The ancient art of burning sage is one that has been practiced in many cultures throughout history. The form of practice we most commonly know today is the one derived by Native American practice. Smudging itself is the use of burning sacred herbs or resins and using the smoke/ scent produced to partake in whichever religious or spiritual rite intended. In Native American tribes smudging was first intended to purify or bless people who underwent this cleansing cycle, but in modern America smudging is mainly used as a practice for cleansing the space.

Sage belongs to the salvia plant family; the term ‘Salvia’ derives from the meaning ‘to heal’ in Latin. As we’ve discussed throughout several other posts on this blog, energy is all around us, but it’s not necessarily also good energy. In each person we cross paths with throughout our day their energy leaves an imprint on ours, and if that said person harnesses negative space it can actually affect the space surrounding us.When sage is burned, the chemicals released from the smoke release ions that can actually change the compositions of the surrounding air and produce mood boosters. Aside from the metaphysical use, research shows cleansing your space can benefit you in your physical, mental, and emotional well being. For self care purposes sage can be a major stress relieving factor to ones space no matter which area one is trying to cleanse. When burning sage you can utilize this palette cleanser to purify your home, your office, yourself, or even a close belonging.

What you need:

White Sage
A vessel for the sage
A lighter, candle, or form of flame
A fanning tool (optional)

A Vessel to extinguish the sage after completion.

1. Collect your Tools and Pick your Space

Once you’ve gathered all the tools required you’ll want to ensure you have everything set and ready for a proper cleansing. Before you begin the process you’ll want to open up a door or window depending on the space, or both, to allow an exit strategy for all the negative energy to evacuate.

2. Set your Intentions

Setting an intention is vital to most divination practices, and when it comes to smudging there’s no difference. It’s strongly recommended to set an intention of what in particular you are trying to cleanse from the space. Once you’ve grasped an idea of what you’re actually trying to do with this experience, hold onto that thought and sit with it for just a few moments to allow it to settle in your mind. The grounding and healing smoke can be spiritually transformative of cleansing the energy around, so it’s best to have a solid idea of what is going on. In addition to having steady ground, a simple correlating mantra can also benefit this practice. As recommended by Giselle Wasfie, founder of REMIX Acupuncture & Integrative Health, “I let go and release what no longer serves me.”

3. Light Up

Now that your mindset is right, or hopefully is, hold you sage up at a 45 degree angle and lightly burn the end for a few moments. After about 30 seconds or so the ends will appear an orange ember and smoke should begin to fine out.

4. Move Around

Slowly move around the space and begin to waft the smoke around with your fanning tool, or your hand. Be sure to focus on corners, mirrors, and small pathways around the room that might go unnoticed. Guide the smoke towards the exit pathway and allow the bad energy to escape, taking its negative energy with it.

5. Extinguish the Sage

Always be mindful when you are burning sage to keep smoke away from your lungs as much as possible. This is a safe practice, but it’s never too good for your lungs to breathe in smoke for a period of time because it can be extremely drying. When you are complete with your cleansing go ahead and press the sage firmly into the vessel, or outside ground. Do not use water to extinguish your flame, you can but it might make things a little more difficult when trying to relight the flame. After you’ve put out your flame you can leave the sage inside the vessel or place it away in a safe area. We are now complete. 🙂

How Often Should I Sage?

There is no set timing for when it’s right to sage a space, only the timing of ourselves. We are the best and only factor to determine how we feel about our surrounding energy and if it feels negative, sage. I strongly believe in always having a good surrounding space to properly be able to function so in my case the second something feels off even if it’s just a smidge, it’s time to cleanse, and personally I feel like this is a great perspective to have.

Thank You Sage.

I’ve been ending some posts with a thank you conclusion, and we’re here again to thank the practice of smudging. Cleansing our space is one of the most uplifting feelings there is and we should all be grateful to have the knowledge and tools necessary to achieve this. Smudging deserves our respect and we should always look for the best forms of practice that suit us while also maintaining a respect for the cultures that have provided us with this opportunity of experience. I wish all readers a purified space with only room to expand growth and love, may we all move forward on our journey with the best energy possible, xx.

How To: Sage Cleanse

The Law of Attraction

The big secret to the universe resides in one small law, and that is the law of attraction. The simplest way for one to explain the law would be that each thought we emit into existence is exactly what shall come back. As we’ve discussed before on this page, energy is all around us, especially in our thoughts. Each thought holds the force of a billion magnets, vibrating on a frequency that if we align with we can become able to manifest whatever we truly desire. Both positive and negative thought contain the same force and it is in our control to determine which energy we are feeding into our reality.

Becoming aware of this hidden secret can be enlightening and difficult to accept at the same time. By coming to an agreement that the law of attraction is real, one must align with the truth that each decision made prior to this exact moment was manifested conscious or subconsciously to happen to us. People who have faced struggle either currently or in the past may find difficulty with this because it can be hard to accept how powerful we truly are, and it is in harnessing this power that we can truly align.

In each of us resides god, there is god in each of us and it is when we become in tune with this belief that we can harness anything we desire. As i heard once in an episode of The Positive Mind, manifestation should be returning to your highest self, not asking for what you believe is out of reach. If you see yourself as successful if you can envision and use your imagination to transform thought into an apparent reality, your subconscious and everything else will only fall into this pattern. You are god, we are all god and we all hold this ability. As Brian Tracy once said “whatever you become with feeling becomes your reality” and that is exactly right, if you can embody every aspect of what you desire with raw emotions, if you can truly believe you can truly accomplish.

There are many famous practioners of the LOA, and I believe one particularly amazing story I heard is of Connor Mcgregor. Now, i’m not too familiar with fighting or anything, but there is a video out there that i’ll link here where Mcgregor claims he used the LAO to win a major fight. Now, in this video you can see Mcgregor practicing how he will defeat his opponent, discussing step by step how, and sure enough when the time came he won on every single detail he envisioned. It is through his constant faith in himself that he can do this, it is the power of his mind that can lead him to this success.

the thoughts that you think control the vibration you're in, vibration is nothing but an idea. its the law of the universe: everything vibrates, nothing rests, we live in an ocean of motion.
– Bob Proctor

Some Amazing Affirmations

Guided by Divine Love and Wisdom, I am now creating a wonderful prosperous life for myself and my loved ones.
In faith I BELIEVE my prosperity goals are mine now
All financial all financial doors are open, all financial channels are free, and rich abundance comes to me in amazing ways now!
I now let release and let go all false, negative, limiting thoughts and beliefs about prosperity. I now accept the rich abundance that is rightfully mine.
Every day in every way, I am growing in Prosperity Consciousness.
God gives to me rich, lavish financial blessings now! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
I am now living in grand and gracious style now with ease!
Thank You, God, I am grateful!

These are just a few of my favorite mantras which I have collected from the word of Reverend John Adams. He runs a lovely site called More Prosperity For You, which i exactly what it sounds like! This site is dedicated solely towards enlightening others on resources towards reaching a higher version of themselves. It’s beautiful, we appreciate you John.

Lastly before I end this post I would like to leave it off on a good way to truly practice manifestation into your everyday lives. There is a mantra out there known as the “I Am” method and what this is speaking into existence as if you’ve already obtained what you wish to manifest. This would be saying something like “I am successful” or “I am getting hired for so and so job” it will happen! Speak as if you have already entered the path you are trying to achieve, align with your true self. We are all god, we do not need to grasp for an idea far away we must simply come home to our true destiny.

Chakra’s: The Light from Within.

“What are Chakra’s?” you might ask, or maybe you’ve heard of this strange word and knew it was an energy inside of you but not necessarily it’s purpose. So here i am to enlighten you.

*Photo Credit:* Centers for Personal Evolution

There are 7 main chakra’s in each beings body, now some might argue there’s more, but that’s another discussion. Each chakra is in a position of our energy centers and by studying and becoming aware of our centers, we can apply these energies to emotional use and meditation for healing or amplifying out intuition. Our Chakra’s all work in unison to keep us flowing in a healthy mind, but it is also possible to have them blocked, or simply out of harmony. Fear not, through chakra meditation and energy work we can heal and correct our error, and i can make a separate post for detailed healing on each chakra! These balls of energy exist inside of us running up from the base of our spine to the crown of our head. In correlation to each there is both a purpose and a color association, which i’m sure you’ve seen at least once before, but here is an example picture for a visual understanding. Now, let’s dive deeper through each focal point.

The Root Chakra

The Root Chakra, or Muladhara, Mula for “root,” and Adhara for “support” or “base,” is located exactly there, at the base of our spine. The color association with our root is red, symbolizing strength in the chakra color palette. This chakra is in correlation to or sense of grounding, security, and foundation. This also consists of our sense of how we go about our daily life, a strong root would be present in somebody fearless and with little worry, confident in who they are. As we are growing up it’s within our parents responsibility to build a solid and consistent home life to build a healthy chakra, inconsistency can lead to confusion and doubt. When this chakra is off balance it may lead to things such as anxiety, nightmares, eating disorders, anger, greed, illusion, and constantly living life with a feeling of being on edge.

The Sacral Chakra

Just two inches below our bellybutton lies our sacral chakra, our Svadhisthana, or “your own place” in Sanskrit. This is your pleasure centre, in control of your passion, creativity, emotions, sensations, and all things satisfactory. The color association with this chakra would be a transparent like neon orange; and the element association being water for fluidity throughout ones connections. Through work to open ones sacral chakra one would gain a true “feel” of their surroundings in the everyday world, a fluid transformation of harmony with others. By gaining a strong form of relation to others, one can gain a deep personal expansion in identity through oneness with the world. Somebody who struggles with a balanced chakra wold deal with many issues in co-dependency, dependency, overindulgence, being ruled by emotions, disconnection to emotions, lack of sexual pleasure, or stagnancy.

The Solar Plexus Chakra

Our Solar Plexus Chakra, or Manipura in Sanskrit, meaning “lustrous gem” is in the area just above the abdomen. This element associated with the solar plexus is fire, with a golden yellow being is vibrant light, illuminating ones self to warm with confidence. Some main concepts correlated with the third chakra are personal power, will power, self control, intellect abilities, clarity, decision making, identity, assurance, discipline, confidence, and independence. Through focus on this chakra one can gain an empowering feeling to follow their true identity and disengage from distractions, whereas the sacral chakra is an area on creativeness, the solar plexus is about taking action for your true path. A person with a well balanced third chakra would have assertive qualities, confidence, ease with following intentions, and harmony throughout relationships and reality. Some signs of an imbalance would be excessive need for control, obsession to detail, pessimism, low aspirations, low leadership, manipulation, lack of direction, or simply frustration with existence.

The Heart Chakra

The heart chakra, Anahata, in Sanskrit is the “way of the heart” located in the center of the chest and in correspondence to the heart,, lungs, thymus gland, and cardiac plexus. The fourth chakra is associated with the color green, representing transformation and love; the element being air correlates to breath and spaciousness to have connection to all. Someone with balance in their chakra would connect to others with ease, feel joyous and gratitude, equally have self love and love for others, be able to forgive easily, compassionate to others, and have a strong sense of trust. People surrounding one with a balanced chakra would feel accepted and as if in a judgement free zone to share and open up freely, creating an even stronger connection. When someone has an unbalance they’d have a difficult time relating to others, feel out of touch with themselves and others, have fluctuating relationships, lack empathy, likely insecure, and unable to trust.

The Throat Chakra

The throat chakra, or Vishuddha, translating to “pure heart” is the fifth chakra residing slightly above and between each collarbone and present in the neck, thyroid, and parathyroid glands, jaw, mouth and tongue. The color association is blue or an ultraviolet purple, and the element association is ether, or sound. This chakra rues communications and our ability to vocalize emotions with others along with our creative expression. Somebody present with a balanced fifth chakra would contain characteristics such as independence, effective communication, taking responsibility, speak truth, be well understood and be forthright without being blunt. When there is error in the throat chakra one might experience feelings of not being able to vocalize their emotions, often feel ignored or invalidated, they can also be overactive and interrupt others, decision making problems, inability to listen, being critical, addiction issues or self expression in general.

The Third Eye

The third eye, or Sanskrit name, Ajna, meaning “command” or “percieving” expands our abilities to align with the universe and see the big picture. This chakra is located in the center of the brow, associated with the color indigo illumination, and extra sensory perception element. Working on this chakra inhances or intuition as well as our abilities to trust and have faith in what it brings us. One could also gain vision abilities, or almost psychic lie traits relating to clairvoyance and clairaudience, connection to wisdom, and motivation to be creative are also enhanced. When i say visions and psychic abilities i know that may seem a little far fetched, but becoming in line with this chakra puts our minds in a sense of calmness to become in touch with intangable on an entirely new level. An imbalance on this area would one off as feeling stagnant almost in any negative situation with no hope for a way out, an inability to forsee a vision or future for oneself, difficulty with decisions, rejection of all spiritual encounters, lack of clarity, or simply avoiding ones true path.

The Crown Chakra

Lastly, residing above our head is our crown chakra also known as Sahasrara in Sanskrit, meaning “thousand petal lotus.” The color association of this chakra is white, or a deep violet, with the element being thought. This chakra connects us to our higher state of consciousness and what is beyond our human perception. When this chakra is in a well state of existence you can experience true joy, life will begin to feel enriching. As one begins to immense in this energy a state of union and bliss will begin to arise with all things spiritual, being as this chakra is a gateway towards the infinite and universal. An imbalance may appear as disconnection to ones spirit or body, overactive mind and overwhelming thoughts, obsession attachment, close mindedness, decline in motivation, lack of excitement, depression, inability to learn, sensitivity to environment or even lack of coordination with ones physical body as well.

Overall…

All seven of our chakra’s are in tune with some specific area of mind, body and correlation to some form of emotional strength. Clearing each energy and enhancing it’s true intention can begin to balance our trust in ourselves reaching the highest possible version of ourselves. By exploring each energetic center within us can we align with our true path and gain trust in our intuition to keep creating our best reality. I hope this post was insightful to all you readers, and you explore further in each of your many centers and the light they will bring all of you. Safe travels and love to all. until next time, xx.

Crystals and You

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”
– Nikola Tesla

Aside from being extremely cute accessories for your room, crystals also serve several healing purposes as well. Just like everything else in this world, crystals, rocks, gems, and stones all hold an energy force. Each crystal is composed of tiny crystals in constant movement, giving them a special vibration. Our bodies mutually contain energetic vibrations, which makes us receptive to the vibrations throughout the crystals. When we place them against our bodies we create an energy surge of vibrations connecting as one. This can be useful to us especially when we channel specific intentions while using them for healing.

picture credit: conscious lifestyle magazine

Now, speaking on the historical perspective, crystals have always been around, and there is no “scientific” proof, but many people gravitate towards them anyways. Dating back to ancient times, the Egyptians, Aztecs, Greeks, and Sumerians are commonly known for using gems and they’re healing purposes. They were incorporated into necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and even amulets to be constantly working their forces. Stones were mainly used for protection and health. Topaz to ward off night terrors. Amethyst purposes to prevent both drunkenness and hangovers. Green stones were known to symbolize the heart of the deceased and were often used in burial ceremonies. These are only a few examples. There have been several interpretations of each purpose a crystal can contain, but it;s definitely a trend that has remained over time.

How we can begin this self care experience with crystals is simple, just find the one(s) right for your intentions and have an open mind. We must be mindful, reflect, and accept whatever will come to us. Crystals are a tool we’re using to connect our conscious thought to our body and we must treat it as such. This goes to say we must also regularly charge and maintain our crystals energy force. We can purify their energy once more by rinsing them in water and placing them out on the earths ground before a full moon. The moon itself holds a strong energy and is at it’s most powerful when full, so we can state or intentions for the crystals when we place them outside, and leave them there overnight. When returning to the crystals in the morning, a quick restatement of intentions and manifestations and viola, they’re all set for their journey again.

Crystals can bring a variety of good fortune to our lives, but only as much as we allow them to. By using them with specific intentions the frequencies can create serious forms of transformation in our lives. This process can affect our mind, body, and soul in so many positive ways by magnifying our thoughts and intentions. If you’re curious to discover which healing crystals you’d be interested in using there’s an amazing guide here, on the meanings of crystals in jewelry that you all can feel free to read. Some basic research and a quick trip to any local metaphysical shop and you’ll be on your way towards your new journey. I’d love to hear about any of your experiences with crystals, or which are your favorites so feel free to leave me a comment, but that;s all for today’s post everyone. I wish you all the best on your healing 🙂

Astrology: The Basics

Astrology. As-trol-o-gy. Greek Astron (star) Latin Astrologia Old French Astrologie

What is Astrology?

There are a variety of definitions and interpretations of what astrology actually is, and I believe it’s best defined by Voice Media, as “the study of patterns and movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as reflecting the potential of human affairs in the natural world.” By studying astrology one can find a deeper meaning within themselves, and their relationships. Astrology itself is considered a form of Metaphysics in the sense that it is beyond the physical realm and deeper into energy patterns based upon the time, location, and date upon which we were born. The study of astrology is so complex and intricate that depending on how far you decide to carry it, you can gain a serious level of self-discovery in your personality, and those around you as well. We are able to gain this knowledge based on the variety of aspects such as planet alignment, zodiac signs, and house placements, which can all be found in our natal charts.

What is a Natal Chart?

A natal chart or, birth chart as it’s commonly known is the interpretation of the planet alignment depending on where and when we were born. In order to calculate ones birth chart you could go to a credible astrology website such as Astro.com and plug in your birthdate, location, and time of birth to receive both your circle chart as shown in this post, and your details of the chart. The chart is divided up into 12 parts known as “houses,” but not each house will contain planets inside, this doesn’t necessarily mean anything, just that there’s no planets in there. The beginning of your chart also known as the “cusp,” in your first house will always contain your ascendant, or “rising sign” which is the sign that was rising on the East horizon at the time of your birth. This sign is how oneself best presents themself on first impressions towards people, this sign changes every two hours, so knowing the exact birth time is vital. Any amount of the 12 signs can reside in each house, as well as any planet and the only way to differentiate is based upon time and date.

What do the Houses represent?

The houses in your natal chart with divide and establish different areas of your life and the different circumstances being applied. I will now give some simple definitions of each 12 houses. Your first house represents your personality, how you approach the world, and the impression we give off to others. Our second house would determine our possessions and possessiveness as well as how we fill our lives with the best of everything, a strong second house would likely be found in business professionals or politicians. The third house controls how we communicate in our social lives and how we progress in our environments, a strong sign residing in this house would indicate an easily distracted person. Our fourth house focuses on home and parents, by analyzing this house we can deeper understand our relationship to our parents and the aspects of growing up, we later dive into this house as adults to build our home and family lives for ourselves; a strong fourth house often leads to careers in home renovation or design. Our fifth house determines our creativity and appetite for pleasure; this house also is important in how we can create beyond ourselves and for others. Sixth house, work and wealth, and which career will best suit us as well as how we engage as an employer ourselves weather it be a mindful coworker, or argumentative, or if we like to be apart of a team, or isolated. Our seventh house regulates our relationships and by studying this house we can delve deeper into how to build comfortable and healthy relationships, this area highlights our strengths and weaknesses with communicating. In our eighth house we learn more about intimacy and how we deal with issues in our lives and how we can recover and rebuild our confidence to keep pushing forward. Nearly done now, our ninth house determines how we find meaning in our lives and aim to understand more of the world surrounding us and what is has to offer. Our tenth house controls how we seek success in our career and how we wish to present our image and need for control over how we build a brand for ourselves. Our eleventh house reveals how inclusive we are towards our friends and service and how important each role a relationship plays in our lives is towards us. Lastly, our twelfth house focuses on our private and inner life, how we act on our inner life and how we wish to act on feelings, knowledge, and activities that we wish to hide from the rest of the world.

What do the planets represent?

In ancient history each planet was personified as dieties and over time became associated more with characteristics and personality. Each planet rules certain traits that will now be discussed. The sun rules our self expression and how we choose to create. Our moon determines how we reflect and react, and handle our emotions. Mercury rules the energy of intelligence, how we think and communicate in our lives. The planet Venus is the energy of pleasure and how we love. Mars dominates how we force and act, this planet is also known for its strong sense of passion. Jupiter determines how we expand and our energy of generosity. Saturn is our energy of structure and how we control our actions and attitudes in our lives. Uranus is the energy of awakening and sudden change, this is how we invent as well as how accepting we are of newness. Neptune rules how we inspire and the energy of mystery as well as how we look to cope with new experiences and prevent feeling lost in the abyss of new. Our last planet in the solar system is Pluto, the energy of both death and rebirth and how we transform ourselves, this planet helps us face our subconscious fears.

In conclusion…

After reading this “simplistic” definition of astrology I hope whomever is reading has gained some new sense of understanding the interesting factors. Astrology has recently become more popularized in millennials, but many new platforms only disclose sun signs and extremely broad horoscopes that give expertise astrologists a bad rep. Upon reading a horoscope online or in the paper, these are mainly focused upon sun signs, which as we learned is a vague aspect of who we really are as a whole. By researching deeper into our full natal charts and applying the full characteristics we can really see how personal astrology can be in understanding our emotions and how we handle life as we know it.

Listed here are some of my favorite Astrological Twitter accounts:

That’s all for today’s post everyone, I hope you enjoyed, xx.

An Introduction to Divinity

Divination (from Latin) – “to be inspired by a god to gain insight”

Divination is an ancient study dating as far back as 1000 BCE, originating allegedly by the Chinese, but also practiced by the Egyptians, Druids, and Babylonians. To practice a form of divination is to seek knowledge of the future by “inadequate” means. The term prophecy is a proper synonym for divination in terms of seeking the untold future, but the fine line of difference is that divinity brings upon answers to natural questions, or questions our higher self needs guidance in finding within ourselves. There’s a variety of practices and they each resonate with each of us differently so it’s important to experiment and learn which method works best for your possible guidance. Some commonly known forms of practice are Tasseomancy, Cartomancy, Osteomancy, Scrying, Numerology, Rune Castin, etc.

A simple definition of some listed divination practices:

Tasseomancy, is the notion of reading tea leaves; the word itself being derived of Arabic word tassa, meaning cup, and Greek word mancy, a suffix for divination. This practice is not necessarily limited to tea, but can also be practiced with coffe gronds, melting wax, or spatters of lead.

Cartomancy, is the method of divination using playing cards. Tarot is the most popular form of practice, originating in 14th century Europe as a game, but later evolving into a meaningful purpose for guidance to the wealthy. Cartomancers are able to practice not only through tarot, but on typically any playing cards in general, it all depends on how they’re being interpreted and by whom, each reading will be different.

Osteomancy, is fortune-telling utilizing messages displayed in bones, typically animal remains. There is also pyro-osteomancy, which is similar for seers to make predictions based either on cracks from animal bones either in their natural decay state, or after being burned.

Scrying, a form of divination by fortelling whats to come based off of using a reflective surface such as water, crystal ball, smoke analyzing, or even looking into a mirror. This practice requires entering a trance like state to unlock a deeper unconscious mind, this is also why it’s similarly referred to as soul gazing, whilst using a mirror it can become dangerous seeing as you enter a trance within yourself, so practicing with other forms beforehand is strongly recommended.

Numerology, is the belief that numbers hold spiritual significance, each number containing it’s own meaning and potency of power for magical use. It can also be the study of numerical vale in letters, words, names, and ideas… There has been several links between numerology and the paranormal, and numerology and astrology.

Rune Casting, sacred symbols carved into stone that over the centuries has manifested into a collection of sixteen letters each containing divinatory meaning. Working with runes is a practice that requires lots of preparation due to the essence contained in each runes meaning. By using a specific question whilst using runes the reader can interpret elements from the past, present, and future.

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