Paul and the Angels

I walked over to my mailbox to retrieve the day's mail while Malachy Dachshund barked impatiently in the car. Inside the mailbox, was a small beige envelope from my friend Lorraine Brustas. I opened it immediately as I had been waiting to receive the lovely celebration of life card of her husband and my dear friend Paul.

Paul had made his transition earlier this year after an arduous battle with brain cancer-he was only in his late 50's... The card graced a photo of Paul's ever-smiling face on the front. Tears welled in my eyes as I remembered Paul. I had known him since I was about 14 years old growing up in San Diego and he was a close friend of my Mom's and our family. He was like a big brother to me. He was THE kindest, gentlest, most patient and one of the wisest men I have ever been blessed to know in this life! He always had a cheerful outlook and had that great big Greek smile that lit up every room he entered! In fact, my Mom and all of us affectionately nick-named him "Paul-the-Greek." 

Later in Paul's life, he met and married the love of his life, Lorraine and they enjoyed many happy years together, but of course not enough years. I had not been in touch with Paul since my step-Dad Donn passed away back in 2002. We managed to reconnect via that wonderful cyber entity known as Facebook early in 2011. I was so glad to have the chance to speak with him on the phone last year as we shared our experiences, and hopes for healing. (I was and still am recovering from multiple injuries from a fall I had on the job in 2010.) Paul was very open-minded and did not want to go the "chemo and radiation" route as he had seen so many of his friends including my Mom lose their lives with this horrid "option."  I admired his courage as he shared with me about his consultation with a Chinese Grand Master healer. The Grand Master gave Paul a prescription for drinking several cups a day of a wild conglomeration of herbal teas that had such a repugnant odor, it gave a whole new meaning to the term "witches brew!" 

I thought about Paul often all throughout last year and was setting forth the intention of enjoying visiting him and meeting his angel wife, Lorraine in San Diego in 2012. I visualized him as a healed and whole man- it was my sincere prayer...Then in January of this year I got the devastating news from Lorraine that Paul had passed away. It really rocked me. Again I cried tears of deep loss and anguish for what might have been...

After reading Paul's celebration of life card, I decided to take Malachy Dachshund to a local park. Since my hip and shoulder injuries from my fall in 2010, I could no longer take Malachy for walks, so I did the next best thing which was to take him out for some fresh air while holding onto his Flexi-leash with my uninjured left arm and giving him some much needed freedom to romp in the grass. Being the little hound that he is, with an expert nose, he began sniffing obsessively at a patch of tall reeds. I tried luring him in like a  fishing reel with a prize catch, but to no avail. So I walked over to where he was "pointing"-yes, he actually thinks he's a Pointer and it's the cutest thing ever to see him "point!" I parted the reeds to find a very intricately designed bird's nest holding a total of nine white eggs. The eggs were a dull matte finish and perfectly undisturbed! 

Malachy left disappointed that he could not have an evening appetizer of fresh eggs and I walked away in awe as we headed back to the car. When I turned on the radio, what song comes on but "Old Time Rock & Roll" by none other than Michigan legend, Bob Seger! I immediately thought of my friend Paul and turned up the volume in his honor as Paul loved Bob Seger with as much passion as I love U2! As I was driving, I began to smell a highly floral, sweet Honeysuckle type of fragrance and began to sneeze several times. It was so odd as all of my windows in the car were up and I was not wearing any cologne. Nor was I near any flowers in the park! I began to sense that my angels were with me-it was very soothing to my soul.

When I arrived home, I immediately went to my trusty Mac laptop and researched the symbolism behind bird's nests and nine eggs as I have held a life-long fascination with all things symbolic and metaphysical, believing that the Universe always speaks to us if we'd but listen, hear, see, and smell... to my excitement, I discovered a link that said "The number nine represents the inspiration and perfection of ideas." (I had recently been asking the Divine for inspiration and motivation to begin writing a children's book!) also, "The number nine was considered sacred in Greece." Key word... "Greece" cha-ching! My friend Paul was 100% Greek! The link went on to say that the number nine also represented nine choruses of angels and "beseeches us to recognize our own internal attributes and extend these abilities out into the world." Again, this spoke directly to me about getting the ball rolling to write my book and share my message of hope to children. Everything the link stated was such a clear confirmation to me, a "God-wink" if you will to START writing!

Finally, I looked up bird's nest and eggs symbolism and found bird's nests to represent: "Prosperous endeavor" and "Fortune and new opportunities." Perfect! I thought... Eggs proved to be a logical symbol of fertility and birth, as well as "Life's potential" and "Dormant talent." While making dinner that evening, I pondered the day's synchronistic events knowing that nothing in this world happens by accident and fully realizing that Paul was with me, my angels were with me, and again, Spirit gave me plenty of signs that I am indeed living a life of purpose!


***UPDATE!!!- Since this story was posted, I have corresponded with Paul's wife, Lorraine and she informed me that "Despite Paul's many allergies, he used to love the smell of Honeysuckle growing outside the window of our home." There's NO DOUBT in my mind that this entire day I have written about, from the moment I received Lorraine's card honoring Paul, to finding the bird's nest with 9 eggs in it, to hearing Paul's favorite singer, Bob Seger on the radio, to smelling honeysuckle in my car- having ALL of these events take place on the same afternoon, that Paul was... like Bob Seger used to sing, "accompanying me!!!"

Companions

"Is this all there is?"

I said to myself...

"Is this what I signed up for?"

"Is my life on the shelf?"

Beauty is everywhere

When I look outside

But it's so lonely with no one

To share it by my side.

I know he is out there...

He's waiting for me

With trust and sure faith,

Very soon, I shall see.

I know I'm not alone

I need only go within

Or look into my little dog's eyes

To see God's gentle grin.

Animals need companions

Others of their own kind...

Humans are no different

Desiring someone of like mind.

They say, "No man's an island."

Took me a while to see

That I need to share my life

With someone besides me

Where is he?

At the End of the Trail....

I haven't written a new blog post in what seems like eons, but here we go! My life has been extremely fast-paced and full of major changes in the past year or so. In 2011, I moved twice, after not being able to keep my Clarkston apt, when after being seriously injured at work in 2010 from a fall,( worker's comp decided I was magically cured and didn't really still need 2 surgeries)- I moved into an acquaintance's trailer home and then after 2 months, was told I would have to move out 30 days later, by January 1st 2012.This really threw me as she had previously told me I could stay "as long as I needed to", and that she "couldn't ask for a better roommate..." I spent a fast and furious week immediately after Christmas in 24/7 prayer and vigilantly searched craigslist, newspapers, and drove through neighborhoods to find a place to live. I found (or rather God found) an apt in Wolverine Lake that was relatively quiet and accepted dogs. (Not allowing dogs would have been a deal breaker!). I filled out the application and waited and waited to hear back from the independent landlord to let me know if I could have the apt or not. I made a full-time job of correcting my fear-filled thoughts and focused on only the positive as I was wrestling with the anxiety knowing that my FICO credit score went from mid 600's a year before when I had $5,000 in the bank and was working with a realtor to buy a house to the high 500's now. Since my slip and fall that occurred in May of 2010, my whole life has been rearranged. Gone are all the things I thought were important or valuable to have in my life including people I thought were friends, furniture, apt's, clothes, TV's. I have come to see and know that if someone or something is no longer a part of my life, then God is going to replace them with something far better. I like to refer to 2011 (after getting through the grief of all the losses and feeling like it was THE worst year of my entire life.) as the year that the Universe rearranged my life so that I could gain clearer vision and focus on the things and people that bring me more joy! I am no longer willing to subject myself or take part in anything that does not bring me joy! Period. End of story.
 Life is very short, and I believe we must LIVE a happy life, not spend the majority of it in "pursuit" of happiness! My life is now, not tomorrow, not yesterday, but now. NOW is all we have, but you know, it is more than enough! I am not "out of the woods" yet, but I can definitely see the lake at the end of the trail!

The Angel Invitation

Last week as I was reading through some of my favorite facebook wall pages, I read a post from a friend who was writing about an "Angel Ritual." This intrigued me- so I sent her an email requesting more information about it. She sent me the details of which I became enthralled and knew I had to  participate! It sounded like having a formal "Angel Party" in my home! How fun I thought, even though I know we do not have to be so formal with our requests for Angelic assistance or their presence for whenever we ask the Angels to be near us, they are there in an instant!

 I like to refer to it as my "Angel Recipe" instead of "Angel Ritual" as I am fond of food (perhaps a little too fond!) and cooking and it has a less "witchy" tone to it. (Not that there is anything wrong with people who are affiliated with  the Wicca religion.)The "Angel Recipe" read as follows:

It is the wish of the Angels to work with 3 individuals over 5 consecutive days and help each fulfill 3 personal wishes. (I consider these to be requests, or prayers... something you would like to see become manifest into your physical reality.)Afterward, each individual sends the Angels on to 3 new individuals who agree to accept them. The Angels stay with them over the next 5 days and then continue on to 3 new hosts. The Angels always arrive at the next host place at 10:30PM and leave on the 5th night at 10:30PM. It has been said that by the 20th cycle, the whole world could be affected; so large is the exponential function! There is a ritual for inviting the Angels into your home: Hosting requirements are: a white candle, (I used a white tea-lite candle as they only burn a couple hours and are low-risk for burning down your house lol)a white flower,or flowering plant (I gathered some white wildflowers-some may call them weeds, but like one of my favorite authors and healers, Dr Eric Pearl states "What's the difference between a weed and a flower?...PERCEPTION!" - Eric Pearl and his amazing book, "The Reconnection Heal Others Heal Yourself" has changed my life and entire belief system regarding spirituality and healing so profoundly since I was graced with a copy of his book and read it cover to cover in 2 evenings about 4 months ago!

Well I had to believe the Angels would appreciate my wildflower-weeds! =),  apple offering,(I used a Granny Smith apple lol) and 2 envelopes. The first envelope contains 3 personal wishes. The second envelope contains the names and geographic locations of your 3 friends who have agreed to host the Angels next. You need to ensure that you can be home at 10:30PM on the evenings of the Angels' arrival and departure. Before they arrive at your home, choose a suitable place in your bedroom as an altar.

"Welcome Ceremony"

On the expected evening, be home at 10:30PM to receive the Angels. Before they arrive, light the candle. 

1. Bless a white candle by saying "May God's Angels be present by lighting this candle" and put it in a candleholder which can burn safely while you sleep.(you can also use an artificial flame candle if the idea of allowing a real flame candle to burn while you sleep makes you anxious.)

2. Beside the candle, place a white flower in a bowl or vase. It is also OK to use a white flowering plant.(or in my case, since I could not afford to buy flowers, a few white wildflowers/ weeds even!-since it is all about intention!) 

3. Next to the candle and flower, place an envelope containing the names and addresses (geographical locale -like city and state is fine if you do not know the exact addresses of your 3 friends! afterall, the Angels "have your number!"-or energy-vibration!) of the 3 hosts who have agreed to accept the Angels after you.

4. In a second envelope, insert a paper with your HANDWRITTEN 3 wishes. (Handwriting makes a better connection to the Angels.-it's all about energy folks!)

5. On top of the envelope containing your 3 wishes, place an apple as an offering.(I used a green Granny Smith apple in the hopes that perhaps some of the Angels would appreciate a wee bit of sour versus sweet.- I know they did!)This step reminded me so much of being a 5 year-old kid excitedly setting out milk and cookies for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve! Only the best thing with this is the Angels are with you for five entire days not just one evening! If you have small children, this would be such a lovely and enchanting thing to do with their participation! The whole time, I kept thinking if I had kids, I would be doing this with them!

6. At 10:30PM open the front door of your home. (Physically, not just symbolically) and bid the Angels welcome with the following words:

"PLEASE ENTER ANGELS AND BE WELCOME, YOU WHO HAVE COME FROM GOD. THANK YOU FOR COMING AND ENVELOPING BOTH THIS PLACE AND ALL THE PEOPLE AND ANIMALS (I included "and animals" as I have a beloved pet Ringneck dove named "Uriel" named after the Archangel of Light -of course...wink wink! and a miniature Dachshund, "Malachy" which means "God's Messenger" and what is another word for God's messenger, kids?... "ANGEL"!) WHO STAY HERE. THOSE WHO ENTER WITH PURITY AND PEACE. THANK YOU FOR HAVING CHOSEN TO COME AND BLESS MY LIFE AND THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE AND ANIMALS AROUND ME WITH HARMONY, LOVE, JOY, WISDOM, AND STRENGTH. THANK YOU ALSO, FOR WISHING TO FULFILL THE 3 WISHES WHICH ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO ME."

7. During the 5 days that the Angels are with you, light a small white candle ( a tea-lite or votive candle works best) each night before you go to bed. The candle will burn out as you sleep. You will need 4 candles, because on the 5th night you are saying goodbye to the Angels.

8. If you usually pray or meditate, this is a good time to communicate with the Angels.(even if you don't usually pray or meditate, I guarantee ya, you will WANT to this night!) during their days with you, there are no requirements to do anything special, (They make it so easy for us!) other than be present at 10:30PM on the first and last evening and lighting a candle each night.

Goodbye Ceremony:

At 10:30PM on the fifth night, you physically open your front door and say thank you and goodbye to the Angels. Then send them lovingly on to the 3 new hosts who have agreed to receive them. (I will have to work on this one I think, as I will likely find it hard to let them go!) Read their names and addresses (or geographic locations i.e. city, State, country). PLEASE NOTE: The Angels will arrive to your 3 friends' homes FIVE NIGHTS AFTER you have bid them farewell from YOUR home.This means that there is a 5 day time period between the 5th night the Angels leave your home and when they actually are welcomed into your friends' homes.In another way to explain, your individual "encounter" with the Angels lasts 10 days. They are with you for the 1st 5 days, then they work on assisting you with your 3 requests the 2nd 5 days after leaving your home, then they go to your friends' homes at 10:30PM on the 10th night from your first night! (I am clarifying this in more detail as I found my original instructions to be  a little  bit confusing .)

This is to allow the Angels time to assist you in the manifestation of your requests!(Even though I personally believe that since we are all multi-dimensional beings and our time-space-reality is relative therefore this step should not be necessary!- but I play along anyway-why? because it's FUN!) Arrange to send this information on to the 3 new hosts and explain the dates.

Reminder: Start thinking about your 3 wishes and your 3 people immediately. Also very important: Be specific in your requests. (If you want to lose weight, say how much, over what period of time, that you don't want to feel hungry etc... Maybe you want to be self-employed or become a best-selling author. Indicate what kind of work you want to do. What kind of best-selling book do you want to write? How you would like to help other people with the words you publish?...State your requested income you would like to make, what type of working environment, what hours you would like to keep etc... The more specific you are, the easier it will be for the Angels to help.

Well, today is day 4 of hosting these precious beings in my home! On the first night, Sunday night- I welcomed them into my apartment with Dachshund in tow. "Malachy" immediately sensed their presence even before I had opened the front door! For the following thirty minutes or so after their invitation, Malachy was very inquisitve and nosing around the house looking to find "other people." There has been a delightful peace and serenity in both my home and my heart since Sunday night. Last night, Tuesday- I decided I was going to take a picture of my Angel Altar so I could share its beauty with some of my friends on facebook who are also inviting the Angels. Not knowing where my digital camera was offhand, I used my iphone 4 cell phone camera and snapped a pic. The room was lit with a standard 100 watt light bulbed lamp at my bedside, and just the small white votive candle at the altar area. There was no glare or reflection from the bedroom windows as the blinds were completely closed. I uploaded the picture of my Angel altar to my facebook page. Nothing looked out of the ordinary about it to me. Later that evening, a friend made a comment about my picture asking me if I noticed the Angel sitting at the top upper left-hand portion of the middle photo frame of the picture of my Mom (who had transitioned in 1993).

I immediately, took another gander at the picture on my computer and couldn't believe what I was seeing! There WAS an Angel perched on top of my Mom's photo frame! Complete with 2 wings at her sides, what looks like a pinkish translucent robe, and her head.... None of the other 2 photo frames had anything odd about them, just the photo frame of my Mom! If you enlarge your computer screen and look at the Angel altar picture above, you can clearly see this Angel!

I am always in such AWE when the Angels decide to reveal themselves in this physical world! What a gift! 

It is my sincere wish that anyone who reads my story and partakes in the "Angel Recipe" has all their wishes come true! With much love and Light!

The Red Feather

Moving to Clarkston was my intention for about a year and on October 10th, 2010, yes… 10/10/10! I found a beautiful apartment and made my move. It went ALL wrong! From the "Two Men In A Truck" arriving an hour late and turning out to be "Two Boys In A Truck," to the "Boys" saying they had to take time to relax on my dime to eat pizza in the moving truck, to not being able to get the sofa OUT of the old apt, to not being able to get the old sofa INTO the new apartment and then having to resort to either abandoning my less-than-a-year-old beautiful brown high back microfiber sofa to the dumpster or calling all my friends in a state of contrasting emergency to see if one of them would temporarily "house" my precious sofa! What a day! I had seriously forgotten just how stressful a move COULD be! As it turned out, my sofa was driven to my friends' house and I was later informed that  another friend of mine and her husband who were struggling financially unbeknownst to me, were in need of a sofa. Well, the Universe decided the best thing would be to give my sofa to my friends in need.  I was pleased as punch! I knew that God/Source/All That Is had a plan for me and possibly that plan would of course include even BETTER new furniture for my cozy new apartment! And I was right! 

I was able to purchase a lovely olive green sofa and love seat living room set complete with flatscreen TV, decorative rug, two lamps, two end tables and a matching coffee table! When the furniture company delivery men arrived at my door, they quickly realized that they could not get my new furniture in through the front door! "Here we go again!", I thought… then, the final resolution was to hoist the sofa up over the balcony of my apartment. "Do I really want to be present to witness this attempt?" I thought. Uh, NOOO! However, I gathered the gumption to watch and with a huge belt-like thing, they managed to do it. I was eternally grateful and the men were off for their next delivery.

 It was very strange to be in a new living space. VERY… I had come from a tiny 500 square foot 1 bedroom garden apartment to a huge 1,000 square foot 2 bedroom "castle" apartment and realized the walls were paper thin in the new place as my Miniature Dachshund seemed to have a very healthy fifth Chakra and proceed to bark his ever-loving head off at the drop of a hat!…or when the mailman arrived, or when the neighbors' door opened, or when the guy upstairs pounced around his living room each Saturday chasing his hyperactive toddler son around directly above my head… "Great, just great!" I thought. I haven't even been in this place a month and I am going to be evicted due to a misbehaving loudmouthed yappy lapdog of mine!   I began to feel that maybe I had made the wrong decision to move here. After all, the move was pure hell. I felt like I did a very poor job of "manifesting a smoothe move" "Law of Attraction my ass!" I thought! -No pun intended…But I knew I had created this move and it all happened for my highest good, really. Even if it didn't feel like it at the moment. One day I left my apartment with my small red hound and ran a few errands. Upon returning, I walked up my stairs and reached my front door. Mind you, the door to my apartment is housed within an exterior corridor hallway of sorts and there were never any wind gusts that could possibly reach my apartment door! I glanced down at my feet on the "welcome" doormat that so proudly welcomed all friends who visited, and I saw a soft pale (female) red fluffy Cardinal feather! Joy permeated my Being as I once again, was given a gift from Spirit…from my Mom!

The Crow

It was December 27th, 1993  around 10:30AM as our entire family gathered around Mom's bedside in her sunny San Diego home. I was holding Mom's left hand with my right hand as we all watched her take her last gasps of air until she finally took one long breath and then  peace permeated the entire room. She was a merely 50 years young Mom, and I was a 27 years young daughter.  Mom had been struggling with Cancer for the past five years and she had finally decided it was time to go back Home. 

We had a memorial service at our local Catholic church followed by a traditional Irish wake with many many family and friends. A few days later I was sitting at the window seat of my plane preparing to take off and return to Michigan. There was a long stretch of 8 to 10 silver birds lined up for take off at the San Diego Airport that morning.  All of a sudden, out of the corner of my right eye there appeared a rather LARGE BLACK BIRD! He looked like a Crow and I noticed that he was hovering and trying to get my attention, it seemed. He kept turning his head and flapped his wings to stay within view of my window! "That's odd", I thought to myself. Then I started to think, here I am on a NOISY departure strip of an airport getting ready to take off with all these other noisy planes revving their engines and a BIRD decides to reveal himself to me! My left brain tried to justify and rationalize it all. It simply could not be done! Birds just don't fly up to airplane windows and HANG OUT! Birds don't like LOUD sounds!…Finally we were airborne, and I realized it was my Mom saying "I love you, I am still with you, and I am ok." I cried into my kleenex tears of both sadness and comfort with a deep knowing that I would never be alone.