How To Live Life

 

Our Ancestors had very little in the way of choice for each activity that they did through out the day.  The one thing that they could choose was how they approached life.  The best choice was to be fearless, hopeful, moderate in eating, more quiet than talkative, and very loving.

This sounds like a great mantra for living life every day, even in current times.  While many say that we do not have a choice in things, all of the activities above are choices we can make to change our life.  

Today, choose one activity and concentrate on achieving it throughout the day.

Many Blessings,

Judy

May 1 - Beltane

 

 

Beltane Fire picture from Edinburgh, Scotland.

 

 

Beltane is the Celtic festival celebrating the arrival of summer.  May 1 is a good day to take the cattle and sheep to summer grazing, and to lighten the load of the farmer.  May 1 signals that the towns and cities will be busier as people come out of the winter/spring hibernation.  Many of our Ancestors honoured Beltane in some way – whether Celtic or other tradition.

In Ireland/Scotland, Beltane is celebrated by all night bonfires, such as the one pictured above. There is music and dancing, and often the burning of an effigy of old man winter.  

“Another common aspect of the festival which survived up until the early 20th century in Ireland was the hanging of May Boughs on the doors and windows of houses and the erection of May Bushes in farmyards, which usually consisted either of a branch of rowan/caorthann (mountain ash) or more commonly whitethorn/sceach geal (hawthorn) which is in bloom at the time and is commonly called the 'May Bush' or just 'May' in Hiberno-English. ~~ From Wikipedia~~”

Beltane is a time of healing because in the celebration of life, all one’s troubles are placed on a shelf, to be dealt with at another time.  This is a time when Nature shows how beautiful she is, and the deer and the wolf give birth.  It is a time of oneness in a community. And often, great fun emerges as people tip back an ale or two, and shed their inhibitions. 

This is a time for newness.  It is a time to become motivated – to work on the yard, the garden; to take up an exercise program; to look up family and old friends; to do something nice for one’s self; to get out of the city, or to get out of the country; to write/paint/play music and allow the creativity.  May 1 is a doorway for loving one’s self unconditionally, and appreciating others.

May your Beltane motivate you to have fun!

Many blessings,

Judy 

Your Life Purpose

 

Clients always ask me, "What is my life purpose?  I know I have one.  I just don't know what it is!"

My response is always - you need to become the best person that you can be and to share that with the Universe.

The poster above is a different take on life.  I like it!  "Make your heartbeat match the beat of the Universe."  Or, learn to go with the flow of the Universe.  Beat as one.  What an exciting life goal to have!

It is hard, however to be in step with Nature.  It is not our nature to move easily and freely with the weather and with the seasons.  We want to be in control.  No one really knows why.  

Today, listen to the heartbeat of the Universe.

Blessings

Making Choices

 

Over the past year, have you noticed that you seem to need to make a big choice and a bunch of little choices each week?  While it may not seem like the choice is part of your spiritual journey, most of the time it does end up supporting one of truth, health, happiness, wisdom, love, kindness, and compassion.  

For quite a few people, the Covid pandemic caused them to make a choice to withdraw from daily life - work, friends and family, and making choices/decisions on a daily basis.  For many, it was the end of relationships. Choices were made taking in to account health, happiness, and love, especially self-love.

Many people like to judge the choices that others make, labelling the choice as right or wrong, good or bad.  It is impossible to know what the best choice or right choice is for another person because we can never know exactly what is going on in another person’s life.

My suggestion is that you make a choice not to judge, but to allow.  

Many blessings,

Judy

Keeping a Warm, Loving Feeling

 

In many ways, Nature reflects how we are feeling.  When we feel dismal, the sky is grey and cloudy.  When we feel very emotional, rain may very well be falling outside.  When we are filled with warm, loving thoughts, then often, the sun shines and life is beautiful!

How does this work?  Well, part of it is that we all create our own reality.  And part of the occurrence is that others are often feeling the way that we do.  You might say that we all create our own reality together.

The challenge becomes how to continue to feel warm and loving when others do not feel that way.  How do we stay Buddha-like?  One of the easiest ways to stay in that space of harmony is to be in the present moment - to leave the past behind, and to not think or worry about tomorrow, or next week.   Do not listen to the "what if..." statements that start to grow in your mind.  Send them away, and continue on, thinking of the warmth and brightness and lightness.  It works!

Blessings.

Judy

Smudging and Sage

 

Poster comes from an email from a friend.  Origin unknown.

I have been asked many times - when is the right time to burn sage?  One of my friends sent me an email with the above poster in it it called “When To Burn Sage”.

The poster lists the following events as a reason to burn sage:

• When you have been arguing
• When someone in your home is sick
• When visitors leave
• When you buy second hand items
• When the vibe feels icky
• When you have been depressed
• When you are grieving a loss
• During the Full Moon
• When anxiety strikes
• When you have had a nightmare
• While doing chores
• Before meditation/spells
• To clear crystals and spiritual tools
• When you move into a new home

These are all wonderful reasons to burn sage and to smudge.  I have a few more reasons to add.  Smudge yourself with sage when these events occur:

• When you are preparing for a ceremony
• Before you start a healing session
• When you  have been to a hospital or nursing home or visiting an ill friend
• When you have had a trying day at work
• When you feel a cold or flu hitting you
• When you injure yourself

You can also smudge your dog or cat, especially if they are not feeling well.  

Sage is a very common smudging/clearing tool.  You can also use juniper branches, sweet grass, lavender, or any combination of the smudging tools.  I have some lovely sage and juniper smudge sticks.  Another favourite smudge is palo santo, a smudge stick from a tree native to Ecuador and Peru.

My rule of thumb is - if you feel like smudging, go ahead and smudge.  You will feel better.

Many blessings,

Judy

Listening To The Guidance

  

One of my teachers said to our group that when we pray, we are talking to God (or the Universe or Great Spirit, or whatever you want to call the Energy that you talk to. And, when we meditate, God talks to us.  I find that my guidance comes through meditation, through Nature, through random messages from different people, or, from very specific words that seem to just show up.  However, there have been times where the Angels or Guides had to go through different people to get to me because I was not listening.  Sometimes, we get so caught up in doing that we forget to listen.

Quite a while ago, I was caught up in my own little drama of work and getting things done, and, I was not listening or meditating or really doing much spiritually.  One day I got a phone call from a lady.  She identified herself and then told me that I did not know her.  However, my Guides were not able to get through to me with a message so they asked her to deliver it.  The message was that it was time for me to pick up the book that my friend Ruth gave me about a year earlier.  I was to read the book, cover to cover, and then act on it.  The message included a notice that I really needed to start meditating for at least 15 minutes a day. 

I was stunned!  This lady could not know about my friend Ruth, or the book, and that I hadn’t read it.  I thanked the caller, went and found the book, and read it.  The reading of the book and practising what it said set me on a new path of spiritual work.  I am grateful for that day.

Blessings.

Judy