Mystic Blog Friday, July 29, 2005
New Tea Leaf Reading Posted: How Can I Overcome Poverty?
If you're registered to receive my free monthly newsletter, you're automaticaly entered in my monthly drawing for a free tea leaf reading. This month's winner asked an important question, one which many of us can relate to. She asked how she could overcome financial problems.
The symbol which came up in her tea leaf reading was very interesting. You won't want to miss the Lipstick Mystic's response and some important "action points" you can put into practice in your own life if you're ready to embrace a frequency of greater financial abundance.
How to Overcome Money Blocks
Mystic Blog Thursday, July 28, 2005
Mercury Retrograde Business Cards
Here are my three Mercury retrograde tales for the day.
1) I went to pick up business cards that had been promised to me weeks ago but were delayed at the printer's. When they presented them to me, they were completely messed up. The colors didn't match the ones in the original logo and entire sections of the design didn't even end up in the final printed version of the cards. So I had to send them back.
2) My honey was groggy when he got up this morning. He went about his usual chores feeding our huge herd of cats, cleaning up, etc. At some point he turned the dishwasher on but didn't even realize he had done this. A little later he heard the dishwasher going and wondered why on earth I had turned it on, and when had I come downstairs, anyway? (I'm a late riser and wouldn't normally sneak down first thing with the intention of running the dishwasher.) Finally, he realized that he had started it in his half-asleep stupor. Only four glasses were in it when he ran it. Now they're REALLY REALLY CLEAN.
3) The UPS guy came to deliver some stuff and said he had been having problems with his little meter reader thingie -- you know, the thing they use to scan the code on your package. He specifically said it had only been acting up for the last few days -- since Monday. Mercury, you'll remember, just went into retrograde late Friday night, so Monday would have been the first day the UPS guy was making deliveries during retrograde. It was only since retrograde that his machine was giving him problems. He says it never gave him any trouble before this.
Okay, these are my retrograde tales for the day. Send me yours and I'll post them -- anonymously, if you wish.
Mystic Blog Wednesday, July 27, 2005
A Case of Demonic Possession or Too Many Anchovies on That Pizza?
Here's a case of a poor woman who is aware that she has several unpleasant entities which have taken up residence within her. She's sought exorcism and healing from a variety of priests but has never experienced relief. Some priests haven't even done any prayer work over her at all, marginalizing her suffering and wasting her time.
Woman Possessed by Demons
Is demonic possesion real? Yes.
Is it common? Yes.
Are our healers, ministers, priests, and spiritual counselors trained to address these issues? No.
One shining exception to this rule is a psychiatrist named Shakuntal Modi whose book, Remarkable Healings, describes case after case of patients who had discarnate attachments (spirits of dead people) and/or demonic presences (dark beings NOT human in origin) stuck within their physical bodies.
Prayer and focused intent can remove these critters from the physical and etheric bodies. But we're so conditioned by our churches not to handle this stuff for ourselves that there is truly an epidemic of demonic overshadowing and at least partial possession going on in our society right now. This, I and many other healers have come to believe, is the root of all illness.
The numerous people I've been privileged to work on and been able to clear out through a combination of directed prayer and shamanic healing techniques have always gotten better, and many had their conditions completely reverse.
I don't make house calls, however, as the need for this work is so vast and overwhelming that I could never handle it all on my own. So my work is all about writing articles and forthcoming books and newsletters to provide YOU with information about what you can do to clear out negative gunk on your own.
You needn't be a priest to do this. Our priests aren't taught how to do this anymore, and I'm growing very tired of the dozens of people who have told me that they have sought help from their priest and found that the guy hadn't a clue what he was going and provided zero relief. It's tragic.
If spirit release work interests you as a healing modality, order Shakuntal Modi's Remarkable Healings today. It will give you great information that isn't hard to put into practice.
Remarkable
Healings: A Psychiatrist Discovers Unsuspected Roots
of Mental and Physical Illness
And stay tuned for my forthcoming ebook: The High Spirits Handbook: How to Banish Bad Vibes for Good. Read about it here.
Mystic Blog Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Mercury Retrograde Filing System
I guess you can now say, "I told you so." Here I've been writing in my various articles that Mercury retrograde times inevitably hold a light up to anything that you've been avoiding in your life, giving you the opportunity to face this stuff fully in the face. It's not always fun, but you do learn something from the process.
Well, we astrologers are not immune Mercury retrograde, even though we like to think we're so smart about planetary trends that the energy doesn't have to affect us so strongly. I mean, we've spent years studying this stuff, so we'll never be taken by surprise, right?
Wrong.
One of the dirty little secrets about my life -- well, not dirty in the sense of bawdy nights of naked passion but dirty in the sense of being unkempt or untidy -- is that I HATE to organize my papers. My idea of filing is piling things in multiple piles on my long desk until the piles start to flow together into one huge monster pile.
I look at it this way -- I know where everything is, because it's all there in the pile. Just don't time me with a stopwatch if I need to find something quickly, because it may take me a while to poke around the piles. First I have to make sure that there are no old sandwiches lurking about or snack plates stuck in there and that all of the organic components have been removed. (I'm notorious for nibbling at my desk and leaving the plates there for, um, days or weeks at a time. Gee, you'd never know I'm a Virgo, would you? We're supposed to be tidy.)
Well, I was dreading today because I knew I was going to have to address the piles in order to put together all of the documents I needed to get my driver's license renewed. I had to find my new passport, my Social Security Card, recent bank statements, etc. and so on ad nauseum. I knew all this stuff was nearby, I just didn't know which LAYER it was sitting in.
So I started digging this morning.
I realized, as I poked through scary piles of cat fur (the cats often nap on my desk and leave me souvenirs,) snack plates (empty of food but still messy,) and writer's notes (I make lots of notes on things I plan to write about and then lose the notes,) that there are probably people in the world whose filing system is a bit more efficient than mine. They may have their piles broken down into categories. They may even have them nicely tucked away in file cabinets or file folders. I've heard rumors about such things.
That always seems like too much work for a creative type like me. When I sit down at my desk, I want to immediately get typing on the computer and work on something instead of sitting around going through papers. Besides, I tell myself, if a cat is sitting on my papers, I'm not going to uproot the cat.
This morning I became aware that I had at some point recently made a half-assed effort at sorting through some papers. I had started putting things away in a plastic bag that was sitting under my desk. "Hmm," I wondered today. "What's in there?"
I could no longer remember which category of papers I had started sorting in the plastic bag. So I took a look.
YUCCKKKKKOOOEEEEKBLEAGH!
One of the cats -- no doubt our male tabby Teddy, who is known to make editorial "comments" on items left on the floor-- had recently expressed the same level of annoyance about filing as I usually feel. I just don't act on my annoyance in quite the, um, same, smelly way.
Yep. Old Teddy had taken a manly cat whiz right there on my nicely sorted pile of -- well, that's the thing. I could no longer figure out WHAT exactly had been sorted into the plastic bag because of the overwhelming odeur du Tomcat now emanating from the bag.
I had little choice but to do some major excavations on the bag, which involved spreading everything out on paper towels down in the kitchen and painstakingly -- and painfully -- going through each document to see if it needed to be dried out or thrown out.
I have to say this was one of the nastiest chores I have ever had the mispleasure of being involved with. And I live on a farm, where life has a tendency to be organic and smelly. So you know this was bad.
After an hour of sorting, cursing, and mumbling, I discovered that no important documents like my passport or anything had been stuck in the bag. Whew. So that was good. It was just old bank statements and bills, some of which had evidence of deductions I'll want to make on this year's taxes. I sifted through the keepers and tossed out the rest.
What's the moral of this harrowing tale?
Well, I suppose there are several.
1) Even if you think you're a hotshit astrologer who knows everything, you can still experience humbling Mercury retrograde-inspired events that test your patience;
2) The retrograde energy seemed destined to shine a light on the fact that I really need to be more organized with my papers -- or else the cats will take care of this for me, and this is NOT desired;
3) Virgos are not all neat and tidy as the classical books on astrology would have you believe; actually, most of us are unapologetic slobs who merely clean up nicely for important occasions.
Here's to better filing and fewer cats in the office.
Mystic Blog Monday, July 25, 2005
Send Me Your Mercury Retrograde Stories!
Since we're in Mercury retrograde, I'm asking readers to send me their personal accounts of unusual interpersonal glitches, brain freezes (you know, those embarrassing moments when your IQ suddenly plummets for no apparent reason) and travel woes.
Mercury's electromagnetic field affects the smooth flow of things, and when it's in retrograde, sometimes things aren't so smooth. Here are some stories readers sent me last summer about their Mercury retrograde adventures. You can send me yours at editor(at)lipstickmystic.com.
Retrograde lasts until August 15th, so you may wish to collect several stories over this time and send them to me closer to the end of this retrograde period.
Dear Lipstick Mystic:
I walk into my Animal Physiology lecture at 9am in the Human Sciences Building. I sit down, don't notice anything weird. Maybe just a different smell -- and why the hell is everyone making paper darts?
The lecture starts. Weird, I've never heard of "Material Physics Tutorial" before. There’s a question from the tutor. Guess who has to answer? Yup. "What is the resultant force when friction is subtracted from the thrust of the object in question, taking into consideration the yaw involved?" I reply "I'm in the wrong lecture." I get up and walk out, laughter follows me down the street. It was fun.
Dear Lipstick Mystic:
In Mazatlan, Mexico where I am now living, I have a TV in my apartment which has free cable. The TV comes with the apartment. On Thursday early morning we had a thunderstorm with lightning and I heard some sort of muffled noise (inside the apartment, I thought) as it progressed.
When I finally got up, everything seemed to be working. But last night, I decided to watch one of the NFL exhibition games on TV. I clicked power on the remote...and nada. The TV was DOA! The Olympics start today as well... And today is Friday the 13th. What a downer!!!
I hope the landlord will replace the TV since it came with the apartment. (Thank God that my two computers and DSL are fine. I'm holding my breath for the next 3 weeks!)
Hey Lipstick!
So that's why things are going foo foo lately! And here I thought it was because I was learning a new OS. Two nights ago I got hacked and my monitor almost blew up in my face! It had a payload and I only had 1 hour to get Windows off my drive before time ran out. So I thought, glancing at my newfound treasure on CD, okay, Linux it is! A good time to start learning!
I tried installing Linux programs and nothing but snags there too! Well, at least I have the Net. But I lost all my research, bookmarks and address books. Worse yet, I don't remember their email addies...no!!!! So all in all, I'm embarking on the mystical lands of Linux , slaying new bugs and trolls, ever lurking among fresh new folders.
Hmm...I noticed dyslexia is more prevalent lately too? I sure noticed it in myself! Spell check please!
Mystic,
Just found out that all the checks I mailed Monday were from a closed checking account. I had grabbed a new checkbook to pay bills. It looked a lot like my active account, but it turns out it was the closed one.
This sucks! Returned fees charged are going to be over $150.
Dear Lipstick Mystic:
It all went weird starting this morning. The previous evening I purchased an ugly rubber rat as a joke for my cats. I placed it in front of my front door on the inside of the house. On my way to work, I picked the rubber rat up and stepped outside only to discover a real dead rat.
On my way to my car, I discovered that a huge German Shepherd dog had somehow gotten into my fenced and gated side yard. It was sitting right below the new "Beware of Dog" sign I had put up a few days earlier. (I don't own a dog and put the sign up as a theft deterrent).
Okay, I got to work and sat in my car for my morning break when my car alarm went off. This is hard to explain as I had opened the car with the key and the alarm sounded ten minutes after I had gone into the car. Normally, the alarm is deactivated when the key is inserted into the ignition - not today. The alarm just kept alarming. I finally deactivated the alarm by inserting the key into the door lock (which was unlocked).
By the way, I was in my car because I was smoking a cigarette -- which is not allowed where I work. It seems that today the truth came out, or became true. The fake rat/real rat; fake dog sign/real dog; and my car told the truth about my illegal smoking.
Hope tomorrow is an easier day.
Mystic Blog Wednesday, July 20, 2005
**Note: This Blog is on Vacation Until Next Monday When the Mystic Returns!
What Happens During Mercury Retrograde
In response to readers asking me more about what might be expected during this upcoming Mercury retrograde time, I've written a new article in my Astro-Updates section. Mercury goes retrograde this Friday, July 22nd at 10:59 pm Eastern Daylight Time in the sign of Leo, and it stays retrograde until August 15th, 11:49 pm EDT.
But never fear! The Lipstick Mystic is here to tell you what you can do about it.
What Happens During Mercury Retrograde
Mystic Blog Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Terry Pratchett Rules, J.K. Rowling Drools
The American Library Association reports that between 1999 and 2002 there were "more attempts to ban J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books than any other titles."
I can understand that, to a point. After all, the books are an in-your-face metaphor for occult initiation, and they include enough of the core ideas and practices of many esoteric traditions to make some people nervous.
Of course, J.K. Rowling stole a lot of her ideas from the far superior writer, Terry Pratchett. If you haven't read any of his Discworld books, pick one up today, immediately. It doesn't matter which one you pick up, you can read them out of order. You'll thank me later.
Since the 80's, Pratchett has been pretty much the most famous writer in the U.K., having written multiple bestsellers. There is simply no way that the Brit Rowling could have started her own literary career while being completely oblivious to Pratchett's work, the landscape of his Discworld novels, and the core characters. You can really see how much she patterned her Potter books on Pratchett, especially if you read the Potter books first and the Discworld novels second, as I did. It's so obvious that it catches your breath and makes you wonder why she's getting away with it. Why aren't reviewers calling her on it? It's bizarre.
Pratchett's books are humorous, insightful, and exciting fantasy books. Take one part Monty Python, add one part Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and put in a dash of Stuart Wilde (a wonderful metaphysical author and lecturer - see his site at http://www.stuartwilde.com) and you'll have some idea of what Pratchett has been up to for the last twenty years. He's written some 30 books in the Discworld series alone, and the books touch on everything from holographic theory to time travel to the ancient women's "mystery" traditions (i.e. the proper medicinal use of herbs, the path of personal service to a community, the compassionate study of human nature....you know, the stuff that always gets you burned in any "decent" society if you happen to practice it.)
The most hilarious recurring characters in Pratchett's books are the wizards of Unseen University, who operate a school that sits slightly outside of the "normal" dimension. Their various magical mishaps tend to creates holes in the fabric of space/time, to great dramatic effect. Damned good storytelling.
I began reading the Potter books long before I discovered Pratchett. This year, I rapidly devoured Pratchett's books like a ravenous jaguar who suddenly realizes she's been starved all of her life for GENUINE, QUALITY antelopes, but now she's found a batch of delectable ones, with really tasty crunchy bits. I now dismiss the Potter material as the derivative stuff it is. Rowling's Hogwarts School is a pale imitation of Unseen University. The universal themes Rowling tries to cover in her books are nothing compared to the vast, humanistic and often deeply moving territory that Pratchett manages to get into.
You know how everyone always used to say Fred Astaire was such a great dancer in all those movies he did with Ginger Rogers? But the truth was that Ginger was better, because she not only did all the same moves as he did, but she did them backwards, WHILE WEARING HIGH HEELS.
Well, Pratchett is the far superior writer, the effortlessly skilled Ginger to Rowling's scene-stealing (and very short) Astaire. Pratchett is a satirist who doesn't just poke fun at humanity's foibles - he creates moments of deeply affecting emotional truth along with the hilarity. His writing has about three or four hysterical ideas per page, and the man has somehow maintained this for a series of 30 books.
All I remember from the last Harry Potter book was Harry running around yelling and behaving like a bratty, self-involved teenager. And this went on for, like, 800 pages. Put him in detention, already.
If I wanted to hang out with a bratty teenager, I'd order one off of eBay or step into a time machine and revisit my own misguided youth.
Spending time with Pratchett is a lot more fun. And while you're reading him, you might even learn something real about life, humanity, and the often mystical energy that permeates creation - 'cause Pratchett's pen is attuned to the cosmic pulse like no other author writing today.
Mystic Blog Monday, July 18, 2005
Astrologycom.com and Rob Tillett's Analysis of London Attacks
My colleague, Rob Tillett, is an excellent astrologer who maintains an extensive website about all things astrological and spiritual. He's posted an in depth analysis of some of the trends that were happening around the time of the London attacks which might possibly shed light on the volatility of that terrible time.
It's very good - do have a look:
Analysis of London Attacks
And if you have time, you might also check out his discussion of the upcoming Mercury retrograde. (Yes, it's that time again.) Mercury goes retrograde in Leo this coming Friday, July 22nd at 10:59 pm Eastern Daylight Time. It remains in retrograde until August 15th at 11:49 pm EDT. Here's his article about it:
Rob Tillett on Mercury Retrograde July 22nd
As you'll recall, Mercury is the planet that rules the energy that connects people, places, and things. Interpersonal energy can feel a bit "bumpy" during these times, and it's easy to lash out in anger when you don't really intend to. Physical places can go through their own "psychic earthquakes," and chaotic weather patterns can strike with a fearsome force. And various forms of technology, from car engines to computer hard drives, can suddenly suffer from "glitches."
The best way to handle Mercury retrograde is to purposefully slow yourself down, chill out, remain calm. Get out of your own head and start thinking about other people for a while. It's a great time to practice compassion and empathy because others around you will no doubt be experiencing some form of disruption, and you'll earn extra spiritual "brownie points" if you're there to lend a helping hand.
Mystic Blog Friday, July 15, 2005
One Out of Three Americans Believes in Ghosts
You may have heard that a recent Gallup poll showed that one out of three Americans believes in ghosts. This announcement has been met by the usual mainstream media reaction, which runs along the lines of "Oh, those poor uneducated souls who are wrapped up in old supersitions! How quaint they are!" with some self-righteous chuckles thrown in for good measure. "Look at those people, they believe in spooks. But we're too smart for that!"
When people ask me if I believe in ghosts, I reply that, to an energy sensitive, that's a bit like asking if the sky is really blue or will the sun come up in the morning. You must be kidding, right?
I suppose you could say it's another one of my pet causes, to educate people about what happens to the spirit after the death and how so many discarnates remain attached to this realm after death, especially if their passing was marked by unusual trauma. Case in point the recent London attacks or last year's tragic tsunami.
Right now healers across the world are working hard with various tools to close up the dark dimensional doorways that were opened up during the recent London attacks. And they are focused on clearing the stuck discarnates out and gently and lovingly sending them off to a better place.
This is constant, ongoing work. It's being done all the time because of the massive blood harvests still happening in Iraq, Afghanistan, so many countries in Africa, and more. If you're attuned and you're living on this planet right now, there will never be any end to the spiritual housekeeping work that needs to be done.
I can't tell you how many "ghosts" (i.e. trapped discarnates) I've been privileged to interact with and attempt to bring healing to over the past twenty years. The numbers are too large. All energy sensitives I know are usually drawn to doing this work at some point because 9/10ths of our fellow human beings prefer to remain ignorant about the complexities of the soul's passage from one realm to the next and the problems that can arise.
I look at it this way. Would YOU like to be trapped between dimensions, like a phantom on a TV screen, peering into this world yet unable to interact with it? At the same time, you're energetically imbalanced because of all the trauma you've been through, so you can't find your way to any higher dimension. Your innate sense of spiritual navigation has been temporarily thrown off, and you need help.
When it's YOU who's in trouble, then the whole issue will have assume a lot more meaning.
Until then, I and others like me remain your comic relief, your stool pigeons, your target practice. It's a good thing most of us have stocked up on a supply of clown's noses.
Editor and Publisher's Summary of Gallup Findings
Extensive Poll from 2001 About Belief in Paranomal
Mystic Blog Thursday, July 14, 2005
The Importance of Obtaining Confirmation with Psychic Work
A lot of people think that psychics are simply pulling information out of the ether and relying upon stuff that is revealed to them without seeking confirmation that what they've sensed is true. This isn't what I've found among the energy sensitives I know. Most of them spend years, if not a lifetime, working hard to sharpen and fine-tune their abilities, but at the same time they are always seeking confirmation that their accuracy levels are there. If what they're getting has no basis in concensus reality, this world of three dimensions, then it's useless on a practical level - just so much airy fairy nonsense.
The good psychics and gifted healers I know are also very grounded people, rooted in "3-D." They know it's important to blend the right brain's intuition with the left brain's logic. The left brain's analytical abilities bring coherence, a framework and structure, to the often non-linear impressions that arrive through the right brain. You really need to use the whole brain to access psychic and healing abilities well.
True psychic information has a certain feel to it, and I've come to recognize those moments of "knowing that goes beyond knowing." Even so, the best of psychics can get it wrong, especially if they are tired, ill, or preoccupied. So intuitives have a responsibility to monitor their own energy states and to make sure that what they are doing is accurate.
This is all a roundabout way of saying that, while I constantly welcome insights from the intuitive side of me, I also seek confirmation that what I'm picking up makes sense so as not to get off track.
Case in point: Last week, I was up late one night and couldn't sleep. I found that the local devas, those beings attuned to the natural world, wanted to talk with me. Think of devas as the managers of the Earth, the guardian angels of the plants, the stones, the trees, the weather. We have a lovely wood deva out back in the woods who has given me valuable information over the years, provided critical information that has prevented my physical harm plus countless priceless "downloads" about the wonders of the natural world. (Don't worry - I always take notes! Future books will include much of this information.)
But I wasn't really focused on psychic communication and was thinking about a million other things. So I briefly tuned into the devas but felt that perhaps I didn't hear the complete message that they wanted to give me. I "heard" them with my inner ear as I usually do, but my own psychic clarity wasn't great that night, so the information sort of faded in and out. I asked them yes/no questions to try to obtain more information, but pretty soon I was tired and needed to go to bed. Our dialogue stopped for the night.
I had been shown the image of some kind of crack or fissure opening up in the ley line that runs through this property. We've had to do a lot of work balancing out this ley line because it was horribly out of whack for a long time. Various Indian tribes had fought in the area centuries ago, brother against brother creating bloodshed. The collective psychic distress of that had been imprinted here. Then there were problems with the multiple generations of settlers who had lived here. (Some of the information we received psychically was later verified by a man whose family used to live here.) Then there was the black magician, a lonely, desperate, and psychotic woman, who used to live here before us and who opened up lots of negative energy doorways during her stay.
We did a lot of shamanic work over several years closing up negative energy portals and restoring balance to a key ley line here, but it was still a delicate area, prone to problems. The devas were showing me that more negative portals had popped open very recently, and they were showing me an image of the effects - a vision of the cracks getting worse, stuff leaking in and out, energy being distorted, the area becoming unstable.
This made sense to me because over the last two days I had noticed our animals acting a bit manic or distressed, nothing too severe, but something was bothering them.
I kept asking the devas, "Was this an earthquake that caused this?" because the effects they showed me seemed to be similar to what might happen after an earthquake. They very clearly said no, it was not an earthquake, but the aftereffects were similar.
I couldn't tune in any more that night but I promised that we would look into doing some drumming and healing work for the area soon.
Friday night, two dogs showed up here, and they looked like they had perhaps run away from a dog walker or dog sitter. We called the owner whose info was listed on their ID tags and contacted the police, some business owners in the area, and anybody else we could think of. Meanwhile, we put these cute and friendly dogs - a German shepherd mix and a lab mix - in one of the barn stalls so they would stay put until their mummy and daddy could come for them. They had out of state tags, we noticed.
The owner's brother-in-law came the next morning. I didn't talk to him because I wasn't up yet, but my honey did. All turned out fine - the doggies had somehow gotten out of the house where the man was keeping the doggies while his out-of-state brother-in-law visited. The house was nearby, and it was nice meeting this neighbor.
My honey later mentioned that our neighbor asked him about a recent blast at a nearby quarry. There's a quarry that's only about a mile away from us. Usually, we don't hear the workers and aren't aware of anything going on there. But this man said there had been a huge blast the other day in the middle of the day and he asked if my honey had heard it.
We were probably out the day that the blast happened, because we didn't hear it. BUT......going back to how confirmation is important with psychic stuff....here was my confirmation about what the devas were telling me. There had been an unusual, strong explosion at the quarry, which sits right on this touchy ley line, and THAT was what had obviously created the cracks and the fissures in the etheric that the devas were so urgently telling me about.
It HADN'T been an earthquake - yet its effects were rather like an earthquake. The pieces finally fit together.
Confirmation usually does come when you're piecing together psychically derived information. You just have to notice it when it's delivered to you!
And the Universe has an incredibly organic and synchronistic way of giving you the information you need, when you need it. When those two dogs got loose and showed up here, I felt that they had been "sent" for some reason. I couldn't figure out the reason. Then after the man delivered that information about the quarry blast, it made sense. How else would we have found that out? Nobody else in the area mentioned it, and the quarry doesn't advertise what it's doing. So this man and his loose dogs became the messenger bringing us important information about what was happening to the land.
Messages are being delivered to us all the time in so many forms. It's up to us to start paying attention to them.
Mystic Blog Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Dreams of My Dead Grandpa
My mom's dad, whom I called Grandpa, was the sweetest guy. I never got to know him very well because he lived in Kansas, where my mom grew up, and I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania. But occasionaly he and my Grandma would make the long trip across country by car or we'd fly out to spend some time with them. I cherished the time I had with these distant members of my family. I loved pulling them closer so I could feel and sense them, their energies, their personalities, and get to know the things they were occupied with in their daily lives.
In this age when family members are usually separated by tremendous distances, it takes extra effort to connect with the "tribe." But it's very important to be with family. We don't just share a genetic lineage with our family, we also share a spiritual lineage. There are themes that occur among family members that are about higher purpose, spiritual healing, and creativity. If you don't ever get to see your family, you can lose sight of the very reasons why you incarnated together.
Grandpa was a sweet, funny guy, rather shy and gentle. When I knew him he was long retired from dairy farming, which had been his primary occupation. He was a huge sports fan and a skilled card and cribbage player. (Cribbage is this game involving a little peg board that looks like a miniature racetrack. You play hands of cards and move your pegs around the board.) He taught me cribbage during some of his visits to our house, and that was fun.
My Grandpa was born under the sign of Pisces, and he was married to my Grandma, who was a Cancer, and he was the father of my mom, who is a Cancer. This was a family filled with Water sign people. Water signs are very sensitive, and they are empathic. They're not usually aggressive people unless they have been terribly wounded sometime in their lives, because they instantly pick up on how aggressive behavior scares and harms other people. Their psychic radar is very strong. Every Water sign I've ever known has been very psychic, and most of them didn't know it. To them, being sensitive is simply HOW THEY ARE. They don't think about putting labels on their natural way of being.
Although Grandpa and I were almost always separated by distance, we had a psychic connection that revealed itself from time to time. I'll never forget one night in the mid 90's when Grandpa appeared in a vivid dream that wasn't a dream - more of a waking vision, really - and he asked me, "How can I help you?" I was really thrown by this. It was such a strong spirit visitation, he was practically materializing in flesh and blood form right there in my bedroom, I worried that he might have just died. I'm always visited for three days by people I know who have died, because it takes three days for a spirit to "tie up loose ends" in this world before withdrawing to higher, less energetically dense, dimensions. And I can hear these souls and often have lovely conversations and very emotional, heartfelt chats with them. Death, dying, the heavenly dimensions, and also the phenonemon of ghosts will be covered in some of my future writing. There's a whole book right there!
Anyway, I immediately called my mom after I had my vision of my Grandpa and told her I was worried about him, was he okay? And she checked, and he was fine. Nothing had happened to him.
But in the last years of his life Grandpa was being looked after by the kind ladies at a nursing home, and I think he was starting to journey more and more out of body during his naps and so forth. So it was neat that he decided to visit me and amazing that he should express himself in such a specific way. "How can I help you?"
At the time, as has been true with my whole life, really, I was working on several books and hoping to one day be published. When I had the vision of Grandpa, I remember saying, "Um, well, I'd love a book contract with Bantam Books, but I don't think you can do anything about that. But I welcome any help you can give me!"
I didn't want to put my Grandpa to "work," but then, he did ask how he could help me!
I went through many torturous ensuing years with blind alleys and lots of attack happening whenever I tried to get a book published. Competing authors, whose support I was seeking, would psychically attack me in their dream bodies. And that was just the multi-dimensional aspect. The real world stuff was pretty bad, too. But I kept writing, because I can barely keep up with all the amazing things the world of Spirit has taught me, and I want to share as much of it as possible with others.
Years later, in 2002, I finally starting working with some literary agents. One was horrible, one was wonderful. The wonderful one actually interested a new editor at Bantam Books in my book, but the energy of the company didn't feel right to me, and I was glad when their editorial board eventually turned it down.
About 50% of the editors at mainstream publishing houses liked my writing and my book, but they told me my "platform" wasn't big enough. Some of them said I needed my own TV show. Excuse me - I thought writers were supposed to write? If I'd known I was going to need a TV show to publish a book, I would have gotten one first!
Actually, at the time, a major producer in Hollywood was circulating a pitch based on my unpublished humorous memoir about dating, life, etc. in my twenties as a psychic to turn it into a sitcom. We had nibbles from a few networks, but ultimately, they wanted me to have a book first. So - the book people told me I needed a TV show. The TV people told me I needed a book.
And then I discovered that I was moving into the territory where, if I published through a smaller publisher, while there can be many benefits to that, I wouldn't make any money up front, at all. And I learned the horrors (the unvarnished stuff they don't tell you at freelance writing conferences) of the economics of book publishing today. I would be tied up for two years or more simply creating and marketing the book before I'd see a dime. And then I'd be lucky to make a dollar per each book sold.
Royalties would only be paid to me quarterly, and publishers are NOTORIOUS for "cooking the books" around how many books are actually sold. Authors can ask to audit the financials at a book company, but it doesn't make them any friends doing so. The author is purposefully kept in the dark throughout the entire process about how much income their intellectual property is generating for the company. Another part of the equation most authors aren't aware of is that books by minor authors (i.e. anyone who isn't Stephen King) are usually only kept on the shelves at major bookstores for about three months. So you have about three months to make your mark, and that's it. From that point on, readers have to seek out your work and order it from Amazon or from the bookstores. But how will they know about your book if it's already been buried by the publishing system? That's the conundrum so many authors face today. I knew I could become a much better shepherd for my books if I took complete reponsibility for them.
So that's why I've moved towards a self-publishing model. I'm publishing an ebook first because so many people have been clamoring for the information and LipstickMystic.com isn't yet generating enough income to enable me to do it as a self-published work. Plus, I literally have 40 or 50 books behind this one, which would take me about 1.5 million dollars to publish even in a small print run. Ebooks, on the other hand, can come out much more quickly (and inexpensively.) I'm hoping to have The High Spirits Handbook: How to Banish Bad Vibes for Good out by my birthday, which is September 5th. Look for it to show up soon!
Anyway, back to my Grandpa. I had this incredibly vivid dream this morning in which I was getting together with some of my family and Grandpa was there. Although he was a little frail, he looked good, and he was even driving us around in a car at one point in the dream. As the dream progressed, we all went somewhere for dinner, and as we walked in to share a meal together, Grandpa and I stood off to the side and I gave him this big, long hug. We just held each other for the longest time. I was so overcome with love for him and I realized how much I missed him and was grateful to see him. I told him how glad I was to see him, and he said he was glad to see me, too, and we were both flooded with tides of emotion.
I woke up from the dream struck by the sense of absolute reality, the complete physicality and emotional truth of the dream. I feel my Grandpa's presence strongly around me today. I need to meditate and tune in to see if he has some messages for me.
Mainly, though, I think his message is a simple one - one of the neverending links of love that remain strong, even from one dimension to the next. It's a nice thing to be reminded of. Thank you, Grandpa!
Mystic Blog Tuesday, July 12, 2005
There's a Psychic in the Room! Run for the Hills!
One misconception people have is that if you have psychic abilities then they must be operating 100% of the time at 100% accuracy. This is a bit like saying if you’re a ballplayer then you must be playing ball 24 hours a day, hitting only home runs.
There’s some EFFORT involved with accessing the more psychic aspects of ourselves. While most psychics have a pretty wide radar and are more sensitive than the average person, it’s not like we’re suddenly bowled over with psychic visions immediately when we get up in the morning. It doesn’t work that way.
For some reason, men can be especially clueless about this. I’ve lost count of the times when I’m introduced to men in a casual social setting and I talk a little about the field I’m in. If I happen to mention the word “psychic” anywhere in the conversation, it’s a hot button that stirs up all manner of discomfort. The men squirm as if they have an itch in a painful place.
I finally realized that men have a tendency to regard any woman who mentions that she’s psychic as some sort of scary mind reader who is instantly going to perceive any skeletons he has lurking in the closet. I remember how uncomfortable this one radio deejay was when his on air producer pressured him to get a reading from me live on the air. After I started the reading, I understood why – the man was gay and wasn’t “out” to his coworkers or to his listeners on the popular radio station where he worked. And he must have been afraid I would mention something about it. I wish he had trusted me more to protect his privacy, because I was on his side. I didn’t want to hurt him. He was kind enough to have me on the show – why on earth would I attack him?
Then there are the guys who aren’t being faithful to their lady of the moment who get all paranoid that I’ll spill the beans on them. These are the ones who tend to make a mad dash to the other side of the room after they hear about my work. “Oh, you’re a psychic, that’s nice, mumble mumble, gotta run!”
Let me make two things clear. Number One: I’d never “out” a public figure in a reading on the air; that would be terribly inappropriate.
And Number Two – for you paranoid cheaters out there: Don’t assume I’m so interested in your tawdry little lives that I’m wasting my psychic energies scanning you all the time. Karma will serve up its own sweet dish to you soon enough. There's no need for me to play relationship cop.
Mystic Blog Monday, July 11, 2005
The Instant Conspiracy Generator
Tee-hee! I just found this link to an online “conspiracy generator.” Do you remember Mad Libs from the 70’s and 80’s? They were these little books where you would fill in words at random -- say, choosing a verb, then a noun, then an adverb. At the very end after you’d come up with these words, the person writing them down would read back the Mad Lib to you, which was usually a little story about something entirely normal like walking the dog. But, of course, with the nonsensical words you had inserted into the story, the story changed a lot -– usually with humorous results.
I even believe there were X-rated Mad Libs for a while, although with the friends I played with, our Mad Libs always seemed to turn out on the risqué side. Anyway, this is a link to a sort of conspiracy Mad Lib generator. You insert words and then click “return” and it generates your own very special conspiracy! Here’s the one it generated for me:
What They Don't Want You to Know
In order to understand lizard possession of Earth you need to realize that everything is controlled by the media made up of royal bluebloods with help from Illuminati.
The conspiracy first started during American Revolution in Cincinnati. They have been responsible for many events throughout history, including Paris Hilton sex tape release.
Today, members of the conspiracy are everywhere. They can be identified by buying Paris Hilton's tapes.
They want to binge and purge Newt Gingrich and imprison resisters in Texas using buses.
In order to prepare for this, we all must blow something up. Since the media is controlled by Al Franken we should get our information from Bush.
To create a conspiracy of your very own, go to:
Conspiracy Generator
Mystic Blog Friday, July 8, 2005
Blood on the Moon, Scrying and Having Psychic Visions
A reader writes in to share her experiences with seeing "blood on the moon." You won't want to miss this Q & A dialogue about psychic visions, premonitions, and scrying.
Read all about it here.
Mystic Blog Thursday, July 7, 2005
Prayers for Londonites Plus a Lipstick Mystic Rant
First of all, let's open our hearts in prayer for all Londoners and residents of the UK who were blasted with negative energy during the terrible terrorist attacks in London today. Invoke the Creator, the angels and spiritual guides (or whichever aspects of a Higher Power you feel comfortable with) to clear the affected parts of the city of all chaotic energies, heal those who were harmed by these attacks, and gently usher the spirits of people who perished off to the loving arms of the Creator. May they all experience peace again.
We love you, London, and we're sending you big, fat, energy hugs.
Meanwhile, on a completely unrelated subject, I posted a Lipstick Mystic rant today on a few topics. You're welcome to read it here:
Lipstick Mystic Rant: On Energy Wisdom, Name Calling, and the Metaphysical Community - 7/7/05
Mystic Blog Wednesday, July 6, 2005
New Moon in Cancer Today 8:02 am Eastern Daylight Time
There's an emotional new moon happening today in the sign of Cancer at 8:02 am. Cancer is a highly intuitive Water sign whose psyche is like a high resolution film. Cancerians pick up on everything that is going on around them, absorbing emotional energy like a sponge. This new moon will be especially strong for Water signs Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. It will also be powerful for people who have their moon sign or ascendant/rising sign in a Water sign.
Everyone should anticipate having their emotions intensified and their psychic radar taken up a notch. All of the signs will receive a spiritual boost from this new moon period. The energy of this time lasts a few days, so meditate, pray, or do affirmations focusing on increasing the good things in your life. And experiment with writing yourself a new moon abundance check, too! Scroll down this home page to find links to my series of articles about abundance checks.
Don't miss my new article posted today:
Why is it So Hard to Meditate During New Moon Plus Tweaks for Writing New Moon Abundance Checks - 7/6/05
Mystic Blog Tuesday, July 5, 2005
A Love Letter to LipstickMystic.com Fans
Many of my loyal readers from past forums I've contributed to have kindly found their way to this website. This has always been my primary base of operations, the place where I share goodies like my Mystic Mail advice column, my periodic astrology updates, and articles about healing and spirituality. So I'm extending a big energy hug to all new visitors to my site! Many special features will be added in the months to come, so stick around. And have you tried the Fortune Chicken yet? If you're feeling fowl, she's always good for a giggle.
Also, I'd like to thank all of you who have signed up for my free monthly newsletter. Thanks, too, to the people who have been subscribing to my paid astrology newsletter, Spirit of the Stars. I'm focusing on growing my online publishing business, and I'm grateful for every reader who has expressed an interest in my work. You rock! You rock even more than Pink Floyd did at their reunion during the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park! You rock more than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Mr. and Mrs. Smith (a really funny and sexy movie, by the way!) You rock more than homemade vanilla ice cream on the Fourth of July! I could go on, but I won't.
For those of you who have been thinking about subscribing, your subscription to Spirit of the Stars not only provides you with exclusive weekly astrology updates, but your subscription fee goes to help support the continued production of exciting guest interviews, how-to articles on psychic development, and the other goodies you've come to expect here at LipstickMystic.com. You can read a past issue of Spirit of the Stars here:
Click here to read astro-trends for all the signs for June 24 - June 30th
Okay, I need to get back to work now. Preparing new material for this site takes a lot of behind the scenes work. It's been especially challenging teaching the hippo to dance. But I'm not giving up!
Click here to read past blog entries.
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