PBP2012: “F”- Fasting for Spiritual Growth

March 23, 2012March 23, 2012 / soulinteraction / 7 Comments

Fasting is an important aspect of coming into alignment with our spirituality. Fasting allows us to come into alignment and to see where our personal power might have been surrendered to situations, things, food, or people. Fasting takes a bit of planning as well. One of the things that I like to do with my fasting is to take a few days to really plan it out. What do I hope to gain? What will I be giving up? How long do I want to fast? Being sure of our reasons for fasting and where we hope to go with it is an important aspect of the entire process.

Fasting also does not have to just be about food. We are constantly facing distractions, and there are a lot of things that deplete us of our energy. Fasting from the internet, cell phones, or even talking for a day can bring us back into alignment with the world around us. Fasting from food can show us where we might be reaching out through our emotions towards foods that might be harming us. Set a spiritual goal for your fasting cycle. Allowing yourself to find a deeper connection with your divine self. Pick a favorite book, some new chants, or even a physical practice like sacred dance/yoga. Set a schedule for your fast, and stick to it. Showing up is one of the hardest things to do in our spiritual practice.

Remember, there is no such thing as failure. I set a time parameter for my fasting cycle, but if I do not reach the entire goal I consider the time I showed up a success. If I didn’t make it to the end, I sit with that and I see where my stumbling stones might have been. I journal a lot during my fasting period. I look at my emotions, I go deeper into my divination practice, and check in with my emotions constantly. If I am removing something from my experience checking in with my emotions it allows me to see what power I might have given away.

Take a few moments and think about how you can deepen your spiritual practice by allowing something in your experience to sit on a shelf for a while. What is something you feel you can’t do without? That is where you start.

M. Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

PBP2012: “E”- Evolving Our Practice

March 2, 2012 / soulinteraction / 4 Comments

I’ll be the first to admit that I have spiritual ADD. I find myself floating between books, practices, rituals, and communities. For me, this has been a good thing. Each time we dip our toes in something new we create ripples in our path work. We develop new ideas and concepts, and we might not take on everything that we encounter, but we may pick up new tools that will help us to evolve our practice. Sometimes you have to shake the snow globe to remember how pretty it is. Of course, I’m not saying that you have to dive into every puddle that comes your way, but we do not want to get stagnant in our practice. New life and breath is always a good thing. I am a professional psychic/medium. My method of connection is primarily entering into sacred space and enter into the person’s energy. I love what I do, but even in that space I am learning to use other divination methods to evolve my connection the energy. One tool that I have used to evolve my psychic work is tarot. I have found that through working with the symbology present in the cards that my clairvoyance is getting stronger. This will allow me to be of greater service to my clients, but in my own personal practice.

Taking on aspects of another practice also allows us to see where others are in their beliefs, Buddhist meditation can help us connect to a deeper aspect of self and an understanding of moving through suffering. Connecting to Pagan/Wiccan path can teach us how to connect to the seasons, the earth, and to change. The Hindu practice of yoga can teach us how to flow through life and how to connect to the breath.

Take a look at your practice and ask where you might want to add some new spices. Even just looking at your practice and asking where you might want to expand or grow will allow you deeper connection into your craft.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

PBP2012: “D”- Daily Devotional Work

February 24, 2012February 24, 2012 / soulinteraction / 2 Comments

The sun breaks through the window first thing in the morning. We open ourselves up to the day, and we begin with a deep inhale, followed by an even deeper exhale. Well, in truth… we often dash out of the bed to the sound of a screeching alarm, trip over everything we can on the way out the door to a full work day. How we start our day can determine how we move through the day. Starting the day doing a devotional practice can keep us connected to our divine self as we move through the day. We live in a world that constantly makes demands of us. We move into those moments, and often times we move unconsciously through these experiences. We seldom take time to be with spirit unless something forces us to stop and slow down. Recently I got laryngitis. I very rarely get sick, but often I find myself rushing through life, giving my energy away constantly. Having no voice forced me to slow down and take into account where I was giving my energy away. It also made me take a deeper look at my personal spiritual practice. They say never run faster than your guardian angel can fly, and in a world full of distractions and temptations this can be valuable advice.

A great way to start the morning can simply be sitting in silence and taking a few deep breaths. If we have a particular tradition, we can sit in front of our altars, connect to the divine, and open ourselves up to guidance. There are many ways to connect and ground into the day. Even talking a walk before work connecting to nature, or simply looking up as you make that morning walk to the office. Consistency is also important in ground ourselves in our divine nature. When we have a steady practice we have a way to connect into our day and to detox from a stressful day through positive release. We only need to do a little each day to have a profound effect throughout the day and into our lives. This allows us to be fully engaged in our spiritual work. Here are a few ways to do daily devotional work:

Yoga
Affirmation work
Morning tarot or general reading for the day
Prayer work
Chanting or working with a mantra
Singing
Dancing around the room while the sun rises
Going for a brief walk in the AM/PM and being conscious while you are in that space.
Contemplative reading from a sacred text
Holding a stone and connecting into its energy
Doing a healing practice like Reiki, energy healing, or stretching
Breathing. Focusing on the inhale and the exhale fully.

All of these can be done with just a little bit of time. Getting up just a little earlier, or coming home and immediately going into your practice can give you a little bit of structure in that spiritual place. Your daily devotional work can be complex or simple. It can last 30 seconds or several hours. Get into a practice of daily divine connection. You’ll feel more grounded, more connected and more centered.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

PBP2012: “D”- Demons and Demonic Energies

February 17, 2012February 17, 2012 / soulinteraction / 1 Comment

The demonic take many shapes in the media. Ghost hunting shows consider “demonic” a rare treasure, movies use them to glorify the battle between good and evil, and we jump from floor to bed to keep them from eating our toes. As a psychic/medium the demonic is one area I get asked about frequently. We won’t go into every theory regarding demonic energy as we could fill pages and pages of blog space so I am going to narrow it down to my own personal encounters and workings with this energy.

What I have found are 3 very distinct forms of what I would call “demonic”.

-Divine Demonic

-Thought forms and Negative Energy

-Personal Demons

The divine demonic are the ones that we would consider the fallen. They are the ones the church prescribe as the legion that follow Satan/Lucifer. What I have found in my own encounters with dark energy are that these beings are seldom the ones that are present. These energies have a purpose. There is a lesson that they are bringing. Many of the saints were tormented by the divine demonic and it was through that torment that they found their divinity. Christ was tempted by Satan, etc. They are the lesson bringer. We are usually given several chances to make the right decision before we are given the lesson. You are headed down a road and you feel you should turn around. You see signs that tell you turn around (a song on the radio,etc), you physically have a reaction that makes you feel like turning around–finally they lesson is brought to you in the form of a car crash. You were given chances by the divine to step away, and by being willful the lesson landed in your lap. There is an energy that lines up that “lesson experience”. These energies are very ancient and very powerful. They usually do not step into all of our everyday experiences. This of course is just a very basic touch on the divine demonic. One of the theories that I particularly like is one the Catholic Church uses, “The devil cannot act upon you without first having permission from God.” So, this plays into the lesson bringer role. Trust your intuition, listen deeply and trust. Exorcism can be a way of moving these energies out of a situation, but sometimes just learning the lesson before we get to the point of full manifestation can also be valuable.

Thought forms and Negative Vibrations: Anger, fear, guilt are examples of negative vibrations. We can very easily create energy external from our physical bodies. We can manifest experiences that are not favorable, and when we begin to externalize the blame we can manifest a darker energy. When we push things outside of us that energy does not just vanish. It can begin to manifest into “something”. The danger here is that often we jump straight from the word “energy” to “demon”. I like to invoke the “Ghostbusters” approach to this. When the energy is present it needs a form. When we jump directly to the big bad because that is what WE need to blame, then it will become such. Here is a loose example. We are constantly late. Everything seems to happen to keep us from being on time. We begin to externalize blame. It must be something making me late. Then we begin the process of manifesting an energy to take responsibility for our tardiness. This energy is more common, and can take many shapes and forms. The idea is to not allow it to go beyond the initial stages of just energy. It is easier to cleanse an “energy” than it is to cleanse a “demon”. We have to use caution with what we assume an energetic form is taking.

Personal Demons: These are the personal horrors we create ourselves. The boxes we lock ourselves in, and I’ve seen these often in persons working through addiction. These cannot be exorcised or thought away. These have to be reintegrated into the self. When we begin to invite substance or distraction into our lives, even those energies can take shape. Deep attachment begins to grow, and in some cases communication to the higher self is suppressed. This is a difficult energy to work with. It requires the individual to be present fully in the experience and to own those aspects. This is not something that is impossible. It requires surrender, love and connection. Attachment to things that harm us are dangerous, and can easily sneak into our lives. Food addiction, drug addiction, caffeine addiction are a few examples. When we remove the substance we even become physically ill, which sometimes drives us right back to the substance we are trying to run from.

So, I can go deeper into this fascinating area of metaphysics, but I just really wanted to give you a brief overview of what my personal encounters have been. The more we learn, the more we are able to eliminate fear when we are faced with it.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

Pagan Blog Project 2012: “C”– Channeling

February 10, 2012February 10, 2012 / soulinteraction / Leave a comment

Channeling is a fun and sometimes misunderstood aspect of spiritual connection. Channeling is something that we all do. It is moving energy through us for purpose of utilizing divine connection. There are different forms and levels of channeling, and for this post I am going to focus on what I can direct and indirect channeling. Direct channeling is where you step aside and allow spirit or “entity” to speak directly through you. This style of channeling takes a lot of practice and you have to be fully connected through a place of trust with your guides, guardians and angels. This form is also called trance channeling. Edgar Cayce who channeled his higher self, Jane Roberts of the Seth series and more recently Ester Hicks are some of the more famous channelists that have used trance/direct channeling. Some of you might be thinking “No way am I letting something take over my body to speak through me!”, and that is a totally understandable reaction. I personally have done direct channeling and it does take a lot of work to get settled into being in that high vibration place. We have to use caution when stepping into this energy. We want to be sure we are grounded in deep protective work. Any time we are opening ourselves up and handing over control, you want to be sure that your natural system of protection is in place. This can be affirmations, prayers, or any method your tradition offers for shielding and protecting from low vibration energies. Direct channeling is not only letting entity move through you. When we engage in energy healing we are also channeling the energy through us and into the treatment. We facilitate the connection to the energy and allow it to move through us. The difference in healing is that we are usually more present during the experience than in letting entity move through you fully. Here are some examples of channelists at work:

Jane Roberts and Seth:

Ester Hicks and Abraham:

Most often times when the channelist is “in entity” their voices might change, they may take on different characteristics, and their physical appearance might change. These are just a few examples. There are a lot of great books, and groups that focus on channeling. One of my favorites is “Opening to Channel” by Sanaya Roman this was one of the first books that really helped to connect me into this sacred space of connection.

Indirect channeling is more of a telepathic connection. We allow a connection to our guides, angels, guardians, and even earth-bound spirits. This is typically the style of connection you will see many mediums use to relay information. There is more barrier between the person relaying the information and the energy delivering the information. This is also typically what happens in a reading. Whether it be tarot cards, guides, or intuition when we are relaying the information we are channeling that aspect in and connecting to a higher dimension of the energy. This is the most common form of connection, but not many call this “channeling” but in essence this is what indirect relay of information is. We are opening ourselves to inspiration, insight, and intuition.

Channeling in its many forms is a fun way to connect into divine space. Explore and look into channeling. I have always found a channelists connection and how they came into contact with their guides fascinating. Explore the ones I listed above and enjoy your own process of connection.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

PBP2012: B- “Bindi” aka What does that little dot on your forehead mean

January 27, 2012 / soulinteraction / 2 Comments

Through my yogic journey, I have had the opportunity to take initiations into different aspects of yoga. Through yoga we also learn different ways to bring a fuller connection to aspects of our practice. The “bindi” is one of the tools I was least familiar with, but now use fully in my practice. Most of us have seen Hindu women with the traditional red marking on the center of the forehead, and a big misconception is that this marking only signifies marriage.

The “bindi” is also applied to bring awareness and attention to the third eye. One of my favorite kirtan singers BhagavanDas says it best, “The bindi brings

Bhagavan Das

full awareness to the third eye. People will look, you will see it when you look in the mirror, and this adds energy to your third eye.” Just to be completely honest, people will stare… especially if you are male and wearing this symbol. I personally feel most connected when I take a moment to apply it. It’s a very personal act of connection with the divine, a deep connection to the third eye center.

There are a couple of important reasons to wear it, and I’ll also talk about application in case any of you reading might want to take the bindi for a test drive:

One of the reasons I like wearing it is not just the significance of the third eye energy, but that it helps me to connect deeper to my spiritual path. When others stop and look, or even talk to me about the bindi it gives me a chance to share my journey with someone else. We live in a world where life is moving quickly, and little things like this catch people off guard and it slows them

down, causes them to stop, and connect for a moment. A bindi can be worn by both men and women. It is a connection to the divine, and in some ways is an outward representation of that connection. It focuses the energy into our intuitive center and helps us to focus.

The bindi is traditionally applied with sandalwood paste and kumkum powder. Sandalwood is important for many reasons. It’s fragrance has calming properties, and when applied to the forehead allows us to smell it, feel it and embrace it. We know that it is there, and the forehead is where we hold most of our worry, so it brings cooling to our “worry center”. The kumkum is the red powder that is applied on top of the sandalwood paste. You can easily find powders in different colors, and different methods of application. I’ll detail my personal process, and feel free to apply it as you see fit.

Some people just apply the adoration as a fashion statement, and where there might be nothing wrong with this, there are deeper energies present in simple actions. There are individuals that take yoga solely as a physical practice, but the spiritual aspect is inherent whether you want it or not. So just keep that in mind when connecting to practices that may have a latent spiritual symbolism.

You can use as a tool to focus your meditation, you can use it to build your connection to your intuition, and it can outwardly help you connect to your spiritual path.

1) I first take a moment to center myself and I call in my personal deity, guides and angels.

2) I apply a small amount of water to my left palm, and add a small amount of sandalwood powder then mix them with my left ring finger until a paste forms.

3) once the mixture has formed into a paste I take my right ring finger and apply it to the spot right above my nose, centered between the forehead. I apply it by making small circles, and its usually no bigger than the size of a nickel. While I apply it I usually say a mantra. This mantra penetrates into the third eye during the application process.

4) Now to apply the kumkum powder. What I have found best for getting the perfect little circle is to take the eraser end of a pencil, lightly tap the powder covering the eraser fully. Then take the eraser and press firmly into the center of your sandalwood past circle. I hold long enough for me to say the mantra one more time, then release.

Some people apply the bindi without the sandalwood, some use their finger when applying the kumkum, some use applicator kits, and there are many other ways of adorning oneself. The most important part is finding what works for you, and finding your reason for applying it.

Have fun with it. Even if you don’t find yourself drawn to using this spiritual tool, hopefully now you will have a deeper understanding of its meaning. Namaste!