Tag Archive | enlightenment

Merry Mid-Year Solstice

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 returns to the land.

In the Southern Hemisphere the mid-year solstice it falls on December 21st or 22nd. Which rings in the slow hello to the Sun as the days become longer and the darkness becomes shorter.

In both cases, the Sun is honored with bonfires and celebrations of the Holly and Oak Kings. But this year coincides with the celestial conjunction of Venus, Jupiter, and the crescent Moon. Making this a very special holiday to honor and celebrate.

Everyone here at Springwolf Reflections and Spring’s Haven
wish you and yours a very Merry and Joyful holiday celebration.
May the Faeries in your home and garden
bless your evening and all the days of your life.

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

Mid-Summer Festival – Celebrating The Summer Solstice
The Summer Solstice – A Time For Faeries – Walnuts For Wishes : A Recipe and Ritual For Faeries
A Solstice Conjunction for 2015 – An Amazing Summer Solstice Event

Decoration Weekend – A Time To Remember

May23

We Celebrate Memorial Day This Weekend!
We give our thanks and gratitude to all of
the Men and Women of the Armed Forces,
Along with all of our Animal Soldiers who serve at their side,
And each member of their families!!
We honor those who protect our Country and our Freedom
Past, Present and Future.
Thank you for your service and your sacrifice.

Produced by The U.S. Air Force News Agency

Thank You To ALL The Animal Vets

Decoration Day
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day.

Regardless of the exact date or location of its origins, one thing is clear – Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and a desire to honor our dead. It was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed.

The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.
~ USMemorialDay.org

Remembering To Be Mindful

Apr16

Put Being Mindful Into Daily Practice

Mindfulness is a state of being where balance and peace within the moment, within the self and being are the center of all things. It’s not just looking at your thoughts, but your present state of attitude and how that translates into the manifestation of actions and reactions. (Read more about Mindfulness – Being Aware Of Your Spiritual Manifestation).

Today there are many ways to help you remember to take a moment and be aware of your thoughts and actions. Put a poster up in your office, put an image on your screen saver or something I’ve found that has been better than all those combined… There’s an app for that!

Put your smart phone or tablet to work for you and your spiritual awareness. There are many apps that provide Mindful reminders. The one I found works on Android, it’s free and it has no special permission requirements to work. That means it’s not phoning home every 10seconds.

It’s called the Mindfulness Bell. Let me give you some basic functions of this app so you can find one that works for you. Continue reading →

Sunday Homily: Writing Your Abundance Check

Mar22

A New Moon Ritual

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’m a firm believer that making a wish is great on a spiritual level. Asking for help to make life a little easier can have a great deal of influence in our lives. But only if we put some action behind it.

It reminds me of a story I think I’ve shared here before. But in case I haven’t, let me tell it again. Continue reading →

Friday The 13th, March 2015

Mar13

What’s Behind The Day

It’s known as “Black Friday” or “Black Cat Day”. And it’s a good day for Pagans because it’s seen as the perfect day. But here’s an interesting synchronicity; this post is the 1300th article here on Reflections.

The Thirteen represents good luck and moving with the flow of Divine energy. Going with the flow is an important part of Pagan perspectives. Fighting against the tide is akin to fighting against change making bad situations even worse than they already are. Where as going with the flow of change brings peace and harmony. Even if you’re flowing with the tide, you are always in control of the paddle of your ship. Guide it safely forward and you’ll reap the benefits of the opportunities that cross your path. Continue reading →

When You Love With Respect

Feb26

When you love with respect, everything else –
trust, intimacy, compassion, loyalty, laughter and happiness
– simply fall into place.

2015 Annual Motto

Dec30

The Year Long Affirmation

Many years ago I stopped making New Years Resolutions. I was never able to stick to them and keep them going the year through. Not being able to keep up with such a lofty goal was frustrating. To say the least. And left me feeling defeated, not empowered.

I began seeing Resolutions as Affirmations to Fail. What a negative and self-defeating concept. Setting yourself up to fail and feeling bad about not carrying through on the promise you made to yourself. How is this helpful? Well, for me it wasn’t helpful at all. So I stopped making Resolutions!

Instead I worked on creating a motto to carry me through the rough patches of the year. The harder the challenge, the more blunt the Motto was. Especially in the beginning of my new practice.

My first motto was designed to do nothing more than get me through a day of frustration and anger. In 2001 I didn’t like my Boss at the time, which meant I didn’t like my job either. But my Motto got me through those exceptionally rough days “I don’t care, I get paid.” And it worked. Pretty well actually. The group of people I managed at the time, took up my practice and new motto as well. Each time we hit a wall of frustration, someone would recite the motto and everyone would relax a little bit. Continue reading →

A Year Without God

Dec29

Have The Courage To Question and Look Within

A Seventh-Day Adventist Pastor Becomes An Atheist

This holiday season NPR released the short story of “After Year Of Atheism, Former Pastor: ‘I Don’t Think God Exists“. A tale of former Seventh-Day Adventist pastor Ryan Bell making an unusual New Year’s resolution for 2014: to live for one year without God.

Of course the timing of the story is designed to inflame emotions of those with faith into reading the article. While many are celebrating their Christian beliefs, anything that contradicts that will of course draw someone in and get them to at least read the article.

I really get annoyed with that kind of psychological manipulation. If your story has value, then it should hold true regardless of what time of the year it is. But that’s not what I want to talk about here.

I’ve come across this article three times in two days. On Twitter through NPR, on FB and as a share from a family member I have great respect for. It was after this third encounter I decided to read the article and find out what this is all about.

My first reaction to the headline was:
If that’s all it took for him to review and question his beliefs, then I doubt the original dedication this pastor had to his religion. He sounds more like a follower than a leader. Easily swayed and lead down a path. A person who doesn’t think for himself, but follows what others tell him to believe. Then I read the short article and formed a more informed opinion.
Continue reading →

Sunday Homily: Learning To Communicate

Dec7

How We Think

How We Think Impacts How We Talk

Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes it takes a little while to find out what the reason is, and others it becomes obvious from the start.

Being a political junkie, I typically start my Sunday’s with the morning News/Political debate programs. Meet the Press is my most favorite. A few weeks ago I was getting my morning cup of coffee and preparing to watch the morning debates when one of the cats decided to turn the channel while I was out of the room. As I returned to the tv, there was a discussion with Blair Underwood and Vanessa Williams.

I assumed this interview was in the news for some reason and the Sunday morning debate was playing a snippet of this interview. It took a few minutes to realize the channel had been changed to BET and I wasn’t watching what I thought I was.

What I discovered however, was very interesting and I watched the remainder of the program. There was a reason for the kitty-cat intervention. Ok, kewl.

Ms. Williams was discussing a book she had read, What Could He be Thinking by Dr. Michael Gurian. Her synopsis of the book piqued my curiosity enough, that I had to pick it up myself. It’s a great book on how our brains work differently and the science behind that. It’s not a bad or degrading study suggesting one sex is smarter than the other. Merely a study in the way we process information differently within the human brain.

As a Spiritual Counselor, this kind of scientific and psychological study is something that truly interests me. The more we understand about how we process information, the better we can communicate and resolve issues. Not only in our relationships with partners and family, but in society as well. How we think and process information during our varying emotions is a key component to understanding how we put our choices and actions into practice. Continue reading →

Reflections On Today’s Numbers

Oct29

The Numerology of 1177

If you’ve been around here for a little while, you know that from time to time numbers catch my attention. When they do, I like to analyze their significations in relation to what’s going on with the day and where they popped up.

When those numbers are connected to my work, I like to share that insight with you. Because it might have some significance to your day.

That happened today when I posted a little News item about appearing on KAOI’s show Talk Story with Cindy Paulos. The longest running talk show on Maui, where Cindy interviews celebrities, political leaders and spiritual teachers.

I posted the news and received the notification this was 1177th post on this blog and it grabbed my attention. Trust your instincts. When something grabs your attention, whether it’s out of the ordinary or something that happens nearly every day, it’s trying to share a message with you. Continue reading →

"Believe In Yourself, Even When No One Else Does."
~ Harvey McKay ~
~~~~~~~~
“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
~~~~~~~~
“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 ~
~~~~~~~~
"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