There Are Many Faces of Courage

Someone posted this video in a group I belong to on Facebook.  I watched it as tears filled my eyes.  What wonderful parents she has to encourage her to try different obstacles and grow braver.  It made me wonder what my life would have been like had I been encouraged instead of warned that everything was too dangerous or unladylike.

Of course there are different ways to be brave and although I didn't climb through obstacles I faced other things with courage.

On the Rachael Ray show today a woman was on who decided to face 100 fears. Her name is Michelle Poler and she has a You Tube Channel called Hello Fears

I understand why my mother was so afraid of me getting hurt because she nursed me through many facial surgeries and of course she didn't want me to get hurt.  But I'm intrigued by those who face their fears instead of letting them rule their lives. 

What fears would you like to eliminate from your life?

Beam Me Up Scottie or Let the Parrots Free

Last night I watched a PBS special about rescuing abandoned parrots or parrots that people could not keep.  It was an hour long special and talked about poachers taking baby parrots from the nests and raising them to sell. Now instead of poaching they breed parrots.  There are hundreds if not thousands of parrots who now live in rescue places.

They went on to show how parrots and other birds are social and need to be with their own.  They find mates and bond.  Parrots alone in a cage get so anxious they start pulling out their own feathers.  This is like people who are in so much pain they cut themselves.

I got tears in my eyes watching this and especially when I saw a parrot raised as a baby being released and practicing flying.  Then it soared with another parrot and flew free.






This program deeply affected me, even more than I realized because I've often felt caged by fears and anxiety.  I have a feeling that I once knew how to fly but living on this planet with gravity holding me down, I forgot how.  I had a flying dream once and hope to have more.

I got into the shower and found myself sobbing, runny nose, snorting type of crying. It surprised me but it didn't stop for awhile. The crying wasn't about the birds so much but about feelings that came up for me.

I have had panic and anxiety most of my life which was diagnosed as Agoraphobia.  

I'm better now because of a lot of different therapies, especially Emotional Freedom, tapping, but I feel a lot of my life has looked like this..

What does it feel like to live a life of freedom and really fly? 


Would this make a difference?

LETTING GO ONE BREATH AT A TIME

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to take a deep breath and be able to blow our fears and troubles away as easily as this! 

We can imagine it though...  One breath at a time ... Release and let go ... See the thoughts we don't want just blowing into the air as our angels take them higher and higher, transforming them into healing, creative, loving energy 

Practice ... breathe, release, let go...

Afraid of Escalators

I'm afraid of escalators! I will avoid them at all costs. I will go to the back of a store to find the elevator rather than ride an escalator. I get all sweaty and feel dizzy when I step on to one. I wonder will I miss the step? What if I fall? I don't know if this is an unreasonable fear or not. I'm not even sure I need to get over it.




Today when we were at the Barnes and Noble in the Asheville mall I was upstairs where my favorite genre of books are. After I browsed awhile I saw some writing how-to books along with dictionaries way in the back of the store. Bernie had gone down to another store to do an errand and said he'd look for me upstairs. I was standing by the railing waiting for him because if I went back to where the writing books were he'd have a hard time finding me. While waiting I was watching people riding the up escalator. One man was actually reading a book as he stood on those moving stairs. Another gal ran up the stairs. A couple were leaning sideways toward each other conversing. Everyone seemed so calm as if riding an escalator was an every day occurrence, nothing to be afraid of. I guess one can calmly practice riding an escalator in their minds and use EFT to tap on the fear. Do I want to? Does it matter? Do we have to get over every fear we have? What do you think? Do you have any fears that stop you from doing things you'd like to do?

P.S. I don't like riding down escalators either.

Are we Defending our Lives or Living it Joyfully?

Here is a clip of one of my favorite movies, Defending Your Life by Albert Brooks. This is a "comedy" but is really quite a deep movie that is often passed over. I've seen the movie at least a dozen times and it speaks to me each time. Albert Brooks dies and is sent to judgment city in the afterlife. He has to view periods in his life when he felt fear and wasn't able to defend himself or make changes that would help him work through his fears. How many of us are too afraid to try new things because we're afraid and need to feel "safe" where we are? How many of us are in jobs we don't like because we are afraid to follow our dreams? How many of us are in relationships that are more of a struggle than fun or loving because we're "used" to it and we are afraid of the unknown? So what are you changing or not changing because you're comfortable and don't want to take a chance and follow your heart's desire? Are you wishing you could change something in your life so you can produce your dreams, or are you sitting there too afraid to take a chance? Let's open up a dialogue so we can help each other grow with joy and expectations instead of wallowing in our fears. Believe me I know fears as this has been one of my issues I took on when I agreed to come into this lifetime. I'm finally learning to release them. If you need help with this I am available to help you get to know yourself better through an astrology, tarot, psychic, love and destiny card reading. Your Angels will give you messages too.

Wednesday's Free Tarot Class - Death

Hi and welcome to our Wednesday Tarot class. This week we’re going to talk about one of the most dreaded cards of the deck, the one that scares everyone when it comes up in a reading. Death! Death is a word we don’t use much in our culture. Instead we say, “he passed,” “she crossed over,” or “he made his transition.” That’s one indication of how scared we are of the word death. However when we get the death card in a reading, it very seldom means the death of a person.

Do you want to see something interesting? Take a look at the death card XIII in your Rider-Waite deck. See the flag he is carrying? There is a blooming rose on the flag. Now take another look at the Fool card, number zero. The Fool is carrying that rose in his left hand. He brought it with him all the way through his life adventures. It represents his clarity of purpose that he desired to bring into his series of adventures. Now the rose is open on the flag of the Death card. It now signified life, the mystical rose of life – mars and life force.

Now see, you don’t have to be scared anymore. Death just means change. When we make any kind of change, something has to go – a habit, a way of saying something - which equals a little death. Look at the card again. Do you see the sun rising between the two pillars? This represents a new dawn, a new day and denotes immortality. We are eternal, and just because our bodies die, doesn’t mean our soul our spirit dies. Old ideas and old ways of doing things have to pass away because if the didn’t we’d all become stagnant.

Another exciting aspect of the death card is that it represents the departure of the age of Pisces where those who needed to control us through fear; rigid rules and secrecy ruled the world. This is represented by the standing figure of a bishop on the right side of the death card. His body language looks like the shape of a fish – Pisces. Now we’re in the first stages of Aquarius when secrecy begins to fall away, trust emerges and people start helping each other instead of being so greedy and mistrustful. This is where we are now- we are beginning to see the openness that is budding, we keep hearing how there is not enough money for different programs that could help humankind. But this, too, is passing. Greed is toppling – as we are witnessing the fall of well known companies. We truly are entering into a new age and you and I begged our Guides and Angels to be allowed to be here at this time to help usher in this new age of equality, humanness, love. They told us it wouldn’t be easy but we said we could handle it we were strong enough. Now here we are and things are looking a little chaotic and scary, huh?

We can find a lot of help from thinking and remembering the other Tarot cards we’ve been studying. The fool has the courage to strike out on his own, our magician lays his tools in front of himself and learns how to use them, the priestess goes within and communicates with her guides and angels before taking action, our empress nourishes her precious creative imagination, the emperor develops these ideas and shows his pioneering spirit and courage, the hierophant continues to grow and learn, and the angel protects the lovers who learn to communicate. The charioteer learned to move through adversity with is mind, leaving fear thoughts behind, our hermit goes within to rest, being patient and waits for guidance. The wheel of fortune continues spinning, teaching us what goes up eventually comes down and visa versa. We can always call on our inner strength and while we’re doing this we just have to hang around waiting for the next phase of our adventure while letting go of our hang-ups.

So instead of fearing what is happening in our lives and in our world, we can call on these aspects of ourselves that we learned in the other cards. Sure, there will be turmoil, confusion and yes, it can be a bit uncomfortable at times as we watch change unfold. What do you need to let go of in your life that scares you? Are you scared because you just turned 30, 40, and 50? What transformation are you preparing for in your life or career? Did you just lose your job or did a love you were counting on leave? Are you trying to hold on to people or situations that don’t work anymore? We experience many deaths in our lifetime, so think of the death card as change and begin to embrace change in your life. Don’t be afraid because change means growth, moving on. The Hebrew letter for death is Nun meaning Fish. Fish is symbolic of the powers to regenerate and the water sign of Scorpio rules death.

Death’s Advice:

Shedding old skin
Letting go of old ideas, beliefs, regenerating
Expressing our feelings so we can release them
Get rid of clutter in our minds, bodies and surroundings to make way for the new
Rejoice in your new opportunities.

Next week we will look at Temperance. Until then,

Angel Hugs, Jean Maurie

Free Wednesday Tarot Class - Strength Card

Hi and welcome to the Wednesday tarot lesson. This week we are going to meet Strength! It is number 8 and if you look at the Rider-Waite deck you will see a beautiful woman with the number 8 floating over her head turned sideways. – The same as the Magician had over his head. Women can be magicians too! This sign is the symbol of infinity, or forever ness. It also represents the state of balance and how she is focused on right thinking, which leads to right action. After all, she is petting a Lion! She has moved beyond needing a wand because her power is in her hands. Using her spiritual courage, Ms Strength has learned how to control her passions, which the Lion represents. The Lion also represents our lower selves, the animal within us.

If you remember the Charioteer from last week, he was testing out his tools and skills by traveling, using his mind. He was outside of his protective city, venturing down the highway of life. Was he scared? I’m sure inside he was. Wouldn’t you be? Aren’t we all? Testing out our tools and spiritual knowledge is like taming the wild beast of fear which we all experience. That is where Strength comes in. We were all born with strength, even if we feel shaky and nervous. Remember the Wizard of Oz, and the cowardly Lion going to the Wizard to get strength? What did he learn? That he had it all along, just like you and I do. Think of your life and how you have or have not used your strength. Did someone give it to you, or maybe teach you where to find it? Some people live in fear, which sometimes develop into phobias. They are told to “act as if “they were brave, pretending until they actually felt their courage. This takes much practice.

The Lion is colored red which depicts passion. What are your passions? Are you afraid of them? Do you take the safe road instead of being daring like the fool? Leo is represented by the Sun and it rules the 5th house of our astrology charts. One of the meanings of the 5th house is creativity and play. Are you so stressed, overworked and fearful that you don’t play anymore? “I don’t have time to play,” I hear many say. That is an example of being unbalanced. Like the ruling planet, the Sun, Leo strength represents coming out, breaking through. What kind of breakthroughs do you want in your life? Become strong like the Sun and shine through your problems, which are like strong, dense energy forces. Give yourself new life, new ways to solve your problems, so you, too, can feel more creative and alive.

Leo also represents ruler ship. Who rules you or who do you rule? Strong, balanced people don’t need to rule anyone, nor do they allow themselves to be ruled. Strength comes from within and is based on knowing ourselves, believing in ourselves and being able to balance our lives between work, play, creativity and our inner spirituality. If we learn to be creative problem solvers, life would run smoother and we’d have more time for fun. So instead of fighting our beast within, we can begin learning to tame it inside ourselves. How do we do that?

We begin to realize that despite stress, family problems, illness, lack of any kind that with our Angel’s and Guide’s help we find the courage to keep going. Instead of fighting change, try to see life as an adventure and play with new ideas. Welcome new opportunities and see everything as a chance to grow and learn. Balance is dancing with the harmony of life, balancing our inner and outer selves. No it isn’t always easy, and I’m not implying that it is. But with patience, gradually beginning to change the way we view life, and practice – lots of practice, we can transform our lives so we are happier, more creative, attract love, peace and abundance to us. Can you imagine your life being that happy? You have the fortitude, inner strength, courage, passion, wisdom, endurance and patience within IF you want to tap into these God-given gifts.

Strength’s Advice:

Become more courageous
Be creative, state your ideas
Establish your territory, your boundaries, and act magically
Be yourself, its time to break through and create
Find your place of strength and create your power spot
Be the artist of your own life, so use your imagination and be creative.

Are you excited yet by your possibilities? Next week we will make friends with the Hermit. He has an interesting story to tell.

^i^ Angel Hugs,

Jean Maurie

More fears come up to be healed

Here it Saturday. What a difference a day makes. I was yelling at the voices last night telling them they'd better be real or I didn't want anything to do with them. When I woke up this morning there were the pains again. I hadn't felt them all night and I'm thinking WTF. I've been trying to get to the bottom of them. So as I laid in my recliner trying to wake up but sorta not wanting to, I realized there were 7 fears lurking there pinching me in my gut. "Listen to us," they were saying. "If you listen to us we can be on our way." So I tapped (when I say tapped I don't mean on my stomach but there is this tapping routine I learned through the EFT classes, online, and in DVD's I bought. (www.emofree.com) I tap on acupressure points, which do release and heal emotional issues. So I tapped about 6 rounds this morning and really let the fears speak to me. I know I have more releasing to go but my stomach feels a lot better today!!!

I decided to pull some cards to see what my message is for today. Interesting, I got some of the same cards as yesterday. Today the journey card came up first and yes this is a journey toward healing myself and my fears. It has been quite a journey over these 73 years. I didn't know enough to work on them as a child, all I learned was to push down, be strong and clench. I started on the healing journey when I was about 35. Before that I didn't know I had a brain in my head. One day I was sitting in a used book store with some friends who were all college graduates and I was holding my own in the conversation. That was when I realized, hey I'm not so dumb after all. So from 35 to 73 I've been working on myself through different modalities from hypnosis, "primal scream", meditation, astrology, past life regression,and how to get over agoraphobia, etc. I wonder if there is any end to the journey? I don't think we ever get to a point when we've learned it all and we're done. But I know we can feel a hell of a lot better and I expect to.

This leads me to my next card which again is gift. I do love the gift of healing, feeling better, liking myself better, becoming more unafraid. Next is marriage again, still working between the feeling side of myself and the head and rational side. It is good to be balanced. Not only am I working on myself emotionally but I am giving up colas for a few days anyhow. The voices told me to get down in the basement and dance, that will loosen me up. Have I done it? No but I'm gonnna.

The hidden card is really nice. It's money/reward. Yes I feel that when I get through this I will be rewarded. I will have more knowledge to use to help my own clients and have more to write about too. Plus isn't feeling better a reward all by itself?

Happy weekend with tons of ^i^ hugs,