Lovely Space Clearing Meditation by Denise Linn! (video)

May 15, 2013


See Denise's own home and listen to her thoughts on home alignment:


For more about Denise Linn, please check out her website at: DeniseLinn.com!
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Where I Sit is Holy by Shaina Noll

May 7, 2013

A song I really like!

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Psychic Sensitivity and the Influence of Environmental Energy

April 29, 2013


I have always been sensitive to energy.  And by energy, I don't mean energy in the material sense (as in thermal or electrical) I mean the invisible spiritual essence of things - a quality more easily sensed than defined.

This kind of energy, while frequently subtle, is not always so.  Some people, I am sure, sense the energy of everything they approach, while others seems oblivious to the strongest of influences. I fall in between but well toward the sensitive end of the spectrum.  

I sense the energy of the living (and sometimes the dead) as well as most spaces to varying degrees.  Positive places such as forests, gardens, sanctuaries, libraries and certain homes affect me strongly.  Their resonant energies have a fine but palpable vibration which speaks to me spiritually, emotionally and even physically in a language which is not far removed from that of music.

Negative spaces and people affect me in a very different way.  Generally speaking I find that dirty, cluttered areas, large groups of people, some small groups, institutions, anger, resentments and general negativity cause variable but almost always unpleasant reactions in me.  And it seems that I am getting more instead of less sensitive to this type of dissonance.

Case in point, my trip to the New York and New Jersey on Sunday.  We traveled into the city, had lunch at a wonderful vegan Chinese restaurant and spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the many beautiful medieval exhibits as The Cloisters Museum (pictured above and below).  There were a fair amount of people around all day but I held up well until the way back, when halfway through the city, the energy clobbered me.

All at once, I was exhausted.  Bone tired.   And more than a little demoralized.  Even though my daily at home to do list is far more demanding on multiple levels.  Today, back in Northeast PA, I got hit again as I spent the afternoon trying to work my way through the mess left behind after moving out of our old house.  By the time I got home, I felt nauseous, jangly and very discouraged.

I am disappointed in myself for not handling things better on a personal level but I also acknowledge how difficult all of this can be.  Something I did not do back when I was trying to be as oblivious to all of this as everyone else apparently was!

Dealing with all of the energies and pressures of everyday life can be overwhelming and is sometimes particularly so for those of us who are sensitive by nature.  Some can be avoided and I, for one, intend to think long and hard about any future trips to NYC. 


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"We Live Forever: The Real Truth About Death" by PMH Atwater

April 10, 2013

PMH Atwater is one of the original researchers into Near-Death Experience and a pioneer in the field. She is a noted authority on NDE, after-effects of NDE, reality shifts and transformations of consciousness. She has experienced three NDEs herself and interviewed over 4000 NDE experiencers. Her work has been sited in the respected medical journal The Lancet.

Atwater has authored numerous books on spirituality and NDE including "Children of the Fifth World," "Near-Death Experiences: The Rest of the Story," "The Big Book of Near-Death Experiences," "Beyond the Indigo Children" and many more.  What makes "We Live Forever" different is that it is Atwater's own story.  In she describes her own Near-Death experiences and the life events which shaped her research and philosophy.

Surprisingly, "We Live Forever" is the first PMH Atwater book I have read even though I have read more than a few books on NDE.  How I missed Atwater's I cannot say, except that perhaps "We Live Forever" was the book I was meant to start out with.

Atwater is a respected research writer but she is also a gifted, sometimes poetic and highly quotable story teller.  Her accounts of her personal psychic experiences, her grand daughter's Myriam death, and the events of Atwater's own death are both convincing and moving.  What I loved most about "We Live Forever" however was the wealth of spiritual information it contained.

Drawing from decades of Near-Death research as well as the direct experience of three NDE's, Atwater provides highly compelling and detailed information about spiritual realms, the soul, opportunities for soul growth, Near-Death events and their aftermath and the reason why we are here.  

Of particular interest to me, and something I intend to explore through Atwater's book "Future Memory," are Atwater's ideas about time.  

I have never, I believe, conceived of time as linear and even as a child I suspected that people think of time as a straight shot only because our physical life follows that same apparent trajectory.  Cycles were everywhere in my observation and I conceived of time as cycling or possibly spiraling like an infinite slinky.  This model was not linear but did not include any sort of backwards or forward motion either - which made things like precognition (which I still see in terms of possibilities) very hard to explain.

The idea of simultaneous existence as portrayed in Jane Robert's Oversoul Seven always struck me as an interesting but impossible idea.  Reading Atwater's description of her third NDE and the strange synchronicity between that experience and the work of Stanford physicist William Tiller made me think about time and the possibility of layered dimensions in a different way.  And I am appreciative of books which generate that kind of thinking.

I am also very interested in exploring Atwater's new book "Children of the Fifth World: A Guide to the Coming Changes in Human Consciousness" which discusses the apparent leap in the intuitive, creative and abstract thinking in children, increases in autism spectrum disorder's and Cayce's fifth root race. 

Sadly my interview with PMH Atwater is no longer hosted on line. But you can check out her book: We Live Forever: PMH Atwater on Near-Death Experience.
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The Gift: Hollywood Looks at Psychic Phenomena, Card Reading, a Small Sourthern Town, & the Ethics of Spirituality

March 29, 2013

Photo by Bruno Souza on Unsplash

The Gift, 2000, directed by Sam Raimi and written by Billy Bob Thorton & Tom Epperson stars Cate Blanchett, Katie Holmes, Keanu Reeves, Giovanni Ribsi and Hilary Swank.  I was attracted to it because of the subject matter (card reading).

Setting:  Blanchett (Annie) lives a somewhat marginal existence as a card reader in a small southern town. This movie is well filmed and has a very authentic feel to it. 

Cons:  Annie is asked to help solve a missing person's case - predictably - and there are some decidedly over the top scenes.  A difficult movie to watch at times.  Adult topics, sexual content and violence.

Pros:  Realistic setting.  Well acted.  Cate Blanchett is quite good in her role, as expected. Swank is very good in a supporting role (also expected).  Keanu Reeves is surprisingly believable as Swank's abusive husband.  Giovanni Ribsi does a wonderful job of portraying Buddy, a troubled client of Annie's and the center of a significant subplot.  I hate spoiler reviews so I won't go into the subplot other than to say it raises some interesting questions about ethics as they relate to card reading and mediumship.

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Psychic Development & a Belief in Oneself

March 14, 2013

Like many people, I have a fascination with psychic phenomena.

It began in childhood and paralleled a general obsession with spirit in all of its forms.  I was then, and still am, a good guesser (once accused of cheating after acing a test on a book I had not read).

There were certain things I couldn't quite explain.  From an early age, I was able to sense what I now think of as the energy of a person or a place, and sometimes heard paranormal activity.

On several occasions over the course of my life I experienced vivid and unusual phenomena in meditation, in dreams and while on the edge of sleep. These included seeing and sometimes communicating with passed loved ones.

In my dream diary I continue to record spiritual instruction received during sleep.

And of course for many years I read cards both for friends, over the psychic phone lines and in my own home card reading business. Still, I do not consider myself psychic in the usual sense of the word. But I'm beginning to wonder if I need to believe in my own potential a bit more in order to improve.

Either way, I am interested in learning more about psychic ability and will be sharing some of what I learn here, beginning with the four main categories.

  • Telepathy - the ability to hear or pick up on the thoughts of another person.  It is the most common psychic ability.
  • Clairvoyance - the ability to see images of an event or events that occurred in the past, present or future. Images may be literal or symbolic.
  • Precognition - is the ability to see the future.  Can be experienced in a variety of ways with the most common occurring in and around dreams.
  • Psychokinesis - the ability to move objects with the power of the mind. This unusual psychic skill may be related to poltergeist phenomena.
I will be writing more about this in a future post!
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Women's Circle Dreamcatcher

February 16, 2013

I made this dream catcher at the last meeting of the Sacred Circle women's group. One of our members was nice enough to show us how to do the weave. Mine is a little off but I expect the next one to be better.

Our circle is based in NE PA.  We meet two times a month. One meeting is an arts and crafts night and the second is a metaphysical study group.  The study group is a new addition and we'll be having our first study meeting this Thursday.

I am really enjoying all aspects of our group.  Not so long ago it was common for women to work together as a team.  In my grandmother's big farmhouse, for example, all the women would clear the table and do the dishes together.  One would wash and rinse.  Another would dry.  A third would put the dishes away. 

There was laughter and conversation and the work was never overwhelming because it was shared.

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Creating Sanctuary: My Newly Renovated Home Office!

January 7, 2013

We began our new home search in late 2011 following the last flood evacuation I resolved to ever participate in. We did not have a lot of money - far less than any house meeting our criteria was likely to cost but we found one anyway. The downside was that it needed loads of work! We moved in in 2012 with only the bedrooms and den finished (and the downstairs bathroom in progress) and wrapped up the living room and loads of odds and ends after we had settled in. 

Delayed by other (really big) projects, we have just finished our home office and are now starting the kitchen.  As is so often the case my attention is focused on what remains to be done (front hall, upstairs bath, kitchen, and assorted bits and pieces) instead of what all we have accomplished.  So I wanted to take a moment to remember the work that has been done here. Current pics of our home office follow with a shot of the original room at the end of this post. 

Lots of sun! Everything is in place -except for my stained glass heron suncatcher.  I'll post that when I get it hung!

Ice on the window sill and a bit of the woods behind the house.


My grandfather's old glass fronted book shelf and my grandmother's rocker.  Broken auction lamp awaited repair.  The door here was salvaged.  This room like many in the house, had no door when we moved in.

More ice and if you look very closely you can see the eastern sky above the next mountain. My view of sunrise. 

Still more ice.  High ground and the patch of woods at the top of our little mountain.  Elevation: 776 feet.

My seat and the laptop on which I write these posts.  Two Ollie's Bargain Mart desk chairs.

My grandmother's rocker and the rug from my partner's family home.  This is where my meditation corner will be!

My collection of oracle cards and tarot.  Old Underwood typewriter to remind me of what I'm here to do!

Old wardrobe - picked up at the Salvation Army for $17 and refinished for office supplies.  Auction house carpet in need of vacuuming :)

Side yard and hedges and the view such as it is.  When I'm sitting down I mostly see sky.

Close up of my cards and my portable altar.
Another view of our desk.  A thirty-five .dollar steal at the local Salvation Army!
 
+
The original space - a one time 2nd floor apartment kitchen.  Chopped up for plumbing, this was the only wood floor we couldn't restore.  I installed the new floor myself.  Not easy but not impossible either!

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