7/27/12—Journeying To A Past Life

Today's Draw: Judgment/Petrified Wood in the 12^th House from Rachel Mann's Arcana Stones. Have you ever had a past-life regression? Assuming you believe, have you ever daydreamed about what one of your past lives might have been? What are some of the interests you have in your current life that might shed clues as to a past one?

Petrified wood is a compelling stone to me. "Petrified" comes from the Greek petro, meaning stone. So "petrified wood" literally means "rock turned to stone". Over time the cellulose in the rock breaks down and gets replaced by minerals such as quartz, while still retaining its look. If you were to hold the piece to the right in my picture in your hand, it would be a precise representation of what it looked like when it was wood. Only now it's stone. And heavier.

But that's not what fascinates me about petrified wood. See that oval shape at the lower middle of the sphere? That's called a window or a portal. And if you meditate on it, you might get swept down the long tunnel into a past life. If you believe in that sort of thing, that is.

Petrified Wood corresponds to the Judgment card in this oracle and the Judgment card is about rebirth. So that fits into the past-life theme. As does the 12^th House, which is the last house before you get born again. So essentially we got the past life stone in the past life house of the zodiac. So we're ending our journey-themed week with past life journeys.

Many years ago I attended a past life regression with a woman who is known for regressing Civil War reenactor types. See, sometimes our hobbies and interests are this-life clues to our past lives. Other clues might be a style of music you like, a style of clothing, a period, place or art, architecture or literature...any fascination or odd connection with another era.

Anyway, this past life regression woman would often guide these guys through their past lives to come up with names. Then they would research those names and what do you know? They find the soldier they once were!

So the night before the regression with this woman I thought of all the possibilities and eras. And what happened the next day surprised me. It turned out I was a sheriff in a Wild West town who got shot in a duel. This immediately set my bullshit meter off. I mean, how many people actually got shot in duels?

The regression took me through all areas of the sheriff's life...his home life and professional life, his hobbies and, finally, his death. Let's just say he thought a lot of himself, was not well liked and his funeral was not well attended. Then we followed his soul as it went up into the ethers to meet his guides and ask what lessons he was supposed to learn and they said, "Let. Love. Live." So he needed to learn to "let" or allow because he was too controlling. He needed to love because he was too self-centered and dispassionate. And he needed to live because he just had too many rules for his life.

Like I said, this was a long time ago, back near the beginning of my spiritual journey. So I didn't know what to make of this. Was it real? Or not? Finally, I decided it really didn't matter. Whether it was real or a dream-like metaphor, the message was still profound. Chances are I've had a couple of lives between then and now, but I see how those three things are things I'm still working on. And, really, it's a universal message we can all learn from. I can't tell you how many times in the past, say, 25 years I've thought of that lesson.

Since then, I've done other past-life regressions and Akashic records (entire soul history, past and future) meditations, spirit guide meditations, shamanic journeys...you name it. And each time I've emerged with highly relevant and revealing insights. I do believe we've had past lives and I do believe they are recorded in our soul memories.

I'm still not sure about being that sheriff, but other journeys I have been on since feel more correct to me...some sort of priestess in ancient Rome, an early man who died of starvation, a woods-dwelling woman with way too many children. And we don't always come to this earth or take human form. I imagine in the spaceless, timeless world of the soul, we could even live parallel lives on other planes. There are many ways to reincarnate. So it's interesting to think about, no? And even if it's not rea, the choices the subconscious makes in concocting these visions are very revealing—even healing in terms of understanding phobias and bad habits, etc.

If you ever have a chance to do this kind of journeying, I recommend it. Basically you just go through a guided meditation and visualize your past life. Maybe you're accessing your timeless self, maybe you're using your imagination, who knows? It really doesn't matter. It's the insights that come from it that are important. If your mind is making it up, then that reveals something in and of itself.

Assuming you're mentally healthy, you can buy CDs on Amazon. You don't have to spend the money to go to a professional, though you may have a stronger journey. The professional is there to help manage your experience in case you have a particularly bad past-life journey. And some people find it easier to slip into a subconscious state in a clinical setting. Many past-life regressions will have you witness your past-life death, too, so some may find that disturbing. But my experiences have not been disturbing at all.

Or, if you prefer, you could always choose a shamanic journey where you meet your power animal or a journey to meet your angels or spirit guides. Our subconscious holds so many clues to the things that dog us throughout our lives. Why not get swept down its long tunnel and see what it holds?

5/26/12-5/29/12—Keeping Up With Karma

Memorial Day Weekend Reading: Aventurine (Justice) in the 12th House from Arcana Stones by Rachelcat. The weekend can be summed up in one word: karma. Karma is universal justice—the consequences that come as a natural result of your actions. This has nothing to do with revenge, nor does it reflect any human effort to "equal a score". It's simply what you've earned. And that can be good or bad. Everyone thinks karma reflects only bad outcomes, but when you do good and get good in return, that's karma, too. So if something incredibly good happens this weekend, you probably earned it. And if something bad happens, well, you know. And if it's just a normal, pleasant weekend, then congratulations. You're doing just fine. :)

5/24/12—Freeing Yourself from the Veil

Today's Draw:  Quartz Crystal in the 9th House from Arcana Stones by Rachelcat. Have you ever awakened to a pattern of false beliefs that you've been holding in your life? Are you fooling yourself about unhealthy behaviors? Can you remember a time when a veil lifted from a situation and gave you the ability to see things more clearly?

Arcana Stones is a new oracle that combines tarot, crystals and astrological houses to give readings. If that sound intimidating, it's not. The companion book has everything you need to understand what you're doing.

Quartz Crystal represents the Fool card, suggesting new beginnings, open mindedness and trust. Clear quartz brings more power and clarity to a situation. It is said to have the greatest healing ability of all stones and can even cleanse other stones of unwanted energy. Finally, the ninth house is the house of meaning and truth...philosophy, education, truth and religion.

Put it all together and what rings in my head is "the truth/clarity will set you free." Back when I was a smoker, there were all sorts of false beliefs in my head. Since nobody ever said I smelled like smoke, I didn't think I did. I thought that whether or not smoking killed you was a crap shoot and you were unlikely to die from it. The statistics were all overly dramatic. I would quit if and when it ever started having a negative effect on my health. And since it hadn't, I was OK to smoke.

Arcana Stones is a complete divination system, unlike any other.

One of the things that really bugged me was that one of my boyfriends wouldn't drink from a cup or bottle I drank from. We shared all other fluids, why not this one? He SAID it was because the cup tasted like smoke. I remember being so annoyed by this "attitude" of his...blaming his issue with sharing a drink with me on smoking. Always complaining about my smoking! Typical.

These are just a few of the things that floated around in my head during this time of my life. Then once I got free of the addiction, something happened....I realized I HAD to smell like smoke. People do die of smoking and smoking related illnesses. All the time. It had been having a negative effect on my health all along. It even went so far as to affect my periods. And, now that I don't smoke, I'm not only sure I could taste it someone's glass, I can smell it three cars ahead of me in traffic.

What happened is that when I was able to put my addiction aside, a veil lifted. I didn't even know the veil was in place until it lifted. It was a kind of denial that was totally ingrained in me, I had no idea it was even there. And this doesn't just happen with addictions, it happens in all areas of our lives. For example, I doubted unconditional love existed until I committed myself to my first dog, Passion. Then the veil that told me that kind of love was all a fairy tale lifted and I got it. "The Veil" is any pattern of false thoughts and beliefs that limits you, supports unhealthy behavior, keeps you in unhealthy patterns and stands between you and your higher self.

There's a stone correlating to every card in the Major Arcana.

Because I know "the veil" exists, I'm certain I'm under one right now about my weight and health. Watching my brother die just recently has worked the corner up on that veil a little bit, but not enough to get me to make a change yet. But there is a reality there now that I can no longer deny. And another veil has been lifted in me recently, as well, in relation to the extreme emotions I've experienced over the past couple of months. I can't quite explain it or put my finger on it, but it's already cleared my vision and prompted changes in my life. 

Have you ever had one of these "I can't believe I thought that way" moments of clarity that come from a lifting of the veil? Once it has been lifted, you can't really go back to the way you were. You don't want to. It changes the way you see your life, your thoughts and circumstances in it. You may be embarrassed or even ashamed by the way you were and can no longer go on like that. Does that sound familiar to you? How has that manifested in your life?