floor and dance around it, commanding money to appear in my account!)

Connect with Spirit in whatever way is your custom and place your request. Believe that your request has been heard and the answer is on its way to you! In this way you are commanding your blessings!

Salt

Sometimes I like to think of common occurrences from a different perspective.  We all get so used to seeing things the way we are used to seeing them. For example, I wanted to post a Thanksgiving blog. I read some of my blogs from previous years, just so I would not repeat myself, as well as reading some other lovely blogs to get ideas.
 Giving thanks is something we all know we should do. But here are some various blogs on various "holiday" themes: (and some not so "holidayish" but inspiring nonetheless:

A great Thanksgiving post by Sue Kearney here.

 Here is a blog by  on how to avoid getting the holiday emotional flu bug.

Check this blog out by McKella Sawyer  as well to let you know it is okay to change up a few things as we get ready for the change in seasons!

This blog by Cynthia Lindeman let me know it is okay to burn out and do absolutely nothing. (good to know after my October and early November filled with a week long mediumship training class, (with the assignment of practicing on clients(for free), teaching six classes on various spiritual subjects, joining nine wonderful couples in marriage, oh, and I work at the Post Office..)

This blog by Shan Watts shows how sometimes we just have to do things our own way, no matter how much they differ from everyone around us!

Anyway, back to my Thanksgiving blog. I decided that I would look at Thanksgiving from the perspective of the salt.

Salt, if you look at it, is a tiny white, granular substance. Without the container that it is kept in, you would not know what it is. It looks like many other granular, white substances. Some people say we get too much of it, so you may not find people shaking it into their foods as much as years past, however, without it, our turkeys are not quite as tasty, (unless seasoned with some kind of other seasonings or salt substitutes), our potatoes are a bit bland, and, if you check out the ingredients in many of our ready made foods, it is found in almost everything.

I guess my message for today is that sometimes the ingredient that makes our lives the tastiest is the one that is small and seemingly inconspicuous. It is the small things that make our lives ones that we look back on with fondness. And the ingredient that one person finds distasteful is the same one that another person can't live without. We are all individuals and we all come into this life experience with different perspectives. None of us is right and none of us is wrong. A person who has high blood pressure or heart issues looks at salt very differently than someone who has a salt deficiency. And what would we do without salt to put on our driveways when it snows?

We are the salt for one another, as well. Jesus said, "you are the salt of the earth." (apparently he didn't know it wasn't good for you.) I think he meant that we season each other's lives. We make each other more palatable. We make each other less boring and bland. And maybe that it is the little things that are the most important.

This year, when you are sitting around the table, and you hear someone say, "will you please pass the salt?" remember that each one of us is a grain of salt. We each have something that makes our lives a little more tasty, a little more easy to chew.

With that said, I hope you will check out my fellow bloggers perspectives and the "salt" that they are offering this week, and think of something you can do this week that will add some "salt" into someone else's life.

This week, be salt.

Five of Swords

This morning in my daily tarot card draw, I drew this card:

This is normally a card which represents some sort of conflict. As you can see on the card, one man is gathering the swords that the other men have laid down. The sky looks ominous. The man holding the swords has a smug look on his face. The other two men have their backs turned to the main character and are walking away.

As you can well imagine, when I drew this card, I was a bit apprehensive, thinking that there was a possibility of some sort of conflict ahead. I drew the card this morning before I went to work, and then again when I was driving home the card was poking its head out of my purse as if to say, "remember me! remember me!"

This card is a warning against the attitude of "I'm right, I know I'm right, and I don't care who that affects." We really have to be careful that we are not right at the expense of being kind. We may lose relationships when we stand our ground no matter what the cost.

I don't always post my daily tarot draw on my blog, as you know, but today I felt that this card was not just particularly for me. I don't really have any conflict going on right now (at least not that I am aware of), so when I drew this card it puzzled me. And then when it made itself aware to me a second time, then I knew that something was up.

Maybe those of us who are in the habit of sending out prayers, positive energy, love and light, or whatever you want to call your petitions to the Universe, might want to send out some good energy to any conflict that is brewing in the world today. You never know but maybe Spirit wants us to avert another disaster, and we can do it with our prayers.

 Maybe this was a call to us to stop being so insistent on being right all the time and instead look for ways to bless others, even those who in our estimation don't deserve it.

Whatever the reason for Spirit giving me this card, I just think it wouldn't hurt for those who read this blog to send love and light out into the world, and request that there be peace. Thanks to you for joining me.

Sending Love

Many of you know that my "other" job is that of a Post Office employee. I have worked at the Post Office for 25 years. This year I was blessed to enter "semi-retirement" when I accepted a part time position to give me more time to perform weddings, teach classes, and do my healing work.

Many years ago when I found myself working nights and spending eight hours a night doing nothing but sorting mail, I went through a time when I wondered what good I was doing in the world. I worked nights, I slept during the day. When I awoke, I had a child to tend to, housework, my church activities, and other family obligations. There was a time when I considered those eight hours I spent sorting mail at the bottom of my list of life enhancing activities. I have always known that I had some purpose in life, that I didn't just choose to be born to sort mail, clean house, and mow grass. It was during that time when I thought of this activity.

I would consciously send love into the letters and packages that touched my hands. I would (and still do) send love to every person who would handle the letter or package. I would send love to every letter or package that touched the piece of mail I was holding. I would send love to the sender and to the receiver of the piece of mail.

Recently I have taken up the practice of sending love along with the marriage licenses that I mail to the courthouses to whom they need to be mailed back to. I remembered my previous practice of also including love rubbing off on every other letter that my letter touched.

Recently when emailing a wedding client it occurred to me that just like the letter containing the marriage license rubbed off on many letters while traveling to its destination, so in the same way, when a couple marries, their love also has the potential of "rubbing off" on every one with whom they come into contact. Their excitement and enthusiasm is contagious!!

Remember that the emotions that you "put out" are also contagious! Are you sending out contagious emotions of love, excitement, enthusiasm, or something entirely different?  If you do a self inventory and find yourself lacking, it is an easy fix!! Just change the "germs" you are emitting!!  If you are sending out bitterness, anger, fear, remorse, guilt, or anger, STOP!!

Saying a mantra is something that always helps me. If I am afraid, and I recognize the emotion, (we are so conditioned to feel negative emotions we don't always remember that we are feeling them. They are so programmed into our psyche that they seem normal.) then I just change my mind. I say, out loud or to myself, "I am perfectly safe." A good mantra is one that is the opposite of the negative emotion you are feeling but contains no negative connotations. In other words, I don't say, "I am not afraid." The "not" is still a negative. Instead, "I am safe" contains only positive emotions.

Also remember that you can have an affect on your world no matter what your job in life. If you clean toilets for a living, you can say, " I am ridding the world of what is no longer necessary in life." If you dig ditches you can say, "I am the creator of new territories."  Realize that every job has value and contributes to the betterment of society, if you choose to allow it to.

Always think and believe that wonderful things are about to happen and they will!! Rub off on your world, and do it well!

What are you rubbing off on those around you?

Stories From the Tarot

Sometimes the traditional meaning of a particular card of the tarot is not at all the message Spirit sends when giving a particular card for a message.

At some point I have realized that the Guide, who I believe is the Goddess Isis, who gives me messages through my cards, has a sense of humor.

I have the habit of carrying my cards around with me. I carry them in my purse, and sometimes the cards are not contained in any kind of pouch, but are free to connect with the energy of my other belongings. I feel that this gives the cards a chance to really connect with my energy. This being said, if the cards want to give me a message, one of the cards would invariably fall out of my purse or someway make itself known to me.

One day I was at my husband's store, decorating for fall. I was standing up on a stool, putting some decorations on top of a refrigerator, when an old friend came up behind me and we talked for a bit. Later, I went into the room where my purse was, an one of my cards had fallen out of my purse. This is the card that fell out.

I just had to chuckle and say.. "ha ha... very funny."

A couple of days ago we had a water leak in our house and were forced to shut our water off until we could get it fixed. My husband discovered the leak when he had gotten up in the middle of the night and heard water running inside the walls of our bathroom. That morning when I was getting ready for work, I drew a card, as is my custom, and this is the card I drew...

Once again, I said.. "very funny..." However, the meaning of this card is that everything is going to be okay, but not today. It is a card of hope for the future. The plumber could not come fix our plumbing that day, but the next. So my first thought when I drew the card was that our water would not be fixed that day, but when it did get fixed, it would not be a serious problem. This turned out to be the case. We had envisioned a very costly and time consuming ordeal, but the problem was easily fixed, without tearing holes in the walls or costly repairs. We did, however, have to live without running water for two days. So the card was accurate, but also funny. The card shows a person pouring water out of a container, and it is the middle of the night. We discovered our water leak in the middle of the night, and were forced to use water out of jugs for two days. The water problem did not get fixed that day, but it turned out okay.

I wanted to share these two stories with those of you who are intrigued by the cards and perhaps think that they always give spiritual insight and maybe miss the practical aspects of the cards. Sometimes they just tell you simple things that you already know. In the first example, yes, I knew I was standing on a stool talking to a friend. It was just fun when that card fell out of my purse. In the second example, I knew my husband had discovered a leak in the middle of the night. The card, however told me, not to fret, that it would not get fixed today, but it would be all right when it did finally get fixed.

I encourage you if you are learning the tarot, to establish a relationship with your cards. Draw a card often. Carry them around with you so that your cards are filled with your energy. Take the messages lightly. Laugh.

Messages from Spirit come in all forms. You do not have to use the tarot to get messages from Spirit. But the cards are a fun and time established way of getting guidance from Spirit. No they are not evil. ( I really don't understand how people can think this. I imagine it is just an old fear based upon the fear based religions who control people through making them afraid of things they do not understand.)

The tarot is just symbolism. Just for today, ask Spirit for a sign. It does not have to be based upon the tarot. Ask a question and then look around you for the answer. You will be surprised how Spirit answers.

Inspiration from the Tarot/Eight of Wands

On Sunday I am teaching a class on the tarot, and I usually like to spend the week before the class posting some messages from the tarot on my blog.

This morning I connected with Spirit and asked for a card to post for a message for today, and this is the card I drew:

For someone just learning the cards, this might appear to be a difficult card to decipher. When I teach my classes, I tell my students that before they consult the dictionary of card meanings, that they look at the card first and ask the card what message it has for them. It may reflect the traditional meaning, and it may not. Spirit knows the message it wants to portray, and Spirit loves talking to us in symbols.

So the first thing I notice when I look at this card is that there are no people in it. This is relatively rare for the tarot. The next thing that really jumps out at me is the exceptionally blue sky. The landscape in the picture is small, and seemingly far away, and there are eight budding branches, or "wands" appearing to be just hanging in the air in front of the viewer of the card.

In the tarot, wands represent ideas, inspiration, and creativity. The fact that they are just hanging out in midair in front of the viewer before a beautiful blue sky would indicate to me that there are endless possibilities. Eight is the number of prosperity, success, abundance, and harvest, so the card seems to indicate that the possibilities are endless, there is success in the air, and it is up to the viewer to go after their dreams.

Is there something in your life that you have been dreaming of? Is there a goal you have been working hard to accomplish? Today's message is that now is the time to go for it! The path has been laid out before you! You are the creator of your life, it is time for you to create something beautiful. There is not a cloud in the sky. There are seemingly no obstacles for you to conquer at this time!

This is a wonderful card to post on your refrigerator or your mirror and remind yourself that your destiny lays before you and it is up to you to act!

Sometimes we forget that we are the masters of our own destiny. We tend to like to let ourselves off the hook and say something like, "oh, I could be successful if it wasn't for.........." or, " I don't have the money, the education, or the smarts to be successful." Or, "if (so and so) would not have done (this) to me, my life would be wonderful."

Stop giving your power away! You are the captain of your own ship! You are the creator of the wonderful work of art called your life! It is time to go for it!

Now I am not saying that tomorrow you go quit your job and start your own business, or maybe I am. You have to be practical. Make a plan. Follow the leading of your heart.

Just for today, embrace your own power.  You probably already know what this is about. It may be a job. It may be a new relationship. It may be a new direction for your life. Look for some changes up ahead, and they are to be good!

Blogs I Love This Week!

Here is week two of blogs I love this week!!
It has been a really busy week and I haven't had much time to catch up on many blogs, but these caught my attention and I thought they might speak to you as well!!I just want to add that there are so many wonderful bloggers out there and I would like to share everyone's on my blog. I will try to keep it fresh and put different ones here every week.

This is a good one on what it does and does not mean to be happy! Love it!
http://ohhappylife.com/the-everlasting-myth-of-happiness/

Here is one I really need about how it is okay to take care of yourself and sometimes say no to others:
 http://eatbeautiful.com.au/2013/11/04/5-reasons-self-care-is-not-selfish/

Here is a good one!! The top five reasons for holiday stress!
http://crystalclaritycopywriting.com/top-five-holiday-stress-sources/

I love this one about one person's journey to open up her heart again after it has been injured!
http://www.manifestationstation.com.au/21-days-to-opening-your-heart/

Temperance

This week I have been getting ready for a class I am teaching in a couple of weeks on Reiki. Most people these days are familiar with Reiki but just as a short synopsis Reiki is healing life force energy which comes through a lineage dating back to Jesus or perhaps even further. It was rediscovered by Master Mikao Usui in 1925 while he was spending twenty one days in meditation atop a sacred mountain in Japan.

I was thinking about how so many of our really amazing profound insights and discoveries come to us while we are spending time going within ourselves. Meditation is the process by which we put aside our daily worries and concerns for a period of time and get quiet. So many of us complain that our lives are a mess, we are seeking answers, or peace, or maybe a new job, and the answers elude us. We work and work, we do this and do that, we say affirmations, we may do rituals or say prayers. All of these things are completely wonderful as long as we do not forget that all the answers we need are available to us when we get quiet and listen.

This morning in my daily tarot draw this is the card I chose:

When I get this card, I know that perhaps I have gotten a bit out of balance and it is time to get back on track. In the picture, the Angel is pouring water from one vessel into another. One foot is in the water and one on land. The sun is rising. Obviously this is an Angel, which indicates that there is help from the Higher Realms in achieving this goal.

In symbology, water represents Spirit and the earth represents our physical lives. This card is indicating that it takes both spiritual practice and human effort to achieve our goals. One without the other will not work.

It is so easy to focus on one thing to the exclusion of everything else.

I was talking to a coworker today and he was talking about how when he gets a focus on something, he notices that other things in his life suffer because of the intense tendency he has to throw all of his energy into that one project. We all can say that we know what he is talking about, and I think that it is an easy habit to fall into.

We imagine a goal. We may want to manifest a new relationship, a new job, or any number of goals that are commendable. However, we throw everything we have into this one basket. We may forget that we have other obligations. We may try to manifest our dreams without taking the time to go within and seek higher guidance.

Master Usui was a healer before he went atop the mountain. He had studied chiqong  and other eastern healing modalites. However he was frustrated. He was not achieving the results he desired. He went to the mountain to seek higher guidance. It didn't come on the first day. Nor did it come the second. This speaks to me of our tendency to want a quick fix. We are so used to the McDonald's mentality. We want what we want and we want it right now. Master Usui was willing to put aside some time to go within and seek higher guidance. The answers didn't come until his time on the mountain was almost done.

Other spiritual masters have done the same thing. The Buddha obtained enlightenment by spending time under a tree. Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days.

Sometimes the answers we seek to our most innermost desires and questions can only be found by spending time alone with Spirit. But, as the tarot card for today indicates, there needs to be a balance. We have to eventually come down off the mountain and do something!

Once we spend our time with Spirit,it seems like doors open without any effort on our part! The right doors. The right person just happens to come across our path. Or the right job. We have an inner knowing of what to put effort into and what to let go.

There is a mantra that I love that says: "What I focus on grows."

Sometimes it is good to focus on our goals. It is good to visualize achieving our goals. But if those goals seem to elude us, perhaps it is time to surrender. Let go of our intended outcomes and allow the Universe to unfold just as it should. If we think that our lives have to unfold in a certain way, then we still have spiritual work to do. One of the steps to enlightenment is the ability to detach ourselves from our desired goals and know that all is well, no matter what.

Just for today, why not spend a little time going within for that needed guidance? But don't stay there forever, expecting your dream job or your dream lover or your dream car to come up the mountain to you. I guess it is possible to find a large bag of money sitting at your doorstep, but more than likely you are going to have to put some effort into achieving your goal. But your time going within will give you the needed guidance to know just which path to seek, and which one to let go.

New Moon and Solar Eclipse Sunday!

I don't usually post on weekends. Statistics say that readers are offline on weekends, and I say.. yay you! Everyone needs time to enjoy their lives. Go outside, if weather permits. Take a walk. Spend time with family and friends. Read a book.

However, today is the new moon and also another solar eclipse. Apparently we have been having a lot of activity in the skies lately.. eclipses, solar flares, not to mention the Mercury Retrograde,  all of which are contributing to our personal state of affairs.

I am not at all educated in the reading of the stars. I get my information from my many experts in the fields. All I know is that I have been feeling the effects of all of the solar activity. Aches and pains. Tiredness. A need for sleep.

I believe in symbolism. Spirit uses symbols to communicate with us and give us encouragement and hints about our lives. I am always open to symbols and hidden messages, so when I think of the new moon, I think about a time when the moon is not visible in the sky. That doesn't mean it isn't there. The moon is symbolic of all those things in our lives that are not readily visible, our shadow self, some call it. It is also symbolic of the Sacred Feminine. When there is a new moon, it has been waning for some time. This is symbolic of things that are passing out of our lives. What is it in your life that you want to get rid of? Anxiety? Anger? Troubled relationships? Perceived offenses? Maybe financial difficulties or sickness?Why don't you see those things passing out of your life right now? Why don't you go within to find your true light, the light that shines out from within you?

A solar eclipse is also symbolic of something being hidden behind something else. In the case of the new moon, we cannot see the moon because the dark side of the moon is the side that is facing the earth. In a solar eclipse, the light is hidden behind the shadow of the moon. So symbolically, shadows are hiding the light. Shadows are really nothing. They are just what is cast when the sun is shining on the other side of something.  So really, what may come up for you today is that the light is shining, but you can't see it. The shadow of something hidden from view is blocking your light.

Don't allow yourself to be offended today. It is just a shadow. It has no power over you. Let go of grudges and offenses. Be kind. Whatever does come up for you today, know that it will pass. On the east coast of the US, the solar eclipse was only visible for about two minutes. This is symbolic of the shadows of the events in our lives being very transitory.

Allow what is passing out of your life to pass. Thank it for its valuable lessons. Be ready for the light of the sun and the moon to come back. After the darkness has past, new things can begin to birth in your life. New and better things. There is a saying that nothing can be born without there first being a death of sorts. There has to be some sort of release before new things can come into our experience.

Welcome all the things that come and go in and out of your life. Know that it is all good. Learn from your mistakes and grievances. Forgive others and yourself.

I close with a quote from Rev. Irma Kaye Sawyer..

Happy New Moon and Solar Eclipse friends! May what is no longer serving your highest and best be gently eclipsed out of your life, to reveal the shining, crystal clarity within. May healing magic be in your every step.