intuition

  • Blog, Featured Blog

    Is The Message You Are Getting From Your Ego or Your Higher Self?

    Woman thinking

    Learning to work with your intuition is a skill I think we all should learn. If you know how to understand messages that are coming through in the moment, you don’t need a tarot card reader or psychic to help you make decisions. You will be able to tap into Divine Guidance for yourself. But how do you know if the message you are getting is from your ego or your Higher Self? Let’s talk a little bit about it now.

    When you are learning to work with your intuition, you might struggle to be able to discern if a message is coming from your ego or your Higher Self.

    Unfortunately, we, as a society, have been taught to ignore the most basic—and often the most easily understandable—signs from our souls, like hunger, pain, exhaustion, and sadness. Instead of resting when we are overwhelmed, we are pushed to keep going til the job is done. Or we eat according to the clock, not when we are truly hungry.

    If you ignore those cues, you might also ignore the whispers your Higher Self.

    And sadly, our society has also tried to banish symbolism and connecting with the Universe around us. It’s been deemed evil, and those who practice divination or even work with symbols, numerology, astrology, etc. have been systematically outcast, dubbed as wicked, and even tortured or murdered for their practices and beliefs.

    No wonder people have a hard time connecting with their intuition!

    So, how can you tell if a sign or message you get is from your Higher Self, or if it is just your ego trying to keep you small or even fear or FOMO preventing you from doing what you truly know you need to do?

    Tune in to your gut

    One of the most common ways your Higher Self will send a message is through your gut. If you are faced with something your soul is screaming NO to, it will often make your stomach area feel tense, clenched, and just plain out of whack.

    My mom always told me to do a “gut check” when I was trying to make a decision. How do you do a gut check?

    Doing a Gut Check

    Sit quietly without distractions. Take a few breaths to calm yourself and get focused on tuning into your body. Think about Option A. Notice how it makes your stomach feel. What sensations arise. Do you get anxious, grumpy, or sad? Does your tummy start to clinch or feel uncomfortable? Or do you feel free, light, and excited? Note your true feelings.

    Repeat this process with all of the options you have. Be honest with yourself about how you truly feel and what comes up when you think about each option.

    Tone of the Message

    If you get messages through thoughts, like, “This is a great opportunity! Don’t miss out!” or “Watch out for that one…”, you want to think about the tone of the message to understand if the message is from your ego or your Higher Self.

    Messages that are neutral or loving tend to come from Spirit. Messages that are biting, demanding, or insulting, like, “Who do you think you are to think that,” or “OMG. He doesn’t even like you!” or “You’re too (short, tall, fat, old, dumb, etc.) to get this,” are from your ego or even trauma-related messages.

    Note the tone of a message to tell if it is from your Higher Self or from your ego.

    Is the Message Win-Win or Fear Driven?

    Even though this might be a subtle distinction, sorting out if a message is fair and from a higher perspective or if it is driven by fear will also help you decide where it comes from.

    Messages from your Higher Self might encourage you to take a different path and that shift might let others down, but it isn’t fear driven.

    Consider the difference between these messages:

    “You should leave now before you get hurt.”

    and

    “You should leave now because you have tried everything and you are still not happy.”

    There is a big difference between the two.

    When trying to decide if a message is from your ego or Higher Self, note if a message is laced with fear or doubt or if it is loving guidance. You will learn to know the difference.

    Do you feel calm and connected or anxious and forced?

    Oh! This is a great one. When your Higher Self is sending a message, it will feel calm and just right, like Pappa Bear’s porridge.

    If a message is from your ego, however, you might feel forced to make a decision or even like you are dragging yourself to your goal, one leaden footstep after the other.

    Or you might feel like you HAVE to choose between Choice A and Choice B RIGHT NOW! But really, the Universe might have Choices X, Y, and Z lined up for you, if you would just let go of feeling like you need to choose A or B.

    When your Higher Self is guiding you, you will start to feel the simple power of its presence. It doesn’t need to force you to anything. It will let you know. All you have to do is follow it. 🙂

    You get goosebumps or see flashes of light, auras, or other signs

    Another way Spirit will send messages to you is through goosebumps, flashes of light, auras, or other signs.

    For example, when you talk about an idea that really lights you up or is driven by true inspiration, you might break out in goosebumps. This is totally common, especially if you are doing spiritual work.

    I’ve also seen flashes of different colored light and different signs, like feathers, stars, rainbows, and clover when thinking about different outcomes or even looking at different options.

    Or you might see shadows around things that are either MEH or will be bad for you. Other signs that you might want to pass on a project or person are seeing snakes around them, feeling drained when in their presence or when working with them, or even seeing coffins or piles of poo. These are all warnings from Spirit that you should take into consideration.

    Critical, Biting Feedback

    While your Higher Self is loving, supportive, and kind, your ego might be biting and insulting.

    Higher Self will remind you that you did your best while your ego will let you know how weak, dumb, and inept you are.

    You might also have to battle voices from other influences in your life, people whose voices got stuck in your head when you were down.

    Check the voice of a message. If it’s the voice of your overly critical father or the teacher who always made you feel stupid, you know the message is coming from ego or an echo of their negativity that got stuck in your psyche, not Spirit.

    Your Higher Self won’t give up or sway

    Last but not least, your Higher Self will continue to send you the same message over and over again, while your ego might shift, become unclear, or just leave you feeling confused.

    If you choose an option that isn’t good for you, your Higher Self will gently remind you that you are on the wrong path, gently steering you back to the better choice.

    Your ego might lead you in circles, running back and forth, sending confused messages and leaving you feeling frazzled and unsure.

    So, if you find yourself in decision paralysis or feeling overwhelmed, you can rest assured that your Higher Self will be like a lighthouse. Its message won’t shift. It will remain calm and clear, no matter what storms rage around you or in your head.

    Your Higher Self will repeat the same message over and over again.

    Conclusion

    As you can see, it’s often really easy to tell if a message is coming from your ego or your Higher Self. Your ego can be negative, cruel, and stuck in confusion while your Higher Self is calm, gentle, and patient. I know hearing the guidance from your Higher Self and following it can be a bit of a challenge, but learning to trust the messages you get will definitely help you out.

    Do you feel like you can tell the difference between a message from your Higher Self and your ego? Please let me know in the comments below!

    CONTINUE READING

  • Reading tips

    Essential Oils and Tarot Readings – The Basic Scents

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    Combining essential oils and tarot readings can help to deepen your connection, enhance your intuition, and keep your reading space energetically clean and positive. In this article, I’ll talk about the basics of using essential oils or incense to enhance your tarot reading or other intuitive practice.

    Working with scent

    Personally, I prefer using essential oils to burning incense, as I don’t want to “smoke out” the whole house (really, it is about what my family will tolerate). As smoke can represent the element of wind (intellect, speech), you might prefer to actually burn incense or find an oil-based room spray. Experiment with different variations and methods to find out what best works for you.

    Honestly speaking, most of the time I just put a vial of oil to my nose and inhale a few times, allowing the scent that I am using to really work its way through my nasal cavity and into my pineal area. Closing my eyes and turning my attention to the scent(s) I am using signals the start of my session. I have even started getting images right when I start inhaling perfumes – they are that good!

    You can also apply the oils to different areas of your body. For example, if you would like to strengthen your connection with Spirit through your Crown Chakra, you could rub a few drops of lavender oil on your crown prior to your reading. Or, if you wanted to concentrate on opening your Third Eye Chakra to be able to accurately see during a reading, then you might try rubbing a drop of Frankincense on your third eye area. People who have a hard time communicating their intuitions to clients might do well to rub lavender on their throats prior to a reading session.

    If you would prefer to release the scents into the room without burning anything, you can buy a good diffuser that uses air to “blow” the scents into the air. There are several different types on the market, and they range in cost and area covered.

    Make sure that you are getting good, quality oils or incense that are made with care to the Earth and environment – not to mention to the integrity of the oils themselves! Cheaper oils can be made from tinctures or synthetics (YUCK), thus making them far less powerful and more poisonous to the environment. Other cheap oil brands use bark when resin is called for (so the skin instead of the sap) – or they simply grind all of the pieces together to make a conglomerate scent, instead of working with the plant in a truer manner. Another thing to take into consideration with quality is eco-friendliness of the company. Whenever possible, the plant and tree species used to make the essential oils should be cultivated in their native habitats. This ensures that the plants are healthy and hearty and are able to thrive in the environment in which they are grown.

    If you are interested in using the oils I’ve described here or even start your own part-time business sharing oils. Please email me at sue@sueellissaller.com if you would like to sign up or order, or go straight to my doTerra site.

    There are a few different scents that will help with every reading, and those that are geared more toward working with specific sorts of energies, like fairies, spirits, elves, and angels. I will suggest a few of each in the following section and tell you why they help!

    Clearing, Cleaning, and Connection:

    Sage in bloom
    Sage in bloom

     

    Sage:

    Sage is a sacred plant that has been used by various tribes and groups around the world for ages. It is the “go to” herb for smudging/clearing negativity out of spaces and objects. I recommend using SMOKE when possible so that you can really connect with the spirit world when working with this holy and sacred scent – but I have also heard that room sprays can be just as good for clearing space (personally, I wouldn’t spray my cards with anything, as they might get ruined by liquid).

    If you would like to clear your cards either because you have purchased them second-hand or for “maintenance,” fan your deck out on a table and “push” the sage smoke over the cards, holding the intention to clear the cards of any negativity or lower vibrations that might have become attached to them in their usage.

    Cedarwood:

    Cedarwood has clarifying properties when applied topically, and can also help to remove negativity or negative residue from a person’s aura. I love using this oil to clear my energy after doing readings.

    General Scents:

    These scents are those that I would use regardless of what sort of reading I was working with.

    Aside from being a plant known to help keep spaces cleaned, it is also strongly associated with connecting to the Spirit Realm.

    Sandalwood:

    Sandalwood is renowned for helping people to enter meditative states. It can help to relax and focus a person – helping them to settle their thoughts, concentrate and turn inward. It is also astringent and antiseptic oil, so it can really “clear the air” and help you to create a sacred space. This essential oil/scent is high in something called “sesquiterpenes” – these are compounds contained in the scent that are said to stimulate the pineal gland.

    Frankincense:

    Frankincense is well noted as being an oil that healers and prophets have used for ages. Like sandalwood, this scent has antiseptic and antibacterial qualities and can aid in creating a sacred space. This oil also has a very high vibrational frequency, and so it can serve as a protective agent in your readings – keeping lower level spirits out of your space and reading. Using frankincense can also help a person increase his or her perceptive abilities.

     

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    Lavender:

    Lavender is another all around great oil/scent to help with meditation and connection with the source so that your readings will be more accurate. Known for its calming properties, lavender can help a person to better relax and be more open to receiving messages from Spirit. This “purple” smell relates to the Crown Chakra, and is said to help people to see and hear spirits.

     

    Attracting Guides and Good Spirits:

    If you are interested in working more closely with your guides and good spirits that are in your space when reading tarot, then try some of these oils

    Rose:

    Rose essential oil has one of the highest vibratory frequencies. Many recommend using rose scent to attract angels and spirit guides associated with joy and love into a session. You can use this scent to increase your psychic awareness as well.

    Wisteria:

    Wisteria is another great oil to use when connecting to the spirit realm. It can help to attract specific guides and aid in the development of energetic healing skills.

     

    Protecting Your Energy from Negativity:

    We all want to make sure that the entities that help us out in our readings are high vibrating souls, spirits, and angels, and that they have the greatest good of ourselves and our clients in mind when working with us. In order to protect your energy, space, and the space and energy of the person you are reading for, you might want to use these scents…

    Carnation:

    Carnation has been used in the past to protect people from wayward and negative energies and entities. According to Llewellyn’s article, carnation “was worn during Elizabethan times to prevent encounters with ghosts.”

    Super duper helpers:


    rosemary2

    Rosemary:

    Rosemary is another scent/oil that is very antiseptic and antiviral, and can help not only to clear and clean your space – creating a sacred area to work within – but it is also considered to be highly protective. It is associated with elves and can be used to work with them. Aside from these uses, Rosemary is said to help people to focus and relax at the same time, and that can help to increase psychic awareness and a peaceful, calm feeling for the reader. **DO NOT use Rosemary if you have a seizure disorder, as this scent has been known to bring on seizures in those who are prone to them.

     

    Gardenia:

    Like Rosemary, Gardenia has a wide variety of uses related to working with Spirit. It is said to attract good, high vibrating entities and to increase a person’s telepathic abilities.

     

    Lilac:

    This wonderfully versatile fragrance is known to enhance psychic visions and fine-tune clairvoyant capabilities. People have used it to clear hauntings from houses and connect with fairies. It is also a great scent for attracting good, high vibrating entities and spirits into readings.

    As you can see, there are a wide variety of different essential oils that you can use to help with your tarot reading, angel card readings – and even mediumship sessions or just for general spiritual cleansing and connection. Experiment with different oils and decks and find out what works best for you!

    If you have any additional oils or rituals to add, please feel free to share your experience and the combinations you use!

    With respect and light,
    Sue Ellis-Saller

    CONTINUE READING

  • Intuitive Guidance

    The Simplest Way to Use Your Intuition – 4 Steps to the Answer

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    The other day I saw a plea for help on Facebook. A dear friend had said something to the effect of, “I wish there was something I could use to help me figure out which decision I should make and how I can move forward. I can’t figure out what is best for me.”

    I responded, “There is something. It is your gut. Simply close your eyes, breathe, calm your mind and think about each option. See if one of your options calms your core and the other doesn’t…. Go with the one that leaves you with a more peaceful feeling.”

    It is as simple as that, ladies and gentlemen!

    The next time you have a big decision to make and you simply don’t know what to do, listen to your intuition!

    Here is how you tune-in to your intuition:

    1) Sit quietly

    Turn off the TV or any other distractions so that you can fully participate in the experience. Try to make a time to be alone so that you can really – without interruption – tune into your own thoughts and feelings.

    2) Breathe deeply

    Deep breaths will help your body and spirit to relax. They will help you to tune into your self and tune out the rest of the world. Try to focus on taking a deep breath in (count to 4 or 6 while inhaling) and then exhale for two counts longer (either 6 or 8). In for a count of 6, out for a count of 8.

    3) Clear your mind (don’t worry – it is just for a minute!)

    Try to clear out all of the chatter and noise that you might be spinning in your mind for just a few minutes. Know that you will be able to focus more clearly on those things after you have done this exercise. This might be the hardest part of the exercise for some, so don’t worry if it takes a few tries to whisk away all of the mind chatter.

    4) Think about Option A.

    Tune into the first option. Think about it as if it were happening in the moment – as if that future reality were the current reality.

    Note the feelings and images that just come to you. Does your stomach feel tight or cramped or relaxed and calm? Do you see or hear any words? Do any songs pop into your mind? Do you have any tingling sensations in your body or do you get goosebumps or shivers of excitement? Take a moment to fully appreciate all of the messages you are receiving.

    Repeat Steps 3 and 4 with Option B, C, D, etc., making sure that each option is given its individual time for contemplation.

    After working with this process, you should have a reliable answer about which decision would be best for you. If NEITHER decision feels good, then seek out an alternative, or go with the one that felt the least icky.

    And TRUST the PROCESS! Each and every one of us was given the power and ability to use our intuition, but many of us were never taught how to use it. Others were told to trust outside sources or authority figures, instead of looking inward for answers and solutions. You, yourself, are your best advisor – and using your own intuition will give you the best results for YOUR life.

    Remember, you can use this simple and effective process to make all kinds of decisions in your life – from which lover to choose to which career to follow to which state to move to!

    Instead of asking others for their advice, learn to tune into your own, internal advisor. Your gut will never lead you the wrong way!

    CONTINUE READING

  • Musing, Tarot

    Intuitive Musings

    Hey folks!

     

    I just wanted to invite you to my Facebook page. Why? Because I post an Intuitive Musings post almost every single day.

     

    What IS Intuitive Musing? Why would I want to do it?

    Basically put, Intuitive Musing is reading tarot through commenting on the impressions that you get from the cards, rather than relying on the classic meaning of the card. It lets people get comfy with listening to their internal voices and otherworldly guidance. This kind of tarot reading encourages working with the feelings one gets from a card or a spread instead of trying to work to remember what this, that or the other book said about the card. It helps with flow…It allows for creativity. In my humblest opinion, it allows a reader to add depth to a reading that might not have been there before.

    So, if you are ready to start taking a stab at working with tarot on a more intuitive level, stop on by!

    CONTINUE READING

  • Intuitive Guidance, Tarot

    Using Intuition When Reading Tarot

    There are many different ways to read tarot. Some people prefer to memorize all of the “classic” meanings for each of the cards and read strictly by applying those definitions to their readings. Others have never bothered to use the books, and read solely based on their impressions of the pictures that represent each card. Using intuition when reading tarot can add insight to a reading. Personally, I do a combination of both, depending on what I intuit for the reading.

    Today, I did a reading for myself about which energy class to take next. A little background for you: I recently came across a new mode of energy healing, and – being me and totally stokable about new forms of energy work – I immediately looked up the school that offers these classes AND found that they offer the classes in Vienna (which is a God send because odds are sometimes not in favor of having classes near me to participate in). I emailed the woman who is holding the course to inquire about taking it. Then my little balloon of enthusiasm deflated for some reason.

    Well, to save you about 700 words of me babbling about pros and cons and background and…and…and…, I decided to consult with the tarot about either taking this new energy course or to continue on with my Reiki training. My Angel Tarot Cards were sitting on the table, so I used them. The card that came up for going to the new course was the Temperance card (14 Major Arcana). What caught my eye wasn’t anything in the meaning or the text on the card, but the blue irises framing Archangel Zadkiel.

    Balance. Card from Doreen Virtue's Angel Tarot deck.
    Balance. Card from Doreen Virtue’s Angel Tarot deck.

     

    I have about a zillion blue irises at home. Really. So. Many. Of. Them. that I am giving the bulbs away to neighbors. When using these irises as my clue to how I should proceed, it was definitely a no-go, as I have enough different methods – for now because goodness knows I will definitely be taking this other course in the future – just not right now.

    Then I decided to pull a card related to taking the next step in my Reiki training – the Hermit (9 Major Arcana) showed up! This, to me, is an excellent sign to move forward because it indicates enlightenment and seeking out spiritual teaching. Totally affirms my decision to work more toward  becoming a Reiki Master and teacher.

    The Hermit. Card from Doreen Virtue's Angel Tarot deck.
    The Hermit. Card from Doreen Virtue’s Angel Tarot deck.

     

    One card was read with visual cues, and the other read with classic interpretation. It felt right to me. Using intuition when reading tarot helped me to get a more profound message out of the reading.

    When you are studying your cards, pick up on those intuitive cues – no matter what they are. If the cue is a part of the illustration, a word that pops into your head, a classic meaning – go with it!

    The best way to read is to trust what the cards communicate to you, no matter how they pass the message!

     

    CONTINUE READING