Yesterday I spent a wonderful afternoon with my good friend Tara catching up and reading Tarot. I received a wonderful reading (as always) and I hope I gave at least a fair one in return. Our questions, as is usual, revolved around career and spirit and how best to combine the two.

My question concerned my problems with the new manuscript, the true nature of my life purpose and my problems with writer's block. Of the latter I will say that, as a former 10 page a day writer. it really can happen to anyone!

Tara began by showing me her new Doreen Virtue Goddess Deck. Looking through the cards, I pulled out the Kali card (at right) looked at the picture and said, I love this card. Surprisingly, it was Tara's favorite as well. This was the first synchronicity.

We set the Goddess Deck aside. I read for Tara and then she read for me. Crazy accurate as always she helped me identify my problems in regard to writing. The cards indicated potential. My blockage was represented by the nine of swords. Tara told me to look at internalized negative concepts from my past and assured me that my present darkness of thought was part of the already initiated process of releasing these impediments.

Tara's always unexpected insight and lovely spiritual energy made me feel as if she had reached into the darkness surrounding me in regard to my life path and gave me a firm tug in the direction I needed to go. I will always be grateful.

At the end of the reading, Tara pulled a single card from the Goddess Deck. And, you guessed it, it was Kali. Tara handed me the card and this time I didn't just look at the picture but read: "The old must be released so that the new can enter." Thinking how synchronistic this was, I suddenly remember the Shiva statue I had given Tara years ago. I asked myself, I wonder if that statue could also represent Kali? As if on cue, Tara said, that she found herself thinking of the Shiva statue as Kali.

For me, three such 'coincidences' are an affirmation of spirit and I am working hard at incorporating the message I was given!

Please check back next week for my review of The Goddess Guidance Deck.

What is really amazing about Edgar Cayce is how many topics now considered the province of New Age thought or even new age physics are contained within his readings.  This a revelation to me, having come to Cayce's reading rather late and in a round about way.

I first read Edgar Cayce in high school.  The material was not for me at that time or perhaps the book I chose (now lost in the mists of time) was not a good one.  At any rate, I sought my spiritual truths elsewhere then and continued to do so until relatively recently.  I owe this late return to Cayce to a series of circumstances.

The first was the encouragement of my good friend Tara, who has been an amazing spiritual catalyst for me.  Tara is a longtime Cayce fan and we have discovered over time that what resonates with her in a spiritual sense almost always resonates with me (and vice versa).  Her enthusiasm for Cayce sparked an interest in me and I bought two Cayce audio's which I have been listening to off and on over the course of the summer.

While I enjoyed the recordings, I found myself distracted by another topic until a conversation with another friend brought me back to Cayce.  Checking out an internet page on Cayce's readings at the height of hurricane Irene, I read (all in one paragraph) how Cayce claimed that flooding in New York City, as well as strife in Libya, Egypt and Syria would signal the coming of the new age. 

Cayce said a great many other things as well, but these particular predictions were surprisingly timely and this timeliness and the 'coincidence' of three recent and compelling references to Cayce spoke to me.  I decided to give the Cayce material another try.  Instead of returning to the original audio, however, I purchased another recording, Edgar Cayce on Vibrations: Spirit in Motion by Kevin J. Todeschi. For me, there could not have made a better choice. 

Cayce gave thousands of trance state psychic readings on a multitude of topics.  Most concerned the treatment of various medical conditions, while others directly related to a variety of topics, covering subjects as wide ranging as reincarnation, religion, ancient civilizations (including Atlantis), meditation, spiritual dimensions, the akashic record, dream interpretation and science.

In his more scientific readings, Cayce repeatedly stated that everything -  including food, people, light, location, and color - existed in the form of vibration - and went on to talk about what would later become the law of attraction, energy medicine and what I have always thought of as the harmony of place.  If I had read this info in high school it would not have taken me this long to develop an interest in Cayce's readings!

According to Cayce, different locations hold very distinct vibrations and people may resonate with specific places in highly individual and spiritually significant ways.  Others agree with this of course.  Eckhart Tolle says in A New Earth that is was necessary to align himself with the vibration of the Canadian Northwest to write that particular book.  And while physical relocation is a frequent component of spiritual journeys, it may be that Cayce was the first to explain specifically why this is.

In a trance state, Cayce spoke quite definitively on the vibration of place.   Going as far as to recommend that certain individuals relocate for health reasons and that all persons consume local produce as fruits and vegetables grown locally would be more harmonious with their own vibrations.  When advising his own spiritual study group, Cayce gave readings which directed individuals who wished to share their spiritual understanding with others to specific geographic locations where they would be the most effective teachers.  All this, Cayce stated related to vibration.

In my own life, I have always been extremely sensitive to the vibration of place.  Finding the Northeast Pennsylvania of many years ago harmonious while other places were not.  For as long as I can remember, certain locations such as the deep woods or oceans have had a profound effect on me and they continue to do so.  Going back to childhood, I have maintained that I would know the energy of my grandparent's old farmhouse if someone had taken me there blindfolded and my reaction to that place as a child was almost overwhelming.

Todeschi's book provides an excellent reference on this phenomena.  In it, the reader will find comprehensive summaries of Cayce's work as well as invaluable transcripts of dozens of Cayce readings on the topic and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Cayce, energy medicine or the science of spirituality.  The author's book on Cayce readings on the akashic record (Edgar Cayce on the Akashic Record) is on my reading list as well.

I started The Mystic Review 365 days (and 160 posts) ago on August 22nd, 2011 - the morning my 53rd birthday. The night before was a restless introspective night. At 2 AM I found myself still awake with no sense of winding down or tiring.

Looking for a diversion, I switched on the TV, and surfed the channels until I stopped at a public access TV program featuring Eckhart Tolle. I had never heard him.

I was, I think, quite possibly the only person in the entire US who had not. Surprising perhaps because spirituality was always such an important part of my life. I was never particularly attracted to 'New Age' however and that made Tolle new news to me that night.

I  had an religious affiliation but it wasn't really working.  I had decided that maybe I should just give up on spirituality altogether - that it just might not be for me. But I was wrong and in that moment, hearing Tolle talk, I knew I was wrong.

My curiosity, the great saving grace of my life to date, was sparked. I wanted to know more. I felt a new cycle starting and the promise of new things on the horizon. I wanted to explore again and it seemed that it might be helpful to me, on a personal level, to keep track of what I found.

My track history with journals is rarely good and I have always had problems with consistency across the board of my life experience.  So it occurred to me that a commitment to share what I was learning with others through blogging might keep me on track. And so it has. I have covered a lot ground over the last year and taken some interesting turns. Best of all, I find my passion for what I am learning is growing rather than waning.

Have I progressed in spiritually since that sleepless night which seems so long ago? I'm not sure. My belief system has expanded but  I have a long way to go, however, in terms of establishing a consistent spiritual practice. I have learned a thing or two, yes. But I am also acutely conscious of how much more there is to discover. And that's a good thing.

I am so looking forward to year two. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you, dear reader, for being there to share it!

My crystals spent Saturday night outside basking in the light of the full moon.  This  is  how they looked when I went out to get them the next morning - beaming with good energy!

The picture includes Selenite Tower (top left), two pieces of Prehnite (green cluster and tumbled green stone near bottom), two Kyanite pieces (elongated blue stones), Apophyllite (big white cluster right corner) three Amethyst (two purple clusters on left and another cluster below plus one polished heart), three Quartz Crystal Points (two in second row and one near bottom), two Fluorite Chips (dark purple stones middle and front), Tumbled Rose Quartz (pink stone in middle) and Tumbled Lapis (lower right corner).  I cannot remember the names of the two light blue stones (one egg and one tumbled) which were given to me by my friend, Tara (must ask!).

I realized the next morning that I forgot to put out my Rose Quartz pendulum (also a gift from Tara), my Jade Egg and both of my Celestite Clusters.  Also did not get my sons' crystals out before they went to bed :(  Better luck next moon.  My collection is small but growing.  Have a really long list for next year's local crystal show!  Click to enlarge pic for a closer look.