Welcome to May's Soul Broadcast!
Our collective intention is to share with you topics and information relevant to current energies, the Healing Arts, tools and modalities, and whatever our Souls are wishing to share with you every month.
This month's theme is Surrender.
Discover the power of surrender and its healing journey.
We hope you love and find this monthly offering helpful, and a great resource in your own healing journey.
Thank you for tuning into your hearts and our collective Soul space.
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The Art of Surrender
by Mandee Elam
(Medicine Woman of the Soul/Co-Founder and GIC at Sea Goddess Healing Arts)
I remember the first time I truly surrendered. It was May of 2017 and I was sitting in a hospital parking lot in Denver trying to work my way through a Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD) attack. I pulled into the parking lot in case I didn't make it. Though VCD attacks are terrifying, the worst that will happen is I pass out, my body will spasm, and I will start breathing normally again. I hadn't gotten to the point where I allowed myself to pass out yet. Prior to my diagnosis my doctors thought I was having anaphylactic reactions to an unknown allergen and severe asthma. For about 4 months I just walked around in fear that I was allergic to everything and my throat was going to close at any point in time. At one point I had to give myself an EpiPen at home alone. That was crazy scary. The silver lining though, is that the hottest firefighters in Denver showed up. They were super nice to me, my dog and my cat. I also realized what a people pleaser I was. As I could barely breathe and could no longer make a sound with my voice, I was welcoming the firemen into my house with smiles and friendly hand gestures. The first firefighter on the scene said, "you're so nice, but let us take care of you, please." Though I was panicked and could barely breathe, I remember thinking ...okay Mandee, it's time to do some healing work around this. True awareness was my silver lining and blessing that night. After all, I was very active on my conscious journey at that point.
When you have a Vocal Cord Dysfunction attack, your vocal cords close when they are supposed to open. So you'll go to take a breath and you're gasping for air because the airway is not available. It will spasm and get smaller and smaller, making it harder and harder to breathe. So here I was creating the life of my dreams, or so I thought at the time. I was climbing the corporate social work ladder, had a good boyfriend, a dog, a cat, doing all the things I thought I was supposed to be doing. But really my soul was rotting and I wasn't speaking my truth on sooo many things. I was being the good girl and doing what I thought I should do as opposed to what my heart really wanted. The more I didn't speak my truth, the more VCD attacks I started to have. At the time I did not know that was the cause. This was after a lot of reflection and realizing I had opportunities to speak my truth and make choices for myself, and I didn't. Then I got blessed with a Vocal Cord Dysfunction attack shortly after. More about all that later on.
Back to surrender.
I had been on my conscious spiritual path for about 2 years prior to that point. I had certainly heard of let go and let God, but I didn't have faith or trust enough to actually do that back then. I was still working with Archangel Michael learning how to heal my anxiety at that point. This Vocal Cord Dysfunction was a difficult dance and certainly an opportunity to let go. I had to surrender and trust. I had to trust God and the Angels. I had to trust my body that if I passed out, it would start breathing for me again. Talk about letting go. After that point, many things in my life happened for me to rewrite my future. I left everything I knew and everything I built. I gave away all of the furniture and houseware I'd acquired over 10 years to all of my homeless clients. I moved back home to New Jersey and started my healing journey. It's been an insane journey that is still unfolding in beautiful
Divine ways.
What I can tell you about surrender is that it is an intuitive dance. Your intuition will tell you...ok it's time to back down. You're guided to either take a step back, to not say another word, or to leave something that's not serving you. It's an energy you feel within. It's an energy telling you something's not in alignment and there's an opportunity to trust and have faith in the greater unknown. It's different than fear. We are all designed to be micromanagers. Honestly, we need to be in order to care for and love ourselves properly. That's something I encourage when you do when you surrender, it's part of the dance. Yes, you are releasing control, however, there are certain things that must remain in your control. I always say you're the only one who can water you. No one else can drink water for you. Yes, for the smart asses in the back, of course you can go get an IV if you're down and out. However, ideally we feed and water ourselves so that we can sustain ourselves and grow. When you make a choice to surrender, make sure you surrender to yourself too. Treat yourself with love, grace and peace, which is one of the hardest things for us humans to do. To give ourselves the permission to surrender. Often I choose to surrender after I have tried everything I can with loving intention and it's still not working or creating change. Sometimes you're just not meant to. Beating your head against a brick wall is only going to damage you. So tune in, trust, and allow yourself to surrender the next time your intuition is asking you to. Even if it looks ugly, I promise the Angels, your Higher Self, The Universe and God do have your back. Sometimes it looks like shit, but it's happening for you. And when you do allow yourself to surrender, you actually will feel peace and flow within your vessel. Your thoughts will get in the way, but you'll be able to reel them back in and trust. Trust and breathe. Trust and breathe. Trust and breathe...
As always, I would be honored to hold soul space with you 💖
Here's a song I like to listen to when I'm surrendering.
Coast by Gone Gone Beyond and Moontricks
(Link here and below)
Looking UP in Awe and Wonder
The Hanged Man
by Ursula Duffy
(Co-Founder and GOO at Sea Goddess Healing Arts, Professional Astrologer and Certified Aromatherapist/Founder, Ursa Alchemy)
May's theme is aligned with important meaning and guidance for where we may find ourselves on the other side of an Eclipse Season as intense as the one we just experienced. It's now time to reflect on the changes, upheaval and magick that occurred, personally and collectively, since early March through the end of April. I provided dates and details in last month's post, which you can use for reference.
My contributions this month are the tools and resources that have assisted me through my own integration practice, especially when the dust is settling, the opportunities to proactively reweave are fresh, I'm in my own surrender phase and need to incorporate helpful tools, resources and guidance from Spirit.
The Tarot and External Forces
The Hanged Man (image above) is the twelfth Major Arcana key in the Tarot. The Major Arcana represents external forces that present themselves in our lives and personal growth journeys. The Hanged Man is the key that represents surrender, or being suspended between two phases or parts of the journey. One of the books with which we worked in my Tarot studies is: Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot by Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin. I love using this book to learn about the deeper meanings, symbols, history and story behind each key, card and message. Here's a passage from the book about the meaning of the Hanged Man:
You must look deeper into a trying situation and examine what this is teaching you about your reason to be alive. Waite says in the following card, Death, that death in connection with the Hanged Man is to be "understood mystically" and it comes in the form of "change of consciousness which ordinary death is neither the path or the gate." According to Waite, the Hanged Man shows a renunciation of previous values and atonement, or making amends within or without. We can come to terms with a new way of life, decision, or past event by changing our minds. By making an act of contrition, we can also put right something in our previous behaviours. The card shows that we must live with the consequences of our actions, and that everything is ultimately connected.
Reflect on this, the deeper meaning and how this information may offer guidance at this time. Another one of my favorite resources for the Tarot key/card meanings is Biddy Tarot. You can find the description and information about the Hanged Man on Brigit's website here.
Oracle Cards
Another personal tool I use often is oracle cards. I love pulling a card(s) for guidance when I'm processing something, too much in my own head and/or need a little extra guidance about a particular situation or part of my journey. Oracle cards are perfect for connecting with Spirit, especially during challenging times and periods of surrender. One of my favorite decks for "doing the work" is The Soul's Journey Lesson Cards Oracle by James Van Praagh. Here's the Surrender Card and guidance from the book:
James also has a companion book to this oracle deck: Adventures of the Soul: Journeys Throughout the Physical and Spiritual Dimension.
There are two things in particular that I love about this deck, and pay very particular attention to when using it for myself and for others: the mandala
(mun-dah-lah) and the main colors in the mandala and on the card itself. Additional information about mandalas and the mandalas in this deck can be found on the artist's website here. The colors, I feel, hold clues and information about the corresponding Chakra, and additional healing modalities that can be incorporated into the card's meaning and message. A book that I consider to be one of the best and most comprehensive resources about the Chakras is Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith.
Reading Material
Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender by David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.
I honestly cannot recall when this book came into my life; I think it was in 2017 when I was on the other side of an Eclipse Season that completely transformed my life (tune into the introductory 3-part series in Season 1 of Becoming Chiron to hear that story). It's been comforting, eye-opening and an integral part of my journey. It's loaded with stories, practices and essential information about getting to the root of control vs. surrender and the emotional process. I highly recommend this book as a practical, scientific tool and to complement the collection I've suggested above.
Self-Awareness and Your Own Natal Chart
You know I was going to bring it up! 😁
Do you know where the eclipses happened in your own natal chart? Do you know if you have any planets/placements in Libra and Aries, and which houses/axis were activated? If not, I'm here for you!
Knowing where eclipses are activating our own lesson plan for this lifetime is extremely helpful in processing and integrating eclipse seasons! Eclipses have been key turning points in my own journey and the self-awareness, insight and knowledge I've gained from learning my own chart and tracing eclipses back to the beginning of my Spiritual Reawakening, and beyond, are what guided me to this moment, compiling and teaching about these resources for all of you.
I'd be honored to work with you, to guide you on your own journey through these energies, lessons and path of self-awareness, and if we've already worked together, is it time for a Check-In? Remember I offer Check-In Readings at a reduced rate once we've already done a Birth Day Sky Reading! Links to all of my services and Becoming Chiron episodes are below:
From my own surrender process to yours with love,
Working with the Concept of "Surrender"
by Jess Himmel
(Modern Day Mary Poppins, Intuitive Artist (Orgone Original Works) & Energy Reader/Medium)
As someone who likes to know what's in store and have a good idea of at least the near future...I have always found the concept of Surrender particularly challenging.
In my life, up until very recently, Surrender was reserved as a last option (somewhat unconsciously). I had previously only truly embraced it when all my other options and efforts fell through. After pushing, worrying, and micromanaging to no avail, I would give the situation or question up to the Universe ONLY once I was in what I describe as my crisis mode. Gradually, through growth and experience, I have realized that I don't need to wait for that point. We can just let the Universe do its thing. We can consciously CHOOSE to Surrender and let things unfold.
Of course, this takes TRUST. Trusting that things will work out how they should. Trusting the Universe knows what we need and that it will provide. This is probably my main lesson this go around on Earth. I have realized that all or most of my issues, woundings, obstacles etc boil down to Trust as the root.
During this past Eclipse Season and also right now, I decided to actively choose Surrender as my method of navigation. There are so many major shifts and changes happening, it is a perfect time to test it out. An experiment of sorts. It helps to look at it that way.
Surrendering helps us let go of control and the NEED to control. When we let go of control we must accept that things might not turn out how we like or expect. When we try to control a situation or outcome and force it into our own expectations, we are resisting what is actually happening in the present moment. As we know, the only thing that's actually real is the present moment. Living in the past or future, we miss out on our life and its true potential.
I have included a 3 card Power Animal spread and a supplemental 3 Crystal card spread to help navigate this Surrender state. If any of the crystals call you, consider working with them to help the flow. Perhaps pop on Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds", don't worry 'bout a thing....and join me on my journey through CONSCIOUS SURRENDER.
Bob Marley & the Wailers - Three Little Birds
(Link here and below)
I am also offering a 25% off readings coupon (JESSMAY25) to help you navigate and my Orgonite Dragon Babies are still available for order. I'd love to work with you! Let's let the Universe flow and do its thing together!
Blessings,
Jess
Lexi will return with content in a future Soul Broadcast.
In case you missed her January contribution, Dear Journal..., you can read it here.
To book with Lexi, her reading options and services are below:
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We hope you've found this month's theme and all of our contributions helpful. Wishing you a May filled with surrender and integration!
Thank you for being here with us!
With Love, Light & Gratitude,
Mandee, Ursula, Jess and Lexi
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