I’m Sandra Piddock, and I’m a freelance writer, dividing my time between Spain and the UK. I’ll write about anything that interests and/or challenges me, and I like to focus on the lighter side of life whenever possible..
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When some people hear the word spiritual they automatically think of Talking to Dead People, but that’s Spiritualism, which is something totally different. There is, however, a similarity, in that both are governed by energy. We are all composed of energy – every one of us, and everything. I am energy, you are energy, the laptop I’m typing on is energy, as is whatever you choose in order to read this now.
Energy is fluid – it can change and it can be changed. That’s what spiritual wellbeing is all about, and that’s what this category is all about. So, you will read about gratitude, happiness, positivity – all the things that make us feel better about ourselves and about life. No dead people, I promise! This category is all about life, and living it to the full.
Archangel Uriel, from Diana Cooper’s Archangel Oracle Cards deck
This morning I was visited by Archangel Uriel. I knew it was him, because I saw his bright red ruby ray behind my eyes, and I felt the distinctive, comforting energy that all angels bring with them. I was wondering why Uriel blessed me with his presence this morning, but at the time of writing, Russia has invaded Ukraine, and so many of us are concerned for the plight of the people there.
Reports and images on the news are very disturbing and upsetting, and there’s a lot of fear and darkness around right now. I feel Archangel Uriel wants us to remember to shine our own light powerfully, for ourselves and others, and that’s why he appeared to me today, although he’s not one of my regular Angel Crew.
Uriel’s name means ‘Light of God,’ or ‘Fire of God,’ and he’s the Angel of Light, Truth, Wisdom and Peace. It was Uriel who warned Noah of the Great Flood, and his wisdom can help resolve conflicts and calm down anger and hatred. In organised religion, he’s seen as one of the seven Archangels appointed by God to watch over humanity, so he’s certainly an angel for the present situation. Many of us feel helpless in the face of atrocity and suffering, and it can leave us overwhelmed. Asking Archangel Uriel to help us build our inner light can help a lot with the way we feel, and we can then extend that light to all who need it.
It’s a recognised spiritual truth that darkness can’t hide from the light, and we are all meant to be beings of light, so it’s important that we keep our vibrations high and shine our light brightly, both for ourselves and others. One of Uriel’s tasks is to give courage to soldiers going into battle, but his red ray and the symbol of fire are also connected with strength, confidence and courage, so he’s a strong angel to have on your side. In this visualisation, we’ll use Uriel’s fire and light to bring peace, hope and love to ourselves and others.
Visualisation to build and share your Inner Light
Sit comfortably and close your eyes. Ask Archangel Uriel to work with you to build and share your Inner Light. See him before you, in red robes.
Feel heat and warmth emanate from Uriel, like the sun on a hot summer day. He is now glowing with a golden yellow light.
Now feel that light enter your body, passing through your skin, travelling into your being, lighting and warming every cell in your body.
Bask in that light and warmth until you, too glow like Uriel, with a beautiful golden yellow light. Feel its warmth in your heart.
Imagine you are floating, high above your body. Look down and see your Inner Light glowing. Allow it to draw you back, into your body again. Know your light is bright and cannot be extinguished.
Ask Archangel Uriel to seal his light inside you by placing a ruby red cloak around your shoulders.
To send your light to others, see a dense, dark space in front of you. It’s impossible to distinguish any shape or form, but know there is someone or something there, in that darkness, who needs light to bring them out of the shadows. You may choose to send your light to a person or people, a country, or to the whole of Mother Earth.
Place your hands over your heart, feel the warmth of your Inner Light and send its golden beams out into the darkness before you. See the golden rays connect with the person, people or place you are envisaging. Gradually, their shape emerges through the shadows, glowing golden as you fill them with love and light. Feel their warmth and light, and bask in it together.
When you feel ready, ask Archangel Uriel to wrap them in a ruby red cloak to seal their Inner Light.
Once the cloak is in place, say these words, out loud or internally: ‘Archangel Uriel, thank you for sharing your light of wisdom, truth and peace with myself and with those who need light to bring them from the shadows of fear and anger into the light of joy and love. And so it is.’
You can do this visualisation any time you feel overshadowed or overwhelmed, or whenever you wish to send love and light to people, situations or countries, or even the whole of Mother Earth. Receiving and sending love and light is powerful energy work that will benefit yourself and the recipients. You will feel clearer and more confident about particular situations or life in general after performing this beautiful and powerful visualisation. Invite Archangel Uriel help you to banish shadows for yourself and others and feel the benefit of his loving presence.
Fire Dragon from Diana Cooper’s Dragon Oracle Cards
Today I did a private reading for a client, and as I was travelling to her home, I was given a message to use a Fire Dragon visualisation to help the lady to transmute her thinking. At that stage, that was all the information I had, but I knew that Spirit would let me know when it was time to do the visualisation, and how to work with it for the best benefit of my client.
It turned out to be a beautiful, powerful visualisation, and I resolved that as soon as I had attended to the necessary tasks for today, I’d write down the visualisation to share it with my readers. I have Diana Cooper’s Dragon Oracle Cards, so I decided to use the Fire Dragon card as one of the illustrations. As usual, I knocked any stuck or residual energy out of the cards, then shuffled them to clear them and infuse my own energy in the deck. Then I turned over the cards to sift through to find the card I needed – a pleasant job, as they are all so beautiful.
Lo and behold, there was the Fire Dragon card, so I took that as a sign not only to get on with writing this, but also to tell you more about Fire Dragons, and Dragons in general, before getting into the visualisation.
What are Dragons exactly?
A dragon in the clouds above Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca
Dragons are elemental beings from the Angelic Realm. They can consist of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, or be a combination of up to three elements. They also work on different dimensions, from fourth dimension to ninth dimension, and are protective beings who can clear negative energies so we can progress on our soul’s journey at a higher vibration.
They are not the fierce, fire-breathing beasts of myth and legend, who have to be slain by fearless knights before they destroy everything in their path. In fact, dragons work with Nature and with us here on Earth to make the world a better place and to literally light up our lives. They work closely with the Universe for our benefit, if we invite them to work with us. If you’d like to learn more about dragons, check out Diana Cooper’s book, Dragons, Your Celestial Guardians.
Fire Dragons
Fire is destructive but also cleansing and purifying
Fire Dragons are fourth dimensional beings who will burn up the lower energies around us, making way for transforming higher energies to come into our lives. Their red/orange colour is the colour of confidence and courage, and they will help release you from the energetic ties of past challenges so that you can move forward with faith.
According to Diana Cooper, Fire Dragon energy will help you deal more positively with the people and situations around you that are stealing your joy, so they are great allies. Fire is destructive, obviously, but it’s also clearing and cleansing, destroying what doesn’t serve us so we can make room for better things in our lives.
Fear and Love
While we talk of many emotions, both positive and negative, spiritual living comes from just two perspectives, Fear and Love. Fear is the Ego trying to undermine the soul, and thoughts that come from fear are focused on preserving the physical benefits, with no thought for long term happiness. It’s limiting thought processes that will limit your life if you are stuck in that energy.
Love, on the other hand, comes from the Soul, and is limitless and unconditional. Love takes risks for the highest good of all concerned, while Fear wants to maintain the status quo, and preserve the physical benefits at the expense of spiritual growth. Fear worries about having enough of what we want, while Love trusts that the Universe will provide everything we need. It’s that simple, and that complicated!
Fire Dragon Visualisation to Transmute Negative Thinking and Turn Fear to Love
The cleansing, protective power of the Fire Dragon
Make yourself comfortable, somewhere you won’t be disturbed. You can do this visualisation sitting or lying down, but it’s important to be fully relaxed, so take three or four deep, calming breaths, inhale for a count of three, hold for three, then exhale for three. Now you’re ready to start.
Close your eyes and invite your Fire Dragon to come to you to help burn away negative, fear-based thoughts. You may feel heat, and see red behind your eyes as you invoke the dragon energy. Even if you feel or see nothing, know that your Fire Dragon is with you, because you have asked him to be there.
If you wish, ask your dragon for his name. It doesn’t matter whether he gives you a name or not, the energy is still powerful and protective.
Now see a road opening up before you. It’s black, just like a regular, tarmac covered road, and it represents your negative, fear-based thought patterns. The road travels downhill, into the lower energetic vibrations.
Ask your dragon to burn away these lower energies, to make space for higher frequencies to come in. See the flames come from his mouth to destroy the black road. Watch it burn, and watch your Fire Dragon chase down and destroy every inch. As the road goes downhill, the dragon will disappear from view, having consumed all the lower energies with fire.
Take a moment to experience and appreciate the lightness of not being weighed down by negative, fear-based thinking.
Now, see your Fire Dragon coming back into view. No longer breathing fire, he’s trailing a new road in his wake, like the jet stream of an airliner, climbing into the sky. This is the pink Road of Love, and it represents your new thinking, where everything and anything is possible. Follow your dragon, and the road,, which forms a bridge to higher energies and connection with the Universe, as it passes up and over your head.
Affirm that from now on, your thought perspectives will follow the high Road of Love, rather than running down the Road of Fear.
Thank your Fire Dragon for clearing away the negative, fear-based thoughts and bringing love and positivity back into your life. Come back into the room and have a drink of water.
Shifting your perspective from Fear to Love
How do you change your perspective from Fear to Love? Simply by shifting the energy of your thought processes from negative to positive. When something bad happens, it’s natural to think ‘Why has this happened to me?’ However, if we can realise that change only happens when it needs to, and not because the Universe has it in for us, we can then shift the thinking to a more positive tone. Ask yourself instead, ‘What can I learn from this?’ or ‘What benefits will come from this change?’
The situation hasn’t altered, but your response to it has. Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of the changes facing you, you are looking for the benefits. Your thoughts are coming from Love, rather than Fear. It takes time, patience and commitment to shift your thinking in this way, but if you do it enough, it will come naturally.
Remember the Universe can’t distinguish between what’s good and bad in our lives, it can only identify what we focus on as important to us, and that’s what we’ll attract more of. So it’s in our best interests to focus on what we want in our lives, rather than what we don’t want. And the Fire Dragons are always there to help burn away the negatives to make room for better things. All you need to do is ask. Love and blessings.
Image Credits: Featured image Diana Cooper’s Dragon Oracle Cards; Other fire, dragon and candle images Pixabay.com; Cloud dragon image is my own.
Just over a year ago, I shared this visualisation after being given it by Spirit to help friends who were feeling anxious about the effect Covid-19 was having on their lives. We couldn’t have known then that we would still be under restrictions from the pandemic as I write this in May 2021, but the focus seems to have changed for many people. We are learning to live with Covid, but we are finding it difficult to cope with the uncertainties of our lives, and this is causing anxiety now, rather than any fear of catching the disease itself.
A recurrent theme for me in recent readings is that people are wondering what the future holds, and also blaming themselves for not coping well with the pandemic. We feel we should be more supportive of our loved ones, and we should be handling things better than we are. Wake up call time: if the world’s governments can’t get a real grip on the ongoing situation, with all the expert advice at their disposal, don’t you think it’s asking a lot of yourself to do better?
The truth is, there is no blueprint for handling this type of situation, where pretty much everything is out of our hands, and we can’t see how it can be resolved. And that sends us into a downward spiral of overthinking, which commandeers our thought processes to the extent that all we can focus on is our failure to deal with stuff. And it’s not confined to Covid either. When something triggers a memory from the past, we are reminded of our perceived failings there as well, so we beat ourselves up even more. And all of this is stealing our joy in the present moment – because despite the pandemic and the restrictions still in place which are keeping us apart from our loved ones, there is a lot to be thankful for.
When we talk about the Law of Attraction, we need to keep in mind that the idea of ‘What you put out is what you get back,’ while accurate, is also a little simplistic. The Universe is very good at picking up on what we give our focus to, but it’s not so hot on differentiating between what we want more of, and what we want less of. Because we give a lot of energy via thought waves to issues of concern, the Universe identifies that it’s important to us, and therefore it sends more for us to worry about, rather than helping us to navigate through our current concerns. This in turn muddles our thinking even more, so the answers seem ever more distant.
Cutting energetic cords brings a calmness to your mind that helps you to step back and get more clarity around the situation, thereby opening up the way for your intuition to help you resolve things in the best way possible for all concerned. I’ve now been given a new visualisation, which I often use before readings, as it helps my clients to be more receptive to guidance from Spirit and the Angels. I’m going to share it now with you, with love.
Cord cutting visualisation with Archangel Michael:
Sit or lie comfortably, somewhere free from distractions and interruptions. This just takes a few minutes, but you may wish to meditate on how you feel or just reflect on the visualisation afterwards, so allow yourself enough time.
Close your eyes and take three deep breaths, breathing in pure white love to a count of three through the nose, hold the breath for three, then exhale through the mouth for three, releasing all tensions, doubts and anxieties as you go. You may want to give the ‘out’ breath a colour, say red or dark blue, then see it lighten with each breath as you release stress. If you still don’t feel completely relaxed, repeat the process until you do. Breath work is never wasted!
Now imagine you have a ball of black modelling clay in your hands. It’s quite small, but as you roll it around, see yourself adding layers by transferring all your concerns to the ball, and seeing it grow larger. When you feel that everything that’s worrying you has now been added to the ball, make a final layer from any subconscious worries and triggers you can’t even bring to mind.
Attach a string to the ball. It doesn’t matter how long or short it is, or what it’s made from, it will be exactly the right length for your needs, so don’t worry about it – just know the string is there.
Now, take the end of the string between your thumb and forefinger, and cup the ball containing everything that no longer serves you in the palm of your hand. Fling it as hard and as far as you can, and watch it go out of sight.
Because you are still attached to the ball via the string, it comes bouncing back towards you, very fast, but not fast enough!
Now call on Archangel Michael to step forward with his Sword of Light and cut through the energetic cords represented by the string in your hand. See the sword – which is a bit like Darth Vader’s Lightsabre, only it’s used for good, rather than evil – slice through the cord with one blow.
Once again, watch the black ball go from your sight. Interestingly, now Archangel Michael has severed the energetic cords, it has no power or strength, and drifts aimlessly out of sight. And it doesn’t come back.
Thank Archangel Michael for his help. You may feel a comforting presence, like a hug, around your shoulders. If you don’t, don’t worry, just trust that he is there, because you called on him for help.
When you feel ready, bring yourself back to the here and now and open your eyes. If you want to take some time to meditate or reflect on your visualization, now is the best time, while it’s all fresh. to you
I like to visualise Archangel Michael’s Sword of Light like this – in fact I call this photo Sword of Light
Whenever I run through this with my clients, they look and feel happier, lighter and more relaxed, and you will too. How does this happen? It’s a mixture of intentionally shifting your energy focus, and the magical workings of Archangel Michael. Don’t overthink it – just enjoy those lovely feelings, and the clarity of thought that comes with it.
Cutting energetic cords is like peeling an onion, sometimes you need to go through more layers to get to the best bits, so do this exercise whenever you feel the need to. If you’re overwhelmed, or your thoughts are negative, do a cord cutting visualisation. There are always things to leave behind. This is particularly powerful at the time of the Full Moon, which is traditionally a good time to release anything that no longer serves you.
You may wish to record the visualisation, so you can listen to it playing back and give your energy your full attention. Or why not do it with a friend, taking turns to guide each other through the process? However you choose to cut cords, enjoy the experience, and let me know how you get on with it. Love and blessings.
I find a recurring theme in my psychic readings at the moment is self blame. We’re all beating ourselves up for not coping with the ongoing situation around Covid-19. Why should we expect ourselves to master the challenges of being isolated, putting normal life on hold and processing grief, when even the so-called experts don’t have the answers? Well, we shouldn’t, but we do!
The sad thing is, we tend to build an emotional wall around our heart space to keep away the hurt, and all it does is to hurt us even more. The human heart is designed for unconditional love – we are born with wonder in our hearts, and the ability to live in the moment and appreciate everything around us. However, for most of us, this state of wonder doesn’t last. We’re either talked out of it by our parents, or we talk ourselves out of it. Instead of being open, trusting and loving, we go into defence mode, especially in challenging situations like the one we’re experiencing now.
Would it surprise you to learn that the best way to protect yourself is to allow yourself to be more vulnerable? Yes, it sounds mad, but it actually works. The defence mechanisms we construct around ourselves, physically and emotionally, stem from fear, and fear is a low vibrational energy. However, we are divine beings of creation, and we are designed to live naturally in the higher vibration of the soul.
How can we do this in challenging times? One simple yet effective way is to intentionally open your heart centre to love. Here’s a simple visualisation for you to try.
Visualisation to open up your heart centre and give and receive love more readily
Sit with your feet firmly on the floor in a comfortable chair. Close your eyes, and take in a deep breath through the nose. Imagine you are breathing in Archangel Chamuel’s pink ray of love. Hold the breath for a count of three, then exhale for three, releasing any tension in the body. Repeat this three times.
Place both hands over your heart centre, left hand closest to the body, right hand over it. Imagine that, beneath your hands, there is a warm pink glow. See its colour, feel its warmth. Know it is your soul connecting with your heart.
See this glow expand to fill your chest cavity, and then break out from your body and surround you in the glow of love. You may feel your hands moving at this point as your heart centre expands. Don’t resist it – go with what happens. It’s all good, and it’s all what you need, right now, so embrace it and enjoy it.
You can also connect with a loved one as you do this, either on the earth plane or in Spirit. Simply visualise them doing the same thing, and see the glow from your two heart centres meet and merge. Stay with this for as long as you need to or want to.
When you are ready, draw your pink glow of unconditional love back into your own body, and see it leave a glow all around you as it retracts. Think the Ready Brek advert, but in pink, and always there!
Thank Archangel Chamuel for his help in opening up your heart centre, open your eyes and take a drink of water. This helps to ground your energies back into the room after this powerful visualisation.
I use this visualisation during psychic readings when appropriate, and I love how it makes clients feel. They look visibly lighter and glowing, and it can be a profound emotional experience, particularly if they link heart centres with a loved one. It’s a great way to counteract the feelings of loss we are all experiencing while we can’t meet up at will with loved ones, and you will probably find that they feel the glow too, even though they may not realise what it is.
Look out for comments like, ‘I thought of you earlier, and I had the most fantastic feeling of warmth and happiness.’ That means your heart centres connected on a much deeper level than the purely physical. Why not share this visualisation with them? It’s a fabulous gift. Let me know how you get on with this – I’d love to hear your experiences. Love and blessings.
In Part 1 of this feature, I introduced you to the basics of chakra balancing. It’s here, if you missed it. I intended to add the visualisation, but I decided it would be better to have it separate from the main article, so you don’t have to wade through it every time you want to balance your chakras.
As I mentioned, chakras are invisible energy centres, usually thought of as wheels, since the word itself derives from the Sanskrit word for ‘wheel’ or ‘circle.’ In this visualisation, I use the wheel concept to spin, clear and cleanse the chakras. It’s a really simple visualisation that anyone can do, whether they are experienced in energy work or not.
When I conduct chakra balancing sessions, I use crystals, an energy generator and various visualisations. I also bring in Archangels and spirit guides for a profound experience that leaves the client relaxed and feeling lighter and more positive. It’s a fabulous experience, and the good news is, you can recreate it at home
You don’t even need to use crystals, although they do serve to raise the energetic vibrations, focus your intent, and give you an idea of where you should be directing the energy flow during the visualisation. This is how it works.
Visualisation for clearing and aligning the 7 main chakra centres
As with any spiritual practice, it pays to be in a state of relaxation before you begin, so take the time to breathe in through the nose for a count of three, hold for three, then exhale through the mouth for three. Do this 3 – 5 times, then follow these simple instructions.
Check your energy by holding a pendulum above each chakra in turn. If they are blocked, the pendulum will hardly move. If the energy is flowing freely, it will swing around in a circle. The lower, more physical chakras are more likely to be blocked than the higher ones, but you need to align all the chakras for best results.
Place each of the crystals alongside the relevant chakras, according to the guide in Part 1 of this feature. The crystal positions don’t need to be precise, as long as they are in the general vicinity of the chakra centres.
Close your eyes, and visualise the root chakra as a wheel. Imagine it turning clockwise, in a steady spin. When you have achieved the desired effect, do the same with the sacral chakra, but keep the momentum going with the root chakra, so they spin in alignment.
Repeat this process through all the chakras – solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye, crown – allowing 30 seconds to a minute for each one. Imagine that you are building a spinning pole, similar to an old-fashioned barber’s pole, all the way up through your torso.
Once all 7 chakra wheels are steadily spinning in alignment, slow down the process by reversing the spin so the wheels are now spinning anti-clockwise.
Wait until your body feels normal again, and the wheels are no longer spinning, then take a drink of water to ground yourself.
Now check the energy in each of the chakra points with the pendulum once more. You should see a marked improvement, and you will feel relaxed and lighter. Repeat this ritual whenever you feel your energies need clearing to flow more readily.
You can use this visualisation for yourself, guide others through it, or even do a simultaneous chakra balancing with your partner or a friend. Lie on the floor or the bed, and set out the crystals between you before beginning the visualisation and leading your companion through it with you. You’ll find the increased energy levels will benefit each of you, and it’s a great way to strengthen your soul connection.
I hope this visualisation will help you connect with your energy on a deeper level than ever before. Let me know how you get on – I’d love to know.
In these challenging times, more and more people are turning to spirituality and self care as a reliable way to stay sane and attempt to make sense of what is happening in the world. We can’t control it, but we can control our own response to events, and how we think about them. Positive thinking is a big help in times like these, because thoughts are energy, and whatever energies we put out, we receive back under the Law of Attraction.
One way to raise your energy with positive thinking is to regularly check and balance your chakras. In case you didn’t know, chakras are invisible centres of energy in the body, and when they are in alignment, your kundalini – life flow – is in balance, and you feel good physically, emotionally and mentally. However, if the chakras are off balance, due to stress, worry or physical causes, your energy is stuck.
While you may not exactly feel like your root chakra, for example, is off balance or even blocked, it will manifest in some way. Physically, you may experience lower body symptoms such as back pain or constipation, you may be fatigued, or eat more than is good for you. Emotionally, you may be quick to anger, fearful and worried about financial matters, because the root chakra is linked to survival.
We’re not going deep into the chakras here, although I do intend to do a series of articles on the topic soon. Energy management is always important for physical and emotional health, but in these challenging times, it’s vital. The more you know about how your energetic body functions, the more control you have over your responses, and the happier you will be. Knowledge is power, after all!
As a psychic, clairvoyant and energy healer, I offer full chakra balancing, cleansing and clearing. It’s a fabulous experience, including visualisations, and working with Archangels, spirit guides and crystals. It’s very therapeutic for both the client and the practitioner, and afterwards, you will feel lighter, happier and stronger.
However, you don’t need me, or anyone else, from this life or the next, to balance your own chakras. As long as you have somewhere quiet and comfortable where you will be undisturbed and you can visualise or at least imagine stuff happening in your body, you can balance your chakras any time you feel it’s necessary.
You don’t need to use crystals, but they do enhance the energies and give you a focal point to work with. And you can even do a simultaneous chakra balancing by lying on the floor or the bed with your partner, family member or like-minded friend and placing the appropriate chakra crystals between you.
It’s also handy to have a pendulum to check the energy in each chakra before and after balancing. This is especially helpful if you are new to energy work and are not yet able to feel the energies for yourself. (Don’t worry – that skill will come. We all have the ability to heal, even if we haven’t yet realised it!)
Crystals for chakra work
Here’s a brief rundown of some of the best crystals to work with for clearing your chakras. You may be drawn to different crystals, and that’s fine. Go with what your intuition tells you.
Root or base chakra: Choose red or black crystals for grounding. Haematite, Red Jasper, Black Tourmaline and Red Aventurine work well.
Sacral chakra: Orange crystals such as Carnelian and Orange Calcite help restore creativity and motivation.
Solar Plexus chakra: Use yellow crystals like Citrine and Yellow Jasper, to help you boost your personal power by setting healthy boundaries.
Heart chakra: This is the bridge between the physical and spiritual body. I like to use green and pink crystals, to help clear the physical and emotional elements of the heart. Choose Moss Agate or Green Aventurine for better circulation and metabolism, and Rose Quartz for self care and unconditional love.
Throat chakra: The communication chakra benefits from blue stones such as Sodalite and Dumortierite. They will help with clear communication and self confidence.
Third Eye chakra: Calming Amethyst or Purple Fluorite will help improve your spiritual connection.
Crown chakra: Clear Quartz, the Master Healer crystal, brings clarity and helps your connection with the Divine and your own Higher Consciousness.
Now you have the information you need to balance your chakras at home, are you ready to try it for yourself? Great! I’ll see you in Part 2 for the visualisation. Love and blessings.
As we approach February 14, St Valentine’s Day, and our thoughts turn to love, we should remember there are many variations on the theme. Those on a spiritual journey realise that there is a love that’s even more important than love for your partner, parents, children and friends, or even your fellow humans. It’s unconditional love, and it includes love for yourself.
Self love isn’t selfish, it’s essential, because if you don’t love and respect yourself, you can’t expect any one else to love and respect you. It’s not about being unbearably arrogant, either. The truth is, the person we are most critical of is usually ourselves, and most of the time, that criticism is unwarranted and unjust. We set impossibly high standards for ourselves, and when we inevitably fall short of them, we beat ourselves up about it, and end up feeling worse than ever.
So, how can we stop this cycle of self-blame? By learning to show the same unconditional love to ourselves as we lavish on our loved ones, that’s how! If it seems like an impossible ask, well, it isn’t – you just need to shift your thinking, and crystals can help you do that, especially rose quartz, also known as the Love Stone.
How rose quartz can help you and heal you
Everything is energy, and rose quartz resonates with a gentle yet powerful healing energy that can soothe anger, help heal a broken heart, help with the grieving process, and open up the heart centre to give and receive love.
Placed in the relationship corner of the home, or on the bedside table, it can attract love to the occupants and visitors, and encourage intimacy and harmony in existing relationships. A rose quartz sphere in the centre of the living area will radiate love to everyone who enters the space, and also transmute negative energies and restore peace and tranquility.
Rose quartz is a beautiful stone to look at, and its soft shades of pink can be either milky opaque or translucent. In its natural state, the crystal has soft, undulating edges rather than the more geometric shapes of other varieties of quartz. It polishes beautifully too, and can be carved into lovely shapes, such as angels or hearts. It makes you smile just to look at it, which gives an instant boost to your mood.
Holding a rose quartz during meditation helps to bring you into a serene, relaxed state, while sleeping with it under your pillow will ensure a peaceful night’s sleep and encourage beautiful dreams. Rose quartz can also help with self esteem, and allow you to know yourself more thoroughly and connect with your emotions.
On a physical level, rose quartz can help lower blood pressure, boost circulation, and also ease the symptoms of vertigo. A dear friend of mine saw a marked improvement after just a few days of carrying a crystal around during the day and sleeping with it under her pillow at night.
Rose Quartz visualisation to send and receive love
When you are missing someone dear to you, hold a rose quartz crystal over your heart, close your eyes and imagine the crystal is igniting a ball of pink energy in your heart centre. See it grow until it extends outside your body. Now imagine that same ball of energy in the heart of your loved one (or loved ones – you can send love to more than one person at a time. If you are missing your grandchildren, for example, include them all in this visualisation).
Now see the two balls of energy connecting, and love flowing between them in both directions. I have conducted this visualisation with clients who are feeling disconnected from loved ones here on Earth and in Spirit. It’s a very powerful and emotional practice, which leaves you feeing happy and serene.
When you are ready, visualise the pink balls of energy separating, and your own body returning to normal. Sit quietly for a few moments, then take a drink of water and thank the Universe and your crystal for helping you give and receive pure, unconditional love.
If you don’t already have a rose quartz crystal in your collection, I hope this brief introduction to its uses and healing properties has encouraged you to acquire one. Why not drop a subtle hint to your significant other? After all, what better gift can you give for Valentine’s Day than the gift of pure, unconditional love! Love and blessings to everyone reading this.
This is how your clock face might look in your mind’s eye during the visualisation
The last few months have been challenging to say the least, so it’s no wonder we sometimes find our minds racing like the proverbial hamster in a wheel on steroids! A few days ago, I was talking to a friend, who wasn’t sleeping well because he had so much spinning around in his head.
As we were chatting, I was given this visualisation. It helped him a lot, and I also found it very effective, so now I’m sharing it with you. When we are overwhelmed, the best favour we can do ourselves is to take everything out of our head for a while and just ‘Be.’ That’s easier said than done, though. If only there was a way to reset, and start again with a clean slate.
This visualisation will help you do just that, because you really have to concentrate. There’s no room for rogue thoughts to steal your joy, and at the end of this, you’ll feel fresh, focused, and ready to carry on. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin …
Visualisation for calming a racing mind
Sit comfortably and quietly with no distractions. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Take three or four slow, deep breaths, breathing in pure, clean air, and hold for a count of three.
On the exhale, breathe out any worries you may have, Give it a dark colour – brown, grey, red, whatever colour your stress ‘feels’ like. With each out breath, see the colour lighten, until your exhale is almost clear. Now you are ready to start.
Imagine a big clock face, inside your head. The dial is a bright silvery colour, the minute and hour hands are blue, and all the figures on the clock are purple. Both hands are at 12. The second hand is green, and that’s at 12 too.
You really need to concentrate now! Start counting, in your head, from 1 to 60. Count slowly, like seconds ticking away on a clock. At the same time, see the second hand going backwards, that is, anti-clockwise. When you get to 15, 30 and 45, visualise the second hand resting at numbers 9, 6 and 3. As you get to 60, it’s at 12. If it helps, see one of the other hands going with it. It’s tricky at first, because your brain is counting one way, but you are visualising something going in the other direction.
Now pause for a few moments, keeping your eyes closed and your head still, as it takes a moment or two to settle down after this powerful visualisation. Now you’re ready for the second part.
This time, count to 60 again, but see the second hand going clockwise, or forwards, as you count. This part is easier, but it’s important to do it to reset your energy properly. Again, see the second hand pause at 3, 6, 9 and 12. As you become more used to the visualisation, you can even imagine a ‘ticking’ sound as the second hand moves around the clock face.
Take a couple of deep, relaxing breaths, and thank the Universe for turning back time and resetting your energies. Now open your eyes and take a drink of water.
A note about the colours:
The colours on the clock face are not just random selections – they each have a spiritual and psychological connection to ensure the meditation is effective.
Silver: Silver is a colour of balance and reflection. It helps cleanse negative energies, and is an ideal background colour for our clock face. It’s a calming, soothing colour, and it reflects energy back, good and bad, so as you visualise the clock face, you signal to the Universe your intention of clearing negative energies, thereby attracting more positive energy into your life.
Green: Spiritually, green is the colour of the ray of Archangel Raphael, the Healing Angel. It’s also a colour associated with harmony and balance, in Nature and in spirit. It’s calming and restorative, with a gentle energy. If you are feeling stressed, wear something green, and/or carry a green crystal with you. Green is growth, spiritually, emotionally and physically.
Purple: Purple is the colour associated with richness, but it doesn’t always mean wealth; it’s also equated to spiritual enrichment. It’s the colour of the imagination, so having an element of purple in any visualisation will assist the process. Purple is very calming – the crystal amethyst is the one most recommended for dealing with anxiety. If you are wondering why the clock face isn’t in purple, it’s because too much can have the opposite effect, making you feel more anxious and out of balance.
Blue: Is linked to security, confidence and inner peace and tranquility. It’s also the colour of communication and protection.Wear blue to bring about a relaxed, secure state of being – especially when you are in unfamiliar situations.
Practice this visualisation whenever you feel your thoughts racing away from you. It’s also very effective at night, just before you go to sleep, if worry is causing disturbed nights. Please let me know how you get on with this in the comments. Love and blessings.
It’s the day of the Full Moon – July 5 – and what a glorious start I had to it!. I have a friend in Spain, Russ Pearce, who is an excellent writer and photographer. This morning, he published a photo essay, the subject being a sunflower he had grown from a seed in a pack of breakfast mix.
My first thought was, how wonderful Nature is. Something that could have so easily been discarded is nurtured and turned into something beautiful, then that beauty is shared in the photos, giving pleasure to so many.
My second thought came from a trip down memory lane to my school days, and a poem from Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake. It’s called, Ah, Sunflower, and it was first published in 1794, more than 200 years ago.
Like everything Blake wrote, it’s a lot deeper than the words on the paper suggest, beautiful though they may be. It’s an allegory on life – and death, and a world where there is no more pain, and everything is light and love. Blake was one of the Romantic Poets, who celebrated the beauty of Nature, and understood what we understand today – that everything is connected, and we are all part of something much bigger than ourselves.
The interesting thing is, although sunflowers have been around for at least 5,000 years, and maybe even longer, they only came into Europe, from their native America, in around 1500. They were brought from Arizona and Mexico by the Spanish Conquistadors. In 1716, an English patent was granted for removing oil from sunflower seeds, around the time they began to be cultivated on a wider scale, and by the 1760s, they were mentioned in literature.
So there is an eternal connection between the human race, the Earth, and sunflowers, and today another layer of synchronicity was added, when Russ turned the poem into a beautiful meme for me, using one of his photos. It’s a small, random act of kindness from a friend, and it touched my soul.
We are all part of the Universe, in one way or another. Because the Conquistadors brought the sunflower to Europe, Blake, was inspired by its beauty. Along with the other Romantic Poets of the 18th and 19th centuries, Blake questioned organised religion and its motives, preferring to see Nature as the true power and inspiration from which we should all learn about life, and about ourselves.
This was the Age of Enlightenment, when beliefs that had been held for millenia were questioned, and people began to look for another way to live, and another way to grow in wisdom and consciousness. Now we are on the threshold of another Golden Age, as we shift from the Third to the Fifth Dimension, and once again connect more with Nature as we try to make sense of the world we live in. There is a constant connection, running through time and space, that links us all to each other, and to the Universe.
It was Blake who wrote the words to the powerful anthem, Jerusalem, just in case you think you haven’t heard of him. In his lifetime, and for quite a while after he passed, some people thought he was mad, and maybe he was, but he was also very perceptive. Maybe we all have a spark of madness in us – who can say?
What is clear is that if we can connect with Nature at a soul level, we reaffirm our connection with the Universe, and by doing that, we realise that we are not alone. We may have personal autonomy, but we also have the support of something much more powerful, and with that support, we can do anything we set our minds to. We are part of the miracle of life, and we are each of us living miracles. Remember that when you feel that life seems too much to cope with. Look for the beautiful, and beauty will find you, and remind you that you, too are beautiful.
This morning, a good friend of mine put a post on Facebook saying she was being plagued by nightmares. In each one, she was either being chased, was falling, or paralysed – not in the same dream or as a result of the fall – or she was perpetually late. The most distressing dreams concerned the deaths of friends or family members. And all of them put her in a state where she was not in control of what was happening. Someone or something else was calling the shots.
The first thing to note is that this sort of nightmare is not necessarily a warning or a premonition. In fact, it can even be a sign of the opposite scenario – this sort of dream can be an indication that things are about to get better, and that you are entering a new, happier phase of your life.
Think of it like this – falling, paralysis, death are all signs of endings. They are also signs of beginnings. Life has to change before we can move forward. If we take these things literally, these things force you to stop and re-think your life. It happened to me in July 2019.
I was involved in a car accident, which wasn’t my fault, and I broke two ribs. I had to rest, because anything else was too painful. The thing was, after a particularly traumatic event in March, I’d been keeping busy to keep my thoughts away from what had happened, and how my life was going. Yet what I really needed to do was to deal with the issues and move on with my life.
The broken ribs forced me to do that, and from the end of that month, things started to get better. Or, more accurately, I began to heal from my mental traumas as well as the physical ones, so my life began to heal with me.
What is really interesting is that most of the people who commented on that post had also been having similar nightmares. They were wondering whether it was anything to do with the Covid-19 lock-down. Of course, they are right about that. These are strange times we are living through – life as we know it has been turned on its head. For the first time in most of our lives, we have had time to stop and think what it all means. And our whole thought processes are changing. The world is very different, and we are changing with it.
We are all being dealt a powerful lesson, and we cannot ignore it because we are, to continue the school analogy, in enforced detention. For a while, life stopped altogether. We couldn’t go out when we wanted to, we couldn’t go to work, we couldn’t meet up with friends and family. We had to stay at home, and there are only so many times you can clean the bathroom without heading down the slippery slope of OCD.
When there’s nothing else to do, you begin to think, and when you think, all sorts of magical things can happen. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, the frightening thing about these dreams is that we’re not in control – we’re not directing our own destinies.
At the moment, life is mirroring our dreams. We are not in control – the virus is. The truth is, we have never, ever been in control. That was just an illusion perpetrated by egos, ours and other people’s. The Universe does not depend on us to function, it just gets on with everything, despite us, not because of us.
This is clear if we look around us. Nature is not in lock-down, because it just gets on with it. Flowers grow, grass grows, seeds fall, the sun, the moon, the wind and the rain just get on with it. Without the need for any sort of change – no stringent hygiene, no social distancing, no restricted capacity. It’s business as usual, and without our intervention, it’s even more magnificent than ever before.
We see this, and we also see another form of blossoming, as kindness spreads. Neighbours look after other neighbours, people from young children up to centenarians push themselves past their perceived boundaries, all to raise money to help in the cause of controlling Covid-19. Our heroes have changed – we are inspired by, and look up to, ordinary people.
This is all as it should be, because we are all children of the Universe, and we are all equal. We all have our own contribution to make, and we are no better, no more powerful, no more privileged than anyone else on this Earth, whether President or pauper. And finally, we are beginning to realise that. And it’s strange – even stranger than living in lock-down!
So, we are changing our perspectives, and realising what matters most. Money doesn’t matter – it can’t buy you immunity. Power doesn’t matter – princes have been struck down. Position doesn’t matter – the Prime Minister was struck down. Fitness doesn’t matter – our sporting heroes have either been struck down themselves, or prevented from working, just like the rest of us. Talent doesn’t matter – concerts are cancelled, theatres are closed, nobody is filming new episodes of our favourite shows.
Nothing can protect you from Covid-19, or it’s effects on life as we know it. But how you deal with it can make a big difference to your life, now and in the future. My friend who is troubled by nightmares posted yesterday about how grateful she was, despite lock-down. She’s an entertainer, so she’s had no work and no income. She’s been isolated from her daughter and her friends, yet she is grateful for her situation.
This lovely lady could have felt trapped in her home, fearful about her future, and mourned for her normal, hectic life and the appreciation of her many fans. Instead, she chose to cultivate the Attitude of Gratitude I wrote about recently. And that’s why she’s having nightmares, but it’s a good thing, because it’s helping her to clear the blocks to her future happiness.
When we’re asleep, our conscious mind is resting too, so long-buried memories and feelings surface as nightmares and demand to be dealt with. Only by clearing the things that no longer serve us can we move on with our lives. For good things to come into your life, bad things have to leave to make room for them. It’s called clearing negative energy, and the onset of nightmares is the first stage of this. It means your subconscious mind, or Higher Self, is acknowledging that it’s time to move forward.
Now it’s your turn. You need to consciously clear the negative energy blocks that are holding you back from moving into your best life. The good news is, it’s a lot easier than it sounds. Meditation, visualisation and positive affirmations can all help with clearing.
Clearing means cutting the energetic cords that bind you to a person or situation, and for this, you can call on Archangel Michael, who is always ready to help. You just have to ask. I was given this visualisation by Archangel Michael a couple of months ago, as I worked with a lady who was dealing with the anxiety of having a daughter who was a front line nurse. It really helped her, and it will help you too. Give it a go, and let me know how you get on.
To summarise, nightmares do not mean something bad is going to happen. Dreams are not usually literal, they are more likely to be allegorical. They use familiar scenarios to draw our attention to issues that need to be dealt with. Usually these are problems within ourselves, and we have everything we need to resolve them, once we listen to our Higher Self.
I’m Sandra Piddock, and I’m a freelance writer, dividing my time between Spain and the UK. I’ll write about anything that interests and/or challenges me, and I like to focus on the lighter side of life whenever possible..
