Emily Gmitter shares her memories of and love for her elder sister, Marion, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge a short while ago. Losing a loved one can be devastating and makes us consider our own mortality; but Emily lightens this weighty subject with humor and beauty. #Recommended ❤
“Sing it out … sing it out!” My sister Marion would encourage me as I practiced a song I’d hoped to perform at karaoke some night. “That was beautiful! You should absolutely sing that one!” she continued, scrunching up her face and pumping her arm in the air with earnest enthusiasm.
Then came the day when I realized she was tone deaf. How did I learn that? Well, we had another sister, Lena, who, age-wise, fell between Marion, the oldest of eight children, and me, the middle child. Lena encouraged me just as Marion did, but Lena loved to sing, too, although we’d never heard her do so.
One day, Lena decided she would take singing lessons. Marion and I were then routinely treated to Lena’s practice sessions which consisted of repeated—and memorable—renditions of You Light Up My Life.“Sing it out … sing it out! That’s beautiful!” Marion…
Our blog focuses its intention on the seen and unseen aspects of light, magic, goodness, and love. I’m so pleased to share with you my post on Ascension. Please join us in celebrating the magic of life ❤
The Sisters of the Fey
Have you been experiencing changes in your body and/or behavior that you cannot explain? At times, do you find yourself in the throes of anxiety or depression that seem to have no trigger? Or do you, like me, feel a sense of urgency – a sense of running out of time – and a longing to go home, but have no idea where home is? If your answer is ‘yes’ to any of these, you might be experiencing symptoms of Ascension.
We incarnated into this earthwalk to learn and grow. In so doing, we forgot who we are – beings of light, elements of The Divine or Source Being – in order to fulfill our mission. But we are in the midst of evolving into the 5th dimension and awakening to the Divine within. We are transcending the relative and moving into the absolute. DNA that has been lying dormant in our bodies is beginning to shift, like the Earth’s tectonic plates, awaiting a massive eruption of awareness.
Transcending to a higher dimension requires resonating with its vibrational frequency. If something vibrates faster than our 3rd/4th dimension’s frequency, it will ascend to a higher dimension and seemingly disappear.
Gaia – Mother Earth – is undergoing an astronomical transformation. Her vibration is rapidly increasing as She evolves into a solar body. This will take many thousands of years, during which time we will have the opportunity to expand with Her and grow into peace and harmony.
The opportunity to learn presents itself more often than most of us recognize. We ignore or do not hear the knock on the door to our hearts and minds. We become outraged or sickened when engaging with or reacting to someone whose behavior strikes fear in us. We allow our attention to divert to the trivial when facing something that makes us uneasy. Yet everyone and everything we encounter is a mirror, a reflection of ourselves.
I have been off line for most of the past six weeks, coping with a flareup of fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue. When homebound and at times bedridden, it is a challenge to feel connected to the outside world and not slip into depression. I constantly have to remind myself that I am not alone. My shaman teacher told me this early on:
The first lesson of power is that we are alone. The last lesson of power is that we are one.
Recognizing and engaging with the numerous mirrors always before us requires mindful awareness. Any emotion that disrupts inner peace and union with The Divine provides an opportunity to grow. This could be a personal encounter, a memory, a TV program, a disquieting sound or smell, a visual image…
While in the throes of pain and fatigue, it can be difficult to focus one’s intention. Yet the most exacting circumstances offer the most potential for growth. Remaining aware of this, I have learned many things from chronic illness.
Growth occurs in stages. When we find ourselves in a recurrent situation and feeling frustrated/angry/disgusted, it is important to remember that we merely are peeling away another layer of the onion, the façade we believe to be our true nature. But we must not stop at this realization. We must dive deep and search for the cause, knowing full well we might encounter more illusions along the way. However, with each diving and resurfacing, we discover a piece of the Self we are dying to know. And yes, we are dying. We are shedding the relative–the illusion–and being reborn, moving closer to the absolute.
We move in and out of emotion until we reach
enlightenment . . .
I was delighted whenColleen Chesebro asked me to be a guest on her blog. Colleen writes about all things magical, is an avid reader, and offers weekly poetry challenges on her blog that include Haiku and Tanka. Her novel, The Heart Stone Chronicles: The Swamp Fairy, took 1st place in the AuthorsDB 2017 Book Cover Contest.
Colleen is a friend, sister, and kindred spirit. I want to thank her for featuring me on her blog, and I’d like to share my guest post with you now. When you head over to her blog to finish reading, I hope you’ll browse through all the wonderful things she has to offer.
My special guest today is my dear friend, Tina Frisco. You know how you meet someone online and as you get to know them you feel like you’ve known them in real life? That’s how it is for Tina and me. I love her philosophical discussions, and her spiritual advice is the best. I recently read her book, Plateau: Beyond the Trees. You can read my review HERE. I’ve recently grabbed a copy of her new book, Vampyrie. It promises to be an interesting read.
Today, Tina shares her thoughts about magic and the possibilities that exist for all of us. ❤
Magic Is Absolute
By Tina Frisco
Photo courtesy of Ningren
When I was a small child, I saw magic everywhere – lights around beings, angels floating atop clouds, tiny winged entities riding the suns illuminating rays. All the Earth was alive, and she spoke to me. I would share this with my parents, and their response was always the same: “Oh, you’re just seeing things.” Of course, I was seeing things! I did not know their perception of life was different from mine. With a wave of the hand, they dismissed my reality. I thought I was defective and began to shut down.
I do not resent my parents’ behavior. They did their best with the knowledge they had. Yet over time and repeated denials, I too dismissed my experience as faulty and unreliable. Believing I was flawed, my ability to see the inherent magic in life disappeared. I became a realist.
In my early thirties, I apprenticed to a medicine woman, and my life began to change once again. Deep within me, I knew that all I had seen and heard as a child was not only valid but also undeniable.
We tend to think that ordinary life is reality, a belief reinforced by unmitigated “reason.” We are taught to look no further than what we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. We are not encouraged to scrutinize beyond our five senses. This is unfortunate because life is so much more than the realm of the third dimension. String theory had all but proved the existence of dimensions beyond spacetime.
We can explore other planes of existence through practices such as meditation and astral travel. Most of us have had out-of-body experiences; but if they were fleeting or frightening or elusive, we probably discounted them. Yet, they are a vehicle by which to navigate the myriad realms many would call magical, and many more would deny.
I see magic as absolute because it is nonrelative and unquantifiable. It is the infinite cosmos from which our third-dimensional reality is conceived.
Taught to fear what we do not understand – what we cannot see with our physical eyes or touch with our physical hands – we confine our thinking and preclude limitless possibility. As Hamlet said, “Thinking makes it so.” Within our finite view of existence, we refer to the supernatural as magic, when it is merely beyond our understanding.
The good news is: We do not have to comprehend something to accept it as being possible. Once we open our minds to the infinite, magic takes the helm and life becomes an exquisite journey.
I’m always thrilled when a fellow author asks me to be a guest on their blog. When Debby Gies, aka authorD.G. Kaye, invited me to write a post for the holidays, I happily agreed. Debby released her newest memoir,Twenty Years: After “I Do,” in late November 2017. I have read a few of her superb books and look forward to reading her latest.
Debby is a friend, sister, and confidante. I want to thank her for featuring me on her blog, and I’d like to share my guest post with you now.
Thanks so much for stopping by❤
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Today I’m delighted to have Tina Frisco share one of her inspirational posts with us. I think we can all feel that the world is in a tailspin, changing many aspects of life that we may have previously just taken in stride. But it’s a powerful change and Tina’s post is a good reminder to acknowledge, stand up and be counted and heard. Like Tina says:
“Now is the time to release old habits and beliefs, open our hearts and minds to infinite possibility, and accept the miraculous life awaiting our participation. It is time to follow our passion and create the world in which we want to live.”
Follow Your Passion
Image is courtesy of Lucie Stastkova
(For the purpose of this article, passion is defined as a fervid and compelling desire to create that which serves the common good.)
A new Mayan Long Count Calendar began on 22 December 2012. For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle, each being 144,000 days in length.
This new cycle ushered in The Golden Age of Enlightenment, an era of heightened energy awareness that commands our attention and demands our presence. It beckons us to open our hearts and see with our inner eyes. It stimulates us to create and share our light with the world. It insists we focus our intention on being and doing only that which serves the common good.
The effect of this new energy is evidenced in the global call for peace we now experience. The old patriarchal world order is dying; and as with any entity facing imminent death, it is rearing its head and digging in its heels for a last stand. We must not align ourselves with its push for continued existence, for it no longer serves. Its time has come to an end. We must align ourselves with the quickening vibration of Mother Earth. Now is the time to release old habits and beliefs, open our hearts and minds to infinite possibility, and accept the miraculous life awaiting our participation. It is time to follow our passion and create the world in which we want to live.
Upon opening our minds and hearts to this new energy, we are guided to identify that which no longer serves, give thanks for all it provided, and then send it on its way. We are moved to. . .
Chris Graham, the best darn Story Reading Ape in the blogosphere, offers monthly guest posts to authors in his Hall of Fame. You can learn how to gain entry into this prestigious club HERE. I’ve been contributing guest posts for the past year and a half, and have met many new and wonderful bloggers.
Today I’m sharing my guest post for this month, published last Saturday on Chris’ blog. I hope you’ll head over to continue reading and, while there, follow Chris (if you’re not already doing so) and explore the many wonderful opportunities he has to offer. Thanks so much for stopping by ❤
Image courtesy of Ningren
Without darkness, light would have no definition. Without evil, good would never be challenged to expand. Without definition and challenge, there would be no growth. Without growth, our spirits would not evolve.
Many indigenous peoples say the Earth is a schoolhouse and we incarnate here in order to learn. This makes sense only if we view the spirit as separate from the corporeal. If we do, then advancing to higher consciousness and an elevated spiritual plane holds great promise for human transcendence.
The Earth is a bipolar planet. Since all matter converts to energy, we can infer that our lessons will be of a bipolar nature. Darkness and evil are not, in and of themselves, our enemies. When we set up something as the enemy, we constrict and lose all prospect of growth. When we see adversity as our ally, our growth potential expands and accelerates.
I recently reviewed The Little Soul and the Sun by Neale Donald Walsch. You can read my review HERE.
The message in this book is that our spirits pledge with one another to learn specific lessons when we incarnate, and each of us plays a role specific to any person or persons with whom we have contracted. Thus, if I pledge to help another soul learn joy, I might be the implement of sorrow. Likewise: prejudice → tolerance; cruelty → compassion; animosity → forgiveness; fear → love.
This places adversity in a very different light, inclusive of the importance of endeavoring to change a bad situation. Growth lies in rising to the challenges we pledged to meet when making our contracts.
Viewing life in this way is empowering. If we made a contract that we later discover no longer serves, then it is within our power to change it. However, we might not readily see the means by which to do so. I have encountered this many times in my life and still struggle with it in some areas.
My spiritual teacher has often told me that I have the power to manifest what I want within a split second.
Hugh Roberts is raising money for The Dogs Trust, and all we have to do is leave the links to our blogs and author pages on his post. A compassionate reminder of the true spirit of Christmas 💕
The Christmas tree is up, but something is missing. There are no gifts under it, and I need your help to put that right.
For this year’s Christmas charity appeal, I’m asking you to help me raise up to £365 for The Dogs Trust.
The Dogs Trust, formerly known as the National Canine Defence League, is an animal welfare charity and humane society in the United Kingdom which specialises in the well-being of dogs. Click here to go to their website.
Want to get involved? Here’s what you need to do.
In the comments section of this post, leave the name of your blog and a link to it. This can be a link to your ‘about me’ page, a favourite blog post you’ve published, or the home page of your blog.
If you’re an author, you’re also welcome to leave me a link to any books you have published. So, for…
Just before I took my blogging break in August, the lovely Debby Gies, aka D.G. Kaye, invited me to guest post on her blog. Debby is the Sherlock Holmes of our blogging community 🙂 Aside from featuring authors, books reviews, and myriad reblogs, she regularly shares tips and tricks she garners from sleuthing. If you’re not familiar with Debby, do yourself a favor and visit her informative BLOG.
My thanks to Debby for her abiding generosity and enthusiastic spirit. I was honored and delighted to be her guest, and would like to share that post with you now ❤
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As many of you know, I enjoy sharing posts here by Tina Frisco. And I was elated at Tina’s agreement to write a guest post to feature here today while I’m knee-deep in re-writes on my newest book. Tina has an inner wisdom, which opens our eyes to simple things we often take for granted, or sometimes hold a place within us that we sometimes struggle with but may not be able to come to terms with. In this post, Tina shares her experience with finding forgiveness and methods she utilizes to delve deep within her soul to find resolution.
Forgiveness
Image courtesy of Terri Webster Schrandt
“We tend to think of the rational as a higher order, but it is the emotional that marks our lives. One often learns more from ten days of agony than from ten years of contentment.” –Merle Shain, Canadian journalist and author, 1935-1989
Forgiveness is the highest form of virtue. It requires a strong and open heart. It challenges faith, trust, and understanding. It demands a willingness to let go of judgment. It moves us into compassion and elevates our consciousness. It fashions a deeper awareness of ourselves and others. Its gift is a more peaceful and fruitful life lived here on Mother Earth.
Forgiving someone a deep hurt is one of the most difficult challenges I have had to face.
As a small child, I was abused and often overlooked in favor of my younger sister. I was an afterthought. Because children have embryonic coping mechanisms, this neglectful behavior by the adults in my life carved a deep hole in my psyche. Desperate to be recognized, I became an overachiever and a slave to codependence. The imperatives of service and recognition fueled my desperation to a point where it imploded. I fragmented, and many took advantage. I was a walking, breathing wound.
In my teenage years, salt was added to that wound by those who mistook my need to help for egoism. Fortunately, I have a strong will and was able to rebut such claims. Unfortunately, this got me nowhere. I was labeled stubborn, angry, selfish, and a know-it-all. I would be the first to volunteer and the last to be selected. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get people to see me.
These labels followed me into early adulthood. Every time my eagerness to serve was mistaken for arrogance or selfishness, I either lashed out or fell into despair. My life had become one of emotional extremes – a roller coaster ride of peaks and valleys, racing fast to stand still.
All of this began to change when, at age thirty-three, I apprenticed to a medicine woman. She was as brutal in pointing out my weaknesses as she was compassionate in acknowledging my strengths. She forced me to dive deep and breathe while in the grasp of fear. Upon surfacing, I saw that all emotion is self-imposed. I alone am responsible for the choices I make. As my awareness grew, I began to own who I am – a wounded warrior made stronger for having faced that which terrorized me.
A few years into my apprenticeship, an issue I thought I had resolved attacked with a sudden and nauseating potency. Once again, and painfully, I felt overlooked. The hurt cut so deep, I nearly lost my life. I thought I was regressing, but I thought wrong. Issues become lighter as they are resolving. The pieces we have dealt with rise toward the surface. The nearer the surface, the more clearly we see them and the more powerful the impact. As these pieces are released, we might feel we are exploding, much like an erupting boil or volcano.
Naively, or perhaps wishfully, I thought I had finally battled this demon for the last time. Again, I thought wrong.
We tend to see success as a realized goal, often overlooking the small successes that create the links in this chain. I write further on this subject in my article on The Story Reading Ape. Thank you to Chris Graham for hosting me ❤
While writing the introduction to a fellow author’s book, I realized many of us view success as an end-product. We aspire, we strive and, if fortunate, we manifest. Only then do we feel gratified, overlooking all we accomplished in the process. In short, we fail ourselves.
If we become discouraged when met by an obstacle, we are not seeing that obstacle for what it truly is: a teacher. Obstacles not only teach us what does not work, but also challenge us to reach beyond our perceived limitations. Obstacles are opportunities to practice what we’ve learned, alter our approach, and move forward. This is success.
Being stuck in obsessive thought patterns, limiting beliefs, or anything that stops us short of reaching a goal can lead to wallowing in the past (nostalgia) and yearning for the future (desire). Turning inward and finding the embedded thoughts sabotaging our efforts…
They will show in the Amazon store within 3-5 business days but are available now through the Kindle and CreateSpace stores. The old version is still showing on Amazon but will be removed.
To celebrate, the eBook will be free to download from the 15th through the 19th.
I’m so grateful to have this task behind me! It took quite a bit longer than I expected, largely due to how poorly I wrote five years ago compared with now. I decided to give the book a quick overhaul, forgetting it was not a vehicle that merely needed an oil change. And once I started, there was no turning back. I did all the formatting, which can be a nightmare. But I learned a lot when I published my book Vampyrie last December, and fortunately I remembered most of it.
I also needed to make a cover. On the front I wanted to use the same image, which was created by a friend of mine and was easy to upload. I used GIMP to apply the text. Since CreateSpace’s cover design choices are limited, the back cover was more of a challenge. How to get the color I wanted? I was blessed with a light-bulb moment. I scanned a sheet of white paper into my computer, uploaded the image into GIMP, applied color, and added the text. This project was a full day’s work. When I uploaded it to CreateSpace, it looked fine. But CS said the text went too far to the border (even though it was within the border shown), so I had to redo the text, which took another half day. (I need to go to GIMP school.)
During all of this, my mum became seriously ill and had to be hospitalized. I thought I might have to hop a train and travel cross country. Thankfully she recovered and is doing well.
Now that the dreaded book business is completed (I need to go to formatting school), I can resume writing posts and visiting blogs. I can tackle that collapsing pile of books on my TBR. I can open the stack of mail on my desk. Maybe I’ll get around to cleaning and doing the laundry. My neglected little car needs a bath, and I really should jump in the shower. Wash my hair? Yes, I need to do that as well. I even hope to go out to dinner or the movies before the end of the year. An author’s work is never done.
I wrote and first published PLATEAU: Beyond the Trees in 2012, because I wanted to put a message of hope into the world. December 21st of that year was the end of the Mayan long count calendar. This inspired the making of documentaries that aired over several months. Most of them evoked fear by focusing on the doomsday aspect of apocalyptic prophecies. Many of us wondered if love could prevail in an atmosphere of dread and panic.
PLATEAU offers hope with its underlying message: We must keep our hearts open and act from love instead of reacting from fear; we must practice gratitude and compassion within every moment and with every breath, so that we might help elevate the human species to a higher consciousness and facilitate personal and global peace. Within this vision – this practice – the human species will continue into the Golden Age of Enlightenment.
Novel reading can increase our understanding of who we are. I hope PLATEAU will advance this understanding. I hope it will encourage empathy, compassion, and tolerance for diversity. I hope …
I will leave you with this quote by one of the indigenous shaman women of the Sisterhood of the Shields:
You have the choice to nourish or you have the choice to destroy with your power. –Ruby Plenty Chiefs quoted in Spirit Woman, The Teachings of the Shields by Lynn V. Andrews
