A Tale Of Three Angels

Fifteen years ago a wonderful man came into my life. I often told him that he was my angel. On my first birthday I celebrated with him, he gave me this beautiful angel necklace to remind me. It became a symbol of love and protection for me. 

I remember one day I wasn't wearing the angel and a truck backed into me at a stop light. I wear it very often, sometimes wrapped around my wrist when I'm wearing a different necklace.I'm not attached to many physical things anymore, but aside from my wedding rings, this is one of the most meaningful things I own. 

I had taken it off recently and thought I had placed it on the bathroom counter top. When I realized it wasn't there, I tried to remember why I took it off. I thought it was when I colored my hair, as not to get any dye on it. I was hoping that I hadn't accidentally thrown it out with the packaging and dye bottles.

My next go to place was my jewelry drawer. I have organizer trays that hold my necklaces, bracelets and earrings. It must be there. Nope. I went back to that drawer (and the bathroom counter top) about 10 times.

I didn't panic about this. I normally do. I heard recently that worrying blocks you, and I wanted to stay open, knowing that I would find it. I could truly sense that this would work. My intuition is getting strong and louder, now that I'm allowing it. Every time I started to have a fearful thought, I stopped it and reminded myself that I would find it by remaining calm. I tried to remember which archangel it was that could specifically help. And I know Saint Anthony is known for finding lost objects too. But I just spoke generally to the angels asking for help. I did this several times over a few days.

Saturday morning I took my eight-seventh scan of the counter top and jewelry drawer to no avail. I thought, maybe I stuck it in a pair of pants, meaning to put i back in the drawer. I went into my closet and went through all of my jeans. No necklace.

I walked towards the front of the closet (it's like a long, narrow hallway) and to the left are shelves for shoes, gift wrapping supplies, bags and more. It's not here, I thought. Why would it be? But I stopped for a moment and looked anyway. Even though it didn't make any sense, I felt like I should look.

I noticed a bag laying on its side with a jewelry box in it. I didn't remember putting it there. I pulled the box out for a second and thought of just putting it back in the bag. I thought, open it. So I did. I saw the soft, grey pouch that I know so well. I almost closed the box, that piece of jewelry was already in my drawer. Then I thought, open the pouch. It still made no sense to me, but I opened it. Can you guess what was inside?

I had goosebumps all over my arms when I saw the necklace (I even have them now, typing this). I thanked the angel who helped me. Honestly, I felt a bit unworthy at first. But I'm working on this. I know feeling that way only blocks me from getting closer to the divine. I also know deep down, that every single one of us is worthy. So that doesn't mean everyone, except me.

I was planning on spending the day going through my entire bedroom looking for it. I had scanned the room briefly and I'm embarrassed to say I did find a cache of dusty M&M's behind my bedroom table. Clearly some deep cleaning and dietary changes are in order. But that's a whole different story (and will be blogged about, of course!).

So instead of spending the day searching, I am outside writing amongst the trees, birds, butterflies and Scar (a beautiful kitty who I will also be blogging about soon!). I will also spend the day raking leaves, hugging trees, feeling extremely grateful, and loving this amazing gift of life.

The more that you ask for a connection to the divine, the more you receive it. The louder their voices get, and the quieter your ego voice gets. They are speaking to us all the time. The more I meditate, the more I attune with those gentle, guiding nudges. I don't dismiss them anymore. It is getting easier and easier, and more and more beautiful. 

I know this angel necklace, given to me by my angel, was found with the guidance of an angel. Those voices we hear, those thoughts and feelings we get that sometimes don't seem to make sense, are our angels, our guides, our own divine wisdom. They will get louder and clearer if you want them to. You only need to ask and trust. We have the unlimited universe within us and around us, why not access it?

In Gratitude,

Kerri Mulhern
www.suitablegifts.com

Book Review: Assertiveness for Earth Angels by Doreen Virtue

I absolutely love Doreen Virtue and I've never met a Hayhouse book I haven't liked. As a recovering people pleaser, Assertiveness for Earth Angels: How to be Loving Instead of "Too Nice" by Doreen Virtue was the perfect choice as my latest read. This one actually screamed out to me. 

Doreen describes Earth Angels as highly sensitive people with an innocence regarding love and life, believing in God's loving power, gentle, caring, seeing the best in others, trusting, optimistic and more. She digs deep into the many pitfalls of being such a sensitive being, and how to learn to be assertive without being aggressive.

For as far back as I can remember, I have found myself giving too much, and yet still feeling like it was not enough. I always had high expectations for what I needed to do for others, but never held anyone to that impossible standard. I even helped people who were quite capable of helping themselves. After reading Doreen's book, I learned that my jumping in to try and "save" them didn't really do them any favors. They have their own path, and their own lessons to learn. I also learned that giving for the wrong reasons can cause resentment, fatigue, money issues, health issues and more. Pure giving, she teaches, is not out of guilt, feeling sorry or obligation. 

She discusses how to set healthy boundaries, how to handle professional victims, gossipers, martyrs, guilt trippers, toxic relationships, narcissists and sociopaths (who tend to take advantage of kind, giving people). 

I was an extremely sensitive and quiet child. Although I was often bullied, it was always easier to stand up for others. I could feel their pain and I didn't want them to suffer. I remember my college years and so enjoying going out with my friends. But I also remember not liking large crowds. Trust me, we had lots of fun together, but I also remember feeling drained (not from my dear friends, just the crowd around us) and needing time by myself too. I honestly felt weird for that. Now at 48, I am more sensitive than ever. I absorb everyone's energy, whether positive or negative. It wears on me. I didn't realize that is what was happening to me, until I read Doreen's book. I thought that I wasn't a strong enough person to have my own thoughts and feelings. I felt weak. That's not what it is. I'm empathic. Picking up on the feelings of my classmates when I was a child, was because I truly could feel what they were feeling. Needing quiet time through my college years (and now too), was because the energy I was picking up was exhausting me. I feel very grateful to Doreen that I can now feel compassion towards myself for who I am, instead of criticism. There are so many ways to look at a situation, and more and more I am taking the positive view. That is what is so wonderful about reading books like this, you can find who you really are, and let go of that negative voice.

Doreen shows how how to enjoy life instead of people pleasing. She talks about following your passion and shows how we can use delay tactics instead of working on our life purpose by overeating, compulsive shopping, addictive internet surfing, substance abuse and more.

She shows us how to shield ourselves from harsh energies with crystals, angel lights, clearing, grounding and trees (yes, go hug a tree, it heals!). Also, you will learn how to have more time and energy by exercising, stretching and releasing, and eating healthfully. 

There is so much wonderful information packed into this book, and what I love about Doreen, is that she is honest and caring. She guides us to be truthful with ourselves about our real intentions, and provides so many tools to live an authentic, positive, peaceful and purposeful life.

As you can probably tell by now, I highly recommend this book.

In Gratitude,

Kerri Mulhern
www.suitablegifts.com

Smudging: A Beginner's Journey

Smudging is a custom of Native Americans and other cultures to clear negative spiritual energy from a space, an object and even people. I have been wanting to smudge my home for quite awhile, so I ordered a Home Blessing & Cleansing kit. A beautiful feather, abalone bowl, oil, salt crystals and more soon arrived. I wanted to literally clear the air in our home. The intention was to release any heaviness and have our home feeling light, positive and happy.

I am most grateful to the amazing Reiki Master Sharna Langlais, who I came to know through Instagram (@sharnalanglais). She had posted beautiful instructions on smudging, and I felt even more inspired to try it. I had also read tips and prayers from Hayhouse author, soul coach and space clearing extraordinaire Denise Linn.

Home Blessing & Cleansing Kit

I held onto the kit for months, feeling a little tentative about trying it... waiting for just the right moment. Well honestly, I was a little scared of trying something new! But that's when you really need to do something! So I decided to smudge during my sons' first day of school.  I thought it would be a good way to kick off the school year, and the house would be quiet for me to figure out what I was doing.

Combining what I learned from Sharna, Denise, the sage kit, and my own inner guidance, I set out to smudge. I held the feather to my chest and blessed and thanked the beautiful bird that it came from. I opened the windows (but not enough, I found out later!), lit the bundle of sage and set it in the bowl. Now mind you, the instructions clearly stated to blow out the fire once it started. I thought, how can I make it through my entire house without it completely extinguishing itself? A lesson in stubbornness or trust for me, perhaps? I now know to follow the instructions! Because I left some of the embers burning, I had quite a bit of smoke. But I had nothing to compare it to, since I've never done this before. So I started on my journey, billowing smoke and all...

I said a prayer and smudged myself as best I could. I used the feather to waft the smoke, and went from the top of my head to my toes, and up the back of myself as far as I was able to reach. Next I went to the front door and even outside at the threshold, said the prayer, smudged and made the eternity symbol with the sage. Here is the prayer I said. You can say what feels right to you:

"Dear God, Jesus, angels, archangels, spirit guides, divine masters and my guardian angels- please remove any negative energy caused by myself or others and sent it up to Heaven for transmutation. And so it is."

I was nervous. Was I doing this right? Was I saying the right words? I felt a bit stressed. 

Next I went to the dining room/living room (it's one big room, so I did it all together). Starting in the east corner (iPhone compass app was invaluable) I said my cleansing prayer and went in a clockwise motion around the room (some go counterclockwise when smudging, clockwise just felt right for me). I fanned the increasingly thick smoke into the air. I stopped at every window and made the sign of the cross with the sage. My kit did contain oil for the windows and salt crystals for the doorways, but it felt a little extreme for my first smudging, so I left that for next time (maybe). When I made it back to my starting point, I said the same prayer again. I ended by making the infinity sign with the sage. 

I did the same ritual in the kitchen and garage. At this point, I realized I'd better blow out the sage before the cats collapsed, or it set off the fire alarm. I blew the sage bundle and the ashes went flying. Setting the house ablaze was also not in my plans, so I made sure I collected the ashes and placed them in the bowl. I smudged the back door, the first floor bathroom, the closet  and even the staircase to the second floor. I started and ended each area with the prayer, made the cross symbol at the windows and the infinity symbol when I returned to each starting point.

By the time I got upstairs I suddenly became aware that I felt calm. I was kind of flitting through the rooms at this point, and it felt like a spiritual, moving ceremony. I was in my smudging zone and it felt beautiful. I felt so joyful when I realized how relaxed I was.

I finished the smudging and my house felt at peace. I felt at peace. Um, but the house was filled with smoke. The air was so still outside, that it didn't pull the smoke out. I was a little concerned that everyone in the house would be breathing too much sage smoke, so I cranked the fans on full blast for awhile. 

I definitely learned that blowing out the smudging stick was sage advice! (drum roll please) I also learned to push myself when there is something I want to do, but don't know how to do it. When I don't have the answers, there are wonderful people out there that do. Feel the fear, and do it anyway. I know that when I do this again, I won't feel that apprehension. I also don't have to feel that it has to be done "perfectly." All I need is a positive intention. And isn't that true for anything?

In Gratitude (and a puff of smoke),

Kerri

www.suitablegifts.com