Tag Archive | neo-Pagan

Affirmations For Change

Tribal Wolf Patterns Colored by SpringwolfCreating Positive Thought Patterns

We all set up recurring thought patterns in our subconscious that affect how we live our life. These patterns could be self doubt, a lack of confidence, or emotional perspectives based on how you interact with others. These thoughts can come from societies preconceived notions about the kind of person you are, from family and friends, and from your own views about situations you have experienced in your life.

Allowing these thought patterns to reside in your subconscious, allows them to dictate your choices in life, which at times can be detrimental to self-growth and enlightenment.

One way to help bring about change in your life is to focus on replacing negative thinking with positive thinking through affirmations. Instead of “I hate being fat” for instance, start telling yourself “I am beautiful” or “I am working to become the healthy person I want to be”.

Affirmations are a way of reprogramming the subconscious to think differently and to automatically react in a more positive way when trigger situations occur in your life. Continue reading

Affirmations

Evolving The Spirit

Karma isn’t the only thing that can set up thought patterns and actions in your life. How you think affects the way you feel. Our own thought patterns effect the health of our body, mind and spirit.

When you’re creating an uneasiness or “dis-ease” in your body, by the way you think, feel and approach each situation in your life, you create energy that will manifest in your physical body. So each emotional thought pattern is really an underlying “cause” of a physical illness, or emotional situation in your life.

We all set up recurring thought patterns in our subconscious that affect how we live our life. These patterns could be self doubt, a lack of confidence, or emotional perspectives based on how you interact with others. These thoughts can come from societies preconceived notions about the kind of person you are, from family and friends, and from your own views about situations you have experienced in your life.

If you are a person who has been through many failed relationships, you could develop a thought pattern that causes you to expect failure in any new relationship that comes your way. Which is a way to set up a self fulfilling prophecy, even when your own “expected perception” is wrong. Continue reading

Deciphering The Ailment Message

Tribal Alpha Wolf Colored by Springwolf

How You Think Creates How You Feel

Our own thought patterns effect the health of our body. Each emotional thought pattern is really an underlying “cause” of a physical illness. Understanding the illness can help you address the cause and thereby riding the body of the disease. How you think, literally creates how you feel.

There are many books on the market that describe this system of belief and understanding, but in my opinion, one of the best books on the market for healers is called “Heal Your Body” by Louise Hay, from Hay House Publishing. Ms. Hay created one of, if not the definitive source for emotional causes, their corresponding illness and a metaphysical affirmation to help the individual deal with the originating cause for illnesses.

One way to help bring about change in your life it so focus on replacing negative thinking with positive thinking through affirmations. Affirmations are a way of reprogramming the subconscious to think differently and to automatically react in a more positive way when trigger situations occur in your life.

Understanding the cause is not the cure for an ailment. And this metaphysical/shamanistic approach should be used as a support and in conjunction with traditional approaches to medical evaluations and treatment by your doctor. It doesn’t replace modern medicine. Continue reading

An Introduction To Usui Reiki

Shamanistic Healing

An Introduction

Our own thought patterns effect the health of our body. Each emotional thought pattern is really an underlying “cause” of a physical illness. In other words, how you think, creates how you feel. This concept has been the basis of Shamanistic healing modalities around the world. It’s not new, and it’s not unique. But it’s also not something you find very often in Western Medicine.

Understanding the physical illness can help you address the underlying cause and thereby riding the body of the disease. That doesn’t mean that you can forgo mainstream medicine all together. Sometimes when you don’t listen to the messages of your body; the issue progresses and requires mainstream medical attention.

But these metaphysical/shamanistic concepts can help you understand why the illness formed, and how you can include metaphysical practices to help support the medical treatment from your physician.

There are many books on the market that describe this system of understanding and belief, but for me, one of the best books on the market for healers is called “Heal Your Body” by Louise Hay, from Hay House Publishing. Ms. Hay created one of, if not the definitive source for emotional causes, their corresponding illness and a metaphysical affirmation to help the individual deal with the originating cause. She has an excellent way of making the concepts understandable for healers and puts the perspective into words. I highly recommend her books.

These concepts will help any healer with their chosen mode of Metaphysical/Shamanistic healing. Be it Reiki, Rolfing, Crystal or Light healing, the basics begin the mind.
Continue reading

Psychic Development

Psychic Wolf by SpringwolfDeveloping Your Talents

Everyone is psychic to one degree or another. Some people are just more “aware” of the unseen energies within and around them than others are. But those “gut feelings”, a “woman’s intuition”, or a “detective’s hunch”, are all psychic abilities. We’ve just learned to call them something that doesn’t sound so far “out there”.

If you haven’t already, I’d suggest you go back a few postings and read about Psychic Abilities. On that article you’ll find descriptions about a Psychic and a Channel. The different types of Psychic senses a person might have. And how Metaphysics explains the levels of psychic communications.

Of all the questions I’m asked, “How can I be a psychic” is the most common. Right along with “How can I develop my own psychic skills?” As I mentioned above, you’re already psychic. Because everyone already is, it’s part of our nature or our natural instincts. It’s not a “gift”, nor is it a “special ability”. Everyone has it and everyone has the potential to exercise and develop their own senses. So before I answer this second question, how can you develop my skills, I always ask my own question first. “Why do you want to?” It’s important to understand why someone wants to enhance and develop their natural abilities? I’ve heard every answer in the book. “I want to read minds”, well you won’t be able to do that, so next? “I want to give readings and make some extra money” or “I want to be a psychic for a living”.Those desires come with karmic consequences, so be careful what you ask for. Ideally the answer I’m looking for is, so I can communicate with the Divine force in my life. Or some variation of that.
Continue reading

Psychic Abilities

Are You Psychic? 

How many times have you said to yourself, or someone else “I have a gut feeling”, or “This place or person feels creepy”? We all do it. We all have that inner instinct that tries to warn of danger. Most people ignore those gut feelings. Or dismiss them as imagination or paranoia. But did you ever think, those feelings might be accurate and real?

Psychic: (greek psychiokos – psyche, soul or that which is mental) to sense, to understand and to interpret for practical purposes, a force that enters in and emanates out of the body, mind and/or spiritual or ethereal realms without use of the 5 physical senses.

Being Psychic
Everyone is psychic to some degree, some people are just more in-tune with that side of their mind-body-spirit connection than others. These “gifts” are really just part of your senses. Those gut feelings, they’re really just your natural senses picking up on very subtle energy around you and warning you or sending you a message. Continue reading

Merry Imbolg & Lammas 2018

Celebration of the return Sun

Celebration of the Sun

The Festival of Lights and Fire

The time of Spring is upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere as the Sun begins his return to warm our hearts and extend his light in our day. His return rings in the first of the Spring Holidays known as Imbolc, Imbolg, Brigid’s Day or the Festival of Lights.

In the Southern Hemisphere the summer is marked by its peak of the Sun during the Fire Festival. It is the time of Lughnasadh, also known as Lammas or the Fire Festival which honors the Celtic hero Lugh. It is the first of the Pagan Harvest Festivals and the time of year to thank the Tuatha Dé Danann (the Faeries) for their help in our gardens.

These Sabbats (Pagan Holidays) are observed on February 1st or 2nd, depending on one’s personal Tradition (spiritual denomination). Because Pagans celebrate on a Lunar Calendar schedule, our holiday observances actually begin  at sunset on the evening before the scheduled day.

Those who recognize February 1st as the observed holiday, will begin their rituals on January 31st. While others, like my Clan, being our celebrations tonight and observe the holiday on February 1st.

This year we’re blessed with the energy of GrandMother Moon’s full phase, ringing in the Snow Moon for the north and the  Thunder Moon of the south.

Everyone here at Springwolf Reflections and Spring’s Haven extend our wishes to you and yours for a wonderful and joyous celebration of warmth and light. Where ever you are in the world,

May Your Season Be Blessed with Abundance and Happiness

© Springwolfs Hanko

© 2014 Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D. Springwolf Reflections / Springs Haven, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

The Legend of the Sacred King

Father Sun and Mother Earth

A Celtic Tale of Sacrifice and the Blood Moon

In ancient history, many cultures hold tales concerning a Sacred King. Back then a King was a form of deity, or was placed on a throne by Divine hands. As such they were worshiped as much as they were revered and honored. The Sacred King we’re going to talk about comes from the early pagan days of the Celts.

In this tale, the Sacred King is associated with the Sun, and in some variations with the Sun God Lugh who is honored during the 1st Harvest Festival known as Lughnasadh, celebrated on August 1st in Northern Hemisphere.  Elements of this story are scattered through pagan festivals throughout the year, and have been passed on through the generations of practitioners primarily through oral tales. Even today, most Pagans celebrate these events in our modern festivals and rituals, but often as separate events instead of one long story arc. 

In his writings, Sir James George Frazer describes in a book called The Golden Bough (1890–1915); the sacred king represented the spirit of vegetation. He came into being in the spring, reigned during the summer, and ritually died at harvest time, only to be reborn at the winter solstice to wax and rule again. 

Elements of Frazer’s book, document Pagan tales celebrated throughout the cycle of the year in one story. There are elements of the Holy and Oak King, who share governance of the seasons as they wax and wane between summer and winter. There’s the association of the fertile spring equinox when the Great God and Maiden Goddess unite and reign through the summer. And the outcome of that union in the fall, which provides for an abundant harvest season. Continue reading

What is Yuletide?

Merry Yuletide

The Time of Yule

December 21st marks the Winter Solstice for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Solstice celebrations are expected to be held all around the world, recognizing a variety of secular and non-secular events. But the Solstice also rings in the time of Yule for yet another variety of people, Pagans.

Pagan observance of Yule begin at Sunset
on December 20th, 2017.

Have you ever wondered why we call this time Yuletide? Why is there a Yuletide log? Or what about Yuletide carols? Well of course these are things that evolved overtime. Most are rooted in Paganism, some were co-opted by other religions in an effort to convert Pagans, typically to Christianity. And some have nothing to do with Pagans at all.

Yuletide is a combination word. Yule + tide. It’s the tide part people don’t generally give much thought to in our modern observances. But let’s talk about that for a moment. Continue reading

Meditation Exercises

Visualized Meditations

Each of the following visualized meditations have a common beginning, the lighting of a ‘spiritual’ candle, saying a prayer for assistance, and a process for a visualized protection of yourself and your surroundings. Remember these are only suggestions. Variations of these techniques or others not discussed here may work better for you.

Following this section are three examples of meditative prayers used specifically to identify the intent of the meditation. The first is used for the sole purpose of protection, the second for calling upon your guides and teachers to assist with a reading, and the final prayer is used primarily for closing a reading, or special meditation.

Meditations should be performed in a location of your house or office reserved for spiritual practices. You can use any variety of spiritual or new age music if you choose. Crystals, candles and other spiritual tools are also encouraged.

If you find a piece of music you really like for meditation, stick with it. If you use the same piece each time you meditate, you will pre-program your mind to step into a state of relaxation. Each time you practice, your mind will move into this state with less effort and more quickly, allowing you more time for greater meditative work. My personal favorite piece is called Ascension to All That Is by Robert Slap. You can find it on Amazon.com

Preparing the Room
The room you choose to perform a reading, healing or any spiritual work, should be cleared of negative and unwanted energy. And filled with positive energy that promotes the intent you’re setting the space for spiritual work. There are many techniques to perform this task, the following are just 2 common examples.

Smudging / Incense
A smudge stick is a collection of dried herbs wrapped together with string. Smudge sticks are usually made from sage and a more fragrant herb such as lavender or sandlewood. The sage is used to ward off unwanted or negative energies, the second herb typically denotes the purpose of the stick. I have found sage and lavender to be an excellent cleansing mixture for meditation, healing and divination. And sage and cedar for setting protection, which can also be used for meditation, creating space for spiritual work and celebrations. But these are just two of many combinations you can use.

You can also use an Incense stick or cone if you prefer that form of fragrance instead. Again the variation in fragrance varies widely. Nag Champa, Sunrise Sandalwood, Midnight Patchouli are some of the popular options. I’m partial to Nag Champa and Patchouli. But as with all things on the spiritual path, it’s up to you.

  1. You will need a smudge stick or incense, a book of matches or a lighter. A small bowl to place the smudge or incense, after the blessing. Set the items out before you on the floor or on a coffee table. If you choose to use spiritual music, begin the tape now. <
  2. Sit quietly in the center of the room and close your eyes. Take a few moments to say a brief prayer of protection and to call upon your guide(s) for assistance. Open your eyes and light the smudge stick at one end. Let the herbs burn for about 10 to 15 seconds. Blow out the flames and allow the herbs to smolder.
  3. Stand and face North, raise the smudge toward the ceiling and say: ‘Bless the element of air. The power of the mind’.
  4. Turn to your right to face the East, raise the smudge and say: ‘Bless the element of fire. The power of spirit’.
  5. Turn to your right to face the South, raise the smudge and say: ‘Bless the element of water. The power of emotion’.
  6. Turn to your right to face West, raise the smudge and say: ‘Bless the element of earth. The power of the physical.’
  7. Turn to your right to face North once more, lower the smudge toward the ground and say: ‘Bless the Mother Earth’.
  8. Raise the smudge over your head and say: ‘Bless the Father Sun’.
  9. Lower the smudge to chest level. Fan the smoke toward your body with your hand or a large feather and say: ‘Bless this house, myself and my purpose. Please remove any negative energies out into the universe where they can be dissipated and can no longer do harm to anyone. Send to me the most positive light and power to fulfill my plan for this day. In return I give my thanks and gratitude, my love and positive light for the universal good of all. Amen.’
  10. Place the smudge stick in the small bowl and let it continue to smoke. When the client arrives ask if they mind leaving the smudge burning during the session. If they do, simply turn the stick upside down and gently grind the burning embers into the bowl. Do not use water to put out the remaining coals as this will ruin your smudge stick.
  11. If the client has no opposition to the smudge stick, place it on a table on the opposite side of the room. That way the smoke from the stick will not interfere with your ability to perceive the clients aura. Just remember to extinguish the stick after the reading.

Energetic Meditation

An Altar For Working

Using Energy alone is all about you and how you connect with the Divine and raise energy for spiritual working. This method uses visualization and a few tools to help you focus your intent and energy.

The following images help to balance your own energy, while at the same time adds to your personal power level for cleansing the ‘reading’ room. This meditation will also help to protect you from unwanted intrusions created by negative energies.

You will want to surround your space with spiritual items that mean something to you. A crystal ball, a statue or some representation of your spirit animal, your magikal journal and a cauldron can all be used to help you “get into” the spiritual frame of mind.  You can use any tools you like, it doesn’t have to be any of these, except for the candle. You can also choose a piece of meditation music to help drown out distracting noises around your space.

Select a quiet space that will comfortably fit everyone who will be in your circle. Make sure everyone has room to move, stretch, sit comfortably and so on. If the space is just for you, the same requirements will be needed to help you remain focused on the task at hand.

  1. You will need a white candle and something to light it with. If you choose to use spiritual music, press play now.
  2. Sit in the center of the space, either on a chair or on the floor. Make sure your back is straight and the position you choose is comfortable for about a 10-15 minute session. This allows the positive energy to flow through you and assist in the process of your ritual.
  3. Take a minute to relax and focus your energies. Light the white candle and imagine the flame is coming from within your own consciousness.
  4. Close your eyes and take in 3 deep breaths through your nose. As you do, imagine the positive white light of the universe entering your body and energizing your lungs. As you exhale through your mouth, imagine any negativity, stress and anxiety exiting your body. Say to yourself ‘I release all stress and negative emotions to the universe from my body and my home, where they can be dissipated and no longer do harm to anyone’.
  5. As you take in the final breath, imagine God’s energy filling your lungs with a large ball of pure protective white light. Now return to normal breathing and imagine the ball of light in your lungs beginning to grow as it mixes with your own energy. As the ball becomes larger, the positive light pushes through your organs, tissue and muscles, forcing any leftover stress out of your body and into the universe to be dispersed. Imagine the energy pushing up through your chest, neck and head. Then see the energy pushing downward, through your stomach, hips, legs and feet. When you have imagined the white light fully encompassing your entire body, turn your thought to the solar plexus (the solar plexus is located in the area where the lower part of your rib cage joins together).
  6. Beginning at the solar plexus, imagine a gold spear of light moving down your spine. Take the spear in your mind down through the floor, through the foundation of your house, through the bedrock, and molten lava until it reaches the pure yellow fire within the center of the earth. Imagine the end of your gold spear plugging into the earths core like an electrical cord into an outlet. Once the connection is made, the grounding yellow energy from the earth quickly travels up the spear, through the floor and into your body along the spinal cord. The energy continues up the spine and out the top of your head reaching far out into the universe. As you continue this thought for a few moments, the yellow light from the earth is helping to ground you mentally, emotionally and physically.
  7. When you’re ready to proceed, image a second spear beginning back at your solar plexus. This time, run the gold spear up your spine, out the top of your head, through the roof of your house, through the earths atmosphere and out into the deepest portions of the universe. Now imagine the white energized light of the universe attaching itself to your spear, as if it were a lightening rod. The positive electrical energy quickly travels downward toward the earth, through the roof top, through your head, down through your body alongside the spinal cord, reaching down through the house toward the center of the earth. As you continue this thought for a few moments, the power of the universe is energizing your spiritual and physical bodies.
  8. Now the power from the earth, the power from the universe and your own power of protection mix together and flows freely up and down your body. As you continue this thought for a few moments, each external energy is supplementing your own. The universe and the earth are assisting to balance your energies to enhance the reading. The earth and sky will also provide you with the additional amount of energy you may expended during the session.
  9. When you’re ready to resume, imagine all this revitalizing energy pushing out through the confines of your body. As it grows and moves farther and farther out into the room, all negative and disruptive energy is being pushed out of your house to the universe where it will be dispersed. Continue this image until your entire house is energized with the pure positive energy.
  10. Ask your guide(s) to help protect your house from any negative or earth bound forces. Ask them to watch over you and the events of the day, to bless you and keep you safe. Sit for a few more moments, then when your ready thank your guide(s) and teachers and close the mediation.

Visualized meditations can be very powerful tools for any situation. But the important thing to remember is you’re not alone, so ask for help from your guides and spiritual teachers, but don’t forget to thank those unseen forces for their assistance.

Created: 10/07/1996        Updated: 01/17/2009, 11/24/2019

© Springwolfs Hanko


© 2012-2019 Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D. Springwolf Reflections / Springs Haven, LLC. All Rights Reserved.