Do You Believe In Angels?

Do You Believe In Angels?

I do. I choose to believe there is a higher power that will guide us through our life here on earth and keep us on the right track. I decided to delve a little deeper on the subject of angels and found out that in the spiritual world there are realms. These realms consist of 5 main forces which control the universal laws. Follow me and let’s explore deeper what these realms are all about.

The first realm is the Spirit World. When we pass over we pass into the spirit world or astral plane. So when you communicate with the spirit realm these beings are not fully enlighten. They are allowed to give us certain information as long as they have permission from the angels and it doesn’t interfere with our destiny or tests. If they try to give us too much information the angels will sever their communication.

Then there is the Angelic Realm which consists of three Triads. The First Triad is Seraphim, and Cherubim . The Second Triad is Dominions and Power. The Third Triad is Principalities, Archangels, and then Angels.

Seraphim is said to represent the highest order of angels because they surround the throne of Glory and are known as the holy, holy, holy.

Cherubim symbolize God’s highest potencies, sovereignty, and goodness. They are Angeles of light, glory and keepers of the celestial records and excel in knowledge.

Dominions are said to regulate angel duties and are perpetually aspiring to tree lordship. Through them the majesty of God is manifested. They inhabit the level where the spiritual and physical planes begin to merge.

Powers are known as the Lords host. The principal task of the powers is to see that order is imposed on the heavenly pathways. They are said to stop the efforts of demons who would overthrow the world.

Principalities are a known protectors of religion and watchers over the leaders of people, they help leaders make right decisions.

Archangels are divine messengers bearing divine decrees from high.

Angels are a divine spirit that is mostly involved with humanity, guiding and protecting us. They cannot interfere with our destinies.

I am often asked by skeptics, why do we need angels? In truth, I don't know. God can deal with us in any way that pleases him. He can speak with us directly, in a burning bush, in dreams, visions and specifically through the Scriptures. Yet, he also employs angels. The Scripture says angels were created for his pleasure. Perhaps it is as simple as that -- it pleases God to send the supernatural heavenly beings to minister to his children.

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Why Do People Read Fantasy?

Contemporary Culture

The typical answer is that people are searching for 'escape.' Fantasy represents a retreat from the harsh world of competition and commerce. Another answer is that fantasy provides, like much fiction, a specific kind of wish-fulfillment. Fantasy allows us, for a time, to be the all-conquering warrior or the all-wise sorcerer. The problem is that neither of these answers in any way distinguishes fantasy from other genres of literature. Fantasy offers a very specific kind of escape and wish-fulfillment, one connected to its profound role in the great machine which we call contemporary culture.

Celebration

Fantasy is the celebration of what we no longer are: individuals certain of our meaningfulness in a meaningful world. The wish-fulfillment that distinguishes fantasy from other genres is not to be the all-conquering hero, but to live in a meaningful world. The fact that such worlds are enchanted worlds, worlds steeped in magic, simply demonstrates the severity of our contemporary crisis. 'Magic' is a degraded category in our society; if you believe in magic in this world, you are an irrational flake. And yet magic is all we have in our attempt to recover some vicarious sense of meaningfulness. If fantasy primarily looks back, primarily celebrates those values rendered irrelevant by post-industrial society. One may have faith otherwise, but by definition such faith is not rational. Faith, remember, is belief without reasons.

Primary Expression

Reading fantasy represents the attempt to give meaning to one's life by forgetting, for a time, the world we live in. In the escape offered by fantasy we glimpse the profound dimensions of our modern dilemma. Fantasy is the primary expression of a terrible socio-historical truth: the fundamental implication of our scientific culture is that life is meaningless.

Competitor

If so many religious groups are up in arms about Harry Potter, it is because they see in it a competitor. Fantasy novels can be construed as necessary supplements to the Holy Bible. In a culture antagonistic to meaning, the assertion that life is meaningful is not enough. We crave examples.

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Setting an Intention

Intention Setting: Intention Set in Stone

Intention Setting
People set intentions on all kinds of dreams; to get married or have children, to get a job or make a career change, to write a book, lose weight, or move to a foreign country. When you set an intention and then act on it to demonstrate your commitment, amazing things occur. Intention can also give us fortitude for dealing with tough times.

I am currently building my home business. My intention is tap into my creativity through rock art painting and turn it into a home business to supliment my income. I am tested daily. It’s often not easy, but this intention has helped me maintain composure, sanity, and on a good day, a sense of humor. Intention setting can be used for anything you wish to manifest in your own life.

Intention Setting Examples:
• Before you get out of bed, you can intend to have a fun or productive day.
• Before you leave the house, you can intend to have quality time with your family or roommate.
• Before you start your car, you can intend to have a safe ride to work.
• Before you enter your workplace, you can intend to learn something new or be helpful.
• Before the meeting begins, you can intend to be brilliant or calm.

First Intention Setting Steps:
1. Get clear about something you want and write it down.
2. Share your intention with someone in a way that will supportively hold you accountable to taking action.
3. Do something today to demonstrate your commitment to your intention.
4. Acknowledge that you did what you said you would and then, take the next step.

By setting an intention, you make it clear to yourself and others, just what you plan to do. Set an intention to redefine what it means to be serious about your dreams.

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The Meaning of the Word Totem

Symbol
Using an animal as a symbol to designate a family or individual was a custom native to both Europe and North America. To Europeans, the animal (or plant) painted on a special background was known as a coat of arms. To American Indians, it was a totem.


The Totem Word
The word totem, from the Ojibwa language, was noted in traveler's report of the early 1770s, along with its similarity to English coats of arms: "To these are added his badge, called, in the Algonquin tongue, a totem, and which is in the nature of an armorial bearing."


Differences
But there were significant differences too. The totem was more democratic than the coat of arms in that it applied to every member of the clan or tribal group, not just those belonging to the aristocracy. And it was not just a symbol but a way of life. A writer of the 1790s explains the difference: Each Indian has "his totem, or favorite spirit, which he believes watches over him. This totem they conceive assumes the shape of some beast or other, and therefore they never kill, hunt, or eat the animal whose form they think this totem bears."


Sacred Objects
Totem proved such a distinctive word that we now use it to characterize any object held sacred by a group because of the bond the group feels with it. At the end of the twentieth century, this could be used to refer to any object that provides or symbolizes group identity. Origin: 1772

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Affirming Your Life

Creativity
Sometimes, affirming your creativity means first affirming your life. Affirming your life can happen in a variety of ways, but works best when it's an action you initiate through the belief that no matter what kind of adoration or popularity other humans experience, your life, your experiences, and your creative expressions count just as much as everyone else's in the endless ether sphere of human potential. Steps to success include having direction, remaining focused and taking action.

Inspiration
Without inspiration, the obvious tools of creative production are of little use. Sparks that ignite creativity are found everywhere, and can arise from unrelated sources in the most unlikely places.

Persistence
New information triggers a desire to explore, that it will somehow link back to original ideas that will resurface with a difference taking us closer to a desired goal. The journey of discovery may be quite frustrating but there are ways to negotiate this creative path, which is often quite erratic. Persistence, and a thirst for the knowledge, may help fill in the gaps and give direction.

Abridged by: RiverRockCritters.com
© Lyne Marshall 2007

Lifes Purpose

Finding Your Lifes Purpose
Finding your life purpose and your deepest life intentions can help you to move with greater focus and clarity every day of your life. There are many ways to find and develop life purpose and intentions. You need to analyze yourself and ask yourself what will inspire me to be all that I can be and to lead an ever richer, fuller life.

Write Down Your Purpose
Spend time finding and developing your life purpose and intentions, remember that this is an evolving process. Nothing needs to be set in stone. One day write down your purpose, review it and then set it aside. When you go back to it look over what you have written, you may find new wording that better expresses what it is you really want deep down. Or one of your life intentions may no longer feel so important, while another surfaces to take its place.

Unlike goals, which are future oriented, life intentions are for the present moment. They can change in accordance with changes and new realizations inside of you. When you live life to its fullest, you are a constantly developing a work of art.

Aligning Yourself
Adopting some form of doing what’s best for all may be one of your primary intentions. By aligning yourself with what’s best for all who share this world with us, you open to feeling more connected with the world and with everyone around you. And don't be surprised if you find your life becoming filled with ever more joy and meaning.

Helping Mother Nature ...

Creative Expression

Creative expression can transform negative energies into a positive situation. Rock Art seems to fill that frustration for anyone who is creative, or a want to be, and has the desire to fulfill a long awaited talent. It’s as though Mother Nature handed you a piece of her art, that has profuse shapes, sizes, and natural color and said, here, I want you to finish it with your senses of imagination and creativity. Hence, the Rockers were born.

I feel art is one of mankind’s healthiest inclinations, and one of our greatest attributes. Unfortunately, it is tucked away in our inner being and at times we hold it prisoner instead of letting the beauty around us unfold and come alive.

Spiritual Development

Creative expression is a spiritual development, and can be a way of becoming more aware, and also deal with high sensitivity. We all possess the tools necessary to expand our creative horizons. Learning to use and apply them in everything we do is what counts.

Even though we feel we cannot achieve our dreams the love of the creative process is available to all of us if we just take the time to listen and learn. You need to hone in on your skill, whether it be Rock Painting, Writing, Music, and pursue it with almost obsessive diligence, foregoing other activities for this one true love. You will find yourself working hard to cultivate your natural talents.

Expanding Your Talents

Environment, nurture, exposure to a particular skill in your early years, luck and timing all play important roles into expanding your talents. Rock Art is a wonderful way to express your thoughts and feelings and a more comfortable way if you are one that does not express your feelings easily. Just about anything can be painted on a rock form. After all this art form was started almost 40,000 years ago in caves. Some theories hold that they may have been a way of transmitting information, while other theories ascribe them a religious or ceremonial purpose.

I believe now when you are walking in the desert, at the beach, or enjoying the serene sounds of the river you will look at Rocks differently. A shape, a size, a look that speaks to you. You might even here a slight whisper from “Mother Nature” telling you to create, to beautify, because she just wasn’t quite finished with this one.

Why Do We Craft?

You Are Talented, Creative and Expressive
There are many people who just love to dabble in crafts. But why? Is is for fame? Money? Endorsements? No, we feel it's for the sheer enjoyment of being challenged, to feel relaxed and for a small moment in time you feel you are talented, creative and expressive. We like the process of thinking of an idea, designing it, making it, and seeing if maybe someone else likes it as much as we do.


Connected To The Source
Through this process we feel we are connected to the infinite source of creative energy. But unlike the rest of creation, we work awfully hard to suppress it. Birds sing, wolves howl, crickets chirp. Why? They do it because they are alive. They do it because life is about making things...Turn away from judment and negative theories about your worth, and seize each day with enthusiasm. Enjoy your craft and what you are able to acomplish which in the end really makes you feel good about yourself.


Take Baby Steps
Remember, life is not a dress rehersal. There is only one go around here so if you don't pursue your passion, then when? Give yourself time, take baby steps exploring what happens and acquiring knowledge. You didn't learn to use words in a week, it took years to aquire perfection in lanquage and speech. The same is due for your creativity side, but pursue it with the same persistence, determination, and fascination.


Something To Think About
Here is something to think about. A truth that challenges a common assumption: that the most important thing about creating art is the painting. The painting is not the most important thing. Yes, it may win us a prize or even make us a living. It might even make us famous. But even more important than the painting we create is what happens to us when we complete it.

Pauline Libutti, RiverRockCritters.com
Copyright 2007 CraftyCritters Newsletter

Communication Through Art

Communication Through Art
Art is the means by which we communicate what it feels like to be alive. In the past that was mixed up with other illustrative duties but that was still its central function that has been liberated in the art called modern.

All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind, from inner stillness. At moments of great enthusiasm it seems that no one in the world has ever made art this beautiful and important. A sincere artist is not one who makes a faithful attempt to put on to canvas what is in front of him, but one who tries to create something which is, in itself, a living thing.

Reflect On Your Surroundings
If you sometimes need inspiration, reflect on your surroundings. You might find peace and joy in an exquisite photograph of nature's wonders, or beautiful thoughts beautifully expressed. Visualize this on paper, canvas, rock, etc. and you will soon find a way to transfer that vision, that feeling, into a beautiful work of art.

Your surroundings of Nature is not landscape, but the dynamism of visual forces.. an event rather than an appearance. These forces can only be tackled by treating color and form as ultimate identities, freeing them from all descriptive or functional roles.

Immerse Yourself In Your Sensations
Imagine your surroundings as a delicious dish. Take a moment to immerse yourself in your sensations. How does the dish smell or taste? When savoring the dish in your imagination, does it make you want to stretch like a cat, dance disco, or bounce like an excited puppy?

What sounds or music or rhythm could be associated with enjoying your dish? What colors or shape would it be framed by? What feelings does this dish evoke for you -- joy, comfort, sensuality, anticipation? What memories arise as you picture this dish, your art project? Now take a deep breath and bring yourself back to your project's current form. You just reconnected with your art!

Can,you dive right in to your project! If not, what is the missing ingredient and how can you invite it into your life? Your recipe for success is in the doing of your art.

I AM Creative
Just tell yourself, I am Creative! Creativity is not about inventing something totally new, it is about making new synergistic connections. You don't have to be a special kind of person to be creative – everyone can do it. It's not about who you are, it's about what you do. You just need to start looking for multiple solutions rather than settling for just one, and give yourself permission to be playful and inquisitive, flexible and versatile. Although creative people come from varied backgrounds, they all seem to have one thing in common – they love what they are doing.

The good news is that creativity is a skill and a talent that can be learned and developed through practice. By sharpening your thinking skills and exercising your natural creative powers, you can multiply the value of your efforts and rapidly increase the quantity and quality of your rewards.