Dear Lipstick Mystic,

I had an interesting thing happen to me about four weeks ago. I think you'll agree, and I wanted to share it with you. It was a Tuesday night right before I was heading to bed (I am such a night owl.) I always love to check out the moon before I go to bed. This is something I've done since I was a baby (my Mom can testify to that!) Anyway, that night I saw the ole blood on the moon and had the worst feeling that something bad was happening.

Well, the next morning I went into town to do some errands and most of the town was blocked off -- caution tape, police everywhere, paddy wagons, etc. I returned home and a couple minutes later there were helicopters (state police, mind you) hovering in our neighborhood (which is very quiet and remote.)

I'm standing on my deck and I see my neighbor and ask her "What the heck is going on?" Well, here there was a murder in one of the apartments in town and the man they were looking for lived in our neighborhood -- right across the way! Scary! Well, the search was on for this guy most of the day and around 6pm they got him in the woods near our house and he shot himself.

Now the first thing I think of is "Poor lost soul." It's so sad -- he shot his ex-wife, he had a history of violence, and he clearly needed help. Sad for both families! And it's sad he ended it that way.

So that's what happened. The last time I saw blood on the moon was before 9/11. I think I need to stop looking at the moon! What do you think about all of this?

-- Thanks so much, K.

Dear K.,

Thanks for sharing this powerful yet sad story.  Please do say some prayers for the distressed spirit of the man who shot himself and his poor ex-wife, as their souls no doubt need a lot of healing and clearing. You're probably already doing this!.

That's interesting that you were aware of something being wrong with the moon. My readers might not be familiar with the term "blood on the moon," but it's an old phrase that comes to us from many early folk traditions whose seers sometimes noticed a reddish or "blood-like" cast to the moon and found that this correlated with times of tragedy or violence.

Many psychics and visionaries believe that the moon can be our spiritual mirror that reflects things back to us. Some people are more attuned to this than others. It sounds like this is one of your natural psychic gifts.

What you're really doing when you gaze at the moon and focus on its energy is something called "scrying." You can read more about scrying on the Net. Scrying is simply relaxing your mind and going into a light state of psychic trance, usually while you are looking at an object. The object really can be anything. Some people will use a bowl of water. They can also use a pool of water if they are outside. I had one friend who liked to use the surface of a stream, reading patterns she saw reflected back at her from the water. She was a very gifted water scryer who could tell you just about anything about the past, the present and the probable future from looking at a stream (usually by moonlight.)

You can also use an actual mirror, a crystal, or a crystal ball. I had a crystal ball that was about two inches in diameter that I used to read with when I worked at several holistic fairs. I found this a very easy tool to use. No one taught me how to use it. I had already learned how to relax deeply, invoke my higher guidance, and open up my psychic vision. The crystal ball just acted as a blank screen for my eyes to focus on. Then the images and information would be "projected" within my inner eye, and I'd begin to interpret what I saw.

Some people like to use a candle flame, a campfire or fire buring in their fireplace to scry with. People are attracted to different mediums for scrying. It's best to go with what feels natural for you.

If you're a Water sign (born under the signs of Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces) you may feel especially attuned to water for scrying. If you're an Earth sign (Virgo like me, Taurus, or Capricorn,) you may respond best to stones and crystals which are taken from the earth. Fire signs like Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius tend to do well gazing at fire.  Air signs (Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius) are very adaptable and can use many different tools for successful scrying. Almost anything works for them.

Tea leaf reading is actually another form of scrying, and that's one that is a lot of fun. Every month I choose one subscriber to my free monthly newsletter, Lipstick Mystic News, and that person receives a free tea leaf reading from me. Since you're registered, it could be you!  I'll let you know if you win this month's drawing.

Seeing something as melodramatic as a dark cast or "blood" on the moon is very rare, and it does seem to correspond with a strong psychic warning telling you to pay attention and to be careful. 

But don't let such scary visions spook you too much - it sounds like you have natural scrying and visionary abilities you may want to work at developing. 

Good luck to you, and thanks for sharing your story!