Q&A

Thank you all for your interesting questions. The winner of the competition has been emailed.

You certainly got me thinking how to reply to some of them. As you know I believe that we create everything in our lives via our thoughts, words and actions, so I believe all the questions asked teach me about myself and what my thoughts are. It's been a fascinating insight. Thank you all for assisting.

I've tried to shorten the questions to make them fit here and be easily comprehendible to others.

Q) Do you believe in God?

A) This is something I really struggle with. Having taken a spiritual path, I feel I should both believe and have faith, but it doesn't come naturally to me.

The issue being that I was baptised Catholic and this religion never really sat right with me, or any religion, for that matter... Where there is religion, there is a God - this is usually a deity in the form of a man and to be worshipped. Those who know me, know I only worship cats!

More recently, in fact, very recently, I started to believe in God, but not as a deity or a scornful master the way religions do: instead I believe God is the infinite potential and possibilities within all of us and the entire universe. So, to me the closest thing to God is actually Life Force. Life Force is all seeing and all knowing and exists everywhere including within us, it always acts for our greater good - God-like don't you think?

I also believe in Gods in terms of strands of energy forces that interact with Life Force energy and that carry certain attributes - the sort of Gods written about in mythology. This is a fairly new concept to me and one I'm still adjusting to, so it is open to change at any time. Yes, this is a disclaimer. 

So, in short, yes - I do believe in God, but probably not in the way you meant in your question!

Q) Can you teach me reiki?

A) While I can't recommend reiki enough, I'm not able to 'teach' it yet. I actually don't think it can be 'taught', it is more complex and individual than that. To start with in order to channel reiki you need to be attuned by a reputable Reiki Master / Teacher (RMT). Your RMT will then guide you on your reiki path, but they cannot truly teach you. 

There are two RMT's that I highly recommend and who I believe to be the best in the local area, these are:

Jane Alexander (Nee Swales) http://www.sacredspace-reiki.co.uk/

Jayne Morrisey http://www.jaynemorrisey.co.uk/

However, you can simply do an internet search for a RMT in your area and pick whoever you're most drawn to.

One thing I did find when I was looking was people claiming to be the best; claiming that so many years experience makes them better than others, claiming that having lots of pupils means they're better than other RMT's, claiming to be great healers and all sorts of other claims. In my personal opinion, these are signs of Ego over Spirit and not what I would want from a RMT. That's just my opinion though, so good luck with your search and trust your intuition to find the right one for you.

Q) Where do you get your reiki done?

A) As per my previous answer there are two people I go to for reiki - Jane Alexander and Jayne Morrisey, plus I have a friend called Hazel who is an excellent channel of reiki. That's not to say I wouldn't have it from anyone else, as I believe the practitioner is just a gateway anyway. You can get it from anyone insured and qualified to give it.

I can and will give it for free to people who I know face-to-face.

Q) Are you a Witch?

A) Ooh, I was so flattered by this question - thank you. 

Sadly, I don't have anything like the knowledge and wisdom of my Wiccan and Pagan friends.

I can't say that The Craft is something I would ever try either. I don't know anything like enough to be working with the elements, attempting spells or whatever else witches do!

I do share some beliefs, values and practices in common with what little I do know about being Wiccan and Pagan.

Recently I bought an Esoteric magazine and it was full of spells and rituals to try at home. Maybe I'm a party-pooper, but it felt irresponsible to publish these for anyone to use in any old way. You should always be careful what you ask the universe for, as although you will get it, it won't necessarily come as you wish and will nearly always have a knock on effect - and it may be one that is very unwanted and unforeseen.

Q) How do your friends and family feel about the stuff you write?

A) That depends which 'stuff' you mean? Admittedly some of it is hard for them to read as they wish it hadn't happened to me. 

I'm a very open person and I wear my heart on my sleeve, so what you read on the blog is no different to what I talk about with friends and family.

The blog has been a great tool for helping me heal and grow spiritually. I think of it as a way of bringing up sometimes taboo topics and also hope it helps others, wherever they are in their journey.

I must admit it's a great playground for my Ego, too!

One thing I need to learn though is to respect the other side of my stories. I realised after a recent blog post that it may have been unfair on people who knew the person I wrote about. I'm truly sorry for that as it was a selfish thing to do. However, I won't be too hard on myself as it is also my story to tell and to tell how I like and to whom I like.

Q) What happens when you die?

A) This is a very relevant question for me at the moment as it saddens me to write that my cat, who I've worshipped for over 14 years, is preparing to leave his physical body.

What I think happens, though I don't remember from previous lives (I wonder if it's like labour, where you forget what it's like, so you'll be willing to do it again!), is that your spirit (soul) leaves your physical body and moves into the Spirit World. I don't know where this world is but I suspect it is all around us but on a different vibration.

From there you enter a different plane. I seem to think there are nine, but I could be wrong. The highest plane is where the Ascended Masters reside, who can be contacted to help teach you and to help you to also reach the elevated levels.

You may choose to enter into a physical life again in order to aid your souls progression to these higher planes. In doing so you would agree a life/soul contract detailing what you want to experience in order to progress. An example might be that if you were a murderer you might want to come back as a victim so you can experience how it felt for them and truly repent. OK, that's a bit extreme, but you get the idea? When someone does something hurtful to you, it may be that you wanted to experience that something to progress and that they were the soul who agreed to re-incarnate with you and do it to you - to help you. 

I could write a lot about this subject but as it's a personal one and one that everyone will have their own beliefs on, I'll leave it there for now. I may well re-visit it for a blog post dedicated to the topic of the After Life. We'll see.

Thank you all for your questions and loyalty. You're the best!