PBB2012: J is for Journey

This has been a year of remembrance. Sometimes I find myself getting caught up in the ins and outs of life, the ups and downs, the lights and the darks, and the varying shades of gray. Sometimes we forget that the road itself is the destination, the journey is the process by which we connect into divine space. I’ve been fortunate to start working through T. Thorn Coyle’s “Kissing the Limitless”, and one of the things I love about this book is that it takes you backwards through the dark soil of your life. It allows you to find the soul seeds that you might have planted (or that might have been planted for you). Sometimes we sit in the upheaval and only see those things as damaging, when in reality those things may have been the spark we needed to grow into the spiritual people that we are. The journey we are on is just as important as the destination. We at time forget to look at the road. It’s many twists and turns, we only notice the times we trip on pebbles, but we get up. Sometimes we scrape our knees, and we learn to heal. Many of us do journey work as part of our practice. I am not saying that we should not have a destination, but we shouldn’t let the destination be the only thing we keep our eyes on. I have found that my journey needs to be fluid. I need to have space and the most difficult box for me to get out of is the one I place myself in. We often times fragment ourselves in this growing process. As those walking the spiritual path, it is important for us to re-assemble ourselves. Those thoughts from the past that grab you the strongest are sometimes the places where you have left a small piece of yourself. Go back and see what your lessons may have been in that phase of your journey. Listen to the road, otherwise you might find yourself in one of those crazy cul-de-sac spirals.

When we move into new places, we have to have appreciation for where we have been. The road ahead is built from the bricks of our past experiences. Those synchronicities that in the moment many have seemed “coincidence” that shifted us into who we are. My theory is that if we are still breathing when all is said and done that the divine must have some greater purpose for us. That the turmoil was just a stepping stone to something greater.

What have been your gifts from the struggle of your journey? Would you change your past, or do you find compassion for your road? Where are you headed traveler? What do you do to slow down and see the road beneath your feet?

Michael A. Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.deviantyogi.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

PBP2012: J is for Journaling

One of the big things I have found myself doing this year is going a bit deeper within.  This has been a year of engaging the shadow, opening up to our light, and one way to deepen this process is to journal.

Many of us keep journals, but I found that at times I hold back.  I haven’t gone deep enough at times.  The journal is also a way for us to capture our journey, our story, and our path.  I am also be big supporter of pen and paper journals.  There is power in the action of writing.  I can then choose to transfer what I’ve written later to the computer.   There is something powerful in not being able to hit the delete button.  Tangibility is also a powerful thing this year.  Being able to hold our words.  To open the book, and to equally “close the book” on parts of our lives that might be difficult or cause unease.

Journals are snapshots of our lives, our paths, our insights, and we get to see where we’ve been so that we can get clarity on where we “should” go.  I am really big on carrying a small pocket journal.  Being that my spiritual ADD is always keeping me divinely distracted, spirit has to grab me in the most random of times.  Having my journal in my back pocket allows direct access to the flow.  Yes, my cell phone as a task and note taking app, but it takes me more time to go into the app, open it, save it, and at times it gets lost if my phone glitches.  My pen and paper journal tends to not glitch, unless the ink spills, and even that becomes part of the journal entry.

Do you journal?  Do you just write or do you draw?  Do you have a separate journal for the different aspects of your life (magical, spiritual, personal, business)?  What does your journal look like?

I personally keep one for my ideas and insights, one of readings and channeling, and my tastes in journal span the spectrum. I also find my writing in a journal to be a tangible form of spirituality, its my words, and I can touch them.

I’m going to be doing a mini journaling challenge on my other blog:  www.deviantyogi.com next week.  Each day I’ll post a journaling prompt to help ground us into a practice of taking journaling a little deeper.  So, head over, subscribe, and be part of the journey.

PBP2012: I is for Imagination!

Stagnation is an ugly monster that sits on the edge of our spiritual practice.  It lies in wait.  It’s soldiers of choice are boredom and routine.  In steps our hero, Imagination!

Creativity is a great thing in our spiritual practice, it allows us to have fun and to not take it all so seriously.  In a fast paced digital world we tend to lose that creative spark.  I am aware that it shifts, but for me, there is a tangibility in imagination.  Remembering back to when a sheet and a table became a mountain, or action figures springing to life, rushing into battle.  Imagination is a key element in spirituality.  On some levels we are using our minds eye to access realms that are just beyond our vision.  There is a beauty in being able to close our eyes and see the Star Goddess or Shiva as we see them.  Imagination is also key element in accessing and deepening clairvoyance.  Understanding symbols, going beyond prescribed messages and taking it deeper.  At times it is a powerful thing to look at the work through the eyes of a child.  This morning I had the chance to see this play out, as often times the divine brings me.  There was a mom and her little girl sitting on the metro this morning.  The mom was deeply engaged in her blackberry, but the child was in a far distant place.  In the child’s hands where these small pieces of paper, and she was deeply involved in a discussion with the paper–and then the pieces of paper were also talking to one another.  I was just out of earshot, but there was a beauty in that moment. When paper becomes more than paper, when distant realms become accessible because we realize they are not that far away.  Bringing that child like quality into our spiritual practice allows us to see it in its simplicity.  Why does it all have to be so complicated?   Things can just be a little outside of the lines and we can be okay with that.

Here are a few exercises:

  • Go to the store and buy a toy, then go home and play with it.
  • Buy a coloring book
  • Swing on a swing
  • sing nursery rhymes
  • Pull out some Dr. Seuss, or your favorite Books from yesteryear.  I loved the Ramona series, Where the Sidewalk ends.

There is a simplicity with these actions.  What if we approached our divine connection this way?  With open arms, and eyes wide open.  If anything, this will shake up your routine a bit.  Break free from your attachments to a process and just be present.

Love and Light

Michael A. Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.deviantyogi.com

www.michaelbrazell.com

PBP2012: “I” is for Intuition

A lot of people ask me if being psychic is something that you are born with, or if is something you can learn.  We all come into this place with a deep knowing of where we are supposed to be on our path.  It is like we are born with an internal GPS system that allows us to steer into and away from different lessons and situations.  The response I like to give is:  ”We are all born intuitive.  Some people come in with AOL dial-up, and others come in with SAT LINK, but we can all choose to upgrade when we are ready.”  As magick workers and those on a spiritual path we have to work on the deep listening aspect of our chosen crafts and path.  Magick and intuition do not just flow through us when we are in ritual or in front of our altars.  Our lives are an action of living in spirituality and our intuition is always there guiding us.

Being intuitive means that you receive that guidance from the “soul space”.  There is always something talking to us from within.  That little voice that only has our best intent and compassion for us.  It is the driver in the car with the better map.  I personally know when I take the wheel and refuse the directions that life becomes more bumper car than Sunday drive in the country side.  Our intuition is how the divine relays that deep guidance and information to us.  In degrees of separation it is: self-soul-divine.  This allows us instant access to everything that is outside of us, but it comes through us.  There are many theories on how the intuition works, where that information flow originates from, and depending on your tradition you relationship to your intuition might vary a bit.  How we connect is not as important as connecting.  Establishing a daily connection with your intuition is important for not only deepening your practice but for establishing trust for self and our divine connection.

What is your relationship to your intuition?  What is your process of deep listening?   How does intuition play into your daily practice or your ritual work?

Michael A. Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

michael@michaelbrazell.com

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.deviantyogi.com

PBP2012: “H”- Happiness In Your Practice

Ever since attending the T. Thorn Coyle self-possession workshop, I’ve been in a state of deep awareness with my deep practice.  One of the things I’ve been paying even closer attention to is my daily practice.  I began to pick apart where I am in my practice, what is working, what isn’t working, where I can best make use of time, etc.  I felt like I was missing something, and then a small voice from deep within chimed in “Are you HAPPY, in your practice”.  My rational mind said, “Of course I am happy with my practice.  It is well structured, I know what time to get up, how long my fasting cycle lasts, what yoga sequences I’ll be focusing on this week, my writing projects planned..,”  The soul voice responded, “But are you happy IN your practice.”  I had to sit with this for a moment.  I find that at times I am going through the motions of my practice.  I do the things I do because I know that they deepen my spiritual connection.  I know that I need to tune in to my soul, to open up, to listen, to evolve, but I also need to be happy while doing all this wonderful expansion.

I look around and see the same thing in a lot of my pagan and spiritual friends.  Out spiritual lives become just as heavy as our work lives, and for some of us our spirituality is our work lives.  ”When you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life” is a quote I’ve tried to live by, but at times we forget and let the joy slip out of our work, and even worse our practice.  Happiness is spirituality at its best.  When we laugh or smile from the soul out we step fully into the moment.  Laughter is said to be the best medicine, and it is a medicine that we need a lot more of.  Sometimes I make a mistake when I’m leading a yoga class, and we all laugh.  In that moment all tension is broken, and we all come fully into connection in our practice.  Happiness is letting go and being present in our moment.  We have to have fun and let go IN our practice.  We have to be present in joyful connection to our meditation.  Smudge with joy, let go and sing your chants, dance if you do not dance, sing, and just let go a bit.

I am closing with this picture of a Laughing Jesus.  I am not Christian, but the Christian path at times is a very heavy path.  I grew up catholic and loved the ritual, but there was a somberness to it that I never really understood. I’m sure that even Jesus laughed, even if we don’t hear much about those parts of his life.

Where are you in your practice?  Is it something that you are just running through the motions?  Are you joyful in your spirituality, or are you somber?

Michael Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.deviantyogi.com

www.michaelbrazell.com

Michael@michaelbrazell.com

PBP2012: G is for Grace

One word that you will hear a lot in religious and spiritual circles is “grace”.   If you look up the word grace you’ll find a multitude of definitions ranging from how we move to blessings bestowed from the divine.  I feel that grace transcends definition.  It is more like a state of being rather than something that can be lock into words.  In our practice we connect not just to ourselves but to the world around us.  When we extend compassion to those that hurt us we are moving into a state of grace.  When we love the shadows in our past, we are loving ourselves gracefully. One of my teachers always taught me about the importance of leaving situations gracefully.  When we do we do not take with us any of the anger or resentment.  You could almost say that grace is a form of compassion.  It goes to the core of our being, and becomes a deep extension of our soul’s light and energy.  We can see aspects of grace in a ballerina’s movement, can we extend the same into how we connect with those around us and even to ourselves?  To move with mercy.  To look at one another and to see the soul reflected back.  Practicing being in a state of grace is important for bringing the soul into alignment.  The soul is perfect divine light.  When we look at one another typically we only see the shell, the third dimensional self.  If we were to look at the world through the soul’s eyes?  To see only the shining light of God Herself that rests in everything.  When we engage in our spiritual practice and path work it is important for us to see where we might be holding on to limiting emotions.  Where are we holding our anger, resentment, guilt?  Breathing into those areas of our life that need love, embracing the depths of our darkness, and loving ourselves fully.  In yoga we talk about Ahimsa.  The action of living a non-violent life.  In Wicca the rede “and harm ye none” is one of the core statements.  The thing we forget to do is turn this internal.  Many of us are in a constant state of judging ourselves.  We have to take our practice “within” so that we won’t be “without”.  This can be difficult to do, but it is an important part of the journey.  We can’t just strive to see God Herself in the world around us, but we must also see her in our reflection in the mirror.  When we show mercy to ourselves, we are in turn showing mercy to the divine within us.  Grace then becomes the extension of mercy out into this sometimes chaotic world.  We each get to choose how we embrace grace and mercy.  How do you extend these concepts into your practice?  Into your life? and into the relationships that you carry?

Michael Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.deviantyogi.com

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

PBP2012: “E”- Evolving Our Practice

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

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

PBP2012: “D”- Daily Devotional Work

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

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

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

Pagan Blog Project 2012: “C”– Channeling

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

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com