The gamut…

I buy most of my greeting cards at Trader Joe’s, and it’s not only because they cost 99 cents each. No, it’s because the artwork is great, the store has a big selection, and they cost 99 cents each! Full disclosure, I buy one or two nearly every other time I’m at the store and have built up quite the assortment at home.

My collection runs the gamut of themes which include: Birthday, Blank Card, Just for Fun, Thank You, Thinking of You, Friendship, Congratulations, Encouragement, Wedding, Get Well, Sympathy and Seasonal. I definitely have a card for every occasion, and I put each one to very good use!

Some of my favorite cards are the ones that have still more artwork on the inside versus being blank or having a lone greeting. The Just Breathe card below has colorful flowers on its inner three corners, which makes it even more delightful to open. I also always use colorful gel pens to carry the energy from the outside in.

I enjoy sending cards to people. It’s truly become a lost art as email and texting have taken over as main sources of communication. It’s so very easy to do everything from our phones and computers now that the personal touch of picking out the “right” card, adding a note to it, addressing the envelope, and putting a stamp on it seems way too time consuming.

But, you have to realize, this post is coming from someone who still writes out appointments, activities, whatever, in her engagement calendar, which sits on her kitchen counter! Yep, I’m that person! (And this reminds me that I need to order one for 2022!) Anyway, I may get to the point where I start to input all of that information into some kind of technical device, but I’m not there yet.

I do love it when I receive a card in the mail. It brightens my day to know that someone has thought about me in this way, and I hope this is how my friends/family feel when they receive cards from me. I even send cards occasionally to my daughter who lives just a town away because it’s fun to surprise her.

Even though it seems a bit nostalgic, I hope that handwritten cards and letters never go out of style. In our fast-paced world, it’s nice to slow down every so often and communicate the old-fashioned way by putting pen (gel or otherwise) to paper! I even showcase special occasion cards we receive on one of our kitchen counters to keep the good vibes flowing beyond their due date. You can’t do that with a text!

Astrology Q & A…

I thought it would be a good idea to do some more Q & A as a way to ease into this new take on astrology that Janae and I are presenting. Since nothing “out there” is like it, we’ve got some splaining to do first. Also, as we move forward, it would be helpful for you to have a basic understanding of the general workings of astrology as well as a copy of your birth chart on hand. We’ll do our best to be your guides! As before, I am the Q and Janae is the A.


Q1: What are the three perspectives of Astrology that you would like to address?

A: Astrology of Personality suggests a structure of good and bad: luck vs. misfortune, pleasure vs. principle, true vs. false. It immerses us in a face value world symphony during which we learn to decipher the many tones and chords of humanity. We move on from the glamours of trendy group reflection when we become aware of Others seated at the same table.

Astrology of Soul teaches us that we have a subconscious life of feelings beneath the surface, and that what we think and what we feel are the twin flames of our destiny. We begin to realize we are the creators of our fate. As our soul open to us, we identify, review, and release the past life emotions that bring our life lessons. We realize we are a part of the Wholeness of humanity, as well as the broader dimensions outside Earth’s realm.

Astrology of Spirit reveals who we truly ARE both individually and collectively. It helps us know that everyone is doing the same things (but) differently; that we have come through the transcendental nature of the Universe, which has equipped us to fulfill our promise to the Universe, and to give back in full measure Below and Above.


Q2: Why are astrological interpretations sometimes inconsistent?

A: Interpretations in Astrology broaden as our awareness evolves from Personality through Soul to Spirit. We need depth and layers of experience to provide information appropriate for our stage in awareness, which requires a “reader” whose vibes are within reach of our own. We can interpret our own energy more successfully as we near SPIRIT.


Q3: Why does it take so long to experience Universal Love?

A: Every process has a beginning and a conclusion; our Earth process is to evolve from a Personality who has to learn to think, then use logic through life’s situations. Knowledge gained through this opens us to the heart of our Soul where we can blend Knowing with empathy for all creatures of Earth. This blending of Logic and Empathy further opens us to our deepest Spirit where we embrace the most sensitive meanings of Love. And, thus, we bring to the Universe the experience of Love.


Janae and I are figuring out if we would like to post our thoughts on Astrology more often than once a month, so stay tuned! In the meantime, fire away with any questions you may have.

The energy of love…

My article for Energy Magazine comes out in tomorrow’s Nov/Dec digital edition! I’m excited to be one of the contributors to this wonderful issue dedicated to families, and I’m very grateful for the continued support of Editor-in-Chief Anya Charles and her staff. If you already subscribe, you’ll find my piece in the “bonus content” section, but you can read it here a day early as I’m sharing it as this week’s post!

But first, you will also be able to find me in the magazine’s “Speak your Mind” column, which is taking its final bow with this issue. How fun that I get to help usher it out of service. (The photo below is from the physical copy I received the other day! See my blog link at the bottom? Isn’t that cool?!)

Here’s the Q:
What advice can you give parents who want to use energy healing on their children? How can energy healing help family dynamics?

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My Article

I am a former elementary school teacher, a wife, a mother, and a student of esoteric philosophy. I have also worked as a Reiki practitioner and an Eden Energy Medicine Clinical Practitioner. Most recently, I have become an author who has published three books in a series for children and their families about the energy of love, weaving my ever-evolving self into each page.

I believe that our purpose in this life is to understand and celebrate the love that we truly are. As an adult, I have been consciously heading in this direction of personal discovery for decades. What a wonderful head start it would have been, however, if I had been introduced to the concept of energy as a child.

Children are usually very receptive to “invisible realms” because of how frequently they use their imaginations, play make-believe, and daydream. Because of this, bringing energy techniques into the family isn’t such a big stretch for them. I believe that they will have an easier time running with these concepts than their parents, which is why making this a family endeavor is so important as the little ones will help the big ones stay open.

Donna Eden has simply and profoundly stated, “Energy is all there is!” Our thoughts, our feelings, our bodies, our souls – all aspects of energy, each impacting the other. We are so fortunate now that we have such a variety of ways to learn about energy. In the U.S., meditation, mindfulness, yoga, and acupuncture have all become mainstream – and healing techniques are being invited more and more into hospitals across the nation and in other western countries.

This shift in consciousness is giving us the opportunity to see ourselves in an entirely new light; we are much more than just physical beings, we are energetic beings in physical bodies. And, in my opinion, the energy that we are is the love that we are, and how we learn to express that is the name of the game!

To this point, I would like for us to start considering energy as something that we are versus relating it to something that we do. The practices mentioned above are great steps towards getting us there, because when we are in those moments, we are focusing much more directly on ourselves as energy, which is the goal of my books!

My series is sweetly illustrated and written in rhyme scheme. I wanted to make the idea of energy fun and for it (energy) to become a natural part of a family’s daily conversation. The two simple energy exercises that are added at the end of each book are meant to become tools in the family’s energy tool chest.

Here I talk about each book, which you can find out about via my author link below, and then I end the article with these thoughts…

This is my premise: If everything is energy, and the ultimate energy is love – then what is not loving is an aspect of energy that is trying to find a way back to its essential self. When we forget what we are, we get out of alignment with ourselves, each other, and the universe – which causes a lot of drama in our lives. Eternal love lives within us and surrounds us, and it is my greatest hope that families read my books, sharing and flowing their love out into the world.

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For more about my books, go to: http://www.amazon.com/author/whitelisa
For more about Energy Magazine, go to: http://www.EnergyMagazineOnline.com


Clarity…

Remember on the television series Ghost Whisperer how the ghost at the beginning of the episode had to confront a left-undone-big-life lesson? And remember how disheveled or negative or dazed, or all of these, this individual would be? Before moving into “The Light” at the end of the hour, a lot of self-awareness plus a big heap of forgiveness for self and others always had to be realized.

This start of the show is a striking example of what our energy is like when we do not correctly recognize what we need to heal and release; we, like the ghost, can be walking around in much of the same troubled state. However, as the character opened to the truths that needed to be faced, we got to see a wonderful transformation occur. With each step taken toward that distant, compelling light, a veil lifted allowing for clearer vision, clearer speech, clearer judgment, etc.

There are different ways that I have come to describe this evolution of being, but I think the best so far is: “Confusion to Clarity.” The script writers did a fabulous job of marking this progression with the help of the main character, who acted as a guide. We, of the living, have the same opportunity for growth because we operate on the exact same continuum, with the answers we need rising from within.

We often know about an emotional burden that we’ve been carrying even if it seems unconscious and is buried quite deep. Because the experience has been overwhelmed by fear, we’ve given it an unholy power, which keeps us in our own kind of limbo here on earth. We can only start to free ourselves from its paralyzing grip by acknowledging it and peeling back its layers, one at a time, like in the show.

The biggest hurdle is in the naming of whatever the issue may be, which is a first step on the road to clarity. We may need more than one episode of time to conquer what haunts us, but once out in the open the problem can’t be stuffed back into the proverbial bottle. From this point on, we must continue to be brave while listening to what our Soul is softly saying, its whispers leading us to the truth of living in our own light.

The view…

“As far as co-creating with the Universe, what do I need to do to feel more active versus reactive with my energy?” This was basically the question I emailed to my friend and former esoterics teacher, Janae, about whom I blogged a couple of weeks ago. We have years and years of this kind of Q & A, back and forth, forth and back; I’d have never-ending post topics if I printed them all out!

I asked this because I was coming off of quite a stretch of blah energy that had felt very passive. I know that slow downs like this are part and parcel of our soul growth patterns, and I did indulge myself, but I really sensed that it was time to push through and do something. The seeds (for whatever) had been germinating long enough; I was ready for them to sprout.

Janae offered this answer: “Everything begins with us…everything begins with a statement of purpose.” I needed to hear this because I had become a bit overwhelmed in my summer-long underwhelm. Though I had not consciously started this cycle, my mission was to get on board with it – and the Universe knew that I would eventually catch on.

Having a purpose, stating an intention, is the magic of the Universe and the fodder of co-creation. Sometimes it feels like we’re left in the dark, as in my case above. However, even though I was fairly clueless about the what, I still knew that something was happening. My hang up is that I’ve always been a little impatient about the why, which ends up clouding the view.

What I forgot to do was trust in this side of the process. It’s very different, of course, when I’m directing the energy, because I’m already in on the plan. But just because I didn’t understand this purpose, it didn’t mean there wasn’t one. In the future, when something starts without my conscious awareness, I’m going to be more patient and see how I can help. Co-creation isn’t one-sided; it takes two to tango.

Nadis…

Yoga traditions tell us that nadis are channels in the subtle body which transmit prana, life force. These invisible pathways circulate throughout our energy system moving in and out of the chakras, conceivably like blood being pumped through the heart. It is typically said that we have 72,000 nadis.

Something I came across about this topic the other day fascinated me. I don’t even remember how I found it or why I was reading what I was reading, but what stayed with me was the suggestion that that “tunnel of light” or the “white light” that has been described by so many people who have had near death experiences is, indeed, a nadi. And it made total sense to me!

In one way or another I think about energy flow every day; it is an ever evolving subject in my life. And as I am a firm believer in the esoteric saying, “As above, so below,” I will put it out there for consideration that there are “nadis” that unite us with even greater bodies in the universe – that they are all part of a super interstellar highway network.

Reminds me of a merkabah.

I see this as if we inhabit an invisible grid which sits within consecutively bigger grids, something like nesting dolls, and all of the lines are nadis, connecting all of the grids together. I will also go so far as to say that maybe we even have special coordinates, like cell numbers, within our grids, which is how energy flows to and from us whether it be personal, planetary, or cosmic. It’s sacred geometry, and it’s how we get pinged!

Perhaps my flashes travel to me via nadis. Perhaps lay lines are nadis. Perhaps it is how distance healing is transported from one person to another. Perhaps this is the vehicle for us being contacted by the old friend we had been thinking about recently. Perhaps nadis are affected by intention, prayer, meditation, karma, etc. The list can go on indefinitely; it’s a pretty cool thought, though, right?

Cooler yet, however, if you missed reading between the lines (pardon the pun, truly couldn’t help it) is the idea that nadis are what link humanity together. Perhaps it explains how we, a great many, are all One, part of a framework of longitude and latitude that intersect across time and space. It’s a working theory, of course, but I feel that there just might be something to it.

Meet Janae…

I am adding something new to my blog; it’s a never-before-seen approach to interpreting astrological information. I am also adding someone new to my blog; she’s my friend and former esoterics teacher Janae Luick Place. Janae is the diviner of this unique methodology and is the real brains, intuitively and otherwise, behind this endeavor. You may consider me her trusty sidekick!

On the first Sunday of the month, Janae and I will be breaking down our organization of this new awareness right here on my blog. Our focus will be on the Energies of Love, which are higher level potentials of certain planetary forces already movin’ and groovin’ within your chart. This knowledge will greatly expand upon what you think you understand about yourself, whether you are presently a student of (esoteric) astrology or not!


So, before we start our sharing, I thought it would be nice for you to get to know a little more about Janae. Without further ado, I’m the Q and she’s the A…

Q1: How did you become interested in astrology?

A: My mother and I were birthday opposites and I knew it had astrological significance. I began to study astrology in high school but it didn’t make sense…and it didn’t address our crazy relationship. I sensed astrology was a “calling” and kept pursuing it, but when I was 27 I was told it would come ‘Later’ which ended up meaning I had a lot to learn before I could understand astrology from a meaningful perspective.

Q2: How did this new way of interpreting astrology charts come to you?

A: Literally fifty years ‘Later,’ as I was sitting at the computer to design an upcoming class, this new system simply fell onto the page. I mean this exactly. I understood it completely as I typed, yet it has taken another few years of sharing it with individuals and groups to explore and validate it as a new dimensional approach to aligning our energy with Earth.

Q3: What is your background in metaphysics/esoteric philosophy?

A: I have taught others only what I have personally experienced and I began to teach to the extent of my experiences in 1977. I have gained dimensional awareness as I go along…

I worked to incorporate metaphysics into my life as Science of Mind for nine years before I discovered Esoteric Philosophy, which was my introduction to Universal Law. As I understood my past through Universal Law of Reincarnation I learned to read past lives for other people. Through the Universal Law of Correspondences I became proficient in tarot, numerology, and rhythms of color and sound. The Universal Laws of Healing taught me to navigate the mind-emotion-body energy network. There is no end to any of these studies, so teaching continues.

Q4: What does the Energy of Love have to do with astrology?

A: I’ve learned that everything in our Solar System is designed to teach us Love. Astrology developed as a way to show us our personal Plan for this lifetime. When we view astrology as part of the Universal Laws that govern our System we get a better idea of how to fulfill our purpose. If we are aware, we always sense our Path. Our Path is always toward Love, and if we can be more exact in how to focus ourself, we arrive where we need to be with less drama, trauma and resistance.

Q5: When did we meet and how the heck did we get this far together?

A: Lisa first came into my Co-Creative Healing class in September of 2007. She was the person in the back row, deep in shadow, speaking when spoken to and evaluating everything. A couple years in she began calling me almost daily with insistent questions, forcing me to up my game. It became fun and something to look forward to. Years later, when I asked the Universe for help with sorting the uptick of information coming to me, Lisa stepped in, stepped up and we grew into friends and allies. Neither of us expected to converge at this spot, but now that it’s here, it seems inevitable.

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*Janae and I will be back on November 7th. Until then, I’ll be here each Sunday doin’ my regular thing!

Tricks and treats…

In the spirit of Halloween, I wanted to write a post about the psychology of treats because I’ve been interested in resolving this topic energy-wise. Lately I’ve been asking myself why it is that even though my body doesn’t feel well after eating a certain something, that I continue to eat it. My mind and body are conscious of each scenario in that I do understand intellectually that this action causes that physical upset, but it’s the underlying emotions that truly allow the practice to continue.

My stomach has become quite grumbly with a lot of familiar go-to treats lately, and I have been ignoring this very direct communication because (in my mind) I don’t want to give the treats up. Trickster emotions are the culprits here, and they sit heavy in our energy, which makes them more challenging to release. Their hold can run deep, and like Sirens tempting sailors to crash onto rocky shores, their songs compel a complete disregard for reason. So much for thinking my way out of this problem!

I want to free myself from this food trap. I’m all for celebrating a milestone or a holiday with special desserts because that’s consciously done. Suppressed emotions, however, continue to entice poor decisions while, at the same time, purposefully cloud thinking that could lead to healthier alternatives. These emotions play hard, and they play to win. Tricky stuff, this!

As a result, I have decided to approach my dilemma from an entirely different energy angle. I am now working more consciously with my body, since my mind can be swayed by old patterns of behavior. What I have begun to do is to simply note what treats (any foods, really) affect me negatively, and then choose to eat something else (that settles well and doesn’t cause the dreaded grumblies – or worse) in their stead. I’m taking each day as it comes and am basically feeling my way through it.

By switching things up and letting my body guide me, I hope to change the old energy dynamics by bypassing ingrained habits. Many times these energies have already been resolved, but they like to stick around to poke and prod from time to time. Learning how to do something in a new way sets the stage for a new and, hopefully, better habit to emerge, which just might allow the old emotion-based patterns to dissolve with disuse. I hope to combat them by going around them! Now who’s the trickster?

Know thyself…

We humans are very complicated as we are all dealing with psyches that are deep and multi-layered. It is not an easy feat to understand what makes ourselves tick, let alone others, but evolving our consciousness is the way to get through the layers. Even Lucy, who usually sat behind the desk, needed some “doctoring” herself from time to time.

I believe that it’s really important to figure out ourselves as energy because that knowledge helps us get along better in the world. Start with these very simple questions:

What kinds of activities do I enjoy?
Am I more of an extrovert or an introvert?
Do I prefer to operate more mentally, emotionally or physically?
Am I more of a visual, auditory or kinesthetic learner?

Bonus Question
Which element(s) am I? Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal?

Take me, for example. I prefer quieter activities like walking or writing or reading or watching a movie, which would lead one to believe that I’m perhaps more of an introvert, which I am. I also mostly operate in the mental realm via thinking, wondering, and pondering, and my main learning styles are auditory and kinesthetic. And when I was getting my Eden Energy Medicine certification, one of my favorite teachers told me that I was a balanced Metal and a soft Wood with some Earth thrown in! (If you speak any of this language, you have a pretty decent picture of me, don’t you?)

This information explains A LOT about my life, and it also helps me understand my relationships with others. For example, if I know that I am more of an introvert, then rather than spending the whole day with some extroverted friends and making everyone miserable, it’s going to work out best if I can join them for just part of the outing. Also, since I know that I am not a visual learner, asking for driving directions to be written out instead of drawn will make my life easier (very old-tech, I know). And since I would not survive a five-mile hike, I can suggest a walk on flatter terrain. Get the drift?

There are so many combinations of energy that make us who we are. Our family and friends have their own unique energy maps, too. Coming to know our energy helps us greatly expand our awareness. And instead of comparing ourselves to what we’re not, we can learn to play to our strengths while gaining understanding and compassion for the lesser-evolved energies of ourselves and others.


The game of life…

It’s been swirling around in my head for quite a while now that spiritual evolution is a lot like what goes on in video games, with the shared objectives of conquering challenges and advancing to the next level! In both we move ahead by using the physical, mental, and emotional “props” at our disposal, though in real life we rely less on accumulating points, trophies and gold coins; in real life, it’s our well-earned spunk that gets us through!

Spunk is necessary for survival in the game of life, and holding on to it is vital because that spunk gets tested over and over. We especially need it when we realize that passing go and collecting $200 (not from a video game, I realize) means that even though we have made it to the top of one level, we are now at the bottom of the next!

Our “props” mature as we do, but so do our challenges, and our old ways of dealing with things may no longer do the trick. What is thrown at us at higher levels becomes more subtle, which ups the ante (also not from a video game), and we get to a place where less obvious patterns are now needing our attention in order to move forward. Less obvious is harder, but thank goodness for our spunk!

As we move along our spiritual path, confusion transforms into clarity; its light is what transcends the chaos of the past. Because of it we become more proactive in anticipating which moles to whack (an arcade game at least!) versus just reacting to and whacking anything that comes along! As our judgment and intuition grow and combine, more and more of our light within is revealed.

My best bet is that this internal light fans the flames of our spunkiness and vice versa. It’s how a little, and very spunky, Italian plumber overcomes a great many obstacles to rescue a kidnapped princess (finally!). Like Mario, our trials and tribulations sharpen our senses and embolden us to persevere. We have to keep trying, no matter what. Maintaining our spunk is essential because our light guides us until we become it, which is the ultimate goal of the game of life!