Soul Navigations

Soul Navigation Card of the Week: LEARNING

Definition: The cognitive process of acquiring a skill or knowledge through inquiry or other effort; getting to know, or becoming aware of something; gaining knowledge.

Learning is something we do daily. We interact with our external environment and adjust ourselves accordingly. Learning can pertain to acquiring new skills or knowledge, such as learning a new language, or it can refer to more internal processes such as learning the language of one’s psyche.

We learn best when we are open and receptive to taking in new information and integrating it into our life. Though we are always learning and adjusting ourselves to the external environment, we may have different areas where we are more receptive to learning than others. 

Learning is not always easy. It can be difficult when we feel coerced or are forced to learn something new by life's challenges.  At these times, we are more likely to come upon our own areas of rigidity or defensive posturing than when we invite our learning. The Greeks called this pathei mathos – through suffering there is learning.  Learning comes most easily when we engage inquiry, decrease resistance to let something new in and integrate it.

The axiom of “know thyself” reflects a process of internal learning that can lead us towards a deeper understanding of ourselves, others, and the world.  It suggests that a key to our contentment and peace in this world revolves around deeper self knowledge.

If you have chosen this card, reflect on what you may be learning about now.  Are you open to this learning, or are you resisting?  What is your learning process?  Are you patient or are you hard on yourself for not knowing already? What are you resisting learning?

 

© 2011 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/products .

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

Soul Navigation Card of the Week: HIGHER SELF

Definition: The part of you that holds all aspects of you; wise self; true self; the atman; beyond personal self; transcendent self.

The Higher Self is that part of our being that holds the whole of our being – all aspects of ourselves. It is an expanded felt sense of self, and goes beyond the personal: beyond ego, beyond references to time and space.  Consequently, it holds a greater vision and sense of our inherent wholeness and how to move towards this wholeness.  When we are connected to Higher Self we may feel deeply integrated and whole, and have a sense of guidance by a wise knowing part of self.

Higher Self is you – an expanded, connected divine aspect of you.  You may feel more connected to it in moments of calm clarity, of creative flow or inspiration, or during times of joyfulness and deep loving connection.  Some believe that the spiritual path is about learning to sustain connection to this part of ourselves.

If you have pulled this card it may be helpful to take some time and go within, connect to this expanded aspect of you and listen to what your wise self is saying.  Listen to the subtle ways in which this wise knowing directs you.  Perhaps you are already deeply connected and this is a confirmation that you are connected. 

How do you know when you are connected to Higher Self?  How do you feel when you are connected to this aspect of you?  How do you feel when you are out of connection to your Higher Self?  How do you reconnect with your Higher Self?

© 2011 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. 

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.  To view all the cards visit www.fuzionhealingarts.com/products.

 

Soul Navigation Card of the Week: SENSITIVITY

Definition: responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation; the ability to respond to physical stimuli or to register small physical amounts or differences; sensitivity to emotional feelings of self and other; the ability to respond to affective changes in one’s interpersonal environment.

When you pull this card you may be more perceptive, receptive and responsive to what is happening around you or within you. Your five senses - your perceptual abilities – and perhaps more importantly, your “sixth sense”, or intuitive faculty, may be heightened beyond the normal range, and you may be able to sense more subtle realms.

When a person has heightened ‘unconscious awareness’ it may be a recipe for feeling a little “crazy”, for one’s perceptions are not easily validated. Some people have such strong sensitivity to others that they take on their emotional or physical pain.  They are often referred to as “empaths”.  You may be an empath, and your empathic abilities may be heightened now. 

Trusting your senses is primary. However, what you are sensing may be subtle, so it is important to tune in to your center, and seek more clarity about what you are sensing and what you are responding to. From this “still point” you will be better able to differentiate between your sensitivity and your personal response. You have entered into reactivity when external events, situations, or people activate a strong emotional response that dominates your feelings and clouds your ability to see clearly. This does not discount what you are sensing. At these times it is important to carefully filter, identify and separate your personal emotional responses to help provide clarity.

How do you experience your sensitivity?  Do you use your sensitivity to navigate through the world?  Do you find yourself overwhelmed by strong emotional undercurrents? How do you determine when your sensitivity is over activating your own emotional charges?  

 © 2011 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. Should you wish to view the whole deck vislt www.fuzionhealingarts.com/products, or youtube 

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

 

Card of the Week: INCUBATION

Definition:  Maintaining something at a most favorable temperature or state for its growth; the gradual development in some interior environment, until fully formed; the act of keeping an organism, a cell, or cell culture in conditions favorable for growth and development.

When this card arises there may be something “brewing”.  It may not be visible yet, for it is in its beginning phase.  There may be alchemical stirrings of unconscious energies within you that are percolating and forming a new aspect of yourself for discovery, or a new creative project. 

The incubation phase is an important part of how we grow, change and create. Jung refers to it as an alchemical process towards individuation.  It can be a vulnerable time and how we move through this phase may be critical to what comes forth in our life.  If we have difficulty being with ambiguity and uncertainty, we may push too soon and let what is incubating out into the world before it is fully formed.  Opening the chrysalis of a butterfly in any part of its process may stunt its ability to fly.  Yet, if we are fearful and too cautious and stay in the incubation period too long, what is to come forth may suffocate and never experience the joy of its birth and life.

When a woman is pregnant her body prepares a perfect environment within her womb. This period of incubation is accompanied by nesting urges, wherein the environment is prepared to receive the new child.  When we incubate an idea, or project, it is important that we nurture the new growth.  We must prepare ourselves and our world around us for the changes, and listen deeply to the small voice of what is incubating within.

Is there something brewing within you? Do you have a sense of something that needs changing? How do you honor your places of ambiguity? How do you nurture your changes when they are in their infancy 

 

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.

Card of the Week: WISDOM

 

Definition: utilizing knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight; accumulated knowledge, erudition, or enlightenment; the quality of being prudent and sensible.

When we act from the deep center of our heart, we are connected to internal guidance that is rooted in both timelessness and expansiveness.

Wisdom is discernment through deep listening and balancing experience, understanding, and insight.  It is using the heart as the lens to see through. 

Seeing through the eyes of the heart means listening with feeling, compassion and connectedness to our humanity.  Feeling is distinguished here from emotionality, sentimentalism, and reactivity, and is defined, in this case, as our present moment response to what is. 

We often associate wisdom with age, and associate sages with great wisdom that comes with years of experience.  Although this is true, we can also cultivate wisdom of the heart in a way that is not only dependent on experience, but rather orientation to life.

The image of this card reflects my visual representation of wisdom.  The key element repeated in the mandala is a heart with wings and in its center, an eye.  The mandala symbolizes moving center and also reflects our interconnectedness. 

When do you need to see through the eyes of your heart?  What is the lens you have been looking through?  What would change if you shifted your focus to the “mind of the heart”?  In what ways are you living your life through the eyes of the heart?

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 .

 © 2011, Leslie Helen Bambic Ciechanowski

Card of the Week: STEPS

Definition:  a way of access (upward or downward) consisting of a set of steps; the course along which a person has walked or is walking in as in: "I followed in his steps”; a line or route along which something travels or moves; a move, act, or proceeding as toward some end or in the general course of some action.

When the ‘Steps’ card shows up it is a reminder that there is a process involved in all that we do.  There is a natural order to the way things unfold. A needs to happen before B and then C can follow.  It is not necessarily a linear sequence, but whatever parallel or multifaceted sequencing is involved, there are stages and steps, some of which need to happen before other things can. 

The Steps card may alert you that you may need to pay attention to processes and procedures. You may need to map out your trajectory, or pay attention to the steps required and determine where you are right now.  It may be a reminder that you cannot automatically arrive where you want to be.  The acorn did not immediately become a tree though it may have felt the possibility of the tree it is to become.

We often need to take time to breathe and remember what path we are already on.  Remember to explore and appreciate the steps.  We are on a journey and a path of becoming. 

What steps are you taking on your path?  Are you trying to skip steps?  Perhaps you need to just take the first step?   How do you embrace the process?  Do you follow your own steps, or do those of another guide you?  What makes your path uniquely yours and yet common to the human at the same time.

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 .

©Leslie Helen Bambic Ciechanowski

 

Card of the Week: CHANGE

 

Definition:  To alter or modify; to become different; moving from one state to another, to alter the position, character, or appearance of a thing; to transform the countenance; to alter by substituting something else for, or by giving up for something else, e.g. to change one’s clothes, to change one's occupation, or to change one's intention.

When this card comes up, change is in the air.  True, change is always in the air and life is always in a state of flux.  We however, are creatures of habit and thrive on stability, routine, and ritual.  These things help us make sense of our world; as such it is at times difficult to make the changes we need to bring more ease and harmony in our lives.  This card suggests that an internal contemplation of change is best pursued, or perhaps it is time to pursue change outwardly and/or increase one’s actions towards change. 

When we resist change by ignoring our inner promptings, clinging to that which we know, or blocking with fear, we cause more stress in our lives.  This resistance may crystallize into such fixed patterns that only drastic external events can shatter them. 

This card may also suggest external changes are afoot, requiring you to adapt and change for your well-being.  Changes may be monumental – creating great ripples through your whole life – or they can be minor such as disruptions in routine or expectations needing to shift. 

Notice how you move through changes.  Do you resist and find yourself grumbling and complaining?  Do you adapt quickly, finding quick solutions?  Perhaps you invite change as though it was a welcomed breeze. Are you resisting a change that is calling you, or is it time to prepare for change?

One of my favorite Greek philosophers Heraclitus’s statements of truth follows us to this day, over 2500 years later: ”You can never step into the same river twice.”  Some truths are universal, like the natural order of things whose mystery we are still discovering, and do not change.

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. 

On the “eve of the Solstice” and concurrent lunar eclipse, I find the change card very propitious.  This astrological configuration has not occurred in 400 years.   It perhaps is a harbinger of change. 

May we welcome change that brings in the light of truth

into all levels of our being and our world.

  May we know the light of our own true nature.

May Peace and Joy be with you.

 

Wishing you a wonderful Holiday Season.

Leslie

 

© 2010 Leslie Helen Bambic Ciechanowski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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: Dark

Definition:  absence of light; absence of moral or spiritual values; an unenlightened state; causing dejection; showing a brooding ill humor

Dark is a place we all need to dive deeply into once in a while to find our luminescence deep within. Dark is quiet and empty and without pulse.  Its gripping silence and emptiness can be frightening.   In this silence we may hear our thoughts whirling, and feel the grip of strong old pain, or perhaps old beliefs, habits, or ways of thinking hampering our ability to feel joy or our inner peace.  When we dive in, if we hold our breath and struggle, we may be resisting and fighting against ourselves and the very essence of our being.

When we encounter the dark card it may be telling us that it is a time to turn inward and look deeply through the darkness to find the light and strength from within. 

It may come at a time when you are moving through some deep or painful issues in your life where you encounter your shadow or another’s shadow side that may be moving you off your center.  When in this phase, it is important to remember that out of the dark seasons of our lives much growth and light can come. Though the dark is the absence of light, you are never completely in the dark as there are always tiny specks of light. 

How do you move through the dark phases of your life?  When you are in a negative cycle are you overpowered by your negative habits or addictions of various sorts to get you through? Do you run, hide, fight, or accept where you are?  Where is your shadow casting itself?  Are you being affected by someonelse's dark cycle?

 

© 2010 Leslie Helen Bambic Ciechanowski

Card of the Week: Aspiration

Definition: a strong desire to achieve something; aim; desired goal or objective; ambition; yearning

When we aspire toward something it is usually a movement of emotions and energy towards something greater.  Aspirations are the internal drives and ambitions that keep us moving forward and evolving into who we would like to become.  They guide our direction forward, though not necessarily the paths we take to get there.  Like a plant moving toward the sun, we move toward our aspirations.  Our spirit and soul can be guided by yearnings or goals, whether we are fully conscious of them or not. 

There can be challenges in fulfilling our aspirations including: making sure we have clarity around what our aspirations are; reassessing the alignment of our aspirations with our authentic nature; and lastly, not letting our aspirations overshadow our journey getting there. 

Aspirations assist our spirit and soul to move forward in all areas of our life.  The aspirations I had when making these cards was that they would assist in getting in touch with deeper parts of ourselves in a simple yet clear way.  I also aspired to reveal the magical interplay of the inner and outer world.

What are the aspirations that move you forward?  Are they for yourself, others, or both?  How do your aspirations change how you view the world?  Are you enjoying the journey that your aspirations are taking you on?  How are your aspirations guiding your life now?  Have you lost touch with your aspirations?

 © 2010 Leslie Helen Bambic Ciechanowski

 

NOT ALL WHO WANDER ARE LOST

Ever see this bumper sticker?  It reflects an alternative perspective to our society’s hard-driving, goal-directed approach to life.  The view that if one is not constantly focused and actively directing one’s energies, then one is inherently lost, unproductive, failing and flailing in the breeze.  Need I go on?

If one were to take away daydreams and choices that take us off the “beaten track”, many discoveries would not have been made.  I am suggesting that we cultivate a more balanced approach to our lives and lifestyle.  Having greater balance between being and doing doesn’t only release internal pressure of the drive to always be doing, but allows the “shy soul”* to move into the “being state”.  It allows us to simply be, explore, and listen to the parts of ourselves that we may be keeping constrained in this “doing” world.   In such a pressure cooker there is little time to experience the self and the soul. 

In some ways, we treat the soul as that small child who is being dragged along by a busy adult.  They hold hands and the adult walks at a fervent pace with coffee in one hand and child in the other.  Moving so quickly that the small child’s little legs only touch ground lightly every other step.  One arm stretched to capacity holding on for dear life, and in the other  dangles her doll, the world of her imagination, so precious and dear. 

Most of us learn how not to pay attention to the precious and tender parts of ourselves, how to hurry through life and not listen or play in the fertile ground of imagination.  The more we lose this connection to ourselves, the more we lose connection to our soul, to our joy.  The more we look to outer sources the more our world becomes a world of distraction, and off balance, moving us further and further away from our true self and from our soul.

Make time to wander, explore, and play. 

* The term“shy soul” was coined by Parker Palmer.

©2010 Leslie Bambic Ciechanowski

The world hangs on a thin thread...

"The world hangs on a thin thread, and that is the psyche of man...and we know something about it and we know nothing about it..."  C.G. Jung

Every day it behooves us to engage with the deepest part of ourself, be it psyche, soul, spirit, core self, or higher self.  Take time.  Make time.  Know thyself.

Thank you C.G.Jung, for sharing your light, understanding and passion.

                                                lhcb