Pet or Familiar?

In another post, I listed things to do that can help ease anxiety. One of them, an important one for many, was to spend time with your pets. Today I'm going to talk about familiars. A familiar is a spirit in the form of an animal but archaic definitions also say that it can be a family member or intimate associate.

Those of us who feel that spiritual connection with our pets in reality, I believe, have familiars. I have two. First is Joey, the sweetest dog I've ever met. He was a puppy when we got him. He is a little anxious, seeming to see things most of us can't. He, in my opinion, is empathic, absorbing the emotional energies of others. When someone in the room is upset, Joey will sit at their feet in sympathy. When there is angry energy in the room, he shakes and cowers.

Joey calms me when he sits at my side, and I calm him, too, when he is anxious. We understand each other. I talk to him all the time about anything. He's a good listener.

Mikey
Mikey is the sweetest cat I've ever met. He was three years old when we adopted him from the shelter. That was at least ten years ago. It wasn't until the last five years, though, that he and I started to develop a close relationship.

Since moving to Moriarty, Mikey has become an outdoor cat. He loves the porch as much as I do. We hang out there together when the weather allows. But now it's winter, he is inside most of the time. He sleeps on my bed near my head. He purrs loudly for a while before we both drift off to sleep. When I dream restlessly, he will reach his paw out and gently touch my nose to wake me.That almost always happens in the 3:00 a.m. hour.

Birds
I never really noticed birds until I moved to Moriarty. I am now an avid bird lover and want to learn much more about the birds in this area.

I totally believe, from personal experience, that ravens and crows remember faces and will fly around people they like. When we are out and about, they fly over our car, just swoop right down over it. They recognize the car. They're saying hi.

One Facebook friend told us how the grackles would land on his truck when he arrived at Smith's. They like him. They're saying hi. Pay attention to the birds. They often carry messages. And be kind to them. It's great if they like you, not so much if they don't.

There are no requirements when it comes to familiars...any animal you feel a connection with. Some people feel real connections with turtles, snakes and fish. It's all good. Whatever floats your boat.

Until next time. Peace.

Witches School: Chapter 1

At some point early on, I took a mediumship class with Elizabeth Anglin. It was over the phone. Like so many things that happened then, I can't remember a lot of the details. It was a good class, though, and the number one thing I learned was that I needed to listen and understand the messages.

The last part of each class, we would practice giving each other messages, guided by Elizabeth. I never felt confident and she would say, "Go ahead, Michelle. You've got this." And I would give a good message but I felt like I was just winging it. I've been working on that since because I need the practice and because it's important. I'm often totally wrong but quite often right in very telling ways.

I've been learning to trust my instincts and give people messages when it feels right. Sometimes it's the wrong time for them to hear the message so I wait. I also try to deliver messages in a positive way and offer positive solutions.

Internet connections
I have been doing social media since starting my first blog, Live and Learn New Mexico! I share stories about our look at A.R.T. on Albuquerque's Route 66 and other things happening around the state. I've slowly built an audience and at some point started putting out daily messages that promote a kind lifestyle.

Just for fun, I began to post the tarot cards that I drew almost every day and their interpretations. I felt like many of the messages applied to my readers. Funnily enough, it was my tarot readings that seemed to speak to people the most.

One day I was at the local laundromat and I noticed a man across the room who looked familiar. He was a deejay at my favorite morning radio show. I listened to him every morning with my other two favorite deejays. They were a great team and made my weekday mornings a little pleasanter.

Over the last five years or so, I have regularly emailed them with a morning greeting or I remark about something they say on the show.

When this particular deejay started his own informational show on Sunday mornings, I listened and gave him feedback. We have an informal, friendly relationship.

That day, I walked over and introduced myself. When he heard my last name and realized who I was, one of the first questions he asked me was how I went about reading my tarot cards.

I was a little surprised but that's when I started to realize that maybe people out there were finding meaning in what I thought were just fun posts. I now pay more attention, again, to the messages and put a little more thought into my posts, hoping that they help someone heal in some way.

I am hoping to take another class with Elizabeth soon. I will let you know. Till next time. Peace.

Easing that Anxious Energy

One of the reasons I sought the counsel of a medium was because of the anxiety I had felt all my life, but which felt even worse at the time. Anxiety is energy. If you think of it that way, it might help to deal. It helps me. What I've learned is that energy can be your own, it can be someone else's, or it can be some random energy that just happens to pass through you.

What can you do to ease anxiety? There are lots of ways so I made a bullet list. I am sure I have left out something so please comment if you think of something else. Sometimes it only takes one technique, sometimes it takes quite a few to relieve the anxiety. 

• breathe!
• let the light into the house
• tell all negative energies to LEAVE! Yes, you can, and yes, they will.
• count your blessings
• think positive
• invite positive energies to stay with you. Yes, you can. and yes, they will.
• EFT or tapping (https://www.healthline.com/health/eft-tapping)
• collect rocks/crystals. They have amazing energy. Put them all around your house. Carry one or two with you throughout the day.
• work on making yourself a better person
• pick a "fault" and try to improve then move on to the next one
• burn the energy 
• walk
• count your steps, a grounding activity
• dance
• bike
• hike
• etc.
• meditate regularly
• smudge often
• smoke weed 
• practice yoga regularly
• create something
• write
• coloring books
• paint
• pottery
• music
• refurbish cars, computers
• get outside/garden 
• spend time with pets/kids
• volunteer/help others
• fight for a cause
• solve problems
• change your diet
• make it plant based
• cut out caffeine
• let warm water run over your hands. I do dishes in the sink and let it happen. 
• see a doctor; there are meds out there that help

The main thing I've found is to not dwell on myself and to not retreat and sleep. If I burn that anxiety instead of harbor it, I usually feel better. Harboring it leads to depression. I wish I had learned this a long time ago. Try some of these techniques and let me know how it goes.

Until next time...peace.

Let's Get Spiritual

A few years ago, as I realized that I seriously needed to tend to my spiritual life, I visited a psychic medium in the amazing, magical town of Madrid, only 30 minutes down the road from my home in Cedar Crest. I looked online beforehand and found Elizabeth Anglin, a friendly soul who helped me figure out where to start on my spiritual quest.

One of the first things Elizabeth said to me at my first reading with her has stayed with me over the years. We had just introduced ourselves. I told her about the emotional turmoil I was going through, how I was waking every morning super early and feeling the need to write, write, write. I was writing a novel in this time but couldn't tell you what I had written. I had questions I hoped she could answer. Or were there messages for me that she could deliver?

She closed her eyes, sat up straight in her chair and rested her hands on her knees. She shuddered and explained that the tingles she felt around her neck meant Spirit was present. Oh!, I thought, that's what that is. I had experienced it many times but found it a little scary. Now I felt better about it.

She smiled slightly and said, "That's funny. I see you in another dimension and you're an addict." Whoa baby! That threw me for a loop.

Since then, after much thought, it has led me to ask the question, Can we change what happens to ourselves in another existence? Can we help our other selves heal? That's something I plan to look into further.

Almost immediately after that, she said, "Your mother is here. She's not with your dad." She looked at me and explained, "Sometimes in the afterlife they part and go on different journeys." I could buy that. My parents were married for more than 50 years. They did a lot together. They loved each other dearly but they each also had their own interests that they enjoyed alone. It seemed, too, like in this life my mom was more material, my dad the more spiritual one.

I asked Elizabeth who my spirit guides were. She said one was a woman, Osun (pronounced Oshoon) and the other a warrior, Ila (pronounced Illa). I don't remember too much more of what she said about them but since learning of them, I acknowledge them in my daily chants and meditations. I can feel their friendly, supportive presence often.

I was so excited at the time. Over the last month, I had been thinking about holding a psychic fair, with lots of local talent represented. I could coordinate the whole event and learn at the same time.

I asked Elizabeth if she saw that working out in the next year or so. "Sure," she said, "it could happen." She was humoring me, I now know.

Till next time. Peace 

A Witch I Am

In the last few years, I think I've been going through an awakening (either that or I've been going crazy, which is entirely possible) and I've learned a lot about myself, my own spirituality and how energy affects everything we do.

I've also grown a following of sorts by sharing my journey on social media. People seem to relate to what I'm going through and think I have knowledge that could help them. They often ask me questions of a spiritual nature or they tell me they feel a connection. Honestly, I really don't know much more than they do. I'm learning.

I began to explore it all with the main goal of finding more peace and calm in my life. Once I realized that everything was made up of energy, I realized also that energy can make you anxious and scared if you let it. I wanted to learn to calm myself and not let outside energies affect my calm.

Early on, I met with Madrid medium Elizabeth Anglin. I was hoping she could help me figure out what was happening to me. She told me that I am an intuitive. Flashes of knowledge/Spirit/whatever will hit me out of the blue. We all have intuition. I like that label -- intuitive -- it feels right to me. 

According to Keen.com:
Often intuition speaks to us in a very familiar voice. It ‘feels’ and ‘sounds’ within like our own thoughts… and that’s because it is our own. Like psychic work, our intuition connects us to a more subtle frequency of communication between where we are and where the rest of the universe is.

Then I moved to Moriarty. The first thing my new neighbor said when he met me was, "Whoa, you're a witch, aren't you?" He himself sees quite a bit that others do not; crazy psychic abilities has he. I started to think about what he meant and researched witches.

According to history.com:
Early witches were people who practiced witchcraft, using magic spells and calling upon spirits for help or to bring about change. Most witches were thought to be pagans doing the Devil's work. Many, however, were simply natural healers or so-called “wise women” whose choice of profession was misunderstood. 

I hope to be a healer so the label "witch" works for me...an intuitive witch.

At some point near the start of this journey, I took a mediumship class with Elizabeth Anglin, and I learned a lot. The main thing I learned, and have been working on since, is to listen to the messages. You know when you get that chill around your neck and shoulders or you hear ringing in your ears? You may be receiving messages. Pay attention. Listen.

This new blog is my first test to see if I've been hearing the messages correctly. I have been feeling that others want to learn, too, how to connect with Spirit and deal with Energy. I will share what happens with all with my readers as I go. I would love feedback and suggestions, as long as they are delivered in a friendly voice.

Join me on this adventure but online only please. I am a writer, a behind the scenes kind of person.

Wishing you a peaceful day. Until next time.