What is the easiest way to recreate yourself?
Online of course. Sometimes this doesn't mean much in a real-time lifestyle sort of way and sometimes it does. Sometimes our online persona bleeds through to our everyday reality. Sometimes it is even a starting point of sorts.
Case in point? This blog.
I began this blog in 2010 following a series of spiritual events that did not quite fit in with my everyday experience. All of that began, as so many things do, with a dream.
This dream was no ordinary dream. It was complex and vivid and remarkably coherent. It was also indescribably, overwhelming and unforgettably beautiful! Waking up from that dream I knew that something important had happened but it would take time for me to understand just what that something was.
When my everyday experience began to echo the events of the dream, however, the pieces began to fall into place and my spiritual journey began to gather momentum.
I was, and to some degree still am, alone on that path. And if there is any one reason why I started this blog - that was it. I wasn't happy in world where no one understood my journey, so I decided to share what I was learning here - and I kept sharing, week in and week out, right up to the present day. Doing that changed me and at certain points it was necessary for the blog to change, too.
I have changed the look and focus of the blog several times. This is my newest recreation. Let me know what you think!
The snow started to fall here in Northeast PA on Wednesday morning and continued through the day, covering the garden, and softening the untended edges of the yard. The woods behind the house filled with snow and the path that leads up the hill was buried. And I was glad to see it.
I love the changing seasons and the rhythm our circling earth supplies. But I know that each season brings its own unique set of opportunities and challenges and that this is especially true of winter.
For me, winter is a time of clarity
and inspiration. A time of creativity and deep thought and blinding illumination. Winter opens the mind to new things, things we would have never thought of in other softer seasons, things that can put the whole rest of the year into a meaningful perspective.
But winter is a time of limitation, too. Those of us living in the colder climates may feel hemmed in by snow or cold or icy roads. We might not get outside as much as we would like and even when we do go out - the days end early. This can affect us in many different ways and some of us may struggle to keep our spirits high.
I have found that the best way to keep my spirits up is by celebrating the unique energies of this very special season. Here are a few tips that have helped me:
- Honor your intellect. Learn something new. Turn off the TV. Pick up a book. Learn a language. Research a topic. Fill the long nights with learning.
- Stimulate your creativity. Pick a winter project. Make candles or cookies or learn a brand new craft. Write a short story, start a novel or a painting, redesign your blog or website, or redecorate your home.
- Seek inner illumination. Learn something new about yourself. Start a journal. Meditate. Record your dreams. Record your tarot readings or psychic sessions. Reflect on your discoveries and the ways you can apply that insight in the coming year.
- Chase the sun. Go outside when the sun is shining or anytime it's snowing. Walk your dog, do some winter gardening or take a social media pic and inspire others. Tell yourself yourself you can come in whenever you are ready. Odds are you'll stay a while (it's the getting out that's hard).
- Bring the light indoors. Use candles and brightly colored lights at night. Open the curtains throughout the day. Rethink your window treatments.
- Break up stale energy. Crack the windows when you clean whenever that is possible. Clear clutter. Make a giveaway bag (and then give it away). Keep things neat.
- Bring a bit of nature into your home before the holiday season. Buy a plant. Cut a bit of evergreen and put it on your altar or in any prominent location.
Wednesday Morning: my herb garden in the process of being cover up by snow. |
Rosemary saved in the nick of time. |
Hill behind our house just as the snow was starting. |
I'm currently taking a fascinating course on Astral Projection (Astral Projection Practical Intensive) and wanted to share a bit on my progress. We are currently in Session 3 and, while I have not projected as of yet, I do feel I'm progressing.
The course is given by OBE expert Robert Bruce. It utilizes Robert ebook (free on his site at AstralDynamics.com) as well as the Hemi-Sync astral projection meditation CDs/MP3s produced by Robert Monroe. Each session begins with several videos, as well as some text and recommended reading on the new material, and assigns a new and very specific level of astral practice.
All practices include daily energy work followed by the Hemi-Sync Meditation. I am now using the second (or condition A) MP3 meditation and have been having some interesting
experiences. These include lots of tingling sensations, occasional feelings of expansion, and a
few visions. The visions have been interesting because they have been consistent. I have seen archways, tunnels, roads, paths and a kind of moving tunnel where it appeared that I was rocketing through space with energy streaming by on either side.
My current challenge is that I'm going very deep in trance with the meditations and losing my awareness at times - though I don't really feel like I'm falling asleep. Yesterday I lost awareness and then became aware of being around people - which made me feel that I was dreaming. In the dream, I was yelling "I want to fly" over and over. :) I did used to fly in dreams but haven't done so for some time. Seems I might have missed it.
I feel very alert when I come back from these episodes of lost awareness (or checking / clicking out), not sleepy at all. What worried me was the memory loss. I was concerned that I might be missing actual OBE activity or rather failing to remember it. Robert believes we all astral project in dreams (for more on Robert's teachings please check out his interview on this topic here Astral Projection with Robert Bruce - affiliate link) and that the real challenge is to remember it.
One of the great things about this course (and all the Glide Wing
courses) is the forum component. In it the instructor responds to
questions on the material. In a course like this is incredibly helpful. Because of my concerns, I posted my problem with awareness in the forum.
Robert got back to me immediately. He said that these were good signs and that success should not be too far away. He also recommended several things which I'm going to put into effect today. They include:
- Increasing my slight discomfort level by using a hard backed chair against the wall with a small pillow to support my neck (and small footstool if needed).
- Restarting the CD if I do check / click out and repeating the meditation.
- Getting adequate sleep.
- Continuing my practice daily.
Robert also has been encouraging me to utilize daily affirmations which he believes in whole-heatedly (more on that in the interview). This isn't hard because I really do believe that I will successfully project provided I stick with it.
I am getting so much out of this course! I am also thrilled that when it ends I can be part of Robert's free community (Astral Dynamics Forum) and receive the support of others. There is even a new special area for graduates of the course which I am really looking forward to joining!
I'm planning to begin Robert Bruce's 90 day program Mastering Astral Projection next week. In order to do this, I've decided to create the space Robert talks about in the book.
I have a small space in my office which I use for meditation and
journaling. My plan is to that spot, equipping it with a recliner as
suggested in Robert's book.
This space will be perfect both for my
astral exploration, and my soul writing, which I've decided to begin
again in earnest.
Last weekend I picked up a $10 recliner at an estate sale. My project for next weekend is to fit it into my office!
I'm also thrilled to announce that Robert Bruce will be appearing on my
radio show on Wednesday August 27th.
I will be working with Robert's book Mastering Astral Projection (affiliate link) as well as the Mastering Astral Projection CD Companion and reporting on my progress.
Friday was the fourth birthday of my old friend, this blog. The blog was born on the same day as I was - August 22. It was inspired by my need to focus on anything really which at that point in time happened to be New Age spirituality.
The blog made a difference in my life. It listened when no one else could. Never judging. Always available. And it did, indeed, help me focus. Over time, it became a bridge between my steadily expanding world and a long list of others. The blog led me to books and courses and workshops and people. It allowed me to share what I was learning and in so doing in some small part repay the debt I owed others - for the wisdom they so freely shared with me.
The blog became a channel for my own spiritual experience and it in turn helped me to define that experience. As I followed that current I learned things I did not expect to learn. And that continues till this day. Finally, I think, it has led me back to the place I most need to be.
I was poet when I was young and then, for the most part, life took over. In the late nineties and early 2000s however things changed. I wrote a series of manuscripts. Born of my own strong need to escape disappointment and personal tragedy they were wild, impassioned and ultimately flawed - though not perhaps irretrievably. But the writing of them taught me a few things about the craft writing. And my work here has taught me too.
I am now following the wisdom of another not so New Age writer, Ray Bradbury. He was born on August 22nd and his writing is sharp and poetic and filled with passion. Perhaps because we share a birthday, his writing method appeals to me and I have promised myself that I will take the advice he gives in Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity and write 1000 non-blog words per day.
These words and the time it takes to write them have to come from somewhere and I may be cutting back on things. Less workshops. Less radio episodes. Less down time. But I will still be here every week for as long as I can type, paying my debt to those who have inspired me and those who care to read what I have written - and to my old friend The Mystic Review as well.
Dream journaling is the hands down most important part of dream work. Without our trusty dream journals almost none of us would remember our dreams - at least not on a regular basis.
Dreams are fragile things and disappear from memory very, very quickly. When we wake up, however, our dreams are very close to the surface of our conscious awareness even if we don't remember them right away.
If you don't normally remember your dreams, don't feel discouraged. The simple act of of recording and honoring our dreams captures those dream memories hovering just under the edge of consciousness and brings them into to our waking reality.
Don't feel it's necessary to incorporate all the tips that follow. Start out with the first four or five and then add any you find interesting!
If you don't normally remember your dreams, don't feel discouraged. The simple act of of recording and honoring our dreams captures those dream memories hovering just under the edge of consciousness and brings them into to our waking reality.
Don't feel it's necessary to incorporate all the tips that follow. Start out with the first four or five and then add any you find interesting!
- Get an attractive notebook or journal and dedicate it exclusively to the recording of dreams. My brand new dream journal is a cute butterfly themed journal from a discount store and cost under $2. I didn’t feel the need for anything pricey as I know I’m going to be scribbling in it in the middle of the night in my very worst handwriting but a really nice journal works too.
- Record your dreams immediately after awakening. Use your journal to record key words, sequence of events and anything you can remember about the way image and characters looked, sounded or smelled – including your reaction to them.
- Don't tell yourself that you will rest for a millisecond and then write down your dream. You won't!
- Keep your journal close and move around as little as possible until you've written down your dream. Consider keeping a low light or bright night light on your nightstand so you don't have to turn on jarringly bright lights.
- Begin writing even if you don't remember much. Keep asking yourself, what happened before that? Often dreams are recalled in reverse order so working backwards can be very effective.
- For those who hope to lucid dream - record anything unusual including bizarre elements and any event that wouldn't normally occur in waking reality. (This is the beginning of the catalog of dream signs Dr. Steven LaBerge recommends in Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming and will increase your awareness of the dream state.)
- Record all dream fragments no matter how how fleeting. Make quick sketches to record characters or scenes. Consider keeping a second small notebook with you at all times, to jot down any dream memories that pop up during the course of the day.
- After recording your dream, put the date at the top of your entry and leave some blank space for notes or sychroncities that pop up later. If you recall a whole dream, give it a short catchy title which captures the subject or mood of the dream (if you attend a dream group this will come in handy!).
- When you have accumulated some material, look back on it and ask yourself questions. Try to become familiar with what is dream-like about your dreams so you can recognize them while they are occurring.
- Note or underline symbolic elements so that you can track them in your waking life.
- Make little drawing of anything you are too sleepy to write about - even if it doesn't seem to especially important.
- Go back over each entry as soon as you can. Puzzle out the sloppy handwriting, cross your T's and rewrite entire words when necessary. It may be hard to figure out what you have written now but it will be even harder later on later in the day - and completely impossible next week.
- Consider using a recorder if you are too tired to write. But do be aware that a very sleepy person may think they pressed a button when they actually did not!
Watch the trailer for the fascinating documentary "Afterlife" featuring the work of Raymond Moody and Jeffrey Long below. The documentary not only features inspiring interviews with individuals who have personally experienced NDE but clearly presents the common characteristics of the Near Death Experience.
These characteristics as noted by Dr. Moody are:
- An overwhelming feeling of peace and well-being, including freedom from pain.
- The impression of being located outside one's physical body.
- Floating or drifting through darkness, sometimes described as a tunnel.
- Becoming aware of a radiant golden light.
- Encountering and sometimes communicating with a "being of light".
- Having a life review or rapid succession of visual images of one's past.
- Experiencing another world of incredible beauty.
Dr. Long presents nine characteristics of NDE in his wonderful book "Evidence of the Afterlife" which I am currently reading and recommend to anyone interested in learning more about the hard evidence for NDE. His study results and incredible NDE database are also available at his informative and very comprehensive website: nderf.org.
This documentary is available on to watch instantly on Netflix!
This documentary is available on to watch instantly on Netflix!
This week in my International School of Clairvoyance Clairvoyance One class we worked on remote viewing which is a very important aspect of clairvoyant reading.
I was very interested in this because it is something I have never tried before. Our instructor Debra Katz (our instructor and the director of the school) chose the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 as our target.
We had been assigned this target as homework and I had already received two images regarding this event prior to class. They came on two separate occasions on March 11.
Here is my class write-up:
We had been assigned this target as homework and I had already received two images regarding this event prior to class. They came on two separate occasions on March 11.
Here is my class write-up:
"I only got a couple of flashes. The first was the plane going down into the water. It hit nose first and there was huge rush of water around it and into the cabin. The second which might not really jive with the first was of the event before the plane went down. In this I saw an explosion. The burst of fire was behind the cabin (where the pilots sit) of the plane and bursting in to it but I don't really know how big or localized the explosion was. I do feel the plane is in deep water but I inadvertently heard speculation on that on CNN after I had gotten the first two images - still I did get an image later on of the plane in murky greenish water - similar to what you see in underwater filming."
Working on remote viewing in class was a very helpful experience and I was able to get more detail this way. Debra asked us to look at location and then work inland. In class on March 18th, my initial impression was of a large expanse of water. When Debra asked us to work in I received a specific impression of a coastline, with high steep mountains surrounding it. The mountain were covered with vegetation.
Debra asked us to draw what we were seeing. My sketch of the land mass I saw as nearest the location of the plane follows. It shows a west facing coastline.
Please note that while I tried to avoid media speculation as much as possible during this period I wasn't able to dodge it completely. I also heard quite a bit of opinion and impressions from friends, though this mostly disagreed with what I was seeing.
The following sketch shows the info I received when Debra asked us to view the population and leader of the country. I tried to continue to view further and further out until I encountered people and saw the population and leader as Asian.
While the topic of this exercise is somber, I did enjoy doing this and very much appreciated Debra's expertise with this activity. I feel I am getting such a wonderful and well rounded experience from this course and could not be enjoying it more!
The "Five Ways to Break a Dream Drought" provided by Robert Moss in his wonderful book "Active Dreaming: Journeying Beyond Self-Limitation to a Life of Wild Freedom" have worked for me and this is saying a lot.
While I am an active dreamer having had some wonderful dreams, these dreams (or rather the remembering of them) is rare. And I do try very hard to remember them!
Working with the first method Moss gives, I was able to recall two very important dreams earlier this week and am very eager to apply the other principles offered throughout the book.
The "Five Ways" follow and they are very effective. I will add however that using another of Moss's suggestions (I believe it was a suggestion given in his audio book "Dream Gates" which I currently listening to) helped as well.
The suggestion is simple and it does work. It is - allow yourself to wake up naturally. Not always easy but something most of us can do, at least some of the time.
The "Five Ways to Break a Dream Drought" follow, paraphrased and in summary:
- Set an intention for your dream by writing down your goal for the dreamtime before you go to sleep. This goal can be experiential, as in "I want to dream travel to Hawaii," or involve a request. Requests may be specific ("What will happen if I go back to school?") or general, such as "I want to be healed," "I want to be open to creativity" or simply "I want to remember what I have dreamed." Moss advises that this intention have 'juice' which to me means, we need to want it. He also provides some fascinating suggestions for dream rituals which I fully intend to try!
- Be ready to receive the dream. Setting the intention is important, of course, but having the means to record your dream is important to. This means you must have what Moss calls the most important dream book you will ever read - your own dream journal - at hand as well as a pen (I find that a good pen with a good flow is essential here) or a recorder. He also suggests that you record something when you wake up and that if you need to visit the bathroom that you take your journal and pen along with you. Not maybe the nicest place to write but a technique that does work!
- Be kind to the dream fragments you receive. This means that even if you wake up (either in the morning or in the middle of the night) with a wisp of a dream memory or, as I have found, even a wisp of an emotion or feeling, stay as still as you can and began to write it down. For me, Stephen LaBerge's technique of asking "what came before that?" works well. I am finding that I often wake up thinking I remember nothing or very little and that as I write loads of information comes back.
- If you don't immediately remember a dream don't give up! Allow yourself to relax in bed or try assuming the posture you were in when you were asleep. Don't (I have found) allow yourself to start thinking about your to-do list or running through the concerns of the day! If you don't remember a dream, Moss advises, write something down anyway. This should be whatever is in your awareness, including emotion and physical sensations. This my trigger a memory at this time or later or simply help us subconsciously later on in our day.
- Remember that you can have dream experience even when you are awake. This advice as I understand it is about synchronicistic events which are signs very like dream symbols that we may encounter later in our ordinary waking reality. To my mind, these events provide very meaningful advice from spirit. An early example for me was once when I was driving my boys somewhere years and years ago. They were acting up and I wasn't happy and I was telling them so in no uncertain terms. Pulling up behind a car at a light I saw a bumper sticker. "Mean People Suck" it said. I took the hint.
I am really so excited about "Active Dreaming" and "Dream Gates" and Moss's methods in general.
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