Category: Psychic Ability


Relationship Between Astral Projection and Psychic Ability

Filed Under: Astral Projection, Energy/Vibration, Psychic Ability by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Relationship Between Astral Projection and Psychic Ability

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:
I recently had what I believe to be my first out of body experience, and since then, all kinds of strange and exciting things have been happening. I had read about OOBE’s in a book and felt I just had to try it. I began all kinds of different exercises, and though it took me almost two months of regular practice, finally had an experience where I was out of my body and sort of bouncing around my room. It was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. I’ve been able to get out a number of times since this first experience. Since this began, all kinds of strange things have been happening. My psychic abilities have just gone through the roof! I can’t even begin to explain in the space here. Is there a connection between psychic abilities and astral projection, and what is that connection? Is projecting a good way to develop psychically? Thanks so much!
June

Dear June:
Thanks for a great question. Yes, psychic skills and the ability to astral project are absolutely related. Everything I’ve read and everyone I have discussed the matter with have agreed that there is a strong relationship between the ability to astral project and psychic ability in general. For example, my friend Bob Peterson (author of Out of Body Experiences: How to Have Them and What to Expect, among other astral projection books) experienced a surge in strange/psychic experiences when he began practicing astral projection. He writes, “I had many different types of psychic experiences. Remarkably, they all seemed to happen overnight. As crazy as it sounds, wishes started coming true. Suddenly the world was magical.” It’s important to note that he became interested in astral projection first; his intuitive development and interest in psychic matters were born as a result of the unusual experiences he had after he began projecting.

This is relatively uncommon, for most folks are already interested in psychic matters when they begin to explore astral projection, and then usually because they’ve read about it somewhere. As for the relationship between the two, astral projection is one of many practices that can lead to psychic development, and the more one has mastered either, the easier the other skill will become.

Here’s an analogy that may help: Imagine that instead of psychic development, your goal is to lose weight and get in shape. One thing that could help you achieve your goal is to take up jogging (practicing astral projection). Now, you can lose weight without jogging, and you can jog without losing weight, but of course jogging will enhance your weight loss efforts, and losing weight makes it easier to jog.

Similarly, practicing astral projection can help you develop psychically, and developing psychically can make it easier to astral project. Both involve a shift into an altered state of consciousness, preferably one that is self-induced instead of accidental or spontaneous.

This distinction is an important one. Many people have intuitive flashes. A good number of people also have spontaneous out of body experiences. These may arise unexpectedly during meditation, or they may be caused by an accident or some other trauma. While such experiences may enhance one’s interest in psychic development, they don’t contribute much to one’s conscious ability to induce the state of consciousness necessary to activate those experiences.

Accessing psychic information and leaving one’s body at will both require learning how to control one’s state of consciousness. In my experience, astral projection is far more difficult to master than general psychic development. To carry the earlier analogy forward, this is like “losing weight” as compared to completing a triathlon. Losing weight/ developing psychically can be achieved many ways, some of them easier than others, but astral projecting/ completing a triathlon is going to be challenging no matter what. While you can develop psychically (get in shape) without ever projecting, it would be hard to project (train for a triathlon) without developing psychically (getting in shape). Hence, those who practice astral projection naturally develop psychically in the process.

It’s important to note that one does not need to leave one’s body to psychically access information. As I see it, our minds are not “in our bodies” to begin with. If I ask you, “Where is your left big toe?” you know right where to point. If I ask you, “Where is your mind?” what do you say? Our minds are already unbound by the laws of space and time. As astral projection is far harder to master and control than psychic ability is, if what we’re seeking is wisdom and guidance, then there is no reason to go to the trouble of leaving the body in order to meet with metaphysical guides or access information from others times and places.

There are some great benefits of learning how to astral project, however. As has been stated, practicing projection will naturally develop psychic abilities further; because it is a very high level ability, mastering it can lead to leaps and bounds in psychic and spiritual development.

It’s also an amazing, transformational experience in and of itself. Through astral projection, we come to know via direct experience that we are more than our physical bodies. This can erase fear of death because we know without a doubt that our existence is not dependent on anything in the physical realm. The indescribably blissful feeling of being out of the body and not really giving a darn about the physical or whether or not we ever return to it is very freeing and enlightening.

Astral projecting is also a wonderful way to experience the power of our minds to affect and create reality. While in the astral, we have only to think of something and it will appear or happen. Experiencing the creative power of the mind in this immediate, responsive environment deepens our awareness of how we’re creating our realities with our thoughts all the time, just in less direct and obvious ways.

So in summary, you can develop psychically without ever projecting, but you can’t master projection without developing psychically any more than you could train for a triathlon and fail to get more fit. The sudden flood of psychic experiences you’ve encountered in the wake of your astral projection experiences is totally normal and to be expected. Given that you’re well on your way to mastering astral projection, you can assume that you already have a high level of psychic ability, and that your potential in that arena is extraordinary.

– Soul Arcanum

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Raising Your Vibration for Spirit Communication

Filed Under: Energy/Vibration, Psychic Ability, Spirit Communication by Soul Arcanum — 5 Comments

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

Whenever I speak with Mediums or read what they have to say about communicating with Spirit, they say you have to raise your vibration to Spirit’s level. How do you do this? After my father crossed over, I heard him say my name. This only happened once, and I really don’t know what I did differently at that time to receive this communication. Is there a way to practice raising your vibration? Thank you!
Chris

Dear Chris:

We all go through periods when we’re down and the whole world seems gloomy, and we all gone through periods when everything in the world seems beautiful, wonderful and full of unlimited potential. The difference is in our vibration. To feel “low” or “down” is to have a low vibration, and to feel “up” or “high” is to have a high vibration. When we’re feeling gloomy, we may have a hard time seeing any aspect of the divine, but when we’re soaring, the whole world glows with divine light. To consciously connect with Spirit, we have to be in this “higher” state.

Anything you do that induces “up” feelings such as reverence, appreciation, joy, hope, vitality, peace, love, etc., will raise your vibration. Conversely, anything you do that leads to “low” feelings like anger, sorrow, guilt, hatred, despair, fear, jealousy and frustration will lower your vibration. On a mental level, thoughts that are expansive, constructive, affirming and progressive will raise your vibration. Thoughts that are limiting, invalidating, destructive and regressive will lower your vibration. At a physical level, habits that increase the strength, health and balance of the body will raise your vibration, while habits that weaken, disrupt and imbalance the energy of the body will lower your vibration.

At a spiritual level, the more you embrace love, the more you raise your vibration. Fundamentally, this basic formula is also true at all the other levels, it’s just trickier to see how eating healthfully is loving the temple of your body, and how allowing yourself to stay in grief or sorrow is ultimately unloving of yourself. As we must be at a high vibration to connect with Spirit, most people experience spontaneous spirit communication not when they’re aching for it out of grief and sorrow, but when they’re remembering their loved one with profound affection and appreciation. This is the key you’re looking for. When we ache for communication, our vibration is generally too low to actually receive it.

Remember: what you do to raise your energy at one level will affect your energy overall, so there is always a way to shift gears and move higher, even when you’re stuck in some area of your life.

As for conscious spirit communication, most mediums’ lives are studies in maintaining a high vibration all the time. When it comes to spirit communication, they’ll have learned or developed their own personal techniques for shifting their consciousness and raising their energy even higher in order to “tune in” to this desired frequency. This usually involves some sort of prayer and/ or meditation, an example of which you’ll find below. First, however, I offer you a few of the endless simple ways you can build a high vibration into the foundation of your daily life:

  • Exercise! From running to yoga to rock climbing, exercise is will rev your energy up.
  • Cleaning, organizing, practicing feng shui, taking a shower or bath (don’t you always feel better after you bathe?)
  • Eating light, high vibration foods like fresh fruits and vegetables
  • Taking a nap/ sleeping (When we go to sleep, we shed the weight of resistance, and thus our vibration rises)
  • Praying, practicing creative visualization, using affirmations, reading uplifting books, practicing gratitude
  • Singing, especially with others, or listening to new age/ uplifting music
  • Breathwork/ yogic breathing
  • Going for a walk in nature or spending time near water
  • Surrounding ourselves with uplifting, positive people, or with a beautiful, peaceful or happy environment
  • Practicing forgiveness, giving and receiving healing, doing kind things for others
  • Practicing aromatherapy (great scents for prophecy include nutmeg, clove, clary sage, angelica root, verbena)
  • Practicing a guided meditation for raising our vibration, or surrounding ourselves with “white light” (there are some great ones in Soul Arcanum’s Spiritual Toolbox)
  • Endless others, such as watching a comedy, making love, holding a happy baby, spending time in the sun, asking Spirit to raise our vibration, accepting and blessing everything in our lives, giving gifts, being polite, playing with kids or friends or animals, etc.

As I mentioned above, the best way to open to communication from a specific loved one in Spirit is to simply remember them with love and joy. Wallow in happy memories of them, and with joy in your heart, invite them to visit you. The guided meditation below should get you into an ideal state of consciousness for either spirit communication with loved ones or accessing answers and information from guides. Shift into this higher gear, then turn on the love, and magic will happen!

Guided Meditation for Raising your Vibration:

First, relax. Make sure you’re comfortable, whether that means you’re sitting erect with your spine straight, or lying comfortably on your favorite sofa. Breathe deep into your belly, and take as long as you need to relax every muscle in your body. Don’t rush: you’ll get out of this what you put into it.

Now as you breathe, feel yourself expanding with each inhalation like a lovely, big balloon. You’re growing lighter and lighter, to the point where you’re just barely touching whatever is beneath you. One more breath in and poof! You’re airborne. Each breath now takes you a little higher. You’re floating up and up towards the clouds above you. It’s exhilarating! As you look around, you can see many kindred spirits, all doing the same thing: raising their vibration in prayer or in thanksgiving, consciously connecting with Spirit.

Up and up you go above the tree tops, and now you’re heading straight for the clouds. How soft and misty they are as you pass through them, how pure and white. Now suddenly you’re above the clouds, and it is so amazingly bright! It’s a whole new world up here in the warm, golden sun. Delighted, you realize that you can look down and see anything and anyone you desire below as the clouds float by. You can see the big picture so clearly now. It’s easy to see the best way to get from one place to another on Earth from up here. It’s all so simple. You can see how this frightened mother is going to run right into her lost little girl as she turns that next corner, and how that man who is walking sadly away from a failed marriage is heading straight for a beautiful new lover, one with long red hair. From up here, you deeply know that all is truly well. You smile at angels and spirit guides as they hustle about, whispering insights and intuitions and nudging people this way and that way, and these guides wave to you with delight at your ability to perceive them.

You are thrilled, for you know that you can ask anything you desire and get an answer! You know you can call out to anyone in Spirit, and someone will respond. It may not always be the one you’re seeking, but you always get an answer, and you trust it’s the answer that is perfect for you at that moment. Your heart is swelling with the wonder of it all. You feel so light, so free, so full of hope and peace and excitement for all the possibilities that are open to you when you’re soaring high above it all.

You’re now wonderfully connected and ready to ask whatever you desire for yourself and for anyone who needs your help. Your heart and spirit are soaring and ready for magic! Go on and ask whatever you desire, and know that as you ask, you shall receive.

(I’m working on a series of recordings designed to guide you in achieving the right state of mind and being for spirit communication, as obviously, it’s not quite as simple as the article above may intimate. By the time you come to read this article, it may already be available at Soul Arcanum.)

– Soul Arcanum

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Discerning Between Spirit Messages and One’s Own Ideas

Filed Under: Divine Guidance, Intuitive Development, Psychic Ability by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Discerning Between Spirit Messages and One’s Own Ideas

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I studied to become a medium, became a medium, and went on to become a Reiki Master. I have been doing this for almost three years now. I love to heal for others, and am very comfortable with that work. What I am not quite sure about is how I receive information when doing a reading for someone. While I used to get lots of images, which I could translate easily enough, my reading work has now become more like a “mental conversation” I’m having – with myself. (?) I often wonder if receiving information has just become easier for me, or if I’m “flavoring” what I receive with my own conscious thoughts. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!
Paul

Dear Paul:

Thanks for a great question! I have met a number of mediums who were powerful channels in their early years, but who have so much spiritual counseling experience behind them that they often blur the line between channeling Spirit and offering their own advice without realizing it, so you’re wise to remain conscious of your process. I feel, however, that you’re naturally evolving into a more natural/subtle connection with Spirit.

As tuning in has become easier for you, the process has come to require less conscious effort on your part. It’s akin to learning to drive. When we’re very new drivers, we have to consciously think hard about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. As we become more and more adept at driving, we still go through the same processes, but they become unconscious. We no longer have to think hard about every step in order to successfully navigate where we desire to go. If the quality of your work remains unchanged and you’re able to access all the information you want and need to for your clients, then don’t worry about it.

I’m betting, however, that in addition to becoming less conscious of your process, you’ve begun to pull through deeper guidance. It is relatively easy to tap into dramatic psychic information such as warnings of danger; in fact, most people have such intuitive experiences. As we develop psychically, we learn how to glean information about the past, present and future as relates to worldly concerns about relationships, financial matters, health problems, etc. Further spiritual development will allow us to access even higher guidance regarding matters of personal and spiritual growth. This “higher” information does not come through symbolically like the “lower” information does; it must flow in a stream of consciousness way.

For example, if a client is in line to receive a desired job, we may tune in and be visually shown a green light. Symbols like this can’t capture deeper messages, such as, “You are already receiving many signs from Spirit in answer to your requests, but you are not trusting them. Every time you ask for and receive a sign, you light up, but then begin to feel unworthy of such ‘special treatment’ from Spirit, and disregard the experience as a fluke.” That sort of message must be received in the form of a “mental conversation” of sorts, just as you describe.

While this sort of guidance may be more complex, it’s also subtler. The symbolic information you used to receive had to be deciphered, so it didn’t feel like it was coming from within you. Similarly, loved ones in Spirit come through with distinct personalities and personal messages, and they may also offer verifiable memories and details about their lives on earth to prove their presence, which we certainly can’t fabricate. Profound spiritual guidance, however, comes through in a form very much like our own thoughts, and often without the distinctive mark of a personality, because it comes through our higher selves or spirit guides. As spirit guides have been “talking to us” from inside our heads all our lives, many of us confuse their guidance to our own intuition.

Some people seem to seek and meet distinct guides like a Native American Indian Chief or some other character, but my guides have never personified themselves in this way. Perhaps if I wanted and needed them to, they would. As I believe that the non-physical is a place of direct energetic perception where names and faces are superfluous, I’m quite comfortable with my “anonymous” guides. I identify them by the way they feel, and my sense is that there is a group who is answering me at once.

So how do we know if we are having conversations with ourselves, with our higher selves or with “Spirit?” If the guidance we deliver is wiser and deeper than what we can offer when we’re not tuned in, then we’re obviously bringing through something higher than our own personal opinions. Regardless of where it comes from, however, the important thing is how helpful and useful our guidance proves to be.

To determine the best process for you, everything depends on your aim: Do you want to offer practical guidance on worldly concerns; do you want to bring through evidential messages from loved ones in Spirit; or do you want to help your clients work through the inner issues at the heart of their spiritual growth? If you’re like me, you want to be able to do it all, but if you’re not, that’s fine. Only you can determine the best use of your abilities.

It’s also natural and perfectly acceptable for your aim as a medium to change over time. As mediums evolve and come to know that death is not an end, and that the details we tend to stress about will not really matter in the ultimate scheme of things, they tend to lose touch with the emotional suffering that leads people to seek their help. They may then start to offer what they personally value, instead of what their clients may be after. While looking for the bigger, deeper picture is always wise, we still live here on this glorious earth, where we sometimes need answers to questions that can’t be ignored or denied. When my client is being hounded by bill collectors, her spouse has run off with her best friend, and her teenage son has started a secret gardening project in his closet ;), she needs more than assurance that there are great spiritual lessons in this experience for her; she needs to know what she can do to get from where she is in her “real life” to where she wants to be. I think it would be insensitive of me to offer nothing more than spiritual platitudes and assurance that somehow, everything will be okay.

Mediums must also appreciate the needs of the grieving. Unfortunately, the more experience we have with spirit communication, the less we tend to need and value verifiable messages from beyond. After the excitement wears off, many experienced mediums move on from evidential spirit communication because they forget that other people are still yearning for proof that their loved ones continue to exist and are doing just fine. This is of course perfectly fine, however, for the medium must also allow himself to evolve and grow and explore whatever is calling him as he moves forward on his path.

In summary, I suggest you evaluate your reading work for its practical value, healing power and accuracy. Ponder the range and limits of your abilities, and if they support your conscious aim. If you’re already delivering all the helpful, accurate information you desire to, then don’t worry about your source. If you’ve lost something over the years, however, and can no longer access the powerful details you were once privy to, then I encourage you to go back, retrieve the processes that worked for you before, and add them back into your repertoire. If that doesn’t feel right to you (and my sense is that it may not), then I encourage you to allow yourself to redefine the nature of your work and to flow in a new direction with it.

May your wonderful self-awareness lead you to greater power and success in all you do!

– Soul Arcanum

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How to Get Signs from Spirit

Filed Under: Divine Guidance, Psychic Ability, Spirit Communication, Spirits by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on How to Get Signs from Spirit

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

You sometimes write about getting signs from Spirit. For example, you wrote a few weeks ago about three crows that showed up outside your window, and how they brought you a meaningful message. How can I get signs from Spirit like this?
– Becky

Dear Becky:

You don’t have to be officially “psychic” or undertake any elaborate training to start receiving signs – you just need to ask for and then look for them. In fact, Spirit is sending every one of us signs all the time. Every time we ask a question in our hearts, Spirit answers. It may seem like an impossible amount of work for Spirit to handle, but I believe it’s a natural or automatic process. If we drop a rubber ball, Spirit does not have to “work” to make it bounce, and I believe that asking for and receiving signs is natural like this. Unfortunately, not many people actually expect personal answers from Spirit, much less know where and how to look for them.

Sometimes we sense that something is a sign, but we’re not sure. We generally label these experiences “coincidences.” At one end of the spectrum, some people believe there is no higher meaning behind “coincidences,” while folks at the other end believe there is no such thing as a true coincidence at all, because every experience we have carries some purpose or meaning. I believe that not everything in life is purposeful, but the more we cultivate a conscious approach to creating what we desire, the more purpose and meaning we’ll weave into our experiences.

To sort random “coincidences” from meaningful synchronicities, we must employ both logic and intuition. Sometimes, a very striking combination of details can be random, and at other times, seemingly mundane experiences can be ripe with deeper meaning. The only way to really “know” is by checking how the experience feels deep within us.

For example, a book we’ll call “The Best Spiritual Book Ever” may come up in conversation. Three days later, I may be browsing in a metaphysical bookstore, carefully scanning the titles on the shelf, and see that same book there. Is this coincidence, or a sign? If I feel pretty indifferent about it, it’s probably just coincidence. If, however, my eyes lock onto that title and something in my gut sort of revs up, then I’m supposed to pay attention, for it’s probably a book I’m meant to read.

Learning how to accurately determine signs and their meanings takes some practice. Fortunately, the more we work with this, the clearer and easier it gets. This is not only because we become more adept at reading our intuition, but also because the more we ask for signs and then honor the signs we receive, the more signs come to us! It’s like exercising a muscle; as we practice, our skill and our conscious connection to Spirit grows stronger.

Looking for signs in nature is a practice as old as humankind. Native peoples around the world have long believed that animals, for example, often bear spiritual messages. You mentioned the “crow story,” and this is a classic example. For those of you who missed it, this is what happened: I was working at my desk when I heard some loud cawing, which drew my attention to the window. There, I saw three crows squabbling in the street. I then felt something grip me, so I got up and went to the window. The three crows then promptly flew into my own yard and landed right in front of me. There, they proceeded to act out a conflict: one crow was cawing very loudly as it chased another around, trying to get whatever was in this other one’s mouth. The third crow just followed the other two rather nervously, as though it was fretting about an escalation of the conflict. I was mesmerized. Finally, the first crow gave up whatever was in its mouth to the one harassing it, and then the three birds promptly flew off.

A few hours later, I was involved in a conflict where someone wanted something that my husband had, and he was not about to just give it up. I remained in the background, fretting about the situation and trying to “tune in” and determine what to do. Remembering the crows, I asked my husband if it was really worth the hassle, and he decided it wasn’t and gave in, which promptly ended the squabble.

Sometimes, signs just come to us like this out of the blue. At other times, however, they are a response to our conscious request for them. If something is weighing heavily on your mind, you might ask Spirit for clarity and insight, and then just go for a walk. One of my favorite spiritual teachers (Sig Lonegren) taught me this method of looking for “day signs.” It involves just walking through nature and noticing whatever grabs your attention. If a hawk lands on a branch ahead of you, for example, you can either interpret this in light of your personal associations with hawks, or you can look up possible meanings on the internet or in a book. One such internet resource can be found at earthwonders.com, but there are many more out there. Ted Andrews has written a couple of very useful books: Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small and Animal-Wise: The Spirit Language and Signs of Nature, both of which are available at amazon.com.

Please note that day signs do not have to come through animals or nature. If you’re trying to decide if you should end a relationship, and you find yourself at a “dead end” on your trail, this could be your answer. Or you might be driving and thinking about the situation when a song comes on the radio about moving on with your life.

If you’re looking for confirmation or validation, you can also determine what you want the sign to be, and then watch for that. Many people, for example, ask for a loved one who has passed into Spirit to give them a sign that they are okay via a butterfly or a certain bird. You can ask for your sign to take any form you desire: rainbows, butterflies, cupcakes, tennis balls, guys named George: the possibilities are endless. It’s an amazing experience to select a very unusual sign and then have it show up like crazy in your life!

Here are some of the many forms signs from Spirit can take:

  • Real “signs” such as billboards, road signs, advertisements, etc.
  • Songs that come on the radio at meaningful moments, or songs that you can’t get out of your mind
  • The words of others, both in conversations overheard, and words spoken directly to you
  • Written words, either those that seem to leap out at you in books, magazines, etc., or those you find by opening books like the Bible at random (A great book for this is The Book of Secrets by Osho, but any spiritual teaching should work)
  •  Information, words or ideas that leap out at you from television shows or movies
  •  Unexplainable or unlikely developments, such as your car not starting or losing your keys when you’re about to take some unwise action, or your internet connection going down when you’re about to send a potentially regrettable email
  • Unlikely patterns that catch your attention, such as hearing of five different people in one week who are trying a certain diet, or who have decided to go into business for themselves, etc., especially if this pattern relates to a decision you’re weighing yourself.

There are actually endless ways we can request and receive signs from Spirit. So often when we’re lost and confused, we forget to simply ask Spirit for answers. We don’t have to wait until we’re desperate; we can ask at any time. Begin today to “dialogue” with Spirit in this way, and not only will you receive helpful guidance for improving your life, but your everyday reality will begin to grow more magical and more meaningful in delightful and inspiring ways.

– Soul Arcanum

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Effects of Alcohol on Spirit Communication

Filed Under: Energy/Vibration, Psychic Ability, Psychic Protection, Psychic Readings, Spirit Communication by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Effects of Alcohol on Spirit Communication

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I find, embarrassingly enough, that I feel closer to the spirits of dead loved ones after having a drink or two! I feel bad about this, but wonder if I should. In your opinion, can moderate use of alcohol increase psychic abilities or enhance spirit communication?

W.

Dear W.:

You are not the first person to experience this, and you should not feel bad about it any more than you should feel bad about getting rid of a headache by taking pain reliever or breaking out in hives when you have an allergic reaction to something. It’s actually a natural side effect of mild intoxication, and your embarrassment and puzzlement is probably more a reflection of your socialization than spiritual truth. A long time ago, Christians got it into their heads that “spirit” was good and “physical” was bad, and we’ve viewed the two as disjointed in the West ever since. In truth, the physical reflects and affects the spiritual, and vice versa. So what you ingest will naturally affect you spiritually, mentally, emotionally, etc.

While there are valid positive reasons to abstain from drugs and alcohol, we would all be wise to examine the beliefs we’ve developed about mind altering substances. In the West, most people have negative associations with drugs and alcohol (though that doesn’t stop us from using them). In other cultures, this is not the case. Throughout history around the world, many cultures have traditionally ingested something in order to commune with gods or the divine. From the wine and bread of communion to the trance-inducing peyote of South American shamans, this is an honored tradition seemingly as old as mankind. In fact, in shamanistic cultures, trance-inducing plants (drugs) are not considered destructive, but are honored and revered as gifts from the gods, left here to help us connect with higher planes. Drugs like peyote and ayahuasca are said to induce spirit communication, clairvoyance and healing abilities. So please remember that there is no one “right” answer to this question. If you asked a shaman, he may push your wine glass aside and offer you ‘shrooms instead.

Drugs and alcohol facilitate spirit communication because when you have a drink or two, you begin to relax. If you’re a very logical person who is always “in control,” then the only time you may experience freedom from your strict inner censor is when you’re sleeping, dreaming or under the influence of some mind altering chemical. Someone who has a lot of natural psychic or mediumship ability but who was raised in a family or culture that demonized or invalidated it would actually be predisposed to the sort of experience you’re having. Similarly, most people are very left-brained, and spirit communication and other psychic abilities are right brain functions. Various drugs and alcohol impair the left brain first and/or enhance right brain activity, so we are more likely to have mystical or psychic experiences while under the influence.

Despite all of this, I have never used any hallucinogenic drugs of any kind. I have studied with some of the best teachers of mediumship in the world, however, and since they’ve been right about everything else, I am happy to pass their advice on to you. The general consensus among these experts is that there are better ways to approach spirit communication.

First, initiating spirit communication while even mildly intoxicated is like driving under the influence. Both activities can be dangerous, so you need to have your wits about you and remain in control. As strange as this may at first sound, we don’t leave our addictions behind when we pass on. Many people who are of low spiritual vibration also have physical addictions, and when they depart this life, they end up in the lower astral, where they remain until they develop themselves beyond this level. When you open up to spirit communication and you have been drinking, it’s like throwing open the saloon door and yelling to a crowd of thirsty alcoholics, “Bar’s open and drinks are on (in) me!” Lower astral entities will race to experience alcohol vicariously through you. (I believe this is why alcohol is also called “spirits.”) As it is easier for spirits to influence you when you’re intoxicated, and these spirits tend to be “low lifes,” this is very unwise indeed. If an alcoholic in the astral attaches itself to you, you can also quickly become an “alcoholic” yourself. You’d then feel like you just couldn’t stop yourself, and you’d be right: someone else would be controlling you.

When it comes to reading for others, it’s even more important to be in the proper frame of mind. First, to give a good (accurate) reading, you need excellent integration of the right and left brain functions, so being intoxicated, which cripples the left brain, is not going to help! Interestingly enough, one of the the best ways to integrate right and left brain functions is by practicing meditation. (Sound familiar?)

In addition to skill, we must consider responsibility. I will never read if I’ve been drinking or even if I’m not feeling my best for the same reasons I don’t drink and drive. If I did, not only would I put myself in a compromised position, but someone else may get hurt. I know that I have tremendous influence over whoever I’m reading for. Most clients will hang on my every word as gospel, and emotionally invest so much in the messages I bring through both from loved ones in Spirit and higher intelligences that their long-term well-being could very well hinge on what I say. For some people, I am their last hope: they have tried everything else they could think of, and still not found the peace and healing their souls are starving for. It takes a tremendous extension of trust for someone to confide their deepest feelings and worries in me; the least I can do is honor that trust by being as responsible as I can be.

I am also very mindful of what I do, think, say and ingest even when I’m not “working,” for this is part of “the job.” Just as a professional athlete must train even when he’s not playing in a game, a spiritual counselor must remain in “peak spiritual condition.” As everyone is psychic and capable of spirit communication to various degrees, a key reason people actually pay me for my services instead of tuning in themselves is because they do not want to make all the sacrifices and undertake all the disciplines that would be required for them to develop their own skills to the same degree. To achieve spirit communication, one must maintain a very high vibration, which for most people means eating a healthy diet; regular physical conditioning (exercise), meditation and spiritual study; extraordinary dedication to personal growth and emotional mastery, which includes abstaining from negative thoughts and emotions and immoral or harmful acts; and abstaining from substances that can lower our vibration such as drugs, alcohol, junk food, cigarettes, etc.

Fortunately, you don’t really need the alcohol to achieve spirit communication. Your experience reflects the truth that in order to connect with Spirit, you just need to relax and shift your consciousness so that your left brain doesn’t filter out all that is real and yet often unperceived. While you’re free to choose the path of the shaman and the use of mind altering substances, I strongly advise you against doing so unless you have a very experienced and trustworthy mentor. Personally, I recommend the Spiritualist path of sound personal spiritual development including meditation and good old-fashioned clean living, for as is true of so much in life, when we try to take short-cuts, we often end up lost and wish we’d taken the safe, sure path in the first place.

– Soul Arcanum

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Is Clairvoyance Superior to Tarot?

Filed Under: Intuitive Development, Psychic Ability by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Is Clairvoyance Superior to Tarot?

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I recently attended a Spiritualist service for the first time, and I loved everything about it, with one exception. I have been reading tarot for a few years now, and when I mentioned this to a minister there, she was clearly disapproving of my interest in the cards. This really surprised me. I thought that at last I’d found a church I could fit into, so I was pretty disappointed. I understand that you are a Spiritualist minister, so I’m asking you: is it somehow better to be a medium/ clairvoyant than to read tarot? Is there something wrong with reading tarot?

Carol

Dear Carol:

While Spiritualists generally pride themselves on being undogmatic, I too have encountered this attitude toward tarot amongst their ranks. Obviously, it’s unwise to generalize all Spiritualists as sharing the exact same perspective. Many Spiritualists do, however, assert that divination tools are simply unnecessary when we can directly communicate with Spirit, and may be limiting if they become crutches that impede our psychic development. Of course, the main goal in Spiritualism is not predicting the future, but rather proving the continuation of life beyond death, so in some ways we’re comparing apples and oranges here. Generally speaking, however, tarot readers are more limited in the information they can access than mediums/ clairvoyants.

My own psychic journey actually began mildly with “sensing” when something was going to happen, who was on the phone, etc. Then when I was pregnant with my first child, my psychic doors just blew open, and suddenly I was experiencing unprovoked and confirmed spirit communication right and left. At this point I had no control over the spirit communication. It was not something I sought or could initiate, so I began to study something that I COULD control and initiate: tarot. My early professional readings were therefore tarot readings with some spirit communication thrown in if we were “lucky.”

Soon, however, I was led to a wonderful Spiritualist school for the development of my mediumship, where I learned how to initiate spirit communication and more or less control it. It was there that I first encountered some negative opinions about divination tools and in particular tarot. Interestingly enough, as I began to ask Spirit directly for answers, I often got those answers in the form of a mental image of a relevant tarot card. As tarot was the most developed symbolic language in my consciousness, Spirit used it to communicate with me. Despite the disapproval I encountered in school, I did not throw my cards away, for I had come to appreciate some benefits of working with tarot.

For example, when reading in person, I’ve learned that many people are far more comfortable if they have a visual aid they can focus upon. If they see the cards laid before them, even if they don’t know what they mean, they think they can see where I’m getting my information from. Even when I explain that everything is coming from Spirit (and that this is a good thing), many people are reassured by seeing those cards. Similarly, I’ve known some wonderful psychics who read palms, cards or use some other divination tool, who are all the while simply relaying what they get from Spirit anyway. They can’t or don’t want to explain how they’re doing what they’re doing, so they present a method that they know how to explain. I’m all for doing what works so long as the results are positive. If some people are more open to hearing Spirit when they have something tangible to focus upon, that’s fine with me.

Also, I’ve found that tarot spreads can provide the focus, direction and detail necessary to a full and satisfying reading. From Spirit’s perspective, so much of what we worry about is not ultimately that important. So if a client asks, “Should I be worried about losing my job?” Spirit’s answer might simply be, “No. You’re learning valuable lessons through this experience, and you will be provided for and guided every step of the way.” While that’s reassuring and all, that client still probably wants to know if she should be updating her resume or not! In my experience, the best readings offer both the wisdom of higher planes and the mundane details that are so essential to making wise, informed decisions in this world.

Despite all of the above, I no longer use tarot in my readings, for my aim is always to bring through the very highest sources of healing and empowering guidance. I also feel that Spiritualists have a point: in terms of accessing Spirit, tarot and other divination tools are a few times removed from the heart of the message, and the less dependent we are on symbols, the purer our messages will be. Reading tarot is like speaking to Spirit through several intermediaries instead of just going right to the source. First Spirit must orchestrate the selection of those cards that will convey the right messages. The reader then has to accurately interpret the symbols and meanings she personally associates with the cards in light of the situation at hand, and effectively communicate what she’s gleaned to the person asking for guidance. There is a whole lot of interpreting going on here, so there are many junctures where the true message/meaning may be lost or distorted.

Symbolic clairvoyance is a bit purer, for we aren’t dependent upon and restricted to the symbols in the cards, but even this has considerable room for error. If we associate snakes with deception, then to communicate deception, Spirit will show us a snake. Every time we are shown a snake, we may then translate it into “deception,” which would be a mistake, because we need to learn to distinguish between symbolic and literal information. Perhaps the snake is not a symbol at all, but a real live pet, or even a validating bit of information from a loved one whose nickname was “Snake.” Sorting symbolic and literal information is also an issue with clairaudience. For example, I recently did a reading in which I brought through several loved ones from Spirit. I offered two names of loved ones in Spirit (and these were verified by my client), and then I started hearing “Edward…Edward John…John Edward.” On a hunch I then asked Spirit to explain, and perceived that this was a reference to the now famous medium “John Edwards.” This clicked with the client, who said that she is a big fan of John Edwards and had been longing to get a reading with him, but wasn’t sure it would be worth the money and effort it would require.

So with tarot and even clairvoyance and clairaudience, readers often just have to offer whatever they pick up in hopes that the meaning will be clear to whoever they’re reading for. The reader herself may never know whether the information given is symbolic or literal. If, however, the reader has developed the ability to communicate with Spirit above and beyond symbolic language, he or she can simply ask Spirit and get a literal response.

Even if spirit communication is not your goal, if you just want to be able to predict the future and offer psychic guidance, it’s wise to be able to communicate directly with Spirit like a medium, for then there are no limits to the range and quality of information you can bring through. There is nothing “wrong” with reading tarot, so don’t throw your cards away. Just recognize that you can access a higher, clearer connection to Spirit without them, and keep stretching your abilities!

– Soul Arcanum

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Using All Your Psychic Senses to Read Auras

Filed Under: Chakras/Auras, Energy/Vibration, Intuitive Development, Psychic Ability, Psychic Readings by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Using All Your Psychic Senses to Read Auras

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum: I’ve been trying to see auras for a while now, and nothing is happening! After reading a book on the subject and trying all the exercises, I finally signed up for a one-day workshop on how to see auras, and though everyone around me seemed to be having a great time, I never saw a thing. Am I missing something about how this all works?
Amy

Dear Amy:

I understand your frustration. It reminds me of when I was in training to become a Spiritualist minister at the School of Spiritual Healing and Prophecy in Lily Dale, New York. While my classmates and I learned all sorts of wonderful things, there were two main categories in the curriculum: energy healing and mediumship. Most of my classmates were more comfortable with energy healing than spirit communication; they were all healers and could feel energy with their hands.

By contrast, I had come to the school because I had been experiencing spontaneous spirit communication and I wanted to learn how to control it in order to help the grieving. This made me much more comfortable with mediumship than energy healing.

On the first intensive day of training in energy healing, we ran our hands over our classmates auras, and everyone was talking about feeling hot spots and cold spots, pockets of energy here and strange vibes there. I, however, wasn’t feeling a darn thing except really inadequate.

Eventually, I summoned the courage to tell the instructor that I had no idea what everyone was talking about. He asked me what I experienced internally while everyone else was feeling all that stuff, and I told him what I was seeing in my mind. I could see colors and patterns of energy and even see where some problems or issues may lie, for my attention would be drawn to that part of the body and symbols would pop up in my mind’s eye. He then laughed and reassured me that I wasn’t unfit for energy healing work – I was just very visual/clairvoyant.

The point of the story is that we must all trust and work with our own natural strengths and abilities. No two people are exactly alike, so no two healers or psychics will perceive subtle information the same way. Everyone has a primary modality. Some people are visual like me, so when they’re accessing psychic information, they tend to do so clairvoyantly. Some people are more auditory/clairaudient, and some people are more kinesthetic/clairsentient. (There are other modalities too, but these are the big three.)

It can be very frustrating for people who are primarily kinesthetic to try to get visual information, just like it was hard for me to try to get clairsentient information. Further, most people are only familiar with the clairvoyant approach to viewing auras. As there is an abundance of this information available in books and on the internet, I won’t go into it here. Following are some ideas for those who are more auditory or kinesthetic.

First, regardless of the specific techniques you use, you must get centered in a very high vibration to consciously access psychic information. There are lots of ways to get into a high vibration; I’ve written on this extensively in other articles.

Next, you have to shift your focus beyond the physical, or you’ll only use your physical senses. To begin to focus metaphysically, center your awareness on the space surrounding objects. If you’re visual, you would gaze at something living (a person, animal or plant), and then shift your attention from the object to the so-called empty space around it. You can do this if you’re not visual too by simply centering your attention on the space around the subject.

If you’re primarily auditory, begin by getting into a high vibration and then mentally focus your attention on the being/person you’re wanting to read. You don’t have to look at this person since you’re not going to be processing information visually. Just focus on them and imagine a telephone cord connecting the two of you. Now mentally ask that person (or your spirit guides) to please tell you about them. Allow thoughts and words to come into your awareness.

While you could ask for a description of this person’s aura, if you’re able to get that information clairaudiently, you might as well skip right past that and ask for deeper psychic information. After all, the important thing in reading auras is what your perceptions mean.

For example, as I write this article, I’m sitting in a cafe and there is an older gentlemen sitting at a table to the right of me. First I mentally ask his permission to read his aura, and I feel a welcoming sort of response. I ask my spirit guides to give me the experience of someone who is primarily auditory. I mentally shut out any vibes from other people, focus my attention on this one connection, open up and ask for information.

The first thing I hear is It’s a shame. I ask what is a shame, and I mentally hear a whole story about the man’s son, who has grown distant from the rest of the family. The son is off doing his thing now, and I understand that this man wishes they had a closer relationship.

Now let’s try the same exercise from a kinesthetic perspective. For this approach, I imagine myself in his body. (You can also do this through a connective cord, as above, if you’re worried about taking on others’ energy.) I imagine that I am in his body, and as I do so, I feel sort of wistful and sad. When I ask why I feel sad, I have the feeling of holding a baby in my arms. This is not physical, of course; it’s more like a feeling in my own aura. I have the auric feeling of cradling a baby and at the same time, I see a baby in his arms. (I can’t turn off the visual information. Our primary modalities are like that – they’re always processing whatever we’re experiencing, and all modalities are always working together to foster understanding.) I now know that he feels wistful about one of his children.

You can get all sorts of information to flesh things out by using your other modalities. If you’re wanting to read someone’s aura to learn about their personality, strengths, weaknesses, etc., you can do it the same way. Just get into a high vibration, and either let things come to you or ask questions and then allow insights to flow in whatever way works best for you.

Trust what you perceive and remember that you can always ask further questions to get more information and clarification/confirmation. Also, while you’re wise to work with your strengths, the more well-rounded you are in your development, the fuller your awareness will be, so it’s wise to practice getting information through all of your psychic senses.

– Soul Arcanum

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Using a Pendulum for Divination

Filed Under: Divination, Intuitive Development, Psychic Ability, Psychic Readings by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Using a Pendulum for Divination

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I am interested in learning more about the pendulum as an effective tool for finding answers. I have used an antique ring as my pendulum, and seem to get very definite answers with this, but I would like to hear from you on this subject. Thank you so much for the positive way in which you share your knowledge!

Alee

Dear Alee:

Using a pendulum is one of the simplest ways to begin to develop your psychic ability. This is something that anyone can do. Also, pretty much anything that can be suspended on a string can be used as a pendulum. You can buy a fancy crystal one at most metaphysical/New Age stores, or you can use a pendant/necklace or a ring on a chain. You can even just tie a nut (as in nuts and bolts) to the end of a string. Pendulum’s are handy. Many double as key chains, so they’re with you wherever you go.

You can ask a pendulum virtually anything, and you can have an answer in an instant. We often “hear” the big warnings and messages that Spirit and our intuition send to us, but there is too much chaos and mental chatter in our worlds for us to pick up on all the subtle messages we’re constantly receiving. You can ask mundane questions (such as, “Which movie will I enjoy more? Movie A? Movie B?” or “Should I buy the pink one or the blue one?”) and also more important questions (such as, “Is he lying to me?” “Should I sign up for that class?” “Should I see a doctor about that pain?” “Is there a spiritual lesson in this experience for me?”)

As with all divination work, begin by establishing a positive link to Spirit. You can do this by simply calling upon forces of love and light to assist you. Make sure your energy is high and clear. I was taught that if my integrity and intentions were high and pure, then I had nothing to worry about in terms of negative energies, and this has proven true. If you’re feeling afraid or skeptical, try reading something uplifting and spiritual in nature before you begin. Reading about psychic development will affirm the work you’re about to do.

Once you’ve gotten “connected” this way, you must “prime” your pendulum by establishing the “language” it will use to communicate with you. You do this by simply telling it, “show me yes.” Tell it to show you yes, and then note what it does. It may go in a clockwise circle, or it may swing back and forth, toward you and away from you. These are the most common forms of “yes,” but whatever it does for you is fine, so long as you can distinguish it from “no.” Then, of course, ask the pendulum to show you “no.” It will likely either go counter-clockwise or side to side in front of you, like a head shaking “no.”

Practice with it a bit, until you feel confident and comfortable that you know how your pendulum will communicate answers to you. You can also add in other options, such as “show me that this can’t be answered,” (which is usually a dead stop, but it can also be a circle if your “yes” and “no” are linear).

Now it’s time to establish your intentions. You can state your intentions mentally, out loud, or write them down to make it really official. Again, ask for help from spirits of love and light, and state very clearly what you’re trying to accomplish or find out. Also, I was taught to “ask permission.” This would go something like, “Spirits of love and light, great and benevolent forces of the universe, may I ask if it would be wise and beneficial for me to accept this job offer?” If the answer is “no,” you can then ask follow-up questions to try to understand why you can’t know this now. You might ask, “Is the answer yet to be determined? Is it not in my best interest to know right now?” (etc.) If the pendulum stops dead, don’t push it. Trust that the Universe is watching out for you, think happy thoughts, and go on your way.

If you’re very attached to getting a certain answer to your question (if you can’t be objective), and you’re not accomplished at shifting your state of consciousness in order to rise above the desires of the ego, you may want to ask someone else to ask the pendulum for you. Otherwise, you’re likely to “make” the pendulum move as you wish it to, whether you’re aware that you’re doing it or not.

This brings us to a controversial matter. “Who” or “what” exactly is making the pendulum move? How does this all work? Some say that the user actually makes the pendulum swing through imperceptible muscle movements, that beneath our conscious awareness, our higher selves are directing the pendulum and thus answering our questions. The pendulum is thus just a visible form of intuition. Others suggest that outside forces are acting on the pendulum, and therefore that spirits, guides and angels can be lending a hand. Even others allow that outside entities may be helping, but we’re still moving it via our own muscle power. What matters the most, of course, is that the answers are reliable, truthful and helpful to us.

What many beginning pendulum users don’t realize is that you don’t have to limit yourself to “yes” and “no” questions. You can also write out possible answers and let the pendulum swing over them. There are some great ready-made charts such as the alphabet, various vitamins or foods, herbal remedies, different systems of the body, etc. for dowsing. With these, you may discover a food allergy or the source of a physical ailment. I recommend the charts of Dale Olson. His “Pendulum Charts” and a couple of his books on using the pendulum are available at amazon.com.

There is no limit to what you can do with a pendulum. Since it’s a form of dowsing, you can even use it to find your misplaced keys. Just follow the direction of its swing, and when it changes direction, you change too.

Allow yourself to be inSPIRed! Act on the ideas that pop into your head while using your pendulum, and you’ll never be “lost” for long again!

– Soul Arcanum

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