Nov 19 2019

Magical Maui Weekend

by Dana Taylor

Magical Maui beckoned last weekend with an invitation to visit a new AirBnB cottage set up by a friend (Christine) of a friend (Patti). Before dawn on Saturday morning Patti and I took the 40 minute jet ride from Honolulu to Maui, rented a car, and set off for adventure.
 We began the day at the Ali’i Kula Lavender Farm where we toured their garden, filled with unique tropical plants and flowers. With lookouts over the valleys and across the ocean, it is truly an enchanting experience. I sat on a bench and meditated while mild breezes ruffled my clothes.
On the recommendation from the friendly gals in the gift shop, we enjoyed a quality sandwich at Grandma’s Cafe for lunch.  Afterwards we visited the Maui Winery and purchased a bottle of their unique pineapple wine.

Kula Cottontail Cottage

It was only a few minutes from there to the main event– Kula Cottontail Cottage. The cottage is tucked into the hills on property owned by Christine and Sam Heidema, who live in another house on the grounds. This energetic young couple have turned a tired rental property into a cozy cottage on their small upcountry natural fiber farm. With a career in constructural engineering, Sam designed and remodeled the cottage with comfort and practicality in mind. Christine’s creative artistry added the touches of welcoming charm. A living room, a bedroom with a comfy kingsize bed, one bath, washer and dryer, make a it an affordable two-person getaway.

Christine Heidema

                          
While the view between the trees from the porch across the sea is lovely, it’s the unique critters in the backyard that provide the “wow” moment. Christine creates natural yarn from the animals on her property. Pictured here are her two pregnant alpacas, Faith and Hope. Their serene gazes are food for the soul. Each spring the animals are shorn. Christine uses age old techniques to wash, comb,  and spin yarn from their fleece. She also keeps an assortment of angora rabbits and laboriously combs and spins together strands of their fur into skeins of yarn. Each Saturday she sells her yarns at the local Farmer’s Market. Most weekends her stock is gone by the end of the morning.
The elegant outdoor seating area provides a fireplace to warm the surprisingly chilly Maui nights. Faith and Hope are just on the other side of the fence, providing a storybook ambiance. As the sun set, Patti and I sipped our pineapple wine (delicious) at the outdoor table, surrounded by alpacas, bunnies, and the occasional free roaming chicken.
After a good meal at the Kula Bistro, we slept under comforters to ward off cold night air. After living in the perpetual summer of Honolulu, cool air was a real treat. The next morning I roused before Patti and performed my daily yoga and meditations as the sun rose and the neighboring roosters provided a crowing symphony to greet the day. After a simple breakfast and a short visit with Christine and Sam, we packed up our belongings and bid the Cottontail Cottage goodbye to continue our adventure.
Cottontail Cottage is the perfect jumping off spot to visit the majestic Haleakala, the East Maui Volcano. Designated as a National Park, the dormant volcano rises 28,000 feet from the sea floor, making it the third highest mountain on the planet. The drive is a twisty, well paved road, up, up, up through amazing changing habitats. Areas of brush, eucalyptus, and pines ultimately give way to a moonscape of reddish lava boulders. Clouds dance across ridges and peaks. Artists strive to capture all the hues of earthen tones created by Mother Nature. Endangered and unique birds live in various areas. We spotted a few with great enthusiasm.
Volcano gazing can really build an appetite, so we wove down the mountain and cruised over to the Grand Wailea Waldorf Astoria for an elegant lunch. Tourists enjoyed their waterpark pools while the ocean rippled close by. The well appointed grounds display a dolphin fountain and a collection of world famous pudgy statues crafted by Fernando Botero. We finished out the afternoon in high style before we caught a plane home.
Would I recommend a stay at Kula Cottontail Cottage? Absolutely. Experience magical Maui away from the usual tourist meccas. You will love meeting Faith and Hope.

Find Kula Cottontail Cottage listed as “Upcountry Alpaca and Rabbit Working Fiber Farm” on Airbnb

For more information contact Christine Heidema at KulaCottontailCottage@gmail.com

 

Bright blessings,
Dana Taylor
 
Nov 1 2019

The Mystical Mind of Amy Harmon

by Dana Taylor

Bestselling author, Amy Harmon, has turned into one of my favorite wordsmiths. I discovered her when her time-travel tale to 1921 Ireland, What the Wind Knows, was offered as an Amazon first read. Harmon focused on a historical era I knew little about. She wove real-life political figures of the day with fanciful time travel elements of a young woman caught between two decades.

I decided to go back to the beginning of her books to explore the world of Amy Harmon. Her earliest works follow “write-what-you-know” sage advice. Amy Harmon is a “girl from Utah” and her first heroines are girls from Utah. The stories fall into the romance genre, but even her earliest stories show signs of greater writing skill and imagination than most genre writers. Amy expresses love, loss, angst, and hope in broad verbal brush strokes.

Mystical elements appear in many of her works. Her 2012 book, Slow Dance in Purgatory, is a high school romance, but the hero is a ghost…well, sort of. With The Law of Moses in 2014, Harmon’s books leap a level in mysticism and maturity. Moses is a troubled teen who sees dead people. They torture him with messages which he translates into haunting paintings. The love story with small town girl, Georgia, is intense and takes many turns before they find their happy ending. Moses must master his mediumship capabilities and use them wisely. Dealing with grief is a strong under current of the book.

Harmon followed the story lines of several other small town characters in more books, Making Faces, A Different Kind of Blue, Running Barefoot, to name a few. Then she switched gears into a full fantasy shape-shifter adventure with The Bird and the Sword two book series. Heroine Lark, is a forbidden Gifted one dwelling in a mythical kingdom. She can call things into being, but is forced into silence. Mental telepathy comes into play when the hero (who happens to be a handsome king) hears her thoughts. He uses her Gift to save the kingdom from terrible predators as their love story grows. Harmon spreads her writing wings in a fairy tale setting worthy of any Disney movie.

She returned to historical fiction in one of her most popular books, Sand and Ash, listed as a “religious romance.”  Set in Italy during World War II, the story revolves around a Jewish woman hiding from the Gestapo with the aid of her childhood friend, now a Catholic priest. Personally, I’ve been-there-done-that with World War II stories. Leon Uris (Exodus) and Herman Wouk (Winds of War, War and Remembrance) and a slew of vintage films back in the day set the era indelibly in my mind. I have yet to read this one. Still, I’m sure it’s another great Harmon yarn.

This week I finished her latest tale, The First Girl Child. Somewhere along the line, Harmon developed a fascination with Norse mythology. From her fertile imagination, Harmon conjures a society of Viking clans and the priests who understand the power of Runes. Mysticism abounds as Harmon expands the romantic formula of boy-meets-girl into a rich tapestry of court intrigue, prophetic priests, a false princess, and a reluctant hero of superhuman strength.

Harmon’s superhuman strength is her ability to plumb the human range of emotions. She wrestles with issues of integrity, loyalty, betrayal, devotion, and love, all wrapped in adventure and drama. Looking for a good book? Try one from Amy Harmon.

Bright Blessings,

Dana Taylor

Aug 30 2019

Conversations from the Afterlife

Book Review by Dana Taylor

Father Nathan Castle, O.P., has unusual dreams. Over the course of the past twenty years, he’s often dreamed of a stranger’s violent, sudden death. Does he awaken in a cold sweat, fear clawing at his throat? By all indications, the answer is no. Father Nathan sits up and captures the dream on a notepad before its memory fades. He knows another Night Visitor has come a-calling.

Father Nathan Castle

Nathan Castle became a Dominican priest in 1979.  He earned his doctoral degree from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA and has spent almost thirty years in campus ministries at both Stanford and Arizona State universities.

He is also a very gifted spirit communicator and has a special ministry to souls who have gotten “stuck” in their afterlife journey.

In AFTERLIFE INTERRUPTED: HELPING STUCK SOULS CROSS OVER, Father Nathan shares thirteen stories from his notes and memories of the over 250 souls who have reached out to him. Over the years, he has developed a routine. He receives a Night Visitor’s dream and later meets with a prayer partner to contact the Visitor and engage in a conversation. Beginning with a prayer of protection from an array of saints, Father Nathan invites the Night Visitor to enter his mind and use his body to communicate about the situation. While the words “channel” and “medium” are mostly avoided in the text due to the occultish baggage associated with them, those are precisely the right words for what transpires. Father Nathan, or his prayer partner, often Laura Dunham, channels the spirit to get to the heart of the matter.  They initiate a counseling session for the dead.

AFTERLIFE INTERRUPTED is not your usual celebrity medium tell-all tale. Father Nathan doesn’t have his own reality show or fill Las Vegas lounges with curiosity seekers hoping to get a message from their departed Aunt Fanny. Instead, we hear a man of with deep and life-long Catholic Christian faith giving us a glimpse of his multidimensional world. Souls are brought to Father Nathan by their celestial guides when they are ready to move from a “stuck” place, to a higher level in the Afterlife.

Each chapter begins with the dream, a sudden unexpected death. A teenager drives his car off a bridge, drowning himself and three friends; a girl sneaks to the beach on the fateful day of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami; a young mother and her friend perish in a plane crash; a freak explosion maims and kills a young husband. And so the stories go. All of these people reject afterlife guides who come to escort them to the other side at the moment of death. They become stuck in a great Nowhere. Sometimes they are trapped in a recurring loop of the event.

By the time they enter Father Nathan’s dreams, they are ready to move on, but do not know how. Often the hindrance is lingering anger or guilt over their manner of death. Father Nathan or the prayer partner offers the Visitor another point of view. They facilitate release from negative emotions that snare souls in the Nowhere. From there, they ask a guide to come for them and take them to the Afterlife. The guide is often a friend or relative, but not necessarily. The most intriguing guide mentioned was President Dwight Eisenhower who showed up for a young man named after him.

This book gives tantalizing glimpses of a whole Afterlife society. After writing up the chosen stories, Father Nathan revisits each participant to get their permission to publish their stories. Therein lies the most fascinating sections of the book. Laura Dunham will ask, “How is your life going? What have you been doing since we last spoke?” Everyone is living and growing in their new realms.

I highly recommend purchasing the Audible version to actually hear Father Nathan, Laura Denham, and the other prayer partners performing the narration. What you will find is an insightful, authentic presentation of a multidimensional world. Humans live in this physical world and they continue living in a non-physical world. Communication between the dimensions is getting increasingly common.

What makes this book rise above the other mediumship books is the man himself, Father Nathan Castle. His foundation of faith and a life devoted to ministry is inspiring and encouraging in this chaotic world. Thank you, Father Nathan for sharing your gift with us.

Visit Father Nathan’s website: Nathan Castle.com

Bright Blessings,

Dana Taylor

*******

Visit the Dana Taylor Books and Bio Page

 

Aug 14 2019

My Rock Friends

by Dana Taylor

My romance with rocks began as a small child visiting my parents’ friends, Jon and Lois. As my mom and Lois chatted in the kitchen, Jon took 6-year-old me to check out his workshop in the garage. I remember it as a wonderland of rocks and stones. Jon was a rock hound. On weekends he dragged Lois up into the dry California hills searching for treasures of geodes and dusty stones. Jon showed me his rock polisher, a drum that turned rocks into shiny gems. Rocks lined window shelves and covered the tables in all their mineral glory. I was smitten.

After I became a Reiki practitioner in 2005, rocks began to “call” to me. I went from admiring them, to feeling and hearing them. They buzzed, thumped, and hummed. My ears didn’t actually hear them, yet they seemed to send their own tunes into my mind. It was all a little weird, but Reiki had opened a whole weird world and rocks were the least of it. I began collecting, taking home the ones that felt companionable.

I made an attempt at studying stone and crystal characteristics listed in volumes of rock encyclopedias. Amethyst is a healing stone, jasper is a grounding stone, etc. I soon got lost in all the definitions. Turning into a crystal healing expert wasn’t happening. Instead, individual rocks became my quiet friends. They became part of my ever-growing awareness of intelligence in the non-human universe. (Plants, bugs, and animals talk to me also, but that’s another blog.)

Let me share some of my favorite things about my rock friends.

  • Power – Stones are not inert. They radiate energy. Some of it is palpable to almost everyone. Magnets hold up favorite photos on the fridge. Crystals are integral to our communication technology. Uranium is the basis of complete nuclear annihilation. In this ever-increasing era of radiation and microwaves (5G is happening!!), people will incorporate stones like black tourmaline and orgone crystal energy devices to mitigate harmful effects of high tech.

  • Beauty – Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, right? The De Beers family and blood diamonds aside, humans have adorned themselves with stones with from pre-historic times. I suspect Eve had Adam searching out gems to string around her pretty neck in Eden.

  • Information storage and communication—One of my favorite books is The Standing Stones Speak by Natasha Hoffman and Hamilton Hill, published in 2001. The authors visited many standing stone sites in the UK and Europe and shared the information they psychically received from them. The book began to shift my paradigms of “reality.”

Storage space won’t allow me to bring home every rock that catches my eye. Nowadays, they have to really call to me in some fashion. Here are a few of my special companions.

  Lava heart – Hawaii legend warns people about taking lava rocks out of their natural locations. Remember the infamous episode of the Brady Bunch? One morning I went to take a swim at Magic Island at Ala Moana State Beach. Magic Island is a calm lagoon created by a man-made barrier. There isn’t a lot ocean debris washed up. Lava isn’t a floating stone. The beach is not littered with it. Yet, a lone human-heart shaped lava stone lay near the spot I chose to place my towel. It caught my eye. I received the impression, Take me home. Therein ensued an internal conversation questioning my over-active imagination and Brady-Bunch inspired trepidation. Take me home, it seemed to whisper. Fine, I gave in. Lava Heart has been with me several years now with no ill effect. I took him (feels male to me) to Angela, The Stone Whisperer. She had the impression he had once taken part in Hawaiian ceremonies. I sometimes feel impressed to hold him during prayer and meditation.

Blue kyanite –I purchased this guy at a wonderful rock store in Virginia City, NV. The frequency buzz in my palm holding him is high and clear. Blue kyanite aids in chakra alignment and is associated with the throat chakra. It helps you speak your truth. My blue kyanite rests on a living room ledge, constantly energizing the room.

Amethyst – This lovely found me at the Meramac Cave gift shop in Missouri. The energy she exudes tickles the fine hairs on my arm. For sheer beauty, amethyst is a knock out. Amethyst has calming vibes and aids in clear thinking. My amethysts help create a peaceful energy in my home.

Stone gods

 

My move to Hawaii elevated my sense of personhood in stones. A visit to the sacred heiaus at Makapu’u Beach led by a kahuna allowed me to touch lava stones gathered from around the islands for their sacred properties. They are linked with ancient gods, goddesses and their families. The energy and “personalities” are palpable. The experience fairly blew my mind and took a while to assimilate. The kahuna also guided us to sit in a tidal pool of our choice for prayer and meditation. We spent half an hour by ourselves, warm water swirling around our bodies, waves crashing onto the shelf of lava. I experienced some sort of encounter that day with an Ancient One. For days afterwards, I felt dramatically attached to Hawaii in a new way. The air seemed bluer, the rainbows more exquisite, the vitality stronger. I sent a message to the kahuna to ask if my imagination was simply running wild. She replied she “saw” a female Hawaiian spirit around me while I sat in the pool. Hawaii became “home” after that experience.

I’ll end with the story of Kaneikokala, the shark god. Kaneikokala is a resident of the Bishop Museum. He is free standing outside some display cases on the first floor. He grabs your attention, like suddenly meeting E.T. The plaque near him says:

 

“Kaneikokala, a stone image of Ki’i pohaku made of vesicular basalt, was uncovered by Wahinenui, a kama’aina (native born) of Kawaihae, Hawai’i. Wahinenui was guided to the buried location by his dreams, claiming the ki’i had pleaded constantly to be taken from the cold in which it lay. Kaneikokala was brought to Bishop Museum in 1906, and not long afterward set permanently into cement in the floor of Hawaiian Hall. In spite of well intentioned efforts to relocate Kane to a suitable site outside the Hall, the image has steadfastly held its ground and refused to be moved.”

My Rock Cave

Since I moved to my current apartment last year, I don’t feel the need to surround myself with more and more rocks, much to my daughters’ relief, no doubt. I suspect the main reason is because my home walls are now encased by lava rock. I live on the side of an extinct volcano. A space was blasted out to make room for this cozy dwelling. I have front windows that over look the ocean. On a clear day I can see Molokai, Lanai, and Maui. (Wow!) The rest of the apartment is tucked into the mountain. The sheet rock walls of the bedroom, bath, and closet cover pure lava. When I return after a trip to the mainland, I feel the very walls welcome me home. The energy of the stones, the sea air and the power of Hawaii revitalizes me.

Jon & Lois

Speaking of revitalizing, Jon and Lois are still going strong, hovering around 90 years old. I visited them a few years ago. Their house is filled with majestic stones. Valuable, tall crystals stand as sentinels throughout their home. Exquisite polished globes of stones like tiger eyes, citrine, and agate decorate their tables. It struck me that they had created a “powerhouse” with their rock collection. IMO, that’s one of the keys to their amazing longevity.

I encourage you to find your own stone friends. They can enhance your life in ways you simply don’t understand…yet.

Bright Blessings,

Dana Taylor

Learn more about multidimensional living in Supernal Adventures!

Jun 26 2019

Miracles Happen

by Dana Taylor

“Miracle”–an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause; such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God.

“For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.” from The Song of Bernadette by Franz Werfel

Since 2005 I’ve been puzzling the mystery of miraculous healings, when one of my closest friends, Paula, overcame an “incurable” disease, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), via two Reiki treatments. It took us many months to accept her healing had truly taken place. Eventually the word “miracle” was bandied about.  (Read either of my Supernal Series books to get the full story.) Was it truly a miracle? Something beyond human ability to replicate?  What if we had stumbled upon a valid, alternative approach to health and wellness? What if we were simply ignorant of the principles behind what we deemed a “miracle”? Perhaps we were like 17th century humans who have considered electricity, air travel, and antibiotics “miracles.” I’ve been studying “miracles” ever since.

So, of course, I couldn’t resist a book entitled Miracles from Heaven: A Little Girl, Her Journey to Heaven, and Her Amazing Story of Healing in the bargain books on a recent visit to Barnes and Noble. Written by Texas resident, Christy Wilson Beam, Miracles from Heaven, relates the difficult and inspiring story of Christy Beam’s daughter, Annabel. As the subtitle reveals, Annabel had been a chronically ill little girl for most of her life when she took a head first thirty-foot fall into the center of a hollowed-out cottonwood tree. While her parents, sisters, neighbors and emergency crews worked on rescuing her, she was transported to another dimension and sat on the lap of Jesus.

Christy Beam and her editors do a deft job of weaving the day of the fall and trauma with the back story of Anna’s debilitating illness. Christy and Kevin Beam live in the “silver buckle of the Bible Belt” in Burleson, Texas. Kevin is a veterinarian, Christy a stay-at-home mom with three daughters, Abbie, Annabel, and Adelynn. They were the perfect Baptist poster family until Annabel was struck with a disorder that prevented her from digesting food. Their journey through emergencies, surgeries, specialists, and vigilant monitoring is revealed, but not belabored. The resilience of little Annabel is inspiring, as is the unity of the Christian family that strives for joy and gratitude in all circumstances.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to tell you Annabel not only survived the fall,  but that she emerged completely healed of her illness. The book is written well enough with engaging personalities that knowing the happy ending is coming doesn’t take away from the reading experience.

This healing is reminiscent of Anita Moorjani’s book, Dying to Be Me. (See The Gift of Cancer.) Both books relate near-death experiences followed by complete healings of chronic conditions. These things happen. They fall far outside modern medical models. Double blind studies are impossible. They can’t be replicated by drugs, surgeries, or protocols.

Yet, there are lessons to be learned. Simply being opened to the possibility of improvement may be a first step. The Beam family maintained a deep, abiding Christian faith that got them through the toughest of times. After seven years of dealing with RSD, my friend, Paula, had been told by her doctors that her options were finished. She should go home, get her affairs in order, and prepare to deteriorate and die. When I suggested a visit to Oklahoma and a few Reiki treatments, she could have rejected the idea in resignation and despair. Instead, she reached out to a branch of hope. She didn’t expect a healing, but perhaps some relief from pain. Instead, she received the “miracle.”

One thing receivers of miracles seem to have in common–they reach out to others with compassion and generosity of spirit. Annabel is noted for her kindness and hopes to work with chronically ill children. Anita Moorjani travels the world speaking on spirituality and self-acceptance. Paula is always helping others less fortunate than herself.

Miracles have a ripple effect. At this point, I can only say, be open to “miracles” and when they happen, don’t ignore them. Miracles are a second chance at getting life right. Live with joy, gratitude and compassionate action. Maybe we can all become miracle workers.

Bright Blessings,

Dana Taylor

Don’t miss the Supernal Series Books!

 

 

May 18 2019

Transmissions and Meditations

by Dana Taylor

In this era of high tension, achieving mental clarity and emotional peace is more challenging than ever. As I scroll through my Facebook timeline, I’m struck by the irony of the Law of Attraction that few people understand. Intense emotion and mental energy directed at a circumstance will set cosmic forces in motion to manifest it into the physical realm. So, often the very things we do not want are the very things we receive. The poor become poorer, the fat become fatter, negative relationships repeat again and again. The world seems to need a refresher course in Ask and It is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires by Esther and Jerry Hicks.

Seeking mental and spiritual sanctuary, I’ve explored some on-line resources. A friend shared the free app, Insight Timer, which offers a one-stop place for meditations and calming music. With over seven million users, Insight Timer gives people from around the globe a place to chill out. There is music with binaural beats, chanting, classical themes, drumming, flutes, singing bowls and more. A variety of teachers offer meditations from Eastern and Western traditions. Positive-thinking and emotional healing themes abound. I haven’t run across anything too woo-woo. For that, you need to visit YouTube.

The free-wheeling world of YouTube offers a smorgasbord of spiritual adventures. Strange accented or robotic channelers, modern gurus, sermonizing Baptists. They are all there. Spiritual discernment required. As I’ve stated before (Beam Me Up, Steve Nobel), the transmissions of the starseed mentor, Steve Nobel, appear to have a true energetic component encoded. I suppose that’s why he calls them “transmissions,” rather than the more passive, “meditation.” From his base in London, Steve broadcasts angel enhanced transmissions to break old ties, awaken akashic memory, and raise the frequency of his listeners. I can feel the energetic connection. My friend experienced a release of negative memories through a Nobel transmission.

Moving to Hawaii four years ago enhanced my spiritual development. The energies here are palpable. My life on the island is filled with grace. I have the luxury of time to meditate and pray. I send healing energy near and far. I’ve been led to good friends and creative outlets. Lately, I’ve also been led to develop a presence on YouTube. I’ve created some inspired meditations and infused them with healing energy.

If you’re looking for a respite from our chaotic world, I invite you to carve out some time, put on earphones, and relax with a Supernaltation. More to come as spirit inspires.

Aloha!