Tarot cards, a crystal ball, a pendulum, and… cheese?

There are many, many means of divination, some wackier than others.

 Tyromancy is the art of predicting the future using cheese. In the Middle Ages, those who wanted to divine messages would inspect the patterns of mold or the holes or other cheesy characteristics to find out about love, justice, rain, health, or death. Another way of using it to get answers was to set out two pieces of cheese, each representing a different path the querent might take. Then, whichever piece was nibbled first by a mouse or worm was the best path to take or decision to make. If a girl was wondering which suitor to marry, she’d set out two small morsels of cheese, one for each man, and the first to grow mold was the best match for her.

But, wait! That’s not all!

Abacomancy was the use of dust, dirt, or sand to get insight about the future. You could even use the ashes of someone recently deceased. Similar to reading tea leaves, the dust, dirt, or whatever, would be laid on a flat surface and then examined for patterns or symbols. Jackson Pollack, the famous painter, was known for his series of paintings based on abacomancy.

Bibliomancy is something I’ve written about before. Quick—grab the book that’s closest to you. Hold it while you think of something you’d like Divine guidance on. Hold your question in your mind as you open to a random page and, with your eyes closed, point at a passage. Open your eyes and read it. If the insight isn’t immediately obvious, give it a day or so to percolate.

Scrying is also relatively easy to do. You can use water, a mirror, a crystal ball, fire, or smoke. Look into your chosen medium and soften your gaze. What do you see? What impressions do you get? It’s almost like dreaming while you’re awake and then interpreting the vision you get.

Ouija board, palmistry, coffee grounds, runes, fung shui, nine star ki, and astrology are just a few that you may have heard of. If one of them sounds interesting to you, why not look into it and give it a try?

My granddaughter was on the bench. Again. She had fouled out too many times. Sometimes she does it one purpose to intimidate the opposing basketball team. Sometimes her temper gets the best of her.

When she was younger, she spent a few days a week with me. She and I were often like oil and water. We’d get into it. There would sometimes be tears—from one or the other or both of us. Then, I would apologize and remind her that we’re both stubborn and we’re both spicy. It doesn’t mean we don’t love each other. That’s the way we’re wired.

I was working with a client last week and she sighed, “I overthink everything.” I told her she doesn’t overthink; she analyzes. She tries to figure out the why. Besides, maybe other people under-think. Who says what the right amount of thinking is? And it’s not like she can change how much she thinks. That’s the way she’s wired.

We all have things we’ve heard others say about us that hurt like lemon juice in a papercut. We’re too sensitive. We need to relax. We come on too strong. We’re too emotional. Or too aloof. Or too kind. Or…

What is it you’ve heard more than once that you’re too? Is it something you can change? Is it something you even want to change? What are the positive outcomes of the way you’re wired?

Deep thinking helps us analyze difficult situations and may help find solutions to problems. Being sensitive makes us empathetic. Finding it difficult to relax gets shit done. Being assertive sets good boundaries. You get the picture. How is your temperament an asset?

As I’ve said before, the Universe needs you to be authentic. You are unique and you have a unique role in the interconnected web of being. Spirit loves you exactly as you are. If you’re not being you, the Universe is diminished.

So here’s to you and the traits you may feel are negative. What a beige world it would be without them.

Today, I won’t be at Oktoberfest because I’m home trying not to be an albatross.

I’ll get to why, but first, a little backstory.

When I lived in Paris, I had a friend named Columbine. It seemed like she knew absolutely everyone. (She even took me to have tea with a French TV star once.) I hung out with her and her group of friends a lot.

One day, I was at her place and the phone rang. She answered and gestured for me to pick up the little earpiece that was a feature of French phones back then. It was Philippe. “Est-ce que l’abatros est là?” he asked. Columbine said yes and I didn’t pay attention to the rest of the conversation because I was puzzling over what he had said. When Columbine hung up I asked her, “qu’est-ce que l’albatros?”

“The thing that won’t go away,” she replied. He had asked if the albatross was there. Oh. I’m the albatross.

This was just before my best friend back in the States wrote to tell me she didn’t want to be friends any longer because no one was going to ask her out if they thought I was going to tag along.

It appeared I wasn’t an albatross just in France.

Last week, I found out that not only did a friend forget to put our going to Oktoberfest together on her calendar, but that she has other plans—with the all the women in our group—except me. Ouch.

It’s amazing how something small can hook right into an old wound, tearing it open again. I had to remind myself to feel the fresh emotions and to leave the past in the past.

By being present, our hurts have less control over us, and we have more freedom to choose how we want to respond to our lives. We don’t always get to choose what happens to us, but we do get to choose how we meet and face a challenge.

We can go out and buy a bag of salted caramels to try to avoid negative feelings (and boy, did I want to), or be gentle with ourselves, and know that healing will begin once we let the feelings of hurt, disappointment, anger, or even grief flow.

We can call someone who genuinely cares about us and give ourselves permission to talk about what hurts.

We can use an affirmation like I am loving, loveable, and loved.

And, when we’re ready, we can give ourselves permission to forgive.

In the meantime, I have a great idea for a Halloween costume.

“I feel like we’re walking around like zombies,” my friend told me. “I can’t seem to shake the feeling that this guy is still with us somehow.”

I scheduled energy clearings with each of them. Suzanne and Allie had met a guy who was an actual energy vampire. He had gotten his energetic hooks into them and continued to sap their energy for days. It was spooky. I cut the energetic cord and cautioned them to not have any further contact with him.

People who are honest-to-goodness energy vampires are rare. But we all know people who leave us feeling depleted, tired, unsupported, or maybe even a little sad: the friend who is always in the middle of some drama and whines to us about it, or the family member who constantly needs help but never calls to see how we’re doing, or the co-worker who is so, so needy.

These lesser vampires aren’t going to go away unless we disinvite them. It may not be possible to cut them out of our life entirely, especially if we’re people-pleasers (and if you are, know that you are easy prey for these energy suckers). But we can be honest with them.

If we can sit them down and tell them we feel drained by the relationship, we have the chance to see behind the Dracula mask.

If they say, “I’m sorry. What do you need?” then there’s hope. If they become defensive or angry, they’re probably not going to change. At the very least, new boundaries will need to be established. We don’t have to answer every time they call. We can feel free to say we’re busy or give ourselves a hard out (I need to run at 7:20).

Or they may need a complete exorcism from your life.

If we continue to give them our time and energy, we need to ask ourselves why. Are we not worthy of mutually supportive relationships? Is our well-being not valuable? Shouldn’t we unapologetically respect our own needs?

There is magic in having clear energetic boundaries. Boundaries create a healthy separation between us and others. They allow us to have our own space and privacy, our own feelings, thoughts, needs, and ideas.

They allow us to be ourselves rather than who someone else wants us to be. And the Universe needs us to be uniquely us.

Have you ever had a decision that felt like it was making you instead of the other way around? A choice in your life that seemed less like a choice and more like an unstoppable force?

There was one day I got up and I knew I had to become a hospice chaplain. It was an undeniable push from Spirit. It was a sudden longing that was so powerful that I knew I wouldn’t be able to do anything else.

And then there are the more gentle callings of our souls. We may feel like something is off, something in our lives is not quite right. But what? At those times, it seems like that not-quite-right-ness  is hard to pin down. Maybe it’s not enough exercise or a new medication or a mild cold or…

Rarely do we consider that it’s our soul, our higher self, trying to get our attention.

We make many soul contracts before we come into this lifetime. Some are huge, meant to change the world. Others are smaller, lessons to be learned or patterns to be broken. All of them are important. All of them long to be fulfilled.

When we feel like something is not quite right in our life, it’s time to be quiet and ask our soul what our next step is. We can meditate. We can walk silently in nature. We can turn off the music when we’re on a long drive. We can try journaling or even automatic writing (the practice of asking a question and letting the answer write itself, without consciously moving the pencil). Or we can use oracle cards to give us answers.

We can also call on Archangel Raziel, the angel of wisdom. He can help us when we need guidance on our spiritual path. He can break down barriers to get you where you need to be. He’s there for us when our soul is whispering to us, prodding us to find our true purpose.

Once you have requested Raziel’s help, you may see the numbers 11, 22, or 33, the numbers associated with him. You might also notice scrolls or the color indigo more often than usual. Trust these signs that he is with you. But even if you don’t see them, that doesn’t mean he’s not helping you. Keep a notebook near your bed for flashes of insight that come to you as you’re drifting off to sleep or in a dream.

Be still and listen this week. What is your soul urging you to do?

I got engaged while I had a corporate job at Harley-Davidson in Milwaukee. My fiancé (now husband) worked for Oprah Winfrey. In the world of jobs, Oprah always wins. And yet, I was waffling. Did I want to uproot my children and move? The waffling was in spite of having become redundant. There was almost literally nothing left for me to do at H-D.

Why is it so hard for us to accept change?

I have a client who was on her way back to a place she hates, when she had a mental and physical freakout. We had talked about this several times. Why was she insisting she would be ok going back? Her body was telling her unequivocally that she would not be ok.

Why are we so inflexible sometimes?

When we view change as a challenge instead of an opportunity for growth and learning, we feel like we’re mired in muck. Maybe we’re afraid of failure. Or maybe we imagine it will be more difficult and we’ll be less adaptable than we hope.

The planet Mercury stationed retrograde on the 23^rd.  This can cause all sorts of changes. They’re mostly minor, but they can still leave us feeling disoriented. Delays, appointments being rescheduled or canceled, electronics going haywire, and indecision can all be expected. Or we can at least expect the unexpected.

When we’re faced with changes, either large or small, before we paint the protest sign that says HELL NO! we should take a step back. Listen for what other desires are lurking in the background. Pay attention to the voice of our quietest dreams. Ask what we can learn from our disorientation.

And we can reflect on how we’ve successfully navigated change in the past. After all, look who has survived all the changes, good and bad, so far (yes, you).

Look in the mirror and see all the unexpected things you’ve successfully navigated. Who is this extraordinary person looking back at you? You’re stronger and more flexible than you may give yourself credit for.  

This week, try to stay open to change, because with Mercury retrograde, there’s bound to be some.

How’s your summer?

I feel like this is the only question I hear this time of year. No one ever asks, How’s your fall?

We only get a few months of nice weather here in the Upper Midwest and we try to cram as much into them as possible. I’m as guilty as anyone. Since the beginning of June, I’ve been to Kohler, Wisconsin; my high school class reunion; New Glarus, Wisconsin, to see my sister; my daughter’s wedding; Lily Dale assembly outside Buffalo, New York; Las Vegas; Spring Green, Wisconsin; and the McHenry County Fair.

Are you in high gear, too? Are you constantly planning, preparing, going, doing, problem-solving, redoing, and fixing? Does life feel like an endless stream of responsibilities and things that have to get done? Do you ever have trouble falling asleep because you know there’s so much that has to get done the next day? (Again, I’m guilty.)

Do you know which popular phrase I hate? Making memories, as in  Oh, great, now on top of everything else, I have to worry about making sure all those experiences are memorable for others.

It’s time to take a breather, to power down, to set the switch to off. Not forever, but for a bit. It’s time to cool down and recharge.

Why? So you don’t burn out. So that you don’t build up resentment. So that you don’t hurt yourself. We’re not built to always be going and doing.

Why not stop and

• Take a few deep breaths
• Sit an close your eyes for a minute
• Go outside and lift your face to the sun
• Maybe take a walk while you’re out there
• Pet your dog or cat
• Listen to some calming music
• Read a novel, something fluffy and fun
• Meditate

When we take time to relax, we allow our physical and emotional systems to return to their baseline states. Taking a break reduces mental fatigue and anxiety. It leaves us feeling refreshed with renewed energy.

Just don’t use that energy to plan more busyness.

Seriously, how’s your summer?

Earlier in the week, I felt called to talk about angel numbers in our weekly Facebook Live. I was glad I did as it resonated with at least one person, who asked me which book on the subject she should buy.

That reminded me that I had to look up a number, 944, that I had seen on two cars that were side by side at O’Hare when I got back from Las Vegas. I was annoyed that I had to leave the terminal I arrived at and walk outside to get to the terminal where my luggage was. But there, between the two terminals, were the cars. Of course, by the time I got home, I had forgotten to look up 944.

The next day, a Facebook memory popped up from 13 years ago. I just wrote ‘jolting yogurt” as a note to myself as I prepare to write a sermon. And I think Jolting Yogurt would be a good name for a rock band. I tried to find that sermon and couldn’t. But I did come across another sermon that had this:
Or is believing seeing? I don’t have to see a million dollars to know that it exists.  I don’t have to know how electricity works to enjoy a piece of toast.  And I don’t have to understand the complexities of the optic nerve to watch television.  As I said, I didn’t believe in angels when I saw them, so how could I have created them?

Oh, right—I need to lookup 944 in my angel numbers book. It says, Your Divine Life purpose involves working with the angels and archangels to help others.

You know what I always say. You can’t make this shit up. Angels, angels, angels.

How has Spirit been trying to get your attention lately? Do cardinals always fly right in front of your car? Do you constantly see 11:11 or 444 or 777? Do you find a penny almost every day? Or maybe white feathers are always in your path?

If you don’t know what message Spirit is trying to give you, take some time to find out. Meditate or pray. What comes up? Pay attention to your dreams. Maybe try some bibliomancy, which is asking a question and then opening a book at random, pointing at the page and reading the passage.

If you do know the meaning of the symbols being shown to you, what are you being called to do? What’s your next step? Get on it!

And watch for my angel class. I hope to have it ready in September.

“What’s the first thing you’ll do when we win?” I asked my husband, Chris, as he came in the door with some lottery tickets.

Note: when not if.

“Buy a new house. I want a movie theater in the basement,” he said.

We bantered back an forth about what we’d do with the $720,000,000 until Chris said he couldn’t talk about it. It made him too aware of the things he wanted but didn’t have.

This was an excellent example of the Law of Paradoxical Intent.

When there is something we want, whether it’s health, a job, a soulmate, or a material possession, we need to set an intention without feeling a sense of lack. Gratitude brings about more to be grateful for. Focusing on lack constricts the energy and pushes our desire further away from us. It can even bring about more lack.

We attract what we think about and what we feel.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t experience our so-called negative emotions. We absolutely should. All of our emotions serve as guides and teachers. But they have no place in intention-setting.

When I dream about the house I’d buy with our lottery winnings, first I think of all the things in our current house that I’m grateful for. It’s bright and sunny. It has a beautiful bathtub in a bathroom I designed and love. We can gather my big family  in it for holidays and entertain guests outside in the summer. It’s close to our children and grandchildren.

Next, I feel how wonderful it would be to have some old oaks or maples, a spacious kitchen, and an office with a door. Not because I desperately need or want those things; I don’t. But I can feel how fantastic it would be if I did have them.

And then, I let go of attachment. I release my attachment to the outcome. I have sent my desire out into the Universe knowing that there are always enough wonderful things for everyone. I release my attachment to the form in which my desire will be delivered. I release attachment to timing.

Releasing attachment is the magic wand we wave over our intention. Once we do that, poof! We have more than enough.

P.S. When I win the lottery, you’re all invited over for an over-the-top party!