Catching Dreams
 
You would probably be hard pressed to find someone these days who hasn’t seen or heard of a dreamcatcher. They are beautiful works of art with great purpose and rich history. You can purchase them fully made, or even purchase kits to make them yourself. I was lucky enough to be gifted a beautiful one by a Native American friend when I was 16, and still have it today. While we may know the basic meaning of them, there is so much more to them we may not be aware of.
 
There are two tribes that are often associated with the origins of them. Both of these tribes had deities based on the spider who was part of the creation story of the dreamcatcher.
One was the Lakota. Their (male) spider deity was Iktomi, who was known as a trickster, shape-shifter, and provider of lessons. Surprisingly, given this, their belief about the function of the dreamcatcher was actually the opposite of what you might think. They believed that the web actually trapped good ideas so they would not be forgotten; letting the bad ones pass through the center without harm to anyone.
 
The Second is the Ojibwe tribe. Their spider deity, Asibkaashi (Spider Woman), was considered a protector. Their beliefs surrounding the function of the dreamcatcher is the one we are most familiar with today. They trapped the bad dreams in the web to be destroyed in the morning sunlight, while the good ones were filtered down to the sleeping person. This is the meaning we will be working with in this post.
 
Each part of the dreamcatcher has meaning and function. The ones listed below are from the Ojibwe tribe.*
The hoop represents the circle of life, and was originally made of red willow wood, though is made of a plethora of materials these days.
The web is a tribute to the aforementioned Spider Woman that was a protector. It serves to trap the dreams as a spider web traps its prey; the center of which is considered its heart. This was traditionally made of thread or wool.
The beads that are often included in the design have varied interpretations. Two of which are that a single bead represents the spider that weaved the web, and multiple beads represent multiple dreams trapped within the web.
Feathers are not just a beautiful decoration, they are the way in which the good dreams travel down to the sleeping person after being filtered through the web.
Gems, which have their own meanings/uses and provide their own vibrations, can be used to replace the beads within the web, or the feathers hanging below (especially when feathers are not attainable). How they are used is up to the artist.
Arrowheads. Now, these are used primarily in medicine web dreamcatchers, and are placed in a cross formation in the center of the web. They point in the four directions the wind blows, representing the four sacred winds, and provide protection from misfortune.
Even the number of  points within the web have meaning. These are:
5 Points: the stars above
6 Points: Eagle (the connection to Creator and all that is spiritual)
7 Points: Is a call out to the 7 Prophesies (7 phases in the life of the people. You can find more on this at HTTPS://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_fires_prophecy )
8 Points: represents Spider Woman
13 Points: represent the 13 moons
 
As you can see, there is much to learn/ know about dreamcatchers. This is just the a basic rundown. They are readily available for purchase in many beautiful forms, and colours, from a variety of vendors, some of which are owned/operated by Native Americans**, who make them themselves. While I do own more than one, my favourite is definitely the one that was made for me (that I mentioned earlier). My objective with this post is to educate, however, I am by no means an expert.
 
So…Do you own any dreamcatchers? Would you? If you do, do you believe that they work for you? Have you ever been given one, or given one to someone else? Do you think knowing more about these magical tools (of any kind) gives you more respect for them, or allows you to better utilize them? I would love to know.
 
*You can find more on this at HTTPS://purechakra.com/blogs/a-hippie-spirituality-blog/deciphering-dreamcatchers-and-their-legends-meanings?srsltid=AfmBOop3Und8N51qOdePc6mwgh6i1mLyPkZ9wC3fjwy
 
** quichua.ca (Ojibway owned an operated out of Ontario)
 Tsainkonativegifts.com (Squamish Nation)
wanuskewinggiftshop.com (First Nations, Metis, and Inuit artists across North America)
 
 
 
 

Magic in the Blood
 
Judging by the title you may have an idea what this post is about, but I hope I (pleasantly) surprise you.
I wrote a post when I first started this blog about Masaru Emoto and his experiments with water. How it crystalizes differently depending on the type of energy is directed at it. Positive messages/energies make beautiful crystaline structures, while negative ones make deformed misshapen ones. From a spiritual point of view, this can mean we can create and ingest these beautiful messages to be absorbed by our bodies. However, that isn’t the only way we can utilize this technique for better health (physically and spiritually), and for manifestation.
 
This concept, and the technique I am about to share, was presented in a video by awakenednowwhat on Facebook, and is what inspired this post. He explains the correlation between Masaru Emoto’s work and what he is proposing. How those energies we create through our thoughts and feelings every day affect our bodies, because we are made of water, more than 50%, in fact. He says that these energies are imprinted on and then transported through our bodies through our blood, and are then radiated outwards through our aura (an electromagnetic field). He suggests that we should talk to our blood, the same way that Masaru Emoto talked to water. In his video he gives you a place to start with this practice, but also states that you can change it and make it your own. There is no right or wrong way to do it, and no right or wrong message to work with. That said, for positive results one should keep the message in a positive format (do not use negatives like “not”, “no”, “don’t”, etc...). Provided below are the words he used, taken from his video verbatim. You should go and check out his other videos as well.
 
“For every blood cell that flows through my beating heart,
I open my sovereign spiritual self directly to Earth.
Each blood cell has a golden tube of protection around it.
My blood is no longer used as Karmic resolution.
My blood is no longer used to create violence.
I now empower and imprint abundance, love, and mystical experiences in my blood cells in motion.”
 
You can definitely change this last line to carry whatever message you want into yourself, and beyond.
 
This concept also suggests that the way we talk to and about ourselves daily would have the same affect, making the practice of positive self talk all the more important and impactful. There are many spiritual and psychology practitioners that promote the use of positive self talk. They talk about the ways it can retrain your brain to think happier, and help you be more self accepting, or how “like attracts like” so it will attract more positive things (and people) into you life. Even Masaru Emoto talks in his book (The Hidden Messages in Water) about how our bodies are mostly water, and the health benefits positive talk could provide for us and our bodies. However, this is the first time I have heard the suggestion to talk directly to your blood. Why not? Why not specifically address our blood, our vital fluid, about what we want? Why not set our intent directly into our physical essence? Would this allow our intent to better resonate through our aura, and perhaps with/to our Higher Self and the universe? Seems to me that the only way to now for sure would be to try.
 
While it may seem that positive self talk and talking to our blood are similar enough that they may have the same or similar outcome, I suggest that there is a bit of a difference. While Masaru Emoto’s work touts positive physical health benefits for the user, and even spiritual practitioners and psychologists can agree it has mental/emotional benefits as well, talking directly to one’s blood seems (to me) to take it a step further, or deeper, if you will. It feels more like talking “to” oneself on a more direct and deeper level, rather than talking “at” oneself. This is just my opinion of course. Whichever way you choose to do it, the personal benefits are worth the time.  
 
On a side note, talking to one’s blood and setting specific goals or intentions would also have an impact on one’s spiritual practice if you happen to use blood in your magical workings. How you talk to/treat your blood will affect how it affects your magical workings, just like any other tool. Depending on what you are using it for, you could set a specific intention daily up until the time of the spell work. Particularly if that work involves manifesting or attracting something positive to yourself, or the positive side of shadow work (like creating better habits or a more positive self perspective). While there are other uses for blood in magic, that is a topic for another post.
 
I do intend to continue using this to see what happens for myself. If you do try it, I would love to hear how it worked (or didn’t) for you. Would you directly address your blood in this manner? Do you believe it would have a different or more profound affect on you, or would you rather use Masaru Emoto’s technique? I would love to know.
 
 
 
 
 
 

I have talked in previous posts about meditation and mindfulness. I wanted to go a bit deeper into meditation itself. It has been kind of a hot topic for a few years, and while it has become quite popular, there are many misconceptions surrounding it. That said, let’s start with the basics.
There are many benefits to mediation. Most people are aware of the mental benefits of meditation like helping people have better focus and lengthen their attention span. Along with these basic benefits, it can also help achieve better quality sleep/sleep patterns, support emotional regulation, assist with managing symptoms of depression/anxiety/PTSD (alongside medical care), and even help with lessening carvings for those dealing with alcohol or food addictions.** In addition to providing these mental and emotional benefits, did you know that, physically speaking, studies* have shown that meditation can provide cardiovascular benefits by helping reduce stress and lowering blood pressure, and help improve the quality of life by assisting in pain reduction in people who suffer from chronic pain issues? This list is by no means comprehensive, however these are the ones that are most commonly cited by studies that have been done.
There are two main styles of meditation. Each with its own purpose. The first is the one you are most likely familiar with.
Focused Attention: When you focus your mind onto something. This could be a sound like the rhythmic sound of a bell or drum, something visual like a mandala or a candle flame, a thought like a mantra, a visualization (guided or not), or even just your breathing. The objective is to clear the mind of distractions. This type of meditation would be helpful to achieve any of the benefits listed above.
Open-Monitoring: When you consciously expand your awareness to focus on your environment, your train of thought, or your sense of self. The objective here is to experience these things with intention; fully, and in the moment. This type of mediation can bring up suppressed feelings, thoughts, or impulses. It is not about judgement, only awareness. This type of meditation would be excellent for shadow work, and would also be one I would choose to use to help break bad habits, limiting thoughts/beliefs, or supplement with along side medical treatment for alcohol or food addictions. Both of these types of meditation can be used alone or in conjunction with each other to achieve the above mentioned benefits.
While meditation seems quite common today, there are still some misconceptions about it. Ones that may be preventing people from even trying it. Here are some of the more popular ones I have found.
• It is a religious practice or witchcraft: This is not true. Anyone can practice meditation regardless of their religious beliefs. Cultures all over the world have practiced mediation in one form or another. Even focused/concentrated prayer could be considered a form of meditation, but, as mentioned in a previous post, one can be induced into a meditative state doing even the most innocuous tasks. If you have ever “zoned out” doing something like dishes, colouring/drawing, gardening, etc.. you have entered into a mild meditative state.
• If you don’t clear your mind, and keep it clear, you are doing it wrong: False. If given the space, your mind is likely to bring things up during meditation. The harder you work at thinking about “nothing” the harder it can seem to do so. Even if your objective is to reach that clear mind state, the process to get there is not so clear cut. The idea is to learn to let these thoughts or ideas come up, acknowledge them, and then let them pass; to not dwell on or continue to give them your time and energy. This is a learning process, and will take time. No judgement. This brings us to our next point…
• If I am not good at it right away, I never will be: Just like any other skill, it has to be practiced to be “mastered”. That said, you don’t have to be a “master” to benefit from meditation. It does not have to be an “all or nothing” situation.
• Meditation takes a long time. No. In fact, you can start seeing benefits of meditation just by doing it for 5 minutes a day to start with. The longer you practice, the better you will get at it, and you can increase the time you do it as you go. Starting with only 5 minutes a day is a good place to start.
One thing that can help with your meditation practice is breathing techniques. These have mental and physical benefits all on their own, but can also be a good focal point for you, especially when starting out. Here are a couple of techniques I use.
1. Box Breathing. This technique requires equally counting the duration of your breath during their whole cycle (in and out). It may benefit you to pinch your nose closed during the holds, but blocking your throat with your tongue is just as effective, and does not require you to use your hands. To start, breath in slowly for a count of 4. Then hold your breath for a count of 4. Next, slowly release your breath for a count of 4, and lastly, hold for a count of 4. Then repeat. You can do this as many times as you feel comfortable. 10 times is a good start count. This is a technique commonly given to people to help with anxiety. Another variation uses counts of 8 for in and out breaths and counts of 4 for the holds. Whichever you feel more comfortable with.
2. Alternate Nostril Breathing: This one also requires counting the breath, however you must use your fingers/thumb to cover the nostrils since you will be doing this one at a time. Start by closing your right nostril with your thumb/finger and breath in slowly and deeply for 8 seconds. Next, cover the other nostril (so both are closed) for 4 seconds, then unblock the right nostril and slowly release the breath over 8 seconds. Start your next inhale (through the left nostril) immediately and for 8 seconds, then hold for 4 seconds and repeat on other side. An alternate to this is to disregard the hold in between and start the next breath through the opposite nostril right away. Doing this for minimum of 5 minutes per day will be beneficial; working one’s way up to 10 to 15 minutes for full benefits. Adding a visualization of the breath/energy traveling up and down the body in conjunction with the breath (inhale or exhale) on the corresponding side of the body also provides benefits.
On a side note, our body actually, naturally, dominates with one nostril while breathing, and this alternates between our nostrils approximately every 90 minutes. This “feeds” our bodies and our brains in different ways. Something recently noted by psychologists is that breathing through the right side connects to our “logical” left, while breathing through the left connects with our “creative/intuitive” right side. This means that we can reduce anxiety by breathing through our left nostril only for approximately 3 minutes (this is how long it takes to override the dominance). This is because it affects your hypothalamus, which regulates your autonomic nervous system. It also means that our breathing can be affecting our mood at any given time of the day. If you want to learn more about this you can look up a content creator named Kyle Cox on Facebook. He has many useful videos covering neural reset techniques.
So, my question for today is, do you meditate? Have you done this for a long time, or are you just beginning? If you don’t meditate, would you start after reading this? While style do you practice?
*If you would like to read more about these studies you can go to HTTPS://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-benefits-of-meditation#accessibility for more information and the links to the studies.
**This is not medical advice, and should not be used to replace it. Please seek or continue professional medical treatment for your mental and physical ailments.

Many of us have at least some knowledge of astrology and how it affects our personalities, and even our life purpose or fate. We probably know our sun sign (western astrology); have read our horoscope in the local paper, and maybe even looked up those of our friends or family. Many cultures have their own astrology systems. While the most common astrological system here in the West is a mix of animals and other symbols, others are based on creatures (real or mythological) like that of Chinese and some Indigenous systems. The Celtic and Druid systems were based on trees, while the Egyptians astrological system involves their deities. There are many sites available today that can explain each one and what symbol would correspond to your birthday. Astrology has become quite popular, but they all have that one first question in common, “When’s your birthday?”
 
Regardless of what system you connect with, one reason it is so popular is that each one gives some insight into a persons personality. While we all develop our personalities as individuals according to both principles of nature and nurture (what we are born with/inherit vs our experiences), astrology does provide some general characteristics in each sign that we can relate to; sometimes with eerie accuracy. Whether we believe that the day and time of our birth determines our personality and our fate, or not, it is clear that there is some accuracy (through truth or coincidence) to these systems, otherwise they would not have been used for so long or still be popular at all.
 
I will admit that I am deeply fascinated with anything involving divination and psychology, so it is not surprising that topics like astrology, which bring the two together, would interest me. Like anyone else, I question/ponder my purpose in this life as well. If you are like me, astrology and like systems, can bring both comfort and frustration in trying to analyze and figure things out. That said, I am always on the look out for new systems as well. Which leads me to one I saw online* that suggests a general life purpose based on the moon phase at the time of your birth, which can easily be found through a quick Google search. This concept is best looked at with the moon phases in a circle, with the New Moon in the 6 o’clock position. As the moon changes within its own cycle, the people born under each phase contribute to a larger cycle that serves to further the collective, so we can grow individually and as a whole. This theory suggests that each person is born into the cycle at the point of their current spiritual level, which hints at reincarnation and the karmic levels, and continues on. This same cycle is hinted at in the Major Arcana of tarot as not a linear path with a definitive end, but one that continues on and on; which is perhaps better represented as a spiral rather than a circle. As you will see, this chart not only works for the larger cycle of the whole (the macrocosm), but also in our individual cycles, and the cycles of our own lives (the microcosm). The chart is as follows:
 
New Moon: Creator – this is the beginning  
Waxing Crescent: Spark- take initiative/ take first step
First Quarter: Warrior – Break free of limitations
Waxing Gibbous: Refine/improve – bringing goals to fruition/seeing it through
Full Moon: Mission – transformative person
Waning Gibbous: Wise one – Teach others what you have learned
Last Quarter: Release – Letting go of old patterns / releasing what no longer serves (individually and the collective)
Waning Crescent: Complete – Ending things that no longer serve the collective
 
*The cycle starts again
 
 
This theory can add another bit of depth to our understanding of ourselves and our purpose here (mine seems rather accurate based on my personality), if you believe we have one. It also reminds me of a rhyme I heard as a child about what our personality is like based on the day of the week we were born on, called “Monday’s Child”.
 
Monday’s child is fair of face
Tuesday’s Child is full of grace
Wednesday’s child is full of woe
Thursday’s child has far to go
Friday’s child is loving and giving
Saturday’s child works hard for a living
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.
 
According to Wikipedia there is no single author credited for this poem, however it was first published in Traditions of Devonshire in 1836. Fortune telling by day of birth is much older than that though. I am not sure how much I like this one, as I was born on a Wednesday, but that’s just me.
 
So, what do you think? Do you put any faith in astrology (any system)? Do you read your horoscope? Does the phase of moon you were born under make sense to you? Do you believe more in fate or free will when it comes to personality and/or purpose? Had you seen this system before? I would l love to know.
 
 
 
 
 
 
*If you would like to see this video you can check out the one I watched by Loveagainjen on TikTok
 
 

Emotional or Intuitive Response?
 
So I was watching a video the other day that prompted one of those weird thought rabbit hole moments (this happens more than I like to admit). They were talking about having random emotional outbursts and it got me thinking about why this happens. It is perfectly normal to have an emotional response to a situation, especially while in the moment. If you are like many people you might try to control those feelings at the time, and save your emotions for a more private moment (I can be guilty of this myself). The problem with doing this is that it can cause a much bigger emotional response after that fact. We can also be “triggered” by moments in the present that remind us of past events, experiences, or traumas. If the event was important enough to us it can bring the memory and all of the emotions surrounding it flooding back. Usually, when we are over come by emotion due to past events/traumas we know why we are having these strong emotions.
 
However, what about when we seem to have an emotional breakdown that seems to not be linked to a present situation or a memorable past event? What if we cannot seem to link these feelings to anything at all? They can make us feel like we are going crazy. If you have ever been accused of being overly sensitive or hormonal during a seemingly random emotional moment, you know how difficult it can be to not only explain it to others, and rationalize it to yourself as well. We often make excuses for our behavior or try to laugh it off, but what if there is an another explanation for it and we just don’t realize it? I have two alternate theories for this.
 
The first theory is that we are indeed reminded of a past event/experience/trauma, but it is from a past life. Perhaps it is a reminder of lessons not yet learned; ones we may be likely to repeat in this lifetime, or currently are. In this case, the emotional outburst may be either a warning or a reminder. There are many mental health professionals that weave hypnosis and past life regression into their therapeutic practices. I have read several books where this process has greatly helped patients with a variety of issues. If you don’t believe in reincarnation, then this theory would not resonate with you.    
 
The second theory is that we are experiencing these strong emotions to prepare us for an event that is coming, but we have not yet experienced. A pre-release of emotional energy in preparation for something we intuitively know is coming; perhaps so that we can better react or have more control of our self when that moment comes. Since our intuition is a subconscious “knowing” that comes before the conscious knowing, this would make sense. Our subconscious works through symbols and feelings to communicate with our conscious mind. Our intuition can be one of the vehicles our subconscious uses to get this information to come through to us (recognized signs/symbols are another way). Our subconscious, which is theorized to be linked to our higher self, as our early warning system, if we are willing to listen.
 
When I presented the second theory to some friends, it really resonated with them. What do you think? Do either of these theories (or both) feel right to you? Do you feel like you suffer unexplained emotional outbursts? Do they ever happen before emotionally taxing situations? Have you ever done past life regression? Would you? What do you think? I would love to know.