Having An Amazing 'Effin Year

Keeping up with my trend of sharing awesome books, websites, and resources on Tuesday, today I am going to share with you one of my favorite things on the interwebz.

A few weeks ago I shared my review on the gorgeous, creative, supportive, circle of women that I've met at the Goddess Circle. This review goes hand in hand with that.

The Creating Your Goddess Year Workbook and Planner. I first downloaded this in March of last year, and although the year had already begun I found that it gave me a lot of inspiration for how I wanted to spend the rest of the year.

This year I found myself working though some very heavy resistance. The first part of the Goddess Year Workbook is called 'Celebrating and Releasing 2011'. Last year was the year I started my business, it was the year that I blossomed, it was the year that I became more spiritually fulfilled than I've ever been before. It was also a year of great pain for me. My friendships deteriorated, people that I cared about did really hurtful, despicable things to me, I went through the ringer.

It really, really, sucked.

When I first sat down to work on it I got stuck on thinking about all of the bad stuff that had happened. I didn't want to remember those feelings. I didn't want to relive the pain. However, as I began to fill out the Workbook I realized that those experiences are shaping me right now. What I went through last year made me realize what I need to nourish myself right now, how not to repeat those mistakes. How to surround myself with what I need.

As I began to really get into it, I realized how many damn miracles have come into my life. The shitty stuff happened, it's over, I learned from it, the miracles however, well those keep blossoming and creating more, and more, until I am utterly surrounded by them.

There's so much to this workbook, planning, dreaming, affirmations, creativity. Make financial, spiritual, and creative, goals, plan retreats for yourself, figure out what you want to stop doing, what you're doing right, and how to have a magical year. It is a rainbow guide of awesome.

One of my favorite things about this workbook is the 100 Things to do in 2012. I have so many wonderful things planned already. I can't wait to make my 2012 dreams come true.

So check it out, only $9.95 for over 100 pages. So worth it. I chose to be part of Leonie's Affiliate program so all products that you buy help me out as well.

I hope that you have an amazing year!

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A Moment Just For You

Self Care Sunday, yay! Ready for your Self Care Assignment? Before we get started I wanted to chat with you a little about what self care is and why I love it so much, and am encouraging you to love it as well.

Self Care is what you do when you practice Self Love, and I don't mean the kinky kind, although that's fun too.

Self Love is letting yourself see the beautiful light that is you. Working on your self-esteem, feeling good about who you are, loving your body the way it is. You stop the hate (or try to). You stop beating yourself up for being human, you stop hating your jiggly bits, your crooked teeth, your freckles, your weight. You love yourself the way you would your child, your spouse, or your best friend.

Self Care is what you do to foster that sense of love. Those sweet, comforting, little things you do for yourself. When you allow yourself to practice Self Care on a regular basis you stop ignoring your needs, you take the time to slow down and relax, and you'll be a much happier person for it. You've heard the ol' saying about putting on your oxygen mask before you help someone else. Self Care is your oxygen mask. If you are burnt out and grumpy from ignoring your needs then you probably aren't giving your best to yourself or the people you love.

What I want you to do today is take 5-15 minutes to sit in silence. Use this time to get in touch with your body and your mood. Concentrate on your body first. Are you sore anywhere? Does your body feel drained or just feel 'off'? How are you feeling mentally? Is it one of those days where you wish you could start all over? Are you happy and joyful? Allow yourself to feel whatever it is you feel and then go from there.

Do what you need to do for you.

I love you, ya know?

Big, gigantic Panda hugs!

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Love Notes: Ask for Help

I love sharing notes of love with you and with everyone else as well! Please pay it forward and send this to those that you feel need to hear it. Spread the love! Let the ones that you care about know how much they are loved and appreciated!

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Paper Boats On Rivers of Hate

“Anger is like flowing water; there's nothing wrong with it as long as you let it flow. Hate is like stagnant water; anger that you denied yourself the freedom to feel, the freedom to flow; water that you gathered in one place and left to forget. Stagnant water becomes dirty, stinky, disease-ridden, poisonous, deadly; that is your hate. On flowing water travels little paper boats; paper boats of forgiveness. Allow yourself to feel anger, allow your waters to flow, along with all the paper boats of forgiveness. Be human.” ― C. JoyBell C.

Thursdays are usually where I share a little oracle card reading with you, but today I found this quote and it wanted and needed to be shared and written  about. This year started off on a really great note for me, full of joy and happiness, and then I found myself falling into old patterns.

The Past keeps creeping up, poisoning my Present.

I spent the last year feeling this huge shift in my body and my spirit.

Growing pains.

Hurting. Engulfing. Expanding. Coming out of self-imposed shells and casings.

I wanted to be the person that could breathe into my heart, into love, and have forgiveness. I wanted to be a good person. I haven't always wanted to be that person. In the past I held grudges, I was vindictive, I even relished passive-aggressive acts of revenge. I am an extremely intuitive person and as much as that gift allows me to help others it also gives me great insight into people, their weakness, and the things that hurt them.

I would use that to cut others to the bone.

Then I began to transform and I realized that path wasn't one I wanted to walk down anymore. I chose the opposite path. One of love and forgiveness.

Transformation doesn't happen that quickly.

In my head I was letting things go, but in reality I really didn't know how. I was thinking the right things, "I forgive so-and-so, everything is okay." In reality there was pool of anger and resentment building inside of me.

Over the last few days it's all come bubbling up and I realize I don't have my shit as together as I thought I did. (Isn't that how it always goes?) So now I am sitting here with all of those feelings. As things painfully shift inside of me again. I know it's going to be alright, I'll get through it, be wiser for it, but right now I am treading the stagnant, dirty, stinky, disease-ridden, poisonous, water, trying to keep my head above it all.

It'll be okay.

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Winter Animal Magic

I think that a lot can be learned from animals. Some of us have animals as totems or Spirit Guides, and allow animals to teach us wisdom. We can be inspired by how animals live, and learn wise lessons from their behavior. I thought I would highlight an animal that has Winter Wisdom to teach us.

Bear is a very powerful animal and is believed to be one of the first animals to be revered by humans. There are so many myths surrounding the bear. The Greek and  Norse associated the bear with Goddesses and Native American medicine reveres the bear as the Great Spirit.

Bear is quiet during the Winter months, she knows instinctively when the time is right to hibernate, where she should go and also when she needs to reawaken.

It is good to realize that sometimes we need solitude, time to reflective upon our journeys. Time to trust and follow our instincts. Did you know that Bear gives birth to cubs during hibernation while she sleeps? This makes Bear a symbol of deep feminine wisdom. When she sleeps she becomes the Great Mother who nurtures us all. Bear is also a fierce protector of her cubs and guards over them.

Do you find it easy to follow your instincts? Why or why not?

How do you find solitude? Do you feel you get enough of it?

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What do you think?

Happy Self Care Sunday. Let's have a party! Party, party! I am in a good mood today, hopefully you are too, and if you aren't, try to find a way to get there!

So if you follow me on ze facebook and twitter you are probably familiar with the self-care tips and quotes that I post on a daily basis. There's actually a process to this involving hootsuite, which allows you to schedule posts to go out on your social media. Pretty cool, right?

Every week, usually on Tuesdays, I schedule a week's worth of quotes and tips and links. It usually takes me over two hours to compile everything because I am pretty picky with what I share with you. I try to find new quotes, think of new tips to share, add in pictures or videos, I love giving you all a dose of inspiration. Last week, I was working on the self-care tips and an amazing one occurred to me, and it was posted on Wednesday so you might have already seen it.

Self Care Tip: Get a piece of paper, write down what 'beauty', 'success', and 'love' mean to you. Don't ever let someone else change those definitions.


I fell in love with this idea that fell out of my brain.

So today you have a little homework assignment.

Write down what beauty means to you.

Beauty means so much more to me than what's on the outside. I love those people that don't look 'traditionally' beautiful but there's a light that just shines out of them because they are okay with who they are. When it comes to myself I like my curly, crazy, hair. I'm cool with hairy legs. Eyeliner is as much make-up as I wear and I feel comfortable and pretty like that.

Don't let anyone change your definition of what beauty means to you and what makes you feel comfortable.

Write down what success means to you.
I wrote a blog about this a few weeks ago for Wishcasting Wednesday. Business-wise I guage my success by how I am able to inspire others. I don't need to make money, I just need to spread my message, and as long as I am doing that, then I consider myself a success. In my personal life, as long as I am happy that's what matters. I've had people tell me that unless I procreate my life is meaningless because nothing that I do will be carried on. I beg to differ!

Write down what love means to you.

This one is a toughie because there is such a thing as compromise, which you have to do in a relationship. No one is going to be 100% perfect. However, don't change your definition of what love is when someone hits you. Don't change your definition when someone cheats on you, berates you, or mistreats you. Stick to your definition and don't bend to someone else's!

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Loving the Present You

I love sharing notes of love with you and with everyone else as well! Please pay it forward and send this to those that you feel need to hear it. Spread the love! Let the ones that you care about know how much they are loved and appreciated!

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Strangely Lonely

This morning's card just for me and you, my lovely reader, is from one of my favorite decks, the Oracle of Shadows and Light by Lucy Cavendish.

Strangely Lonely
Message: Holding on way too tight

Today, after a week where love was a big focus, this card really resonated with me and I hope it does with you as well. It is about holding on to something so tight that it creates a barrier between you and the rest of the world.

I am an expert at this.

You see, I have pretty bad abandonment issues. I have never met my biological father and after a few attempts to contact him as a teenager that met with rejection, it became too difficult to deal with it to attempt it again. Growing up, I was very close to my Grandfather. After my Grandmother died when I was 11, I never saw him again. I distinctly remember my mother saying that he had moved on and he didn't love us anymore. This really laid the foundation for how I feel about love and my difficulty in believing that it could ever be more than a passing thing.

You'd think that this would make me jaded, and it has. I use those childhood wounds as a barrier between myself and my relationships. The minute that I feel comfortable with a friendship or a relationship those fears come back and I create barriers. I jump into my spirituality, my work, or video games so that I don't "need" that relationship so much. Loneliness still exists there.

I hold on way too tight to the fear that if the people who were "supposed" to love me, didn't, then there's no way that someone would love me of their own free will. Heavy stuff.

Strangely Lonely asks us this:

Is there something that you are holding on to that is creating a barrier between you and your relationships?

Is there a way that you can let go just a little bit?

Give yourself room to mindfully love someone else, to interact and engage with them. Let go of your security blanket, even if it's only for a few moments.

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Headology and Why It's Awesome

As I revealed last week, I've decided to expand on my 'Book Review Tuesdays' to include other fantastic resources. There are some awesome things out there that you need to know about. Last week I did my review on Goddess Leonie's Goddess Circle and today I review Ellie Di Julio's awesome creation, The Headologist.


As defined by Ellie, Headology is "n. the art and science of helping people make themselves more
awesome by using what they’ve already got."

The Headologist is all about helping people to realize their awesomeness and chase down their potential. It's pretty fantastic. Want to know one of the best things about The Headologist?

All of her products are free. Yep! F-R-E-E.

Headology Activity Book: "This 25-page activity book combines that childhood love of playing with the deep-seated need to make ourselves more awesome. It’s crammed full of fun: colouring, drawing, word games, brainstorming, and creating."

Headology 2012 Yearbook: "In these pages, you’ll remember and honor the best (and worst) elements of your year, as well as take what you’ve learned and make plans for next year.  By thinking through your experience and dreaming big for next year, you’d have to be trying not have at least one breakthrough."

Anything But Ordinary: 30 Days of Ordinary Journalling to Create Extraordinary Self-Awareness. "Designed to facilitate that evolution by establishing a self-reflective writing practice.  You’ll look at commonplace events, feelings, and memories in a whole new light; they are the very fabric of your Self. Every day you’ll write at least 750 words, a length chosen specifically to break past the patina of mundane rumination and into the great and terrible beauty beneath."

Completely awesome right?! To get access to some of her freebies you have to sign up for The Headologist Newsletter to get the password to the super secret Tribequarters, it's easy peasy and so worth it.

Not only do you get these awesome products, Ellie also has a blog full of kick-ass wisdom where she tells it like it is. This woman is truly amazing in her ability to weave together stories with a good point, writing that makes a difference, and great advice that makes you go "Whoooooa, I needed that!"

So go check her out RIGHT NOW! 

I'm always on the look out for epic resources to share and review so if you know something I should be checking out please drop me a note on my contact page.

Mwah!

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Love + Aromatherapy

Hello Darling!

How is your month of Self Love going? Fabulously I hope! Today I am going to chat with you a little bit about aromatherapy and how you can use it to enhance your love life (even if your love life just consists of you). Aromatherapy can help create a more loving environment for you and your feelings about yourself.

Love is in the air, or at least it can be if you use a diffuser.


Aromatherapy has been shown to have a number of benefits. It appeals to the olfactory nerves that register smells from the nose and then carries those impulses to the brain. There are so many ways to use essential oils. You can put them in an oil for a massage, you can mix them with water and spray your sheets for a lovely atmosphere, you can heat them in a diffuser, or even put them in your bath water.

 Here are some scents that would be great to use this month:

The scent of Jasmine is an aphrodisiac. It is a very sensual, intoxicating, scent and is perfect if you want to foster an atmosphere of self-love. It is also said to aid in arousal and induce a euphoric feeling. Plus, it smells reeeaaally good.

Rose is an oil that easily fits into this category. Roses are a symbol of love and desire and are perfect for facilitating love. Rose has been associated with Aphrodite/Venus, Goddesses of Love. This is a great oil to use to stimulate the heart chakra, which is in the center of your chest.

Sandalwood is also reputed as an aphrodisiac. Which is pretty interesting because its fragrance is similar to that of the human pheromone. You can also use vanilla, ylang ylang, and neroli, which have love and romance inducing properties.

I've had some readers ask me where I get my oils and if I know any good online retailers. I encourage you to go out to your local metaphysical shops and explore! Check out their oil selections buuuut if you are looking for a great online resource I recommend my new affiliate Escents Aromatherapy!

Lovelovelove,

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Shake Your Booty!

One of my favorite self care activities is listening to music. Now this one can be tricky. We all have songs that remind us of an ex or a difficult time in our lives.

I can't tell you how many times I've opened up my music player and listened to one sad song and before you know it, I am stuck in that lovely "vortex of suck" where I am back in the past.

I love listening to music that gets me up and music, that allows me to dance and sing loudly and can make a good moment in life great, or a sucky moment a wee bit more tolerable.

I came up with My Little Music Guide, which is on the Freebies Page, hopefully you've downloaded it! (Cause it's awesome so check it out sweets!)

I updated it last Wednesday and added even more awesome music for your listening pleasure. The links to the songs in the ebook go right to the video on Youtube so it's really easy to spend an afternoon listening to uplifting, make-you-wanna-dance tunes. 46 links to geat music, there's a little bit of Country, a little bit of R&B and everything in between.

What's your favorite inspirational song? I want to know! Feel free to share it with me on Facebook!

How are you doing with the Month of Self Love? This is perfect for the loving thing you are supposed to do for yourself every single day this month. I hope you are enjoying the challenge and showing yourself the love you deserve!

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Tell YOUR story, it matters.

I love sharing notes of love with you and with everyone else as well! Please pay it forward and send this to those that you feel need to hear it. Spread the love! Let the ones that you care about know how much they are loved and appreciated!

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Loss and Grief in the Depths of Winter

"Great Spirits and Guides, please share with me your wisdom...."


Today the card that I pulled for you... for me... for us... was a deep one. The Lady of the Harvest from Brian Froud's The Faeries' Oracle. She represents completion, grief, loss, and release.

 Grab a hot cup of tea, a blanket, and snuggle down to listen to her wisdom.

The Lady of the Harvest is here to tell us about the grieving process. There are several processes to grief. Shock/denial, anger/guilt, emotional storm, acceptance, regaining of perspective, the beginning of healing, and then the deepening of our capacity to deal. It makes us stronger.

The Lady of the Harvest understands this process and is here with a gentle hand to guide us... lovingly... through the twists and turns of the process.

Little losses, big losses, we all go through this process in some manner.

Sometimes it is over in a matter of minutes, sometimes it takes years. It's okay either way.


On the other side of this deep, difficult, process, is something positive. When we reach the other side of grief we feel lighter and happier, we realize that we are stronger than we thought we were. Despite the pain, despite the grief, this is a gift. Someday we will see it as such. We will look back and realize how in that moment we were transforming. This card represents both the patient acceptance of loss and the joyful celebration of liberation.

Loss can also be joyful and liberating. How many times have you let go of something and felt glad? Sometimes we even happily anticipate letting go of something so that we can move onto something better. That is a cause for celebration.

Now is the time to move on, to begin to heal, and to embrace what comes next. Releasing the past, traveling through that process of grief, leads to strength and power.

Do not be defined by your grief, do not be defined by your past.

Cry over your losses, be joyful if that is appropriate, but in either case, trust the process, acknowledge what you feel, and go forward.

Are you dealing with grief? Are you finding the process difficult? Journal about what you are feeling, allow yourself to slowly navigate the path of grief.

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Wishcasting Wednesday: Attracting Success

Good morning Wishcasters!

Today's prompt and Jamie Ridler Studios is "What Do You Wish To Attract?"

My answer to this is Success.

I've been thinking a lot about my adventure here at Blessing Manifesting and the winding, (quite lovely!) journey that it has been so far. Where I'm going, where it's leading me, what I want out of it.

I started this blog in March of 2011. I created my website at the very end of July. I released my first product at the end of September. 2011 kinda kicked ass! It was awesome and terrifying and I am so proud of all that I've accomplished,

I hope to accomplish more. Success isn't about money, although what a wonderful perk that is, success to me is doing what I first set out to do with my itty bitty blog. I want to help people. I want to inspire people, and I want to make a difference. I feel like I've done that, maybe not to the extent of my imagination, but I have done it. I wish to do it more! I want more success in doing those things! I have no doubt that I will. I believe that this year is going to be amazing and I can't wait! I love what I do and I know that all of the things I'm doing will attract the things that I want. I look forward to the journey!

Happy Wishcasting!

Love, love, love,

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The Goddess Circle

I know that on Tuesday's I usually do book reviews buuuuuut that was getting a little boring so I figured I would mix it up a little bit and just do reviews of websites and products that I enjoy. How does that sound?

My first review is of my favorite website and also my affiliate The Goddess Circle. If you have been following me for awhile then you know that I mention the Goddess Circle and Goddess Leonie all of the time. I am pretty much in love.

What is the Goddess Circle: 
The Goddess Circle is an online community created by Australian Goddess, Leonie Dawson. It is an online community of over one thousand women from all over the world. This in itself makes it awesome. That's not all though, by joining the Goddess Circle you get all of Leonie's ecourses, kits, meditations, ect, valued at over $900 for just $99. And when I say that it is worth it, I mean it with my whole heart. You get the Radiant Goddess ecourse: A 21 day nutrition and meditation journey to help you embrace health and the goddess within you. The Creative Goddess ecourse: A six-week course to discover your creativity. Create Your Goddess Haven: (Which is one of my favorites) Is a siz-week ecourse to help you turn your home into a sanctuary. There is so much knowledge and wisdom and awesome in this course. 30 Days of Goddess ecourse which is full of creativity, spirituality, business advice, and much more. (Did I mention I contributed to it?!) Last but not least is the Business Goddess ecourse: 190 pages of business wisdom and worksheets to help you brainstorm.


How the Goddess Circle Changed My Life:
If you can believe it, I joined the Goddess Circle because I wanted female friends. The ecourses were barely a consideration. I connect better online than I do in person and I'd been floating around the internet, finding different messageboards but not making any real connections. The Goddess Circle completely changed that.
I joined and right away I found women I could talk to in a positive atmosphere. No cattiness, no trolls, nothing but loving support in a sacred space. The members are active and talkative and I made some great connections.

I was a member for about four or five months when I was inspired to make a blog. Up until that point I'd had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I sat back and watched as amazing women talked about big dreams, coaching, healing, intuitive guidance and I realized I wanted to do that. So I embarked on this great journey. I had a built in support system of other Goddesses. I had an ecourse to help me figure out the details AND cheerleaders to bounce ideas off of.

Complete magic!

Here I sit, just under a year later, feeling so blessed and grateful and looking at the transformations, gifts, and blessings that are in my life because of this.

I encourage you to check it out and see what miracles the Goddess Circle can make blossom in your life.

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Goddess of Love

This is my favorite painting of Venus, who is the counterpart to my favorite Goddess, Aphrodite. The painting is The Birth of Venus (French: Naissance de Venus) by the French artist Alexandre Cabanel. To me this painting represents the beauty of the Goddess of Love. This painting is full of sensuality, the way she is just lounging amongst the waves as if she's just woken up from a nap.

Aphrodite is the Greek Goddess of Love, Beauty, and Sexuality. According to legend, she was born fully formed from the white sea form that arose when the god Chronos was castrated. Aphrodite was known for her affairs and lovers and her lack of shame about her sexuality. She had many lovers with out apology and embraced her sexuality with out shame.

Aphrodite wants to lead you out and away from the thought that sexuality is “dirty”. She wants to show you that sex and sensuality can be fun and playful. It can be light-hearted and beautiful. She wants to show you how to love all aspects of your physical self. How to love yourself fully and rise above any negative thoughts you may have about your body.

Do you find it easy to embrace your sexuality? Do you consider yourself a sensual person? Journal about your thoughts.

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A Month of Self Love

Happy Self-Love Sunday my dears! It's February and I am sure that you have already been doused with ads for Valentine's Day flowers, candies, and big giant teddy bears and that's all well and good, because who doesn't enjoy a big heart-shaped box of chocolate every now and then?

Let's concentrate on something else this month. Let's concentrate on ourselves and our bright, shiny, glittery, hearts. I want this month to be a month of Self Love for you.

Right now I would like you to make a commitment with me. For the rest of the month I want you to join me in doing the things listed on the left, every single day this month.

Four little things that are super easy but make all the difference. I promise you that you can do it. First off I want you to do something loving for yourself every day. It can be something as simple as allowing yourself to sleep in an extra twenty minutes, or adding a healthy snack into your day. Go all out and have a spa day if you want or take some extra time to meditate. Buy yourself a box of chocolate or take yourself out for ice cream. Spend some extra time outside, let yourself spend the weekend in bed reading and drinking delicious tea. There are so many options!

Speak kindly to yourself. This one is going to be a toughy. On the good days I keep the way that I talk to myself pretty positive, but on days where I'm grumpy I can get a little viscous with myself. If you find yourself falling into negative self-talk turn it around.

Everyday tell yourself "I love you." Be silly about it if you want. Say it while you're brushing your teeth, make it into a song, sing it while dancing around, say it silently in your head, while you're looking in the mirror, before you go to sleep. Just say it!

And now I'm going to make you write it down too! Grab a journal, a piece of paper, twitter, facebook, open up MS Word, notepad, whatever! Each day write down one thing about yourself that you loooooove.

Let me start. I love my ability to inspire others.

Are you with me?!!

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A Reminder You Are Amazing

I love sharing notes of love with you and with everyone else as well! Please pay it forward and send this to those that you feel need to hear it. Spread the love! Let the ones that you care about know how much they are loved and appreciated!

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The Blackbird Speaks

Today I have pulled a card from the Druid Animal Oracle. I asked the cards what my lovely readers here at Blessing Manifesting needed to know.

Blackbird answered.

Enchantment. The Gateway. The Inner Call.

The Blackbird is sitting on a rowan tree branch at twilight as the stars begin to twinkle in the sky. Behind him is an entrance to an enchanted cave.

Blackbird calls to us from the gateway between the physical and spiritual worlds.  He urges us to be more aware of our spirituality and to become more self-aware. He shows us the path to spiritual secrets, urging us to discover more about ourselves.

There is a time to concentrate on the physical aspects of life, but there is also a time where you have to listen to the song of your soul. The one that allows your spirit to soar.

Seek the things that nourish your spirit and allow you to feel contentment. Find a way to balance the spiritual and the physical and you will be enchanted by the magic that you find there.

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