Portrait of My Heart by Emily VanLaeys

Emily's Heart Chakra

       Last Saturday I had the privilege of meeting a beautiful soul, whose name in this life is Leiah Rubin Bowden, of "Lightspeak Transformational Arts."  Leiah has the intuitive ability
to see and draw chakras, and to interpret what she sees to assist healing and understanding 
in her clients.

         I met Leiah at the Shift New York Holistic Living & Psychic Fair in Oneonta. Although Leiah offers full chakra portraits, these take a couple of hours to create. At the fair, she only had 20 minutes to spend with each client, so she drew an interpretation of just one chakra for each of us. She said my heart chakra was the one calling for attention, I'm guessing because I meditate on "I Am Love" more than anything else. 

         Leiah chanted as she gazed at my heart chakra and began to draw. As she drew she talked about what she was seeing. I can't say I totally understood it all . . . .Some of the symbols that she saw and drew have to do with my "off-planet" being. She talked about how we are all multi-dimensional beings, existing simultaneously on different worlds - even though each self is not consciously aware of the others. The pink and gold rectangle in my heart chakra shows that my off-planet being is structured, benevolent, and clear, with a divine gold lining. 

        The purple flower with a white center in the middle of my heart shows my dedication to a beautiful source. The surrounding pink color comes from the feeling of love and warmth inside of me. The green outside of that shows that I have a mature, nourishing heart. I open my sacred heart energy to everyone in my world. It is an automatic flowing forth - I don't have to think about it to make it happen. 

             I don't remember for sure, but I think the gold symbols at the top and the silver ones on the left are also related to my off-planet being. I don't think she knew exactly what they mean. The last thing I wrote in my notes says: "Attunement of heart to universal appreciation of what love can do." It's all very positive and affirming. My understanding is that everyone who receives a chakra portrait has a positive experience, because our chakras emanate from our divine being rather than the ego where the negative aspects of ourselves reside. 

            Working with our chakras is a good reminder that our true beings are divine, eternal, and good. What could be more affirming than that? 

A Wrinkle in Time - More Timely than Ever!

A Wrinkle in Time is one of my all-time favorite books. I first read it when I was ten years old, and I have read it many times since. The story has more meaning for me as I grow in wisdom and understanding. The heroine, Meg, has lost her little brother, Charles Wallace, to the clutches of IT, a cold, dark force that feeds on human fears and controls the entire population of the planet, Camazotz. There has been no trouble of any kind on this planet for centuries, because everyone is exactly alike and there are no differences to fear. IT told Charles Wallace that he would have peace and utter rest if he surrendered his mind to IT. Charles decided to be free of all responsibility by giving in to IT, and so he lost his individuality and his desire to return home with Meg.

The planet Camazotz has been compared to communist countries; a natural connection since Madeleine L'Engle wrote this book during the Cold War. But now I compare Camazotz to the world we live in, because even though we are not all alike, there is a constant fear and hatred of those who are different from those who belong to the status quo, and these negative emotions are constantly fed by the Powers that Be: in the media, in government, in religion – nearly everywhere. And when we fill our minds with the violence we are fed by the media, the exclusiveness we are taught by certain institutional religions and governments, and the materialism that society showers us with, we lose sight of who we truly are.

Meg knew that she was the only one who could save her brother, and the only way to save him was to discover what she had that IT did not. She had tried fighting against IT, but violent emotions just made IT stronger. The voice that spoke to her from Charles Wallace's body, that was the voice of IT, was full of hate. And so she realized that the one thing she had that IT did not – was love. She could not bring herself to love IT, but she could love Charles Wallace. She knew that the mind and soul of her little brother were still there, deep inside. The first time I read this book, when Meg felt her love for Charles Wallace with all her heart, and her little brother broke free from IT's grasp, the tears rolled down my cheeks. Even now, as I think about it, I feel chills of joy!

And yes, there is a lesson here for all of us, in this present day. There is a dark force attempting to rule over our planet, just as IT ruled Camazotz. This negativity tries to control us by leading us to believe that the world is full of enemies that we must fear and hate. It controls us by entertaining us with mindless drivel on our television sets, and violent sports events. It controls us by feeding us too much of the wrong kind of food. (Have you been out to eat lately? Did you feel like you had to clean your plate even though there was enough food for three people on it? Did you feel fat, content, and happy afterward?) It controls us by leading us to believe that we belong to the One True Church, and we are citizens of the Best Country on Earth.

The only way to break free from this dark force, is through love. Jesus said: “You will know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free.” The truth is not that you must worship Jesus and bow down to him. The truth is that we must live as he and the other great ones have, loving our neighbors and our enemies: Transforming our enemies into friends. The truth is that we and all of humanity and all of creation are one in spirit - and so there really is nothing to fear!

When we watch the News on television, and give in to fear and horror over what we see, we feel heavy and bleak. Our vibrations are dense and sluggish. This is exactly the result that the dark forces want, because these low vibrations keep the world under their control. Other activities contribute to humanity's low vibratory rate: taking toxins such as nicotine, recreation drugs, alcohol, and food additives into our bodies; resorting to anger or violence as a way of dealing with challenges; or just turning to mindless entertainment instead of facing the deeper questions of life.

Just as Meg set her brother free with love, we can free ourselves and our world with love, and the higher vibrations that emanate from love. Love is not just an emotion that one person feels for another. It is the energy of creation! Feel love and gratitude for your life and you feel light and joyful. Love yourself and your life, and you will not need to numb your mind with drugs or an excess of food. Meditate by inviting love and light into your life, and you feel bliss. At this time,more and more people are living with joy, in gratitude and in love, and so the vibrations of the world are becoming finer and higher. As a result, the dark forces are fighting even harder for a stronghold on human minds. They are doing their best to spread fear and hatred over the media and any way that they can. But fear and hatred are illusions. The only real truth is Love, and Love will win in the end. This is something I'm sure of. But I'd like to see it happen sooner than later, wouldn't you?

No "Ism" in Oneness by Emily VanLaeys

      

       For much of my life I searched for a religious or spiritual group that I could call my own. I wanted to "belong" to a church or spiritual organization whose teachings I believed in. I have been affiliated with Unitarian-Universalist Churches, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches, the Unity School of Christianity, Rosicrucianism, the Association of Research & Enlightenment, and many others in my quest for an organization I could truly belong to. I have explored the beliefs of other religions, from Catholicism to Buddhism and Hinduism to animism and paganism. I have found elements of truth in each of these paths. Not that I claim to know what Truth is - but when there is something that feels right and resonates with my soul, it becomes my truth - at least until a new idea feels better. 

       This fall I turned 60. We often hear that wisdom comes with age, although what is wisdom to one person will be folly to another. The wisdom that has come to me, that is surely folly in the eyes of many others, is that I am happy not belonging to any particular religion or spiritual organization. I have realized that to claim one "ism" as my own is to separate myself from those who belong to other "isms." To claim one path as "truth" is to label all others as "false" and set myself above those whose beliefs differ from mine. 

       I have also found that there is no one path that is totally inclusive. And so, it seems that the best way to experience Oneness with all of creation is to remain outside of all humanly-constructed belief systems. I do not avoid these systems though: my husband and I still attend church nearly every Sunday - but not the same one every week. There is always some bit of inspiration to be gained from a church service, and it is beneficial to spend time with others who are seeking a higher path in life. But I no longer feel the need to join one of these churches, and I do not wish to be labeled as a member of any "ism." 

       I claim "Love and Light are All-That-Is" under "Religious Views" on my Facebook page. This is my current belief -  but the details are ever-changing and I feel no need to engrave them in stone.

    P.S. Eight years later I have discovered an "ism" that I can claim. Omnism! As an Omnist I believe that most religions contain some element of truth, but that no one religion can claim the whole truth.