Friday, January 23, 2009

Interview on Empathy

I responded to an article request on Empathy and here is the whole article:
Do you feel what I feel?

and an excerpt: article by Kathy Gruver

By now, some of you will recognize yourself in these descriptions. Learning to feel without taking on too much is a skill that takes some practice. You certainly don’t want to suffer or have to leave society because you’re so overloaded. I consulted numerous practitioners and other resources to find ways to control and enhance this energy. Here are some of the answers I found:

  • Be choosy, stay away from “psychic vampires” who want to zap your energy and learn to put up an “energetic shield.”
  • Donna Eden in her Energy Healing videos suggests zipping up your energy like a coat and locking it by placing your tongue behind your top teeth.
  • Marci Wolcott suggests visualizing cords at the bottom of your feet attaching you to earth. She also imagines golden cuffs at her wrists that stop the energy from traveling further.
  • Watch your diet. A vegetarian diet can leave some people untethered. Meat can help ground you.
  • Engage in a spiritual discipline, such as meditation or prayer. Chakra work was recommended by several practitioners for strengthening spirit.
  • Amy Goetz, a bodyworker, imagines gold light filling her body and does slow breathing.
  • Some people rely on crystals for protection, such as boji stones or quartz crystals.
  • Find a teacher, mentor or guide. Speak with others who have developed this skill. The Internet is a great resource for these connections.
  • Spend time in nature. Let the trees or the earth take the excess.
  • Respect yourself. If you need a break, take the time to recharge, whether with a massage or a long walk.
  • Learn energy work. After I learned reiki, I was less apt to take a client’s physical pain, but still able to instinctively find it on her body.
  • Take a break from too much negativity. Avoid the news, the newspaper and the needy neighbors for awhile, so you can rest.
  • Try to remain positive, and realize as hard as it is sometimes, this truly is a gift that can benefit others.

As you grow and mature as a healer and acquire a stronger sense of self, you will find that your empathy grows and changes as well. You’ll uncover a sharper sense of intuition and a better ability to shield yourself. As Reiki Master Eddie Rose says, “Every gift has its own purpose, and each gift is valuable. I am very thankful for it.” Accept your gift and share it generously with others!

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Saturday, January 03, 2009

West Seattle Herald

Look there's me :D

Look into 2009


"There's hope out there" West Seattle psychics look at the year ahead

Friday, January 02, 2009

In years past, those suffering from a lonely-heart or physical illness may have consulted a psychic for a peak into their future for a hopeful sign. The psychic, in turn, consulted a large crystal ball, a numerology chart, a deck of tarot cards, and personal intuition in hopes of finding that sign. But it's 2009, and everything has changed, even in the mysterious world of the occult.

According to three area professionals claiming psychic ability or fine-tuned intuition who offer "readings," the universal question, "Will I ever find Mr. Right?" percolating behind storefront curtains, in coffee shop booths, and at corporate summer picnics, has yielded to, "When will I get a job?"

Fortune Teller Sheila Lyon owns Market Magic in Pike Place Market and has done over one hundred bachelorette parties in West Seattle and entertained at area corporate events.

She struggled to lift a heavy crystal ball, 200 millimeters in diameter, or about 7 inches, at Market Magic. "These lead crystal balls are made in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Italy," she said. Her shop is wallpapered with large, colorful vintage posters of Houdini, bearded mystics, and other, other-worldly performers. She sells large crystal balls for about $700, ventriloquist dolls and the apparatus to safely saw your assistant in half. "You never know what you're going to see in a crystal ball," she said. "I definitely feel something coming from this crystal ball. This is really weird but I'm seeing libraries, shelves and shelves of books, and cooking, people getting together to cook more often. The poor economy is humbling. People are going to get together."

In Lyon's shop, four customers pulled four "Native American Medicine Cards" from a 56-card deck, one for each season in 2009. All have colorful drawings of a full moon. On some are feathers to represent air, coral to represent water, and horns or animal teeth to represent land. The first three cards chosen were the Raven, Weasel, and Porcupine. Lyon said the Raven means tough times in winter and we'll need a bit of magic to get through it. The Weasel means we will need a sense of humor to make it through spring. The Porcupine card means, "Back off. I am on a mission...Hard work ahead."

A customer chose the "Blank" card for fall, and Lyon's eyes lit up. "This is like the 'wild card,'" she exclaimed. "This means that by the end of fall dreams will come true. That's a great sign to end 2009."


"We all need a tune up in 2009," said Amy Goetz, who lives and works in West Seattle. She practices "transformative body work," and is a degreed in massage therapy and reflexology. She also reads tarot cards and practices shamanism. "We're all carrying around a story. When things get bleak we forget we are the authors of our own story. My job is to jump start it, look at patterns, talk about things we can change to get you on a new path, and take action.

"We need to get off our collective asses," she said. "Stop sitting in front of the TV and start taking action. It doesn't have to be huge, but if you want anything to change you need to act. We also need to listen to the committees in our head. In 2009, people have to stop getting into self-depreciating patterns, and create a positive, hopeful story. We must then proceed from the inability to move, past guilt, and into discovery. Find teachers to help take small actions as 2009 progresses. Stand up and walk forward. This is a healing process.

"I've noticed a lot of people in West Seattle seeking out new direction, 'Do I start a new job? Do I start living my dream, or hold onto security in fear of losing my job?' Some people cling to, 'I don't know what's going to happen,' while others say, 'Maybe this recession is an opportunity to change.'"

"My shamanic work is based on indigenous spirituality, connecting to nature, yourself, the healing of your soul," she said. "Any traumatic event you have had caused a flaking off of your soul. Trauma causes fright, and as a result, a part of you fractures off like little pieces of glass. Shamanic work goes into the in- between world, a meditative state, to bring back the pieces. "

"I use intuitional insight as well as a numerology format," said Lance Campbell of West Seattle. He is a friend and colleague of Lyon, and they work corporate parties together. "I just enlighten (clients) in a helpful way so that their decisions are their own." The Australian-born 50 year-old with the rectangular mustache and beard wears a "yukata," an Asian robe to add a look of Eastern ambiance, and acknowledged a large component of his profession is performance. He puts on "interactive ESP" shows and said he plays with human psychology.

"After my ESP show an onslaught of folks from the audience want their numerology explained. I won't invade their private thoughts. I won't embarrass them. Corporate clients can relax on that.

"For 2009, how we do Chinese numerology is the 2 plus the 9 equals 11. You then add the two ones which equal two. The number two represents continuation without real change, while people will experience more of a community feel, due possibly to economic times. We will become close knit and help each other, either outwardly or it could be behind the scenes. I fill my mental vision around West Seattle and see that in 2009 people will realize they need to take care of trees more. People who are cutting trees down should stop and say, 'If we're not careful we're going to look like Kansas.'

" I see more people coming in (to West Seattle.) This may spur us on to actually do better mass transit into the city.

"We're at a point of change. It is not like a wall, but a hill we are standing before. There is hope out there, tempered with a little bit of fear, definitely."

To contact any of these purveyors of psychic services visit these links:

www.divaofdivination.com (Sheila Lyon)

www.barefootphoenix.com (Amy Goetz)

www.anespexperience.com (Lance Campbell)

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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

interview

WOW!

I just got a call from the West Seattle Herald and I'm going to do an interview with them tomorrow on predictions and trends for 2009.

Is this really my life?

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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

symbol and Tarot

Here is a brief bit from the upcoming Tarot class I am teaching in West Seattle. There are still 2 spaces open if you'd like to join. It starts Monday night (july 21st)

Since language can be limiting and it is sometimes difficult to articulate spiritual journey in linear form, we are now seeing a resurgence of symbol as expression in the western world. As people delve into new experiences, many are finding that our current languages lack words to describe these events. To be able to communicate the “unspeakable,” people are turning to and rediscovering systems of symbolic language such as the I Ching, the Tarot, runes and astrology. “To the imagination the sacred is self-evident,” Nietzsche said. It is to the imagination that symbols speak, our focus should be learning to play again as we discover new ways to communicate with each other.

Symbols are rich channels of information. Determining the meaning held within them is a journey of personal discovery. No two people will ever view the same symbol in quite the same way. We each have our own life story behind us that adds to our experience and interpretation. Mythologist Joseph Campbell once remarked that those who do not know that symbols hold hidden meaning are “like diners going into the restaurant and eating the menu rather than the meal it describes.” The soul thinks in symbols. It is not literal-minded. It is play minded.

We sense that metaphor and symbol is a pathway to discovering, really discovering, ancient archetypes that hold the keys to personal transformation. Tools like the labyrinth, the tarot, and others can help you walk a path of deeper understanding, linking you to the collective unconscious and leading you to rediscover a life with more play and less “reality.”

Adapted from Walking a Sacred Path, by Lauren Altress

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Sunday, April 20, 2008

chocolate prophecies

I just ate a Dove chocolate and the message inside told me to make a list of my dreams, which reminded me to actually post about Thursdays circle.

First we played with moon magic. Tonight, Sunday, is a full moon so we made three lists. First a list of things to release. On the full moon the moon is at it's greatest power, in the coming weeks it will shed it's light until 14 days from now it will be dark. In this time it is the perfect time to make a list of the things you need to release and burn or bury then so their hold on you can dissipate with the energy of the moon.

We also made two list to keep, one was of things you are thankful for in your life and one was of things you desire. The idea with this process is to do these two lists every 3-4 months and check to see if the things you are thankful for in your life were ever on your desire list. It is a sneaky way to keep track of your ability to manifest things in your life.

We drew cards from the Goddess deck and did brief intuitive reading for each other, stating only one word "hits" we got from looking at the card.

There was a brief talk about mythology, specifically origin mythology. I sent out a challenge to anyone who wanted to accept it to play with their ideas about the origin of the universe and humans. My intention behind this process is to develop a relationship with the way you view the world and it's stories. Some of us hold on to beliefs that no longer serve us but we don't realize we are holding on to them until we look deeper into ourselves and explore key issues. If there is conflict between the truth you are holding in your body (the one given to you growing up) and the belief you hold in your heart (the one you choose) there will be difficulties in making things happen in life. The conflict needs to be resolved and old beliefs need to be gently returned to family and society. If we know and understand how we believe the universe works, we can control the outcome of our daily existence a bit more. Spend some time journaling or collecting images about the way you believe the universe and humans came to be. This may take awhile to find all your stories. Then gently read or look through them and see if any are no longer authentic to who you are now. If so bless them and allow them leave.

Following this was a discussion of happiness. It seems to be my work right now to play with the idea of happiness and so I shared some of my insights. From all the articles and books I have been reading three things stood out most as to what made people happiest. Permission to fail, having the ability to take risks, follow dreams and know that there is a support system there to back you up seems key to me. Connection, specifically to other people and to nature. With out connection we are alone, how can there be happiness if there is no person or object of natural beauty to invoke, experience or participate with. Service if you find small ways to help other people, animals or the planet you are most likely a happier person.

We had a great discussion about these ideas and other thoughts were brought up by the group.

Last we played with manifestation. I had asked the group to bring something they were working on manifesting. We share challenges we had with choosing, scary manifestation stories that needed to be healed and read a great passage from the book Eat,Pray, Love about manifesting and having people spiritually sign your petition. We chatted while eating beautiful food and drinking tea and ripped pages out of magazines so that we could visually see the images or writing on a daily basis. For me, I have found that this daily bumping into the thing you are manifesting helps focus my energy and therefore manifest my desire in a more wholly formed way.

Last I left a suggestion for starting a journal solely devoted to Miracles, Blessings and Gratitude. Noticing the small everyday miracle, blessings and moments of gratitude can only serve to make you a happier person, more focused on the here and now , full of hope and waiting for the delight as you spot the next moment of small magic that enters your life daily.

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