Whose God is it, anyway?
That’s the question I asked myself when I received a letter from a reader who was concerned that her prayers to God might be rejected because she’s not a Christian.
Whoah!
That’s a heavy thought, but I immediately reassured her that her prayers would not be rejected by a compassionate, wise, good and just God just because she isn’t a Christian.
The reason is that God is not Christian.
God is not Muslim.
God is not Jewish, or Buddhist or Native American…
There is just one God and whatever your beliefs, your prayers are heard. Period.
Continue readingWe live in a world full of stress, war, ecological disasters, and financial upheaval. Sometimes it even seems that the world situation may be hopeless.
But the fact is that we don’t have to look far for solutions. Indigenous peoples from around the world have much to teach us about living a balanced life.
Decades ago, as I struggled with fear of an uncertain future, money woes and a high stress job, I turned to the simple teachings of my spiritual mentor Marcellus “Bear Heart” Williams and they have transformed my life.
Here are twelve life tips from Bear Heart:
Continue readingMany people have heard of “smudging,” and may even practice it, but there’s great value in knowing its history, and understanding the true sacredness of it.
There are three primary herbs used in the Native American tradition for smudging: sage, cedar and sweetgrass.
Sage is used to dispel negative energy.
Cedar is used for an overall blessing or to cleanse where there has been illness.
Sweetgrass draws in positive energy.
I have been taught the importance of burning only one herb at a time for smudging, otherwise you are giving mixed messages.
Sage is the most commonly used for cleansing the energy field of a person, place or thing, so I will focus on it for this post.
Continue readingIn ancient Ireland, the ceremony of crowning a king included a marriage ceremony in which the king would marry the land, or more accurately marry the Goddess of the land.
This marriage meant that the King swore to protect the land and the people, and be a caretaker of the earth. In return, when a King was favoured by the Goddess:
• he would rule with wisdom,
• the land would be fertile and prosperous,
• the country would always be victorious in war.
When that sacred contract was broken, the land was no longer fertile.
Continue readingSeveral years ago, when the pop singer Madonna was studying the Kabbalah with Rabbi Philip Berg, she invited Rabbi Berg up on stage at the end of one of her concerts and asked him to give the audience a blessing.
That was a lovely sentiment, but an unnecessary one. Because I’ve learned that we can all give blessings.
Continue readingJune 20, 2016 is an auspicious day: both the Summer Solstice and a Full Moon – it’s the first time these two events have coincided in 70 years!
The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the time to celebrate life in all its aspects.
It’s also the time to call in all the positive things you want in your life, and release what no longer serves you.
The Full Moon also brings in powerful energies for manifestation of what you want.
Read this post to learn how…
Continue readingQuite a few years ago, during a routine medical exam, my doctor found some abnormal cells – pre-cancerous, or what today would be called Stage Zero cancer.
She recommended laser surgery to remove them. Even back then, I was very holistic and didn’t want surgery of any kind, even laser surgery, so I considered my alternatives.
As part of my Native American studies, I had heard of prayer fetishes: objects that are created, personalized, and prayed over, to bring about a particular outcome. Taking a leap of faith, I decided I would make a health fetish as my path to curing my condition.
Continue readingThere’s a lot of talk about sleep in the news lately:
• why we need it,
• how to get it,
• how much do we need?
• to nap or not to nap?
The advice even fills books, but there’s one important point I think has been overlooked:
We should be approaching sleep with the same respect and solemnity as we do ceremony!
Continue readingWe all have to face it at some time in our lives.
Learning how to survive the loss of a loved one can dramatically impact our quality life.
Learn what Native Americans teach.
Continue readingWould you like to jump-start your meditation practice? Or have an instant dose of serenity? A home altar might be just the thing to help you.
Many people may think of altars as something only found in a church, but they don’t have to be limited to that.
WHAT IS AN ALTAR?
Altars are built to hold focused energy, and help you to feel calm and centered when you approach them. It represents your intention to create more serenity, peace and love in your space and your life.
Continue readingIn 2003 and 2013, I went to Brazil to see the medium Joao de Deus [John of God] at the Casa de Dom Ignacio de Loyola.
The Casa is a place where miraculous cures regularly occur. It’s also a place of kindness and acceptance of people from all over the world.
So I was surprised to read an interview with John of God in which, when asked what determines if a person gets cured, his answer was “merit.”
I had to think long and hard about that. Surely possible cures would not be intentionally withheld.
So my interpretation of “merit” was that the patients do the work they need to do to achieve and maintain health:
More and more, modern people are turning to indigenous teachings to learn a better way to live. Perhaps acceptance of gay rights could be the next lesson.
Here are a few things Native Americans have already contributed:
There’s a lot of talk of “new year’s resolutions” these days. Probably because the new year seems a good time to create a “new you.”
What is a “new you?” That is a personal question that each must answer for themselves.
For me, it has to do with qualities of being rather than getting a new wardrobe or hairstyle. Those things have their place, but if you’re a reader of this blog, you probably want to look a little deeper at your life.
I always strive to be a better version of myself: less judgmental, more compassionate and forgiving, kinder, more nurturing. The list goes on.
One of my frequent prayers is for help in taking my spiritual work to the next level, and I think developing qualities like that are excellent hallmarks of a spiritual life.
Food for thought. But yes, I also want to lose the five pounds I gained over the holidays!
So now on to the practical tips for making change:
“Winter Solstice is the time when light is born out of the womb of winter’s darkness.” Mara Freeman, in Kindling the Celtic Spirit
To original peoples around the world the Winter Solstice is a time of great celebration. This year it takes place on December 21.
It signifies the return of the sun through longer days and shorter nights until the sun reaches its zenith at the Summer Solstice.
Many ancient cultures considered it to be the true beginning of the “new year.”
It’s something modern society takes for granted, and may not even notice. We always assume the sun will rise and set every day. But what if it didn’t?
What if it gave up because we never said, “Thank you!”
I’m delighted to announce I have a new book out and the e-book is FREE on Amazon today and tomorrow.
The Fountain of Youth Is Just a Breath Away; Breathing Exercises for Relaxation, Health and Vitality.
It’s also available as a paperback, but unfortunately that’s not free! 🙂 But the paperback would make a great holiday gift for your loved ones.
You do NOT need a Kindle to read the e-book. You can read it on any computer or tablet by downloading the FREE Kindle App software .
Don’t like to read ebooks? Get the paperback here.
Has anyone ever asked you that? “What is right with you?”
No one’s ever asked me that, but I certainly recall being asked, “what is wrong with you?” by parents, teachers and employers. I’m sure we all have.
All too often we, and others, focus on what is wrong with us. But there is more right than wrong with all of us.
Just as there is more that is right in the world than is wrong in the world.
People complain that there is only bad news reported in newspapers and the evening news. Well, the good news is that these events are out of the ordinary; that’s why it’s news!
The truth is that planet earth and everything on it is part of an amazing Creation, and we are each magnificent beings of light. Spiritual beings learning to be human.
We forget that a lot.
For some reason we seem to be trained to look for what is wrong.
I would say that 95% of my first-time clients ask, at the end of the healing session, “what did you pick up? What do you think is wrong with me?”
Meaning, they’re hoping for a clairvoyant reading that will tell them the problems I found.
I give everyone the same answer:
There is always much to be learned from the animal world, even about courtship . . . and even from eagles.
Here’s what a Navajo elder says:
” … It amazes me that in the animal world, the female of every species chooses the fastest runner, the best hunter, the strongest fighter for her mate. Yet a woman, who is supposed to be Creator’s finest achievement, often will lay down with any and sometimes every man who comes her way. If anything is going to change for the better, we women must lead the way to higher moral ground. We have to begin teaching our daughters and sons that they have great worth and great responsibility.”
The more something is repeated, even if untrue, the more it will be believed. This is particularly true of the belief that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives individuals the “right to bear arms.”
The Second Amendment, passed by Congress in 1789, consists of one poorly crafted sentence: “A well regulated militia, being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
For 200 years, it was understood that the Second Amendment only gave an individual the right to bear arms within an organized militia.
This changed in the 1970s after a methodical political campaign by the National Rifle Association [NRA] led to its being reinterpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read on to understand how this came about.
According to the Huffington Post, last week’s mass shooting in Oregon was the 265th mass shooting in the U.S. in 2015. That’s not a typo.
“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.” ~Mike Murdock
What do we call something we do daily? A habit.
Part of the work of becoming a conscious human being is looking at our habits and patterns and seeing whether they serve us . . . or hold us back.
Sometimes we do things without even knowing why.
I love the story about a mother teaching her ten year-old how to cook a roast. As part of the preparation, the mother cut the ends off the roast before putting it in the pan.
The daughter asked why and the mother replied, “Well, honey, that’s how my mother taught me to do it.”
“But why?” asked the daughter.
I recently heard a Chinese saying about Western culture: “People in the West are always getting ready to live.”
That made me stop and reflect on how much time I have spent “getting ready” for the next direction I want to go in my life.
A fair amount of time, actually. And much of it was wasted time.
In fact, much of it was merely procrastination.
That is why I’ve taken to heart a phrase I heard last year by Steven Pressfield: “Start before you’re ready.”
Do you rush around “getting ready” to find the perfect mate, find the perfect job or house or car?
Or start that creative project?
Do you wait for conditions to be just right to start something new? I used to think I had to create the perfect office environment before I could start writing.
There’s no such thing!
Do you delay taking vacation time until you can afford to go to Paris? When there are perfectly interesting cities and places nearby?
Don’t let excuses hold you back!