Semper Fi
26 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Supernal Living Tags: marines, military
HE’S STILL HERE
by Dana Taylor
Dedicated to my heroic father
The old man stumbles, about to fall
To strangers he’s barely a man, no one at all
Just a stick figure, bent and confused
Society’s discard in the heap of refuse
His speech is garbled, a childish babble
One more elder in the crowd of old rabble
But look beyond the deterioration
Old bones once defended a nation
See in his eyes the trace of the soldier
The body is aged, but the spirit no older
Before the years of wife, children and work
He reported for duty he never would shirk
Marching from home at the outbreak of war
He traveled to lands never seen much before
A callow recruit full of bluster and youth
He fought for liberty, freedom and truth
The sights that he saw brought shock and dismay
Burned into his memory day after day
A boy caught in battle, unsure and green
Transformed through war to a mighty Marine
Forever changed, forever the fighter
Now time is the enemy, it pulls the noose tighter
He faces life with a warrior’s heart
Each day is a battle, right from the start
He won’t give in to helpless despair
Won’t use a cane or a smooth wheeling chair
His walk may wobble as he strolls round the block
His fierce independence comes as a shock
The old man knows death, struggle and fear
Look closely, you’ll see, the Marine is still here
© 2010 by Dana Taylor All rights reserved.
Butterfly Angels of Joplin, MO
23 May 2012 Leave a Comment
UPDATE: May 23, 2012: I first posted this blog in November of 2011. Since then, it has been viewed nearly everyday by multiple people. Obviously, the world is interested in angels! My admiration goes out to the folks of Joplin, MO, who have picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and started all over again. And we join them in missing the loved ones that were lost.
A Sacred journey traveled in THE WAY
21 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Films Tags: Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen, The Way
This weekend I was finally able to see THE WAY with Martin Sheen. This Indy movie written, directed, and produced by Sheen’s son, Emilio Estevez, had been on my must-see list for months. It opened in a few theaters last year, had a good word-of-mouth, but didn’t get the Big Money needed for wide distribution. I’d been trying, in vain, to get it at the only video store left in town. I’m happy to announce, it is currently available through Netflix streaming.
The story line is simple, Martin Sheen’s character is a well-to-do LA widower/opthmalogist. While playing a round of golf, he receives a call that his only son (Estevez) has died in France. The son was on the first day of walking the famous Camino de Santiago pilgramage through France and Spain. Thus begins the father’s journey through grief, both physically and metaphorically, as he carries the son’s ashes across two countries on an ancient road.
The scenery alone is worth the price of admission. The mountains, villages, and meadows are a spiritual experience. Sheen becomes one of an unlikely quartet taking the journey for personal reasons. They begin as strangers, but end as comrades, having faced their challenges in the way that camping and military campaigns brings people together.
The film delivers a subtle sense of spirituality, without ramming any particular viewpoint down the viewer’s throat. It conveys a lovely respect for the Sacred as the group makes it to the official end of the road at the Cathedral of Santiago which honors St. James. Estevez takes his time with the scene as the characters experience the spiritual communion in their own ways.
I’m sure I’m one of millions of movie lovers constantly seeking a film that not only tells a story, but lifts the spirit. Finding a movie like THE WAY, is like finding a gold nugget in a mountain of worthless, dull rocks.
Have a lovely day!
Dana Taylor
Past Lives We’d Rather Forget
17 May 2012 3 Comments
in Book Reviews, Spirituality Tags: reincarnation, past lives
Picture a teenage party circa 1974, some time around midnight. The underage drinkers are in rare form. Two girls–one tall and blond, the other short and dark–break away and find a quiet spot to talk. What do they discuss? Boys? Sex? Fashion? Gossip? No, enjoying a Boone’s Farm wine glow, these two take on the mysteries of the universe . They embark on the subject of reincarnation and talk until dawn’s early light.
Well, it’s almost forty years later and now those girls are grandmothers and STILL talking about reincarnation. Sue and I, now part of the self-dubbed Supernal Friends, recorded a new POD cast this weekend. We discussed reincarnation and focused on the material we’d read in Lois Wetzel’s book, Akashic Records: Case Studies of Past Lives.
You’d think after forty years we’d run out of something to say. But not so! And we have fun. Listening to the play back, I thought we sounded like a metaphysical version of the CAR GUYS from NPR radio.
So, if you’re in the mood for an entertaining 20 minutes listening to ideas about reincarnation, Akashic Record Reading, and other such metaphysical subjects as them, hop over the Hello From Heaven page at Supernal Friends and listen to the show we’re calling PAST LIVES WE’D RATHER FORGET.
Enjoy!
Dana Taylor
Now, on Mother’s Day
13 May 2012 2 Comments
in Supernal Living Tags: aging, living in the now
What did I learn from my mother’s sojourn on Planet Earth? I certainly got a lot of good from mother’s parenting skills. Unconditional love was probably her greatest gift. She used to say to people, “If I could only have one child, I was lucky to have the best.”
I also learned from the patterns of her life that didn’t work out so well. Mom looked to the future and suffered through the present. She talked about what she would do when she retired. When the cancer struck, she doggedly endured the treatments looking toward those “better days.”
Guess, what. They never came.
It wasn’t until the doctors told her definitely this would be her last Thanksgiving, her last Christmas that she did a few things for the Now.
I have a plaque that hangs near my from door the reads: Live your life now, not tomorrow; Live your life in the moment
That’s probably the biggest takeway I got from seeing mom’s life end at 58. The hoped-for better day may not materialize. Today, this moment is to be savored, remembered, and treasured. Pay attention to Now, because Later is an illusion. I may appear to be embracing the old ladyisms of Jenny Joseph’s “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple,” a bit early, but maybe not.
So I’m grateful for my Supernal Friends who know how to meditate–but also how to blow an afternoon drinking wine, eating nibbles, and talking non-stop. I haven’t much money in a retirement account, but I’ve got a ticket to see my grandkids next month.
I’m a woman with many blessings and I’m going to enjoy every one of them while I still can.
Later is Now.
Happy Mother’s Day–
Dana Taylor
Rising out of the Well of Depression
07 May 2012 4 Comments
in Multi-dimensional Living, Supernal Living Tags: depression, energy healing, Reiki
On Saturday my good pal, Pam, and I sat at The Coffee Bean solving the world’s problems. We got around to discussing depression, a subject with which we both share up-close-and-personal experience. Looking back, we could see we came by it naturally. We remember sad family members. My Dad’s side of the family went beyond sad to mental illness. Even today, my Aunt Alice is a well-known crazy lady of Whittier, CA, regularly getting thrown out of local establishments. She can go from sweetness to rage in the blink of an eye. As a child, I perfected a mean imitation of chain-smoking Alice sucking on a cigarette, smiling saying, “Hi honey” and then going “off.” Just part a regular family gathering.
I was an early crier. My parents wondered what they had done to have a child who would hide under a table and just weep for a while. Then my mood would shift and I’d be over it. The ups and downs were my “normal.” You learn to cope. You wake up in the morning and take your emotional temperature. Am I happy? Am I sad? How do I get from sad to happy?
I used to have “bottom of the well days.” I imagined myself down in a damp hole, trying to climb up slimy walls toward the light. Indeed, I was “low.” What to do? Grit your teeth and wrestle it? (Pam referred to fighting the Black Dog. ) Try to give yourself a hearty pep talk? Or worse, think of people less fortunate than you. I can tell you THAT only makes you sink lower.
My studies over the past thirty years have led me to see the relationship between energy frequency and depression. We all have measurable energy frequencies. A healthy human is generally between 62-78 Hz. I discovered that if would consciously raise my physical frequency level, I would raise my mood. The greatest break-through came for me in 2005 when I had my first energy healing treatment. The lifting of my entire auric field to a higher vibration was like grabbing a rope to be lifted out of the well. Here are some of the frequency elevating tools I have discovered:
- Reiki or other energy healing techniques. Multiple sessions will ultimately raise your frequency set point to a healthy level. Of course, you’ll also probably work through a lot of other issues in the process.
- Meditation and prayer. Learn to open yourself to the ever-flowing energy streams. You will encounter Spirit, develop intuition, and become permanently plugged into a higher energy
- Eat live food. Energy begets energy. Fruits and vegetables will feed your body and raise your emotions. Drink lots of water. Caffeine, alcohol, and drugs will keep you on a seesaw of ups and downs.
- Exercise. Only 30% of Americans exercise 30 minutes 5 days a week, but use of antidepressant drugs has risen 400% in the last twenty years. This is crazy! Go for a walk and dump the drugs.
- Get back to nature. The energies of the earth, water, and sky are extremely healing. Digging in the dirt to plant a flower is one of the most energy-raising activities I know. We have a city park in my town with a “lake,” by California standards anyway. I can walk around it in about seven minutes. In the years I was taking care of my stroke-affected Dad, that walk around the water was my saving grace. No matter how low I felt, the water, wind and those crazy geese always lifted my spirits.
- Music. The vibrations of music literally rock your body. Find the tunes that lift you and keep them coming.
- Essential oils. These are the life blood of plants and have measurable frequencies of 52-320 Hz. Young Living Essential Oil sells a blend named Joy, which includes rose oil, the highest frequency oil. And doesn’t smelling a rose always lift your spirits? It only makes sense that applying something to your body with high energy will elevate your energy field.
- Sufficient sleep. Last, but certainly not least. Getting enough sleep is probably the best mood elevator known to man. Make getting a good night’s sleep a top priority. As the Good Book says, “Weeping may tarry in the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5
I am happy to report that I have climbed completely out of the Well of Depression. Oh, I’m not skipping around, singing Mary Poppin tunes, but I am functioning at a much higher level.
Most days, praise God, I am happy.
Blessings–
Dana Taylor
Refreshed in Hawaii
03 May 2012 2 Comments
in Multi-dimensional Living, Supernal Living
You may have noticed it’s been quiet around here. That’s because I was visiting my daughter in Hawaii, which was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I never used to be a spur-of-the-moment person, but Supernal Living has nudged me more in that direction.
Here’s how one thing sort of led to another. About a month ago, I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway and I reached a Big Decision. No more driving all over LA on these crazy temp jobs to earn a meager buck. Making money is sort of an annoyance to me (which my bank accounts sadly reflect.) I said to The Team, as I call my unseen spiritual companions, “I’ve had it with this traffic and these exhausting jobs. I need something that pays better and is close to home!” I put out my intention.
About a week later I had a strong urge to check Craig’s List. “Free Lance Writing” was listed, which led to a perfect new job for me, writing blog articles. The pay is good and, best of all, I can work from home, the park, Starbucks, Hawaii–wherever Internet is available. On the heels of securing that income stream came the leading, “Go to Hawaii and see Cary.”
Of course, I argued a while with The Team, but it all came together–a “cheap” fare, available housing, and a window of opportunity in Cary’s busy schedule. Cary and her husband, Chris, work with YWAM (Youth with a Mission) Honolulu. I managed to squeeze in a trip just before they headed out to Thailand, Cambodia and India. You can see their blogsite here http://solimasstories.blogspot.com/2012/05/we-are-off-to-asia-again-tomorrow.html
The time in Hawaii was very healing. I spent time doing energy work on Cary, who has some health issues going on right now. For me personally, it was utterly refreshing. Cary lives in the Manoa Valley, which is a place of high “chi”. There is a beautiful Chinese Cemetery established around 1850. It was designated as Sacred Ground by the Chinese because it was deemed a place of perfect convergence of high energy. I suppose we would call it a “vortex” today. It’s an inspiring spot looking at Honolulu in the distance. Standing at the apex, my head felt buzzy, like being in a deep mediation.
The last several months have been a sort of marathon race for me, with high drama, some good and not-so-good. I was feeling plumb worn out. The energy and air in Hawaii was the tonic I didn’t know I needed. But The Team knew. An added bonus was swimming in the emerald clear salty water of the Pacific. Since I shattered my ankle and major leg bones in the fall of 2010, I’ve had to adjust to a “new normal” of constant stiffness and soreness. Oh, I get around okay. I never was a runner or anything as strenuous as that. But, I’m not “good as new.” After forty-five minutes in the ocean I was amazed that my leg felt better than it has since the accident. The soreness has not returned.
Of course, the biggest blessing was spending time with Cary. Months go by between visits and I am grateful The Team pushed me into taking the trip. I was able to spin articles on the plane rides, in the early mornings and work toward keeping the bills paid even from Hawaii.
Learning to trust intuitive messages and follow those spur-of-the-moment nudges is one of the best parts of Supernal Living. I highly recommend it.
Aloha!
Dana Taylor
Akashic Records:Case Studies of Past Lives by Lois Wetzel
23 Apr 2012 4 Comments
in Book Reviews, Spirituality Tags: Past-Life Therapy, reincarnation
The reason I’ve been posting about Akashic Records Readings is because learning about a past-life tie and the subsequent difficulties that resulted from that connection in my personal life was a major event. It took me over fifty years to put the pieces of my personal puzzle together, as is chronicled in Ever-Flowing Streams. It’s my hope that some people who are also dealing with mysterious phobias or afflictions that are linked to a past life occurence may be able to shorten the learning curve and move on to a better life.
My bouts of swollen glands, anxiety, and insomnia have all dissipated since my initial Reiki treatment in 2005. It took about three years to unravel the layers of connections, but my health and well-being are vastly improved over my previous four decades of life, largely due to understanding my soul’s long journey.
I recently came across a book by therapist Lois Wetzel entitled Akashic Records: Case Studies of Past Lives. I highly recommend investing $2.99 to read this fascinating compilation of case studies. Wetzel does an excellent job of explaining Akashic Records and the value they hold in helping people heal, break negative patterns, and understand puzzling relationships. Some of the stories are hard to grasp because they feel like a tale of science fiction. But, certainly modern living would seem completely unbelievable to people living only a few decades ago.
Written in a straightforward manner, the book gives example after example of past lives and how they affect modern people. Wetzel’s method of downloading particular lives as revealed by the Records Guardians is very interesting and somewhat different from the method I have experienced. Whereas the Record Readers I have visited have answered specific questions, Wetzel’s clients come in with an overall area they want information about. She then opens her mind up to viewing their past lives as if she is watching a movie.
I found myself looking at life with a broader perspective and a new understanding of karmic ties and cycles. The book has some Indie editing problems, but a quick update can clean those up. The content was fascinating enough to allow me to overlook a few typos.
If you have an interest in past life therapy, read Akashic Records: Case Studies of Past Lives by Lois Wetzel.
You can find Lois Wetzel on the web at www.hotpinklotus.com.
Dragged to an Akashic Records Reading
18 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Multi-dimensional Living Tags: Akashic Records
It’s been a few weeks since I wrote the first article on Akashic Records. Since that time, my circle of friends all decided they needed to have an update of their records. Hearing about their readings has been entertaining and intriguing. Off planet incarnations? Really?
Anyway, the first time I visited an Akashic Record reader, it wasn’t exactly under duress, but I was very reluctant. Sue and Paula (see Supernal Friends) were visiting in Oklahoma during the miraculous week that Paula was ultimately healed of a terrible disease. Sue, our intrepid spiritual adventurer, had heard about an AR Reader in Oklahoma City and booked appointments. I didn’t want to be left out, but I was scared to go. What if the devil stole my soul?
Let’s call the AR Reader Alison (so she doesn’t sue me). While I may have expected a Gypsy fortune-teller in a tent, what I found was a classy, well-groomed 60ish woman in a professional office. Alison had been a public school teacher for 25 years and had developed a healing practice that included Reiki, energy and essential oil treatments and Akashic Records Reading. Her office was expensively furnished and decorated with all sorts of interesting pieces of Native American artwork.
She explained to us about the Records and told us to write down specific questions to ask the Record Guardians. Evidently, they don’t just volunteer information. You have to be prepared with your questions or you’ll find the session is very short. Also, you can’t ask about other people’s records. Sue volunteered to go first, so Paula and I went out to the waiting room. We were both so nervous that if we hadn’t been there to offer moral support and make some jokes, I think we would have both chickened out.
After about half an hour Sue came tripping out. She whispered to Paula, “Ask how many past lives you’ve shared with me.” She had been told 42 and wanted to see if Paula got the same answer. The Guardian’s reply to Paula was, “Ask your sister.” You gotta get up pretty early in the morning to fool those Guardians. Sue was also miffed that she couldn’t get more information about her children. “Those aren’t your records,” she was told.
Anyway, when my time came, I headed down the hall and shut the office door. Alison and I sat opposite each other in comfortable wing-back chairs. I may have been hyper-ventilating. Before I could speak, Alison said, “I’ve been told to do this.” She picked up a large, opaque class bowl and rubbed a wand-like thing around and around the top edge. Soon a high-pitched tone filled the room, so loudly it hurt my ears. The vibration seemed to fill my whole body, which I guess was the point. Now I know she was raising my frequency, but I was totally clueless about such things in those days.
Then she settled back into her chair and said a prayer. Her expression changed and she developed what can only be called a glassy-eyed stare. I started with, “Why am I so driven to write? What is the source of this compulsion?’
She smiled and said, “Hello, Sappho.”
Oookay. I knew nothing of “Sappho,” but a later Google search revealed she was a poet and patroness of the arts in ancient Greece and associated with the Island of Lesbo (yeah, yeah get all the Lesbian jokes out of your system). At that time I had an Internet radio show and asked if I was supposed to be dealing with the people involved. She said, “For now. This is just the beginning. I see you speaking to large crowds of people. You will give your church a paradigm shift.”
She also advised me to travel to California to take care of my father, which ended up being the next big chapter of my life.
Alison gave me a lot to think about, even if I’m not sure I bought into everything she said. That first trip did open me up to the idea that there are many more influences in our lives than we recognize. It had only been a couple of months since my first Reiki treatment with Helen where a startling connection to a past-life incident was brought to light and is chronicled in Ever-Flowing Streams.
I haven’t embarked on a speaking tour, but I have done a lot of radio shows and pod casts. At time of the session, I hadn’t lived much of what transpires in Ever-Flowing Streams. Some people are experiencing a “paradigm shift” after reading the book. So, maybe it wasn’t all just hocus-pocus.
Next installment–a fascinating book written by an Akashic Records Reader.
Akashic Record Readings--Do You Dare?
18 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
Last weekend I decided it was time to have an Akashic Record Reading with Supernal Friend, Helen, from Ripples of Light. After the session, I felt I’d gained some clarity and perspective on issues that are currently going on in my life. Upon reflection, the Records seemed an apt subject for Supernal Living.
What are Akashic Records? Metaphysical literature is rich with references to the records.
