Our belief systems affect our manifestations, including healings or what are commonly referred to as miracles. According to the information from my spirit teachers, there is no hierarchy of miracles. It is no more difficult to heal cancer than it is to soothe a stubbed toe. The possibility of healing, or the lack thereof, lies in the belief system of the wounded or the healer/practitioner. Healings and miracles deal with energy and the amount of faith or trust contributing to the process.



Faith is built by the strength of one’s belief systems. The more you believe something to be true, the more faith you have in the processes associated with it. The more faith you have in the process, the more energy the process will receive. The more energy received, the more fuel to create the desired outcome. As you manifest more and more in your life, your trust level will escalate. As your trust escalates, it feeds energy to your faith and your belief system and thus increases your ability to heal or to perform miracles. This diagram illustrates this cyclical process.

According to the universal Laws of Attraction you will be adding energy either to your faith or to your doubts. The cycle in the illustration is just as true for negative beliefs. When doubt creeps into your awareness, you lose power. If you add energy to your doubts, they will manifest. You reinforce whatever belief system gets the most energy.

It is also important to remember that hope is not the same as faith. Hope is an indicator of lack of faith. Complete faith is absolute; there are no doubts, no fears, no wishing, and no hoping. If you hope for something to happen, you cancel some of its probability.

Until you know absolute faith, some of the upper level energy movement practices will be unattainable by you. You will still, somewhere in your belief system, create a hierarchy of difficulty in which you believe some things are beyond your abilities. This is why many of the so-called miracles are not accessible to many people; they do not have the faith to support moving energy in that way. Doubt extinguishes possibility.

Some examples of activities attainable by working with energy are shape-shifting, walking on water, fire-walking, and levitating. All are possible. All are done regularly in the cultures that support these activities. Many of you, as you consider the nature of these activities, have just assigned a level of difficulty to each of these feats. This hierarchy of difficulty is established based on your belief system. If you have heard of something happening, then it brings it into the realm of possibility. As I said, these feats actually occur in physical reality. Shape-shifting, for example, is not just an awareness one might have in an altered state of consciousness, but actual transformation into another physical form that is able to maneuver in the physical world we commonly share.

If you know the story of Jesus walking on water, but have heard of no other person performing the feat, then walking on water might remain, in your thinking, a case of “He can, I cannot.” Your need for cumulative evidence will limit your beliefs about your own abilities.

Levitation is the ability to defy gravity. Mystics have been known to do this for centuries. Yogis do it regularly during meditation. Saint Theresa of Avila was said to levitate every time she prayed; she would actually float to the ceiling. Her love for God was greater than any gravitational pull, and she floated upward because of her heart’s desire to merge with her beloved Jesus. There are many historical accounts of levitation, but it remains one of the more difficult beliefs to accept.

Fire-walking also defies physical law as we understand it. Fire burns when brought into contact with human flesh. Yet fire-walking has been done for centuries, and many people have heard of it. The mere fact of hearing about a feat brings it into the realm of possibility. Since more people have heard of acts of fire-walking than of levitation, for example, fire-walking actually has the greater potential for being possible. More people are fueling the thought form of fire-walking as a possible reality; hence, fire-walking is becoming accessible to more people.

I have fire-walked myself numerous times. The first time I walked on fire, the group I was participating with was actually filmed for a news broadcast. During the broadcast, aired a month after our fire-walk, the newsperson not only had clips of us fire-walking, she also decided to get different opinions on how this was possible. She interviewed a fire marshal whose attempted explanation of the phenomenon was almost comical.

Explanations I have personally heard range from the sweat on one’s feet creating a water barrier, to the ash acting like an insulator, to the suggestion that people must soak their feet in ice water before they go across. The plain fact is, you just do not burn. To me, fire-walking felt like walking over popcorn; it crunched, and sometimes poked, but it did not burn. The red embers look like the perfect campfire for roasting marshmallows-the hottest form of campfire, more so than when it is flaming. So how can this be? Fourteen hundred degrees is red, scorching, searing, blistering, and glowing hot-a temperature that should cause permanent damage — according to our physical laws of science. Yet, people walk across red-hot coals and glowing rocks that range in temperature from 1000 to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit and do not get burned. Their feet do not even get warm.

Since that experience, Spirit has taught me much about manmade laws and physical laws. We need them to help us understand our world and to explain why things work the way they do. They provide a tremendous amount of safety to our frail humanness. However, when working with Spirit, we are capable of altering any of our frailties. Spirit is not limited by gravity, fire, the speed of light, time, or locality. All is possible. Belief in such feats is non-rational, requiring that one be able to move beyond rational thought to understand that the universal consciousness dwarfs our rational minds.

People who have spiritual power have learned how to work with energy. Working with energy requires an understanding of both scientific laws and universal laws. Scientific laws change as science progresses. There were once laws that supported the beliefs that the earth was flat, was the center of the universe, and that light only travels in a straight line. These laws held true until science advanced to discover other possibilities, at which time new scientific laws emerged. Scientific proof supports a set of beliefs until a new scientific model redefines reality. Many scientific truths have passed into myth, which only exists from the vantage of hindsight; it was only truth in the context of the time that spawned it.

If history is an accurate predictor of our future, then we must assume that the current scientific truths will eventually become myth as new truths emerge. How confident of our scientific truths can or should we be? The American dramatist Arthur Miller observed, “An era can be said to be at an end when its basic illusions are exhausted.” Our mental models of reality may never be more than “illusions” that we, as a culture, have commonly agreed upon. The models have the feel of truth because they are widely shared. They create our current paradigm.

A paradigm is a constellation of concepts, values, perceptions, and practices shared by a community. That constellation forms the basis for how a community defines and organizes itself. Scientific paradigms, widely accepted by advanced societies, have become the basis of defining reality for our world community. Primitive societies that may not share scientific worldviews are often targets of programs intended to convert them to higher truths. At times, however, we have discovered that the primitive paradigms were, in fact, accurate. A good example is recent medical discoveries that validate the potency of traditional medicines and the role of mind-body-spirit connection in the healing process. Once considered to be of the realm of witch doctors, these are now receiving serious attention from the scientific community.

Our beliefs — even our scientific knowledge — color our observations and perceptions. We look for evidence to corroborate what we know; we find the evidence because that is what we are predisposed to see. Consequently, we continually reinforce as true that which we already know. This is done at a subconscious level, but it is how paradigms govern our lives. Breaking out of these paradigms is difficult, and it takes strong character to go against such compelling and accepted societal norms. History is full of accounts of people being persecuted and, in some instances, killed because they supported new discoveries in science. Hindsight being 20/20, two hundred years later it is easy to say, “How could they have believed something so ridiculous?” What will be said of our beliefs two centuries from now?

In truth, all things are possible and people are limited only by their own imaginations! That is exactly why the spirits are forever asking us to broaden our perspectives.

Since the essential nature of human beings is to be notoriously resistant to change, the “shadow” part of our person will surface during these transitional times. The shadow exposes us to our resistances, wounds, and faulty beliefs — all of the obstacles to our advancement. The difficulty of shadow work is that it can often be insidious and before you know it you can be in full participation with it.

Strive to act as a witness to yourself. Watch and observe yourself like a scientist might observe an experiment. Notice what thoughts or beliefs create which emotions. Ask how often you stay rigid with an attitude or opinion and why? Remember that beliefs are created by thoughts and beliefs will determine your reality. Thus everyone can PROVE that his or her belief system is true because our attraction of like vibrations affirms the truth for us. One will have experience after experience that supports the individual’s belief system. In that it is their reality, it is true. However, just because the belief system proves itself to be true, does not necessarily make it either right or helpful for the individual. Remember that what we attract to us might promote positive conditions or might draw in negative energy and prove damaging.

Whatever the nature of this reality, the continuing reinforcement of the reality of the belief will over time produce a thought-form. Thought-forms become overarching paradigms that take on the nature of perceived “universal truths” in the collective eyes of a culture and can define an era and last for centuries. Their “truth” exists in the acquiescence of a civilization to accept and not question the validity of the thought. The passing of an era and the emergence of a new world occurs with the shifting of a paradigm, and “truth” becomes redefined.

Early human civilization was characterized by a belief in the oneness of humans with their environment and as hunters and gatherers these so-called primitives lived as part of their surroundings and not apart from its wildness and naturalness. Indigenous cultures continued to hold these thought-forms even as so-called advanced civilizations became detached from the world and sought to subdue and control it.

The Early Agricultural Age was characterized as a struggle to control the forces of nature, to subdue the natural elements and to bend the forces of the universe’s energies to satisfy the power lust of civilized man. After the passage of centuries, civilization took another giant step into the future with the emergence of the Industrial Age and the conversion of work into a process of a larger corporate entity and humankind into mechanisms to feed this machine. What had been crafts and satisfying individual achievements became work on an assembly line or toil at desks where the individual had little knowledge of the larger complexity of the system, much less any influence. Thought-forms created a reality that seemed to be the natural condition of advancing civilization and the acceptance of this belief made it real.

This example is of a thought-form in the largest possible context, but a thought-form may also exist as the product of an individual belief system. In fact, the larger thought-form emerges as the individual thought-forms of the members of a civilization begin to converge and a common belief system materializes and assumes the role of “truth.” The ending of an era also is the result of individual alterations of individual thought-forms.
The dawning of the Age of Aquarius is the product of emerging new understandings of the necessity to align oneself in harmony with the world and to see the oneness of ourselves in the universe. As these common beliefs coalesce around a new universal awareness, we become collectively conscious of our new “truth” and the old thought-forms begin to fall away as a new era comes into being.

For us as individuals, the significant takeaway from this knowledge of the constructs of civilization is that our individual thoughts, beliefs, and actions are the source of the fundamental change that shifts an entire culture to a new consciousness. All great change begins with individual transformation and the universe depends on each of us for our contribution to the shift. The spirits recently said to me, “every person born has the full potential to change the world single handedly.” The scores of data that has flooded into book stores and workshops from and for metaphysical participants, gurus, channelers, energy medicine practitioners, shamans and Reiki followers have educated us for 25 years about the need for a: change in attitude, letting go of old periderms, be the change, open to love, appreciate, an attitude of gratitude, and choose the positive.   It is time to stop gathering data and put into action these principals and lifestyles.  Our overall goal/intention during this year is to reach ascension, which is a higher vibratory consciousness that this new dimensional reality offers, where the Earth herself is going uninterrupted by human dismay. The spirits clearly state that this new reality is expressed in the body by the feeling of appreciation. Appreciation is the higher consciousness as it is understood in this context extends beyond mere gratitude or thankfulness, which are certainly positive qualities. Appreciation is an easier emotion to generate and a higher emotion than joy, but one that we often neglect. Everyone can appreciate something and be consumed with the feeling, whereas the feeling of joy or gratitude can be more challenging to express, especially in difficult situations. More easily conceptualized, gratitude + praise = Appreciation.

You are surrounded by an infinite number of things that you can appreciate. If you can read this you have the gift of sight and an education that has allowed you to read. Wow, appreciate that. You must also have a computer or access to a computer and the internet to read this. Double Wow! That is miraculous. Feel that deep within yourself, open your heart, look around your world and appreciate. Your effortless movement toward a new consciousness of all that appreciation has to offer will create gateways for you into the emerging new dimension. Your appreciation will serve as a preparation of your spirit to not only align to the new age, but to help create the new reality. We are the creators and our appreciation will reveal the way forward. 

Simply stated by the spirits, “appreciation is a precreative harmonic frequency.”

A new era is at hand and you and I are faced with the choice to resist and live in the fading thought-forms of a passing age or to engage actively in the creation of a new world.

Heart to Heart,

Jan

Earth sings a song of deep unconditional love, which changes the vibration of all things.  This song originates from the pure heart of her being; it transforms matter, spiritualizing it into its transcendent form. The Song of the Earth can rectify human kind when humans realize this, appreciate it and harmonize with it. We can fortify the Earth’s song by sending appreciation to her.  She will in turn augment and enrich us with interdimensional awareness, feelings of bliss and ecstasy that will well up within your being and you will become one with the One Song, the Universe. This simple, fortifying act can be done throughout your day and definitely during defined meditation times of concentration and focus.  The transmutation of your being is without question one of the greatest contributions that you can make to the world. This reminds me of the truth that I live by, which is, it doesn’t matter what the rest of the world is doing; what matters is what I am doing.  What vibration am I broadcasting?  If I stay in my “Song” I will affect the world in the most positive way.

The other lethal thought form that humans have generated is that they are separate from God, Creator, or Source.  This thought form has destroyed vitality, worthiness, inspiration, creativity and passion amongst humans. Many people behave like beaten dogs with their tail between their legs, hovering, wining, and pitiful.  No organization, government, community, or person can give you your worth.  It is intrinsic and your connection to source is unequivocal.  Appreciation is again the healer of this illusionary state.  To feel appreciation actually changes your DNA. It creates new connections in your brain and re-patterns thoughtwaves.  It reprograms, revitalizes and reconstructs new harmonic patterns in your lightbody.  The feeling transfigures you.

Marty Nelson is one of the LightSong counsel members and he says it beautifully.  Appreciation = gratitude + praise.  Praise the earth, praise life, praise the magnificence of a flower, praise yourself and learn the feeling of appreciation. They are blissful and ecstatic.   Learn the feeling of appreciation so well that you can call it up with your will; it automatically fuels the transformation of your being.

During these turbulent times of chaotic weather patterns, governmental holocaust, environmental distress, be an activist of the highest order.  Take action through appreciation!  You will not only change yourself you will contribute to the transformation of humanity.

The spirits are clear that to be in alignment with ascension there are particular principles and practices associated with our energy fields that must be understood and implemented. One does not need to be a shaman or taken shamanic classes to enter into this work. However, one should be comfortable with deeply altered states of awareness for extended periods of time and basic journey skills are always beneficial.

LightSong is offering a special elective class: Ascension 2012: Preparing in a conscious way for the greatest year in human existence. Is this class right for you? Click to find out more…

26,000-year cycle

62 million-year cycle

The shift from an era that has lasted for several millennia into a new age is happening now. The Earth is ascending and we are going with her.  The spirits have informed me that the shifts of 2012 have the potential of being cataclysmic and/or revolutionary. This year has great potential for huge confusion and there are insidious dangers that surround us. Simple action can create tremendous protection and ease while we surf the wave of this monumental energy.

Ascension and greater consciousness have been my intention for years. I work with the spirits consistently and follow their guidance to the best of my ability.  For the past several years the spirits have been diligent about me aligning with the natural rhythms of the earth and stars.  Under their guidance, for one year I slept outside under the stars to regain this galactic rhythm.  Yes, that means with no tent and yes, it rained and was very cold at certain times.  It is amazing the melodies you can construct with the rain hitting a tarp over your sleeping bag.  I then had to sleep on the ground in a cave realigning with the Earth, with no light.  This was makeshift in my yard with tarps over a picnic table, which seemed to work just great.  Now the spirits have asked me to move away from the Gregorian calendar.  They have said that to realign with the stars and earth and then to continue to plan according to the Gregorian calendar is counter productive. LightSong dates need to be in astrological alignment not Gregorian. With that said my newsletter will reflect more lunar timing.

The conducts and methods of this world often pull us from our true self instead of aligning with it.  Being in alignment with the natural cycles of the planets is minor in comparison to specific devastating thought forms that hold us separate from our mother the Earth.  Through the centuries we have remained caught in an illusion and a delusion that humans have a dominance over the earth and the children (creatures) of the Earth. Indigenous cultures see all of life as interdependent and unified.  Human beings have evolved to lose that understanding and to imagine themselves as separate and superior.

The stories of indigenous cultures provide a wisdom that exceeds the simple logic that human beings rely on. Mankind’s need to dominate has led him to resist and be blind to the true nature of the living system. A vital step towards ascension or raising your vibration into higher levels of awareness is being in harmonic resonance with all life.  To respect, honor, and devote one self to expressing reverence of all life.  Being of service to the whole of life.  This does not need to be gallant or noble in efforts but originates from the heart.  It is expressed by the feeling of great appreciation.  Spending time each day appreciating the Earth and all of her inhabitants.  Those that have walked this way may consider this obvious; those new initiates to the idea might find it strange.

Share how this fits in with your way of living today by leaving a comment below. If you want to know more about Ascension in 2012 I will be speaking in Portland, Oregon at New Renaissance Bookshop on December 27, 6:30 p.m. full details here.

The Transition Blanket, now fully imbued with spirit helpers and Reiki symbols, will protect the individual both in this world and the next. As an individual lies under the blanket, all the spirit helpers will be activated and working with the individual energetically (except the transition helpers, which will activate only once, at the actual moment of death). The feelings and energies that an individual receives from the blanket should be exceptional. But remember- as with any spiritual healing being offered to another, always ask their permission first and never assume they would want help such as this.

I tried the blanket myself before I mailed it off to my father and I loved it! I could feel the power pouring from it. When Dad received his Transition Blanket, he was in stage four of esophageal cancer. He experienced immediate reduction in his pain level whenever he placed the blanket over himself. He told me it brought him peace and he could feel my love.

I spoke almost daily with Dad by phone. After he received the blanket he often mentioned the effects it had on him.  He said, “I feel so much better. I have less pain. It makes me feel good. I feel your love. I feel more at peace. It calms me.” In fact my step-mom soon refused to leave Dad alone in the house unless he had his special blanket nearby, because she knew if things got bad while she was gone, he’d have it as a ready resource for instant help and pain management.

Since my Dad had no prior experience with energetic healing of any kind, his words couldn’t really reflect what was happening to him energetically. The balancing (I feel better), the extraction of fear (it brings me peace), the soul pieces returning to him (I feel love, it makes me feel better) were all clear signs that the healing spirits and Reiki energies were working powerfully with him. What I took for granted and knew to be happening on an energetic level, my father was expressing in his own beautifully simple way.

I earnestly believe the Transition Blanket prepared my father well for his transition. During his illness, he managed his fear and showed amazing life vitality. He barely seemed ill just a week before he died His voice, color, and personality were strong almost to the end. I believe this was all a gift from the blanket. When Dad’s time finally came, he crossed over quickly. I remain convinced that the final horror that swept over his face in those last moments was just the dread he felt about his imminent “life review” (or as he would say, “His Judgment Day”). Perhaps we’ll all tremble a bit when it’s our turn to have every “shortcoming” pointed out, one by one?

I was instructed to keep the Transition Blanket over someone for four hours after death. For a person to “die in a good way” the time after passing shouldn’t be rushed. Four is a sacred number to the Lakota and this amount of time gives the soul time to transition. The number four reflects the four elements of earth, fire, air and water, and the four seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall. The four elements of earth, fire, air and water contained in the physical body must also transition. This, too, takes time.

If prayer ties are used on a Transition Blanket these ties should be removed from the blanket so they can be burned or buried with the body once the death process is complete. The blanket can then become a family heirloom, perhaps to be used again when other family members are ready to transition. The Reiki symbols and spirit helpers will reunite you quickly with loved ones on the Other Side!

At the time of my father’s death, all that I had been taught by the helping spirits proved true. His Transition Blanket was pulled over his body and face, where it remained for the next four hours. We all breathed a sigh of relief when the blanket mercifully concealed Dad’s horrified expression.

After the designated amount of time, my father was uncovered. As the blanket was pulled back, we were shocked by what we saw. Dad’s face was now completely serene, relaxed and peaceful with a slight smile on his lips. My stepmother fell to the floor in weeping gratitude. I have witnessed many miracles in my life but this one tops the list.

Looking back just four hours, I wondered if the spirits had orchestrated this profound change of my father’s expression just to awaken my family. So much remains a mystery.
This sacred blanket served us all miraculously and still brings daily strength and comfort to my stepmother. With the blanket nearby, my step-mom feels strongly connected to my Dad and well-protected by the spirits. In fact, she sleeps with it every night!

The Transition Blanket did far more than anyone expected. Besides preparing my father for his transition and next incarnation, the healing energy of the blanket touched each of us in the most profound and personal way. It seems as though the spirits and Reiki energy knew exactly what each of us needed and provided individual healings for all of us as well. This magical blanket certainly proved itself to my stepmother and my sisters! The tangible evidence we received quickly erased any doubts about the power of a Transition Blanket.

My intuitive guess is that a Transition Blanket will likely yield different experiences for each person it serves. Compassionate spirits and Reiki energies know precisely what to do in every situation. Quite literally, we can trust them with our lives!

By sharing this story, my ultimate intention is fulfilled- to make the powerful concept of a “transition blanket” available to everyone who wants it. How you choose to apply this information is left to you, and the guidance of Universal Love.
The first Transition Blanket brought my father peace when he needed it most. It brings me peace now. May it do the same for you and everyone you cherish. I invite you to prepare for the inevitable, for surely it will come. As my own family learned, mindful preparation can quickly transmute fear into faith, worry into compassion, and anxiety into peace. This is apparently the sacred mission of the Transition Blanket. Is there any greater parting gift to wrap around someone we love?

During subsequent journeys, various spirit helpers presented themselves. They were eager to provide help not only for my own family members, but for humankind in general. I’ve found this to be true at other times in my work as well. That the benevolent spirits of non-ordinary reality are just itching for humankind to seek their advice and ask the correct questions. They can finally offer us the techniques, the ceremonies, the rituals that will help us, as a nation of human beings, to take better energetic care of ourselves. This is precisely why they had been instructing me to make a Transition Blanket for my father. Now I was finally ready to do it!

My spirit helpers told me to buy blanket material and to sew small objects on the blanket, objects that I would imbue with power in shamanic terms, “imbue” indicates the act of “blowing power into” an object). I bought some gorgeous woolen blanket material at the Pendleton Woolen Store and sewed a rich binding around the borders. I made it a manageable size so a sick person could easily carry it to cover himself or herself as they lay in bed, rested in a chair, or stretched out on a couch in front of the TV.

With each step of construction, I journeyed again, asking for additional detail about the objects I should use for my father’s blanket. I was given several options and decided to make four red prayer tie bundles in the Lakota way. My spirit helpers told me that each bundle was to hold different information- power objects, spiritual helpers, and Reiki symbols. Each time I was given new information, I brought this information back from non-ordinary reality into ordinary reality by holding my intention and then literally blowing this energy into the individual objects as I finished my journey.

Once imbued with power, the object now contained the specific prayers, spiritual helpers, Reiki symbols, etc. is tied onto the blanket. Even though the imbuing process seems to be directed toward the objects, the entire blanket soon becomes imbued with love and healing power. When the dying individual lies under the Transition Blanket, the Reiki symbols and spirits instantly become activated (as the recipient might soon report!)

With my father’s Transition Blanket, the first spirits to take form and action were the Spirits of Extraction and the Reiki Usui power symbol. They entered the first object I made. These particular spirits activate a clearing process, removed any foreign energy that might intrude into a person’s natural (authentic) energy system. Such intrusive energies are harmful to a person, causing hardship because of their low vibratory frequency. These harmful energies include fear, doubt, anxiety, worry, sadness, and other low frequency emotions. The extraction process allows a person’s energy system to quickly return to its pure radiant, magnificent nature- the highest vibration frequency, which is most natural for this particular soul. This instantly restores balance to the person on an energetic level. What a profound blessing for someone whose body is so gravely ill!

The second object attached to my father’s blanket contained the Spirits of Soul Retrieval and the Reiki Distance Symbol. These spirits bring back lost soul parts or any divine essence a person may have lost throughout their lifetime. Soul retrieval restores the person in the most sacred way, so that when the soul begins its next journey outside of the body it will do so in its most intact and complete form. The Reiki distance symbol facilitates the soul retrieval process. By interfacing with these benevolent spirits, lost soul parts or divine essence can far more easily find its way back home to the original host as they rest beneath the cozy warmth of their Transition Blanket. The qualities of calmness, serenity, peace, joy, trust, and knowingness will also return, for these are the natural feelings of wholeness every intact soul enjoys.

I then imbued the third object with the Master Healers and the Reiki Master Symbols, opening the channels to the Universal Life Force of unconditional love. Several of these particular symbols and spirits will also help with pain reduction and inspire feelings of well-being no matter how difficult the last “physical” days may become.

The final object held the spirit helpers of Transition and Psycho Pomp (a Greek word for taking souls to the light) and the Reiki Distance Symbol. The Distance symbol activates what I call the angels (spirits) of transition. These angels escort the soul after it lifts from the body. They midwife the soul to the other side, to heaven or the equivalent realm, according to that individual’s personal beliefs.

All of these sacred symbols can be activated into greater strength by saying or drawing the symbol each time the person lies under the blanket. But if the recipient is not a Reiki practitioner or even aware of Reiki or shamanism, love and power will still be activated simply by the presence of a body form lying under the blanket.

Next week I will share The sacred mission of the Transition Blanket.

There is even a legal reference to the term of appreciation as a recognition of quality, value, significance or magnitude of people and things, as in, “The law requires an appreciation of others’ rights.” In the field of aesthetics, artistic appreciation refers to our understanding of the quality of art and beauty in the composition of a painting or the architectural power of an ancient cathedral.

Appreciation establishes a relationship between persons that enhances the worth of both those who express the appreciation and those who are recipient of the gratitude of another. The term is rich in positive regard and affirmative values and conceptually the word expresses our humility in our relationship to our world and characterizes our better nature. Appreciation is a beautiful notion and recently I have found myself discovering a new sense of the word—one might say an appreciation of appreciation.

As I journey in the spiritual realm, I have come to understand that appreciation is a precursor of large possibilities and the creative spirit of new and expansive potentials within the universe.  We seek the fulfillment of ourselves and the understanding of our place in the greater scheme of life and in doing so we strive to engage in the unity of all things and to see the magnificence of our person as one with the magnificence of the universe.  The portal into this greater comprehension of the cosmos may well be through the act of appreciation.

Spiritually, appreciation is the immersion of our being holistically into a recognition of ourselves as a reflection of all the people, beauty, and grandeur around us that we value and that brings us joy and contentment. Appreciation is an act of creating worthiness in ourselves by seeing the worthiness in others and revealing the beauty within us by expressing our gratitude for the beauty that surrounds and engulfs us. Appreciation allows us to remove the unreal barriers that we imagine separate us from the spiritual world and creates a new clarity in our thinking that sees us as we really exist. For that deeper understanding, I am appreciative as surely as I appreciate you.

With all my love and appreciation,

Jan

Long aware that our beliefs ultimately create our reality, it was time for me to carefully review my own beliefs about the death process, just as the spirits had already advised. I needed to recognize which of “my beliefs” were actually borrowed, and which were authentically mine. This would help me discover and discard any old, outmoded beliefs that now stood in my way. It was a daunting but necessary task if I hoped to offer my father a peaceful transition.

My head swirled with endless questions. Even with “freshly cleaned” beliefs, even if I were allowed to unravel the death mystery for myself, would my personal discoveries really translate to help others with very different beliefs? (like my own father, for example!) Could my intense desire to help him, along with some kind of “mystery blanket” actually bridge the huge gap between our personal beliefs about death and the afterlife… could a Transition Blanket somehow bring both ends of my father’s life circle gracefully back together again? Was there still enough time to find out?

In my father’s final moments, did I need to visualize my version of what the afterlife promised, or his? What exactly does my father believe about death anyway? An uncomfortable subject, to be sure! Like most families, we’d never really talked about it, and I’d never bothered to ask. How could I ever construct a proper Transition Blanket for him, or create a ceremony that would truly support his transition experience if I didn’t know these answers? Floundering in an endless sea of questions, I decided to seek more guidance from my trusted spirit helpers.

As I journeyed this time, a strange calm came over me and a plan suddenly emerged. A whole tapestry of death transition teachings already existed for me- threads of clarity woven throughout the various faiths of the world. I could look there for my answers!

There was no time to waste. I was already familiar with Methodist and Baptist versions of Christian doctrine from my childhood, though I’d left this path many years before. Now my belief system is steeped in the Lakota traditions, though I’m not a traditionalist by any stretch of the imagination. I began researching the death transition practices from many other cultures of the world.

The common thread unifying all these variant versions of the death transition always led the soul into a new existence. However, in these other traditions, without exception, each individual was carefully prepared in advance, receiving clearly defined information about the precise actions necessary to achieve a successful transition to the afterlife. Somehow, this critical piece was missing from “modern” Western culture’s puzzle and many souls were now paying the agonizing price.

For some unexplained reason, I suddenly found myself pondering the biblical concept that “wherever two or more are gathered” there is strength and power. Aha! Perhaps believing is the important part — maybe the “details” of what we believe really don’t matter much at all. In the final analysis, could it be that the generic power of believing (in anything!) supplies all the energy the human consciousness needs to escape the physical body and fuel the soul’s journey to the “believed in” afterlife? Wherever two or more are gathered. Propelled by the loving support of others who genuinely care about us, no matter what their personal beliefs- could this extra fuel ease and speed our death transition process? These sudden insights landed like rock-solid truth in the middle of my being- I was onto something here… I could feel it!

My new understanding indicated that no particular spiritual belief system is superior to any other. It also suggested that we might very well continue to follow our own truth, whatever it is, even after we die. I was ecstatic! Oh, we are all such magnificent beings, filled with such incredible eternal power… but how easily we forget!

Hungry for even deeper understanding now, I journeyed again and again. With each journey, I discussed another layer of my feelings and my intense desire to provide powerful transition support for my father. My spirit helpers were eager to actively participate in this process. They confirmed that there is, indeed, a sacred preparation for each soul, to help it on its way. I learned that proper care of the soul is essential for well being both here on the earth plane and in the afterlife. To my delight, the spirits were now willing to teach me this transition preparation!

Next week I will share The sacred mission of the Transition Blanket

Whether we’re aware of it or not, an unfathomable resource of wisdom and love, in many forms, exists just beyond what we know as our reality. This other universe is commonly called non-ordinary reality. In this parallel realm, all is possible. Non-ordinary reality is the place to which a shaman journeys in an altered state to obtain information from the spirit helpers. Reiki is also sourced from this sphere.

Keenly aware of my human limitations, I often journey out to ask my wise spirit helpers and guides for advice and assistance. Now I asked the spirits to teach me how I might best serve my father in spite of the physical distance between us. During this astounding journey, not only did my trusted allies show me powerful ways to support my elders, but they also tended my own grieving heart in the most loving and intimate way. I emerged with a clear sense of purpose and renewed confidence that all would be well as soon as I followed the detailed guidance I was given. The spirits were certainly answering my urgent needs, but it also felt like they were using me to “birth” yet another powerful healing method into ordinary reality, a method I would soon feel compelled to share with others. They were teaching me how to create a beautiful transition experience for my father, which included something I didn’t yet understand… a Transition Blanket!

The first task my spirit helpers assigned me was to examine and define what I personally believed about the death process. They wanted me to review how my Western culture had prepared me, or not prepared me, for the eventuality of a loved one’s death.

I was shocked by what I discovered. While my own unusual path of exploration and learning provided me with powerful beliefs and intricate road maps for navigating through the end-of-life experience, Western culture, in general, essentially ignores this entire “uncomfortable” subject. Fixated on perpetual youth and feel-good-now pursuits, Western culture acts as if death will never come.

It became painfully clear how ill-informed and ill-prepared our society is for the ineffable end-of-life event that will surely touch us all. In this fast-moving culture where elders are often pushed aside, viewed as burdens rather than precious reservoirs of wisdom, the ancient rituals and ceremonies that truly honor aging, and the sacred transition to the afterlife, have all but disappeared. Is it really any wonder we feel shocked, and lost, and utterly terrified when Death’s hard knuckles finally wrap upon our door?

My own father was one of these lost and terrified people now, facing the most profound, unknown experience of his life. Like so many others, Dad’s natural fear of the unknown was magnified because he had so little real knowledge about where he was going or how he was supposed to get there.

In my many years of counseling and death work, I’ve noticed that those who’ve led an essentially “unexamined life” seem to experience far greater anxiety and suffering as death approaches. They find themselves without any meaningful way to relate to the life they’ve lived, or to the great mystery that now unfolds before them. Their end-of-life struggle and confusion creates HUGE emotional distress, and their exit, which could be and should be an elegantly peaceful process, is severely hampered. What a terrible travesty this is!

Unfortunately, “past” religious dogma that often preempts personal questioning and introspection can never substitute for a gentle, truly meaningful, and deeply explored experience when the end of life draws near. Unsupported by ancient beliefs, the powerful death rituals and ceremonies that once safely guided our forbears into the afterlife, how might we better prepare our “modern” selves for this inevitable end-of-life experience? What can we expect and what should we believe? Where is our roadmap? Perhaps the Transition Blanket had come to show us the way…

I hardly knew where to begin, but enduring love for my father held my feet to the sacred fire. I was supposed to create some kind of “transition blanket.” But beyond this, what exactly was I expected to do? If I truly intended to help my father, I needed to act NOW.

Next week I will share with you the process to evaluating my own beliefs about death in the making of this Transition Blanket.