The most significant moment in my life thus far was the day I finally found the real me. In that profound moment I finally came to understand the value of being true to myself. And once I had discovered the true power of authenticity, the quest for living an authentic life completely began to alter my world. Like a Columbus of the heart, mind and soul I have hurled myself off the shores of my own fears and limiting beliefs, to venture far out into the uncharted territories of my inner truth in search of what it means to be genuine and at peace with who I really am. I have abandoned the masquerade of living up to the expectations of others and have been exploring the new horizons of what it means to be truly and completely me, in all my amazing imperfection and most splendid insecurity. It all began when I finally surrendered my shame to accept my psychic abilities as a blessing and not a curse. New doors swung wide open in my life when I discovered that being an empath is not a weakness and that being a psychic medium is not a sinful insanity. To be sensitive, vulnerable and emotional are taboos in our world, especially for men. When your authentic self miraculously awakens and becomes stronger than your ego, then you will truly begin to make a difference in this world. You will literally enter into a partnership with the creative principle ~ Andrew Cohen Combine that with being a new age weirdo who hears the voices of dead people... and you have the perfect breeding ground for shame, self-hatred and imagined public humiliation. I remember when the debilitating shame began. Growing up in Apartheid South Africa our school environment was shaped by a government policy known at the time as Christelike Nasionale Opvoeding (Christian National Education). This restrictive policy was geared towards social engineering and allowed very little religious or ideological freedom. Even the Catholic faith was considered suspicious. We were encouraged to embrace the Calvinistic and highly chauvinistic values that were forced upon us. We were programmed not to question authority, and to comply with the prescribed cultural expectations of our community. In this environment I was obviously soon misunderstood, excluded and bullied, to the extent that I began to view my highly sensitive nature and psychic heritage as a shameful secret, as some kind of personal disability. I soon realized I had to start wearing masks and pretend to be what I am not, for fear of rejection and ridicule. I fervently began to resist my extra sensory experiences. My fascination with all things metaphysical became my ‘dirty little secret’. I no longer told the other children about the metaphysical beings I spoke to, or the paranormal phenomena I saw and heard. I also no longer blurted out the secrets of unsuspecting adults, which often caused many red faces and awkward silences around tea tables and barbeque fires. I was disregarded by teachers, and rejected and tortured by many of my peers. The name-calling and physical abuse started very early, in my second year at school. I remember finding myself one day surrounded by a group of hyperactive eight-year olds. They were pointing fingers, laughing, and calling me cruel names. Today the scene reminds me of the witch hunters of old. Ironically, I realize now that some of their fathers were most likely firing teargas at rioting youths in one of the black townships at that very moment, while their children were hurling stones at me for daring to be different from the norm. Those bullies had no idea why they felt the need to terrorize me; they just sensed intuitively that I was somehow unusual, a threat. Within me there was a silent, latent force that made them very uncomfortable. They were taught since birth to despise that which was different from them in race, creed, language, culture and faith. They feared what they did not understand. Being different, or standing out from the crowd in any way, was seen as anti-Christian, non-Afrikaans and unpatriotic. We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection ~ Brené Brown ​I remember the dread in their eyes when they used to push me around and hurl insults in my direction. It is disturbing to know that many of them still uphold some of those prejudiced views and bigoted values to this very day. I know some of their current beliefs and attitudes, because these days many of them want to be my friends on Facebook. People often say that love is the key to conscious living; they say love is the essence of joy and happiness and spiritual enlightenment. I beg to differ. For without authenticity there will never be complete unconditional love. True love and connection with ourselves, others and the planet is impossible without being fully authentic. First we must express and embrace our authentic self, before we will be able to love anyone else unconditionally. The lack of authenticity is a modern epidemic. We live in a perpetual hall of mirrors where very few of us are what we appear, or claim to be. We have created a counterfeit, pretentious society where we all seek sincere love and true connection from behind the towering walls of our falsehood. We yearn to reach out to one another from our fortresses of deception and our facades of self-protection. All the world is our stage and every day we dance around each other craving to connect with the real people behind the masks of fear and shame we all wear. Is it any wonder there are so many lonely people on this planet? Is it any surprise that relationships have become so complex and near impossible to navigate? ​There is only one true key to lasting personal fulfillment and true intimacy with others – to be authentic. For when we are authentic we release our fears and step into being bona fide, and utterly vulnerable. We cannot experience true love and connection without also risking heartbreak and disillusionment. We must allow ourselves to be vulnerable, because when we shield ourselves from loss, rejection and disappointment, when we hide from sadness and despair, we also shut out opportunities for love, happiness, joy, acceptance and fulfillment. ​ To be authentic is to be vulnerable, and to be vulnerable is to embrace the very essence of all that human life has to offer. How does one become more authentic? To be authentic is to strip away the layers of pretense we have adopted to please others. To be authentic is to abandon the senseless roles we play to meet the imagined expectations of society. To be authentic is to break free from the oppressive chains of guilt and shame that keep our awkward masks in place, that keep our glasses half empty and not half full. To be authentic is to be stripped bare of all our pretenses and stand proud in the bareness of who we really are. Once we rip off the disguise we assumed for others, the real person is revealed. There is no more putting on a show for the sake of others… and we are finally free! If you put shame in a Petri dish, it needs three things to grow exponentially: secrecy, silence and judgment ~ Brené Brown Carl Jung said, “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” To stand vulnerable before the world in all your brokenness and imperfection is the most powerful place you can ever be. Being vulnerable is not weakness, it is strength. Being authentic and vulnerable yields a phenomenal power that can move mountains. It is the magic of being alive. Holding yourself in a place of false pretense and self-protection only serves to block out all potential for true well-being and joy. When we shutdown and sedate all negative feeling, we also shutdown and sedate all the good stuff. When we anesthetize our sadness and despair with alcohol, drugs or food we also shut out all feelings of happiness, joy and ultimate bliss. We cannot feel selectively. We cannot feel only some things, and not others. We feel, or we don’t feel. So, start feeling! I sometimes tell my clients that “pity parties” are good to indulge in. But if you are going to throw one, do it properly! Throw yourself the best self-pity extravaganza anyone has ever had. Call forth the violins, bring out the long black garments, decorate the room with all those sad memories of humiliation, betrayal and abuse. Go ahead and cover your head in ashes, and flood the floor with your tears. Revel in your misfortune. Get it all out of your system to make space in your heart for love, joy and happiness. And when that clock strikes midnight, declare the party over! Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and use the rest of that dark night to sweep the whole miserable mess out the backdoor. Then open the front door to welcome in the sunlight, fling open the windows to let in a fresh breeze of hope and faith. Run outside to embrace the dawning of a bright new day! Don’t be afraid to love with every fiber in your being. Put your heart on the line each and every time, even when there are no guarantees. Know that you are worthy of love and belonging. Understand that you are imperfect, we all are. We are all defenseless, at risk and flawed in so many ways. Celebrate yourself. Accept that you are enough. Dare to declare who you are. It is not far from the shores of silence to the boundaries of speech. The path is not long, but the way is deep. You must not only walk there, you must be prepared to leap ~ Hildegard Von Bingen Show the real you to the world , for you are special and unique… warts and all. Embrace every opportunity to love and connect with others. Social researcher Brené Brown says, “When we work from a place that says, ‘I am enough’ we stop screaming and start listening. We are kinder and gentler to the people around us, and we are kinder and gentler to our ourselves.” The truly authentic are blessed. They are the warriors of the soul, the champions of love. Let your authentic self be seen by the rest of the world. You may fear rejection and ridicule, but what you will gain is your freedom and personal power. What you will find is true love and acceptance. We fear the judgment of others, but when we strip away the veils of pretense we discover that there is really only one nasty critic in our lives. There is only one malicious judge who raises eyebrows and wags a disapproving finger at us all the time. That judge is us – you and me. We are our own worst critics. While the rest of the world goes about their business and could care less about our imagined imperfections, we spend hours in our personal hall of mirrors: judging, shaming and blaming ourselves beyond all recognition. Don’t be afraid to be who you are, but be smart about it. Being authentic is not about exposing yourself like an open book. You need not share your most personal thoughts and deepest personal secrets with the world. You need not wear your heart on your sleeve. Brené Brown sums it up perfectly when she states that one should only share your "shame story" with those who have earned the right to hear your story. Perfect strangers need not know every little intimate fact or detail about your life. Frankly, most people are not all that interested to know it all anyway. But what people are interested in is to engage with other people who are sincere and vulnerable, people who are able to ask for help and affection, people who can admit their own mistakes and imperfections, and people who are always true to themselves and stand up for what they believe in. They are interested in real people who are just like them. So, just be you for change. It will transform your life forever. © 2013 Anthon St. Maarten ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents. He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology. Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.

For millennia pilgrims have made the trek up to the Acropolis, the mythological citadel of Athens. Heeding the whispers of an ancient deity, I wandered off the beaten tourist track to find my way to the doorstep of the Goddess Athena. Many centuries have come and gone since the Athenians ascended the Acropolis to seek the guidance and protection of Athena, the maiden goddess of wisdom, war and divine intelligence. Her status as the favorite daughter of Zeus, and powerful patron deity of the city of Athens, remains evident to this day. Expecting to be mostly drawn to the Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus, when I visited the Acropolis of Athens in Greece, I was instead keenly aware of the omnipresence of Athena’s legacy. My undergraduate education afforded me a reasonably good understanding of the role of the god Dionysus in ancient Greek culture. I know about the festivals and plays, and as a student I often imagined visiting the remains of those historic open-air auditoriums. A sacred landscape is not simply a backdrop for action, but rather a place filled with names, associations and memories that link together everything present there. Humans become linked to the rocks, trees, animals, rivers, mountains and these bonds guide future human interaction with that place ~ Christopher Tilley But when my friend Sandra and I reached the Theatre of Dionysus, I did not hear the echoes of the choruses of long-forgotten Greek tragedies, or the murmur of the 17,000 spectators who came to see them lament. Instead I heard the resounding, reassuring voice of Athena only – a goddess I never paid much attention to before. She called to me, inviting me higher up to her sanctuary. Pagan tradition has it that places and objects are charged with magical, transformative energy through focused ritual, belief, thought and prayer. This ancient sacred energy bestowed upon Athena by so many devotees is vividly palpable on the Acropolis. This sacred historical site remains imbued with her electric strength, her infinite wisdom and her feminine charm. The prayers and offerings of every man, woman and child who over the centuries reached out to her for guidance and protection are still whispered by the winds around the marble columns. Her name is perceptibly hummed by the birds in the olive trees on the way up the steep slope. Millions of feet have made this trek up to the architectural marvels awaiting on top of the Acropolis. One can feel its power underfoot. Expecting to encounter Athena at her most famous and impressive temple, the Parthenon. I was once again surprised to hear her calling me to the more humble Erechteion. This temple on the northern side of the Acropolis was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon, the god of the ocean, earth-quakes and horses. Poseidon competed in a contest with Athena for the position as patron and protector of the city of Athens below. But the people chose Athena, because she created the first olive tree as a gift to the Athenians. Poseidon gave them a spring, but it ran salt water and it was of no use to them. According to an archaeologist we spoke to at the Acropolis Museum, there are various myths about what exactly happened at that contest. One version has it that Poseidon neglected to bring a witness to his miracle of bringing forth water from the mountain, so nobody believed he was responsible. Another version has it that the people were asked to vote. All the women then voted for Athena, and since there were more women than men… Athena won by a landslide! A visit to the Acropolis Museum is highly recommended when you visit Athens and the Acropolis. Athena’s presence is also very much dominant here and I especially appreciated the close-up view of the original Koira (maidens) from the Erechtheion. Statues of Athena are everywhere in the museum in various shapes and sizes. Many of them reminded me of the Virgin Mary. One cannot help but notice the similarities in her depiction, right down to her headdress resembling a halo. © 2013 Anthon St Maarten ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents. He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology. Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.

While planning my visit to this sacred site in Delphi, Greece, I set the intention to receive a sign from the famous Oracle at the Temple of Apollo. The deity of revelation and inspiration did not disappoint and sent me a good omen, without me being aware of it at the time. Would you not do the same if you were going to visit the remains of the legendary sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, Greece? Well, I did! I humbly requested a simple sign or personal omen from the god of light, truth and prophecy, while I was planning my visit to this ancient sacred space. I sensed several months before I undertook this pilgrimage that the place would not disappoint, but ultimately I received much more than I had anticipated. The famous oracle who communicated Apollo’s messages to the people, and the priests who interpreted them, no longer ply their trade at this once glorious place, but Apollo has certainly not abandoned his remarkable temple. He still answers the call of mortals here, despite the fact that most of us now live in a world devoid of the mystical and the miraculous. Yes, he certainly does. I have proof. At first I was somewhat disenchanted with this sacred site, but I nevertheless paid my respects to Apollo at the foot of his altar. I also paused for a while at the remains of the grand entrance to the temple, reminding him that the two of us had a date here with destiny. But nothing came to me. I even snooped around the entrance to Pythia's chamber, in the hope that the famous oracle woman would appear from the depths below to step out onto the Rock of Sybil in a trance. The lord whose is the oracle at Delphi neither utters nor hides his meaning, but shows it by a sign. The Sibyl, with raving lips uttering things mirthless, unbedizened, and unperfumed, reaches over a thousand years with her voice, thanks to the god in her ~ Heraclitus In this altered state of consciousness, possibly induced by the hallucinogenic gasses from below the temple foundation, she would utter mysterious, prophetic messages from Apollo himself. It is rumored that she predicted the fall of Troy. Surely she could manage a simple little sign from Apollo for me? Yet, the temple ruins remained as silent as the grave. Maybe the Christians, who later turned a part of the site into a church, were successful in driving out the last remnants of the old religion with their Grecian crosses? They posted these crucifixes at the entrance to the sanctuary, possibly to dispel the evil and heresy of the site’s pagan past. They no longer had any need for the protection of the colossal Naxian sphinx, which used to guard this place from up high, on top of a marble column. Unlike the clear call of Athena that I heard on the Acropolis in Athens, just a few days earlier, the sacred site of Apollo at Delphi remained shrouded in a mysterious, yet reassuring silence. ​But then Apollo surprised me with proof that the sacred force of Delphi remains. His presence here reaches as far back as many centuries BC; as far back as the time when he is believed to have dug the foundations of the first temple at Delphi himself. Delphi did not shape the fate and direct the destiny of so many nations, kings and warriors by accident. This place is after all where Zeus, with the assistance of his two eagles, determined where the center of the world must be. The energy here has gathered over millennia. This is after all where the ancient Greek aphorism "Know Thyself" was inscribed in the forecourt of the temple, along with the other 147 Delphic maxims. There is much magical power in these ruins, despite me being so slow on the uptake. The distractions caused by the unusual European summer heat, jet lag, and the chatter of babbling tour guides, seemed to be interfering with the radar of my sixth sense. Eventually, I was going further up the slopes of Mount Parnassus, when I had a sudden intuitive urge to pause. Not to take a picture, as I normally might, but record a short video of myself with the temple behind me. This was unusual at the time. I am not at all fond of posing for photos, much less appearing on video or television. But Apollo insisted, so I obliged, and paused my trek up the incline. I had never before used the video capture facility on my new smart phone, so it took me a while to figure it out. The heat was becoming unbearable. At last I managed to record a brief video of myself, just saying a few words about the temple at Delphi behind me. Then I walked on. I still did not realize what had actually occurred, or what the significance was of this seemingly mundane incident. May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun; and find your shoulder to light on; to bring you luck, happiness and riches… today, tomorrow and beyond ~ Irish Blessing And then I discovered it: my own little miracle message courtesy of Apollo’s oracle! While waiting at the Delphi Museum, for the small tour group I had abandoned earlier, to catch up with me, I made an amazing discovery. I was scanning through the photos I took at the temple earlier, and came upon the video I recorded. I had already forgotten about it. I cringed for a moment at the prospect of seeing myself on the screen, but curiosity got the better of me, and I pressed play. A few seconds into the video... my jaw dropped. I was amazed and very surprised. There I was, mumbling a brief introduction about the temple and the oracle, while from nowhere a large black butterfly descended from above and came to rest on my shoulder! It remained there until the end of my unplanned monologue. Long after the video ended, I remained staring at the screen in bewilderment. After I posted the video on Facebook, a friend pointed out to me that apart from the butterfly a second amazing thing happened at the end of the video. I never noticed it the first time around. The moment the butterfly leaves my shoulder, a man walks into view in the background… and proceeds to embrace a tree growing near the temple. This held a special, personal symbolism for me. ​Not only did Apollo answer my prayer for a sign, but he also made sure the moment would be captured for posterity. He made sure nobody would doubt the story of my encounter with him up on that mountain. Some may see it merely as a lucky accident or coincidence, but I see only the blessing of a spiritual sign in this synchronistic occurrence. Greece was my first stop in Europe. Butterflies came to me in every country and at every sacred site I subsequently visited. In Celtic folklore the butterfly represents growth, personal expansion, transformation and rebirth. In Native American mysticism the butterfly was believed to be a messenger that would carry secret prayers and wishes to the Great Spirit. In ancient Rome, butterflies were found on coins, next to Juno, the goddess of weddings and marriage. And in Greek mythology Psyche, the Greek goddess of the soul, is represented by a butterfly. ​What was the significance to me? Apollo knew that I was not only embarking on a physical journey, but that I had also entered a period of significant personal change in my life in recent months. He reminded me that I had all the spiritual support I needed to continue breaking out of the cocoon of the past with courage. I was on the cusp of a new way of life, and under the watchful eyes of the gods, I was preparing to embrace a new chapter in my human journey, while wrapping my arms around the ever-expanding tree of life. © 2013 Anthon St Maarten ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents. He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology. Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.

Butterflies appear as a synchronistic sign every time I visit a sacred site, but I never expected a psychedelic paper butterfly to be one of mystical route markers upon my spiritual travels. In a previous blog I shared the story of the sign I received from the ancient oracle during my visit to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Well, the magical presence of the butterfly totem did not end with my visit to Greece. In all of the other spiritual places I was to subsequently visit I would encounter butterflies at every sacred site, and also at other special moments of spiritual and personal significance. The butterfly phenomenon took an unexpected turn when I arrived at a country inn in Gottsdorf, outside Berlin, Germany. This was to be the venue for a four-day spiritual retreat I was attending. The event was set to take place in a cozy Yoga studio attached to the small hotel. The moment I entered this room, I noticed a small altar the seminar organizer had set up in this space. The display was charming and colorful, but that was not what drew my attention. No, what struck me instantaneously was the large, vibrant butterfly hanging on the brick wall behind the altar. Yes, indeed. I had received yet another mystical route marker along this personal odyssey into self-realization. The sacred cycle of transformation begins by cultivating life experiences and embracing the evolving human spirit. Meaning, purpose and joy are our birthright and by dancing our sacred dream we create a richly woven tapestry of spiritual thought and action ~ Micheal Teal This time the butterfly was not black and white, like the one who came to whisper in my ear at Delphi. Instead a brightly colored paper butterfly waved hello to me from above! It was like a psychedelic kaleidoscope reminiscent of the shapes one sometimes sees in sacred geometry art or tie-died T-shirts from the 60's. Another butterfly sign? What was it doing up there? Was this moment the next step in my transformation; did this butterfly signal the next phase of my personal rebirth into a new era in my life? Mr. Butterfly flashed me an affirmative smile. ​Two days later I had the opportunity to discuss my experience at Delphi with the course facilitator. I was curious as to why he brought the butterfly along, because he was not using it any way during the seminar. But to my disappointed he revealed that he was not the one responsible for the butterfly on the wall. He found it there upon his arrival and decided to leave it up, since it made a colorful contribution to his own display of spiritual items. ​I then turned to the owner of the venue for answers. I had to know who put up that butterfly, and why? After my experience in Greece, I knew there was more to the presence of that unusual item of decor, and to discover the answers, I had to find out how it got there in the first place. ​“Aaah, der schmetterling,” the German inn-keeper sighed, “It does not belong to me either.” She then explained that just prior to our arrival, there was a shamanic workshop conducted at the same venue. The shaman who conducted the classes is originally from Peru and he was in a hurry to leave on the last day. He had asked her to keep the butterfly safe for him, and bring it with her later, when she went to Berlin for shopping. Such a coincidence,” added the inn owner, “He contacted me just yesterday to ask how his butterfly was doing!” I just smiled at her and said, “When you speak to the shaman again, please thank him for the butterfly medicine he brought into my life.” The butterfly featured as symbol of transformation in Aztec, Inca and Mayan culture. In Peru over 90 varieties of butterfly are found, where they are considered a symbol of transition and celebration. The enchanting Morpho didius, or Blue Morpho is the most famous in South America and considered a national symbol of Peru. ‘Morpho’ means changed or modified. This shimmering butterfly is also an epithet of Aphrodite and Venus, the goddesses of love, beauty, pleasure, and prosperity. © 2013 Anthon St Maarten ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents. He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology. Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.

A brash neon sculpture of Jesus was the closest I personally came to anything of spiritual significance in the city streets of London, apart from the gilded bronze angel on top of the Victoria Memorial. It just goes to show...never say never. To be fair, I did not visit to the city of London solely for esoteric purposes, but as a highly sensitive person I did find the energy signature of this city spiritually quite different and stark, compared to Athens and Berlin. The atmosphere recently in Berlin, for example, felt electric, yet peaceful. Stepping off the U-Bahn at Wittenberg Platz in the middle of the high season, I was engulfed by a comforting low-level 'buzz' of German families and tourists doing their Saturday afternoon window shopping. The people there did not seem to have a care in the world. The streets were crowded , much like that of London, but not once did I sense angst or claustrophobic nervous energy. The vibe was welcoming and pleasant… and this really is a big deal for a 'highly strung' empath like myself. Berlin woke me up on a Sunday morning with the nostalgic chiming of church bells. I was staying inside one of the surviving wings of the Neues Schauspielhaus on Nollendorf Platz, in the Schöneberg district of Berlin. It was built in 1905 as a theatre and concert hall, in the then fashionable Art Nouveau style. Survival is for the human animal; fear the motivation. For the spiritual being survival is irrelevant. Curiosity, compassion and creativity are the name of the game; unconditional love the motivation ~ Peter Shepherd While the bells were ringing in the distance, I almost expected Christopher Isherwood’s character Sally Bowles to sneak down the corridor of this old building, back from a busy, decadent night at the Kit Kat Club. Maybe Bertold Brecht was in here in the 1920s, discussing his plays with someone in the very room I slept in that night, or maybe the bands Depeche Mode or The Human League used it as a dressing room in the 1980s. ​​The Tiergarten park in Berlin is breathtaking and also has amazing energy. I was very tempted to buy a sleeping bag and simply move into the park on a permanent basis! The entire park is apparently larger in size than the principality of Monaco and makes Berlin one of the greenest cities in the world. I even tried to find a four leaf clover there, but had to settle for cheating, the same way Liza Minnelli did in this same park in a scene in the movie Cabaret, by putting two sets of leaves together to form one! Then I stumbled into London. If only I had found that four leaf clover, because it might have been very helpful. After spending some magical moments on the Acropolis in Greece, and in the lush greenery of the Tiergarten forest in Berlin, I was now suddenly in whirlpool intense energy and soon at my wit’s end. ​Just a few days earlier I was meditating in the center of Stonehenge, and before that I was watching people pass by peacefully at street cafe’s in Schöneberg and on Potsdamer Platz. I was poorly prepared for the cut-throat hustle and bustle of the downtown streets in London. Arriving at Paddington Station in the midst of the Friday afternoon peak hour also did not help! Maybe my distress was due to the lingering effect of the recent energizing experience I had at Bath Spa, as well as the once in a lifetime visit to Stonehenge. This could very well be what set me up for the subsequent shock to my system. The sheer contrast of it all! Or maybe I was suffering from a lack of peaceful sleep, after being woken up several times in Athens, Berlin and Wiltshire by an unidentified phantom who was compulsively sweeping and mopping the floors outside my door every night? I still do not know who she was, but for some reason she followed me around in Europe… until I arrived in London. Then she disappeared without a trace. I can't blame her. At least London exorcised the ghostly cleaning lady... whom shall forever remain unknown. But all was not lost. I did find something somewhat spiritual in London after all! One day, while making my way through the brutal streets of Soho, I spotted a psychedelic looking piece of post-modern art on display in the window of an art gallery appropriately called Scream. This bold and brash sculpture was the closest I personally came to any real sense of spiritual significance in the London inner city. But still, it just goes to show: never say never. I have no idea who the artist of this bizarre piece is; I was in too much of a restless hurry to stop and ask. That is what one does in London Town. You rush. And you stay alive! London works hard, plays hard, and lives fast. During the day the city is highly stressed, materialistic and fast-paced. It has a sense of urgency, and survival of the fittest. And at night the city becomes loud, angry and intoxicated. No wonder the Jesus statue in that window looked so disappointed. I cannot imagine my highly sensitive ass ever living there. © 2013 Anthon St Maarten ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents. He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology. Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.

Are you struggling to find a lasting, higher love? You can invite sacred romance into your reality experience by meditating on my set of guiding principles based on the twelve universal archetypes. The need for true love and meaningful romance is a profound longing we all share as spiritual beings in human form. But finding the love of your life is not an easy feat in this day and age. Yes, the pursuit of romantic love is certainly not for the weak and cowardly. I have heard many weary love pilgrims claim they have called off the search. Many even choose to believe that they no longer want an intimate relationship with anyone; they are completely content to remain single and unattached for the rest of their lives. Who needs a soulmate after all, right? The truth is that we all share a deep-seated need for affection and authentic connection with that one special mate. Deep down we all know it. We were not created to be solitary beings. In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine ~ Maya Angelou Research in neuroscience, for example, indicates that our brains are absolutely wired for social connection and belonging. But one does not need research findings, or sacred texts for that matter, to prove the basic need we all have for a shared love or romantic relationship with a significant other. ​All we need to consider is how much it hurts when our love goes unrequited, or when yet another relationship fails. If finding true love was merely an old-fashioned obsession for those who are foolish, or too needy, then why do our hearts break into a million pieces when love is lost, or rejected? Connecting with others is not merely a basic human need, like food and shelter, but it is also a sacred spiritual quest. For without entering into what author Marianne Williamson calls the “psychic womb” of a loving relationship, we become paralyzed in our ability to achieve our soul purpose and life calling. Our sacred mission of fulfilling our true destiny becomes barren, the outlook of our future bleak and unfruitful. Many of us also dream of a better, safer, more caring world, without realizing that it all begins with creating and maintaining a deeper love in our homes and in our hearts. Every moment of every day people who are all perfectly capable of giving and receiving unadulterated love and belonging, throw in the towel and give up on their dream of finding a sacred companion for this journey. As spiritual beings in the flesh we were all designed and constructed for love and belonging, but for many the quest is simply too emotionally demanding and painful, the process too challenging and complex. For some it also becomes impossible to find true love from inside their prison of self-righteous perfectionism, narcissism or materialistic greed. The solution is however simple from a spiritual perspective. The reason so many of us struggle to find and keep love is that we have lost touch with our sacred origins. We have forgotten our spiritual roots, the source of our being. We have lost the ability to see our potential beloved through the eyes of our inner divinity. We too often choose to see limitation, instead of potential. The reality coma has made of us numb. Our egotistical sense of entitlement in a superficial, materialistic world has made us blind to love. We no longer see, for we no longer feel or believe. If you are struggling to find and keep love, how can you change your approach to invite sacred love into your reality experience? In my consulting practice I use a set of guiding principles that I have devised based on Dr. Carol Pearson's system of the twelve universal archetypes. Pearson based her system on the archetype theories of renowned Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. We find these archetypes throughout ancient mythology and many sacred texts, and we continue to apply them in creating shared symbols, artworks, literature and popular entertainment. Yet, when it comes to our love lives, we have become devoid of any archetypal foundation. Love is a hero’s journey, and the hero’s journey is a noble but difficult path ~ Marianne Williamson I have been employing these twelve archetypal secrets of sacred love with much success in working with people all over the world, and have been witness to the miraculous transformation it has brought to clients who have made the effort to apply these archetypal keys to unlock the door to sacred romance and lasting relationships. I hope it will do the same for you, and therefore I am offering these twelve keys to you in the form of themes for meditation that you can incorporate into your daily spiritual practice. You can also apply these twelve archetypal statements as a set of affirmations of higher love. Use them the next time you encounter conflict in your current relationship, or when you write your marriage vows, or before you go on that nerve-wracking first date, or when you consider the qualities you are seeking when creating an online dating profile or a vision board to attract the perfect partner. The Twelve Secrets Of Sacred Love Sacred Love is Adventurous We are both designed to search for a better life and a happier future, my beloved. You and I both wish to expand our horizons, and follow our unique dreams and desires. Let us support each other in our quest to remain true to ourselves while discovering new worlds. Let us together fulfill our separate and unique true life callings. Let us walk this road into the unknown together, hand in hand, just you and me. Sacred Love is Compassionate ​We are both designed to be caring, generous, selfless beings, my beloved. We are perfectly capable of helping and understanding each other. We both seek compassion and inter-dependence from one another, despite the modern myths of rigid independence and self-righteousness . Let us unconditionally care for each other in a cold, heartless world. Let us embrace each other with empathy and kindness. Let us be forever generous with our hearts. Sacred Love is Courageous We are both designed to be strong and brave champions, my beloved. You and I are powerful love warriors, skilled rescuers of the guiltless, determined defenders of the blameless. We both have the capacity to stand up for love, to show up and be strong for one another. Seeking sacred love is not a threat, or a form of weakness, for we know that we are both winners in our shared quest for affection and lasting devotion. Enter with me into this challenging arena, let us conquer together this potential battlefield to claim our prize of true, everlasting love. Sacred Love is Fun We are both designed to enjoy life and suck the marrow out of every day, my beloved. You and I can transform the mundane routine of our daily subsistence by making each other laugh more often. We can transform the necessity for physical survival into a constant source of excitement and joy. Let us be free and foolish together. Let us amuse and entertain each other. Let us fully embrace life together and make the most every moment. Let’s have some fun my love. Sacred Love is Innocent We are both designed to be innocent, spontaneous children seeking safety and belonging, my beloved. We both fear rejection and abandonment. Let us reach out to each other in trust and faith, for we can give ourselves permission to remain hopeful, inter-dependent and vulnerable in our innocence. Let us choose to see our innocent capacity for fidelity and sincerity in each other’s eyes. Let us be safe with one another my love. Sacred Love is Magical We are both designed to be magnificent sorcerers, my beloved. You and I hold the magical power to transform ourselves and each other through enchanted love; we possess the mystical talent to make our shared vision a reality. Let us harness our metaphysical power to truly love and be loved. Let us cast a spell on each other, let us be charmed by the miracle of romance and authentic connection. Let us pool our supernatural ability to conjure up true love. Together we shall invoke the ultimate romantic sacrament my love. © 2014 Anthon St. Maarten ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents. He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology. Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.

The state of Divine Disconnect, when you are feeling out of touch, imperfect, inadequate or wanting in your life, is not a reflection of who you really are as a spiritual being. Neither is it some shameful personal defect that requires salvation. Divine Disconnection is in fact a reflection of who you are not, because you have become what you are not. This sense of being disconnected or separated from your Divine Self is not real, it is a distorted phantasm. It is your physical form trying to make sense of the distorted, grotesque image you have of your own Divinity. ​You are seeing yourself reflected in a house of mirrors lined with rows and rows of limiting fears, self-destructive beliefs and false idols. In this state you become cut off from your true Soul Purpose and Life Calling. You are no longer aligned with your Divine Self and you lose your direction and purpose. The anxiety, fear and pain that you then feel is your inner guidance system attempting to nudge you back into the right direction. Trying to access your inner Divine Being from such a limiting, ill-defined state of mind amounts to the impossible task of chasing rainbows. A mission impossible. A road to nowhere. Instead of chasing an imaginary pot of gold at the end of some man-made rainbow, you have the power to reawaken the flawless Higher Being that you truly are. No one and nothing outside of you can give you salvation, or free you from the misery. You have to light your own lamp. You have to know the miniature universe that you yourself are ~ Banani Ray You can be like a transparent, multi-faceted prism that bends, shapes, reflects and transforms the light of Divinity into the spectral colors of a truly blessed reality, filled with wonder, joy and purpose. Once you return to this natural state of being, you will no longer feel the need to go chasing after elusive, earthly rainbows, for you would have unleashed the true, multi-hued rainbow of your intended Divine being. You will then be the rainbow, the true reflection of your Divine origins. Thomas Troward explains that our spiritual reawakening from the Divine Disconnect is inevitable and will happen as a matter of course at some point in our earthly existence as it was originally intended, whether we are ready or not. He writes, ”The awakening to consciousness of our mysterious interior powers will sooner or later take place, and will result in our using them whether we understand the law of their development or not, just as we already use our physical faculties whether we understand their laws or not." While you remain spiritually asleep, or out of alignment with your original Life Plan, your Divine Self will constantly try to reconnect with you and guide you towards your intended Soul Purpose and Life Calling. You will experience this as an inner sense of urgency, restlessness, longing, sadness or nostalgia. It will feel like missing a loved one you do not know, or being ‘homesick’ for a place you have never been. Once you become aware of your true spiritual nature and recognize the existence of your inner Divine Being, you will automatically begin to receive the comfort, guidance and assistance to transform your life. Adapted from the book Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny by Anthon St. Maarten. © 2012 Anthon St Maarten ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents. He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology. Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.

How do you find your Soul Purpose? Well, you cannot really 'find' something you already have. You already know what your Soul Purpose is; it is inscribed in your very being before you arrive in this time-space reality. After all, you did design it yourself before you came. Your Divine Self is fully aware and informed of your reasons for being here. Your Higher Self is after all the architect and designer of your current life journey. Creating a Divine Life is not a selfish act. Until we are able to find some degree of personal joy, inner peace and lasting contentment, we are actually of little use to our fellow man. If we are to be effective as our proverbial 'brother’s keeper,' which is essentially the foundation of our Life Calling, we need to first achieve a happier and more meaningful life for ourselves. To create a Divine Life, it is important to differentiate between your Soul Purpose and Life Calling (or Life Purpose). I prefer to use the term life calling, because 'life purpose' is too often confused with the concept of having a soul purpose. There is only one purpose for all of life, and that is for you and all that lives to experience fullest glory... everything else you say, think, or do is attendant to that function. There is nothing else for your soul to do, and nothing else your soul wants to do ~ Neal Donald Walsch A prevalent misconception is that Soul Purpose and Life Purpose describe the same thing, and therefore the two terms are often interchanged. There is however a very clear difference between the two concepts. Life Purpose Your Life Purpose or Life Calling refers to your external secular or human purpose in this lifetime; it refers to the contribution you hope to make while you are here in physical form. In other words, it refers to whatever legacy it is you hope to leave behind in this world when you return to the spiritual realm. Soul Purpose Your Soul Purpose is your inner spiritual or metaphysical mission. It refers to the soul growth and spiritual expansion you hope to achieve in this lifetime. Simply put, it refers to the spiritual knowledge, insight and wisdom you aim to take away with you when you depart from this time-space reality one day. The details of our Soul Purpose remain mostly unconscious for most of us, yet it informs and determines our daily choices, decisions and actions. The Divine Self always steers and guides us towards fulfilling our spiritual mission, with or without our cooperation or conscious participation. However, participating actively is much more fulfilling and yields more profound results. The only difference between those of us who are completing our mission unconsciously and those of us who are spiritually aware and mindful of our reasons for being here, is that the conscious spiritual seekers will ultimately be more successful and satisfied in their quest. Tragically, too many souls reach the end of their human lives only to discover too late that they have not achieved much in the spiritual growth department, nor have they contributed much to the expansion of the Conscious Universe. The spiritually awakened person is naturally not content with neglecting their Soul Purpose, because they know that we are spiritual beings having a physical life experience, and they wish to make the most of their Earth journey. The spiritually aware soul does not wish to return home ‘empty-handed’ one day. This possibility seems even more unattractive if one considers the notion that you might have to come back and do it all over again! Back to square one. The awakened soul would much rather move on to ‘bigger, brighter and better’ things, by taking on new journeys into other dimensions, alternate planes of existence, deeper realms of consciousness, or parallel universes. How do you then ensure that you stay on track with your Life Plan and ultimately achieve your Soul Purpose in this lifetime? Easy, you simply realign with your Divine Self and follow the instructions of your inner guidance system. There is no pressing need for you to know the exact details of your Soul Purpose. All you need to do is consistently maintain communication and connection with your Divine Self and follow the inner guidance you receive. To realign and maintain your connection to your inner Divinity you need to establish some form of daily spiritual practice, and begin to live a more mindful existence. Mindful living is a raised state of consciousness and awareness that is achieved by engaging in spiritual practices and activities that transform your thoughts, evolve your emotions, sharpen your senses and increase your intuition. These are the cornerstones of a Divine Life. Adapted from the book Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny by Anthon St Maarten. ​© 2012 Anthon St. Maarten ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents. He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology. Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.

At some point in every human life a spiritual awakening is supposed to liberate us from Divine disconnection. Yet, many remain deeply stuck in the reality coma of the modern, material world. The separation between man and his Divine origins is the genesis of all religions, cults and belief systems in our world, and it is also the primary driving force behind all science, art and philosophy. Searching for metaphysical meaning and life purpose is a natural attribute of the human condition. Exploring the existence of God or Divine Consciousness beyond our current reality is an innate yearning we all have. No amount of scientific or technological advancement will ever extinguish this urge from human awareness. Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, we all feel the need within to bridge our disconnection from the Divine. We begin to distance from the Divine Self the moment we are born. At birth we have no sense of ‘self’, and we have no awareness of being separate from Spirit or Source. But in time we quickly begin to identify with our new physical environment and with the human Ego or Material Self that we choose to adopt, based on the feedback we receive from others. We gradually also adopt the social role assigned to us by our family, our peers and our community. In time we completely lose touch with our Divine Self, because as we grow up we are increasingly exposed to the man-made concepts, theories, paradigms, belief systems, cultures, traditions and history underlying our current time-space reality. We become attached to the Material Self or Ego, and we learn to cling to whatever we are taught to perceive as the parameters, or limits of our shared reality. ​ Many spiritual teachers – in Buddhism, in Islam – have talked about first-hand experience of the world as an important part of the path to wisdom, to enlightenment ~ Bell Hooks Eventually we end up fully conditioned and firmly ‘plugged into’ the co-created, human ‘reality matrix’ that forms the foundation for life here on Earth. In the process the memories of our original Divinity often fade completely. This state of separation and ‘spiritual amnesia’ is the Divine Disconnect. Why is our human incarnation consciously cut off from its spiritual origins for a large portion of our life? If we really are such Divine Beings, and powerful creators of our own reality, how is it possible that we lose so much of our awareness of the Divinity within, after we arrive on the planet? If we really do design our own Life Plan before we come, why do we allow this disconnect to happen? ​The Divine Disconnect in the early years of a person’s life is, in fact, a classic concept found in many ancient wisdom teachings, mythologies and religious traditions. One only needs to consider the biographical information of the well-known prophets, ascended masters and spiritual teachers throughout history to find evidence of the proliferation of this phenomenon: Abraham The founding father of the three largest mono-theistic religions of the world, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, had an unremarkable life as a semi-nomadic shepherd and trader, until very late in his life. Somewhere in his 70’s God revealed to him his true destiny as the father of a nation and entered into a sacred covenant with him. Today Abraham is honored as the Father of Faith, yet his connection with the Divine happened very late in life. Confucious His reforms and teaching is reported to have only begun when he resigned from his position as Justice Minister in the Chinese state of Lu after the age of 53. Jesus Christ He lived an ordinary life and worked as a carpenter, until his baptism at the age of 30, when John the Baptist recognized him as the long-awaited Messiah. Shortly after, Jesus went into the desert for 40 days to fast and pray, and at this time he was unsuccessfully tempted by Satan. His return marks the beginning of his ministry and teachings. Moses The receiver of the Ten Commandments also had his spiritual awakening very late in life. After 40 years of being a humble shepherd, God appeared to him in a burning bush and instructed him to return to Egypt and free the Hebrews from slavery. Lao Tzu It is unclear exactly when he had his spiritual awakening, but there is more than one legend about his life that seems to reflect the concept of an initial Divine Disconnect. According to one popular myth he was conceived when his mother gazed upon a falling star, after which he stayed in the womb for 62 years and was born a grown man with a full grey beard and long earlobes, which are symbols of wisdom and a long life. Another legend has it that he grew weary of urban life and became a hermit at the age of 160. It was at this time that the classic Chinese text known as the Tao Te Ching is said to have come into being, when a guard at the city gate asked him to produce proof of his wisdom. The Tao Te Ching founded Taoism and strongly influenced Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism. Mahavira He renounced his kingdom, his family and worldly possessions at the age of 30 and subsequently spent twelve years as an ascetic who practiced constant meditation until he achieved arihant status, which means that he conquered anger, ego, deception, and greed, and attained perfect knowledge and perfect perception, while becoming passionless and gaining infinite power. Mahavira is known as the sage Vardhamāna who established the Jainism faith. Prophet Muhammad The Founder of Islam was orphaned as a child and brought up by his uncle. As adult he worked as an ordinary merchant and shepherd, until he became discontented with his life in Mecca. He retreated to a cave in the surrounding mountains to meditate and during this time he received his first revelation from God at the age of 40. Three years later he started preaching these revelations publicly. Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha He was born into the life of a wealthy prince, set to become king. It is said that he was shielded by his father from all religious education and knowledge of human suffering. Although his father ensured that he was provided with everything he could ever want or need, Siddhartha felt that material wealth was not life’s ultimate goal. His spiritual life began around the age of 29, when he left his father’s palace and became profoundly aware of aging, sickness, suffering and death among his subjects. This depressed him so much that he gave up his life as a prince and initially strove unsuccessfully to overcome human suffering, by living the life of an ascetic. He later changed the direction of his quest and subsequently attained true enlightenment and thus founded Buddhism. Zoroaster According to legend he was the son of a mediocre nobleman and he lived a conventional life as a priest, until he had a heavenly vision at the age of 30. In his vision an angel brought him to the god Ahura Mazda, who instructed him to found a new religion known today as Zoroastrianism. From these examples, among many others, there emerges a clear pattern of metaphysical awakening and spiritual transcendence, namely that it typically occurs towards the second half of a human life, after an initial period of Divine Disconnection. It is my belief that this initial period of Divine Disconnection is intentional, not coincidental. This preliminary stage of spiritual unconsciousness, or disconnection, is a period of physical orientation and data collection in every young human’s life. It is the preparatory time in our lives when we learn to adapt, function and survive in the Earth environment. During this time we also develop our Ego identity and learn to establish and manage relationships with others. Through trial and error we figure out how to use our intuitive and emotional inner guidance system to ensure our survival, and we begin to master the knowledge and skills we will need to accomplish our Life Calling later in life. ​ We seem to need this period of Divine Disconnect to truly focus our attention of the demands of the material world, in order to become fully contributing members of society. Only once we have established a firm footing and a solid understanding of our physical reality, are we ready to reconnect with our original spiritual mission and realign with the Divine Self. If we remove ourselves from the world, we are pretending that we can follow our own individual enlightenment and let the rest of the world go to hell, so to speak ~ Satish Kumar But our world was simpler in the past, when the pace of life was slower and more predictable, and religion provided a firmer spiritual structure to our physical existence. In our post-modern day and age it is increasingly difficult to spontaneously return to our spiritual roots when the time comes; when we are ready to awaken. Awakening is easier said than done for many people these days. The Material Ego has mutated over the past millennium into an exceptionally dominant and all-pervasive force that somehow paralyzes modern man’s spiritual inclination for much longer periods of time, even whole lifetimes, while enslaving him with fear, superficial materialism and hedonistic pursuits. We have created a manic world nauseous with the pursuit of material wealth. Many also bear their cross of imagined deprivation, while their fellow human beings remain paralyzed by real poverty. We drown in the thick sweetness of our sensual excess, and our shameless opulence, while our discontent souls suffocate in the arid wasteland of spiritual deprivation. The spontaneous spiritual awakening we are supposed to have no longer occurs as it should for everyone. Some of us become deeply stuck in the reality maze of the modern world and find it difficult to ‘wake up’. Some of us miss our target date, because of life’s distractions and our capacity for free will. We all will awaken spiritually at some point in this lifetime. As spiritual beings in human form it is inevitable. Unfortunately, this day only arrives for some people towards the end of their journey, sometimes even when they are already on their death bed, because they chose to go through life ignoring the signs and refusing to hear the call. Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment ​~ Morihei Ueshiba ​ Such a late reconnection means they never have the opportunity to fully self-actualize, individuate and transcend in this lifetime. Therefore they never fully achieve their Soul Purpose, or wholly accomplish their Life Calling. Their Life Plan will remain partly unfulfilled when they depart from this time-space reality. Not accomplishing your Life Plan is a tragic act of free will. It is akin to charting an elaborate vacation itinerary before arriving at your holiday destination, with all kinds of plans for outdoor adventures and intentions to go sightseeing and shopping, but then ending up spending the whole trip in your hotel room ordering from room service and watching television. In a similar fashion the unconscious soul spends a lifetime in the semi-conscious state of Divine Disconnection and then returns home mostly ‘empty-handed’. Fortunately, all is not lost, because the Divine Self has many innovative ways to remind us who we really are when the time draws near for us to awaken. At the end of our lives none of us will be able to claim that we have never received any signs, messages or warnings to emerge from our disconnected slumber. We are invited to reconnect in some way on a daily basis. All we need to do is hear the Inner Calling. The Eternal is Omnipresent. Yet, despite all the messages and signs, many of us choose to remain spiritually deaf and blind. Many choose to continue their unfulfilled half life in a self-imposed spiritual exile… their self-created desert of human suffering. Some are awoken, but then choose to turn their back on the Voice within. Others are eventually forced to awaken through illness, trauma, or tragedy. Excerpt from the book Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny by Anthon St Maarten © 2012 Anthon St. Maarten ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents. He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology. Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.

The founders of the world religions and greatest spiritual traditions all encouraged us to live our earthly lives with gratitude and appreciation, because they knew its importance in achieving our true Soul Purpose and Life Calling. If you only had time to adopt one spiritual principle or practice in your life, I would recommend making gratitude your first and only choice. Being more grateful will change your life. Some spiritual seekers tend to be very keen on beating the drum of prosperity, and becoming fixated on the Law of Attraction and manifesting abundance, which is too often merely a thinly disguised obsession with material wealth and earthly comforts. Most of us simply take too much for granted every day. We experience so many blessings of joy, beauty, forgiveness, protection and Divine grace, which we seldom acknowledge in our lives. We always have something to be grateful, or thankful for, no matter how difficult times may be. As a species we are very good at complaining about what we don’t have, but we seem to find it difficult to give thanks for what we do have. ​We seldom express our gratitude and appreciation towards those we love and cherish, and we hardly ever remember to share what we have with those who have less – not because we feel obligated, but because we feel so much appreciation that we simply want to share our abundant blessings with others. You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance. ~ Khalil Gibran Charity is not about lending a helping hand; it is about celebrating all that we have, and to share our joy and appreciation. Research has demonstrated an indisputable connection between gratitude and spirituality. It is no coincidence that gratitude is regarded as a much cherished and valued quality by most world religions, including the Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu Jewish, and Christian traditions. When reviewing the large body of research done on the subject, gratitude seems to play a much more noteworthy role in our happiness and well-being than most other emotions and personality traits. Several research studies in recent years have shown that people who have a tendency towards higher levels of gratitude also tend to report higher levels of psychological, emotional and physical well-being. People who are grateful have been shown to be happier, more optimistic and more content with their lives. ​They also appear to have lower levels of stress and depression, and they are more satisfied with their relationships and social interaction with others. Studies have also shown that increased gratitude increases a person’s tendency towards altruism, empathy, helpfulness, and generosity. Grateful test subjects were, for example, more likely to share their money in a financial game with others. It is therefore no wonder that our modern society, with its noticeable lack of gratitude and appreciation, displays such a disturbing shortage of charity, goodwill and compassion. Another study has shown that grateful people have a greater sense of control over their environment, life purpose, personal growth and self-acceptance. Grateful people also tend to cope well when facing life challenges; they just seem to deal better with problems in general and are much more successful at navigating life transitions. Grateful people also exercise more frequently, sleep better and are even more resistant to viral infections! ​It is interesting to note that one study reported major increases in people’s ‘happiness scores’ after they participated in an exercise of writing down their thoughts and feelings of appreciation in a gratitude journal. In fact, the increases in their happiness were so significant during the short experiment of one week that many of the participants chose to continue keeping a gratitude journal. If you only had time to adopt one simple life strategy or lifestyle technique to apply in your life, I would recommend making gratitude your first choice and main aim. Even if you had to ignore everything else, do make an effort to be more grateful. It will change your life. ​Gratitude is no doubt encouraged as a popular religious or spiritual sentiment because of its precious ‘side-effects’. The Prophets, Ascended Masters, Teachers and Founders of the diverse world religions brought us messages of encouragement to live our earthly lives with gratitude and appreciation, because they knew its importance in achieving our true Soul Purpose and Life Calling. When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? ~ G.K. Chesterton Living in a state of true appreciation is the key to the expression and fulfillment of your Life Plan. A Divine Life is a grateful life. When you go to the seaside to enjoy a day on the beach, you do have a choice about how you will perceive and interpret your experience. You may choose to focus on feeling miserable all day and complain about the sand in your shoes, the noisy seagulls, the irritating wind, the smelly seaweed and the hot sun; or you can choose to appreciate the unusual texture of the sand between your toes, mindful of the fact that it was created through mechanical weathering and erosion of rocks, mollusk shells, and coralline algae over billions of years, by way of the cycles of the moon and the tides of the ocean. Our planet is indeed a marvel! And then you can set out to build an incredible sand castle to the delight of all the children that pass by, or use the ‘sands of time’ to exfoliate the protective organic miracle that is your skin, while you smile at the comical antics of the seagulls fighting in the distance over a piece of food. Don’t forget to bask in the warmth of the sun, which is perfectly balanced by the coolness and fresh smell of an occasional breeze from the magnificent ocean. Then take a deep breath in deep appreciation and sincere gratitude for this amazing experience that is your Divine Life. Counting your blessings go way beyond holiday season. Johannes A. Gaertner said, “To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven”. So much to appreciate, and so little time. No need to say ‘thank you’ at this year’s Christmas dinner table. Just live a thankful, grateful life every day of the year. Excerpt adapted from the book Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny. © 2012 Anthon St. Maarten ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents. He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology. Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.

The New Children came to be the wayshowers for a new age in human evolution. We came to awaken, heal, teach, guide and help make the world a better place. We did not come into this time-space reality to be victims. We came to be warriors, to be pioneers. Therefore, we must stay strong, because we really do need all hands on deck. A zealous pastor once pointed at me in front of a congregation of churchgoers and said, “You, young man, will someday go into the darkest of places and bring many souls to the Light.” At the time I did not realize that I would first have to drag myself through a dark night of the soul, before his prophecy would finally become manifest and I would be of any real use to anyone else. As ethereal and cool as his words may have sounded at the time, the actual journey itself was certainly not a glamorous affair! Yet, I still consider myself to be one of the lucky ones. I have been asked why my first book, Divine Living, was dedicated to “those Indigo Souls of my generation who may have lost their way.” As a formerly lost, unconscious Lightworker, and one of the seemingly misplaced New Children, it was simply my hope that my experiences might inspire others of my kind. It was my humble attempt at helping to prevent the tragedy of more of us being unnecessarily lost to humanity and our true life purpose. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours ~ Ayn Rand ​I am one of the early New Children who arrived on the planet to pave the way for future generations. As a Lightworker, I struggled for many years to find my path and lacked the courage to spread my wings. Those of us who turned up very early, since the end of the Second World War until the advent of the Information Age, did not exactly hit the ground running when we arrived here. Quite the contrary…it was a rather bumpy landing! And it has been a roller coaster ride ever since. Every spiritual being in human form brings a special talent or unique gift to this world. Yet, we all come into this life with the same basic purpose or mission: to be of service. Some of us are meant to serve the environment or planet, while others are here to serve the animal and plant kingdoms, or our fellow human beings, or the realm of spirit. This mission to serve expresses itself in a unique and distinctive way through each one of us, no matter how simple or grandiose. And then there are those among us who come with a global mission. These are the souls alive on the planet today who are known as the Lightworkers. We are also known as the Indigo, Crystal, Rainbow and Diamond Children, or Empaths, Avatars, Starseeds, Earth Angels, Torchbearers, Wayshowers, Lightwarriors, and many other popculture names and esoteric labels associated with this phenomenon. No matter what we choose to call ourselves, our essential purpose remains the same. We are here to awaken, to heal, to teach, to guide, to uplift, and to help make the world a better place. We are a generation of souls who have chosen to incarnate at this pivotal time in human history to bring about a new spiritual awareness. We came to be the wayshowers for a new era in human evolution. In the foreword of Divine Living, I single out three such fellow lightworkers whose stories touched me the most. Maybe I chose to do this because I suffer from some form of survivor guilt? There was a time in my life when I also contemplated ending my own life like the three people on my dedication list. Some days I am still amazed I actually made it this far, despite everything I endured since childhood. I can only be grateful. What else can I say about this matter that would not sound feeble or totally self-righteous? I really have no words. The first Indigo soul listed in my dedication was a very close friend, Hilet, who chose to end her life in 2012. Hilet was an unmistakable Indigo Child with an all-encpmpassing love for animals, especially dogs, which I have never observed to such an extent in any other person of my acquaintance. She was in fact a radical activist when it came to the well-being of animals! Hilet’s premature departure from this world left a void in the cause for animal rights and the animal anti-cruelty cause. I was haunted by disturbing dreams and premonitions about her at the time and had made numerous attempts to reach out to her in the weeks leading up to her tragic passing. But true to her stubborn nature she would let nobody in. Instead she posted a smiling picture of herself on the beach with her dogs, telling her friends and family on Facebook how happy she was at the time. Soon after she was gone. A Lightworker with a sacred mission became tragically lost to us. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom ~ Anais Nin The second person I mention in the dedication is Jamey Rodemeyer, the budding young activist who committed suicide at the tender age of 14. Jamey came out as gay at a young age and was severely bullied as a result. He posted videos on his YouTube blog to speak out against homophobia and encourage other gay teenagers and victims of bullying to be strong and have faith. “It gets better, I promise!” he bravely told his followers. Soon after, on September 18, 2011, Jamey chose to end his life. He had a bright future as a human rights advocate and LGBTQ educator. But another Lightworker with a sacred mission was tragically lost to us. The famous singer Amy Jade Winehouse completes my grim trilogy. Amy has been called “the voice of her generation” and was one of the New Children who was meant to bring a powerful message of healing and self-empowerment to the world. She was meant to ultimately be an inspiring role-model for her generation. She knew from a young age that she was destined for great things; she even wrote a note at the age of 12 stating, “I want people to hear my voice and just… forget their troubles for five minutes.” Amy struggled for years with substance abuse and ultimately died of alcohol poisoning. Another Lightworker with a sacred mission once again tragically lost to us. I saw a television documentary a few years ago about efforts to save a species of sea turtles from going extinct. These endangered turtles breed once a year on a piece of land near a specific beach. They have traveled to this beach to lay their eggs for centuries, but in recent years a highway had been built through that area, cutting off their breeding grounds from the ocean. Due to property development and human interference, more predators alienated from their habitat are increasingly also scavenging the area for food. After hatching from their eggs, the baby turtles are easy prey and face much danger crossing that busy road. Very few of them ultimately make it back to the ocean. Watching this tragedy unfold on my TV screen made me think of the many Lightworkers who may have lost their way in this lifetime, only to be lost to our cause due to a premature, untimely death. Like those tiny turtles, many of the early arrivals of New Children from my generation did not make it. Arriving here as pioneers, we found ourselves in a hostile, harsh environment which led some of us into very dark places, and sometimes much danger. 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….You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world ~ Marianne Williamson Finding our way in this world has not exactly been a walk in the park for the New Children, and for many the struggle continues. Some could simply not go on and have meanwhile aborted their mission by ending their own lives, while others remain trapped in tragic, aimless lives of self-imposed suffering, learned helplessness, victimhood, and self-pity, many of whom self-medicate with drugs, alcohol and over the counter medication. They have forgotten who they really are; they do not know their own strength and power. 'Short-staffed and over-worked' the rest of us continue to break new ground and pave the way for those who have come after us, and will continue to come. It’s a sometimes dirty job, but someone has to do it, because there are more and more of us arriving each day, as humanity and the planet is in much need of healing, protection, guidance and support. All members of the tribe of Lightworkers have a sacred duty not only to humanity and the planet, but also to each other. We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers. We must reach out to each other and offer the necessary support and guidance. We need to stand together in our efforts, and we must especially take better care of the young ones. The Lightworkers or New children of our generation did not come into this world to be victims. We came to be warriors, to be pioneers. Remember who you are. There is much work to be done, much courage to be mustered. Be brave my fellow Indigo. Stay strong. We need all hands on deck. © 2015 Anthon St. Maarten ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents. He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology. Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.

Instinct and intuition are said to be the same thing - an innate, primitive intelligence. But is intuition truly nothing more than a primal urge? It is my belief that instinct is the unconscious language of the body, while intuition is the unconscious language of the soul. Primitive man greatly relied on his intuition, because he thought in images and symbols, and listened to his ‘inner voice’ and trusted his ‘gut’. Early man fluently spoke the language of the intuitive mind, the language of his spiritual origins. Man is born intuitive, because man is of spiritual origin. Intuition is the earthly language of Spirit and it transcends the limitations of this time-space dimension. Some scientists argue that intuition is merely an aspect of our normal human intelligence developed out of primitive man’s animalistic survival instincts. The concepts of “relying on your instincts” and “following your intuition” is therefore often used inter-changeably or in the same context. Many people assume that instinct and intuition are the same thing. This is however an incorrect assumption. Every time you don’t follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness ~ Shakti Gawain As spiritual beings in human form, we do have physical bodies with certain natural instincts, such as the fight or flight response when we sense danger, or the primal urges to seek pleasure and avoid pain. These instincts have not evolved or changed much since prehistoric times. We may have become technologically advanced and intellectually sophisticated, but we remain subject to our primitive instincts to this day. It therefore makes no sense to propose that our intuition is merely an evolution of our original instinct. Surely there is more to our innermost being than mere physical survival? We may have become technologically advanced and intellectually sophisticated, but we remain subject to our primitive instincts to this day. It therefore makes no sense to propose that our intuition is merely an evolution of our original instinct. Surely there is more to our innermost being than mere physical survival? It is my belief that instinct is the unconscious language of the body, while intuition is the unconscious language of the soul. The human body speaks the dialect of urges and physical needs, while the soul speaks the dialect of symbols and imagery. Intuition is an archetypal wisdom. Intuition is what gives us access to our inner Divinity, our spiritual origins, the eternal Higher Self. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, in denying them.” We cannot access the Soul or the Divine Self through pure intellect, reason or analytical thought. We never will. Consistent evolution of our species has increasingly brought is into a state of Divine Disconnection. We began to focus on cultivating the intellectual, rational mind, at the expense of the intuitive, symbolic mind. We have replaced symbols, images and intuitions with words, concepts and facts. We have increasingly banished the innate intuitive capacity of our ancestors to the realms of our dreams and the elusive subconscious mind. Intuition is neither the ability to engage prophesy nor a means of avoiding financial loss or painful relationships. It is actually the ability to use energy data to make decisions in the immediate moment ~ Carolyn Myss In Metaphoric Mind: A Celebration of Creative Consciousness, Bob Samples writes, “Albert Einstein called the intuitive or metaphoric mind a sacred gift. He added that the rational mind was a faithful servant. It is paradoxical that in the context of modern life we have begun to worship the servant and defile the divine.” In the 1980′s the Harvard Business Review conducted a survey of the top 100 CEOs in the United States. Each participant was asked to name the one major factor they feel had contributed most to their business success. Amazingly, all the subjects reported that it was their reliance on their intuition that helped to bring them all the way to the top of the corporate ladder. More interesting is the fact that many of them confessed to keeping this fact a secret, because they feared disapproval or ridicule from their shareholders, colleagues and staff. Modern man often chooses to ignore or deny his intuitions, referring to it as “just the imagination” or “New Age woo-woo”. But whether we choose to accept it, or not, we are constantly receiving non-physical information and spiritual guidance from the intuitive mind. To create a truly Divine Life we need to relearn the finer nuances of this subtle and symbolic inner language of the Soul. Excerpt adapted from the book Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny. © 2012 Anthon St. Maarten.ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents. He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology. Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.