_Jerry Hicks will be missed, but he will not be missing in action!  Thank you Jerry, Esther and Abraham for the blessing you have been to me and so many of my clients, and will continue to be. You have transformed and saved many, many lives, and will continue to do so for decades to come – when all of us currently on this planet have also completed our joy rides.

Esther our thoughts are with you. But we are not concerned, because we know you are in good company. We will see you soon Esther, and we know you, Jerry and Abraham will have much to share with us. You are loved. All is well. Namaste.

_
Make fun of death. We are as dead as it gets, and we are fully aware of this joyous experience.
We are with you every time you allow it. We are in every singing bird and in every joyful child.
We are part of every delicious pulsing in your environment. We are not dead,
and neither will you ever be. You will just get up one day,
and get out of the 'movie' ~ Esther-Abraham Hicks

_A Message From Esther Hicks

Esther has sent out this message today:

"Dear, dear Friends,

Our sweet Jerry made his transition into Nonphysical last Friday. How sweet the Vortex is feeling to him today!

Jerry said to me when we came together over 30 years ago that given the difference in our ages that it was likely “that I will cut out on you early,” to which I replied, “I don’t mind.” His joy of life and continual new discovery of purpose kept his life feeling fresh and we shared such joyous eagerness for life.

Over the years, Abraham has consistently insisted that there is no death. Again and again they have reminded us that there is only life and more life and more life. It has taken me some time to understand this, and I honestly must say I have not yet fully come to terms with it, but I do believe that in what we are calling Jerry’s death he is discovering the next logical step of life that Abraham has always been talking about. And at times I am catching a glimpse of the bigness of what Jerry is feeling and while I am still pretty mad at him for not sticking around longer to surprise and delight me in all the ways he has been doing throughout our 30 years together I accept fully that the next logical step of joyous life for Jerry was to be found in his re-emergence into Nonphysical.

Since 1985 it has been Jerry and Esther and Abraham and I believe with everything that I am that that has not changed. I know that Jerry will continue to be the third powerful point of the triad of Energy that makes up the Abraham experience and I am certain that his new vantage point will be, as it has always been, of advantage to us all.

I know for sure that Jerry will help me, in time, release my own personal resistance to physical death, because I will not be able to maintain that resistance and also play easily with him. And my desire to continue not only my Abraham experience but also my Jerry experience I am certain he will be the catalyst to help me do what Abraham has been trying to help us all do all along.

Once again, Jerry is out there leading the way for me. But the difference this time is that I must find the way. I am not there yet, but it is my absolute promise to myself that I will find the way, because it is the most natural thing in the world to do and because Jerry has provided for me the reason to do it.

I am eager about what is ahead and while I cannot begin to explain or even imagine the details of how it is all going to play out, I am certain that it will be fun.

I am such a fortunate girl, to have been able to play with Jerry and Abraham and all of you for so many wonderful years and I am so eager to continue doing more of the same for many more years to come. I feel certain right now that not only has nothing gone wrong, but things are going especially right. It will be different, for sure, but it will also be very, very good.

I’m feeling such love for you all, and for Abraham and most of all for Jerry. And as I have said to him a thousand or more times through the years, “Well isn’t life just a kick in the pants?”

Love,
Esther

P.S. Our glorious staff has created a web page where you can express your thoughts and appreciation for Jerry, and if I know Jerry (and I do) he’ll read every comment. Click here to visit the page >>

__There is the fashionable notion nowadays for individuals to be branded as 'psychics' or 'empaths' if they are emotionally sensitive or display a high level of compassion towards others. It is automatically assumed that people who are emotionally highly intelligent must also have an exceptional capacity for extra-sensory perception.

Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, this myth is serving to confuse and mislead people, and may even cause further emotional damage, by imposing unreasonable expectations on some highly sensitive or even emotionally vulnerable people.

I had many traumatic paranormal experiences during my childhood, and I was constantly overwhelmed by extra-sensory perceptions I did not understand. To find any reliable information on the subject was near impossible. The confusion and frustration I had to endure in my youth - often due to the ignorance of others - made me vow to research, learn and share as much as I could about psychic abilities. If I can spare just one gifted child unnecessary trauma, or inspire just one adult to come out of the ‘clair closet’, the bewilderment I had to endure would all be worth it.

Please know that natural human empathy is not a scarce commodity that needs to be classified as a paranormal phenomenon. It is also not a psychic ability that must be developed or applied at all cost. If empathy really is such a rare trait, then our society is in much greater jeopardy than we may suspect*.

_People who do not display empathy are considered by the medical profession to be abnormal, or disordered. A lack of empathy is a common characteristic found in the Cluster B Personality Disorders in the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), especially in those diagnosed with Antisocial and Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Individuals who are unable to express empathy need psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment, not a psychic development course. If empathy really is an inherited talent or innate psychic ability - like clairaudience or mediumship - then everyone who does not have the ‘gift of empathy’ by implication must be some sort of psychopath, sociopath or narcissist. One might as well claim that all people who have the ability to cry are incarnations of archangels, or every person who can laugh carries extraterrestrial DNA.

The erroneous association of natural human empathy with ‘supernatural’ psychic ability stems from the confusion that exists about terminology and a shortage of parapsychology research, as well as plain ignorance. There is already so much confusion and skepticism about psychic abilities that professional psychics and spiritual workers can hardly afford more myth and mockery to be added to the mix. The use of the term 'empathy' to describe an extra-sensory ability is inaccurate and misleading. To unravel the truth behind all this ‘emotional mayhem’, one needs to understand the difference between the following terms and concepts:

Empathy versus Sympathy

Both empathy and sympathy are natural ways to express compassion and caring for others, and both are a normal trait found in most well-adjusted human beings. In fact, both empathy and sympathy are an important aspect of Emotional Intelligence (EI), and both are basic social skills taught to us at a young age by our parents and caregivers.  Experts also believe that there is a genetic or biological basis to empathy and sympathy.

But there is also a distinct difference between empathy and sympathy, which is important to understand, especially for people who work in the helping and service professions.

Sympathy is an expression of concern, regret or sadness about unfortunate events in someone else’s life. In other words, you worry about that person’s distress, or you feel sorry for what has happened to them.

Empathy, on the other hand, is our ability to grasp the feelings of another person on a much deeper level, as well as the ability to convey this understanding to that person, which shows that you really do comprehend how they feel. Empathy is therefore the ability to ‘place yourself in another person’s shoes’ and the knack to truly understand where they are coming from; to see things from their perspective and relate to how it is making them feel.

Empathy and sympathy can be expressed at the same time in certain situations, but they can also be expressed separately.

• Sympathy  = “I am so sorry for your loss. I feel for you. It must be awful for a parent to lose a child. I cannot even begin to imagine what you must be going through.”
• Empathy  = “I understand exactly what you are going through. I feel your pain. I lost my own son a few years ago. It is an agony that you cannot even begin to describe to someone else.”

Empathy is therefore appropriate or useful when we need to express our sincere understanding of another person’s feelings and circumstances, whereas the focus of sympathy is more our concern for that person’s well-being in difficult or challenging circumstances, even if we cannot necessarily relate to their circumstances.

Empathy is a normal psychological trait, and it is something all people express to some extent. For example, a study done at Yale University in 2007 found that babies demonstrate a natural tendency towards empathy, while the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology has shown that even when given no incentive, toddlers share with others and act in a helpful manner. Empathetic behavior has also been demonstrated in certain animal species, including mice.

Some people may have a greater aptitude for empathy than others, because they are emotionally more intelligent or have more life experience, but that does not make them psychic. You are not a psychic or an ‘empath’ because you were properly socialized by your parents; or because you are a caring and considerate member of society; or because you are a highly sensitive person; or because you are able to instinctively notice someone else’s feelings through cues you get from their body language, their facial expressions, their tone of voice, or behaviors like crying, or sighing. The more empathetic you are, the more you are able to comprehend and express how others must be feeling. But this is not an extra-sensory ability or a 'clair sense'.

_Empathetic Versus Empathic

Most language experts will disagree, but a distinction should be made between the terms 'empathetic' and 'empathic'. Such a distinction is useful, due to the popular usage of the term ‘empath’.

The word empathetic describes the normal empathy a person would express towards others, while empathic is more appropriate to describe the extra-sensory or energetic perceptions experienced by an empath. This form of extra-sensory perception is what some refer to as clairempathy, to distinguish it from normal empathy. In other words, when you are being empathetic you are showing empathy, but when you are being empathic you are experiencing clairempathy.

• Empathetic  = expression of natural empathy
• Empathic  = expression of ‘supernatural’ clairempathy

You will not find this distinction in dictionaries, as the words 'empathic' and 'empathetic' are generally considered to have the same meaning, i.e. the ‘ability to express empathy’.  But we do not use the term ‘sympathic’ to describe someone who is being sympathetic; therefore it makes sense to only use the term empathetic to describe the expression of empathy.  

If you are someone that shows a healthy empathy for others then you are empathetic, and you would then be very aware of emotional signs and moods in someone else. But that does not make you an empath. It just means you are very well-adjusted, kind and considerate person, or possibly even a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP).

I am an empath, and in my experience an empath is a person who has vivid clairempathic experiences. This means that I have direct, extra-sensory experiences of other people’s emotions, moods and motivations on a daily basis. I can feel what others feel, without knowing anything about them, or having any direct contact or interaction with them. I can experience these feelings and sensations with people on the other side of the world, and they are not only limited to emotions, because I also experience physical sensations and symptoms. 

For example, I would be in line at the supermarket and suddenly begin to feel pain and discomfort in my right arm, and when I turn around there would be someone in line behind me with their right arm in a sling. Not only would I briefly feel their physical pain, but I may also get a clairvoyant flash of what happened to them to injure their arm, for example, or I will feel how frustrated they are having the use of only one arm. I can even feel the anxiety some people feel in the pit of their stomach when they are telling a lie, or feel their heartbeat increase when they are feeling guilty. If the lady in front of me at the supermarket is  getting angry I might feel her 'blood pressure rising' and possibly perceive additional information about her personal life that may cause her to be so impatient and irritable. But that does not mean that I necessarily indentify with he feelings (empathy) or feel sorry for her (sympathy). I simply sense what she feeling and I know why she is feeling that way, even if it makes no sense to me.

In the past, before I understood my empathic nature, I often did not know where some of these feelings and sensations were coming from, or what they meant.  Unconscious empaths often walk around like unsuspecting energy sponges, and can obviously suffer much discomfort and distress as a result. Empaths who are unaware of their clairempathic ability typically absorb all kinds of unwanted emotional and somatic energy wherever they go, without understanding, for example, why they suddenly feel nausea or vertigo; or why they are suddenly overwhelmed with extreme sadness and anxiety, when there is nothing in their environment to be sad or anxious about; or why their positive state of mind has suddenly changed to a really foul mood the moment they walked past someone in the street.

To me this is the most evident difference between empathy and clairempathy. Empathy involves an affective (emotional) and cognitive (thought) process based on observation, logical thinking, perspective-taking, reasoning and an appropriate emotional response. Clairempathy however is an energy perception or claisentient response that often has no rational, logical or emotional origin. It is not something I consider or think about when somebody is limping down the street. I feel that person limping long before they come around the corner and I see them for the first time. It also does not mean I can relate or want to relate emotionally. Reputable psychics and mediums will tell you that they usually do their best readings and predictions when the energy information they translate for their clients make absolutely no sense to them at the time. The less the psychic's ego and personal opinions interfere with the reading process, the better. In fact, a reader who expresses too much sympathy and empathy during a reading is probably not doing a very good job, since sympathy and empathy are both a highly personal perspective or viewpoint. If I share my client's feelings, or feel sorry for them, I am not using my clairempathic ability, because I am applying my personal feelings of empathy and sympathy based on my personal values and life experiences.

By the way, there have been in recent years different people who claim to have coined the term ‘empath’ and 'empathy', but this not true. The English word 'empathy' was coined in 1909 by the Brtitish psychologist Edward B. Titchener, in an attempt to translate the German word einfühlungsvermögen, which a new concept being explored at the end of 19th century mainly by German philosopher Theodor Lipps.The 'empath' concept is also nothing new and actually has its roots in science fiction. It can, for example, be traced back as far as December 6, 1968, to the broadcast of the third season episode of the television series Star Trek: The Original Series. The title of that episode was The Empath and featured a female character by the name of “Gem” who is an empath with a special ability to heal others.

Clairempathy versus Clairsentience

Empathic ability (or clairempathy) is a form of clairsentience. The term ‘sentience’ refers to awareness, or consciousness of a sensation or a feeling.  Sentience does not involve thought, or logic, or reason, as one would find in normal empathy, where you would use reason, logic and your personal memories to consider how the other person must be feeling. The emphasis in clairsentience is on feeling or sensing, instead of rational thinking. 

Clairsentience therefore means ‘clear sensing’ or ‘clear feeling’.  It is the ability to perceive extra-sensory information about people, places or objects, by sensing it energetically. It is energy perception experienced as a tactile, physical sensation or an emotional feeling. Clairsentience is the foundation for all other psychic sensitivities. It is often the first psychic ability to surface in children, and normally it is also the first psychic sense to be experienced by adults who develop their extra-sensory abilities later in life. In fact, I have never heard of a psychic or a medium who does not have some form of clairsentient ability, or who does not somehow use clairsentience in their work.

Clairsentience typically manifests in four major ways that are all interlinked and interdependent, and differs from person to person:

• Clairempathy – extra-sensory perception of emotional energy from the past, present and future.
• Intuition – ‘gut feeling’, ‘hunch’, instinct, premonition, precognition
• Somatic energy perception - physical sensations and symptoms, often experienced by mediums and medical intuitives, including pain, nausea, vertigo, fever, congestion, tickling, chills, goose bumps, sensations of being touched, temperature changes, and hair standing on end.
• Clairtangency (psychometry) – the ability to touch an object and read its energy imprints, which can be emotions of the person who owns the object, or past, present, future information associated with the object’s owner. When a psychic is doing psychometry she is applying her ‘clairtangent ability’ or using clairtangency (clear touch). For example, energy healers and medical intuitives often have the ability to scan a person’s body with their hands to read symptomatic energy. Psychometry is also used by psychic investigators in forensic work, such as murders and kidnappings, by reading crime scenes or objects belonging to victims and suspects.

Highly Sensitive Person versus Empath

The final important distinction that must be made in this context is the difference between the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) and the Empath, which is my main concern when it comes to the misuse of the term ‘empathy’.

A Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) has the innate trait known as ‘high psychological sensitivity’. According to experts the highly sensitive individual processes sensory data much more intensely and thoroughly, due to biological differences in their nervous system. The term Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) was coined by Dr. Elaine N. Aron in 1996, and it has been gaining popularity ever since, mainly because it presents the Highly Sensitive Person in a much more positive light. Sadly, HSPs are now increasingly being coerced to believe that they are psychics, which may be undoing some of the wonderful work people like Dr. Aron have been doing.

Being an HSP is often confused with shyness, introversion, social anxiety or fearfulness. HSPs are therefore often misunderstood by parents, teachers and the community, while this trait is actually quite normal. It is believed that one in every five people are highly sensitive, which means that it is not a disorder. The trait is actually found in many animals too and it is believed to be a survival strategy of being observant before acting. According to Dr. Aron, "the opposite of a Highly Sensitive Person is a person who takes many risks”, in other words someone who “acts without reflecting very much”.

The brain of the HSP has been found to actually work slightly differently, making them more aware than others of subtleties in their environment, and noticing more things when they interact with other people. The HSP is also easily overwhelmed and over stimulated when situations become too intense or confusing. The HSP trait is not a new discovery, but it is still misunderstood. HSPs are often told that they must ‘man up’ or to ‘not be so sensitive’.

It is unfortunate that many HSPs are not aware of their true nature and are not gaining access to accurate self-help information and professional support, because they have been told by well-meaning, but misguided spiritual workers that they are ‘empaths’ or ‘sensitives’ or ‘intuitives’.  Sure, some HSPs just so happen to also be psychic, but this is not as common as some would have us believe.

The popular myth about psychological sensitivity, and its uncritical association with psychic ability, is a tragic state of affairs, because many HSPs continue to misjudge their own personalities and sometimes they really struggle in life, because they do not have an accurate understanding of what makes them tick. Instead of receiving the support, guidance and sense of belonging that will allow them to thrive as HSP, they are being misdirected and taken advantage of by people who sell psychic development books, courses and healing sessions; not to mention the trauma and confusion highly sensitive children experience due to the misinformation being fed to their parents. Imagine having an excited ‘psychic stage mom’ breathing down your neck, pressuring you to act more esoterically and other-worldly, because she read on some website that you are a highly gifted little empath in the making, when in reality you are just a shy, sensitive kid who does not like noisy people and chaotic environments, and you just like to check things out carefully before you take any action.

Don’t just accept someone else’s misguided assumption that you are an empath, or that your sensitive nature is due to your innate psychic ability. It could save you a lot of frustration, confusion and disillusionment, and may prevent you from wasting precious time and resources looking for spiritual or paranormal answers to something that is a perfectly natural trait in about 15 to 20% of the general population. Not every emotionally intuitive or socially sensitive person is required to ‘report for psychic duty’. Don’t miss your true soul purpose and life calling because of the misconstrued ideas others have about extra-sensory perception and psychic ability. If you suspect that you may be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), start by taking Dr. Aron’s self-test on her website.

* By the way, there may actually be some reason for alarm concerning the declining levels of empathy in our society. According to recent research at the University of Michigan the empathy levels of college students have dropped significantly since the 1980’s, with an especially dramatic decline over the past decade. To make matters worse, during this same period levels of narcissism among college students has reached new heights, according to research at San Diego State University. One possible reason for this decline may be our increased social isolation, and the growing dehumanization of people due to technology. You only have to read some of the really cruel and callous comments some young people post on social networking and video sharing sites to find the necessary evidence. Maybe empathy will one day really become a rare gift in a merciless world devoid of any emotional concern for others.

© 2011 Anthon St Maarten
Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There are many things that may be considered as lacking in the world today, and there are many lightworkers, dreamers and activists who make every effort to remind us of these missing elements.

But one aspect that is too seldom addressed is our lack of true appreciation and gratitude.

Spiritual seekers tend to be very keen to beat the drum of abundance  – which is too often merely a thinly disguised obsession with material wealth and earthly comforts.

We simply take too much for granted every day; blessings of Joy, Beauty and Divine Grace are seldom acknowledged in our lives. How spiritually aware can we truly be if we hardly ever stop to smell the roses?

Have you heard the story of the internationally acclaimed violinist who disguised himself as a street busker with a baseball cap, and then proceeded to play Bach undercover at a metro subway station? An email outlining this intriguing story has been circulating since December 2008. There have been claims that it may be a hoax, or an urban myth, but it is indeed a true story. The event was captured on video with a hidden camera.

Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten created this interesting social experiment, with the assistance of renowned violinist Joshua Bell. He wanted to find out if people would notice music played by a celebrated artist, compared to that of an ordinary street musician. Would they even bother to stop and listen?

Joshua Bell was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in 2007 and has sold more than 5 million copies of his first recording, which remained at the top of the classical music chart for over 50 weeks. Surely, a classical instrumentalist of his caliber performing in public would instantly be noticed, or even recognized by many people. But sadly that never happened.

Bell played for 45 minutes at L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C. on January 12, 2007. More than a 1000 people passed by in that short period, and they all basically ignored the virtuoso. Only seven people stopped for a moment to listen, and only one recognized him at all. Bell collected a whopping $32.17 from 27 charitable passersby. Just three days prior, he played at the Symphony Hall in Boston, to a sold out audience who paid around $100 per ticket for the relatively good seats!

Gene Weingarten won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2008 for his article Pearls Before Breakfast, which he wrote about this experiment. Audio and video recordings of the event are available at the Washington Post website.

The email that has been circulating reads as follows:

"A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”

Sources: Gene Weingarten, The Washington Post ; Barbara and David P. Mikkelson, Snopes.com; David Emery, About.com; Image courtesy of Joshua Bell.com

What is one of the most valuable commodities that anyone can possess in this day and age? What is the one precious thing we all seem to lack?

I believe that, given the opportunity, some of us would even trade all of our earthly possessions for a lifelong supply of this magical substance. It is the one thing that can secure us so much happiness, inner peace and long-term fulfillment.

Have you guessed what this ‘eighth wonder of the world’ is? Well, it is the virtue of patience, of course! The Dutch say that “a handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains”. There is no doubt in my mind that should some genius be able to develop a magical formula to capture patience in a bottle, that person would overnight become the wealthiest and most famous person on the planet!

The patent holder for patience will not only rule the world, but will also put many of us out of work. The global service industry, for one, will experience a major downturn in customer demand. With so many suddenly patient souls on the planet, there will be less need for some of the jobs that typically deal with the impulsive, hot-headed and intolerant side of human nature. If everyone could take a pill to become instantly longsuffering, many professionals would have to be made redundant, including Customer Complaints Managers, Divorce Lawyers, Emergency Room Nurses, Traffic Officers and, of course, Psychic Advisors.

The newly founded ‘Patience Company’ will no doubt become the most powerful corporation in the world. They would probably expand their range very quickly, to include tempting product variations like Patient Persistence, Peaceful Perseverance and Powerfully Present. These life changing potions will permanently alter our reality as we know it. It will in time deliver to us much of the joy and fulfillment so many of us desire.

Imagine the possibilities of having no more ‘road rage’ along your life path. There will be less broken relationships, less bad decisions, less spoilt chances…no more arguments, regrets, misunderstandings, impulsive assumptions, reckless behavior or jumping to ridiculous conclusions. No more sleepless nights. With true patience we will find it so easy to peacefully wait our turn; we will be content to give the cycles of life the benefit of the doubt.

With lasting patience in our pocket, we will no longer have the need to pressure the world around us to immediately comply with our needs; neither will we have the tendency to want to control everything. We will have lasting inner peace and we will simply trust in the flow of life. We will not have the compulsion to act impulsively, before we consider the future consequences of our words and deeds. We will have confidence in the successful outcomes of our manifested desires, even if it takes a hundred years to accomplish. We will accept that when we ask it will be given, one way or the other, and always when the time is right. We will intuitively know that everything is as it is intended to be, every second of every day. We will understand that the Law of Attraction is not the name of a fast-food restaurant!

Over the years, I have seen how a lack of patience, uncontrolled emotions and rash actions can crush dreams, destroy lives and wreak havoc in relationships. It does not surprise me that patience features as one of the most valued virtues in many religions, including Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Buddhism regards it as one of the perfections that must be achieved on the path to Enlightenment.

I constantly advise clients to remain calm, be patient and allow the future to unfold in its own time. To very little avail. Those who do heed my advice always reap the rewards in the end. But they are few and far between. Many simply cannot conquer the urge to act before the time is right; they find it hard to contain their emotions – be it anger, anxiety, desire or desperation. They do not see that patience is sometimes the best form of action. If only they would accept that the human ego is fueled by fear and petulant self-interest, and realize that when the ego takes over in any situation you are bound to get way ahead of yourself, and it will usually lead you to make a royal mess of things.

Patience is the antidote to the restless poison of the ego. Without it we all become ego-maniacal bulls in china shops, destroying our future happiness, as we blindly rush in where angels fear to tread. In these out-of-control moments, we bulldoze through the best possible outcomes for our lives, within a matter of minutes, only to return to the scene of the crime later… to cry over spilt milk. Then the process of picking up the pieces begins, trying in vain to salvage what may be left of the opportunities and future prospects we have now annihilated. More often than not the damage simply cannot be undone. How many times have I heard the sad words: “If only I had listened to your advice, if only I waited a little longer?”

Our lack of patience comes from our fear of the unknown, and our intolerance of uncertainty. We are reluctant to accept that nothing is ever certain or secure in our human experience. The only security we really do have in this lifetime is the knowledge that there is absolutely no certainty. There is no such thing as a ‘sure thing’ when it comes to the human condition, except for the fact that this lifetime will eventually come to an end for all of us. Sir Francis Bacon said that “if we begin with certainties, we shall end in doubts; but if we begin with doubts, and we are patient in them, we shall end in certainties.”

Our increasingly fast-paced society and constant technological advancement also does not serve us well in the patience department. We like to call it ‘efficiency’ and ‘progress’, but how are we supposed to teach our children the virtue of patience, when they live in a world where just about everything is easily accessible, and often instantly available? All it takes is one swipe of a credit card, or the click of a mouse button. No wonder we have so little forbearance, and zero perseverance.

Some of us have become so ridiculously impatient that we cannot even wait for the world to end in its own good time. Oh no, some of us demand an immediate apocalypse, be it this year or the next. And for those who are privileged to be chosen to survive there must be an instant DNA upgrade included in the deal…non-negotiable! Immediate gratification is what we have come to expect and demand.

Meanwhile Planet Earth revolves around her axis unperturbed and Mother Nature patiently goes about her daily business, as she always has, doing her utmost to heal the damage and destruction we leave in our wake. She will continue to see us come and go, untroubled by our petty human dramas, whilst the Universe will continue to leisurely work in its many mysterious ways.

I deal with the aftermath of impatience almost every day in the work that I do, and I can assure you that there truly is wisdom in having some patience and fortitude. There is freedom to be found in letting go of our rigid, premature expectations. If only we could stop jumping up an down, and not try to drive square pegs into round holes. If only we could refrain from peeking at the cards of others, before they lay them out on the table, or quit tampering with the unripe fruit of our destiny. If only we could relinquishing our unyielding ideas of how things must be, and how quickly they must come to pass. If we could just cut loose and surrender to the boundless possibilities that await us. If we could just kick our heels up and run spontaneously wild with the mysteries of life. If only we had a some patience in a bottle….how smooth the ride would be!

Do you also believe that we teach others how to treat us? It is a motto I have religiously adhered to for most of my adult life.

However, I must add that I have made some radical changes to my ‘teaching strategy’ over the years, and this change in my approach has brought me much inner peace and harmony with others. I have learned that we can ‘teach others’ with much less fuss and drama.

In my early adulthood I used to take a firm stand on just about everything and everyone who I felt were out of line. I am someone who often feels compelled to stand up for others, as well as for myself and my beliefs. I also have this annoying habit of constantly wanting to side with the ‘underdog’ in any given situation.

Like most empaths, I just cannot come to grips with any form of injustice or underhanded behavior. Circumstances that are unfair, dishonest or cruel really trouble me, and people who are unreasonable, inconsiderate or simply mean have always been one of my ‘pet peeves’.

Apart from being an empath, the desire for justice and fairness also stems from my youth. The trouble started long before I was born. Not only did I enter this lifetime blessed with the psychic abilities of my ancestors, I was also one of the many ‘first wave’ Indigo children who arrived on our planet in the 60’s and 70’s. I was a gifted and very unusual child, growing up in an extremely conservative and conformist society. I carried a target on my forehead from my very first day in kindergarten.

I was bullied and ridiculed for most of my childhood and teenage years. South Africa under apartheid was not the most friendly place for anyone who dared to be different in any way. Bigotry, prejudice and intolerance was to be found around every corner and in all walks of life. If you were discovered to be out of the ordinary, or if you did not conform to the norm, you were not very welcome in the politically controlled and socially engineered world which I grew up in.

Thankfully all of this changed when I was coming of age. By the time they released Nelson Mandela from prison, I had also been personally liberated by means of a tertiary education and the inner strength that comes from surviving several traumatic life events, as well as a growing personal acceptance of my psychic legacy. I was now a young adult and along the way I had also discovered that I am more than able to take a stand and defend myself, and others, whenever I felt it necessary.

I certainly wasted no time exercising my new found personal freedom. I was very much inspired by the newly achieved democracy in my country and those who had fought for it. In my own way, I also had a voice now and I wanted to use it. It was important to me to put the ‘bad guys’ in their place. Mean, nasty behavior had to have consequences. Keeping my mouth shut or backing down was no longer an option. I was never going to return willingly to that psychological prison created by others’ small-mindedness. I was, after all, busy teaching the world how to treat me and I had a lot of catching up to do. I certainly was not going to take any prisoners.

Fortunately, we never stop learning and over the years I have come to realize that this ‘fight for your right’ approach offers very little spiritual fulfillment or lasting inner peace. I have in time discovered that it is mostly the weak who react in anger or frustration. It is the weak who constantly seeks justice or revenge. It is the weak who feels compelled to be tough and defiant.

Standing your ground is trivial and has very little to do with your inner strength. The truly enlightened and wise find their power in unconditional love. Who is right and who is wrong is spiritually insignificant. Truly powerful people seldom have any need for excessive self-defense or forcing their views upon others. It simply does not matter. Do you want to be right… or do you want to make a difference in the world?

Instead of focusing on what others say or do or believe, turn your attention to your inner being. Focus on your own vibration. Work on feeling better about yourself and your life. Other people are not responsible for how you feel. If the words and actions of someone or something are currently determining your state of mind, or your self-esteem, it means that you have been giving away your power, and it is time for you to take it back.

You were born with the basic spiritual right to feel good and be happy. In fact, you have inherited a divine right to feel really great about yourself and your life. It is vital that we feel this way, because it empowers us to love others unconditionally. Once you feel happy and centered in your own being, it is so much easier to be kind and tolerant towards others.

Claiming your place in the sun and staying true to yourself does not have to involve any form of violent conviction, dogged persistence, foolish bravery or brute force. There is nothing that you have to prove to anyone. There is nobody that must be resisted or refuted or convinced by you at all cost. Not everything needs to be changed by you; everyone and everybody does not require your supervision or control. Your opinion is not always required. When you are in alignment with your higher self and your true life purpose, others can behave as they wish; you won’t even notice.

When you are in that ‘zone ‘ it simply does not matter what other people say or do or think. What matters is how you respond to them. There are never any winners if there also has to be losers, no matter what the circumstance. Jesus referred to it as “turning the other cheek” and “doing unto others”; the Buddha talked of cultivating “a limitless heart” and the Prophet Muhammad encouraged the “conquest of self” and loving our “fellow-beings first”. It does not matter how one describes it. What matters is how ‘the zone’ makes you feel, and what it enables you to do in order to make the world a better place.

With this approach it becomes so much easier to ‘teach others’. You no longer have to deal with all the stress, drama and negative, destructive emotions. There is no longer any desire to be constantly affirmed or acknowledged by others. Gone are the regrets and the grudges. Conflict and arguments all but disappear from your life. It really does take two to tango and nobody enjoys dancing solo, especially if there is no music to dance to.

The results are amazing. When you respond to the mean, petty moments of others from within your ‘zone’, you will find that the guilty parties tend to apologize more often and more readily. When you’re true to yourself and aligned with the rest of the Universe, people actually become willing to listen and calmly consider your point of view. Even the really tough and deluded folks become a non-issue, because they will eventually give up and move on.

All of this may seem like a lot of hard work, but it does not have to be. Getting into the ‘zone’ is much easier than you may think. Deepak Chopra describes it as following the ‘Law of Least Effort’.  There are three components to this law, namely acceptance, responsibility and defenselessness, which he outlines in his book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.

Chopra explains that “acceptance simply means that you make a commitment: ‘Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances and events as they occur.’ This means you will know that this moment is as it should be, because the whole universe is as it should be”.

Responsibility means “not blaming anyone or anything for your situation, including yourself. This allows you the ability to have a creative response to the situation as it is now. All problems contain the seeds of opportunity, and this awareness allows you to take the moment and transform it to a better situation or thing.”

Finally, he describes the most important component of getting into the ‘zone’, namely becoming defenseless. He defines this process as “relinquishing the need to convince or persuade others of your point of view. If you relinquish this need you will in that relinquishment gain access to enormous amounts of energy that have been previously wasted”.

I also recommend three simple rules of thumb that I try to follow to help me stay in my ‘zone’. The first is to always pick your battles carefully and to let the Law of Karma take care of the rest. The second is to not buy into other people’s drama. The third is to recognize that you were never supposed to be anybody’s doormat, so don’t allow yourself to go down that slippery slope in the first place.

Does this mean that we should always remain silent when we are made victims, or look the other way when we see atrocities committed? Not at all. Nelson Mandela did not remain silent. Neither did Mahatma Ghandi. But they also came to the realization during the course of their lives that using force to convince others was not the best way to change the world. “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”, said Ghandi. “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner”, said Mandela.

It is not about remaining silent or avoiding reality. It is about remaining faithful to your feelings, beliefs and values, without having to force it upon others. Your life and the rest of the world can be changed without violence or drama or force. We don’t have to shout our personal slogans from rooftops. Mandela and Ghandi are two excellent examples of how to achieve personal peace, spiritual wisdom and harmony with others… and yet, they both managed to completely change the history of the world!

Now, I must admit, this alternative approach to ‘teaching others how to treat us’ remains a work in progress for me. I don’t always get it right in my moments of weakness. Some bullies just have the uncanny ability to drag you away from your ‘path of least resistance’ and, before you know it, you are completely out of your ‘zone’. On those occasions one tends to forget all your best intentions and give in to anger, hurt or frustration.

But it gets easier with practice and one does become stronger. And while I learn to let go more and more each day, I find comfort in the words of Jack Kornfield who once said that “a genuine spiritual path is not to avoid difficulties but to learn the art of making mistakes wakefully, to bring them to the transformative power of our heart”.

© 2011 Anthon St Maarten
Image: graur codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There is only one way to judge the quality of any psychic reading. The moment you finish your conversation with the reader, you should feel ready to make a choice, prepare for a decision… or at least take some sort of action. You should also have a basic idea or plan outlined for the way forward.

A good psychic reading will leave you feeling inspired, informed, enlightened and ready to take a step forward in your life, for better or worse. But, sadly, this is not always what people want from their psychic readings.

Do you believe that your life path is entirely pre-destined? Some people do. They prefer to see themselves as helpless puppets on a string, hanging around, while fate takes its course. For them the future is firmly carved in stone. Their destiny is pre-determined and their life path non-negotiable. The writing is on the wall. Period.

I call them the ‘Marionettes’. During psychic readings these clients are typically only interested in what will happen to them and when it will happen to them. They show no interest in the possibility that they have much more control over their destiny, and that they can make great things happen for themselves and by themselves. Indeed, there is much for them to learn from the story of Pinocchio, who dreamed of becoming a real boy and set out on a brave adventure to achieve his goal!

The Marionettes appear to be unwilling to accept the fact that they can change the course of their lives, or prevent personal calamities from occurring. Neither do they realize that they can get what they want from life so much sooner, and enjoy those outcomes for so much longer. They can also achieve far better results, whether some of the twists and turns were pre-destined for them, or not.

I have never been able to understand why anyone would prefer to merely cruise along, like a tourist through their own life? Why would you ignore the opportunity to be truly alive and experience the power of your own free will? Do you not realize that this is the very reason we came here in the first place? We came for the experience, the adventure, the fun, the drama and the sheer thrill of it all!

Sadly, the Marionettes among us will probably have to come back and do the whole thing over again. Their souls get stuck in a rut. Their incarnations can also become somewhat like habitual supermarket shopping trips when they have to plan and design their next physical experience, between this lifetime and the next. They will just buy the same old toothpaste or washing powder their mother, grandmother and great grandmother preferred, each and every time, life in and life out, for as long as it takes, or possibly for all eternity. If you listen closely you can actually hear their Spirit Guides sighing.

Such a dull business indeed. No change, no risk, no adventure. No challenging choices or brave decisions. The Marionettes do not like such things. Pushing their cosmic shopping trolleys around is exhausting enough as it is. Oh, the burden of bad karma! And if their favorite product is way past its sell-by-date, they can always blame the Manufacturer.

Personally, I prefer not to go through a repeat version of my current lifetime. I would much rather move up a notch, or two, or at least come back and have another amazing, but very different experience. To me the alternative is too ghastly to contemplate. Why would I want to waste a whole lifetime, only to return and relive it, like the endless re-run of a failed sitcom on cable TV? The jokes only stay funny for so long, you know what I mean?

Marionettes also go through a lot of unnecessary pain, suffering and misfortune in their lives. Much of this can be prevented, or at least be alleviated. Too often I have to be a helpless bystander, watching these clients turning themselves into powerless victims of their circumstances. They become martyrs to their own fear, laziness or indecision and they are unwilling to change their self-destructive ways. ‘Denial’ is not a river in Egypt, that’s for sure!

As if cruising along is not boring enough, some Marionettes take their tedious road trips to an even more pointless, mind-numbing level altogether. Not only are they content to sit back and wait for Fate, Chance, Luck and Destiny to drag them by the hair along their ‘pre-written life path’, but they also recruit psychics, mediums and astrologers to join them on this lacklustre, uninspiring journey to nowhere.

Now, asking a psychic for some directions along the way may seem like a step in the right direction, but in this case the psychic is usually not invited to act as a tour guide. Quite the contrary. No, the Marionettes merely need their psychic advisor to provide a detailed itinerary. They want a pre-designed schedule for the trip; a full-color brochure of their future.

And so, the Marionettes travel daily through the most amazing and exotic locations in the human experience, without noticing or enjoying a single sight, sound or tourist attraction. Instead they yawn, cry or whine, while they read their brochures repeatedly…staring with great long-suffering at the colorful snapshots provided by their favorite fortune-teller. They care only about getting to the next pre-determined destination. What happens along the way is of little consequence. And the fact that they may pass by several shortcuts along the way, well, that is also irrelevant.

The Marionettes never get to feel the wonder of the monsoon rain on their faces or the miracle of the desert winds in their hair. Heck, they don’t even get off the bus, when it is time to re-fuel or change a flat tire. No, the Marionettes prefer to just hang around in the stuffy cabin, while patiently waiting for predictions to come true and outcomes to manifest, without any active input or participation.

Ironically, for the Marionettes the long-anticipated outcomes are often an anti-climax and a non-event. Not playing ‘snakes and ladders’ usually leads us to finish yet another round of life’s game without feeling any real sense of achievement or fulfilment. This is what they had been waiting for all this time? So, they wandered through the maze via the long and difficult route. Well done. Now what? Life is what happened to them while they were waiting for the master plan to unfold.

One can clearly see the evidence of a person’s level of self-determination and spiritual growth by simply looking at the kind of information that comes through for them during psychic readings. People, who know what they want and know where they are going, often receive very clear and specific details about outcomes and timelines during readings. They are typically aware of their own power, or are at least keen to increase their awareness, and they often reap the rewards their status as co-creator brings. They even receive clues to alternative routes and fun stops along the way. Reading for them always feels like being part of a treasure hunt; an extreme sport of some sort.

But for the Marionettes, who are out of touch with themselves and live without any real purpose, the content of their readings can be somewhat like the twighlight zone. Certainly not the highlight of any reader’s day. Marionettes show little interest in how they can improve their life, gain wisdom, develop spiritually or meet their true destiny. They have no idea where they are heading, or what they really want. They are definitely not ready to make any choices or decisions. Yet, they expect a clear indication of the outcome. Due to their indecision and passive inertia their readings often become blurred. Predictions become mere probabilities; timeframes remain vague, outcomes appear fluid and uncertain.

The psychic usually knows the general direction of where their Marionette clients are heading, but how soon they will get there usually remains to be seen. The psychic is also relatively powerless to reduce the amount of trauma that will be experienced along the way. Warnings and advice fall on deaf ears.

The Marionettes will eventually get to each of their pre-determined destinations. All roads do lead to ‘Rome’. But they will probably take the longest route with the most obstacles. And they will have as little fun as possible getting there.

If you suspect that you may be a Marionette, you need to know that your future is not entirely pre-determined. There is also no such thing as ‘fate’ or ‘bad luck’. There is only destiny and free will. Destiny is the cards we are dealt in this lifetime. Free will is how we play them. Any successful card player will tell you that the secret to success lies in a combination of opportunity and strategy. They will also tell you that it is possible to win the jackpot with a weak hand, or lose millions with a royal flush. It is all about the attitude, the faith, the patience, the confidence, the self-control, the focus and, most of all, the timing.

Yes, most of the major events in our lives are predestined. You can identify them easily, because they are the events and circumstances that are truly beyond your control. These are the signposts and pit stops we have planned for ourselves, like an elaborate obstacle course, before we entered into this lifetime.

Pre-determined events and outcomes serve as the highlights and low-points for our roller-coaster ride through life. They are destined to happen to us, one way or the other. But how good or bad the actual experiences are, how much time they require and what route we take to get to each of them, all depends on what we think, feel, decide, choose and ultimately do.

When life gives you lemons, you don’t make lemonade. You use the seeds to plant a whole orchard and build a new lemonade brand… an entire franchise. And once you have had enough fun being the CEO of your lemonade empire, you sell your stock, buy a flying carpet and travel to Atlantis or The Pleiades on holiday. Along the way you could visit each of the Seven Wonders of the World and maybe meet your Knight in Shining Armor, before you ride off into the sunset.

Or you could just stay on the bus and drink lemonade someone else has made, from a can.

© 2010 Anthon St Maarten

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.

We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

© Marianne Williamson, from her book A Return to Love.
Image: Michelle Meiklejohn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The year 2011 has kicked off with yet another batch of psychic predictions from all over the globe.

It has become an annual tradition to predict as much doom and gloom as possible, and this year the custom was once again upheld with much enthusiasm and zeal.

The usual depressing prophecies and upcoming disasters were numerous this year, coupled with some mindless trivia about celebrities and movie stars. Why? Because bad news and gossip sells. It is what most people like to hear and it is what most people like to fear. 

Scientific studies have shown that people prefer bad news in the media. They find it more interesting, respond to it more often and remember it much longer. They also pass the news on to others at a much faster rate. I guess it is in our nature, because knowing the bad news before everyone else might just give us a better shot at survival.

Not wanting to be left out of the loop in 2011, psychics, mediums and astrologers from all over the world have once again predicted several earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, mysterious diseases, floods and fires – enough to cause many a panic attack and sleepless night. Not to mention all the political upheaval, economic disaster, crime and high-profile kidnappings that have been lined up for the year ahead.

The additional celebrity gossip about marriages, break-ups and babies is simply meant to soften the blow; a feeble attempt at sugar-coating. It is the clumsy, modern day version of good news. It also serves to entertain those who could care less about serious world events.

As usual, the skeptics also went to town with this year’s predictions. Some had a field day mocking all the ‘fortunetellers’ by providing their own set of silly predictions for 2011, while the rest spent hours tracking and tracing last year’s predictions, to see how many got it wrong after all. Of course, some careers took a nose-dive because of this, and a few reputations were once again burnt at the stake. No medals were handed out to the ones who got it right last year. Neither will any statues be erected.

So much negativity, cynicism and fear. I find it difficult to relate, because most of this stuff is on the fringe of my reality tunnel.  I choose to live in a world where good things also sometimes happen to good people; a place where there is joy, and hope for the future and where people sometimes dare to be happy and live life to the fullest.

Now, I am not suggesting that disastrous natural phenomena do not occur from time to time. Neither do I deny the fact that humanity is capable of extreme evil and malice. I grew up witnessing such things, in a country where hatred and violence was the norm. Yes, these things have been a part of my reality since I can remember. But, today I am guided by Spirit and as I grow older and wiser, I increasingly prefer to expand my consciousness and create my reality in such a way that it also includes the good, the positive and the uplifting.

We are all co-creators of our shared reality and each day we contribute to this hologram of collective consciousness with our thoughts, emotions, words and deeds. However, our personal power to co-create our world also brings with it serious responsibilities. It is our divine duty to consider the well-being of our fellow-man and our planet. It also brings with it the choice to contribute to the co-creation of a better, brighter future – or not.

I am not suggesting that psychic predictions should always be happy and upbeat, or blind to the truth. In a truly intuitive and spiritually aware society (which we are currently not), the prediction of cataclysmic world events should serve as a blessing to mankind. In ancient times the tribe did not solely entrust their destiny to their chief or king, but also to the shaman who advised him.

Personal predictions and warnings work a charm in the lives of my clients every day. Why would the same principle not apply to organisations, governments, nations and countries?  Sure, there is not much anyone can do about an impending volcanic eruption in Indonesia or Italy, but a well-timed prediction could at least serve as fair warning to the people in that area.

Unfortunately, history has shown repeatedly that legitimate predictions of major world events tend to be ignored or ridiculed, often with tragic consequences. It is the price humanity pays for its skepticism, complacency and lack of spiritual consciousness.

Let’s face it; people did not even take an experienced war veteran and corporate security expert like Rick Rescorla seriously. He initially predicted the possibility of a basement bomb exploding in the World Trade Center and that is exactly what happened in 1993. Well, one would think he would at least have been taken more seriously after that, but once again he was pretty much ignored when he predicted that the next attack would come from the air, which happened on September 11, 2001.

Fortunately, Rick Rescorla’s perseverance and his contempt for complacent bureaucracy ultimately saved the lives of at least 2700 people. He simply ignored the complaints of office workers when he insisted they participate in regular evacuation drills; and on 9/11 he also refused to follow the order from officials not to evacuate World Trade Center Tower Two, after the first tower had been hit.

If a natural-born leader and stubborn personality like Rick Rescorla could not get his warning through to people, what are the odds that anyone would ever take seriously the ramblings of an ‘airy-fairy’ psychic?  It is documented fact that The Psychic Twins, Linda and Terry Jamison, predicted a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center two years before it happened. Their prediction was recorded in 1999 on the Art Bell Show on Coast to Coast AM. Clearly nobody took much notice at the time.

But skepticism is not the only reason people often disregard authentic predictions. Apart from mankind’s tendency towards laziness, cynicism and complacency, the false prophets among us are also to blame.

Too many fake predictions are whipped up every New Year for entertainment purposes, with the secret hope of promoting someone’s career or to sell more books or tickets. This kind of self-serving sensationalism does nobody any good in the greater scheme of things.

In my experience, true prophecies and spiritual messages of global importance do not come on demand, much less for entertainment purposes. When these prophecies do come forth, they are channeled to those who are of pure intent and who have a selfless heart. The receiver in turn will pass along the message to whom it may concern, without any fanfare or publicity. The receiver of the message may, of course, choose to listen or not, at their own peril.

Furthermore, if a volcano is destined to erupt in Indonesia or Italy, you can be sure that Spirit is most capable of communicating the warning to a gifted Indonesian or Italian, instead of some celebrity psychic on the other side of the planet.

There are lightworkers and spiritual messengers in every community and every nation and every country, and they mostly perform their divine duty silently, behind the scenes. And should publicity, fame or public recognition seek them out, it will be to create awareness and serve the greater good – certainly not their ego.

We can expect even worse fear-mongering and psychic showcasing next year, because as you probably know the Mayan long-count calendar will be grinding to a screeching halt in 2012. There are those who believe that this foretells all kinds of terrible calamities, including the end of the world. And there is very little time left to sell all those 2012 books. The end is indeed nigh.

Next time you read a list of New Year’s predictions, consider if they have been published in order to save lives and make the world a better place. Ask yourself whether those messages were channeled by the owner of a selfless heart, or have they been concocted simply to stroke an ego? It is easy to separate the wheat from the chaff. Simply trust your gut. You have been blessed with an unfailing inner guidance system. Learn to follow your intuition, use your common sense, and don’t believe everything you read.

© 2011 Anthon St Maarten
Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In my line of work there is often an unhealthy obsession with the concept of evil. It appears we are simply not able to rid ourselves of this ‘thing’ we seem to have for the boogeyman (here in my country known as the tokoloshe).

Just the other day I was listening to a radio psychic scaring the living daylights out of his unsuspecting caller. She just wanted some career advice, but instead he was hell-bent on convincing her that her home was infested with evil entities.

His charming co-host also jumped in to offer some old-wives’ cures for getting rid of all the demonic forces.

Truth be told, the only disturbance I was picking up on was the fact that the poor, freaked out woman would not be getting much sleep for weeks!

Now, don’t get me wrong. The struggle between good and evil is very, very real. It is a fundamental component of the human condition. It is also the basis of all Creation. It stems from the duality found in every important aspect of our expanding Universe: dark versus light, life versus death, night versus day. Light needs the presence of darkness to be truly visible and meaningful.

The co-existence of good and evil is also the basis for an inner conflict that each of us have to resolve in this lifetime. It is part of the reason why we are here. Both good and evil therefore do serve a purpose in the greater scheme of things. No doubt about that. But blaming the spiritual realm for the darkness of men is my idea of heresy and blasphemy.

Our morbid fascination with all things dark is as old as the hills, but it is still very much de rigueur. Just the fact that psychics and mediums are today still being accused of doing the devil’s work is sufficient proof in itself. In many religious circles ‘fire and brimstone’ remains the height of fashion. Not to mention the latest 2012 doomsday prophecies, conspiracy theories and apocalyptic visions of evil forces, undercover aliens and secret societies; all hype eagerly spread by fear-mongers, spin doctors and social entrepreneurs.

But those are the most obvious kinds of evil mania. What truly amazes me about our obsession with all things evil is that it is not something you only find in traditional churches or conservative circles. No, some truly gifted, spiritually aware and highly intuitive people, with whom I share many beliefs and blessings, are also fanatic about finding evil spirits, curses and dark entities under their beds, inside their closets …and deep-down in the purses and wallets of their clients.

Yesterday a wonderful client called me, devastated and in tears. She had been persuaded by a well-meaning friend to “try out” another psychic she knows of… just for fun. The self-proclaimed ’spiritual advisor’ had a field day predicting doom and gloom for her current relationship and warned her that another woman was doing magick to steal her man away. She also offered to do spell work for her to fix the problem, to the tune of $400! Meanwhile my client’s love life is perfectly on track and they are in fact a very happy couple. How dare someone mess with the lives of others out of sheer greed? It truly disgusts me. May God have mercy on her soul.

It is deeply disappointing that many who share in the collective consciousness appear to be obsessing about evil entities and dark forces all of the time. In fact, they are so busy doing this that they hardly have any time or energy left to be co-creators in our spiritual evolution. They seem to miss the point that evil is about regression, destruction and reversing into the past. Evil is the antithesis of creation and expansion, and they seem to forget that what they focus on, sadly, does become their reality.

The good versus evil ‘battle’ has been waged one way or another since the dawn of civilization. It is an ancient archetype that is one of the most recognizable themes in literature and the arts. Let’s face it; ‘good guys versus bad guys’ is the stuff that bestsellers and box office hits are made of.

I guess it therefore comes as no surprise that some spiritual seekers are forever obsessing about the evil they fear may be creeping up on them. One only has to tune in to a few podcasts, or watch the latest online videos, to witness the spiritual community’s fixation on everything evil. Indeed, fundamentalism is not only found among the religious and the dogmatic. Some of the ‘spiritually enlightened’ and ‘intuitively evolved’ seem to insist on clinging to medieval concepts and out-dated superstitions.

Instead of being fully devoted to unconditional love, kindness, generosity, selflessness and the greater good, much energy, time and money is being spent every day fighting evil entities and keeping the ‘darkness’ and its ‘extremely powerful forces’ at bay. Potions, spells and candles are actually the very products that keep scam psychics and fake mediums in business. All this while the true battle of Armageddon is being fought right here under our noses, in the streets in front of our houses.

There is no dominating source of evil, because if there was, we would not exist, nature would not exist and neither would the Universe. It is counter-productive to assign so much influence and power to something that is in fact just vast emptiness, non-entity and anti-matter.

I have often said, and will say it again, if you want to know true evil just switch on the evening news. If you are curious to see the real face of Satan, you will find him lurking on the cover of celebrity magazines, in newspapers and on political campaign posters. The battle between good and evil is not being fought in the spiritual realm. Spirit knows no anger, envy, fear, violence or hatred. The real war is happening in mundane places, like the television set in your parlor or at your child’s school.

If you want to find demons, shadow people or anti-Christs, look for them in our educational institutions, communities, churches and governments. If you truly want to find evil incarnate, seek it among the school bullies in our midst, those who drive their peers to suicide or post vile online jokes about their deaths.

Stop hunting ghosts, witches, psychic vampires and energy thieves, and rather expose the narcissists among us who dominate, dictate and destroy so many relationships, families, careers and lives – devoid of empathy and compassion. Search also the boardrooms, public offices and parliaments. There you will find among our leaders and kings many ego-maniacs who abuse their power, corrupt their economy and violate the basic human rights of their people, while they wage senseless wars on their critics and each other.

Evil, darkness, threat and fear are not spiritual forces… they are the evil creations of man. JJ Dewey writes that “all forces, powers, and energies are neither good nor evil in themselves. They are completely neutral, but only become good or evil when they are intelligently directed.” He also states that “all energies and creations vibrating in their pure state are good.” And that is the whole point. Focusing so much of our thoughts, feelings and intentions on evil, instead of that which is good, is counter-productive and contrary to our Divine Purpose. We are here to serve each other and grow, expand and become, not to cast an exaggerated, ominous shadow over all that is potentially good in the world.

The spiritual realm is much like the natural world. It is in essence breathtakingly perfect, completely harmonious and utterly flawless. I have yet to meet an evil animal or discover a satanic plant. The only evil I have ever witnessed among plants and animals are the scars left on them by the inhumane, dark deeds of men. It is certainly not the devil who is trashing the environment, abusing the animal kingdom or trampling the hearts of loving women and breaking the spirits of brave men.

The Divine Light that you and I come from, and will return to one day, knows no evil and does not recognize the power of these shadows that some so willingly fear and follow. Believing in the supremacy of evil entities and dark beings implies that we all come from a spiritual place of imperfection. It suggests that the Divine Source is somehow diseased, that Creation is riddled with flaws and falsehoods that dwell among us. And, worst of all, that we are so far superior in our human state that we alone are capable of fixing this broken, dysfunctional or chaotic spiritual mess.

I realize that for some it must be fun to indulge in this paranormal soap opera, but most of us simply don’t have the time, or the inclination. We know we have much work to do, gifts to offer, blessings to share. We are the Wounded Healers, the Empaths, the Shamans, the Indigo Children, the Starseeds, and the Lightworkers. We speak to the Angels, listen to our Spirit Guides and trust in the guidance of our Ancestors, Ascended Masters and Loved Ones. We fight true evil by saving the planet and healing humanity, by drying one tear at a time.

We have no need for spells, talismans or obsessive-compulsive psychic defenses, for we are surrounded by the everlasting and indestructible shields of Love, Peace and Harmony. The phenomenal power of our Spiritual Heritage surges through our being every moment of every day. We are illuminated by the Divine; there is much Light around us.

The spiritual evolution of mankind is our ultimate aim, our Divine duty. As we continue to expand the Universe, this dazzling, bright Light we carry will continue to emanate from us with much Glory. And we know that there shall come a time when there will be no more evil among men. And we shall know that all is Good.

© 2010 Anthon St Maarten
Image: luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

They say when an angel misses you, they toss a penny down from heaven. Sadly, not everyone knows how much truth there is in this old adage.

Spirit has many interesting ways to communicate with us, and always on a very personal level. Your spiritual signs and signals can range from the truly spectacular to the very mundane. And sometimes they can be found in the most unusual places, or when they are least unexpected. Two of the most commonly sighted phenomena are coins or ‘pennies’, as well as feathers.

Depending on your personal belief system, these items are left around for us by loved ones, animal guides, angels and spirit guides.

No matter where you believe your signs may be coming from, they are most certainly meant especially for you, and they always have a sincere and personal meaning, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant they may appear to be.

Of course, many skeptics doubt that these phenomena exist, and it is often discounted as mere superstition or urban myth. I have, however, had several powerful personal experiences of such signs over the years, and I also hear frequent reports from friends and clients who experience the same thing. Spirit has indeed taught me some very valuable lessons through different signs and signals, and these personal, first-hand experiences contradict the most one-dimensional or misguided opinion of any skeptic.

A dear friend and client recently received very compelling confirmation of the signs she had been questioning for years.*  She is currently in the midst of a major life transition and a personal transformation. For quite some time now we have been discussing the signs she has been receiving in the form of popular songs. She keeps hearing them: over the radio, in the gym and in the shopping mall. Once she even heard it on the phone, after she was placed on hold by a call centre. The signs keep coming consistently; every time she asks for them, she receives them. But the doubt secretly creeps back into her mind soon after. What if it was just her imagination?

Two days ago she messaged me, wanting to know if the latest incident was another sign. There is a specific song she has always associated with a certain special person in her life, for a very particular reason. She had now heard this song on three separate occasions at very significant moments. Each time it happened she was either with this person, or she was specifically thinking of him, or she was asking for a sign about him.

I explained to her that we sometimes receive the same signs more than once, in order to overcome our doubt or fear. In her case she was getting her signs in three’s. But I also knew that she had to see proof of this for herself, before she would feel truly content. I therefore suggested she ask for a confirmation of the fact that important signs come to her in three’s.

The answer came sooner than anticipated. She was in a public place when she received my response. She did not even have to ask for confirmation. The minute she opened my text message on her cellphone, even before she had finished reading all of it, she discovered three pennies on a seat she was about to sit down on.

She immediately sent me the news and I then assured her that pennies are a well-known sign for many people all over the world. I also urged her to keep the pennies in a safe place and have another look at them later, because sometimes the dates or other engravings on them also have special meanings.

The next day I received a follow-up: “Thanks Anthon! You wouldn’t believe this, but later yesterday I saw three feathers. Well, actually four, I saw one at first and did a double take – but dismissed it, then an hour or so later saw a cluster of three feathers together on the floor.”

Messages from the spiritual realm are potentially life-changing, but they so often pass us by, unnoticed, mostly because of our lack of awareness. In fact, some of us are so stubborn or oblivious to our metaphysical reality that we first have to receive a pebble, then a rock and finally a ton of bricks, before we eventually sit up and pay attention! First there is a message, then a lesson and finally comes the crisis.

If you have never experienced the wonder of witnessing the effect of such miraculous signs and signals in your life, I highly recommend that you consider giving it a shot. What do you stand to lose? All you need to do is heighten your awareness and increase your consciousness. Don’t allow yourself to let your mystical reminders and spiritual signposts pass you by forever.

Signs and signals from the spiritual realm always have a purpose. Most often they are important guideposts or ‘traffic signs’ along our life path, confirming our choices, decisions and actions. Sometimes we receive these messages to console us in times of distress or sadness, while at other times they come as warnings, urging us to proceed with caution.

Reading your special signs and signals is your divine right, and a basic skill that anyone can develop. Some gurus would have you believe that this is a complex art or science, or that it requires special psychic abilities or years of study and practice. The truth is that this is a blessing freely available to all of us, regardless of whom we are or what we believe in. All you need to do is ask, and it will be given.

The best way to start reading signs is by simply becoming more aware. Take more notice of the small wonders that happen in the world around you every day. Look out for patterns and synchronicities, because there are no ‘coincidences’ in life. Everything happens for a reason; there are no windfalls, only godsends.

Soon you will begin to discover your unique set of personal symbols and patterns. Your special signs could come in the form of dreams, colors, words, numbers, sounds, songs, computer messages, clouds, images, animals, people, places or specific objects, like coins and feathers. They could also come in a certain order or they may be repeated a certain number of times. The list of possibilities and combinations is truly endless. It is also very different for each individual, depending on your belief system, as well as your cultural background and your unique personality and interests.

Always keep your expectations simple and don’t expect weird riddles or complex messages. The message is always very clear and direct. The intention is after all to communicate and guide, not to confuse, frighten or mislead you. Also, use some common sense. If you never listen to the radio, you certainly cannot expect it to become a conduit for spiritual communication. Your signs will show up in accessible ways that complement your lifestyle, or match your personal outlook. All you need to do is become more aware and be open to the process.

Finally, we need to be thankful for every sign or message we receive. Express your gratitude by being kind to yourself and others, and show your appreciation by caring for all living creatures, as well as our magnificent planet. Count each and every blessing.

The Universe is an abundant and interactive place of wonder and magic; it is ready and waiting to respond to your needs. You can heal your life and make all your wishes come true. Spirit wants the opportunity to guide you and protect you on your journey through life.

Acknowledge your higher self and learn to trust your intuition. You have inside of you a deep well of wisdom and you are connected to everything in the Universe. You are part of an infinite and ever-expanding grid of spiritual consciousness.

Use your signs and godsends to re-design your life and create the destiny you truly want; learn to apply your divine ‘early warning system’ to avoid unnecessary obstacles and setbacks along the way. All you need to do is ask. Reclaim what is rightfully yours.

* Dedicated to my friend ‘Ms C’. Thank you for allowing me to share your story with the world.

© 2010 Anthon St Maarten
Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net