Monthly Archives: July 2009

Animal Spirit Guide: Coyote

coyote COYOTE AS AN ANIMAL SPIRIT GUIDE

Key words:
— Adaptability, Cleverness, Family, Devotion, Cooperation, Teamwork, Survival, Curiosity

When Coyote crosses your path:
— Ease up. Stop taking things so seriously.
— Stop complicating things. Don’t try to fight the situation, adapt to it.
— Don’t berate yourself for mistakes, learn from them. Accept wisdom learned as a gift.

Think about Coyote:
Cleaver and adaptable, the coyote survives. When hunting, they hunt in pairs, using a relay cooperative effort. One chases while one rests. Their family unit is close-knit and many mate for life. They look out for and protect each other, yet they are playful and want to have fun. While looked at as a pest by many, coyotes still have a sociable nature, wit and cleverness.

Use Coyote Medicine to:

— Move beyond embarrassment of foolish acts
— Become more sociable and accepting of your child within
— Accept your idiosyncracies with humor, rather than shame
— Find the wisdom from your mistakes or missteps

——
References:
Animal Spirit Guides by Steven D. Farmer

Power Animal Oracle Cards by Steven D. Farmer

Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews

Psychic Accuracy

“There are two ways to be fooled.
One is to believe what isn’t true;
the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”
-Soren Kierkegaard
As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m currently reading Crossing Over by John Edward. As a student of mediumship, the pearls of wisdom in this book are really a huge help. Crossing-Over-John-Edward

Something I read the other night drove home a very interesting point. Not one I had never thought of, but one I had never thought of with regard to my work as a medium.

Edward was talking to a scientist who was planning on doing some experiments on the accuracy of mediumship. Cautious, and rightfully so, Edward questioned the scientist to determine if he was nothing more than a skeptic trying to debunk the field.

To his surprise, the scientist gave this analogy:

“Michael Jordan is one of the all-time great basketball players. Do you know what his average accuracy is shooting from the floor? … Around 45 percent. In a good game he might get 60 – 70 percent.

So how can somebody who’s on the average missing more than 50 percent of his shots be a superstar? The answer is that he’s got to be better than everybody else. And just because he misses a lot of shots doesn’t mean you don’t count the ones he’s made. It doesn’t mean you chalk up his dazzling plays to luck.” –Photo courtesy of Steve Lipofsky

So it got me thinking a number of different things.

Confidence
This person was looking for the “Michael Jordan” of mediumship to do the experiment. So where does that leave us other poor slobs ( 😉 ) who are just the average professional players?

Well, what it means is that we, as mediums, can read with confidence. It’s part of the process. The important thing is to get enough right that your sitter fully understands that you have connected with their loved one, and that you have given them the comfort they seek in the process.

The Numbers
Why is it that if a baseball player consistently “hits” only three out of every ten balls as a baseball player, or a basketball player “hits” only 45% of their shots, they are lauded as one of the greatest players ever, yet psychics are looked at as kooks?the_love_potion As tarot readers, psychic/mediums, animal communicators, and any other type of telepathic practitioners, we are expected to be 100% accurate, 100% of the time. And, if we are not – which nobody could possibly be – then we are nothing more than charlatans and frauds.

So you have to ask yourself, “Am I buying into the skepticism and dogma?” As a person being read (known to psychics as a ‘sitter’ or a ‘querent,’) do you expect your psychic to be 100/100? As a psychic, do you find yourself sometimes putting that pressure on yourself?

Well, don’t. And I don’t mean, as a sitter, not to expect your psychic to give you good, accurate, helpful information, or as a reader, not to strive for 100% accuracy. What I mean is that you will lose out if your expectations are unrealistic. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. When you get or give really accurate information, accept it for what it is and don’t discredit the ‘hits’ based on the fact that there will be inevitably be ‘misses,’ (ie: information that is either misinterpreted, or not validated for one reason or another.) In doing so, you are doing a great disservice to your yourself, and to the process.

The Dogma
All of this has made me think, once again, about the fact that people believe what they want to believe – or don’t want to believe, for that matter. I find it really interesting that Christians, or Muslims or Jews, etc., don’t need to defend or explain their belief that something greater than themselves exists. The rest of the world may or may not agree with the form that belief takes, but their faith itself is accepted and they are not called ‘nut jobs’ for believing that there is a big invisible man in the sky or that Noah built an ark and filled it with pairs of every animal, or that Moses actually parted a large body of water.

Now, personally, I have no problem with anyone believing anything they want as long as it works for them, and doesn’t harm other people, animals or the environment. But the irony here is that while organized religion is simply accepted as any given belief system, belief in the afterlife, and in the telepathic/psychic world, is not. It is, in fact, constantly under attack.

But whether people look at what we do as faith or as talent, science it is certainly not. Having done psychic work for many, many years, I feel no need to ‘prove’ my abilities to anyone but myself and my clients, because skeptics aren’t going to believe you no matter how good you are. I do find myself, however, sometimes falling into their trap of expectation. And I’m beginning to realize that the pressure put on individual skills many times speak to the larger issue of defending the belief system itself.

I think what we, as psychics (and those who go to psychics) need to do is fully embrace the “hits.” If the information is accurate, it is accurate, no matter the misses. What we do is hard work. And when you feel yourself falling into that trap of unrealistic expectation, just remember: even Michael Jordan only ‘hits’ 45 percent of the time. 😉

Animal Spirit Guide: Deer/Fawn

fawn_3

DEER
KEYWORDS
:
— Gentleness, Caring, Kindness
— Innocence, Vulnerability
— Keen Psychic Insight, Observation
— Sensitivity & Ability to Listen

Use deer energy to:
— Open yourself up more genuinely
— Become aware of your surroundings
— Stay in the present moment

Think about a deer. It doesn’t really have the defenses that so many other animals have, not the teeth of a tiger, the quills of a porcupine or the strength of a walrus. It’s true natural defense to the world around it is it’s keen sense of observation and escaping capabilities. It’s light on it’s feet, it feels and hears the tiniest things. It’s vulnerable, yet willing to move out of it’s world to explore new beings and new sights around it.

Deer medicine can teach us to let down our guard and be vulnerable to the world around us, emotionally, physically and psychically. So often our egos of armor keep us from experiencing those things which can only be experienced through vulnerability and heightened sensitivity. In doing so, we open ourselves up for hurt, as well as experience, but without the experience, we might not feel at all. And that would be a terrible shame.

Animal Spirit Guide: Cheetah

cheetahCHEETAH
Keywords:
Swiftness, insight, intense focus.

– Cheetah can help us focus on our goals.
– Use Cheetah energy when you need to focus on a difficult task you need to get done quickly.

Think about the cheetah. Unlike most cats, who stalk their prey, cheetahs are so fast, they are able to run prey down. But we also need to understand that the speed they possess can only be sustained for short amounts of time at any given time. Then it must recharge.

So to apply this to what we can learn from Cheetah medicine, (similar in some ways to Antelope medicine), cheetahs have a goal (to catch their food). To attain that goal, they need to be focused, decisive, swift and have great insight. They must get the job done, and then go through the process of resting and recharging.

So when we have a goal we might do well to learn from the cheetah and use cheetah medicine. Cheetah will help us focus on a task, clarify it, get it done quickly and know that rest, relaxation and reflection is part of the process.

A Kangaroo Story

by WillyWags

I met this very special kangaroo once and I’d love to share his story with you.

We lived on the edge of state forest and always had alot of kangaroos passing through. Most of the neighbours thought them quite a problem with ruining fences ect., but I just took the bottom wires out so they could get under.

kangaroo-paintingOne morning, when I got up to feed the horses, there was this very large male kangaroo in the float turn around area just near the house. They didn’t usually come this close to the house, so I wasn’t expecting to nearly run right into one. He stopped me dead in my tracks as he was so big – about 7ft when he stood up. I just looked at him and he just looked at me. I could see he was an old bloke, and had hurt his hip at somes stage, as well. I was well within range of him doing some serious damage to me and, even though he was old, he showed me that he could! But he chose not to. I told him he was welcome to stay and went and fed the horses.

He stayed in that area, as it was grassed and had cover. I also brought him out food and water, each day, and we would just look at each other. I felt totally safe with him. He saw onto my soul. I thought that, with care, he might start to put on weight and stay, as he couldn’t go with the rest of the kangaroos because of his old hip injury. I became very attached to him and loved our time together. I cant really explain what went on but we were in the same place and it was good.

Then one night I had a vivid dream. I got up to feed the horses and kangaroo and, as I walked up to him and put his food down, he came very close – looked at me – and put his giant paws around me and hugged me. I felt his boney body as strong as a tree, smelt his pungent odour, and felt his claws in my back. I had never been so embraced as this before. He then stepped back and ate his food. I woke up and thought that he was better, and I couldnt wait for the sun to come up.

As it was light, I went outside, but he wasn’t there. Then I saw him. He had moved out towards the paddocks. His large body still, he had passed on and I just cried. He had said good bye in my dream, and I was so glad for that, I felt so privilaged to be a small part in his life and I’ll never forget him.

Animal Spirit Guide: Kangaroo

kangaroo

ANIMAL SPIRIT GUIDE
KANGAROO

Keywords:
Nurturing, courage, gratitude, momentum, foundation, stability, balance, strength, instinct, protection, adaptation.

Think about a Kangaroo. It makes a journey as a fetus from the womb to the safety of the mother’s pouch. They have strong tails and large feet to balance them and to propel them forward, and their tails to navigate the way.

When Kangaroo crosses your path, use Kangaroo energy to:

— Find the strength to move forward in leaps and bounds
— Recognize the emotional nourishment available to you through family (remembering we can define who our family is.)
— Use your momentum to keep moving forward.
— Nurture your ideas, then be prepared for them to progress in leaps and bounds.

Kangaroo energy can teach us:

— to use instinct to avoid from bad situations
— to help us protect our young and create a safe home environment
— to find the courage to leap out into the world to face new challenges, using home and family as a foundation.

_________
References:
Animal Spirit Guides by Steven D. Farmer

Learning to be a Medium

john_william_waterhouse_-_the_crystal_ballI’ve read tarot for more years than I’d like to admit. I’ve spoken with animals for more years than I regularly acknowledge, I am, however, somewhat new to mediumship. I’ve been ‘speaking to the human dead’ for about a year now.

That said, one of my big problems is not the reading itself, but my confidence when I run up against a “difficult read.” My tendency is to doubt myself when I don’t get the validation I’m looking for. I need to stop doing that.

I had a reading recently which really threw me for a loop — at first. The querent was pretty much saying no to everything I presented to her. I said, “I see four kids. three are alike, one is different. That could mean three are alive, one is dead, or three are girls and one is a boy …. ” Her response, “No.”

I said, “I’m getting an “T” name. Maybe Tanya, maybe Tina … I could be off by the name but not by the letter. It’s definitely an ‘T’ ” Her response: “No. Nobody.”

This went on and on. After I finished, she told me she had 4 children, one had died and one of her daughter’s names is Terri. (Names and letters have been changed.) It came out that she was mostly just interested in knowing what one specific person she lost said on her deathbed. This was a great source of frustration for me. I had initially allowed myself to feel I had done this terrible job, when in reality, I hadn’t. I woke up the next morning thinking about all of the things that I had gotten right, but that she denied during the reading, but somehow validated in the after talk, even though she never acknowledged that what I said was accurate.

crossingoverWell, last night, as I was reading Crossing Over by John Edward, all of it made sense:

He was talking about a reading he had gotten from a woman in England, Linda Williamson, after reading her book, Contacting the Spirit World. He had been waiting for three signs from his mother and was getting frustrated that he wasn’t getting the signs he wanted. She finally said something to him which made him realize that the signs aren’t always what you expect.

He talked about how when she first started reading him, he assumed something about her and, “I totally shut down. Instead of listening to what she was saying, thinking about it, I just write it down, for lack of anything better to do. She keeps talking, and in return, I offer only an occasional grunt of indifference.”

This was how I felt my querent was. She was a terribly difficult read, which is exactly what Linda Williamson called John Edward: a difficult read. However, after the penny dropped for Edward, it was a career changing moment for him, in the way he looked at his work.

“Here I was, a professional medium, who knew all the pitfalls, and I was doing the very human thing of holding out for that one nugget that I just had to hear, as if it contained the secrets of the universe, or at least the meaning of life. ….. I knew my mother was already around … look at all the stuff I let pass right by me because I didn’t want to miss the Big One. Stuff I can’t even remember — that’s how much I ignored it. Great gifts of validation from mediums who just weren’t delivering the packages I ordered. So I returned them. It was a ridiculous thing to do.

Still I know why I did it, I know why everybody does it. If you get that one thing you’re asking for, it seems like a slightly higher level of validation. … But what if you don’t get it? Does that mean they’re not there? … What if a medium can’t get that, but gets this? If it is solid, specific, factual validation, does it make it any less valuable? This is the inevitable trap of Great Expectation.

… She had come through to me many times, in wonderful ways. …. In my weaker moments, I could even fall back into the trap. But I offered myself as Exhibit A: Don’t lose the big picture. Appreciate the messages you get. (Emphasis added.)

Reading this was monumental for me. It made me realize, on a bigger level than I already had about my reading with this woman, that maybe what her loved one said on her death bed was not the message that she was intended to get. And that maybe — and unfortunately — there were many messages that she might have received, from not only that loved one but from others as well, which might have given her some comfort, if only she had been open enough to hear them, without expectation.

candle-starfilterEvery day I learn a little more about connecting with those who have crossed, but the pervasive message that keeps coming back is the last line I wrote of his: Appreciate the messages you get. But not only appreciate them, be open to them so that you may appreciate them.

What I need to do as a medium is to be able to recognize that in my clients and help them through it so they can open to the experience, instead of allowing myself to doubt the information I’m getting. I don’t doubt it when I read tarot for people; I don’t doubt it when I speak with the fur-babies. I guess it’s all in the process of learning.

Perspective

“If you do not raise your eyes you will think that you are the highest point.” ~ Antonio Porchia
What has happened to perspective in this country? We seem to have lost all touch with reality on so many levels. Let’s start with the obvious:

Michael Jackson:
Oh, dear god. How long does this ‘deification of a pedophile’ have to go on? Oh, I know many of you are saying, “Well, he was acquitted in a court of law!” My answer to that is, ‘so was O.J. Simpson.’ Simpson was acquitted in a criminal court of law. He was found guilty in a civil court, where the burden of proof is less. So, when O.J. dies, are we going to wax poetic on his fabulous accomplishments as a football player and how much joy he gave people when he played? I’m guessing not.

The only difference between Michael Jackson and O.J. Simpson is that Jackson bought his way out of his civil trial because he had millions to spend. It is common knowledge that settlements do not exonerate the defendant, many times it only serves to show the parties did not want to go through a lengthy court battle, and perhaps it was too much stress for a 13 year old boy, who had been traumatized by molestation, a child who could describe Jackson’s genitals, was too terrified to take the stand. Money speaks, and Jackson had plenty of it.

The egomaniacal actions that followed were pretty amazing. What person that you’ve ever heard of accused of molestation has not been warned to stay away from children, or if legitimately innocent, hadn’t done so on his/her own? What person in that situation have you ever heard of being able to adopt children? Jackson was the typical abuser, in every action he took, but I guess if you’re rich and famous you’re simply ‘eccentric and love kids’, but if you’re poor you’re a pedophile.

And now, the outpouring of grief is insatiable. I take nothing away from the people who loved his music, but why is this area of his life all of a sudden completely off the table? He was an entertainer. He was not a sitting president, he was not royalty. He was a severely messed up person (I hesitate to even call him a human being, I’m sure his victims, who are serving a life sentence would not) who was obsessed with fame, little boys (admittedly “sharing his bed out of love,) flaunted his ‘love’ for children, and had porno in his home (with fingerprints of his and his accuser.)

But all of that is now, it seems to be off – limits. Because Jackson was a king. Why “he was the king of pop!” Puhleeze. Can we please remember that pedophelia is not a ‘proclivity’ or a ‘habit’ as I have heard some people call it? It is a crime. It is a crime which destroys people’s lives.

farrah-fawcettWhat is even sadder about this and the day he died was how the story pushed Farrah Fawcett’s death right off the front pages. Now, I was never a big Fawcett fan, but despite her shortcomings, she tried to do good for people. She strived to make “The Burning Bed” which carried a very important message, along with other similarly themed films and plays, and at the end opened herself up in her documentary, “Farrah’s Story“. Arguments could be made as to why she did it, but we can’t take away from her the fact that she did do it, stating she felt it might help other people.

Should either of them be deified? No, probably not. But if we’re going to talk about the person who most gave to humanity here, it’s hard to argue that Fawcett wouldn’t hold that spot between the two.

Where is our perspective, and how long do we have to listen to the “deification of a pedophile?”

——-
Mark Sanford
Really. Do we really care if he had an affair with another woman, or three? Have people completely forgotten that as a head of a state he simply ‘went missing’ for four days? As far as I’m concerned (his hypocrisy aside) his personal life is his personal life. In and of itself it should have nothing to do with the way he governs. However, in this case it did! He went missing for four days. But, no, we’re not hearing about that anymore. Just his affairs. After all, how can we pass up something that salacious? Isn’t that what the news media is for? Not to give us news on Iraq, or DADT, or the economy. When a sex scandal comes up,” ‘whoo hoo’ it’s party time!”

———
California
The governor of this state is driving it into the ground. This week he stated, once again, that he would not sign a budget with any tax increases. That’s absurd. Perhaps we should translate that, “I won’t sign a budget with any tax increases on anyone who can actually afford it.”

California is the only state in the union which doesn’t tax oil companies to drill here. At what point do we put the state of the state in front of the state of the oil companies? Where are our priorities?

Dear Gov. Schwarzenegger: to fix the state, please do the following: start taxing the oil companies to drill; repeal prop 13 for corporations, they pollute our state, they make enough, they can afford to pay their fair share of property taxes; make marijuana legal and tax it. Three things that could feasibly be done, could feasibly get us out of this mess and feasibly prevent state workers from losing their homes because you give them I.O.U.s or lay them off, or prevent people from getting the help they need through education and social service.

—-
Gay Rights
President Obama, you said you would be a ‘advocate for gay rights’. Well, what are you waiting for? Start speaking with your pen.

—–
Health Care
To all the Republicans and Democrats, the AMA, etc. who are trying to scuttle a public option, where are your morals? Where are your ethics? First of all, don’t you see that the public option IS the compromise? People in this country want health care, not more health insurance. That said, it appears as though the perspective of the American people is that they are going to ‘settle’ for this public option. And here you are fighting it. Why do you want people with less money than you have to suffer and die? Are you that heartless? Forget it. The question was rhetorical. You are.

If people had their priorities straight — ie: concern for humanity — we would have a single-payer universal health care system.


American Gluttony
Big houses, big food portions, expensive cars … when did we become a society of opulence v. simple comfort? Do people really need 2500 sq.ft. houses? Do they need a meal portion that is literally pounds on a plate? Will an electric car not get you to the same place as a Hummer will?

Our gluttony has destroyed the environment, facilitated the current housing crisis and economic woes and made us some of the unhealthiest and fattest people in the world. Is there no shame here?


Where has perspective gone? What has made this country so insensitive to humanity and the suffering of others? How did we become a nation of “ME, ME, ME” and “If it doesn’t affect me, it doesn’t exist.”

I know this little rant isn’t going to change anything, but nobody else seems to be saying any of it, so I thought I would. Agree, don’t agree, that’s all fine, but at least think about it.