Monthly Archives: October 2012

Find Your Magic!

Last Thursday I brought some magic in the world. It was unplanned and completely accidental on my part, but I discovered a way to bring joy into the world in an unexpected manner.

The story begins when I went shopping for book and instead came out of the store with a large pair of beautiful purple faerie wings.

The wings are unlike ones I’ve seen before: Like butterfly wings, they have small silver dots outlining the membranes on the sheer dark purple fabric with purple gemstones tastefully spotting each wing. They may have fit me a little too perfectly: the woman at the till almost didn’t charge me for them because they suited my outfit so well!

When I came out of the store I was quick to realize that I was on my bike, and had no alternative but to wear them for the remainder of my errands on my way home. Shrugging my shoulders, I hopped on my bike and became a bicycle faerie zooming around Victoria!

It was to my utmost surprise how people responded. People would spot me, and after a look of surprise a big grin would spread across their face that was usually followed with a witty comment or a question. At a stop light a fellow biker asked, “Do your wings make you go faster?”; A car drove by down a main road and a man yelled “I LOVE YOU!”; A woman at a store I dropped my resume at smiled big; a woman at a coffee shop inhaled sharply and said “Angel.”.

And all of it created warm fuzzy sensations within my heart spreading to a large smile on my face.

I decided that I will wear these wings much more often now, whenever my activities and the weather permits it.

“You were bringing magic into the world.” Said a friend of mine with glee when I told her about my experience with the wings.

It followed a conversation that happened the very same day where I found myself saying something like this:“Magic is exactly what is needed in that world. That magic brings healing to a part inside of our self that can otherwise never be healed. Magic is a part of us, and it needs to be allowed to live inside our world more and more.”

I firmly believe that.

This is the kind of magic that I love. It doesn’t take a lot of time, and it doesn’t usually require much of anything because it is so simple. It is simply finding the right kind of magic for your heart.

Sometimes it is playing on the swings, or doodling in chalk. Perhaps it is blowing bubbles in your chocolate milk, throwing snowballs or making snow angels. Maybe its painting, or another act of creation. It could be skateboarding or skipping, getting dressed up in exactly what you want to wear because its beautiful or it could be attacking someone with a hug.

You’ve found the right magic for you when the heart opens with an expansive happiness and the grin on your face can’t be controlled.

When magic comes alive inside our world a part inside of us seems to open up and we can’t help but smile. That same part opens up when we allow ourselves to create or when we allow our inner child to come up for air for a brief moment. Each moment that we have of this magic heals a part of us. It opens up our minds to new possibilities, nurtures our inner child, draws out wonder and curiosity, and allows more intuition to come forth.

I know each one of us has access to it because it naturally resides in each of us. It is a magic that children naturally have that often seems to become hidden as they grow up.

This magic is so important because of the joy it gives us and manifests into our worlds. More ways of adults expressing and allowing this joy into their lives is needed everywhere.

It is through joy that we can manifest everything that we want. This joy helps us to see the world as a world of light even when it seems dark because we are able to see outside of ourselves. It helps us to get unstuck and out of ruts because in a single instant it can lift our mood from a dark depression to an at least “okay, maybe the world isn’t so bad.”.

The more we practice this magic in our lives in little ways the more it spontaneously happen on its own. I know people who have tapped into this without expressing it with such words and they are some of the happiest people that I know. Their lives have not been any easier than the rest of us and they have done their share of healing, part of which was using this magic.

These people might call it “following your bliss” or “experiencing the world with open-hearted joy”. Others might say its “working with your inner child”. Its up to you how you want to view it and express it.

I personally believe that there is magic in this world. It is in each one of us waiting to be accessed and it is one of, if not, the strongest force in nature. We get glimpses of it every now and then through our creativity, our intuition and other certain moments that bring smiles to our faces.

The first step to working with it is discovering how you can feel your magic. The  next step is to connect with it as often as you can.

Then the unexpected will begin to happen and you will start to see magic working in your life.

Aragonite – Lizards Tongue in the Fire

A fiery stone meant for the love of ourselves and others. This stone has the power fire to clear all our chakras however it most resonates with the bottom three chakras that deal with survival, sex and will. Aragonite acts as the fire of self love to clear and greatly shift these chakras from all their hurt, anger and fear to beautiful glowing centers of love.

This stone used to be placed beneath the tongue of one who was ill and it was believed the illness came from one of these energy centers. Beneath the tongue was the easiest area for Aragonites energy to flow through the body to the much needed areas.

Aragonite has lizard like energy and focus. It is fast working when it needs to be and very exact. It opens up doors to the underworld when placed on the third eye. It can move people quickly to understand many of the metaphysical and shamanic principles of old.

Many people of old called this stone ugly and did not want to work with it, it was not seen as valuable as Citrine and other stones.

In times ancient past, aragonite was used to hear the murmurs of the water beings. It would allow us and the water beings clearer access to each other because aragonite acted as a sort of telephone between humanity and them. The stone is a record keeper of water memories, which is why it dissolves in water (careful to all those who cleanse it!).

The most common form of Aragonite, the red-orange-brown color will call on all Beings it is close to, within a radius of an average city block. The specific colors denote a stronger ability to reach Beings of a specific type, and can call all over the world for those specific types. The farther away the specific being you wish to converse with, the longer it will take to connect as you may be connecting through several stones. Once the connection is made there may be a slight lag that will dissolve with practice.

Practice makes perfect.

When loved deeply it has been said it will light up in orange and all true love that surrounds it will create an orange glow to the stone. It works best with the sacral chakra.

It is good for healers to work with this stone because it easily discharges and clears energy and used frequently by healers long past.

This stone is masculine energy, healer of ill will, sexual and survival issues.

Keywords: Masculine, clearing, intuitive, Underworld Guide, self-love, fire, powerful healer, focus

Legend Has It!

Aragonite was used by Native people for masks, statues and other objects. The natives near Pueblo still care most things from it.

“Aragonite’s six-sided crystal forms symbolize the hexagram and the Star of David or Solomon’s Seal. The Aragonite crystal clusters show us how the individual relates to the universe as a whole. They radiate outward from the center as a seed, or individual soul, that grows and manifests itself through life’s experiences and events.

Aragonite remind us of our true center, as new energies enter or appear around us as life events. They represent our own spiritual and physical growth, from the self and how we interact with the world and life.”

– zoultier.com (Couldn’t have said it better; see Key Sources at the Bottom of this Post)

Awesome Healing Work

For the Planet:

Aragonite is a well known and noteworthy mineral for its ability to heal the planet. It has been known to transmute blockages and stress within the Earths ley-lines and energy system, even at a distance, clearing away.

For Humanity:

Aragonite is useful for centering oneself and connecting to the Planet before healing or mediation. It is a stone that is believed to teach “deep thinking skills” and is therefore useful in business and personal life, and helping one to live with open-hearted joy. It helps one to learn how to give and to receive things, as well as teaching moderation. Aragonite has been used to communicate in the higher realms and to access past lives,. It has been known to increase the power of prayers.

This stone has been known to increase a persons self-worth and self-confidence. It has been known to help people become disciplined and more reliable.

Common Metaphysical and Healing Uses

An aragonite elixir can be used as a “spring tonic” and for the amelioration of general aches and pains.”

Historically aragonite has been used to draw out flus or colds from the body, ridding the body of chills instantly, and has been used for treatment of chronic fatigue, hair loss, skin conditions and mending broken bones.

Cool Facts

Pakistan onyx and alabaster are also Aragonite.

The shiny pearlescent color on sea shells on Mother of Pearl are actually several layers of Aragonite – many animals with shells and corals secrete aragonite to make their shells and pearls.

Aragonite increases the energy of prayers and magic charms.

Chakras: Sacral and Solar Plexus Chakras.

Astrological Sign: Capricorn, Cancer.

Key Sources:

http://www.controverscial.com/Aragonite.htm

http://www.thatcrystalsite.com/guide/properties-glossary.php

http://www.zoultier.com/gem-historical-metaphysic-zoultier/aragonite-historical-metaphysical-healing-properties

Serafina Christine is a creative free spirited cyclist and mystic who has committed to Follow Her Bliss. She is the creator of Willows Lavender, where she specializes in making Gemstone Elixirs and the healing arts

Job Results in Life Changing Realization

This week was a revolutionary week for me in my mindset and beliefs.

I had taken a job at a convenience store that in no way suited me. The company and I didn’t have the same values, nor did the job allow me to have any sort of self-expression or a feeling of fulfilment at the end of my shift. Where I would like to be helping people, I was serving them cigarettes and junk food. When I would like to have self-expression through my hair and clothing, at work it was reduced to uniformity to not look any different than anyone else – I had to wear black pants.* When I went in search of said pants I couldn’t buy them. They didn’t inspire me in any way, shape or form. Neither did my job.

I tried hard to be happy working there. The people there were kind and my manager flexible with my schedule. I was earning money. A person can be happy anywhere, right? Each day before work I would ground and centre myself so that I could present my most joyful self. I wanted to connect with the customers that were coming through, lighten them, spread joy. Instead I found myself quickly drained and grumpy.

For me, it felt like my soul was dying each day that I went to work and I lost a bit of my individuality. I felt like I was loosing consciousness and awareness with each customer that I rung through my till. Troubling.

Reflecting on this and the job, I wondered to myself why I was there. It occurred to me during my reflections that I could quit my job. And if I did, everything would be okay and work itself out. Exciting!

Later in the day, when talking with a friend, my job situation came up. When I heard myself speak I became aware that I was working a job unsuitable to my personality and who I am because I was scared of lack – not having a liveable income or home.

I learned that I was re-enacting a pattern that has occurred in my life over and over again over the past six years, one I’m ready to stop. The pattern is taking a job “just because I need the money” instead of taking a job because I like it or enjoy it. Whenever I’ve taken a job for that reason, using the logic that once I have something I’ll be able to search for what I want, I’ve never been able to find an enjoyable job. Instead I get dragged down by a job I don’t enjoy and end up not searching for anything new or I jump to another equally unsatisfying job.

This festered and grew in my mind over the next few days and came into being a huge realization that is indeed revolutionary to the way that I live my life:

If I choose to do something out of fear-based energies, then I will attract more fear-based energies into my life. But if I choose instead, to do something out of love-based energies then love-based energies will surely flow into my life.

That made too much sense to me to ignore it.

I needed to quit.

But I was scared.

This is a very different way of thinking for me that wasn’t taught to me by my family, school, or even by my culture. The more I contemplated this the more it made sense, and several occurrences happened creating confidence in me and in my decision.

First I noticed in the prayer that I’ve been saying each morning for a few weeks includes this line:

Oh Kind and Merciful Kuan Yin, give me steadfast courage to follow my heart in my life’s journey, even when it means defying the expectations of others to reach my true destiny.

The same day I choose to do what I needed to do I pulled the affirmation card stating:

I am totally adequate for all situations. I am one with the power of the Universe. I claim this power, and it is easy for me to stand up for myself.

I wondered, is quitting a job that is unsuitable to me standing up for myself? Is it ultimately an act of self-love?

One of the women in my class made the statement that day, “It’s like I had to give myself permission to be happy.”

Ironically, that’s what I felt that I needed to do. Why do I need to work a job I don’t like? How does that make sense? I don’t and it doesn’t make sense. The Universe put us on the planet to be happy, not to be miserable. Our life is supposed to be filled with joy in all areas, however that looks for each of us. And it will be different for all of us. Obviously, this job is not my joy.

Then, in the book I was reading, I stumbled upon:

“Follow your bliss. – Joseph Campbell”

Well, you know, a woman has to do what a woman has to do. I decided I want to bring forth only energies of love, therefore all things that I do will be based out of love and happiness instead of fear.

I called my workplace and quit. A weight lifted off of me, and I was happy and excited about life again. Curiosity about what life and I can create in my universe came back.

The next day I pulled these affirmations:

I now go beyond other peoples fears and limitations. It is ‘my’ mind that creates my experiences. I am unlimited in my own ability to create the good in my life.

It is safe to look within. As I move through the layers of other peoples opinions and beliefs I see within myself a magnificent being, wise and beautiful. I love what I see in me.

Suiting, no?

*My wardrobe has morphed into mainly skirts/dresses, with the very odd day being a jeans day.

New Feature! Moonstone – Eye of the Goddess

This beautiful soft and loving stone was born deep in the embryos of the Earth with loving acceptance always as her role. She pulsates with the fluid energy of Kali while bringing forth Mother Mary’s purity and Athenas wisdom.

Soother of hearts,

Blue Moonstone

gatherer of tears,

shining as a star does

in the moonlight

she draws for in the user

and holder the strong yet soft,

open yet wise,

fluid yet demanding

energy of the feminine.

She quells the feminine when she has grown too strong for the masculine, her counterpart and lover she cannot live without. For her the ultimate joy comes working in deep and mystical equal partnership with the masculine. She demands to take responsibility for all of her actions and uses her deepest wisdom to bring forth the results she craves and desires quickly, sometimes dramatically, but powerfully.

She is the Eye of the Goddess.

Keywords: Intuitive, all knowing, wise, strong, fluid, powerful, loving, open, authentic, balance of masculine and feminine energies, mystical, moonlover

What an introduction, eh?

This is a new feature with a focus various legends and lore of the gemstones. I’ll be channelling pieces from the Akashic Records like the above piece with pieces of my research and experience following below. Enjoy! Let’s get down to the lore!

My Experience

My experience of moonstone has been powerful and long. I began working with this gemstone several years ago after I dreamed of an old druid-like man appearing in my room. He told me that moonstone would protect me, and to place small pieces above every door and window. It would only allow the good to enter, and nothing bad would be able to pass through.

The next day I bought several tumbled pieces of moonstone that have travelled with me since, almost always being placed above the doors and windows of the rooms I live in. That has been my main use of this stone, occasionally sitting and wearing the odd stone for its calming and intuitive presence.

Writing this blog post inspired me to begin wearing a large piece of moonstone that sits on my windowsill most days and to observe the changes in my life. I noticed immediately a shift: powerful loving energies swirling around my being providing protection, intuitive insights and grace; a grace allowing me to confidently stand in my feminine. Moonstone is a keeper.

Legend Has It

In India, in Vedic legend it is told a battle was fought between Lord Vishnu and Bali, the demon god. Vishnu destroyed Bali by breaking his body into several pieces, which fell to the earth as different jewels. Moonstone was formed from the gleam of Bali’s eyes.

It is believed that the finest blue moonstones are washed ashore by the tides every 21 years, when the sun and moon were in an astrologically harmonious aspect to each other.

Blue moonstone is the most coveted around the world out of all the various types of moonstone.

Romans believed that moonstone was formed by frozen moonlight because of the way it shimmers.

Amulets of moonstone were hung in fruit trees to produce abundance crops. The amulets were associated with the following Goddesses: Isis, Diana, and Selene.

Moon Uses

There is said to be a white mark on the moonstone that follows the cycle of the moon. As the moon waxes and wanes, so too does the mark on the stone. When the moon is waning the wearer would be able to foretell evens, and when the moon was waxing it was used as an effective love charm.

When the moon is full, it is said that a lover can predict the future of the relationship by placing the moonstone in the mouth.

There are cultures that use moonstone as an aphrodisiac, and legends in India and Europe that state two people will fall passionately in love when the moon is high if they wearing moonstone in any way.

When staring at a moonstone for a long uninterrupted period of time it is said to put the person into a trance or hypnotize them. During this time insights into the future will be gained.

It is said that within the moonstone lives a spirit full of good that can bring abundance, fertility, and calmness to the users.

In the Middle East women sew moonstones to their clothes when they want to conceive a child.

An elixir was traditionally made of crushed moonstone to help cure insomnia, and the stone was also used to treat sleepwalking.

Purchase your Moonstone elixir here!

Astrological Sign: Cancer, sometimes also with signs in August (Leo, Virgo)

Chakra: Any – can be used to balance any chakra. In India associated with the third eye and sacral chakra, in other traditions with the heart and crown chakras.

Associated Christian Names: Mary and Matthew

Key Sources:

Curious Lore of Precious Stones by George Fredrick Kunz

http://www.ehow.com/info_8327031_myths-moonstone.html

http://shoppeatthemistymoon.com/blog/?p=365

Do you have a gemstone or mineral inside your collection that you love and are curious about it? Do you wonder how best to work with it? Or what its purpose is for you? I do gemstone readings in person and by distance! Click here to find out more.

Serafina Christine is a creative free spirited cyclist and mystic who has committed to learning how to best Follow Her Bliss. She is the creator of Willows Lavender, where she specializes in readings and gemstone therapy, including gemstone elixirs.

Graduation!

This week I graduated from a very special six month employability program.

This program contained a heart and soul that is way beyond any government supported program I’ve witnessed or been a part of. The program focuses on women who’ve experienced trauma in their lives and teaches skills to re-enter the workforce with healthy boundaries, positive thinking patterns, confidence, increased self-esteem and professionalism.

The graduation was emotionally charged, especially for all the graduates. Almost everyone of us cried. After sharing our speeches, and being honored for all the hard work that we have done on a professional and personal level, we left Bridges.

Many of us will go back for additional support to the cocoon of love that has been created by all the people who work there. Their passion for helping women, providing healing, one by one, step by step shines through the work they do.

We will not come together again as we did in the classroom, three times each week, for learning and growth. In a short time we created a sense of family together, and now we will leave, each of us on our individual paths, but this time, feeling empowered and confident.

In honor of my graduation, I would like to share with you my speech. I was crying and shaking as I read it aloud in front of around thirty people: new students to the program, fellow graduates and their friends and family and the staff of Bridges.

“When I first came to Bridges I had no idea how much my experiences here would change my life. I came because I intuitively knew it would be invaluable.

I believe there are so many people, men and women, who could benefit from attending a program like this. There were many times a friend of mine would listen to what I’m up to with Bridges and say “Wow, I wish I could experience that.”

My time in Bridges has taught me that I am a strong and invaluable woman, who is an asset to this world. It has shown me that my gifts and strengths can be used, appreciated, explored. I’ve learned to trust myself despite what is going on around me, and to practice self-love every single day.

I am in the process of stepping into my own power and womanhood, a process that Bridges helped to expediate and ground, while providing direction and support that I will be eternally grateful for. I know there is so much that I’ve taken away from this program that I might not have received otherwise.

I’ve learned that I am a soul that thrives on the act of creation, and that it is okay for me to “Follow My Bliss” as Joseph Campbell so famously said. I’ve learned that it is okay for me to make my way in this world, my way.

I am proud to be graduating Bridges with this group of wonderful and beautiful women. I am so happy and grateful that I have been able to witness their journey’s and to have mine witnessed by such strong and wise women who have blossomed so much in these last six months.

Now that I am done Bridges, courage will be my friend, my vulnerability my strength, my heart my guide, my passions my focus, my love my life.

In short, I am a superhero.”

My New Role Model

I have a new role model. Her name is Lady Gaga.

Recently I watched a short documentary about her and to my great delight and surprise it was repeated over and over again how much work she put into her art and her life path.

For some reason I had an impression that success doesn’t take a lot of work. I had this vague idea of how it comes about easily and almost effortless very quickly once the ball gets rolling. All you need to do is be in the right place at the right time or meet the right person.

Working at my own business, Willows Lavender, has been A LOT of work. I’ve been determined and focused on the business because I’m confident that I will eventually live off of the earnings somehow. Its simply a desire I’ve had from a young age that I don’t want to work for anyone else. I want the freedom and autonomy that comes with being self-employed.

For a while I was reading about all these successful people – entrepreneurs, investors, business people, social entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders – who were offering how to’s for success. It seemed rare to come across someone who would simply say “It took a hell of a lot of work to get here. I gave up nights and days to get where I am today.” Persistence and determination came up too of course, but for some reason my mind was like “yeah, yeah, got that, what else can I do?”

Most often I read “Find something you love, and do it” with how-to steps given on starting, but not much beyond that. Logic dictates that if you find what you love, you won’t want to stop doing it so a huge part of being self-employed is solved right there.

I feel that is a misunderstanding and that ultimately self-employment, often like a spiritual path, is an undertaking that is usually extremely individual. This means that while other people’s advice and thoughts can help broaden my horizons and introduce new thoughts to contemplate it still all comes down to me and the decisions I make.

What works for me? What will work for me? For clients, whom am I going to resonate most with? How am I best going to present myself? What is my business going to evolve into as I evolve and grow? How do I want to design my life, and therefore my work experience and income? How am I going to present myself to the world?

These are all questions that are very personal and flexible. What works for one person won’t necessarily work for me so it becomes a process of trial and error or sometimes following intuitive hunches as I make my way through the business world.

Lady Gaga lives her life like its a work of art. Every action and every appearance she makes is another work of art that will end up creating a beautiful masterpiece that looks inside the pure and innocent parts of humanity as well as the gross parts.

I can’t commend or thank her enough for that inspiration of being a living example of a strong co-creator with the Universe. Our lives are a blank canvas that get painted with all of our choices. Some of us have colorful canvases and others have canvases that are shades of gray. Some of us are happy with our canvases, and some of aren’t. Sometimes we try to throw away our canvas and start anew.

The Universe is whispering to you and me that all we dream is truly possible. Our lives are a blank canvas, begin to consciously create and you will see your creations come alive through determination and a lot of hard work.

Lady Gaga’s knew what she wanted and she took all the steps she feasibly could while working hard. This gave the Universe sufficient energies to manifest exactly what she desired, and turned her into a very powerful woman. Her life is an example of the Law of Attraction manifest.

According to the documentary Lady Gaga was born and named Stefani in 1986. She began learning piano at four and showed musical talent early on. She focused on song writing and creating her persona while working hard to make a living at not so glamorous jobs, sometimes working as many as three at a time. She was broke and just making ends meet, but her life changed when she Akon heard her and signed her to his label. Her life changed quickly thereafter as her songs started climbing the charts.

This inspires me. She’s a superstar success at a young age with a philanthropist spirit who stands strong in the image that she has cultivated over the years with a lot of thought and practice. I have an entirely new view of her and much more respect since watching the documentary.

Lady Gaga posters anybody?

Who, alive today, inspires you and is your role model? Why?