"Okay......I'm Listening....."

One morning about 20 years ago in February, I drove into the parking lot at my job and parked, ready to start my shift at the Behavioral Health Center. It was around 6:30am on a Sunday and the facility was located on a college campus.....NO ONE was around this bitterly cold morning. I got out of my car and started to walk toward the building when I abruptly came to a halt. I was smelling roses all around me...

It was impossible! There was no one around me, it was the dead of winter, no flowers were growing, and there had been no one near by me at all!  Yet, there it was-strong, beautiful and real-the scent of roses. When I spoke to my spiritual teacher and mentioned that experience....she just smiled at me. ' How wonderful. That....was the Goddess. She was trying to get your attention.' She explained that many other people have been touched by the Goddess and have smelled roses in Her wake, too. It was one of the Goddess' calling cards, so to speak. I paused, took a deep breath and looked around:

"Okay.....I'm listening....."

The listening lady-artist unknown

I've discussed before in "Be a Voice, Not an Echo" how sometimes the Creator/ God/ Goddess/ Universe needs to get my attention with the 'Spiritual 2x4'. Fortunately, it's not a regular occurrence (it HURTS!) and there are much more subtle ways that Goddess tends to respond in answer to my prayers for guidance. Initially, like many newbies to the path, all I could ask my teacher was, 'How will I know??'. And her response to me was pretty predictable - (say it with me now...) "You'll just know..." At that time, it was not helpful, but it was part of the process that I've come to understand. Goddess doesn't speak to me the way She speaks to others. She graces me with Her presence in my corner of the world in ways that will get my attention. Dreams for me are a major way that She calls out to me. Some may have similar experiences in day dreams, meditations, or just flashes of words or images in their minds-seemingly out of nowhere. 

Don't discount being suddenly flooded with images of something as 'coincidence'. Yes, if the color blue is coming up around you a lot it could just be the next fashion trend color.....OR.....it could be more...

What you need to know is how it makes YOU feel. Are you self-aware? Does your stomach do a flip-flop? Do you feel like you have a laser beam zeroed in on that color or object? Are you pulled toward areas or items like a magnet? Do you suddenly feel a tingle in your hands? There is no hard and fast rule that says if you have a reaction like I mentioned to something, that you MUST do something immediately about it. But dammit, if it does make you feel SOMETHING....pay attention...write it down...don't dismiss it...it is very possibly a gift from the Gods... It could be the guidance you were seeking or prayer being answered.

My new abalone offering bowl for my altar-approved by Vilma.

To others, it may appear that I have been obsessed lately by all things to do with the Sea. Well, in a way that is true. However, it is also because I can barely contain the flow of information and inspiration that is coming to me! I asked for guidance on my path and I am getting it! I asked: Where will I go? What should I study? What area should I focus on? Is there something I should read more? Is there something to change in my practice? On my altar? etc... Goddess has answered me in many ways. Yemaya has come to me in my dreams more than once. More often I have Lucid Dreams so I have more information to draw on from those experiences. I also feel that familiar twinge and tingle around certain objects, places, books which have been set aside for more study. The picture above is of an abalone offering bowl, which the Goddess wants for my altar. I have been slowly getting an altar together...She wants to see more done a bit faster than I have been moving up till now, because it is increasing my balance in life lately. I asked, She answered....the legwork is all mine to follow up. I am blessed...

Little things mean a lot. It helps to be able to hear the voice of Goddess or feel Her influence when you make an effort to be present in the Here and Now. About a week ago, my husband gave me a little jade pendant of Kwan-Yin (or Guan-Yin) he found it somewhere in our apartment (or maybe it was Vilma and he took it from her). I thought I had lost it years ago, and  I put it away for safekeeping in a little drawer in a jewelry box. It was just a simple pendant that I bought at an Asian market when I was in my early 20s, but it was my one of my first precious items because I felt Goddess drew me to it. It was a symbol of serenity...Goddess of Mercy and Compassion. That little pendant is a touchstone that reminds me that Compassion is not just for the poor and unfortunate, but also for myself as I go through my own life...

My Kwan Yin pendant

This morning when I woke up, I reached into my dressing table right next to my bed to grab a brush to run through my unruly bed head. When I picked up the brush, my pendant of Kwan-Yin was on the brush, tangled in it's bristles....NOT in the jewelry box where I left it....

"Okay......I'm listening....."

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