Are these “coincidences” a manifestation of a mind primed to look for these things because of my reading? Could these happenings be some sort of synchronicity or message from the Universe or spirit guides that I should be heeding? If so, how do I get clarity as to what it is? Thanks, Belle.

Thanks for your note, Belle. For me, everything is a sign pointing to some deeper meaning of itself, or to some point of power. Why? Because I choose to see events as such. Because I choose to perceive events at all levels available to me, not just the most evident and most pressing. Symbols are miracles we have recorded into language. They are reminders that the Multiverse is alive and aware of each of us. We are aware of miracles when we choose to be active participants. For me, such coincidences are feedback that I live in an animistic reality, that All Things are connected.

In my experience, miracles are natural signals we allow ourselves to perceive. We have cultural signals to which we have ascribed collective meaning, such as weather patterns and interpreting animal behaviour. Through Jung’s work we have the symbolic interpretation of our own unconscious via archetypes marking the places where we as individuals draw from the same shadow pools of meaning. In specific pockets of divination we have collectively accepted symbolism in the tarot or the Runes. Because we are well aware of each of these systems of symbolism, we have assimilated them into a code that has been interpreted and accepted at a collective level.
The basis for what you are experiencing personally, however, is no different. We tend to reject personal signals and coincidences because there is no lexicon for how to interpret them. In essence, we doubt our own ability to interpret not just what the Multiverse is saying to us, but what our own unconscious is saying about our lives.

When you become aware of personal signals, it is up to you to interpret what they mean. Certainly there are books available to tell you what every sequence of numbers means in discrete detail. They may hit on exactly what you need–a signal of affirmation–or they may not. I suggest a more personal decoding approach. Consider what you were thinking at the time you perceived the signal. What was your state of being? How did you feel? What happened immediately after perceiving the signal? What memories or thoughts were triggered? This sentient information is the map that informs you of your personal language to your unconscious, to your spirit guides and totems, to the Multiverse. The more you work with understanding signals in your life, the more signals will come, the more evident their meaning will be, and the thinner the barrier becomes between your unconscious and conscious minds.

While I can’t tell you what you are onto, Belle, I can without hesitation inform you that you are onto something. The fact that you have become aware of coincidence is half the awareness. The rest is creating the language through which you understand what signals are saying. That language comes from within.
Be well.

Thanks for your inquiry, Elizabeth. I am shown a glimpse of your chakra system, in which the root, sacral and third eye chakras are over active. They burn a bright, silvery white. We don’t often think of these chakras as ‘related,’ in that the lower three primary chakras are “earth” chakras, while the upper primary three are “Spiritual” chakras. The middle chakra is the heart, and it exists in both planes (how fitting!) The thing is, all of our chakras are related and are interdependent upon one another.

The Chakra System

The root chakra is the first one, located in the base of the spine, and it generally relates to our ability to master the formed realm. literally, it indicates our ability to survive here, at a very basic but needful level. It also indicates that we recognize our tribe and where we fit into it.

The sacral chakra is next, located in the lower abdomen, and it’s associated with how we feel about being in the formed realm, emotions, sexual energy. The second chakra also indicates the places where we do not fit into the tribe, what the ‘punishments’ are for that, and how we will react to the tension of that dynamic.

Skipping all the way up to the brow is the third eye. The third eye is the point that we have learned the mastery of the formed realm, have found balance being a spirit in flesh, and are ready to perceive the unseen aspects of this realm. It is all about intuition and the culmination of wisdom.

Overactivity of these chakras as a unit tells me that you have begun perceiving unseen aspects of this realm and you’re not comfortable with that, or that you are not comfortable being able to do that in your present tribe. Another aspect to consider is how your shift through puberty and adolescence affected how you see the world, spiritually. This is related to the onset of depression. Depression is our power withheld, specifically it is intuition withheld. What intuitive perceptions do you put away in order to make other people comfortable? What intuitive perceptions do you have that make you uncomfortable?

I suggest finding someone to work with in a soul healing capacity. That work could take whatever form seems to address restoring your power and confidence in your own perceptions. When that healing is done, working with someone to develop your intuition and finding a community with which you can share it is ideal. It may be possible that I can help you with these things remotely, though I support your choice to work with someone near. Ultimately Elizabeth, you have a wonderful gift. It’s OK to allow it.

Thanks for your note, Niki. The message that I got from your guides is that some facet of your soul is seeking a different way to express that deeper part of your consciousness, specifically through training in spirit walking, or shamanic journeying. The aspect of your soul that I met with indicated that she is eager and waiting for you to work with her in learning to journey out with purpose to some intended healing. My feeling is that this will sate the part of you needing that release and expression, and it will help manage your physical symptoms.

Also, if you can acquire a naturally formed salt water pearl, this is a powerful fetish to have in your toolbox of spirit travel allies. It came to me very prominently in working with this aspect of you. If you have or can get one, keep it with you when you sleep, and as you adventure into learning to journey. The salt water pearl brings you grounding between spaces, and assures your ability to bring something beautiful from discomfort.

Generally speaking, seizures occur when a facet of the soul attempts to leave the body but is confined for some reason.  The soul is infinite, and aspects of it naturally come and go as they need to.  This is how our consciousness expands, provokes new thoughts and beliefs.  When an aspect of the soul wanders out due to trauma and can’t return, shamans consider this state soul loss, or soul separation.  Soul loss can manifest in many ways, such as chronic doubt, depression, pain.   Soul parts are returned through a process known as soul retrieval.    The phenomenon you have experienced can feel just as bad–when a soul part needs to wander out to expand and release, yet can’t.  This state leaves you feeling trapped in yourself and spiritually isolated.

I don’t recommend learning to journey alone.  Let me know where you are located and I can help you find a teacher. If you are open to distance learning, I can help you with that. I don’t think this means that you have to commit to the servitude of shaman hood or hone the intuitive skills of a mystic, so much as just give yourself this outlet for now. Cultivate it and stay open to what it brings. I wish you healthy, passionate travels, Niki!

This is the most recent addition to my collection, although the incidents only marginally included me. This experience reminded me of the many reasons that spirits visit us and introduced me to a phenomenon I hadn’t experienced before.

Earlier this year my sister, Ellen, expressed concern that something odd was happening in her home. Hearing these words I perked up as her house often has interesting, but soothing activity from peaceful spirit visitors. The mountains of North Carolina are very active spiritually and etherically, and she resides at the heart of the region. In fact, we’ve even ventured to say that the exact spot of her home is a rejuvenating place for souls in and out of form. That something out of the ordinary distressed her gave me pause.

We didn’t have another opportunity to talk before I went up to her place for a visit. That area is always very “busy,” so on general feel alone, nothing felt off to me. However, as we all wound down for the day and casual conversation came up, something else new happened. My nephew mentioned that something was going on in the house. My sister has often acknowledged visitors, and my niece has on occasion reported interesting events. This was a first for my nephew.

He began by telling me something that he hadn’t even had a chance to tell his mother, which was that one night he’d heard pacing upstairs in the small hall between his room and his sister’s, as well as on the balcony that overlooks the livingroom. He could hear individual footsteps shuffling over the hall carpet and boards supporting the balcony creaking with each step. It went on for quite some time until it eventually stopped. He also indicated hearing a woman’s voice.

At that point my sister chimed in, saying that was the exact spot that she’d heard someone walking, directly above her bed downstairs. She’d been home alone at the time. Though she’d not heard a voice, she felt that the presence was feminine. Fairly comfortable with experiencing such phenomena herself, she was not at all happy to learn that it was affecting her kids. As we discussed what spirits are and how to interact with them, I put feelers out around the house. Again, I got nothing beyond the usual busy stream of life force that I know is typical for her home. Things felt peaceful.

A caveat of this story is that since having twins, I’ve been highly conscientious of sounds that come through the baby monitor. From the first minute that we moved them into their room to sleep alone, I kept an ear tuned to pick up sounds that did not originate from them. Of course, I heard none. Later that same evening at my sister’s, their dad and myself were putting the babies to bed in the third upstairs room. I was highly aware that this was the area where they had heard the pacing woman, but I trusted my perception. Everything felt fine. The room was a bit upended as they were in the midst of redoing it, but it was fine for the babies. We put them down for bed and shut the door behind us.

I went into my nephew’s room to grab the monitor and turned it on. As I walked back down the hall toward the stairs, I got right in front of the room where the babies settled and I heard muttering through the monitor. What instantly struck me as odd was that I could hear the babies chattering through the monitor as well as with my ears, but the muttering only came through the monitor. I froze, and heard nothing. I took a step back, and there it was again. Plain as day, I heard the croaky voice of an old woman muttering. I couldn’t make out what she said, but she was distressed, very upset about something. The other feeling I had was that she had no intention of leaving, that she was protecting something. I attempted to engage her but she did not respond. I listened to her and my children for about a minute, then the voice stopped. With careful steps, holding the monitor out before me I tried to locate the voice again and could not.

I was a little rattled that I’d heard what we had just been discussing moments earlier, and that for the first time I’d experienced Electronic Voice Phenomenon. What really bothered me still was that beyond feeling the spirit woman’s distress, everything about the home and area still felt peaceful. This observation did not mesh with the intensity of her upset, and it definitely was not aligned with her etheric assertion that she was not leaving. Posing a completely new dynamic for me, I was confused.

Returning downstairs I described what I’d heard, and we discussed it further. We all agreed there was nothing malevolent about the visitor, but that she was insistent about being there. It was futile to release her at that point. After laying out their boundaries for visitors in their home—those in form and those not—we spoke them to the house and general area and left it at that. Nothing further happened that weekend.

A few weeks later I got a frantic phone call from Ellen. They were in the process of finishing the third room when they discovered the electrical outlet between that room and the balcony was loose. Upon attempting to tighten it, it fell out of the wall and fire shot out. The outlet hadn’t been wired correctly and had completely burned through, save a tiny connecting filament. The state of the outlet should have caused a fire, and had that outlet been used it definitely would have.

Immediately my sister had begun crying. There had been no further disturbances in the house since my visit, though they had all remained vigilant of the old woman and their etheric boundaries. As soon as Ellen realized what was happening, she knew the woman had been trying to warn them that the outlet was dangerous. She thanked the spirit profusely for attempting to alert them to the danger, and all has been safely quiet since.

• How we live now is the state of the afterlife. While the body ceases to be, the mind and soul carry on. The state of our consciousness in life is the state of our consciousness in death. If we foster worry and anxiety now, that’s our mode of operation after. By focusing on negative or hurtful aspects of life, we stew in them in death, causing consciousness to stagnate. If we are mindful and live in the present in life, in death we continue to broaden consciousness, further opportunity to make choices to support that awareness.
• There is no magickal place of punishment or reward. This insight garners strong emotional reactions from many people. Most of our world religions are built on the idea that regardless of the plight of our lives, we are destined by our actions to spend everafter in torment or joy. Again, what the dead indicate is that what comes after is based on our perspective in life. How one behaves in life is what one experiences after life.

Bird Girl

• Everything lives on. In some guise, form, or unform, the essence of every thing remains and becomes some other manifestation of itself and All Things.
• Spirits aren’t wise or moral just because they are out of form. Our culture perpetuates a myth that upon death souls become penitent and/or enlightened. In my experience, wise deceased were so in life. Souls that were confused, frustrated, angry, etc, are so in death.
• What we don’t heal in life stays with us in death. Thoughts, habits, or beliefs that don’t support us or undermine us, such as lying, using others to further ourselves, or denying our true natures do not magickally vanish when we leave form. For this reason, when we seek to release harmful dynamics from our lives, we are also assuring peace in death. We assure ongoing tranquility.
• Working with trance states affects knowledge of how to die. By accessing the imagination via ecstatic trance, dreamwork, or other method of altered consciousness, we experience life without the ego. In this pure space and consciousness, we catch glimpses of what it feels like to be out of form, to be our undaunted wild selves.  The more we connect with our true nature our quality of life improves.  The better we live, the more comfortable we are with the truth of mortality.

While my experiences with the spirits now are more balanced than those of my childhood, the prevailing message is that spirits do affect our lives. By living well we die peacefully, which means that we have no need to disrupt the living. By living well, everyone’s experience of consciousness is improved.

If you love reading true stories of the wyrd, every year for the Samhain season I share several in my column, Intentional Insights.  Check the archive there under the ‘Samhain’ and ‘paranormal’ tags.  If you want to learn more about shamanism and deathwalking, visit Soul Intent Arts.

This story is a fairly sad one for me, though it gives great insight into the kinds of things shamans encounter, and how they deal with them. It also speaks to the myriad sources of support along our paths. You don’t have to know about Saturn–the god or the planet to get the gist of the story, though if you do you will better discern its gifts. Saturn’s Gift.

Max, the Crystal Skull

Four years ago in celebration of The Dead Time I began sharing some of my more creepy experiences of the wyrd. Sooner or later most people experience phenomena they can’t explain, or that occurs outside the bounds of their belief system. What it is and what it means is open to interpretation, and most certainly is in the eye of the boo-holder. Bless the darkness, hold the light.

This story isn’t creepy (well, to me), so much as peculiar. Crystal skulls have been a focus in the mystical community ongoing, though interest in them became more common after the last Indiana Jones film. There are quite a few of them, several of which date back thousands of years. A few years ago one of the most well-known ones, Max, visited my area, hence, An Afternoon with Max, the Crystal Skull.

In this particular story, I was on a business trip to Kansas City, MO, where I stayed at the lovely, vintage Hotel Phillips.  Despite that I traveled alone, at no point was I left to myself in the room…  Hotel Phillips and Murderous Insomnia

Twisted Arms, by Janet Riehl

Goddess in the Clay Amphora
by Janet Grace Riehl

There she is.
The goddess in the clay amphora.
The genie is the bottle.
Her torso only. Head, arms, legs left to suggestion.
Her little breasts. More belly and triangle next time.
Buttocks with a slight cleft. No tools. Just smooshed by fingers.
I’ll leave her here surrounded by the finger crunchies
that look like vertebrae or mud dauber nests.

The dousing rod twig, flipped. Which way?
The question becomes a container…a womb for an embryonic soul.
Being born out of this cocoon time.
Thumbs and forefingers enclose a womb.

I made all three of these clay sketches with my left hand.
They vary by size of clay.
Amount of pressure.
Slight reworking.
Look at the little cave and the little knot at the top!
The backs, the palm sides are more still. They hold the imprint of the lines of my hand.

Clay knuckles, not brass.
Knuckle down, Janet, get to work.
What would you have me do, Goddess?
I hold her like a talking stick and she speaks:
“Worship me.
Adore me.
Do my work which is your work.”

Janet is an award-winning author, blogger, and conference presenter living in St. Louis.  Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary, told in story poems, was recently made into an audio book  Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry and Music.  Twice selected as finalist for Poet Laureate of Lake County, California and a member of Authors Guild, her poems, stories and essays are published in national literary magazines and several anthologies.  Visit her website, and find her on Facebook and @riehlife.

Thank you for your note, Cindy. What I see in your need to find a soul friend is a general need in finding a spiritual tribe. You have not consistently been able to surround yourself with like-minded people, or with a tribe that carries your passion for all things soulful. Rather, you’ve kept your ideas around spirituality to yourself out of fear of judgment. This is in part the reason that a close soul friend hasn’t been able to come. Allowing this group connection requires opening up more about who you really are inside, so that you can attract and find a tribe to support you and allow you to contribute from a more authentic place in yourself. You have to invest your true self externally for the Multiverse to invest in you authentically.

Holy Ghost and Attendants, Horseshoe Canyon - Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Creating this deep, personal sense of community is what brings the potential for soul love, and the investment in such a group must be to truly immerse in spiritual community. It can’t be for the sole purpose of allowing this soul friend in, as that purpose alone isn’t addressing your deeper need for tribe. This group feels like people with a shared common interest in spiritual studies or a particular spiritual approach. Your involvement with this new group leads you to a new relationship in a little over a year from now. The group is what creates the opening for this relationship to happen. Your submission to be who you truly are across the strata of your life is what allows it to happen.

Be well, Cindy!