Have you ever noticed how some things just inspire you? That is the moment when Spirit is whispering to you, "This could be good....this could be really, really good!" This is when we are living in Spirit - inspired.
I find that those who inspire me vary quite a bit. A few of my friends are also artists of various sorts (you know who you are!) and their work inspires me to keep creating my own art and to just keep going with it. Some friends have been going through some pretty difficult stuff of late, and these ones inspire me to be brave and patient. My oldest daughter inspires me, through her passion for reading, to keep on learning. My youngest daughter inspires me, through her twinkling eyes and fabulous sense of humour, to keep laughing and playing. My wife, well, she is my rock. She keeps me grounded and stable when my world is going a wee bit nuts. She inspires me to be the best I can be and to keep plugging ahead when things sometimes feel like they are pretty hopeless. She also teaches me more about unconditional love every day in how she is with our children.
A lot of people have walked into my heart space over the last (let's just say over 40) years, and some of them have left scars, where others have left footprints. Those who have left footprints will always be in my heart with fond memories. I am inspired by those who have left footprints on my heart to also in turn leave footprints on the hearts of as many people as I can. That is what love is all about, really. It is not about how many people have love you, it is about how many people you have loved.
Blessed Be
Trent
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Spirits among us
"The fact that I can't see them means they aren't there, right?" People sometimes ask me this with that expression on their face that tells me that they really want me to assure them that there are no spirits around them that they cannot see. This is simply fear.
I usually ask them, "Have you ever almost sideswiped someone who wasn't there when you shoulder checked while driving?" They nod. "Well," I say, "Do you really believe they popped out of nowhere and were absolutely not there when you looked? Of course they were. You just didn't see them." They then go a bit pale.
"Then what am I to believe in?" they ask, "Especially if what you tell me is true, then what am I to trust as real?"
This kind of conversation happens every day in my line of work. What do you trust as real? Let me see, have you ever seen 1 million dollars? No? Does that mean it is not real? No. It just means you have never physically seen it. I also have not personally seen the Statue of Liberty. That does not mean that she isn't there. What we are to trust as real is exactly what we know in our hearts to be true for us.
Spirits walk among us every day. They sometimes are there to help. They sometimes need to settle things with us before they cross over. Sometimes they are just lost and need our help. This is part of life. It is a part that is enriching if we can just get our heads out of the sand and respond to it. Sometimes we experience a cool chill out of nowhere. This could be a spirit walking buy. We sometimes feel a hand placed upon us when no one is there physically. This could be an angel or a guide or even an ancestral spirit comforting us. And sometimes we simply find ourselves thinking for no reason about someone we have known who has crossed over. It is possible that at this precise moment that person's spirit is right there with us, sending us love.
Besides, is this not much better than the idea that we die, we get put in the ground and everything fades to black??
Blessed Be
Trent
I usually ask them, "Have you ever almost sideswiped someone who wasn't there when you shoulder checked while driving?" They nod. "Well," I say, "Do you really believe they popped out of nowhere and were absolutely not there when you looked? Of course they were. You just didn't see them." They then go a bit pale.
"Then what am I to believe in?" they ask, "Especially if what you tell me is true, then what am I to trust as real?"
This kind of conversation happens every day in my line of work. What do you trust as real? Let me see, have you ever seen 1 million dollars? No? Does that mean it is not real? No. It just means you have never physically seen it. I also have not personally seen the Statue of Liberty. That does not mean that she isn't there. What we are to trust as real is exactly what we know in our hearts to be true for us.
Spirits walk among us every day. They sometimes are there to help. They sometimes need to settle things with us before they cross over. Sometimes they are just lost and need our help. This is part of life. It is a part that is enriching if we can just get our heads out of the sand and respond to it. Sometimes we experience a cool chill out of nowhere. This could be a spirit walking buy. We sometimes feel a hand placed upon us when no one is there physically. This could be an angel or a guide or even an ancestral spirit comforting us. And sometimes we simply find ourselves thinking for no reason about someone we have known who has crossed over. It is possible that at this precise moment that person's spirit is right there with us, sending us love.
Besides, is this not much better than the idea that we die, we get put in the ground and everything fades to black??
Blessed Be
Trent
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Shamanism
A friend of mine emailed me this quote from a link - http://www.petercalhoun.com and it reads:
Today the archetype of the shaman is emerging out of the shadowy past and from the murky depths of the collective unconscious into the clear light of conscious awareness. Shamanism is the most earth-friendly system in existence and, therefore, it may be the most relevant path for our age. It is by far the most practical since it evolved out of the survival needs of our species from its earliest times. It may once again hold the keys to our survival as a species. Shamanism is not another religion or system of belief; it is a way of perceiving and relating to the wondrous world around us. It is the original source out of which all the religions and systems of knowledge evolved. As a path of growth, however, it is complete in itself and can provide a powerful foundation for one's life and spiritual practices.
Wow! What a mouthful! I do think that in our distant past every person practiced shamanism. It was a way of living and relating, not a way of thinking or believing. It is a way of expanding our sensory perceptions to include those things that cannot be seen or felt or observed with the normal senses. It is instinctual. That is why it has helped us as a species to survive.
As an example, think of a shaman in the jungle. The jungle is its own environment. It is interconnected with all other environments, but the people in those environments don't know the jungle well. The shaman knows the jungle well. So the shaman knows what plants to eat, which ones to avoid, which plants heal and which ones produce hallucinations. The shaman listens to the trees and the birds and animals and knows what approaches.
Then picture for example the urban shaman. Yes, there are those of us who are urban based. Even the cities need shamans! So anyway, picture the urban shaman at the mall. His heightened awareness allows him to know which places at the food court actually are selling fresh food. He is able to pick up a mitten on the floor, smell it, and carry it to the person who has lost it by tracking the smell. Now, that part is not so easy. Have you ever noticed how smelly the mall can get, especially before Christmas???
My point is, both shamans are producing from their training and expertise, experiences in different, yet interrelated environments, that help them, and others, to survive. We are instinctual and natural. We have our individual sensitivities, but these all work together to create survival and establish a harmony that can exist for everyone.
We are trail blazers, whether we are in the jungle or in the concrete jungle. We have a way of being that transcends the craziness of the world around us and helps us to stay focused and clear. We are here to help mankind and we are here to learn as we go. We actually are everywhere, and every when. And that is the coolest thing!
Blessed Be
Trent
Today the archetype of the shaman is emerging out of the shadowy past and from the murky depths of the collective unconscious into the clear light of conscious awareness. Shamanism is the most earth-friendly system in existence and, therefore, it may be the most relevant path for our age. It is by far the most practical since it evolved out of the survival needs of our species from its earliest times. It may once again hold the keys to our survival as a species. Shamanism is not another religion or system of belief; it is a way of perceiving and relating to the wondrous world around us. It is the original source out of which all the religions and systems of knowledge evolved. As a path of growth, however, it is complete in itself and can provide a powerful foundation for one's life and spiritual practices.
Wow! What a mouthful! I do think that in our distant past every person practiced shamanism. It was a way of living and relating, not a way of thinking or believing. It is a way of expanding our sensory perceptions to include those things that cannot be seen or felt or observed with the normal senses. It is instinctual. That is why it has helped us as a species to survive.
As an example, think of a shaman in the jungle. The jungle is its own environment. It is interconnected with all other environments, but the people in those environments don't know the jungle well. The shaman knows the jungle well. So the shaman knows what plants to eat, which ones to avoid, which plants heal and which ones produce hallucinations. The shaman listens to the trees and the birds and animals and knows what approaches.
Then picture for example the urban shaman. Yes, there are those of us who are urban based. Even the cities need shamans! So anyway, picture the urban shaman at the mall. His heightened awareness allows him to know which places at the food court actually are selling fresh food. He is able to pick up a mitten on the floor, smell it, and carry it to the person who has lost it by tracking the smell. Now, that part is not so easy. Have you ever noticed how smelly the mall can get, especially before Christmas???
My point is, both shamans are producing from their training and expertise, experiences in different, yet interrelated environments, that help them, and others, to survive. We are instinctual and natural. We have our individual sensitivities, but these all work together to create survival and establish a harmony that can exist for everyone.
We are trail blazers, whether we are in the jungle or in the concrete jungle. We have a way of being that transcends the craziness of the world around us and helps us to stay focused and clear. We are here to help mankind and we are here to learn as we go. We actually are everywhere, and every when. And that is the coolest thing!
Blessed Be
Trent
Monday, January 14, 2008
Yin and Yang
I have found that in western culture many are ignorant of the concept of Yin and Yang energy. Tell most western men that there is feminine energy in them and you are likely eating a knuckle sandwich! The thing is, though, that this concept is one of the very few that actually make practical sense.
If we own our yin and our yang (female and male) energies, then we are able to harmonize them so that we can carry out our life tasks with integrity. We become much better listeners, communicators, empaths and action oriented individuals. The yin (female) energy is what helps us to understand on a holistic level what we require to spiritually and emotionally grow. The yang (male) energy is what puts into action what the yin understands.
As an example, I was car shopping today. The yin energy let me know which car felt right and resonated with our needs. The yang energy helped keep me centered and focused while making the deal with the salesperson. Both worked optimally in their own time and space. Neither one conflicted with the other or competed for attention because each one was being honored.
Had I only honored the yin energy, chances are that I would have been much too emotionally involved with the car to even care about the financial aspects. I would have simply thought to myself, "Money? Those are minor details. I want the one in white." If I had honored only the yang energy my thought system would possibly have been, "I don't care that it is a nice car or that it is the most perfect car for my family, if they don't give me exactly the deal I demand, I will simply walk." Instead, the process was relatively easy and harmonious. And I very much look forward to driving it.
That is not to say that having that harmony is always easy. There were times today that I had to focus on balancing those two energies in order to get the desired result. This was made easier by the fact that I have spent years doing meditation and self reflection techniques to achieve that balance in advance of today. The more we do in the area of self work, the better off we are and the more easily we can handle the circumstances that life hands us.
Blessed Be
Trent
If we own our yin and our yang (female and male) energies, then we are able to harmonize them so that we can carry out our life tasks with integrity. We become much better listeners, communicators, empaths and action oriented individuals. The yin (female) energy is what helps us to understand on a holistic level what we require to spiritually and emotionally grow. The yang (male) energy is what puts into action what the yin understands.
As an example, I was car shopping today. The yin energy let me know which car felt right and resonated with our needs. The yang energy helped keep me centered and focused while making the deal with the salesperson. Both worked optimally in their own time and space. Neither one conflicted with the other or competed for attention because each one was being honored.
Had I only honored the yin energy, chances are that I would have been much too emotionally involved with the car to even care about the financial aspects. I would have simply thought to myself, "Money? Those are minor details. I want the one in white." If I had honored only the yang energy my thought system would possibly have been, "I don't care that it is a nice car or that it is the most perfect car for my family, if they don't give me exactly the deal I demand, I will simply walk." Instead, the process was relatively easy and harmonious. And I very much look forward to driving it.
That is not to say that having that harmony is always easy. There were times today that I had to focus on balancing those two energies in order to get the desired result. This was made easier by the fact that I have spent years doing meditation and self reflection techniques to achieve that balance in advance of today. The more we do in the area of self work, the better off we are and the more easily we can handle the circumstances that life hands us.
Blessed Be
Trent
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Meditation vs Insanity
My Osho Zen Tarot card today was the one called Suppression. In the book, Master Osho writes:
It is essential to find a way to release whatever tensions and stresses might be building up inside you right now. Beat on a pillow, jump up and down, go out into the wilderness and scream at the empty sky - anything to shake up your energy and allow it to circulate freely. Don't wait for a catastrophe to happen. ....Insanity is nothing but all these suppressions coming to a point where you cannot control them anymore. But madness is acceptable, while meditation is not - and meditation is the only way to make you absolutely sane.
I found this to hold a lot of truth. There have been many times that I have screamed at the empty sky just to "get it out" and let myself get back into harmony. And I cannot tell you how important meditation is to my well being! I can feel when I have not done my meditation for the day. Nothing feels right and everything feels like it goes against the grain of my personality. I get edgy and irritable and generally come across as quite the crusty old fart when I don't even feel that way or want to be that way or even intend it to sound that way.
I remember when I first took up meditation and told a friend at school that she should perhaps give it a try. She said that if she did that she would burn and go to hell. Her mother was a very religious person and pretty much anything that might have even a sniff of being slightly different (even if it was good for you) was considered to be potentially something that would send you to hell. So I asked her if she ever prayed. She said she did every day because her mom insisted on it. I told her what one of my spiritual teachers told me long ago. I told her that prayer is when we talk to God. She understood that. Then I told her that meditation is when we shut our flapping lips and listen to what God has to say to us. She didn't get that. She began quoting some scriptures and I stopped her and told her that she had just proven my point. She was so busy trying to force her dogma onto me that she was not hearing what I was saying. We were not friends after that. I got used to losing friends because I would share with them and they wouldn't handle it very well. So I became much more selective as to what I shared and with whom. It is much safer that way when you are a teenager. I still do that sometimes, but only because I don't wish to make anyone uncomfortable about information they may not want to hear. But as soon as they ask the question....well, let's just say they better hold onto their seats, because the flood gates do open....wide.....very, very wide!
The thing that I just don't get is the general population who believe that we are supposed to have a relationship with God through prayer (flapping our lips) yet we are not supposed to listen to what God says to us. In fact if anyone were to say that God spoke to them, they would risk being locked up in an institution for the insane. Well, if we have a relationship with God, would God be mute???? I don't think so. Omnipotence does not a mute God make. So go ahead and let yourself trust in whatever Creator you may believe in. Even if you don't believe in a Creator Spirit, trust at least in your own inner wisdom voice. The only way to build that relationship is through meditation. I am not saying that prayer is useless by any stretch. I am just saying that we live in a society of lip flappers who have not yet learned how to listen. So try meditation as well as prayer. You never know. You just might find it to be an enriching experience. ;-)
Blessed Be
Trent
It is essential to find a way to release whatever tensions and stresses might be building up inside you right now. Beat on a pillow, jump up and down, go out into the wilderness and scream at the empty sky - anything to shake up your energy and allow it to circulate freely. Don't wait for a catastrophe to happen. ....Insanity is nothing but all these suppressions coming to a point where you cannot control them anymore. But madness is acceptable, while meditation is not - and meditation is the only way to make you absolutely sane.
I found this to hold a lot of truth. There have been many times that I have screamed at the empty sky just to "get it out" and let myself get back into harmony. And I cannot tell you how important meditation is to my well being! I can feel when I have not done my meditation for the day. Nothing feels right and everything feels like it goes against the grain of my personality. I get edgy and irritable and generally come across as quite the crusty old fart when I don't even feel that way or want to be that way or even intend it to sound that way.
I remember when I first took up meditation and told a friend at school that she should perhaps give it a try. She said that if she did that she would burn and go to hell. Her mother was a very religious person and pretty much anything that might have even a sniff of being slightly different (even if it was good for you) was considered to be potentially something that would send you to hell. So I asked her if she ever prayed. She said she did every day because her mom insisted on it. I told her what one of my spiritual teachers told me long ago. I told her that prayer is when we talk to God. She understood that. Then I told her that meditation is when we shut our flapping lips and listen to what God has to say to us. She didn't get that. She began quoting some scriptures and I stopped her and told her that she had just proven my point. She was so busy trying to force her dogma onto me that she was not hearing what I was saying. We were not friends after that. I got used to losing friends because I would share with them and they wouldn't handle it very well. So I became much more selective as to what I shared and with whom. It is much safer that way when you are a teenager. I still do that sometimes, but only because I don't wish to make anyone uncomfortable about information they may not want to hear. But as soon as they ask the question....well, let's just say they better hold onto their seats, because the flood gates do open....wide.....very, very wide!
The thing that I just don't get is the general population who believe that we are supposed to have a relationship with God through prayer (flapping our lips) yet we are not supposed to listen to what God says to us. In fact if anyone were to say that God spoke to them, they would risk being locked up in an institution for the insane. Well, if we have a relationship with God, would God be mute???? I don't think so. Omnipotence does not a mute God make. So go ahead and let yourself trust in whatever Creator you may believe in. Even if you don't believe in a Creator Spirit, trust at least in your own inner wisdom voice. The only way to build that relationship is through meditation. I am not saying that prayer is useless by any stretch. I am just saying that we live in a society of lip flappers who have not yet learned how to listen. So try meditation as well as prayer. You never know. You just might find it to be an enriching experience. ;-)
Blessed Be
Trent
Friday, January 11, 2008
Blessings
A friend of mine emailed me a quote from David Spangler who writes, "Blessing is not a technique we perform but a presence we embody. It is not an act we do to someone or something, but a relationship we form with them that enables us all to be embraced in the presence of an unobstructed world."
My wife calls housecleaning "Blessing the Home", which I think she got from the Fly Lady. Cleaning is a part of blessing indeed in that it sets up a sacred relationship between the self and the body, the home, the yard/land...whatever it is we are cleaning. It is a way of being in sacred harmony with the environment.
When I say to someone, "Blessed Be" I am encouraging them to become the best they can be in sacred harmony with all that is. This harmony is something that requires thought and attention. And if we put all our attention into everything we do, then not only are we in the moment, the now, but we are in blessed harmony.
Blessed Be
Trent
My wife calls housecleaning "Blessing the Home", which I think she got from the Fly Lady. Cleaning is a part of blessing indeed in that it sets up a sacred relationship between the self and the body, the home, the yard/land...whatever it is we are cleaning. It is a way of being in sacred harmony with the environment.
When I say to someone, "Blessed Be" I am encouraging them to become the best they can be in sacred harmony with all that is. This harmony is something that requires thought and attention. And if we put all our attention into everything we do, then not only are we in the moment, the now, but we are in blessed harmony.
Blessed Be
Trent
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Dragons
I have been thinking a lot about dragons lately. Mostly because on the astral plane I have encountered a lot more of them. I am also noticing that there are some showing themselves when I am doing energy balancing for people. They are around the person I am working on. Some are aware of them, some just give a strange look when I mention them. That is okay. I am used to the strange looks.
It is not an accident that I am also becoming more sensitive to the dragon lines in the earth. These veins of energy ( some of which stream through my yard and my sacred healing space) are seeming much more powerful in voltage of late. I am looking forward to working more with them.
And also not by accident, a dear friend gifted me with a book on Dragons called Dancing with Dragons. I find that some of the information in it seems a wee bit dogmatic, but most of it is excellent resourse material. So I thank you for that, both the friend and the author of the wonderful book!
Blessings
It is not an accident that I am also becoming more sensitive to the dragon lines in the earth. These veins of energy ( some of which stream through my yard and my sacred healing space) are seeming much more powerful in voltage of late. I am looking forward to working more with them.
And also not by accident, a dear friend gifted me with a book on Dragons called Dancing with Dragons. I find that some of the information in it seems a wee bit dogmatic, but most of it is excellent resourse material. So I thank you for that, both the friend and the author of the wonderful book!
Blessings
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