Hypnosis, under many different names, has been around since before the Pharaohs. It has been used as a cure all, mystical rite, entertainment, and forbidden magical tool. Hypnosis has been revered and feared in cycle after cycle throughout the centuries. In the 1800's hypnosis gained recognition from the medical profession as a safe anesthesia. But it was time consuming to use and didn't work for everyone. With the advent of ether, hypnosis fell into disuse. Magicians and showmen began using it for entertainment, and hypnosis lost credibility as a therapeutic and medical tool. Some professionals continued to use hypnosis successfully, but mainly it was mystics and spiritual seekers who continued to use hypnosis as a tool for growth and  self help. The state of hypnosis often allows a clearer channel to the higher self.

“Only love can break a heart. Only love can mend it again.” Gene Pitney, 1962

When I went into trance to bring this Johar & Simon message, the line from the song quoted above came into my head loud and clear. This month’s message is about love and healing from the pain that only love can produce.

Anita Burns  -

It’s the Christmas Season. I don’t usually celebrate this holiday, but since my mother passed away, I find myself unusually drawn to being a part of this annual ritual called  Christmas, or Yule, or Solstice. I probably won’t give much thought to peace on earth and goodwill toward men, or angels on high. I won’t go to church or watch for Santa.

I want to celebrate the joy of life with friends and loved ones. For me Christmas is  never going to be about obligatory gift giving. It’s about connecting with others from the heart. So this Christmas, I will give the gift I do best—REAL FOOD. I will cook my fingers to the bone and love ever minute of it. I will be filled with happiness when I see my friends stuffing themselves with my gift of really good food.

As women in the western world, we tend to forget how hard we fought, and are still fighting to maintain our "personhood" status. Just taking a look around at some other not-to-be-named countries where women have little or no rights at all. They can't drive, be in public without a male escort, have to cover themselves from head to toe, are sold by their fathers or brothers into slavery, can legally be beaten, mutilated or murdered, are thrown into prison if they are raped, and so much more. 

Yes, we often take our freedoms and rights for granted, but it wasn't always so, I received an email recently that reminded me that my right to vote, hold public office, have a life of my own, and more comes from great sacrifices made by brave women of the past. 

It wasn't until 1920 that women were granted the right to vote. To get that right, women suffered humiliation, prison, and physical abuse for decades. I sometimes forget that when my grandmother married, she was the property of her husband and voting was a man's game.

Hard Times?

I was grumbling the other day to a friend about the state of the world. The economy in the dumpster, global warming, corporate greed, natural disasters, the average perceived IQ of congress or any politician for that matter. Gripe, gripe, grumble, grumble. One of my ex husbands used to have a t-shirt that he designed. On one side it said, "Laugh and scratch," on the other it spouted, "Bitch and snivel." I was on the Bitch and Snivel side. 

Maybe I'm old enough to have distorted the past into a golden age and things were better back then, but I was on a tirade. My friend looked at me patiently and said, "Maybe it's time for a count-your-blessings moment." 

Warning: The following is my opinion based on what I am seeing and hearing. Don't get riled up. If you don't agree, I fully support your right to think I'm full of s&*(. The only thing I ask is, please don't quote the Bible at me. It does no good because I fully support my right to think that the bible is a bunch of baloney, even if you don't. Quoting it to me is as effective as me quoting the Wizard of Oz to you. 

Don't let the Religious Right take us back to the 1950's. They are trying but if we use our power as women, it can't happen. 

Women, beware! The conservative Republicans want you to have no choices AT ALL! They want to abolish abortion AND birth control. Will their intrusion into our lives stop there? I doubt it. When we are thrown back in time without rights or choice over our own bodies, where does that leave us women—in the dark ages, covered in a burka, pregnant, barefoot, and in the kitchen, forced to marry our abusers?