Spirit Animals/Power Animals

Are you seeking an answer to a question? Facing a daunting situation? Remember, you have a Spirit Animal  waiting in the wings to help you through whatever situation you face.

When clients come to me for a Shamanic oracle card reading seeking solutions to their problems and questions, first I guide them to choose a Spirit Animal to help them in their quest. Their Spirit Animal  will possess the traits they will need in the situations they inquire about. I utilize Power Animal Cards to assist clients in their choice, but meditating, observing nature and being aware of your dream time are all ways to find your Spirit Animal.

During my Shamanic Drum Circles, participants find their Spirit Animal through guided meditations accessing the Lower World while listening to drums and sitting by the bonfire. Results can be amazing. One person shared that when she found her Spirit Animal, the eyes were moving funny, in different directions. At that point she thought her Spirit Animal was Marty Feldman until she realized upon closer inspection it was Owl, symbol of intuition and wisdom. The advice to her was to follow her intuition and wisdom about starting her own business, which she has done.

I have many Spirit Animals, some stay with me for the long haul and others pop in here and there to help me in specific situations. During one meditation I met an unlikely Spirit Animal, one I really never had an affinity for or admired. First, I thought I saw Alpaca but upon closer inspection it appeared to be Camel. Camel holds a message of travel - typically of an arduous kind--like a pilgrimage. Embracing the protective qualities of Camel, I refuse to dwell on the pitfalls of the long journey ahead. From a spiritual stand-point, Camel is superior equipped for the long-haul, exhibiting strength, endurance and protection. Aren’t I lucky to have found this Spirit Animal ready to help me.

Once you find your Spirit Animal, your work is not done.  If you wish to continue to enjoy assistance remember you must honor your Spirit Animal.  This helps you grow and gain a deeper connection to them and elicit their guidance.  Many people like showing respect to their totems by placing objects of the same species around their houses or wearing symbols of their Spirit Animals on their bodies (amulets, pendants etc.)

I wear a silver camel around my neck given to me my a dear friend, Dana Bree, a fellow Mind Key member and traveler on my Shamanic journey. I have Camel pictures and descriptions that I read periodically.  I remain constantly open to the appearances of Spirit Animals in my life. I say “Spirit Animals” because Camel is not my only Spirit Animal. I guess you can say I have a whole menagerie of spirits helpers. I see them flying overhead while driving. They pop up in books I’m reading. I dream about them. Some I have felt an affinity for since I was a child. Others I have encountered just after moving to PA. They are part of the army of angels, spiritual guides and helpers I call on when things get tough for me or I need guidance.

So how do you find your Spirit Animal? Love that You Tube. Here’s only one of many meditations available, but the one I like most:

 

Prefer to go higher tech. There’s a website called Enchanted Forest that not only gives you a unique way to find your helper but also lets you read about them, hear their song and download a picture and PDF about their traits:

http://www.poweranimalsunleashed.com/creek.htm

Some of you may think you should avoid connecting to your Spirit Animals because you resonate with Guardian Angels. Be aware that Spirit Animals and Guardian Angels work well together, at least for me. Some clients avoid a Shamanic Oracle Card reading because they are afraid of messages from the "earthly" Lower World.  Nothing could be farther from the truth. Source created all things, including Spirit Animals, to help us on a daily basis. The Lower World is not the underworld, just a place where animal helper spirits abound and await our visit.

Coalescence Holistic Expo - a joining of likeminded people and ideas

 Coalescence is the bringing together and joining of like-minded people, ideas and things. 

The Coalescence Expo, set for Sunday, September 14^th from 1-7 pm, was created when Kathy Steinberg was guided to join the local Rockland County area’s spiritual and holistic community.  

“[This is] an opportunity for vendors, healers, speakers and psychics/intuitives to gather and interact with others,” Kathy said.

Kathy is a Licensed Master Social Worker and was the owner of Good Vibrations Personal Growth Center and New Age Shop in Suffern, NY.  During this time Kathy said a community formed around the Center and Shop.  Although the space closed in 2008, the community continues to thrive through her website WeHealTogether.com.  Kathy currently works as a therapist and healer in Suffern.  

According to intuitive Star Blossom Goddess: “Kathy’s willingness to help others is unfounded. I am honored when I am in her company and find myself being a sponge to experience her wisdom.”

Mitchell Cooperman from Shido-Kan Karate of Mahwah and his partner, Lorin ONeal of MaYoga Meditation have also been a part of creating a local community through their business, programs and events.  Their participation in the Coalesence Expo and the use of their space in Mahwah was simply a natural extension of their work.  

“For the spiritual/holistic practitioners, networking and expos can be too expensive and I felt that it was important to create a venue that was an affordable way to connect with others,” Kathy said.

The Coalescence Holistic Expo is scheduled for Sunday, September 14^th – from 1pm to 7pm at MaYoga Meditation, 1029 MacArthur Blvd., Mahwah, NJ.  There will be 4 rooms –one for vendors, one for psychics, one for healers, and one for presentations (running every hour).  A $5 donation is requested at the door to donate to Shelter Our Sisters Organization, a domestic abuse victim support service located in Hackensack, NJ.

What’s at the Coalesence Expo:

Psychic and intuitive readings, healers of varying modalities, presentations on energy and healing, and vendors of varying wares including jewelry, crystals, oils, aura photography, artwork and more….

Presentations: 

45 min. - free with $5. donation to enter expo

1:15pm  (30mins)

      Energy Movement Meditation with Tapping with Jeanne Andrews, LCSW   

2pm  Crystals and Stones with Aliza Musleah

3pm The Godfather’s Daughter: An Unlikely Story of Love, Healing & Redemption with Rita Gigante    www.spaceofgracehealing.com

4pm Principles of Energy Medicine with Gloria McCahill

5pm Archetypal Dreamwork with Jill Eras

6pm  Shen Shing QiGong with Justin Derringer (Energy cultivation through spiritual movement)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Energy Healers:  15mins $25/ or 30 mins $50

·      Beth DiMeo, LMT, NCTMB, CST     5pm-6:45pm

                        Massage and Bodywork http://www.therainbowessence.com/

·      Christy Curran   1pm-4pm & 5pm-7pm

                   Celestial Healing Chair Massage

·      Gloria McCahill, RMT, EEMP-AP     1pm-3pm

                Energy Healing/Cranial Sacral/Eden Method

                     http://www.therainbowessence.com/

·      Jimmy Starman   2pm-5pm

                Shamanistic Healer Reiki/IET/Fire&Wind/Shamanism

·      Joan Snow  4pm-7pm  

Reiki/Intuitive Energy Healer  www.sweptbyangels.com

·      Nancy Christopher  1pm-4pm  

Reflexology  www.nwchristopher.com

·      Sean Guerin   1pm-5pm  

Cranial Sacral Therapy/IET/ Reiki

·      **Oscar Santillan**  healings offered only 45min sessions

                                  $100.   – register appt. in advance

                                  wehealtogether@aol.com

                                   Call 845-304-4804/Kathy

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Psychics/Intuitives:

 listed in alphabetical order.

·      Allis Dunleavy – Intuitive Angel Cards/Medium   1pm-4pm

           www.sweptbyangels.com

·      Danielle Rose – Medium between Faerie   1pm-3pm & 4pm-7pm

          www.MindKey.me

·      Dawn  1pm-3pm  Angel Intuitive, Psychic/Chairvoyant/Clairsentient 

                Angel Card Readings

·      Joy Herald  Intuitive/Medium/Astrology   2pm-7pm

·      Marianne Carroll – Astrology & Astrodice  1pm-3pm & 5pm-7pm

·      Robert – Intuitive Tarot   1pm-3pm & 5pm-7pm

·      Star Blossom Goddess - Intuitive Oracle Cards   1pm-7pm

·      Starr – Intuitive Tarot/Medium    2pm-7pm

·      Susan Squittieri – Animal Communicator/Intuitive   1pm-6pm

          http://www.twobearherbs.com/

Susan reads 1 animal per reading.  You can bring a picture (not necessary).  We will have the ability for anyone who wants an animal reading with the animal present to meet with Susan in the rear of the building for the reading. (Please sign up and pay first – no animals inside building at expo)

Susan is making appts in advance – call Kathy @845-304-4804 to book appt.

·      Yasmina – Palmistry   1pm-7pm

****  There will be a sign up table set up at the fair – pay cash only – and you can see from the list when your reading will be.  You can pick whichever psychic that you want – and you can have reading or you can have more readings (each paid separately). 

The Realm of Faerie by Danielle Rose

I’m so pleased to be a part of Trinity Summer Fest this weekend at the Sussex County Fairgrounds.  Although I will be in the company of many other intuitives, psychics and readers, I know that what I have to offer the metaphysical world is unique unto itself.

I’ve been in contact with the realm of faerie for as far back as my memory goes.  The faerie realm is a powerful energetic field that interacts with humanity on a very base level.  Just as angels are an intricate link between spirit and humanity, faeries link nature and and mother earth to those chosen to walk it - us.

The list of authors, artists, and healers who helped me recognize this truth are many and varied, but I would be remiss without mentioning Brian Froud, especially the light and color of his artwork as portrayed in The Faeries Oracle deck.  These faeries speak quite loudly to me (with many thanks to the encouragement of Jessica Macbeth) and eventually led me to one of the most fulfilling and purposeful careers in my life.  I learned to hone and trust  my intuitive abilities through hundreds of readings for others using Brian’s deck and others.

This weekend I will be sharing my readings as well as selling magical apparel and items such as hand made wings and herb-filled dream pillows and medicine bags for meditation with faerie.  Additionally I will be teaching workshops on plants and stones useful for contacting faerie, how to recognize if you’ve touched upon their (or another) realm, and elements of dreamwork.   There will also be faerie games for kids and adults, and instruction and hands-on practice communicating with the faeries yourself.


For families and those who like to be more hands-on, Saturday will bring a wing decorating workshop, how to make your own dream pillow or medicine bag, and fairy gardening crafts for even the youngest of fairy lovers.

I will also be spending plenty of time talking about Mind Key for those interested in learning more or in being a part of the Mind Key Project either as a business, artist or individual.

Please feel free to contact me at Danielle@MindKey.me to learn more, or stop by the fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday and see what magic arises!

Learn more about Trinity Summer Fest and some of the other healers and artists attending in this week's blog roll:

BLOG ROLL:
Trinity Summer Fest
The Vibrant Art of Dana Bree
Healing Drum Circle by Raven Reiki
The Realm of Faerie by Danielle Rose

Trinity Summer Fest 2014

This weekend, August 16th & 17th, Trinity Metaphysical Center & Gift Shop of Hamburrg, NJ will be hosting Trinity Summer Fest 2014 at the Sussex County Fairgrounds (37 Plains Road, Augusta, NJ 07822).  

With free admission, this indoor/outdoor festival will be held rain or shine in the Richards Building and surrounding fairgrounds.

Dubbed North Jersey's Premier Metaphysical and Paranormal Festival, the event will benefit the Willco Fire Bay Renters, who lost their businesses due to an arson fire, and the Branchville, NJ Fire Department.  There will be bands, vendors, and events to nourish mind, body and soul.

Discover food, practitioners, paranormal groups, ghost hunting, on-site camping, live bands and entertainment, and more. Practitioners from throughout the country will be providing services including psychic readings, energy healing, reflexology, massage therapy, yoga, belly dancing, hula hooping, meditation, drum circle, and workshops. Vendors will include jewelry, crystals and stones, artwork, essential oils, health and wellness products, skincare, handcrafted items, books, candles, airbrush tattoos, face painting, children's craft tables and many others.

Mediums and intuitives of varied walks and backgrounds will be available for psychic readings including world renowned psychic medium and paranormal investigator Jane Doherty of TLC’s “Dead Tenants” and Mind Key’s own Danielle Rose.

Visionary artists such as Dana Bree will have their original works available for viewing and sale (learn more about Dana in yesterday's blog post), and healers will be set up to provide services and host workshops, including a drum circle facilitated by Vera Remes of Raven Reiki on Saturday evening (stay tuned for more about Raven Reiki in tomorrow's post).

Live band and solo artist performances include R.E.N.O., Blind Men Driving?, Aragon, Jeff and the Full Gaynor, Mingo Lodge from Big Boss Sausage, Will Cowan, Tim Blohm, Will Rivera, Andrew Gallagher and Ali Potosnak.

Additional summer fest, camping and vendor Information is available at http://www.trinitymetaphysicalcenter.com/ or at

Trinity Metaphysical Center & Gift Shop, Hardyston Plaza North, 3617 Rt 23 South Suite 40, Hamburg, NJ 07419. T: 973-209-7070.

Many thanks to Jacqui Geary of Trinity Metaphysical for organizing this event and providing the above information.

BLOG ROLL:

The vibrant art of Dana Bree

Healing Drum Circle by Raven Reiki

The Realm of Faerie by Danielle Rose

Divination as a modality of healing and growth

Divination is becoming more and more a tool for self development, healing and growth.  Most often it comes in the gentle form of intuition that health care practitioners use to guide them in their decisions. This is especially true of certain alternative healing modalities, but it holds water even in standard medical practices.  Think of the analytical character, House M.D., who relies as heavily on traditional medicine as he does his gut.  

We use our gut when we need to make decisions with no right answer, with pro and con lists that are evenly balanced, or when we simply know something “isn’t right.”    Our intuition leads us to chose our profession, our partners, our homes.  We convince ourselves that we’ve made these choices because of XY and Z, but realistically the final decision comes down to just “knowing” it’s the right (or wrong) choice… Which is why so many times we end up someplace in life even though logically it may not make sense.

Tarot and other oracle readers use their intuition, and often acute psychic abilities, to read the symbols present in a spread and incorporate them in a meaningful way into the querent’s life.  Often the cards are simply a representation of what the we already know.  Sometimes they advise a different path, or how to enhance the path already taken. 

When used this way, rather than an expectation of what the future holds, readings of any kind become a tool - a way to connect with our higher selves and discover our true selves as a result.  The reader may sometimes be wrong, but our intuition covers that department, letting us know exactly what’s right for us at that given moment.

The following is a post from friend and psychic, Sarah Guartafierro.  She has been guiding people for over two decades using tarot cards and her abilities as a medium.  Here she sheds some light on what tarot is all about, how people become psychics, and how divination can be used as a tool for healing and growth.

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Greetings. Many Blessings to you all. My Name is Sarah, and welcome to Mind Key

I'm offering my knowledge as a psychic and tarot reader today. 

I've been a tarot reader for many, many years. And while (sadly) it is true that there are charlatans out there, the majority of readers I have come across are authentic. 

Can tarot tell the future? Depends on your perspective. I use them as a guide. They refer to situations that are affecting you at the present, and how the past has brought you to this point. Using this as a reference point, the cards will illustrate the possible outcome if one continues along this path. Personally, I don't believe the future is carved in stone. I'm a deep believer in Free Will. So the tarot (for me) can only illustrate a "potential" future. Whether you chose to listen to the advice, or proceed in a "business as usual" fashion is entirely up to you. 

The other thing you need to be aware of is that the Universe has a great sense of humor. No matter how much effort I put into a reading for a client, if the Universe is in a perverse mood, nothing will make sense. For a lot of people, that sounds like an excuse. But unless you've put as much effort and study into tarot reading as a proficient reader has, you have no idea. Too many people ridicule matters, simply because of their own ignorance and arrogance. 

 We are all psychic, but for the majority the gift or the belief has been long knocked out of them. Educated out is another way of looking at it. Many professional psychics have grown up in a psychic friendly environment. Perhaps a grandparent or parent with the knowledge has helped bring the extra sense out in the open and encouraged its use. But there are as many practicing psychics who have not had the benefit of caring psychic guidance and who have still managed to develop and hone this natural extra sense.

In short, tarot cards are a very powerful guide. How you choose to take the advice given is entirely up to you. 

Sarah Guartafierro has been a tarot reader and psychic for 22 years and is also a novice medium.   She loves Mother Earth and all the gifts she has given us. She is also a certified in Buddhist Meditation. 

Sarah has trained in Kauai, Hawaii under the guidance of  Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami at the Hindu Monastery. She loves all animals, yoga and hiking. She is married to her husband Joe and they have one human daughter Samantha, and four "Fur Children," their dogs, Saffron, Simone and Cain, and their cat Panda.

For Readings, Meditation or any other information contact Sarah@MindKey.me