Short Shrift: The Season Summer and the Sign Virgo

© 2017 by Joyce Mason

In the Northern Hemisphere, summer ends early in most people’s minds, either on Labor Day (first Monday of September) or when school starts, whichever comes first (nowadays highly varied by locale). In fact, until I studied astrology, I considered myself to be born in autumn. Only then did I learn my exact chart and the difference between 29 Virgo and 1 Libra—the fact that I had a very late summer birth (8 hours from the cusp).

What does this shortened sign and season mean symbolically? Opening thoughts as I started to think about it this morning:

I consider the purest essences of the Summer Signs to be Cancer – nurture and family; Leo—shining of self; and Virgo—serving others. In a perfect world, this sector of the zodiac gives us the loving foundation ultimately to shine ourselves, and then to go on to give back. When we cut summer short, we are truncating Virgo and the season of service, not to mention digestion. I’m not sure we leave enough space to “digest” those summer activities, some of which can be deeply transformative like summer romances, before we’re jumping headlong into fall, skipping up to a third of Virgo. 

I believe we have a subconscious tendency to match our activities with the seasons. Summer is full of family picnics and swimming in the Cancer element water. The family gatherings peak on the 4^th of July in the USA, birthday of our bigger family, country. During Leo we catch even more sun on top of our new tans and go on adventures or participate in fiery sports events. Come Virgo, we are usually fixated on summer’s end (wah!) and getting the kids reoriented. Even if you don’t have schoolchildren, Labor Day brings the sobering realization that vacations and play time are over. It’s time to get back to work or school. It’s a psychological adjustment, and it seems to occupy us till the real summer ends at Autumn Equinox. At least the beginning of school matches Virgo’s well known mental pursuits—and maybe her picky planning given all those pencils, books and educational paraphernalia there is to buy.

I think we lose something being focused on these mundane events and how they interrupt the late summer’s Virgoan flow. And I think there’s a solution for overcoming it. Some thoughts:

Set aside 3-5 days, sometime after Labor Day and before Autumn Equinox, to tend to your inner Virgo. (We all have Virgo somewhere in our charts, even if only by house placement.) Think of it as a personal Mercury Retrograde with lots of review and reconsideration:

•     Review your diet for any changes you might need, especially your digestion and how various foods make you feel after eating them.

•     What’s the state of your charitable giving, whether financial contributions or volunteer work?

•     When it comes to “doing for others,” are you doing enough or overdoing? (See The Converse Golden Rule.) Are you suffering from compassion fatigue?

•     How are you feeding your mind? Set goals for new habits if changes are needed. Meditation and yoga are superb for integrating body, mind and spirit.

•     How is your health and how are your health providers? On my checklist is getting a second opinion on an upcoming surgery.

•     How are your small animals? How is your relationship, their health?

These are just a few ideas for celebrating Virgo rather than shorting her. I’m sure you can come up with many more.

I’d love to hear from people in the Southern Hemisphere to find out if you have any challenges in glossing over any sign with your flipped seasons.

And thanks for any thoughts you have on giving Virgo her due.

~~~

   

Photo Credit: © meon04 – fotolia.com

PsychKicks© returns on or about September 11.

Related Posts:

The Summer Signs

http://www.radicalvirgo.com/2014/06/the-summer-signs.html

The Signs Do Summer--in Pictures
http://www.radicalvirgo.com/2014/07/how-signs-do-summer-in-pictures.html

PsychKicks©: Are Metafoofoos Still Hokey?

Psych yourself up with like-minded sidekicks by exploring the symbols all around us—together.

Source of Inspiration
Art, a bumper sticker,
and my day in court

I laughed till I cried the first time I saw a bumper sticker in the ‘80s at a massage school that said Metafoofoo. Here is was, finally: Metaphysical pride! The crystal users’ way of laughing at how others think of them as woo-woo. When I was looking for art depicting a psychic for one of my posts here, I could barely stand how hokey and stereotyped most of the pictures were. Talk about caricature and hyperbole. The photo here’s a sample of what I mean. It made me wonder, do Muggles still think we’re hokey, or worse yet, that we look like this lady?

The psychics, astrologers, tarot readers and related practitioners I know look like your garden variety neighbors. Some of them might wear a celestial t-shirt or star earrings but few look like they came straight home from a circus. Many of them have day jobs in respectable professions or have made their esoteric art their respectable full-time job. The vast majority of people I know who do this work are well-dressed, well-spoken, caring, responsible and honest.

However, the entire world hasn’t quite caught up to this modern view of “New Age” phenomena and those who tap its wisdom. I put New Age in quotes because these arts are as old as the hills. For instance, astrology in the west goes back at least 12,500 years. [1] For as long as humankind has existed, so have psychics. [2] Tarot is the new kid on the block who moved in around the year 1440. [3] The only thing new about these tools is a modern day revival of them since the last quarter of the 20^th century that seems here to stay.

I prefer the word metaphysical to describe these arts and all that is implied in that term, namely things that transcend or go beyond the typical reach of the physical senses. Thus, metafoofoo tickles me in an ironic, self-deprecating kind of way. People who had direct experiences with God and the heavens used to be considered mystics, but today a surprising amount of prejudice still exists for us spiritual freelancers, especially in the name of religion. (I’ve given up trying to explain that astrology isn’t a religion and does not involve giving up your will to serve any master.) What I do appreciate is that the times are so much better now than they were when I was casting my first horoscopes in the early ‘80s.

Past Trips to Hokey

When I first moved to Sacramento in 1973, it was still illegal to practice astrology here. Astrologers could not get a business license and were lumped together with fortune tellers. This blessedly shifted the following year and had been kosher for more than a decade by the time I hung out my shingle in 1988.
Some of my more memorable encounters with stereotyped reactions include the response of an old high school friend I hadn’t seen in at least 20 years. He is a writer and playwright, someone different enough himself compared to the middle of the Bell curve. When he heard I was an astrologer, his first question was did I wear turbans? (He wore a cape!)

I have a great sense of humor and I never needed it more than when jury duty threatened to interfere with my living as an astrologer. I had dropped my time base at my day job to 4/5ths so I could do readings on Fridays. That was 20% of my income, and if I had to do jury duty on a long trial, that’s what I’d lose. The judge wanted to know if I had a black cat. I was sorry to disappoint him. I had cats but neither was black. (Now I could say I have such a raven-furred familiar.) He cracked me up and let me off. Judging by the laughter at my banter with His Honor, the whole courtroom seemed to enjoy these lighthearted metafoofoo moments.

Other than a lot of eye rolling and not being taken seriously or considered somehow immoral by certain individuals, I didn’t have it all that bad … but I learned that for others to respect what I do, it’s mandatory to view my work as valid myself. And to let people know I do. (Their opinion of me is none of my business.) Standing up to the judge as a small businesswoman, never mind what the business was? That was a real personal turning point. I doubt I’d flinch telling the Pope about my modern-day mystical adventures. Take yourself seriously and so do others.

Reminds me of the time I explained to someone that I had a different last name from my husband because I elected not to change it when I married. The response was, “Oh. One of those.”  Indeed! Back then, that individual’s obvious response to me as a fanatic bra-burning Women’s Libber pissed me off. Today I’m more likely to be the one who needs to resist eye rolling when I am lumped into one of those of any kind. These caricatures just amuse me and I feel no need to explain or defend myself.

Going Forward

How can we be good representatives of the metaphysical, astrological and mystical arts community? Not by proselytizing for sure. We have learned from the Jehovah’s Witnesses that zealous invasions of privacy hurt more than they help public image. I doubt the Witness conversion rate could come close to matching the PR damage and automatic duck-and-cover response upon seeing someone bearing The Watchtower come down your street. I have even included religion in my No Soliciting sign.

What has worked for me, so far, is not to duck a conversation about beliefs if it comes up outside the sanctuary of my home, but to respond with respect for my beliefs and the other person’s. If there are misconceptions, I give a short response stating the facts. I stay positive, happy and considerate. Often these conversations are relatively sweet, and  I suspect I’ve scored one for the team. Meeting an astrologer/psychic who clearly doesn’t have horns or breathe sulfur makes an impression. Enough of those impressions and people begin to use you as a reference point when others demean what you do or people who do it. Positive impressions spread as easily as negative ones, especially if you make people laugh—as I did in my day in court.

One last caution: Know when this kind of conversation is futile and don’t touch it with a ten foot pole. While I thank the LGBTQ community more than anyone for showing us how to come out of the closet with dignity, which applies to nearly anyone living outside the "accepted" norm, there are times when it just doesn’t pay to share who you really are. While I’d have that conversation with the Pope (OK, maybe only because Francis is the coolest Pope ever), I wouldn’t have it with a neo-Nazi. The situations where we encounter this are likely to be less black-and-white than lovers versus haters. My last landlord was what we used to call in the day a fanatic Catholic. I should have known better than to discuss the bad bathroom Feng Shui with him. He told me my immortal soul was lost and I should get back to The Church ASAP. He didn’t kick me out of my digs, but I could have kicked myself for having too much Metafoofoo Pride in front of someone so unable to comprehend who I really am. (I told him my soul is just fine, excellent in fact.)

I would love to hear your experiences with metaphysical stereotypes and/or prejudice and how you deal with them … and your opinion on whether things are getting any better in this regard.

This Week’s Questions

• Do you have any good stories about people who consider your work or interests in the “occult” as stereotypically stupid or evil? (Do share!)

• How about comebacks? What worked to help people reorient their thinking about “you lot,” one of my favorite British expressions that, without much subtlety, lumps people into an unsavory group of some sort.

~~~

Photo Credits: Kids side kicking ~ keigo1027yasuda – fotolia.com, Female gypsy fortune teller with crystal ball ~ © Scott Griessel - fotolia.com

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NOTES

1. Astrology Horoscope Readings, “How Old Is Astrology?” http://www.astrologyhoroscopereadings.com/how-old-is-astrology.html
2. Psychics4Today.com, “A Look at the History of Psychics,” http://www.psychics4today.com/a-look-at-the-history-of-psych
3. How Stuff Works, “Tarot Card History: Are they Really That Ancient?” by Lee Ann Obringer, http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/extrasensory-perceptions/tarot-card6.htm 

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Eclipsed

Poem © 2017 by Joyce Mason

We travel the world

to stand under its path of totality.

We risk our sight to see the Light blotted out.

Dramatic total darkness—it’s lore and legend,

hopes and fears—captivates the entire planet,

brings life to a standstill

necks craned, eager to watch the Cosmic Lack of Light Show.

Back in everydayness, smaller versions of this divine shadow,

This light/dark reset, occur at least daily or whenever we want them:

Sunrise/sunset

the solstices

and any time we close our eyes

To enter into the holiness of darkness and silence

which does not eclipse our light

but renews it.

~~~

Photo Credit: © Creativa Images  - Fotolia.com

PsychKicks© will be back next week.

PsychKicks©: Radical Rituals

Psych yourself up with like-minded sidekicks by exploring the symbols all around us—together.

Source of Inspiration
Life experience, childhood faith

Make your day rite! I’m talking about rituals. Repetitious habits, sayings, prayers or practices that anchor us in the choppy, ever-changing waters of life. Habits that, by their mere “mindless” repetition, put us in a relaxed and receptive state of consciousness. They help organize our lives and temporarily disconnect us from our chatty minds.

One of my favorite aspects of maturity is the ability to see the good in even the most painful parts of my past. I had a number of unfortunate experiences in Catholic school that I’ve grown beyond. Now I’m delighted to realize some of the greatest rewards of my childhood religious practices. The biggest one for me is the value of ritual.

Ritual defined by Merriam Webster

and some great sample uses:

The priest will perform the ritual.

He was buried simply, without ceremony or ritual.

The daily ritual of preparing breakfast ...

His day-to-day life is based on ritual. 

While I learned ritual in the priestly and religious ceremonial context, it’s the daily mundane rituals of my life that provide texture, stability and often a sense of home, belonging and joy. (You can travel or move anywhere, but if you take your rituals with you, you're always home.) I’ve pondered often about that transfer of spirituality to the mundane. This is what I’ve come up with.

As a child, I could not understand the usefulness of repetitious prayers, particularly the Our Fathers and Hail Marys of the Rosary. Show me a Catholic who didn’t mumble them by rote and I’ll show you a saint. How could something work that was so mindless?

Back then I didn’t absorb the value of singsong mumbling or the things that would keep me from stumbling in the morning. (I have a hard time getting up and into my body, much less cranking up my activity level. Rituals are the crank on my Model T of Me. They help me get started, especially making and drinking coffee.) No matter how little you concentrate on the meaning of prayers or a mantra when meditating, the meaning seeps through, maybe even more when you don’t “pay attention.” Again, these mantras, including the rosary, quiet the mind to let spirit and inspiration come through.

My dad was not a church-goer, and from him, I got the idea that God could be found anywhere. Back in the days where I saw God as the Ultimate Father, my earthly father was as close to divine as I can imagine a human being. So something was planted in me to see spirit in everydayness. (My dad was a double Leo with a number of Virgo planets and a prominent Saturn.)


But the truth is …

I Learned the Most about Ritual from My Dog

My husband and I had a big, loopy Yellow Lab named Bear. He was the most

Bear as Groucho Barx

ritualistic being I ever met in my whole life. When Tim and I first got (back) together in 1997, I sang to Bear when he was just waking up from sleeping in his crate. From that introductory moment on, he was hooked on my songs, which led us to a wacky and wonderful nighttime ritual.

Bear always slept in his crate in our bedroom. For him, it was like going back to the womb, his place of comfort and retreat. I created a special tuck-in song that I sang and then gave him a cookie (dog biscuit) before he went in. I usually put him to bed at 9:00 pm. If I hadn’t started the ritual by 9:05, he’d sigh, harrumph, and quickly rise up and lower himself on his front paws to show his impatience. When I got up to start the song, he’d run down our long hallway ahead of me, galloping to his bed. This was the song—to the tune of Rock-a-Bye Baby:

Rock-a-bye, Beary in your sweet crate.
Mommy will tuck you, she won’t be late.
Gallop to dreamland—pills, cookie, kiss.
Isn’t it heaven, nite-nite like this?
(Spoken: Nite-nite, sweet Bear!)

I never saw a being—human, canine or otherwise—who got so much joy out of a custom ritual. On the horrible day we had to euthanize him, I whispered Bear’s song into his ear when we sent him to Dreamland for the last time.

(Astro info: Bear had a stellium in Capricorn and due to his very clownish nature, I’m positive Jupiter was angular, either on the ASC or MC. What a clown. Wish we had a birth time: Jan. 12, 1997.)

From Bear’s Nite-Nite, Sweet Bear song, Tim and I ultimately formed our own bedtime ritual where we say nite-nite to each other and all the pets we’ve raised together. It ends with:

And nite-nite to all the pets and people we have ever loved and ever will love, wherever they are. Peace on Earth. Amen.

Like Bear we can hardly sleep without it.

Holy Everydayness

One of my favorite quotes is by author Anne Lamott, “Laughter is carbonated holiness.” This is an example of how the mundane and spiritual intersect. Rituals can become portals to living a spirited life. I think of my own rituals as percussion instruments that help me keep the beat in the flow of living.

When a habit becomes a ritual, it is energetically raised to that connection with the All. It’s like plugging ourselves into the linked network of heaven and humanity. Rituals don’t have juice in and of themselves, but when their two-pronged plug of mundane and spirit are pushed into the Grid, life is electric and hums the cosmic tune, Om.

Larger Rituals

The rituals we’ve been talking about here are personal, one-on-one or at the most family-involved. We also need community. The rituals we participate in as larger groups, whether it’s at church or other organizations of like-mindedness, are just another way of practicing the mundane-to-spirit connection. For people like me who are more spiritual than religious, my article, Astrology and Ritual, tells how I co-created a ceremonial community and how anyone can do the same.

Why Radical?

In one of the earliest posts on The Radical Virgo in March 2009, I shared how the word radical is derived from the Latin word for root. Rituals root us. Their mundaneness plants our feet fully on earth and with that grounding, we increase our ability to bring spirit down to earth and to grow optimally.
What’s not to love?

This Week’s Questions

• Can you identify your existing rituals? How do you feel doing them?
• What new rituals would enrich your daily routine?

Photo Credits: Kids side kicking ~ keigo1027yasuda – fotolia.com, Bear as Groucho Barx by Joyce

Resource
"Ritual." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 11 Aug. 2017.

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PsychKicks© ~ What If I Haven’t Got a Psychic Bone in My Body or I Can’t Pay My Intuition?

Psych yourself up with like-minded sidekicks by exploring the symbols all around us—together.

Source of Inspiration
Life experience, intuition,
spiritual teachers

© 2017 by Joyce Mason

In my last post, Psychic Impressions, I talked about my own intuitive and psychic experiences. I believe everyone has access to these capabilities. It’s a matter of learning how to tap into them.

For now you may not resonate to “resonating” and “feeling things” outside the normal range of your five senses. But if you’re psych curious—even if you consider yourself clueless for the time being—I’ve got a lot of ideas to help you build your intuitive muscles. But first, let’s take a trip down Terminology Lane and cover some of the basic vocabulary of the 6^th sense.

Terms of En-seer-ment

The following link to psychiclibrary.com will be a valuable dictionary of terms as we discuss various heightened senses on PsychKicks. Consider bookmarking it and returning often.

I feel strongly about one point that’s not necessarily a universal view. We live in a body. Psychic phenomena are enhanced senses, why they are often lumped together in the term 6^th sense. They are not beyond the five senses but rather intensified senses that feel like they’re in a class of their own because they’re not your everyday experience of the Big Five. It’s like seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and touching--off the charts. As long as you don't have a major sensory loss, you can probably enhance your intuitive powers. And sometimes sensory loss doesn't even tinge capabilities. Many true seers have been blind. It seems the lack of outer sight can heighten inner sight in many cases.

Do I Even Want to Know?

Now that we know what we’re talking about and have a link to some words that enable the conversation to stay grounded, here's an important question. Do you really want enhanced perception? Take it from me. It’s a blessing/curse. Let’s talk about some pros and cons. There are probably many others, but here are the key ones from my own experience.

        

Pro

• Heightened sensitivities create empathy. You’ll be able to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. This leads to greater intimacy in relationships—and great gift-giving skills, when it comes to both tangible and intangible giving. This is especially true when acute listening is one of your superpowers. People will tell you what they want but not always in a direct way. Yet a sensitive notices a glassy-eyed look when your BFF spots a certain handbag or when your relatives’ passions are woven into most conversations. 

• You’ll have a feeling when something’s coming, even when you don’t know the particulars. You’ll sense when “this could be the start of something big” or when there's a big change in the offing. You’ll know when to avoid people or things that are bad news. 

• You’ll have enhanced attraction abilities to find the perfect greeting card, dress, new home, relationship—and synchronicities will abound. Syncs are often hilarious and reaffirm the connectedness of everything and everyone.

 Con

• Sometimes you’ll feel like a raw nerve. The world can be overstimulating to someone with hypersensitivity. It’s great when we’re talking pleasure, but sometimes pain, especially emotional pain, can be overwhelming. Feelings can be so intense; overwhelm can turn into vapor lock.

• Speaking of overwhelm, it’s probably the biggest drawback. A sensitive must learn to take adequate alone time to meditate, recharge and simply rest. Your typical day is many more times intense than that of someone whose senses are toward the middle of the Bell curve. Not just overwhelming, being psychic or intuitive can be exhausting.
  
•  Foreknowledge isn’t always fun, especially when you’re sensing bad news afoot such as someone dear passing or a crisis brewing for someone you care about.

Only you can decide if you want to go there. Some of us cross the bridge to sensitivity very early in life. In my case, there was never a choice but to roll with it. It’s just who I am. For others it’s optional. Do what feels right.

Who’s a Natural? Who’s Not?

The single most important aspect of developing intuitive skills is ample alone time. I was raised as an only child until I was six. I was also the oldest kid in the neighborhood. A five-year-old tires of a three-year-old quickly. The two years that separate them are like centuries. I had to learn how to entertain myself. The wide open spaces of our budding suburb and the great kid shows on early TV gave me a fertile environment to activate my imagination. In fact it ran wild. I’m surprised I didn’t have an imaginary friend.

While you can’t redo your family structure or how you spent your time as a child, you can embrace the necessary inner time as an adult—any time. Things like meditation, spending time in nature, yoga and t’ai chi are all practices that heighten sensitivity. They slow us down from the din and swirling energies of modern, urban living. That way we can hear more subtle signals and our own inner voice which is connected to All That Is. If you’re lucky to live in the country, this may already come natural to you.

Speaking of naturals, intuition is the realm of introverts—only 25% of the population. [1] One reason why psychic and intuitive gifts may seem rare is that 75% of people are extroverts. This doesn’t mean an extrovert can’t develop these skills, but it does mean that their wiring is less conducive to slowing down and letting in subtler stimuli. Extroverts are too busy with people and other kinds of experiences and action. They can often balance their lives by developing a rich inner life as well as their outer one they already love. However, they may be more difficult to convince that the charms of slowing down are worth a major reorientation to become an innie/outie switch hitter.

While extroverts can often snag a quick psychic impression on the fly, it’s the Tortoises that win the psychic info race over the Hares. They slow down and take their time ingesting stimuli, and their slower pace allows them to process it and figure out its meaning for them.

Thinkers who are at least as much visionary as they are concrete, if not more, are also the most receptive to intuitive information (right-brain dominant). They regularly live outside the little boxes of perception, so they don’t toss things “out of left field” as aberrations. They tend to think they are valuable. Besides,very concrete thinkers often dismiss anything that they can’t hear, see, taste, touch, or smell outright. Their vision of what’s possible conforms to consensus reality. Visionaries are “reality” busters. They stretch possibility.

How to Open to Intuition and Extra Sensory Experiences

Other than ample alone time and some of the practices already mentioned, the fastest path to raising your PQ—Psychic Quotient—is by following your dreams. Why? Because writing down or tape recording your night movies brings your subconscious to consciousness. Your psyche, connected to everything in the Invisible, is where subtle information comes from. When you have an ongoing dialogue with your Inner and learn your own personal dream symbols, you are on your way to living in the world of hunches, inklings and a sense of what’s next.

I’ve written much about dreams on this blog and offer these links as a Dreamwork 101 course:

• Dreams Waking and Sleeping—A Primer
• Dream Journals
• Astrology and Dreams
• Dream Circles
• Dream Prescribes Healing Stone for Big Skyworks

Here’s to the best level of intuitive openness for you. Whatever you dream of! If you try any of these ideas and you find your psychic senses sharpening, I’d love to hear your experiences in the Comments.

~~~

Photo Credits: Kids side kicking ~ keigo1027yasuda – fotolia.com, Clueless~ © Séa - Fotolia.com

Resources

“Intuition 101: Developing Your Clairsenses” by Rebecca Rosen http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Developing-Your-5-Clair-Senses-Rebecca-Rosen/2

[1] The Introvert Advantage: How Quiet People Can Thrive in an Extrovert World by Marti Olsen Laney, Psy.D.

Related Material


Astrology and Intuition
Outerplanetary People Ebook
People with the outer planets prominent are prone to heightened intuition and psychic skills.

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PsychKicks© ~ Psychic Impressions

Psych yourself up with like-minded sidekicks by exploring the symbols all around us—together.

Source of Inspiration
Intuition, personal premonitions

The power to know the future: It’s often the reason we’re drawn into astrology, tarot or other esoteric arts.

I gave up wanting to know a long time ago. For the most part, I don’t want previews of the coming attractions. I just want to know what subjects are up for my personal learning and to have insights that enable me to change in the positive direction the universe is nudging me. (There’s always a choice between positive and negative. The positive usually involves surrender to what is and what’s on the horizon. The negative is about fighting tooth and nail against the current winds of time. Fighting it can use up all the energy you need to cope with it.)

Realizing that I had many of the classic symptoms of a control freak in the earlier years of my life, I see “predicting the future” as just another example of trying to control rather than enjoy life as it happens. I swore off.

This brings me to my personal experiences with my own intuitive and psychic abilities. I have a deal with the universe. I’m willing to put these gifts to use for the greater good, but I don’t want anything spooky or super unsettling to be the method of transmission. I asked for subtle, and that’s pretty much what I get.

My most frequent messages come in three categories:

Entry and Exit Inklings

This category includes any instant chemistry I feel with people when we first meet, whether it’s attraction or repulsion. I have learned never to ignore these signals from my body. I usually know in the first 10 seconds of meeting someone whether they will be an important person in my life. This can happen “live” or online. With love interests, it has always been instantaneous—a visceral, magnetic energy.

The exit part of the category has to do with a feeling I get as I watch someone walk away from me. Sometimes it is accompanied by a thought that zips through my head. Other times, it feels like a spotlight has been thrown on their parting from Above and I get a kind of super-charged vision of them. Once that feeling was attached to a woman who ultimately passed on within a few years. As she walked away, it was the last time I’d ever see her. In another case, I watched a friend walk away and the thought whipped across my mind like a meteorite: “I wonder if I’ll ever see her again?” I thought I was crazy and dismissed it as a brain misfire. Six months later she died unexpectedly. These are the more unsettling kind for me, and I’m glad I don’t linger on them until they are clarified later.

Cosmic Repetitions

Subjects or people keep coming up in conversation, or you encounter them in other various ways. For instance, the subject of adoption kept coming up for me in 1985—people adopting, searching for birth parents and a new magazine in the window of Woolworth’s near my work where adoptees and birth parents could place ads to find each other. I had never seriously considered looking for my birth family until this trio of universal tugs on my psyche sent a light bulb to my thought bubble. By the next year, I had been reunited with my birth mom and a large part of my birth father’s family. (He died in the ‘60s at only 44.) I found my birth mom a week before she had a lumpectomy for breast cancer. She had told her best friend two weeks before my call, “Wouldn’t it be great if my daughter found me before my surgery?” I believe I’m both a transmitter and receiver when it comes to getting information on the wires of my heart connections.

The magic number for identifying a cosmic nudge seems to be three. If a subject or clue appears in your life at least three times in a reasonably short period of time, you can bet it’s Guidance calling.

These messages can also appear in dreams. Another hint to find my birth mom appeared in repetitive dreams about happy reunions. I had dreams of similar theme when being directed to find other lost loves, which turned out to be one of my specialties this lifetime and my particular healing path.
Cosmic direction doesn’t have to be on the big stuff only, either. If you are struggling with which car to buy and you keep bumping into people bragging about their Hondas … well?

Not-So-Chance Encounters

Someone’s on my mind or I keep meaning to call them. I run into him or her at a restaurant or shop--or they call before I get around to calling them. I call this manifesting them. We’re beamin’. We are transmitting our desire to see each other across our invisible connection wires. I’ve gotten so used to it; I often greet the person with, “I’ve been expecting you.” 

This phenomenon is especially true for me if I’ve ever slept in the same room with someone. I don’t just mean as lovers. My sister and I were famous for calling each other before the phone rang, so to speak. We had shared both a room and, at times, a bed as kids.

My theory on the strong connection with close-proximity sleeping is that while dreaming, both people’s subconscious minds are active and probably interacting with each other. After experiencing a subconscious connection when near each other, distance eventually does not matter because the connection strengthens over time and ultimately transcends the need to be close to each other for it to work.

This Week’s Exercise

Do you ever take milestone moments (births, deaths, new relationships, new career directions) and track any inkling you had about them before they happened? Start now if the idea intrigues you. The results may surprise you. Keep an Inklings Journal so that when the inkling becomes part of your reality, you can reinforce and appreciate your intuitive and/or psychic abilities. This helps you believe in yourself and your integrated body-mind-spirit when it speaks to you.

I’d love you to hear about your experiences in the Comments.

~~~

Photo Credits: Kids side kicking ~ keigo1027yasuda – fotolia.com, Metaphysical energy field - © Nikki Zalewski -Fotolia.com

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The Queen of Synchronicity

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PsychKicks© ~ In Critical Condition: The Old Politics

Psych yourself up with like-minded sidekicks by exploring the symbols all around us—together.

Source of Inpiration
Life experience, astrology,
intuition, political observation

© 2017 by Joyce Mason

I don’t talk politics on my personal Facebook page in order to keep it a stress-free zone, an oasis for inspiration and laughter. I’ve been more willing to discuss the subject on my blog, The Radical Virgo, where PsychKicks is housed. Technically, I’m not violating my NPZ (No Politics Zone) by sharing the following opinions and inklings, even though I also share PsychKicks on Facebook. If you’d rather avoid the topic, I hope the title already scared you off. Here’s my take on the strange current happenings that mystify, if not terrify, a lot of us.

For the sake of your sanity, if you think you’re watching the Travesty of the Day every day, it’s important to see today’s political drama as Change in Progress. If your dearest dream is for the current Administration to go away, this edition of PsychKicks is especially for you. Whether or not it’s clear to us, we’re seeing the old paradigm dying, the prototype of the good old boys, back room deals and white privilege. Many Trump supporters like the old ways. A majority of Americans do not, which is why over half of them voted for Hillary Clinton or other candidates in 2016.That's also why, as of this writing, Trump has only a 36% approval rating, meaning 64% disapprove of what he's doing. It’s important to understand that there’s momentum building up toward a 100^th Monkey effect, a reverse turn away from the old. A turn toward embracing progress and ultimately, respecting everyone. Oneness. Or as Buddha said, there are no others.

“If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.”
 ~John F. Kennedy

I see Donald Trump as a caricature of the flaws in our American system, what can go wrong if we don’t stick to our values and the principles of the Founding Fathers. If we let personal gain, denial and disinformation rule. Comedy is often the best way to get people to swallow difficult-to-take truths. God, Goddess, the Universe—however you perceive Higher Power—that energy source has a great sense of humor. Political comedy and cartoons have been side-splitting since Trump came down that escalator and ran for office.

There’s a part of me that feels compassion for this man who calls others a mess at the drop of a hat but refuses to look inward and get some help for his own disaster, another of his favorite words he applies to everyone but himself. His insecurity is sad, and I shudder to think of what in his upbringing resulted in such desperation for flattery, admiration and self-defined winning at any cost. I won’t debate his sanity or lack thereof. It’s on display every day for folks to draw their own conclusions.

But I can’t help but notice some obvious clichés and principles that fit the idea of the old dying. First, there’s the maxim, things usually get worse before they get better. Do they ever! (And judging by the last few days as I write this, they may get worse in a way that one politico I respect calls chilling.) Yet there are plenty of people, to paraphrase the movie Network, who are mad as hell and just won’t take it anymore. Complacency can be overcome by threats to health, safety and even one’s own peace of mind.

The other things I can’t help but notice come from my own, literal experiences with watching loved ones die. There is nearly always a rally when the end is near. The old has had one helluva rally with Trump’s victory (legitimate or not) and the Republican majorities in the House and Senate. Most Republicans are old school, some older than others. That’s why it’s considered the conservative party.

But after the rally comes the crash, including the death rattle. The inability to reach consensus on health care is a perfect example of an administration gasping for final air. Not even the Republicans could all agree on a replacement for Obamacare. More people of diverse political persuasions see how denying medical insurance is a literal death sentence for some people. The protests, especially by the disabled, are touching and just one example of “mad as hell.” If the USA is about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, how is that ideal within reach unless health care is a life-affirming right?

I don’t hate Donald Trump. I think he is the wrong person for President in these turning-point times. (OK, anytime.) But he may just be the right person to make people so fed up; they start finding original or well-tried and successful solutions to our problems that have worked in other countries. For example, those countries that have struggled with the complexity of medical care delivery systems. Among these civilized societies, mostly our allies, single-payer universal health care is what works.

Many of us are so tired of disrespect, name calling, unpresidential behavior, sexism—and possibly far worse sins in terms of milking the Presidency for personal gain, possible collusion with Russia or downright treason. Yet this outlandish behavior may just be the catalyst to rethink where we stand with our republic and some solutions we thought we’d never need, like minimum qualifications to run for the office of President.

This won’t last. It will pass. Likely sooner than later. If you haven’t  already read it, take a look at Allan Ishac’s article on Extra NewsFeed, “Trump Will Resign By The Summer — Here’s How It’s Going To Happen.” Oozing with tongue-in-cheek humor that’s likely at least, in part, politically prescient, the article is hilarious with the gritty feeling of grains of truth. Ishac has the same Flag Day (June 14) birthday as DJT. He claims this gives him an inside track on how Trump ticks.

And whether or not it’s sooner—this summer—or later, Trump has dramatic astrological transits in August that are likely to catalyze major upheaval in his life and public standing. (A simple search will yield lots of opinions, but none of them I’ve seen so far promise smooth sailing.)

I believe Trump will resign because the long-held rules of checks and balances among branches of government won’t let him do it his way. (Cue Frank Sinatra music.) His way looks more like a dictatorship every day. No wonder he admires Vladimir Putin. (He probably secretly wishes he had a Siberia for exiling political enemies and disloyal friends.)

But the dethroning of Trump, whenever and however it happens, is just the beginning. The rest of it is up to us, and we’ve got a lot of work to do in order to create a better world that works for all.

How will you do your part?

~~~

This Week’s Exercise

Find one thing you can do, even if it’s very small, to contribute to positive political change. Some examples: 

• Sign petitions, donate money or volunteer to support political causes that stir your passions.  

• Go to a city council meeting on a topic you care about deeply. Good government starts at the local level.

• Talk to someone with different political beliefs, engaging both head and heart—and your most respectful behavior. (This one is challenging, but it's the one we most have to learn to do.)

 Start now and build on your first steps. 

Photo Credits: Kids side kicking ~ © keigo1027yasuda – fotolia.com, Sick elephant - © darenwoodward - Fotolia.com

Resources

Extra Newsfeed - https://extranewsfeed.com/trump-will-resign-by-the-summer-heres-how-it-s-going-to-happen-f8e80ee4be1e

Related Posts

• Sacred America, Sacred World by Stephan Dinan

• Independence or Interdependence Day?

  

  

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