Pamela Cummins's Blog, page 3

Dear Wide Author

Dear wide author, I admire the tenacity you have for continuing to write and publish in today’s world. It’s hard enough to write and market a book. What’s even harder is trying to please both KU and wide readers. I’ve been there.

This blog is about what I consider the bait and switch with eBooks. But let me give you a little history…

Warning When Kindle Unlimited Began

Back in 2014, I got the message of how Kindle Unlimited didn’t have the best intentions for authors. There’s a reason people pay up to $5.50 a minute (through Click4Advisor) for my psychic reading!

Therefore, I warned authors on Twitter not to put all their books in one basket. And it was better to link their books to their websites instead of giving Amazon all those SEOs.

Well, that didn’t go well, and I was ridiculed.

Flash forward to today. Amazon has made many changes since 2014. For example:

Demands exclusivity for your books to be seen.Require paid ads to bring them up higher on the page.Remove legitimate reviews.Kicked off authors their platform without a valid reason.And much more…

Most Indie authors know this. If you are a reader, please note that there is a wealth of information on the internet about Amazon’s tactics with authors.

Click to Learn MoreMe Being a Wide Author

These tactics were painful for me to watch, and there was no way that I was going to play these games. Hence the reason why my nonfiction eBooks are wide. I probably would have made more money in the unlimited program. Yet, I needed to go with my morals.

Dear Wide Author of Why I Read Wide

First, I read a ton of books. At least one eBook a week, usually more. This is why I usually don’t buy paperbacks, because where would I put all of them?

I felt Amazon’s tactics were unfair to authors and chose to read from platforms that are more author friendly. I have bought books from Smashwords, Google Play, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks (when I used to have an iPhone). Plus, I paid monthly for a Scribd (now Everand) subscription, and now I use Kobo Plus.

When I find an author I like, I’ll read everything they write except for horror. Two of my favorite wide authors are Kyra Halland and Alianne Donnely.

Dear Wide Authors Who Go Back and Forth

Now, I want to be clear with the following:

Authors have a right to run their business the way they want!

I am explaining my viewpoint as a wide reader. I understand it’s a tough decision for an author whether to do KU or wide, especially if you’re doing this full-time. Yes, more money can be made immediately in KU. It takes a lot more time to build an audience in Wide. And bills need to be paid. I get that.

My Experience with Series

Many fiction authors do series these days because they make more money this way. When I find a series I enjoy, I want to read all the books. I prefer each book to have some sort of conclusion. Of course, cliff hangers entice readers to buy more.

I learned quickly to check if all the books in a series are on my book platform. Why? Many authors will put the first book in a series for free on all book platforms. I would read the book on a wide platform, but when I went to buy the second book in a series, I discovered the author had put the rest of the books in Kindle Unlimited. This is so disappointing!

My research worked for the most part with a book series. However, what has happened to me three or four times is I’m reading a fabulous series, and it ends with one heck of a cliffhanger. Then I look for the next book and the entire series has been removed from the platform and guess where they put it! This pisses me off!

Whatever the author’s reason for doing this, reaching more KU readers and/or making more money, I feel betrayed. Could they do this with their other series I was thinking about reading? I reached out to one of these authors and was ignored.

So, these authors can do what works best for them. And I’ll do what works best for me, which is to drop their books from my reading list! There are too many authors who keep their books wide for me to read.

Happened Again!

This one series kept coming up in my Kobo Plus books. I researched this author and many of their books had over 50 reviews on Kobo. Great, a wide author who is popular on other platforms!

What a MAJOR CLIFFHANGER on book three! I must read the conclusion. Wait, where’s book four?

So, I went to the author’s website. The fourth eBook was there with all the bookstore links. I clicked on the wide stores I buy from, and the book is not there. When I searched for the author’s name on Kobo, I discovered the entire series was gone from the platform.

Yup, it happened again! Hence the reason for this blog post. And another author that’s crossed off my reading list.

In Conclusion

Dear Wide Author, this may make you mad, but I wish you would just stay wide. Wide readers are doing their best to support you. And I’m sure there are many more who feel the same way I do when you take a series out of their favorite store or publish the next book on just Amazon for ninety days or longer.

Remember many readers don’t understand the publishing world like I do. And who knows who they will bad mouth you to and tell them not to read your books?

My eight books are wide. You can learn more about them and find your favorite bookstore here.

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Recurring Premonition Dreams

Sometimes we have recurring premonition dreams. Why? To make us accept the dream’s message. Perhaps we don’t remember the dream or don’t understand the dream’s meaning. Or we choose not to accept the message. The latter happened to me, which inspired me to write this blog. You can read more about recurring dreams and how to resolve them here.

Situations for Recurring Premonition Dreams

Let’s look at what types of situations a dreamer might be in denial about and/or does not want to happen.

Their love interest isn’t interested in them.A partner is cheating.They need to leave a toxic workplace.They have a health issue.They need to move to another home.Their loved one is lying to them.A loved one is getting ready to pass.And many more situations…

Whatever the recurring premonition dreams are about, they will persist until the dreamer either accepts the situation and/or takes action.

What’s Pamela Dreaming

I have had six or more dreams about getting a new cat and how I didn’t want another one. This has come in various ways. Here are my different dreams:

People gave me a cat.A cat wants to come home with me.My husband brings home a new cat.Two of these dreams were about how I gave up my cat, Merlin. I would visit him where I left him, then pick up Merlin to take him back home with me. FYI, I got Merlin as a kitten and had him until he crossed over. Merlin on a T-shirt, click to learn more.

I wish Merlin was still in my life. But not another cat! My intuition was telling me these were straight forward premonition dreams. When I attempted to figure out a different interpretation, nothing was coming up.

The dream’s message is a kitten/cat is on its way to us. Either it’s a reincarnation of Merlin or he’s the one responsible for sending a new cat.

I already have five cats! I really don’t want the responsibility of another one. However, everything happens for a reason. You can read about the five cats in my column Attitude of Cattitude on Substack.

Validation of My Interpretation

I’m a psychic with mediumship abilities. I get bits and pieces from my deceased loved one when they visit in my nighttime dreams and during the day. Although it’s harder for me to have conversations with my deceased loved ones. This is why I booked a mediumship session with the talented Zenobia Simmons.

I asked my Higher Source before the session to let me know if another cat was coming. One message channeled through Zenobia from my cat, Midnite, was that someone was going to give me a baby kitty. Talk about validation!

Midnite

The recurring dreams have stopped now that I have accepted another kitty will eventually come our way. I’m not sure how or when, but I have faith that the right one will find its way to us.

Final Thoughts

Life often gives us what we might not want, like another cat, a new job, or whatever. Please note that there is always a reason for this. What we resist will persist, so acceptance is the key.

If you need a dream interpretation, psychic reading, or spiritual growth coaching, please check out my services. I also have products from books to oracle cards to T-shirts and more, learn more on the shop page.

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Interview with Mariëlle S. Smith

I’m excited to have Mariëlle S Smith on my blog today! We meet at the Facebook Kickstarter’s Author group. Enjoy the Interview!

Welcome Mariëlle! Why did you start the path of personal and spiritual growth?

That is a good question… Looking back, I’ve always been interested in spirituality, but I was raised in an environment where the spiritual was consistently mocked, so I stayed far, far away from it.

Looking for a way to heal my social anxiety, I started doing yoga in my late twenties. It was through the different teachers at my local studio and the different spiritual practices they wove into their classes that my interest in spirituality and spiritual growth woke up again. I began to meditate, and it felt like coming home, like being reunited with a part of myself I didn’t even know I’d lost touch with.

Somewhere on this journey, I was introduced to crystals and oracle and tarot cards. I also came in touch with energy healing, which brought me to Reiki and becoming a Reiki master. Next came past life work, which led me to the Akashic Records and becoming an Akashic Records practitioner. By that time, I had already established myself as a creative mindset coach, and, while it took me a minute, I eventually allowed these spiritual practices to fully integrate into my coaching work.

Yes, the spiritual growth path is a journey… How do some people react to your path and what has this taught you about yourself?

I started this journey in 2013 and I’ve only just stopped hiding this part of myself from some people. My mum suddenly passed away last month, and it was an incredibly spiritual experience for me. I hadn’t lost anyone this close to me since I found my way back to the spiritual, and it made for an interesting journey. What’s more, I kept telling people about the experiences I was having, the messages I kept receiving, the things I was seeing, even those who I knew wouldn’t believe me.

I do think the reason I’d dropped all the masks I still wore around certain people was simply because I was too exhausted – my mum had been in the ICU for seventeen days before she passed – and too overcome with emotion to keep them in place, to put myself back in the spiritual closet around those not open to it. But the best part was that I absolutely didn’t care whether or not people believed the things I shared, and that was a first for me! I also ended up having beautiful conversations with people I’d never expected it from.

One of the worst reactions I’ve ever had came from my ex-partner, who admitted during our divorce that there had been times where they’d considered having me committed to a mental hospital. Even now, and it’s been six years since this confession, I’m at a loss for words. And this was when I was just learning how to read cards, so long before I became a Reiki master and started working with the Akashic Records. If they could see me now…

What I’ve learned from this, amongst other things, is that the more confident I am about who I am and what I do, the better people’s reactions. Generally speaking, of course. Some people will always react poorly (my ex being a case in point), but I now understand that says everything about them and nothing about me.

I’m sorry to hear about your mom. What a growth experience it was for you to not care what others think. As far as your ex, an ex is an ex for a reason! You’re an author and oracle card creator. What is that process like for you?

Generally, an idea just pops into my head out of the blue and then I entertain that thought for a moment. I used to get a lot of ideas, with only a few of those being actually aligned with me, but the more time I spend in the Akashic Records, the fewer ‘bad’ ideas I get.

To separate the ‘good’ from the ‘bad’ ideas, I used to write them down on a sticky note I’d put up in my office. Once in a while, I’d look at my collection of sticky notes and throw out the ideas that no longer spoke to me or I’d forgotten about entirely. Quite a few of my clients struggle with this, figuring out which creative impulse to follow and which to let be, so I wrote about this practice in my first ever Substack post.

Once I get an idea, it can take a while before I actually pursue it. I used to feel an urgency around each idea I got, but working with the Akashic Records has also improved my knowing when something needs to be created. Some projects need to percolate longer than others, and sometimes I’m not quite ready to fully commit to it. This doesn’t mean they remain on the back burner until we’re both ready; I’ll pick them up and dust them off and maybe do some research or jot down some ideas every once in a while, and then I’ll let them be again.

When I’m ready and the project is ready to come to fruition as well, I’ll feel the nudge to actually start working on it. This is when the project becomes a priority, something I have to finish.

To give you an example, the initial idea for my Cards for Creative Courage oracle deck came to me the spring of 2019. Over the years, I kept adding a couple of affirmations to my notes, but I didn’t feel the need, that urgency, to commit to it until I was preparing my first Kickstarter campaign. It suddenly clicked that this oracle deck – which had been on my mind for the past three years – would make a great companion deck for the book I was working on. That’s when the deck took full shape in my head and I was able to finish it in a matter of weeks.

I love your creative process and how you learned to listen when it’s time to start. Can you offer our readers advice on how to keep inspired about creating?

Move to Cyprus. No, I’m joking, although the main reason I moved to Cyprus five years ago is because I couldn’t stop writing the first time I visited the island. My family did all the touristy stuff while I spent most of the week sitting on a sunbed next to hotel pool, writing idea after idea in the notebook I’d been smart enough to bring along.

What moving to Cyprus did was make me see things anew, which I believe is a key ingredient to feeling inspired. And you can achieve that by switching up your morning route to work, walking your dog the other way, joining the Tuesday instead of the Wednesday yoga class.

Likewise, you could try creating at a different time, or at a different place if your craft allows for that. It feels incredibly silly, but sometimes all I need to do to unstuck myself and get those creative juices flowing again is move my laptop from my office to the living room.

It reminds me of what H.G. Wells once said: ‘If you are in difficulties with a book, try the element of surprise: attack it at an hour when it isn’t expecting it.’

You can do the same with your creativity: open yourself up to it at a time – or a place! – it isn’t expecting it and see what happens.

Another thing that happened when I moved to Cyprus is that I created a distance between myself and the anti-spiritual environment I grew up in. My first tarot book came to me within a week of moving. Of course, this was a physical distance, but sometimes all it takes is a little emotional or mental distance, a few good boundaries around yourself and your creative work.

You have many tools to offer people. Please share your offerings and how to get in touch with you.

This is such a timely question, because I’m working on two new things!

Let me start with my free offerings though. On Illuminate, I share my weekly thoughts about creativity and living a creative life, and most posts include some sort of tool to help you on your creative path.

I’ve also started recording meditations this year, which can be found on Insight Timer and on my ‘podcast’: Illuminate | Meditations and musings for the creative soul. I also record the weekly musings I post on the Illuminate blog. This is a passion project of mine, one that lights up my soul so much but I don’t have much time for, so I record and post when I can.

As for my other offerings: with my Akashic Creative Coaching, I coach creative people through their persistent creative blocks or unhelpful patterns and help them figure out their creative purpose.

What I’m currently working on is the expanded anniversary edition of Tarot for Creatives: 50+ Tarot Spreads and Other Intentional Practices to Unlock Your Full Potential and Live Your Best Creative Life, which I’m running a Kickstarter campaign for. The new edition has over fifty card spreads, seventy-eight exercises related to the cards in the tarot, and a bunch of intentional practices that’ll help you get the most out of your creative practice. The campaign runs until the 27th of September and backers receive the book at least six months before it becomes available to the general public.

The other thing I’m working towards is my Akashic Creative Coaching Meditation Circle. On or around each new moon, I’ll be organising a guided journey into the Akashic Records around a specific creative topic. During these live calls, the participants will be guided into their own Akashic Records, where I’ll prompt them to ask certain questions around the topic of that month. After the journey is completed, there will be time and space to share experiences.

We start 1 November, but there will be a free introductory meditation on 2 October in which participants are introduced to their Akashic Records and get to ask questions about their creative purpose. While it’s free, you do need tickets, which you can get here.

The best way to get in touch with me is through my website or by emailing me at marielle@mswordsmith.nl.

Mariëlle S. Smith is a creative mindset coach who helps fellow creatives on their path to fulfilling their soul’s calling using a combination of life coaching, Akashic Records readings, cartomancy, and Reiki.

She has published fourteen books for writers and other creatives, including the 52 Weeks of Writing Author Journal and Planner and Tarot for Creatives, and is one of the co-hosts of the Diving into Writing podcast.

Mariëlle is currently working on the expanded anniversary edition of Tarot for Creatives, which is now running on Kickstarter.

You can find Mariëlle on her website or on Substack

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Psychic Symbols Differ from Dream Symbols

If you’re wondering if psychic symbols differ from dream symbols, the answer is yes! If you get a psychic vision of a dog, the meaning can be different from when you dream about dogs. Why? Because of the fact a dog symbol has conscious meanings society has agreed upon. While dreams are based on the dreamer’s unique symbolism.

How Psychic Symbols Differ from Dream Symbols

Psychic symbols differ from dream symbols because it’s external. For example, a red traffic light means stop. If a client asks me if they should travel by airplane and I get a vision of a traffic light turning red, then it’s obvious the answer is no.

Other ways a psychic symbol can come through to me is from a deceased loved one, angel, or spirit guide. If I get a vision of a red rose, it usually means love, although the meaning could be for someone who likes to garden.

Here are two more symbols I often receive from my spirit guides:

A vision of a field hockey team is symbolic that a client needs to play the field and date other people. Or the person you’re interested in is playing the field.Another symbol I have is a cartoon of a construction worker wearing a hard hat and holding a shovel. This means he digs you and is a positive answer for my client. I know it’s weird.

Another example is I hear song lyrics as a form of symbolism, which is why I’ve been called the Musical Psychic. Here are two examples:

I’ll hear the song from an old McDonald’s commercial, “You deserve a break today,” if a client needs to take some downtime.Stevie Wonder’s song, “Don’t cha worry about a thing,” is a straightforward message for my clients to stop worrying and stay positive. FYI, it’s you in the song, but I hear it as cha. How Dream Symbols Differ from Psychic Symbols

Symbols in dreams are usually from a dreamer’s subconscious, with the exception of visitation dreams and precognitive dreams. Therefore, they aren’t based on society’s universal meanings for symbols. Instead, they’re based on each individual unique symbolism. Occasionally, there are exceptions, but usually, a symbol’s meaning is different for each dreamer.

Why? Because a symbol’s meaning can change based on the dreamer’s emotions, life history, present issues, and more… And the same symbol in one dream can have a different meaning in another. I know it’s complicated.

Let’s use the two physical symbols I mentioned above.

Field Hockey Team

Here are examples of two different dreamers, and neither meanings are about dating.

Mary feels terrified in her dream of playing field hockey and doesn’t trust her team members. Upon awakening, she knows her dream is about her current work situation.Paul’s dream about field hockey reminds him of the good times he had with friends when he used to play ice hockey. He decides to see if he can find them on social media.Construction Worker with Shovel

Again, I’ll use two examples to show how they differ from my psychic message of he digs you.

Tim is feeling aggravated as he dreams about shoveling snow off his porch steps and sidewalk. He wakes up and looks out the window to find a foot of unpredicted snow in front of his home.Sherry dreams about her ex-boyfriend digging a grave to bury her in. Her dream is validation that she made the right choice to break up with him.

Hopefully, these examples help you see how psychic symbols differ from dream symbols.

In Conclusion

Symbols are usually easier to interpret in psychic messages than in your dream symbols. However, it takes time and effort to figure out the difference. If you need help with either, please check out my services. Or visit my shop page.

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You Can Be Creative

How do you feel about the idea that you can be creative? I’ve given readings where clients have argued they don’t have a creative bone in their body. Even artists, writers, musicians, and actors/actresses sometimes have doubts about their creativity.

If you have doubts about your inner creative self, then think about your dreams of the nighttime. When you dream, your inner creativity comes out to play to create a puzzle for you to figure out. Therefore, you have creativity within you to use during the daytime.

What Can You Be Creative At?

The following takes creativity:

TalkingCookingDrivingStudyingCleaningThinkingSocializingRaising childrenHelping othersPlaying with animalsTinkering with electronicsSolving a problemAnd more…It Takes Creativity to Live

Here are ways to tap into your creativity:

Color in a coloring bookFollow a simple recipeUse an easy arts and crafts kitTake a class to learn something newOpen a free Canva account to use their templates or create your ownCreativity Isn’t Perfect

Nobody can be perfect at their craft all the time. A musician can miss a note and an actor will forget their lines. Even books published by the big publishers have typos. Humans aren’t meant to be flawless because we are learning in the Earth’s schoolroom.

What’s important is to have fun being creative regardless of the outcome!

We are all beginners at one point. It takes effort, practice, and time to become an expert at a creative skill. Even people born with natural talent will continue to work to improve it.

Remember, just because you are skilled in one area doesn’t mean you will be skilled in another.

Click for Books You Can Be Creative in Some Areas

It’s okay to be creative as a carpenter and not be able to draw. Or you might be a terrible singer, but you cook a yummy meal where people want seconds.

At six years old, I told my art teacher that I had a big problem. She bent down so I could whisper, “I can’t draw.” Her response was, “That’s a big problem.” Today I know it’s not a big problem, and I give her credit for not laughing at me.

Can I draw today? Not well. What I am good at is being a creative tech, which led me to create my oracle decks.

Embrace Your Creativity

Whether that’s tinkering as a handyperson, planning parties, or training animals. You are creative in something. May you find it!

What’s Pamela Dreaming?

A month ago, I had the following precognitive dream:

I was visiting a former job on the third floor. There were people I used to work with and my father was there. I held up a piece of artwork and said to my father, “Look at what I created!”

The Outcome of My Dream

Giggle, it’s not me drawing. I had another dream, talked to my prosperity partner, did some soul searching, and researched on the internet.

The result is I am creating an Art Shop in Threadless. My shop will have my creative tech work from my oracle cards. I will also make new creative pictures of my five cats that star in my column Attitude of Cattitude. Then people can buy print-on-demand products such as t-shirts, journals, coffee cups, and more.

I’ll update this blog once it’s done.

In the meantime, I am having fun. Let me know what creative pursuits you discover.

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Meet the Goddess with Quotes

Back in the early 90s, I discovered the Goddess. This was a relief for me because being a woman, I could relate to a Goddess better than a male God. My spirituality grew and became stronger when I incorporated the Goddess.

The below quote represents who I was before I found the Goddess.

Two thousand years ago, we lived in a world of Gods and Goddesses. Today, we live in a world solely of Gods. Women in most cultures have been stripped of their spiritual power. – Dan Brown

When I connected to a female and male Higher Sources, my spirituality becomes balanced. I can be kind and firm, vulnerable and powerful, and intuitive and logical.

The Original Isis was a Goddess

Some men don’t like the concept of a Goddess. A great example of this is how a terrorist militant group is named after the Egyptian Goddess Isis. They took the Goddess of divine motherhood, wife, and magic and soured her name.

Here is a quote about the real Isis:

In the beginning there was Isis: Oldest of the Old, She was the Goddess from whom all Becoming Arose. She was the Great Lady, Mistress of the two Lands of Egypt, Mistress of Shelter, Mistress of Heaven, Mistress of the House of Life, Mistress of the word of God. She was the Unique. In all Her great and wonderful works She was a wiser magician and more excellent than any other God. – Merlin Stone

This quote describes my Goddess!

Where Did the Goddess Go?

Is Dan Brown correct about the Goddess (women) being stripped of her spiritual powers? At the end of one of my favorite movies, the Mists of Avalon, a young girl is praying to Mother Mary. It was then Morgaine realized that the Goddess hadn’t been erased. Instead she had been reincarnated. I personally agree with this. And so does the author of this quote.

The goddess has never been lost. It is just that some of us have forgotten how to find her. – Patricia Monaghan

Who is the Goddess?

These three quotes help to describe her.

The goddess is not a mythical figure but the energy that lives in the wild, untamed nature. – Clarissa Pinkola Estés

The Goddess does not rule the world; She is the world. Manifest in each of us, She can be known internally by every individual, in all her magnificent diversity. – Starhawk

It’s a perfect moment to quietly meditate on the cosmic Great Mother who can inspire us all; the divine, feminine Spirit of nurturance known as The Goddess, so revered in ancient times and being rediscovered by women today. – Sarah Ban Breathnach

The Goddess has again been reincarnated! These days more women and men are embracing her. Just like God, your Goddess is unique and personal to you.

Is there a Goddess Within?

Once I asked a group of Christians, “If God made us, aren’t we a part of God?” Most agreed with me.

Doesn’t it make sense that we also have the Goddess within us? Like Starhawk said, she is manifest in each of us.

Perhaps this quote will help you realize it?

You are a powerful, beautiful, and fearless goddess. You are strong, capable of anything, and you can change the world. – Oprah Winfrey

May you rock your inner Goddess to create positive changes in your life and others!

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Now in Paperback Using Draft2Digtal

Dream Interpretation for the Mystical Soul is now in paperback! It’s still in the process of being distributed to some bookstores. Although you can purchase it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Blackwells. Or ask your local library to order a copy.

The Process

In the past, I used Ingram Sparks to publish my paperbacks. Ingram is the Indie side of Lightning Source. They are the main distributor of the world’s paperbacks, especially print-on-demand (POD).

Sadly, Ingram can be difficult to use. I’m more of a creative tech and become frustrated with other types of tech. Therefore, I would rather pay someone to format the cover and another person to format the written text into a document according to Ingram’s specifications. Sometimes these professionals had to make corrections before Ingram approved the book. It cost me several hundred dollars to have a book printed.

I decided to try Draft2Digital (D2D) this time since they use Ingram Sparks to print the books. D2D takes a percentage of my earnings, but any money I make is a profit instead of covering the professional fees.

The process was much simpler than Ingram because D2D has templates for the interior. I just had to make simple adjustments. The cover template was easy to do, too. There was an issue with a small white line at the bottom of the cover with the first print proof copy I received. I sent them an email with a picture. A fast reply let me know that I couldn’t fix it, yet they could. My second proof copy was perfect.

In Conclusion

It’s up to you whether you want to use D2D. You might choose to use Ingram and/or Amazon print to cut out the middleman.

Draft2Digital print works better for me because it’s easier than Ingram. Plus, I don’t have to pay anyone and wait for them to do the formatting.

Again, Dream Interpretation for the Mystical Soul is now in paperback. You can purchase it at online bookstores or order it from your favorite bookshop.

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Interview with Barbara DeLong

I’m excited to have an interview with Barbara DeLong on my blog today. Barbara is an interesting, gentle soul. We met when she to meet me as a possible guest for her radio show. It was an instant connection! Without further ado, enjoy the interview.

Could you let the readers know how you got into the spiritual field?

The earth plane is just one of countless experiences of the physical reality that our spirit visits, experiences and draws from on its long journey. Each and every one of us carries within a seed of the source/creator and our human bodies are the avatar that the seed travels within to experience physicality and emotions not available in its natural state which is etheric. In a strange way all of us are not really in the spiritual field but rather are the spiritual field.

I have always been a seeker of sorts, asking questions as to who we are and why are we here? Like many, I graduated high school and then went off to college and at that time my awareness was that I would eventually get married, have children and live in a small house with a white picket fence and live happily ever after. Those who know me are well aware that is not at all what life held in store for me.

In my senior year an UFO landed on my campus and opened my awareness that there are indeed vistas and dimensions too numerous to mention that are open to us if we but accept the fact that they are there, and reach for them. It was almost as if a huge curtain was drawn back and I was invited into realms I never knew existed. In a way I was invited to reach for tomorrows that opened so much more to me as to the destination of my spirit and the possibilities that were there for me. Life didn’t shift radically but little by little I search and gathered, read my way through the library on many different topics and began to find talents and gifts within that continue to amaze me half a century later.

I believe that everyone has their own ah-ha moments it just depends on where they are when the invitation arrives … and if they decide to take it, for we all do have free will. Spirituality is a way of life, not a religion and as we become aware of the cosmic laws and begin to be a living example of them, we move along that pathway that is laid out before us by the spirit/seed of the infinite that travels within. It’s different for everyone for we are all on different levels of ascension. To follow another is to try to copy their journey and will always result in a dead end. The spirit within will never lead you astray, though often the pathway may seem unique or strange it is yours alone, created just for you, so stop and smell the roses, enjoy the sun sets and risings and know you are aimed in the right direction.

On your website it says you are a Spiritual Empath. Please explain this term in case someone is unfamiliar with it.

I have always been uncomfortable with labels. They feel as if they are restrictive and hold me back from what the future holds for me. When I consciously embraced the spiritual field, I struggled with what to call myself to identify what I was doing. Psychic was the first label that was applied and after a while it felt too limiting. Then came medium and channeler, both didn’t last long either. It became clear to me that when one has a title in many ways it limits them as to what others expect of them.

My late husband suggested that I use Spiritual Empath because it wasn’t a hackneyed title as of yet so I could make it be whatever I wanted it to be and expand on it whenever I wanted. Of course an empath is one who can touch into the energies of others and draw information from those energies. So a spiritual empath to me embraces all I am or will be and does not limit me. For a long time I called myself a light worker but now that term has been so overused it holds now meaning for me.

So far in this life I have been, a mother, a wife, a master teacher, a psychic, channeler, spiritual empath, medium, artist, ordained minister, documentarian, author, podcaster, intuit, gardener, and the list goes on and on. Each providing a piece to the jig saw puzzle that has become my life.

We all have the capacity and right to create a descriptive title that for that moment in time defines where they are at that very moment. The good and bad of labeling yourself is that it is, or should be something that is constantly growing and expanding the consciousness.

I keep the label, Spiritual empath, because it is so vague it doesn’t confine me, and out of respect for my late husband. Choose your label well so it doesn’t restrict you and always feel free to change it as the winds of time urge you in new directions.

I love the concept of avoiding the labels! You have been a host of Night-Light Radio for a long time. Why did you start your radio show? And how do you feel about it today?

I have been doing Night-Light radio since July 3, 2009. A friend had a podcast and asked me to be a guest on her show and of course I accepted and asked her where the studio was. She replied all I had to do was call into the show and I could stay in pajamas and be comfortable. This appealed to me greatly and after doing the show with her and her husband asked if I could watch them do a show and they kindly invited me to watch, so I did.

After watching I thought, “This seems easy, I could do this as well”. So I signed up and created Night-Light Radio. From the very beginning my intention has always been to become a Night-Light in the darkness of the times, a place where spiritual insight and philosophy could be shared and imparted to those who were seeking spiritual wisdoms.

The first shows were intended to make available to those who could not afford a psychic reading a free one. What better way to spread spiritual messages then to give away free readings. After many years of doing the free readings I realized I had created a huge following of do dependent followers who had fun in the chat room and would call in numerous times for free psychic readings …. Only problem, they weren’t taking the advice but rather just having fun playing.

So I change my approach to only giving them information I got rom spirit and not taking questions. That worked for a while but I still felt I wasn’t helping those who really were seeking guidance. Ultimately my methods evolved to what I lovingly called my “let’er Rip” readings where would give the person a year at a glance and give them information of the entire year, it usually took about 6 minutes and they were not allowed to talk. This worked well and I still will occasionally will still do a reading show now and then.

The radio show really went through a metamorphous about ten years ago when I turned it into an interview show. I find authors who have written amazing books, on all topics and have them on the show for two hour interview. To me the show has now become my PhD. I find material I really am interested in, talk an author who is an expert in the field and convince them to literally tutor me for two hours after I have read their books.

By now I think I have done about a thousand shows this way and have not only really learned a lot but have met and become friends with countless authors who have graced the air waves with me.

I love the audio only format. I find that if there is a camera involved people are looking at your surroundings rather than listening to the words and wisdom shared. So we are 15 years in and the show is still evolving and as am I. From Blogtalk radio to websites, to YouTube channels, to writing books and creating Oracle cards, to the latest project of creating an App for the Cosmic Deck of Initiation and then … who knows …

Boy, can I relate to the people calling in for free readings when I used to do radio. It’s wonderful you found the format you love! What advice would you give to someone new to the spiritual path?

To those who are awakening to the awareness of the spirit within and the journey that spirit is on it really is so simple to blend into fueling that journey. The element of creativity is the key to opening those portals carried within for when we utilize our creative energies we blend with the energy of the creator and manifest that energy within our reality.

The key is that when genuinely opening to the creative energy within we experience the joy that is connected to that energy and spread the spiritual energy to all we come into contact with. Being creative is really very simple, but it has to be in areas that truly give us joy for while creativity is the portal to true spiritual energy, Joy is the key that unlocks that portal. You don’t have to become a master at anything, just get joy from the experience. It can be anything that you do actually that brings you pleasure that works.

Some have often asked, “How do you know you have actually experienced a spiritual event?” I got the answer from a very wise person long ago. If you find that when walking away you are full of joy and excitement, energized and eager to share and bursting with energy … you have most probably been in the presence of true spiritual energy.

When something energizes you it is usually because spiritual energy has been triggered within you. Whether it inspires you to try a new gift of find a way of expressing yourself in new and/or different ways so long as it is joyful for you, spirit is involved. It is really important that it need not be in traditional creative venues. It just must be joyful, from art or writing or gardening, or workshops of all sorts, or cleaning, or even working jigsaw puzzles. Just ask yourself if you are energized then spirit has been flowing.

I love that you are an artist, author of three books, and creator of an oracle deck. Let us know what inspired you to write/create them and what they are about?

I have always been open to inspiration and never really let my lack of talent stand in my way. If something gave me pleasure, so long as it was legal, I gave it a shot. One of the earliest times I was inspired is that I love to sing. For the record, I have no talent, as a matter of fact I think I’m actually tone deaf, but that didn’t stand in my way, I found that church choirs have to take anyone who wants to sing so for several years I was a member of the church choir where I worshiped. They just stood be next to the strongest voice and crossed their fingers. I still remember the highs that singing with the choir gave me and the joy I always got from being in that atmosphere, with full knowledge that I had no talent.

For seven years I studied in a Spiritualist church and each week there was a homework assignment given. One week we were told to create a mandala for a class member. While not really knowing what a mandala was I took to paper and paint along with a compass and ruler, and thoroughly enjoyed the assignment. As well as writing a brief explanation as to what the painting on his energy meant.

Though I am not nor have I ever considered myself an artist, this evolved into painting over 500 personal mandalas that are now all around the world. This process evolved into the deck of oracle cards called The Cosmic Deck of Initiation that was originally published by U.S. Games and lately by another publisher along with a handbook as to how to utilize the deck. And now lately an APP for use on cell phones. I need to point out here, I was inspired to do all this and the rest just fell into my lap because I followed the inspiration rather than “thinking” I should push something into reality.

As far as the books go … the poetry book came about because I did write some poetry in some of the readings I had done and the publisher thought they would make a good book. I still don’t think there is any real skill in poetry but the fact that the books were bought may well question my judgement on that.

The Roswell book happened because the publisher wanted to use material on my website and then suggested I coauthor the book with him, so once more, not my idea but one I followed through with. I hope it’s clear here that I follow through when I am asked to do something because it usually means that the universe may think I’m ready rather than my ego.

The handbook for the deck of cards happened when the publisher asked me to write it and I’m glad he did because I am really quite proud of the book was born because of his request.

I have always been open to inspiration and never really let my lack of talent stand in my way. If something gave me pleasure, so long as it was legal, I gave it a shot. One of the earliest times I was inspired is that I love to sing. For the record, I have no talent, as a matter of fact I think I’m actually tone deaf, but that didn’t stand in my way, I found that church choirs have to take anyone who wants to sing so for several years I was a member of the church choir where I worshiped. They just stood be next to the strongest voice and crossed their fingers. I still remember the highs that singing with the choir gave me and the joy I always got from being in that atmosphere, with full knowledge that I had no talent.

The APP as well was not something I pushed, though had often thought about it but the cost was absolutely prohibitive … until a chance statement from an author that was on my show. She mentioned a site that would do it for free and after investigating it found that it was true … so the app for the cosmic deck of initiation was born. The deck is in reality a spiritual guide for development disguised as a deck of cards.

I am ever guided by inspiration that comes in all forms that has never let me down. I try to always wait for the universe to make the call, for then I know it isn’t a wrong number. That’s how and why I became an ordained minister and later served in the pulpit of a spiritual church. I also try to always have creative projects at hand for that is the fuel that opens me to the inspiration that has led me to where I am today.

Do you have any services, classes, or groups for the audience?

I have a website where I share spiritual insights and information and that links to my radio show, Night-Light Radio as well as my YouTube channel. I do private readings by phone and provide an Mp3 of them upon request. From time to time I do workshops on spirituality and Remote viewing on my website as well. Learn more at
https://barbaradelong.com/

How can people get in touch with you?

They can email me at barbaradelong@gmail.com

Thank you, Barbara, for such a splendid interview!

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There Are So Many Messages in My Dreams!

My client’s feedback was, “There are so many messages in my dream,” after she had received her in-depth dream interpretation by email. I asked her if I could use her comment because it’s my life’s mission (among other things) to teach people how a symbol and dream can have many meanings.

Wow this is amazing! I got pretty emotional. There are so many messages in my dreams! Thank you & your guides for the additional guidance!

R., Florida

People often think they can go to a dream app to find a symbol they dreamed about. Then, BOOM, they know their dream meaning! If only interpreting dreams were that simple. An analogy is thinking you could go to an ABC book, find a couple of letters, and now you can write a poem or short story.

Example of There Are So Many Messages in My Dreams

Let’s use the dolphin symbol to illustrate how there is more than one meaning for a symbol. (FYI, my client didn’t dream of a dolphin.) A dream symbol app or book would say a dolphin means:

PlayfulnessFriendlySocializingIntelligentHelpful

Sure, these describe a dolphin. However, a person’s situation, feelings in a dream, and other things will change the dream’s meaning. For this post, I’ll look at the situation and feelings of the dolphin symbol.

Learn More About the Book Situation

These people’s situation will change the meaning of the following short dream:

A person is swimming in the ocean when a dolphin goes by and ignores them.

This dream could be about a teenager being ignored by his classmates.The meaning for a marine biologist might be it is time to focus on another ocean species.This might be a message for a college football player about how the Miami Dolphins don’t want him on their team.Feelings

Now let’s use one emotion for each situation to show how it affects the dream.

Anger in the teenager’s dream shows how his drug addiction is ruining his life and keeping him isolated from healthy people.Happiness while the dolphin swims by is proof that focusing on ocean plant life is the right choice for the biologist.Relief for the football player is a sign not to go after his father’s wishes of him being on the Miami Dolphins team, and go after his own desire to be on the Dallas Cowboys team.Final Thoughts on There Are So Many Messages in My Dreams

Now there are aspects of the dream symbol’s apps/books in each of the dreams, just like there will be the letter A or S in a poem or short story. Yet it doesn’t give the correct and full meaning of the three dream examples. Sure, the football player has playfulness, the teenager needs to learn to be social, and the marine biologist is intelligent.

We need to look at emotions and situations in a dream. And that’s just the beginning. Add in more characters and scenes in this dream and there are more meanings. Then add in the many categories such as solution dreams, health dreams, and precognitive dreams, and this will increase the messages a hundred or thousand fold!

Hopefully, you’ll understand the importance of my mission to spread the word about how there are so many messages in a dream. If you want to discover the many messages in your dream, check out my in-depth dream interpretation by email.

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Meet Cynthia Carver

Today, I’m pleased to introduce Cynthia Carver! She is an author and psychic. Enjoy!

You have an interesting background. Can you give the readers a synopsis of it?

Hi Pamela. It’s always a pleasure to catch up with you. My first clairvoyant experience happened at age three, and my invisible friends continued to multiply. With daughter number four, I began looking for work online. PsychicChat dot com was six months old and welcomed me with open arms. That was somewhere about the time AOL hit America’s living rooms.

Thirty years of being an online psychic! What was this like for you? Did you work on one or more lines? Any Stories you like to share?

Thirty years of reading online was exciting as well as challenging. I’d drive my girls to school and return to log on every morning at eight. I’d break for lunch and exercise, then log on for a couple more hours before picking the girls up from school.

The exciting parts were when attorneys would contact me about a case they were working on, or a detective would ask about his caseload. This was the catalyst that pushed me into working cold cases. It isn’t anything like TV. There were NDA (non-disclosure agreements) that went both ways. I couldn’t talk and the law enforcement officers couldn’t talk. The information I brought forth had to be proven through hard evidence. That was the challenge, to bring the information through that allowed them to actually track it to the verdict.

I haven’t worked the psychic lines for seven years and am not sure how they work anymore. Remember, I began working for them before they were big. Bitwine, Kasamba, Keen, were the go-to for readings and insight. PsychicChat, although it changed its name three times over the course of its life, had a very steady stream of clientele for the readers. StarzPsychics is a boutique site that interviews the psychics that work for it. Many have closed their doors like PsychicChat.

Simultaneously, I would log into all the programs. I’d have my opening introduction ready to paste while I logged off the other sites. Then slowly, each company tracked if other programs were open and not run if you had a program other running on your computer. I had six computers once, with each program running on each. If there is a will, there is a way. But this was my livelihood.

Then I developed burnout. Not with actually helping people, but with the ‘Who’s my baby daddy?’ or ‘Am I pregnant?’ queries. To me, these were nonsense questions because an EPT was considerably cheaper than what I was charging per minute. Now, I can understand the baby daddy question if the client had a choice of two, but often that question came with a handful or more of names. Not that I should judge, but someone wasn’t being responsible. When those two questions outweighed career, love, and spiritual quests, I knew it was time for me to take down the shingle I had hung thirty years prior.

I understand the burnout, Cynthia. One question I got tired of hearing was when is he going to call? Anyhow, why did you decide to become an author of fiction books?

With my abilities as a medium and knowledge of the paranormal, I had been a room host in the Writer’s area of AOL. I hosted Realities of the Paranormal every Wednesday evening for seven years. It opened me to the genre of paranormal and the lovely authors I met encouraged me to write and fictionalized the stories I heard or was an assistant too. That’s how “Small Bit of Justice” came about. Cait London, a romance writer I had met in Cincinnati, convinced me to tell the story. Then I followed it with “Shamaness In Silhouette Series.”

The Shamaness in Silhouette series is dear to my heart. At the front of each book, there is a poem that one of our tribal elders wrote to or about me while I was in my apprentice stage. Four novellas and one novel make up this series.

The next book will follow ‘Small Bit of Justice’ and is called ‘News from Wild Rose Hollar.’ It’s about the same main character that goes to visit her sister and then a manhunt ensues and things go wonky. Tracy is our main character, and she has two teenage daughters that are staying with their aunt. What could go wrong or right with four intuitive women under one roof?

Everything I write reflects my life experiences. In News from the Wild Rose Hollar, the experience with the dogs and the runaway car is very real in a story of fiction. Oh! And the scene with the shark and flamingo, semi non-fiction. We actually used bubble wrap and cardboard instead of a shark and flamingo. If you read my stories and decide you want more, please join my Facebook group for readers, https://www.facebook.com/groups/cynthiacarverreadergroup

The next series, To Call a Maverick, will happen between the Shamaness in Silhouette series and Small Bit of Justice. There will be five books in this series and it will have elements of romance.

Writing is a release of stress for me. Some people may get lost in a television show, and I have my favorites there too. But when I am writing the first draft, it plays out in my head like a movie. I’m writing so fast that I miss words, details, and mix things up. I keep a cheat sheet of my character’s physical traits handy. That attests to the fact that I need help in keeping facts straight.

When I began writing Shamaness in Silhouette, I used my husband’s physical looks for the main male character. The main female character was Sandra Bullock with teal eyes. When I introduced the private eye, Maverick, in book five, I became enthralled with the television show Leverage and I used Christian Kane’s appearance to describe Maverick. It was the fifth season, I think, when he had long hair.

My advice to writers who desire to become authors is to find a support group. I found mine in a local offline NaNoWriMo group in 2017 and we still meet-up to cheer each other on. Critique groups can be harmful. Be leery when using them. Everybody’s experience is different, but if you seem to write, change, and then told to change it to the way you originally had it (yes, it happens and happened to me), it’s time to move on to a developmental editor or a grammar editor.

Can you tell us about your process and if your life experiences help shape the story?

For now, I will do the rough draft, then I edit it while reading aloud, add details and facts that I missed while getting the bones of the story down. The third edit I will drop it into ProWritingAid and not all suggestions are valid. The third edit is the draft I do before sending it off to my editor. When my editor sends it back to me, I read it carefully with his suggestions and then I do my fourth edit using his suggestions before I call it finished and ready for beta readers.

There are two ways to become an author. One is to be exclusive to Amazon, and the other is to go-wide. The benefit of going-wide is your books are available in Barnes and Noble and their unlimited books on Kobo, libraries, and other distributors. Amazon focuses on exclusive rights with their KU or Kindle Unlimited program.

I love ProWritingAid and being wide is a must for me. Where can people find you and your books?

On my website, I have free books not offered anywhere else, as well as all my books in the digital form. Once you order the book, you will receive an email with the link to Bookfunnel to access your copy. The upside to doing it this way is you can support authors directly, and from my website that author is me Bookfunnel offers support to your chosen eReader and if you need help, Bookfunnel support is there. The benefits are awesome. You may find my books at: CynthiaCarver.com

Please join my newsletter at the bottom of my home page on CynthiaCarver.com It will be delivered to your in-box once a month and give you information about my latest travels (I’m a nomad), newest releases, and book events or psychic holistic fairs where I will appear at. When I am at the psychic or holistic fairs, I offer a lecture on Dream Interpretation. So stop by if you are in the area. Or connect with me here:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/cynthiacarver
FB: https://www.facebook.com/cynthiacarverauthor
TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@cynthiacarver_author

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