Monthly Archives: November 2013

How to Find the Right Psychic for You | A Good Psychic

fortune tellerIt’s hard to tell who is a good and authentic psychic in this field. Con artists have given this field a bad rap because it isn’t hard to say “I’m a psychic” and with awesome marketing get the public in and make a fortune. I’ve experienced it. It’s taken me a couple of years to be able to tell who is a good and true psychic verses not, but its a challenge.

Before I came into this line of work I had never been to a psychic. It always seemed kind of, well, redundant to me. But after being in this field I began to check out other psychics. I wanted to know what they were like. I wanted to learn from them. I wanted to know more about what a good psychic is like.

I’ve felt duped more than a few times.

I’ve cried on Venice Beach after a “crystal reader” made me feel like sh*t and that there was no hope in the world for me to live my dreams. She projected her beliefs on me when I came to her in such an open hearted way, excited to meet in person another crystal reader. It’s rare I meet a crystal reader, however, she was not a crystal reader. She was a con artist.

Note: If the reader is projecting their beliefs onto you, they are not a good reader. A good reader is someone who is clean and clear, who has little to no need to project their beliefs onto you. They only offer information that serves you, not what they believe to be true (and often is) in their reality. Your reality and life path is totally different and doesn’t operate in the same way as the psychics in many respects. Leave that psychic before they can make you cry. Please. Please!

I’ve walked way from another highly recommended psychic shaking my head, feeling that I wasted my money. Half of what she had said was coming from her ego, her framework. The information was not clean and pure. It took me weeks to sort through her information to find what was true verses what was simply her opinions.

Note: This is another case very similar to projection, however, this one felt very ego oriented where the one on Venice Beach actually believed that she was helping. This reading had a lot of “I”m smarter and older and this is the truth of the matter no matter what you say/believe/think. I’m going to tell you how the world is. I know what’s right.” feelings to it in-between the valuable information. There was nothing valuable to take from the Venice Beach psychic while this one did give me valuable information. This one felt more like a power trip than projection. Stay clear of those who power trip!

I’ve also had very good experiences that have left my heart open knowing the truth was spoken with an open heart and that the person speaking was not coming from ego. Ironically enough, these experiences have often come from when I do a card reading trade with someone that I’ve taught how to read cards or someone who doesn’t consider themselves a professional in the field.

Qualities of  a Good Psychic

truthcomesfromtheheartIn my honest and humble opinion my experiences have led me to believe that a “good psychic” is someone who is consistently working on clearing their channel and releasing things that keep them from their core of unconditional love.

A “good psychic” is always going to do his/her best to come from the heart with a sense of detachment to the outcome of the situation. Any form of attachment will influence the reading.

A “good psychic” will be open and honest, even if they know the client doesn’t want to hear the truth. They know that the client has come to hear the truth no matter if they like it.

A “good psychic” is constantly expanding their framework and truths about the Universe and will have a daily practice to help facilitate this.

A “good psychic” will allow the flow of the Universe, of the Highest Self, of that which Guides from Unconditional Love, to do the speaking, and knows that what they gift to other is not them. They are simply the channel for the information of the client’s Highest Self to come through. A reminder. A confirmation. Guidance to help their client come closer to themselves.

What to Look For in a Psychic

1. The number one thing to finding a good psychic is to pay attention to word of mouth. Ask your friends. Read the testimonials. See if what is being spoken about is what resonates with you.

All psychics from what I can tell have very different styles. Some are more inspirational and self-empowering (like myself) while others are more down to Earth this is what’s happening whether you like it or not. Both styles are great, however, different people respond differently to the ways the information comes to them. If you are someone who responds well to being told very straightforward what is happening then find someone’s who’s style reflects that. If you want someone who is soft and comes from the heart, then look for that in the testimonials you read.

2. Does the psychic you are looking at resonate with you? 

This is helpful if you can meet with the psychic or call them to have a conversation. It’s even better if they have a website. What you are looking for here is to see if you agree with what they stand for, with what they speak about, with what they think. You want to find someone that when they say something part of you is going “yes, yes, that’s truth to me.” Take time to look around their social media, their websites, etc. and see if that happens for you.

Pay attention to the framework from which they operate from. You want to find a psychic with the largest frame work you can because a large framework encompasses all of the smaller frameworks. What this means is that you want to find someone who is wiser than yourself. You want to find someone who understands where you are at and can take you to the next level. You don’t want someone that you go to and they tell you what your mother says. You want someone who goes beyond where you can go, who can go deeper into the unconscious and collective consciousness realms.

3. Where does the psychic operate from?

Many times when we are trying to find psychics we are trying to find those who operate from the heart center and not the ego. We want a person that connects with us at a deep level and isn’t in it just for the money. There are several ways that this can be defined from reading their blog posts, to their actions in the world, to the hear-say from friends, to what is said on the website and so on. This is something that is often intuitively uncovered as we look over the materials that they present to the world.

I can tell you that the more the psychic comes from the ego the less accurate they will be.

4. How does the psychic make you feel? 

This is key. People who are looking for psychic guidance will often attend body mind expos and psychic fairs. They will often come across a psychic in person. So pay attention. When you are in the company of the psychic how do you feel? How about when you leave? How about when you phone them to chat? How do you feel when you get off the phone?

If you feel drained, tired, marginalized, small, stupid or anything else like that then chances are that is not the psychic for you. After seeing a psychic you may feel like you’ve received a lot of information but as that information processes it should uplift you, feel true to you, resonate with you, and empower you in some way.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA5. Recognize that the psychic your best friend goes to you might not be right for you. 

In number one I say ask for recommendations and now I’m saying that the recommendations might not be right for you.

What’s up?

Recommendations are a great way to start getting connected into the realm of psychics and to how they work. The people who are recommending you to someone will often tell you why. They will say “I really like her because she always seems to come from the heart” or “He’s super good at what he does. I always find him to be accurate” or “She helped me through one of the toughest decisions I had to make”.

Those people too will be able to tell you what to expect in a reading.

They often can get you an introductory rate to the see the psychic as many of the psychics I know have a discounted rate for those who come referred through regular clients. 

Conclusion

Finding the right psychic for you is a very personal process. You want someone who resonates with you, will tell you the truth, is accurate, and will provide the best customer service they can. You want someone who helps you be more of you, in my opinion.

For those of you who do have visited psychics, what do you look for?

 

5 Ways to Cleanse Your Crystals

So you have a shiny new friend and you are wondering what to do with it. Well, one of the first things that I used to recommend to all people is to cleanse the new crystal or gemstone that you have so its clean and shiny when you play with it.

Used to?

Through my continuous work with the mineral kingdom I’ve discovered that no crystal or gemstone or mineral needs to be cleansed or cleared. All of the minerals are little pockets of unconditional love, and nothing negative can live in unconditional love just as no virus can live in an alkaline environment. What this means is that each crystal contains the vibration of unconditional love and is always transmuting any energy lower than that which it encounters. Consistently. It never stops.

However when the mineral gets an overload of energy to transmute they do tend to break. So if you are doing a lot of work with a particular crystal (wearing it each day, using it daily, etc.) I recommend you take the time to cleanse it so your crystal stays in one piece! They tend to do their best work when they are feeling shiny, clean and loved, just like us. Remember, the mineral that your  holding contains a consciousness that is very different from ours. The mineral still enjoys being treated like the sacred being it is, just as we do.

This means that when we take the time to cleanse or clear our mineral we are doing a service to that mineral and helping it do its job more effectively and faster. We are showing the love and gratitude we have for the mineral giving its service here. The way minerals have described being left out under the moonlight is like a human going for a day at the spa. They feel loved, pampered, joyful, and ready to be of service again with a renewed zest.

MoonlightAnd that leads us to the first and most common way to clear minerals: By the light of the full moon.

The light of the full moon contains a particular energy that has been harnesssed for centuries by all sorts of mystics, alchemists, witches, yogis, and pretty much anyone who is in tune with natural cycles. The moon’s energy controls most of life on the planet, from the tides, to the cycles of each woman on the planet. The full moon is known as the time to release all that binds us and all that no longer serves us. Crystals are commonly left outside on the night of the full moon in a ritual type way so that the light can clear them. Minerals can also be left on a window’s ledge if you don’t trust the raccoons and crows. 🙂

By moonlight is the way to give your minerals the VIP treatment.

The second common way to clear minerals is with cold water. 

This is the process of washing the mineral under running cold water. Water has a cleansing effect and with the intention to release any energies that are not serving from the crystal most people find this to be an effective way of clearing a crystal. This method can be a bit dangerous if you don’t know about the crystal you are washing as there are minerals that will dissolve in water. You do not want to put selenite nor halite in water. For a full list of highly soluble minerals click here. For common somewhat soluble minerals click here.

This method is a good quick method that I’ve commonly used between crystal healing sessions.

Another common way to clear minerals is energetically. 

This is one of my personal favourite ways because it is easy, simple, and doesn’t require anything so it is ideal while travelling. For this one you hold the mineral in your hand and close your eyes. Imagine white light cleaning and clearing the crystal, travelling from Source into the middle of the mineral expanding outward. Continue to imagine this until you feel or know that the mineral is clean. For me I will see wolves running from the crystal. When there are no more wolves I know the mineral is clean. What happens for you may be different and is just as true.

This method may take some practice but comes in handy when travelling or when there is a lack of time to cleanse the minerals. The exercise can be expanded to include several minerals at once.

There is a method of leaving your minerals in the sun. This is a good way to clear minerals but there are some minerals that will actually loose their colour or shine with this method including amethyst, rose quartz, flourite, aquamarine, kunzite, smokey quartz, hiddenite, and spudumene. If you’ve done this already you may be able to bring out the colour again by rubbing a small amount of mineral oil into the mineral.

sageThe fifth way I will mention here to cleanse your minerals is to smudge them. 

This is an easy way of taking whatever your preferred smudge method is, and smudging the minerals you want clean. As per most methods it is up to you and your intuitive feelings to know when your minerals are clean. This is a subtle feeling or knowing, or just simply guessing when your first learning to listen and trust your intuition, that will tell you the mineral is clean.

You can’t “over-clean” a  mineral, nor can you “not clean it enough”. This is an additional step you can take to help the mineral be of more service to you. Even a little help is better than nothing.

These methods are the ones that I feel are easiest and most effective ways of clearing crystals. There are many more ways that you can cleanse your minerals that are much more ritual based including the use of herbs, burying the crystals, and using other minerals to cleanse minerals that you could research.

Keep in mind that there are three minerals that it is said never need to be cleansed. They are kyanite, citrine and selenite. These minerals can be placed touching other minerals and will clear them overnight.

Bonus Methods: Rice and Sea Salt. 

Placing the minerals in a bowl with rice or sea salt will clear minerals but in a different way than the ways mentioned above. Rice has a neutralizing effect. The mineral will feel more “in-balance” and often cleaner after sitting in rice (preferably submerged) for a few hours. With sea salt the crystals definitely feel clear after a few hours. The sea salt absorbs quickly any negative energy and rebalances, while often charging the mineral as well. I do not recommend eating the rice or salt afterwards as I’ve noticed that the rice often will change colour.

Happy Clearing!

How to Tell if Your Amber is Real

A client recently asked me: “How can you tell if Amber is real? There’s a lot of fake stuff on the market these days!”

image by Krzysztof Szkurlatowski; 12frames.eu

image by Krzysztof Szkurlatowski; 12frames.eu

I did some research and here ‘s what I came up with:

First, I’d like to discuss a bit about what Amber is so we know what we are looking for:

Amber is one of the lightest “stones” on the planet. It’s not even really a stone: it is fossilized tree resin. Amber is similar to a substance called copal, which is commonly used in smudge ceremonies, and as my research dictates, is being used as a fake amber on the market. Copal is much younger than amber is, and will turn into amber when all of the volatile terpenes have been released.

Amber is not made of sap, but of tree resin which is a syrup-like fluid that flows beneath the tree’s bark protecting the tree when it’s damaged. Sap provides nutrients for the tree and flows inside the main part of the tree, not just beneath the bark.

Amber is also one of the softer minerals so if you use a penny to make a scratch on the material it should leave one. Pennies rate at 3.0 on the MOHs scale while Amber is a 2.0

So when we are testing for real amber we are looking for a soft mineral with a light weight. Most ambers are red-yellow-orange and may contain parts of plants/insects inside the resin but they are rarely perfect looking, like many fake amber inclusions. Note that the price rises rapidly for pieces of real amber with plant or insect inclusions, easily well over $1,000 depending on the type and quality of the inclusion.

Now we are ready to talk about how to tell if its real.

Five ways to tell if your amber is real:

1) Safest and least common way: Wash the piece with soap and water, and after giving it a good rinse taste it. Amber has almost no taste to it, and may leave at most a light sensation on the tongue. Other plastics and copal will have a strong flavour!

2) Using nail polish remover: Amber will not be harmed with a small amount of nail polish remover, but plastics and copal will have a tacky surface after being gently rubbed with it. Sometimes the colour of the piece will disappear and you know its definitely not amber!

3) Salt Water: Boil 1 part salt with 2 parts water to create salt water. Make sure the salt is completely dissolved. Put the piece inside the water. Amber will float. Copal and plastics will sink.

4) Hot Needle: Heat a needle over a candle or match until its red and then poke the piece with the needle. Amber will emit a pinemtree-like scent.

5) Friction: Rub the piece of amber with a soft white cloth gently but quickly to create friction. Real amber may emit a resinous scent and will get charged with static electricity with which you can pick up small pieces of paper. Copal will become warm and sticky.

Now that you are empowered Amber shoppers and you know what to look for and how to test for real amber enjoy! Happy shopping!