Honing your Visualization Skills 2012-04-02

I was inspired by a letter I got from someone who wanted to know about why it is so hard to visualize while doing guided meditation (Thanks Brack!). This is a really good question that a lot of people grapple with. In fact, this is one of the greatest stumbling blocks people experience in the beginning of doing this kind of work. Most people don’t realize that there are many forms of psychic experience and that we are better at some than others. Not many people are naturally gifted with a lot of the forms, they might have one or two. These forms are: Clairvoyance (seeing, either in the mind or with one’s eyes), Clairaudience (hearing spirit), Clairsentience (feeling spirit), Clairescent (clear smelling), Clairgustance (clear tasting), Clairtangency (clear touching), and Emapthy (sensing emotion). In order to fearlessly jump in, we might need to practice these a bit in order to feel comfortable.

Our brains are used to seeing with our eyes. Artists use the inner seeing facility easily and are used to letting their imagination take this form. Musicians hear music inside their heads and have an easier time with clairaudience. You get the picture.

Everyone can and does visualize. We see things in our minds, in our dreams. Vision like this can be a snapshot, or a created world where we see whatever we want to create. It can be daydreaming or imagining artwork, seeing color or just plain knowing as well. It doesn’t have to really be as literal as we want to make it.

I call this work with your imagination discovering the language of spirit. It is in the realm of imagination and visualization that many of us make contact. It is a huge part of shamanic journeying. A lot of times during a reading I feel like I am making it up, just BS-ing. That’s when I know I am getting it right, because I cede control and just let it rip. This is the fearless part, and the fun part. We have to let go of the left brain reigning us in and just trust that we can be held by what we are seeing, feeling, hearing.

It’s a matter of letting your imagination have free reign. The relationship between imagination, “seeing” things and desire is interchangeable. In the beginning, we think we are making it up, but in fact that is just us letting go and following what is put in our minds to follow. And if we feel that we are making it up, it’s ok. So go ahead, make it up and let it feel awkward for a bit. It will become automatic the longer you practice. We think it should be totally “put in” our minds, that if we are faking it we are doing something wrong. It takes practice to hold your mind open to receive any impulse from your imagination. Remember, imagination is divine language; it is not you trying too hard. You have to let your imagination work at this.

Here are 2 tricks from my intuition class to help you do this better:

Candle Meditation
Sit in front of a let candle. Gaze at the candle for 2 minutes…really watch it. Then close your eyes and then remember the candle flame. See it. Hold the flame steady for a bit, then let the flame flicker and dance around, the way a flame does. Practice that for a few days.

Shape Meditation
Get some fruit and stare at it. Take in the shapes and the colors. Now close your eyes and see the shapes, the colors and flip it around to see other sides of the object. Now, with your eyes still closed, imagine shapes, a square, a triangle, then a circle. Make them 3 dimensional. Change their color; make them bigger and then smaller. Play with the shapes.

The best way to practice these exercises is to work on them a little bit each day. That seems to work better than big marathon sessions. So take your time working with this and let yourself have fun with it.

I’d love to hear from you what your stumbling blocks are. And if this helps, let me know.

New Moon in Aries March 22, 2012, 10:38 am US EDT 2012-03-25

The New Moon, Jupiter and Venus Conjunct in the sky as viewed from Greenland. Photo by Toke Brødsgaard

March 23, 2012 1:38 pm Eastern Australian Time

New Moon in Aries helps us harmonize our inner world with the fiery energies of change and action. With Aries moon further enhancing the Sun’s entrance into Aries on the Solstice, it is a flow between inner and outer mastery, and learning to manifest that relationship in tangible ways. We are called to create and invent our way out of chaos. This isn’t going to sit well with most of us who have had the wind punched out of our sails. But we are going to find that despite setbacks, we have the internal courage and the fortitude to dig deep and begin again.

We have 3 retrograde planets putting a lot of influence into this mix. Mercury is retrograde till April 4, and Saturn is still retrograde for a while, and Mars will go direct on April 14. Retrograde Mercury conjunct with the New Moon asks us to look deeply into our ability to act on intuition and asks us to remember our dreams, and visions. Retrograde Mars is calling us to get more settled, deal with our anger and take grounded actions. And Retrograde Saturn, influencing the new moon as well, is asking us to to be fair and equitable to children and our own inner child. So issues around the protection of children and laws that get in the way of that will be in the news.

Time to set our Aries Moon intentions
Setting our intentions with the power of the moon enhances our mental resolve to move through issues. Harmonizing our efforts with nature’s gentle rhythms shifts our intuition into its rightful place, as our guide and internal monitor. This moon, the energies are of blazing new trails, honing our instincts, remaining honest and straightforward, taking risks, being self-sufficient, having courage and being BIG. It tests our impatience and impulsiveness and tendencies to be isolated. Statements that harmonize with this moon are: I want to easily find myself trusting my instincts because I know I am being guided by a greater wisdom I want to find myself being authentic with others and communicating with them in a kind and non-blaming way. I want to find myself taking risks that expand my concept of what I am capable of. I want to easily explore my goals with a sense of trust and an open mind.

You get the idea.

New Moon Astrology
We have a lot of energy and feel uneasy because of increased electromagnetic activity around the earth’s poles. (check out www.spaceweather.com for more about this). A lot of us have had headaches, excess energy, maybe even depression, all of these could be the affect of this energy that our bodies have a hard time handling. This jittery energy is being tempered by that Grand Earth Trine I spoke about which started before the Equinox. This gentle influence encourages us to heal our bodies and pay attention to our health. Are we exercising, are we putting off dental appointments? Look at using new ways to harmonize the excess energy with your own flow. Energy therapies are a good way to do this, which one is best for you? By energy therapies I mean Reiki, Polarity, Shamanic techniques, Acupuncture, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Hatha Yoga, Heller Work. All of these help release blocked energy and get the body into it’s natural flow. Get up to date with your health care providers. Look at your body as the strong support that it is, and maintain it.

There is a shift towards thinking about humanitarian issues, we want to support others because our hearts are opened and we feel deep compassion. Big shifts are happening all around us, and we need to notice, stop, and take it in. We are feeling uneasy, and all of the electromagnetic activity is hard for our bodies to hold. Despite what is happened out there, we need to focus on our goals because our work is even more important now.

If you are working on yourself, and who isn’t, it is an excellent time for receiving insights, which might show up as earth shattering awareness. Now, it you are adept at handling awareness, through therapy or ongoing introspective work, this will be good and maybe the insight you are looking for. If you are not engaged in deep introspection, this may come as more of a shock. I advise working through what comes up with someone, even if just a friend, because you want to follow these threads. Write about them as well, they will be an important shift that will be in play for the next 3 months.

One thing we might find challenging, but again a good energy for a lot of us nonetheless, is really being able to see the dark side of our personalities and how that can lead to anger, upset and affects society in general. There is an ability to really see how the themes that run under our own complexes have a big affect on the whole at this time. If we want a world of peace, we are able to see now what gets in the way, in the very personal realm. It is also a good time to see how our own struggles that might have been hidden to us, work with our true purpose in the world.

How do we divert our true impulses to our underground motivators and how can we match them up to redirect sabotaging energy to do good in the world? So if we really struggle with issues of insecurity, and we are taking that challenge seriously by being more out there and maybe promoting ourselves and bragging about our successes (good bragging!), then we will have moved ahead in this arena. At the same time, we might find that others around us are suffering from the same thing and we are inspired to share how we have overcome insecurity, in fact it becomes a theme around us. In fact we are so motivated that we decide to give a seminar on this and a whole new path opens up before us. This is a natural flow that will just feel right and be easier than struggling to create something.

This inner-outer relationship is going to teach us how to navigate the changes we all have to make to get more involved in our communities and move our dreams of a better world into reality. It’s totally up to us to do that. And that comes from our attitudes and vision.

Have a wonderful month!

Spring Equinox 2012 2012-03-20

March 20, 2012, 1:14 am US EDT, 4:14 pm Eastern Australian Time

It’s the beginning of spring, the sun is once again entering Aries, and we are raring to go. With a wonderful Grand Earth Trine going on, we are going to want to temper that feeling with a bit of planning, purpose and direct action. So check your impulses at the door. We don’t want to act without thinking first. There is a collective sigh of relief. After the tension of Saturn holding us back, this just feels good. With the creative juices ready to burst out of us, let our imagination create the new good. So many of us have a fresh slate, so why not. The creative potential is available to manifest what we are more aligned with now that so much has been stripped away. We can see ourselves more clearly now and we have a better idea of what to do to make ourselves more whole.

Although Mercury, Mars, and Saturn are retrograde, there is quite a lot of good energy here to capitalize on. If we are aware of our goals at this time it is very beneficial. Our inner resolve is strengthened and we can accomplish a lot by taking clear actions. Use your powerful knowledge to break through to great things…don’t let fear undermine you. Be honest with yourself about what you can do.  Pace yourself for the long run and do some planning. It is not futile to plan at this time.

The tendency with all of this good energy is to be a bit flaky with your actions…it feels so good, why all the hard work? Don’t fall for it. Take some time off, enjoy the glorious weather, but don’t slack off. Take advantage of the ease to get things working smoothly. Consistent, short intuitive support such as 15 or 30 minute meditations, daily walks, spiritual reading, EVERY DAY will support the longer term action s you will be open to taking at this time. You are beginning to see great change, it is becoming visible, as the insides are changing. You want to be sustained for the long run. It’s also a good time to look at what your body needs as well and support yourself with exercise and healthy food. Reasonable diets and getting in shape plans are easier to get going now.

In general, this is the moment. Creativity flourishes, ideas come easily and you can get the ball rolling once again. Let it fill you with possibility. Take notes. Don’t squander this energy…it is vital. What you experience now will set the tone for the next 3 months.

Enjoy, I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

P.S. The electromagnetic count is high, so it’s a great night for Northern Lights watching. WE might even see some here in New York State.

New Moon in Aquarius, January 23, 2012 2:40 am EDT 2012-01-23

Image credit: Caseman via Wikimedia Commons

New Moon in Aquarius, this is a time when we are looking to the future, and wondering how to make the best use of this New Year. It’s also the beginning of the Chinese New year, the year of the Dragon. Gong Xi Fa Ca! Wishing you prosperity! (In Mandarin). The dragon is a strong sign and those born under it are said to have abundant and lucky lives. We all could use a little of that!

Between now and the next lunation on February 21, we have Mars going retrograde tomorrow, and Saturn going retrograde February 8th. So we have the opportunity to settle into the energies of Aquarius (groups, an interest in others and the greater good, brilliance) and look at the ways in which we operate, our motivations and the unconscious drives that keep us in particular behaviors. Stemming from these behaviors, what keeps us stuck and prevents us from moving forward to join with others in creating a better outcome for ourselves, and our world? This is what we are going to be looking at in this report.

So first of all, Aquarius moon asks us to set intentions for the month based in ideas like, using innovation, looking underneath things to see how they work, long range planning, and creating a plan that is based in operating from a larger world view. So it’s time to shake out the sand and get involved with others to create something new. How do you connect to and create community? How to you participate in philanthropy, even in very small ways? Do you volunteer you time anywhere? What is the state of your friendships with others? What steps are you going to take to manifest your dreams, even in little ways? Take some time today to write up to 10 intentions for you self based on these ideas.

The chart for this lunation’s energy comes with this message – KEEP STRONG. We still have a slowing influence, which will feel a bit disconnected emotionally. Use your power of visualization, and positive thought to move things along. We have the energy available to heal depravational thinking, to transform ideas about financial insecurity. What makes you feel secure? How can you invest in your life so that you can feel more secure, and be able to take more risks? How are you going to feel more comfortable in a changing world? If you look at these things now, and take steps to address them, you will find it easier to deal with the change that awaits later in the year. So really take the time to do this now.

We also need to take a look at money and ideas of prosperity and abundance. I am going to focus on this topic for this entire year, as I think we all need the support to make gentle shifts, and sometimes radical, shifts in this area. Despite a lot of intermittent difficulties, this is going to be a good year. So let’s delve right into it.

After answering last month’s questions about questions about work and transforming the negatives into positives, what systems have you put in place? How does it feel to have an idea of what makes you tick around your connection to work and structure? We are still in that mode of structure, but this month it takes a focus on how to make those structures practical and enduring. Setting up savings accounts, even with $10 in it is one example of anticipating that you will be able to begin saving again. Writing down what you are spending so that you can construct a financial picture for yourself of how you use money is another example of this. Creating working spending plan and worksheets that record your spending habits is another thing you can do to make yourself more aware of your spending ideas. Sometimes our ideas of what we are spending are disconnected from the realities of our spending, so take a look. It will be educational.

To prepare us to take more control we are presented with the perfect chart to take a look at our relationship to money and security. Here are some questions to think about:

1. How does your concept of spirituality mesh with your ideas about money?
2. Where does money really come from? It’s time to explore your connection to the divine and whether or not you are trusting that source to provide for you
3. Do you trust the divine source at all? How have your concepts of the Divine shifted over the past year as the world has experienced much hardship?
4. How did we handle unexpected expenses and did we ask others for help?
5. Are we committed to looking deeply at our behaviors around success and progress, as well as what sabotages us, and take corrective measures?
6. What spiritual practice will you commit to this year that incorporates taking a spiritual look at money? Even the idea of blessing your bank account, as well as the bills you pay, is a spiritual act. How can you take this deeper?

The transcendental in our lives needs attention. As we take steps to address this, we will see that our spiritual practices will feed our spirit and open our hearts to abundance. We need only point our mind there and we will feel the shift.

Another thing to take a look at this month is building a strong support system.

• Who guides and supports you? Who do you turn to when you need to see the good in yourself and your situation? Having a core group of friends, mentors and advisors helps you go further than striking out alone.
• What kind of toolbox do you rely on to keep yourself strong? How to you keep yourself aligned with your higher self? Do you journal, write letters to God or pray on a regular basis? Add one or more to your day.
• Are you taking time for yourself to connect with nature? There are all kinds of messages out there when you take the time to connect to the earth. Just yesterday I saw a Coopers Hawk in my backyard…in Brooklyn. And the fresh snow in the ground was so nice to look at and reminded me to slow down. Taking note of the nature around you will keep you centered, grounded and in the flow of things, and is very easy to notice, even in the city.
• Are you too busy to have time for yourself to reflect? You want to build that time into your schedule so that you can keep yourself nourished and replenished; we really need that right now.

So folks, do the work now so that you can go with the flow that starts with the Spring Equinox. By work I mean, getting in touch with what you need to work on spiritually and structurally in your lives now, especially around the idea of opening to prosperity, will put you in the right place to receive that abundance when things shake loose later on in the year. Setting up structures in your business, or in your work will help, especially if it is learning a new technology. Streamlining is important, and the right technologies and apps are there for us to use. So look at what you can integrate.

Have a great month!

Guide to Navigating 2012 2012-01-13

Cathy’s Guide to Navigating 2012 – Yearly Tarot Spread

Take heart, a new year is here and it is filled with new hope, and new possibilities. I don’t know about you, but I am ready for that! Let the new beginning settle into our hearts, for it is going to call on our ability to be present, clear, hopeful and in action. The time for fear is over, so when those pesky thoughts come up, use your mind to put them aside for later. Presence, action, and heart are what are calling us.

The tarot card for the New Year is The Hierophant – a 5-year. This indicates dealing with structure, ripping apart what doesn’t work and creating new structures around what does work. The Hierophant also is about religion, and structure we have set up to reflect our religious beliefs. What do we hold dear and how do we want access to that? After a year of looking inside, being led in and out of difficulty, and finding a new path emerging, we are beginning to examine how we are connected to spirit and rewriting the script. Also we are deciding about a new world order that comes from a structured society that reflects inner values, not the outer artifice that we are accustomed to hearing about from our politicians and authority figures.

Also, as we have seen, large religious organizations like the Catholic Church, are facing credibility issues. This is causing deep questioning  which opens up a chance for us to review why we are affiliated with religious institutions that might not reflect our personal values. What do we really expect our spiritual leaders to do and how do we expect them to behave? How do we want to relate to them and how can we strengthen our connection to source? These very deep questions resonate with authority issues on all levels, which are gently spreading across the landscape like the way a pebble sends out waves on the surface of the water. As the surface is rippling, it is allowing the inner frame work to open up. In a lot of cases it is erupting as well. Expect a lot of change with this energy, affecting corporations, governments, military, police, organizations and religious frameworks. If we allow ourselves past what is considered taboo within those frameworks to examine how we operate within them, we can see how we can change them. Or how they must change. So the taboo subjects are the places to start. Which means that we have to be able to tolerate the taboo, with compassionate and detached hearts.

With that in mind let’s take a look at the spread I pulled for the year of 2012.

Because of the difficulties that many of us dealt with last year, we enter 2012 with a new determination, clarity of purpose and direction, fueled by the desire to create balance and happiness in our family and private life. A lot of us want our voices to be heard, but we are so busy balancing our lives that it can make it difficult to have the time to protest. I think that many of us will find a way to get involved in our communities this year. It is a year for community outreach and being heard, much more powerfully than just updating our FB status. Why not take the time to write your congressperson, or even go out and talk to them. People will be galvanized to work more with each other.

We are moving away from difficulty, which is a good thing. Although the coast is not completely clear, we are able to deal with the shifting landscape in a much more clear-headed fashion, with less fear than we have had before.  So take stock of where you are, write down the debt incurred by what you have been through, look at whom you need to forgive and let go of, as well as whom you need to ask forgiveness of. It took whatever it took, to get through the past few years…it is what it is. No shame. Just awareness and a plucky sense that you have exactly what it takes to bring your life and the world back into balance. I mean, why are we here now, in this time? Probably because we are supposed to go through this so that we can correct a downwards slide that began a LONG time ago.

It is up to us individuals to reshape the world by matching our outer experience to all the work we have done on the inside. It is connected. We do have power to make change, based on what we have learned and integrated from healing our wounds and letting that healing inspire us to help others. This can be in the simplest of ways. We are ready to do this. Even if we need more healing, action is probably the most healing thing of all. Action born out of stillness. We are getting it finally…we have to go within for direction with a calm and accepting heart. From that place we will know what to do. Our inner compass will point us in the right direction.

We are stepping into the sun, opportunities are before us, and we need to just pick them up and go with it. I am not pretending that things are not very precarious, they are, but there is a ray of sunshine that brightens our path and we are stepping into that energy. Things are beginning to gel and we really need a boost to support us right now. It feels good but don’t squander that feeling. Instead use it as an opportunity to change your thinking to believe in the possible. It is not a time for magical thinking, which implies denial of our circumstances. It is a time to employ the magical, to change our thinking and believe in our passion. Solidly face possibility. We have to believe that our highest self does not want us to live on the street, or live in poverty. That doesn’t match up with what is on the inside. What is changing is how we connect with our possibilities, for the things that blocked us from them have become less daunting than before. We don’t have too much to lose at the moment, so why not?  You will find that it is all good.

The future picture is one of moving ahead and pushing, but we need to be careful that we don’t try to force it. We want to stay in the flow, connected to the heart, not just the mind. There is a lot still to cut through, old patterns to change. So we will emerge doing that, righting our wrongs and being accountable. It will take a lot of mental energy to keep ourselves on track, but the brief sunny respite we had at the beginning of the year will help us keep in that space. As we find ourselves moving ahead, we do so with a lot of compassion in our hearts for those around us who are suffering more than we are. We are energized by knowing that the gains we make are creating space for others to follow us. This is an important thing to acknowledge, for there will be many rallying cries. We must distinguish which ones have meaning for us and are worth going the distance for. Our movement creates a wake that brings many others along, as we will be brought along by those we see moving forward. It is synergy in many directions, people coming together in ways they never would have before. We will make it count.

We see ourselves healing, balancing and connecting at this moment. We are aware of a more spiritual force around us, and an earth that needs us to be more aware of our connection to her. Wholeness comes when we understand three components of healing: interacting with the energies of the earth, developing our spirituality, and letting both bring harmony to the body. Shamanic practices, from journeying, sweat lodges, and soul retrieval; to simple walks in the woods, or meditating by a tree all are calling us. That is Earth Spirituality. Or just imagining the sinuous tentacles of Earth energy wrapping themselves around us and keeping us safe. This conscious earth/inner-world/body connection is becoming more of a focus for us.

There are a lot of delusions out there, so it is hard to see what choices to make. Again, slow down and feel yourself through it. Your heart knows what choice to make. It’s an election year, and the politics are thick with all kinds of deceit. The advertisers want us to believe all kinds of things. Take a break from all of that. Otherwise it is all overload. Be strong in your heart and mind. Don’t let others tell you what choices you can make, for they probably haven’t even thought of the one that’s right for you. Use your imagination to pull yourself close to your dreams. Don’t second-guess. Get support from people you can trust.

We all fear change, yet we are in the thick of it and we can’t change that things are not going back to the way they were. Good thing, because they weren’t really working anyway. Maybe it seemed so, but if you have looked under the surface, and many of you have, there was a lot just plain wrong. So…on to the new. Here we just have to admit that if we are resisting change in any way, it is going to get really tough. It’s not worth is. Let go. Don’t be afraid, the new is going to happen anyway, and it will bring good things once the shock wears off. I say, go with it and see where it leads.

In the end we examine what holds meaning for us and how we are connected to people we love. I really think this is where we are headed, into a more loving and real way of relating to those we are closest to. It is the energy of 2013 – the Lovers card which is relating to others and remembering that within any union there is a third entity created, the relationship itself as it is embodied by spirit. So we begin to be changed to have a more reverent way of dealing with others, with the earth, with maybe even those not of this planet, as well as with our friends on the other side. We are able to see the interconnectedness of life and all of its intricacy because we have allowed ourselves to be changed by the events of the past few years, and let go of things that maybe we don’t need as much now.

Now this is going to be a year that we will be grateful to be a big part of. A year that reflects our capacity to change, our capacity to evolve in consciousness as divine humans. Let’s go for  it.