Magic: fake or fact? (2)

So, after reading about the Archetype of the destructive Female Power (see last post), I went into the dunes, to communicate with spirit, and the land, like R.J. Stewart in his book on magic suggested. I passed a hill, and saw a fox; never seen one before.

I sat down to meditate, a few meters from where the fox had been. I talked to the wind, the flies and the birds. I connected to the soil, and asked mother Earth for symbols. I started to follow the energy with my hands; signs arose. No idea what they were.

When I was done, a rabbit came. It was running towards me, squeaking loudly. Suddenly it started spinning around. It made very strange movements; on the same spot where I had seen the fox. One minute later it dropped dead. I was in shock. I did not dare to approach it.

I didn’t know what to do, then to simply connect, and share my love. A while later I took off. Before reaching the path, I was startled again. A flock of pigeons flew just over my head.

For a few days I felt totally puzzled. And I am still trying to figure out what happened. This is scary! Or am I just an ignorant city girl?  

(To be continued...)

Magic: fake or fact? (1)

In one of my last posts I complained about mother Earth, because she didn’t give me any signs. Did she send me some messengers just a few days later! If I could only understand what they were saying…

This holiday I wanted to learn about magic. I find healings magical. I love the dreamlike state where I communicate with other dimensions. 

So when I started reading R.J. Stewart’s work, it really resonated: according to him magic is a means of transformation. Like meditation, yoga or healing can be. He describes magic as an initiation process, and practitioners are travelers, embarking on the Underworld Journey.

He says: ‘All magic is firmly based upon this Foundation: There is more than one world.’ And: ‘You cannot have magic without the harmonious exchange between humanity and other orders of life. A ritual, a ceremony, is a special pattern that enables this exchange. This ritual pattern is shared between humans and other beings… humans and spiritual beings.’

And: ‘One of the hallmarks of true magic is that it is freely available to all, yet very few of us choose to look for it.’ And: ‘Only when the individual has been through the Underworld can he or she mediate solar energies into the land, or bring Light and Dark together.’

Magic is about felt experience. It cannot be grasped by intellectual effort, or occur without body and Earth. Intention is everything. So is the knowledge that you are dealing with real entities (Archetypes), not fantasies.

I really liked what I read (and that's an understatement), yet understood only partly what he meant. So I went into the dunes, to experiment, and see if I could make some magic happen.

(To be continued...)

Want to learn more about magic? I read ‘The Underworld Initiation, A Journey Towards Psychic Transformation’, by R.J. Stewart, and ordered his ‘Advanced Magical Arts’. (But he wrote many more.) Or visit http://rjstewart.org.

9 ways to get your baby to sleep

I met Barbara and her daughter Celine at a party. Celine was only two, but she was so sincere, and had so much depth; I recognized an old soul. Barbara hadn’t slept much since she was born. Every single night Celine woke up about 30 times. Barbara had her examined by doctors, but no physical cause was found.

I felt blessed: at a ‘bad’ night my eleven-month year old ‘only’ wakes up 10 times. Plus: I was already aware of the fact that this nerve wrecking sleeping pattern could be caused by her sensitivity to energy. For my book Mijn vader lijkt op Barbapapa I interviewed 30 highly sensitive kids, and as babies many of them had trouble closing their eyes.

So, is your baby driving you mad too? Then you might want to try a few things. Together they may improve your rest. We haven’t found the ultimate solution yet, but we are making progress.

1. Put these babies to sleep during the day (in the stroller if you have to). They won’t sleep longer at night if they are extra tired. On the contrary. They are super alert, and don’t want to miss anything.
2. Help them back to sleep immediately as soon as they wake up. They may look totally awake, but are in a ‘in between state’. 

      3. Make sleep a priority. Structure is beneficial, as are sleep rituals and a minimum of stimuli.
4. Have lots of physical contact. They need an adult to help them discharge their energy surplus.  
5. Some stones, like Howlite, improve sleepiness. 
6.  Bach remedies may help. We use Star of Bethlehem. 
7. Play dolphin music.
8. Put a refuse bag under their mattress. It absorbs energy.
9. Switch off the wifi at night.

Yet, the best advice is: give up your resistance. Every time I dread getting up in the middle of the night, or very early in the morning, I am suffering. I benefit most from keeping my heart open and enjoying every minute of her existence.

More suggestions? Please let me know!

Summer in Holland

It is mid summer in Holland, and raining all day. A cold wind blows. We are at the coast, celebrating our honeymoon. The caravan seems so small today for the two of us and the little one. She cries and cries. She is restless. And all I want is to make space for my resistance.

So when the baby falls asleep, I put on my rain suit, and go to the beach. First I yell at the waves, but it doesn’t seem to help. (Although I manage to create some unusual tones.) Then I spread my arms and imitate a seagull. Nothing happens. Irritation is all I feel.

I walk, face in the wind. The beach is desolate. No one else seems to come out in this stormy weather. I get an impulse to collect plastic. Soon after it is more than I can carry. I need a bag, and wish for one. A few minutes later I see a huge grey garbage bag.

So I create my own letting go ceremony. With each step I focus on feelings of gratefulness and with each item I pick up I honour mother Earth. By throwing the abandoned pieces of litter into the bag, I let go of my irritation.

I dispose kilos of dirt in the big orange garbage bins on the beach. And of course I expect my state of mind to change. But it does not totally. I am waiting for a sign from mother Earth; like a few rays of sunlight, or maybe a little rainbow to communicate her love. Nothing special happens. I feel disappointed. Back at the campsite my child has another emotional outburst.

And yet, something is slightly different. I feel more patient, more open. I play and have fun with my girl. Her mood shifts and she becomes as quiet as a little angel

What is healing?

In my healing career I have received maybe hundreds of healings. From Peruvian and Dutch shamans, Celtic and Kabbalistic healers, ‘Harry Potter’ fellow students and senior Brennan healers, an Australian eye gazer, psychic healers, healers who work with angel, dolphin and kundalini energy, or at long distance, and a healer who does her magic ‘only’ on the physical and therefore doesn’t want to be called a healer. O yeah, I almost forgot the most painful ones I got; from Balinese healers, who work your tendons like guitar strings. 

And still, it’s almost impossible to explain what a healing contains, or means. Healers follow their intuition, but often don’t really ‘know’ what they are doing. They ‘open up’ to the energy present, and facilitate anything that wants to come through. Healings are a matter of intention, timing, synchronicity, surrender and space created in the meeting between healer and client. In the end you don’t get a verbal answer on what it was about. You just know that it is ‘right’ because things fall naturally together. 

Today I went to see Emmy, a dolphin healer, who practices just around the corner. I lie down, she holds my head and the healing begins. I feel and see many different things, but I will keep it short. What matters is that our experiences match. Her perceptions meet my feelings. They are an answer to my initial question and give me the insight I need right now. Everything seems to be congruent, which tells me something happened on a level I cannot really grasp.
Want to do some soul diving too? Visit www.praktijkemmy.nl

Fierce energies

I thought I was prepared. Having done a fair amount of spiritual work and personal process, I considered myself ready for 2012. I – sort of - believed that I had already digested the stuff I needed to. It was my time to enjoy now, and maybe help others to get there too. So, was that an illusion! There are no guarantees. We are vulnerable. Period.
A week ago, on June 6, Ralph was hospitalized because of fever and speech problems. He said ‘heater’, when he meant ‘bread’ for instance. Sometimes words came out backwards. Doctors thought he might have a brain infection or injury, gave him a high dosage of antibiotics, and put him through a series of medical examinations, which were quite traumatic to witness. Only to find out nothing was wrong.
In the emergency room I experienced a rollercoaster of feelings, but I also had faith. I knew his brain was not affected in a physical way. I assumed an energetic condition from the beginning. But still, my fear was bigger than my trust, so I let him undergo the insensitive medical interventions. I feel sad I did, and, paradoxically, great relief and gratefulness that they proved his brain to be totally fine.
He was sent home, and we wondered: what happened, and why? For now we suspect the cosmic shifts: the moon eclipse plus the Venus transition. Especially since we have heard of quite a few others exhibiting strange symptoms, including troubled speech. I am not sure this is what I meant, when I said ‘take advantage of 2012’ in my previous blog.

Hen night

I am about to get married and this week I had my hen night. Although, it wasn’t at night and everything else was different from the usual also. I wasn’t dressed up like a bunny. I didn’t have a ‘kiss me’ sign around my neck. I didn't get drunk. And yet, it wasn’t boring.  On the contrary: it was super intense. The next day I was totally worn out, like one should be after a bachelorette party. 

My friends performed a ritual for me, in order to help me make the transition from single to married woman. In a beautiful Mongolian yurt, lit by candles and with a fire in the middle, there were ten of my closest friends; half of them on a spiritual path, the others not. Some even have a slight resistance when it comes to these kind of things. Yet, they all showed up and were open to the whole mystery of it, because they felt it meant a lot to me.

So, there they were, sharing their thoughts and feelings, being honest, without holding back. There they were, giving me a group healing. There they were, crying with me. They even sang ‘Spirit is walking on celebration road’, while beating shamanic drums. They were seriously involved, only giggled once, because of the completely unusual, even weird setting.

I thank my friends for their love and their courage. For helping me let go of the things I don’t need anymore. For teaching me how to be a married woman: by being faithful to myself first. And I am grateful for their transmission of all the energies one needs in a marriage: love, support, positivity, autonomy, fun, enjoyment, care, silence, and love for the shadow as much as for the light.

The ritual was facilitated at Reijgersbroeck in Amsterdam: www.reijgersbroeck.nl