Religion and the Irreligious

        I grew up without religion. That does not mean that I was not exposed to it. I had a christening as a baby, which of course I do not remember. I had a big book, a children's book of the bible, that covered both old and new testament stories written out in plain English. I picked it up now and then, looked through it at the pictures. If a picture grabbed my attention I would try and read the story. I was little, too little for the level the book is written, but I was a reader and did my best. As best as I can recall, I never thought, 'wow, this guy in the sky, gotta listen to him, he is the one that makes the world go round.' I never felt any spark or stirring of spirit with these stories. I found that the story of Noah was my favorite and I liked the snake in the tree too. A talking snake was just a neat concept.
Mom was smart when answering my questions about god and religion. Her response was always matter of fact and neutral. The impressions she gave me did get me in trouble a couple times on the playground. However, if it was not god that I got teased about that time, it would have been something else later. I was one of those kids that got singled out. I was one of the 'different' kids. It did not matter.

        My family never went to church and I never ended up going to church with friends. While I never had the church experience, somehow I knew what went on there. I knew the basics of the Jesus story and it's meaning. Then, on one particular night it hit me. My little young mind feared for my afterlife and what would be my judgment. I did not believe in Christianity and I had not seen any evidence of God as I understood it to be from the stories I read as a child. I should probably add here that my father was a scientist, an Entomologist specifically. Even as a child I was very much nature driven. I loved the trees, animals, the moon and stars, the cycle of life was something I totally comprehended. I was not saddened by the lions killing the baby antelope, I knew that it was part of the design
• But back to that night. 
Strange things would happen to me at night when I was supposed to be sleeping, but that is another story. Over all, my time at night was when I did most of my 'exploring'. I had my what if scenarios like what if I had never been born. I would have day dreams of having magical powers and there would be peaks into the what ifs of the future. I did not always like those. On this particular night I went on a search for God. I wondered about my standing with him, that is, if he even existed. Would I be accepted by him if i did not want to join the church? I really was not into the church thing. The whole thing seemed rather boring to me. Would he be ok with that? That is when I got my Hall Pass, given to me by God. As my little, young and innocent soul stressed over not being a church going person and my good graces with god, an answer came.

I was told that as long as I am a good person, treat others with kindness, and always know and share love I was OK. Those things was all that really mattered. I was told that there are many ways to heaven and that one did not need any specific religion or belief to get there. I was told, 'stay pure of heart'.

What a relief!
It would be many years after that I would engage God again. I ended up going to a private school that happened to be Christian and I of course had bible classes through the week, Sunday Morning Chapel, and it was optional the Wednesday and Sunday fellowships. Which I actually attended some. Usually not out of interest but because someone wanted me to go or it was the only way to spend time with boys…
Being around so many active religious people was a very different experience for me. I went from nothing, to all week in all corners. Eventually doubt set in, but just a little bit.

       I still was strongly rooted in not wanting to be part of a religion. That's when I spoke with him again, and again I was reassured that I was OK. It was also brought to my attention that the supposed shining stars within my dorm, don't shine so bright and are far from perfect and tend to be hypocritical. While I was shown that 'bad', I was also shown those that were pure of heart. Those people got my respect, the others I just did not interact with. I pretty much kept my relationship with god to myself and played the good christian student role for those two years. It was not hard because I knew I was in good standing.
I had always felt and believed that there is some sort of higher power, but just could not see it as a him, a person type being.
I saw the divine force as something grater and nondescript yet is in everything and is everywhere….So I was not exactly an atheist, but did not believe in God.
I did not believe in God but still had a second conversation with him. And he, it, looked out for me while I was at the Christian school. I never got called to lead a prayer, asked to volunteer in some godly service, never approached for anything, and I did not want to be. Really did not want to, thank god is did not have to!

        At 40 something years, I look back and see that being irreligious now compared to then is harder. People have become more forceful with their faiths. The speak more openly about it, and they are driven to tell everyone what they must do to connect to god and be saved. Maybe it has always been that way and as one gets older they are in situations that expose them more to these sorts of things and people. I know that the internet for sure has gotten a lot of paths criss-crossing all over. And that is going to lead to faith wars.
It is really sad to tell the truth. The message of Love and our purpose to be caring and kind is so lost in those who seek so hard to get people to be religious for the sake of saving their souls*


*let it be known that I do not 'dis' anyone or any religion. There is value in all things. However, there are some that tend to be a bit pushy and irrational. These are those that I speak of. I have met some really sound and delightful religious people in my life and I am happy and proud to call them friends.

All Hallows Eve ~ Dia De Los Muertos ~

October 31st is Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, and known to many pagans as Samhain (pronounced Sow-en).

On November 2nd is Dia De Los Meurtos, translated Day of the Dead and also called All Souls Day.

Halloween has been known as a day of setting out jack o' lanterns, dressing up in costume and collecting candy from door to door and other fun traditions.

Dia De Los Muertos is a day when the living honor the dead with alters and offerings.

Very different traditions but both a bit spooky in their own way.

What is interesting is that these days hover around a time when the veil between the living and the dead, the Otherworld, is very thin.

This is when those who reside on the other side are more likely to be seen in our dimension. We become more sensitive and receptive to those in the spirit world.

For those that celebrate Dia De Los Muerots, they communicate and 'touch' their past loved ones with their offerings and alters.

For those that run around in costume saying 'Trick or Treat', are doing so from an older tradition that served a different purpose than a bag full of candy.

People dress up to hide their true identity so that those spirit that walked among them when the veil is thin will not recognize that they are of the living.

Halloween is not the only time that spirits and loved ones who have passed on can be communicated with or will communicate with the living themselves.

There is a phenomena known as After Death Communication or ADC for short.

Many people from all walk of life will have stories about butterflies and coins, token symbols that seem to be present at times when one has died.

I had a ADC with a deck of tarot cards.

A Bit of History~

It was Spring in the late 1990's and I met a man who was one of my soulmates.

I am one who believes that through living past lives, we have several soulmates that we encounter in a single lifetime.

I had been through some rough relationships and what a bit jaded.

As a matter of self preservation, I came up with a question that I would ask all my suitors.

"What are your intentions?"

I had asked this of my soulmate several times when we first met, his reply always was,

"All Honorable". All the other guys just fumbled over their words.

Shortly after we met and after asking him that question numerous times, I pulled out my tarot cards, the Native American deck.

If some one wants to be with me, they need to know everything about me and if someone is not comfortable with my use of cards and my intuitive ability, then it is not a good match.

I fanned out my tarot cards the way I normally do when I want to feel for a single card by waving my hand over them. When I told him to pick a card he waved his hand back and forth over the cards in the same manner. In my mind I thought, 'wow'. Then he picked a card and turned it over, and big "WOW".

The card's title was "HONOR".  He just looked at it and then looked at me with that delightful goofy smile.

The Universe had spoken!

I knew for sure that he was my soulmate. I was also able to relax and enjoy and not be so fearful with a big armored box around my heart.

The ADC~

Fall, same year.

The relationship was short lived for my soulmate was taken away from me by the hands of another.

At that time he was officially just a missing person but I knew that he was dead for I had felt it the moment it happened. It was the saddest, deepest sorrow and emptiness I had ever felt and it came out of nowhere. 

One night I was home alone and lonely, missing his company and the sound of his voice. I was wanting to have some sort of a connection with him. Being a sensitive, able to feel ghosts and sometimes connect with the dead, I was a little disappointed with the fact that I was not feeling anything from him. He was my soulmate after all and it puzzled me. So I thought I would break out my tarot deck and use it to make that connection.

I spoke out loud and said, "I have no question for the cards. Just want (name) to talk to me, tell me something for I miss listening to you."

I decided on 5 cards for this pull for we had been born almost exactly 5 days apart. I was born at just before 11pm and he was born just after 11pm 5 days later.

The first card I pulled, "HONOR" all I could do was cry. Cry because he was gone and I missed him, cry because I had made that connection that I so needed. I whispered 'I love you' and continued to pull the cards.

The 2nd card was VII Strength. Pictured on the card is a mountain lion. Both of us have mountain lion as one of our animal totems. The constellation lynx is also depicted on the card.

As a totem, the Mountain Lion protects my sacred space, the place where the heart is kept. The answer to my 'intentions' question was the key to my sacred space- give the wrong answer and you are not invited in. Here he was telling me to be strong, stay connected and listen to my totem animal.

Lynx had meaning as well. Lynx made an appearance out of my Medicine Card deck when I pulled cards just after he disappeared. I asked "What happened to him?" and Lynx showed up and represents secrets. Being a missing person at that time, there was a lot of secrets surrounding his 'situation'.

I felt that here, he was telling me that his death and location was to be a secret for a while and this is why I needed to be strong. It was also telling me that what I felt about his death was indeed very real, that I 'knew' the secret.

The 3rd card I pulled was the 5 of Vessels, which is known as Cups in traditional tarot. The title to this card is Warrior Woman. I would get this card a lot in my personal readings, so much that I called it MY card. This continued the message of being strong and to keep my 'fighting' spirit. That I would be challenged emotionally but possess the strength and will to continue on.

The 4th card was the Maiden of Shields, Pentacles in traditional tarot, and the maiden is equal to a Page. This card is a card that I related to much like the Warrior Woman and also made me aware of one of my past lives. With this card he was telling me that even though the relationship was short, that it was meant to be. We where soulmates in a past life, in this life and will be again in a life to come.

The last card I pulled was XVII The Star. The image upon the card was of Grandmother Spider and her web of fate. This continued the message of the card before, of past lives of soulmates and of fate and what is and meant to be. It is also a card that speaks of dreams and hope. After my bad relationships, he was the one who brought me back to that place of hopes and dreams and he wanted me to know that even though he was gone, that I was not to ever give up hope in finding a love like ours in the future.

The two Major Arcana cards that showed up here are connected through their numbers. Strength is number 8 and the Star, 17, when reduced is also 8.

The shape of the number 8 is used in tarot by turning it on it's side to see it as the well known symbol for Infinity.

Again, this ties to the life cycles that go on after we have left this life-time. I also see it as his way of telling me that he would always be with me even if I could not feel his presence and energy.

More on ADCs

Just in Time for Halloween

DO YOU SEE THE GHOST?

The story goes like this ~

I am hanging out with the neighbors, having a pot luck. One of the neighbors, well, we have some of the same friends and other people we know that we have met independently, this info will be important later....it's a small town thing, ya know.

As we sit shooting the breeze, she says, "oh, you have to look at this freaky picture my friend sent me a few hours ago. They where up camping....." she hands me her phone and I instantly spot the ghost. The hair on my arms stands up and my eyes begin to water excessively, as if they where dry, not like I was so very sad. 

I tend to be a sensitive when it comes to spirits in the Otherworld.

My physical reaction did not surprise me that it happened. The hair thing is common, but the watering of the eyes I am still trying to figure out.

Back to that small town thing. The people in the picture look familiar to me, but I cannot really tell if it is the people I know. 

But, I start in with the questions since I am a bit of a ghost magnet.

'Who took the pic? who are those people? where and when did this happen?'

It was at a campground a few hours to the northeast of where we live. The picture had been taken within about 24 hours- did not know if it was that night or the night before. She did not know the names of the people in the pic, but the picture came from her friend (my understanding).

How it went down at the Campground~

The friend took the picture with her phone, they looked at it that night and when they saw the ghost in the picture, they packed up camp and got out of there.

The area they camped in is known for ghosts, so there is something to help validate the truth in this story.

I am working on getting names to see if these are the people that I think they are and talk to them to see if they have something to share with me. 

Update~ 

A fellow artist friend passed this photo on to a friend of hers. She said that when she looked at the picture that her eyes began to water and her hair stood up.

I am curious to know from other sensitives, what was your initial impression? How did your body physically react upon seeing this photo?