You Get What You Pay For

How many times have we heard that phrase?  Yet, in the vast majority of cases it's so true. 

I remember back when Stuart and I were first married.  Money was always tight. I was completing my dissertation and wasn't working.  Stuart was working as an accountant and wasn't making much since his former financial experience consisted of bank teller.  Each month we were barely making ends meet.  If I needed something I had to cut back in other areas so I could save up for it.

We'd buy generic store-brand food.  Not the same as the name brand stuff, I don't care what anyone says.  Even today, I can tell if it's generic. We'd use generic paper towels that were only a slight improvement over using kleenex for the same job. We hate spaghetti and hamburger twice a week (each!).  I'd wear my bras until they were literally falling apart and making my boobs look funny.  We even had to go without routine medical care, like dental cleanings for a brief time.  Thankfully, neither one of us ever had any problems.

We all work hard for our money. I don't care if you're in an office job, bank job, public servant of any kind, academic, babysitter, or even a stay-at-home-mom who has to budget carefully to be sure she can remain at home with her kids.  We all work hard for our money and we all have valuable skills for which we are compensated for when we get paid.

Now, let's think about this for a minute.  Let's say you're sick and you need to see a doctor, but like many Americans you don't have medical insurance and you're low on cash.  What to do?  Do you call your doctor and say, "Oh, you know, I'm sick, I really need an appointment, but I have no money right now.  Can I pay you later?"  Or - worse - "will the doctor see me for free?"

Your doctor sacrificed to go through years of medical school.  He or she may have gotten a scholarship for a good part of that, but they may be up to their butt in student loans and you have no idea.  The doctor is a highly skilled individual who's knowledge and gifts are worth something.  It's just common sense that a person would never ask for a free medical consultation.

I got my hair colored a few weeks ago.  Here is my new "do". Did I ask Kevin, my stylist, if he could do it for free even though Stuart had just lost his job two days before my scheduled appointment?  NO!  I would never dream of it! Kevin is an artist in every sense of the word.  He created this color for me.  I simply told him I wanted to go lighter, but not too light, with a few highlights.  This is what he came up with.  A masterpiece, in my opinion, and well worth the $85 he charged me.  He stands on his feet most of the day, he even eats his lunch most times standing up. I've seen him do it.  Don't you think this is worth $85?  I sure do.

So, why do people insist on asking for free spiritual consultations???  Now, I'm not saying I'm on an even footing with a doctor. However, in my case, I can't say for all - of course, I have over 25 years of experience behind me.  Not to mention numerous classes, seminars, I've read countless books, and have worked hard to master what I know and the types of services I offer through my site.  I've done this at all a great personal and professional cost to myself.  I have a PhD.  Not many know that as I don't flaunt it.  I just use the letters after my name or I sometimes refer to myself as "Dr. Nefer Khepri", but that's very rare and I'm sure many of you have never even seen that.  I studied anthropology, archaeology, and the spiritual belief systems of indigenous peoples for 12 years at 3 universities as I worked hard to get my bachelor's, masters, and my doctorate.  My education left me with a student loan of over $18,000. 

Yet, despite being set up for a lucrative career in academia, I turned my back on all of it when I heard the call of my guides and the universe wishing for me to be on a spiritual path.  My husband nearly left me over this.  Yes, I nearly lost him.  It caused a tremendous amount of friction in our marriage for a few years.  This issue did not go away overnight.  It was years before I began to make any money.  

At first, I only wanted to do as I was asked and help people.  That's it. I wanted to help people find guidance through the tarot.  Help them to heal through reiki.  Help them connect with their own spirit guides through classes I offered at my home.  Help them to manifest their dreams through candle work, or enchantments, as I call them.  All I wanted to do was help.  When someone told me they didn't have the money I'd do it anyway.  They either paid me later on or they never did.  I can tell you that those who never paid me would later ask me, "why didn't it work?"  Well, I did it with the right intention, with their highest good in the center of my mind and heart, but energy is energy.  An even exchange must occur for the energy to be balanced and for it to be able to do its work.  My own reiki master teacher explained the concept to me when she found out I had done 5 free reiki attunements in a single day and was flabbergasted.  

Another thing.  The more you say "yes" to people who ask for free services, the more likely they are to come back, asking for MORE free services.  They always have a hard luck story to tell me.  Never fails.  It's VERY rare that I've had a person come to me weeks or even months after I did something for them for free and they pay me.  However, it did happen.  Things like that kept my faith in humanity intact.  Other times they'd come by my house with a plate of food.  Again, energy being exchanged for energy, and those meals were always yummy as people would bring me their specialities :D

Eventually, in order to save my sanity I had to start saying "no" to people, as much as that hurt me. I am one of those people who simply has a hard time saying no.  I do not like the word "no."  I don't like using it with others and I certainly don't like it when they use it with me. Yet, there I was doing 3 - 4 free readings a day, giving free reiki attunements, doing few free soul portraits (and those can take weeks to complete as every single color must be correct and I get all that info through repeated meditation sessions).  So I had to start saying NO, and wow, no one liked it, but then who could blame them?

People got angry with me.  People belittled me.  They told me I wasn't spiritual.  They said I was a fake (even though they had reaped benefits from the work I had done for them in the past at no charge!).  They said I was a horrible person.  I went from always having people at our house to having no one for months as I worked hard to build up a client base of paying clients.  I finally succeeded, then we had to move to a new city and I lost my local clients except for a very few. I had to start all over, but I had no local base from which to draw clients, so for the past 10 years I've been available strictly over the internet.

Yet, every once in a while someone will send me an email of their story, explaining why they can't pay me, yet they know my services are valuable.  Their story may be true, then again, it may not.  I have no way of knowing.  I respond the same every time.  I nicely explain I had to pay for all of my classes, seminars, workshops, and books. I underwent a 3-month unpaid apprenticeship to my reiki master teacher in order to fully master giving reiki sessions and passing attunements on to others. Often, I had to postpone my spiritual studies because I didn't have money to take a class or attend a workshop.  I explained that my time, knowledge, and energy were valuable to me and therefore I had the right to charge for my services (something for which every once in a while I receive criticism). 

Now, in all cases, until today, the person is NICE. Remember, they're trying to get something for free, something they know is of value so they are as nice as possible hoping I'll say yes.  After being taken advantage of so many times, though I never say yes anymore, as much as that pains me.  Then today I receive an email on Facebook from a young man who obviously found my FB through the links on my site.  He starts off by asking if I'll give him a free reiki attunement and says he doesn't have the money to pay, but yet he knows my services are valuable.  Same 'ol, same 'ol.  However, in the next sentence his tone changes as if he's got multiple personality disorder.  He tells me that if I don't answer his email that will prove I'm just a fake and full of BS.

Well, I did reply because I thought he at least DESERVED a reply.  He did take the time to write, after all, even though he was out to get a very valuable thing for absolutely nothing, for no exchange of energy at all. I would understand if he was a reader, for example, and offered me a reading in exchange.  But he came with hands held out and his hands were empty.  I simply told him what I tell everyone else, exactly what I wrote 2 paragraphs ago.  

He wrote back full of venom claiming I'm a fake, that I "prey on gullable, innocent people."  Why was he being so ugly, I asked myself?  Why was he insulting my clientele by claiming they were gullable?  Had I written something to offend him?  I looked back at my response to his first email.  Nothing there was offensive in the slightest.  I had concluded that email by telling him that if he didn't have the money for a reiki attunement now then it was not the time and the Universe would work to get him the money when the time was right. I have found this to be true in my own life countless times.  I told him that, too. Yet, there he was claiming I'm this horrible person out to steal everyone's money from them.  Then he said if I didn't respond I was truly full of BS, yet he concluded by thanking me for the information I provide on my site!

Well, if I'm full of BS, then why is he thanking me for information I provide? Isn't that also full of BS by association with me???  I wrote back and simply asked, "why do you feel so intent on spreading hate?  I feel that before you can be attuned to reiki you need to pray and focus on clearing yourself of the hate you so obviously feel.  I'm praying for you and wish you nothing but the best. When the time is right you will be attuned to reiki.  I know that."  

Then I did something that is still troubling me.  I blocked him from my Facebook. He can no longer email me and he can't access me in any way through Facebook unless he creates a new profile. He can, however, email me through AOL if he took the time to see the numerous email links I have spread all through my web site.  If he does, I'll block him on AOL, too if he continues to be hateful.  

If you're a spiritual practitioner, just because the majority of people may not believe in what you do, YOU know it to be REAL.  You know you have a gift, you have talents, and you're opened your mind and heart to share them with the world. 

Every spiritual practitioner has sacrificed to get to where they are today.  Some, like me, have given up a guaranteed $50,000/yr income to make peanuts doing what I do.  Most months I don't even make enough to cover a single house payment.  I have for the past 2 months, praise the Gods and thank my clients since Stuart's been out of work, but this is an anomaly, but perhaps the start of a new trend (let's hope!).  I don't begrudge anyone that regular income.  In fact, I consider myself MUCH MORE blessed to be in this line of work than to be an academic who is always under the gun to "publish or perish" and always having to brown nose to get ahead (I have never been good at kissing ass, nor is that something I aspire to).  My old friends from grad school - the majority of them are divorced due to all the stress, some are on medication and some have health problems.  I'm thankful that I'm not among them.  Sure, I have up a lot to be here, but look at all I have.  I set my own hours. I can work in my pajamas if I want (and have done so - many times!).  I stay at home and raise my daughter.  I don't have to put up with a boss or any crazy co-workers. I have it MADE.  I am so blessed and so very thankful.

This guy obviously really upset me.  His emails brought back a lot of unpleasant memories from the past that I thought were gone.  I guess this is a good lesson for me.  It showed me that although I had convinced myself I had released all those memories, I clearly have not or they would not have raised to the surface so easily and so immediately.  This young man taught me something important.  He taught me that after all these years I am still in some way holding on to some old resentments against those people who took such extreme advantage of me in the past. I haven't even seen or spoken with any of these people in YEARS, yet the feelings are still there when I think of them.

I am taking my own advice here. I suggested to him that he work on cleansing himself of his hate.  Meanwhile, I am starting to work on releasing my old resentments so I can finally allow the past to be the past so it will stop influencing my present and future.

This is an excellent example of how a great lesson can come to us through adversity.  Back when I used to channel St. Michael (who since 2002 has been too busy, it seems, but he'll be back again one day, as he promised me), in his words:

"Humanity's greatest Teacher is Adversity.  Through Adversity the most difficult of lessons are mastered."  

Amen, Michael :)

Many Blessings to You All,

Nefer Khepri
IsisRaAnpu@aol.com
magickal-musings.com

FREE Enchantment Offer - LIMITED TIME!

Well, let's see how many people actually read my blog, shall we?  I'm offering a FREE single-votive enchantment to three lucky people.

Your enchantment can be for any purpose.  This is a single candle votive, and will include 3 herbs and 3 corresponding essential oils that are helpful to your intentions.  You will receive an Enchantment Report that will consist of a brief summary of how your candle performed and a psychic interpretation of your candle's remains.

This is open to everyone who reads this blog.  Simply leave a comment here.  I will write everyone's name donw on slips of paper and have a drawing on Tuesday, July 6th.  Winners will be chosen at random from all who have posted a comment here.  You don't have to leave a long comment.  Just a simple, "Hey, cool, hope I win!"  will suffice. 

I will post the names of winners here on Tuesday, July 5th after 5 PM CST. 

Contest ends Tuesday, July 5th at 5 PM CST.

I am also posting a link to this blog on my Facebook page so all my Facebook friends will also be aware of the contest.

Good luck to everyone!  I shall look forward to performing your candle work for you!

Blessings,

Nefer Khepri

What I Plan to Do During My Summer

Normally, when someone speaks of their summer images of surf, sand, fun in the sun, picnics, and just general fun outdoors comes to one's mind.  Well, it comes to my mind, anyhow.  

The thing is, I will most likely be doing very few of those fun things this summer.  My husband lost his job the week before Easter and was unemployed for 9 1/2 weeks.  Thankfully, he's now back at work.  However, he can't take a vacation until September.  By then our 11-year-old daughter will be back in school, which will then preclude us from being able to leave town.  Last summer we went to Maui.  Then last November we went to New Orleans.  Both were awesome trips, each very unique, and for me, both were quite spiritually fulfilling.

I have discovered that with this summer that will be spent completely at home I had fallen into a trap.  Perhaps this trap was invented by the travel industry. Maybe it's somehow engrained into us by society. I've no idea.  The trap I'm speaking of is "home-isn't-any-fun-so-we-must-leave-town-in-order-to-find-fun-things-to-do."  

How many of you have fallen into the same trap?  I took this picture as we sat down for our first dinner in Maui last summer.  It's idyllic, isn't it?  There was the sound of the surf not 50 feet from our table.  You could smell the plumeria blooming in the trees all around us.  The ocean breezes caressed our faces.    Fond memories, one and all.  

This summer what are we doing?  I'll tell you.  Every summer I work with our daughter. I prepare her for the coming school year.  This is why she excels year after year to the point that moving into middle school next year her teachers instructed us to enroll her in all Pre-AP (Advanced Placement) courses.  Since she was averaging 4 to 5 A's per report card, we agreed with their assessment.

As with every summer, the first weekend school let out Ariel and I headed to the bookstore to get her work books.  I started working with her last week, giving her a couple of weeks to have nothing but fun to start her summer.  I am now very shocked and downright furious with the three teachers she had for the fifth grade.  I am discovering her vocabulary is lacking.  Her math skills are not up to snuff, and her reading comprehension isn't where it should be.  Those workbooks are arranged so the first few lessons are meant as review.  The child should always know all this material and be able to breeze on through it.  However, Ariel is having problems.  LOTS of them.

Now I know my summer will be spent cracking the whip over the poor child, who through no fault of her own, is having all sorts of issues with division, fractions ("Mom, we did those, but I don't remember any of it"), not knowing that "create" and "destruction" are antonyms, and so on and so forth.  I am so dismayed with her teachers, who never once communicated with me she was having any trouble whatsoever.  In fact, they stressed how well she was doing.  Well, I guess if you're teaching a fifth grader on a 3rd or 4th grade level and the child is intelligent, they are bound to do well.  I had no idea that's what had been happening.  The fifth grade teachers for this year had decided to abolish homework.  YES!  The time-honored tradition of giving a kid work to do at home so they could practice the concepts they were learning in school - ABOLISHED FOR THE YEAR!!  She got a few assignments here and there, but nothing like she did every single year previous - even in kindergarten she had homework every single day.  I discussed this with her teachers who assured me Ariel was doing fine and would do very well moving on to middle school, so well, in fact, that they insisted she be placed in all Pre-AP courses.

Now Mom is freaking thinking, "there's no way on earth this child will be able to remain in Pre-AP, she'll get moved back and this will traumatize her for life."  I was in Advanced Placement in 8th grade and my best friend got moved back.  She NEVER got over it, and although after we moved on to high school very few people knew about it, she carries that stigma with her to this day.  I do NOT want that for MY child.  

So now Mom's cracking the whip, and suddenly Mom had become the BAD GUY.  Oh, Mom is MEAN because Mom wants her kid to do Math.  Mom is horrible because I force my kid to do these reading assignments and answer questions about what she's read.  Wow, and we haven't even gotten to the grammar section of her workbooks yet!  So just she wait.  She's in for a real treat when it comes to grammar, not one of my specialties, either.  Then again, neither is math.  Thank goodness for those answer keys that come tucked in the back of each work book.

So there I was on Friday, the day before my 47th birthday, feeling sorry for myself.  I was going to be stuck home all summer long with a surly child who did not want to do her workbook assignments and who was repeatedly insisting I was mean as I repeatedly patiently explained to her how her teachers had let her down, how she had to get up to speed if she expected to do well in 6th grade, and how important a good education is to everyone in our family and that one day she will be going to college if we have anything to say about it, and believe me, we have PLENTY to say!  

I was sitting in our breakfast nook that overlooks the backyard.  Back in April, 2008 as my mother was in a long-term care facility recuperating from a severe blood infection that nearly killed her, we had a deck built.  It's a very nice, large deck with room for a dining room-size patio table with a ceramic tile surface and six comfy patio chairs.  Our propane grill is also on the deck.  There's also a lot more room available.  I was sitting there thinking that with all that had gone on with my mom, who ended up getting a second blood infection and died January 20, 2008, that we hadn't had any time to really use that deck.  After she died, my dad moved in with us as it was sadly apparent he had no idea how to take care of himself.  He put himself in the hospital with gastric interitis a week after Mom had passed.  That was it.  We moved him in and I was looking forward to spending time with him.  That's when it became apparent something was very wrong with him.  He developed dementia and was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.  He passed away September 20, 2009.  

The day Dad passed away I was also looking out at our deck thinking, "wow, what a great deck, but we've never really used it with all the time I spend in the hospitals and nursing homes.  Wish I had time to use my deck."  Ten minutes later I got the dreaded call.  Dad had just died.  As I hung up the phone in tears I heard his voice.  He said quite simply, "it's okay now.  Go ahead and use your patio."  To Dad, it was a patio.  We call  it a deck.  So I knew for sure it was him and not my mind playing tricks on me.

Time has passed.  My husband and I were planning a trip to England for this summer, my spiritual home. I've had 3 past lives there of which I can recall some vivid details to the point I found one of my former houses, still intact and now a lovely B&B in the Somerset countryside.  I was excited beyond belief I was going to get to go back, having last been to London in 1991.  Prior to that I was in England in 1989 for a 2-week tour of England, Cornwall and Wales that had the theme of "The Real and the Legendary King Arthur."  We saw all the places mentioned in the stories. I felt I'd died and gone to heaven. Perhaps more on that in another blog.  I had some interesting experiences there - one involving a crop circle, the other my own personal ghost in my hotel room.  

Happily planning our trip and about to start making reservations, Stuart came home with tears in his eyes to tell me he'd just lost his job.  I remember all the pamphelts of the London tube system, day trips to Stonehenge and Bath, a trip up to the Cotswolds, all slid off my lap and landed willy-nilly on the cold tile floor.  I looked down at all those lovely photos of places I had either never seen or dearly loved to see again.  I cried more over that trip than my husband losing his job.  For me, the day that trip ended was the day my dream of returning to my spiritual home died.  At least for the time being.  There's always next summer.

So, no trips, no weekend getaways as my husband doesn't like to travel for just a couple of days unless it's to see his parents in Austin (something I loath doing as they're fairly negative people who are quite judgmental of what I do and what I believe).

Friday, as I sat there looking out at our deck I told the Universe, "I'm going to have a nice vacation this summer and it will be right out there on our deck.  So, let's make it happen!"  Then I let it go as Ariel needed me, the dinner needed to get cooked, the dog needed to be played with - duty constantly calls when you're a mother, even if you're only a mother of one, as I am.

Saturday was my birthday and Stuart took me for lunch at McDonald's, then it was shopping for me.  He gave me a Sony Bloggie, a pair of Sketcher's Shape Ups (which really do seem to work, I'm so shocked and pleased!), and then dinner out, the evening ending with a wonderful full body massage courtesy of my husband.  All in all a great day.  I was too busy to spend any time out on the deck.

Sunday was Father's Day and we shopped again, this time for Stuart who wanted an iPhone, but changed his mind and didn't want the new one. He wanted the same model I have, so we found it for $99 at WalMart.  We had to go to 2 WalMarts to find one and once we did he got the last one they had.  While we were there he wandered off and came back with a cart loaded with two chez lounge chairs for our deck.  I immediately thought back to what I had told the Universe.  Stuart hates to spend money, being a banker and also having security issues, so for him to splurge on additional patio furniture when we don't use the patio was pretty much downright insane of him.  As he came up to me he said, "I figure we have this great patio we haven't had much of a chance to use due to all the bad stuff going on with our family these past few years, so I figured I'd get these chairs and we can spend more time out there." 

I smiled.   Yes, the Universe DOES work in MYSTERIOUS ways :)

So this summer I'll be out on my patio enjoying the view of my rose garden, half of which died off in the winter hard freezes we had this past winter, but they're coming back slow, but sure.  



As I gazed out into my yard early this morning I realized that a real vacation isn't a place.  It's a state of mind.  Relax. Enjoy the moment.  That's how you really get away.  You can go to the most exciting or romantic location you can dream up, but if you're weighed down with the concerns of your life how is that a vacation?  

While I stretched out in my new lounge chair sipping an amaretto ice coffee I had just brewed, I sighed.  The humidity, ever present around here, was causing my hair to clump in an unruly manner.  My bra was collection perspiration.  I wasn't extremely comfortable, but as I drew in a deep breath and caught the faint whisper of the scent of roses from my rose bushes, I smiled.  This is my summer vacation and I can take it any time I want, as many times as I like throughout the day and well into the evening.  There's no airplane to catch. No uncomfortable hotel bed.  It's just me, my deck, my roses, and the Universe. 

This is what I plan to do with my summer.  What about you?  

Pluto and Mercury Go Retrograde Together

Although Pluto has recently been demoted by astronomers from a planet to a dwarf planet, it still has a strong astrological influence over the earth and all of humanity. Pluto is the planet of creation and regeneration. However, it is also the planet of upheaval and destruction. Often, Pluto creates chaos within the astrological house of a birth chart in which it appears, but out of this chaos great creative potential arises. When our lives are bombarded by chaos, Pluto is often at the root of the changes that are occurring. Pluto’s energy urges you to let go of the old so that the new may enter your life, thus helping you to transform into a new person or reach the next level of your own spiritual evolution. Pluto rules the astrological sign of Scorpio and both have death and rebirth as their shared domain of major influence. Pluto also has a strong influence over power, power struggles, and the relations between authority figures and those beneath them, as well as relations among nations. Despite the fact that Pluto often appears in our lives to teach us harsh lessons, these are lessons governed by “tough love” and the planet Pluto’s energy appears in our lives to help us, through hardship, to reach our fullest potential.

Mercury is the planet of communication and of the intellect. It rules the astrological signs of Gemini and Virgo. Mercury influences how we view the universe and how we think things all work together. As the ruler of communication, Mercury has direct influence over all of our relationships – romantic, familial, work, and friendships. Mercury helps to create a keen intellect and is the planet whose energies are called upon on behalf of students and teachers or anyone else concerned with increasing the intellect and who is seeking help in the learning or teaching process.

When a planet enters retrograde motion many interpret this to mean the planet is moving backwards in its orbit, but this is not true.  What really occurs is the planet slows down its rotation around the sun, thus creating the optical illusion that it is moving backwards in its orbit.  Imagine being in the back seat of a car driving 70 miles per hour.  If you look behind you at another car that is only driving 55 miles per hour, it will appear to be moving backwards, even though it’s moving forwards, but at a slower rate than the rate you are traveling.  This is how a retrograde appears in a planet’s orbital path.

Retrograde periods of a planet’s orbit increase the less-than-desirable aspects of that planet’s influence and can magnify that planet’s more negative aspects.  For example, Pluto in retrograde means that it will act as a type of euthanasia – putting out of its misery things in our lives that have grown outmoded or no longer serve our higher good (despite how we may think or feel about the situation!).  Relationships and other various types of situations could blow up in our faces if they are no longer serving our highest good as Pluto Retrograde forces us through its own unique version of “tough love” to force us into new situations that will serve our higher good and help us to fulfill our purpose in this lifetime.  Retrograde influences, although beginning on certain dates, can extend their influence backwards in time, hence hitting us a bit early with their retrograde influence.  Both Pluto and Mercury are known for influencing us early.

A good example of the retrograde influences of both Pluto and Mercury hitting a person early is my husband, Stuart.  He is a Virgo who has both Pluto and Mercury in Virgo in his natal chart (I am a Gemini and have Mercury in Gemini in my natal chart.).  Last Wednesday Pluto and Mercury hit my husband hard as he lost his job without any warning, no earlier reprimands, no complaints from his boss, not a hint of trouble of any kind.  He was brought before his boss on trumped up charges and forced to sign a letter of resignation and that was that.  He was unceremoniously sent home and has been frantically searching for another job all day long ever since.

As a psychic I have known for the past year that the # 2 man at the bank was jealous of Stuart’s abilities.  He saw Stuart, the # 3 man, as a direct threat to him falling into the boss’s position as bank branch president when he retires in 2 more years.  I warned my husband who accordingly refused to listen to me.  Virgos always think they know everything (no offense to the Virgos reading this, this is just how that sign is, just as Geminis – of which I am one – are always scattered with a  lot of “pie-in-the-sky” ideas they seldom bring to fruition due to their scattered energies).  I told Stuart it was time to start looking for a new job, that stuff was about to hit the fan, but he kept on going as he only judged the situation by what he saw in front of him, unaware of the devious undercurrents flowing around him.  Now he’s unemployed. 

I am sharing this with you because Stuart’s problem serves as a perfect example of how retrograde planets can cause us to undergo a major wake up call.  They shove us out of our complacency and force us to act, even when we don’t wish to do so.  Retrograde periods, are therefore a good time to take stock of our situation, evaluate our relationships, and determine which areas of our lives need to be worked on in order to avoid chaos from gaining a foothold and undermining all of our plans, wishes, and ambitions.

Now is the time for each of us to carefully evaluate all areas of our lives.  We have two very powerful planets undergoing a retrograde period that coincide with each other.  Pluto went retrograde on April 6 and Mercury goes retrograde on April 18.  Pluto’s retrograde period (which occurs in Capricorns, so those of you who are Capricorn or have Pluto in the sign of Capricorn in their natal chart will be the most affected) will last until September 13, 2010 while Mercury will be in retrograde from April 18 – May 11 and will then enter another retrograde period on August 20 through September 12th, so that Mercury retrograde will also coincide with the current Pluto retrograde period.

While a Pluto retrograde is a time of renewal through chaos and eventual rebirth, a Mercury retrograde is a time during which communication can, and often does, go awry.  Disagreements can occur and this is never a good time to begin new projects or sign any contracts.  Paper work is also deeply affected and this can cause issues in the work place.  Mercury also governs travel so a Mercury retrograde period is not a good time during which to travel as it can often influence the loss of our luggage, flight delays, and even flight catastrophes, such as airplane crashes and train derailments, the vast majority of which occur during Mercury retrograde periods

On the plus side, while Pluto Retrograde can bring a lot of chaos into our lives quite suddenly and without any warning, this chaos will result in something better.  Pluto Retrograde upsets the balance in our lives in order to create MORE balance than what had existed previously.  It brings an end to things we see as blessings (such as my husband’s job) in order to clear the way for new and greater blessings to enter our lives.

The positive aspects of a Mercury Retrograde period include presenting us with a time during which deep inner reflection will be its most useful and powerful.  If you’re interested in self improvement of any kind, a Mercury Retrograde period is the time to examine yourself to discover the best ways you can use to implement necessary changes in your life.  This is a good time to undertake personal cleansings of either a physical or spiritual nature.  This is the best time to clear the clutter in your home and bring it to a thrift store, spring cleaning is always the most successful and complete during a Mercury retrograde period (and, wow, it’s spring now so talk about perfect timing!), and reviewing projects, plans, and relationships is always best undertaken during a Mercury Retrograde period.

Taking the combined retrograde influences of Pluto and Mercury in retrograde, now is the best time to undertake spiritual self-improvement.  If you’re seeking to become more intuitive or psychic, open to your guides more, remember your dreams better, or perhaps begin to perform your own candle work, now is the prime time to start such projects.  The retrograde period is also a good time to reinforce protection magic, protective wards around yourself, home, career and relationships, and it’s the best time for spell casting in order to promote harmony in all areas of life.

Wishing you all harmony during this time,

Nefer Khepri Hemet
IsisRaAnpu@aol.com

Now on Facebook

Greetings Everyone!

It's been a while, I know.  A lot has happened and I'm still trying to process it all.  First my eyes freaked out (new glasses were needed & I'm fine now), then I got a sinus infection.  That lead into a nasty throat infection and I was so sick that I had to stay in bed for FIVE days!  I don't think I've ever been in bed 5 consecutive days in my entire life.  That was b-o-r-i-n-g, let me tell you.  You can only watch so much off the TiVo.  I was getting sore from laying around so much.  

However, I'm now back and for the past 2 1/2 weeks I've been working at full capacity catching up on orders that were over due on account of me being so sick for so long.  Of course, new orders kept coming in so I had to push those back so I could take care of my clients who had been patiently waiting a while.  So I remained behind with work until just yesterday.  Now I am FINALLY ALL CAUGHT UP!!!  YAY!!!!!!!!  

One big announcement is that as of last Thursday, April 8, 2010, I am now on Facebook.   I began a Facebook page at the suggestion of a client (thank you, Henri, formerly of Finland, now of Spain!).  I really didn't think it would amount to much & I did it as a lark.  Well, before I could even finish editing my information as I set up my page I had suddenly gained 17 friends from a list of clients' emails I had imported into my Facebook page.  From that point onward it's been growing.  As of today I have 66 friends, and counting.  

I also started my own Magickal Musings Facebook Group.  Please join and you'll be able to not only read & participate informative discussions at my Group, but both on my Facebook page and at my Group I'll be posting specials that will NOT be mentioned anywhere on my site, nor will I be mentioning them in the newsletter.  These will be specials ONLY for my Facebook Friends & Group Members. 

So far, Facebook has been a lot of fun.  I can see now why it's so addicting to some people.  I have a separate page I keep only for my old friends from back home and from the 3 universities I attended.  Most of them have conservative religious views & would not approve of what I do for a living or my spiritual beliefs so I make it a point to never discuss religion with most of them.  One old friend from high school is just ALWAYS posting every little thing from his life.  It's funny to read and I wonder since he's a teacher, where does he find the time to post so much?  I suspect he's posting from his iPhone.  

Please join my Facebook Page and Facebook Group.  Please remember these are two separate links and in order to read my articles & partcipate in discussions at Facebook you need to become a member of my Magickal Musings group.  I have a current special listed there you won't find at my site or the newsletter.  Something about getting a 3-card mini tarot reading from me for only $19.99.  I must have been nuts when I posted that, but oh, well.  Too late now, the payment link is up at Facebook.  Check it out if you want to take advantage of that special.  It's only for a limited time or until I get 20 orders, whichever comes first.  

I'll be posting more this weekend here and at Facebook - different content at each, so please be sure to check out both places.  

Until next time,

Many Blessings!

Nefer Khepri Hemet

IsisRaAnpu@aol.com

 

Attitude is Everything

Greetings!

I do apologize for my absence.  I've been going crazy with cookies.  My daughter is a fifth year Girl Scout and during the most recent cookie sale her goal was 250 boxes so that she'd qualify for one of the incentive prizes - a silver peace sign necklace with multi-colored rhinestones on it.  She did manage to sell 250 boxes, but guess who had to organize all the orders, bag, and label them for delivery??? 

Have you ever looked at 52 boxes of Thin Mints, 51 boxes of Caramel Delights and have told yourself, "Wow, I guess these are the two most popular Girl Scout cookie varieties."  ????  Well, unless you have a Girl Scout in your family, I doubt that you've ever done that.  Getting them all out and looking at all those boxes of delectable cookies is quite a sight!  

I have been taking my daughter to participate in the cookie booths her troop has arranged.  I'm teaching her the importance of being a team player by participating so she can help her troop sell more cookies.  We were selling them at a nearby McDonald's.  I told her how important it is when you are part of a group to do your share of the work that makes that group special.  This means participating in things that you may not consider "fun," like a cookie booth.  I told my daughter it was all in her attitude.  She had the choice to go into this as if the whole thing was an unpleasant chore she needed to get out of the way or she could go into it as a chance to spend time with her Girl Scout friends and learn how to deal with the public and make change.  All the girls in the troop are 10 - 11 years old.  

Luckily, my daughter made me proud by opting for the more positive attitude.  She also helped the others to keep a positive attitude as well, and one of them needed LOTS of help in that department.  

When things come up in our lives that we must do even though we don't want to, or very unpleasant things happen to us or our loved ones, the attitude with which we face the situation is everything.  Attitude can make or break each one of us.  

My father died last September from end-stage dementia brought on by Parkinson's Disease. He entered the nursing home system the previous October and I moved him from place to place trying to find the best facility for him, which I finally did last May.  I went to visit him nearly everyday and on the weekend I brought my family along.  I made sure he was being well-cared for and made it clear to the staff every time I went that if something dissatisfied me there was going to be trouble - and sometimes there was.  

I am very thankful that Dad never forgot who any of us were. He'd even ask about his brothers and my cousins whom he hadn't seen in years.  Since we all knew he was dying we were all keeping in touch with one another. His illness brought the entire family closer together.  That was my dad.  He was always a ray of sunshine touching every life in an incredibly positive manner.  He was the type who never met a person he didn't instantly know.  He had tons of friends.  Everyone knew Bob and everyone loved him.  

However, due to the dementia and severe depression caused by us losing my mom in January, 2008, he wasn't a joy to be around anymore.  He would spend a lot of our time together crying and asking me why wouldn't he die?  He would say, "all I want is to die." 

The ray of sunshine I had known all my life as my beloved father was gone.  In its place was left a mere shell of the man he once was holding on to the only thing that got him through each day - that when his time came he would get to see his wife of 48 years again.  

Attitude is everything.  My dad's illness taught me that, although I have always known a positive attitude will get you a lot further along than a negative one will.  

I have one major regret about the time my dad spent in nursing homes.  I allowed the general atmosphere and the many trapped and restless souls there to drag me down.  I looked at each visit with dread, as something I must do in order to offer my dad what emotional support he was willing to accept.  I failed to see all of those visits as what they truly were:  precious time to spend with a loved one who was in the process of making their transition.  I failed to see this was a tremendous blessing that many people never receive due to having loved ones wrenched from their lives due to accidents, sudden illnesses, and violence.  Instead of looking at those visits as precious time well-spent I saw them as times I had to deal with a constant barrage of negativity from the staff, from my dad, and even from some spirits I ran across in those facilities.  

If I had had the attitude of this being the last chances I'd have to spend with my dad, of making the best of it and not allowing his depression to get to me, I would have been a better support to him and I would have been better equipped emotionally to deal with the whole unfortunate situation.  

When I look at my daughter I see a lot of my dad in her.  The same ray of sunshine, the same "go get 'em" attitude.  I look at her and say to myself, "I will do everything I can to always encourage that attitude in her so that when the time comes in her life when she has to face something really unpleasant hopefully she will be able to maintain a somewhat positive attitude."

In other words, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  I know it sounds trite, but when you really think about it, it's very sound advice.  Take it from one who knows.  

I really wish I had made lemonade with my dad.  

Blessings,

~ Nefer

IsisRaAnpu@aol.com

I can see again!!!

I am finally back at full capacity and am working my full daily work schedule.  I'm busy trying to catch up after having been out of commission for over 2 weeks with eye problems.  I'm happy to report I have my new glasses and they are fantastic!  I'm amazed at how quickly and suddenly my sight deteriorated, but that's how things work as we age, I suppose. Just wanted to say that all pending orders are now being filled, prioritizing candle work and enchantment reports first, then readings, then channelings and soul portraits.  

I look forward to being able to serve you all again and for those of you who have been waiting a long time for their orders to be filled (Kim in particular!!!), I thank you so very, very much for your patience and your understanding.  I am very blessed to have the BEST clients in the world!

Many Blessings,

~Nefer
IsisRaAnpu@aol.com

PayPal Link May not Work??

If the PayPal link is not working (I can't get it to work on my computer), then please do the following in order to place your order:

From your own PayPal account, click on the "send money" option at the top of your account's screen.  Enter me as the Recipient:

IsisRaAnpu@aol.com

Enter the amount of $115.00

Complete the transaction.  I will email you notification of payment received and will give you the date upon which you can expect to receive your reading via email.  

I apologize for any confusion or inconvenience.  This is a PayPal issue and is beyond my control.

Blessings!

~ Nefer
IsisRaAnpu@aol.com 

Important Reminder: Annual Tarot Forecast Offer About to Expire!

Discover what 2010 holds in store for you.

My Annual Tarot Forecast Reading, normally $150, is on sale right now for $115.  The sale expires on January 31, 2010 at 11 PM CST. 

If you wish to order, please do so now in order to avoid being disappointed.  I will not be accepting ANY orders at the reduced price after the 31st.  This sale will not reoccur at any time during 2010, so this will be your only opportunity.  

Click to Order using secure payment at PayPal. 

Your reading will begin on the date it arrives in your email and will extend to the same date of 2011, for an entire year.  Your reading will range anywhere from 18 - 30 pages long.  Each month will also include a positive affirmation written just for you. 


Blessings,


Nefer Khepri Hemet
IsisRaAnpu@aol.com

Health Update

Hello!

I'm using a larger font because I had my eyes seriously overhauled at my opthamologist's office on Thursday.  Been suffering from eye strain and bad headaches for a week now and figured I needed new glasses.  I also have occular hyper tension (the stage below glaucoma, when the liquid in your eye isn't draining properly so the pressure on the optic nerve increases and can cause tunnel vision and blindness if left untreated).  In order to measure the eye pressure they have to place a blue light/lens directly on your eye ball.  They do give you knock out eye drops for this and they work a treat for ONE measurement.  They begin to wear off immediately.

The good news is that mysteriously (to them, at least) my eye pressures have gone down on their own to within normal range now!  WOO HOO!!!  the nurse freaked out and took my pressures a second time.  By now the knock out drops were just starting to wear off so that was a tad uncomfortable.  Then the doctor came in and was convinced the nurse must have done something wrong.  So she re-took my pressures.  By now the drops were really wearing off so that hurt a bit.  She got the same reading.  Now convinced her machine must be faulty, she took me to another exam room where she took my pressures a FOURTH time.  I asked for more drops, but none could be given.  I wouldn't be able to keep my eyes  open, she said.  So, that fourth reading hurt like hell!!!  Then she had to put my eyes through rigorous tests as she couldn't figure out why my pressures got so much lower.  I flat out told her, "I am a witch!  I do hands on healing and candle work.  I've given my eyes reiki and I've lit candles for them prior to coming here and obviously it all worked!"  

Being a woman of science I figured she'd think I was crazy.  Instead, she was very cool about it.  She asked me what sort of witchcraft I practiced, so she's obviously familiar.  When I said, "wicca," she said, "Oh! I see."  Again, insinuating familiarity.  She told me to keep up the good work and apologized for all the pain.  

So, yesterday I couldn't even MOVE my eyeballs, which prevented me from getting on the computer at all.  Today I am about 50% better in that regard, but they still hurt so I'm not doing any computer work today.  As a result, all reports that were due Thursday and today are going to be late.  You can expect to receive them Monday - Tuesday of next week.  I do apologize for the delay.

I saw my ENT today for recurrent whining in my left ear.  It was so bad last night it kept me up until 3 AM.  I began to seriously wonder if there wasn't a UFO hovering over my house sending me secret signals or something.  That's how bad it was.  I wanted to cry.  He gave me a shot of prednisone (steriod) in my left hip.  It is now almost impossible for me to sit in my computer chair.  I'm in a lot of pain from that injection and I have to sit with my legs elevated or my hip just stings and aches.  I've been rubbing it as I can feel the steroid just sitting there, it seems.  That must be why it's hurting so badly.

So, readings are also being postponed.  I've emailed each of you with the date on which you can expect your reading.  All orders will be completed no later than Tuesday, 5 PM CST of next week.  Once again, I do apologize for the delay, but will be working through the weekend to be sure everyone receives their orders as promptly as possible.

To top it off, Tuesday I saw the dentist for a routine cleaning.  So I've had my total head worked on:  teeth, eyes, and ears!  My husband has told me for 15 years I need to have my head examined and now I've finally gone and done it.  He ought to be thrilled!

Blessings to All!

Nefer Khepri Hemet
IsisRaAnpu@aol.com 

The Ghosts of Houmas House (Darrow, Louisiana): part 1 of 3

It was a dark and stormy night ...

Sorry, it was actually a beautiful sunny day, late morning.  We arrived at Houmas House in time for the 11:30 AM tour on a gorgeous mid-November morning.  I had wanted to see this house since I was 10 years old after seeing the Bette Davis gothic suspense film, "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte," co-starring Olivia deHaviland.  If you haven't seen it and like suspenseful movies, this is a definite must-see.  My parents always insisted the house didn't exist and was just a back lot at a Hollywood studio.  However, nearly my entire life I remained convinced the house was real.

When my husband told me he was taking me on a trip to New Orleans I was besides myself.  Considered by many to be the paranormal capital of America, New Orleans had been on my "must visit" list practically my entire life.  I was so excited.  I began researching all the places I wanted to see so I could create our itinerary for our 4-day trip.  At some point I remembered the movie and the house and wondered if it was anywhere in the area and open to the public.  I googled "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte house" and Houmas House came up.  I was thrilled to see that not only did the house actually exist, but it has a 32-acre garden, three restaurants, and the home itself is open to the public for tours.  On our third day in New Orleans we undertook the hour drive to Houmas House.  

Through google I discovered the place is supposedly haunted by a little girl in a blue dress (no, I did not see her), but then again, aren't all old plantation homes haunted?  When you consider the tragedies of slavery their walls have witnessed, not to mention the Civil War (many homes were used as barracks or hospitals while soldiers fought in surrounding fields), and the Yellow Fever epidemic of the late 1800s, these homes have seen a great deal and it's no surprise that a few ghosts still linger.  I took this photo of the exterior of the home as we were leaving.  Note the Spanish Moss hanging from the oak trees.  How atmospheric!!  

As we entered Houmas House I sent out as strong a mental message as I could and kept repeating in my mind, "if there are any spirits here, please find a way to manifest in my pictures." To be honest, I did not "sense" anything.  Only once when we were walking the gardens afterwards (see below), but unfortunately I have no photographic evidence of what occurred.  The house itself felt warm and inviting.  The current owner, Kevin Kelly, had completely gutted and renovated the entire house back to its antebellum glory.  He is an avid collector of antiques and has filled the house with furniture, light fixtures, fireplaces, musical instruments, games, and various other objects that all date back to the time of the Civil War.  The home is absolutely beautiful and a must-see if you are ever in the area.  

Now on to Part 2, see my next entry.

Ghostly Image at Houmas House

This is my second  of 3 blog entries about Houmas House.  I can't get them to post in the intended order for some reason (that being that I'm new to blogging and don't know what I'm doing!), and I apologize for the confusion.  I've gone in and edited them so that each entry stands on its own.

During the guided tour of Houmas House one of the rooms we were allowed to enter is known as the  Billiards Room.  This is where the men would have hung out while the ladies would retire to the "Lady's Palor" in the room next door.  My intention here was to photograph the lovely fireplace, mantle, and mirror.


To put the photo in perspective, I was standing about 9 feet to the left of the fireplace, at an angle to it.  If you look at the lower right-hand corner of the picture you can see the dark mahogany edge of the billiards table, which was about 2 1/2 feet in front of the fireplace.  


I've attempted to draw arrows to the strange things that appeared in this picture.  When I looked at my pictures I immediately noticed the smudge on the mirror in the center of the upper third.  I figured it had been left there by a maid while cleaning.  Yet, try as I may, I could not remember if I had seen a smudge on that mirror. I was pretty sure a smudge was not visible.  However, it did cause me to linger and what I saw next completely blew my mind.  In the lower left-hand corner of the mirror you can see the back of a man''s head, neck, and right shoulder. It also appears that this gentleman is transparent!  

There were three men in that room:  my husband (who is a strawberry blonde so we can eliminate him as a possibility immediately), a man from New York who was there with his wife (he did have dark hair, but it was wavy and flecked with gray, plus he was wearing a black short-sleeved t-shirt that doesn't match up with the suit the man in the mirror is wearing), and our tour guide, Kevin (not the same person as the property's owner, Kevin Kelly).  Now, Kevin did have on a white long-sleeved shirt and a black vest.  Plus, he does have short, dark hair as does the man in the mirror.  However, Kevin had been wearing a hat that he never removed for our entire tour, plus his long white sleeves were quite apparent, so again, his attire does not match the dark suit the man in the mirror is wearing.  


Futhermore, if you go back and look at the full image you can see that in order to cast that type of reflection the man would need to be standing directly in front of the fireplace with his back to the mirror.  I emailed this image to Kevin Kelly, who told me he was quite perplexed as he does not believe in ghosts.  He confirmed two important things.  Firstly, there is NO smudge on that mirror.  So, that misty image is something that was in the process of manifesting as my camera took the picture (I have a Sony CyberShot digital camera & had it set for auto-exposure so my flash would not go off).  Also, he pointed out that in order for the man's reflection to appear as it does in the mirror he would have to have been standing inbetween the fireplace and the billiards table.  He had his staff attempt to duplicate this reflection and there is nowhere else in the room one can stand in order to cast that type of reflection in the lower left-hand corner of the mirror, except right in front of it.  Mr. Kelly was also the one to point out to me the figure in the mirror is transparent.  


In order for this to be a person casting their reflection they would need to be standing between myself and the fireplace.  As you can clearly see from the original picture there is no one there!  


When our tour was beginning in the entry hall I had whispered  to the woman from NY that I had read the house was haunted.  She laughed and said, "Oh, do you think so?"  I said it was quite probable given the history of the area.  She laughed again and said, "well, maybe you'll see a ghost!"  I did not laugh with her as I take the paranormal quite seriously.  Looking back on our visit there I think that the ghosts were listening and realized I respected them whereas she did not.  I think two entities manifested in that picture as their way of saying, "thanks for believing in us and for not laughing."  


While preparing this to go up on my blog I was examining other photos and have since discovered another image that involves a picture of me that my husband took at Lafitte's Bar in New Orleans on Bourbon Street. I will be including  that in a blog entry in the near-future.  


However, my trip to Houmas House and the weirdness there did not end with this photo.  Read my next entry to find out what happened to me as my husband and I were walking through the gardens after the house tour.  The next blog entry after this one is entitled, "Time Warp ..." and has some lovely pictures that I took there.  That home is so gorgeous that I think it's literally impossible to take a bad picture there. 

A Possible Time Warp in the Gardens at Houmas House??

Houmas House, part 3 ~ continued ...

Once we completed the tour my husband and I enjoyed lunch at the Burnside Cafe, which is in an out-building at Houmas House.  Before leaving we spent some time walking around the gorgeous gardens that Mr. Kelly has filled with beautiful foundations and Greek and Roman statues.  This is a picture I took of the area of the gardens known as "The Secret Garden."  This is in the front of the property along the road that leads up to the house. 

While still in the house I took a picture of a quaint side-building from the 2nd floor balcony.  I wondered what it had been used for, but forgot to ask our guide.  Now I wish I had!  

During our walk we came up to it.  I wanted to see what was inside so I stepped up to the door that had paned glass in it and looked through it.  All I saw was a delapitated interior.  There were no furnishings.  The walls looked like they had been stripped as though the building was being prepared for renovation.  There was also a large unfinished artist's canvas propped up against a fireplace along the opposite wall.  Our guide had said the head gardener was an artist so I assumed they had yet to renovate this building and the gardner was perhaps using it for storage.  I walked off and thought nothing of it.  

Now I deeply regret never having taken a picture of what I saw!  

When I got back home I was in email correspondence with Mr. Kelly, the owner of Houmas House, in reference to the spirits that showed up in the picture from my previous entry.  I was also googling Houmas House trying to find out the history to see if any of that could explain what my camera had captured.  In so doing I ran across a web page about the Turtle Bar at Houmas House.  According to the web page, that bar is located within this building.  The building exterior is shown and it is completely gorgeous, renovated, no signs of stripped walls, large canvases, or anything else other than a quaint and beautiful little bar!  There are additional photos of the interior.  They are NOT what I saw! (see the link below)

To this day I have no idea what happened. I have shared this experience with Mr. Kelly, but by then I figure he was freaked out over the ghosts that showed up and he never responded to that email of me asking him if that building truly has been renovated and turned into a bar or if those pictures had been a mock-up for the Internet and he had not yet carried out the renovation.  However, if you read the page (link is below) it appears that the bar is in existence.

If that is the case, then what in the world happened to me?  How was I able to walk up to a door, look inside and see an old delapitated ruin of an exterior if it's a nice bar today???  Also, if it is a bar, wouldn't there have been people around???  I saw no one.  

I am left to wonder did I slip back in time (I was visible to my husband the entire time, but he himself never came up to look in the windows like I did so I have no witness to collaborate what I saw) to see the interior before its renovation?  Perhaps I saw a ghostly image of what was once there.  If so, was the bartender inside looking out at me wondering what this crazy woman was doing peering in through the door? 

I walked off thinking absolutely nothing of this experience.  My husband and I very much enjoyed our walk through the gardens.  We "oohed" and "ahhed" over many things and took pictures at the replica Japanese Garden, shown here on the left.  We walked up to the top and from there had a good view of much of the garden below.  

The tour of the home was more than I had hoped for as we were taken through the house and even allowed to take pictures.  The gardens are breathtaking and if we ever are in the area again I will definitely schedule a return trip to Houmas House.  I strongly urge you to take a side-trip here should you visit New Orleans.  It is an hour away by car and well worth the detour!  It also has what used to be a free-standing spiral staircase.  Mr. Kelly had a wall built to cut a large room in half so now the staircase is against one wall, but our guide told us that to this day, architecture students make special trips to visit Houmas House in order to study the spiral staircase.  And, yes, during the tour you do climb that staircase.  

  

Here, you can see the bottom of the stairs. 

Next, is a view looking almost perfectly straight up to the top from the first floor. And, no that blueish thing is not an orb. It's merely a reflection caused by the sunlight.  The link to the page about the Turtle Bar is here. 

The Popularity of "Ghost Hunting": A Warning

I personally think it's great how the paranormal is receiving increasing amounts of coverage on TV lately.  We have great fiction shows like "Ghost Whisperer" and "Medium."  We also have talk shows like John Edwards' "Crossing Over," (but he speaks so quickly that I can hardly understand anything he says, so I don't watch that one).  For years we could watch "Most Haunted" (a British import) on the Travel Channel, then "Ghosthunters" (my favorite!) premiered on the SciFi Channel 7 years ago and now has two spin-off series, "Ghosthunters International" (which is quite lame, in my opinion), and "Ghosthunter's Academy," a reality show where contestants are tested to see who will become the next addition to the Ghosthunter's team of paranormal investigators.  That show is pretty good.  Over on A&E Network is "Paranormal State," that just began it's 4th season (very good show).  Other shows include "Ghost Lab", "Extreme Paranormal" (those guys are crazy and NEVER try to do the weird things they do, please!), "Ghost Adventures" (Travel Channel - and a word to the wise:  NEVER attempt to antagonize a spirit in order to get a response - this is EXTREMELY dangerous!!), and even Animal Planet Network has gotten bitten by the ghost bug with their show, "The Haunted," which is about pet owners who experience the paranormal and how it affects their pets.  That show sounds really lame, but it's actually pretty good.  New shows resume this Friday night.  

With all the ghosthunting shows out there now and how easy these people make it appear to go out and hunt ghosts, more and more people are getting into the act.  Ghosthunting is emerging as a HOBBY, if you can believe that!  It's true!  In fact, I have several clients who have embarked upon a serious ghosthunting hobby.  

There is nothing wrong with ghosthunting.  In fact, I've done a bit myself (my recent trip to New Orleans being the most recent ghost expedition).  People go into a purportedly haunted location armed with digital cameras, EMF (Electroc Magnetic Field) meters, and digital recorders to catch any EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon).  They run around these places and have no clue as to the real dangers to which they are exposing themselves.  

This article is a word on the REAL dangers of ghosthunting if you do not enter the property properly "armed," so to speak.

It's one thing to have scientific tools at one's disposal, but it's quite another to know what to do should an entity decide to physically attack a ghosthunter, or worse - in the case of nonhuman entities (i.e., demons), attempt to possess a person. 

I used to perform house cleansings in person.  Note the past tense.  I no longer have this as part of my business due to the dangers my team was exposed to during my last case.  I had two friends accompany me, one to keep an eye out behind me for any phenomena and the other was our photographer.  The last house I cleansed just happened to be infested with three demons.  This was the first time I had run across demonic energy.  I have since performed exorcisms with candle work long distance for clients cleansing them and their homes of these evil entities, but after my experiences in that house and what my friends went through, I quickly brought my in-person house cleansing portion of my business to a close.  

We entered properly equipped, and more importantly - properly protected.  That's right.  Before you enter any haunted location it is required that you place yourself under some form of strong spiritual protection.  I would pray to Isis and to St. Michael before entering the property.  I would ask for protection for my team members and the people who lived in the house as well since at least the  owner would always be present for a cleansing.  Sometimes additional family members and even pets were also present.  Despite being properly protected we still had a major battle on our hands.  Both my friends came under attack and began vomiting, as did the home owner and her daughter.  It got hot as hell in there and we all left at the end with fevers.  Books and plates were thrown by unseen forces.  The cat appeared to be kicked across the room and was seriously hurt and required extensive vetinary care.  It was SCARY AS HELL and I will NEVER EVER cleanse another home in person again other than my own.


What I am hearing about with alarming frequency is people going into places with known and documented paranormal activity, but they enter unarmed or unprotected.  When they leave they do nothing to help prevent the REAL possibility of an entity following them home.  They do not realize this is a MUST-DO, regardless of your spiritual or religious beliefs.  These entities are very real and some of them are incredibly dangerous, not just to your body, but to your mind and your very soul. 


Quite simply put - if a person does not know how to invoke strong spiritual protective energies and properly cleanse themselves and their equipment upon leaving a haunted location, then a person is NOT equipped in ANY way to be a ghosthunter.  

As I said, I have several clients who are into ghosthunting.  Five, in fact.  Three are very serious and know what they're doing.  The other two are both in their 20s, have been avid viewers of "Ghosthunters" for years now and they felt that qualified them to hunt ghosts in real life.  Unfortunately, they had no clue as to how to call down spiritual protection or how to perform a cleansing after leaving a property.  

Now, I don't know for a fact that Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, and the others on "Ghosthunters" invoke protection or cleanse themselves upon leaving, but once in a while they will make a stray comment here and there that hints at the fact that they are aware of these practices and realize their importance. So I am assuming they do perform some form of prayer prior to entering and another form of prayer after their job is done so they don't bring home any unwanted guests.  The team on the A&E show, "Paranormal State," can often be seeing praying and invoking protection from St. Michael.  They have even called in a catholic priest when they encounter denomic activity and they have left blessed St. Michael medals with their clientele.  They obviously know what they're doing.   It is common sense to ask  for some form of protection and common sense to make an effort to spiritually cleanse one's self upon leaving a supposedly haunted location.  

Unfortunately, many people do not do either.  Then they wonder why suddenly they're hearing strange noises or seeing aparitions in their homes when there had never been any paranormal activity before.  I am currently working with two clients in an attempt to cleanse their homes long distance.  One power candle has just gotten underway while for the other client we're doing a repetition as the entity she brought home is demonic.  They always require extra work to send on their way.  

I'm posting this as a gentle warning.  If you are an amateur ghosthunter who is not using some form of strong spiritual protection upon entering a property and some form of strong spiritual cleansing upon leaving said property (and this is done BEFORE you get into your car!), then PLEASE, either learn how to perform these prayer and cleansing methods for yourself or stop your ghosthunting activities before you end up bringing something home you wished you hadn't.

Many Blessings!

~Nefer
IsisRaAnpu@aol.com