Spiritual Journaling

“Dreams are … illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you.”

Again I found myself dreaming about him. Even waking up in the morning with the feel and scent of him on my skin. It was disturbing! I had been having these dreams for over ten years—yet the last I had seen of him (in the flesh) was when we were saying good-bye, both heading off to graduate school. In this latest dream, like all the others, we were trying to reunite but something or someone kept getting in our way. I lay in my bed for a while and wondered, What do I need to do about these dreams? I want them to stop. I feel lonely waking in the morning, alone, having just dreamt of my college sweetheart. I decided to call a friend who would help me put together a personal ritual that would allow me to release him once and for all… . I did not expect what happened next in my life but I should have thought of the possibility… .

I first met Bill when I was thirteen and he was fourteen. He remembers my blue eyes (caked in black eyeliner and blue eye shadow). I remember he was a drummer in a band. We dated for three months. We broke up over my flirting with a new boy in school. (See Why Girls Go for Bad Boys on pages 181–83. Bill would not speak to me. I was devastated. I walked the distance home alone, crying and angry with myself. I went to my mother who gave me a piece of wisdom: “If it is meant to be, you will be together again.” Somehow this felt true to me. We went through middle school and high school without our paths crossing again.

After high school, I attended a small private college, only to return home a year later to attend the nearby university. I was pining over another lost relationship and wasn’t much interested in going out. But a friend talked me into going to an outdoor concert. There, with his hair pulled back in a ponytail, was Bill. We were immediately drawn to each other and ended up going out for the next four years as we both attended the university. We ended our relationship when we went off to different graduate schools. We had some contact for the first six months, but soon our paths completely divided from each another.

I moved to Minneapolis and began to have my Bill dreams, which I recorded each time in my journal. In each dream we were trying to get together, or get married, and something prevented our reunion. After about ten years of dreaming sporadically about Bill, my dreams of him began to increase. This bothered me. I didn’t contact him because I knew he was married and I didn’t want to cause either one of us unnecessary pain. At the time my journals were my most intimate companion. I poured my responses to my dreams into them. Not only did I record the dreams, but I wrote letters to Bill (unsent, of course). Finally, I called my friend and we performed a ritual in which I burned all his pictures and his letters to me. In the ritual I asked that the dreams stop, and that if he needed to get in contact with me he would do so.

The dreams continued. This was the year my father died. I returned home for the wake, which was held at my parents’ house. I dreamed of Bill the night before. And late into the day of my father’s wake, Bill showed up. I was drawn to him and felt an overpowering sense that he was my soul mate. Only, I thought he was still married (we didn’t talk about those things that day). We said good-bye to each other once again. It took me five months to write him a thank-you note.

I was very happy about this because I understood that Bill represented the “male” part of me, and that this dream wedding meant my male and female energies were united within me.

I came home one day to find a bulky envelope in the mailbox for me. It was from Bill. It was full of pictures. At first I didn’t want to read the letter or look at the pictures—of his happy life without me. But as I read on, he told me that he was no longer married.

We soon reunited. Together we read over all my Bill dreams, which were contained safely in my journals. We are now living “happily ever after” in Wisconsin with our daughter. We have been together now ten years.

Listen to your dreams. Record your dreams in your journal. The dream world is a very big, powerful, soulful world. Dreams are like letters, and when you write them down and read them the letters are then opened and the message received. And who do you suppose is the sender of your dreams? Many spiritual traditions tell us that some dreams are from the Creator—from the spirit world. Often the messages are from our very own souls, offering us guidance and hope.

I dreamt I was married to my mom. Twice young men were interested in me and then they found out I was married to my mother. They weren’t objecting to her being my mother as much as the age difference. She was lying on the sofa. Two men came into the room. One whispered, “Is she married?” pointing at me. The other one said, “Yes, to her,” pointing to my mother.

I then got up and went into my bedroom and looked into the mirror. I told myself I couldn’t stay married to my mother. I thought that if I knew someone who was married to their mom it would be strange. I decided to tell my mom I wanted a divorce. I went out and she was sitting at a table with a glass and some wine in a bottle. She had a sense of what I was going to tell her. She poured the wine into the glass and it spilled over. I told her it would be bet-ter if she didn’t drink. I also told her that I was not going to drink with her anymore. Then I walked out of her house on my own.

In my day life, I did stop drinking with her. As a result my relationship with her changed dramatically. These dreams guided me to protect myself when it came to my mother. They helped me become whole. They were personal dreams that held a message, a vision for me. I believe we all have such dreams, such messages that are attempting to help us and guide us.

“The ancients taught their teens to listen to and trust their visions. These visions came in day and night dreams.”

—FROM TEEN PSYCHIC BY JULIE TALLARD JOHNSON

Begin by writing last night’s dream or your most recent dream. You can draw it if that feels like the best way to record what you remember. If you can’t recall a recent dream, journal about any dream you may remember. I write my dreams in my journal, while some people have special journals just for dreams. It is best to write the dreams as soon as you can, as soon as you wake up, if possible, before you forget them.

Off the Page

Tibetan Dream Yoga

Tibetans practice an elaborate (but not difficult) process of dream yoga that allows people to use their dreams to become more present and happy in life. It is an ancient process that can teach you to “awaken” in your dreams and receive the visions that appear in your dream time. You can tune in more clearly to the visions in your dreams by following the suggestions below, which are based on the Tibetan model:

Record your dreams in your journal. This can be done by drawing your dreams or by writing them out.
Listen to your dreams and respond to them, as Annette did in the example on page 44. She let her dreams play an important role in guiding her decisions, and ultimately the course of her life. Consider your dreams letters or messages from your true nature or the spirit world. What is being communicated to you?
Before you go to sleep at night, ask for some guidance in your dream. Then to help with remembering dreams, traditional Tibetan practice instructs boys to lie on their right side and girls, on their left.
Share your dreams with trusted friends, your therapist, or your spiritual adviser.
Notice what images, feelings, sensations, experiences, and encounters you had in your night dreams also occur in the daytime.
Read a good book on dreams for teens, such as Teen Dream Power by M. J. Abadie.

“All situations can be used to deepen our understanding and the sense of magic and beauty in our experience.”

—JACK KORNFIELD, BUDDHIST TEACHER AND PSYCHOLOGIST

“Every nightmare hints at the secret reserves of imaginative power in the human mind.”

No matter what form your dreams take, know that they always contain a message of hope. The same can be said about consulting an oracle (see pages 59–61): if the message of the oracle is not one of hope then either you are interpreting it wrong, or the author of that particular translation has it wrong.

For years I had vicious nightmares of “escaping hell.” The setting for hell was always my childhood home. It wasn’t until I “escaped” the addictions and lies of my family that I came to understand these dreams as hopeful. Writing down my nightmares and relating to them like letters from a trusted guide, I realized that they were pointing to a way out. They were telling me that I was not safe in my home and that I needed to get out.

It is okay that some dreams take a while to understand. The value of keeping your dreams in your journals is that often, when you read them at a later time, you come to understand their meanings. You will find that once you receive the hidden message of a recurring dream, you will no longer dream it.

“What do the characters in your nightmare want? Write about that and you will see deeper nto your own soul and its intentions.”

To journal your nightmares, first just write them out as you remember them. Then respond to the following questions and suggestions in your journal to gain more insight about their meanings.

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light. To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight, and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings, and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.

—WENDELL BERRY, AMERICAN POET, AUTHOR, ESSAYIST

Off the Page

Make up a video game with the characters and drama of the nightmare. Many writers use their dreams for scenes in their books. Some children’s books are known to have been based on someone’s dream.

Make a dream catcher. For instructions, Google dream catcher or go to your local arts and crafts or bead store for a dream-catcher kit.

One scene I visit repeatedly in my dreams feels like a place I knew well in another lifetime. I live on the ocean and ships are coming and going. The shore is sandy. Next to the shore is a steep hill that goes up to where our village is. From this recurring scene, I imagine an entire life… .

I was a man in this life. I was strong, happy, but lonely for family members who were often gone to sea. I had to be one of t,he men to remain with the village in order to protect it. We were a loving tribe, and safe because of our loca-tion on the high ground next to the ocean. We had no neighbors at the time.

I enjoyed my life there but often wanted to join the other men out at sea. I was never to go to sea because the men who were protectors of the land and community were forbidden to put their feet on a boat.

“You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.”

—ALAN ALDA, AMERICAN ACTOR

“Thou hast only to follow the wall far enough and there will be a door in it.”

—THE DOOR IN THE WALL, MARGUERITE DE ANGELI, AMERICAN AUTHOR OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS

My night dreams and daydreams often overlap. Sometimes I take care of something that’s bothering me in my night dreams and my day life is improved. Other times, I daydream (imagine) and write in my journal, and my night dreams shift. During difficult times when I felt as if I was lost in a dark room without a door, my dreams became my door. When I entered that door I would find myself in a different room, a room of possibilities.

You may have to feel along a long dark wall to find the door out of the room you are in. Or your room may be brightly lit with the door in plain sight, ready for you to open it and move through. Find your door and open it, and step into the next room. Use your dreams to discover more about who you are, what you are afraid of; what you want and what you don’t want. At the very least, your dreams will give you insight into yourself. And the better you know yourself, the safer and more radiant the world becomes for you.

We usually think of daydreaming as rather aimless, but purposeful daydreaming is a form of creating and a style of meditation. With purposeful daydreaming, you guide your thoughts and ideas and follow where they take you to get an image of how you would like your life and the events in it to progress. Don’t mistake ruminating on the past or worrying about the future as purposeful. A purposeful daydream has positive intentions and is creating a picture of how you want your life to be.

I dream about having lots of money and surprising my sister with a car, then we could take off on road trips. I dream about my father being okay with my sister and I going on road trips together and him being happy in his job. I dream about leaving high school and when I get scared I dream about a better year every time I come back to school, and hope the teachers are decent. I dream about my mother and I getting along better. I dream about traveling and meeting people who are interesting and about not wanting to gossip. I dream that my best friend and I are friends for life and that we go off to college together. I dream most of the time in history class because the teacher is rude and boring. I dream about what I am going to do this weekend.

I wish I could show you, When you are lonely or in darkness, The Astonishing Light Of your own Being.

—FROM I HEARD GOD LAUGHING BY HAFIZ, 14TH-CENTURY PERSIAN SUFI POET AND PHILOSOPHER, TRANSLATED BY DANIEL LADINSKY

The next four entries of this chapter and the paintings of rock art in this chapter are by American artist Geri Schrab. She was inspired to paint on paper the petroglyphs she sees at sites around the world. She understands that this rock art is humanity’s first attempt to keep a journal. Here she shares these original messages with us through her art and her own writings. To learn more about Geri’s work visit www.artglyphs.com.

Listen to those secret wishes,

Heed those impossible Dreams.

Shaman’s Eyes by Geri Schrab, inspired by New Mexico petroglyph site

At the time the pursuit of rock art began to call to me, I was unacquainted with the spiritual in my life. I told myself that things we can’t see, touch, or measure really don’t have much value. Good grades, prospects of a prestigious and well-paying profession—that is how we measure what has value, isn’t it? But a little voice kept coming to me, telling me that art is really fun.

I heard this voice when I was in grade school, high school, and then as a young adult already working in a “practical” profession, thinking of going back to school yet again. I had an ongoing argument with myself: “Art makes me happy. But my job is good and secure (and depressing) and pays the bills quite well.” My true calling, this passion and connection with rock art, came to me when I reached my late thirties! I had the typical adult responsibilities and NO art education. What could I (or Spirit?) possibly be thinking? Art is for special people, after all. Certainly that couldn’t be me.

Everything began to change when I saw my first “rock art” site. Petroglyphs and pictographs carved and painted on the rock faces by the people indigenous to this land spoke to the part of me that my day job was trying to put to sleep. The drawings reached out to me across time and invited me to create. Those mysterious ancient images called to me. I stared at my photos of that first site for nearly a year… . The dance with Spirit had begun, but I just didn’t know it yet.

Then I found myself asking, “Hmmmm, wonder if I can paint something like that?”

That was about ten years ago. I no longer have that job that zapped the life out of me. I do still have the day-to-day responsibilities. Now, I have not only a very healthy, growing collection of paintings of those petroglyphs and pictographs, but also a beautiful collection of wonderful people all across the country who buy them because my work nourishes their spirits, as well.

You just never know what will happen when you quiet yourself, trust what calls you, and act courageously—because Spirit loves the heart that dares to feel and mobilize its impossible dreams.

“Whatever we do to care for true self is, in the long run, a gift to the world.”

—FROM A HIDDEN WHOLENESS BY PARKER PALMER, QUAKER AUTHOR, EDUCATOR

Off the Page

Visiting a Rock Art Site

When you visit a sacred place such as a site with ancient rock art, you access Spirit at a profound and timeless level. Although pictographs are commonly called “rock art,” they probably weren’t intended as art at all, but recordings of stories, journeys, hunts, and visions; in essence, the history of the indigenous people. They are their journals! Let’s honor their history and meaning by “reading” them and walking softly at these sites.

The magic of visiting these sites, for me, came through the back door; I was unaware of their sacred nature at the time they came into my life. Now that I’ve been working with them for ten years, I seek them out. I go to places that are known to be or feel sacred, to replenish my spirit with the good energy of those who have gone before and of the natural places in which the sites are found.

Visiting and studying the rock art left behind by the ancestors offers us a doorway to another world where we can learn about and understand the ancient Native people. When you visit a sacred site, it is good to ask Spirit for permission to visit. Be aware of its sacredness, honor it, and pay attention while you are there. These sites should be visited with the same respect you would show in a synagogue, temple, or church. Say thank you as you leave.

Learning to feel and know your own unique language of spirit opens a doorway to your own center and soul. For me it was in the messages of night dreams, daydreams, the rock art sites, and my paintings that I recognized the language of my soul. Through my art and dreams I heard what Spirit was telling me, and it always felt right to follow its message. I have found it helps to approach my own communication with Spirit with the same reverence I hold for any other sacred place. When I visit the sacred sites within me through my art, I know I am visiting a holy place and I open myself up to this. And I respond to rock art not only by painting what I see and experience but by writing my emotions, insights, and experiences into my journal. My journal then becomes another sacred site to visit and learn from.

Through your dreams, your journals, oracles, or your own art you will discover a very real connection to the spirit within you and outside of you. Look for and learn your own language of spirit. It is expressed through your unique visions and dreams, and they will become a sacred place of communication for you.

Off the Page

Visit a site that you consider sacred and journal about the experience afterward. Although most sacred sites I visit are rock art sites, there are many other kinds of places to experience the sacred. There are mounds, shrines, temples, churches, ancient trees, and favorite lakes. Even that clump of willows you loved to hide under when you were a little kid can be sacred. If it anchors you to your source of spirit and allows communication with your spiritual source, it is a sacred place indeed. (See chapter 6 for more about the sacred in nature.)

One of the saddest things I have come across in this work is vandalism at these sacred sites. Many sites have had initials carved on them, and art has been scratched off, shot at, painted over with spray paint, and even cut out and stolen. Although the center and focus of my work, the spark, is painting images from the rock art sites I visit, this has led to many other interests. Among them is the desire to help educate the public not to perpetrate damage on such sites, and to help clean it up when it does happen. An unexpected result of this work is that it began to “clean up” me.

Just like a rock art site that had been painted upon, my own soul had been vandalized for years. Perhaps this is true for you too. Just like the damage at rock art sites, such damage is not always purposefully done; sometimes it is the result of lack of understanding and awareness. Many times the graffiti seems small and unimportant, but the damage is big. Like what happened to me in sixth grade when I made a special painting that I was excited to show my teacher—who looked at it and didn’t say a thing. This silence made me feel ashamed of my art. Sometimes, unfortunately, the vandalism to our hearts is really malicious and does significant damage. Sometimes we carve the wound in ever deeper with negative messages to ourselves.

“The lesson that we can learn from this experiment has to do with the power of words. The vibration of good words has a positive effect on our world, whereas the vibration from negative words has the power to destroy.”

—FROM THE HIDDEN MESSAGES IN WATER BY MASARU EMOTO, JAPANESE SCIENTIST, DOCTOR OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

A nasty truth about graffiti at rock art sites is that vandalism begets more vandalism. Once people see graffiti carved upon a site, they feel that it’s okay for them to add their own. By the same token, once your soul has been vandalized in a certain way, it may seem to you that that’s the way it should be, and you learn to allow it to be vandalized by others. Or you may do as I did, retracing those negative messages to harm yourself further. It was a very hard lesson for me, to learn to plant my boundaries, respect myself, and say, No—it is not okay to carve your initials here. I like my spirit just the way it is.

Regardless of how your own personal “soul vandalism” happened, the most important element in the equation at this point is you. Even though someone may have purposely sprayed paint over your heart or carved their hurtful initials in your soul, by understanding and working with the voice of your loving spirit, you can heal that damage. Eventually your soul will feel really good and its beautiful true messages will shine through.

Off the Page

In what activity or pastime does Spirit talk most clearly to you? Is it through writing, painting, throwing a pot, playing an instrument, singing a song, throwing a baseball, planting a garden, weeding a garden? Spend time doing something that can help you work that “vandalism” out.

This painting came at a time of personal crisis for me. An emotional injury I suffered nearly tore me not only from my dream, but from life itself. It was difficult to regain my equilibrium because it seemed I no longer understood or heard my own voice of Spirit. I lost the connection with spirit and with my self that I had found through the rock art. I began to lose touch with everything good. I was frightened but still I searched for my art. I searched for my self.

“The easiest way to experience a bit of what the wild was like is to go into a great forest at night alone. Sit quietly for awhile. Something very old will return.”

—FROM THE ABSTRACT WILD BY JACK TURNER, NATURE AND WILDERNESS WRITER

When this painting finally came to me it spoke (it gave me a vision) and woke my soul back up. It told me, “No matter what your perception of who or what caused the hurt, Always Sow Good Seeds.” I could hear this voice deep inside my being, “No matter what, always sow good seeds.” This sowing of seeds, I realized, is where all the new beginnings will originate. What I am germinating may take a while, but I know it will be good because the seeds are strong. The seeds are of kindness and hope. Corn Maiden teaches me, and your art or passion can teach you, that we do indeed reap what we sow. I am not going to sow more pain and anger into the soil of my soul.

With this Corn Maiden painting my language of Spirit found its voice again. And the paint flows freely. And I thank Spirit for this vision and I am grateful.

An oracle, such as the I Ching or tarot, is a means by which you can consult spirit and deities. This medium allows you to be in communication with your spiritual source. Consulting it on a regular basis also increases your intuitive abilities.

There are many great resources and books on oracles. The oracle I use and journal about is the I Ching. The I Ching is an ancient book of timeless wisdom expressed in the form of sixty-four hexagrams that can help the inquirer with guidance on day-to-day concerns. This ancient Chinese oracle guided me through my teen and adult years, and I attribute much of my happiness and success to its wisdom. I wrote a guide to the I Ching (I Ching for Teens) because I know how helpful such a resource can be. Other oracles include rune stones, the tarot, genuine indigenous elders (shamans), labyrinths, pendulums, and even nature itself. Of course there are many card decks out there that you can consult—animal medicine cards, goddess cards, and angel cards, to name a few. You will want to find the one that fits for you.

“Think of yourself as an incandescent power, illuminated, perhaps, and forever talked to by God and his Messengers.”

—FROM IF YOU WANT TO WRITE BY BRENDA UELAND

How you relate to your oracle will determine what you get out of it. This, of course, is true of all of our relationships. What we put in is what we get out. For this reason being aware of your intentions when you approach an oracle is essential.

I begin my consultation with the I Ching by writing in my journal about the issue that concerns me and about whatever is surrounding this concern. This includes pretty much anything of importance that is going on in my life at the time. After I am finished journaling I write out my question for the I Ching. I try to get as specific as possible, so the I Ching and I are clear about what I am focusing on. This will make the oracle’s response much clearer.

Then, before I toss the I Ching coins (or use my handmade I Ching cards), I phrase my question so: “Please comment on the nature of the situation and on the attitude and action I should follow at this time.” This wording or something like it prepares you for the kind of answer an oracle will provide. You may want to write it in your journal but after a while you will likely have it memorized.

In choosing your oracle it is important that you find one that is compatible with your spiritual beliefs and brings you messages of hope and insight. The I Ching, for example, is not attached to any particular religious sect, and people from many spiritual backgrounds consider it beneficial. Find one that resonates with your spiritual practice so that it will deepen this relationship with your spiritual source.

I always thought the tarot was related to devil worshipers. I am not sure where I got that one. Then I checked into it because my best friend got a deck for her seventeenth birthday from her aunt. There is a devil card in there but it is not about devils and demons. The devil card, it turns out, represents our negative self-talk, our worries, and our “dark” side. My friend’s aunt said that some religions “demonize” others’ beliefs because what others believe makes them uncomfortable.

To get the most out of your relationship with your oracle you will want to write your questions and response in your journal. I’ve kept a record of my I Ching consultations from the age of sixteen—which of course provided me with plenty of material when I wrote my I Ching book at the age of forty-six.

Off the Page

Give yourself some time to learn about and choose an oracle. Go to my Web site for information on the I Ching; check out Tarot for Teens by M. J. Abadie; go to your local bookstore (particularly independent ones that specialize in spiritual books and resources) and look over their various divination decks. Read up on consulting a pendulum. Check out my books Teen Psychic and I Ching for Teens.

The I Ching, also called the Book of Changes, is known to be at least two thousand years old. Is ancient wisdom better than modern wisdom? Think about sacred sites (like the ones previously mentioned). What makes them sacred? Have they always been sacred? In reality, what part of Mother Earth is not sacred? It is the attention and respect that we have brought to these places over and over again that empowered them and made them sacred.

“Why is it when we talk to God we’re said to be praying—but when God talks to us, we’re said to be schizophrenic?”

—JANE WAGNER, WRITER FOR COMEDIENNE LILY TOMLIN

Whatever you repetitively bring your attention to becomes your link to the sacred and at the same time empowers it. When you keep directing your positive attention to an oracle, such as the I Ching, a very real and dynamic relationship occurs. You get valid responses to your questions that help you in the real world.

Attention is the physical manifestation of love. Whatever receives your positive attention and energy becomes sacred. The more you consult the oracle of your choice, the more wisdom and strength you will glean from it. So in order to benefit from your chosen oracle you need to bring your attention to it on a regular basis. Then you need to hold the intention of practicing its principles.

Once you bring your attention to your oracle you need to be honest and clear about your intentions. The I Ching, for example, is full of wisdom and principles that can help you with every issue that arises in your life. But the Sage (spirit wisdomkeeper and voice of the I Ching) knows you are ultimately the cause of your life. Regularly consulting an oracle only reinforces your understanding of this reality. You need to agree to seriously consider your oracle’s guidance and base your behaviors and thoughts on what it suggests.

When you bring your attention regularly to an oracle or sacred site or holy text, you will bring its principles into your life and be empowered by them.

Off the page

Practice Mindfulness Meditation (see pages 230–31) to strengthen your ability to direct your attention. Do the Pebble Meditation (What is my true nature?) on page 69, making the question “Where is my attention?”

“The I Ching is probably one of the most important books of the world, because the two branches of Chinese philosophy, Confucianism and Taoism, have common root in the I Ching. It emphasizes eternal values in the middle of a continually changing universe, assumes a cosmos that has a discernible underlying pattern, and strongly advises holding to inner principles through which it may be possible to learn to live in harmony with the Tao, the invisible meaning-giving matrix of the universe.”

—FROM THE TAO OF PSYCHOLOGY BY JEAN SHINODA BOLEN, M.D., JUNGIAN PSYCHOANALYST

Trustworthy oracles can be expected to include principles such as these:

You are responsible for your own happiness.
Everything and everyone has an innate sacred timing.
Trust your own intuition and creativity.
Expect and embrace change.
Cultivate inner independence.
You reap what you sow. (Often referred to as “karma.”)
There is an underlying and unifying reality in life; everyone and everything is connected. (This concept is often expressed as “the Tao.”)

In consulting oracles it is important to remember that the guidance you receive will not be about changing the outside circumstances of your life; instead, it will bring attention to what needs to be addressed in your internal world.

“Writing is love, a mission, and a calling, and how and where and why you write are very crucial issues.”

—LYNN SHARON SCHWARTZ, AMERICAN NOVELIST AND SHORT STORY WRITER

While you are writing your question and consulting your oracle, notice your thoughts and feelings—these will be significant as you seek to understand the meaning of your reading. A growing trust of your own intuitive wisdom comes forth the more you consult your oracle with this awareness. Intuitively you will come to understand very quickly what the oracle is teaching you. This is again the power of returned attention—your ability to interpret its message increases with each visit. By recording your concerns and the results of your consultations in your journal to look over later, you will further develop your ability to interpret and act on the oracle’s wisdom.

What the I Ching has taught me is to trust myself more. I was always so afraid and hesitant about everything. Gradually, after months and months of consulting I Ching for Teens, I have come to notice just how much is in my power to change. It all begins with me. And it is all recorded in my journal.

When you find yourself bored or wanting something to do, look around you for metaphors—look at the world symbolically. Take some time to notice all the metaphors that are living and moving around you. Right now. This is a way to open up to the present moment and develops your symbolic sight.

For young children this is a natural skill, until too much schooling tends to take it away. My daughter is eight and school hasn’t yet penetrated her ability to see and experience life metaphorically and magically. She doesn’t see things as they are; she sees things as she experiences them. She still experiences life as an unfolding story. (And this is what life is for all of us, all the time—a story wanting to unfold.) For my daughter, hot chocolate is “chocolate soup.” For my daughter, cars have souls and need to be talked to before you get into them. For her, the prairie of fireflies is a garden of wild light and fairies.

Our walk down the driveway to the school bus every morning is a small adventure in which we encounter coyote footprints, share conversations about why fairies are small (they have their reasons, of course), greet our three visiting cranes, and talk about our hopes for the day. As we walk we are confronting the empty page of an entire day—and all the possibilities it may hold. As we walk I get to practice my symbolic sight. Life is experienced spiritually through this symbolic sight—I see the cranes carrying a message from Spirit as they call out to us: “Look, see, hear—Spirit is everywhere.”

Whatever you have to say, leave the roots on, let them dangle And the dirt Just to make clear where they come from

—FROM THESE DAYS BY CHARLES OLSON, 20TH-CENTURY AMERICAN POET, ESSAYIST

“The heart, the guardian of intuition with its secret, often fearful intentions, is the boss, its commands are what the writer obeys—often without knowing it.”

—FROM MEMORY AND IMAGINATION BY PATRICIA HAMPL, WRITER, POET, TEACHER

Off the Page

Experience this day as a story, full of images and messages from the spirit world unfolding in every moment—symbols and metaphors everywhere. Carry this openness with you through the day (journal in hand), being receptive to all possibilities. This openness to symbolic sight will read as an invitation to the spirit world to fill your day up with meaning.