Space: Protecting Your Energy

The space between you and others shorten with each interaction-social media check-in, message reading, text response, phone call answered, physical encounter, and even mental thoughts. We are essentially free of space-having none at all.

I think and work ways to achieve space. I understand that we are but one evolving, growing and pulling endeavor of energy. Everything contains energy. Everything has degrees of energy. Everyone is energy. And energy is fluid.

Have you ever had a friend call you for advice, and after the conversation, you’re physically tired? If it was intense, and you had to dig deep to give your intuitive help, even your brain hurts. They have sucked your energy. Limit these people. Be kind to yourself-you do not have to respond to their phone calls, text or messages. You have a right to reject an incoming call or text. There is no need to feel guilty. Additionally, you may take time to finally respond. You’ll find more and more that when you finally respond, the problem is resolved. Your peace is not disturbed, and you’ll be happy you honored yourself first.

If you’re an Empath, you automatically absorb energy. And let’s face it, most people harbor a lot of bad/negative energy. Not because they’re not good people, but because generally, people do not know how to let go of hurt, disappointment, trauma, worry and pain. In your interaction with them, you subconsciously give more positive energy than you receive. Thus leaving you depressed, sad, or just ill-content. And leaving you wondering why you feel so heavy.

Empaths are always tired. They have the most energy in the morning, before physically responding to others, whether through social media check-in, message response, verbal conversations with their mates, children, family or outside persons. Empaths recharge during their rejuvenation periods of sleep. Minimally, we need at least five hours of sleep to be at our optimal best. How many times have you started your day with abundant positive energy, and one phone call or interaction with a mate, friend, loved one, boss or opening of a bill sent you spiraling into a wave of anger or frustration?

I decided to write about space because it is important to consciously block ourselves from energy suckers. Energy suckers aren’t necessarily doing this on purpose, or with malicious intent. It’s just that energy suckers are usually codependent ones who constantly need your energy. Energy suckers also come in the form of other things, too-bills, obligations, circumstances. And because Empaths naturally absorb atmospheric energy and others’ emotions, feelings-the good, bad and ugly, we are left spent and tired. Consciously visualize yourself blocking that energy-even when in communication with someone else.

I block people’s energy by remaining fixed on my highest crown chakra-my 7th level, where my mind is open, yet free of baggage. I consciously absorb light into this violet place of grounded calmness, and remind myself to not absorb, or be moved too greatly (or negatively) by what I’m hearing (or whatever is happening). To be fair, while my subject (friend or other) is speaking their mind (if that’s the case), I rely on my 6th chakra to be intuitive, and receive messages that this person needs to hear. But it is my 7th level, which allows me to release my advice-speak my truth to this person, and thus, releasing their energy back to them. If it’s a circumstance which needs my attention, I focus on what can be done in the present, and prioritize what is important. Granted, I’ve transformed the energy to positive. But I do not absorb. That way, If my task was to help another, I don’t even remember the conversation. It was not mine to keep. Circumstances aren’t ours to keep, we are to learn from them, and let them go. Energetically let them go. Visualize it flying away, gently with the wind.

We have the power to manipulate energy. We have the power to filter what comes to us in the form of news, messages, programming, instructions, or status quo. Don’t allow others to dictate your mood, or state of being. Take care of yourself. Always, self first. Love yourself. Respect yourself. And most importantly, honor yourself, and your sacred space.

Let it burn…

Image result for Fire represents

Winter solstice! People don’t usually know its significance. But each of us, are astrologically aligned to let things die, burn, and renew ourselves and situations for the better. This period astronomically marks the beginning of shortening nights and lengthening days. People celebrate with friends, families-things slow down, people indulge in good drink and food, lots of music and dancing, and of course, the burning of fire!

“Fire [is but one of our earthly elements, and] represents our passions, compulsion, zeal, creativity, and motivation (as in, “put a fire under it!”). The Element of Fire has great power for forging will and determination. It is our inner light as well as a living symbol of the Divine fire that burns in every soul.” Fire represents our motivations toward being better.

Fire is burned to illuminate and cleanse away bad energy. It is used ritualistically to get rid of anything which didn’t serve us during the year. People perform rituals to burn away bad karma, relationships, lack, disappointments, and make clear intentions towards what they’d like for themselves.

During this winter solstice, regardless of belief or religion, remember to clear your aura, environment, mind, energy, and body of toxins which doesn’t serve us. Let it burn!

The Element of Fire Symbolism and Meaning

To love, self first

I had a conversation with an old friend today, about loving a person. We search for love in the most common places-never truly understanding all which it entails, or how we can really feel fulfilled by the love we seek. For anyone seeking love, know this-self first. It is easy to find “love”.  Later, you may find that that’s not what you had in mind. Some of us don’t know the difference between love and lust. The latter is short term. For deeper connections, you want the verb, that being, action oriented idea that the partner you find wants to build something meaningful with you.

Finding love must be intentional. However, to maintain a healthy balance, it must first be met with a centered starting place. And that is, a place where the love is radiating from self. Self care, appreciation, esteem, and knowing what you will and will not accept. We all have nuances of what we can accept from a partner. And yours and mine may be different, and that is okay. Know what your limits are-remind yourself of what your needs are. And do not compromise upon that. While there will be space to compromise in any relationship, there should be limits upon which you will not negotiate. For if you do, you’ll regret it later. Stay true to yourself, and remain open to learn and understand.

You are lovable, worthy of love and emotional balance. However, expecting another to balance you, or your love is delusional. One must find emotional balance by accepting and loving oneself first. Otherwise, you give what you do not have. What you’ll project, and yearn for, will come from a place of desperation and want. You, lacking in self love, can only give a burdensome version of need. It does not become you. The next time you feel like you need love, practice self love. Attract the love you want.

Self love practice:

  1. Tell yourself how much you love yourself.
  2. Languish in your hygiene and beauty regiments: Take extra care to focus on your bathing, lathering yourself; washing off the dark energy which has got you down; let your hands hold yourself and give gratitude for each part of you. Take time to lotion and oil your entire body afterwards-always in the direction towards your heart. If you wear make-up, take your time. Moisturize your face, stroking upwards. Smile all the while. Continue to tell yourself how beautiful is each inch of you.
  3. Dress in your best, flattering attire, depending on what your next move.
  4. Get a massage, or day at the spa. Get a manicure/pedicure.
  5. Go for a walk with yourself.
  6. Go out to lunch with yourself.
  7. Sit under a tree or sunbathe, or sit by the beach, replaying all your accomplishments. By the way, if you are at this point, you’ve accomplished much!
  8. Stay off social media. Just don’t check it.
  9. Declare to your friends and family that this is your, “Love on ME day”! (When your energy of attraction begins to flow, your phone may begin to go off-you’re doing it, attracting others with all this love energy; but don’t stop your vibe; disregard non-emergency messages and focus on self.)
  10. In between this meditation, repeat to yourself: I am love; I am ready to receive love; I deserve love. I am lovable. I love ME!

My 8-year-old self healed me last night

I saw the gleam in her eyes first. She was short, but her slender appearance made her seem taller. Her dark chocolate skin shone and the sun’s rays bounced off the glistening fine hairs on her arms. She was me. And I watched her with curiosity. At first, I didn’t realize it. It was the familiarity of her smile, her spirit, that drew me in.

I did not realize I was in a dream, alternate universe-even. And at the moment I recognized the little girl I was staring at, I thought I had surely died, and all my selves were coming together…

She spoke first. “I know you. You used to always visit my dreams. Did you come from New York?”

Then I remembered how I had always believed I would move to New York. Live in Manhattan. Make a lot of money. Live in a high rise with floor to ceiling windows with panoramic views of the city. I’d have three boyfriends. Wow. Had I failed in life? “No-no,” I stuttered, focusing back to the little girl. “You know me?” I looked at her questionably as I cautiously approached her.

“Yes.” She said, decidedly.

I looked around and passersby without faces hurried to their unknown destinations. Traffic ensued busily as normal. But the space between us was incredibly still.

 

As I studied my young subject with a deepening curiosity, it all came back.

 

I don’t remember being so confident at that age. I gasped at her-grief-stricken, and awed at the same time. I studied her smiling face, and tears welled up my eyes. My nostrils burned and flared for air, and my palms sweated.

 

My heart galloped, and my voice lost its musical notes to what seemed like its final sigh of epiphany. Of course! This is precisely the time before I was molested. This is the Me before my innocence was ripped from me-when I was trusting, shining and lovely. This was the brilliant little girl all the teachers loved. This was the one who dreamed of being a mermaid, a TV anchor, and Supreme Court Judge. This was the one who fantasized about feeding all the hungry children in the world, and find some kind of ecological way to end famine and drought.

 

“Ah,” Little Me said with a wisdom that mismatched her size, “I see you remember.” She walked up to me, and gently took my hand. Her gaze and sweet smile never leaving my face. She said, “I’m glad you remember. And I’m just here to remind you to let it go. It’s okay. All that has happened to us, has made you who you are. You are okay.”

Then, she guided me down the street of our familiar neighborhood, and continued talking, “I remember you” she said again. “You were so helpful. You would visit me in my dreams. And tell me to be strong. You told me that I would get through it. That I would be fine. You told me that, He may touch our physical body, but we are spirit. And He couldn’t touch that. Don’t you remember?”

The tears streamed down my face incessantly. I listened to Little Me in silence. We walked.

As she talked, I remembered Me-that Grace Jones-strong-Black-woman-with-the-Mohawk, look-alike, who would come talk with me in my dreams, give me strength each night that I had silently cried myself to sleep.

I stopped and turned to her, “I do remember,” I said quietly. “Wow. I do.” And I hugged myself so tightly.

Then, Oya, Yemeya and Oshun formed a ring around us. Their light was blinding, but I their warmth and love permeated my being. Captured by their pervasive light, we were absorbed by it, transforming into it, and pulsing in the love of light which now blanketed us, fusing us into one, turning us in the fire, that I now recognized as the sun. We had become the sun.

The light of peace. The light of love. The light of the Sun.

And like that, I was peace.

I was love.

I was the Sun.

I was whole again.

 

When The Great Mother Makes Waves

When The Great Mother Makes Waves

When the sky is dark in the early afternoon,

And thunder pounds to inform the full Moon,

To cause the tides to rise with volatility

And informs the winds to dance through the trees,

When the lightening becomes our amassing light,

Not quite enough to overcome the cast of night,

When the silver lining, we seek through the clouds,

Is the only hope that this will turn around,

When the sky’s this dark in the early afternoon

It makes it too difficult to not concede…

And let the rumble of the heavenly djembe drums

Lull me to a restful sleep,

 

Yemaja dances in the water, and makes big waves.

She protects all her children,

And keeps them safe.

She guides the mariners, to shore

To live another day,

Or takes them with her, as lovers

Under the bay

Her salty flesh refreshes the shores

And her glistening trinkets

Are shone through the storm,

For after the brazen roars of Ogou,

Is a need for the calm and tenders,

Of love…

In the arms of the Moon

Love for lingering, drumming

 

 

 

 

2012-04-06-Full-moon-Drum-Circle_0300Lingering

Drumming,  

Under a tree,

Friends,

And Spirits,

Good drink,

Dancing feet,

Gratitude, drumming

Grounding,

Zaka,

Earth.

Laughter,

Belligerence,

Frankness, Heat

Vulgarity,

Impunity,

Liquid lava, beat

Trickling,

Burning,

Tingling, between

Shango,

Fire.

Posturing,

Verbal dancing,

Lingering…

Loving,

More drink,

Labored speeches,

Abated spaces,

Enchanting,

Beauty,

In laughter,

Rolled eyes,

Surrendering, to

Openness,

Readiness,

Flowing,

Oshun,

Air.

Drama,

Ascension,

Diving, Sweet,

Love,

Vibration,

Submersion, deep

Lines, blurred,

Senses, blurred,

Genders, blurred,

Drumming, blurred,

Mounting, rocking,

Ecstatic cracks,

Engulfed in breathless,

Yemaya

Water.

Drumming,

With Spirits,

Lingering…loving,

Drumming.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/daily-prompt-linger/

Akashi walks through Uchawi Forest

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Akashi left the palace at dawn, before anyone could stop her…

Even dressed in casual attire of a flowing white, sheer cotton, A-line dress, with white leather sandals, her royalty could not be abated. Her maids had bathed, and oiled her dark skin until it shown in the sun. They had placed her colorful, beaded-jewelry on her head, neck, waist and wrist. They had even applied her sacred and royal anklets on her ankles. Before leaving the palace, she removed her royal headdress, and placed it in a potted plant.

Her breast bounced with each swift step. They pressed against the sheer fabric and were large as pomegranates. Her hips were for ever-rounded, since her womanly cycle began 10 years ago. Her womanhood was protected by a thick surface of soft, curly, black bushel which matched her crown hair. Her strong back and callipygian frame remained taunt with each graceful step through the forest.

Her figure-eight silhouette enchanted the men, posing in their animal elements. The birds stepped out of their hiding to watch her float, almost, through the trees. Akashi greeted all as she made her way through the forest as quickly as possible. She was told to never walk without her guardians; nor without her driver, on horse and chariot which pulls her golden, red and purple, satin-lined, Carriage. She imagined her Carriage now, filled with Fonian pillows for a most-comforting ride. She was not thinking of the Chai tea, with milk and honey she could be sipping right now. Nor did she dwell upon the figs, nuts, dates and cheeses she loved so much. She needed to get to her great-grandmother’s burial site.

She pushed massive fans of heavily leaved, pliable branches away from her head of big hair. Still glistening with oil, her wooly hair  crowned her head as the sun, and protected her neck and shoulders from smaller flying insects. She made her way westward, away from the palace. In her right pocket, she held her crystals; the ones given to her at birth for protection and from spontaneous transformations which the lower class, who could not afford crystals, suffered. Transforming before others was detrimental to ones’ safety, as it revealed ones’ animal connection and power. It also revealed ones’ lineage. In this multi-ethnic, tribal society, it was important that ones saw you in human form to avoid issues with possible enemies and attack from stronger energies.

She intended to go visit her great-grandmother’s site before the Sun reached its peak of day. With only a few magical words and short ceremony of libation pouring, singing and drumming, she could always evoke her ancestor. Her beautiful great-grandmother always appeared in her normal intricately textile, royal dress, with her golden arm bands, and neck rings to show her Uchawan high-powered status. Her black-as-ebony skin paled only to the gold she wore. Her smooth skin shown and glistened with Shea butter and coconut oil. Her teeth were white as the Ivory tusks of the elephants she rode when she lived on Uchawi. Her full lips were soft and plump; and the color of purple berries. As a gentle spirit, she was known to greet all with love. She was naturally sensual and known for her hypnotic qualities. Her lips were said to be holders of honey, and she would extend them into a brilliant smile to lift her full cheekbones, and elongate her almond-shaped eyes to near slits. No one could deny her. She was known as the most beautiful woman ever lived. And Akashi, who was her mirror image, had huge slippers to fill. She was to be queen as her great-grandmother had been. Such a fate was both scary and nerve-wrecking.

Akashi felt anxious with each step towards her destination. She was losing time quickly.

She needed her great-grandmother’s help. As the daughter of Isis-Empress of the Moon, she was betrothed to the young, Loko, who would become High Priest, since he was the first son of the Dahomey Kingdom, of the great Serpent Damballah, King of the Sun. Only her great-grandmother could stop this bonding to Loko. Only she could approve Akashi’s joining with another.

Life is Love

Goddess of Love am I, keeper and giver of love

 Wholeness of being, with room for Life

So love is no longer a phantom of God

And God is no longer the phantom of Life

Is love not the wholeness which encompasses The All?

If Life is love and love is Life, then like the Hawk’s wings, it spreads its might

And like the air, its pervasiveness needed

 To fill my vessel with harmonious light

In my deepest core,

With its birthing Love

Life, so present, no phantom, no magic

And its darkest wisdom

Of what forms our balance

 This ties me to you

Then, now, and ever more

More than just longing infused at my pumping door

A socket for Life’s great and thriving nature

So Life is, when we decidedly intertwine…

In spirit, wholeness, and love divine

And Life is, when your sweet whisper’s cry

Is heard by my ancestors when I reply

And Life is you inside of me        

And when I burst all rainbows’ beams

And Life is us, in tight embrace

When we are close or distant space

So Life is that wholeness, we seek to find

Leaving our beings and hang ups behind

A call or whisper of my name,

So we find our bodies, yet again

In Life, and Spirit, and Wholeness within

You are my breath

And life

And pain