A Beautiful Twin Soul Poem

Unending Love

 

I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times . . .

In life after life, in age after age, forever.

My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs,

That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms,

In life after life, in age after age, forever.

 

Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, its age old pain,
Its ancient tale of being apart or together.
As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge,
Clad in the light of a pole-star, piercing the darkness of time.
You become an image of what is remembered forever.

 

You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount.
At the heart of time, love of one for another.
We have played along side millions of lovers,
Shared in the same shy sweetness of meeting,
the distressful tears of farewell,
Old love but in shapes that renew and renew forever.

 

Today it is heaped at your feet, it has found its end in you, 
The love of all man's days both past and forever: 
Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life, 
The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours --
And the songs of every poet past and forever.

by Rabindranath Tagore
(1861-1941)

Jamming the Signal -- An Explanation

     OK, people, we need to talk.  For some reason, there is an extraordinary interest in one of my previous posts called "Jamming the Signal -- An Update."  Most of the interest seems to come from an Eastern European country, which I am sure is just lovely this time of year, but which shall remain nameless.

     People, as much as I love your readership, let's not misunderstand me here.  I am interested in Twin Souls, empathy, psychic phenomena, and spirituality.  I am NOT interested in explaining how to avoid governmental mind-reading and tips on how to create tin-foil hats. 

     What did "Jamming the Signal" refer to?  Perhaps something was lost in translation, but I will try to be clear here:  it refers to the times when we get so caught up in our busy lives that we feel we lose our connection to the Divine.  The busyness "jams the signal."  Get it? 

     That's all I meant.  Really.

A Psychic Empath

     When I created the character of Rissa in The Gemini Bond, I based some of her abilities on those that I have.  For example, she is clearly an empath, which serves her well in her career as a social worker.  Not only is she able to feel what others are feeling and can quickly ferret out family dynamics, but she can also tell when people are not telling the truth.  I find the gift of being an empath a double-edged sword -- it's great to know what is going on inside other people, but it can often be overwhelming.  I wish I were as good as Rissa at breathing through the emotions and letting them go.

     However, Rissa has some abilities that I don't share.  She has precognitive dreams on a regular basis, which I think would be very troubling.  She also has a form of clairvoyance, a gift which surprised her at a crucial time in the book.  Most importantly, she has a psychic link with someone she has never met before, but who is extremely important in her life.  Who is that?  Well, to find that out, you'll just have to read The Gemini Bond.

Are Empaths Psychic? Part 2

     As I was thinking about the question of whether empaths, such as myself, may be considered psychic, an image suddenly came to mind.  Let me show it to you before I explain (please click here.)

     Oops!  I forgot to advise you to put your earplugs in -- the woo-woo alert is really going crazy!

     There, feel better?  Now let me continue.  The above-mentioned picture, as I'm sure you know, is of the chakras (the colored balls of light running down the center of the body) and the aura, with its seven (or more) layers.  Here's what I think empaths do when they receive emotional or physical information from another person.  I think that they are reading the layer that is the second one out in the aura from the body -- the emotional body.  In some pictures I've seen, it is orange, to correspond to the second chakra.  I believe that other psychics read other layers in the aura, for example, a medical intuitive probably reads the first layer, which is the etheric body; a person who might pick up another person's thoughts would be reading the third layer, the mental body.

     As I've said before, I'm no expert, but this makes sense to me.  Take it or leave it as you will.  Just be sure to remove the earplugs before exiting.

Are Empaths Psychic?

     While researching the biology of hypersensitivity and empathy, I developed a new question:  Are empaths psychic?  (Please be advised that the woo-woo alert is sounding).

     Many writers on the web and elsewhere believe that being an empath is a form of psychic knowledge.  They argue that the information that the empath receives -- usually in the form of feeling the emotions or physical symptoms of others -- is extra-sensory.  It is not a common gift.  It can be used to heal, if one chooses to open oneself up to the feelings of others and then act as a conduit to release these feelings into the Earth. 

      One writer, however, believes that empaths are NOT psychic.  Rose Rosetree (you can visit her website here) argues that empaths are not exhibiting psychic behavior because they do not usually work with a specific guide, their information is not objectively experienced, and the information they receive is not often experienced as a sudden "hit," but felt gradually. 

     First of all, I don't claim to be an expert in this area.  I know that I am an empath, but don't feel qualified to teach others in this gift.  That said, I can think of instances in which I did have sudden "hits" of emotion or physical symptoms from others, and while I acknowledge my guides (the woo-woo alert is really clanging away!), I don't necessarily have to go through them to receive my knowledge.  So, I guess I'll come down on the side that says that empaths are psychic.  More on my reasoning in next week's post.

Some Survival Tips for Highly Sensitive People and Empaths

     If you've read the previous four posts, you've followed my exploration into the biology of empaths and highly sensitive people.  Now, if you are highly sensitive or a highly sensitive empath, you know how hard it is to get through each day with some emotional balance and sanity intact.  Here are some survival tips:

• From Dr. Elaine Aron, who has studied highly sensitive people extensively:  spend at least 8-10 hours per day in bed, plus two hours per day in quiet time (meditation or solitude); spend at least one hour per day exercising in a natural setting; have plenty of down time, such as one day off per week and one month vacation per year; spend plenty of time in nature and with animals; carry with you earplugs (for excessive noise) and protein snacks (because over-stimulation decreases blood sugar). 
• From Kathy Moore, a hypnotherapist based in San Antonio:  energy release work such as yoga, Reiki, hypnotherapy, dance, and for empaths, some sort of shielding or transmuting practice.

     Let me explain the latter a bit more.  There are some empaths who believe the best way to get through the day is to imagine a shield or cocoon of white light protecting one's aura from other people's stuff.  When it works (which it sometimes doesn't for me), other people's moods or negative thoughts should bounce off the shield and return to sender. 

     Others disagree.  Dr. Judith Orloff, herself an empath, recommends that one stay completely, one hundred percent, open.  She believes that she can act as a transmuter of negativity, simply by being open and allowing the negativity to pass through herself like a conduit and then be transformed in Mother Earth.   I've tried this a few times, and it really requires you to be extremely grounded.  Still, it might be an answer for those who would rather put their empathy to good use. 

Empaths and Biology, Part 4

     Last time we discussed the traits of a highly sensitive person, and it led me to ask the question:  Are all empaths highly sensitive, and are all highly sensitive people empaths?

     From what I've read, many writers equate the two.  An empath is highly sensitive, and highly sensitive people are empaths.  One writer, however, disagreed.

     Rose Rosetree, a trainer for empaths, believes that there are two main differences between empaths and highly sensitive people.  (If you're interested in taking her quiz to see if you are an empath, click here).  The two differences Rosetree sees are:

• Highly sensitive people make up about 15-20% of the population.  Empaths make up about 5%.
• Both highly sensitive people and empaths have a highly refined nervous system.  However, empaths go a step further, and are able to directly experience what it is like to be other people in a vivid, personal way.  Rosetree believes that the experience does not necessarily need to be emotional, but can occur in other ways.

     Rosetree offers a couple of books which explain how to survive as an empath.  I haven't read them, sorry, but you are free to look at them on her website or on Amazon. 

     Next time, I'll explore some survival tips for us empaths.