Tag Archive | religion

Happy Friday the 13th, February 2015!

The 1st Black Friday Of The Year

The number ’13’ is often referred to as the number of transition/change. It is seen as constantly being at odds with the ’12’, trying to undo the completeness of that even number. People in general are resistant to change and reluctant to take on change when times are going well. But change in inevitable and constantly moves us forward, often whither we want it to or not.

For Pagans, 13 is the perfect number. It 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.

There are a couple of articles here on Reflections that cover Friday the 13th. for those of you interested in learning more.

The History of Friday The 13th – A Good Day For Pagans
Friday the 13th and the Full Moon – What’s In A Day?

We hope you enjoy the first Friday the 13th for 2015. Make it a good one and it will be good to you in return.

Merry Imbolg and Lammas for 2015

Feb1

Morning Light

The Festivals of Light and Fire

It’s that time of year again. Time we Pagans honor the change of seasons and celebrate Father Sun.

Here in the Northern Hemisphere we’re moving into the first of the Spring Festivals with Imbolg, the Festival of Light. Father Sun begins his return to warm our hearts and extend his light in our day. This first spring holiday, is linked to the return of longer and warmer days that melt the snows and bring forth the rebirth of the world. Pagans honor Imbolc, Imbolg, Brigid’s Day or the Festival of Lights as the growing seasons returns and Mother Earth begins to bloom.

In the Southern Hemisphere we’re moving into the Fall Festivals with Lammas, the Festival of Fire. Lughnasadh, also known as Lammas is the Fire Festival that honors the Celtic hero Lugh who is often seen as the patron of the Sun.

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. Bon fire dancing is common and encouraged during this festival to bring the warm of the Sun into the world of the Humans.

Those who recognize February 1st as the observed holiday, will begin their rituals on January 31st. And for some places in the world, that’s already tonight.

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

May Your Season Be Blessed with Abundance and Happiness

Reflection’s Third Anniversary

Feb1

Tea Time Celebration

The Beauty Of Three

Welcome To Springwolf Reflections – Our 1st Post
Three years ago today I started up this little blog as a way to interact with readers of my book. We had decided to move my official author site from a generic static website to a blog where I could write and share my thoughts of the day on a more interactive basis.

In the last week of January 2012 we set that plan to work and set off on research, design and implementation of Springwolf Reflections. That work came together and we officially rolled out with the publication of our first post on February 1st, 2012.

The change from static site to blog has allowed us to share insight, inspiration, news and discussion on a broader scale than we were able to provide on Facebook. And since then we’ve expanded our social media connections to Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, and a whole bunch of other places. You can see all our social connections below.

I’ve truly enjoyed the communication with visitors. Your comments have been thoughtful, your emails insightful and your kind words have been greatly appreciated.

If you’ve followed my blog for a little while, you may know the number 4 is my lucky and favorite number. So I’m excited we have embarked on the 4th year of Reflections. I’m excited to see what this year brings and I’m looking forward to seeing what and how it unfolds.

I’m humbled by your continual support and extend a heartfelt Thank you for visiting. I hope you like what we have to share in the coming year. And I hope you’ll continue sharing your comments, email and posts on our social media outlets. Continue reading →

News Release – Counseling Psychology Association

Jan28

Healing Through Compassion & Affirmation

Caring and Compassion

The IMM Counseling Psychology Association

Last year the International Metaphysical Ministry (IMM) began working on the foundation of a new organization to provide counseling guidelines, expanded and up-to-the-minute continuing education to IMM Ministerial graduates. This information can be enormously helpful to the professional coach or counselor as well as to someone seeking spiritual/metaphysical assistance. Counseling services are something all Ministers in all religions provide.

The IMM’s Counseling Psychology Association officially kicked off its organization and services January 1st, 2015 for IMM Ministers and it’s University system graduates.

The Association is a professional and educational organization that is dedicated to the growth and enhancement of the spiritual counseling profession. As the majority of IMM graduates engage in some form of coaching and counseling or are planning careers to do the same in the future, these guidelines help to provide a professional framework for operation and the accessibility to continue learning and sharing with other members,

We are proud to announce the certification of Spring (Dr. Vickie Carey) in this new Association and looks forward to the expanded learning, sharing of ideas, concepts and information with other members and with you. Continue reading →

In Full Disclosure – Have Faith, Not Hope!

Jan27

Face Plant!!

Giving Credit

Last year on June 8th 2014, I posted a Homily about “Have Faith, Not Hope” – A Powerful Change In Perspective. The inspiration for the article was a video I had seen of Jim Carrey’s Commencement Address at the 2014 MUM Graduation.

I truly have become very fond of that Commencement address and especially two key sections that inspire and encourage anyone. Not only the graduates he’s speaking to.

The first was related to being contained by others. Setting your own limitations by stepping outside the limitations of others. “You can’t contain the container” he said. I love that!

The second statement is one that really impacted my perspective in life about hope. He said:
“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 was really struck by that perspective. It changed a good many things in my life. But his words were not easy for me to relate to and share with others. I wanted to be able to impart this bit of wisdom with my own students. And if I couldn’t remember it and say it well, the concept would be lost in the retelling. Continue reading →

Don’t Just “Like”, Take Action!

Jan17

Take Action To Save Endangered Species!

Save The Wolves!

In a decision dated December 19, 2014, U.S. District Judge Howell ruled that federal threatened status be restored to wolves in Minnesota and endangered status to wolves in Michigan,null Wisconsin and parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

The court ruled that the US Fish & Wildlife Service cannot designate the Great Lakes wolves as a Distinct Population, for the purpose of de-listing them. Wolves in the Great Lakes Region were de-listed January 2012 giving the states the authority to oversee wolf management.

Since that time, more than 1,500 Great Lakes wolves have been killed through recreational hunting and trapping resulting in a substantial reduction in wolf populations. This added human caused mortality constitutes a threat to the species. Scientific research shows that wolf populations self-regulate and hunting is not necessary to manage wolves.

Wolves are essential to a healthy eco-system. This has been proven by the re-introduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park. Nothing shows this better than a National Geographic documentary entitled “How Wolves Change Rivers“. Continue reading →

eMail Notifications From Reflections

Jan1

eMail Notification Support

Thank You For Following Our Blog

We’ve received an email today about receiving notifications from our Blog postings. We tried to respond, but the email was returned with an unknown eMail address. We care about the experience and interaction all our followers have with our blog.

So we thought we’d use this as an opportunity to share some support information in case others have an issue now or in the future.

Here’s the eMail we received:
I use to get a daily following of Springwolf Reflections, I no longer receive it so I tried singing up again and I am still not getting it. When I went to the support page I did not find the answer to getting the daily blog sent to my email. Please Help
Thank You

For this specific week, we’re on our winter hiatus until Monday, January 5th. The last daily message we posted here on Reflections was December 23rd. If you’ve received notifications on the 29th and 30th, then you’re still receiving our postings. If not, check to see if your spam filter has changed and is blocking the wordpress notifications.

If that’s not the issue, or if you ever have problems with receiving notifications, contact WordPress Support and let them know of the problem. The follow and notification processes are created and maintained by WordPress and they can best resolve your notification issues.

Everyone here at Spring’s Haven and Springwolf Reflections are honored and humbled when someone follows our blog. We’re thrilled and appreciate the shares each of you have made over these past few years. And we hope we can continue to provide quality content to keep you coming. Thank you all for continued support. It really does mean a lot to us.

Many Blessings,

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 →

Happy Holidays

Dec23

Everyone here at Springwolf Reflections wishes you and yours a wondrous
Merry Yule and a Happy New Year!
May the Great Spirits bring you all the joy, happiness, abundance and prosperity you deserve.

"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