The Path of Loneliness

She came to me for a ritual. She wanted to belong, and not feel like an outsider anymore. So I took her to the suburban beach, on the night of the full moon. Before us was a gate, then a long bumpy sand road. I did not have an easy task in mind for her.

I gave her a big refuse bag, and pointed at the road: ‘That is the Path of Loneliness. Follow it, and pick up the waste. Each item stands for the load you carry, and want to get rid off.’ I felt her fear, but she accepted the assignment bravely. She stepped through the gate, and I stayed behind her, following the energy and beating the drum. When she stopped for the first time, she lifted a heavy brick and put it in her bag. I felt the deep sadness in her gesture. I was aware of the length of the road ahead, and how much weight she had to take with her.

She continued, and kept collecting heavy things. Where I would go for plastic and cans - the indigestible stuff so to say - her eyes would only fall on big things that hardly fitted in her bag, or couldn’t be picked up all together. Sometimes she needed all her strength to pull something from under the sand. But she was determined: it needed to come to the surface, before it could be released. 

Seeing only her back, I was struck by her posture: it expressed the immense loneliness she had experienced as a little girl. No wonder she kept her eyes firmly on the lighthouse on the other shore; the light from ‘the other side’ supported her on her journey.

The Path of Loneliness ended in a circle, made from stones. This was her Sacred Space. The coherence between inside and outside was stunning, as always in rituals. We hadn’t seen much yet of Grandmother Moon, but she came up exactly when we needed her. The silver light washed away old energy, while bats (totems of transformation) circled above our heads. Softly she started singing, calling her soul back home.

When we returned to suburbia, I helped her carry her load. She wasn’t alone. She just needed to feel that.

Eight ways to manifest your wishes

Manifesting our deepest longings… isn’t that what we all want? I realize I am quite good at getting what I wish for. Last year my great dream (finally) came true: I had a baby; I married, and moved into a spacious, brand new apartment. I received a wedding outfit and rings, and also a complete baby equipment (strollers, bath, dresser, cloths, etc.). We easily found a new practice space, and recently I became the proud owner of a toilet seat, that I just needed. So, what can you do to get what you want, or speed it up a bit?

  1.   Make your intention clear. Put your desires into words and be precise. The main cosmic law is: energy follows intention.

  2.   Do rituals. New moon is the time to plant the seeds of your longings. Make a list of what you want, and revise it every new moon.

  3.   Visualize. Ground your ideas into the earth. You can use a guided visualization. (I have one by Nini Gridley).

  4.   Invite the angels in. Every once in a while we are asked to host a few angels for a couple of days. They bring harmony to the home, and help manifest. (Might work even if you don’t believe in angels.)

  5.   Giving is receiving. By holding onto things or money (or whatever) energy stays where it is. Stagnated energy is in the way of abundance.

  6.   Trust! Fear of not getting enough prevents energy from flowing. If you like the universe to work for you, make room in yourself and let it come through.

  7.   Do your process. My teacher Barbara Brennan said: if you haven’t realized what you want, it means your blocking that precise chakra. (So: trouble getting a new house, or money? Work on your first, that is: grounding and trust. Not able to find a fulfilling relationship? See what’s going on in your second chakra, and work on loving yourself, etc.)

  8.  Let go. You have no say over when or how your wishes will come true.

The Art of Manifestation

Every once in a while someone asks if we would like to host a bunch of angels. We always say yes. It is a nice way to work consciously with our intentions. So, this morning they arrived. They will stay five days. On the fridge are a candle, an apple, a white flower, and a letter with our wishes. During the day we connect, and thank them for their presence.

Believe it or not, the angels bring abundance to our home. This last year people gave us so much, I can hardly believe it. Manifestation of our desires seems to go quicker every time they pass. I just need to put the question out there, and it manifests shortly after.

This week our toilet seat broke. ‘We need a new one’, I said. The same day one of my friends e-mailed: ‘This might be a strange question’, she said, ‘but would you like a toilet seat? I have a spare one.’ 

The universe can be so funny.

Soul Mates

Two beautiful women; soul mates.

One is going on a journey.

A farewell ritual.

Water, wind, sand, stones, sun,

The elements magically come together,

With inconceivable precision.

Two swans enter sacred space.

Wind picks up to support breath.

The sun disappears when dark energy surfaces;

And returns when release is there.

Geese mark the end of a life cycle.

Soft kisses from angels and guides.

The ritual ends.

Sails appear at the horizon; 

Good journeys!

With gratitude for mother Earth, father Sky and grandmother Moon,

Sacred Space dissolves...

SPEEDBOAT.

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!