This is a Halloween wish that each of you move with grace and dignity through this day.
It is a time of celebrating our Ancestors, for they paved the way for us. It is a time of celebrating spirits and laying spirits to rest.
Send blessings to all the spirits that you encounter, and ask for a peaceful journey for them back to their place of being.
Blessings,
Judy
Whether you think of the Great Serpent as the serpent in the picture above, or as a snake, or a dragon, remember that our Ancestors long before Christianity, believed that Serpent had many roles.
Serpent’s greatest role was the symbol of the circle of life. In many traditions, the serpent slept with it’s tail in it’s mouth, showing that life is circular. In some traditions, Serpent curled around the roots of the tree of life, holding the tree in place and providing a base for it to thrive in. If you think of the symbolism, and look around at parks and lawns, you will see that people still create circles around the trees, to give them a base, and even for protection.
The mystery of Serpent is that it moves through all of the elements in its various forms – dragon and fire or air, snake in water and earth – and provides a model for humans to be able to move through all of the elements as well.
If you have dreams of serpent, or if you see pictures as you go about your daily life, know that serpent is telling you to think about the circle of life and what you are doing with your life.
Blessings,
Judy
Animals bring joy and happiness with them. They live in the now moment and yet, like humans, can have long memories of grievances and of great kindnesses.
I dreamt of a young Elephant, who was standing out in a field, singing. He was singing of the joys of the tribe (family). He was singing about eating tasty grasses and leaves. He sang too, about the young animals he would get to play with from time to time. He sang about his mother, and how she cared for him.
He made me think that we humans should be so lucky.
Blessings,
Judy
I want to send a big thank you to CRANE today.
Yesterday, I was to have an exploratory day surgery in the mid afternoon. In the morning, I did a meditation and asked what animals needed to speak with me.
Crane came in, wading in the water, not too far from land. Her message was that now was the time to let go of fear of the unknown, and to wade into places that you have never been before. Now is the time to marry the earth (wisdom and intellect) with water (emotion) and to bring forth a new understanding of one’s self and of one’s creativity. Now is the time to let the natural world look after your healing. Let it go.
When I got to the hospital, I had to wait for some time before they called me in. My sister and I were sitting and chatting. I looked up at one of the walls, and there was a huge picture of a CRANE, wading in water and watching. The Crane winked at me. My procedure was much easier than I anticipated, and I thank CRANE, who brought me a great message from Creator.
Blessings,
Judy
I love this quote - “I talk about you like you put the stars in the sky!”
This means that you think so highly of someone that you cannot talk about them enough, almost to the point of a state of worship. This can be good or bad. However, I heard this phrase in the context of great love between a man and a woman, and the realization that they had. They were so wrapped up in each other, they were losing their friends. Friends are the food that keep you going. So, it is good to love. It is good to have friends.
Blessings,
Judy
As stars, a lamp, a fault of vision,
As dewdrops or a bubble,
A dream, a lightning flash, a cloud,
So one should see conditioned things.
-Diamond Sutra
Blessings,
Judy
I love the drum! I love the sound that each one has, whether it is a group drum, an individual drum, or a rock-n-roll drum. The sound of the drum is, to me, an automatic link to the pulse of the earth, to our pulse, and to the pulse of those around us. The drum is an equalizer. It will take you places because it has a voice and it is a leader. It will take you out of yourself, out of time, and into space. It is healing!
If you wish to take a drum journey, and are experienced in drum journeys, then you will enjoy the drumming tracks on THE PREHISTORIC SHAMANISM site. Note that I suggest that you are experienced – that is – that someone has taught you the ins and the outs of the drum journey. You do not want to get lost!
Check it out. http://www.prehistoricshamanism.com/drumming-tracks.php
Blessings,
Judy
On the 18th of October, the Full Moon bathed the Earth in light. And, on the same day is the Lunar Eclipse.
Our Ancestors, the Earth Ancestors, knew that the Full Moon and the Eclipse were bringers of great power to the Earth. The October Moon tells us what kind of winter we will have in the northern hemisphere. It also tells us, through our dreams or through the many celebrations around the full moon, what issues will get stirred up in the human mind and emotional body.
For the next month or so, we all will be dealing with issues about truth, and what is truth. We will need to look at our relationships with our family, friends, work, church/religion, and with our selves. We will be weeding out all the things that do not serve us any longer. These are the things that hold us back from doing what we really want to do. It is time.
Blessings,
Judy
The Angels tell us that the easiest way to speak with Creator is to simply talk to Creator in prayer. A prayer is simply when we talk to Mother/Father God, or to the Supreme Being that is in your belief system.
I think simple prayers work the best because they come from the heart.
I love this prayer because it covers so much.
Give Us Hearts to Understand
Give us hearts to understand;
Never to take from creation's beauty more than we give; never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed;
Never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth's beauty; never to take from her what we cannot use.
Give us hearts to understand
That to destroy earth's music is to create confusion; that to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty;
That to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench; that as we care for her she will care for us.
We have forgotten who we are.
We have sought only our own security.
We have exploited simply for our own ends.
We have distorted our knowledge.
We have abused our power.
Great Spirit, whose dry lands thirst,
Help us to find the way to refresh your lands.
Great Spirit, whose waters are choked with debris and pollution, help us to find the way to cleanse your waters.
Great Spirit, whose beautiful earth grows ugly with misuse, help us to find the way to restore beauty to your handiwork.
Great Spirit, whose creatures are being destroyed,
help us to find a way to replenish them.
Great Spirit, whose gifts to us are being lost in selfishness and corruption, help us to find the way to restore our humanity.
Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the wind,
whose breath gives life to the world, hear me;
I need your strength and wisdom.
May I walk in Beauty.
(From the Native American Project)
Blessings,
Judy
How many people do you know get their hands dirty on a regular basis? If you come from a farming background, chances are you know people who did get dirty, working with their hands, digging, tilling, and fixing machinery, or working with animals.
Statistics tell us that less and less people are producing any thing for themselves; they rely on others to produce the food, the goods, and the technology. One of the most calming things, to my mind, is digging in the dirt to create a garden, or working with animals, or fixing a piece of equipment.
Yes, it is hard to fix things when the hard goods are all disposable, and some cities even prohibit the cultivating of gardens. However, you may find a place where you can work with your hands, and get them dirty. Your soul will thank you!
Blessings,
Judy
I was listening to two women talking at a café while I was waiting for my sister to join me. Their conversation was interesting because they talked about their children and how busy their kids or grandkids were. Both women said that having their children close to them and yet so busy, made them feel alone or lonely.
I rolled that around in my mind. Does lonely mean that they have no one to talk to? Does lonely mean they feel excluded from the activities? Does lonely mean that the children have nothing to do with their mother? I wasn’t sure.
What I am sure about is that Angels are always present so one is never alone.
Blessings,
Judy
Strength moves us from a place of helplessness to being powerful. Even the smallest child can have incredible strength if they have incredible will!
Our will – our truth deep within our Spirit – manifests so many ways, and yet we do not see how we are being strong. We see others that are strong, and we remark on how powerful or willful, they are.
Some examples are the will of people who are ill, to live. Or, the will of someone to go to university and the most adverse situation. Or, the will of someone who has different learning disabilities to learn to read and write, and then to write best selling books. Gandhi is a wonderful example of the will of one man to make change.
I think about our Ancestors and how they had the will to move from Europe or Asia to North America in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds, and then hook up with a wagon train to travel west. What courage and will!
Is there something that you need to find the will to do?
Blessings,
Judy
One of my favorite movies is “The Blind Side”. I think there is a great lesson in that movie for each of us. In the scene where Sandra Bullock asks Michael how he escaped from being sucked in to the life that his mother had. Michael replies that when ever anything bad happened, his mother told him to close his eyes. He kept them closed until the bad stuff was over.
The lesson that Michael is teaching is that everyone can feel safe if they find a haven in their mind.
Watch the movie and see if you agree.
Blessings,
Judy
This poster was a really nice wakeup call for me! I was falling into a trap that existed around me, on a project, where everyone worried about what could go wrong. I thought about what I was thinking – that is when you realize how far out you can go with your thoughts!
I normally think happy thoughts. I am grateful for my sisters and our closeness so I often think about situations that made me laugh when we three sisters were together. I clicked into a knowing that I let that go… Why? I was being sucked into “grim”.
I am letting go of grim and going back to happy. I made a list of all the good things, and I have it visually pinned to the cork board in my office in my head. I look at it every day, sometimes twice a day, or when ever I need it. Things do go ‘right’!
Blessings,
Judy
It is easy to let go of ambition to do this or that, and this is mostly in the competitive world of career and position climbing. Competition such as that gets old after while.
What makes getting up in the morning lots of fun is to find something that you can work at, and, as you work at it, it grows and changes you – rather than you changing it!
Inspiration gives you new synapses in your brain. It makes you fun, interesting, and a great person to know. Inspiration is about feeling alive and being able to conquer all that lies ahead of you.
Good luck and blessings for your next inspiration.
Judy
I am interested that several times, lately, someone comes up to me and tells me that they are spiritual, and then proceeds to describe their religion to me. Their religion seems to have so many rules and “must do” and “must not do”, I wonder how they can possibly enjoy life.
I enjoy Steve Earle’s comment. Steve Earle is a singer and song writer who has written hits for movies including Dead Man Walking and Brokeback Mountain, to name two. His quote talks about spirit and it’s relationship with God or Great Spirit.
Blessings,
Judy
Some days, you have to get out of bed and say, “This is the dream. I can do what ever I need to do, today!”
By doing this, you free up yourself to look within, to see what calls to you from the heart, and allows you to do “something” that fulfills your soul.
Although that sounds like a huge task, it is not! Fulfilling your soul is unique for each of us. It may be anything from car racing to making bread, to reading to children at a library. What lies within us is a need to connect with something greater than each of us.
For me, being out with animals, in Nature, brings great peace to my soul, my physical body, and my emotional body. I come back to the house feeling energized.
My friend, Diana, bakes cookies. She will make large ones and small ones and cute ones, and feel happier for it. It makes her friends happy too, because we get to eat them.
Like the Eagle, we each have to soar and dive into things to find the special “thing” that fulfills us. Start looking today if you don’t know what it is.
Blessings,
Judy
I was doing a card reading for a friend, using Doreen Virtue’s Angel Cards. The card that came up in every selection when we moved to a different question, was the card, TRUST.
The idea of trusting ourselves is not new. We have all been taught not to trust ourselves, by religion and priests or ministers, by teachers, and by parents and family. How many times were your decisions criticized by one of the groups in the previous sentence? I know that they have your best interests at heart, but, do they really? Or, are they trying to keep you from rocking their world.
It is often easier to persuade someone not to change than to let their change interfere with your life and patterns of belief. You may even have done this to a friend. Is that person still your friend?
Trusting yourself means not asking others for their opinion. For some reason, if you ask for an opinion, the other person expects you to follow the guidance. Sometimes the guidance is so ridiculous, you could not possibly follow it. So, save yourself some grief. Make your own decisions. If you need to get advice from a trusted expert – a lawyer, accountant, or doctor, or whoever, that is different than asking someone who is not an expert. Don’t stop doing that.
Blessings,
Judy
“Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.”
Henry Van Dyke
I love to hear about people that are changing their lives! It is awesome to hear about someone who stops being a salesperson, and becomes an artist. Or, to hear about someone who becomes a singer at age forty-five.
Our culture has done a great job of beating into us that we have to be excellent at whatever the task is… even though excellent is not really definable. This culture has instilled fear into us about trying new things or about being outside of our comfort zone.
For you artists that are struggling with whether you are an artist, the “20 Ways” series offers you a unique way to draw without having your work judged. Check out this book… 20 Ways To Draw A Cat.
Blessings,
Judy
Sometimes, we move through life too quickly to see the enchantment in special places. Most often, it will be in a forest where the shade, the Sun, and the warmth conspire to create the most mystical spots. Spots where we can see in our mind, the dancing fairies, sprites, and beautiful creatures.
In this enchanted spot, they are real. In being real, they are now part of our lives, and they can provide energy to us. If you feel low, depressed, not motivated, then think of “Enchantment” and see how quickly your motivation can change.
Enchantment, it is said, is about impossible things happening. For example, the first people that saw a biplane that had never heard of airplanes, thought that the plane was magic or an enchantment. They believed the pilot was enchanted – made to do the impossible.
When I am given a task that feels quite large, I break it down in to enchantments – thing that are possible but may require some creativity and some hard work.
What will you enchant today?
Blessings,
Judy
This past week, I went through another session of – “why should I bother writing this blog anymore? It doesn’t seem to serve a purpose.” As I think these things, and get ready to write my last blog, I get emails and phone calls telling me how much the blog is appreciated, and that the hope is that I will keep on writing.
Dear Family of this blog,
Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you for sharing the stories, many that will never appear in the comments, with me. They touch my heart and restore pieces of my soul.
For all of you, I continue to write this blog!
Blessings,
Judy
