Archive for October, 2009

Ever since Kim Falconer responded to last year’s popular post on witches and magic (she said, “Of course we are all witches, I thought you knew that!”), I’ve been wondering what I could learn from the art of witchcraft to enhance my law of attraction skills.

Kim went on to say:

Ritual magic, witchcraft, deliberate creation, prayer, chanting, evoking, shamanism, meditation…these are only words that describe a state of being—a state of awareness. We get what we vibrate and the witch, the shaman, the devotee or the ‘regular Joe’ who hires a GoodVibe coach is practicing deliberately the art of vibration management. Without awareness, the practice goes on just as powerfully in everyone of us….but not deliberately.

I’m on board.

Which is why today I want to share a tip I picked up from Christopher Penczak’s Instant Magick. 

Unlike most books on witchcraft, this one doesn’t require herbs and moonlight and animal parts.

Penczak says while the physical tools have been an important part of traditional witchcraft, it’s not practical for the modern mystic to employ them, nor is it necessary.

Hebelieves the key ingredients to a successful “spell” or potion (or to put in our terms, “manifesting”) are:

1. Altering consciousness
2. Focusing will
3. Directing energy

Those familiar with deliberate creation will likely find the second and third steps a natural part of their “spell-casting” or deliberate creation routine.  It’s the first step that got my attention.

(And I know this isn’t news to Kim, who has long reminded me of the benefits of meditation.)

Penczak says altering consciousness is often overlooked by modern practitioners:

“When we change our mindset, our relationship to the inner and outer worlds, we find that place within our consciousness, that inner still point where the mind is clear and focused, in alignment with or will, and our magick is most effective.”

He writes that our inner still point is the foundation of magic, and that when we are immersed in and distracted by cluttered thougts of daily life, we cannot find that still point to do our best magic.

The reason I share this is because it’s clear to me this is an opportunity to increase my creative powers, and I suspect it may be for some of you as well.

The good news is that “altering consciousness” is easy.  It simply means purposely shifting your brain wave state from beta to a lower state like alpha or theta. 

A couple of slow, deep breaths can get you started.  Developing meditation skills would be even better. 

But this post isn’t a primer on consciousness altering – just a suggestion to explore it if it’s not already part of your manifesting skill set.

If you’d like more information on developing the first step in Penczak’s formula, check out his book or share with us your favorite resources for enhancing the alpha state.

And if you have other great books on modern day magic and spells to share, I’d love to hear them!

I can’t bring myself to say “So mote it be” but I will say “Namaste.”  Thanks, everyone!

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2. Got Untapped Magic?
3. Pray Rain Magic

Day 13 of the 21 day gratitude challenge – I’m loving this challenge, but wow it is a challenge!  I’m not used to blogging so much, but glad (and thankful, of course) that I am.

So the assignment is this –  Pick three friends or family members you see regularly. View their actions and gestures through a positive lens, assuming their goodness and witnessing their best intentions.  –

Nearly all my family and friends are positive people.  Of course they have negative thoughts at times (who doesn’t?), but for the most part they’re positive.  When they’re not, they become aware they’re not (which I think is what’s important!).  I’m extremely grateful to be surrounded by their light.  I think we all help each other shine brighter!

In watching and listening to some of my family and friends here’s what I’ve discovered.  It’s enlightening to witness when life gives you lemons.  At first there may be some bitterness, some stress and some anxiety but in the end it always works itself out.  I’m fortunate (and oh so grateful) that I learned this and grasped onto it a long time ago…so I rarely get stressed.  I just sit back and wait for the lemonade!  But, I see this happening with people around me (and in myself at times)…  A life situation arises (not enough money, not enough time, etc) and at the moment it seems horrible…maybe there’s some bitching, complaining, and just negativity.  We all handle stress in a different way.  At a point, though, there’s a shift.  We see just a little glimpse of light in the darkness and there’s hope.  We start to see a little more lightness and the positivity comes back…more hope, more faith, more confidence, more smiles!

I think that entire process is pretty cool.  I see it play out in different people and with different situations.  For some, the gap between the “horrible” situation and the glimpse of light is wide.  It takes a while.  And in some (depending on the person & the situation), the gap is much shorter.  I’m so thankful that my gap is typically really short, and I’m thankful that I have gotten to witness this and write it down.  I think it totally helps it stick.  It helps me remember that there will be light, there will be lemonade!

So thank you to my family and friends for letting me learn from you.  Thank you for being who you are, for having genuine goodness in your heart and for having only the best of intentions.

I’m thankful for having such positive people in my life.  I’m thankful that we all have hope and faith, and I’m really grateful that I’m aware of this!

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We all know how crummy Mondays can be…especially rainy ones!  So last night before I fell asleep I decided to imagine how great my Monday was going to be.  I envisioned everything I was going to get done and how productive and efficient I would be.  I felt what my day would feel like, and what a good mood I would be in.  And guess what??  It worked!

I had an amazing day.  I had a lot of catching up to do…paper work, pay bills, get organized, phone calls, etc., and I was able to get most of it done.

I felt great paying bills, knowing that I have the money to pay them and they’re all on time (some even early!).  I’m so grateful for this.  I’m grateful that money flows in and money flows out.  I have tremendous appreciation that we have the means to pay our bills and that our credit score is excellent.  Thank you!!!!

I also had to make a few phone calls.  Those kind that are easy to put off; knowing that you’ll be on hold forever and that the person on the other end could dispute what you’re requesting.  BUT I got them done!  I decided before each call that I was going to be positive, kind, patient and thankful.  It really helped.  I felt great for being so nice and I’m sure the person on the other end appreciated it too.  Everyone was so helpful and my requests were made.  Thank you so much to all the customer service type people that helped me today, and thank you, God that I’m not one of them

Thank you for the positive day I had today.  It feels refreshing to get caught up on paper work type stuff, and like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  I’m thankful for all the people that helped me today.  I’m reminded that treating people the way I want to be treated is definitely the way to live.  I always try to do this, but today I was really aware of it and I’m so glad and thankful I was.  It made my day a whole lot easier.

Mondays, I love you!

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Day 12 of the 21 day Gratitude Challenge…when will you start?

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Thanks, Jeannette, for the opportunity to write for your awesome tribe! I’ve commented before about true choice and even though my comments sometimes feel long enough to BE a post – I’ll expand on what ‘true choice’ means to me.

There are four different quadrants to explain your ‘beingness’ behind your choices. Deny choice, Avoid choice, False Choice and True Choice. You can be in anyone of these quadrants in any area of your life at anytime.

For the sake of brevity, I’ll describe False Choice and True Choice. In both False Choice and True Choice you produce results and people win.  That sounds good, right?

The main difference is that in False Choice you do not feel fulfilled with your win. You work hard to get a goal, and the thoughts in your mind might be along the lines of:

• ‘Is this important to me?’
• ‘Why aren’t I happier?’
• ‘Is this all there is?’

That is because the choice is based on the expectations of others (family, society, looking good, supposed to, have to, they made me, etc.) The person in false choice often feels exhausted!

In True Choice you also produce results and people win (yah!). What is different is that you are fulfilled and life seems easy and joyful! (double triple quadruple yah!) From this place you take personal responsibility for your choices – you are doing what you want to do. Your choices are not coming from a place of ‘should’. You have no judgement about others. You are proactive and you find solutions. You are a leader of yourself and of others.

That sounds pretty straightforward – but I can hear you asking HOW to do it!

A while ago I realized I’d been living a lot of my life from false choice. I created many wins, but felt exhausted and unfulfilled. Something was missing from my life – I think it was ME!

Like many of us, I often put other people’s needs or wants ahead of my own. The ironic thing is that martyr vibration of giving doesn’t feel good to the receiver or the giver.  I know when my husband does something for me from this kind of place I’m thinking ‘for heavens sake just do what makes you happy!’ I’d much rather be around a happy person. I decided to become the happy person I want other people to be!

False Choice or True Choice is not about the action. It is about the ‘beingness’ or the vibration in back of the action. It is all about feeling good – the vibration. But where a lot of people have problems is that they are not in alignment. Their vibration is not pure or a win/win. It is a mixture of win/lose.

Here’s an example that might help. Say you have a desire to get in better shape and you have started running. The time comes up for your run and you don’t want to go.

• Door #1 You choose to run (win) even though you don’t feel like it (lose)!
• Door #2 You choose not to run (lose) because you don’t feel like it (win)!

Most students of law of attraction understand the win/lose behind Door #1. The reason that Door #2 is a lose/win is because a part of you wants to get in better shape. You feel out of integrity in some part of your mind. You are honoring the part that doesn’t want to run, but not the part that wants to get in shape. That place is feeling bad. Both of these Doors are False Choice!

True Choice would be noticing that something doesn’t feel good and then shifting to a place that does feel good.

So in our example of the run – you can look at your desire to get in shape and your resistance to running at that time. And then start asking yourself some powerful questions while tuning into your answers. Maybe you discover you don’t like running alone, so you ask a friend to join. Now you’re excited to go and you are running (win/win). Maybe you discover you don’t like running but you can get excited about swimming (win/win). There are SO many options!

The key is living from a place of always wanting to do what you are doing.  True Choice will change your life. 

Welcome to True Choice – or not.  It’s up to you!

Cheri teaches mothers how to fill themselves up so they have a renewed passion for life and can teach their kids by example how to live a life of fulfillment..  Check out her blog and connect with Cheri on twitter and facebook.

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Day 10 & 11 of the 21 day gratitude challenge – yes, I skipped a day.  I guess I was just completely present and lost track of a day…or I was too tired last night to write   Either way, I was grateful for my busy day!

Okay so day 10’s assignment was to pick one of my five senses to focus on and take note of how many gifts come to me via that single port.  I chose (drum roll) my sense of taste because I, of course, love to eat!  I could have gone the route of tasting processed chemical laden food, but instead I chose to focus on real food.  Food that comes from a plant or an animal.

Real food is so incredibly good.  I’m so grateful to be able to taste, and to be able to differentiate between foods.  I made a pineapple salsa yesterday and OMG…so good.  All that was in it was pineapple, cilantro & red pepper flakes, but the combination of the sweet and spicy was so delicious.  I put it over shrimp.  Wow, I’m so thankful that I am able to put food in my mouth (can use my arms and hands and can chew, rather than being fed through a tube) and can taste it.  There are so many great foods that are natural.  I’m not only grateful that I can taste it, but that the universe provides it!  We can live a wonderful, healthy life by what nature provides us.  We don’t need processed food to live, and for that I feel a great sense of appreciation.

I’m so thankful that I can taste things and decide whether I like it or not.  I have a choice.  If I decide that I like the way something tastes, I can have more, and I can completely enjoy it.

I love that I have choices and can taste different flavors, that mother nature provides us with everything we need, and that I can enjoy it.  Our sense of taste is so awesome, and I’m so grateful for it!

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Day 11 is to see the world through the eyes of a child, and to think about the things I take for granted on a daily basis.  Then, to express gratitude for everything down to the basic necessities that sustain my current life.  This one is easy because I have 2 kids under 4 and I think about this a lot.  I think about being brought into this world knowing nothing.  Now, let me back peddle a little…I believe babies know a lot.  I think they are way more connected to their sense of Self then we will ever be.  But, I’m talking about not knowing what things are, not knowing how to speak, and experiencing life for the first time.

This really goes back to the 5 senses.  It’s incredible to see a child’s face the first time he tastes a banana, strawberry yogurt, or a piece of candy.  I love to watch the excitement in my children when they see something for the first time.  This past Christmas when Max, my 4 year old, started to understand Santa…just priceless the look on his face when he saw what Santa had brought him.  I’m so thankful to have been able to experience that through his eyes!  I’m also so thankful to have been able to provide as many toys as we did.

Miles, my 2 year old, got a little plastic harmonica for his birthday.  When he heard the sound it made, he completely fell in love with it.  I’m grateful to be able to hear beautiful music, the croak of a frog, the ocean waves crashing in, my children’s laughter, and Miles trying to play that harmonica.

It’s really cute.  Max has just now began to notice that some things stink.  It used to never bother him.  I’d ask “doesn’t that stink?” and I don’t think he really knew what I was talking about.  Now, if he even thinks Miles has a dirty diaper he covers his nose.  I even had him tell me that I smelled good after spraying on perfume.  Our sense of smell is really cool.  I’m thankful that I can smell good food cooking, that I can smell a great candle, and that I can smell something to know if it’s still good or not.

I remember going to my Dad’s house every other weekend as a child and when I’d get there I would notice that my clothes smelled like my mom.  That was so comforting to me.  And when I’d get back home (to my mom’s house) and smell that same smell, I knew I was home!  I just love that smells can remind us of things.  The ability to smell is typically a sense that I take for granted, but really it’s such a blessing.  Thank you, Nose!

I’m thankful for textures and that I can feel.  There are lots of touch and feel baby books, and it’s really neat to watch those little fingers feel.  Since I have 2 little ones in my lap when we read books they both want to feel it.  And now it’s a matter of who goes first.  It’s so funny.  They make me want to feel it and to experience the bumpiness, roughness, or smoothness like it’s my first time.

I love and appreciate that our bodies have the capability to feel.  I’m thankful that I know when I feel good and when I don’t.  I love it that I can feel my emotions and that feeling is a guide.  I’m so grateful for this guide because I know that all I have to do is feel good and everything else will fall into place.  Thank you, thank you for this guidance system.

In summary – I’m thankful for pineapple salsa, Santa Claus, harmonicas, my nose, and touch & feel baby books!!

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