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The Portal December 2006

This Month's Featured Articles

1.  The Power Realms (Conclusion) 
(The first part of The Power Realms was featured in The Portal, October 2006)

2.  Happiness Is . . .

3.  Releasing Regret

4.  Are You an Empath?

Latest News:
It is now possible for me to record a session and download it into the computer and e-mail it as an MP3 or Wave file.  I'll be able to get a session out a lot faster.  No waiting for snail mail nor any delays if I'm out of stamps or mailing packets.  How cool is that!  I just got set up with PayPal though I'm waiting for my webguy to install the link.

The Power Realms (The Rest of the Story)

Encountering the Regent
It is an old woman in a boat.  With the lantern hanging from a bracket at the front of the boat, she looks very tired as she tries to row her way to the shore.  As I ask her for directions, she looks at me with pity.  A poor child in need a good meal and a clean bed.  I take her up on her hospitality.  A good meal and a clean bed would be greatly appreciated.  She pulls the boat over to the shore and lets me get in.  I offer to help row, but she will have none of it.  She worries that I am too tired already.  When we reach her hut, she helps me out.  She gives me water to wash with and clean clothes.  Regal clothing.  She is wearing regal looking clothes herself.  A bit tattered, but definitely stately.  I am dressed and dinner is ready.  What a wonderful lady!  She is so helpful.  I want to repay her kindness.  She tells me to get some firewood for the fire.  After all, she did rescue me.  When I return with the wood, she sends me to bed.  A nights sleep will revive my spirits, she tells me. 

I awake with the old peasant woman slamming pots and pans around.  Lazy bones.  Why don't I get more wood?  Oh, and I'm supposed to get berries while I'm at it.  Tasks done, breakfast taken, the old woman lays down to rest.  Apparently her rescuing me took a lot out of her.  I am to go catch some fish for dinner.  That is right after I wash the dishes and wash the clothes and clean out the fireplace and rekindle the fire and sweep for her.  I truly am grateful for the clothes, the meal and the bed, but isn't this a bit much?  She begins to weep.  Apparently this isn't nearly enough.  I am to milk the cow and churn the butter as well.  Oh, and more berries would be thoughtful of me to bring home with the fish as well.  I get to work.

At last I am successful.  Not a very big fish, but a fish.  Back with my prize, I find only disapproval of such a small catch.  The old woman begins to wail again.  I must not care how she feels since I forgot the berries.  Bringing berries is expected? 

Just to appease her, or maybe it was just to get away from her wailing, I set out to get berries. 
I wonder how long I would continue to be in her debt?  Walking past the clothesline, I grab my dry, clean robe from the drying line and take off like a scared chicken.  She'll wail and moan that I'm ungrateful.  She'll say I was thoughtless.  She'll say I stole those regal clothes.  I leave the clothes by the berry patch.  If she ever get's out to pick her own berries, she'll find them.

I soon find a road.  Seeing a castle in the distance, I begin to walk toward it.  Perhaps I can get directions there.  I will be careful to ask the price of any favors that may be granted to me.  The sun is warm and my once damp robe is now dry and comfortable.  I feel drowsy.  I could sit by the road and take a quick nap under that nearby tree.  In moments I am asleep. 

Encountereing the Knight
A thundering awakens me.  Foul weather?  No.  Horses!  Lots of them.  The riders wear shiny armor and bright feathers in their helmets.  A banner is held high and a Royal looking figure leads the troop.  Looking in the direction from which they came, I see a wagon carrying several freshly killed dear.  Stepping out from under the tree, the column slows to a stop.  This leader is a Knight.  He has the power to take my head if he should so choose.  Somehow, I have little fear of that.  The little Troll frightened me more because I didn't know what he was capable of doing.  I know what this man is capable of, yet I feel safe. 

After asking me who and what I am about, the Knight issues the order for me to ride in the wagon and join us for a feast.  Having learned my lesson, I request a specific task to repay the kindness.  The Knight laughs a knowing laugh.  Unlike the Jester's laugh, I find myself drawn to it.  Apparently I am not the first to have visited the Regent.

As we reach the Castle, I am in awe of its size and grandeur.  Horses gleam and dance in the sun as their saddles are removed.  From the turrets brightly colored banners fly.  I see ladies in lovely dresses walking through the courtyard and hear music playing in the distance.

I assist with the horses and am given a place to stay and festive clothing to wear.  During the feast, I am introduced to many at court.  I enjoy the music and try my hand at dancing, much to my own embarrassment.

It is easy to amuse oneself here with painting, music, poetry, and song.  I earn my keep by working with the horses where I am given outstanding praise for my natural ability.  Days pass by quickly.  Soon it is spring. 

As much as a part of me would like to stay here forever and dance and sing with the nobility (I am the child of a Queen after all!) I find my heart longing to find my family.  As I tell the Knight of my desire to set out.  He understands the concept of a quest and provisions me for the trip.  The Knight tells me that I am welcome to return.

After a full day's walk, I enter a forested area.  A sign indicates that this is the Enchanted Forest.  I hold my belongings a little closer to me and plunge ahead.

Encountereing the Elves
As I walk along, I hear giggles.  This is not the harsh, critical mocking laughter from the Jesters, but a sound of children playing nearby.  I approach a clearing to see that it is not just children playing, but adults as well.  All wear brightly colored costumes with ribbons and beads and bells.

I am noticed and invited to join the celebration. I quickly learn the games and feel right at home.  I'm led to a tree house where I can rest.  The next morning, I am brought to the elders of the village.  I can see confusion on their faces and I'm mystified as to why.  Their queen will arrive from another village later in the day and I'm invited to make myself at home.  As I wander the village I see children in their lessons.  Unlike the children of the Crystal Cave, lessons blend with play and laughter.  Fidgeting is encouraged and even those that teach move about eagerly.  Unlike the children of the Castle, the music is coaxed out of the children so that they play from their hearts rather than by learning difficult scales and practice from previously written pieces.  The freedom to learn fascinates me and I long to participate.  How different from the dread I felt in the Crystal Cave.

As we sit down to the midday meal, the queen's arrival is announced.  People gleefully dash to the meeting area.  I follow quietly behind.  The elders speak with her in whispers and she scans the throng with a questioning gaze.  Soon her eyes fall upon mine and a recognition settles there.  Without being asked, I move through the crowd towards her.  She is lovely, graceful, and mirth dances in her eyes. 

As I approach, she rises to meet me and hugs me fiercely.  We draw apart and I see a tear sparkling on her face.  Her face beams with joy and recognition.  I understand.  I am a changeling.  I was taken from the queen right after my birth and placed within the dragon's egg so that I might learn the dragon ways.  The dragon-child taken from the egg was brought here to live with the elves so that he might learn their ways.  The queen chose to give up her child for the good of all beings, Dragon, Wizard, Knight, and Elf.  I had been chosen to be the bridge between the worlds.  Elven blessings of protection and understanding guarded my pathway.  I had been charmed with a wandering soul so that I would find my way back to this place.  

Fury, despair, loss, confusion, and joy dance through my heart.  I am light headed with the weight of this news.  I understand the wisdom of the Queen's actions yet I fret under the weight of the truth. 

I know that my experiences make me uniquely able to journey into all realms with ease.  Ancient conflicts can now be resolved.  Seeing the weight upon my shoulders, my Elf-Queen-Mother has a surprise for me.  As if more was better.  Queen-Mother-Elf smiles a mischievous smile and snaps her fingers twice.  A young dragon peeks his blue and silver head around a large tree.   I laugh out loud.  It is my Dragon-Mother's son!  We are bonded through our experiences and he begins to laugh as well!  We have much to learn from each other and many adventures yet to share.  Ahh, but those are stories for another time.

********************************************************************************

At this point, the vision faded and I was left with a profound feeling of deep joy and deep compassion for all the beings.  I could see that when we are in clear energy - living from our hearts, we are in the Clear Realms - the Dragon, the Wizard, the Knight, the Elf.  When we feel we are powerless or have had our dreams stolen, we sink into the shadow lands of the Abysmal Swamp in an attempt to extract power from another like the Troll, the Sorcerer, the Regent, and the Jester.  This does not make us evil - merely hurting.  We cannot hear much less speak our truth when we are damaged or feeling less-than.

So, now, I constantly explore the world of the Power Realms seeking to unravel the mysteries they hold.  I am learning how we can be true to our own Power Realm while learning to communicate with another.  I'm learning how to move through the Abysmal Swamp of misery without becoming miserable.  I'm learning to help those that are willing to reclaim their clear power. 

The elf and dragon changelings have many adventures I hope to share with you soon. 

Happiness Is . . .

When I was younger, we had cigarette commercials on TV.  One stated that "Happiness is the taste of Kent."  I kind of doubt that.

What is happiness?  Why can't we find it?

Happiness can elude us because of the MORE syndrome.  If we had more money, more fun, more respect, more love, more interesting people in our lives, more time . . . you get the picture.  We all do that to some extent.  Yet some of the happiest people on the earth are poor people who have very little.  How does that work?

Perhaps we have our terms mixed up.  Happiness isn't the same thing as joy.  Happiness is the moment we begin to open the Christmas package.  Joy remains long after the pine needles have fallen off the tree.  It is okay to look for happiness.  It is just important to remember that happiness is situational.  The moment our needs are no longer met, or we don't get what we want, or we experience hardship, happiness flies out the window.  Perhaps thats why we hear about "The Blue Bird of Happiness" because it can fly away with the change of weather or circumstances.

Joy is a deeper, more rooted sense that includes wonder and peace.  It is having and maintaining that child-like wonder even without a package or a special event.  Peace is that experience our hearts have when we allow others and situations to be as they are.  We still do our part, and we can be at peace about that as well.  Perhaps that's why peace is a challenge for most of us.  Other's choices have the possibility of ruining our "happiness" so we attempt to force things and change people or work the system to get our happy back.  What really would be helpful is to seek out joy instead of happy.  Once we have our joy, then happy comes along.

So where can we find our joy.  What is joy?  Joy is that moment in time when our hearts desire, our actions and Spirit's hopes for us align.  Joy is that space where our belief in Spirit aligns completely with Spirit's belief in us.  Let me give an example of this.

My grandfather had joy.  Didn't have much money, had to work hard and still was joyful.  He always had a kind word and always was humming to himself.  He was a farm laborer.  Didn't own the land he worked.  Didn't have many possessions.  He found joy because he loved what he did.  It fed his soul and fed his kids.  He knew the names of every plant and knew how to make each one grow.  Walking the fields gave him time to talk to God.  He loved his kids and knew he was loved.   Grandpa's actions - hard work that he loved - was aligned with Spirit's hope for him - making things grow.  That yields joy.

We get hung up into thinking that stuff makes us happy.  Oh, having enough helps happy go a long way, that's for sure!  Yet a lot of us get ourselves strapped because of the toys we own and the need to make a good impression. 

Phil and I were in Seaside Oregon a couple of months ago.  While we were there we got into a conversation with a guy that had been in Las Vegas where he and his wife both had great jobs with each of them making over $100,000 per year.  They had toys and every bell and whistle a person could imagine.  One day they both woke up and realized they just couldn't do it anymore.  They sold everything and started a small shop.  They had been "Happy" but by changing their lifestyle, they had found JOY.   Happy wasn't enough.

Happiness comes from within when everything outside of myself is the way I want it to be.  Whereas joy comes from within.   Joy comes when we find harmony with our heart's desires and with Spirit.  When our spirit within meets Great Spirit and there is a knowing and a joining - that yields joy.  Joy is an underlying attitude of balance between the external circumstances and that inner goal.  Even if things are not perfect outside ourselves, we can have joy of knowing we are on the right path, doing the right thing, learning and growing. 

So how do we know what Spirit's hope for us might be?  How do we get in alignment?  WE ASK.  Simple as that.  No one will know but you what will bring you joy.  Nothing or no one can take away your joy.  Lots of things can take away your happy, but joy abides deep within. 

But, no one could be happy if they were in my circumstances!  So change your circumstances to reflect your joy.  If you are unable to make any changes at the moment, then know that there is a lesson here and find joy in discovering the lesson.  The lesson may not be fun.  Yet, aligning oneself to the process can bring joy.  The trick is recognizing whether we are learning a lesson or just stuck.  I am not happy because . . . the answer to that statement will tell us a lot.  Are we giving our power away to someone or something?

My happiness is no one's business but mine.  My joy is no one's business but mine.  I'm totally accountable for my happiness and my own joy.  Sometimes I get irritated at Phil, but he doesn't have the power to make me unhappy.  He can irritate me, but the choice of losing my happy is up to me.  I work at this and remind myself of this fact often.  It is when I can get in touch with that inner joy, that my happy remains intact no matter what the circumstances.  Guarding against gettting too tired, too hungry, too busy - that's my job.  Sometimes I'm not real good at it and have to hit reset on my personal power grid.  I do that with prayer.  I ask Spirit to please be put back into my sense of joy.  It's amazing what can happen if we just ask.  Then that external stuff is just stuff.  Even if I have to do that multiple times a day, Spirit doesn't get frustrated with me - Spirit is more than happy to help.  We have angels and guides at the ready, willing to help in any way we ask.  Not command or demand, we can ask politely.  "Spirit, I've lost my happy.  Would you please put my back into my joy?"  It won't take long before happy is back, too.

Joy is that space within each of us that is already aligned to Spirit.  We find joy when we become willing to find out what our joy is.  We can get hung up in what we think we want and forget to ask to be shown what brings us joy.  Ask for it to be revealed to you.  Perhaps your joy is bringing a smile to someone's face.  Perhaps your joy is helping someone see their choices.  Perhaps your joy is sharing words of caring.  Perhaps your joy is creating works of art.  Perhaps your joy is solving a problem.  Perhaps your joy is getting columns of numbers to balance out.  Seek out your joy.  Ask to be shown your joy.  Let go of needing to be happy and step into the world of joy.  Happy will follow!  I promise!  That is the truth of it!  Happiness is finding your joy! 

Releasing Regret

In the old west, cowboys could keep their horses nearby when they were out on the open range by hobbling their horses.  They restricted the movement of the horse so it could move around enough to eat the grasses, yet it couldn't run free.  It would be there when the cowboy needed it.  Regret and old hurt keep us emotionall and spiritually hobbled.  We cannot run free.  We are controlled and limited.

What is regret?  Regret is the pain we feel when we realize we could have done it differently.  Maybe, we just recognized that we could have done something a different way.  Maybe we knew at the time we were hurting others but did it anyway.  Those things create regret.  Each of us has known regret unless we are totally anti-social and don't care about the results of our actions.  We don't always choose what is for the highest and best good.  We sometimes choose what makes us feel better or in some cases takes away the pain.  The good news is, if we have regret, we have grown enough to know that there is a better way.  Perhaps we had to see the pain we caused before we could face the results of our actions. 

So here we are.  Regret resting painfully in our mind and on our hearts.  Regret is a judgment.  We can beat ourselves up by judging ourselves harshly.  This is one of those "learn the lesson, but let go of the pain" situations.  Regret hobbles us and keeps us from moving on.  Regret keeps us locked down emotionally and spiritually. 

12-step programs have the right idea here - make amends.  If you can make amends, do so.  That helps us relax on the self-judgment.  Sometimes amends cannot be made.  We screwed up and that's that.  Words can't be taken back and apologies are rejected.  What then?  We take a look at why we did what we did.  See at what point we missed the mark or got off track.  We make note of the feelings that got in the way of good judgment or discernment.  Identifying the situation that led us to making a choice that caused harm.  Then, we make a new choice for ourselves.  Instead of justifying our deeds because the other person deserved it or because they "made" me do it, we make a new choice.  I wanted this but got that so I did the other.  The real issue here is the "I wanted this" part.  That's where the new choice comes in.  We don't always know what we really want. 

Example:  Wanting to make someone else's world okay, or "fix" them.  Do we have that right?  Don't they have the right to make their own world okay?  Have they asked for our help?  Unless they specifically ask for our help or for a specific action from us, doing something in their behalf may cause them pain (or anger or frustration or shame or ???)  There is nothing wrong with wanting to be of service and being helpful.  The difficulty comes when we attempt to do so without permission.  The truth is, what we REALLY want is to earn someone's approval by helping them.  When I need approval, I seek more appropriate ways in which to gain approval.  Rescuing someone or helping them when they haven't asked for help takes their power away.  I have no right to do that.  My search for approval is inappropriate in that way.  I can instead paint a picture or write a poem and let others read it.  If the like it, I've got the approval I was looking for in an appropriate way.  By-the-by, if other's may not like my painting or my poem, I am opening myself to that possibility as well.  It is a better choice to approve of myself than to look for it outside myself.

Another Example:  Taking something that doesn't belong to me.  What do we really want?  Are we really concerned about the object?  Is it something we cannot earn for ourselves?  When we take an object, we are really energetically telling ourself and others that we want to take our power back.  The real issue here is where did we lose our power?  When did we give it away?  No one can take our power without our permission.  Even in situations of abuse, our power is ours.  We relinquish our power to survive.  That's a good choice under the circumstances.  Reclaiming our power is our birthright.  Reclaiming it appropriately is important for our spiritual and emotional well being.  If we reclaim our power inappropriately, we can suffer regret.  Even if we are the abuser, we are abusing because we feel like taking someone's power.  Power that we may have lost to someone abusing us.

So what do we do with this regret?  Whether we intentionally or unintentionally caused another harm, that regret has got to go. 

Releasing regret is a two part process.  Forgiveness and release.

Forgiveness is the ability to think about a hurtful situation and not having any emotional response to the situation.  Being at peace with it.  Easier said than done.  If we still hurt, we are still attached.  If we can remember the hurt without feeling the hurt, we are there! 

What we say to ourselves can reactivate old hurts.  That jerk left me.  My boss stole my idea.  That sales person lied.  That stupid person said this hurtful thing about me.  Each of those re-activates the old hurt.  It's our story - our drama.  We can be in our truth or we can be in our story/drama.  That jerk left me turns into, I'm free of a hurtful relationship.  My boss stole my idea becomes, I am protecting my new ideas.  That sales-person lied brings us to, I get to talk to the manager.  That stupid person said this hurtful thing about me becomes, my friends know me.  Staying in the story feels really good!  It feels really good to be angry or furious or indignant or right.  They get to be wrong and bad and evil and terrible. 

We remember that they are in a perceived place of powerlessness and they are attempting to take our power any way they can.  When we get anry or indignant or hostile - guess what - they've taken our power.  That's the struggle here - we feel powerless when we're angry, yet they've taken our power.  Anger, rage, frustration, is a non-sustainable energy.  When we cool off from this situation, we will have to have another situation to key into so we feel powerful again.  It isn't true power, it's a deceptive stimulant.  It's like coffee.  Get hooked on it and we gotta have it or we don't feel right.  When we lay off the coffee, our adrenals are less stressed and our physical form burns calories instead and we have more endurance and stamina that with the coffee fix.  Oh, but coffee tastes good and the zip we get feels really good.  Well, coffee fix aside, the energetic fix we get from indignation and rage is short lived and harms us.  It harms us because we have to keep having a fix and because we are out of our place of power.  The longer we are away from our true power, the less we remember it.  The less we can find our way back to it.

So what is personal power.  It is that place in time and space when we act rather than react.  We choose rather than having our buttons pushed.  If we feel we have no choice, we are out of our power place.  Having unpleasant choices does not mean we are powerless.  Having to choose to stay with a spouse that is having an affair and or start over in a new town may be unpleasant choices, but they are our choices and we can be in the place of power even when we don't like the options.  It is when we feel we have to stay because we can't see the choice of moving out and moving on that we are powerless.  We've bought the lie that we have to take the abuse.  We are not in a place of power.

Personal power is the ability to choose.  Even in the garden of Eden, among all the animals and plants that God gave Adam and Eve, he also gave them the greatest gift of all -- choice.  And when they made a choice that had some negative consequences, God clothed them.  Even a bad choice doesn't separate us from the love of God.

So, from that place of personal power, we can find our choice.  Whatever we have regret or resentment attached to, we can take a new look at the situation.  If we realize we wouldn't make the same choice again, we understand that we have learned something.  We have grown.  That allows us to detach from the past.  If we have resentment because someone else caused us harm, we can go to our place of power - the point of choice - and take a new look at the situation.  We can see our part, and their part.  We can recognize that we have choice about how we look at the situation and how we look at that other person.  They are not inherently evil.  They are coming from a place of powerlessness and we are caught up in the quicksand of their powerlessness.  To choose a new pattern of thought puts us on firm ground.  We can see the truth and not have to believe the lie.  Oh, I get it . . . I can move out and move on.  It is too hard for me to do that right now, so I choose to stay.  I am not a bad person for staying, I'm just looking to find a way out.  It is my choice.  Then the actions of another no longer relate to me.  It is their stuff.  I still have to make new choices about how to respond to the situation, but the choices are mine.  No one deserves to have their spouse have an affair.  It is the spouse's choice to do so.  Even the best partners can have spouses that choose to find pleasure elsewhere.  I am free of the emotional attachment to the situation.  Forgiveness is the process that completes the detachment.  Forgiveness releases us completely.  I forgive you for doing what you've done.  I still choose to make my own path, but I no longer feel less than by the experience. 

Then the final step is release.  I release you to your highest and best good.  Whatever that looks like.  When I was still smarting after a very difficult divorce, I visualized my ex (or insignificant other) in a pink balloon.  Pink is the color of unconditional or God love.  I didn't have that love for him, but God did.  I could visualize that God loved him even if I didn't.  As he was in the bubble, he attempted to rile me up about something - in the imagination anything can happen - I remember recognizing for the first time in 16 years that I didn't have to get riled up just because he expected me to.  I didn't have to make him understand, I didn't have to prove him wrong.  I didn't have to be right.  I could just be.  Slowly, slowly, the pink bubble drifted away.  I asked Spirit to lift the regret from me.  I asked for the regret of all that could have been but wasn't be lifted from my heart.  As I asked, the pink bubble began to float.  Soon it was out of sight.  After that visualization, I never got embroiled in an argument with him again.  The regret was gone as well.  Oh, if we get in contact, I still don't enjoy his company, but I no longer dislike the person I used to become when I was around him.  I can be myself - stay in that place of power  It is truly a gift.

See whatever it is that may be generating regret in your heart.  Pull it out of yourself and srap it in a pink bubble.  Ask Spirit to take it away.  Allow Spirit to take it away.  Release the need to get an anger or resentment fix.  Allow the pink bubble to drift out of sight.  Ask, what is my next step?  What are my choices?  If the answer is not immediate, know that within three days you will hear something or see something that will give you the answer to your request.  Anytime that old feeling gets activated, go back to your place of power and choose to put it in the pink bubble again.  Soon you will no longer get activated by a thought about the situation.  It will have gone.  You will be free.

The hobbles to your heart and your soul will be loosened and you can be free to make new choices and create new dreams for yourself.  Imagine how fun it is to run free across the open plains of the old west.  Free to be yourself.  Free to choose for yourself.  Free to stay in your personal power. 

Are You an Empath?

Prior to my spiritual awakening, I was busy, busy, busy.  Never really felt much of anything, just hurried and harried through stress-filled days.  Once I began to take stock of my life, began to cherish each moment, and find a deeper more meaningful connection with Spirit I began to feel overloaded.  I would walk into a restaurant and as I passed each table or booth I would feel what each and every person was feeling.  Angry, sad, hungry, full, lonely, frustrated, aching back, sore shoulder, headache, et. al.  Dizzying to say the least!

I came to realize that I was an empath.  An empath is one who heals by taking on the hurts and suffering of another to discharge or release.  An empath takes on the pain of another and once that pain is within them, they transform it, clear it, dispose of it in some way.  Without knowing how to release that energetic information could take me days to feel better. 

An empath is ENERGETICALLY PROGRAMMED to take pain and suffering from others.  Empaths often cannot watch movies or TV shows or read books that portray betrayal, or criticism, or man's inhumanity to man.  We just take it all in – we're just like an energetic Bounty paper towel - the quicker picker up-er!  The paper towel sucks up the water because the dry part draws the wet into itself.  It is its destiny.  It is the destiny of an empath to create balance.  We desire the sad to be happy or at least neutral.  We desire the pain to be clear.  We desire the suffering to be soothed.  We draw anything out of balance into ourselves!

"But why me, God?!  I don't want to be this way!  I have other things that I want to do with my life.  I want to let other people have their own stuff.  Why do I take it on?  Why?"  Because you can.  Not everyone can.  You can - you do.  Just like you can have blue eyes or curly hair or a green thumb or an ear for music.  Trying to be what we are not only confounds the issue.  Being the best of who and what we are will allow us to move through the energetic process more easily.  So if you're ticked off at Spirit for being an empath, you might want to have an empath ease that away from you!  ‘Cause baby you got it!  That doesn't mean that you have to spend every waking minute processing the suffering of others.  It does mean that you get to learn to use the process so you can call upon it when necessary.

"Can a person who is not an empath become one?"  I believe with intent we can do that.  However, if you are not an empath, you may have an easier way to do healings than taking it physically into your being.  Being an empath is not the easiest way to go, not the fastest form of healing, yet it can be the most profound way of healing.  For, by really feeling what another person feels or what another person is experiencing that allows us to be more compassionate and emotionally involved with the healing process. 

When we share with someone that we hurt in our left knee and their left knee is hurting, the one being healed acknowledges and validates that YOUR left knee is hurting.  By so doing the one being healed dis-associates themselves from their own pain and that is a root beginning of the healing process.  As they sense that you feel their pain, they no longer have to carry it alone.  They knowingly or unknowingly share their suffering.  In that sharing they give themselves permission to let go of the suffering.  The letting go process creates a pathway to healing.  In our culture we are programmed to be on the defense of others dumping on us or expecting something from us.  Getting the person being healed to allow you to suffer with and for them opens a connection, a doorway to surrender.  With surrender, resistance drops.  As resistance drops, healing energy can flow.  That shared experience leads to an increase of the healing energetic flow.  Healing begins.

"What about emotional pain?  Does it go to the left knee?"  A pain may be drawn into any part of the body or into an energy field just outside the area to which it corresponds. You've possibly seen me reach into someone's aura and remove something or move something around.  I'm reshaping distorted energy or removing blocked energy in the auric/energetic field.  For example: betrayal can lodge itself in a corresponding area in the 3rd eye or hover over the 3rd eye which discern's truth or in the back (stabbed in the back) or the heart space where trust abides or in the throat where speaking one's truth resides.  Or hover over any of those areas.  The energetic information regarding an emotional abuse can lodge in the muscle tissues as the muscles take action – in an abuse situation, often inaction is the only means of survival.  Old energetic information locked in the muscles is the pathology of fibromyalgia - pain in the muscle tissue.  I believe that the increase of so many people with fibromyalgia or CFIDS is a result of one's own issues and empathic energy reception without a way to release it. 

No shame or blame here.  The person that is hurting may not intentionally be sending pain to an empath.  Remember, they (we) are programmed to pick it up.  No shame or blame here for carrying that pain.  Without the tools to release that energy, what else could one do with it, except store it?

"So, how do we release this Energetic Information?"  There are probably as many ways to release this Energetic Information as there are empaths.  Every empath learns in their own way to filter suffering and/or to release it.  I'll share with you some techniques that have worked for me and for some other empaths that I know.  Try them all and see what works for you.  After trying these suggestions, you may find a way that works even better!  Let me know and I'll add it to the list for others to try.

First, it is important to note that we can find it difficult to let go of this Energetic Information.  We feel so RESPONSIBLE.  That may be past life stuff or our history imposing itself upon us.  We have to MAKE that healing happen.  We are in charge of that person's healing . . . this is a V8 moment – reminds me of the old commercial where the guy slaps himself up-side-the-head and says, "I could have had a V8!" 

We are the conduit not the Source.  We are the instrument, not the Musician.   Here-in lies the rub.  It can be difficult to allow Spirit to move through us.  Our culture has the expectation "do it yourself!"  The most powerful word in the spiritually awakened person's language is . . . ALLOW.   I was struggling with the communion cups one Sunday, like I always struggled with the communion cups.  They just stick together and once the get stuck it is really frustrating trying to rip them apart.  It's kind of like those Chinese finger locks.  Trying to hurry to set up for services, I became very impatient with myself and those @#$%!@#$%$ cups!  I took a deep breath and out loud said the word ALLOW.  Those cups just popped apart!  I don't know why that word came to me just then.  I don't know why I said it out loud.  All I know is the resistance within me came away from me and I was able to accomplish what was important for the moment.  This same process will work for anything!  I discombobulated the clip on my overalls as I was going to answer the door and was struggling to get it back together.  ALLOW!  The thing popped right together.  My keys were jumbled together and I couldn't get to the one I wanted.  Allow!  The keys released.  When we practice ALLOW!  in our everyday life, then the ALLOW!  becomes easy in the healing process.

Once we've got ALLOW, we can go to the next step.  Be the observer and see where the energy comes in to your energy field.  You can control it's entry point with your intent once you can observe and be aware.  Until then it may be impossible to know where the stuff comes in - we just know it's there and it's got to go!  So here are a few ways to release energetic information from the body or the energy field.

*Here's one of my favorites: "The Psychic Flush"
Rub your hands together and once the energy has built up, touch an inanimate object like a chair or a table or a wall.  Just like when we were kids shuffling across a rug and zapping an unsuspecting sibling, this process discharges energetic static from our energy field.  You'll feel a whoosh of energy and a release of clutter/static from your body.  You can do this at work without anyone really knowing what you're doing.  Try it in a meeting when things are getting "thick."  Whoosh!  All the discomfort will clear!  It's a cool trick!

*Here's Ruthie's favorite: "The Psychic Drain"
Try putting your hands out away from your body, shaking them gently and ALLOW the energy to drain out of your fingertips into the earth where it can be healed, changed, transformed, and renewed by the Earth/Spirit into usable energy.

*For energy stuck deeply into the body - "Pull & Release"
Grab into your energy field with your hand and imagine that you are grabbing all the pain and stuck energy.  Once you have a grip on it, give it a little tug to loosen it.  Then yank it out of there.  You'll feel it release. Let it fall away or float away from your hands or do the "Psychic Drain."

*Powerful tool for energy stuck deeply into the body - "Transmute & Clear"
Look into yourself to see the energy that is blocked.  You may be able to do this by actually looking into yourself, or you may do this in your imagination.  However that energy looks to you, be aware of it.  Ask for Spiritual energy to come to you and transmute that energy block into a release-able form.  You may have an idea of what form you would like it to transform into or you may just allow Spirit to transform it as required.  I imagine the energy transmuting into energetic spirals of energy that carry the clutter as tiny particles.  Those spirals of energy then exit the body with the outermost point of light escaping first and the rest spiraling out and spinning away into the universe.

*Another powerful tool for release - "Lay it at Jesus Feet"
Whether on a conscious level or not, some empaths feel that God / Spirit / Source / The Universe doesn't deserve that pain so unknowingly attempt to protect Spirit from that pain and continue to hang on to the energetic block.  It's what we do - absorb pain!  The Christian faith can be really helpful in this instance.  The Christian belief system holds that Jesus suffered and died once for all beings and in those moments of suffering he carried the suffering of everyone for all time.  Hence the thought form, "By his stripes (suffering) we are healed."  This allows the empath the opportunity to take any and all pain and suffering to that point in time and attach it on the cross, or lay it at Jesus' feet.  This can be done a couple of ways.
A.)  In the imagination, allow yourself to travel back in time.  While standing at the foot of the cross, allow Jesus to take the pain/blocked energy from you.  See the kindness in his eyes.  Feel the compassion.  Know that you are doing the right thing.  This is His destiny.  This is what he came to do.  He is the Ultimate Empath.

B.)  Take that same mental journey back in time.  Hold the energy out towards Him, and let it be absorbed by Jesus.

C.)  Take that same mental journey and place your hands on the cross just below Jesus' feet.  Similar to a psychic flush, you will feel the whoosh of the release.

D.)  Take the energy to another time and place of spiritual significance and leave it there.  Take care to not take energy to another dimension as they have their own stuff to deal with.  Choose a place and time before you begin the journey.

It can take concerted conscious effort to release the Energetic Information we take on when it parallels our own personal experiences.  Those energies find familiar territory and attempt to take up residence.  If you are susceptible to a back ache and are healing someone with a backache, it could take concerted effort to not let the energy get to your own back before you can release it.  With your intent, keep it in your hands or hold it in your aura or energy field.  If that blocked energy finds its way to the common suffering point, you get to do another healing on yourself!  Perhaps we have not healed ourselves of an injury or an injustice.  The other's healing may be waiting for our healing.

Here is a big "Ooooops up side the head" - that other person's suffering may be because Spirit feels it is time for YOU to be healed.  Your paths have crossed at just this right time so you can be free of some pain.  What a blessing!  We deal with our own betrayal then we can take on and release someone else's betrayal. 

Any pain in the body may be (and most likely is) related to an emotional charge or a metaphysical response to a situation.  Like . . . a back ache may be related to a betrayal or being "too rigid" (we can get rigid because we were betrayed and feel unsafe so we have to hold ourselves tight); a head ache may be related to an inappropriate judgement; a sick stomach may be related to not following a gut feeling; an ankle pain may be related to a change in directions.  I remember my son having a rather nasty break of an ankle just as he was changing from being self-centered into being a good dad and husband who put his family first.  He had been spending a lot of time snow boarding and had decided to go one more time before he was going to make more time for his family. Hmmmmmmm. 

(Note:  Louise Hay has an excellent book You Can Heal Yourself that relates physical illness to a metaphysical/emotional source.  Her work could use some updating because it tends to be critical and judgmental, yet the truths held within are still true - worth taking a look at.)      

There is sooooooo much more I could share on this subject, yet I feel this is enough (maybe more than enough) to digest at this point in time.  Learning to FILTER the energetic information before taking it on can be useful - another topic for another day.  It is my sincere hope that this information helps your journey as an empath.