Cape Women Online Body/Mind/Spirit-Fall '08

Embracing the Gift
An Interview with Meta-Physician Lynne Delaney
by Gillian Drake

I first met Lynne Delaney at the Wellness Expo at Willy’s Gym in Eastham in March, 2007. As I wandered around the various booths, I saw a list to sign up for a free tarot card reading. Why not, I thought. I put my name down, returned at the appointed time, and came face to face with what I can only describe as an angel, with fair hair and the bluest, clearest eyes imaginable. I was immediately enchanted. But it was her intent focus and clear connection with spirit, amidst the hubbub of the Expo, that most fascinated me. I wanted to hear more, to know more, both about her and her connection with the “other side.” I made an appointment soon after, and have seen her at regular intervals ever since, both socially and professionally, for Reiki (energy healing) and for mediumship. Through her, I have connected with my spirit guides and forged a closer relationship with my parents, which has given me the most profound sense of knowing that they are here with me, at all times.

LYNNE DELANEY has been aware of the spiritual side of life since she was a child. Her early beginnings have led her on a path of practicing metaphysical arts and spiritual healing for over fifteen years.
     When Lynne was younger, she was very clairvoyant. “I had visions. In Sunday School, at the Methodist Church in Eastham, where my family were members, I learned about false prophets, and I thought I was a bad person because I had visions. I felt very guilty,” she remembers. “I could sense spirits and see and hear things that other people couldn’t see or hear. I used to play with imaginary people when I was little. At night my ceiling opened up—I would hear a low pulsating sound and the ceiling dissolved and I could look right up into outer space. I’d see giant letters and numbers moving around. I’d just watch.” This stopped when she was a teenager, though the visions got stronger and her sense of spirit became stronger too.
     Lynne was raised in Eastham but moved away to attend college in Indiana. She settled in Chicago to pursue a career in respiratory therapy, but moved back to Cape Cod in 2000 after she met her husband, Josh Delaney, at her 10th Nauset High School reunion in 1999. She had also gone to elementary school with him; in fact, had known him just about all her life. While at Indiana University, where she was studying dietetics, she had been practising reading tarot cards and took psychic workshops and belonged to psychic circles. “Being a medium is a gift, an ability. I’ve always had this ability, but you have to develop it,” she explains. After she returned to the Cape, she took classes in mediumship for four years at the Greater Boston Church of Spiritualists and the First Spiritualist Temple in Boston. “I was with a whole group of people like me, I was finally with people who could understand me, so I didn’t feel alone any more,” she says, though she sounds wistful, making me think that maybe she still does feel a bit different.
     After Lynne moved back to the Cape and had studied at the Spiritualist Churches in Boston, she finally felt she could use her abilities to help other people. “I help other people to connect with loved ones and to connect to their own spirit, to lift them up out of sadness or despair. I feel like this is my purpose, to be a guide on this planet and show other people the mystical side of life. I see that people lose track of what’s important in their lives, getting caught up in the daily routines, and many people feel overly burdened by life. It’s important to remember that we are spiritual beings living on an earthly plane. If people can connect to spirit, their burdens are lightened and life becomes more fulfilling, because they can tap into their true soul’s desire. When we allow spirit into our lives, it opens up possibilities we never thought existed.”
     Lynne was about eight when she realized she could make objects move. “Objects have always moved around me,” she says. “My mother had to pack away my dolls at night because they were moving. I had a doll that could ‘eat,’ its plastic mouth could open so you could put ‘food’ inside. But it would wake me up at night ‘eating’ all by itself. I didn’t like that, I was scared. I have extra energy in my aura and Spirit uses my energy to make sounds and move objects. It took a long time for me to be able to channel this kinetic energy and develop it so I could move objects myself.”
     Over time, Lynne has developed her kinetic energy so she can make tables move. Called table tipping, it is a method of mediumship that was popularized during Victorian times. Unfortunately, charlatans took advantage of the gullible and vulnerable and some now still associate table tipping with hushed séances in darkened sitting rooms, fake ectoplasm floating down from the ceiling. But it is just another way of energy making itself known to us. At a recent group session at Lynne’s, called Holding Hands with Spirit, eight of us, seated at two round tables, had the tables rocking and dancing and tapping out letters of the alphabet. “Just let go and let spirit flow through you,” Lynne advised us. She has found that these sessions evolve over time, and the table has become a tool for her to sharpen her channeling abilities, with the table tapping out answers and signs to help connect people to their loved ones on the other side.
     When asked how people benefit by table tipping, Lynne replied that it is a form of physical mediumship which allows people to connect directly with spirit energy. “The spirit energy can express itself differently by creating more symbols than by mental mediumship. Spirit can make the table feel like different things, such as a beating heart, waves of water, a cradle rocking, and can dance and walk like a former living person. It can even tip over into someone’s lap to give them a hug.”
     Lynne’s mother is very intuitive and she never discouraged her daughter. “Embracing my gift and not fighting it was the most important thing for me, and that’s a good model for everyone, I think,” says Lynne. “I try to practice a magical life by being open to all the gifts the Universe wants to share with me and with others. The support for us is there, given to us by the angels and our spirit guides. They are all around us all the time, gently guiding us and helping us to grow and unfold and emerge into the greatest people we can be,” she explains.
    When asked about her connection to the religion of her childhood, Lynne is reflective. “It’s all the same energy,” she says thoughtfully. “When I was young, I thought that God was someone ‘up there.’ Now I know that God is the name we give to the energy of the Divine Spirit, and that energy is in me, it is in everyone, and it is everywhere. My spirit guides on the other side say they can always feel it, that pervasive feeling of love—the love of everything and the love for everything. The energy of the person Jesus is coming through all of us simultaneously, it’s the doctrine of love, living by the laws of love. He was really dialed in. He knew about healing and knew how to call in the loving, healing energy of God. We are all sons and daughters of God, and it’s that source that connects us all, that heals us. It’s the same source.”

Continued on next column . . .

Lynne with the table that loves to dance.

LYNNE DELANEY INTERVIEW continued

During my first table-tipping session with Lynne, we had the table literally dancing around the room, my parents’ energy making the table waltz and foxtrot while we hummed and sang. They were having a great time! My mother told me, “Live your life with more energy!” Yes Mom, I’ll do my best, I told her! Elated but exhausted, and a little light-headed from being around that spirit energy, I realized that connecting in this way with the other side takes away the fear of everything in this life. And when you know that your loved ones are having such a good time “over there,” after having shuffled off this mortal coil, and that passing on is a joy, not a trauma, it changes your whole attitude to life—and to death. We are energy, and our energy never dies. It seems most of the angst and gloom is on this plane, not that one. We need to lighten up a bit!

Lynne Delaney lives in Brewster, where she meets with clients for private and group healing sessions. She is a Conscious Living Consultant and Reiki Master who offers Reiki treatments combined with intuitive energy and crystals. She offers private sessions in spiritual guidance, intuitive tarot, and hypnotherapy, as well as table-tipping and transfiguration sessions for groups. With a background in science and spiritual studies, she is able to better understand how both disciplines contribute to healing and well-being. To find out more or make an appointment, contact Lynne at theconsciousspirit@yahoo.com or (508) 241-3048.

Gillian Drake is the publisher of this magazine. She lives in Eastham.

A Message from Spirit
Channeled by Lynne Delaney

This first message is to be said as an affirmation or prayer by each individual, including everyone on this planet.

Grant us the strength to hear our inner knowledge. Allow us to see the light clearly. It is with persistence and discipline that we will find our way. This is a place where fear is no longer a part of our perception of reality. Only love through and through will awaken all the hearts of humanity and beyond. Coming from strength, hope and courage, we will bring new light to the world. Hearts will cease to break and the spirit will forever soar. Feel love and strength will always follow.

Ask yourselves why there is such
a great need in the world?

There is a need for service in this current state of world reality. It has been created because humans have neglected their inner light and strength; therefore there is a need to receive help from others to remedy all situations that are created from fear and desperation. The very notion itself of service to others is a good one indeed. By helping others we can tap into and ignite our inner light and strength. It serves us the purpose to open up to our true loving selves; the part of us that is connected to all.
A good act, lesson, path to follow for many is the procedure of service, giving of oneself to another, or to a cause. This does create light in the world. Know, however if we were all operating from our higher selves, there would be less of a need for service. It would be a different kind of service. Shedding light on situations and giving energy to remedy any problems another may have. Humanity incarnate will evolve to this level in time, but it will take much time and conscious effort.
It is much too easy to act upon our fears, anxieties and anger. The expression of anger can be detrimental for the collective consciousness. This energy becomes magnified ten fold, like an uncontrolled fire with the winds directing the fiery destruction. Our collective consciousness acts as the wind blowing uncontrollably in all directions, not understanding the true results. We must be conscious of our energy and thoughts at every moment. Only then will we master our true potential. Know, Be, See.
A key point to know is that service created by humans is an important path for our souls incarnate. It allows us to help each other and give to each other selflessly in a way that our souls cannot experience as profoundly in Spirit. In essence, we have created this opening for soul expression.

An example:
If there is war, there is absence of love and understanding of our true souls. War is failure to serve each other with Love.
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Feng Shui: Befriending Metal
by Sheryll Hirschberger-Reichwein

Metal, the last element in the Five Element cycle,
is associated with endings and the Fall season.
For many of us, it is a difficult element to befriend.

SHE SAID I WAS her last resort. She was overwhelmed with clutter. Suffocating, really. Every corner of her home was filled—with books, papers, clothes, memorabilia, knick knacks, and other miscellaneous objects. She’d tried reading books on clearing clutter. She’d hired a professional organizer. She purchased filing cabinets and fancy file folders. She filled extra large garbage pails. Yet no matter how much time she spent sorting and throwing things out, she could never get ahead. Everyday was a losing struggle to create order out of chaos.
     She was at war and her stuff was winning.
“I’ve heard Feng Shui can help,” she said. “I’m desperate; I’m willing to try anything.”
   Before beginning any Feng Shui consultation, I have my clients complete an extensive Five Element Assessment. After our initial phone conversation, I had a pretty good idea of how my clutter-challenged client’s assessment would read. I guessed that she would be weak in the element Metal. The assessment results confirmed my suspicions. In fact, her Metal showed up nonexistent—less than zero.
    Feng Shui is a system for creating human-made environments that reflect the harmony found in the natural world. Feng Shui grows out of the Taoist tradition, as does Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, Chinese martial arts, and Taoist philosophy. All these branches in the Taoist tree have in common certain core principles, including the Five Elements—Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. Considered the building blocks of nature and a bridge between the unseen and seen worlds, each of the Five Elements corresponds with a season of the year. Water is associated with winter, Wood with spring, Fire with summer, Earth with late summer, and Metal with fall. Each of the Five Elements is also associated with parts and systems in the human body, psychological and emotional states, and characteristic ways of being. Elements are also reflected in color, shape, and form.
     We all have ongoing relationships with each of the Five Elements. If we were having a dinner party with a round table, we would sit in the seat with the element we most identify with and a couple of the elements would be sitting right next to us. Our best friends would be the elements we are most comfortable with. Across the table would be those two other guys we had to invite to the party because they’re family or out of some other sense of obligation. Our relationship with them is strained or awkward, but there they sit. Most likely, we’d make some polite conversation and wonder why they are so odd. In the worst case, we’d ignore them completely and wish they’d just go away.
    Essentially, my client had invited Metal to the table, but never acknowledged its existence. She disliked everything that Metal stood for—rules, order, boundaries, and limitations. Instead, she wanted a dinner where everything flowed, where everyone was light and joyous, and where the party would never end. Metal, with its sharp, cold edges and insistence on finality, was a big party pooper.
    For many of us, Metal is a difficult element to befriend. The last element in the Five Element cycle, Metal is associated with endings. And, whether that ending is of a job, a stage of life, a relationship, or life itself, endings are rarely fun. The emotion associated with Metal is grief, often experienced as a searing pain in our hearts that brings us to our knees. Not exactly a preferred party guest. However, Feng Shui teaches us to have a balanced, fully-functioning and fulfilled life, so all of the elements must be welcome at our table.
     To help my client embrace Metal, I needed to introduce her to Metal’s gifts. Metal is associated with the fall season—a time of falling leaves. Deciduous, the term for trees that lose their leaves, comes from Latin words meaning “to fall or cut.” When you “decide” something, you come down on one side of a question, cutting off the other. When the light of day retreats, deciduous trees no longer have the resources they need to continue photosynthesis. In a sense, these trees decide to stop the flow of energy to their leaves. These leaves change color, fall off, and die. In a dramatic display, Nature demonstrates the power of an uncompromising decision.
     Thus Metal encourages us to make decisions to cut away all that no longer serves us. Ruthlessly. Metal is the “no” that must be said before the “yes.” Metal asks us to identify those areas of our lives where our energy is flowing with ever-diminishing returns. What is draining your life force? Even if it served you in another season, now is the time to say “No.” Stop the habit. End the relationship. Clean the closet. Cut your losses. Let it go.
Metal is also associated with the color white, with reflective objects such as mirrors, and with objects made of metal. The shape associated with Metal is round. Rooms in the home that express well-balanced Metal often have a Zen-like feel, free from all extraneous clutter.
    My client’s Five Element Assessment revealed her aversion to Metal. So did a glance around her home. She had lots of earth tones, colorful patterns, an over-abundance of plants, and virtually no open spaces. The color white and mirrors were nowhere to be seen. Stuff from one room flowed into another with very little boundary definition.
    Metal needed to be introduced into this environment. I wanted my client to experience the positive aspects of Metal in her environment—in a way that would then allow the other changes she desired to flow naturally. But with such a dramatic absence of Metal, where would I begin? What could I possibly do that would create lasting change in this dire situation?
    The ruthless decision-making of Metal must have inspired me, for I found myself saying, “We are going to take everything out of your bedroom and strip it of all color. All I want to see is white. White on white.”
    I saw the skepticism in her eyes, but she complied. We took the colorful duvet cover off her bed and left the white down comforter exposed. We draped the windows in white sheets. We covered tables in white table cloths. We packed books and knick-knacks in boxes and removed them. We took everything away until all was white on white.
   “There,” I said. “That’s Metal.”
     And I left.
    The next day, she called. “At first I hated the feeling,” she said. “Stark and scary. It took me a while to relax enough to fall asleep. But this morning was extraordinary. I woke up and there I was. There was only me in the room. And for the first time I can remember, I felt who I was. Just me. And I liked how ‘me’ felt.”
    Several weeks later I revisited her home. I wouldn’t have believed it was the same home if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. What was chaos had found order. Areas that were over-stuffed now had appropriate open spaces. Everything was tidy. Zen-like, but not cold. Pleasant. Peaceful.
     “Amazing,” was all I could say.
     As a Feng Shui practitioner, I am blessed to have made friends around the Five Element table. Each is a reservoir of vast wisdom and power. And I am humbled to have been invited to the party.

Sheryll Hirschberger-Reichwein and her husband Douglas own The Beach Rose Inn in West Falmouth. She is a certified Feng Shui consultant and a widely published writer.
www.theBeachRoseInn.com

Restore Your Spirit with Drumming, Resources & Ritual at Retreat Sorelle LLC Women’s Weekend Retreat

Rhythm & Soul Fall Weekend
October 24 – 26th, 2008
at The Old Manse Inn in Brewster, MA

Cape Cod women are invited to reunite with their drummer within at Retreat Sorelle’s Return to Spirit. Drumming is not only uplifting, energizing and fun, it also has tremendous healing power! Drumming transmits a rhythmic energy to the brain that helps integrate and regulate our nervous system. There are many health benefits when our brain and nervous system are synchronized.
Research has demonstrated that drumming and other rhythmic activities may relieve anxiety, reduce stress, lower blood pressure, lessen fatigue, boost the immune system and promote an overall sense of well being. Current research is pointing toward the importance of the brain and nervous system being integrated for optimal healing.
Jane Gossard, a drummer and inspirational storyteller, will lead the drumming circle and will also share “Drumcalling,” a powerful story of love and self discovery. Through the use of storytelling, poetry and song, Jane will share a lifelong process of finding her spiritual voice and invites the women of this retreat to share in the basic joy of finding their own voice.

Retreat Sorelle LLC | Martine Amundson RN, BA
www.retreatsorelle.com
martine@retreatsorelle.com
508-479-9453
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