HEALING OTHERS

1. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of modalities that can be used to help someone heal, from prayer to Reiki, from gong baths to cranial sacral methods, from hands-on therapies to distance healing through meditation, to name just a few. Although workshops and books often advise students that what they teach is superior to any other form, the healing method you use actually doesn’t matter. What will work best is what most strongly resonates with you.

2. If you have doubts that your healing is effective, pretend that you are a powerful healer and transmitter. What would it feel like if you knew for certain that you could be a vessel for healing someone miraculously? How would that change what you do? The most impressive healers throughout human history, as far as we know, never expressed or held even the slightest doubt. Doubts create a barrier, like a film, that prevents healing power from coming through.

3. While being fully confident, it is also imperative to remove your ego from the process. Recognize that the most profound healers open themselves up to allow positive energies and spiritual forces that are often beyond human understanding to work through and with them.

4. Detach yourself from the results. Recognize that some people have signed up for certain soul lessons or have other important reasons for why they do do not heal completely or immediately. Perhaps the person who cannot be fully healed is supposed to seek out physical therapy, because in the waiting room of the physical therapist they will meet their soulmate! Another individual may have contracted with the divine to learn life lessons that involve the humility and helplessness of being ill. Do not take it personally if someone does not have the results that you or they hope for. Sending healing to a person with the intent of its going to their highest good may give them comfort, courage, love, or other needed assurance beyond that which is visible or obvious to you.

 by Mary Elizabeth Raines, ©2023

Please do not copy this article, since it is copyright protected. We are happy, however, to have you link to this page.

WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE IN LIFE?

by Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines, (c) 2021

In all situations in life, our sole bottom-line purpose is to love.

We humans are often limited by circumstances. We sometimes bump into the frustration of being unable to do what we would most want to do.

But regardless of limiting circumstances, there is not one single aware moment when we cannot love.
We can be stuck in a traffic jam.
We can be lying in bed in pain.
We can be broke and homeless.
But no matter what else is or is not going on in our lives, opening our hearts to love others unconditionally is always available.

The connections that we encounter–the little groups of people that we are surrounded by at work, at home, or even at the store–are nothing more than opportunities to radiate love.
The people we pass on the street or bump up against, are nothing more than opportunities to radiate love.

Personalities, those we like and those we don’t, are all just temporary shells. Regardless of what qualities one displays, at all times our mandate is to hold one another in love.

Society thinks it loves. As a group, we cherish and adore select people based upon their personalities and successes in life...even on how they look or dress.
For instance, a person may fall in love with another because of their many wonderful qualities, and wind up disappointed when they turn out to be different from the initial image they projected.
None of these things are unconditional love. Rather, they are demonstrations of temporary affection and approval based upon very strict conditions, conditions which nearly everyone will fail to be able to uphold.

Such love is a frail and absurd imitation of love. This is not the unconditional love we are called to generate.

Do not mistake unconditional love for the acceptance of wrongdoing. There are certainly people and circumstances that can and will exasperate and trouble us. We  are all going to become involved in these life situations at different points in our lives.

Loving others unconditionally does not mean that we avoid protesting harmful behavior in another, or avoid defending those beings, whether human or in nature, who are unable to defend themselves.

Unconditional love, however, has nothing to do with personality, which is impermanent, or the temporary games played in the material world, which will fade.

Instead, unconditional love means noticing the core of Light that is within every being, and sending love to this core.

This Light is the only aspect of us that is eternal.

In some, the inner Light seems to be buried and hidden behind personality...but it is there, no matter how dim it appears to be. Such Light is present within all living beings and it is sacred. It is this inner Light that connects us.

And it is this Light in all that we are asked to love.

There is no place and no circumstance, when we are awake and aware, where we cannot broadcast love.

by Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines
(c) 2022
All rights reserved

To Our Readers:
You might enjoy reading Mary Elizabeth Raines' nonfiction books, including
The Laughing Cherub Guide to Past-Life Regression: A Handbook for Real People
and
How to Help and Heal with Hypnosis: An Advanced Guide to Hypnotism

 

HOW TO GET OUR WAY IN LIFE

 

 

The goal of nearly every religion has been to figure out how we can get our wishes and needs granted. If only we pray the right way, bow the right way, dress the right way, eat the right way, behave the right way…only then will God listen to us and give us what we want.

 

Throughout time and numberless civilizations, people have burned incense, chanted, danced, sacrificed animals (or even other human beings), and have suffered through  countless other ritual acts, from the horrific to the silly, in this attempt to get God to grant to us what we want. There is even today a primitive tribe where the culture centers around this act: boys and men make a rope from jungle vines, tie one end around their ankle and the other end high up in a tree which they have climbed, and then jump out of the tree headfirst. With luck, they only just graze the earth with their head and the vine prevents them from crashing into the ground. Deaths and injuries, however, are not unknown. Why do they do this? So that God will grant them a good harvest. 

 

The ideas of getting what we want (e.g., manifestation) that are currently popular in Western society are often simply continuances of the same principles behind lighting a candle, praying to the four directions, rubbing a magic lamp to get the genii to appear, or saying “Hail, Mary.” We are absolutely fascinated by anything that may help us to get our way.

The laws governing manifestation that are popular with the New Age community today may well be correct–our thoughts and emotions have an effect on our circumstances, and we are told that we must think, feel, and believe in certain ways if we are going to be able to get what we want–but these laws are far more complex than most people realize. Sadly, for many people the idea of manifestation has turned into something superstitious and magical, not unlike jumping out of a tree headfirst to permit a good harvest, or sacrificing an ox to assure victory in battle.

To understand these complexities, it is important to recognize that our souls are infinite. Many people now accept the idea that we come into human form many times rather than just once. If this is true, while every sincere thought we have and every action we take may indeed come back to us in exact measure, it can take centuries before we reap the results, positive or negative, of these thoughts and actions. Even more, we live in a fractal universe that is constantly rearranging and shifting in response not just to our individual thoughts, but to our mass consciousness as well.

Moreover, our souls have chosen to have a human experience, and that experience is full of polarities: both good and bad things happen to all of us. Nobody is immune to this.

Not long ago a man criticized a dear friend of mine who had a chronic, debilitating illness, saying to her, “If you didn’t believe in that illness, you would be okay.” A short time later, after suffering loss after loss, he was in a terrible car accident. His beloved dog was killed, and the man had to be airlifted to a hospital because of the seriousness of his injuries. Did this happen because he, as he had accused my friend, held incorrect beliefs?

There are actually many reasons why things like sickness occur. Even the great intuitives like Edgar Cayce have said that while physical debilitation may indeed be the result of assorted thoughts and emotions, sometimes sickness just happens. When a colony of honeybees collapses and dies, is it because the honeybees had the wrong attitude? If a tree gets a disease, does that mean the tree hosted negative thoughts? When a dog is hit by a car, is it because the dog believed incorrectly? Nonsense. Similarly, when our souls come into human form, part of the deal is that we participate in the laws that govern human form, and those laws include the possibility of disease, accidents, and other common earthly occurrences.

The events and circumstances that occur to us are influenced by far more than our beliefs, emotions, and thinking. Among other things, our souls have come into human form to learn valuable lessons. Someone with a chronic illness may have signed up for that illness as a way of learning patience. Someone who is always broke may have signed up for that lesson to learn the lessons of loss and surrender. Someone who is addicted to alcohol or drugs may have chosen that problem on a soul level so that they could learn humility. We are not consciously privy to the lessons for which we have enrolled, and we are even less privy to someone else’s lessons. It is cause for tolerance both for others and for ourselves.

Despite this, trying to get the Universe to work so that we can have our wishes granted is not only ancient; it seems to be part of the human condition. While there are certainly successes, putting out enormous effort in an attempt to control our circumstances so that we can get things to work out in precisely the way we want can also lead to massive frustration and self-blame. It largely does not work any more than jumping headfirst from tall trees or sacrificing virgins works, even though the cultures that engage in those acts are adamant that their method is the best, and is necessary to make their lives better.

This does not mean that we should completely avoid the idea of manifestation. Discretion and awareness are necessary. Asking for and inviting things like daily needs, repair of relationships, healing of the body, or safe travels either for ourself or for others are naturally acceptable. There is a thin line, however, between this and the superstitious, compulsive behavior that blames all unfortunate events on people not having the "correct" mindset or attitude, or the self-doubt that may come when things do not go our way.

Rather than attempting to program every detail of lives for our own personal benefit, an easier, more peaceful, and higher-level way of facing life is simply to surrender to whatever larger force one believes in, whether that be God, the Universe, or simply the tides and currents of ever-changing events. This assures that we will fit in the flow or, if you will, the soup of life, free to contribute and to experience in the best way for all concerned without the interference of trying so hard to achieve our greedy ends.

I once asked a wise old man what the secret of life was. He replied, “Life is like floating down a river. If you try to direct the course of the current, or struggle to stay in the same place, you’re going to be in trouble. The secret is just to drift and enjoy and allow.”


by Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines
(c) 2022
All rights reserved

To Our Readers:
You might enjoy reading Mary Elizabeth Raines' nonfiction books, including
The Laughing Cherub Guide to Past-Life Regression: A Handbook for Real People
and
How to Help and Heal with Hypnosis: An Advanced Guide to Hypnotism

 

DOING YOUR PAIN

DOING YOUR PAIN
by Mary Elizabeth Raines

Want to change from feeling like a victim to feeling empowered? Want to stop a treacherous habit like smoking or drinking? Want to get over the poison of jealousy? Want to forgive someone who has cruelly wronged you? Want to evolve? 

Then get ready to "do your pain." And a word of warning: the hardest task in the world is doing your pain! 

The opportunities to change our patterns and knee-jerk responses never seem to arrive when we are feeling strong and enlightened. Instead, they pop up at the most difficult and unfair moments--times when we are exhausted and beaten down by life.

Take jealousy as an example. Here's the way it goes: we find ourselves full of jealousy and have the sudden realization that we no longer want to be jealous. We want to make a better, more tolerant choice, one that serves both us and the Universe. 

Wow, does it ever take effort to choose not to be jealous! It is incredibly unappealing. In fact, it can be frightening. Wallowing in the old misery is so much more familiar and strangely comforting. And news alert: learning a new way of responding to the situation that caused jealousy will be painful. This is where "doing your pain" comes in.

If you think about it, most of the damage that we do to one another and to ourselves stems from our aversion to doing our pain. We squirm and wiggle and rationalize and try every escape possible so as not to have to be in pain. 

A drug addict would rather rob an old man than do the pain involved in becoming clean and sober. People die prematurely every day who could not do the pain of stopping smoking or overeating. Others spend their days in monotony and live without color because they will not "do the pain" of stepping through their fear and entering a new, more vibrant way of being–for any change we choose to make has some pain attached to the decision. And back to jealousy: murders have been committed by people who would rather end someone's life than do the pain that accompanies getting over jealousy.

Not only does doing your pain hurt; there's even more bad news! Once we have decided to making a positive change, even after we have taken the huge step of willingness and done our very best to reverse old patterns, chances are that for a while, it won't even feel as though it has worked! As we turn our hearts toward the positive and away from the old negativity, whatever that may be, it will initially seem as though we are receiving no reward whatsoever. Instead, we seemingly get more misery. Here's why we are not going to feel all the positive effects of our new choices for a while. 

It takes time for this new way of responding to situations to register emotionally. It also takes time for our spirits and bodies to adjust to it. Part of this period of adjustment may be so that our souls can make sure that this is what we really want. During that time, it often feels as though we are still in the vibration of the old. Thus, the drug addict and the chain smoker will feel withdrawal and cravings. The jealous person will still have tinges of jealousy and rejection. 

Changing is like practicing the piano. You don’t learn to play a Bach fugue in the first lesson. No, instead you learn “Jingle Bells,” it will take immense effort, and you will probably play it badly!

For those are ready to make a big change in their patterns and responses to life, here's how to go about it: persist, ask for spiritual help, and hold yourself in willingness. Imagine, feel, envision and hear that old pattern being handed over to the Divine, who is  raising it to the highest possible vibration.

Trust that with your willingness, the new will eventually replace the old, and it may happen sooner than you think if you are faithful to your new way of being. It may be the hardest thing you have ever done in your life, but provided you are willing to do your pain, you will eventually come out the other side and finally become the person you have always been meant to be!

by Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines

(c) 2022
All rights reserved

To Our Readers:
You might enjoy reading Mary Elizabeth Raines' nonfiction books, including
The Laughing Cherub Guide to Past-Life Regression: A Handbook for Real People
and
How to Help and Heal with Hypnosis: An Advanced Guide to Hypnotism

JUST FOR YOU: A MINI-VACATION RIGHT NOW!

Headlines blaring bad news? Too much information too fast? Pressured and tense, or just sad?

Good news! It is possible for you to have a mini-vacation now, even in the few seconds it takes to read this.

Turn inward, think about your breathing, and slow it down. Breathe peace into your core. You can do this right now no matter what is happening in your life and no matter how you are feeling. You don’t even have to close your eyes to do it.

Exhale any busy-ness, any tension, or any feeling that is less than relaxed. Allow a sensation of peace to flood through you right now with each inhalation.  Stretch out your inhalations. 

This doesn’t need to be a perfect sensation…just something a little gentler, a little quieter, a little calmer, a little lighter. 

Maybe you enjoy imagining this peace as a soothing color, or tasting it like a healing fruit, or feeling it as a tender caress, or hearing it like a sweet chime of music, or even breathing it in as a smell, like the smell of being by the sea or in a deep still forest. 

However you like to perceive it, flow this peace to key areas in your body: 

your belly, 

your shoulders, 

your heart, 

your knees, 

the soles of your feet. 

What would your jaw feel like if you sent it a bit of peace just now? Send a wave of relief to your busy brain. Breathe this peace right into your spine and feel your back soften and widen, as if you had wings and they were unfolding and delighting in these relaxing sensations.

Have fun with it! Peace doesn’t have to be so serious. 

Flow peace into your rear end...and smile! If that smile were to fill with peace, would it change? 

Now let peace fill your fancy…wherever you fancy your fancy to be!

That feels much better, doesn’t it? 

by Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines
(c) 2022
All rights reserved

To Our Readers:
You might enjoy reading Mary Elizabeth Raines' nonfiction books, including
The Laughing Cherub Guide to Past-Life Regression: A Handbook for Real People
and
How to Help and Heal with Hypnosis: An Advanced Guide to Hypnotism

ABOUT TIME AND MANIFESTATION

 by Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines

©2021 by M. E. Raines

Whether we are attempting to heal, to invite something new into our lives, or trying to make other significant changes, one aspect of manifestation that often evades us is timing. The confusion that is generated because of timing can cause some to give up in despair, or to question their spirituality.

What many do not realize is that there is a time lag–sometimes a significantly long one–between the first attempt to manifest thoughts and/or prayers and their actualization.

If every single thought we had immediately manifested around us and within our bodies, we would be continuously changing; our physical bodies would be like mutable lumps of jelly surrounded by a swirling madhouse of events and circumstances. Thank goodness that it takes time! Rather than happening immediately, the body and the soul need to know that you really, really mean it before change can occur.

I used to teach aerobic exercise classes. Here is an interesting phenomenon: a person can attempt to lift their leg high in the air even though they do not have the natural ability to do so. Day after day, week after week, nothing changes. Many individuals would give up. If that person persists in trying, however, continuously pushing on those muscles, what happens is that one day, almost miraculously, their leg will indeed be able to rise high in the air! There is science behind this. What happens physiologically is that once the body is completely convinced, over a period of time, that the individual truly desires this to happen, and that it isn’t just a random thought, overnight there will be a miniature explosion of blood vessels feeding the necessary muscles that allow them to do something that had previously been impossible. The key factor is this: once the body is completely convinced over a period of time.

This time lag is a factor in the manifestation of anything we want to change in our lives, whether it is material (“I need to discover new ways to bring in income”), emotional (“I want to stop yearning for the girlfriend who dumped me”), physical (“I want to heal”), or spiritual (“I want to connect to my spirit guide.”)

Rarely is a desire or prayer answered immediately, no matter how well one follows the “rules” of manifestation.

People often become frustrated and give up too soon when they are attempting to make a change or to manifest something, not recognizing and allowing for the fact that these things almost always take time. When one sells one’s home, for instance, it doesn't occur immediately. First there is the decision to sell. That is followed by listing the home, advertising its sale, and then waiting for the perfect buyer.

As pointed out by someone else, one does not begin a road trip from Massachusetts to California, and then stop in Kansas in despair and turn back, whining that the trip did not work because the Kansas landscape didn’t look like California. That, however, is what happens to many people. They become discouraged and enter into such negativity that they block what they desire from coming to them.

Even miraculous healings, such as those evidenced by people who have near-death experiences, while occurring much faster than they normally would, often take time for the body to manifest. Anita Moorjani (check name & data) had a near-death experience where she knew that her cancer-riddled body was healed; even in the case of a miraculous healing, it still took a few weeks for the tumors to disappear.

Impatience and doubt create roadblocks and prevent our good from coming to us. When praying for or trying to manifest something new, have faith that this request is in process, and be patient.

by Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines
(c) 2021
All rights reserved

To Our Readers:
You might enjoy reading Mary Elizabeth Raines' nonfiction books, including
The Laughing Cherub Guide to Past-Life Regression: A Handbook for Real People
and
How to Help and Heal with Hypnosis: An Advanced Guide to Hypnotism

 

THE CORONAVIRUS: WHAT CAN WE DO SPIRITUALLY?

SUCH IS THE WORK OF ANGELS

(Please note: This article has nothing to do with being pro-vaccination or anti-vax, nor does it pertain to any attitude regarding Covid-19, masks, the medical community, etc. Those are personal choices. This is about rising above the polarities that divide us rather than an attempt to sway people to our point of view, and broadcasting what light and love we are able.)

 

Many of you have felt in recent months, either consciously or unconsciously, that something adverse was coming our way that was going to affect humanity. With the advent of the COVID-19, the first stage of what we were awaiting arrived, almost overnight.

We have a growing abundance of sound advice on what to do physically and socially to cope with this pandemic. But what can we do spiritually? Some simple steps follow, along with an easy eyes-open meditation at the end.

Mass consciousness, that collective cloud which is a mixture of the feelings and thoughts of every human being, is currently in shock. We are on pause. Nobody knows what is coming or agrees upon what to do.

When people go into shock from an accident or injury, they also go into a state of hypnosis, which means that they are highly suggestible. The critical, discerning mind of those who are in shock turns off, and anything that they are told they are likely to accept without question. If, for instance, someone who has just been injured in a serious car accident is told, “Help is on the way,” he is not likely to question that statement.


Our mass consciousness at this point in time is not unlike that of an accident victim, and is similarly in a state of high suggestibility.

That suggestibility is a wide-open corridor for those who feel called to inject more Light into humanity. [The term “Light” is a catchall, since readers are of many faiths. Feel free to change this word to whatever of a high order may be in your belief system.]

Many of you who are reading this are ready, willing, and eager to do exactly that. Following are some guidelines that you may find helpful.


STEP ONE


Avoid getting sucked into the lower vibrations of the mass consciousness.

Although we refer to it as consciousness, it is largely unconscious. Mass consciousness is an amplification of what has been termed mob mentality and consists of the collected thoughts and emotions of all people. Think of it as being like a cloud covering the planet; the heavier and darker the frequencies, the nearer it clings to the planet’s surface and the easier it is to access. Right now the mass consciousness is at a low point, for there are elements of fear, insecurity, and restlessness occurring throughout humanity.

This zombie-like cloud  is strangely appealing and magnetic. Lower frequencies take less work to generate, and tend to draw us in. Think of being in a room with  someone who is angry or depressed. The angry or depressed individual does not usually snap out of it and rise up to our level; rather, we are often dragged into a state of negativity simply by proximity. Mass consciousness works in the same way as being in the room with the unhappy person. It is curiously tempting to become swept into the lower, negative vibrations. It takes less effort on our part, and, as bleak as it may be, there is a strange and almost irresistible comfort in joining with another person or with a group where all are thinking or believing in the same way, even if those thoughts or beliefs are damaging.

How can one avoid being strangled by such dark mass thought forms? Several ideas will follow. Since we are all different in our emotional and mental make-up, there is no universal solution. What works for you might not be the answer for another, just as the music or menu choices you love might not suit someone else. Simply use these suggestions as guidelines, and tweak them to fit you and your style.

Realize that your soul has been preparing for this aspect of your journey for some time now, and you have been collecting many tools to help you change your consciousness, whether it has been through prayer and meditation, reading, attending workshops, listening to podcasts, sharing with friends, or in some other way. You now possess an extensive tool chest. It is time to utilize whatever is in it. The work that lies before you is far more important than manifesting a new car or lifting yourself out of the blues or even sending positive energy to another; while that had its place, much of it was just practice for these times and the days that will follow.

Some of you are best able to rise above mass consciousness by monitoring your thoughts and emotions constantly. Should despair or darker feelings enter–and this is guaranteed to happen from time to time, no matter how noble we like to think we are–you can rise above such discouraging ruminations by forming the clear desire  to move to a higher level of thinking and feeling. Those of you who have a belief in any form of spiritual guidance may ask for help in being elevated from grim thoughts and suffocating emotions to a place of compassion, kindness, and unselfishness.

Another option is to ask this question of your spiritual guidance: What can I do to help? While the answer will probably not appear before you as a blazing marquee, and for most will not even be evident at all, you may trust implicitly that you will be used in the best way possible, depending upon your current state of development.
 After you put forth such a request, realize that there is a waiting period where it may not seem as if you have been heard, and it feels as though nothing is happening at all. Be patient. We do not see our own hair grow, and yet it is always growing!

Shifting away from negative thoughts and feelings does not mean turning a blind eye to what is. For many people, it is vital to stay informed and acquire facts, provided such information does not drown them in darkness. Some of you who are more fragile may need to take time out from that kind of information, although personal sensitivity is never an excuse to bury our heads in the sand and enter into magical thinking where we pretend there is no problem when it is, in fact, surrounding us.

It can take a great deal of willpower to keep our eyes wide open and still avoid getting mired in dark thoughts at this time, for focusing repeatedly on the negative drags us into lower frequencies. Here's why it is so difficult to do. Part of us gets a rush, a fix of excitement, from sensationalism, no matter how awful it may be. An example of this is the popularity of television shows that investigate horrific crimes. Another instance occurs when we drive past the site of a bad accident; we feel curiously compelled to stare at the scene, even though what we see might be tragic indeed. This innate appeal of sensationalism is similar to being addicted to a drug. To achieve the high, we sometimes return over and over to darker stories about what is happening, many of which involve fear or even hatred on some level. It takes discipline to step away. While we need to be well informed, any more than that has no value if it is going to draw us down into the whirlpool of negative mass consciousness.

STEP TWO

Put on your own oxygen mask first.

While there is a deep desire in many of you to be unselfish and of service (or you wouldn’t have read this far!), you will be of little help if you yourself are struggling. You must look after your own needs before you can attend to that of others.



STEP THREE

Take every positive, uplifting, practical action that presents itself.


Some of you are best suited to help by doing physical deeds of service. Most of us are not front-line workers or heroes, so the majority of these deeds will be humble ones. Do not get caught up in glamour, and believe that what you have to offer is not of worth. The artist who paints the ceiling of the cathedral could not do so if someone hadn’t quarried the stone for its foundation. 
If such deeds are accompanied by thoughts of love and compassion, they will have a powerful impact, no matter how insignificant they may seem.

STEP FOUR

Broadcast loving, uplifting vibes for as long and as often as possible.

Enter into a quiet, calm state, focus on your breathing, raise your thoughts and emotions to the highest possible frequency, and then transmit them. Even a brief minute of broadcasting loving thoughts will have an effect, so if you are only able to do a little bit, it is still significant. Of course, the more nonjudgmental, loving Light you are able to send into the mass consciousness, the more you will assist in our collective transformation.

A meditation for emanating such Light can be found at the end of this message.

Humanity is shifting rapidly. While there is suffering and fear, there are also enormous strands of unexpected sweetness, softness, and Light arising, due in part to you. Thank you.

EYES-OPEN MEDITATION

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position, and take several deep, cleansing breaths. Breathe into the bottom of your rib cage, and exhale with the intent of releasing anything that is negative or limiting.

With your eyes focused gently on these written words, let your shoulders drop. Your arms can feel pleasantly, comfortably warmer and pleasantly, comfortably heavier. Let your chewing muscles go, and loosen all the muscles under the skin of your face and around your eyes.

Imagine a beam of light entering through the top of your head, spilling into your body, and filling you. You might visualize it happening, feel it like a glow, hear it like a note of music, or simply go along without seeing, feeling, or hearing anything. However you perceive it is fine.

Focus your intent now on what it is that you choose to broadcast, such as nonjudgmental, compassionate love. It could be healing, respect for the earth and her creatures, or profound peace. It could be joy, truth, or laughter. It could be the essence of a spiritual figure. It could be strength, serenity, an end to suffering, or anything you wish. Whatever positive energy you choose, allow it to rise through your body, blending with your heart and your mind.

If you have a belief in or sense of the energy centers that some call chakras, (places near important glands or organs where we tend to store emotion, such as in our solar plexus), you might take a moment now and breathe the positive spiritual frequency you desire to broadcast into each of your chakras, one at a time, starting at the base and moving upward.

See or sense this energy, like a light, or a warm glow, or a note of music, filling your feet and toes, and beginning to swell upward through your body until it reaches the top of your head. Invite any spiritual guidance to be your helper and companion during this important process.
 
When you are filled with this positive radiance, imagine that with each inhalation, it grows stronger and brighter, and that with each exhalation it expands further outward. Perceive it now beginning to radiate out through your skin. Take all the time you want. Let it fill your aura—the inches surrounding your body—and then visualize, sense, hear, or simply know that you are extending and stretching this glorious energy even further, broadcasting it like starlight or sunlight. The further out your energy reaches, the more powerful and Light-filled it becomes.

Other people, through prayer, meditation, or intent, may be relaying an energy similar to the one you have chosen. As you continue to shine your Light, you may discover that you find and connect with their Lights, combining your transmissions.

Whether you have an actual visual or palpable sense of this occurring or whether you are simply following along makes no difference. Do your best to keep your focus, continue to radiate the energy you choose to broadcast, and do so for as short or as long of a time as you want.

Realize that you may return to the state of sending forth whatever positive energy you choose at any time, in any situation…while you are driving, waiting somewhere, working, moving, or being still. You may broadcast almost continuously throughout the day, or in little droplets. Whatever you offer, big or small, is much greater than you could possibly realize.

Thank you.

© 2020, M. E. Raines

Author and Teacher Mary Elizabeth Raines lives in Sedona, Arizona, where she is founder of the Academy for Professional Hypnosis Training. Her books and articles, including both fiction and non-fiction, can be found on Amazon and Amazon Kindle.

Copying or reproducing this material in whole or in part in any form is not permitted. You are asked to uphold copyright law and contact the author for permission if you wish to do so. Please, however, feel free to link to this article.

JUDGMENT AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

WHAT JUDGMENT REALLY DOES

by Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines

©M. E. Raines, 2018

Judging another, regardless of the reasons or circumstances, is toxic both to us and to those we judge.

We judge out of annoyance, out of fear, out of anger, or sometimes—and this one is the most sneaky and thus dangerous forms of judgment—out of our presumably loving “concern” for another person. When we judge someone or some aspect of their life, we are gathering up an immense mass of negativity, with all its lack of understanding and lack of compassion, and casting it upon someone else. Energetically, judgment is a hard shell that compresses another.

Why do we do it? It feels good! Our judgment temporarily seems to lighten our own load. What it does is to steal a bit of power away from the person we're judging, and hand it to us. This gives us a temporary fix, a brief elation, but it is a false one, for when we rob another of their power in order to boost ourselves, we will wind up paying the price, and often it is with our emotions, experiences, or even our own cell tissue.

Worse, the moment we judge, we become blind to truth. Because it gives us a false little lift, we talk ourselves into believing that our judgment is wise when, in fact, judgment narrows our viewpoint and severely restricts any opportunities we might otherwise have been given to understand the other person or their situation.

The hardness of heart that arises when we judge someone else strangles compassion. Mercy dissolves.

Judgment, no matter how justified we think it may be, does not take into account what another may be on Earth to learn or to do. While we may believe that we know what their lessons are, we are never privy to all the specifics of someone else's life journey, even those who are closest to us.

Movement and flow are necessary for our growth and well-being. Judgment creates the reverse of this. It is stagnant, inflexible, and immobile.

The meanness of judgment refuses to honor or accept the struggles and the growth that the other may be undergoing. Those we condemn could indeed be upon a wonderful path of which we are unaware, but our judgment, which is always uninformed and imperfect, sadly makes it much more difficult, rather than easy, for them to continue on that path.

When we thrust judgment upon another, it can have an actual effect on them, but it is never a positive one. They pick up the restrictive energy of our judgment on some level, often an unconscious one. It feels like—and is!—an attack, and they instinctively turn their life force to defensiveness, clenching against the assault. The condemned person can become mired in negative energy. Because they are trapped in self-defense, they cease moving forward, and the opportunities for enlightenment and expansion that they are meant to flow into become less available, not more.

The harsh judgment we extend to our political leaders, for example, has the opposite effect from that which we may desire. Our hardness of heart simply creates more of the same in the other; the defensiveness that gets stirred in them by the energy of our condemnation can prevent them from becoming the leaders we would wish them to be.

Even with our own friends and family, it is never our job to decide how another should behave, what experiences they ought to invite into their lives, or who they should be, no matter how much we purport to care for them.

What is our job, then? The answer is simple, but it is one of the most difficult things for us to offer: the answer is to hold the other in unconditional love. This does not mean we are supporting unacceptable behavior. Rather, we look beyond behavior without judging it, and extend love to the light within them.

By radiating pure love, with no conditions or exceptions, to our friends, our family, our entertainers, our politicians, and the many others whose paths cross ours, energetically we are allowing them to receive the highest nourishment possible. It is like taking a dark drape off a plant and allow it light to reach it. Unconditional love holds people in a space where they can heal, if healing is needed, find answers—their answers, not ours,—and flourish.

by Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines
(c) 2022
All rights reserved

To Our Readers:
You might enjoy reading Mary Elizabeth Raines' nonfiction books, including
The Laughing Cherub Guide to Past-Life Regression: A Handbook for Real People
and
How to Help and Heal with Hypnosis: An Advanced Guide to Hypnotism

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF SEX

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF SEX

by Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines

©M. E. Raines, 2018

Promiscuity, casual sex, and even adultery are mainstream fare in our society. It is time, however, to take a second look at it.

It is possible that some of the early religions on our planet understood this when they put prohibitions on sex outside of sanctioned unions. Unfortunately, these once-wise recommendations evolved into pursed-lips restrictions against which many still rebel.

Here's the scoop: When you have sex with someone, your spirits enter into a sacred contract, whether you are consciously aware of this or not. You take not just part of their physical essence into your body; you also take their energy, their emotions, and their patterns into your very soul, for we are wide open and vulnerable during this act. Intimate emotional and spiritual blending take place. There is a merger of souls into one being.

Because we take on the essence of those with whom we have intercourse (or other such acts), casual sexual union without love can wreak havoc and create much misery. The imprints it leaves are long-lasting, perhaps even life-long. One spiritual teacher puts it this way: “Do not have sex with anyone you wouldn’t want to be.”

In partnership, this contract extends even further. You share the spiritual destiny of the other. Another broad term for this is karma. If one partner has karma that necessitates being robbed, both will experience the robbery. If, on the other hand, one of the couple receives honor and recognition, the other partner will also benefit from this. Our souls, in the intimacy and passion of sex, do not differentiate between incidental or promiscuous sexual behavior, and that which is accompanied by deep love and commitment. It doesn’t sort out our sexual acts and put one group into isolation, while allowing the other group to be open to the larger implications of intimacy.

Another law, then, might be: “Do not have sex with anyone whose karma you do not want to share.”

WE ARE ALL CITIES

by Mary Elizabeth Raines, (c) 2014

We are all cities.

We have downtowns with amazing and unique architecture. 

Our friends are invited to ride down classy, tree-lined streets lined with the gorgeous homes of the rich.

The gardens in our cities are lush and well tended, impressive places of shade and rest and loveliness.

There are cops to keep us safe, and huge banks to protect our wealth.

We have art galleries spilling with color, stalwart stone museums that organize and record our fragile history, and fascinating restaurants brimming with heady scents and tastes to nurture us. 

Sometimes we string festive lights on our trees and streets and throw parties.

These are the parts of us that we tend to show to others. Especially prospective lovers.

Visitors are very impressed.

There are other places in our cities, though—hidden, crumbling, and even shameful spots. Nobody is immune. Nobody’s city is entirely beautiful and entirely safe. 

All of us have pockets of crime. 

Slums. 

Rats in the subway. 

Roofs caving in.

There are corners where drug dealers and psychopaths lurk, and unsafe neighborhoods, and here and there, leaking sewage spewing disease. 

Somewhere in everyone is a derelict pushing a rusty shopping cart who curses at all the passers-by.

Yup, that’s part of who we are as well.

Not one soul on earth has a perfect city. 

Not one person exists without a street they would prefer to hide. 

Nor is anyone’s city entirely evil.

Does not the most hardened criminal soften like a little boy when he eats an ice cream cone, or weep at his grandmother’s funeral? May not the drunken prostitute pause and look in rapture and longing at the full moon?

Do not love only the pretty parts of the city that that is another, or is you. See it all and embrace the totality — the complex miracle of all that we are. For we are all cities.

YOU MUST BE A FAILURE BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT MAKING ANY MONEY

Note: In this blog, there are references to God. Please interpret the word God in any way that works for you.

by Mary Elizabeth Raines

Noticing a garden gate had been left open, with other plans for my morning today, I went outdoors to close the gate. I wound up spending a half an hour harvesting dried beans. In the process, my pants and shirt got covered with a great many very sharp burrs called goatheads. It took five minutes and a number of ouches just to pull the goatheads off my clothing. Soon I will sit at my kitchen table and shell the beans, a painstaking process that will take another half an hour.

The end result? An hour's work for about 70 cents worth of beans.

I had more satisfaction and pleasure with those beans than I've had in some sessions I conduct where, in the same amount of time, I've earned a couple of hundred dollars.

Many people in contemporary society mistakenly attach price tags or popularity to success. This includes not only business people, but artists, musicians, and writers. It is especially prevalent, weirdly, in those following spiritual pursuits or the so-called New Age, where some of those who are healers or helpers, such as massage therapists or hypnotists, believe that a certain income must be attached to the good work they do. If a reasonable amount of money is not forthcoming, these people believe that they have failed. If they cannot make a living doing what they love, they are crushed.

Newsflash: God does not care whether or not you make money! There are plans for you to use your gifts and they have absolutely nothing to do with income.

Think of God as this large omnipotent guy in the sky (which I do not believe, but bear with me here). I can see him scratching his head at the despair and pleading prayers streaming up from those of us on earth. This God would say, “Why are they so miserable? Why can’t they just use their gifts and do what I ask them to do? What does money have to do with anything?” 

Many give up when they can't make a living by following their dream. They not not realize that money is a man-made commodity. It has nothing whatsoever to do with success or failure. Money is inconsequential in the eyes of the Universe. In fact, some people might even wind up having to pay out of their own pockets to pursue their dreams. That has zero bearing on whether or not they should follow their dream. Success or failure, likewise, is not measured by the number of people we reach when we use our gifts.

Suppose a man has a startling vision where he is guided to become a Reiki practitioner. After going through the various levels of training and dedicating himself whole-heartedly to this work, at most he ends up seeing just one client a week. He feels defeated and beaten. This is because he mistakenly supposed that his vision meant he was going to earn his living doing Reiki, when it really just meant that he was supposed to learn and practice Reiki because there would be people who would need what he had to offer.

An artist lives in despair because she has only sold one painting. Since childhood, she had always believed that she was supposed to paint. The money she has invested in oils and canvas alone, however, has turned out to be far more than she may ever get back. That one painting she sold? It is hanging in a house where a little girl stares at it in rapture for hours on end, and who will, as a result, wind up leading an inspired life. Another little girl somewhere else is still waiting for the painting to be created that will likewise inspire her. What a shame it would be if the artist decides to stop painting because she cannot make a full-time living in art, or because only a few people buy her work!

A man who sets up a little shop has a stimulating time learning about buying and selling. He enjoys every aspect of the business, until it fails financially. He winds up crushed with depression, feeling like a loser, instead of looking back happily on the many pleasant experiences he had in the process. He does not even recognize that rather than being depressed, he could have chosen to view his shop as a wonderful success.

A poet publishes his book of poems on Kindle, with high hopes for prosperity. He is crestfallen by the low sales of his book, and he gives up writing, taking his book off the market--not realizing that among those who bought his poetry was an old man who had been suffering, and who had received a few magnificent hours of respite and peace by reading his poems.

A woman prays about what to do with her life and has the dream of becoming a healer. She is disheartened and loses faith when she is unable to earn a living as a healer. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to her, her life's purpose was to work in a community where those requiring healing did not have the financial resources to pay. 

Yes, the Reiki practitioner, the artist, the shop keeper, the poet, and the healer will all have to receive their income in other ways. That doesn’t mean that they should give up, stop using their gifts, and deny themselves the pleasure of the process. 

Whether or not we earn money doing what we are meant to do in life is not even remotely related to success. God doesn’t care!

What matters is that our gifts be used fully and that we live every aspect of our lives, whether it is harvesting 70 cents' worth of beans or painting a picture from our heart that is intended for just one little girl to see. That is the success!

Article and artwork © Laughing Cherub, 2015

Reproducing or copying in any form prohibited.

Please feel free, however, to link to this article!

SPIRITUAL SOLUTIONS TO TODAY'S NEGATIVITY

by Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines

A powerful eyes-open meditation for broadcasting Light is included at the end of this post.

As this particular chapter is being written—shortly after the USA's 2016 presidential election—the air is thick and almost palpable with darkness, hopelessness, hatred, fear, helplessness, viciousness, and other not-so-nice energies. It is imperative that all of us walk through this life with our eyes wide open, that we perceive the truth of what is happening, and that we fully feel what we feel. Burying our heads in the sand, creating diversions, rationalizing, or masking these feelings with a Pollyanna smile is neither healthy nor helpful.

Does this mean we are to endure the stress? What, on a spiritual level, can we do about today’s turmoil?

First, whether the emotions that well up are grief, anger, self-righteousness, or fear, they must be clearly acknowledged and expressed, and then allowed to pass through us. The analogy? Eating. All of us in human form take in food. All of us, to survive, must chew our food and then allow it to pass through our systems and be released out the other end. Note that it is not released in a beautiful form! It is what it is. Similarly, we must acknowledge our negative feelings, chew on them a bit (express them), and then allow them passageway through us, even though aspects of this passage may be unpleasant.

There’s a catch to that. It is very easy and tempting for emotions, particularly those that are negative and nasty, to become lodged inside us. They get gummed up when our thoughts go round and round in circles. (Few people have tape loops running through their heads of positive, loving events!) Take heart. This happens to all of us, and, like it or not, it is human nature to fixate on the negative. But when our emotions get stuck instead of moving through us, they lower our vibrations and can even cause physical, emotional, or mental disease. Our feelings must be acknowledged and allowed passage.

Next, recognize that the emotions running through us are primarily reactions to negative broadcasts. We are currently being bombarded with such broadcasts. Some of these are direct communications of which we are aware, such as news articles, TV shows, blogs, and Facebook posts. Other broadcasts are more subtle, but just as, if not more, powerful. The combined emotions and thoughts of many people are churning around and through us, much like Wifi, cell-phone, or other satellite transmissions. The more negative the broadcast, the lower the frequency. Lower frequencies are easier for us to pick up and absorb, like the way, at a distance, the thudding bass of loud music overpowers the melody.

Most of these broadcasts send our physical and emotional beings into turmoil. The more sensitive we are, the more we unconsciously pick up such negative transmissions, but it isn't necessary to possess great sensitivity to feel their effects; nearly everyone is absorbing and reacting to these broadcasts. The result of such massive amounts of negativity is stress. Many people these days are finding themselves irritable, anxious, sad, defensive, or angry for no discernible reason.

On a spiritual plane, the most vital task before us today is to switch roles. Instead of being the receivers of what others are broadcasting, our highest calling is to become broadcasters ourselves. This is not with the intent of arguing, defeating, fighting, “praying for,” or overpowering any other ideology or energy. It is simply our job to broadcast Light...and it can be done by any of us, regardless of our beliefs. We do not have to fit someone's definition of a Lightworker to do this sacred work!

The Light that you choose to broadcast can be any positive, uplifting energy, from profound love to gentle laughter, that is easy for you to express. Are you good at getting people to smile by telling a joke? Are you a person who radiates peace? Do you do well at problem-solving, or sharing inspirational stories? Or do you shine best when you are loving and respecting nature? All of us have something positive at our core that we can choose to expand and radiate outward.

It is probable that in the beginning, our individual broadcasts will be like teensy little radio stations that get overpowered with static from the big, noisier, more negative broadcast stations. That doesn’t matter. Just as the broadcast frequencies of every TV show that has ever been aired are still somewhere in space, once our energy has been transmitted, it remains in the ethers. We have no knowledge of where or when our broadcasts may be received by someone in need.

How do we broadcast? It’s easy. We still our hearts (after having cleared them!), center ourselves, and go into meditation or prayer. We then focus on sending out whatever energies we prefer. A brief meditation will follow for doing this.

Here are the simple steps:
1. Truthfully acknowledge and accept any emotions that well up within you, whatever they may be.
2. Allow those feelings to have brief expression, and then to pass through, rather than finding a home within your being.
3. Recognize that the feelings you are having are reactions to someone else’s broadcast.
4. When you feel clear, begin to broadcast whatever positive energies feel right and comfortable for you. 

EYES-OPEN MEDITATION

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position, and take several deep, cleansing breaths. Breathe into the bottom of your rib cage, and exhale with the intent of releasing anything that is negative or limiting.

With your eyes focused gently on these written words, let your shoulders drop. Your arms can feel pleasantly, comfortably warmer and pleasantly, comfortably heavier. Let your chewing muscles go, and loosen all the muscles under the skin of your face and around your eyes.

Imagine a beam of light entering through the top of your head, spilling through your body, and filling you. You might visualize it happening, feel it like a glow, hear it like a note of music, or simply go along without seeing, feeling, or hearing anything. However you perceive it is fine.

Focus your intent now on the energy you choose to broadcast. It could be peace, respect for the earth and her creatures, love, or a feeling of honor. It could be joy, truth, or laughter. It could be strength, healing, serenity, or anything you wish. Whatever positive energy you choose, allow it to rise through your body, blending with your heart and your mind.

If you have a belief in or sense of the energy centers that some call chakras, (places near important glands or organs where we tend to store emotion, such as in our solar plexus), you might take a moment now and breathe the positive energy you desire to broadcast into each of your chakras, one at a time, starting at the base and moving upward.

Otherwise, you might see or sense this energy, like a light or the glow of a candle flame or a note of music, filling your feet and toes, and beginning to swell upward through your body until it reaches the top of your head.

When you are filled with this positive energy, imagine that with each inhalation, it grows stronger and brighter, and with each exhalation that it is expanding further outward. Perceive it now beginning to radiate out through your skin. Take all the time you want. Let it fill your aura—the inches surrounding your body—and then visualize, sense, hear, or simply know that you are extending and stretching this glorious energy even further, broadcasting it like starlight or sunlight. The further out your energy reaches, the more powerful and light-filled it becomes.

Other beings may be broadcasting an energy similar to the one you have chosen. As you continue to shine your light, you may discover that you find and connect to other similar lights, combining your broadcast with theirs.

Whether you have an actual, palpable sense of this occurring or whether you are simply following along makes no difference. Do your best to keep your focus, continue to radiate the energy you choose to broadcast, and do so for as short or as long of a time as you want.

Realize that you may return to the state of broadcasting whatever positive energy you choose at any time, in any situation…while you are driving, standing in a line somewhere, working, moving, or being still. You may broadcast almost continuously throughout the day, or in little droplets. Whatever you offer, big or small, is much greater than you could possibly realize.

Thank you.

© 2016, M. E. Raines

Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines has books and articles available on Amazon, including The Laughing Cherub Guide to Past-Life Regression and her newest collection of short stories, The Man in the GPS and other Stories.
She lives in Sedona, Arizona, where she trains people to become past-life regression counselors and is founder of the Academy for Professional Hypnosis Training.

Copying or reproducing this material in whole or in part in any form is not permitted. You are asked to uphold copyright law and contact the author for permission if you wish to do so. Please, however, feel free to link to this article.