Intentional Insights: Q&A From Within » Soul Intent Arts

Two Dreams, One Truth

Kelley — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:51:02 +0000

I am frequently asked about dreams and how I interpret them. I recently had a night of sequential dreams, which after contemplation, I discovered had the same message. The dreams were straightforward and easy to understand, and gave great insight into how the unconscious never gives up on helping us to understand our needs.

Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living. ~Anais Nin

In the first dream I decided to call someone I’ve been out of contact with, by choice, for years. My heart was light, giddy even, and I found that the words I needed came without effort. When he answered, I told him who I was and asked if we could talk. He greeted me, then replied clearly, though firmly that he was busy and couldn’t talk. I knew immediately that he wasn’t busy at all, but that he didn’t want to talk with me. From the point of deciding to call him I knew that he may not be responsive, and that was OK. I told him that was fine, wished him well, and hung up. For whatever reason his sister was suddenly beside me, and she told me that he had a lot of disdain for me and didn’t want anything to do with me. My dreaming mind instantly recognized her as the “wet blanket person,” the voice always willing to tear down a good situation. She said several derogatory things that weren’t true about me, though it didn’t matter. I was really happy to have made contact with him, no matter how it went, and I fully respected his right not to interact.

My Life, The Stage

The second dream found me standing at a port waiting to board an ocean liner, at the start of my high school reunion trip. Everyone was formally dressed, with all of the women wearing cranberry-colored dresses and the men in black tuxes. I was very excited about the trip and about seeing everyone again. It was also fun to be dressed up, and I doted on my hair. Everyone greeted each other happily and posed for pictures. Frequently, I peered anxiously at the enormous vessel waiting to carry us all toward some great destination. I couldn’t wait to go! Our luggage was already on the ship, and we waited to board. I slipped into the restroom briefly, and when I came back out everyone was gone. Only one other girl remained, and a helicopter was arriving momentarily to take her to the ship to meet the others. I ran around furiously telling the port attendants that I was supposed to be on the ship, as well, that my luggage was already there. They didn’t seem to believe me at first, then once they did, they insisted there was no way they could get me there. The dream faded with me standing at the port, realizing that I wouldn’t be going on my grand trip.

Before I was even fully awake, I realized that both dreams were about not getting desired outcomes. What I couldn’t understand was why the dreams were so different. In the first one, the conversation didn’t go as I’d wanted, but I walked away from it feeling good, confident, grateful. It was an event that I initiated, and with the exception of its cool reception, had full control over. There was no indication that there would ever be another conversation, no eventual happy ending. There was no analysis of who said what and what it really meant. Even when the sister attempted to mar the moment, I still saw the exchange for the great thing that it was. I felt good for having had the interaction, regardless. The second dream was something else, entirely. I felt terrible when I realized I wasn’t going on the trip. Moreover, the logistics of my luggage taking the trip without me–hence, every possession I held dear and may never see again–was very distressing. I was excited, had gotten my hair done, gotten a brand new dress… This was an event that I was not in charge of. I wasn’t responsible for it playing out. All I had to do was pay my way and get myself to the right place at the right time, which I did precisely. At no point in my preparation for the event did it occur to me that the event would fall through or that I wouldn’t be able to go. Yet, that’s exactly what happened.

Why was it OK not to receive a desired outcome in one dream but not the other? What was the reason that I was so distressed about things not working out the way I’d planned in the second dream? What made it OK that the interaction didn’t go the way I’d wanted in the first dream? I walked around for the next day in a fog, using every approach I could think of to wrap my mind around the dreams. It wasn’t until I lay down to sleep the next night and gotten into a reasonably peaceful hypnagogic state that it hit me. I had been looking at the outcome of the dreams as the indicator for my state of being–grateful or upset. I wasn’t looking at my state of being before the events in the dreams as a determining factor in their outcomes. Because I had no attachment to the outcome in the first dream, it didn’t matter what the outcome was. I was going to feel good after, no matter what happened, because I accepted ahead of time that it would not affect how I felt. There was no emotional attachment involved. It could be exactly the balanced exchange that I wanted, the exchange could have been hurtful, or there could be no exchange at all. My wellbeing was not reliant on the outcome.

The second dream was another story. I had invested in the cruise. I paid money, I took time off work, I purchased items to ensure my great time on the trip. Even though the cruise wasn’t my original idea, I was emotionally invested in it coming to pass. I couldn’t conceive of the cruise not happening. Because I couldn’t conceive of it not happening, I was entirely attached to it happening. I was emotionally reliant on one outcome.

So what’s the moral of the archetypal story? Seek balance in all things. If I’m balanced, I can be well with any outcome. Does that mean I shouldn’t put effort into outcomes, or be excited about potential outcomes? Not at all. In fact, excitement and passion are what drive outcomes into being. The trick is not to get all of my hopes and aspirations tied to a specific outcome. I understand the message from my unconscious mind, and I feel its truth. Now to practice hopeful detachment.

~*~*~*~
Intentional Insights is a Q&A column inviting you to look inside yourself. Submit questions regarding a brief Soul Reading, spiritual healing, paranormal experiences, or shamanism, to Kelley at soulintentarts dot com, or contact me to schedule a full-length Soul Reading. Intentional Insights is a production of Soul Intent Arts, © 2010 All Rights Reserved. Find my current class schedule at Soul Intent Arts.

Seizures and the Spiritual Experience

Kelley — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:29:57 +0000

Kelley, My daughter (BA), who is thirteen, recently began having seizures. They say she is not epileptic, that the seizures are pyschogenic. I can accept this diagnosis, but the triggers are always when she is stressed, after she’s been sick. We are currently in the hospital and the doctors make both of us feel as if we’re crazy. I just have this feeling that we are missing something. Am I right? Should I keep searching for a new diagnosis, or are the doctors in the hospital correct? Because it’s not a clean cut case, I feel as if she is quickly dismissed. Thanks, A.

Thanks for your note, A. People who have seizures of any kind are having a spiritual experience. Seizures, in a shamanic context, are seen as a facet of the soul trying to move in and out of the body–which is natural. We all do it all the time, and are supposed to. Such movement is in part how we elevate our consciousness. When there’s some kind of conflict around that transition, or when going out feels better (escapist) than coming in, the transition gets bumpy, and in extremes can result in what we call a seizure. When I interact with the aspect of BA who can inform me on the source of her seizures, I am met by a flaming representation of herself. The figure is a young girl, literally on fire from head to toe. She’s so angry she’s hopping and jumping; she can’t stand still. She’s yelling and screaming at the top of her voice.

Though she doesn’t quite have a context for it, BA realizes that she’s coming into the power of womanhood and finding her voice, as well as hitting against the brutal truth that culturally no one is listening. She’s begun to tap into the misogynistic currents in the world, and she’s learning that all women are on the same team, no matter how old they are, what they do, where they live, what color they are. In other words, she finally sees herself as on the way to Grown Up, as an individual who is part of a whole, and she’s feeling that as a female, she is still relegated to second rate citizen. She’s disgusted with the idea so much that her earthly consciousness can’t express the depth of anger or frustration she’s feeling. Those feelings are being carried by this soul aspect, in a safer, removed experience of herself, in another spiritual layer. BA has also begun experiencing the political aspect of gender and bias firsthand in her peer group, and in general has become more sensitive to it at an Earth level. Thus far her ability to react to that personal and collective hurt has been to be both profoundly provoked to rail against it and subsequently to shutdown, all at once. These opposing reactions are triggered by conflict between what she feels to be true and sublime in her consciousness (acceptance of The Feminine), and what she sees going on in the world around her (patriarchy). She internalizes that distress, resulting in her soul truth and worldy observation disconnecting. This is the point at which she has a seizure. She feels the feminine wound and leaves her body, fleetingly. BA is extremely intuitive and does not have the emotional development to process the level of feelings she experiences when this happens, so she passes them to this flaming aspect, the facet of her soul where her anger has amassed.

Mudras

When I speak with this aspect, she pretty much tells me to go screw myself until I express to her that I agree with her 100%, and that I’m not here to quell her anger, but to help shed some light on how to deal with it in a way that doesn’t hurt BA. She did not realize that her passionate anger was hurting BA. I explain to her that BA has a physical reaction to these fits of anger, and because of the seizures has come under scrutiny from doctors—another patriarchal system. The aspect doesn’t like that at all. I tell her there are better, more empowering ways to express anger, and that in order for BA to feel empowered amidst the things she sees and feels that are unfair to women, this aspect has to learn to turn anger into motivation to be part of the change in this realm.

The aspect goes up for healing, and she’s transformed into a lovely, calm young woman. Also, an enormous white egret comes back with her, whom is BA’s animal guide. I talk further with the healed aspect, and she is fully in compliance with being a force of positive change for the feminine principle in Earth’s strata, and she deeply loves BA and is ready to help her process feelings and thoughts that come up. BA is vastly empathetic and she picks up on more hurt and sorrow in the world than many do, certainly more than her peers do. The egret suggests a necklace of clear quartz for her to wear to feel connected to All That Is, to help her feel connected with the wisdom that all souls are equal. He also suggests placing smoky quartz around or under her bed, to whisk away errant energies that she may pick up on during the day.

Until BA develops more pervasive coping skills, she needs to process the feelings stirred by the world and personal situation by setting aside time to be angry, regularly. Maybe it could be a family adventure, where everyone gets to yell and pillow fight for half an hour a week. Each person could even name what they’re angry about. And/or, get that girl in kick boxing class. If you feel she can handle that kind of exertion, she needs a physical outlet to help her connect feelings to body empowerment. Eventually something like tai chi, that soothes and focuses, could be excellent moving meditation for her. Right now so many hormones and feelings are churning that safe, trained expression of them is imperative. BA is having an “other” experience, because she’s very sensitive and in tune with things around her. Some reading about spiritual emergency may be useful for you both. If you haven’t opened dialogue with her around intuition and what it is, how to work with it, things she may have experienced but been afraid to mention during childhood… now is the perfect time. There are many intuitive children who learn early on not to talk about the unseen. BA has a lot to bring to the world with her level of awareness. Luckily she has an observant and wise mother like you to help her.

Be well, A!

The Spiritual Gestation of a Parent

Kelley — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:35:44 +0000

Hi Kelley. I am five months pregnant and at a crossroads. I am wearied and diminished by the father’s seeming inability to commit to family life and take responsibility. I know that I can’t take his “‘no future as a couple” mantra, or endure the times when he backtracks and uses hope to toy with me. Is he just terrified but likely to ease into fatherhood and a proper relationship with me, or is he a controlling Peter Pan figure best avoided for my own well being and the child’s ? Thanks, Joanne.

Hi Joanne. Thanks for your note. Your past interaction with the father really has nothing to do with a future romantic relationship with him. The soul needing to come in chose both of you to be its parents, and not by chance. It’s easy to break down into the mundane dynamics of a child needing two parents, the parents needing to be together, what their relationship should be. What’s more relevant is that along with its personal objectives, this soul brings powerful healing for you both, if you can be open to receiving it. How well each of you takes heed of the wise little one or honors its path will come down to the integrity of the relationship of each with the child, not your relationship with each other. I don’t see you and the father staying together romantically, and that’s fine. What is critical is that this little one’s truth be honored by you both.

This soul is very happy to be coming in, specifically at this time. Many souls are being called to form in the Earth realm to help us transition to a wider awareness, and this soul is a very evolved being. It’s been in the Earth realm before and is quite versed in the dynamics here. Because this being has been here many times, it has an agenda and a will to ‘kick ass and take names,’ so to speak, when it comes to demanding the highest intent from all in its familiar, having 0 tolerance for petty ego pursuits, and having a deep need to inspire others to live their best. This kid is going to hit the ground running, spiritually, and will challenge you to do the same. Remember that this child’s outbursts are a reaction to an atmosphere below its capabilities. Indeed, it will go through the developmental hurdles that all children do–tantrums and boundary testing. Keep in mind as you set parameters for accepted behaviour that while it reacts to not getting its way, it’s also dealing with the frustration of knowing a better way of doing things but can’t communicate that improvement. This doesn’t mean the kid’s always right, but to remember that there may be more driving its outbursts than hurt ego. Initially, its ability to fulfill its spiritual needs and life purpose here are directly reliant on your ability to create and hold the space for it to do just that.

To raise this child at the level it demands and functions best, you will have to stay focused on your self-work. It will be easy to think it’s your role to supervise and to some degree ‘parent’ the father, but it isn’t. He’s going to struggle with balanced involvement with the child. One of your challenges will be seeing his struggle for what it is–his own soul’s growth–and not interfere with it or criticize it. The more you judge the father, the less likely he will be to learn what he needs from the child, which recursively means the less effective the child can be in manifesting itself. Be brutally honest in leaving your ego and hurts at the door regarding your romantic past, and make your decisions about the father based only on the child’s best interests. Stay focused on your own path and resist the urge to micromanage the father. You have your hands full manifesting your own path.

No, your relationship with the father won’t suddenly become comfortably predictable, though by virtue of being parents to this gifted soul, it will deepen and grow. With the birth of any child, so are the parents reborn. Spend the rest of this pregnancy allowing the healing you need to stay focused on being the best you can be for yourself, for this child. Keep the focus on your own spiritual needs, staying attuned to meeting them, and your child will blossom in the same.

Enjoy the process, Joanne!

Granny and the Skywalker

Kelley — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:34:18 +0000

I have been on a journey since my Grandmother passed away in August of 2007. There are moments where I have felt crazy, but I know that she is with me and wants me to do something. What that is and ‘why me’ are constant questions. I also see other relatives that have passed on in my dreams. They talk to me, but I can never remember what was said when I awaken. Any idea why my dreams are so lucid, or what Granny wants? Thanks, MM!

Thanks for your note, MM. Sometimes those out of form see things about us that we don’t, intuitively, and your grandmother and thought that showing you something about yourself, rather than just telling, would have more impact. Apparently it did. Your grandmother said that she was lingering help you realize your powerfully innate skill for moving between worlds. She saw this light in you from her vantage point on ‘the other side,’ though she always knew you saw the world differently–a detail that may indicate that she was a lucid dreamer, too. The relatives you’ve seen off and on have truly been visiting you in dreams. For some the skill of ‘starwalking,’ or ‘skywalking,’ as it’s sometimes called, first presents itself through the frequency of spirit visitors in waking, or an odd sense of knowing. For you it has revealed itself in lucid dreaming. Cultivate this skill, and you can program specific dreams that allow you to be more active in your awareness and resolve conflicts. Spirit communication is easily done via dreaming. You can even “bring things back” from dreams, which is an ancient approach to Law of Attraction and manifestation. Dreaming isn’t just a passive adventure, but a valuable tool in empowering the connection between your unconscious and conscious being.

The facet of your grandmother that I met with moved on well. However, you can still meet with her anytime. Cognisant dreaming occurs in the REM level of sleep, or during the theta brainwave state, which can also be achieved when you are awake. If you want to learn more about lucid dreaming, there are some wonderful books on the subject, and about dreamwalking in general. One that I really like is Don Juan and the Art of Sexual Energy: The Rainbow Serpent of the Toltecs by Merilyn Tunneshende. A more thorough mastery of theta, itself, is learning ecstatic, or shamanic journey, in which you train the mind to reach theta then will an aspect of yourself out to engage with the spirit world. This approach should be learned from someone who has already mastered this skill. I don’t advocate learning it from a book. Many find learning lucid dreaming challenging, though you have an advantage there. Furthering your dreaming ability would give your more options, though the skill of shamanic journey has an added bonus, in that your dreamstate becomes more easily navigable as you find comfort moving about the spirit realm. However you proceed, MM, I wish you wild star travels, and see you out there!

The Inner Becomes the Outer

Kelley — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:12:06 +0000

Kelley, I had a dream that a card was given to me by a man I know, and it said “To my wife.” I have also dreamed about this man before, almost a year ago, and he was lying beside me, looking at me with such love. The feeling when I woke up was so good, but I am married. What does this mean? Thank you, C.

Thanks for your note, C. This man mirrors a facet of your masculine self that your higher consciousness is indicating wants attention. I don’t feel that the man in your dreams is readily connected with the man, as you know him in waking, at all. Rather, there is a discrepancy between the masculine as you experience it in the world, and how you experience it in your dreaming, higher state. When I say dreaming, I don’t mean made up, idealized, or all in your head. I mean your inner landscape, your personal mythology, symbols, archetypes. Where this discrepancy creates conflict for you is that you like the inner masculine better than the one you experience in the world around you, and rightfully so. I feel that difference, and I don’t blame you for wanting some better one bit. Your higher awareness is sending you dream images of a benevolent, balanced, compassionate man because that is what you crave in waking. You need to have that lovely, grounded masculine that you experience internally to manifest in the world around you. This doesn’t just mean you need this in your life partner, but in your relationship to Masculine, as a concept. I don’t see that your marriage is in trouble, though you have reached a point in your personal growth and awareness that needs a masculine complement. Now is a good time to speak your new relationship needs, and to determine if your relationship can meet them. It may be that expanding your circle to like-minded others for regular social engagement takes some of that pressure off your relationship.

Tao, Yin and Yang

Your need for this nurturing masculine to manifest isn’t going to go away. Clear out any unsupportive, outmoded concepts that you have regarding the masculine, on all levels–husband, brother, father, son, Divine Masculine… Hold in thought regularly through the day how good this internal masculine leaves you feeling, and allow space in your life and beliefs for it to come to you in form. The ability to hold onto good feelings is what brings them into being.

This need is not just about your personal life, but how you react to a general climate of cultural misogyny and gender bias that you can no longer carry inside or foster outside. It’s been challenging you for some time now in your spiritual path and wider family dynamic. There is a call to be more on the outside what you feel on the inside. Remember that you are completely, thoroughly supported to be exactly who you are.

Guiding The Guides

Kelley — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:55:00 +0000

Kelley, Several years ago, I received intuitive guidance to let go of my university career and write. I self-published a spiritual memoir, wrote a novel, and I am working on another. I can’t find an agent for my novel, and I didn’t make much money from my self-published book. I’ve followed my intuitive guidance for many years and things have always worked out. I am being told over and over again that this will work out too. Yet, it’s been four years and I need to “make a living’. Do you have any insight? ~Patricia

Thanks for your note, Patricia. The publishing industry is a tough gig, particularly now as it transmutes into a more metaphoric manifestation of itself. Couple that with divinely guided instruction or information that manifests on a seemingly divergent timeframe and you have what amounts to clashing ideologies. Or do you? Dynamics like this are not as simple as, “Just hang in there; they said it would work out,” or, “Just work/focus your intent a little harder.” There are bigger things at work on both personal and collective levels.

Maat, Justice, The Wise Woman's Tarot by Flash Silvermoon

I draw a card from the Wise Woman’s Tarot, and the card is Maat, or Justice. On a personal level, the message here is that Justice will prevail. Hard work pays off. The prevailing force is balance, and that is what is lacking now. When I see you interacting with your guides in a meditative space, the interaction feels like making wishes, rather than the equal, shared effort of all involved working toward manifestation. You receive info from them well, though you are not seeing yourself as their equal in the creative process with which you are all involved. You are not valuing your contribution as much as theirs. You have listened, done the writing, made the lifestyle changes, but this creative process requires your attention on a higher level. You have filled yourself with the details of these parts of the process. Your hands and mind are so full of that process and what it has or hasn’t accomplished that you have no free hand to receive the gift. You have to make room for it to manifest in your daily life.

In this scenario I highly recommend engaging in chronic random acts of blessing. From a shamanic perspective, blessing is the ability to find Spirit in whatever is at the end of your focus. For you, this means doing small things about your earthly consciousness and personal space to allow your needs to be filled by the Universe. Internally, give attention to releasing patterns of insecurity and micro managing that derail you from your connection with All Things, which means such patterns separate you from receiving what you have stated you need. As within, so without. Declutter the areas of your home and work area where energy is stagnant. In the places that make you feel joyful place something beautiful–a flower, a prism, a poem. Especially place something inspiring in the areas that leave you distressed. Capture the beauty of the things that make you feel good and place them through your home, garden, car. For you there is also a facet of blessing Nature. I see birdseed provided for your resident feathered friends making them happy, shiny, pretty things set in the garden for your faerie folk, walking through your fondest Nature space and stating to its inhabitants that you know they are vibrant souls interacting in the matrix of Life. The payback of blessing everything around you fosters more blessing. Such is the symbolic commitment to yourself that you have faith in the Universe, that it will look after you, that you know you have been heard and your needs are met. If you feel resistance to feeling your needs are met, don’t force yourself to go this alone. Find an energy worker or shaman who can help you fit into a more suitable state of being.

The collective part of this dynamic is that you are attempting a life change, not just career change, at a time when the entire world is going through the rebirth of itself. A friend reminded me just today as I was expressing grief about the publishing industry that this isn’t just hard times, it’s the turn of an age. Regimes die away and new life blossoms, not just in publishing, but in every facet of life touched by economics, politics, need, and desire… This is a time of consciousness expanding and of need for people who see out of the box to stand firmly in that vision. You are one of these people. Pioneering was never easy, and you are one of many bringing in an entirely new level of awareness.

Finally, if you haven’t expressly stated your needs to your guides, don’t hesitate to do just that. Make sure that your guides understand your needs, as clearly as you can convey them. They work on a totally different timeframe and measure of accomplishment, thus definition of closure, than we do. While they may view the writing process as sending you inspiration while you pen it, they may not understand your mundane needs around the culmination of this process. They may not even understand that this process still has not culminated for you, the living, breathing being in form who has to deal with the denser rules and semantics of minutia. Don’t be afraid to qualify their insights with your needs. Do some creative writing, so that you are clear on precisely what you need. Be lavish in your detail, with the specificity of ordering food from a menu. This part of the process is for you to create a space where you know what it feels like to have those needs met. You plant the seed of them being met by beginning to feel that they already are. Distill that world to 4-5 items, if that many, expressing one clear intent in each. “I need you to help me manifest a suitable, regular income within the next three weeks.” These carefully crafted gems you present to your guides, not only with the sincere conviction of an informed member of your own counsel, but as an equal who does the legwork by seeing those needs met everywhere in her mundane.

“Bless whatever you can with eyes and hands and tongue. If you can’t bless it, get ready to make it new.”
The Art of Blessing the Day by Marge Piercy

The Wisdom of the Land

Kelley — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:54:56 +0000

Kelley, I just moved from Los Angeles to Washington DC, and I’m not happy here at all. That said, I’m considering moving to Nashville or back to Los Angeles. Which location is best for my career? Thanks, Bonita.

Thanks for your note, Bonita. I don’t have a simple answer for you. The technique I use to address geographical concerns involves a map and connecting with the spirit of each location. In the Nashville position I am greeted with discord and dissenting factions. I don’t feel, overall, that it would be a location to support your power or needs. In the Los Angeles position is the will to thrive after a disempowering wound, though there lies the source of the wound, itself. So, as you can see, neither is bunnies and roses. What stands out to me is that in Nashville, whatever wound was originally inflicted or confronted you in Los Angeles will only be further provoked by the dynamic in Music City. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t do well there, just that you would have some extraneous barriers put upon you by other people that you would have to work through before you could really focus on yourself. Do you need more limitations? Is the change of location worth distancing from the self-work you know really needs to be done? Perhaps it is.

Returning to Los Angeles entails confronting a karmic situation that is ripe for resolution. In confronting this situation you find the will to thrive beyond the wound. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that isn’t easy or pretty; however, it feels like the location your soul is leading you.

Geomantie Astrolabe

Can you find the will to thrive beyond that wound anywhere? Yes. Do you have to return to the scene of the crime in order to heal? Of course not. Because I don’t know what the challenge you face there is, I can’t tell you how or why Los Angeles is the most supportive location to help you heal what is before you at this time. There may be other locations that are more neutral and supportive, but my feeling is that their comfort would not foster your need to stand in your power. Remember, it’s not called the City of Angels for no reason. You’re not alone. I wish you the best.

Threat and the Afterlife

Kelley — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:15:23 +0000

My mother is in her 80s, and recently was sitting in her TV chair just falling a sleep, when she awoke to find a 6-7 year-old boy standing in front of her. He was smiling, dressed in old-fashioned clothes, and had dark blond hair. She was startled but not frightened. Who was this boy? Thanks, Linda.

Watching TV by Retro Graphics

Thanks for your note, Linda. A long time ago, the little boy burned to death on or near the land where your mother lives. He’s remained “stuck” because his death experience with fire made him fear the ‘hellish’ afterlife that had been used as a constant threat to keep him in line by his family. His fear of possibly burning in Hell kept him from moving on. He was very pleased that your mother perceived him, as he has gotten bored with merely existing between. When I offer to escort him to a place where he can heal, he goes willingly and moves on with thanks.

Your mother saw him at that specific time because she was in a deep enough trance state to be aware of things she wouldn’t normally, yet was still able to interact with her surroundings. This state is called theta, or cognisant dreaming. This is the trance state that I go into when I journey to the spirit world, or when I do energy healing. Half of it was that she was in theta. The other half was that the little boy chose to let her see him. I’d say if your mother wants to, she could be a natural at controlling her ability to move in and out of theta, which also means she could hone her skills as a spirit communicator.

Be well, Linda.

Catching Dreams, Decoding Paths

Kelley — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:27:37 +0000

Kelley, I had a devastating breakup with my partner. The last 10 months have been the worst of my life; however, I am healing and things are going better. I would like to relax and open up, but I have some anxiety because I have had sleep paralysis episodes since I was a child and find them frightening. Any advice on how to move forward? Thank you, Shelley

Thanks for your note, Shelley. Sleep paralysis in child intuitives is very common, particularly for those of us who grew up without tribal support or insightful education of what they are. As a child, you had intense shifts of consciousness in your sleep, the sort of experience in which just as you were about to unravel something significant, just as you were about to grasp some deeper understanding, just as your higher consciousness was about to push some wisdom down to your Earthly consciousness, you would begin to wake. The unfamiliar sensations and shifting of your life force as this was happening, your brain processed as panic and fear. However, as an adult your spiritual quest has shown you that it doesn’t have to be this way. You now know that you can allow higher insight from yourself and guides, and such a delivery doesn’t have to be traumatic.

My suggestion is that you learn ecstatic, or shamanic, journeying. My sense is that you are a natural star

Dream Catcher, artist unknown

traveler, but you need to learn the mechanism of how to do it thoroughly and safely. I’ve taught these classes for several years, and one thing that is a pleasant side effect of them is that your lucid dreamstate becomes far more negotiable and navigable. The more you study techniques to move into a theta brainwave (cognisant dreaming) willfully, the less you are afraid. Learning to approach trance from a shamanic perspective will enable this ease, as well as teach you boundaries in interspiritual communication. I expect that when you learn ecstatic trance techniques, you will eventually (or perhaps spontaneously) learn to widen that gap of consciousness in your lucid dreaming state, and you will get the significant information, the symbols, the next step in the direction your soul is leading you.

If you’re near NC, I am teaching an intro to journeying class in the next couple of months. I’d love to meet you! Blessed travels, Shelley!

Karmic Freedom

Kelley — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:39:47 +0000

Kelley, After 10 months of sadness and grief, I am finally able to start cutting ties with an old love. I’m currently not working and I have been working on developing my spirituality and gifts. Please advise what you see for me. Thank you, Shelley.

Thanks for writing, Shelley. Initially, I see you in a very fragile state. It’s very important to focus healing on yourself right now, in the form of affirmations–”The Universe loves me”–”My needs are met.” Upon taking the soul part of you that I see up for healing, my sense is that the relationship you are leaving was karmic. The hurtful dynamic you are leaving is one that you have played out with this person many times. The closure you are finally feeling indicates that you are done with it. You are currently experiencing a freedom that you haven’t in many manifestations of yourself. The other person is not finished; however, this doesn’t need to have bearing on you or your choices. Stand in your free will to realize that you have completed the cycle of karma with this person and do not need to go back. This person, though, is still struggling, and will be quite persuasive in seeking your attention. Do yourself the kindness of not looking back. There is no guilt in this. You’ve done the work. The other person has the opportunity to choose differently but does not. The path ahead is bright for you. It’s also relatively calm. In the next 6 months you will gain building stability and confidence, and the allure of this person won’t seem so attractive.

Still, take the time to heal. This present rawness is very important, very powerful. Allow yourself to feel grounded and well. Walk in Nature often, and allow that connection to reach you. You have a strong affinity to birds and an strata of Nature that is elevated above (literally) what most humans look up to see. So, too, allow your hopes and desires to elevate, as well. Healing is here for you.