Category: Spiritual Growth


Spiritual Awakening Chaos Syndrome

Filed Under: Spiritual Growth by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Spiritual Awakening Chaos Syndrome

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I’ve been trying to adopt a spiritual lifestyle for several years, and also trying to develop my psychic abilities. Why is it that when people make an effort to live this way, life seems to get harder? A lot of spiritual people always seem to be scraping through life, while most of the people I know who have no interest in spiritual growth seem to just float along. As the saying goes, “ignorance is bliss.” Sometimes I feel like walking a spiritual path is not worth the effort.
– Lisa

Dear Lisa:

As it is well known in spiritual circles, the early stages of awakening often turn one’s life upside down. It certainly does seem unfair; if we get more honest with ourselves and others and practice more kindness and compassion, why should we suffer more?

Awakening is like opening the door to a closet stuffed with emotional baggage from the past – perhaps even from past lives. When we open that door and start to consciously face these issues, all kinds of stuff may fall out on our heads.

Just as in physical life, no one really likes cleaning closets, but at some point, we get tired of all that mess and feel inspired to dig in and tackle the job. We want to feel more organized and on top of things, and to make room for new “stuff” – new experiences, insights, abilities, peace and understanding.

Some people will have a gentler experience. They may crack that door open and start slipping one item out at a time, and deal with that before going back for more. Others will throw those doors open, get swept away in the tide of junk that tumbles around them, flail and flounder for a while, get their footing, and start to dig themselves out.

It may take quite some time before progress becomes apparent. In fact, at first it may seem like life went from nice and orderly to a big mess full of hassles and endless problems. If we hang in there, however, we WILL make progress. We’ll also gain all kinds of new skills and gifts as we go. We build new self-esteem, confidence, and wisdom when bit by bit we handle deep issues, heal old wounds, make peace with past experiences, work our way toward our goals, etc.

I’ve seen many a spiritual seeker’s life fall apart as you describe, and I know how overwhelming it can be. In fact, I’ve often joked that I was once the “poster child” for what we might call Spiritual Awakening Chaos Syndrome.

When this happened to me, I had been on a conscious spiritual path for a number of years, and had had a lot of spontaneous psychic and spirit communication experiences. It wasn’t until I decided that this was my life path – that I was going to develop my mediumship abilities and devote myself to this line of work – that chaos erupted. I was married to my first husband and had two small kids when I decided to begin an intense training program in the spiritual arts. At this point, I considered my life and my marriage to be just fine; it was peaceful, I got along with everyone, I basically had no problems.

No sooner did I make this decision, however, than everything began to fall apart. For example, I became chronically ill, and suddenly my seemingly sound marriage began to crack. I didn’t really want to face the truth about it, however, because I wanted to focus on my “spiritual growth.” (Hah!) The more I tried to resist facing the truth, the sicker I got.

Eventually, I had to face facts: my marriage was basically a middle class illusion of what family life is supposed to be like. We were just going through the motions of what we both believed we “should” do. For two years I waffled between honoring my truth by trying to improve my marriage (which never worked), and denying my truth by trying to just hang in there and focus on other things. I might still be waffling today if health problems hadn’t scared me into making new decisions.

While separation brought immediate and complete relief of my health problems, divorce also led to all kinds of tumult. I had many fears to conquer: of hurting my children and other loved ones by being true to myself, of not being able to financially support myself, of being “bad” or wrong and one day regretting my decisions, of being alone, etc.

It took great strength and effort to not just push all of this stuff back into the closet, wedge an armoire up against it, brush the dust off my hands and go back to an unconscious life. Eventually, however, all of this inner and outer effort began to pay off in the form of great new blessings: new confidence, new inner peace, new skills, new success, new fulfillment, wonderful new relationships, etc.

These blessings were accompanied by new challenges. I met my current husband in a divinely destined way and knew he was “the one.” With him, however, came a whole new set of emotional baggage. His closet was bursting with strife-ridden relationship issues, and of course, when you marry someone, you bring their “stuff” into your life. Instead of my former peaceful, smooth existence, I was now drowning in other people’s “problems.”

Like you, I asked Spirit what I’d done to “deserve” this, and was shown that I had simply grown capable of handling more. Whenever I struggled or suffered, it meant that I was being presented with an opportunity to learn a lesson I’d yet to master.

I’m not suggesting that this has to happen to everyone, for some people have a much smoother experience. As spiritual awakening is in essence the realignment with our truest selves, the further we have strayed from our truest selves prior to that awakening, the harder it will be.

I’m reminded of a documentary called “Hoffman’s Potion” about the power of LSD as a therapeutic tool. LSD researchers discovered that some people had blissful spiritual experiences, while others had terrifying ones. The people who had wonderful experiences were basically self-aware and at peace with themselves to begin with, while those who had disturbing experiences were in denial of some kind.

For example, alcoholics tended to be in denial about how their behavior affected their loved ones, and through LSD, they were led to face the truth about their actions. The more in denial they had been, the more disturbing it was for them cope with the truth. It’s the same with spiritual seekers; the farther we’ve strayed from Truth, the harder it will be to face it when the time comes.

I do have some good news for struggling spiritual seekers: the worse things are now, the better they can become. If your life has been turned upside down since you began walking a conscious path, it means that much of your old life was based on illusions. With all of that torn down, you can now build a solid foundation for true fulfillment.

Ultimately, spiritual efforts are totally worth it. We don’t really have a good alternative to facing our “stuff” anyway, for whatever we deny or avoid will just get bigger and more painful until we deal with it.

As for all those folks who seem to be enjoying the “bliss” of ignorance, I encourage you to look beneath the surface. Some are living lives of quiet desperation. Some are in denial, and will eventually find themselves on a painful path that will force them to wake up. Some are indeed feeling just fine for now; we all go through periods when we can coast for a while, enjoy the fruits of our prior metaphysical labor and recharge for new progress.

Eventually, however, everything that is shoved into an inner closet must be cleaned out. The sooner we drag it out into the light and deal with it, the sooner we can move on to new peace, power and wisdom.

– Soul Arcanum

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She’s Weary of Her Spiritual Mentor

Filed Under: Divine Guidance, Intuitive Development, Spiritual Growth by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on She’s Weary of Her Spiritual Mentor

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

Lately I have felt stagnant in my spiritual growth and practices. I had a friend that was kind of like a mentor to me, but within the past six months, I have grown very tired of her and weary of anyone trying to “mentor” me. Am I being stubborn, going through my own growing pains, or is it something else?
– Jennifer

Dear Jennifer:

I do feel you are being stubborn – not because you are resistant to others’ guidance, but because you are resistant to letting go of relationships you have outgrown.

As we grow and evolve, we are led to the people and experiences that can help us learn what we need to learn next or become what we want to become. When we first discover those people or experiences, we feel strongly attracted to them. This is our inner guidance telling us that we’ve found what we’ve been looking for. Our feelings of interest and excitement are signs from our inner compass that we should go in this direction. This is why it is wise to “follow our bliss.”

As time goes on, that which once was blissful and exciting naturally loses some of its shine. Challenges arise. Now we’ll either move beyond the surface to deeper levels of understanding, or lose interest and move on. This holds true both for new teachings/practices and for new relationships.

Think about it: when we first make a new friend or start dating a new lover, that person seems wonderful and fascinating. After a while we get beneath the surface, however, where things are more complicated. In addition to all the good things that first attracted us, we discover new stuff that we struggle to understand. We may not be sure what to think of it, and spend a good amount of time really weighing it out. That “struggle” is at the heart of personal growth.

If we hang in there, over time we learn how to work it all out: how to be patient and understanding with these new issues and push through the rough spots. If this relationship or practice really works for us, we may stick with it indefinitely and make it our own. If it continues to bring us joy and blessings, that will be easy. If it brings new lessons and challenges, we’ll be motivated to keep it alive – at least as long as our desire for growth outweighs our fears and insecurities.

If, however, we discover that there isn’t much for us to chew on beneath that surface, we’ll start to experience feelings of stagnation, boredom, frustration, etc. These are signs that we have outgrown the relationship or situation.

As we are always looking for “the answer,” “the key,” or “the one,” when we find something or someone that feels like it might be it, we tend to grab it with both hands and refuse to let go. We want it to be all we have been looking for, so we define it as such. Then later when we’ve outgrown it, if we fail to redefine it in light of all we’ve learned, we may feel confused because it doesn’t “do it” for us anymore.

Just because a certain person, practice, course of study, etc., is what we most need at one time, that doesn’t mean it will always be what we need. Even something of great power can become a hindrance if we cling to it too long. We can no more force ourselves to stay in relationships or situations that we’ve outgrown than we can force ourselves to wear the same pants we adored when we were six years old. Over time, they will become more and more uncomfortable until we finally discard them for something that fits better.

This is a natural process. It doesn’t mean we’re missing something, failing to appreciate our blessings or resisting our lessons. If you felt angry, inadequate, overwhelmed or challenged, I’d recommend you look within for how you may be resisting the wisdom and experience this teacher may have to offer, especially if you admire her and would like to become more like her.

By contrast, boredom, weariness and indifference are signs that it is time to move on. When we find ourselves saying, “I’m so tired of” this or that, or “This is getting really ‘old,'” it’s time to ask ourselves why we’re still in that situation. Usually, it’s because despite our lack of interest, we’re still living according to that obsolete definition, which keeps us hanging on.

To get unstuck, you just need to update your mental files and redefine this teacher’s role in your life in light of where you are NOW. It doesn’t really matter what you once got out of this relationship; what matters is how well it fits who you have become and where you want to go in your life from here.

While it’s wonderful to be grateful to everyone who blesses us with new wisdom and experiences, gratitude is not the same as obligation. Let go of any guilt you’re feeling about wanting to move on so you can celebrate how far you’ve come!

Now, this teacher aside, everyone on a conscious spiritual path at some point grows weary of others trying to mentor them. This is a very important turning point. I feel your inner being is telling you that you don’t need to be led by anyone outside of yourself anymore. Your next step on your spiritual journey will involve you developing your own conscious connection to Spirit and listening within for your own answers. You may still take classes or read books, but instead of assuming these writers and teachers know more than you do, you will weigh all input against your own inner wisdom.

You’re very wise to be questioning yourself. That means you have developed the ability to rise above your ego for higher awareness. It’s ironic: the more we can ask ourselves if we are just being “stubborn” due to ego issues, the less likely it is that this is true. Since you’re able to question your reaction objectively, I feel that you need to trust your feelings and honor them by doing what does feel right and best.

None of this means that you’ve learned everything there is to learn! It means now you have learned enough to dig in to a new level of experience, to apply what you’ve been taught and make some new discoveries of your own. This is very exciting.

It can be unnerving to begin to forge our own spiritual trail. It’s sort of like moving from a reader of great books to a writer of great books, or like moving from a child to an adult. Instead of trusting others to take care of us, guide us, and have all the answers, now we have to figure things out for ourselves.

Nevertheless, just as a child grows and realizes that her parents are not all-powerful and do not have all the answers, at some point in our spiritual journeys, we also realize that our gurus are not gods, and there is no one person out there with all the answers we’ve been seeking. While we can still learn from others, we realize that no one is a greater authority on our own spiritual truth than we are. No one else can direct us on our spiritual journeys better than we can ourselves by listening within for guidance and answers.

So when friends, jobs, teachers, etc. grow weary for you, ask yourself why you’re still there. Odds are good it is because you just haven’t updated your mental files on this situation in light of what you’ve learned and who and where you are now, or you’ve grown accustomed to being led and are reluctant to forge your own trail.

Whenever you feel stuck, call to mind the things in your life that you’re weary of, and for a moment, ponder how they are just one tiny possibility in an infinite sea of potential. Think of how many spiritual teachers there are! Contemplate how many friends, lovers, jobs, books, ideas, etc., you’ve yet to encounter. Let the immensity of all that potential stir your soul and draw you out of what has been into all that could be. If you listen to your weariness, it will eventually guide you into exciting new beginnings and discoveries.

– Soul Arcanum

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Is this the year we MUST wake up spiritually or else?

Filed Under: Emotional Well-being, Energy/Vibration, Healing, Spiritual Growth by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Is this the year we MUST wake up spiritually or else?

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I value your opinions greatly! Everything you have written resonates with me completely. I work at a friend’s spiritual shop, and recently, I asked her about something I have been noticing. Some people around me are receiving wake-up calls now, and I’m not sure they’re listening. My sister may have cancer, and my ex-husband (the father of my son) was just told he has RSD (curling of the hand) for life. He’ll have to have surgery every seven years. A lost friend of mine was told she has a rare blood disorder that may cause organ failure, and another friend’s husband has a rare blood disorder that needs to be checked weekly. My question is why is this happening to these folks, and all around the same time? My friend said it seems these people are not awake, and that this is “the year” that will make or break ALL OF US. Those who are awake and facing their issues head-on will continue on in their spiritual evolution, while those who are not awake or not facing their personal issues will have things happen that force them to wake up. Have you heard about this year being “the” year? If so, what are your thoughts about this happening? How can I best teach and guide my son in light of all of this? He’s only five years old now; is this something I need to start soon? Thank you!
– Maggie

Dear Maggie:

Yes! I have heard that this is “the” year that we must either wake up and get it right spiritually or suffer various horrible consequences. Of course, I’ve heard this same thing EVERY year for as long as I can remember. Supposedly, the world is also going to end any minute now; we’re way overdue.

I’m kidding with you, of course. I’m actually really glad you asked about this, because if we don’t stop all those “spiritual people” spreading fear far and wide with their gloomy predictions of earth changes and other scary stuff soon, the planet is going to implode. Okay, I’m kidding again. I can’t seem to help myself!

All joking aside, when we first start to awaken into the upper range of spiritual awareness for this dimension, life on Earth begins to feel a bit uncomfortable. We used to be like most people – oblivious to how our choices and actions create not only our own realities, but also affect the Whole. Now, however, we not only “get it,” but must deal with the double-edged sword of compassion. As we become more sensitive to others’ feelings, we begin to feel their pain. It’s this compassion that motivates “spiritual people” to become helpers and healers, or to just try to make a difference.

I feel this is basically where you’re coming from. You’ve attained a new level of spiritual awareness, and are seeing a lot of contrast in everyone who hasn’t yet joined you. You’re sensitive to others’ suffering, and very much wish for them all the good things you now know come with being “awake.” In caring more than ever before, you’ve opened a whole new can of worms, and along with the blessings, there are some big fears in there.

As we have the power to consciously manifest what we want in our lives, all these health problems must stem at some level from a lack of conscious awareness – that is true. The more we try to avoid dealing with our own personal lessons and issues, the more pain we tend to experience. I’d like to suggest, however, that you’ve gotten into the habit of looking for potential disaster around every corner; if there is a health problem anywhere in the vicinity, you will be sure to hone in on it.

I recommend you examine your habit of focus. While the problems of those closest to us will naturally come into our awareness, if they touch off some deep fears of our own, we may start watching out for more of the same. This is when “lost friends” and the husbands of friends, and friends of friends of friends – anyone with any possible health issue – will leap up and grab our attention.

This is what I feel happened here. Fear gripped you when you got the news about your sister. It really socked you in the gut when your ex-husband then came down with this rare disorder. This made your own vibration plummet, which made you vulnerable to the fears of mass consciousness, the greatest of which is that the world is somehow going to end. This is how you went from concern about the people you’re close to, to fear of Armageddon.

As you ran around in a panic, trying to figure out if the sky really was falling this time, your mind scrambled to make sense of all of this by comparing these two individuals. At some level, you believed that if you could figure out what else these two have in common, you could determine what “causes” this sort of thing. Then at the very least, you could make sure you and your son would be okay. When you saw that neither of these two people are what you consider spiritually “awake,” you deduced this as the cause.

What I’m trying to do is illuminate how for all of us, allowing little fears to run wild can lead to general, pervasive anxiety. When something scares us, powerful primal instincts put us on alert for more signs of danger – and what we look for, we tend to find.

Since we’re all creating our own experiences of life based on our habit of focus, instead of looking for unawake people with health problems, I recommend you start looking for all the wellness in your world. If you just look for it, you will see wellness EVERYWHERE. For every one person you know who has an extraordinary health problem, you know hundreds who sail through every day without a second thought about their physical well-being, and most of those people are not what you would consider to be “awake.”

Also, when you encounter someone who basically says the sky is falling, beware. You don’t want to get caught up in the powerful fears of mass consciousness, nor do you want to contribute to them. Whenever you feel tempted, just remember that throughout recorded history, nothing like this has ever happened despite innumerable prophecies of doom and gloom.

This may sound radical coming from me, but I don’t think fear itself is a bad thing. The Universe would be a big blank nothing if not for the opposing forces of light and darkness, good and evil, creation and destruction, faith and fear. We should no more strive to eradicate all fear than to change nighttime into day.

To be happy, instead of trying to avoid or conquer anything, we must try to make peace with all we encounter. We can, however, choose to sleep at night and live our lives in the sunshine, where it’s warm and easy to find our way around. We can choose faith over fear, and contribute to that which we personally find to be right and true at a spiritual level. This is both the best way to be a positive role model for your son, and to also manifest a life of peace, joy and well-being. As you continue to evolve, you’ll naturally grow more and more into a deep inner knowing that there is a natural divine order at work in the Universe, and that in the big scheme of things, all is well.

I expect that for the rest of my life, I will continue to hear that this is the year we will either “wake up” or suffer catastrophic consequences. I don’t believe it, because it isn’t supported by anything I’ve learned or experienced in life. Instead, I believe the more we’re centered in faith, the more we dwell in knowing that all is truly well.

Those who are asleep will continue to lose themselves in both lovely and frightening illusions – in the great dramas of life – while those who are awake will learn to relax more and more with trust that everything is going to be just fine. I figure since there is no true end to our spiritual journeys, and thus no need to rush, we might as well quit worrying and try to enjoy the ride.

– Soul Arcanum

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When You Can’t Live Without Him/Her

Filed Under: Emotional Well-being, Healing, Relationships, Spiritual Growth by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on When You Can’t Live Without Him/Her

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I have searched long and hard for a true blue psychic, and something just led me to you. I love a man whose name is Jimmy. We broke up last March over a misunderstanding, and it has been an extreme emotional roller coaster ride ever since that day. Since our breakup, I have sent kind, loving correspondence to him to let him know how I feel. I even remembered him on Christmas and sent him a gift and a card. Life has truly been a struggle. I know that one should not just wait around for love, but having someone special is extremely important to me at this time in my life. I can’t imagine life without this man, for I have always felt that he was the one for me with all of my heart. I know that he has issues when it comes to showing and expressing his emotions, but it never hindered me from pursuing him the past seven years. I do not push him in any way; I give him space to follow his heart in his own time. I have even prayed that God would take my life now and allow me to come home, because I really do not want my life to go on without this man. This is how much I truly love him. Last night I even prayed to God many times to allow this to happen if Jimmy was not going to come back to me. He may be a self-centered pig at times, but this does not diminish my love for him, because I have seen a beautiful side of him that not many people get to see. Will Jimmy come back and give this relationship another whirl, a real try he truly puts his heart into? I would really love to hear from you. Thank you for your time.
– Diane

Dear Diane:

My sweet girl, I wish I could whisk you off to a beach in Mexico for a year or so. By the end of that time, you’d be so over Jimmy. You’d be happily engaged in a whole new life, with a whole new sense of hope and possibility.

First, no person is so fantastic that life is not worth living without them. Barring extreme physical pain due to terminal illness or something like that, thoughts of suicide are always very short-sighted. When I read for people who don’t see life as worth living, Spirit often suggests they watch the movie “Joe Versus the Volcano.”

In that film, Tom Hanks’ character is a hypochondriac who learns that he is dying. He accepts the offer of a millionaire, which entails becoming a human sacrifice by throwing himself into a volcano. He has to travel halfway around the world to get to this volcano, and en route, he awakens spiritually and discovers that his life is indeed worth living. We watch him blossom from a miserable, anxiety-ridden man clinging to a bleak existence, into a bright, joyful free spirit. Only when he faces his own mortality for real does he begin to fully open to everything that is beautiful in life that he has been missing.

I encourage you to rent this movie and let it speak to your heart and soul.

Now you have to realize that what you describe as love is not really love, but rather obsession. When we’re caught up in romantic obsession like this it’s very hard to see it, so I understand if you are vehemently shaking your head and saying that I don’t understand. I know, because I’ve been where you are. I believed it was really love too, and wound up wanting to die, just like you.

My own obsession was named Dan, and my entire purpose for living was for him to love me back. When we make someone the center of our universe like this, we make them our God. As no mortal can fill those shoes, we are setting ourselves up for a lot of disappointment and heartache when we do this.

It’s not that we’re fundamentally pathetic. In fact, most people who fall into this pattern have very deep spiritual natures but a lack of spiritual teaching and direct experience of divine grace. We’ve been raised to make romance EVERYTHING. Our modern holy grail is a “soul mate.” We’ve been duped into believing that romantic love is the highest thing we can hope for. When romance then leaves us in a miserable heap on the floor, it’s no wonder we decide that life is just not worth living.

The energy underlying obsession is a very powerful force. The more you tell yourself you don’t want to live without Jimmy, the more energy you send to this force, and the harder it is to break free of it. You feel incomplete without Jimmy because you’ve literally given away your heart and soul to him.

Here’s another lesson we all have to learn eventually: Deciding that we don’t want to live without someone is actually a good way to send them fleeing. It’s a pretty heavy trip to put on someone’s shoulders. Most people feel suffocated by this sort of emotional dependency.

Making someone else responsible for our will to live is never a healthy or attractive thing to do. It leaves us clingy, vulnerable, grasping and draining. We won’t find true fulfillment in love until our own hearts and spirits are whole, until we see ourselves as complete expressions of divine beauty.

I’ve seen this sort of relationship dynamic many times, and always the person who is made God is far from deserving of that honor. I could see putting someone on a pedestal if they really were Christ-like, for then it may actually be true that we may never meet another person like them. Usually, however, the thing that is most special about the people we cling to is their indifference to our feelings. At some level we believe that if we can get this cold-hearted, self-absorbed “cool” person to return our devotion, then we will have proven to ourselves that we really are lovable.

These romantic obsessions represent someone from our past – usually the parent it was hardest to win attention, love and approval from. They can also be people we loved in past lives who rejected us. By being unmovable and indifferent, they offer us another chance to prove ourselves worthy of their attention, affection and respect. Through these relationships, we try to go back and heal some of the holes in our hearts from earlier experiences.

Our true goal is not to gain their love, however, but to learn to love ourselves enough to leave this tortuous experience behind. We may think we adore a lover more than life itself, but we can only truly love another to the degree we love ourselves. When we want to die for the lack of one individual’s returned affection, we aren’t loving anyone involved; we’re just desperately trying to find someone or something to fill the empty place inside of us.

I wish I could spirit you away to that beach in Mexico, but you don’t really need me to anyway. You don’t need anyone outside of yourself to save you or make your life worth living, because it’s already worth living, Diane.

I recommend you either find a higher calling to devote yourself to, or take off on a big adventure. If you already feel like dying, what have you got to lose? You’re here – you might as well do something important or interesting. The more you devote yourself to this higher purpose or lose yourself in this new adventure, the better you will feel.

Give the best of yourself to someone or something new, and after a while, you will realize that you feel better about yourself and about life. Your energy will detach more and more from this obsessive vortex as you put your heart and soul into relationships and undertakings that actually return your energy. This will lead you not only to new peace and happiness, but to more fulfilling experiences in love too.

There are no shortcuts to true and lasting happiness. You have to stop being a slave to romance and reach for something truer and more lasting: a sense of your own divinity, a personal relationship to Spirit/ the Universe/ All That Is, a reverent appreciation of life’s endless blessings and joys.

– Soul Arcanum

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How Does Psychic Information Help Us Create Change?

Filed Under: Divine Guidance, Emotional Well-being, Past Lives, Psychic Ability, Psychic Readings, Reincarnation, Spiritual Growth by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on How Does Psychic Information Help Us Create Change?

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

A little over a year ago, I fell down some stairs and hit the top of my neck. It’s been a long path to healing, but when I realized that I could consciously relax this area, the level of chronic pain became much more bearable. What hasn’t really helped was the information given to me by a healer who said that the reason I hurt my neck was because in a past life I was tortured and killed by a “dark energy cult” who did something gruesome to my neck. It’s not like I find this unbelievable or even particularly frightening; I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do with it. I’ve experienced plenty of things in this life to explain why I remain inert in the face of approaching danger or why I walk carelessly down a wet spiral staircase. To what extent are we defined by our past lives? I find it difficult to imagine why I would recreate a shadow experience of something terrible. Are we even supposed to know what happened in past lives? I ask this because I have never found self-awareness to be a major impetus for behavioral/physical change.
– Karla

Dear Karla:

I think this question is really about the power of conscious awareness. Whether the experiences affecting us at a subconscious level stem from our past in this life or another life, if we are unaware of why we are doing what we are doing, then those experiences are controlling our behavior. When we become conscious of why we do what we do, then we gain the power to make a conscious choice to do something else.

Here’s a simple, classic example that is sadly all too common: Let’s say that when Sandy was little, she was molested by her father. She may have a vague recollection of this, or have totally repressed her memories of it. It doesn’t really matter, so long as she is not conscious of how those early experiences are affecting her today.

Fast forward twenty or thirty years, and now Sandy has a hard time getting close to men. As soon as a man begins to get too close, she finds fault with him or starts acting “crazy” and pushing him away.

She may come to me for a reading, asking, “Why can’t I find the right guy?” Or, if she has some self-awareness, she might ask, “Why do I sabotage these relationships? Why do I always treat the nicest guys like dirt?”

Well, Sandy learned at an early age that it is the men you should be able to trust the most – the ones who are supposed to protect you and take care of you – that you have to watch out for. When a man says he loves you, beware. Thus as soon as a guy seems to care too much, she feels panicked and starts to flail around to get out of the relationship.

If she can get conscious about why she is doing what she is doing, then she can work through the irrational, self-defeating aspects of her belief system, and choose a more empowering and fulfilling approach to relationships.

I know this works myself. When I was a teenager, like many girls that age, all I wanted was to be pretty and popular. I put a lot of effort into being skinny, attractive, etc. Then I was stalked and raped by a man who saw me as so “desirable” that he had to have me for himself.

In the wake of that experience, I blamed myself. I said things to myself like, “Well, you wanted to be irresistible! That’s what you get!” I then started gaining weight and wearing huge clothes. I stopped wearing makeup. I stopped getting a lot of male attention. I wasn’t happy being out of shape and unattractive, but I felt safer.

I woke up one day and realized WHY I was overeating, not exercising, and dressing in baggy clothes. I then decided to “empower” myself by getting very strong and fit. I started eating right, lifting weights, running, and training in karate. I became obsessed with being fit and strong.

To this day, I still work out a lot. There are some healthy, positive reasons for this, but there is also a bit of that desire to be able to protect myself too. Maybe that’s unhealthy, or maybe it’s just wise given the nature of the world. I do know that becoming conscious of why I was doing what I was doing freed me to find the healthiest way to deal with it. I’m happy feeling strong and fit. I feel empowered.

Our past lives often do continue to affect us. The more intense/traumatic an experience in our past was, the greater its potential power over us will be. Since we don’t usually remember our past life experiences, they tend to influence us in unconscious ways.

When a big past life trauma is swept under the rug of our conscious awareness, it forms a lump in our lives that we can’t really see. We then trip over that lump again and again until we make a connection between walking in that area and getting hurt. Then we may be able to walk around it to avoid it, but of course, the hazard is still there. If we aren’t “paying attention,” we could trip over it again. If we consciously address that lump – if we lift up the rug and drag it out into the light and clean it out of there, we won’t have that vulnerability anymore.

Just because something happened in a past life, however, that doesn’t mean that we’re doomed to experience it again. While I won’t comment on the accuracy of the unusual reading you received, I find it rather strange to be seeking the reason for an accident in a past life in the first place. Accidents happen; they don’t always have some deep or higher meaning. We can have an accident if we simply fail to consciously manifest well-being. If we’re not grounded, not paying attention, not fully in our bodies, then accidents happen, and we’re snapped back to reality. If we keep finding ourselves in the same sort of pattern of experience, however, then it may be helpful to seek the metaphysical reasons why.

You asked if we’re even supposed to know about past life experiences. I found that a most interesting question. Why indeed would we generally not remember them unless there was a good reason?

I asked Spirit, and it was explained to me that we gain access to power and information as we become ready for it. Thus the more evolved we are spiritually, the more spiritual abilities we’ll gain, and the more awareness we’ll have of things like our past lives, the deeper meaning behind our experiences, etc. Spiritual evolution is a journey of ever expanding conscious awareness. We can trust that if we are made aware of something, it is natural and right for us now.

I feel that this fall sparked a big surge forward spiritually for you. Often accidents release a surge in kundalini. If you look back, you will see how this fall launched you into a period of deep spiritual questioning. That may not have been its “purpose,” but it was the result. Take it for what it is, and make the most of it. Instead of looking back and asking “Why?” look forward and ask, “Where do I want to go from here?”

We are not doomed to repeat past life experiences. In fact, the whole point of accessing past life information is to become more aware of any unconscious programs that are driving self-defeating habits so we can create what we want instead. Regardless of what happened in the past, we have the power to choose what we will create in our lives now.

We’ve all had hard times and dark experiences in this and in other lives. Becoming conscious of the deep fears we carry as a result of these experiences can empower us to release them. As all great spiritual teachers have taught, the path to realization is one of self-awareness. The more we know ourselves, the more empowered we are to consciously work with natural spiritual law.

– Soul Arcanum

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Kriyas: Spontaneous Vocalizations, Twitches, Energy Surges

Filed Under: Energy/Vibration, Healing, Kundalini, Spiritual Growth, Strange Phenomena by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Kriyas: Spontaneous Vocalizations, Twitches, Energy Surges

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I have been looking for an explanation to some strange spiritual experiences. I took a Reiki class and have been working with what I learned. On the third day I started to experience strange sounds coming from me vocally. These continued to become more frequent, and started to happen during my morning prayers, yoga, and now when any spiritual thing happens to me, even when I’m just reading about chakras in a book. This happens spontaneously; I don’t know it’s going to happen. The energy is so powerful. Do you have an explanation? Thank you for your insights.
– Ellen

Dear Ellen:

As strange as it may sound, what you’re experiencing is a normal, classic symptom of spiritual awakening. In fact, there is a Hindu word for these experiences: they’re called “Kriyas.”

Kriyas are spontaneous, involuntary physical movements. They are frequently jerks and twitches, but can also be vocalizations like sudden laughter or weeping, or the blurting out of words or other sounds. These spontaneous eruptions are caused by a surge of kundalini (life force) energy, and they occur most often during meditation and other spiritual practices – so this perfectly fits the pattern of experience you describe.

When we begin to awaken spiritually, new kundalini energy is released from our root chakras and begins to travel throughout our beings. In order for this greater energy to flow through, our energetic channels have to expand to accommodate it. If we are carrying any blocks or impediments to this stronger flow, this is when they will become apparent.

Blocks can arise from old emotional traumas or psychological issues we’ve been carrying around in our auras. These can be issues from this life or another life. They are probably not things that we are normally conscious of, but they may come up for us in the form of thoughts, feelings or memories and be relived as they are released. While this may be disconcerting and even painful, it’s all part of a natural healing process.

Sometimes kundalini experiences happen because we simply haven’t yet developed the capacity for greater flow. Just like a runner who is training for a marathon has to push beyond her 10k capabilities, we have to stretch ourselves to develop new capacities, and this naturally feels challenging. This process is happening on all levels, not just the physical, which explains why some manifestations of kundalini seem so strange.

Here’s a common analogy: Picture a garden hose that is coiled up with a trickle of water flowing through it. Now crank the faucet to turn the water flow up. If there are any kinks or obstructions in the hose, the pressure will build, and then suddenly when that pressure is strong enough, the kink in the hose may pop out.

We say we are experiencing “kundalini rising” as the inner pressure is building or surging through our systems. This can cause tingling sensations, hyperactivity, insomnia, fatigue, rapid mood swings, psychic and mystical experiences, euphoria, a sense of panic, etc. (As I’ve written before, there are a lot of interesting similarities between this process and what modern medicine has labeled “bi-polar disorder.” There are also correspondences to “chronic fatigue syndrome” and “fibromyalgia.”)

When energy suddenly breaks free, we may experience any of the above, but also muscle twitches, rushes or surges of energy, spontaneous movement and vocalizations – the list is extensive. Some people even find their bodies involuntarily moving into yoga postures when they’ve never practiced yoga before. Others find themselves speaking in foreign languages, singing, dancing ancient sacred dances, chanting, etc.

I went through a number of manifestations like this years ago when I was experiencing a surge in spiritual growth. Even now, whenever I shift my vibration in order to do a psychic reading, my body will involuntarily twitch as I move from one state of consciousness to another. I often experience twitches like this when sending or receiving healing energy as well.

Kriyas can begin to happen on a physical level long before we even become conscious of our spiritual awakening process. As you might imagine, that usually really freaks people out! They may go to their doctor or a psychiatrist to try to determine what is “wrong” with them, and instead of getting comfort and new understanding of what is happening, be put through a battery of physical tests to no avail, or end up with a prescription for something to “calm their nerves.” Some are even labeled psychotic or schizophrenic. Instead of getting help and healing, they end up distrusting not only this healing process, but also their own mental competency � which is a spiritual crisis indeed.

Your spontaneous vocalizations are your body releasing blocked energy. Sometimes these kriyas take the form of long drawn out notes, like the toning done in ritual work to raise energy, or like the classic “Om” of meditation. If you’ve ever heard chanting and toning like this, you know how powerful it can be. Sound has healing power; your body is healing itself intuitively with these vocalizations as it adjusts to a new spiritual vibration.

While this may be easier said than done, the best way to cope with kriyas is to trust and surrender to them. The more you resist them in fear, the more uncomfortable and painful they tend to become. When people learn to trust them, they often shift from alarming and painful to blissful, ecstatic experiences. Try to view this as a powerful, positive healing process.

Of course, if you’re spontaneously breaking into an ancient song and dance routine at work, or yelling out during your child’s school play, it may be really hard to relax and surrender! Resistance will only make things worse; instead of trying to make kriyas stop, you can gain some control over them by accepting and honoring them. The best way to do that is to devote some time every day to this energetic balancing process.

It sounds like you have already adopted a number of spiritual practices like meditation and healing work. Ask your inner being what you most need each day, and allow your intuition to guide you to the process that is best for you at that time. (You might also explore yoga, which can greatly facilitate better energy flow.) Then when you’re in your chosen spiritual practice, just allow whatever comes up to come up. If you experience kriyas, try to relax and surrender from the detached perspective of your inner observer. The more you do this, the more kriyas will occur during those times instead of at less opportune moments.

Now that you know that what you’re experiencing is normal and ultimately healing, hopefully you can relax and trust this process. This will raise your vibration and make everything easier, and lead you from these alarming eruptions to some wonderful awakening experiences.

– Soul Arcanum

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What Made You a Believer in Spirit?

Filed Under: Spirit Communication, Spirits, Spiritual Growth by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on What Made You a Believer in Spirit?

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I read that you’re a Spiritualist minister, and also read your theory that to experience Spirit, we have to believe it is possible. How does that happen in the first place? Were you raised Spiritualist? If not, what made you a believer? Did something happen that convinced you? Have you always been psychic and able to communicate with spirits? Do you still have new and different experiences of Spirit that deepen your convictions?
– Robert

Dear Robert:

I was not raised Spiritualist, nor have I always had psychic experiences or been able to communicate with Spirits. While my family was officially Episcopalian, we did not attend church regularly. Like many people who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, religion was not a big part of my upbringing. In a way, that probably helped me, because I had no limiting beliefs about the supernatural being evil or dangerous. My mind was pretty open.

The first experience to blow my mind about what is possible came when I was 17 and first my first love died suddenly. I don’t have space to relay the whole story here, but basically, though his death was totally unexpected, somehow the last time we saw each other, we both knew that we wouldn’t see each other again. Many strange messages and events surrounded his death. Somehow at some level, we both knew he was going to die. He even arranged for messages to be delivered to me AFTER his death. While “losing” him to the other side was deeply traumatic, these amazing spiritual experiences rocked my entire worldview. It was then that I started to become interested in the deeper nature of life and death.

At that time I was very busy with finishing high school and going on to college, so I didn’t really start reading spiritual material until a few years later. When I was 20 I became pregnant with my son, and that is when my psychic doors blew open. Nick is what many would call a very old soul, and is extraordinarily psychic himself. As soon as he was able to talk, he began saying the most amazing things. He “remembered” God and what he was doing before he was born, for example. I believe that his spiritual vibration was far higher than mine, and that when I conceived him, his energy blasted my own vibration upwards. This led to a very powerful, intense, accelerated journey of spiritual awakening.

At that time I began to see, hear and otherwise perceive things that others could not. Some of these things seemed innocuous enough: I would know that the phone was about to ring and who would be calling, for example. I would have intuitions about situations that would prove true. At the same time, however, I began to see auras and “balls of energy,” and also to perceive frightening entities in my peripheral vision. As soon as I would turn to look at them, they would disappear. (This is very common when one’s third eye is beginning to open.) Many of these encounters were terrifying. I write that here so that those who are having similar experiences will know that this is “normal.”

These scary things happened because I was living in a constant state of fear. I wasn’t sharing these experiences with anyone because I feared that I was crazy, and if anyone found out, they would take my baby from me. As my vibration was full of fear, I naturally attracted frightening energies/entities. Fearing that I was schizophrenic, I began to research what I was experiencing from a psychological angle. This reading referenced spiritual explanations, and as I began to read more about mystical experiences through history and around the world, I was relieved to learn that many people had experienced what I was experiencing, and that it was part of an early spiritual awakening process.

As my fear dissolved, my vibration rose, and I began to have more positive experiences. I also learned how to deal with dark forces: by shining the light of love on them. At this time, I began to spontaneously experience communication from spirits.

If someone I was with began to talk about someone who had crossed over with love, that spirit might appear behind them as a big ball of misty energy. (Usually it was a deep purple color, but it was sometimes golden and sometimes colorless, like heat waves coming off of pavement.) The spirit would communicate with me mentally and ask me to relay messages to the person I was talking to. They would give me “evidence” such as their name, occupation, or other identifying details. When I would find the courage to tell the person what I was experiencing, time and time again, the message from Spirit was not only accepted and validated, but it would have a profound healing effect on its recipient. That is when I began to believe that what I was experiencing was not only very real, but also very valuable.

When I saw the healing power of these messages, I decided to devote my life to this work. At that time, Spirit sort of took over. I was guided in incredible ways to the teachers, books and opportunities I needed to master spirit communication. I have been supported by Spirit every step of the way since then, and have had countless experiences validate my beliefs. These have included (but have not been limited to) amazing astral experiences, incredible manifestations of whatever I needed, thousands of readings that were validated as accurate and evidential, personal guidance from Spirit that proved accurate and evidential, countless instances of synchronicity sparked by me honoring an impulse or intuition, etc.

After all of this, I DO still have experiences that move me and deepen my faith. For example, recently I had a very profound astral encounter. My grandparents passed over some 15 years ago, and since then, my grandmother has remained close. In fact, she was one of the first spirits to ever appear to me, and it is very easy for me to connect with her mentally. My grandfather, however, has only touched in now and then, and I can never seem to reach him of my own volition. This has somewhat saddened me, but I had come to accept it.

A couple of weeks ago, I met with my grandfather in the astral. First I believed myself to be dreaming, but then suddenly I looked up and saw him there, and I became so excited. I basically said, “It’s YOU!” I flew to him and embraced him, and he felt so REAL. I was struck by how seeing him, feeling him, and smelling him refreshed my memory of him. It was the difference between remembering someone in your mind, and then actually SEEING them for real. We had a wonderful conversation about where he has been since he “died,” and he assured me that he has been close despite the fact that I’d had trouble connecting with him.

My alarm clock then went off, and I couldn’t “get back” into my body at first. When I was finally able to speak, I croaked to my husband that I needed “help, because I can’t get back.” He touched me, which helped me to move back into my body fully. I spent the whole morning weeping, not because I was sad, but because I was so moved by this experience, and so grateful.

So to answer the question behind all your questions, you don’t have to believe to begin to experience such things, but you do have to be open to believing. If you want to start experiencing things that will help you to believe, I recommend you begin meditating regularly and spending time with highly spiritual people. Pray for Spirit to give you “paranormal” experiences, act on your intuitions, and immerse yourself in spiritual study. Experience by experience, your belief will deepen, and as that happens, bigger and more amazing experiences will follow.

– Soul Arcanum

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Spiritually Surviving Christmas

Filed Under: Spiritual Growth by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Spiritually Surviving Christmas

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

What do you think of Christmas? I feel so disconnected from it all. I know I’m supposed to be merry with the holiday spirit, but I just feel overwhelmed. I like watching my children get excited, but part of me feels detached at the same time, like it’s just a big game. Even when I get past all the materialism and focus on the beautiful spirit of Jesus, something just feels not right. Why do so many people get depressed at this time of year? Do you have any advice on how to get through it all?
– Jan

Dear Jan:

First, know you are not alone. A few weeks ago I was chatting with some of my closest women friends when one of them admitted that she hates Christmas. Another then piped up that she does too, and then I confessed that I wish I could skip the season altogether as well. A great sense of relief washed through the room as we realized that we are not alone in how we feel. These women are all very spiritual, positive thinkers, and yet three-fourths of them can’t stand the “most wonderful time of the year.” What is going on?

There are of course all the obvious issues. We’re strapped for time and money, exhausted, and overwhelmed with all we have to do. We force ourselves to spend time with family who stress us out or bring us down, to attend parties we don’t want to attend, and to host gatherings we don’t want to host. We let ourselves eat all kinds of junk we’d never eat any other time of year, and we often quit working out because we’re so busy. Further, Christmas falls at the time of year when the days are shortest, so many are depressed due to a lack of sunlight. All of this is enough to send anyone over the edge.

Since everyone is conspiring together in this great Christmas fantasy, the energy flying around is intense. The world is turned upside down for a month or so; life is totally twisted out of shape to accommodate the holiday season. People who are highly sensitive can be easily overwhelmed or otherwise affected by all that unusual energy. Further, they will subject themselves to holiday situations even though it doesn’t feel good because there are just some things we do during the holidays without question.

Aside from all of those obvious issues, however, I think many of us share your sense that somehow there is something that is just not right about Christmas. I believe that those who have a hard time swallowing the whole Christmas package are tuning in to a greater truth. It’s similar to how we feel when someone lies to us; something just does not feel right. Sensitive people can feel the dichotomy between what is going on around them and what is really true.

While I’m all for honoring the wisdom of Jesus’ teachings and celebrating the Light He brought into the world, Christmas did not begin as a celebration of the birth of Christ. In fact, Christmas celebrations pre-date Christianity. Long before Christ was born, Romans were celebrating Saturnalia on the winter solstice, which according to the ancient Soul Arcanumn calendar fell on or around December 25. It was a celebration of the rebirth of the Sun, for from that day forward, the days would begin to grow longer again. Saturnalia was a time of drunken debauchery; a week long party of dancing, drinking, sex and gift-giving.

Think about it: how do you translate the birth of Jesus into all we do today, such as decorating our homes with garlands and ornaments, kissing under the Mistletoe, giving each other gifts, etc.? All of those rituals were part of Saturnalia. Besides, we really have no idea when Jesus was born, but we can be pretty sure it wasn’t in December, or the shepherds wouldn’t have been in the fields tending their flocks.

Around the fourth century, Christianity grew popular enough for its leaders to begin challenging existing pagan traditions. In order to do that, they simply renamed some pagan customs, or blended Christian ideas with other holidays. In time, instead of worshipping the “Sun King,” people came to worship the “Son of God.” The holidays fall at the darkest time of year, when the descent into darker and darker days turns around, and the world grows lighter and lighter. Hanukah and Kwanzaa have also been traced back to pagan solstice celebrations, so regardless of the label we put on it, at its essence, the holiday season is basically a celebration of hope.

Given all of this, I feel that many of us dislike Christmas because it rings hollow. Though it’s supposedly a celebration of Jesus’ life, we can assume that Jesus Himself would not be a big Christmas fan. Those of us who cherish His true teachings would naturally have a hard time throwing ourselves into the holiday spirit. Further, we run ourselves ragged and drive ourselves crazy, and we don’t even know WHY we are doing it. We force ourselves to do things that are not in harmony with our inner truths, or we don’t do the things we need to do to remain balanced and centered in well-being. This ignoring of our inner truths in order to comply with outside expectations is exactly what causes depression.

The best remedy to holiday stress I’ve found is use a mantra to remain centered. The word I say to myself whenever I’m slipping into a funk is “light.” Jesus was the light of the world, and his teachings have enlightened us in so many ways. Saturnalia was a celebration of the world growing lighter. On a personal level, the best way to maintain a sense of well-being at this time is to “keep it light.”

Most people who dislike Christmas are really suffering from deep disappointment because the holidays generally fail to fulfill their hopeful expectations. People who are lonely or feeling a lack of familial love and warmth in their lives may do fine the rest of the year, but during the holidays may tend to weigh what they have against this perfect ideal of holiday magic and come up short. It is our expectation that the holidays should be overflowing with joy, laughter, peace and love that sets us up.

If we watch all the holiday movies and look around at our neighbors and believe that everyone else is having a perfectly jolly time, it’s natural for us to feel sad if we don’t seem to have it as good. If we weigh our adult holidays against the “perfect” holidays of our youth when our grandparents were alive, when our parents took care of everything and created “magic” for us, when we had no worries and blessed freedom from school for a few weeks, it’s no wonder we feel let down by the holiday experience of adulthood.

I now focus on “keeping it light.” I don’t expect the holidays to be a big joy trip. My goal is no longer to create the perfect experience for my family; instead, my number one goal is to just stay centered in well-being. Sometimes it helps to think of Jesus’ light. Sometimes it helps to just have fun, drink good wine and celebrate the coming spring like the Romans did. Sometimes it helps to shine my light on others and try to help them through this crazy time. Always, in some way, when I remember to “keep it light,” I find myself feeling more relaxed and peaceful.

I pray my mantra helps all of you to find the endless blessings and joys hidden beneath all the holiday hoopla.

– Soul Arcanum

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Do You Sometimes Feel Disconnected from Spirit?

Filed Under: Divine Guidance, Energy/Vibration, Intuitive Development, Psychic Ability, Spiritual Growth by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Do You Sometimes Feel Disconnected from Spirit?

 

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum: Do you feel that once you are connected with Spirit, you are always connected with Spirit? As a psychic, lately I have been feeling extremely disconnected from Spirit, almost as if my guides have stopped speaking to me, but it seems to always happen right before Mercury goes retrograde.
– B.

Dear B.:

Thanks for this great question. I think many people view a consciously developed connection to Spirit sort of like “enlightenment.” Once you attain it, you’re “enlightened” and will be so forevermore. In truth, there are many things that can cause us to feel disconnected.

Staying connected is sort of like “staying in shape.” Getting there in the first place is the hardest part, but we can’t then forget about it: we have to maintain it by practicing the habits that led us to success in the first place, and by paying attention to how we feel and what is needed on a regular basis.

Basically, to consciously communicate with guides and others in Spirit, we have to maintain a high frequency or vibration. I’ve written about how to go about this in depth in many other articles. If we stop doing things to keep our vibration high, or start doing things that will lower it, then it’s natural to get disconnected.

Since this is a recurring experience for you, I’m assuming that you’re not doing anything obvious to disconnect, like using your ability in ways you know you shouldn’t, or making life choices that you know are wrong. Once we’ve been “allowed past” a certain point spiritually, so to speak, we not only have greater power to work with spiritual laws, but we also suffer greater consequences when we fail to honor them. If most folks are walking through life, then consciously connecting with Spirit is like learning how to fly. We can see farther and go wherever we want to go much faster, but if we crash, we have a long ways to fall.

I don’t feel you’ve blundered, however. What you’re experiencing is much more common – what we might call natural “wear and tear” on your conscious connection to Spirit. We all struggle with this, because unless we constantly counteract it, life itself will tend to make us disconnect. Every time we react to an experience with negative emotion, our vibration lowers. Every time we get stressed out about anything, we pop out of connection mode. Life these days is harried and full of distractions and stress. Maintaining a clear, healthy, conscious spiritual connection is a lot like maintaining a strong, flexible, radiantly healthy body. Even with daily care and attention, everyone gets “sick” or weary sometimes.

So while we can aim to remain constantly, perfectly connected, we should be prepared for life to happen. It’s human nature to get distracted by dramas or to start to take things for granted after a while, and when we do that, they naturally start to slide. When we see them sliding, our appreciation of them is renewed, and then we put more focus and effort into them to restore them. We go through this up and down cycle in all areas of our lives all the time.

Since we’re both psychics, let’s look at readings as an example. When we first begin to read for others, it’s all fascinating and amazing. We love to tune in and work with people this way; we can’t get enough of it. Years later, however, it’s become routine. Now we’re more interested in our personal lives or our latest spiritual interest, and we may start to rush through meditation or readings so we can do what we “want” to do. This is when the disconnection starts. Spirit hasn’t changed: we’ve changed. As a church bulletin near my house reads, “If God [Spirit] feels far away, who moved?”

So the first thing to do when you feel disconnected is to examine how you may have changed. Look for the patterns involved. This is where Mercury Retrograde comes in. While I’m no astrologer, I do know that Mercury rules the mind and communication, and when a planet is retrograde, it means the issues it governs will be obscured or unavailable. Thus it makes perfect sense that Mercury Retrograde could throw a glitch into spirit communication.

Instead of feeling thwarted by this astrological influence, however, I recommend you decide that this is a helpful period of realignment. This is a time when life is forcing you to stop and get back on track in whatever ways you’ve gotten off. It’s a period when you’ll be pushed to move past your prior limits, reevaluate your approach, and repair or resolve issues that need your attention. It’s a time when it will be easier to see your life and your spiritual path in a new light. Feeling disconnected will motivate you to remember how important your connection to Spirit is, and to restore and recharge it if need be.

So whenever this happens, stop and ask yourself how you have changed from times when you felt strongly connected. Have you dropped some of the habits that got you connected in the first place? If not, do you need to let go of them and try something new? Has your desire for and appreciation of your connection grown dim with time? Have you gotten lazy with your meditation or other disciplines? Has your faith become tarnished by your interpretation of your life experiences? Are you being hard on yourself, and thus lowering your vibration? Has your personal life become dramatic and distracting? Has your enthusiasm waned?

I go through periods of feeling disconnected too, and it is usually the result of an emotional upset that threw me “off center,” distracted me from my higher purpose and lowered my vibration. To remain consciously connected, we have to constantly work through the hurt, fear and anger that arise in response to our life experiences. If we don’t deal with our own “stuff,” we won’t be able to help others deal with theirs. When I don’t know how to realign with my best self and my peak abilities, I just start doing the things that have worked for me before: meditating, eating really well, exercising, reading positive books, eliminating negative or distracting influences, energy healing work, practicing kindness and compassion, cultivating gratitude for all I’ve been blessed with, and remembering my many amazing spiritual experiences.

Don’t be dismayed or think you’re doing something wrong if you feel disconnected sometimes. Throughout history, shamanic cultures around the world have undertaken vision quests to consciously reconnect with Spirit. Even Jesus went off for 40 days in the wilderness, and the Buddha fasted and meditated for 40 days under the Bodhi tree. Now and then, we all need to work at transcending mundane reality and elevating our awareness of Spirit. If the simple suggestions above don’t work, you might explore the idea of going on your own vision quest. It doesn’t have to be a week of fasting in the wilderness; it can be any day that you set ordinary life aside for the express purpose of reconnecting with Spirit.

– Soul Arcanum

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How Do You Know You’re Ready for Psychic Development?

Filed Under: Intuitive Development, Psychic Ability, Spiritual Growth by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on How Do You Know You’re Ready for Psychic Development?

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I’ve long been interested in developing my own psychic abilities, but something in me keeps holding back. Are there reasons one should NOT pursue this? How do you know when you’re ready, when this is what you’re supposed to do?
– Jan

Dear Jan:

It has been my experience that the way one approaches psychic development – the quality of energy one puts into it – will determine the quality of the experiences that unfold. The following questions will hopefully illuminate the attributes that facilitate a pleasant, positive, successful psychic journey.

Fear/Faith

Do you believe the Universe is a benevolent place? Do you trust your own judgment, or do you dismiss your own experiences as “unreal” if they don’t match what you’ve been taught to believe by others? Are you afraid of delving into psychic matters?

Faith is important because it both fuels success and protects us from negativity. Whatever we focus upon expands, so if we explore psychic matters with fear that we will come to harm, we will have scary experiences. One does not have to be totally fearless, mind you; a little fear of the new and as yet unknown is what I call excitement! Fearing eternal damnation, however, is not the kind of fear you want to push through. Lose the fear by educating yourself first.

Ethics

Do you have a strong sense of integrity? Are you honest with others and yourself? What is your motivation for delving into psychic matters?

Integrity is important because psychic knowledge is a huge responsibility. We will be held accountable for our knowledge, therefore, those who unwittingly blunder may feel the undesirable effects of that “mistake,” but those who should know better and choose to do wrong will experience far greater consequences. Picture a child riding a tricycle and crashing full speed into a tree, versus a man driving a Porsche full speed into a tree – the greater power of the Porsche means greater consequences if mistakes are made.

Respect

Do you have a healthy respect for spiritual phenomena? Can you respect these matters without fearing them?

This is important because those who play at spirit communication and fail to respect psychic processes are generally careless, and often attract mischievous entities and undesirable experiences. This approach can become a pointless game or drama – which is exactly what these folks signed up for.

Timing

Is your life sailing along smoothly for the most part, or do you have a lot of dramas to manage? Do you have the time and the inner resources to devote to psychic development now?

Timing is important for obvious reasons. If we’re already overwhelmed with normal life, how can we expect to take on a new paranormal realm of experience? One must master one level of experience before messing around with another. To leap ahead would be like the little boy on the tricycle getting behind the wheel of that Porsche.

Courage

Are you willing to face and conquer your own fears? Are you at peace with the fact that there is a shadow side of life? Are you prepared for your personal life to be turned on its head?

Courage is essential because we will be tested as we move forward. These tests are similar to driving tests; they’re meant to prevent us from getting hurt. Before we’re allowed to take off down the road in a Porsche, we have to prove we can handle ourselves on slippery pavement, in unfavorable conditions, etc. Also, when we begin to develop psychically, our personal lives often get turned upside down because as we devote ourselves to this path, the people and circumstances that could hinder us naturally get cleared out of our way.

Physical Health:

Are you strong and healthy? Do you use drugs (either recreational or medicinal) on a regular basis? Do you have unhealthy addictions to food, alcohol, drama, certain people – whatever – that are getting the better of you? Do you enjoy high energy and a sense of well-being?

Physical health is important because a high vibration is needed to access psychic realms. If we strain for those realms while in poor health, it’s like someone who is out of shape trying to climb a mountain. It will be much harder (if not impossible), and the odds of getting hurt are greater.

Emotional Health:

Are you emotionally stable? Have you moved past the common pattern of dependent/codependent, victim/rescuer? Do you take responsibility for what you create in your life, and do you expect others to do the same?

Emotional health is important because opening psychically means opening to outside influences. If we are emotionally fragile or unbalanced, then when we are down or out of control, we’ll attract similar energies, which will just send us further in that direction. It can be overwhelming to feel others’ emotions. We’re all doing this the time, of course, but before we cultivate even greater sensitivity, we’re wise to have our own emotions balanced.

Psychological Health:

Are you clear-thinking and discerning? Are you grounded in this reality? Are you engaged in other strenuous studies, or are you ready for new challenging courses? Are you curious and prepared to study and practice?

Psychological health is important because it’s so easy to lose touch with common reality when we move into this realm where incredible things happen right and left. This is one of the biggest risks in psychic development. We’re all familiar with the stereotype of the “New Ager” who sees meaning in every dust mote and blade of grass she encounters. As with most stereotypes, there is some truth to this one; we have to be very grounded psychologically to walk the fine line between being open-minded and being so far “out there” that we can no longer relate to others.

Spiritual Health:

Do you strive for the high ideals of love, forgiveness and compassion in your daily life? Do you have a sense of yourself as part of a larger whole? Do you feel connected to God/Spirit/the Divine? Is a desire to grow spiritually a central driving force in your life?

The more we trust in Spirit, the more open we are to being helped by Spirit. By aligning with high ideals, we align with Divine guidance and with the conditions essential to a positive psychic experience.

Beliefs:

Do you believe psychic ability is real and possible? That it is natural and normal? Have you ever had psychic experiences yourself? Did you trust those experiences as real? Are you well-read regarding psychic subjects?

It is wise to maintain healthy skepticism, but an active disbelief in psychic abilities will bar us from them. This has been proven in experiment after experiment; those who believe in psychic abilities demonstrate the most psychic ability.

Being Called

Finally, do you feel called to develop psychically? Are you fascinated by these subjects, and do you feel compelled to explore them?

While meeting the above criteria is helpful, it’s not essential. A strong calling from deep within is all you really need. You don’t have to wrangle with the questions above if your heart knows its true path. Just honor that calling, and you will be led.

I don’t want to give the impression that psychic development is only for a perfect chosen few, or that it is rare or even hard to achieve. No one is 100% together. Heck, I felt intimidated by the above questions, and I wrote them! If you’re not ready, however, you won’t go as far as fast, and your path may be bumpier. If you approach this with a solid foundation, it can be an easy, wondrous, delightful journey.

– Soul Arcanum

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