Home  Miss Psychette
November 19: 'I've been having weird experiences. What's  happening?'
So asked one of my clients during a reading this week... after 30+ years of living a totally ordinary life, she's suddenly noticed flashes out of the corner of her eye, seen coloured 'smoke' hovering next to someone and a mysterious old woman walking through her house... and unsurprisingly, she's a little freaked out by it! As the world becomes more and more spiritually enlightened in the 21st century, however, these kinds of reports will become considered more and more normal. So many people globally have started 'waking up', or re-remembering how to use the psychic skills that are lying dormant in them. Throughout the 20th century, we swung so far into science and
technology -- while throwing away traditional church and
religion -- that we've woken up in this Age of Aquarius craving a little soul food to bring the balance
back. We shouldn't be afraid to talk about it with each other, because it's no longer deemed as totally nutbag! -- you might find that people are currently more open-minded about these subject matters than you think, and are more than ready to discuss their experiences and make sense of them. For those who've begun waking up to all-things-cosmic recently and are unsure about where to find some excellent information -- and want to bypass a lot of the dodgy stuff on the Internet! -- here's my recommended reading list. Ultimately, though, I would suggest visiting your local nwe Age bookstore and just seeing whatever jumps off the shelf at you!
You might also benefit from buying yourself a deck of angel or spirit guide cards... You just take a quiet moment to yourself, ask a question, shuffle them, and see whichever cards ‘jump’ or drop out of the pack. They’re printed with messages that help to impart divine messages to you from your ‘helpers’! (Now you all know what to request for all your Christmas pressie).
Anything by Louise L. Hay, particularly You Can Heal Your Life
www.louisehay.com
Anything by Doreen Virtue, MD
www.angeltherapy.com
Anything by Brian Weiss, MD, particularly Many Lives, Many Masters
www.brianweiss.com
Jane Roberts’ Seth books, particularly Seth Speaks
www.sethlearningcenter.org
Anything by Deepak Chopra
www.chopra.com
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Messages From Michael
www.messagesfrommichael.com
You may also find it useful to browse www.HayHouse.com.au
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 November 12: Moon Child
When I lived in the big city, I ignored the moon - mostly because I could never even see it through all the smog and street lights. Now that I live somewhere where the Full Moon is so glaringly bright I almost have to wear sunglasses (not to mention the fact that New Moons are so creepily pitch-black that I have to remember not to think about horror movies I've seen when walking through the garden at night), I am really aware of its power. The moon's gravity pulls all bodies of water (not just our oceans, but our plants and ourselves, seeing as we're composed of 90% percent liquid!!) and is linked to all sorts of girls stuff - menstruation, fertility, natural cycles, etc etc. Even how fast the hair on your head (and legs!) grows (if you want a really good leg wax, make sure you book it when the moon is waning to minimise regrowth! A Brazilian friend of mine claims beauty therapists in her country are quite aware of this phenomenon.)
Similarly, you can match the health of your body to the moon's cycles. While the moon is waning (growing smaller), your body is in ‘letting go' mode. Use those two weeks for things such as fasting, detoxifying, breaking old habits, quitting smoking, lymphatic drainage massage. When the moon begins to wax (grow bigger), you're in absorption mode: load up on nutrient-rich food, adopt healthy new regimes and effectively balance any vitamin and mineral deficiencies. And remember: because the moon can intensify everything, a waxing moon can result in toxins, fattening foods and stimulants (caffeine, chocolate) being absorbed more easily! If you know nothing about the moon and are vaguely curious, a moon diary is a brilliant place to start.
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November 5: Life's a Fantasy
Last week I started craving The Lord of the Rings. Movie one. On DVD. The video store had no copies left (was everyone else craving it, too?), so I settled for another medieval fantasy movie (ignoring my husband's 'you're a geek' face expressions). Then I found myself pulling the 1000+ page Lord of the Rings trilogy off the bookshelf (madness, I know) and obsessively reading it at midnight on Monday. I've never read it before. So why this sudden fixation with fantasy? Must need a little escapism, I mused. The next day I ran my new bizarre behaviour past a girlfriend. "You're yearning to leave the corporate world and are finding solace in magic, mystery and dreams," she emailed me (or something to that effect). Which naturally got me thinking.
Fantasy and escapism of every kind have a history of being dismissed and underrated - but whether you're indulging in a fairytale romance novel, Hollywood movie, Cinderella story or Gothic-style battle in a picture book - or even taking pleasure in dressing theatrically (turban, scarves, tinkling jewellery, flowers) - these are crucial ways in which us adults are allowed to 'play'. Which, naturally, is very healthy for those of us who are boring workaholics the other 23 hours a day.
Paris Hilton does it best; we love to chastise her frivolous behaviour, but in reality, we're probably jealous... she is a little blonde fairy who has the money and freedom to flit around the world, dressing prettily, attending parties, having fun and not worrying about too much at all. That's soooo vacuous and selfish, I hear you say. But is it? Honouring yourself, and doing things that make you feel wonderful, is an important way to give back to the self. Life is not about denial, victimhood and endless hard work. You will not 'earn more in Heaven' if you abstain from fun and adhere to a saintly boring existence. The bottom line? Don't forget to play. Don't feel guilty when you play. If you don't know how to play, start by watching some trashy entertainment or indulging in a trashy book, and don't let other people shrivel their noses and get all high-brow on you. Lightness, flippancy and frivolity have their place in the universe, too! - all in good measure - so go and immerse yourself in a little fantasy.
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October 29: Do you have a soulmate?
'Soulmate' is a pretty loaded word. It's over-used in Hollywood and romantic fiction, and lures lonely types to trawl through personal ads, all looking for... what? In truth, there are lots of expressions you can substitute for 'soulmate': other half, kindred spirit, twin flame, best friend, the One, life partner. 'Soulmate' needn't be a spiritual concept, as such; it's just someone with whom you have a special connection or chemistry. Of course, from a spiritual perspective, there's plenty of theories, such as the idea that you were probably fated to meet -- your higher selves have previously
arranged it so that some kind of learning can occur. But you still
exercise free will. If your soulmate in this lifetime is driving
you absolutely crazy, you can walk away from them! (although you're
probably likely to run into them again in the next lifetime, until your
gripes have been adequately dealt with!)
In fact, far from being a dreamy fairytale concept,
soulmates often bring out the best and worst in each other -- and may fight like cats and dogs! You might generally feel really at ease with your soumate, but If you think that marrying them will mean a life free from hard times and conflict, you are not facing reality! Don't get trapped into thinking 'soulmate' is a sexual thing, either. You soulmate can be a
co-worker, girlfriend, auntie, teacher, sibling... just someone you have a very special bond with, even if it's only for a short time in your life.
Sure signs that someone you know is a soulmate? Firstly, they can be
any age, gender or nationality, and you can meet them anywhere at any
time, usually without expecting it (I met my husband during a phase in
which I'd adamantly sworn off the opposite sex!). Despite meeting them
for the first time, you may have immediately engaged in a conversation
that felt like you were just 'picking up where you last left off'...
And you may become firm friends, or committed lovers, in an extremely short time period.
Worried that you've lost a soulmate, such as that cute boy you really-really-really loved when you were 22? Don't worry: the universe is big on delivering abundance and learning experiences. There will always be plenty of soulmates for you to meet in a lifetime... which brings us to soul groups. There are whole 'families'
of people who chose to reincarnate together to experience lessons and
continue their interconnected karmic relationships... and even bigger than that... whole classrooms, suburbs, and even cities in which lots of likeminded souls choose to 'return to' together.
So if you ever 'lose' a soulmate through death, distance or a break-up, don't mourn too much... there's a very big chance they're due to pop up again on your journey through the universe!
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 October 22: Do you think bigger?
Lately I've been thinking about the idea of 'custodianship'. For example, since when did we humans get the idea that we're entitled to run amok on the earth acting like we own it, its animals and its bountiful natural resources? We are merely custodians; we've been handed the 'keys' to a very precious gift which has been entrusted into our care, and with that gift comes responsibility.
We are also custodians of each other: our diverse cultural groups, indigenous societies, orphaned children, suffering people. It's all of our collective responsibility to care for earth's humanity, because all the souls who inhabit this planet are sort of like a large, wriggling, connected creature. We are family and we are 'one', so if some of us are hurting (such as a starving country in Africa), then one of the creature's arms or legs is hurting, and as a mass organism, this affects us all.
Finally, we are custodians of the earth's children and future generations. What are we teaching our little ones? What qualities, beliefs and morals are we passing on, consciously or subconsciously, through our daily actions? Thinking bigger than ourselves in all facets of our lives is a selfless and wholistic act, which leads to better connectedness to the universe around us and ultimately, greater happiness for the greatest number.
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 October 15: Exercise Your Free Will
Everywhere I look, it seems people are drugging themselves up to the eyeballs. Whether it's a cough lolly, anti-smoking tablet, new vaccination or serious medication, it appears our society has reached the point where we simply don't think twice before ingesting something into our bodies - asking absolutely no questions first. I'm a little bit perplexed as to how we got this way. We love to pay out, judge and question every single thing the celebrities and royals do in magazines; we are instantly sceptical of everything politicians say and do; and we make life hell for our sporting umpires. So why do we blindly allow ourselves to be spoon-fed by other things in life, such as advertising, media reports, drug companies and mind-numbing entertainment, simply assuming they're all 'right' and properly monitored to maintain some kind of standards? Who is the watchdog watching the watchdogs?
By the time a child is 18 years old, they've already been bombarded with 20,000 hours of medical advertising, imagery and TV shows. And yet, this material only belongs to one side of a story. Are people thus able to make an informed choice about their health armed with this influx of (not always accurate, yet aggressive) information? Are they aware of the existing alternatives? Is the small team of 30 men in suits running your national nightly television network, or your local newspaper, making the best choices about what you should be watching and listening to every day? Are they informed about the truth behind every story? (Or are they tired, burned out, influenced by their own beliefs, and stuck in outdated routines resulting from their own archaic belief systems?)
The basic tenet of spiritual enlightenment is that you seek the truth - not an 'objective' truth, because there isn't one, but whichever truths in the universe resonate strongly with you. People are usually quite resistant to being told what to believe when it comes to 'my church is better than your church', or 'my god is better than your god' - they like to pick their own faith and feel really 'right' about it. So, thought for the day: you choose your own spiritual thoughts and belief systems. Why, then, do you behave like a sheep when it comes to ingesting things into your body (because some person you've never met before in a white coat tells you to) or filling the rest of your brain with junk (because it happens to be on Channel 10 at 7:30pm)? Be intelligent, informed and educated in as many choices that you make as possible, and be strong and joyous in discovering your own individuality.
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October 8: Diamantina
OK, so the actual news story itself is shrouded in controversy, but depending which source you go by, some bloke in South Africa has allegedly dug up the world's largest diamond:
7000-carats, or the size of "two fists". It will probably be cut into a piece of jewellery. Knowing that a diamond is a gemstone with magical properties the same as any other stone, I was immediately fascinated to know what sorts of vibes a huge sparkler would be magnifying out to the lucky person who eventually wears it.
The traditional birthstone for Aries, diamonds are believed to open various chakras,
banish fear, stress and worries and improve respiratory problems, while enhancing self-image, confidence and vitality. That sounds pretty awesome. Imagine having an enormous one sitting on your bedside table, 'working' on you while you sleep... then again, I suppose that's why so many people choose 'diamonds forever' (wearing them on their wedding bands, next to their skin). I know that when I'm performing energywork, a friend says the diamonds in my rings emit their own violet aura.
The really interesting thing about diamonds is that their symbolism turns up in every every
culture, religion and society in some form or other. Diamonds brilliantly emit thousands of dancing rainbow lights, which can easily be likened to the multi-faceted aspects of your own personality and soul, and the earth and universe itself. Some believe our goal is to walk an honourable path which will allow
our souls to shine and sparkle as brightly as diamonds, despite the
fact there may be twists and turns on the way (representative
of the angles and facets of the diamond). The Native American Indians viewed the triangular diamond motif as butterfly symbolism (transformation and immortality), while the ancient ‘Diamond Sutra’ (discovered in a cave in China, dated at 868AD) is one of the most important sacred works of the Buddhist faith. In the sacred text, the Buddha speaks of ‘The Diamond of Transcendent
Wisdom’: urging us to cut like a diamond blade through the worldly illusions of
reality that surround us to what is truly real and everlasting.
But what really makes all this diamond guff a Psyched In Stilettos newsworthy article? Because it instantly brought to mind Paul Simon's "diamonds on the soles of her shoes". Or as I would prefer it, stilettos.
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October 1: Do You Sweat The Small Stuff?
How do you deal with the really tough emotional things that life throws your way? Many of us will experience two or three really major life-changing events before we die -- a best friend's sudden death, having your heart broken, your house burning down, being diagnosed with cancer. Along with these 'majors' are a number of other signifigant events that roll around every few years: change of jobs or careers, change of relationships, change of country and more. While not necessarily 'earth shattering', these events also require us to draw deep within our emotional selves in order to process them, evolve and and move on.
How good are you at handling big emotional stuff? One indicator could be the way you handle little emotional stuff. If your car breaks down, your boss yells at you, someone change plans on you at the last minute or you get a haircut you can't stand, do you absolutely go to pieces? Do you throw a tantrum? Do you withdraw deep within yourself, suppress your anger and ignore it? Do you go all dark and negative and start thinking 'Life is unfair, and bad luck always happens to me'? Or do you shrug your shoulders, take a deep breath and trust that it's all part of a greater plan... or assume that your own subconcious programming somehow attracted it, so it's your responsibility to now deal with whatever comes your away?
None of these responses are right or wrong, but some are easier to shoulder than others. If your responses tend to involve anger, this may indicate feelings of being out of control; responses that involve supression can build over time energetically to cause long-term illness within your body; 'poor me' mental mantras tend to unhealthily program your brain's neuro pathways with rigid negative patterning; and responses of calmness enable you to 'go with the flow' of the universe and more smoothly adapt to hiccups along the way.
So next time you're faced with one of life's curveballs, stop and analyse your automatic reaction to it... and ask yourself if perhaps there's a better, more trusting way to deal with it. Many situations are stressful enough without you creating more unnecessary internal misery!
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September 24: Making Friends With Money
I'm in one of those pockets of my life where money and I just aren't really getting along. I begin to entertain fears of lack, and sure enough, my bank balance complies by looking worryingly meagre... and the bills keep piling up. Whereas 12 months ago, on exactly the same salary, when I was entertaining thoughts of jubilant abundance, I had more money than I knew what to do with -- and it kept flowing in. Seeing as I've done nothing differently in the meantime (other than started to adopt a bunch of worry-wart anxieties), it all just goes to show how much money is a direction reflection of our consciousnesses. Like everything else, money is merely energy. It can be repelled and attracted. It can flow or stagnate. It can disappear or miraculously appear. It can compound positively or negatively... Have you ever had a good think about what your actual beliefs about money are? What were your parents beliefs about money? Are you the type of person who always has money, or is always broke?
It's important to remember that with money -- as with everything else in our realities -- any situation can change according to our inner consciousness. So if you've harboured the belief "money is evil" or "I'll never rise above my lot in life" or "I'm useless at saving" for the last 10 years, or even for your entire lifetime, don't feel trapped. Just change your belief. After all, if your belief were really 'true', then no one would be able to get rich! Obviously, plenty of other people are entertaining much healthier belief systems with their finances, and have the assets to prove it. Maybe they got their positive beliefs ("I always land on my feet", "I come from a family of wise investors") from their parents, or maybe they manifested them themselves. Whatever the case, there's no point feeling envious or stressed or rundown about your money situation, because it's not finite. Nothing in the universe is. Everything flows like water... so take a few 'stones' out of your dam, or go ahead and build a whole waterfall. Certain books can be a great kick up the ass, too :-)
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 September 17: Can I Raise Magical Energy With Exercise?
Says 'Catherine': "I had a weird experience at the gym today. While I
was using the cycle, I found myself sort of zoning out... and I swear,
I think I had an encounter with a deity, with her talking to me and
everything. It was almost as though I left my body and went somewhere
else. Am I cracking up, or do goddesses actually speak to big beautiful
women on recumbent bikes? Was I raising spiritual energy as well as
generating physical energy?"
Now
this is a fascinating one. It's well-known that repetitive motions and
sounds (think shaman drumming) have been used to induce trances for
thousands of years. Could tuning out on an exercise bike be a modern
version of the same thing?
There's lots of things in our daily lives that can bring on trance-like
states, or even just semi-dreamy alpha brain waves states (daydreaming,
meditating, dancing to techno music all night). These are the perfect times for gathering and
focusing energy, and yes, if you're particularly intuitive, you might experience visions or meet wise ones in your 'travels'. It's always important to go with these experiences in a trusting and loving way, and not judge or ridicule yourself - even if what you see, hear or experience is a little bizarre!
Drummers and dancers are often all-too-familiar with 'zoning out'. Participate in a Spiral Dance some time, and
feel the energy coming off people in waves. Or sit in on a drum circle
if you get an opportunity -- by the time everyone is done, your body
will practically be humming with the excess energy -- and many people
report encounters with the divine as part of this.
So yes,
absolutely -- you can use exercise to raise spiritual energy as well as
physical. And if you wanna take it a step further... tantric sex is another 'tantalising' opportunity to raise
energy for magic!
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September 10: Marine Magic
There's been a lot of nasty things written about poor baby whales in the newspapers lately, which I find so upsetting I have to change the channel or turn the page every time. (Although the latest story wasn't too bad.) As for Japanese whaling, well, there's really no words for that. It's just mystifyingly moronic. But then, we humans have a penchance for killing large, gentle, helpless creatures (beef, anyone?) just cos we can, and are whales really that different from cows? They're both animals with consciousness, feelings, emotions and just as much right to roam the earth peacefully and comfortably as us. But to hone in on whales and dolphins in particular - because this is not an anti-whale killing or vegetarian rant, but rather a spiritual one - many wise channelled sources tell us that these creatures have the 'most similar' souls to human souls here on earth. Thus, killing a whale can generate the same level of karma as killing a man.
It also means that these deep sea creatures are incredibly intelligent and sophisticated, with their own social code and structure, language and healing powers... which is why humans love to swim with dolphins (including ill patients and Hollywood stars, such as
Pink, Robe Lowe and Anna Kournikova [pictured]). Some intuitive people resonate very strongly with the energy of dolphins, and are visited by them in dreams, claim them as animal totems, or get fantastic messages by using Doreen Virtue's Magical Mermaid and Dolphin Cards. We tend to forget about dolphins and whales a bit, because we don't spend much time in their habitat -- the greater ocean -- but their presence provides an important energy balance here on earth and they are ready and willing to help us at any time, should we simply arrange to bring ourselves into close contact with them. They can rebalance and harmonise our energy, literally cleaning 'static' from our auras.
And here's the most important thought for the day: every time you slather yourself with that gorgeous luxury French exfoliator in the shower, or blow bubbles with all that hot water and dishwashing liquid in the sink... remember that your toxic suds are going straight down the drain, out to sea, and into the dolphins' playground. Don't make the whales and dolphins drink your chemical-laden shampoo. Choose natural, biodegradable products instead... and help our marine brothers and sisters and they will help you.
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 September 3: What's your life purpose?
Have you ever been stuck in a job or doing something you intensely disliked for a long period of time, and found yourself wondering, 'Why am here? What's the point of all this? Is this all there is?' Depressing, huh? Well, apart from a few lucky individuals who literally spring out of bed every morning because they adore their lives and refer to their work as 'play', most of us are still fumbling around in life trying to find a place that feels fairly comfortable and satisfying. Not such a big ask, surely -- right? So why is it so hard to exist in / achieve a constant state of happiness?
Much of it has to do with why you're on this planet in the first place. Many people believe in the idea of a 'soul contract' that's arranged before you're born, in which you make a number of significant decisions. These include things such as gender, what country you'll be born in, who your family will be, what you'll be skilled at, who you'll meet along your journey, and the big one: why you're here (again) and what it is exactly that you aim to do. Of course, we forget all this once we're born and get distracted on earth, but a niggling feeling remains in most of us: I'm not happy. This career doesn't feel right. My gut feeling's off. I don't know what I should be doing, but this job is making me miserable, and I need a change. Some of us go travelling to 'find' ourselves, only to return two months or two years later just as confused and disorientated and uncertain as ever.
The reason for this is that we're not tuning into our true life purpose, which we decided upon before we were born. As long as you resist, avoid or walk a journey in the opposite direction from your true life purpose, you're gonna feel pretty unhappy. It's sort of like failing a university entrance exam that you already know the answers to, and wondering bewilderingly how it could possibly have happened.
'But what IS my life purpose?' I hear you ask exasperatedly. 'I honestly have no idea!' Oh, but you do. The tricky thing about life purposes is that they're disguised as something so joyful and wonderful that you constantly dismiss them, because 'that's not serious enough, it's just something I occasionally do for fun, but you can't make any money out of it'. In other words, your life purpose is usually the very thing that makes you feel absolutely blissful: receiving massages, eating gourmet food, spending time with children, learning a language, gathering flowers, seeing bands, reading romantic novels, collecting old car parts or any other 'pass times' you occasionally allow yourself to indulge in. Well, that's the trick. If you can somehow make your 'pass time' your 'life's work', you'll technically never work another day in your life. You'll be blissfully happy, you'll bring happiness to others through the work that you do, and you'll attract plenty of $$ because you'll do such a stellar job. And the best bit? You'll feel deeply contented at a soul level because you're squarely following your own path, and will wake up every morning for the rest of your life happy :-)
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 August 26: Spring-clean your soul
I don't know about you, but I have serious cabin fever right now. I'm tired of getting home when it's dark. I'm tired of everything being wet, drizzly and grey. I'm tired of constantly feeling cold (especially my poor, poor feet -- I actually found myself gazing longingly at ugg boots on the weekend. Eeek). The Celtic ancients understood this pre-spring season well: they called it Imbolc, and cheerfully viewed the dreariest weather of the year as an exciting sign that spring was basically on their doorstep. (And I can only imagine what a relief spring would have been in a dark, muddy country like Scotland.)
Spring is also a very symbolic time to start over -- spring-clean your house, spring-clean your life, spring-clean your soul. Let go of old habits, take up new projects, feel the creativity flowing as sap flows through the trees and green shoots and buds appear everywhere. Make pledges and resolutions for all-things-new. This is a good month
to make plans for the future. Magical workings in September should focus on personal
achievements and advancement.
Our ancestors acknowledged this change in the seasons -- and in themselves -- by using fire, which represented the return of warmth and the increasing power of the sun over the coming months. So here's your homework for the week: light a candle, conduct a brief candle meditation and state your future intentions while gazing into the flame. And if it helps you concentrate, you may wear ugg boots to keep your feet warm. (But only if no one is looking.)
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 August 19: What is your religion?
I got a weird message on MySpace last week. Someone wrote, "Hi (blah
blah), like your page. My spritual beliefs are very different from
yours but (blah blah blah)..." This puzzled me. I thought, How are your
beliefs different? What ARE your beliefs, anyway? I couldn't tell by
perusing their page, so how on earth could they tell by perusing mine? Not long afterwards, someone asked me what I believe in. (I suppose it must be fairly confusing for people, seeing as Psyched In Stilettos covers everything from past lives and eco trends to acupressure and Sanskrit goddesses in a single week.) I thought for a moment and then answered, "I believe in everything."
Latest statistics show that 1 in 3 young peple believe in reincarnation, and if Vogue Australia is anything to go by, most 20- and 30-somethings are officially SBNR ('spiritual-but-not-religious'). Here's something that many people -- particularly those who are used to the structured discipline, rules and dogma of organised religion -- find hard to understand: it is okay to sort of make up your own religion.
Let's be very clear here: I'm not talking about starting a cult, peoples. I'm talking about spending time meditating, reflecting, inquiring within and accumulating your life experiences to decide what makes you happy. If that means dancing naked under a full moon with a corn wreath on your head, fine. If it means going to Catholic Church every Sunday and baptising your children, fine. If it means simply meditating every morning, occasionally feeling grateful for having good health and maintaining good morals, fine.
I've sort of created a religion for myself over the past few months. I think my religion is flowers: cutting them, smelling them, admiring them, gardening with them, placing them in altars around my home, and thus using them to get closer to Creator and the divine experience. Right now I'm feeling very cherry-blossoms-and-mother-of-pearl. Next week I might decorate my desk at work with daffodils and painted eggs and think about the fact that it's almost the first day of spring (Eostre). I'm blending a mish-mash of wicca, paganism, christianity and Eastern mysticism as I go along, and it feels beautiful and special and magical to me.
So, the $1000 question: what's your religion? :-)
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August 12: A Hidden Chakra?
A girlfriend of mine is really stuck in life at the moment, caught in an endless cycle of frustration and repeating patterns. Why, she wonders, if I'm so spiritually aware, am I still plagued by all these recurring probems? She's dealt with them so many times, in every way she knows how. What's left when all your New Age techniques are exhausted? Well, here's something new. Every psychette knows that our bodies hold seven main energy centres, or chakras, plus about 100 smaller secondary ones. But the other day, a friend (let's call her Olivia) squirted me with a special magical angel misty spray. "What's that?" I asked.
"It clears and activates your eighth chakra," answered Olivia.
"My eighth chakra?" I asked. "Where's that?"
"Floating somewhere about two feet over your head."
Well, this was news. I've been dabbling with chakras for years but I never knew there was an extra hidden one. How useful. But it got better.
"Your eighth chakra," continued Olivia, "Is the root chakra for the NEXT set of chakras which stretch upwards into your ‘next being' or higher self." Oooooh, wow! Naturally, I had to know more. So I Googled.
The eighth chakra, according to this website , is "the gateway to other ideas, concepts and and abilities. When the eighth center begins to open up and expand, a new spiritual awareness begins to take shape." It may even be responsible for astral projection. (Apparently, it isn't until your seventh chakra opens up that you can really use your eighth.) But here's the BEST bit -- and it all goes back to the original conundrum of helping my girlfriend who's sick of churning through the same old schmuck in life: "[The eighth chakra...] holds your karmic residue -- those energy patterns that you have held on to for more than one lifetime. This chakra is the last energy centre that holds anything human within it. It, therefore, becomes the temple of human cleansing and the releasing of patterns that are lifetimes old and worn out. These patterns are the last of what holds you to the reincarnation system and your humanness and keeps you from uniting with higher powers, beings, and ideas. When this center opens up, you not only begin to take on an awareness to this larger community of energies, but you begin to shed those patterns that have kept you rooted to the planet."
So if you ever feel like you're pushing through mud in life -- everything is too hard and you'd love some sort of lighter, happier release -- perhaps working with/through your eighth chakra is the answer. How? you ask. I knew you'd ask that. Well, your eighth chakra is part of your aura, so a reiki or energy treatment could be useful in clearing or activating it. You can also visualising moving up through the various coloured chakras while meditating, mentally cleansing them, and finish by polishing up your eighth -- and lingering there to investigate which recurring behaviours or lessons unlearned are holding you back. Or just keep a copy of this next to your nightstand.
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August 5: Unlocking the Magic Word
I am reading the spiritual bible of the 21st century: Eat, Pray, Love by New York divorcee Elizabeth Gilbert, who travels to three continents in her quest to find herself and God - in a thoroughly modern, humorous, entertaining American type of way. One section struck me in particular enough to share with you: the notion which she and a bunch of friends are discussing that all the cities in the world can be defined by a single word. Every single person, activity and motivation in the city of Rome, for example, can be summed up by one word: SEX. Naples can be defined by FIGHT; New York by ACHIEVE; Los Angeles by SUCCEED; and Stockholm by CONFORM, they decide. Which then leads Gilbert and her friends into an even deeper discussion: which single word would you use to completely sum up yourself? Gilbert decides on DEVOTION. I have spent two days ruminating on this curious question, and still can't determine my personal word. But the most important bit: "If your personal word does not match the word of the city, then you don't really belong there." Ever wondered why you never really fit in somewhere, or didn't 'resonate' with a city? I have. After some more thought, I think that could be because Sydney's word is something like NOW, and mine might be something akin to PEACE or MAGIC.
It all reminds me of a much-talked-about recent article in a women's magazine where someone investigated a new service being offered in Manhattan: for a sizeable amount, you can pay a couple of women to spend a few days researching everything about you in order to come up with your own personal logo, or description: the two words which most aptly describe who you are and how you're moving through the world. (The journalist in question walked away from the exercise being told she was 'Modern Luminous'.)
In a nutshell: Can you describe yourself in a single word? And if you find you don't like that word, can you then decide on a word that truly represents who and where you'd like to be? If you can grasp that word, I'd suggest you start surrounding yourself with it like a mantra: write in on the fridge, in your wallet, use it as your computer password, scribble it anywhere and everywhere you'll glance at it consciously and subconsciously 20 times a day. Begin to create a new you: a you of your own creation. Exactly who you'd like to be.
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 July 29: Be Your Own Psychic
I've noticed a trend in the psychic world. It's
suddenly occurred to me that everyone who arrives on my doorstep for a reading
has something in common. To preface: I've never had somebody come to me who
wasn't already fairly intuitive themselves. (There haven't been any
sceptic busters or arms-crossed-‘I-don't-believe-you'
attitudes so far - if you've booked in and paid your deposit, you
kinda already believe enough to pay to hear cosmic babble for an hour!)
Therefore, I would go so far as to say that most of my clients are kinda
psychic themselves, but don't know it, believe it, acknowledge it or use
it.
So what's my astonishing discovery? Well, the majority of the time (there
are exceptions), people are paying me to tell them something they already know.
They just want an ‘objective', ‘outside' person who's
never met them before to validate their own gut-feeling. Why do we do this?
Because sadly, we as a human race have a lot of issues with self-esteem. Even
when we're mildly psychic with a strong intuition and gut feeling, we
still question ourselves over and over. We ‘suspect' something
might be true, but often don't want to jump off the cliff until someone
else says, ‘Oh, you're right! You should do that!'The upshot of all this? Well, technically, you could save
your $$ and stop paying psychics for readings, and just learn to trust your own
hunches. Which would actually make for a better world, in a way... imagine
if we learned to make decisions all the time
from our own special source of divine guidance? At the end of the day, even if
you totally trust the opinion of your psychic / spirit guide / horoscope /
naturopath, life is all down to you. Have a little more courage in what you
believe in... I can assure or dissuade you either way, but you're the
one that's got to walk the path in your own stilettos. :-)
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 July 22: Got One Minute?
Yesterday I stumbled across a fascinating cosmic MySpace page that offers a brilliant idea - a way to find that "quiet moment to remember how connected we are to each other, to our planet and to the infinite", every single day. They suggest taking 60 seconds at 11:11 am/pm or both (set your mobile alarm to remind you if necessary) to just stop whatever you're doing, withdraw from the craziness of life, and spend a quiet moment reflecting or meditating. Calling it the Oneness Minute, the website continues: "The goal of this daily exercise is to shift global consciousness from the belief of separation to the experience of our natural connection." Of course, if enough people are blissing out with peace and love at intervals all around the world, surely it's injecting some serious love into our universe - which has to be a good thing, right?! (Madonna and Justin Timberlake need four minutes to save the world, but you need only one!)
And it gets better: the 'Oneness Minute' culminates on 11.11.08 at 11:11am, when groups are encouraged to do something very special to mark this magical date. For example, it might be nice to hold a goddess picnic where everyone joins in a prayer, blessing or meditation circle -- preferably in the wilderness or on a beach.
Why all this fuss with 11s, you ask? According to Numerology, 11 and 111 are very powerful golden symbols... imagine '11' like two tall doors that can swing open to usher you through to exciting new divine possibilites at any moment ('the crack between two worlds'). There's even a movement of people who pay attention every time they see 11:11 on a digital clock, receipt or documents, and have dubbed the phenomenon The 11:11 Equation. In sum: "The appearance of 11:11 is an always beneficial act of Divine Intervention telling you that it is time to take a good look around you and see what is really happening. It's time to pierce the veils of illusion that keep us bound to an unreal world. You have been chosen, because you are ready, to step into the Greater Reality. To lead the way for others into a new way of living."
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July 15: Are you looking within?
Despite the fact everyone in Australia is going Pope-crazy thanks to World Youth Day, according to all the latest surveys and statistics, Generation X and Y are predominantly SBNR: 'Spiritual-But-Not-Religious'. Even Australian Vogue dedicated a feature to this topic last year. One out of three young adults believe in reincarnation, and most have no organised religious belief, other than just being sort of open-minded about everything from Buddhism to homeopathy to The Secret to psychic detectives to Oprah
's 'Remembering Your Spirit' segment... sort of like this website, really! An open community for likeminded souls to meet and think about the important things in life: Who am I? What is my life purpose? How can I minimise drama in my life? How can I fast-track my career success? How can I find harmony and balance in my crazy schedule? What do I believe in, anyway? Generation Y likes this process, because they're used to being spoilt for choice -- not being told which choices to follow -- so the idea of a 'build your own faith', while appalling to our elders, is exactly where the zeitgeist currently sits. The popularity of everything from Medium to holistic therapies to What The Bleep Do We Know? to Eat, Pray, Love proves that we're all searching for spiritual answers, filtering through the information, applying what we like and discarding what doesn't resonate. And that's absolutely fine. I encourage this process, because while dabbling in athiesm is fun (it's always important to be sceptical and ask challenging questions), the universe is an incredibly complex and mysterious place. To assume we 'know' anything for certain is supremely arrogant -- hence the necessity to search and discover things for yourself. There's only one thing we can ever know, and that's our personal inner truth. Otherwise known as a gut feeling... which is where all psychic and cosmic and soul-stuff comes from. So if anyone wants a short-cut to becoming intuitive, or answering any of those questions posed above, the answer is so simple, it's almost cliched: look within. Deep inside you there already lies the keys for unlocking the universe. What are you waiting for?
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 July 7: Familiar Companions
Long ago, witches had 'familiars' -- a small animal that stayed by their side and imbued magical qualities. It was usually a bat, crow, rat, lizard, owl or cat (and you can see Hogwarts students carrying their 'familiars' in Harry Potter). Today, most families have 'familiars', except that we call them pets. But don't underestimate your cat, dog, lizard or fish's wisdom and magical importance to your household! After reading the information below, it might be interesting to note why your family has chosen a certain type of pet -- or combination of pets. What qualities do these animals bring into your house, and why are they needed?
Your family cat might be soft to touch and reduce your stress levels when stroked and patted, but she also has lots of ancient wisdom to teach you. Her Egyptian origins bring healing energy to your household and the watchful paths she softly pads around your house and garden are working to encircle your living quarters with invisible fields of protection. She may be 'two years old' and very small, but her knowledge is very old, and she brings a certain majesty and grace to her surrounds.
Your family dog is responsible for warmth, joy and love. Their boisterous natures remind us to engage in playfulness -- to let our worries drop from our shoulders upon returning home from work, laugh and play. Dogs' routines bring us a certain groundedness, stability and reassurance. They inspire values of trustworthiness, unconditional love and loyalty.
Your aquarium or fish bowl may contain a variety of critters, but the watery 'oceans' of their homes imbue us with peace, relaxation and calm. With fish in the room, we're more inclined to 'go with the flow'. Watching a fish gracefully manoeuvre around its bowl can be an almost meditative experience. The watery aquarium is a metaphor for our emotions, and the importance of wearing our hearts on our sleeves.
Your pet bird is sharp, astute, witty and clever. Birds see through everything - guises, pretence, unauthenticity. They also lighten the heart and mood with their melodious songs. Birds are often found in households that are home to academics, deep thinkers and intelligent types, who may have bookshelves full of tomes. Birds encourage quick and clear thinking, alertness of mind, and pinpointing problems.
If you'd like to inquire about another sort of family pet, click here.
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 June 24: Who's driving you?
If you're
not chatting with your angels and spirit guides as regularly as you're
text-messaging your girlfriends, you need a serious reality check. They are sooo
useful. You can ask them anything from ‘Why won't my car start?' to ‘How come I
missed out on that fabulous job promotion and bitch-face Lucy got it instead?'
Their answers are always exactly what you need to hear (unless you've got a
drop-kick loser driver hanging around by accident, in which case it's time to
show him the door and replace him with someone far more clever.)
My
girlfriend Priscilla has a 'driver' hovering around her right shoulder who just
happens to be a very good-looking lad from the Dark Ages. My other bestie,
Marguerite, is always accompanied by a rather saintly bloke in a white robe
named Anthony who has an extremely Catholic melodrama going on. And my personal
cast of cosmic cheerleaders includes my great grandmother, a French ballet
mistress called Fleurette, an American Indian I knew a few hundred years ago,
and a little Chinese man with a long moustache called Huong Xi who doesn't say
much (although he's always extremely chatty whenever Priscilla is around, which
is annoying). Still, you wouldn't want to mess with him because he really knows
his stuff.
Drivers always have your best interests at heart, but they
have personalities, so it's fine to disagree with their ideas and even hold
full-scale arguments. The bottom line is, if your gut feeling says yes (or no)
on a topic, then that's all you really need to know. Drivers can tell you wise
information on anything in the entire world - sort of like a spiritual version
of the Internet - but it's important to remember that every
time you get psyched, you will not necessarily be handed the Ten Commandments or
given divine prophetic information for the human race. I learned this when I
asked Priscilla to reveal something about the cute boy down at the car radio
store. "Anything at all. I think we have a past life connection.
He looked at
me," I said.
"Chicken Vindaloo," answered Priscilla
promptly.
"Huh?"
"I dunno.
That's all I got. Maybe he's eating some right now!"
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 June 17: Magical Little People
Has anyone noticed lately that children are becoming increasing psychic? I've heard many people comment that upon gazing into the eyes of a newborn baby they instantly see an 'old soul'. Kids come out with all kinds of 'telling' comments and activities - from making references to their past lives ("You shouldn't hit me, mummy. I never hit you when I was your father") to lying in their cots chatting away with ghosts and fairies. Their drawings and play-acting can reveal a lot about where they've 'come from', too -- if your kid starts producing pictures of Egyptians or wearing long skirts while muttering over herbs in the garden, or even running around in an animal outfit and refusing to take off their 'tail' -- you can bet they're remembering all sorts of interesting things from the place(s) they were before they arrived in this particular time, energy and space. Doreen Virtue has written extensively about the Crystal, Indigo and Rainbow children who are being born now, and there's much speculation about the souls that are choosing to enter earth at this particular time. Generally, they are quite wise little people who are very familiar with earth, and often have lots to teach their own parents.
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June 9: Could you love your arch enemy?
Ever really, really hated someone? Of course you have. We all have, and some of us currently still do! We wouldn't be on earth if we didn't, learning all sorts of lessons from the Big Game. If someone has treated you absolutely abominably, how are you supposed to view the situation spiritually?
1) Accept that no one ever 'does' anything to 'make you feel' a certain way. You choose every single thought, feeling, emotion and reaction that crosses your conscious (and sub conscious) mind. No one in the entire world has the power to 'make you' angry. You choose
anger. (And sometimes that's fine, if it feels good and you really need to let off steam!) Hence, if two different people undergo the same experience, they'll react to and deal with it in their own separate ways. This concept can be quite hard to accept, but is very freeing once you realise that no one can ever control your thoughts... thus, if you choose not to let someone bother you anymore, it's that easy. They won't. They can't, because you're not letting them.
2) OK, so you've acknowledged that you've chosen to feel enraged by your bastard-ex-husband or emotionally-abusive-boss. Still feel shit? Yup. Now what? Here are some interesting theories to ponder from deeper schools of spiritual thought:
a) Karma and reincarnation. Did you do the same thing to them in a past life, and now it's your turn to be on the receiving end and see what it feels like?
b) Soul contracts. The two of you very consciously decided to role-play a certain relationship before you both came down to earth. You are each other's teacher, and you are giving each other the gift of a lesson you've requested to learn. Once you learn the lesson, the situation can be released. So... what have you learned from them?
c) Higher love. Only a soul who really, really, really loves you and cares about you is able to put up their hand and say, 'I will be the perpetrator. I will cause you grief and suffering and hurt and pain in this lifetime, and be fiercely hated by you, so that you may glean from the experience what you've chosen to learn'. Now that's humbling.
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June 1: It's Important To Dream Big
It's nice to have ambitions. If there's one thing I find totally off-putting, it's people who are happy to slug around on the couch for their entire lives, wallowing permanently in mediocre averageness (and letting their fears stop them from ever taking a risk). Don't get me wrong -- I am very good at slugging around on couches too. But every now and then I feel something tugging inside of me that says, Put your skates on, girl. You're worth more than this. How can you rest until you've achieved all that you're capable of doing? So I get off the couch and go back into the world and make things happen for myself.
Don't get me wrong. This is not necessarily easy. Sometimes we allow ourselves to feel very trapped by life conditions: 'I would love a big house by the sea, but I'll never be able to afford something like that on my wages'. Or, 'I know I'm getting really bored in my job and not pushing my personal limits, but everyone's so nice and I have my own carpark space and gee that weekly salary feels mighty secure...' Well, here's one thing I know. If you ever decide to jump off a cliff in life and take a risk, the universe will catch you. If you ever quit a job to follow your true passion (with no back-up savings plan), or write down a goal that sounds a bit extreme ('I will have climbed Mount Everest by the time I'm 32'), the universe is right there behind you. The universe loves a winner. The whole purpose of life is to push outside your comfort zone, expand your limits, dream big and jump off that cliff. Because that's when passion, exciting results and incredible outcomes arrive, thick and fast.
'Oh, but I could never do that', you're thinking. 'That's for other people, like Olympic athletes and Bill Gates. Not me.' Why not? It's well-documented that many of the world's super-successful businesspeople, entrepreneurs and billionaires refer to themselves as completely average people with no particular talent. They just worked out a life plan, ignored their fears and took some major risks (all guided by their gut-feelings), followed their dreams persistently, and their hard work paid off. It's that simple. So I challenge you to ask yourself this: How badly do I want my goals?
Badly? Good.
What are you going to do about it?
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 May 26: What is gem therapy?
I used to think that crystals were pretty and sparkly but doubted they could actually "do" anything. Working with them over the past eight years has proved me wrong, time and time again! Crystals contain all sorts of interesting abilties and memories trapped in their vibrations, so having the right one around can be as uplifting as putting a vase of flowers on your desk (or, if you have the wrong crystal, as off-putting as a bad smell in the office!) There's reams of information about the properties of different crystals, but you don't need to know any of that to choose the right ones for you -- they will literally jump out at you. You'll be naturally attracted to a certain colour, shape or feel, and bang -- your crystal has chosen you! Later inspection in a crystal dictionary will probably reveal that it contains properties you need in your life right now.
To illustrate this, check out my fun guide, 'Which crystal do you need today?' - simply click on the coloured gem you like best (at the very bottom of the page) and see what meaning it holds for you. I keep a select bunch of 'career crystals' (plus citrine to absorb radiation) next to my computer at work, have held a rose quartz in my hand while visiting a doctor to overcome my nerves, and like to place crystals on various body parts or chakras during energywork treatments. You can also try fun things, like placing a piece of aventurine in your purse while nightclubbing (it amps up libido!) To clean your crystals and keep them happy, pop them in rainwater in a glass or china bowl under a full moon, or take them swimming in the ocean with you in a little gauze bag -- for dazzling bling results! It's very important to do this when you first acquire a crystal, because they tend to hang on to 'stuff' from previous owners or memories of where they've been.
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 May 18: Cave Women Did It Best
Here's an interesting fact: apparently every single person in the entire world is allergic to wheat -- they just haven't realised it yet. That means that you are in some way intolerant to pasta, bread, flour, and every kind of processed carb you can think of (yes, sadly, that includes cake and biscuits. Sigh). But statistics show only a certain percentage of people are gluten intolerant, you're already arguing. Nup, sorry. They're just the people who demonstrate obvious symptoms. But what about Italy? I hear you asking. The average Italian eats more than 51 pounds of pasta every year (with 2.75 million tons of the stuff produced there each year). But who ever said they're optimally healthy?
The first processed wheat product appeared in 5000 BC, when humans finally had the time and know-how to produce the stuff. But your genes have changed very little in the last 100,000 years, since hunter/gatherers were still running around with dredlocks wearing animal skins, hitting woolly mammoths over the head with wooden clubs (well, something like that). Point is, they were eating fruit, veg, nuts, berries, fish and the occasional piece of grass-fed meat (i.e. animals who got lots of exercise and grazed on vegetation, as opposed to cows kept in pens and force-fed corn and grains that have been sprayed with pesticides... yecchh).
Sooo, there's a reason why everyone walking down the mall these days looks fat and unhealthy: because we think hot chips, gravy, crackers, corn-fed chicken, rice, cheese and croissants are food. Newsflash: they're not. Not according to what your genes are actually designed to eat, that is. Model your diet on your cave-dwelling ancestors' and you'll get a little closer to the mark... and feel superbly fit, energised and super-healthy. What's this got to do with spiritual stuff, I hear you ask? Because a 'clean' body equals a clear, quiet mind... which in turn is ready to receive all kinds of marvellous, mind-blowing things :-) Bring it on :-)
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 April 27: Sunset Strip
OK, at the risk of sounding like super-corny, when was the last time you saw a sunset? Chances are, it was ages... or if you did happen to catch one the other night, were you gushing 'oooh' and 'ahhhh' and 'look at all the pretty colours!' because you haven't seen one for so long? It's a major sign of how caught up we are in modern life (staying back at work late, racing home in peak-hour traffic, getting smashed in bars, flicking on the electric lights) when we realise that we are constantly missing something that is a perfectly natural 24 hourly event. Our ancestors lived by the rising and setting of the sun, and their body clocks were perfectly attuned to its rhythms and cycles. They naturally assimilated into the winter and summer months, the shorter nights and longer nights -- they didn't need a copy of the local newspaper reminding them to 'set your clocks back for daylight saving'.
And here's another thought, courtesy of Doreen Virtue's fascinating Angel Medicine book: viewing the different colours in a sunset at the end of every day is vitally important for cleansing your chakras! Apparently the different colours of the sunset (oranges, reds, blues, pinks, greens, whites) all correspond with our body's different energy centres, allowing them to release any built-up tensions they've accumulated throughout the day, rinsing you clean and preparing you for the next 24 hours. Sounds gorgeous to me. And I mean really - who needs an excuse to watch a beautiful sunset? It might be the most relaxing few minutes of your entire day. x
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 April 20: Is
life following your plan?
Have you ever felt
really angry at the universe because something that should have been perfectly
easy and effortless just didn't go to plan? I have a girlfriend who's just moved
to London, with a view to grow her career over the next couple of years. Let's
call her Rose. Rose has always been a smart, sassy, clever little thing who's
held jobs in fast-paced, executive environments for some of Australia's top
media companies. For the past eight weeks -- starting before she'd even left
Australia -- she's been pro-actively firing off resumes left, right and centre
to agencies and business in London - a city of seven million people and untold
opportunities. She's had a string of interviews and reference requests.
Guess what? She's still unemployed, and running out of money so fast that she
might have to book a return ticket home. Rose feels completely bewildered,
panicky and upset. She's young, independent and a real go-getter - so why on
earth is it so hard to get a foot in the door?
Of course,
you might be able to think of an example much worse than this... such as,
Why am I suffering from this long-winded illness, and never seem to get any
better? or Why have three close people around me passed away in the
last six months? When I was trapped in eight months of employment hell in
Sydney in 2005 under a tyrannical editor who ruined my life day after day
until I thought I would self-destruct, a girlfriend lent me a Buddhist book.
It offered such a gentle message: That sometimes, bad or unfair stuff
just happens, and all we can do is keep breathing and walk through
it. There may be a higher reason for it, but maybe you need to 'see out'
the entire period first, without finding out why, because it's all part of your
growth and self-discovery. Kinda like when someone tells you the end of the book
before you've started it, and ruins the entire - albeit harrowing - journey for
you. So unfulfilling, right?
You can't force
things. (When will I get a promotion? When will Simon ask me to marry
him? When will I find my dream home?) And although we can do heaps and
heaps and HEAPS of self-work on ourselves, clearing out emotional blockages and
stuck beliefs, there are a few things in life which often remain mysteries
for the time being... and it's important to honour that, too. Divine timing,
pieces of the universal puzzle that need to slot into place, etc etc. The more
you can find peace in 'allowing' your reality to flow, without placing anxious
constraints, worries and fears around your personal timeline, the more
effortlessly your true destiny will unfold. And if everything
feels simply unbearable in the meantime? Well, there's nothing
wrong with treating yourself to an instant-fun hit: a restaurant meal, a
massage, a night out with girlfriends, buying yourself a huge bunch of flowers,
indulging in something you really enjoy. Quick fixes can be major
pleasure-enhancers!
Cutting through the Blog Smog
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 April 13: Cosmic fashion tips
Have you ever wondered what your wardrobe says about you -- spiritually? Two weeks ago, a girlfriend asked me to 'critique' her clothing from a cosmic perspective... and tell her what her sartorial choices reveal about her personality, energy and beliefs. What a fascinating exercise! In her case, a couple of luxuriant past lives in the Arabian area meant that, to this day, she still carries a penchant for loose-fitting, flowing garb (and it's no coincidence she likes wrapping things around her head). Fortunately, the latest drop-waisted range in Peter Alexander enables her to dress according to her personal power zone, and look on-trend.
Know what the universe had to say about it? They approve of her wearing loose clothing, because it apparently helps energy and blood circulate freely around her torso area. Another friend of mine with very strong yang (masculine) energy looks totally sexy, uber-glam and powerful when channelling man-style clothing: tuxedo pants, cuffed shirts, even silk ties. If I tried to pull that look together, I'd feel ridiculous and probably mimick Charlie Chaplin.
It's not an accident that certain clothes make you feel very powerful and attractive, while you wouldn't touch others with a 10 foot pole. It's a bit like hairstyles: any girl can request a pixie cut, but only a handful can really 'wear' it (carry it off) - and an even smaller handful would truly feel 100% comfortable with it. Likewise, your wardrobe undoubtedly contains garments that you adore without really knowing why... Edwardian lace detailing, boy-style comfort clothes, floor-length skirts or super-silky fabrics... but which look totally wrong on your friends.
The more you wear clothes that bring you that extra-special-something feeling, the more you'll glow and operate at a high achieving level throughout the day. It sounds shallow, but there's lots of deeper meaning to it! And if you've ever been curious about 'Who was I in a past life?'... well, your wardrobe is definitely the most obvious place to start! For the record, wanna know mine? Anything featuring broiderie anglaise (late Victorian)... anything with long skirts and hoop earrings (gypsy).... anything with brown corduroy, wedges and flares (American 1970s)... but as for those Supre rainbow tops, I'm not sure what the fuck that's all about. A bad shopping accident, peut-etre.
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 April 6: My anger or yours?
This topic was once labelled "the most ridiculous thing
I've ever heard" by someone who scoffed at me over a dinner party. Why?
Because it's a concept that forces you to take responsibility for
absolutely everything in your life (sounds depressing and exhausting,
I know). But it can also bring freedom and lightness.
Do you realise that absolutely no one in the entire world can make you 'think' anything? In other words, if your boyfriend walks into the room and says something that immediately has you gritting your teeth with anger, he hasn't 'made' you upset -- you've chosen to react in a certain way to his words. This concept is very simple, and you'll either understand it immediately, or it could take years to sink in. The first time someone told me that "your friend Julie doesn't make you angry when you're arguing, you choose to feel angry", I was 15 years old and reeling with utter disbelief. How could anyone be so stupid? Of course my friend Julie made me angry. It was all her fault, because she was so unreasonable and stubborn, and she picked fights. I was the innocent victim here!
It's taken years for me to fully understand that every moment, every second of my life, I am making choices. Most are subconscious, because I'm whizzing around on auto-pilot. But particularly when dealing with a co-worker, parent, lover, girlfriend or annoying call-centre-operator, I need to be aware that the energy of half of our conversation is governed by me. If someone is acting aggressively, shouting and yelling, there are many reactions I can choose: I can shout back, I can cry, I can laugh it off, I can walk away, I can feel victimised, I can blame them, or I can recognise 'OK, this person has lots of personal issues and I choose to play no part in their anger'. For me personally, this last statement is the most empowering and spiritually evolved reaction. Of course, no one says it better than Buddha:
"One day while the Buddha was walking through a village. A very angry and rude young man came up to him. He was yelling and shouting insults. "You are as stupid as everyone else! You shouldn't teach anyone! Who do you think you are? You are just a fake!" The Buddha was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man, "Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does it belong?" The man was surprised by the strange question. He answered, "It would belong to me because I bought it." The Buddha smiled and said, "That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you are angry with me and shout insults and I do not get insulted, then the anger still belongs to you. All you have done is hurt yourself." Onya Buddha.
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 March 30: Are You Living Your Life Awake?
Last night, a friend and I were curled up on the couch drinking cups of tea and having a cosmic gossip, when she said, "The last time I visited England, I felt so weird being around my old friends." "Why?" I asked. "Because I couldn't believe how completely disconnected they were. It was almost draining to hang around them." By ‘disconnected', of course, my girlfriend was not suggesting they're so out-of-touch that they missed the last episode of So You Think You Can Dance (although that may have been true). She was referring to their general state of walking through life 'asleep': never questioning their own reality, perception, beliefs or a greater universal picture.
The world is absolutely full of people who roll out of bed every morning with the alarm clock, stand under the shower in a coma, sit - bleary-eyed - in traffic jams on the way to work, whizz through the conveyer-belt of 9to5 life, sit - exhausted - in traffic jams on the way home, eat dinner off their laps in front of a reality television show, have a petty email fight / text sex / angry phone call with their girlfriend / boyfriend / mum, then pop a couple of sleeping tablets and go to sleep... only to wake up and do it all again. Except on weekends, when they get blind drunk at nightclubs and drift aimlessly under the fluorescent lights in shopping malls.
*This is not existence, people. This is illusion and distraction.* The world is full of bright, flashy, fun, instant entertainment, from TV to iPods to YouTube to Blackberrys to magazines -- all of which serve to keep us from thinking too much. When was the last time you had a conversation with yourself? Your real self -- the one who used to create extraordinary make-believe games in the back garden when you were little? When was the last time you ignored the loud voices of everyone around you and listened - really listened - to your inner voice when making a super-important life decision -- and then actually did what your gut feeling told you was right? When was the last time you read a book or had a conversation or listened to a CD that encouraged you to put aside yout logical, buzzing, rational, thinking brain, and feel something with your body parts instead? Or experience something through your subconscious, or colour, or sound?
Have you been working those dormant muscles in the brain... the ones connected to your creative, magnificent, intuitive self? Don't let them shrivel up and disppear. Start feeding them some energy... and then expect new magic and powerful little miracles to invade your daily monotony! There is more to reality than this. But no one can find it for you, show it to you or help you experience -- you'll need to do that yourself. Don't worry, it's fun. And just incase you ever get stuck (or lost or drained or uninspired), remember that Miss Psychette is here to give you a big kick up the spiritual pants. With my stilettos.
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March 23: Girl Power (not the Spice Girls type)
 Most of us probably treated June 2004 like any other month: we went to work, watched Big Brother, got drunk with friends, caught a movie or two, walked the dog and pashed a couple of boys (if you were lucky). But planetarily, something fairly profound took place in June 2004 -- something which had not happened since the 19th and 16th centuries, and the impact of which has been reverberating ever since. What?!, you ask.
Well, the planet Venus occulted (overshadowed) the sun - a kinda eclipse - and with that rare event, a flood of new Goddess energies returned to earth, especially feminine power and female sexuality. Need evidence? Well, first, along came the overnight popularity of The Da Vinci Code, which practically every single person in the western world had a copy of, and which reintroduced the concept of the lost Sacred Feminine -- at an interesting time, non? Fast forward a few more years and Australia has its first female prime-minister-when-K-Rudd-is-away, and America has its first female presidential candidate.
In addition to this I would be tempted to suggest that women around the world have been intuitively recalling many of their 'forgotten' wisdoms from the ancient world, in great force, lately -- finding themselves doing goddessy things like gardening and cooking and seeking out spiritual books and noticing the moon and creating more meaning in their lives, emotionally, spiritually and ritualistically. What does this mean for you? Well, there's never been a better time to launch yourself into business, harness your personal power and make big things happen in your life... there's plenty of strong girly vibes around to support your quest!
Of course, there's nothing wrong with the masculine in all this (despite the fact they have boy germs, haha), but as Germaine Grer will tell you, the boys have had their turn at running government, business, religion and politics for far too long. Move over, lads, the Witches are back :-)
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 March 16: Stop Bulldozing Through Life
Did you know that if you ask the universe a serious question, you'll probably be sent a sign? Then what you'll probably do, like most people, is block it out or ignore it, and keep bulldozing your way through life. So stop it. Angels (or the A-team, as we call them here at Psyched In Stilettos) are very good at sending us signs: a book might fall off the shelf, words on a page or the lyrics in a song might jump out, numbers might flash at us, a feather might lay in your path. And yes, there's always a divine reason why. It's got to do with synchronicity and validation and little green lights scattered throughout your journey on earth that keep indicating, Yes! You're on the right path. You're not alone. Don't give up now.
Hence, when I walked into my study this afternoon and found a very large, impressive-looking dead dragonfly on the floor, with filmy rainbowy wings, I broke into a cheesy grin. That's because, au naturel, I wasn't looking at a shrivelled dead insect at all. I was looking at a divine totemic symbol - one which our ancestors would have instantly recognised, and which most of us in today's world would too, had we not totally eradicted centuries of divine knowledge by switching off with one distracting twist of an iButton.
Dragonfly: the power of light and transformation. Change, enlightenment, swiftness, dreams, the winds of change.
Now, that might not sound particularly profound to you, but if you'd experienced the major-life-climax-new-moon-epiphany-rebirth that I did during the past 10 days, you'd be grinning too. Obviously I already know the A-team are floating around up there somewhere, but gee it's nice to receive a 'memo' from them occasionally. Did you get the cosmix fax?
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March 9: Be your own psychic Spiritual stuff is well-meaning awesome fun, but like everything else in life, it has the tendency to become a money-spinner. Step into your local health food store or holistic book shop and you will be bombarded with stuff to spend (lots of) money on: trinkets, incense, vitamins, angel cards, crystals, candles, wands, dreamcatchers, calendars, divination tools and bookshelves groaning under mounds of New Age books. Don't get me wrong, all of these things are clearly fabulous - I've got a pile of them at home myself.
But when you come to those occasional moments in life when you're really, truly standing at a crossroads - you're about to make an enormous decision or riskily 'jump off a cliff' - I'm here to tell you that all the tarot cards, spell boxes and self-help books in the world cannot help you. Know why? Because it's these moments in life that require us to truly go within -- to consult no other Oracle than the gut-feeling deep inside our own chests.
If you haven't had a genuine conversation with your true self in a while, stop procrastinating and start talking. Can you write on a piece of paper what your personal goal in life is? And how you hope to achieve it? It doesn't need to sound grandiose, but it needs to make you feel an excited yearning inside. Rekindle those flames of personal passion and follow no other guide but your own intuition to get you to your destination. Remember: Pressure makes diamonds.
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 March 2: Planet disco
OK, so you possibly already know this, and I'm the last person on earth to figure it out. I'm talking about 'Saturn returning', which has only just been brought to my attention and not a moment too late: I'm 30 next year! 30! Yes! 30 years old! 30! Aughhhhh! Astrologers call the period between ages 28 and 30 "Saturn Return." That's because it's the first time the planet Saturn completes its cycle through your birth chart and returns to the spot it occupied when you were born. Astrology guru Rob Hand calls Saturn Return "one of the most important times in your life... a time of endings and new beginnings." Musos REM, Goldie, Tool and Gwen Stefani have all referenced this major zodiac event in their songs. Now, I've heard about quarter-life crises, but this is a whole new ball game. Apparently in the years either side of Saturn Returning (which is age 29.5, to be exact), karmic stuff intensifies. What am I doing with my life? My career? My boyfriend? My purpose? Saturn represents everything from challenge, fear, confusion, doubt and hard lessons to accomplishment, reflection, power and order - basically, it's a major rite of passage. This worries me, but definitely reiterates the fact I'll need to throw a stellar birthday bash. Already passed 30 and thinking, 'Damn, sorry I missed it'? Dont worry. It's all gonna happen again when you're 58. Gotta love those natural cycles.
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February 17: Moon power
OK, so I'm slightly biased on this particular topic, because I'm Cancerian. That means I'm all about moon, moon, moon, and more watery moons. I received a message many years ago from one of my guides telling me he wanted me to 'learn more about the cycles of the moon'. Mind you, this was when I was living in a high-rise, sprawling metropolis where my daily world consisted of fluoro-lit supermarkets, crackling radiation from computer screens and smog - not stars - so he had a point. I was totally disconnected.
These days, I live in a place that enables me to be much more aware of waxing and waning, and I'm telling you, it's just the most fascinating thing. Anyone who's been under a full moon - far away from street lights - will know the power of what I'm talking about. The moon glares so brightly you practically have to wear sunglasses! (As for the opposite, a new moon, 'creepy' is all I have to say. Think 'pitch black' times three.)
This week is particularly special for moon-watchers because February will see us experiencing a total lunar eclipse, with the sun in Pisces and the moon in Virgo. And here's the fascinating bit: according to astrologers, events associated with this eclipse had their origin in
August 2006, were triggered into action in May 2007, and will resurface
for completion in November this year. There was an eclipse close
to this degree in February, 1989; a review of your life experiences
around that time can supposedly provide clues to how you will experience this
eclipse.
So, what does it all mean? Well, lunar eclipses are traditionally a time of beginnings, endings,
exposure and major changes - and they always have something to do with relationships. During eclipses of the moon, we merge, unite, announce,
contact, present ourselves, bring something out into the open, make
decisions, engage, rise to the challenge, make an effort, change, get a
new perspective, join with others, take on greater challenges, travel
at a faster pace, feel restless, feel pressured by deadlines and a
buildup of emotions, and experience excitement and crisis.
P.S. Insider info: The energy of an eclipse
is at its strongest during the two days before and three days after its
occurrence, so this is by no means a one-night spectacula. Enjoy it while it lasts xx
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February 10: Seeing red
Trawling my new favourite site, I came across a disturbing article encouraging girls to take a pharmaceutical called Lybrel -- concocted to help them stop menstruating. The marketing behind Lybrel suggests that, without
her period, a woman can be more productive, "in control" or desirable. All of this rings LOUD warning bells to me (anyone seen Children of Men? A futuristic hypothesis - channelled, of course! - about a world in which all women have become infertile) and yet the American girls on the forum beneath the Lybrel article sounded thrilled to bits.
Only two objectors had left posts: Nocakebuttevah ("There has got to be something not healthy about forcing the body out of its natural rythyms and responses") and Katastic ("I just don't think it *can* be healthy. I mean, yes, there's no science to prove this, but we are made to have our periods. Do we really want to fuck with this? It makes me uneasy. And just because the FDA says it safe, doesn't make it so. They also just okayed meat from CLONED ANIMALS, for God's sake.") Hear hear.
Yet it frightens me enormously to hear how out-of-touch with their bodies the other girls are, who seem to think that mindlessly popping a little white pill because they don't like bloating and zits once a month and halting a natural bodily process is safe and OK. Firstly, if they're having horrible periods, maybe it's time to analyse their diet and exercise (trans fats? toxins?) and also to check their emotional state (Annette Noontil says painful periods correspond with the feeling of "competing for outside love. Your need is to love yourself and to know that the love you are looking for is inside you. Where there is love, there is no pain").
Secondly, where has the respect gone for beautiful, natural, sacred cycles? Our inner fertility goddesses? Our wombs, the orange chakra and the centre of creativity? The more we lose touch with 'above' (lunar cycles, seasons, natural energy shifts) and 'below' (our bodies' processes and groundedness with earth), the more disconnected and unhappy we are. Just a thought.
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February 3: Miss Psychette turns pagan
Welcome to 2008: Chinese year of the earth rat (and the first year in their new 12 year cycle) AND Year No. 1 in Numerology's new nine year cycle. Guess what all that means? NEW BEGINNINGS! If you were feeling stuck or sluggish in the last few months of 2007, it's no wonder... it's pretty hard to begin new things when everything on earth is winding down and coming to a close. But in the first few months of 2008, you can begin getting charged back up again. Everything that you put in place over the next year represents the direction you'll head for the next decade, so sow your seeds wisely, and have fun starting over!
Miss Psychette's New Year's resolution? To become a neo-pagan! Huh?, I hear you say. In other words, in 2008, I'll be removing the interference of my man-made environments (walls, skyscrapers, buzzing machinery) as much as possible and getting back in sync with earth-and-moon-cycles, exactly the way our ancestors did. This means lots of picking fresh fruit and flowers in season, walking barefoot on the grass, and lighting candles to honour the equinoxes and solstices. My first commitment? Purchasing the Moon Planting Guide, an amazing almanac that tells you the best times to plant, prune and harvest according to the waxing and waning moon, as well as a visual representation of different starsigns the moon passes through, every few days.
Now that I'm a neo-pagan, I can tell you that today (Feb 3rd) the moon is waning and moving out of Sagittarius into Capricorn, it's the day after Candlemas, and the church is celebrating St Blaise's feast day and the Blessing of the Throats (OK, so that's not pagan, but it's ritualistic, which I also adore!) St Blaise was said to have saved a child from choking on a fish bone, and in many Catholic churches on this day worldwide, priests will be touching crossed candles, consecrated by prayer, to the throats of their congregations. Now I'm off to pick wild blackberries from the back of our garden and make a big old fashioned pie :-)
P.S. Why is a bronzed vixen lying on a beach (above)? Because if you're an Aussie like Miss Psychette, you'll be feeling very sea goddess right now... it's blazing high summer, so head for your nearest coastline and take a dip. Saltwater is the best way to cleanse your aura, bien sur.
Love it? Furl it!
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Instant WisdomThe world makes way for the man who knows where he is going - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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