The Symbology of Rainbows

Rainbows

Rainbows are one of the most beautiful spectacles nature has to offer — so beautiful, in fact, that they’ve inspired countless fairy tales, songs and legends. It’s a good bet that most of the artists behind these tales were totally mystified by the rainbow phenomenon. But of course there’s a scientific reason for how they’re formed. It has to do with light refraction, bending light, and even frequency.

When white sunlight hits a collection of raindrops at a fairly low angle, you can see the component colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet — a rainbow. ~ Making a Rainbow at Science.HowStuffWorks.com

Single Rainbows
Rainbows appear all over the world. So of course there are a ton of myths and legends about what they mean from place to place. Some meanings also represent the actual science behind their creation too.

Most people know the story about the Irish leprechaun hiding their gold at the end of the rainbow. According to fables, Leprechauns are tiny mystical forms of faeries who were originally linked to the Tuatha De Danann of Irish mythology. They normally take the form of an old man in a red or green coat, when they appear to humans.

But they are also known as mischievous faery creatures who like to make shoes and store their gold in a pot that they hide at the end of a rainbow. Because rainbows don’t come around everyday, so it’s a good place to hide their gold. Yet it’s a place that will appear from time to time that allows the little fae to grab a handful of gold when they need it. And if you find that pot of gold and can get it from the leprechauns, you maybe allowed to keep what you can grab. Continue reading →

Merry Mid-Year Solstice for 2016

Jun18

Happy Solstice Celebration

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we celebrate the Summer Solstice on June 21st or 22nd. The Summer Solstice rings in the waning year and begins the slow good-bye of the sun as the days become shorter and the darkness slowly returns to the land.

As the story goes, the Oak King has ruled over the Earth, bringing the Sun to warm the ground so fields could be planted for wheat, barley and gardens can grow. When the solstice arrives, the Holly King wakes from his slumber and challenges the Oak for supremacy in the sky. Continue reading →

Please Have A Feel Good Day

Jun14

Have A Nice Day I think we all need a pick me up.

Ignore the haters.
Walk away from the fakers.
Close the door on the takers.
Change the channel on the instigators.

Choose to have a nice day!
It will piss them all off.

Many years ago when I was a student of my favorite teacher, a Shaman named Roger, I was having an unusually bad day.

He asked me why I was allowing the hate and jealousy of others control my emotions and my day? To be honest I didn’t know what to reply to that question. They made me mad, they hurt my feelings. He said “No they didn’t. You decided all on your own to listen to their words and you made the choice how you were going to feel. They didn’t make you feel that way, you allowed them to dial in a particular emotion and hit the ‘go’ button”. Continue reading →

The Ænigma Project – Pareidolia

Jun13

The Ænigma Project – Mondays 8 PM EST

Tonight during our show we discussed Pareidolia.
Pareidolia is the imagined perception of a pattern or meaning where it does not actually exist, as in considering the moon to have human features.

Here’s an example:
It’s amazing to me that people “don’t” see the dog. So I’ll help you out.
– First you have to click the photo and make it bigger.
– Then look at the red building to the left. Focus on the roof line on the right side of the building. See the chimney?
– Now look to the right of that in the area that looks like sand and you’ll see a tail, body and shepherd head.

A German Shepherd Attacks Richmond, Va.

The Reiki Principles

Jun13

Traditional Reiki Hanko

Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Precepts

Reiki is a Japanese word translated as “Universal Life Energy” by Hawayo Takata.
She brought the possibility of a relationship with this energy to us through Usui Shiki Ryoho, a healing system founded by Mikao Usui in the early part of the 1900’s. In 1973 Hawayo Takata, a Hawaiian woman of Japanese decent, was the only Reiki Master of the Usui Shiki Ryoho system in the world and was considered to be its Grand Master. She was also the first person to bring Usui Reiki to the United States after becoming a Master in 1938, teaching the system at the University of Hawaii.

Takata trained 21 Reiki Masters before her death in 1980. One of those Masters was Rev. Beth Gray, who was my first Reiki teacher for Reiki I and II. I have been a practicing Reiki Healer since 1989. I became a Reiki Master Channel in 1996.

Because of the evolution of Reiki around the world, some good and some not so good, the Principles given to all Reiki students has evolved and changed over time. Some call the Principles a Motto. A Motto is a short sentence or phrase chosen as encapsulating the beliefs or ideals guiding an individual. Where as a Principle is a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning. For the traditional Usui Reiki Channel, the Principles are a guiding force in our every day life, it is a fundamental truth within the Reiki healing system. So I’m not real fond of calling the Principles, a “motto”. Continue reading →

Planning and Preparation For The Solstice

Jun11

Fairy Moon Dance by Julie Fain (Juliefainart.com)

Create A Happy Solstice Celebration

Many have started planning for their celebration and gatherings. If you’re preparing your list and getting ready with your shopping, you might want to incorporate one of my most favorite rituals for this holiday. Because the Summer Solstice is also the Time for Faeries. And I love to include a ritual we call Walnuts For Wishes: A Recipe and Ritual for the Fae.

This ritual requires a few items you may not have laying around your home or in your ritual cabinet. So if you want to add a few things to your list for your own implementation or a variation of this ritual, now might be a good time to start planning it.

You can learn more about the Summer Solstice through these articles here on Reflections:

Mid-Summer Festival – Celebrating The Summer Solstice

Time To Write Your Abundance Check

Jun5

New Moon Energy Reminder for June

My friend Rev. Lyn Williams sends out a reminder every month on FB to Write Your Abundance Check.

I think many of us could use this, so I’d like to share it with you. It’s a great way of putting your hopes, faith, dreams or desire for abundance into physical action.

I love Rev. Lyn’s ritual, but I did change it a little to implement some Pagan specific perspectives. If you need some abundance in your life, give it a try. You’ll find the full step-by-step ritual here: Sunday Homily: Writing Your Abundance Check.

You can visit Rev. Lyn’s website and learn more about her at The Woman Exec. And follow her on Facebook where she shares some wonderful insight and suggestions to make positive changes in your life.

Enjoy the ritual!

Be Nice – Out Loud

Jun2

Brown Bear and Grey Wolf Shae Rare Friendship

Brown Bear and Grey Wolf Share A Rare Friendship

Being Kind In Action

You never know what someone else is going through. So say something nice and give them a boost in their day.

A couple of years ago I watched a 60 Minute episode with Lesley Stahl sharing a story about how humans remember things. She was interviewing a professor who was researching memory and in particular how we remember. His study revealed that we more easily remember the negative things that are said to us, whither or not they’re even true. To prove his point he told Lesley she was a terrible reporter. He paused and then said, “that comment isn’t true, you’re great at what you do. But you’re not going to remember I said that. You’ll remember the negative fabrication.” Continue reading →

eMail: Manifesting Spirits and Thoughts Into Physical Reality

May31

The Magik of Spirit

I Love Interesting Questions!

Last week I shared an email I had received from someone who wasn’t so nice, and how I responded to their message. I’d like to take the opportunity to share a fabulously interesting email I received this week and perhaps show a little contrast.

I love getting email, I love answering questions from people on all levels of understanding and experience. People always apologize for asking basic questions, or being long-winded or for emailing in general. It’s really not necessary to apologize. If I didn’t want email I shouldn’t have put up a contact page and provided a mechanism to receive correspondence. So let’s face it, if I didn’t want to answer questions, I picked a pretty poor profession to avoid it!

I get a lot of email of various kinds and from all over the world. It may take me a few days to a few months to get through them all, but I do answer all of them. Receiving email comes and goes in waves. There are many more messages from fall to spring, especially between Samhain and Yule. And not so many in the summer between June and September. Now that makes sense here in the States. But our summer is the winter for the southern hemisphere and the pattern seems to follow along in the same way. That’s always confused me. But ok.

Now some emails I receive are more interesting than others of course. I love the questions that cause me to really sit back and think how I feel about the topic, or cause me to research a little before I can answer. It’s important to remember that most people share a belief, but that we often call things by different labels. So you might need to research a term or a phrase to discover if this question’s concept is something totally new to you, or is it a topic you’re familiar with that has been given a different name. Continue reading →

Our Best Day Ever … So Far

May14

Be Inspired To Dance YOUR Dance

Thank You For Visiting

Yesterday, May 13th 2016, Springwolf Reflections had its single Best Day for visits and views! It took 2 years to surpass our first Best Day Ever, June 13th 2014. Another Friday the 13th event. That was the Full Moon Friday the 13th and thought we’d never have another big day like that again. After all, the Full Moon doesn’t fall on a Friday 13th very often. And while we like Springwolf Reflections a lot, it was surprising that 6,081 visitors liked us on that day in 2014.

I’m not sure why yesterday’s Friday the 13th, May 2016 was so popular. But I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth either. It’s also a good time to evaluate the information both on an analytical front and a numerological view.

The event is also worth celebrating and we couldn’t do it without all of YOU! We’re all humbled by your kindness and willingness to share my little blog and words with the world. Thank you, very much for helping to make our day a success.

Sometimes tracking the numbers makes you realize, the world isn’t as different as it pretends to be. We are all connected and intertwined by little events every day.

Our Best Days …. So Far:
Friday the 13th, May 2016 – 7448 views
Friday the 13th, June 2014 – 6,081 views
Friday the 13th September 2013 – 788 views

The Stats
First we’ll look at the stats and then we’ll do a little numerology to determine their meaning and value. One of the things I really like about WordPress blogs is the ability to add JetPack. This add-on allows you to track the analytics of your posts and traffic. By seeing which posts are more popular, you can tailor your blog with those topics or types of interests. You can also see where your visitors come from and how long they stay. Here’s the analytical stats for Springwolf Reflections from yesterday. Continue reading →

"Believe In Yourself, Even When No One Else Does."
~ Harvey McKay ~
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“Take a chance on faith. Not religion, but faith.
Not hope, but faith.
I don’t believe in hope. Hope is a beggar.
Hope walks through the fire and Faith leaps over it.”
~ Jim Carrey ☆ 2014
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“I describe myself as a simple Buddhist monk. No more, no less. And I am one of the seven billion human being. Basically we are the same… your emotion, my emotion, your mind, my mind.., same physical. So I always look [at it] that way. We are the same.”
~ Dalai Lama 2012 ~
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"Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
~ Bruce Lee 1971