Spirit Speaks - The Spiritual Path is Stepping Into the Unknown

The mystics in the world are writing about the opening up to spirituality that will be transforming people over the next twenty years.  Spirit tells us that this spiritual path is different for everyone. People seldom have the same experiences and processes.  Each of us is wired to experience life differently and so we each must have a unique spiritual experience.  Each day will open up new experiences for us to process and to grow with.  It will be challenging.  It will be frustrating at times.  It will help us grow into the being that will make a difference.

Many blessings.

Spirit Speaks - On Being Happy

When you ask someone if they are happy, chances are that they will respond with "not really", or "not usually", or something like that.  Spirit tells us that many people want to be happy but that they are looking for someone or something outside of themselves to make them happy. Most people do not understand that happiness has to come from a place inside you.  It is the spark that makes you see the beauty in Nature and to feel playfulness to play with your children or pets.  It is the feeling that all is well regardless of what the complainers and nay-sayers are telling you.

Being happy is the gift of not caring about the drama going on around you.

Many blessings.

Angels Speak - On Being Humble

One of the challenges of being around people today is having to deal with people who have huge egos.  Through their ego, they believe that they are right all the time, that they know everything, including all the answers, and that we, the audience are just ignorant, and must listen to them.  Truly, it gets tiring!

We see the egos at work, in stores and restaurants, and sometimes in our family and friends.  When people are so egotistical and rude, it is really difficult to wish them "loving kindness".  Yet, the lesson for us is that those with egos are the ones that need loving kindness.  We can be humble and we can help others, quietly and lovingly, without the noise.

Many blessings.

Spring Equinox March 20 2018

This spring equinox is part of the beginning of the 19-Year cycle that started with the January 31 Full Moon and Eclipse.  It is a time of karmic changes that look at Love, Relationships with Others and with The Earth, and a time to look at our spiritual gifts.

I think that this prayer is an awesome prayer to offer up on this Equinox.

Earth, Teach Me!

Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain.
--Ute Prayer

Many blessings.

Spirit Guides in Black and White - Penguin

This blog is in answer to several readers who have sent in questions about Penguin showing up in their dreams or during the day in a picture or on television.  And, this blog is a partial answer to why some guidance seems to be in black and white.

****

Penguins have been around for 30 to 40 million years as verified by the six foot fossils found. This makes Penguin one of the older spirit guides.

When Penguin first appears to you, do not be surprised if she bows. As well as looking formal in their black and white attire, Penguins have an intricate social pattern that includes bowing to one’s mate upon leaving and arriving in the nest, bowing to others as they move throughout the society. Bowing represents a tool for appeasement and to maintain social structure. Those who have Penguin as a guide are encouraged to become more polite and attentive to how the social structure around them is holding together. Perhaps you are being called to pay honor to your mate or to your friends. Perhaps you need to appease someone where you have been harsh with your words or actions. Penguin also moves in straight lines when they are gathered in groups and moves with orderliness and a sense of purpose. They are determined and focus. If you lack determination and focus, ask Penguin to assist you in strengthening these areas.

As Penguin has become smaller (see side bar about height of six feet) and more aquatic, its ability to see out of water has diminished. It sees best in the water. As water also represents emotion, then Penguin has the clarity to see through the emotion and get to the heart of the issue. Additionally, Penguin moves through the water with the style of an acrobat or ballerina. They may be awkward on land, but Penguin is graceful and fluid in the water, twisting and turning and shooting upward, achieving speeds of 25 miles per hour. Penguin then teaches about tuning to your inner rhythm, and how to move with speed through emotions, shortening the time you would otherwise spend there.

Pay attention to Penguin’s color. Black and white, ying and yang, magic and mystery! The whiteness of the Penguin represents the awakening spirit and the light of all that is – as does the whiteness where it resides. The black represents the unknown, the density, and the different dimensions. The balance in Penguin’s color shows you how to balance and merge the darkness and the light, and to move between worlds as the Penguin moves between the sea and the land – two different worlds. Feel honored that Penguin is your guide for your journey of magic and mystery is moving in a new direction.

Many blessings.

Ancestors Speak - A Personal Creed

A quiet place for reflection in Fish Creek Park - by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

(This blog is a reprint of an earlier blog from January 2009.  Enjoy!)

When one thinks of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, one thinks of valour, and of a creed of goodness or honour.  It will not surprise you to find that "Creed" means a "set of beliefs or guiding principles" (from the Merriam-Webster.com online dictionary).

History admires knights or anyone who seems to hold fast to principles of integrity and truth.  Why?  Because today, we no longer work with truth and integrity as part of our every day lives in business.  A popular sales tool is called "bait and switch".  The goal is to get the buyer interested in a mythological set of goods, and then actually sell the buyer something quite different.  Where is the integrity in that?  Corporations sell based on making money and producing revenue for shareholders. Shoddy workmanship, falsified lists of ingredients or list of parts, and mis-labelled packages are all part of the "game" to improve the bottom line.

With such examples in our every day lives, it almost seems impossible for an individual to avoid replicating the examples from the workplace.  Buddhists have the five precepts that they live by:

• Abstain from destroying life
• Abstain from stealing
• Abstain from sexual misconduct
• Abstain from lies
• Abstain from intoxicating drinks

These five precepts are actually their creed for their way of life - a way of life that has been around since the first day of Buddha.  Many people find these precepts difficult to understand.

Shaman suggest that each of us create our own creed or way of life.  Therefore, when we violate our creed, we immediately "feel" the breach of trust with our self, and we react to repair the damage.

Here are some ideas for a personal creed.

I will be good to my body.

I will be truthful to myself and others.

I will treat all living things with respect.

I will honour the rights of all human beings to be the individuals they are with their own Sacred Points of View.

I will embrace my faith, and I will trust the Creator's divine guidance.

I will see all experiences in my life as ways to grow with lessons to learn.

I will strive to be my personal best without comparing my path to others.   (Suggestions from "DANCING THE DREAM" by Jamie Sams)

Being good to your body means the right foods should be consumed!  Picture from Microsoft Clip Art....

When each of these ideas is examined, one says, "Why wouldn't I follow these beliefs?"  The interesting answer is that often, in order to work at a job each day, one cannot have many of these beliefs because the beliefs at work conflict with the beliefs of the person.

When one sits in Meditation and asks how to resolve the incongruity of the work place and the person, Angels may answer and simply tell the person to leave their job.  To work at something that does not treat humans with respect is not healing or loving.  When we have a creed of honour, we crave the feeling of Oneness with all things -much like the Shaman of old were seen to be filled with peace and a spirit that directly linked to the Heavens.

The creed that our ancestors lived with was about being in balance, recognizing Nature/Mother Earth as the provider of all food and water and air - simply, the provider of everything.  Corporations with all of their material goods, do not provide everything that we need. Perhaps it is time for all of us to develop a creed.

What would your creed be?

Many blessings.

Smudging Has Medical and Spiritual Benefits

Anyone that starts on a spiritual practice learns about smudging with sage, juniper, lavender, palo santo wood, or with frankincense, myrrh, or any other number of products. Many incenses are also pure enough to be good smudging agents. Smudging is a way of clearing the energy or aura around one's self or around others to get rid of negative energy. Anecdotal evidence provides many reasons to keep smudging:

• The feeling of being lighter or clearer
• Feeling one can breath better
• Feeling that the space that was cleared is less dense then areas that are not cleared

However, there is now scientific evidence showing the benefits of smudging.  Because a remarkable 2007 study titled, "Medicinal smoke reduces airborne bacteria," published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, we now know that smudging may be one of the most powerful antiseptic technologies ever discovered.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

We have observed that 1 hour treatment of medicinal smoke emanated by burning wood and a mixture of odoriferous and medicinal herbs (havan sámagri=material used in oblation to fire all over India), on aerial bacterial population caused over 94% reduction of bacterial counts by 60 min and the ability of the smoke to purify or disinfect the air and to make the environment cleaner was maintained up to 24 hour in the closed room. Absence of pathogenic bacteria Corynebacterium urealyticum, Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens, Enterobacter aerogenes (Klebsiella mobilis), Kocuria rosea, Pseudomonas syringae pv. persicae, Staphylococcus lentus, and Xanthomonas campestris pv. tardicrescens in the open room even after 30 days is indicative of the bactericidal potential of the medicinal smoke treatment. We have demonstrated that using medicinal smoke it is possible to completely eliminate diverse plant and human pathogenic bacteria of the air within confined space."

Not only did the burning of medicinal herbs clear aerial bacterial populations by 94% within one hour, but a full day later, the closed room was still effectively decontaminated. Even more amazing, a full month later, seven other pathogenic bacteria in the open room were still non-detectable.  There is evidence that smudging is more effective than Lysol type air purifiers. 

Action Plan

Go out and buy some sage, sweet grass, lavender, or any combination, and give your home a good cleansing.  Post a comment telling the rest of us how it worked for you.

Many blessings.

Buddha Speaks - We need a Spiritual Life

You may have heard the saying that you need something to believe in.  For some, this means that you need religion.  For others, it means that you need to believe in some guiding principles or creed, to help you live your life to its highest potential. 

The spiritual life that we lead keeps us grounded when circumstances become dangerous, or filled with grief, or with uncertainty.  By having guiding principles such as the Buddhist Eight Precepts or Don Miguel Ruiz's Four Agreements, or whatever belief system you have, we keep a light burning that keeps us on a path for our highest good.

We can use our spirituality at work, play, or whenever we need it.  The big thing is that we need to remember to use it.

Many blessings.

Angels Speak - You Create Your Reality

So often I hear people say, "Why is this happening to me?"  The short answer that no one wants to hear is "because you willed it".  By repeating thoughts, and by validating them by speaking out loud, both  positive or negative energies are created around us.  They attract the very circumstances that we may have been trying to avoid.

The example that comes to mind is a lady who repeatedly said that she wanted to be the center of attention.  Within several years, she had incurable cancer that made her the center of attention of her family and doctors and nurses at the hospital and cancer treatment center.  Obviously, this was not the type of attention that she wanted.  Because she did not put any qualifications around the "dream or vision", the Universe provided the circumstances to grant her wish.

The Angels tell us to be very careful with our thoughts and words for we may get exactly what we asked for.

Many blessings.

Welcome March 2018

The season in the North is beginning to change from winter, with its snow and cold, to a milder, lighter time as March rolls in.  We equate March with the return of the sun and look forward to the equinox on March 20 this year.  We are anxious to smell the changes that come with the melting snow, and the rising rivers and rising sap in the trees. 

It is a time to start clearing and cleaning out those things that we no longer need/use/want.  It can be physical things or spiritual things.

It is a time for letting go.

Many blessings.