The merging of science and philosophy

Sinead and I have been involved in energy healing since the late 1990’s, Reiki and Pranic healing and earth healing.  Our information came from our intuition, discussion with like-minded people and reading.  For many years we operated below the radar because what we were doing was considered ‘alternative’ healing, later it became ‘complementary’ as mainstream medicine began to see the benefits of combining the two systems.  Those medical practitioners who practiced complementary medicine were few and far between and tended to keep a low profile.  The main problem was that there was no scientific proof or data available to support the claims made.

Continue reading The Consciousness Shift from the Information Age to the Intuitive Age

 ‘New is the year, new are the hopes and the aspirations, new is the resolution, new are the spirits and forever my warm wishes are for you. Have a promising and fulfilling new year’

This is it! 2012 is just around the corner. It’s that time of year again when we take a good look at our lives and decide what habits we want to break and what habits we want to make. Have you thought of your New Year Resolutions yet? Here are a few tips for setting goals and keeping them for the coming year. Continue reading New Year’s Resolutions:Tips for Achieving Your Personal Goals for 2012

Today, as many people across the US celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, my thoughts turn to gratitude. Today I choose to be grateful for all that I have and all that I am. As I am writing I look up above my desk to see these wise words from his Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama:

“Everyday, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.” Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving – Living with Gratitude

Why do we celebrate Pagan traditions?

Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition.  It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. The Celts celebrated Halloween as Samhain, the ‘Feast of the Dead’ when the dead revisited the mortal world.  The celebration marked the end of summer and the start of the winter months.  All this changed in the eight century when Pope Gregory 111 designated November 1 as a time to honour all saints and martyrs.  The holiday, All Saints’ Day, incorporated some of the ancient traditions of Samhain into Christian ritual.  This mixture of Pagan and Christian tradition permeates our lives and forms the basis of our cultural beliefs.

Social media in ancient Ireland

This feast is just one of the many Pagan traditions that have become part of our cultural heritage despite the fact that our ancestors did not have the benefit of the written word.  The first written word came to Ireland with Christianity.  Stories were recorded in Books and Annals, some in Old Irish, some in Latin, between the 7th and 12th centuries.  Some of these books and annals are: The Book of Dun Cow; The Book of Leinster; Book of Invasions; The Book of Rights; The Yellow Book of Lecan; and many more. Continue reading Celebrating Halloween: Our Cultural Heritage

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple who pioneered the personal computer industry and changed the way people think about technology,  passed away this week at the age of 56. While he will be remembered mainly for his pioneering work with Apple computers; he will also be remembered for his charisma and drive. When I heard about the story of Steve Jobs, I was inspired. Jobs certainly wasn’t perfect, but he has definitely made his mark in this world. He was a visionary and a pioneer, and he made his dreams into reality. He is a man who has great courage and dare to take risk. He has left us with some remarkable technology; as well as some very inspirational words. Here are some of my favourite quotes from Jobs: Continue reading RIP Steve Jobs 1955 – 2011

We’ve just come back from our annual trip to I CAN DO IT! London. We started going to this conference event in 2009 and have enjoyed attending every year since. This year we attended talks by Dr Bruce Lipton; Gregg Braden, Karl Dawson & Sasha Allenby; Caroline Myss; Lynne McTaggart; Cheryl Richardson and of course the main lady – Louise Hay.

The Hay House ‘I Can Do It’ events take place all over the world from Tampa Florida to Sydney Australia bringing like-minded people together. Not only does the conference offer inspiration, but a greater awareness and an opportunity to grow and change.

Introducing ‘I Can Do It’ the founder of Hay House, Louise Hay, now aged almost 85 (in 2 weeks) inspired the audience with her central message ‘you can change your life. Find the thoughts that do not make you feel good and dissolve them. Let go and love who you are.’

So what did we learn?
Continue reading I Can Do It – London 2011

Many people have a view of hypnosis based on what they have seen on TV or in a theatre. This gives the impression that a person who is hypnotised gives over total control of their mind to the hypnotist. Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness, which enables a focalisation of the mind. It is a way to access the subconscious part of the mind using relaxation exercises which are used to take the mind into a deep daydream type of state. While in this relaxed state metabolism slows down, heartbeat and breathing rates reduce. The brainwave patterns also change and produce alpha waves, the same also happens in deep meditation. People under hypnosis are not asleep and are still able to resist any suggestion that is damaging to them. It cannot be used to force a person to act against his or her will. One is fully conscious of everything that is going on and, contrary to what you may have heard, is in complete control. Continue reading Hypnosis

What do we mean by raising our consciousness?

Consciousness is a term that is used to describe the level of mind, or cognition that is characterised by self awareness.  As humans we are not only aware of our environment, we are also aware of ourselves and our inner world.  In other words, we are aware that we are aware.

There are many levels of consciousness.  Our everyday consciousness acts like filters that we view the world through.  This level of consciousness is governed by beliefs and habits, that were, for the most part, handed on to us by our parents and culture. At this level of consciousness we are followers; we accept the status quo and go along with what is expected of us by our family, friends and society.  We are content to exist at a non-questioning level and go about our everyday chores dealing with issues as they arise in a reactive rather than proactive way.
Continue reading Consciousness

Change happens. It is happening all around us at this very moment. We can resist it, go with it, or make it happen. Life is changing all the time -and certainly the day-to-day conditions on our planet are changing now in ways we could not have expected – so the fact of change is real, and very present.

Change can be seen as good or bad, exciting or terrifying. Change can be frightening for many to face. They prefer to continue on the same road even though it may not be the most challenging, the most adventurous, the most profitable or even the most acceptable road.
Continue reading Are we willing to change?

Vibrations are unspoken messages. We are transmitters and receivers constantly trying to make sense of messages we pick up with our unconscious selves. We can sense an uncomfortable atmosphere and go into fight-or-flight mode, sometimes without really knowing why. We work out the logic of it later.

Each thought we have radiates a signal, it attracts a matching signal back. The vibrations we radiate express our desires and we manifest accordingly. The Law of Attraction says: That which is like unto itself is drawn. Our thoughts are powerful, they create our reality. The earth itself is vibrating. We are vibrational beings. There is growing evidence that the vibrations within the earth influence our bodies. Changes that are happening at a geophysical level affect our being, creating a new level of awareness, a new level of consciousness. An understanding of our vibrational nature will make it possible for us to deliberately create our own reality. Continue reading Good Vibrations

Happy Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s to you all! Saint Valentine’s Day embraces a time of year that is historically associated with love and fertility. There is a lot of debate around the origins of what we now know as Saint Valentine’s Day on February 14th. The association of middle of February with love and fertility goes back to ancient times. Ancient Athenians celebrated it as the month of Gamelion to celebrate the marriage of Greek Gods – Zeus and Hera. The ancient Romans celebrated festival of Lupercus, the god of fertility. The 14th was the day on which young girls’ names were written on slips of paper and thrown into jars to be picked out by the boys. Chooser and chosen would then be partnered for the duration of the Lupercalia festival.
Continue reading Happy Valentine’s Day – Open Your Heart Chakra

There is a growing women’s spirituality movement concerned with the way of the Goddess, the way of natural law and natural wisdom, which is still a living tradition in some parts of the world. This movement acknowledges the sacred dimension of women’s experience and empowers women to transform their lives. Women’s spirituality sees humanity as part of the whole, part of the cosmos and part of nature.

Modern women, such as Merlin Stone, author of When God Was a Woman (1976), Elinor Gadon, author of The Once and Future Goddess (1990), and Mary Condren, author of The Serpent and the Goddess, Women, Religion and Power in Celtic Ireland (1989), and many others, challenge and no longer accept the subordinate role dealt them by mainstream religions. The serpent was the symbol associated with Goddess worship. In his mammoth work, The Masks of God, Joseph Campbell tells us of the role of the serpent in the mythologies of ancient worlds.
Continue reading Rediscovery of the Goddess – the Feminine Principle

Most of us are fascinated by what our ‘stars’ tell us about what is happening or might happen daily in our lives. This got me thinking about astrology and where did it originally develop from? 

Astrology and the Zodiac:  Astrology is an ancient system of divination using the positions of the planets, moon and stars.  According to astrology the celestial bodies exert forces and exhibit personalities that influence people and events below.  These influences may be determined by mapping positions in the sky at various times. 
Continue reading Astrology & the Zodiac

Pauline’s address to the Unitarian Congregation, Dublin, on Global Oneness Day, 24th Oct 2010

Is there one truth, or many truths?   We live our lives based on what we believe is true.  We give our lives for what we believe to be true. Our truth directs our vision. Is there one truth or many truths?  Truths we experience, truths we sense, truths handed down, objective truth, perceived truth, absolute truth.  Where do our beliefs come from?  As children we accepted the values and mores handed down to us from our parents, authority figures and our culture.  Conventional wisdom becomes our truth and is accepted without question.  Our beliefs are powerful.  From our thoughts our reality emerges. They form the collective consciousness that drives the world. 
Continue reading What If We Had One World Vision?

Today, October 24th 2010, marks the first annual Global Oneness Day. All over the world thousands of people are celebrating our Oneness. So what does Oneness mean? The message of Oneness is that “we are inter-related, inter-connected and inter-dependent, with God/Life/One-another.” We Are All One. Today we celebrate our commonality while still acknowledging our rich diversity. Today we develop a greater appreciation for life and for one another. Today we set all differences aside to recognise and embrace our Oneness.
Continue reading Happy Global Oneness Day!

On September 24^th 2010 Pauline and I set off for the second annual ‘I Can Do It’ Event in London. Louise L. Hay founded the I Can Do It! Conference four years ago as a forum for kindred spirits to gather, commune, and heal themselves and each other. It is run all over the world. We attended the first ‘I Can Do It’ London last year. Some of last years speakers included Louise Hay herself; Wayne Dyer; Robert Holden; Gregg Braden; Doreen Virtue and Brian Weiss among others. This year we attended talks by Neale Donald Walsch; Julia Cameron; Jude Currivan; James Redfield; Cheryl Richardson, Robert Holden, Doreen Virtue and, of course, Louise Hay, who is inspiring and an example to us all.
Continue reading I Can Do It….but what is It?

Where to start?

Writing about alternative or complementary therapies is no easy matter.  For a start, there are so many of them.  The first World Congress on alternative Medicine was held in 1973 and the provisional programme contained no less than one hundred and thirty five therapies.  

Only a couple of centuries ago medicine was a blend of art, science, myth, magic and superstition.  Today, it is overwhelmingly a scientific extension of twentieth-century technology. We are currently experiencing a widening of horizons and a breaking down of barriers in the West.  Meditation, ways of controlling the mind, oriental philosophies, a greater interest in healthy eating, greater awareness of the problems of pollution and a growing sense of Man as a part of a larger world are all enjoying a wide public following.  
Continue reading Alternative / Complementary / Holistic Therapies

‘Very early I knew that the only object in life was to grow…..’ Margaret Fuller

We are on a continuous journey that is paved with obstacles that can either restrict our pathway or serve to help us achieve our true potential.  There is no one formula for achieving personal growth.  We may share common goals but what we define as success is unique to us. Self knowledge is a starting point for those who wish to actively engage in self-development.  What we have been taught to believe may no longer serve us in our quest for personal growth.  Our values and attitudes change over time.  Realising what is important to us is a major step towards achieving success.

Individuation (a term coined by Jung), a process of self-growth, is essentially the realisation of the true self, the self beyond the Ego.  The conscious self we present to the world is only a part of who we really are.  In acknowledging that we are more than just a body with a mind we enter into a higher realm of consciousness, an awakening of the spirit within.

An awakening, sometimes referred to as ‘a spiritual awakening’, is a moment of clarity in which a new insight or understanding is gained.  With this new awareness the experience of life is seen differently and new possibilities are opened.  Changes in patterns of thought, emotions and behaviour can occur, bringing about the possibility of growth to new levels of psychological and spiritual maturity.
Continue reading Personal/Spiritual Development

About twenty years ago I became interested in energy healing and wanted to know more about it.  My research led me to a whole new world which facinated me. I took part in every available course, hungry for knowledge which was scarce at that time.  Coming up to the millennium I started to write a book which offered basic information to anyone interested in what was then termed the ‘New Age’.  I never got round to publishing the book  so I am taking the opportunity to put this information out via a series of blogs.  There is nothing new about the ‘New Age’, just old wisdom that is once again surfacing.  This blog offers an explanation for what was once a mysterious activity but has become a way of life – energy healing.

Underpinning all energy healing is the concept of the universal life force, a vital force or energy that transcends time and space; permeates all things in the universe, and upon which all things depend for health and life. The existence of the universal life force has been acknowledged universally since ancient times, and it is known by many different names.  The Hindus call it prana, the Polynesians and Hawaiins mana, the Chinese qi  and the Japanese ki.  Hippocrates called it the Vis Medicatrix Naturae  and Galen called it the pneuma.  It was called the astral light  by the Kabbalists, magnetic fluid  by Mesmer and Wilhelm Reich termed it orgone energy.  More recently it has been referred to as bioenergy.  Regardless of what it is called the characteristics of the universal life force are common.  In various systems it can be controlled and manipulated for improved health, longevity, healing or supernormal physical feats.
Continue reading Energy Healing and the Universal Life Force

I’d like to share with you some wonderful lyrics from Shawn Gallaway’s I Choose Love and tell you about how I have chosen love:

I Choose Love

I can see laughter, or I can see tears

I see a choice, love or fear

What do you choose?

I can see peace, or I can see war

I can see sunshine, or I can see a storm

What do you choose?

Now I choose to live with freedom flying

From my heart, where the light keeps shining

I choose to feel the whole world crying

For the strength that we can rise above

I choose Love

I choose Love

These words hold such meaning for me. We are all faced with difficult situations in our lives. Everyone has had those moments where we feel like the world is closing in on us and there seems to be no way out – but there always is.

Continue reading I Choose Love

Today, April 22, 2010, is the 40th Birthday of Earth Day, a day to take time out to appreciate the earth and rejuvenate the soul.

We have many sacred sites which can uplift us in times of need. Since the dawn of civilization, sacred sites or sacred places have had a mysterious attraction to people around the world. Myths and legends have grown up around these sites and modern day reports tell of extraordinary things that have happened to people while visiting these places.

Different sacred sites have the power to calm and enlighten the mind; nurture the body; develop creativity and psychic abilities, and awaken the soul to its spiritual calling, its life purpose. In ancient times people travelled long distances on pilgrimages to sacred sites to repent, be healed, and receive inspiration or direction from the ‘other world’. Sacred sites may be natural features, man-made structures, historic spiritual or religious sites or a combination of the above.
Continue reading Happy Earth-Day

Healing starts with clearing patterns that we have developed which have brought about stress, pain, and dis-ease. For example, in relationships we are always sending out messages, a constant dance of energies. Thoughts and feelings which we send out, together with those sent out by the other person, make up the emotions of the relationship.

To keep the relationship clear of emotional strain we have to clear out whatever has been bottled up inside. Everything we keep a lid on will need to surface and confront us, and if we cannot accept it in ourselves, it will come to us by means of another who acts it out for us as a mirror.
Continue reading What do we mean by Healing?

Who am I?

The question we all ask ourselves from time to time. Who am I? What is my purpose here on this planet? Well I’m still working on my answer but I think I might have some idea. Over the past couple of years I have embarked on a journey to delve into the depths of my own mind, body and soul to discover what I can of myself. So far it’s been one heck of a voyage for me but I’ve learned so much.

I grew up in north County Dublin on the east coast of Ireland. I was a happy child. I spent a lot of time on my own playing games in the garden and enjoying the mysteries and wonders of life. To everyone else I was alone – but to me I had my friends who played with me. I didn’t realise not everyone saw my ‘friends’. My friends were actually my guardian angels. I talked with them, played with them and it was all very normal to me. I saw beautiful colours and lights around people too. This was also normal to me and I thought everyone saw what I saw. I didn’t know I was actually able to see people’s auras around their bodies.
Continue reading Who Am I?

Our quest for knowledge, our search for meaning, is an attempt to answer the age old questions: where did we came from, who are we and where are we going? My personal search took me on a journey through concepts and ideas that have influenced my thinking. Here are some of the interesting concepts I discovered along the way.

Holistic view of world and our place in it. Man/woman at one with environment – environmental movement. Gaia: earth a living organism (earth – female, sky/sun – male).

Spiritual search – God is within, close to Eastern philosophies. Mysticism, religious and non-religious; altered states of consciousness through meditation. Continue reading Search for Meaning

This week I decided to try out some free-writing. I had been trying to write something for my thesis for college and was getting stuck. I was getting very frustrated when I remembered one of my lecturers talking about something called free-writing. In free-writing you just sit down with a pen and paper and write whatever is on your mind at that time. As I was thinking about what my lecturer said I remembered hearing about ‘Morning Pages’. Morning pages were devised by Julia Cameron in her book The Artists Way: A Spiritual Path to Creativity. Morning pages can help writers, artists and people like me who are trying to do a thesis!

The idea is that you sit and write whatever comes into your head. Even if you can’t think of what to say you just write “I can’t think of what to say”! Eventually something does come out. Even if you write about the housework or that you need to bring the car for a service it helps to free your mind up. When your mind is free of these things then the creativity starts to flow. My lecturer suggested we sit down and write for about six minutes whilst Julia suggests writing about three pages of long-hand writing.
Continue reading Free Writing

Recently I have noticed that orbs show up in my photographs. At the beginning I attributed this to lighting or something on the lens. But the number, frequency, variety of shapes and intensity of light has caused me to do some research on orbs.

According to Diana Cooper, orbs are spirit guides or angels who offer keys to higher consciousness to accelerate our ascension. Ascension is the bringing down of light from Source into the cells of our bodies to raise vibration. As we look at the orbs we can absorb their light and wisdom and this assists our spiritual growth.
Continue reading Orbs

How important are calendars in shaping our worldview? We live in the time and space of the Gregorian calendar which came into being in 1582. We have known no other calendar. Therefore, we do not question it. However, once our attention is drawn to it, it is very easy to see that our year is broken into Christian festival times that dictate the flow of our lives. This Western world view blinkers us to the fact that other cultures do not share this view. What year is it in India? Nepal? China? One writer claims that the Gregorian calendar exerts an insidious indoctrination that most people are unaware of and strengthens a world view that is false.
Continue reading The Mayan Calendar & 2012