Tag: empowerment

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Spiritual Children’s Book Review – “Cassandra’s Angel”

Today I have read one of my favorite spiritual children’s books, “Cassandra’s Angel” written by Gina Otto, illustrated by Trudy Joost and published by Illumination Arts Publishing.  Please check out Illumination Arts Publishing for they publish many wonderful spiritual books for children which can be hard to find when you want them.

Book cover

Children’s self-images are strongly influenced by the attitudes and beliefs of their parents, teachers and peers.  Unfortunately, these beliefs often become negative stories that can impact children for life.  This powerful tale helps children to perceive these stories in a different light.

Cassandra’s Angel is about a little girl who is very precocious and creative, so much so that she doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere.  People all around her in her life tell her she is not good enough in different ways.  They think they are doing the best for her but truly they are hurting her mentally and emotionally.  Even the best parents do this at times.  Plus, our kids are bombarded by these attitudes at school by other kids, teachers, aids and principals.  We cannot always control the actions of others towards our children but we can help our children to think for themselves and not take in everything that others say as truth.

Cassandra meets her angel

As one reads the book, Cassandra’s Angel, it is an excellent reminder for us parents and caregivers about how we speak to our children and how much our words and attitudes truly do affect them. But, by reading this book with them, allowing a lot of conversation and interaction, it gives us a chance to talk openly about these issues and maybe even apologize for those times when we have done this.  We can talk about what kinds of situations, stressful ones mainly, that would cause someone to say hurtful things to others.  It give us a chance to help them feel good about themselves and talk openly about the “scripts” that others try to put on them.

Cassandra is told by the other kids that she is too different for them to play with her.

The more you read this book with your child, I believe, the more help it will do, them and you.  As I loan this book out to my clients or students with kids I continually hear what a positive influence it has been for them and their children.  The book has a very happy ending with Cassandra’s guardian angel coming to talk to her.  I love the poem the angel has to help Cassandra with her self-confidence.  Also, the illustrations are beautiful, engaging and keep the children’s and adults interest.  The faces were intriguing to me and I found myself looking back at some of them again and again to investigate their expressions.  Very beautiful book in the visuals, the poetry and the moral of the story all put together.

Children's Author, Gina Otto

If you are close by you may want to borrow the book from me to see if your child vibrates well with it.  But, overall, this is one book I recommend having in your library to read continuously.  Our children are around this kind of talk by others so often that the book and the message will need to be repeated often, both for them and for YOU as the parent.

I give this book 5 of 5 STARS!

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Being the Bridge!

Today I added a video by Tom Lescher, Astrologer extraordinaire to my Face Book page.  Love his posts.  Watch them every week now and it always seems like he’s talking directly to me, my life, what’s going on in my life.  ITS ALL ABOUT ME!!  Sorry, a bit of a narcissistic moment there.  I am the Goddess and the Center of MY Universe and I’m fine and good with that.  But, this is about you all, right!?  (another blog I guess)  Back on track, really, It’s amazing how he does it.  He is no newspaper astrologer that’s for sure.  I liked his quote this week and I felt a need to write a little something about it and how it applies to my life as a Reiki teacher and all of our lives as a humans on the healing highway of life.

“I am the bridge between the imagined and the real.  When I follow through I truly heal.”  Tom Lescher

What does that mean?  It speaks to me because I do truly feel like a bridge for people from the “real” to what they think is the imagined life.  However, to me it is the other way around.  The spiritual world gets more and more real and less and less imagined the more time I spend there.  (Have you seen “The Matrix?”)  In fact it is just as real as the “real” world.  The more time you spend doing Reiki, meditating, praying, dreaming and other activities that take you to your spiritual place, the more you realize that they are real and “reality,”  not so much.

Also, the more time I spend in the spiritual world the more neutral I can be to the drama of the Earth plane and the high emotions that go on here.  (had no idea I was headed in this direction) Some may feel this is not a good thing, a disconnect from reality.  Whatever, they are entitled to their opinions.  However, I see it as being able to view the Earth and it’s drama from a higher plane, like the eagle, flying above, looking down from a distance.  I always LOVED that Bette Midler song, “From a Distance” for a reason!  She’s gently advising us to look at life from a higher outlook and we are getting new information for it.  Viewing issues from a higher place can give us new and different perspectives to those problems.  It allows us to see even our own drama in a new light, a less emotional light, a less defensive light maybe.

Then, at that point, we can also see solutions.  Actions.  Things we can DO to change our situation on this planet.  When we are so caught up in the emotions only of a situation we have a much harder time of doing this.  I’m not saying emotions are bad.  I’m all for emotions.  They are a fabulous way to release stuff for sure.  But, I’m also saying, there is a time and a place for moving past the emotional release and moving into “what can we do about this now” point.

A new perspective!

That takes us to Tom’s second half of his quote “When I follow through I truly heal.”  This is the grounded, earthy part of the quote, the action, the doing.  The follow through of the plan that you conceived while you were looking at your situation from a higher place.  Being the eagle.  When we are not so embroiled in the turmoil and theatrics going on we are in a much better situation within ourselves to solve an issue rather than just stew in it or “catastrophize” it.  Oh I used to be good at all of it, drama, drama, drama!!  Ask anyone who knew me before I knew energy.  I was a mountain out of a mole hill type of girl.   It has taken time, but I have grown, worked, and changed quite a bit.

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.  Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.  Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.  Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.  the slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”  John Calvin Coolidge

One thing that helps me a lot, I’m a DOER.  I may get into a pity party for a while, but never for long.  I figure out what I can DO to make my situation better and I do it.  No fear, no lazing around and waiting for things to get better, no blaming, ok, maybe some blaming, but I do something.

THIS is the time of action.  The energy of 2012 is so ramped up, I can feel it daily.  I can feel the action it is calling for.  I hear the messages Divine is giving me.  The energy is requiring us to take action, change, grow and learn more than ever.  I keep finding myself taking on new projects, new groups, new websites, new blogs, new writings, etc.

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of my most favorite bridges so I included photos of it on this blog. I love how this one is half in the clouds, or the spiritual world, and half in reality. So lovely.


Just knowing, having faith that Divine will be there to support me through it all, I do it all.  So far so good.  When you have faith you have a nice big safety net.  Use it, depend on it.  This is the year you are going to need it.  Because DOING something new and different is the only way this year is going to work out for us all where we raise our vibrations to a point that the energy is not too difficult to handle.  Doing something new and different is the only way, like Tom said, we will truly heal.  Follow through!  If you have recently started yoga, then DO it.  If you are taking a Reiki class, then GO to the circles.  If you have recently started with a new therapist, then do not skip your sessions.  Whatever it is that is a good new habit to help you learn and grow, DO IT.  No excuses.  If you need something healthy and new to help you grow, then pick up the phone and call me.  I’m here to help you keep moving forward.  I’m here to help you on your healing highway.  We’ll keep you at a speed limit you can handle but we’ll keep moving forward.

One of the hardest parts of being a healer is having this knowing that you can help  people……………………. but only if they show up.

What happens if you don’t show up?  Nothing.  Nothing at all.

Love and Light to you all,

Josslyn

(I’m climbing off my soap box now.  LOL)

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First Post – Huge Accomplishment for me!

Few of you may know what a HUGE accomplishment this blog/website is for me.  I do not consider myself a great writer, but most of all I’m not great with computers or any electronics for that matter.  They just don’t seem to like my energy.  (I haven’t worn a watch for years because I just blow the batteries out.)

MESSAGE FROM ABOVE

A few months ago, not only did Divine tell me to get a website going, I was told to DO IT MYSELF!  LOL!  Are you kidding?  I can do email and word and that’s about it.  My close friends know my computer challenges, so they will understand what a big deal this is for me.

DRAG ME KICKING AND SCREAMING

But, I decided, it’s 2012 (or almost was) things are changing and I have to change with them or be left behind.  I have a tendency to wait until the Universe forces me to change sometimes, ok, much of the time, it drags me along kicking and screaming until I finally do change.  THIS, I decided, would not be one of those times.  So, I stopped thinking too much and choose to go with the flow  and simply GO FOR IT!

THANK GOD FOR A SNOWSTORM

The snowman Sawyer and his friends made for me.

I started researching other Reiki websites and found out that many people use the blog format.  We’d done a blog and a website for our journey around the country but Robert had done all the posting and designing.  My husband is my polar opposite, so he is of course an expert at all things electronic.  But, I checked out Word Press and decided that was the way to go.  It was all happening quite fast now.   I spent most of the month of January teaching myself the language of Word Press simply by trying things and making mistakes.  Isn’t that how it’s done anyway.  I bought a book but it hadn’t come so I just kept going.  Thanks to God, we got a huge snowstorm the second week in January.   No one was driving so I had only a few phone clients that whole week and the kids were busy playing in the snow.  I became submerged in making a blog/website.  Don’t tell anyone, but I really enjoyed it, a lot!

SHOCKED & PROUD

Now here I am, barely in February and have much of it done.  (I do tend to get a little obsessed with my projects)  I’m so proud of myself and astounded at the same time you have no idea.  Since I’ve been making lots of mistakes along the way I accidentally published it right away and decided to just keep it that way.  Let people read it as I go, my work in progress.  So, here it is.  Guided by God.  My website/blog for all to see and read.  I’ll be adding pages and/or blogs as Divine guides me to.  If you have any ideas for pages you’d like to see please send me a loving comment.  I’d like to hear what interests people.  It is still a work in progress.  I haven’t figured out how to do links yet and I have yet to write the “my story” section.  But I’ll get there eventually.  Thanks for reading this far and it is my desire that you find something interesting to you on many of the other pages.

Please email me at rainshadowreiki@gmail.com if you’d like to be on my email list.  (That section is still in the works too)

Love and Light to all who read this,

Josslyn