Intuition, hunches, simply knowing, an image, a voice in your head, a dream – these are all forms of communication from our Inner Realm, our Invisible Self.  We must learn to not only listen carefully in order to hear them, but we must use all levels of our senses to interpret them.

When an idea shoots to the front, it’s a message

I was reading an article lately and one concept called so loudly to me that I immediately went to my computer to explore what it meant to me.  The sentence was, “My first language is intuition.”  I began to write this article.

As I begin to do more and more shamanic inner journeying work, the intuition, the inner nudges, the “oh wow’s” that appear during that work continues to amaze me.  My job it to 1) learn to interpret those symbols and subtle messages and 2) decide if and how I want to apply them.

What to do when an image appears in your imagination

I did a shamanic journey to find my teacher in human form in the Upper World.  In my imagination, I moved out beyond the planet, into the cosmos and found myself in the molecules of a rainbow.  A human form appeared. In my mind, I thought, “this is my teacher, a Rainbow Warrior.”

When I completed my inner journey I looked up “Rainbow Warrior” online.  I discovered there was an ancient prophecy that said, “The Warriors of the Rainbow will reteach the values and the knowledge that has been lost in time, demonstrating how to have wisdom and extra-perception, and how unity, harmony, and love is the only way forward.”  Wow.  I didn’t know that.

I found the idea of a Rainbow Warrior in my inner wandering in the great web of life.

There are messages to uncover

Ninety-five per cent of our experience is in the unconscious mind.  We need to learn to hear what’s there and to interpret it and perhaps add it to our life experience.  We can do that in meditation, dreams, journeying, even while writing poems, playing music or creating art – anything that takes us out of the confines of our world of words and thoughts and into the often wispy world of the imagination.

Teach yourself to listen

Begin by talking to your body.  What does it feel like eating? What does it feel like doing? Ask it and it will tell you.  Ask your inner voice to guide you in making a decision  “How is the focus of my work to shift?”  Then either sit in silence and listen or be open to hearing the answer at some point in your day from some unexpected source – inner or outer.

Write down the answers you get because once you write them down and they feel “captured”, another layer of ideas is free to emerge.  I journal after every journeying experience in order to explore what I experienced and clarify what I was shown.

Listen to nature

Begin by talking with your pet(s) or a tree or a butterfly or anything from nature that calls to you.  Use the language of intuition and imagination.  Have a silent conversation and interpret what you get back from them in the silence.

I think of ideas as wisps that are brought to me to consider and I am to capture them – or not. Ask the elements of fire, earth, water, and air to speak to you, to guide you.  Go within the invisible world and ask for helping spirits to guide you and give you answers to specific questions.

Practice listening

This expansive silent world of the subtle realms requires close listening and imaginative interpretation.  When you learn to move into the Invisible Realm, the inner world, and ask for guidance, you’ll get it.  Then all you need to do is to interpret what you hear and your life will deepen and broaden and expand in ways you never before experienced.

To Sing a Deeper Song Consider:

How to Explore Your Invisible Self

Magic is Simply  a Change in Consciousness

Abracadabra! I Will Create As I Speak

Wakan Tanka, the Originating Mystery

The Cosmic Soup

I was meditating and suddenly was given the words “illumined service.”  Wow.  I want to do that.  What does it look like?  How do I do that? Where do I begin? I went exploring.

Illuminate is to enlighten

“To illuminate” is to shed light upon, to show the way, to come from love, inclusion, empathy and wholeness in our own life, our own work. Then that illumined energy naturally and organically shines out into our life and our interactions. What kind of adjustments do you need to make in order to come from a constant place of light?

Our passion is the beacon that shines

We each have a calling, a passion, a pull that has guided us along our path.  That’s our place of service, the focus of our work.

Illumined service means to give fully of your passion and your gifts.  To take your spiritual inquiry as far and deep as you can.  To grow yourself in all dimensions and share what you discover.

This may mean you need to adjust what you’re doing so that your work is filled with the illumination of your passion.  That your work is filled with love and happiness and the pure joy of living in light and loving every minute of it!

The first step to illumined service is to make certain your own light is as bright as you can make it.

Illuminate is to shed light upon

How do you “illuminate” you work?  Begin by honing and polishing the gifts you’ve been given.  Whatever talent you have, whatever skills you have developed, those are the tools you have to begin your illumined service.

Where do you choose to shed your light?  How do you want to use your gifts?

You have a core calling. Mine is spiritual exploration and sharing my subsequent insights. My path has been to move from student of spiritual and metaphysical philosophy to teacher and now to my role as an explorer who simply draws maps and leaves guidebooks for others.

My main purpose is to use my gifts to explore and share what I discover.

Look over your life so far and see where you’ve made the most difference, what you’re doing when faces light up around you when you are present and sharing your gifts. That’s an insight into your place of illumined service.

Get out of the build-your-business mindset and into the esoteric illumination of your business  

I was taught to “market” my business, to adjust my content so it had appeal to a specific group. We should make sure that certain people can find us and understand what we offer, but what if we simply followed our heart and shared our passion?  The power of our enthusiastic energy alone creates impact.

I’m one of those people who have to keep moving on to new discoveries.  I admire the patient teachers who nurture and help others find clarity.  However, I’m driven to move into a place of ever-deepening inner work that challenges and nourishes me.  And when I share what I discover, I open up choices and ideas to others.  In my work, I shed light so others see clearly. I shed light on where I have explored and leave maps and guidebooks so others can find their way.

You can illuminate the path of others by leaving maps and guidebooks that point out lessons you’ve learned along the way. Include an invitation for those who follow to stop and explore and absorb and adapt what resonates with them.

Shed light on the path you have walked

You shed light on the paths of others when you simply show up and share your own discoveries and enthusiasm.  Their path will not be your path but some of your detours may be theirs to take, your mistakes theirs to learn from, your discoveries theirs to build on.

Look at your own path and bring forth its lessons to shed light on the path of others.

Help others focus their light

You can help others honor their own gifts by teaching them to be selective and focused and clear about how they offer their light to others.

Whether your work is internal, like mine, or more direct as in coaching, or takes the form of a product or service, the purpose behind illumined service is to help others brighten their own light. To help them to reach further afield and to add their passion and gifts to the web of light.

Develop a consciousness of light

Being in illumined service is as simple as being conscious that you are in illumined service.  That all you do and say is impactful in the life experience of others.  Begin by monitoring your own path, the quality of your own light, the way you shine your light to help others see more clearly. This is not about influencing, it’s about making room for each person to increase their own illumination.

You illuminate your service by expanding your gifts and sharing them generously in the full awareness that you are an illuminated light in all you do.

To Sing a Deeper Song Consider:

What Seeds Are You Planting For the Future?

Your Desire to Heal the World 

The Guardianship We Hold

Building a Transformational Community to Heal Our World

Wakan Tanka, the Originating Mystery

Abracadabra! I Will Create As I Speak