- Written by Annette Noyes
This card has inherent disappointment woven through it. This disappointment can come in the form of a loss, betrayal, unkindness from a friend, or other form of heartache. Perhaps you’re seeing something for what it truly is and that’s a bit of a slap in the face. Rather than experiencing a loss or betrayal, plans may have fallen through or things didn’t turn out as well as you’d hoped. At any rate, this glum mood can prevent you from being awake to and available for enjoying the good things in your life. 
I don’t mean this to be a wet blanket for your entire month of October, by any means. I’m not feeling like the near future is filled with one disaster after another; it’s more like a lesson is being offered to us. IF we suffer a setback, we have the choice to wallow in a lousy mood or reflect on what went wrong and figure out how not to do “that” again. Accept your lesson, accept the past is gone, accept what is now—and not what you’d hoped— and turn your face forward.
Because life is all about contrasts, having a less-than-happy moment is an opportunity to feel your heart in a heavy state. Therefore, nurture your bruised feelings, recognize them, and remember them in times of joy. Your high times will feel even higher when you can compare them to the low times.
Let’s hope you have no low times this coming month, but if you do, give thanks to Universe for the reminder and move forward.
Happy October Everyone!
Annette Noyes
***Annette Noyes - The Emerald Box Turtle has launched a new Youtube Channel featuring vidoes exploring Tarot and Divination. Check out her first video and Subscribe!***
- Written by John Thornton
Originally published on JohnMichaelThornton.com, reprinted with permission.
Since we moved to the new house I’ve been going on “Morning Constitutionals” a few times a week. Sometimes it’s a walk around the neighborhood, getting to know the street names and exploring the energies, and sometimes it's a quick jog to the park and back. Some houses I pass stand out because of a well kept yard or a bit of interesting architecture, but most just fade into the background. There’s a house I often pass on my way back from the park that really stands out because there’s usually something dead on the street in front.
I barely noticed it at first, it’s not unusual to see a dead bird or hard to identify critter on the side streets. It’s usually cleaned up quickly but things stayed on this block and it rarely stayed clean for more than a day or two. It never looked like a fresh kill, it always looked old.
There was no real sense of malevolence coming from the house, every house on the block is empty and some of them feel quite creepy, but the white house, the house with death in front, simply had a quite presence. It was like looking at a predator’s den. I wasn’t scared, but I was watchful and always spent a few moments wondering what was inside and speculating on what sort of being was making it’s own sacrifices on this lonely road.
A few weeks ago the street and sidewalk were clean, so I figured I’d see something in a few days. For a week the street stayed clean and I wondered aloud, “What could be better than an animal?” Very clearly I heard the words, “You are.”
My mental shields slammed in place with a nearly audible clang and I sped up just a tad (never show fear). It was over a week before I passed the white house again and still nothing outside, but now there is a feeling of attention coming from the gaping windows and crooked door, a gentle malevolence – not looking to kill, but to keep.
Don't feed the ghosts. Our attention, our energy and presence can feed and sustain the non-physical beings around us. When we talk to spirits, make up stories about them, give them names or treat them like parts of the family we can strengthen them and give them a way into our world.
I rarely see the spirits of people who have died, I may feel their presence during a reading, or see a glimpse of a loved one, but my talents seem more attuned to the beings in this world who were never human or have been disincarnate so long they have lost their humanity. Some are beautiful, ethereal, helpful and loving – angels, devas, and some of the fey. Others are as neutral and natural as the wind – elementals, sprites, and nature spirits. Then there are the ones who range from scary to downright terrifying – bogarts, tricksters, shapeshifters, dark fey, creepy-crawlies and things that go bump in the night.
These beings can also be fed by our time and attention, they can grow stronger and take advantage of our unconscious generosity by slipping into our homes wearing the mask of a friendly house ghost or a lost soul.
This past week Joe and I did a House Clearing and Blessing for a family that had just moved in and were noticing unpleasant energies and increasing poltergeist activity. When the owner first called she told me all about the ghost, the family was sure it was the previous owner, or maybe his son who had died as a young man. They were amateur ghost hunters and had tried to communicate with the ghost, talking to it and asking it questions.
“I’m not sure we want to kick it out,” she said. “Give me a few more days to think about it and I’ll get back to you.” A few days latter she called back and told me it was starting to get scary and they wanted the house cleared. It was over a week before we could fit them into our schedule, by that time I was told lights were flickering on and off, shadows were gathering and people were getting tripped on the stairs. Even their skeptic friends were convinced.
When we first got there, I tried to connect with the house and the land I felt only loneliness and some stagnant negativity. There was an angry presence in the house, but I wasn’t sure it was a spirit. When we met the family it started to come clear, there was a lot of stress and anxiety in the house and the son didn't want the spirit gone. He liked having a pet ghost, not out of malevolence or evil, but because it was fun.
“As the owners of this home, as the family living here, you have more control than we do,” I said. “We will clear this house, but if you invite spirits back in, they will come back.”
On the drive home Joe reminded me of something a say in every psychic development class I teach – we draw to ourselves the clients we need to learn from and most readings have messages for the reader as well as the client. We have both been struggling with negativity and stress during our move and I have been falling into the terrible habit of recounting my grievances, focusing on all the things that have been upsetting me and once I start down that road I often keep going until I’m complaining about things years past – keeping the scary ghosts of my past alive.
I am always trying to do better. No matter how much better I get at forgiveness, gratitude and mindfulness, I am trying to do better. This Halloween season I will try not to feed my ghosts.
“How do you protect your energy prior to going into a space where there will be a lot of people? Park, party, concert etc?
from T. R.
Energetic self-protection is very important for everyone but especially for energy workers and empathic/psychically developed people. So often we go out to a crowded place and the energies around us can have a huge impact on us physically, spiritually or even emotionally. Too often we forget to shield, or protect, ourselves.
The way I like to describe being in public without being energetically protected is like walking around in a white suit just after a hard rain. People go by you, stomping in the puddles and mud. You end up getting splashed with that mud and mess and your nice, clean white suit is now covered with the messes of other people.
If you protect yourself, that is much less likely to happen.
There are a myriad of methods you can use to protect yourself but I’m going to share with you what I do.
Quite some time ago, I spent an entire weekend at an enormous psychic fair and, at the time, was unaware of how to properly protect myself from the energies around me. At the end of the first day, I was so covered in other people’s stuff, or mud on my white suit, that in the middle of a crowded restaurant, for not apparent reason, I broke down in tears. All the emotional baggage that I had been exposed to on that first day completely overwhelmed me.
The next morning, a friend and veteran psychic took one look at me and declared that I had a rough night and it was because I had gotten “slimed” by all the energy the previous day. She sure was right. She sat me down and told me that every time I go out in public to visualize the following:
I see a swirling wind, like a cyclone, around me and when it clears, a crystal of my choosing, such as Selenite, surrounds me. It’s open above for connection to the Divine and open below for grounding and connection to the earth. No negative energy is able to penetrate this barrier, but all positive energies may flow in to me and mine flow out to those which whom I’m in contact.
The swirling happens a second time and a second crystal of my choosing surrounds me. This one is surrounding the first one as a double layer of protection. Again, it’s open both above and below. No negative energies can penetrate this defense.
Finally a third swirling occurs and I’m surrounded by another crystal of my choosing. This one is around both the other two and is also open above and blow. No negative energies may penetrate this barrier and all my positive energies may still radiate outward to those around me.
At first it could take a good 15-20 minutes for this to take hold in my mind. But over time, it is now a very quick process to create that barrier. And it works like a champ. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
I’m sure you’re all aware by now that John and I have moved.
We’re finally beginning to setting into our new home. Our move is not yet 100% complete; only little things remain such as tools and the like. But we’re getting things unpacked and removing empty boxes and deciding where things should go. And it’s finally beginning to look like we live here.
The next step is making this “feel” like we live here, to “feel” at home here. Yes, part of that comes with time; familiarity of the space, getting back into routines and such. But other parts of that are on the spiritual, energetic land personal levels.
We need to “feel” at home here. We need to infuse our energy, positivity and love into this new place and that’s done with some simple things. We began changing the energy here when we were doing all the remodeling. While priming, I painted Reiki symbols on the walls of each room and then painted over them. Now those symbols are permanently part of the walls. You could feel the energetic shift begin.
Next comes smudging and blessing the house. We both like to use sage but really like to use Palo Santo, or both simultaneously. We’ll smudge and state our intentions for love, happiness and positive energy in the house. We reinforce barriers at windows and doorways to block the entrance of negative energies.
We’ll do a few more energetic practices and then the structure will be ready for us. But for us to truly feel at home here, we need to make adjustments to ourselves.
The first thing is to open our hearts to the space and recognize that it is the next step in our transition through life. Our previous home was never intended as a permanent place, only the beginning. This house is also not our forever home, but the next plateau on the way to where we hope to go and to where the Universe will guide us. We need to accept this space for the opportunities it currently offers plus what it shall open the door to next. And we must have affection and appreciation for this house in the process. We must embrace this space for all the potentials.
We also have to let go. We must remind ourselves that the last house was wonderful but temporary. We must acknowledge that it has launched us in a new direction and has set us on our path. We must acknowledge and be grateful for it and all the joys and sorrows experienced there. We must let it go. We must wish it well and allow it to become a launching pad for someone new. Several families have lived there before us and we are just a link in the chain. We’ll never forget or stop loving that home, but we must set it free to continue its journey; allow a new link to be added.
I think that’s the hardest part of a move; letting go of the past, letting go of something well loved. Remembering now all the fun and silly things, of the gardening, playing in the yard, of walking outside and picking delicious berries and of hearing the cluck of chickens. Remembering the feel of the breeze and the sound it made rustling through the trees.
Remembering all this and more makes me feel sad. But it also makes me feel grateful and happy. I feel grateful for the opportunities and for the peace and safety. I feel happy for all the experiences there. Far too many things to mention happened there but the first two to come to mind are that it’s where my husband and I fell in love and became engaged and also Great Conjunction Spiritual Center was born.
It got us on our way. Here we are, ready for a new step in our journey, more growth and a new beginning.
Thank you old house. I love you. Good journey to you.
Hello, new house. Let’s get moving. Let’s see where we can go.
Monthly Energetic Practice Question:
“Can Reiki be given to someone going through chemotherapy? Will it interfere with the chemicals?” from N. T.
That’s an excellent questions and the answer is a resounding Yes. Reiki can absolutely be given to someone who is going through chemotherapy. The flow of healing energy cannot interfere with the therapy process nor the drugs involved. Remember that Reiki cannot cause harm in any way.
I highly recommend Reiki for chemotherapy patients. Often chemotherapy causes unpleasant side effects that can include hair loss, nausea, muscle pain and anxiety. Reiki can help to sooth these side effects. It can help lower blood pressure and calm a person, reducing stress and anxiety. It can also ease symptoms of nausea and discomfort. It can even reduce aches or muscular pain.
When a chemotherapy patient is relaxed and soothed by the gentle, loving energy of Reiki, their bodies are more accepting to the healing qualities not only of the energy but of their medical treatment.