By Emma Ferguson  OneForce.cc

Here are some comments I have recently heard:

“I have listened to your recording of the reading over and over.  It was so helpful”.
“Emma tells me what I need to know and not just want I want to hear”.
“I can’t believe that you knew so much of what was going to happen in my life…. AND it did!”
“I feel so much better now that you have let me know my father (deceased) is doing well”.
“That was the best reading I ever had!”.

When I do a consultation, I become an empty vessel so that the wisdom of Divinity can flow into me.  It does not matter whether I am doing a Tarot Card layout, a palm reading, looking at past lives , doing a soul path reading or communicating with animals or Spirits, I am always listening to the dialogue of the highest levels of the teachers and guides of my client  The Love and Wisdom that flows through is very uplifting to the client as well as myself.  I am usually as amazed as the client in the information that comes forward.

When I was a little girl, I easily understood what motivated a person to say or do something and I assumed it was just as clear to that person.  However, when I would mention the information I perceived, the person would most often deny the facts I was stating or get angry.  After a few such episodes, I became a shy , quiet child.  It was not until my mid twenties that I would again gingerly begin to attempt to do a full blown reading.

I do not consider this world as one in which everything that will happen is laid out in stone.  This is a world with many parallel worlds that we sway back and forth through depending on the choices we make.  I consider it part of my role in a consultation to help a client  take the actions that will lead toward what they truly desire.  Along with this direction, I also help them learn some techniques to clear a pattern that brings pain or disappointment.  Usually the techniques presented are easy to do and do not take a lot of time.

Many people come wanting to know about the basics…work, money, relationships, and so forth.  I am quite comfortable working on that level as well as looking at options they have and letting them know the best looking one.  It is quite common to have a client ask about another person and it is very  easy for me to talk to that person, no matter where they are so that I can let my client know what they say in answer to a question .  Others come to me to speak about the spiritual quest they are on and that is where we get into the path of their soul and what that soul is wishing to learn.  One of my favorite things is to look beyond this realm to look at the Bigger Picture as well as communicating with guides , teachers, angels, nature spirits, extraterrestrials  and extra-cellestials.

Spirit and animal communication as well as the medical intuitive readings came later in my career.  I discovered that as I continued my own spiritual evolvement, the intuition and ability to communicate became easier and clearer.  We are all gifted with intuition as well as the ability to channel powerful energies.  It is just a matter of practice and a willingness to keep our own “cleaning process” going .

When asked “what do you do?” ,  I most often reply…”whatever is needed”.  It is  a deep honor and  privilege to work with each person who sits with me or calls on the phone for a consultation.

By Kate Braun  TarotByKateBraun.com

Solstices and Equinoxes mark the quarters on the Wheel of Life, half of the ritual times observed by those who pay attention to the Wheel. The word “Solstice” refers to the sun (Sol), and indicates a change in the length of days and nights. The Winter Solstice, on or about December 21, is the longest night and shortest day of the year. Without too much trouble it is possible to note the steadily increasing amount of daylight and the steadily decreasing amount of darkness until, half a year later, on or about June 21, the Summer Solstice brings us the longest day and shortest night of the year, after which the days get progressively shorter and the nights progressively longer until we reach the next Winter Solstice. In areas where there is not much temperature variation from season to season it can be more difficult to be aware that there is a seasonal progression. Nontheless, on some level we are aware of the changing patterns of daylight and darkness.

Using the image of a clock-face, it may be helpful to visualize the solstices at 12 and 6, with the Winter Solstice at the top (12) and the Summer Solstice at the bottom (6). At Solstice celebrations the focus is on Lord Sun. Winter Solstice rituals encourage his awakening, his growing in power his progressive dominance over Lady Moon; Summer Solstice rituals recognize his lessening strength as Lady Moon gains power and takes more precedence.

Traditionally, the Solstice balancing-act is personified by the Oak King and the Holly King, twin brothers who do battle for supremacy at the Solstices. Their rivalry (which is sometimes more like a ritual dance) will never end, as is it about a shift of power, not eternal domination of one over the other. The Oak King, king of the waxing year whose plant is mistletoe, wins at the Winter Solstice; the Holly King, god of the waning year whose plant is holly, wins at the Summer Solstice. The Holly King wears red clothing, sports a sprig of holly in his fur-trimmed hat, and drives a team of 8 reindeer (symbolizing the 8 spokes on the Wheel of Life). Much of his symbolism has become attached to Santa Claus. When we decorate with mistletoe and holly at Yuletide, we are recognizing the shift of energies that contribute to planetary balance and harmony.

The word “equinox” comes from the same root as the work “equal”. Equinoxes are positioned midwaybetween Solstices. The Spring or Vernal Equinox, or or about March 21, and the Fall or Autumnal Equinox, on or about September 21, are positioned at 3 and 9 on our clock-face. These are times when there are equal hours of daylight and darkness.

At Equinox celebrations, the focus is on achieving and maintaining balance in our lives. This is a time when a raw egg may be balanced on its larger end, and this balancing may be done at any time during the equinox day, not specifically at midnight as some lore states. The egg is the most easily recognized symbol of Equinoxes: the shell of a boiled egg represents Earth, the membrane represents Air, the yolk represents Fire, the white represents Water. Earth, Air, Fire, and Water are the four elements from which come all things; the number 4 can be considered a “perfect number” because 1+2+3+4 =10 and 1 and 0 are all the figures needed to make any number; therefore, the egg can be interpreted to represent Perfection. Lore says that Alexander the Great, when asked which came first, the chicken or the egg, replied that the Orphic Mysteries teach that the Egg is the origin of all things and so it is given as an offering to Dionysus. Alexander’s answer was judged correct. It is good symbolism to include egs in your equinox menu and decorations.

When we observe Solstice and Equinox rituals we attune ourselves to planetary rhythms. When we recognize the changing seasons we reinforce harmony in our lives. At such times we dance to the music of the spheres.

A few days ago, I was on the Gulf Coast, fishing. Pictures are up, elsewhere. The trip itself was hugely successful, on the water at 6 in the morning, had a limit of fish by 7:45, real honey hole for fishing.

This isn’t about fishing. Timing was important because, to start with, Mercury was Retrograde, and by noon, I was worn out. The guy I was fishing with, local old salt, he knows times, tides, and weather. He can read water and clouds.

So, by noon, we were reeling in fish, unhooking them, and tossing those fish back. I stretched out on the boat’s foredeck, intent on a short nap. Through my sunglasses, I watched the clouds.

We talked about the last hurricane that promised rain, and how the underside of one the clouds overhead looked like it might sprinkle. The last hurricane was a dud.

“We’ve had half an inch of rain since January,” the sad lament echoed throughout South Texas.

We were watching the tide ebb and flow.

“High tide was what, 5:52 this morning?” I asked.

While that was what the chart showed, we watched as the tide ebbed and flowed, washing in more than draining out. It changed three times while we were parked in that one spot. It was an oyster bar, with a large bight draining into the body of the bay. Good place to sit and catch fish as they were feeding on whatever bait was draining in and out of the bight.

We discussed time and tide charts, and the conclusion was, the local charts were nearly unusable, the tidal tables would show when high tide was a supposed to occur, and the local charts might be accurate to an hour or two, but that was about it.

The local tidal tables, in part, due to the fickle nature of the bay’s topography, but still, the local charts were next to useless — nothing beats observation.

Mercury orbits the sun approximately ever 88 days. Relative to the motion of the fixed stars, the constellations and the other observable planets, Mercury appears to move backwards three, maybe four times in a single year.

After fishing my heart out that morning, at one point, I was idly discussing weather patterns, the unreliable nature of the local time and tide charts, and the lackluster hurricane season. Low, coastal clouds were gradually moving inshore, more a promise of rain than real moisture. I stretched out on the front deck and looked up, keeping one rod tip in view, expecting more action.

Early, the clouds were clearly blowing inland. As I lay there on the deck, I watched as the low, fluffy clouds seemed to be moving offshore. I remarked as much.

My fishing buddy looked up, as an astute nature observer, he pointed out the fallacy of my visible notation.

“See, the higher, thin clouds? They’re moving faster. Makes those low clouds look like they’re moving backwards.”

Therein is the perfect analogy for what happens when Mercury goes Retrograde. Mercury, like the high, thin clouds, moves faster. Makes us look like we’re moving backwards.

Celestial dynamics are sometimes a tough subject to get a handle on, like a slippery fish.

Those clouds, and the discussion before hand about the time, tide, currents, and winds — the Gulf Coast weather — made the cloud observation an easier way to grasp the mechanics of what happens when Mercury goes Retrograde.

By Kramer Wetzel AstroFish.Net