transformation

Curious Minds Invitation to Come Join Me as I Take Robin through an Oracle Reading

Posted by Barbara Techel

There have been many times in my life where others have held space for me that has been such a gift to help me move forward with confidence. It’s why I now do what I do as I find it rewarding to watch others experience positive shifts and find the clarity they need to live with more peace, love, and joy. And after all, isn’t that what we are ultimately here to experience? I think so.

An oracle reading is like a graceful and intricate dance between my client, me, and the cards – each part integral to providing a roadmap to help guide you forward with clarity and confidence, and on your way to living more in alignment with who you truly are. 

I was so grateful when last month, Robin, who is a photographer, writer, and podcast host for OurStoriesToday.com, generously offered to have her one-to-one oracle reading recorded so others who are curious and aren’t sure how one works could get a peek inside one and understand how a reading can provide valuable insight.

So I share that recorded reading with you today in the event you’ve been curious too. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions after you’ve watched the video. 

Also feel reach out to me if you’d like to book a session to have a reading to focus on a specific intention or challenge, or to look at your year ahead. I also offer a free ten-minute session if you want to explore if a reading is right for you with no obligation to book a full session.

So without further ado…Click here or on the image below to watch the reading unfold.

xo,

Barbara

Pondering the Wisdom of Salamander

Posted by Barbara Techel

I didn’t know what this creature was at first when I saw it Sunday morning as it walked ever so deliberately and ever so slowly up our sidewalk toward our front door. I don’t recall encountering something like this before. Though John said he sometimes sees smaller ones in our yard when he is cutting the grass.

After sharing a photo of it on my Facebook page the overall consensus is that it is a salamander. A few thought perhaps a Gecko, but after a search on Google I believe this to be a salamander.

I found it interesting when I first looked at it up close that it reminded me of a stretched out frog because its skin appeared slimy and its face reminded me of a frog also.

Since Sunday I’ve been pondering what the message could be from Salamander because it was an unusual sighting for me. Though I will say some have shared with me that they’ve been seeing them often!

My first insight because Salamander had been walking quite slowly, was that I needed to slow down in the thoughts that had been whirling through my mind the moment I awoke that morning. While I don’t want to get into specific details it made sense for me as I was going down a rabbit hole of imagining an outcome I don’t even have all the facts to yet.

Reaching for one of my favorite books to learn about animals, Animal Speak by Ted Andrews, I learned that often salamanders are lumped into the reptile family, but they are actually an amphibian. He goes on to share that “Amphibians lead a double life, which is significant and should be meditated upon by anyone with this totem.”  The word amphibian comes from two words. Amphi means double and bio means life. They live on both land and in the water.

What stood out to me that Ted says about amphibian is, “On a more physiological level, they can also reflect a need to learn to use the emotional energies (water) constructively (land).”

A salamander is sometimes confused with a lizard when it is more closely related to a frog. This means it needs to stay in moist areas. Amphibians also don’t drink water, but that it is directly absorbed through their skin. Those with this totem need to be around water for their health and well-being.

This resonated for me personally as I’d just set the intention Sunday morning that I was going to get back into the habit of drinking more water. I have a small notepad on the kitchen table that I’m keeping a tally and my goal is to drink 64 – 80 oz. of water each day.

I’ve noted in the past that when I stay hydrated it keeps me more grounded. There are some changes happening and I sense Salamander appearing was a message to be sure to have my grounding practices in place as I navigate some emotions and anticipated changes that have been coming to the surface.

Being born under the sign of Cancer, with two other planets in cancer also, this has been something I’ve had to learn and how to be with all my feelings while also not letting them overwhelm me so that I can move forward from a more constructive place of thinking.

While I’ll continue to ponder about Salamander to see if there is more for me, I’m glad for the help insight so far gained. And for anyone else who may have needed to hear this wisdom from Salamander I hope you found it helpful too.

P.S. It is also interesting to note that the reading I did yesterday also included Frog – about transformation and cleansing. Salamander being closely related to frog, I see this as another reminder of the importance of keeping a cluttered mind to a minimum by allowing what needs to come to the surface and doing the necessary inner work to heal it and do so without self-judgment and being open to the possibilities of what the transformation process can bring us.

P.P.S. Someone else just today posted a note on my Facebook post with the photos of Salamander that I shared on Sunday that reads, “They are everywhere this year! What is their message to us?”  

I’m being called back to the fact they are amphibians and when split into two words means double life. When we look at what we’ve been going through in 2020 I can’t help but feel this is about not leading those double lives anymore. At the heart of who we each are, we’ve known deep in our souls what truly matters, but we got lost along the way, caught up in going along with what society expected, falling into the trap of trying to be like everyone else and forgot the ability we each have to tap into trusting that we do know who we are and what we want for our lives. 

Perhaps you’ve heard other teachers share that we are remembering (re-member-ing) ourselves back into being. In essence, coming back to who we are and not living a life we think we should, but rather live the life that we know at our core is who we are.

xo,

Barbara

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Confirmation from Bee and the “Backward” Message

Posted by Barbara Techel

After I did the weekly reading yesterday, throughout the day I kept revisiting the fact I really felt called to read the cards backward (from right to left, instead of left to right). If you’ve not watched the video yet and would like to pick your own card from the three I pulled as your personal message, you can still do that and watch here.  Then come on back to hear how the reading has expanded with a confirmation I received from Bee this morning.

The word reset has also been forefront in my mind the last few days. In part, because I believe that is what the last several months have been about regarding the bigger perspective as we’ve revisited in our own hearts what is important and how we are individually, and as a collective, going to move forward with all that we’ve learned since early March of 2020.

And there’s more we still may each need to be with and learn and what perhaps the rest of the year will be about as we make our way toward 2021. 

Thinking of the reading I did yesterday and the word reset it came even more into focus the reason I felt called to read the cards backward. As I made my way out to my writing cottage this morning I saw this bee on the siding near my screen door. While the temperature has dropped into the low 50s with a sharp northeast wind that has a bite to it, I realized bee was confirming my reading and my pondering the value of what reset means.

At first glance, it seemed Bee was stunned from the cold, which could likely be, but I also sensed that Bee seemed to be taking a pause to conserve its energy and adjust and adapt as a confirmation to the message I shared yesterday, and yes, also to what it was now facing in the change in temperatures.

I thought about my own life and how I’ve been doing my best to conserve my energy and adapt and adjust just like I have no doubt so many of us are doing. For me, I’ve been focusing on what I need to do to stay balanced while also taking steps to expand (clean up) things I need to understand for my own growth. I think for many of us, this is what we’ve been learning to do the last several months— each of us at a different level of experiencing and incorporating this new way of being.

So my ‘backward’ reading:

Again, normally I’d read from left to right, beginning with Bee, and the cards following representing a story in motion. But this reading I see as the great reset and why I felt called to read it backward from right to left. Because we are not looking at life in the same way as we used to and we are seeing things from different perspectives than before.

I do believe we are moving toward a time of more peace, harmony, and community, though yes, we still have some times of unrest to move through.

We are creating in many ways a new story and one none of us have experienced in our lifetime, but yet at the same time, this way of being has been experienced before. 

Turtle Spirit is helping us to stay in this new inner space that many of us have invested in the last several months and is encouraging us to not give up – to stay with it – that intentionally moving at this slower pace, though we’ve been so used to rushing, going, and forcing, and it can feel like we aren’t doing anything and that we are going against everything we know.

Vulture Spirit is reminding us that we still have things we need to individually and collectively clean up. While the big picture and the chaos out in the world can feel overwhelming at times, cleaning up what we can within ourselves, is what I believe is what we each need to be doing, in order that we can all collectively move forward. 

What I feel is so important to remember also is not to beat ourselves up inwardly for the past and the mistakes made, but to take what we’ve learned as the way in which we can best move forward – and so as the message on the Vulture card says – nothing is wasted because it truly isn’t.

Seeing Bee outside my writing cottage this morning was confirmation that this work with Turtle and Vulture guiding us is what is going to lead us to the sweet results. The reset is about valuing more than ever the beauty of pausing and reflecting on what we’ve learned and then sharing that wisdom in community as a way to begin to help shape this planet into a kinder and more peaceful one.

xo,

Barbara