a>Here's something that I think about sometimes -- religious people -- particularly Catholics-- do not give credence to paranormal experiences: ghosts, communication with the dead, healing (a la Edgar Cayce), and spiritual guidance. Though the teachings of Christianity indicate prophets getting messages from God and angels (they were the psychics of their day) and those prophets like Isaiah, John the Baptist, and others are revered by the church. The Bible is rife with stories about angelic messengers coming to people like Abraham, Moses, Job, Noah, Joseph and the Virgin Mary, for example, and telling them what God wanted them to do. Christians believe that this actually happened, or they believe the idea of these people back in the day whose stories make up the Bible as having received some sort of spiritual guidance. I mean, a donkey spoke to Balaam.
Then the Catholic church canonizes humans who devoted their lives to spiritual quests and whose faith allowed them to inspire others or to affect events. Those people are canonized partly on the basis of miracles (unexplained happenings -- not unlike paranormal or supernatural things), happening when people pray to those humans after death. The miracles could have happened when they were alive, as well. Bernadette, who saw the Virgin Mary, and dug for water in a certain spot that is believed to heal people, and the kids in Fatima, Portugal, who brought messages to the Pope from Mary. These are all stories that are believed by Catholics around the world. So supernatural things based on spiritual beliefs are part of the Catholic faith.
To extend that to say that those people became more highly evolved based on their understanding of spiritual or non-physical "laws" --- and I mean laws in the same way as the law of gravity or the laws of physics--means that there is reason to believe that other people not revered as saints also have come to understand those laws and use them to effect change and healings (shamans, buddhist monks, yogis, etc.).
Many psychics speak of spiritual guides -- and often among those is a Native American spiritual guide as well as others who have lived. Columbia educated psychiatrist Brian Weiss, in his book Many Lives, Many Masters, the information he received from patients under hypnosis who talk about not only past lives, but life between lives, in which they work with spirit guides to plan their next life -- almost like an educational program--that will be done with the help of these spiritual partners. Raymond Moody in his books about people who have experienced near death experiences notes the repeated reference to spiritual beings who meet the person and who the NDErs feel a close connection with.
So all that being said, I personally have come to believe that I am part of a group project, so to speak, with me being one who has taken on the physical body and interacts with others in the project who are in a physical body, and having other partners who are not in a physical body in order to meet some sort of spiritual goals for growth. We help each other move forward through the experiences and choices I have in this life and the interactions I have with others in the physical world. I consider the Saints (as designated by the Catholic Church) to be part of the spiritual realm that I can access. While I'm not sure how it all really works -- of course, who am I to say I know something like that--I have come to believe from my own reading and discussions with others and my own experiences that developing relationships with those in spirit is kind of like networking and calling on our own personal friends and contacts in the physical world.
Saints in the Catholic Church are often given areas of expertise--and are called the patron saint of some specific thing based on that saints earthly life and miracles attributed to that saint. My favorite Saint buddy over the years has been St. Anthony, who finds lost things. He rarely, if ever, lets me down. Sometimes, I will just say, "Anthony, where are my keys?" as my hand reaches into a pocket and there they are. Or "Anthony, I can't find my black pants," and my hand reaches to the back of the drawer and pulls them out. For particularly important things that I've misplaced, when I've exhausted all my options -- all the time calling on Anthony -- I sometimes get the sense that I should just stop what I'm doing and calm my mind and listen. When I've done that, a picture or thought will come to my mind about where to look and I will find what it is I am looking for. So here's to Anthony! Happy Saints Day.
One of my sons was a difficult teenager. It came to my attention somehow that St. Augustine was also a difficult teenager and his mother, St. Monica, who was also in a difficult marriage (I could relate), prayed to have her son's heart changed. I often spoke directly to Monica asking her to help me out in knowing what to do about my son's problems (he is now a police officer and very hard working and in a good place). I also spoke to St. Augustine asking him to work in my son's life. St. Augustine wrote about how his relationship with his peers often influenced his choices, and that was a big factor in my own son's life.
When my other son was going into the NYC Fire Department, I wanted to know who to ask to watch over him -- which saint was designated for Firemen. The more well-known saint is St. Florian, who may actually be Hungarian, as I've seen statues of him in Hungary when I go there. But there is also a saint, St. John of God, who is the patron saint of first-responders. In his life he did first aid, he ran into burning buildings to save people, and he started hospitals way backbefore that was something that was done. Places for sick or injured people to recover. But he was someone who rescued people who were in danger.
While looking up those saints for my son, I came across others who I talk to. I was going through a long, drawn-out divorce and was not looking forward to being alone. I often felt lonely and isolated, and found in my research that St. Rita is the patron saint of lonely people. I started talking to her in my meditations and asking her to send me some friends. The effect was so positive that at times I would ask her to turn it off because I needed a break from my social life.
I do a lot of work in public relations and marketing and found that St. Paul (the apostle) is the patron saint of writers and people in the field of public relations. So when I am in need of ideas or struggling with writer's block, I pray (or speak) with St. Paul. (Also St. Bernardine of Siena)
One of the most interesting things I found in my research was when I was looking for a patron saint of people in the wine business. I had decided to start my own wine importing business and was having difficulty with learning the ins and outs of that whole thing. So I Googled Patron Saints and found a site that allowed me to plug in a topic and to find the saint that corresponded to that. St. Amand is the patron saint of people in the wine business. And the interesting thing is that his saint day is on my birthday. So does that mean I was born to go into the wine business? Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to have that double connection going on. I speak to St. Amand when I am facing difficult business decisions, when I feel like giving up (normally when I feel that way and talk to him, I get a call or e-mail the next day that keeps me going forward in the business) or sometimes I just connect with him when I am out selling to store owners, and I say "Amand, help me make a sale." That connection has been helpful to me in many ways --psychologically and serendipitously.
I changed jobs (my official job at a graduate school) and found myself in a sometimes hostile environment which was very stressful to me and very negative. Others in my workplace called it toxic. It was affecting my health and my ability to sleep. Somehow I came upon information about St. Michael, the Archangel, who is supposed to have been charged by God to defeat evil and negativity in the world and allow God (or divinity, or positive energy, whatever you want to call it) to overcome that negativity and bad will. Every day I ask Michael to protect me (I live alone in NYC) and to keep negativity away from me. When I go into meetings at work that I anticipate being stressful, I say the official prayer of St. Michael and add my own requests related to the specific negativity that I experience or anticipate. I find that at times I can almost sense the protection surrounding me -- like a force field--that people don't want to cross. I do that, too, when I invite someone to my home who might create a negative experience (argument, criticism), along with burning sage (to remove negative energy) and sprinkling Kosher salt outside my front door (a ritual that is supposed to cleanse the environment and keep negativity outside the house).
One quick story about burning sage -- one time during my difficult marriage I was burning sage in the house to cleanse the energy. My ex-husband was out while I was doing this, but returned home before I was finished. He did not even step inside the house but saw me burning the sage stick and spreading the smoke around the dining room. He said, "What are you doing?" and I answered, "Smudging the house to clean the negative energy." He would not even come in. He turned around and left to go somewhere else. I thought to myself, "It worked!" (And he was not one to dislike smoke or incense--in fact he burned incense all the time himself, and he smoked cigars). So I don't know what it was that made him turn around and leave without coming in but I attribute that to the characteristics of sage deterring negative energy.
A bientot!
Then the Catholic church canonizes humans who devoted their lives to spiritual quests and whose faith allowed them to inspire others or to affect events. Those people are canonized partly on the basis of miracles (unexplained happenings -- not unlike paranormal or supernatural things), happening when people pray to those humans after death. The miracles could have happened when they were alive, as well. Bernadette, who saw the Virgin Mary, and dug for water in a certain spot that is believed to heal people, and the kids in Fatima, Portugal, who brought messages to the Pope from Mary. These are all stories that are believed by Catholics around the world. So supernatural things based on spiritual beliefs are part of the Catholic faith.
To extend that to say that those people became more highly evolved based on their understanding of spiritual or non-physical "laws" --- and I mean laws in the same way as the law of gravity or the laws of physics--means that there is reason to believe that other people not revered as saints also have come to understand those laws and use them to effect change and healings (shamans, buddhist monks, yogis, etc.).
Many psychics speak of spiritual guides -- and often among those is a Native American spiritual guide as well as others who have lived. Columbia educated psychiatrist Brian Weiss, in his book Many Lives, Many Masters, the information he received from patients under hypnosis who talk about not only past lives, but life between lives, in which they work with spirit guides to plan their next life -- almost like an educational program--that will be done with the help of these spiritual partners. Raymond Moody in his books about people who have experienced near death experiences notes the repeated reference to spiritual beings who meet the person and who the NDErs feel a close connection with.
So all that being said, I personally have come to believe that I am part of a group project, so to speak, with me being one who has taken on the physical body and interacts with others in the project who are in a physical body, and having other partners who are not in a physical body in order to meet some sort of spiritual goals for growth. We help each other move forward through the experiences and choices I have in this life and the interactions I have with others in the physical world. I consider the Saints (as designated by the Catholic Church) to be part of the spiritual realm that I can access. While I'm not sure how it all really works -- of course, who am I to say I know something like that--I have come to believe from my own reading and discussions with others and my own experiences that developing relationships with those in spirit is kind of like networking and calling on our own personal friends and contacts in the physical world.
Saints in the Catholic Church are often given areas of expertise--and are called the patron saint of some specific thing based on that saints earthly life and miracles attributed to that saint. My favorite Saint buddy over the years has been St. Anthony, who finds lost things. He rarely, if ever, lets me down. Sometimes, I will just say, "Anthony, where are my keys?" as my hand reaches into a pocket and there they are. Or "Anthony, I can't find my black pants," and my hand reaches to the back of the drawer and pulls them out. For particularly important things that I've misplaced, when I've exhausted all my options -- all the time calling on Anthony -- I sometimes get the sense that I should just stop what I'm doing and calm my mind and listen. When I've done that, a picture or thought will come to my mind about where to look and I will find what it is I am looking for. So here's to Anthony! Happy Saints Day.
One of my sons was a difficult teenager. It came to my attention somehow that St. Augustine was also a difficult teenager and his mother, St. Monica, who was also in a difficult marriage (I could relate), prayed to have her son's heart changed. I often spoke directly to Monica asking her to help me out in knowing what to do about my son's problems (he is now a police officer and very hard working and in a good place). I also spoke to St. Augustine asking him to work in my son's life. St. Augustine wrote about how his relationship with his peers often influenced his choices, and that was a big factor in my own son's life.
When my other son was going into the NYC Fire Department, I wanted to know who to ask to watch over him -- which saint was designated for Firemen. The more well-known saint is St. Florian, who may actually be Hungarian, as I've seen statues of him in Hungary when I go there. But there is also a saint, St. John of God, who is the patron saint of first-responders. In his life he did first aid, he ran into burning buildings to save people, and he started hospitals way backbefore that was something that was done. Places for sick or injured people to recover. But he was someone who rescued people who were in danger.
While looking up those saints for my son, I came across others who I talk to. I was going through a long, drawn-out divorce and was not looking forward to being alone. I often felt lonely and isolated, and found in my research that St. Rita is the patron saint of lonely people. I started talking to her in my meditations and asking her to send me some friends. The effect was so positive that at times I would ask her to turn it off because I needed a break from my social life.
I do a lot of work in public relations and marketing and found that St. Paul (the apostle) is the patron saint of writers and people in the field of public relations. So when I am in need of ideas or struggling with writer's block, I pray (or speak) with St. Paul. (Also St. Bernardine of Siena)
One of the most interesting things I found in my research was when I was looking for a patron saint of people in the wine business. I had decided to start my own wine importing business and was having difficulty with learning the ins and outs of that whole thing. So I Googled Patron Saints and found a site that allowed me to plug in a topic and to find the saint that corresponded to that. St. Amand is the patron saint of people in the wine business. And the interesting thing is that his saint day is on my birthday. So does that mean I was born to go into the wine business? Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to have that double connection going on. I speak to St. Amand when I am facing difficult business decisions, when I feel like giving up (normally when I feel that way and talk to him, I get a call or e-mail the next day that keeps me going forward in the business) or sometimes I just connect with him when I am out selling to store owners, and I say "Amand, help me make a sale." That connection has been helpful to me in many ways --psychologically and serendipitously.
I changed jobs (my official job at a graduate school) and found myself in a sometimes hostile environment which was very stressful to me and very negative. Others in my workplace called it toxic. It was affecting my health and my ability to sleep. Somehow I came upon information about St. Michael, the Archangel, who is supposed to have been charged by God to defeat evil and negativity in the world and allow God (or divinity, or positive energy, whatever you want to call it) to overcome that negativity and bad will. Every day I ask Michael to protect me (I live alone in NYC) and to keep negativity away from me. When I go into meetings at work that I anticipate being stressful, I say the official prayer of St. Michael and add my own requests related to the specific negativity that I experience or anticipate. I find that at times I can almost sense the protection surrounding me -- like a force field--that people don't want to cross. I do that, too, when I invite someone to my home who might create a negative experience (argument, criticism), along with burning sage (to remove negative energy) and sprinkling Kosher salt outside my front door (a ritual that is supposed to cleanse the environment and keep negativity outside the house).
One quick story about burning sage -- one time during my difficult marriage I was burning sage in the house to cleanse the energy. My ex-husband was out while I was doing this, but returned home before I was finished. He did not even step inside the house but saw me burning the sage stick and spreading the smoke around the dining room. He said, "What are you doing?" and I answered, "Smudging the house to clean the negative energy." He would not even come in. He turned around and left to go somewhere else. I thought to myself, "It worked!" (And he was not one to dislike smoke or incense--in fact he burned incense all the time himself, and he smoked cigars). So I don't know what it was that made him turn around and leave without coming in but I attribute that to the characteristics of sage deterring negative energy.
A bientot!
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