Smudging, does your home need it?

photograph courtesy of WhiteOak Thomas

You have no doubt seen the practice of smudging on television many times, if you are into watching shows about the paranormal. You may also be under the impression that smudging is only needed under certain circumstances. However, the truth is, anyone can reap the benefits of cleansing their home whether there is an unwanted spirit present or not.
For paranormal enthusiasts, smudging is almost always associated with removing and cleansing a home that is under siege from a spirit presence. However, you will also see that many mediums will use the smudging technique to cleanse an area as well. Long Island Medium Theresa Caputo is a good example. If  you watch the show 'Long Island Medium' on TLC, you will notice that Caputo always smudges the space prior to doing a reading with a client. This practice literally clears the air.
Smudging offers a lot for those of us that are also in need of removing, and or dispelling bad energy from your home. Homes often can harbor bad energy from a long term of marital discourse, health issues, anger, and sadness. So the next question is should you smudge your home?
Yes! Smudging your home will require obtaining bound sticks of sage, lighting it, blowing it out and allowing it to smolder. The smoke will begin cleansing the energy of every room you walk into. Be sure to go to each corner of a room , use your hand or a feather to fan the smoke in all directions.
Before smudging a home you may want to first begin by cleansing yourself. Cup the smoke as you burn the sage, and rub yourself in any areas you feel you need and you will be purified. Once you have done a smudging of your home and self, go throughout your home and the rooms with a lit candle and bring light into the areas where negative and dark my have been.
By regularly smudging your home, you will keep the energy positive and negative energy can be controlled. If your home is harmonious already, smudging will simply be the icing on the cake. Smudging has been a practice of the Native Americans since time began and it is still being used today. The lessons we can learn from the Native Americans can apply to us all and the fact that these practices are still being used today support their effectiveness.
If you are wondering where you can purchase bound sage for smudging it is inexpensive and readily available from here.

For more information on smudging, I'd encourage you to read: Smudging, Cleansing Your Energy.

For wonderful herbs, and healing products and smudging sage visit : WhiteOak Art Design and Herbs

Things your child knows from beyond

Image via Wikipedia
There are a number of research and studies, and reports of children having the ability to accurately describe a family member they have never seen. There are many theories as to why your child may be able to specifically detail a deceased loved one.

Many psychics will suggest that most all children have this ability. Why?
Other than a person on a death bed, a child is actually the closest person you will ever meet from "the other side". Recently entering life, their spirit still retains memory from the other realm. Family members on the other side often are with the spirits that chose their parents prior to being born. The child while very young still retains this dream like pre-birth encounter. Some children dream of these deceased family members, as many family members choose dreams to interact with living loved ones.

Your child may have specific detailed dreams of someone that has passed away even 20 years or more before their birth. If you suspect your child may being doing this, press the child for as much detail as possible, and find ways to validate the details as well. You would do well to also document any such occurrences as they fade as the child ages. It is also important that you do not foster a false memory either. Be careful that you do not over tax your child, as they will try to produce more than the truth just to please you. This phenomenon is a prevalent gift seen in many children, however, many times it fades with age as parents brush it off or do not take the time to help the child understand what happened to them. The distance time provides along with the distractions of life often pull the child further away from this ability.

Children born today are already old souls according to many. They have lived many lives prior to choosing you as a parent. As such you will notice that your child will seem, even in infancy far wiser than you, yourself were. With each life lived, knowledge is acquired by the soul. While we may have no consciousness of this knowledge it is stored safe inside the soul. As man evolves with each generation, he is born holding more natural "soul" knowledge than he had in prior lifetimes. It is not important that you remember or have the ability to tap into what you have learned and experienced in past lives. It is important that your soul does. The soul keeps returning to gain more experience and life lessons that were not acquired before. This is why your child picked you. So the next time your child says they didn't ask to be born, you can tell them, "oh yes you did..".

Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Haunted History

Image by dbking via FlickrErected in 1845, the home was originally a two family and was later made into a single family by Andrew J. Borden.

Andrew J. Borden bought the house at 92 Second Street to be close to his bank and various downtown businesses. The Bed & Breakfast is named after Andrew J. Borden’s youngest daughter, Lizzie. Although she was tried and acquitted of the crimes she was ostracized by the community of Fall River.

Since the murders on August 4, 1892 the house has been a private residence. Now for the first time the public is allowed not only to view the murder scene, but is given an opportunity to spend a night (if you dare) in the actual house where the murders took place.
Read more about this famous haunted Bed and Breakfast Inn here:
Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast History

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The Premonition of Richard C. Ryder

Image via Wikipedia

Our Loved ones are never very far away, even on the other side

The Premonition

A True Story by Richard C. Ryder

When I was a little boy, my sister and brother and I used to spend a lot of time with our grandparents. They lived on the coast of South Carolina, and it was always a lot of fun visiting them. My grandmother was the sweetest person you would ever want to meet. She always took care of us and showed us great love like every grandmother should.

One particular night when my father was out working on a detective case, all of us were in bed fast asleep. I was dreaming a very bizarre dream. I was dreaming that I was in a large, white room with no windows or doors. The room was brightly lit, yet there did not seem to be any light source. In the middle of the room sat my grandmother at a white table, in a white chair. She held her face in her hands and her eyes were closed… as if she were sleeping.

I was in the room with a childhood friend of mine. We walked around the room, searching for a way out. We just walked along the walls of the room, looking for seams but could not find any. I kept looking back to my grandmother, she did not move. My friend cursed several times because we could not find a way out. I quickly looked back to my grandmother because that was one thing you did not do in front of her… curse!

I was then awakened by my mother screaming and crying from her room. All of us ran into my parent’s room to see what was going on. My mother was sitting on the bed, sobbing. As we walked into the room, my mother told us children that she had just gotten off of the telephone with our Uncle, her brother. He had told our mother that our grandmother was found in her bed and that she had passed on.

At that moment all I could do was just stand there as if I were frozen. I could not move. My sister and brother had jumped on my mother’s bed and they were holding one another, crying. I could not move a muscle for what seemed to be an eternity. I was very young, and there was no reason for a little boy who usually dreamt of being Superman to have such a strange dream. Was this paranormal or coincidence? Was this my grandmother’s way of letting me know that she was not in pain, and that she died peacefully? I would like to believe so.

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