Mercury Retrograde

Mercury retrograde period:
Jan 11, 2009 through Feb 1, 2009.

Watch for: electronic glitches, computer mishaps, mis-communications, lost or garbled messages, lost luggage (if traveling) problems with siblings or short trips.

Things to avoid: signing contracts, committing to long term projects, purchasing electronics.

Good things to do during a Mercury Retrograde: Renewing any contract or project. Studying things. Revisiting all options. Repeat surgeries for the same issue.

How to Feel Connected

This time of year is filled with rounds of parties and holiday cheer- but not for everyone. For someone going through difficult times, the festivity may increase a feeling of isolation.

Rather than focus on the negative here, this is meant as a guide to pull up your energy, not only now, but at any time one is feeling lost.

How to Lift Your Energy:
1. Gratitude:
Make a list of those things about which you are grateful.
They may include the people in your lives who give your comfort or those who challenge you most.
After all, it is through our challenges that we get an opportunity to grow.

2. Abundance:
Most of us have more than we need of something: Time, material goods, abilities.
List those things you have in abundance.
Those things which exceed your actual demands at present.

3. Sharing:
Find someone, or some group who is lacking in what you have in surplus and share your abundance.
It may be that you are lacking in material goods yourself; but have some extra time.
Find a place to donate that time- even an hour of it- to assist someone who is lonely; or needs a helping hand.

You may find yourself humbled by the experience.
Even awed.

4. Now:
Sit down in prayer or meditation and give thanks.

Enjoy the glow!
That is your connection to others- and to the Divine Source; All Beingness or God.

Trusting your First Impressions

It isn't only students of metaphysics who are afraid to give information they get in a reading; thinking it can't be right and trying to reason it out before they deliver it. This happens to everyone. And this past summer, I had the best example I'd ever had of why you should just go ahead and give the info you get, regardless of how silly or impossible it seems:

I spent a week at Lily Dale- a spiritualist community in western New York state. Or, as I like to think of it: Summer Camp for aging hippies.

Lots of great workshops on various aspects of intuition, Spiritual Healing and Mediumship are offered, along with several services in which registered mediums (people who have passed the rigorous Lily Dale testing) and visiting mediums come up to the front stage of various indoor and outdoor temples to demonstrate the truth of survival of the spirit. There are group meditation opportunities, healing services at the Healing Temple and development circles in the evening.

I attended one hosted by nationally known medium Gregory Keene. There were about two dozen people sitting in a circle. Greg Keene led us in a meditation and then suggested that 'if you received any messages that you would like to share, please do so now.'

For the next half hour or so, the people sitting in the circle took turns doing just that. I had an impression that I knew was for a woman sitting some 30 feet in front of me at the opposite end of the circle. But didn't have the nerve to say anything, because I hadn't picked up a spirit per se; what I got was an elephant!

I was pretty sure it wasn't a dead elephant and I could think of no good reason for seeing a live elephant in this circle. Afraid of being laughed at, I'd decided to simply listen. I tried to shut out the elephant. It grew louder. Braying, or whatever it is that elephants do, it dipped it's head down, bellowed out some kind of odd noise, rearing up its head and curling its trunk upward. Over and over. The harder I tried to shut out that elephant, the louder it got.

Finally, with a lull in the circle, I decided to venture out. So what if they all laughed at me? Like I would see any of them again anyway, right? So I took a deep breath and asked the woman across if I could bring her a message. She agreed. And I froze. I thought as loudly as I could to what I assumed to be a room filled with the spirits of loved ones: Please, don't make me come to her with this elephant; give me someone connected to this woman to bring through first; then I promise I will deliver the damned elephant!

Immediately I became aware of a grandmotherly woman pacing in front of the woman so I brought her up. I reached silently for a name. I was rewarded with an instant image of a friend of my mother's impatiently charging across the circle in front of me; her name was Gerta. I gave the name and the basic personality of my mom's friend Gerta,and Bingo: Yes, this woman did indeed have a grandmother named Gerta, German, in Germany with this personality description. Now the signal improved and I continued to pass along info as I got it, including a health concern and a recommendation that I prefaced with the obligatory disclaimer: 'I am not a doctor and cannot prescribe or diagnose, but this is what I am hearing and I'd recommend you check any information out with professional doctors before you try this, but...' and went on to give what I got.

Finally she stepped back (Gerta) and I was left with that stupid elephant. I took a deep breath and said: "Why am I getting an elephant with you? I don't think you live near a zoo; so why would I be getting an elephant?"

The woman, very surprised, said: "Well, a week ago, I was in Camaroon. There was a herd of about 150 elephants standing about as close to us as I am now to you."

You could have knocked me over with a feather. And her, too.

Lesson?
Trust your first impressions.
Don't reason with them; don't argue with them, just trust the process.
It works.

Going With The Flow

Doesn't it always seem that when things are SUPPOSED to happen- all doors open easily and it's as if your path were greased and Whoosh! Mission accomplished!

Two small examples:
First- an email arrived that required an immediate response and my first reaction (I had just woken up and this was pre-coffee) was a bit defensive. I tapped out my reply, hit send and... nothing happened. I hit send several more times... again, the email just sat there. For several minutes- I tried. No luck.
Hmmm.
I re-read the original email and my response.
I made a few changes. My response now appeared more reasoned; less defensive. Good.
I hit send: it went on the first try.

Later the same day- I had searched everywhere for an important document. Two offices, three filing cabinets, my notebook of current work; all of this. This search had gone on intermittently for 3 or 4 days. I had given up, was prepared to go with a substitute document; something that would work; but certainly wasn't the one I wanted. I flipped open the notebook of current work to find the substitute and ... the book opened immediately to the document I originally wanted. Whew. Why then and not before? Well, this time I was not stressed and trying to force my will. I was open.

The lesson?
If it doesn't work- if obstacles appear to pop up- stop; think; what am I doing? Is it right?
Sure you can force matters, but when has that ever worked out well?

Gettysburg Battlefield

I did a 3 hour auto tour.. in four hours or so.
And the park was crawling with people.. and this was pre-season.
At the places where you'd expect a lot of energy- like Little Round Top and Devil's Den.. children ran about shrieking and chasing each other. Parents yelled at them and teenagers laughed and kidded each other loudly.

You cannot stay beyond park hours; rangers don't take that kindly and there is an automatic $75 fee for violations.

At the battlefield I got some impressions- fleeting sights and sounds... mostly in the Valley Of Death and the Wheatfield- and over by Spangler's Spring and Culp Hill. And once in the national cemetery.
Only during the brief quiet spells.

I think there may be more to feel in some of the buildings in town.. or if you could go into the farmhouses that were used as hospitals in the fields.

Simply because fewer people crawl all over them.

Another trip will need to be made, to investigate further.

Synchronicity Redux

More phone calls from people I was thinking of-
Pulled into a parking lot at the visitor's center- it was packed.
I coasted up the very first isle and sat, in front of the parked cars.. not really thinking.
In seconds... SECONDS.. people came out and took the car nearest to me, giving me one of the best spots in the lot!

Of course, that's not what this is all supposed to be about.
Not the phone calls; the people turning up out of nowhere to offer me help I need but cannot afford and then refusing to take money for it. None of this.

My theory is that it is about being on the right frequency- going along with the Tao, if you will, instead of fighting it.

Gettysburg Ghost Orb Pix!

I have never looked into electronic recording of what they call the paranormal.
But here you can find some of the pictures I took last night on the ghost tour of Gettysburg, which was quite fun, by the way.

In the shrinking of these pictures, some detail is lost, so click 'view image' to see the 'orbs'.

I don't really know what to make of this; my experience with communication with those who have crossed over is.. well, with those who have crossed over.

Is this what they say it is? Spirit energy of some kind?
Well- you couldn't see it with the naked eye; though I could feel the presence of a lot of confused, traumatized people.
Look and judge for yourself.

Conditions were dry, cool to cold and the lens was clean; (it retracts and gets covered automatically by the camera) I got lots of pictures both day and night with no orbs at all.

Harpers Ferry, WV

I toured this historic town today- open to impressions.
Interestingly- it felt 'wiped clean' for the most part- at least in town.
But on Maryland Heights, out beyond the site of the old armory..
there was a brief whiff of horses and the sounds of hoofs and snorts and such- a bit of shouting and then it was gone.

Tomorrow, I will tour Gettysburgh battlefield. That should be quite active with Spirit.

Synchronicity

The more you meditate and practice a connection with all, the more synchronicity there is.

In the past three days, I can think of three episodes of this:
Two involve a phone.
In both cases I was searching for a number for someone- in both cases this was someone I would not ordinarily speak to by phone; one was a client- the other a business aquaintance, more or less.

In both cases, I had spent a couple minutes looking for the number and had given up, when the phone rang and it was them!

The third case was one of driving somewhere, trying to get there on time and thinking: better not get a ticket; slowing down and looking around- no police cars. Within 5 minutes or less, I was on the highway and there were no fewer than 3 police cars watching traffic with radar. This sort of thing had happened to me before- so it is interesting to see it again, although perhaps it doesn't qualify for true synchronicity. Rather more of a premonition.

But the frequency is certainly increrased with the practice of meditation and the conscious awareness of our connectedness.