My mother passed away in February and I took on responsibility for her budgerigar Sky. He is a lovely little bird – very noisy and feisty – isn’t hand tamed and doesn’t like to be touched. Heaven help you if you try! He is approximately 5 years old – give or take.

Mum used to bring Sky with her when she visited, so I was aware of how to look after him, but other than that I really didn’t have a clue about budgies. I remember one we had as a family pet when I was a teenager and that was about it.

Sky and I got into a routine for the first 5 months – I opened his cage door every morning but he never left it. He was happy to flap his wings inside his cage which is large enough to do so with room to spare.

Then came the day about a month ago when he ventured out and the problems started. On the few times that he started to fly around he flew into the walls and had a nasty fall when he misjudged a shelf – this had never happened to him before and he went into shock.

This noisy, feisty little bird became quiet – he couldn’t hold onto his perch properly and ended up walking around on the bottom of his cage – it was truly heart breaking to watch. He would jump at the slightest movement or unexpected sound and fly around in a panic. I knew that there was something seriously wrong when he allowed me to hold him in my hand on 3 separate occasions when I had to rescue him from falling off his perch.

I am fortunate to be friends with some animal healers and communicators and one of them instructed me on giving him Rescue Remedy and that helped. She didn’t see a serious illness with him, just a bit sore from his collisions, and she did some distant healing on him and he perked up quite a bit, but was still far from back to his normal self. He was much calmer though and didn’t go into panics, so I decided to get him checked out by the vet as well.

Sky was far from happy at being caught and put into a very pretty tissue box and carted along to the vet, a very pleasant man who specialises in small animals. He examined him and found him to be underweight, but with no external damage, good eye sight and no problem with his claws. However, he did suspect that he might have liver and/or kidney problems and told me that budgies often only lived between 5 to 7 years and that 15 years (which is what I had read) was the exception rather than the rule. He gave me some medicine and made an appointment for the following week, but I could tell by his demeanour that he didn’t expect Sky to survive.

I was absolutely heartbroken – this little bird had crept into my heart and was also a connection to Mum and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him so soon.

Synchronicity is a big part of my life and I was given further information which would be of great help and another piece in the puzzle. I was again told that there was nothing physically wrong with him, but that he was grieving, deeply depressed and didn’t see the point of living. It was suggested that I put a photo of my Mum in his cage with him and to add a bit of curcumin to his food/drink to help build him up.

I immediately printed out a photo of Mum and put it in his cage and I couldn’t believe the change in him – if someone had told me, I would have had a hard time believing it. He immediately started to eat and drink as if he was making up for lost time. His food was near Mum’s photo and he would stay close to it while he was eating. One night I peeped in on him and he was fast asleep right next to her. He also found the strength to get back onto his perch again and started moving round his cage – it was truly miraculous. I also put a piece of Rose Quartz into his cage and he spent quite a bit of time close to that too.

He was obviously still stressed though, so I cancelled a further visit to the vet and decided to let nature take its course. With the help of my friends I had done everything I could and it was now up to Sky to decide whether he wanted to stay or not.

It has been an emotional month watching this little bird going through his trauma, and it has been an ongoing healing. Just last week he went through 3 days of literally sitting on his perch virtually motionless, just eating a little now and then, but showing no interest in anything. I felt helpless and wondered if he was craving companionship – though he had always been a solitary bird.

However, just 3 days ago he started to make some noise and showed some interest in his surroundings. The following day he started to play again and was climbing everywhere and today he hasn’t stopped chatting. It does my heart good to hear him.

Once I came out of my emotional state it occurred to me that the reason he was flying into the walls might be because I have no pictures on those particular walls, so he can’t judge where they are – I will rectify that before he is ready to venture out of the security and safety of his cage. Fingers crossed!!

Conclusion

This whole situation confirmed to me the necessity of an holistic approach to healing. There were a number of people involved in Sky’s healing and they were all necessary parts of it.

The animal healers/communicators helped me to help him with his shock and enabled me to feel confident to take him to the vet without giving him any additional stress. They also prompted me to deal with his grief about losing my Mum and to give him the necessary care in that direction.

The vet put my mind at rest as to his physical condition and that he hadn’t injured himself whilst flying.

I truly don’t believe that Sky would be alive today if I hadn’t put the photo of my Mum into his cage with him. It might sound far-fetched, but you might just believe me if you had seen the virtually instant change in him.

It has made me wonder how many animals have died or been put down due to emotional and mental problems, rather than physical. This is something that I didn’t even consider just five weeks ago. I think most of us are aware of dogs and larger animals pining, but how many of us – myself included – would have considered that a little bird like a budgie would go through a similar process?

I still spray him with Rescue Remedy and give it to him to drink, and add curcumin to his grated carrot. I will continue with that for a while longer, until I feel it’s not necessary any more.

I have had a ‘thrown in the deep end’ education this past month – one that I will never forget and I hope that my story will resonate with some of you that read it.

In the meantime, I am very happy that my feisty, noisy little friend is still around and sincerely hope that he will be for many years to come.

Do you have a story about a pet which relates to my experience?

The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting it becomes. As you read this article you’ll find that the subject of human beings meeting in soul is certainly no exception.

This is done in several ways:

You can do this as you care for a dying loved one.

You can do this in putting a band aide on a child who is hurt.

You can do this when you offer forgiveness to someone who has harmed you.

You essentually do this any time you reach out to help someone in need.

You meet in soul when a baby is born.

You meet in soul each moment of living when you remember who you are.

Truthfully, the only difference between you and the so-called gurus is time. If you’ll invest a little more time in reading and living, you’ll be that much closer to maturity status when it comes to living in soul. Learning how to live in soul requires reflective analysis and the ability to learn from your mistakes. Insodoing, we gain in wisdom through remembering who we really are. The instant we remember we are souls having a human experience creates in us a journey into what is most sacred to us.

This is the key to maturing in soul. “Insight” means to see from within. The moment you begin to see through your eyes and not just with them makes you a visionary. A “Visionary” follows his or her dreams or inner visions within them. This is an “act in faith” as though something is already here before it arrives. At this point, you begin to put into place the details of your overall vision through yourself and others.

If your inner vision involves helping someone, yourself, or something die, you will need to draw much of your attention inward. This will enable you to create a vision that will help someone or yourself find comfort in becoming more soul than body over time. If your task is to help something or an event die, your job is to transform this experience into something different. Nothing stays the same. We are all in transformation. Transformation means to go beyond form. It is out of the formless all things become form. Everyone of us have this capacity.

Somehow, in the midst of change and sharing our joys and our sorrows, our hearts meet to care. This is the level of soul care and soul healing not meant to be understood, but rather, embraced. Here our souls meet and come to fulfill a purpose and a destiny.

Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of Souls meeting one another. Share your new understanding about Where Souls Meet with others. They’ll thank you for it.

Soleares is perhaps the most important toque (rhythmic form) in the study of the Flamenco guitar. Soleares epitomizes the soul of Flamenco music, embodying its vital core: rhythm and harmony. In fact, the rhythmic structure, called the compas, plays such a central role, that when a guitarist truly masters the compas, he or she is well on the road toward becoming a skilled virtuoso in the art of Flamenco guitar.

In Andalusia, the region of Spain where Flamenco got its start, every student of the Flamenco guitar begins with its study. Furthermore, Soleares is a foundational toque; many other toques have developed from its inspiration. As a guitarist, learn to dominate this toque, absorbing its powerful momentum into your very bones. If it takes driving your friends and family nearly mad with hearing you play, do so, for it is the very nature of Flamenco music.

Soleares has a twelve-beat rhythm, each sequence of twelve beats making up one compas. The accents fall on the third, the sixth, the eighth, and the tenth beats, with a more variable accent falling on the twelfth beat.

Practice counting aloud through twelve at a steady, even pace. Emphasize the accented beats, repeating as many times as needed to internalize the rhythm of the compas. Again, this is something that you can do during idle moments. A small investment of time that you might have otherwise wasted can pay big dividends in your comfort level with the music. Learning about the origins of this form can also be beneficial to you in understanding how to play it with perfect passion.

With respect to its origins, the roots of Soleares are uncertain and controversial, as so often is the case in Flamenco and other traditional art forms. The Triana district of Sevilla was probably the most influential center of its development. Other locations, however, have influenced Soleares, giving it their own distinctive flavors. Some historians claim that Canas and Polos are the oldest forms, others suggest that Soleares was earlier than those, claiming that its heritage came from more lighthearted toques which were used as accompaniments for dances. Today, however, the Toque por Soleares is solemn and majestic, overwhelmingly passionate, whether used as a guitar solo, or accompanying song or dance.

The origin of the word ‘Soleares’ comes from the word ‘solea,’ whose origin is probably a corruption of ‘soledad,’ which means ‘solitude’ or ‘loneliness.’ The melancholy coplas (song-verses) of the cante can be ironically philosophical or romantic, but with the overarching themes of tragedy, desolation and death.

Knowing more about the history of Soleares, Flamenco music’s most profound form, will help you to understand and perform Flamenco music with a deep appreciation of its possibility to communicate with its listeners. Learning its compas and its emotional tone will help you to put that knowledge into action on your own Flamenco guitar.

Samsung has launched a very cute and functional handset called U900 soul. This mobile phone is loaded with some wonderful features making it perfect for different functions. Samsung U900 is a very nice phone but if you want to compare it with Nokia N81 then this phones off course lacks in some areas and cannot claim its position as a better gadget than N81.

Before we give a glimpse at the features of Nokia N81 let us first try to find out the features of Samsung U900 so that it becomes easy for us to find out where it lacks with Nokia N81. The U900 is a 3G phone with a 2.2 inches of sleek screen with navigation panel. The phone has a good internal memory and card slot to extend the memory with a microSD card. You have options for photocall, SMS, MMS, EMS, Email, GPRS, EDGE, HSCSD and HSDPA.

Samsung U900 is perfect device for transferring of files with the help of Bluetooth and USB port. The phone is an arrant phone for Web Browsing with WAP2.0/xHTML browser and RSS feeds. The best part of the phone is its multimedia.

U900 has an integrated camera of 5 MP with features like 2592E1944 pixels, flash, autofocus, video shooting, image stabilizer. This enables you to take perfect still and video capture. The media player is perfect for MP3, WMA, AAC and others. There is a FM radio with RDS and there is a Picture editing. Generally the phone has good features to make it a good choice.

But when it comes to comparison with Nokia N81, Samsung U900 fails from the very beginning. N81 is a quad band phone whereas the U900 is a triband phone. The screen of N81 is also quite big compared to U900. The phonebook has unlimited entries and there is card slot to extend the memory to 8GB. The phone has a ARM 11 369 MHz processor. There is a Wi-Fi 802.11b/g with UpnP technology. The OS of the phone is Symbian OS 9.2, Series 60 v3.1 UI. The only area where Samsung U900 beats N81 is the camera. You have a 2 MP camera in N81. But in the rest of the features N81 is the winner.

What if the purpose of life were not simply to be born into a family, go to school, get a job, acquire material goods, create a family of one’s own, grow older, and then eventually die, leaving one’s descendants and family members to repeat the very same cycle? What if one’s life experiences were not simply random chance; instead, some kind of divine purposefulness stood behind the possibilities of every single day for every single individual? What if we suddenly discovered that we were somehow actively responsible for cocreating the substance of our lives? What if we came to realize that our perception of ourselves is extremely limited, for we are, in truth, eternal beings possessing infinitely more than an average of seven to ten decades of life? What if the answer to the question “Who am I?” were much more than we had ever even dared to imagine?

Perhaps more than anything else, humankind is in need of an entire worldview shift – a change in our collective perception that will enable all individuals to look at themselves and one another in a completely new light. This change in perception needs to amount to nothing less than a quantum leap in our understanding of what life is all about, for humanity’s previous worldview has been sorely inadequate. Life is not about acquisition. It is not about appeasing one’s desires and needs. It is not about lobbying to get one’s way. It is not about being victimized or bullying another. It is not about being afraid or causing fear. It is not about seeking pleasure or inflicting pain. It is not about taking control of another or being controlled oneself. It is not about proselytizing personal beliefs. It is not about problems with race or sex or war or governments or culture or territorial borders. Ultimately, it is not even about religion. Simply stated, life is a process of personal growth and development. It is a required transformational process that has been in effect since the dawn of time and will be underway until each soul has passed through every portion of the curriculum.

This change in our collective worldview is not only necessary, but also inevitable. The reason is because the truth about who we are can no longer be contained within the confines of what we once thought about ourselves. With greater and greater frequency, this single fact has repeatedly led individuals from countless backgrounds, cultures, and faiths to sense and to predict “the end of the world.” Although it is true that the world as we know it is coming to a close, it is not that the world is literally ending; rather, it is that our perception of the world and ourselves is in the throes of a complete and radical transformation. When this shift arrives, we will no longer think ourselves to be what we never really were.

During this time of transition, we stand at a crossroads, both individually and collectively. We can either fight against the inevitable, becoming all the more focused on our limiting and erroneous beliefs, or we can embrace the change and allow our perception of truth to expand along with us. When this change is complete, we will look back on our previous worldview and see it simply as a step in our collective learning process – a stage that we passed through rather than the reality where we ended up.

As it is now, our limited worldview suggests one of two fundamental possibilities about the nature of humankind for much of the world. The first is that life is accidental and random, implying that there is no God and that we are nothing more than physical bodies. The second is that there is a God and He is all-loving, but for reasons we may not understand, He is conditional in that love. He is also all-forgiving, but only within a certain period of time. Nor does He play favorites, unless one refuses to do things His way. Even now, certain logical assumptions suggest that neither of these possibilities is justifiably defensible.

The structure and harmony of the universe, the cyclic nature of all of life, and the universal laws we can perceive in action tend to indicate that the cosmos follows design more so than accident. In our own lives, the fact that we possess the capacity to dream, the ability to hope, and the capability to inspire others to go beyond their perceived limitations suggests that there is much more to us than a physical body.

In terms of the conflicting nature of God, does it not seem problematic that, if the purpose of life is simply to receive the same eternal reward or punishment, for some unknown reason the Creator has visited upon us very different tests? For some, that test may be like an easy math problem that requires only the ability to add and subtract, but for others that test is like a complex algebraic equation that only the most gifted in mathematical theory and computation could even begin to decipher. One person’s life may be filled with minor struggles and pain, while another’s seems fraught with tragedy, misfortune, and unspeakable horror. This limited worldview would have us believe that a Creator who designed the intricacies of the galaxies could send a child to a Mahatma Gandhi or a Reverend Billy Graham and hope for the same level of success as a child He sent to a Joseph Stalin or a Reverend Jim Jones. Does this really seem godlike to anyone?

What if the apparent randomness of life weren’t random at all, but instead were a purposeful unfolding of experiences, thoughts, desires, and lessons that originated at the level of the soul? What if we were active participants in the creation of every element of our lives rather than simply the recipient of them? What if the Creator were at least as equitable and fair as a loving parent who didn’t play favorites with her or his children? What if God were truly all-loving, ever-merciful, and eternally supportive, providing a firm foundation for each of His children to live and grow and become all that they were meant to be?

These premises – that we stand at the brink of a new understanding of the nature of humankind and that there will be an inevitable shift in our worldview – are both explored in much of the Edgar Cayce material. Rather than seeing life as simply a precursor to an inevitable reward or punishment, the Cayce information saw every life experience as a potentially purposeful and necessary stage of development leading to an almost unfathomable realization of one’s true connection to God. A reading told one 26-year-old army sergeant: “For you grow to heaven, you don’t go to heaven. It is within thine own conscience that ye grow there.” (3409-1) With this as his undergirding perspective, Cayce believed that it was through an individual’s life experiences and relationships – accruing over a series of lifetimes – that each person was destined to undergo soul development; grow spiritually; overcome shortcomings, weaknesses, and flaws; and eventually reawaken to the true self.

In the Cayce cosmology, the destiny Iof each individual is nothing less than soul growth, transformation, and enlightenment. Essentially, the primary function of the earth is as a testing arena that enables the soul to exercise the dynamics of freedom of choice played out against the influences of cause and effect, and to experience whatever understanding and development have already taken place. Although Cayce definitely saw the prospect of soul retrogression (loss) in any given life, generally each lifetime allows for the possibility of advancement in learning. In fact, the readings contend that wherever a person finds him- or herself in the present, that very situation has the potential to be a purposeful one; whether or not the person decides to use the present as a positive learning experience, however, is always a matter of free will.

Because the nature of the soul is spiritual, not physical, it is erroneous to believe that the earth offers the only learning curriculum undertaken by each soul. Instead, Cayce’s cosmology describes “sojourns in consciousness” in which the soul chooses to experience focused lessons in what might be called “awareness development.” These lessons do not take place in physicality but in other dimensions of consciousness. With this in mind, Cayce informed a group of approximately 30 people who had gathered for a reading in 1933: “For, the earth is only an atom in the universe of worlds!” (5749-3) Echoing the New Testament (John 14:2), Cayce told another individual, “‘… In my Father’s house are many mansions’ – many consciousnesses, many stages of enfoldment, of unfoldment, of blessings …” (2879-1)

Cayce advised others that it was also a mistake to believe that our solar system is the only place in the cosmos in which souls are undergoing a developmental process. However, once a soul enters the earth, there is apparently a mandatory lesson that must be attained before the soul is free to continue its curriculum elsewhere. Essentially, that lesson was described as being one of love and service. On other occasions, the readings used biblical terminology to describe that lesson: “For the whole law is to love the Lord with all thy heart and soul and body, and thy neighbor as thyself!” (1603-1)

In Cayce’s worldview, the inevitable destiny of every soul is to become cognizant of its true individuality while maintaining an awareness of its oneness with God. For all of humankind, this state of enlightenment is seemingly achievable in one of two ways: either by learning the lesson of love and then moving on to other stages of consciousness development or by literally attaining perfection in the earth. Of the thousands of individuals who received readings from Edgar Cayce, fewer than 20 were told that they had so mastered the lesson of love that another earthly incarnation would not be necessary unless they chose to return. Apparently, there are “many mansions” in which they could continue their individual growth process. In terms of manifesting perfection in the earth, the example repeatedly cited by the readings was that of Jesus.

In 1944, a 53-year-old housewife contacted Edgar Cayce and inquired as to why she had come into life with such a broken physical body. For much of her life, she had suffered from heart, back, hearing, and intestinal problems, that often caused her severe pain. In spite of these problems, she had managed to take care of a home and family and raise two sons. She obtained a life reading and was told that her soul had made tremendous strides in spiritual development for she had “advanced from a low degree to that which may not even necessitate a reincarnation in the earth.” Not that she was perfect, for she wasn’t; but somehow she had learned how to love.

Her present difficulties were traced to a low point in her earthly sojourns when she had been a companion of Nero and had taken part in the physical persecution of individuals associated with the early Christian church. From that experience, Cayce advised her that she was now “meeting self” in terms of her own pain and suffering. Aside from that one period of soul retrogression, however, she was told that throughout her earthly incarnations, she had generally been of service to others in her attempts to be of service to God. As a result, in spite of her physical pain, she had still managed to love, striving to hold to a high ideal, and frequently assisting others in doing the same. For that reason, when asked to comment on her abilities, Cayce told her: “Who would tell the rose how to be beautiful; who would give to the morning sun, glory; who would tell the stars how to be beautiful? Keep that faith which has prompted thee. Many will gain much from thy patience, thy consistence, thy brotherly love.” (5366-1)

In spite of how her life and physical circumstances might have appeared to others, the reading assured her that she had accomplished much.

Within the vast repository of the Cayce material, those factors that lead to a person’s soul growth or soul retrogression in any given lifetime are indexed by case history for ease of reference. In addition to service and love, qualities that prompt soul growth include consistent application, establishing spiritual ideals, developing the will, maintaining positive human relationships, personal attunement, selflessness, and cultivating virtuous traits such as patience, forgiveness, understanding, and tolerance. The flaws and weaknesses pointed out as leading to soul retrogression include self-gratification, self-exaltation, selfishness, intolerance, condemnation, indecision, laziness, holding grudges or seeking revenge, being too material minded, and creating contention, oppression, and strife in the lives of others. Negative traits also include such attitudes and emotions as spite, stubbornness, self-pity, and resentment.

Rather than thinking that the soul is somehow separated or disconnected by each of its earthly experiences, the Cayce readings emphasize the ongoing process of life. Because the soul is eternal, life does not begin and end with each physical incarnation. For ease of understanding, imagine for a moment that the soul is like an individual’s entire lifetime and that each period of that person’s life is like a different incarnation. There may be a period of childhood, of going to school, of being a parent, of having a job or a series of jobs, etc. Although the core individual does not radically change, outward identity frequently changes. It is not that each life begins anew like a blank slate, but rather that the soul takes with it talents, experiences, relationships, and weaknesses from one lifetime to the next. All weaknesses need to be overcome or transformed, while all strengths need to be further cultivated and expressed. This fact is repeatedly illustrated in the case histories of individuals who received readings.

One woman learned that she had lost spiritual ground centuries ago during a lifetime in India because she had often forced others to accept her personal beliefs and religious tenets. However, that same ability to persuade and mold others had been transformed during a Colonial American incarnation in which she had cultivated the talents of a teacher and instructor and had been instrumental in directing the lives of young people (2910-1).

A very small, thin, frail-looking shoe salesman who suffered from a number of physical problems, including anemia, learned that he had abused his physical prowess, beauty, and strength during a Roman incarnation when he had often subjugated others to his own will. Conversely, during that same incarnation, he had often found favor with the opposite sex by his desire to be of service. For that reason, in the present, women often found occasions to be kind to him. At the same time, however, he frequently attempted to be too controlling with members of his own family, including his wife (1629-1).

In another instance, a 35-year-old psychologist learned that his innate talents for counseling and diplomacy were the result of a number of past-life experiences. In a lifetime after the American Revolution, he had acted as a liaison between the United States and Britain. Although a soldier during the Crusades in another lifetime, he had come to appreciate and admire many individuals of the Moslem faith from whom he had learned brotherly love. His appreciation of various cultures and ideologies was enriched during an earlier period in ancient Egypt, when he had made a study of various teachings and tenets of the then-known world. At the same time, however, this psychologist possessed a tendency toward self-indulgence and self-aggrandizement that had arisen during a Persian incarnation, when he had been in a position of leadership. That same tendency remained with him in the present and needed to be overcome. Years later, his third ex-wife – he would eventually have five – filed a follow-up report that confirmed his propensity for self-indulgence. By her account, during their 10 years together, he had repeatedly displayed an incredibly overdeveloped sex drive and a very serious problem with alcohol (1135-1).

Cayce was adamant that the New Testament declaration, ” … for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7), was not simply a quaint saying but was, instead, a statement of fact and a universal law regarding how the universe really works. For example, an unhappy 33-year-old actress inquired about why her life had been filled with a series of broken romances, rejections, and the experience of having a broken heart. A reading suggested that in her most recent incarnation she had been a saloon entertainer and had found occasion to repeatedly toy with men’s emotions, frequently making “for sorrow in the hearts and in the experience of many.” (1300-1) Her present difficulties were simply a learning experience in response to her having done the same thing to others. As she learned to keep her heart, mind, and soul in alignment with spiritual ideals, learning a lesson where she had once fallen short, Cayce promised her “years of happiness and joy and peace.”

In spite of the inevitability of having to meet the consequences of our previous choices, in Cayce’s cosmology life is not fixed or destined. Although we constantly draw individuals and circumstances to us as a result of choices from the past, we continually cocreate the experience of our life (and our perceptions) through how we choose to respond in the present. From the readings’ perspective, karma is only soul memory; it is not destiny. The way we choose to respond to that memory and our present-life experience actually determines the next probabilities and potentials drawn to the soul’s learning agenda. In addition to the will being an irrefutable factor in the process of soul development, Cayce emphasized the importance of establishing spiritual ideals with which an individual could direct and evaluate the course of a life.

In 1944, he told a 51-year-old woman that one of the first priorities she needed in her life was to set an ideal. Apparently the woman had a propensity to gossip and to make slighting comments about others. Obviously that tendency was causing a strain in her personal relationships.

During the course of her reading, Cayce mentioned that the woman had exhibited this same frailty in a previous life, when her motto seemed to be “I’ll forgive you but I won’t forget it,” prompting her to speak unkindly of those with whom she was having difficulties. He told her to remember that any fault she observed in others was actually a reflection of the same problem she possessed within herself – otherwise, she would have been unable to perceive it with such clarity in the first place. Instead, she needed to refocus her perception, learning how to minimize the faults she saw in others while magnifying their virtues. As she established an ideal against which she could measure her own actions, her life would inevitably begin to change:

” But if the entity will take self in hand and just don’t say, don’t do anything about or to another that you would not like to have others do about you, you will find there will be a change in the outlook, there will come to thee opportunities, possibilities that have been denied. For the law of the Lord is perfect and it converts the soul. And when the soul is converted the mind and body changes and leads in the straight and narrow way.” (5255-1)

At the heart of this spiritual transformation process is the necessity for personal application. Frequently, the readings admonished people to simply begin doing what they knew to do or to apply guidance that had previously been given. While reviewing the past lives of an architect, Cayce informed the individual that he had once been a creator and a lover of all kinds of art and sculpture during a Grecian incarnation. The man had gained in that experience for his efforts at presenting ideals to others. His failure had come, however, by not applying those very ideals in his own life (2108-1).

In another instance, a 49-year-old man inquiring about his health and asking how he might be of greater assistance to humankind was told: “It is not how much one knows that counts, but how well one applies that it knows; in just being, doing, thinking, that which is pointed out to self through such constant, consistent, practical dependence upon the Creative Forces that have promised ever to meet one – every one – when sought. And there will come that which is for the greater development in the soul forces of such an one that seeks.” (270-33)

The Cayce information on soul development maintains that one of the greatest lessons facing all of humankind is one the readings identified as “cooperation.” Amazingly, that lesson is not simply gaining an understanding of how to agree or work with other people; instead, it is a state of being that somehow sets aside personal agendas, beliefs, motives, and desires and enables an individual to become an agent of spirituality in the lives of others. In other words, true cooperation is learning to work with God so that the Creator can work through you.

This notion that the Creator desires to become an active participant in each person’s life was no more clearly described than in the case of a small group of individuals from Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia, who began receiving a series of readings from Edgar Cayce starting in 1931. Coming together as a “study club” to explore psychic and personal development, the group was promised by Cayce that they could become “a light to a waiting world” (262-2) if they simply worked at practically applying spiritual principles in everyday life. The group met for years, receiving readings and discussing such topics as soul development, meditation, prayer, and service. In the end, not only had the group members learned how to cooperate with spirit in their everyday lives, but they also ended up compiling a series of essays regarding the lessons they had explored and their personal experiences. That compilation was published in 1942 as A Search for God and is still being studied by small groups around the world, making Cayce’s prediction that they could become a light to the world that would be both personally and globally significant.

Rather than implying that a close connection to spirit is somehow dependent upon religion, dogma, or personal beliefs, the readings are adamant in their stance that the Creator’s unconditional love is available to everyone without exception. To be sure, even in Cayce’s cosmology, it is understood that the more frequently an individual attunes to spirit, the more successfully that person will be able to experience God’s presence, but achieving that level of awareness exists in potential within each one. In fact, the readings suggest that every single soul will eventually complete the entire curriculum, achieving soul development and obtaining personal enlightenment in the process. With this destiny in mind, Cayce asked a 35-year-old attorney, “Can the will of man continue to defy its Maker?” (826-8) When one considers our inevitable destiny as children of a loving God, it is sadly ironic that many religious movements preaching the existence of an all-loving Creator continue to be adamantly opposed to the notion that everyone will eventually make it.

Ultimately, only one thing stands Ubetween each individual and a personal awakening: the human will. This thought becomes even more sobering when it is taken into account that in Cayce’s cosmology, out of the entire cosmos, humankind stands out for a reason. In exploring how the human creature has set itself apart, the readings suggest that the acorn knows the purpose for which it was created. The oak remembers the reason it has been given expression. The angels on high are in tune with the rationale behind their existence. All the animals and plants of the earth maintain an awareness of what they are to be about – except for one. Only humankind has forgotten the purpose behind its creation. What was that purpose? It was simply to become a companion and a cocreator with God.

My style of painting is all about feeling – emotion. It’s about capturing that magical moment in time when the truth and sheer beauty of nature makes you catch your breath. You know the one – I think as artists, we have all experienced it. You wander around a garden, your eye is attracted to a flicker of light and you see – for a moment – an enchanting radiance as the light dances across the surface of a petal or glows luminously through a leaf. And you know that you have to capture that joy in your work.

Have you ever gazed at a dewdrop as it emits shards of shimmering refracted light? As it is poised precariously on a petal, the slightest breeze will lift the curtain on the play – and in your mind your can picture the ensuing events. Capturing this moment will bring movement and energy, expectation and life to your painting. I like to get up close – a bees-eye view – and take the viewers of my work right into the character of my subject – I want them to ‘know’ my subject.

I try to take this feeling – this unfolding story, and with it, bring the viewer of my painting into that world – my world – the world inside the frame. To do this, I suggest you analyse what it is about your subject that has you spellbound. Ask yourself – is it the shimmering light, is it the refracted shards, maybe it is the angle the dew drop is on – indicating the breeze has made the stem sway gently causing the dewdrop to lilt. It’s all these things – and the best way to emphasise this is to get up close and personal.

It is an instinctive thing for me and I decided that if I wanted to grow as an artist, I had to learn to analyze what I do and why.

We never stop learning and that’s what is so rewarding about painting. It’s a journey that is forever leading us down new paths, revealing new directions. We must never be afraid to take these paths and experiment. Keep an open mind – try new things. Decide what it is that is the very essence of ‘us’. Now that is what we need to paint. Paint what moves you, and you will feel complete and it will show in your work.

Believe in yourself and paint from your soul. Paint the subjects that you are passionate about. With this combination you will find that not only are you sharing a part of yourself with others, you are stirring emotion in the viewers of your work. It is this that people remember, not how cleverly you have painted something, not how precisely you use your brush. No – it’s the way your vision has reached out of the painting and engaged their emotions, allowed them to become absorbed and bewitched by that moment you have suspended in time.

The color of your Soul appears in your aura. It will probably not change too much through your life. The color of your soul is determined by the Ray your Soul incarnated on for this life time.

There are 7 rays we can incarnate on, these rays all have a color or colors, and they have attributes. These attributes are gifts we receive to help us in this life time to learn and master the lessons we have set for ourselves. The 7 rays are a perfected aspect of the Christ Consciousness. Our incarnation on any one of the rays is our attempt to reach the fulfillment of the ray and the fulfillment of that aspect of Christ Consciousness.

Of course it is much more complicated that. When we incarnate, we incarnate on 5 of the possible 7 rays, for we incarnate not only on a soul ray, but also a personality ray and the emotional, mental and physical/etheric rays. These 5 rays, will have different colors and are all part of our aura.

It is interesting to know, which 5 rays we have in this life time, so as to get a greater understanding of our own path and Mastery of it.

The 7 rays, their colors and basic attributes are:

1 – Blue – Personal power, Gods Will over free will.

2 – Yellow – Wisdom, humility.

3 – Pink – Love, creativity.

4 – White – harmony through conflict, purity.

5 – Green / orange – truth, knowledge, healing.

6 – Purple/ ruby / gold -service, compassion, devotion.

7 – Violet – Transmutation.

So how do you know which soul ray you have incarnated on? It isn’t as easy as colour preferences. I know two women who have incarnated on the 5th ray, the green ray, one loves green and the other hates it. We can’t assume all healers are on the 5th ray either. If you don’t intuitively know your rays and colours, it is best to seek clarification from a qualified clairvoyant, who is knowledgeable on the rays and whom can see auras to the soul level.

Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be, for my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade, and yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

The above poem, Invictus, was written by an English poet named William Ernest Henley in the late 1800’s and featured in a recent film of the same name. The term Invictus has its roots in Latin, meaning unconquered. The film, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela during his term of presidency in post-apartheid South Africa, is essentially a story of unconditional forgiveness. As part of Mandela’s passionate quest to unite and heal a divided country torn apart along racial lines, the South African leader fought to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup. A poignant flashback scene depicts Mandela during his incarceration period on Robben Island, reading the above poem from a scrap of paper inside his prison cell.

In the film’s version of events, Mandela shares the poem with Springbok Captain Francois Pienaar (portrayed by Matt Damon) prior to the World Cup, when racial tensions are running high and the team’s chance for a victory seems dubious at best. The game of rugby had a largely white following and the blacks (many of whom viewed the Springboks as a symbol of apartheid), rallied to pull the plug on the team. Over a private teatime chat in the Capital building, Mandela’s passion to save the Springboks from their impending demise incites Pienaar’s previously faltering inspiration, ultimately helping him carry his team to victory and uniting a country on the brink of civil war.

Freeman, with his endearingly gentle yet authoritative presence, has us believing he is the real Mandela as he eloquently delivers memorable proverbs throughout the film-forgiveness liberates the soul was my personal favorite. A similar Mandela quote offers rich food for thought at this dawn of a brand new year: For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. How true this is! It is not rocket science and yet most of us tend to forget about this simple truth.

We do not get ahead in life through being judgmental, critical or closed minded. We do not prosper from harboring resentment or being vengeful. When we practice tolerance, compassion and acceptance we satisfy those parts of ourselves that long for the same. Forgiveness does not even require a specific action or personal encounter; rather, it is an internal process of spiritual healing. Through forgiveness we shape our destiny by trading bad energy for good, releasing emotional toxins and expanding the heart. In order to forgive others we must first forgive ourselves. To forgive ourselves we must forget regret and embrace the past- the good, the bad and the ugly. Without our past, we would not be who and where we are today. Everything that has happened thus far, regardless of how painful or unpleasant, needed to happen to bring us to the place where we find ourselves today.

Who is the captain of your soul? The New Year is a perfect time for self reflection and brutal honesty. Where have you been, and where are you headed? Are you moving in a positive direction or is it time to change course? So much of life is random circumstance and yet, our personal choices are infinite. Serendipitous moments and purposeful forethought are intricately woven through the fabric of our lives; a complex interplay of happenstance and intention forming the colorful matrix of defining moments that shape our destiny. Where do we humans end and where does fate begin? These questions mystify even the sharpest of minds. So many famous poems, quotes, books and films ponder these universal conundrums.

We live in a world of opposing forces- yin and yang, man and woman, good and evil, dark and light. How do we find order in the chaos? In a world where bad things happen to good people, where an innocent man is imprisoned for no crime greater than the color of his skin, where wars rage and planes fall from the sky and bloodshed forms the backdrop of entire cultures, bitterness and cynicism lurk around every corner. And yet, embedded in the chaos of our daily lives is the gift of the human spirit. Strong yet vulnerable, humble yet proud, beautiful yet flawed. Bad things happen every day, but it is our choice how to respond.

I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. As you embrace the promise of a brand new year, ask yourself, Am I the master of my fate? Am I the captain of my soul? If you find yourself clinging to anger, resentment or past regrets, you have not yet experienced the liberating, life-affirming pulse of unconditional forgiveness. There is an old saying, forgive but don’t forget. It is important to remember the past, but if we spend too much time there, we miss the present moment and fail to notice our immediate surroundings. Tomorrow is already too late to capture the ephemeral essence of today, so breathe deep, chart your course and sail towards a brand new horizon.

There are many different terms that are used to differentiate the relationships between souls and how that meaning transcends into our human existence seems to cause much confusion. Twin flames and soul mates are just some of the names given to the relationship between two energies in soul or human form and we are going to explore what these relationships mean both when we are in soul form and how that relationship filters into our human life.

Souls develop in a similar way to that of humans. There are less experienced souls, often described as young souls; whose level of consciousness is not as developed as a more experienced soul. These less experienced souls would normally have a main teacher who helps with their development and will also have souls that they learn with and spend time with; soul friends or soul mates. These are not necessarily romantic connections and in fact in the spirit realms romance is not viewed in the same way that it is here on earth because there is so much love all the time, souls are not as concerned with seeking a soul partner for romantic purposes.

As well as having a main teacher guide there are often helper souls that will help souls to develop, offering them knowledge in specific areas of expertise.

When souls develop more and become more experienced they may meet other souls that they wish to experience more sexual energy with and will chose to connect in a more romantic sense with these souls. They will be with and connect with that soul for that purpose for as long as it suits both of them. This sexual connection can be broken and another connection made with other souls at any time to continue the development and experience of the soul. The idea that souls have to connect forever or do so is not true, as everything is always changing; souls adapt and move with this change. Some souls may choose to stay with the same romantic soul mate, whilst others will experience many different partners. Just like people, souls have different preferences.

The term twin flame is used within many spiritual circles and people often use this as a bar that they wish to aspire to; meeting their twin flame. The true meaning of this term is quite different to the understanding that we have had on earth. Twin flames can only exist within some sort of physical form; therefore twin flames are not ever pure soul energy. The idea that we are created with another soul and that we split into male and female I have never in all my time completing soul therapy and life between life therapy had this confirmed. We are created with other souls but this is our soul family. Sometimes within our soul family we will connect with another soul and they will become our primary soul mate with an element of romantic connection, but they are not a twin flame.

A twin flame is when there is a form of soul exchange or sharing. One example is a person working with one soul and another person working with one soul will exchange a percentage of each other’s souls. So both people will have the capacity to be working with the energy of two souls. This exchange is not just between male and female soul energy but can be male to male and female to female. The term Twin Flame therefore does not mean there is a romantic connection; it is the joining of two souls during a physical incarnation, whose sharing of energy will benefit each other through a lifetime. Sometimes when the purpose of the exchange has been met, the souls will swap back and return to the original host. This sharing of souls can be for the whole lifetime if that meets the needs of the people and the soul’s. It can also involve a primary soul mate so there will be a romantic connection but this is certainly not always the case and in my experience it’s only about 50% romantic soul sharing. Only more experienced souls are able to achieve working as a twin flame, only about 10% of all souls on earth have the correct level of experience to achieve this.

This information is not to dishearten people into thinking they cannot achieve great love, but rather to help us to not confine ourselves to believing that only one person in the world could make us happy. There are many options for people to achieve happiness and it’s very important to remember that the more of a soul connection there is with a potential partner it’s often a much more difficult relationship. This is because not only are you dealing with your emotions from this life, but often carry over from previous lives and the emotions run much deeper and often people cannot cope with the connection.

If you wish to make these deep soul connections work, it has to be worked at and understood on a soul level by at least one of the partnership. Sometimes we choose lives where we prefer to connect with a new soul so there are fewer complications, or a soul that we are familiar with but have not incarnated with before.

It’s also important that we remember that some people are not very connected to their soul energy, so we may see their potential and recognise their soul beauty, but this may not be present in their current human life. We have to like the person as well as the soul and some people never reach their soul potential.

I hope this changes through our lifetime and people can live more enhanced lives through understanding who they really are.

So what are trio flames? I first came across this when someone drew a picture of what they called the twin flame symbol and I noticed three flames rather than two. When I asked why there were three flames depicting twin flames she told me that she had been told to show me the picture so I could work it out; the challenge was set! I also noticed a triangle around the flames and wondered what relevance that had within the meaning.

I started meditating using the symbol I had been shown as well as connecting to my higher self. What I was shown was a matrix of energy that connect each soul and that before a lifetime we choose three sets of trio flames to support us in that lifetime. I had chosen two male souls, two female souls and two horse souls to support me in my current life. This it appears is similar to other souls that come to earth and we are only connected in this way during incarnation in a hope this strong bond will help us remember who we are. This link is normally with similar level souls and can be souls in incarnation and also in pure soul form, but at least one soul has to be in incarnation. Both of my female flames are in incarnation, both male are not and one horse flame is and the other is in pure soul form. The connection you have with these souls if recognised and then made stronger can make a wonderful impact on your life. I am very lucky to be able to work with one of my flames on a human level, and we have a bond and understanding with each other that goes beyond verbal communication.

So when does a trio flame become a twin flame? The difference between trio flames and twin flames is that a trio flame is a bond with another soul on a close level, but a twin flame is an exchange of soul energy between two souls. The twin flame exchange is supported by other souls as it’s a very intense process so there will be a soul exchange between two souls, supported by two other souls. It sounds very complex but we are only just beginning to understand the wonderful and intrinsic way that souls interact and their abilities are limitless.

There are are so many different ways we connect with souls and work with them. There are power animals that connect with your soul energy and work through you. Teacher guides who help you through your life and also work with you when you are in pure soul form. There are helper souls who come to connect to you at different points in your life. Soul family who are the souls you were created with, soul mates who are sometimes romantic connections or friends. There are souls that you study with and sometimes choose to share lifetimes with to help each other with lessons. This is really only just touching on the relationships that we as souls and as souls living a human experience have. By understanding and using the beautiful network we have available to us we can expand our knowledge and enhance our lives.

When we begin to realise that the potential for connections on a soul level are limitless, maybe we will start to see a glimpse of our own potential; and its amazing!

“Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics” Albert Einstein

Each time we think, we vibrate, this vibration creates a cluster of vibrations. All like thoughts create a cluster of each like vibrations, which then create a specific frequency, e.g. Despair, Anger, Vengeance, Boredom, Zeal, Zest, Joy and Happiness etc.

We humans exist in a state of vibrational code unique to each person. People who emit a similar vibe are tuned in on the same Frequency Node, hence attracted to each other and a friendship can easily be formed. You cannot resonate with someone else who has a fundamentally incompatible vibrational energy because you will be far apart on the Chart of Energy Waves. Once you know what Energy point you are vibrating at, you will be able to comprehend all the uncertainties in your life and will gain absolute control!

I came across an inspiring story that eloquently illustrated how God has created our amazing abilities. We need to journey inward to find our innate power.

There is an ancient legend, which magnificently illustrates the central Sufi theme: “That which we often search for is within us all along. We have only to look”.

In this particular legend, the Creator gathers all the creatures of the world and asks the pressing question: “I have a great and mighty secret gift. Where should I hide it from the humans so that they may only find it when they are ready? It is the realization that man is the master creator of his own destiny.”

The eagle said, “Give it to me and I will take it to the highest mountain in all the land,”

“No,” said the Creator, “One day they’ll travel as high as the moon and find it.”

“Leave it with me and I will hide it at the very bottom of the ocean,” offered the salmon.

“No,” said the Creator, “for humans are explorers at heart, and one day they will go there too.”

“I know, I know,” cried the buffalo, “I will take it and bury it in the very heart of the Great Plains!”

“Oh, but, they will one day even rip open the skin of the earth and dig it out, too,” the Creator shook his head and said.

I know where to hide it, my Creator,” Grandmother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth, and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said, “I know where to hide the gift of the knowledge of Truth and Justice.”

“Where, then, my child?” asked the Creator lovingly.

“Hide it deep inside their hearts,” said the frail nearly blind Grandmother Mole. “Put it inside them because then only the wisest and purest of heart will have the courage to look there.”

Silence permeated the air until all waited for the Creator to answer. After a long wait, the Creator smiled and said, “So be it.”

And that is where the Creator placed the gift.

The knowledge of the realization that human being is the architect of they own destiny.”

A human being thinks approximately 100,000 times a day. 92% thoughts (which equates to nearly 92,000) are generated from focusing on things that we don’t want or what we don’t have or a bit of both. Resulting into 92% of our life of either what we don’t want and or what we don’t have. We create our reality through our FOCUS. Anything that takes our focus or attention initiates a thought and a thought creates a vibration. Whatever frequency we are vibrating at, we attract like frequency.

Research by psychologists has shown that on any given day, 99% of our thoughts are exactly the same as the day before. That means that we are trapped in reliving every day, a life that seems not to change. Is it any wonder we are plagued by despair, sadness, exhaustion, and addictions? Majority of these thoughts are of past regret, future anxiety and uncertainty or doubt, especially self-doubt or fear of something that might happen. Why? Why aren’t we showered by happy positive miraculous thoughts?

The question we should ask is, “What am I feeling while thinking this particular thought?” Find out the exact feeling that is generated when we have a rush of thoughts. This feeling is what we will attract for now and for future. Nothing different…but identical to what we are feeling NOW!. (If we continue to feel that way, unless we change how we feel now).

So what are you thinking now?