Silver Chalice Wicca 'Zine #24

How Animal Spirit Guides Empower Your Life
and
Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives

June / July 2011

Editor's Note

The theme of this issue is Where We Are Going. And our first stop, as always, is with the seasons...

Summer! How sweet it is, at last!

The summer's long days are conducive to lots of activity. Unfortunately, writing doesn't seem to be one of them. In other words, the launch of my Animal Spirit Guides book -- A Natural Connection: Discover Your Animal Spirit Guides and How They Can Help You, is a little delayed.

On the plus side, this means you get another free installment! : D

This issue, I thought I'd share with you why working with Animal Spirit Guides is so wonderful and transformative. It's a beautiful practice that can really change your life, and boost your Wiccan "power." In shamanic circles, meeting and working with and gathering a support system of Animal Spirit Guides is one of the first tasks of shamans. It can be just as powerful for Pagans of all sorts.

Also this issue is a book review of the amazing journey that our souls are on, while on Earth and beyond. Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives changed not only the way I think of death, but the way I live my life!

Definitely check it out.

I'm also introducing one of the most important emotional balance and personal growth techniques I've found: Faster EFT. After all, our emotions largely dictate where we're going in that Law-of-Attraction way, as well as how we get there: fast or slow, bumpy or smooth.

Also, a glimpse into the mass of articles on the year 2012 that have recently been added to the website. Where we as a planet are headed, and how we can not only survive it but help give birth to the world we all dream of!

And finally, finding "God" in nature. Where Wiccans always go. ; )

So enjoy this beautiful summer, and this exciting edition of the Silver Chalice!

Wishing you the best of the season...

With Brightest Blessings,

Contact Us

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Table of Contents

Boost Your Affirmation-Power

What's New on the Site	-- 2012 and GMOs
Wicca Resources	-- Faster EFT
Book Review	-- Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives
Excerpt from Book In Progress	-- How Animal Spirit Guides Empower Your Life
Ask The Priestess	-- That God-Feeling In Nature
Fave Quotes	-- On Emotions
Word on the Street	-- From A Young Wiccan
Silver Chalice Details

What's New On The Site

What's new?? What ISN'T new?

Well, besides one lonesome little article on GMOs (Genetically Engineered Organisms) in our food supply...

A huge collection of articles -- Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Year 2012!

• We start out by sifting the facts from the fiction.

• Move on to finding out what the Mayans, Hopi, Indians, and many other 2012 prophecies say.

  We even get to peak into what my own personal 2012 predictions are. (Many of them are scattered around in the appropriate articles, but the biggest ones are here. And this page keeps evolving, so you may want to check back from time to time.)

• We look at the overall process of this 2012 Transition is about.

• We find out what the Shift of Ages is, that everyone's talking about, as well as the Age of Aquarius.

• We find out what we can expect to happen during the 2012 Transition, including why life seems to be speeding up.

• And most important, a whole bunch of articles on what you need for surviving 2012.

There's even more on the website than I'm listing here. So check out the menu at the bottom of the main 2012 page, or just start there and follow the from one article to the next.

Clearing Emotional Storms, Patterns, and Baggage

• A lot of negative emotions are coming up.

• Emotional buttons and triggers are very near the surface, easily triggered into intense feelings.

• Old baggage is reappearing, waiting to be cleared away for good.

• Energy Fields and natural disasters are affecting everyone's emotional balance.

• And long-time patterns and beliefs are showing their real limitations.

All this means more than just a lot of feeling bad...

Feeling bad is negative magick!

The worse you feel, the more negative experiences you are calling to you. And the heavier and more ill Mother Earth becomes.

Of course, the better you feel, the better magick you are doing... just by feeling good, you're calling beautiful things to you -- ease, success, health, joy, love, etc.

This much you probably already know.

The tricky part is, how to change negative emotions to positive ones.

You've probably heard me mention Faster EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) here and there. This is THE best tool I've found so far, for fast, easy, really effective emotional release.

All EFT is good. Deepak Chopra himself has said that "EFT offers great healing benefits." And the special Faster technique devised by Robert G. Smith is even more powerful than the other methods.

Check out his website to find out more: FasterEFT.com.

His Grief and Loss set are especially valuable. These days, we're all dealing with grief and loss, as we witness human tragedies, environmental destruction, and loss of entire species.

In these days of intense change and rapid evolution, we need all the help we can get to stay afloat! Your emotions will either drag you down or buoy you up.

You really need to use Faster EFT to survive these "interesting" times.

Book Review

Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives

Journey of Souls answers the ageless questions ...

• Where do we come from?

• Why do certain things happen to us?

• What do we experience when we die?

This discovery is on par with another Newton's insights into the laws of physics and gravity... and ultimately even more important for all humanity. But I didn't realise that when I first found it.

I stumbled across Journey of Souls one day and took it home, dumped it on a shelf and ignored for a month.

But when I finally picked it up, I couldn't put it down!

A Sceptic Discovers More Than He Bargains For

Michael Newton is a psychologist who was using hypnosis to help certain clients. He didn't believe in past lives, souls, or "God," and had no intention of ever doing past-life regressions . . .   Continue...

Animal Spirit Guides -- Book In Progress

How Animal Spirit Guides Empower Your Life

Our task must be to free ourselves...

by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures

and the whole of nature and its beauty.

— Albert Einstein

Animal Spirit Guides and Wicca -- what is the connection?

Working with Animal Spirit Guides benefits you in so many ways! From personal satisfaction ... to moral support ... to wise guidance ... to practical assistance ... to spiritual evolution, Animal Spirit Guides can affect your life profoundly.

• They bring you power, confidence, and wisdom.

• They help you achieve peace and harmony within yourself, and harmony with the Earth.

• They bring all the levels of your being -- mind, body, emotions, and spirit -- into balance, creating health and well-being.

• They unlock your hidden potentials.

• They bring the Divine into your daily life.

And the benefits go so far beyond yourself! It is also healing to Mother Earth and a blessing to all animals.

How perfectly Wiccan is that?

Here are some examples of how having Animal Spirit Guides transforms your life.

You Are Never Alone!

One of the greatest benefits to working with your Animal Spirit Guides is the feeling -- the KNOWING -- that

• You are not alone! You are never alone, and have never been alone, and could never be alone.

• The subtle forces of the Universe cherish you, and walk beside you all the way.

• They uphold you and help you, encourage and guide you.

• The Universe wishes for your success and happiness, and always, ALWAYS, makes things available to help you achieve it.

The personal experience of these facts can change your life, literally.

Helping Improve Your Life

There are many ways Animal Spirit Guides help you in real life. They...

• Guard and protect you in the world.

• Guard, protect, and guide you during magickal work and trance journeys.

• Bring calm when you are fearful

• Bring clarity when you are confused or doubtful

• Bring strength and skills to do what you need to

• Bring confidence when you are nervous or uncertain

• Offer insight into problems from a new perspective, and help you find solutions

• Help you access deeper wisdom

All these require the skills of connecting with your Animal Spirit Guide, sensing it, and hearing it. that's why the bonding exercises in Part III are so important. (More on this in the next chapter.)

Being The Wild Things

When you work closely with animals on a spiritual level like this, you gain the ability to put yourself inside an animal and perceive life from its point of view.

This is a way of shapeshifting. And it offers much more than a fun diversion, or even greater insight into animal consciousness.

You experience the unity of yourself with nature, and with all beings, and with the Divine. Animals experience this to a much greater extent than 99% of humans.

Amelia Kinkade, whose book on learning animal telepathy I've quoted quite before, has this to say about the experience of sharing an animal's consciousness...

In these dimensions of sublime bliss, words utterly fail me.

You, too, can experience heaven on earth in the minds of animals.

Who You Gonna Call?

One of the biggest reasons Animal Spirit Guides are coming back into public consciousness is that you can call on them to help you in very practical ways.

Say you have an important meeting or job interview, and you are nervous, and you know that if you are confident you'll give a better impression. That makes you even more nervous, and less confident.

You can "shapeshift" your consciousness, taking on qualities of an Animal Spirit Guide that is all about confidence, like Tiger. Nothing stresses a tiger. Tiger is in command of every situation — and if the situation is out of control, Tiger is still in command of her/himself.

You can call the energy of Tiger, absorb it into yourself, and act with that perfect feline confidence.

Or you could call Moose, who proudly trumpets his own abilities, so you can sell your best qualities in the best way.

Every animal has its own powers and gifts, and you can call on them whenever you need, for example...

• Otter for family fun

• Hawk for awareness of messages sent to you

• Mouse for attention to detail

• Horse for strength and freedom

• Dragonfly to ease your discomfort around change

• Raven for prayers to be heard

• Ant for patience and steadfastness

• Etc, etc, etc.

Animal Spirit Guides Offer You Insight Into Yourself

Animal Spirit Guides teach you about yourself. They help you discover the truth of your inner being, your Deep or Higher Self.

One way they do this is just by showing up.

The animals that come to you as guides are often ones that represent an important inner part of you. You draw these to you because they resonate with, or close to, your energy vibrations.

Another way your Animal Spirit Guides give you insight about yourself is in how you interact with them.

We show who we are most in how we deal with others. We think our interactions tell us about the other people. But they say much more about us than about anyone else.

So it is with Animal Spirit Guides.

So pay attention to your responses to the Animal Spirit Guides...

• What feelings or thoughts arise as you interact?

• What do these tell you about your strengths and skills, fears, areas on which you'd like to improve?

• When do you feel resistant or frustrated?

• When do you feel enthused and hopeful?

• When do you feel confusion or despair?

• When do you want to give up on the whole thing?

None of these feelings are really important, except in that they are signals that something is happening in your mind... something you probably should be aware of.

Use these emotions as they were intended: to learn about yourself. And also as opportunities to reach for a more harmonious way of doing things.

Unlocking Your Hidden Potentials

In case I haven't been completely clear about this, your Animal Spirit Guides come to you because they resonate with the vibrations of different parts of your soul.

That means, in practical terms, that whatever the Animals' powers are, these powers exist in embryo within you, too.

The powers they display are ones that you not only can achieve, but already have, on some level. Working with the Animals will help you liberate the potentials that are currently locked within you.

Increasing Self-Worth and Self-Esteem

• Spirits and animals notice you and communicate with you,

• Life arranges itself for your benefit,

• You can ask for Help and there are powerful, caring beings who provide it with joy,

• You see proof everyday that you are supported and guided by Someone greater who LOVES you greatly.

Your self-esteem increases as your self-worth does, obviously. Self-worth means you believe that you have intrinsic value and are loved. Self-esteem means you value, respect, and love yourself. Self-esteem begins with self-worth.

Then it increases by your own actions and choices.

As you gain in spiritual and other life skills, you make better choices that allow you to respect yourself more. You begin to feel fulfilled enough to be giving back to others. You mature into…

• kindness,

• compassion,

• unconditional love,

• wisdom,

• faith,

• involvement,

• contribution, and

• purpose.

You begin to feel really good about yourself! And you begin to feel really happy about life.

Learning to Trust your Intuition

Few of us are taught to even hear the voice of our own intuition, let alone to trust and follow it. This is one of the gifts working with spirit guides of any kind can offer.

Your intuition is the bridge between your mind and the spirit realm. Intuition, imagination -- this is how you can perceive the spirits and interpret their messages.

As you work with your Animal Spirit Guides, your intuition understandably gets stronger. You get plenty of experience of its accuracy. You begin to trust yourself more. And you find that you "instinctively" know the right thing to do in most situations.

Your intuition is an important self-defense and success tool!

According to studies of women who were attacked, the vast majority of them "had a bad feeling," but ignored it because they didn't trust it or they thought they would be rude if they acted on it. If women learn to heed their intuition, a great many dangerous situations could be avoided before they became a danger.

Conversely, most highly successful business people admit that they rely on their intuition for major business decisions. That is the reason they give for their impressive achievements.

And it does take practice to use your intuition well.

The ego -- the "little-me" in charge of your physical security -- is unbelievably sneaky. It speaks with virtually the same inner voice as your intuition, the Divine Voice. It knows all your ways, and is adept at convincing you that what it says is bald truth.

Most distrust of our intuition comes from hearing the misleading voice of the ego, and not being able to distinguish it from true guidance.

As you work with Animal Spirit Guides and get irrefutable feedback, clear physical results, you learn to distinguish with greater accuracy when your true intuition is speaking.

Lifting You into Harmony with Mother Earth

As you learn to perceive the messages that animals offer you, it is natural to begin to notice that...

• There are messages in every part of nature

• You are part of a vast harmony, in which every aspect of nature sings with every other aspect, including you

• You become more attuned to the natural world, not as something interesting to examine, but as an extension of your own being

• In a very real and practical way, the Divinity that dwells within every being, every tree, every rock, every molecule of air

You will find yourself aligning your actions to honour this truth. You behave with more love for the world and for others. You respect needs outside of your own. It becomes second-nature to care for the environment and other beings, not out of obligation or fear for your own well-being, but as a innate expression of your love.

This creates a cycle.

As you respond to the world with love and attention, the world responds to you with more love and attention. As you learn to hear what Mother Earth is telling you, the Earth begins to speak to you even more.

How can I express the beauty and joy of this?

When you feel yourself as an intimate, necessary part of creation, and you feel creation as Divinity in action, your life changes. It's inevitable, and irrevocable. Once you know, you can never go back to ignorance.

Boosting Your Spiritual Development

Working with Animal Spirit Guides is a process that, from start to finish, increases your spiritual awareness and expands your consciousness.

All the tools and techniques you've learnt in this book not only help you with your Animal Spirit Guides, but they develop your spiritual awareness and abilities.

They are spiritual tools, and as you use them, you progress toward your spiritual goals.

This reminds me of Patch Adams, the man behind the movie. In his "hospital" he would tell people they need more exercise, but they weren't interested. So instead, he held a dance three times a week. People didn't think they were getting exercise; they thought they were having fun!

Working with your Animal Spirit Guides is the fun way to exercise your spiritual muscles.

Teaching About Spirit, Accessing Deeper Reality

Your Animal Spirit Guides show you a glimpse of deeper reality in action.

They help you connect with Higher/Deeper Wisdom.

They connect you with the Power of Mother Earth.

They offer you opportunities to grow in character, power, openness, harmony, and joy.

Your animal totems offer a gateway to the spiritual realms. You gain experience in working with the energy realm and symbolism, while at the same time benefiting from the practical, grounded energy of animals.

As you work with animals and nature in this way, your joy and childlike awe of life naturally increase. You begin to see that the Divine is all around you, and always reaching out to you, communicating, wanting to connect. You recognise the divinity in other creatures, in all the Earth, and therefore in yourself.

The Reality Of Magick And Miracles

Another gift is the direct experience that there is more to life than meets the eye. Magick and miracles are more than commonplace — they are the foundation of the universe!

When you work with Animal Spirit Guides for a while, just like doing Tarot or other divination, or spiritual practices, you experience things that go beyond plausible coincidence. You can't write everything off as explicable. And those inexplicable things are like bookmarks in Higher Reality, showing you where you really are.

This fulfills the deep, human desire for connection, unity, intimacy, and love. It also fulfills the deep, human desires for magick, joy, and peace. (We'll get to those later in this chapter.)

You may not know exactly what Animal Spirit Guides are (whatever we think they are, we are undoubtedly missing a big part of it). But you know that when you call on them, things happen.

These are subtle gifts that you learn from working with Animal Spirit Guides, yet they are the most important and powerful ones, in my opinion.

There are also real, practical benefits to having access to stronger magick and better miracles.

Recognising The Divine Within You

As mentioned earlier, working with Animal Spirit Guides also helps you increase two critical spiritual tools: intuition and imagination. These are the workings of the Divine within a human form.

Intuition is the voice of the Divine within you.

Imagination is the magickally creative power of the Divine within you.

Developing these skills make the spiritual realm much more accessible to you.

With every interaction with your Animal Guides, you overcome more of the mental, cultural blindness to spirit that has been programmed into you.

Creating Your Best Life

Everything we looked at in this chapter means that you gain the power to manifest what you want in life. You are learning to ...

• Access intuition that helps you know what it is you really want

• Use the power of imagination to set the desire in motion

• Ask and allow the Divine, through Her many animal avatars, to work for you

• Guide your thoughts more accurately toward your objective

• Focus on what you want

• Invoke the qualities that help you succeed

Feeling Happy About Life

All of these pieces, while wonderful in themselves, add up to feeling more involvement, enthusiasm, and joy. Life becomes a joyful game that you are playing with those you love.

That's what it's really all about! Enjoying life, playing a beneficial part, and growing ever closer to the Divine.

This is the ultimate benefit of working with your Animal Spirit Guides.

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What Do You Think So Far?

I'd love to hear from you… Please write and let me know!

Ask The Priestess

That God-Feeling In Nature

Dear Priestess,

I am strongly averse to the idea of a god or supreme power, I can't even pretend to believe in one. But that "feeling" Christians say that they have for god, I find when I'm near plants, in the forest, or even when it rains.

I know as a rational being that there are no spirits and gods, so I'm having a hard time understanding the wellbeing I feel in nature.

Any advice?

A.R., Canada

Dear A.R.,

This is a great question, and it's inspiring that you are perceptive enough to notice this feeling in yourself.

That feeling you have, that's the feeling Wiccans and other Pagans have in nature, and why we celebrate nature. That's the feeling that a multitude of people have felt, regardless of their religion.

That's the feeling, in fact, that started all spiritual and religious seeking.

That feeling IS what wise people refer to as God, or the Divine, or other names for something that we can't understand or even fully perceive, let alone name.

Not that God is a feeling, but the feeling is our perception of God.

Over millennia, as people struggled with human issues of power, fear, greed, judgement, logic, etc, the FEELING got lost ... replaced by a word which everyone claims to be able to explain but which everyone disagrees about -- "God."

We've taken away the experience of the Divine, and replaced it with a CONCEPT, an intellectual idea of the Divine.

We're all living with the repercussions of that concept, now...

• Religions that ring hollow, with little power to inspire or uplift

• Lives that are empty of meaning and purpose, given over to comfort, security, greed, and power instead

• Little respect for other forms of life, even human life

• Disconnection from nature and the beauty, let alone sanctity, of Mother Earth

Rationally, there is no way to understand this feeling. Trying to rationally understand an experience of God is like trying to smell the stars, or trying to breathe algebra. Not only is the mind totally unequipped for the magnitude of the task, it is not even designed for it!

So don't worry about the words. Don't worry about "God" and what it is and whether it can exist. Don't fret about when or why or how you can feel these things.

That's all mind games. Intellect can never bridge that gap. Of course Divinity can't exist to a rational mind... But it's not your mind that FEELS that feeling, is it? So let go of your mental concerns and confusion.

If you just allow that feeling to rise in you and live in you, you are celebrating the best of life, and God, if it exists, will be well pleased with this worship.

And if not, you at least will be getting the best out of life.

Thanks for writing. I wish you all the best!

With Blessings,

erin

< "

Do you have a question you'd like answered? Email the Priestess and your question could be answered in a future issue.

(Note: questions may be edited for brevity or clarity. No real names will be disclosed. For reasons of legality, all questions become the property of Wicca-Spirituality.com.)

Being, feeling, knowing, and doing are the four aspects of existence. Of these Being is most powerful and Doing least -- and the other two in between.

~ Deepak Chopra

Many of our fears are tissue paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us through them.

~ Brendan Francis

Never say there's no hope! Hope disappears only when you say there's no hope.

~ Asmaa Mahfouz (girl who inspired the recent uprising in Egypt)

Anger cannot be overcome by anger. If someone is angry with you, and you show anger in return, the result is a disaster. On the other hand, if you control your anger and show its opposite -- love, compassion, tolerance and patience -- not only will you remain peaceful, but the other person's anger will also diminish.

~ Dalai Lama

Compassion is an act of power.

~ Macki Ruka, Waitaha Maori Shaman

You can be with someone and be alone, or all by yourself but not lonely. If you can't go outside you can still be outside-- put your hand against any out-facing wall -- sit down and ground. You are 'dancing with the stars' and the Earth is your partner

~ Wanda Lenore Fowler

If you're really serious, you came here to make a difference. And in order to do so, you have to laugh as often as you get a chance.

~ Dr Maya Angelou

As long as I'm holding a grievance against anyone, I can't experience the miracles that are otherwise rushing toward me.

~ Marianne Williamson

Many people have trouble with forgiveness because they have been taught it is a singular act to be completed in one sitting. That is not so. Forgiveness has many layers, many seasons.

~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Foolish, selfish people are always thinking of themselves and the result is always negative. Wise persons think of others, helping them as much as they can, and the result is happiness. Love and compassion are beneficial both for you and others. Through your kindness to others, your mind and heart will open to peace.

~ Dalai Lama

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Blessed Be :)

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

© erin dragonsong 2011. All rights reserved worldwide. Reprinting any of this is forbidden unless you obtain my written permission: karma and the law agree on this one. And Copyscape is keeping an eye on these things.