Energy Work

  • Energy Work

    5 Ways Your Past Trauma Can Affect The Present

    woman sitting on bed in room with light from window (abuse concept)

    If you’ve experienced a traumatic event in the past, it can take a heavy toll on your mental, spiritual, physiological, and emotional health. Traumatic events often involve violent or sexual assaults, childhood abuses, accidents, and any situation that leaves you feeling helpless, isolated, and overwhelmed.   

    With the traumatic events mentioned, child abuse has the most significant impact on one’s adult life. It’s because the abuse happened at a young age when the brain is at its most vulnerable. To make things worse, child abuse is often done by people who often appear trustworthy. 

    Experiencing trauma at a very young age can result in long-lasting side effects. If that childhood trauma is left unresolved, the sense of helplessness, vulnerability, and fear will be carried over until adulthood, making room for further trauma.  

    This is why it’s crucial to look out for children who have experienced such traumatic events and help them in healing from childhood trauma. Regardless of age, it’s essential to help them overcome the pain. It can be a challenging feat to gain their trust and help them connect with people again.

    To give you a better understanding of how severe an unresolved trauma can be, here are some ways your past trauma can affect the present.

    1. The Body’s Response To Danger

    A past traumatic event will affect how the body responds to danger. Even when danger is not present—perhaps just by hearing a loud or familiar shouting voice, the body will automatically feel threatened. The body will release adrenaline and cortisol hormones, influencing one’s response to noises or threats. Unfortunately, you will have no control over it. 

    Some may even react through panic attacks, feeling paralyzed or unable to move in place, hiding, or running away. Your body’s stress signals will continue to haunt you even long after the panic attack is over. Hence, it dramatically affects how your body responds, how you react, and how you think. 

    1. Affected Mental Health

    One aspect of your health that is greatly affected by past trauma is your mental health. There are several ways for your mind to be clouded by trauma. 

    Flashbacks: It’s inevitable for people who’ve experienced past trauma to suddenly and involuntarily relive some aspects of the traumatic event. Sometimes, this happens when something triggers your memory, such as a picture, a place, or a reoccurring event. Flashbacks can last for a few seconds or continue for hours and even days. 

    Nightmares: Even long after a past trauma is over, you may still find it hard to sleep at night as you’re afraid of having nightmares. Sometimes, it’s through nightmares that the trauma can get into your mind and replay in your sleep. 

    Hyperarousal: This is otherwise known as anxiety. You tend to feel anxious and on edge all the time. You couldn’t relax as you can’t stop looking for any possible threat or danger in your surroundings.  

    Dissociation: Dissociation can be your mind’s coping mechanism after a traumatic event. When you’re experiencing dissociation, you may feel detached from yourself and all people around you. You may feel like the world you’re standing on is unreal. That’s why others tend to move into a new country to run away from their past trauma.

    Alcohol or Substance Misuse: Some people find it hard to cope with difficult memories or emotions. Hence, they resort to drowning themselves in alcohol or drugs. These will make them high, and their minds would temporarily forget about the traumatic event.  

    Psychologist comforting depressed and worried patient with phobia
    1. Eating Problems

    Past trauma tends to influence your eating habits—it can either be a loss of appetite or overeating.  

    Binge-eating may be a way for some people to distract themselves from disturbing thoughts, emotions, or memories associated with the traumatic event. Logically, overeating is not enough to get rid of unwanted flashbacks and anxiety, but it can be a temporary relief or a coping mechanism to deal with unresolved trauma. 

    On the other hand, the effects of past trauma can also cause loss of appetite. As you always tend to be alert about certain dangers around you, you’ve lost your interest in other things, including eating. This, in turn, will result in anorexia or bulimia.

    1. Physical Health Problems

    While past trauma can impact your mental and emotional health, it can also make you more prone to physical health problems, including long-term or chronic illnesses.  

    Other people find comfort in blaming themselves for the trauma. They feel this intense guilt or shame, even though they’re not the ones who should be blamed. However, blaming themselves is how their minds try to make sense of that past trauma. It’s also the mind’s way of trying to avoid overwhelming feelings. If you constantly feel this way, chances are, you’ll forget to look out for your well-being, causing you to be sickly. 

    You might have been also physically hurt during that experience, especially if it’s related to abuse, violence, or an accident. Living with a physical disability or illness after the traumatic event can make you feel anxious, making it harder to cope with trauma.

    1. Difficulty In Trusting Others

    This may be one of the hardest things to fix for a traumatized person. People who have been victims of abuse or violence will find it hard to trust anyone ever again—most especially if the abuser is their family or loved ones. That’s why some people would resort to isolation and withdraw themselves from the rest of the world. Being alone makes them feel safe from deceitful and vile people. 

    Unfortunately, isolation will only make things worse. The more you separate yourself from the outside, the harder it is to cope with the trauma. Certain practices can heal your inner child and help you move on from the traumatic event as time goes by. If you still find it hard to trust someone, you can talk to a counselor when you’re ready.

    Final Thoughts

    Healing yourself from a past traumatic event is not something that happens overnight. It’s a process that requires a commitment to change and forgive. If you’re still suffering from any adverse effects mentioned above, don’t hesitate to ask for support from your closest person or a trusted counselor. Don’t constantly think that you’re alone in this silent battle, because you are not. Many people are willing to help you throughout the healing process. The best way to deal with your trauma is to communicate your feelings openly—but make sure you’re ready and willing.


    Dawn Sullivan
    As a mother of three beautiful children, Dawn Sullivan understands how challenging parenthood is and is using her experience to create informative pieces on parenthood on her blog. Dawn covers a wide variety of topics useful for parents – from giving out tips to help homes become child-friendly to helping them choose the right physician for their children.  

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  • Aromatherapy, Crystals, Energy Work, Magic, Rituals, Spells, Strength for Sensitives

    Waning Moon Detox Bath Ritual

    Woman in bath

    Clear your energy with an energy detoxing bath

    The moon is waning, which means it’s getting smaller. When the moon is getting smaller, you can do work on minimizing things, getting rid of things in your life.

    A lot of people talk about manifestation during the new moon. That’s fine and all, but the time leading up to the new moon is really, really powerful for letting go, cutting cords, and getting rid of things like thoughts, habits, ideas, relationships, things that are no longer serving you. This is something that you’ll want to work on between now and the New Moon.

    Letting go of what you don’t need makes space to bring new things into your world.

    If you’re doing big, heavy work in your life you’ll only want to focus on one thing per moon cycle. For example, if you’re going through a bad break-up or a friendship that needs to go or you’re kicking a bad habit, right now is the perfect time to work on that stuff. 

    You might only want to work on kicking that habit or getting rid of that influence or doing that toss-away work right now instead of working on building and growing and manifesting. There’s always time for that.

    Spiritual Detox Bath

    A salt bath is good once a month, or once a week, or whenever you are feeling overwhelmed by life. You can take a salt bath or go into saltwater to detox, if you’re lucky enough to live near the ocean. It really helps to clear out your energy; especially if you set the intention to clear out your aura while you’re running the bath, and also while you’re mindfully gathering supplies.

     

    Smudge Stick

    What you need:

    Sage smudge stick

    1/2 cup of sea salt – I use sea salts that I buy at the supermarket for like 99 cents. You can also get Himalayan Salt (but watch your carbon footprint, either way)

    Cedar Essential Oil – 5 drops – this is a great scent that helps to clear your aura

    Lavendar Essential Oil – 5 drops another scent that helps to clear your aura

    Black candles – to clear negative energy. I’d use a votive size, but you can use whatever size works for you.

    Black crystals, like obsidian, smokey quartz, and onyx can also help with the process. Place them on the edge of your bath, near your candles.

    Set an intention. You can think something like: “I’m not only going to take a salt bath, I’m going to make this a ritual for myself so that I can clear a lot of stagnant, stale, unneeded energy out of my aura, and cut cords and get rid of habits that aren’t serving me and use the energy of the moon to help me with this.”

    Create a sacred space. Creating a sacred space for yourself to use the power of the moon and the elements that you bring into your bathroom is a part of the process. Make sure that the space is clean, so that your energy is not distracted by thoughts of picking up clothes off the bathroom floor or having toy boats strewn around your candles. This is your time and you deserve a space that feels energetically pure.

    You should also take the time to smudge the room. Get into all of the corners, nooks, and crannies of your bathroom with the smoke from your smudge stick.

    If you can’t burn sage in your home, you can make a purifying spray out of rose quartz, salt, water, and sunshine.

    Don’t forget to smudge yourself, too! You can do this after you undress, before you get into the bath. Run the smudge stick from your head to your feet, up and down the sides of your body—including under your arms, and between your legs

    Call your angels, spirit guides and ancestors into the space. Ask your spirit guides to help you release what is no longer serving you and to carry it away with them.

    Run the water and add the oils and salt. I prefer a nice, steamy hot bath so that it works on a physical level as well.

    Inhale purity, exhale gunk. Breathwork is a really helpful add-on to this process. Your lungs can actually store a lot of old air deep down inside them. It’s a good practice to do deep breathing on a regular basis, and it certainly adds a level of clearing to this ritual.

    First, focus on your breathing. I usually breathe in for a slow count of six and out for a count of 8. Do this 3-4 times.

    Then start focusing on inhaling pure, opalescent white light or pure positive energy energy. Then imagine mucky, green or grey or black—whatever color you imagine your negativity being—rising from your spirit when you exhale. 

    Breathe in the white light really deep, as deep as you can. And then exhale all the junk and trash and bad thoughts and everything.

    Do this throughout the entire bath, if you can.

    Black candle with orchid

    Let your mind wander. Sometimes you’re going to make associations, you’re going to get these insights into what’s bothering you. Or, you’re going to get ideas about how to move forward in your life while you’re sitting in this relaxed state, focused on your breathing.

    You can also concentrate on letting go of stress, letting go of pressure, fear, the feeling of overwhelm, resistance, blockages; anything you are holding on to or any energy that stands in front of you, stopping you from moving forward.

    Think about unhealthy habits, unhealthy addictions, unhealthy relationships, unhealthy thought patterns, unhealthy perceptions, unhealthy emotions that you have. Imagine them being incased in bubbles and floating away or seeping out of your body, into the water.

    Tune into your body. While you’re sitting there, working on releasing the negativity from your body, pay attention to which areas in your body you experience discomfort in and shine that glowing, crystalline energy in those places. 

    You want to make sure that you are filling your entire aura, your entire being with bright, calm, pure energy.

    Focus on the areas that are hurting and also imagine the toxins oozing out of your body, out of your light field, out of your energy system.

    Imagine yourself shedding dense layers of energy.  It’s like shedding or cutting off outer dried layers to reveal a glowing energy body underneath.

    Imagine glimmering, bright light with all of the colors of the rainbow shimmering at one time flowing through your system, pushing out anything that is lower-vibration or negative.

    Cut cords. I call Archangel Michael into my clearing meditation and I ask him to cut cords that are no longer serving me.

    You don’t have to worry about this with your children, your partner, friends or family because it’s not actually going to cut cords or dissolve your friendships and make you stand alone. What it will do is it will help you maintain your energetic connections in a positive way.

    Imagine a sword slowly sweeping over your body, cutting away the cords you don’t need, trimming back any that you want to maintain or that are good for you.

    Really take the time to imagine this and really get into the visualization of all of the different energy that’s draining you, that no longer serves you being swept or cut away from you. Imagine these cords or points of contact with you and your energy field being cut away or being trimmed back so you have more energy to yourself.

    Energetic bandaids. If you feel any energy wounds in your energetic field be sure to cover them up with an energy band-aid, which is like a glowing patch of energy that you place over any energetic wounds you feel.

    I have to do that, personally, in my lower back area. It’s one of my chronic energetic wound areas.

    If you feel that your throat chakra is hurting, then put your energy bandaid on the front and back of your neck. If your sacral chakra is hurting—a lot of us get this lower back pain—then you would want to put it on the back and the front of your body.

    Stay in the bathtub as long as you desire to and you can repeat these rituals; the deep breathing, sloughing off the energy, even take a loofa and slough off the dead skin off your body so you have the physical representation of releasing the dead things; the things that are no longer serving you, the things that you don’t need to carry around any longer.

    Stay in the bath as you drain the water. One of the most powerful parts of the process is staying in the bath while the water is draining out. You might actually feel things pulling off your energy body and being sucked down the drain.

    While you’re doing this, set the intention for all the negativity, poor habits, connections that you don’t need, energetic attachments that are unnecessary for you to be cleared from your energy body. Imagine them going down the drain with the water.

    Rinse yourself. This will help to wash away anything that was ‘stuck’ to you.

    Let yourself air dry. Even though you should be pretty squeak clean, you don’t want the water from the bath pushed back into your skin; you want to let it air dry or evaporate into the air so that it’s not staying in your energy field or your energy body.

    Don’t forget to open a window after your bath or keep a window open during your bath if it’s not too cold outside. That way, when you’re burning sage or any kind of clearing incense, it has a way out of your house. 

    Sage yourself again. After you air dry, you can sage yourself once more to seal in your energetic purity.

    Thank your angels, spirit guides, and ancestors for their help.

    Journal. If you feel called to journal after your bath, that’s also a really good thing to do. You might have a surge of new ideas, new thoughts, new connections you made in the bath.

    Would you like to do a Cord Cutting and Energy Retrieval meditation to take this to the next level? Get my Cord Cutting and Energy Retrieval Ceremony.


    CORD CUTTING AND ENERGY RETRIEVAL CEREMONY

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  • Energy Work, Life Advising, Spiritual Biz Basics

    I don’t have any more energy for you…

    Sorry, but I’m not sorry. I simply don’t have the energy for lopsided relationships and full on requests to “take this burden for me so I don’t have to carry it.” I don’t have time for “just this little thing for free”; or give an inch, take a mile semi-expectations. I don’t want to reschedule sessions that you missed and didn’t even bother to call and cancel. If I was there and you weren’t, I’ve fulfilled my end of the bargain.

    It sounds harsh, but seriously… If you want my energy, there has to be some sort of exchange and the exchange should be fair.|

    I’m done with taking pennies on the dollar for the work I do. I’m not going to discount my prices so low that I can’t actually pay for my phone, computer, space rental (if you’re meeting me in Vienna), gas, parking, and childcare. I don’t want to stretch myself to the limits so you can remain comfy. Sorry. No can do.

    I have a family and a business. I have limited time and energy, and I’m not at all interested in endlessly giving my resources to people who don’t really seem to appreciate them. I need that energy for my children, my home, my hubby, my projects and passions. It may seem like my energy is boundless and infinite, but it has a definite end line which I am not interested in hitting. I’ve been dangerously close to that in the past.

    If I have to get a job outside of my home to support the work I’m doing for you, then I’m going to have to say no to you and get that job.

    It feels so hard to say no, though. Our society has pushed this idea of self-sacrifice and give til it hurts until we are… giving til it hurts. Some of my *ahem* business relationships (read volunteering my time and energy to fill someone else’s void without being paid very much, if at all) are having a negative impact not only on my own time and energy but also on my marriage and my children.

    My husband is not so understanding about why I might donate working hours to a virtual stranger and then not have time to do my mom or wife stuff—let alone to develop my OWN business or write my own book. My kids have sat, iPads in hand, while I’ve taken care of somebody else’s work for them. My hubby scrolled while I fretted over someone else’s work. Was I getting paid for my time, I’d have the money to hire a house cleaner or get a massage from time to time, or even pay a VA so that I could offload some of my own tasks. I’d have enough money to take some time off to spend with my kids and my man.

    This is something that, as spiritual and sensitive entrepreneurs, we have to learn to avoid and overcome. People like us LOVE to give—we love to make people happy and teach them to do things for themselves. We have to learn the difference between being generous and being enablers. We have to learn the difference between being honored and being taken advantage of.

    And as entrepreneurs, businesspeople, we have to understand that we just can’t give all of our time to others without being compensated for it. By “compensated for it,” I mean getting paid cash money. Money might not make the world go round, but it does help me honor my time and energy and the time and energy of others I interact with. It helps me put food on my table and gas in my car.

    My kids go to tennis two times a week. Their tennis trainer is a nice guy, but I’d never think to ask him to give my kids their lessons for free. Or just free until they got good enough to, you know, win some money in tournaments so that we could pay him to continue working for us!

    And I also go to healers and massage therapists from time to time. I’ve recently started seeing a woman who does pulsing in Vienna. When I go to her, I pay her for her time, her knowledge, and the resources (both internal and external) she’s using to work with me.

    The best lesson I can give a budding spiritual entrepreneur is to give the expectation of actually being paid for the time, wisdom, skill, effort, and the resources that person uses to serve me. I can lead by example. I give the people who work for me a baseline standard: their time is valuable and worthy of being paid a fair price. I expect the same in return.

    And note I said PRICE—not exchange, not trade. Far too often, budding entrepreneurs, as I mentioned above, are sucked into lopsided trades that don’t fully value their time, energy, efforts, resources, or even financial expenditures. I refuse to do that any more.

    The value placed on my time and energy is set by me. It’s my job to honor myself and say no to any business or charity relationship that doesn’t value what I put into the relationship. It might be hard, but being stretched to the point of breaking or actually getting another job to support myself so that I can work for other people is just not something that I am willing to do anymore. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Thanks but no thanks.

    *Please note that this doesn’t apply to my dearest friends and family. 

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  • Energy Work, Reiki

    7 Ways to Remove Negative Energy From Your Life

    Have you ever wondered how to remove negative energy from your home, office, romance, and life?

    The accumulation of negative energy happens to everyone sometimes – we all get slogged down, bogged down, unable to move forward. Sometimes, there seems to be a cloud overhead and a mucky, murky feeling all around you.

    Negative energy and energy blockages can manifest in a variety of ways, from strings of bad luck to strings of bad relationships. Your finances might be crashing or your confidence might have plummeted from astronomical to zeeeroooo.

    When you are feeling “off,” it might be a good idea to remove negative energy from your aura and space so that things can start moving forward for you again.

    How can you do this? What methods can you use to remove negative energy that surrounds you?

    One thing that you need to remember: before doing your clearing ritual, set the intention of removing negative energy from your energy field.

     

    Messy House

     

    1) Get rid of clutter
    Accumulated matter can equal stagnant energy. Most of our possessions have some sort of energetic charge to them, whether they are cherished gifts from our relatives or lovers or adverts in our mailboxes. Too much stuff in your abode and around your house can block the flow of energy within. Removing unused and unloved items from your home can help get your energy flowing in all areas of your life.

    Also, be aware that clutter can accumulate in your schedule and in your mind as well. If you have too much to do on your to-do list, get rid of the non-essentials and start saying NO when you mean NO! Mental clutter is that list of things that you need to do/should be doing that you never do or write down on your to-do list. So, if you need to say something to someone, say it (or write it out), if you need to buy a present or send a card, do those things. Get those mental and time clutters cleared out of your life, as they can be just as draining and negatively impact your energy field.

     

    2) Smudge your home (burning sage, lavender, or cedar as you walk through the house with the intention of removing negative or blocked energy)
    Burning sage and incense to clean the home of energy and even microbes and parasites is an ages old practice. You should find a good quality source of whatever herb you intend to use (I grow my own), and make SURE that you burn your clearing herb safely.

    Interestingly enough, I just read that burning sage in an abalone shell IS NOT a good idea, as it offends a Goddess – you don’t want to do that! Find a different, but equally fire resistant and edged surface to burn your sage on, or walk around with a stick, being careful not to drop burning pieces of sage or ash on the floor.

    Walk through your home, making sure that you get the smoke into all of the dark corners, nooks, and crannies of your house. If you feel like your energy is REALLY bad, get into the attic and basement as well.

    energyhands2

     

    3) Reiki
    One of the techniques that I learned when I was taking my Reiki Level 2 course was how to clear my home of energy by using Reiki symbols. If you are attuned to level one, you can run Reiki through your palms and walk through your home with the intention of allowing Reiki to clear your space. Level 2 and beyond use sacred symbols and a specific ritual for this.

    If you are not attuned to Reiki, you can ask a Reiki practitioner to clear your home’s energy for you – or your own energy!

     

    4) Crystals
    ERMRGRD. You know how I love my crystals.
    There are really a lot of different crystals to use for removing negative energy from your aura and your home.

    Clear Quartz is an excellent choice for clearing negative energy. You can actually program the quartz to absorb negative energy (don’t forget to clear IT from time to time). Keep a large clear quartz crystal either on you (a necklace or even a loose stone in your pocket) or keep one in your workplace or where you often sit in your home.

    You can read more about clear quartz here. Clear Quartz, the Crystal Powerhouse

    Black Tourmaline is also a great for absorbing negative energy, protecting its owner, and clearing negative energy from an area. You can use either raw or polished stones for protection, and put them in your home or wear them as jewelry. Black Tourmaline has a rich history and a variety of different uses you can read about here.

    Amber is also a wonderful “crystal” that helps to absorb and transform negative energy. Again, this substance, which is actually tree sap that has fossilized, can be worn, kept as in your pocket, or stored in your workspace.

    There are many other stones, crystals, and minerals you can use to help remove negative energy from your home or aura. If you’d like to have a consultation about which crystal might work best for you (and get a reading and energy session to boot, then book an Everything You Need Session with me!)

     

    salt-lamp-768037_1280

     

    5) Salt
    Another substance (crystal-like in nature) you can use to remove negative energy from  your environment and energy field is salt. Many people of varying faiths use salt in rituals. Some protect and purify spaces with salt, or make a ring of protection around themselves or their homes to keep the bad juju from coming in. People take salt baths to remove toxins. It is popular to use a salt lamp in your home or office space to help to dispel radiation and to prevent negative energy from accumulating in the home.

     

    6) Angels
    I call upon the angels to clear my home pretty regularly. You see, I live next to a cemetery, I read tarot, and I piss people off from time to time – so, every once in a while, I get an influx of negative energy into my house that puts me on edge. When I started working with angels (and Reiki), I was able to get my house cleared out quite easily.

    Archangel Michael is generally the go to angel for protection and the removal of negative energy. He can either shroud your home in his majestic blue light energy or use his golden sword to cut the energetic ties of people who might be sending negative thoughts your way or who have attached energetic cords to your aura. Archangel Michael can also be sent to protect, shield, and clear the energetic space of  your children and loved ones.

    All you have to do is ask Archangel Michael to protect your home or your energy field and imagine a bubble of cobalt blue surrounding the area you’d like protected.

    Another thing that I do is to call on a lesser known choir of angels, known as the Carrions – especially if I feel that someone is trying to use a darker force on me or if a deceased someone has wandered out of the cemetery and into my home.

    By Hannes Grobe [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
    By Hannes Grobe [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
     

    7) Sound
    Music can do more than soothe the savage beast – it can help to remove negative energy!

    Many of us KNOW the awesome power of a good song on full blast. Personally, I usually sing along at the top of my lungs… Ahhh… It feels. so. goooooood…

    Sounds and tones can also help to remove negative energy from a home and a person’s energy field.

    You can either use something like a pitch-pipe tuned to a specific frequency or even have a tonal clearing done with a healer who specializes in using tones to clear a person’s energy field.

    I recently had a tonal energy clearing session with Urte Tragmann, who is an energetic coach and tonal clearing expert. The results were fabulous!

    It didn’t take long for the energy toning to start working in my life. I was motivated (from within) to start clearing the material clutter from my life: clothes that didn’t fit, mail that needed to be sorted, expired lotions and potions from the bathroom.

    The impact of Urte’s tonal energy clearing session wasn’t just in the material realm; it extended into my business, my social media, my personal life, and my core energy. I cleared some spaces that needed to be cleared and worked on creating a positive space to work and live in.

    Some of the spaces I cleared were pretty scary to deal with – liberating and necessary, but terrifying to clean out, all the same.

    Urte also gave me a recording that I could listen to/play nightly to help me to remove residual energy from my past  from my energy field, and also to help soothe my inner child.

    Ultimately, I feel that the tonal clearing session with Urte was a surprisingly powerful and far-reaching.

    If you need to remove negative energy from your entire existence – not just your home – I highly recommend working with Urte. You can find her work here: Urte Tragmann sample link.

    As you can see, there are several different ways of removing negative energy from your home. Experiment with the different methods, and see which one is right for you – or use the “throw everything you’ve got at it” plan.

    Ultimately, it is a good practice to deal with negative energy as it arises, but you can make a habit of doing a more thorough cleansing once per month or at the change of the seasons. Removing negative energy from your life isn’t all that hard, and it can help you have a happier and more positive existence!

    Do you have any fool-proof ways of removing negative energy from your space? Please feel free to share them in the comments below!

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  • Blog, Energy Work, Goddesses, Magic, Musing, Symbolism

    Imbolc Celebration – My First Time

    http://giphy.com/gifs/ein-123FCF18IX9TrO

     

    I don’t know if it is the fact that I am older or the fact that I am really working on grounding and becoming more connected to the Earth, but I FEEL the changes and intuit the meanings behind the holidays that are celebrated in the Pagan community.

    For example, this year I allowed myself to somewhat hibernate during the winter. I didn’t have the same expectations for myself to always be doing and creating and moving forward. I took the time to just rest (mostly, if an entrepreneur anyone with 3 kids and a dog can really rest).

    It helped, too – at least it seemed to! I actually enjoyed going out with my boys in the cold. I dragged them around on their sleds and had a blast with them, watching them WHOOSH down the little hill at the edge of our village.

    And I don’t know if it was my plans for a trip to Florida that made this winter somewhat tolerable for me. I have some sunshine to look forward to – warm days and beaches. That might have helped to buoy my mood.

    Either way, I’ve felt a stirring in the last few days – a sense that I wanted to start DOing again. That I was done with BEing and with the rest. It was like I was ready to wake up after my winter slumber.

    Then I read about Imbolc, which is today! Imbolc is a Gaelic/Celtic holiday dedicated to the Goddess Brigid and the return of the Sun. It’s midpoint in the Winter, which means that warm weather is on its way. (Read more about it here: Imbolc) It’s when the seeds start feeling a little bit like rousing from their slumber deep in the Earth. When the plants and trees start to get buds, when the tulips and schneeglocken start to blossom.

    Basically put, Imbolc is “It is the day that we celebrate the passing of Winter and make way for Spring.” Gods and Goddesses know that I am ready for that!

    As my practice and connection to the Earth is growing now, I am going to celebrate this holiday in a traditional way. I’ll get a red candle, a white candle, and an orange candle. I’ll adorn my altar in the appropriate colors (red, white, orange), and also put some white flowers out. I’ll use cinnamon and frankincense (rosemary and myrrh are also mentioned in the article and can be used), and I will get some freshly fallen snow to use in my ritual. I’ll give thanks for feeling good over this winter. I’ll give thanks for the freshly fallen snow, for the opportunity to rest and enjoy the winter with my children. I’ll ask for blessings of fertility and abundance in the coming year. I’ll thank the Gods and Goddesses for all that has been and all that will be. And I will deepen my bond with the energy of the Earth, the seasons, the Wheel of the Year.

    Blessed be.

    Sue Ellis-Saller

     

     

    Do you celebrate Imbolc? Feel free to share any rituals or even blog posts that you have written or read about the subject in the comments below!

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