Soul Navigations

Soul Navigation Card of the Week: Communication

Definition: the activity of conveying information; a connection allowing access between person or places; an exchange between two or more people in a group; transmitting information thoughts and feelings.

Communication is the act of exchanging information about ourselves, and the world around us.  It enables connection to others, our external world and our inner world.  We engage in an interchange of ideas, feelings and thoughts, as well as a myriad of other possible exchanges that may be out of the range of our conscious awareness. 

Communication is a two-way street, in that we are both sending and receiving information.  This exchange is both expressed and perceived in numerous ways with verbal communication being the most obvious.  However, over 70% of communication is non-verbal and includes: gestures, subtle facial expressions, sounds, intonations, actions and non-actions, and even more subtly, the energy we bring into the conversation.

Optimally, communication is respectful, with an overall balanced exchange between listening and talking, sending and receiving.  Oftentimes however, our communication can go awry.  We may not feel heard, have difficulties expressing ourselves, or perhaps we are too expressive and possibly dominate the conversation, cutting off others’ dialogue and even our own ability to receive.  Sometimes our communication difficulties involve our own internal dialogue.  We may need to pay attention to our self-talk, and even the way our soul is speaking to us. 

When you pull this card, it may be time to pay greater attention to your communication.  Notice how you are engaging, or not engaging in dialogue.  Are you feeling heard?  Are you expressing your needs? What stops you from expressing yourself? What are you communicating?  What is the emotional tone of your conversations?  What are your “non-verbal’s” conveying?  Are you open and receptive to what others are communicating? Are there communications of spirit or soul that are needing your attention?

 

© 2010 Leslie Helen Bambic Ciechanowski

Every week I shuffle and draw a card to write about and represent the week ahead.  My only rule is that if I draw one that I have already written about, I draw another.  In this way I am using the spirit of the cards themselves.  If you would like to view the full deck visit www.fuzionhealingarts.com/produts .

 

Please note:  Soul Navigation Cards are now available for purchase!  Should you wish to order a deck, please email leslie@fuzionhealingarts.com.

Soul Navigation Card of the Week: EARTH

Definition: The third planet from the Sun; the loose soft material that makes up a large part of the land surface; the ground forming part of an electrical circuit; according to Empedocles, one of four elements composing the universe.

Earth is the substance of life itself, - the rocks, clay, sand and soil from which emerge the trees, plants, and all creatures.  Symbolically, it is the substance from which matter emerges into manifestation.  Some cosmologies see earth as the clay from which our physical bodies were formed. Mother earth, Gaia, and Demeter are all associated with archetypes of the Earth Mother.

Earth holds the qualities of nurturing, strength, steadfastness, and creativity in that it supports and nurtures growth.  It is connected to the physical dimension and the realm of the senses.  In our language we have sayings such as: “down to earth”, “earth mother”, and “earthy” that reflect our perceptions of a practical, level-headed and caring person.

When you pick the earth card reflect on the deeper meaning of earth for you in your life.  It may be time to tune into your body, to pay attention to your physical needs, to slow down, and perhaps become more grounded.   It may be time to “get your hands in the soil”, to practice patience and honor the growth of whatever you are nurturing.  Perhaps it is time to contemplate your connection with the web of life on this planet, become more aware of and honor all the ways this earth sustains us, and reflect on the spirit of true stewardship.

Are you needing to ground your energies?  How do you connect with the “groundedness” of your own being?  How do you feel when you spend time in nature? How to you listen to and honor your physical body?  How do you listen to and honor the needs of the biosphere of our planet earth?

 

 © 2011 Leslie Helen Bambic Ciechanowski

For a beautiful Essene blessing for mother earth visit http://humanityhealing.net/

 

 

Every week I shuffle and draw a card to write about and represent the week ahead.  My only rule is that if I draw one that I have already written about, I draw another.  In this way I am using the spirit of the cards themselves.  If you would like to view the full deck visit RODUPCTS on the navigation page of this blog.

Please note:  Soul Navigation Cards will be available for purchase in 4-6 weeks.  Should you wish to reserve a copy for the next printing, please email leslie@fuzionhealingarts.com.

Soul Navigation Card of the Week: UNIVERSE

Definition: All matter and energy, including the earth, the galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space, regarded as a whole; macrocosm; cosmos; the entire aggregation of items from which samples can be drawn; the sphere or realm in which something exists or takes place.

The universe is vast.  To begin to comprehend its vastness, with our rational mind is beyond our abilities, and yet we are a part of this amazing universe.  By taking a “transrational” perspective we can begin to embrace all that is.  You are in the universe, and the universe is in you.  Perhaps it is time to honor your place in this universe and take your place in this vastness, no matter how big or small you feel you are.  

It may also be time to take a broader perspective of your current situation.  When you take some distance, the intensity of any emotional charge around your concerns may change.  The further out you get, the less problematic your situation may seem, and the more facets of your situation you may see.  If you were as far away as the Milky Way how would your situation look?  This is not to dismiss your concerns, but to find solutions from a different, perhaps more objective perspective – even when things may seem chaotic, confusing, or filled with uncertainty.

All is happening within a natural order of the universe, which is not always comprehensible from our perspective.  It may be that there are many other things falling into place without your knowledge.

Where are you in your universe?  How are you co-creating your universe?  By pulling back from your situation, how does it change as you get further away from it?

“…You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.” (Desiderata -Max Ehrmann)

“The Human being is a space, an opening where the universe celebrates its experience.”  Brian Swimme

“There is no universe outside this mind.” – Zen saying

NOTE: Every week I shuffle and draw a card to write about and represent the week ahead.  My only rule is that if I draw one that I have already written about, I draw another.  In this way I am using the spirit of the cards themselves. 

Please note:  Soul Navigation Cards will be available for purchase in 4-6 weeks.  Should you wish to reserve a copy for the next printing, please email leslie@fuzionhealingarts.com.

Oracle Card of the Week: PATIENCE

Definition: good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence; calmly or diligently enduring.

Whenever I get this card, I sometimes notice a twinge of irritation arising in me that usually means I need to stop pushing, slow down and allow myself and/or others to move through their process of unfolding.  In short, I need more patience.

Sometimes we have a lot of patience in certain areas of our life and not in others.  Some people may have copious amounts of patience teaching complicated material, or caring for the young, and yet none while driving.  Often we have the least amount of patience for ourselves. 

Regardless of our level of patience, there are usually situations or places where we can apply more patience.  I have never heard anyone ever say, “That person has too much patience.” Patience is not a resignation to the endurance of pain or discomfort.  Patience is the belief or expectation that everything will eventually work out and change for the better, that “this too shall pass.”

When this card shows up, you may want to ask yourself where you need more patience for yourself, others or in the world around you.   Where do you have the most patience?  Where do you have the least?  Imagine what it would feel like to extend patience to yourself. 

© 2011 Leslie Helen Bambic Ciechanowski

NOTE:

Every week I shuffle and draw a card to write about and represent the week ahead.  My only rule is that if I draw one that I have already written about, I draw another.  In this way I am using the spirit of the cards themselves. 

Please note:  Fuzion Oracle Cards are no longer in stock.  Should you wish to reserve a copy for the next printing, please email leslie@fuzionhealingarts.com.

Oracle Card of the Week: AGITATION

Definition: a mental state of extreme emotional disturbance; turbulent change or development; the feeling of being agitated; the act of agitating something causing it to move around.

When you select this card it may bring attention to areas of your life where you are experiencing agitation.  You may want to ask yourself if your agitation comes from an external or internal source, or both.  Your internal desires may not be in alignment with your external environment.

Agitation may be internally felt as frustration, irritability and anger - perhaps your will or desires seem to be continually frustrated.  Externally, you may be experiencing your environmental circumstances as not cooperating with what you are trying to do.  No matter how hard you try to control, organize, or push through it, things seem to not be working out.  This card may also bring awareness that someone near you, or in your environment is affecting you in a similar way, or that they are in a state of agitation.

If you are experiencing agitation, it may be important to ask yourself, “What are you resisting?”  How is your idea of what you want, or your view of how things should be, interfering with your ability to enjoy the moment?  What do you need to release in order to come back to your center? How is your resistance to “what is”, creating frustration and turmoil in your life

© 2011, Leslie Helen Bambic Ciechanowski

NOTE:

Every week I shuffle and draw a card to write about and represent the week ahead.  My only rule is that if I draw one that I have already written about, I draw another.  In this way I am using the spirit of the cards themselves. 

Please note:  Fuzion Oracle Cards are no longer in stock.  Should you wish to reserve a copy for the next printing, please email leslie@fuzionhealingarts.com.

Oracle Card of the Week: (Blank)

Definition: Empty; void; the unknowable; the divine; spirit; limitless; unbounded.

When you choose this card it is a reminder of your limitlessness, of the place where you create from and the unending possibilities that come out of this place.  This card can also be interpreted as being about the void, emptiness, and nothingness.  There are no conditions about what you can or cannot do.

Perhaps it is time to let go of preconceptions about what you feel you can and cannot do, or even what you expect. Move into your quiet center within and expand into your own spaciousness.  Remember the possibilities of unbounded and unconditional creation.  You have a blank canvas.  You are the artist.  What will you paint? 

Within emptiness comes a freedom - freedom from limitations, from definition, and from any ideas of perfection.  How do you react to this emptiness, are you fearful of nothing to attach to, or can you just be.

Can you see yourself as limitless?  If anything was possible how would you create your life, your world? 

 

NOTE:

Every week I shuffle and draw a card to write about and represent the week ahead.  My only rule is that if I draw one that I have already written about, I draw another.  In this way I am using the spirit of the cards themselves. 

 

Please note:  Fuzion Oracle Cards are no longer in stock.  Should you wish to reserve a copy for the next printing, please email leslie@fuzionhealingarts.com

Listening to Spirit - Whatever the Holiday

New Spirit Journal is a great online and print Journal here in the Pacific Nowthwest.  They just published the December edition which has an article I wrote.  It is worth checking it out at as there are lots of interesting article. http://www.newspiritjournal.com/  It is also below for your reading ease.

How often have you said to yourself, “I knew that was going to happen!” or “I should have listened to my intuition!”?  It is very easy to dismiss our intuition.   Intuition is our soul speaking to us.  It most often speaks in whispers of feelings, hunches and inklings, images, sometimes they are difficult to hear and interpret.  I have a number of instances where life would have flowed more easily, if only I would have listened.  Listening to our intuition or “spirit” is listening to our soul, wise self or higher self.  When we listen to our inner promptings, our life tends to run a little more smoothly, timing of events seem to synchronously coordinate without our attempts to manage all the details.  And sometimes when we listen, we help someone out in ways that are unimaginable.

  These days when I discount my inner promptings, it is usually because their warning triggers fear, and sometimes I purposefully ignore these inklings, not wanting my life to be directed by fear.  That is why I discounted the vague apprehension I felt when I thought of our up coming trip.  I chalked it up to my worrying mind.  I may have discounted my intuition, but someone else was listening to his.  This is a story of someone listening.

It was Christmas Eve.  We had been driving all day to our friends in Nelson, B.C.  We were on the last stretch before the Canadian border.  Our car was packed with bags, presents, and our two girls who sat enthralled, listening to books on tape.   It was now very dark.  The weather conditions had been good, but the temperature was starting to drop.  We stopped for gas, and in the interest of time, my husband asked at the station about a shortcut that would reduce our travel time.   We took recommended road, but soon discovered that it was not well used, nor well lit.  It was curvy and hilly, and now becoming very icy. 

            My husband drove more and more slowly.  My focus joined his on the road.  Sensing our attention to what lay in front of us, our two young daughters also became more silent, and then began to scream as we suddenly slid into the other lane and stopped just before the rail and the descending hill.  I could hear the blood pumping in my ears.  It was a close call. 

My husband and I both carefully got out of the car to check the conditions.  We needed to put on chains, but could not from the down slope we were on.  Of the few cars that passed only one gentleman in a truck stopped, just enough to make sure we were not injured and then left quickly without another word.  After all, it was Christmas Eve and everyone was trying to get somewhere. 

            My husband was looking for flat ground and a flatter surface to put chains on.     We slowly restarted the car and inched our way back to our side of the road, but could not make it down without sliding into the ditch.  We had to stop.  At least this time it was a more controlled stop. 

            By this time our girls were very quiet, occasionally asking for reassurance, which I amply gave them despite my concern.  And then I sat quiet for a few moments and sent out a prayer, a request for safety, protection and guidance.  With a heart that pulsed strongly for the well-being and safety of others – my children, I sent out a strong call.

            Barely 2 minutes later a car pulled up and actually stopped.   Out of the car came a short, bearded man.  He brought his flashlight, as we had been fumbling around in the dark trying to put chains on.   He helped us put on the chains in no time and offered to guide us out of the icy area to the juncture where the path was well trodden.   He told us that though he lived in the area, he rarely took this route, but felt directed by spirit to take it this evening.  I thanked him for listening, for helping, for the light he brought to us, and the flashlight he gifted us that evening.  We shook hands good-bye, and exchanged names. 

            As we followed behind him off the icy road, my husband kept reciting his name, and since he has a penchant for palindromes, he reversed his name.   With glee he exclaimed “NOEL, Noel! Leon is NOEL backwards!!”

To this day I feel deep gratitude for this gentle man who listened to spirit, who helped us out of a difficult situation, and brought peace of mind.  When we listen to the whispers of spirit, we strengthen and deepen our connection to our soul; we become more centered, whole and an integral part of all life around us.  My distress call was heard, and for this I am grateful, not only to Leon, but to spirit, to that which connects us in this web of life.

 In what ways do you listen to your own inner guidance/spirit?  How do you feel after you follow these promptings?  How has listening to intuition assisted your community at large? 

 

© 2010 Leslie Helen Bambic Ciechanowski, M.Ed

 

 

Card of the Week: ENTANGLEMENTS

Definition:  Snare; involvement; complication; entwined; confuse

Have you ever tried to untangle a ball of thread?  It can be difficult to see where one thread begins and the other ends.  This is the nature of the entanglement card.  Some suggest it is the nature of our network of interactions in the world.  I have experienced this card in two ways.  The first is simply finding that there is unknown interconnectivity between people or groups; the other involves more psychological entanglements.

When you are emotionally entangled in a situation it may be difficult to see the situation objectively. You may be too involved in something that is not really your concern, where others are too involved in your issues, or perhaps where there is a network of influences that are not known yet significantly affecting the situation.  Finding out where your involvement ends and others' begin may be unclear.  Boundaries are blurred and potentially enmeshed.  Projection of each person’s issues may make clarity and resolution difficult.

Look to your own internal attachments, desires, ambitions, expectations and fears, as they may be preventing you from seeing clearly.  Loosening your attachments and taking some distance on a situation may allow greater clarity.  There may be a hook into someone else’s energy that needs clearing. 

Disentangling is a process of detachment - clarifying your personal boundaries and those of others.  When do you feel drawn into something that is not your issue?  Are you fighting someone else’s battles or protecting someone emotionally?  Is your energetic involvement in others’ issues taking you off your path?

© 2010 Leslie Helen Bambic Ciechanowski

Language of the Soul

Have you ever tried to communicate with someone when neither of you understands the other’s language?  You may remember yourself gesticulating wildly, with arms pointing to things, parts of your body, perhaps making strange sounds and talking VERY loudly, repeating the same word over and over again in hopes that somehow your volume and repetition would spark a eureka experience.  Perhaps you searched madly for pen and paper to draw pictures or symbols of what you wanted. 

 

Hearing the language of the soul can sometimes feel this way.  The soul speaks to us in metaphor, symbols, feelings and synchronicities.  Of course when something either speaks to our soul, or comes from our soul, it is imbued with tremendous feeling and its expression somehow impacts us, and those around us with distinct profundity.  It is as if a pebble were dropped into the pool of our own being, sending ripples of recognition, remembrance and knowing.

 

Cultivating your soul requires that you learn to hear and understand the language of your soul.  There are many ways to achieve this and each person will have his or her own particular style.  It is good to have many different channels if you will, to perceive the soul with.  Here are some suggestions.

 

1.    Listen.  Turn your focus inward and just listen.  Find the best way for you to turn your mind down very low, and then pay attention to what arises without expecting that anything ever will.  This is the basic method and paradox to listening to your soul.  Some use meditation, contemplative prayer, or movement.  The aim is to turn down or off the minds chatter.

 

2.    Pause.  If your life is always overbooked, for whatever reason, find time within your day to take pauses, to breathe and listen to what is going on for you internally.  What are you feeling? What are you noticing in your body when you have this feeling? Five minutes is perhaps all you need for a “soul-snack”.

 

3.    Honor night dreams.  Take time in the morning, perhaps even before you open your eyes, to check in and see if you had any dreams.  Reflect on the feelings, sensations, visions and sounds that impacted you.  Leave a pad of paper at your bedside to take some notes.  The more you write the better; however, sometimes a simple sentence is all that is needed to retrieve the whole dream. 

 

4.    Learn the language of metaphor.  I don’t normally recommend “dream books”, as they can be too rigid in their rules of interpretation.  However, if you don’t take them as “truth” they can help you learn to play with metaphor.  Books that explore the metaphoric meaning of symbols can be more helpful.  Bear in mind that what you are exploring is the archetypal level of meaning – that is a collective experience of the symbol.  You will have your own personal experience around this symbol.

 

5.    Notice your daydreams.  Though daydreams may be seen as distraction, they are an important indicator of what type of release or experience you are seeking, perhaps in the service of feeling more empowered or free.  They may indicate metaphorically, what you need to move towards, or what you need to change.

 

6.    Notice meaningful coincidences.  Use all of your senses to pay attention to when the outer world produces ripples of resonance within you.  What is the feeling that arises?  Is there a sense of certainty, a confirmation of something you have been feeling, thinking or experiencing?  When you learn to maintain a dual focus on the inner and outer experience, more coincidences may come your way.

  

 

Learn to love your soul. It holds your divine spark and light that is your true nature. 

 

 

Leslie Helen Bambic Ciechanowski

Copywright 2009