There are many different oracles out there that we can use to empower ourselves. One of my favorites are the “Saints & Angels” oracle cards by Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. (Hay House, 2005). This is, by nature, a very gentle oracle. It is, in essence, wisdom from Spirit, coming through the Saints and Angels.

The messages in these cards are a comfort, as they let us know here on the physical plane that help is always available from Spirit, and that we do not walk alone (however much that may seem at times). Among the voices heard here are those of Guardian Angel, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Agnes of Rome, St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Bernadette, St. Hildegard of Bingen, St. Michael (the Archangel), Mother Mary, Christ, St. Raphael (the Archangel), St. Mother Teresa, St. Mary Magdalene, and St. Christopher.

The face of the cards shows a keyword at the top, with the name of the energy speaking at the bottom. In between are lovely illustrations that can act as focus for personal meditation. The companion book expands on the meaning of each of the cards.

One of the cards is entitled “Speak Your Truth”. The speaker is St. Bernadette. The companion book expands on the keyword to focus on literally speaking your truth … speaking up, and making your voice known. Give your fears and anxieties about what the reaction to your words will be over to God, St. Bernadette, and your angels. Speak in a lovng way, but speak with integrity. Heaven protects us, and guides out words as we say t hem.

What type of oracle appeals to you? Don’t be afraid to place it in your life, and turn to it in time of need.

The Full Moon for July 25^th, 2010 is in the sign of Aquarius. One thing that we can expect from Aquarius is those “Aha!” moments – moments of inspiration that come at us out of the blue. Aquarius carries the energy of hope and promise – of compassion carried into the future.

Full Moon’s are all about endings and new beginnings – we bring to a close and release that which no longer serves us well. We ready ourselves to bring in new energy, new goals, new projects. With Aquarius, the scope is more of a collective than an individual nature. We are focusing our actions on serving humanity.

We will see fire, passion and a sense of confidence in this Full Moon. We are meant to explore our passions and our talents, and to express them in a way that is beneficial to humanity as a whole.

Be okay if the thoughts that come to you at this time seem a bit, shall we say “unique”. You may not be able to see at this time how they fit into the big picture, but if you find a way to implement them, you will see how they change the big picture for the better.

We must trust that the path we are on is leading us where we need to go. The changes coming to us are ones that will help us redefine our path for this lifetime. The ideas that come to us, and the people that we encounter, act as gateways to a new and very creative way of thinking, acting and living.

As individuals, we can choose to be open to the changes coming to us. We can surround ourselves with like-minded people, and become involved in projects that show compassion and integrity. We can make a difference, a difference that will live on into the future, creating a better, more sustainable future.

I love crystals – when I read in person, I have my clients hold a rose quartz crystal in their hand. This crystal will hold the essence of their reading, and is something that I gift them with at the end of the reading. Rose quartz is all about love, and heart energy.

Other crystals that can aid in healing, or simply in dealing with specific situations/issues are:

Amber: Dispelling negativity and allowing the individual to experience happiness.

Amethyst: Used for calming, it is excellent to use when meditating. It also acts as a gateway for connecting with psychic abilities.

Aquamarine: Assisting the flow of love and compassion.

Aventurine: Helps in dealing with anxiety, and cleanses mental, emotional and etheric bodies.

Carnelian: Helps with memory, acts as a gateway to the creative self, and can be used for protection.

Citrine: Helps to process energy work.

Coral: Used to assist in strengthening ones emotions.

Emerald: Used to assist with both physical and emotional healing.

Fluorite: Used for grounding and concentration.

Clear Quartz: Acts to balance emotions, and protects by dispelling negative energy.

Jade: Assists with relaxation, and helps induce calmness.

Malachite: Assists with bringing in harmony.

Mother of Pearl: Assists in protection.

Picture Jasper: Excellent crystal for both emotional and psychological healing.

Snowflake Obsidian: Helps to provide balance and acts as protection.

Sodalite: Enhances communication.

Tiger Eye: Connects the individual with their own personal power. Helps to ground and center.

Summer is a lovely time - the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, we are out on our patio's bbq'ing, planning vacations, picnics and just plain family time together. I decided to do a reading on how to make the best use of summer's slower flow.

                         The Energy of Summer

1. What do we need to know about summer?
2. How can we best incorporate this into our life?
3. What is the summer of 2010 bringing to us?

The cards that I drew were: (1) the Six of Swords, (2) the Knight of Cups, (3) the Knight of Pentacles. Whew - what a lot of actiont his summer with those Knights!

What we need to know about this summer is that each of us will be going on a journey of personal growth. This is helped along, as it were, by the recent lunar and solar eclipses. Jolts of energy that acted to push us out of our "safe zones" and redirect our lives. This is a time of transition, and we will be seeing things through a new, fresh perspective.

How can we best incorporate this energy into our lives? By allowing ourselves to follow our dreams, to manifest our visions and to pay attention to our dreams, and to our intuitive thoughts.

What is the summer of 2010 bringing to us? We are being told that we will have the opportunity to take the wisdom that has come to us and put it to use in a practical way in the real world. Teaching what we know, in some way sharing what we have learned. Working to create that "safe place" in our lives.

What a wonderful summer we have ahead of us! Enjoy!



 

I just got done reading an excellent blog on meditation techniques related to the Tarot. I found it to be very empowering, and it started me thinking about meditation in general – why we do it, and what we get from it. Meditation is a connection with spirit – whatever form we perceive spirit to take. It allows us to take a time out – a step back, for a few moments, from the everyday concerns and pressures of life.

Meditation allows us to see our lives with greater clarity, which allows us to make better decisions, and reduces the stress we are facing. We can take this one step further and meditate on specific issues, or to manifest specific things that act to enrich our lives. We can use meditation to help us problem solve, and we can use it to help us make the changes we need to make in the best possible fashion.

Through meditation we can learn to live from our hearts, to live in a state of compassion. We can learn to experience joy and peace on a daily basis, and make it an integral part of our lives. We can also learn to access our creative center, and become the people that we are meant to be.

There are many forms of meditation – work with the ones t at appeal to you, and you will see a significant difference in your life.

· Focus on your breathing – follow your breath in and out.

· Work with a mantra of any type.

· In a darkened room, use a candle as a focal point.

· Work with meditative music.

· Taking a moment with your morning cup of coffee to admire the sunrise/sunset, the flowers in your yard, or just to watch the animal life around you.

· Taking a walk in nature – on the beach, in a park, or even around your neighborhood. The key here – pay attention the whatever crosses your path. Remain in the present.

Meditation is a wonderful tool of empowerment. Choose to empower yourself!

All eyes are currently on the Gulf oil spill. BP has stated that they feel that they should be able to have a solution in place by the 27^th of July. I drew three cards to see what we need to know about this solution. The cards drawn, and position definitions, were:

Past: The Emperor

Present: Nine of Swords

Future: Ace of Swords

The Emperor represents, IMHO, two people: US President Obama, and BP CEO Tony Hayward. Both gentlemen have strong positions to defend, and strong organizations to keep on an even keel. Both men are authoritarian figures, strong rulers, and are able to implement the decisions that they make. Both men are responsible for the people that work under them/elected them.

The Nine of Swords describes the chaos (albeit organized chaos) that the Gulf oil spill has generated. (I truly think this should have a bigger name – a “spill” is a glass of milk all over the floor – this much oil over this amount of physical area is way beyond that!) Everyone is worried – about the oil still spewing out, the damage done to the creatures of the ocean and the assorted bird populations, to the wetland areas, to the fishermen who are losing/have lost their livelihood, and to the associated businesses that may well not make it through this. Removing the oil from the ocean is not going to magically return the ocean and its inhabitants to good health. Much fear and anxiety here.

Aces are cards of opportunity. This in itself is a good sign. Aces are intellect and clear vision. They are also cards of communication. President Obama has made it clear t hat BP needs to have more than one backup plan in case the current plan does not work. BP seems to be reaching out and communicating with all individuals and agencies that can give them some help with this situation. We have to remember that this is relatively uncharted territory (underwater oil drilling), BP may have made some poor management decisions,... Read More

The New Moon appears in the sign of Cancer on Sunday, July 11^th, 2010. On this day there will also be a total eclipse of the Sun. Part of the energy that a solar eclipse brings is that of letting go of things/people/issues that have been with us for some time, and are no longer serving us well. This, in turn, makes room for new beginnings. (Side note: Expect lots of energy for the FIFA World Cup on this day!)

The two signs that will feel this eclipse the most are individuals with Cancer or Capricorn rising, or those with Cancer or Capricorn as their Sun or Moon. Total renovation/transformation time here, people! Changes always begin within, but in this case they will be reflected with noticeable physical changes.

Both the internal and external changes within each of us will act as a catalyst for others to see us a bit differently, which means that we can expect changes in all levels of relationship – personal and professional. The changes in our relationships will then act as a catalyst for us to redefine what is important to us, what works for us, where our passions lie, and where we want to place our focus and commitment.

The changes that are coming with this solar eclipse will affect all areas of our life. Our reaction to them will be through our emotional self (Cancer). Because Cancer also relates to intuition and dreams, this is a time when messages that come to us in these areas will be of major importance. As with all eclipses, the caveat is “What is hidden will come to light.” The messages that come to you will bring into the light of day information that is important to the future that you are creating for yourself.

The Aces in the Tarot are cards of potential – potential to work with the energy that is inherent in each of the suits. Aces indicate new beginnings, opportunities that are coming to the Seeker, and the pure energy of each element.

The Ace of Wands carries the elemental energy of Fire. It is all about career, creativity, passion, mindfulness and will. It is the desire for self-growth. The flip side of this Ace shows the Seeker experiencing delays, lack of opportunity, frustration, feeling powerless and power struggles.

The Ace of Cups carries the elemental energy of Water. It is all about intuition, emotions, love and relationship, emotional connections, nurturing and socializing. The flip side of this Ace shows a lack of connection with ones emotions, love that is not reciprocated, lack of love, feelings of insecurity, and not trusting ones intuition.

The Ace of Swords carries the elemental energy of Air. It is all about communications, mental focus, analysis, getting to the truth of an issue, and the use of logical, rational thinking. The flip side of this Ace shows misplaced aggression, lack of logic, a pessimistic attitude, loss of power, and an unwillingness to stand up for ones self, or to fight,

The Ace of Pentacles carries the elemental energy of Earth, It is all about the physical plane, material issues, work, grounding of energy, finances, home, family and resources. The flip side of this Ace shows greed, hoarding, fear of loss, money being paid out, mistrust of opportunities and too much attention to the material things of life.

Always remember that these are cards of potential. To activate their potential, the Seeker needs to take some form of action. The more informed and focused their actions, the better the manner in which the energy will manifest in their lives.

Build it, and they will come!

Webster defines hope as “To cherish a desire with anticipation.”, and “To expect with confidence.” We often feel that we have little hope, or little encouragement in our lives. Where we will find that hope is not outside of ourselves, but within. Int hat spark of Spirit that resides within each of us, we will find hope.

Find the hope within you, and nourish it. Many people and/or situations will act to crush that hope – do not allow this to happen. Keep the hope for whatever you wish to see in your life alive by believing that it can happen, and by believing that you can be part of that happening.

When we have hope, we can handle anything, make our way through anything. Our hopes and our dreams are energies that need nourishing – place your focus, and your intention, on your hopes and dreams.

What are some of the ways in which we can nourish our hopes and dreams?

     1. Honor yourself – treat yourself with respect.
     2. Treat others with the respect that you would like to be treated with.    
     3. Make the conscious choice to look at situations and people in the most positive light.
     4. Listen to your heart – choose to believe that there is hope.                  
     5. Live in the present – be aware of your thoughts, words and actions in the present.
     6. Acknowledge that the thoughts, words and actions that you express in the present create your future.
     7. Align yourself with others that share the same hopes and dreams.       
     8. Know that you are the only person that needs to approve or disapprove of your words and actions.
     9. Learn to... Read More

On July 4^th here in the United States we celebrate our independence from Great Britain. We are a country of, by and for the people. Our freedoms are so inherently a part of us that we take them for granted – for over 200 years it has been this way. We have the freedom to express our opinions (freedom of speech), the freedom to bear arms, the freedom to live where we want, to live how we want, and to be educated to the extent that we want. Many of our people have lost their lives fighting for these freedoms.

On this day, we will attend picnics and family gatherings, watch (or perhaps participate in) parades, and enjoy incredible displays of fireworks set off nationwide. All of this in honor of our heritage, of who we are, and what this country stands for.

I did a short reading on how we can best honor this 4^th of July:

(1) Spiritual Advice – The Moon

(2) Trait that we need to develop – Queen of Wands

(3) Actions that we can take - Two of Swords

The Moon tells us that we need to look closer – that we need to see what may be deceiving us, or how we may be deceiving ourselves (or others). We are also being advised to listen to our dreams, to our intuition, and to act on them accordingly.

The trait that we need to develop within ourselves is that of independence, and of being actively involved in our communities. We need to develop our sense of self-confidence, and allow ourselves to flow with our passions.

The action that we can take to honor our independence is that of not falling into the deceptive tap of trying to define everything – to classify things, to give them a name and, essentially, to create boundaries around them. We need to be able to suspend our judgment, to lose the need for self-protection, and to look for balance in a situation, rather than seeing everything in black and white.

Wishing you all a safe, sane 4^th of July, with wonderful... Read More