What’s the Best Possible Outcome? A Quick Exercise in Dealing with Negative Thoughts

I’ve been trying something new lately. I have caught myself so many times recently fuming in my quiet moments over unfairness done to or around me, and it is toxic.

I realized that these thoughts are natural and they WILL happen, but I have control over what happens next. I have been actively on the lookout for these moments, and replacing the negative thoughts with ideas of what I want in my life a year from now, or just in the future at large. It’s incredibly refreshing to shift my focus and shift my energy, and I have noted that ideas and creativity flow more freely when I work on this. I call it “tending my Secret Garden” (lol I know it’s corny).

Anyone who has had a Reiki session with me knows that I teach a version of the Secret Garden meditation where I guide my client through a peaceful landscape that ultimately leads to their Spirit Guide. That landscape is the visualization of their soul, their dreams, all of the positive and beautiful things they hold dear to themselves, and once visualized, it is always there to be used later as a tool to remind ourselves what we treasure and what our minds are capable of creating—beauty, love, and peace ☮️.

Essentially, the idea of the Secret Garden is to simultaneously discover in yourself what you hold most dear, who you want to be, and that you have the power to change your own emotional landscape for the better. Whatever you imagine determines the conditions of the path you walk to that destiny—whether you make the sun shine or the thunder boom in the Secret Garden is up to you.

I leave you today then with one small piece of peace to keep in mind: What WOULD happen if, instead of focusing on the worst, you asked yourself—what’s the BEST that could happen? #soulunfold #breakingthecycle #changeyourmindset

Is It Just My Imagination, Or Did I Just Channel Gene Wilder?

A few minutes ago, I was sad because I just read an article about how when Gene Wilder passed away (it was 3 years ago but I just saw it), his favorite song came on with his final breath. I was so entranced with him as a child.

There’s a random movie on Netflix playing right now, called Hit & Run, and all of a sudden, I hear the refrain from Pure Imagination come from the movie.

If you want to view paradise

Simply look around and view it

Anything you want to, do it

Wanna change the world?

There’s nothing to it.

There is no life I know

To compare with pure imagination

Living there you’ll be free

If you truly wish to be.

And I pulled this card—“This card represents your ability to create your own reality.”

And I think…

… Anything you want to, do it

Wanna change the world?

There’s nothing to it.

There is no life I know

To compare with pure imagination…

There’s a tear in my eye. It feels like Heaven said hello through Willy Wonka!

🍭 🍭 🍭

Spirit Echoes: Light as a Feather

I don’t know how many of you truly believe in the Other Side. Every day, I’m blessed enough to experience the truth of life after death—even in small ways. And that’s available to everyone. I can teach you how.

Today, driving to a Dunkin Donuts drive thru line no less, I was having a moment. A low, self-questioning, self-effacing moment. You know the kind. And so I put my music player on…

And I earnestly asked if my main spirit guide would step forward and offer me a message in the next song.

And they did.

Feather

X Ambassadors

I will lift you up

For now and forever.

I will lift you up,

‘Til you’re light as a feather.

I know times are tough,

When you’re under pressure.

I will lift you up

‘Til you’re light as a feather.

I know you need somebody

Try to act like it’s alright, it’s alright.

‘Cause when you need somebody,

No matter what, you know I will lift you up.

For now and forever

I will lift you up

‘Til you’re light as a feather.

🙏 And I feel better. Thank you, Spirit.

Setting Boundaries as an Empath

This one is simple. When you begin to feel strong empathy for someone and feel their energies seeping over into yours (feeling their pain, “knowing” what they’re going through at a spiritual level), say “This is not mine. Namaste.” This means “the light within me sees the light within you, but your energy is your energy and mine is mine.” If you prefer, this can be your chant, whichever one works for you. This is a good practice for maintaining good energy hygiene and keeping others from sapping your energetic strength. #freemeditation #mindfulnessmeditation

#empathsbelike #energyiseverything #energywork #energyvampires

Habits = Happiness: An investigation into confidence and manageable life change

I’m the first person to be annoyed when someone chastises me about better habits, negative thinking, etc…my inner b#%ch usually screams something about walking a mile in my shoes/does this person want a foot in their a$$/not all of us were born lucky, while I nod and smile politely.

However…there is something to be said for honest effort. There are a few things I need to change in my life:

1. My weight and general wellness

2. I need to organize my closets and cupboards/make my living space more efficient

3. I need to make more $$/have a healthier financial standing

4. I need to cook more and generally relax and stop holding my breath. I need to find time to just enjoy my life, which I’m not doing much of lately. I steal minutes from myself here and there while I mostly work myself to death.

5. I need to keep working to trust my gifts (I have had great success in this in the last year or so) and continue to just “see what I say” to build my clairvoyance and mediumship.

Building the habit of happiness will help me stay on track with shoring up the habits that will help me reach these goals. One of my main obstacles to success is what my mom used to diagnose as “lack of patience”–but as an adult, I see what she meant, and I see exactly what it is.

Sometimes I don’t believe in my power to make good things happen. I don’t believe in my own ability to change. This involuntary fear is depressing, and soul sucking, and it makes it hard for me to get up in the morning.

I have helped scores of people change their lives at this point through spiritual work, but I don’t believe in my own ability to change for the better. I don’t believe in my ability to do just about anything right, some days.

How screwed up is that? I have a whole book on deck about it. One time I was struggling to open this incredibly complex umbrella I borrowed (why why why would it have a hidden latch!?) while a security alarm counted down, and suddenly BAM I got it open and all was well. I literally just could not believe in my own ability to do this and was amazed when I figured it out.

To open an UMBRELLA.

Every time I successfully finish a spin class, I’m on top of the WORLD because I’m positive at the beginning that I will make a fool of myself and fall off the bike. However, 99% of the time I do not fall.

There is that one time I kicked my water bottle clear across the room, but that’s an anomaly.

My point is–I have a problem. I’ve had a problem for a long time: it’s called clinical depression and it doesn’t always go away. The generalized anxiety disorder did go away–and I thank my spirit guides every day that it’s gone and I have a new grip on life. I’m still depressed, though. I still feel like I can’t make a difference in my life or the world at large. I generally feel like I let literally everyone down every day, except for every now and then.

And I share this with you because so many people sit across from me at my desk at Willow or on video chat and tell me the same things I’m telling you here. But in them, I see the light of potential. I show them all of the paths their lives can take and what the potentials are for each choice.

And some of them come back to me, their light within shining, their lives changing because THEY made changes. I know it’s possible. I know it’s real. I see it every day.

My point is…what if it’s time for radical reassignment of who you are? I know it’s that time for me. I need to aggressively make these habits a priority, to plow through whatever used to stop me. Maybe I need to fully, unabashedly, powerfully believe in my ability to change myself and make an impact on the world, even if it’s just one more person. Maybe it’s time for me to believe in my thoughts, my ideas, my feelings, my own intellect, and bask in the love I show others while I amplify it outward.

One of the places to start is to document every day 3 things that I am happy for, and 3 things that I did this day that are remarkable and, also, how I’m feeling at that moment in time. I’m thinking this can’t hurt, it will take only a few minutes – really, the amount of time I’m usually spending watching pet videos on Facebook – and maybe it’s something I’ll be able to share with you all, along with my “Hearts Found in the Wild” photos you can see on my Instagram (@soul_unfold_tarot) and my Facebook (@soulunfold), which I may start sharing here as well.

There has been a wild Valkyrie living inside me for a long time, and I think she’s sick of the bullsh&$. She wants to be free, and I think I’m going to let her. I think I’ve known she’s been there for awhile and have neglected her.

After all this time, she may be what I’ve been seeking. It’s time to be the change I want to see.

In love and light,

Erica

How to Interpret the Page of Pentacles

What is the message behind the Page of Pentacles Tarot card? The answer lies within you. Tarot cards act as a language between you and unseen forces. What the card provokes within you is the message.

For the Page of Pentacles, the general guideline is that there will likely be a message about money or something else physical, like health. The message you have been waiting for in this arena is imminent. However, you would need to pull a clarifier card to know what that message IS. Make sense? Stay tuned for more Tarot tips! #psychics #tarotreadersofinstagram #tarotreading #tarotreader #tarotcards #pageofpentacles #courtcards #beginnertarot

Like what you see? Come get the full Soul Unfold Tarot experience for only $15/month or $35 for an in-depth, accurate reading that will help you find your path and give you the direction you seek. We take PayPal! E-mail soulunfold@gmail.com to order.

Freaky Friday: Demon in the Sheets

Freaky Friday: Demon in the Sheets

Every Friday I will be sharing with you my stories of the paranormal: yes, I’ve seen a lot of spooky shit, that’s not a surprise, I’m sure.

People love to tell and hear stories of the paranormal. It can be in the middle of a posh dinner party or around a campfire–but the second the tones get hushed and people start sharing the crazy, otherworldly phenomena they’ve experienced, the bonding begins. It’s a bond over our shared experience as humans against the wild Unknown.

One of my spookiest stories happened when I was just starting out as a medium and hadn’t really come to terms with the gift yet. My friend and I were upstairs at my house, watching Family Guy on my upstairs TV in the bedroom. My then-husband was downstairs playing a game on the main TV. We were watching the show, and laughing and having fun.

At some point, we must have nodded off. It still seems strange to me, because I remembered going directly from having a great time to waking up, no falling asleep in between.

Both of the bedroom lamps were on, so it was not dark. This is a key fact.

When I awoke, I saw something that immediately made me start screaming. Wrapped around my friend’s back was a horrifying figure that looked burned, and had a smile that literally stretched ear to ear.

My friend was staring right at it and also screaming. We saw the same figure that night.

We bolted downstairs, confirmed what we both saw, and slept on the couches for the night. I learned about saging that week and accidentally cleared all of our ancestors out of the house with one powerful sweep of prayer and sage. It was eerily quiet for a week until I learned to invite them back in.

To this day, I try not to think about that night. There are other energies that walk with us on this Earth. Some are clothed in light, some are cloaked in shadow. It is a Universe of duality, of binaries, of magnetic physical push and pull.

There is no question that occasionally, something shadowy this way comes. Spiritual cleaning and protections are a must.

Got a story of the paranormal you’d like me to share? Please send to soulunfold@gmail.com: we can even be anonymous if you’d like! If you’d like a reading with Erica Lynn of SoulUnfold, I take PayPal and am not expensive: I can do in-person, Skype or email readings.

In love and light,

Erica

The Modern Seance

Ever wonder what a psychic party is? I am invited to friends’ parties quite often to be the hostess’s psychic. It’s like one of those jewelry or Tupperware parties but half of the attendees are no longer living.

I will typically channel for the guests and read their Tarot, runes and Angel cards. There are always happy tears and often wine and cheese. It’s not really like the seances of old, where everyone’s faces were lit in the dark by candles and everyone’s hands are shaking while they watch a ouija board.

I recently had a hostess snap some photos of me and the attendees as I read them and we achieved some lovely spirit photography, with halos and shafts of light appearing around our third eyes as I worked with each lady present. It was a lovely event and I highly recommend it to anyone interested.

Would you like your own psychic Tarot reading? Email SoulUnfold@gmail.com for details.

So You Think You’re Psychic?: The Soul Unfold Checklist

Seated in front of a table, all 78 cards of my Rider-Waite deck spread in various formations in front of me, a wide-eyed client across from me, the statement that typically comes after all of the big life questions of health, finances, kids and romance is usually:

You know, I’ve been told that I’m a very intuitive person.  Can you see that in me?

The answer is always yes, because intuition is not a gift saved for the few.  Intuition is a muscle ready to be ripped and used and built up. Sure, some of us are born with that ability primed and ready to go, with just a few triggers necessary to make it shine.  It’s like this:  most people are born with the ability to learn tennis and play it to some degree of success.  However, not everyone is born to be a Serena or Venus Williams:  some talent is already pre-gifted, ready to be developed into star-quality abilities.

But with some work, almost anyone can play tennis well.  And with some work, nearly anyone can develop their intuition and learn to do what I do.  It’s all about how much dedication you want to devote to it.  Your life moves in the direction of what you prioritize: for the spiritually gifted, the river flows easiest in the direction of developing intuition to a supernatural degree.  For those of you not quite ready to tackle speaking to spirits who have passed on, or not interested in learning the language of Tarot forward and backward, intuition can still be developed to the level of giving you an edge in your daily lives.

Everyone comes to Earth to do soul work. We come to work out the snarls and kinks in our eternal spirits, to smooth our rough spots. We come here to unfold our souls, because only through trial and error, highs and lows, happiness and sadness in balance, can we have the opportunity to prove ourselves. Our existence at the source on the Other Side, when we are in full knowledge of divine love and not incarnated, does not permit us to make the decisions to become who we need to be.  We need this beautiful world, with all of its lessons, to effect change in our eternal selves.

Just as there is with anything on Earth, there is an easy way to unfold your soul and there is a hard way.  Neither is good or bad.  If you are here at soulunfold.com, then you are looking to tackle it head on.  So let’s get started.

I present to you the Soul Unfold Checklist.  For all of you who have ever wondered if there is a process to developing your intuition, there is.  This is the one that works for me, and I hope it works for you just as well.

Here is the short list:

  1. Choose your divination tool
  2. Journal your spiritual experiences, dreams and readings
  3. Meditate daily
  4. Read all of the spiritual books you can get your hands on
  5. Be patient
  6. Learn Reiki
  7. Practice your divination art of choice and Reiki on your friends

And here is a slightly more detailed list, but still not all-encompassing:

  1. Test the tools of spiritual communication and divination available to you to determine what works for you.  Be disciplined:  do not use this method just to relieve anxieties or answer questions.  Use it to develop a relationship with your spirit guides.
    • If you are interested in using cards as your tool, I recommend purchasing a physical deck for practice in downtime.  I also recommend downloading a digital deck for your smartphone and/or tablet. Tarot Pro is an excellent app to teach you what Tarot cards mean to you. For those interested in working with the angels, which I highly recommend, Doreen Virtue’s angel decks, including the well-known Archangel Oracle Cards, have given me incredible insights over the years.
      • Decks I love to use when communicating with the Other Side (disclaimer:  I have not been asked in any way to promote these items, I genuinely enjoy working with them):
        • Tarot Pro by Nuclear Elements (digital)
        • The Psychic Tarot Oracle Cards (John Holland, digital and physical)
        • Archangel Oracle Cards (Doreen Virtue, digital and physical)
        • The Enchanted Map Oracle Cards (Colette Baron-Reid, digital and physical)
        • Daily Guidance from Your Angels Oracle Cards (Doreen Virtue, digital and physical)
    • Randomized music
      • I prefer Pandora or the Amazon music player.  Sometimes I will use Spotify. Pandora works the best because it will show you new music you have never heard, therefore new messages will come through from the Other Side.
      • Look up the lyrics, record them in your spirituality journal (see step 2). You will develop meanings for songs that the Other Side will pick up on and begin to use as message for you in the future.  This is also how card decks work:  you develop a system of meanings for the cards/songs/dice, whatever you have randomized, and your guides use that system to give you message when you reach out if it is appropriate.  They do reserve the right to not give you a message when necessary.
    • Books
      • I have been known to use books to a multitude of purposes, but they can be a top-notch divination tool if you respond to words over visuals, the way I do.
      • Ask your guides what their message of the day is for you, then allow the pages to flip past your thumb like you are looking at a cartoon flip book.  Stop when it feels right, point at the page and your message will be there under your finger.  Need more structure?  Tell your guides the 10th line down on the page you land on is where you will look for your message, before you flip.
    • Fortune cookies
      • Fortune cookies are one of my favorite methods of divination (Read my post Kaleidoscope  to see this in action). On the front of my bullet journal are two fortunes I hold dear that came to me a few days apart:

        Fate loves the fearless.

        Don’t be afraid of opposition; remember, a kite rises against the wind.

      • Don’t forget to ask your guides for a special message before opening the cookie.  If you want guidance for something specific, make sure you tell them what the topic is.
    • Runes
      • Runes are a symbolic tool of divination that I find to be rather matter-of-fact.  Their messages speak to me in a similar way to Tarot, only with the message purified down a bit more:  this project will offer many obstacles. The answer to your question about whether you should trust someone is Sol, the rune of sunshine, light and vitality. And so on.
    • Pinterest
      • Pinterest, you say?  Yes. Pinterest can be used from time to time as a divination tool, but you can only ask one question per search term and you have to be open to interpretation. I once asked what my next apartment would look like, and up came images of beautiful, small apartments with bookshelves.  Sure enough, I have a built-in bookshelf in my entryway currently.
      • Pinterest also makes an excellent visualization tool.  If you create a “Vision” board and revisit it often to feel what it would be like for those dreams to come true, you are doing your daily visualizations in a pleasurable and easy way.
    • There are many other forms of divination.  i Ching, tea leaf reading, pendulums and dice are a few that I am familiar with but do not use on a daily basis.
  2. Keep a journal. Record synchronicity, messages, meditation experiences and dreams.
    • Not sure what I mean by “synchronicity”?  Check out my blog posts The “Sines” of Change and Catalysis to read an example of finding message from the Other Side through random words or ideas occurring 3 times or more in one day.
    • Record your dreams every morning, immediately upon waking. Read over the journal as you progress and look for occurrences of premonition:  Seeing events before they occur. Even your weird dreams have meaning.  I do dream analysis often for my clients, and something as odd as seeing your boss covered in ants while you talk to her (a symbol that the relationship is “spoiled” or ruined beyond repair) can have meaning.
    • Any animal encounters that are particularly interesting can be messages from the spirit world.  Record your encounter and research the symbolism of the animal:  you will find within it a message.
    • Meditation is a powerful tool (see step 3) for building spirituality.  I would argue it is the most powerful tool in your spiritual kit for increasing intuition and achieving spiritual balance. I journal about my guided meditation experiences and have witnessed scenes as wild as a coy fish morphing into a dragon.  Having journaled my meditations means I can look back later and see how my meditation practice has evolved and what issues I worked through in the past.
    • Journaling is an incredibly valuable practice that never stops rewarding you. Looking back after years and seeing your subconscious speak to you and tell you how far you’ve come or what you have yet to change is worth the time it takes to write or type.
    • I began my spiritual journey through paying attention to my dreams. Through your dreams, you can begin to connect with your guardians, your own soul and your subconscious. I have even dreamed of “going to school” with people and beings I have never seen before.
    • Try asking a question or thinking of a problem you want to solve before going to sleep, then journaling about your dream and thought experiences upon waking.
  3. Meditate
    • Meditation is the practice that took me from a nube who occasionally intuited the unspoken truth to an experienced intuitive. Meditation is practice in listening to God. The tagline of this blog is “Learning to Listen: A Journey in Spirit” for this reason. I love using my randomized Meditations and Angel card apps to guide my meditation for the day, because it feels like my guides have a hand in helping me grow. I also love using the song Alpha to Theta by Lowell Brahms while I meditate, because if feels like it opens my mind up.
    • Set the Scene
      • Setting your meditation scene matters. My tub was my temple when i first started. I love meditating in the water with Epsom salts and lavender. It sharpens my visions and makes me feel purified like nothing else does.
    • Stilling your mind
      • Meditation will teach you over time to separate your random thoughts from message. During meditation, wait for the time that your random (I call them monkey thoughts) thoughts start to settle down.  Wait for the period of stillness that feels like zoning out to a cicada hum in the summertime.  Just beyond that stillness await messages from your guardians.  Don’t give up, your first message after the stillness is a miraculous occurrence.
  4. Read everything.
    • Read as many books about spirituality as you can.  Re-read the ones that speak to you the most. Take notes in your journal about what you want to explore and research those topics. This practice will tell you what your goals are and what abilities you are interested in developing.
  5. Be patient.  It takes time, but you will see signs all along the way. Ask your guides to show you a purple cow in 24 hours and by God, you will likely see a purple cow.  Just be open to the way in which your guides may fulfill your request.
  6. Learning Reiki from an authentic source who respects the process can speed up your spiritual growth.
    • Reiki launched me into the intuitive space and transformed me from an intuitive to an intuitive healer.  It was indispensable in my spiritual growth. To learn more about Reiki and its role in my journey, check out my blog post The Accidental Medium.
  7. Practice on your friends.
    • Whatever your tool of choice is, practice on your friends and record the results. They will love it and it will give you the feedback you need to grow.

In love and light,

Erica