Spiritual Art Blog - *Ed P

Mountain Stream

Mountain Stream is finally finished. I’ve changed the sky, the trees, the colouring of the rocks and some of the details. Here it is below. If you’d like a print, click on comments and leave a note. I’ll contact you to make the necessary arrangements. To see a larger version, click on the image.

Spiritual Tools – Dreams (part 2)

Thought for the Week, 

Types of dreams

Dreams are generally lumped together in a pile and just called, dreams. Once we begin to pay attention to our dreams we see there a numerous types. We are all aware of nightmares but there are other types as well, including dreams of:
Learning,
Past Lives, 
Karma burn off,
Warnings,
Flying,
Getting answers.

Learning Dreams
We can actually learn a lot during our sleep. Depending on what we are learning it can often result in a ‘restless night’s sleep’. The best example I have of this, happened a number of years ago. A client rang on a Friday afternoon requesting me to go to their office on Monday to do some graphic design work, on a presentation using the software program Power Point. I had never used the program before but I still had to complete this project. Over the next two nights I didn’t sleep too well. I was tossing and turning in bed. In my dreams I was going through the program, Power Point, seeing how it worked and performing tasks on it. On the Monday I arrived at the client’s office and by the end of the day, we had a nicely produced Power Point presentation. I was impressed with work and a bit baffled by my ability to produce such good work on a program I really didn’t know. It was only while reflecting on my dreams did I discover the source of my new found skill.

Dreams of Past Lives
Past life dreams are easy enough to recognise. We are usually in a scene from the past. It could be recent, like the last century, or in Victorian times or back to Egyptian times and even beyond that. Some people will have these types of dreams when they visit a foreign place. They may have spent a lifetime in that place and now their dreams are helping them to reconnect with the area. While skiing with a friend in the Austrian Alps, he told us every morning of his dream escapades as a resistance fighter hiding in the Alps during the Second World War.

Karma Burn Off
This type of dream can be something of a nightmare as we go through it, but it can become a blessing once we realise what we have achieved. Burning off karma is paying a debt we own for a deed we have done in the past. We may have had a dream where we are in an accident, break some bones, get severe cuts or burns. We may be in a battle scene where we are injured or killed. These may be dreams where we are working off karma. If we can pay the debt in our dream worlds rather than in our physical world, we are going to get it done a lot faster. If we break our arm in a dream, we go through the pain and suffering but when we wake up we don’t have go to hospital and wear a cast for weeks. The debt is paid without the inconvenience of having to go through the physical healing process.

Warnings through Dreams
One morning I awoke after a disturbing dream. In the dream a colleague had driven a huge army tank into our garden. He was attempting to invade our house. About a week later this same person made a hostile attempt to take over the business in which we worked. Thanks to the dream this wasn’t a complete shock to me. These kinds of dreams can be upsetting and often their memory lingers with us. If we are in the habit of writing down our dreams we will have a more conscious awareness of the warning. 

Flying Dreams
These are great dreams where we are flying around above the ground like a bird. The feeling of freedom is exhilarating. In these dreams we are getting closer to our true self, Soul. As Soul we are a happy pure light of Love. In our dreams we have left our bodies behind and become conscious of our selves as Soul. This is often referred to as Soul Travel.

Getting Answers
We can use our dreams to get answers to questions on our mind. Before we go to sleep at night we can frame a question like this. “If it right for me and is good for the whole of life, I would like an answer to the following question.” Then we ask the question. We are asking the Life Force, The Holy Spirit, God, our Inner Guide, Inner Master, Angel, Saint or Holy Person. We may need to ask the question several times and the answer may come much later after we have forgotten our original request. By keeping a note of our dreams we will have a better chance of getting the answer we seek.

Change the Dream Ending
If we have had a dream where we are not happy with the way it ended or our behaviour in the dream, we can re-enter the dream to change the ending. There have been some dreams which I’ve woken up from, where I wasn’t proud of my behaviour towards another person in the dream. To make amends or try and correct my mistake, I go back to sleep and back to the dream scene. Frome there I re-run the dream but change my behaviour, to make an ending I’m happier with. It doesn’t always work but it does help ease my mind.

Last week’s post, Spiritual Tools – Dreams (Part 1), covered our Dream Language, keeping a Dream Journal and how to remember dreams. Hopefully most areas have been covered but if there is something you’d like addressed please leave a note by clicking on Comments below.

Sweet Dreams

*Ed P

Luas Art Competition Award

On Wednesday , 21st January ’09, I was invited to the Luas Art Competition Awards Ceremony, as a runner up prize winner, which took place in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin 2. The image I submitted was based on Spirals but with a Luas tram and colouring added to it. If you would like to received a copy of the limited edition RPA 2009 official Calendar please contact info@rpa.ie or call freephone 1800 67 64 64.

Above - Ed Parkinson receiving his prize at the Luas Art Competition.

Ed beside the display of the runner up entries, which appear on different months in the Luas calendar. The overall winning entry is displayed behind Ed.

Inspirational Quote

“Sleep, sleep, beauty bright,
Dreaming in the joys of night;
Sleep, sleep; in thy sleep
Little sorrows sit and weep.”
William Blake

Mountain Stream

Below is the latest developments on Mountain Stream. What do you think, are there any errors or mistakes, what do you think of the colouring, would you change anything? I’d love to hear your opinion. Click on ‘Comments’ below and tell me what you think. Thanks.

Spiritual Tools – Dreams (part 1)

Thought for the Week
One of the great spiritual tools we have available to us, and which is usually completely overlooked, is our dreams. Through our dreams we get warnings, insights into situations, learn skills, gain knowledge, see past lives, go on fantastic journeys, etc., etc. They are a gift which has been lost from our Western culture, as they don't conform to a logical, scientific explanation or examination. They rarely make sense to another person but to us they can be a source of great wisdom.

To make dreams useful we have to understand them. To understand them takes time, patience and discipline. 

Our own dream language
Understanding our dreams is like learning a new language. What we are learning is our own dream language. Each of us has our own set of symbols which mean certain things to us. Your interpretation of an image of a river is going to be different to someone else. For you a river may symbolise a place of peace and rest. For someone else a river could be a place of terror due to their fear of water.

How do we translate our symbols into something we can understand? The best way is to keep a record of our dreams in a journal. After a while we will begin to see patterns emerge. Some dreams occur around particular events in our lives, some happen when are under stress, or away from home. After a few months, when we review our journal we may see patterns or the repetitions of situations, symbols or events on our dreams. What was a confused dream a few months ago may now be clearer.

Keeping a journal requires discipline. The discipline to wake ourselves up in the middle of the night and write a few notes about the dream we’ve just had. The discipline to convert the notes into a clear story, so that we will remember the dream in a few weeks or months time.

How to remember dreams
One of the best ways I found of remembering dreams is to go back to sleep just after I wake up in the morning. Then I can return to the dream and because my physical mind is somewhat awake, it can remember the details of the dream. Then as I get out of bed or even just sit up in bed. I’ll start writing down what happened in the dream. If I have taken notes during the night of a dream, I’ll write that out at this time too. I find that as soon as I’ve taken a few steps out of bed and have begun to interact with the physical world, my memory of the dream worlds evaporate. That’s why I stay in bed a write about the dreams. When I’ve finished writing down the dream, I’ll also write down any ideas as to the meaning or what the dream relates to in my outer life.

As we write down our dreams we begin to get an understanding of what is going on. Some dreams are easy to write about, as there is a sequence of events and a story to follow. Others can be difficult where we are going through a scene that requires endurance or effort. Some dreams are frightening or unsettling.

Next week
Next week in Spiritual Tools – Dreams (part 2) we’ll look at the different types of dream and how we can use them in our outer life. In the mean time, Sweet Dreams.

*Ed P

Inspirational Quote

“Dreams are the answers to questions that we haven't yet figured out how to ask.”

 Fox Mulder

Mountain Stream

I was reading the following piece from Spiritual Wisdom on Relationships by Harold Klemp. 

“Look at others as if they are carriers of God’s love to you. In fact, they are. The next point is important. You must consciously open your heart to God’s love, which is always and forever flowing out of you like a quiet mountain stream.
“It’s easy to do.
“Let’s make a spiritual exercise for yourself. Sing HU, and in your mind and heart watch this quiet stream of God’s love flow gently into your heart and being. It will change you.” 

Below is the image that came to mind. It’s not finished yet but the overall concept is there.

Everyone is equal as Soul

Thought for the Week – 
Mick Casey, who produces the newsletter All Kinds of Everything and the blog Tonys Newsletter asked me to write a piece for him on the subject, Everyone is equal. Here it is…

From the perspective of Soul, our true selves, we are equal to all other Souls. As Soul our mission in life is to give and receive love, divine love, not just human love. Whether we give love to fellow humans, animals, birds or plants, it matters not. We are being a channel for love.

If we can move our viewpoint above the physical, beyond our emotions, forgetting our memories and eliminating logic, then we begin to get to our true selves, Soul. We are in a heavenly realm and so is everything else we see from this viewpoint. As we have no attachments to our physical things, our emotions, memories or logic, we are free to be our true selves, Soul. From this point of view, we are all equal.

Looking at the people in our lives on a physical level, it is hard to see how we could be equal. There are people who are: 
different sex, 
different upbringing and background, 
from other parts of the planet, 
unique in how they approach living their lives, 
with disabilities, 
with skills we’d find very hard to master,
living in conditions we may avoid or aspire to,
in relationships we would not tolerate or would really enjoy,
with their own selection of friends and enemies.
etc., etc.

All of these differences come from our choices as Soul. Our paths in life are our own choice. We have the freedom to choose what we do in our lives, on a physical, emotional, mental, and intuitive basis. It is these choices which we make moment to moment, and day to day, that direct our lives down the paths we follow. It is these same decisions which we made in our lives before this one that have put us to the path we follow in this life.

When you look at our different lives with the overview that we have created our destiny by the choices we've made previously, we begin to see that we are all equal. This viewpoint is also a powerful tool in realising that we are responsible for the life we lead. The choices we made in the past have brought us to where we are now. The choices we make now will determine our future life's path. Not just on a physical level, but also on our emotional and mental levels.

Let's be conscious of all the decisions we make and where they will lead us. We have an equal chance of being happy with our lives as anyone else. On that level we are all equal. Now it is up to us to make decisions that will lead our lives in the direction we want to go. If we can keep this idea in mind, it will help make our lives a bit happier. It will also give us a bit more understanding and compassion for those around us. 

Enjoy the journey on your path.

*Ed P

Inspirational Quote:

“Herein lies the key to love. Love builds bridges. Soul exists because God loves It. Soul equals Soul; no one Soul is greater than another.”
Harold Klemp

Razor’s Edge

The Razor’s Edge is now finished. It took longer than I had hoped, about 30 hours, but it is a bit faster than my usual of 40 hours. If you’d like to see a larger version of it, click on the image.

Resolutions for a happier life

Thought for the Week -
Now that it is the New Year, it may be useful to have a few suggestions to make our lives happier rather than the usual list of standard resolutions which are all too soon forgotten. If we could do one of these we’ll be a little bit happier and so will those around us.

No negative thoughts.
If we can eliminate thoughts like, I can't do that; I'm not good enough for that; anything that limits us, we’ll be a little happier. We are Soul, a spark of God, a creative being. We create with our thoughts. If we constantly have negative thoughts, our world will be filled with the results of those thoughts. If we can focus our thinking on the positive aspects of life we’ll begin creating a positive world for ourselves. 

Here are two previous posts which give a bit more detail on this topic. Our attitude colours our world and Brighten your summer yourself.

No back biting
Talking about a person negatively behind their back, does no good. There may be some satisfaction and ‘friendship’ in being with others criticising a person but it is short lived. When we leave the ‘friends’ they may criticise us in a similar manner. If we stay out of these critical circles, we remove the fear of being criticised by them. It can take a bit of time to extract ourselves but the peace of mind we receive makes it worthwhile.

Do one deed a day for love

If we can do one deed for love each day, it will brighten our lives. A deed for which, we expect and look for no reward. A deed which is not seen by anyone, but which helps the world around us. It could be picking up some litter, helping someone in need, listening to someone. Any deed that makes the world a little better than it was. Doing the deed will give us sense of achievement and a realisation that we can help make the world a little better.

There are a few more ideas on this subject in this article, Spiritual Tools - What would Love do?

Look at what we have and make the most of it
If we can count the gifts we have already and make the most of them. Gifts like; our health, our home, our friends, the skills we have like; being able to read, have access to a computer, have a phone to talk to friends with, a well functioning body, being able to breath without trouble, being able to walk, etc., etc.

There are a few more ideas in these articles, Why, to Who, When, and How, to say Thank You. and Enjoy the beauty around you.

Live in the moment
The only time is now. The event that happened a minute ago is in the past. The event which may happen in a few minutes or hours is in the future. If we can live in the moment, now, we eliminate the worry about the future and the concerns we hold over the past. We can only be, here and now. By making the most of this moment, we ‘seize the day’. Once we get into the habit of living this way we open ourselves to sources of wisdom and guidance which help us make the most of the situation we find ourselves in. 

This post gives a bit more info on Living in the Now

Aim higher for our life goals, physical, spiritual, business, learning, etc.
"It is better to aim for the stars and hit the moon, than to aim for the trees, and hit the ground." Suzanne Oggenfuss. When ever we aim for a goal, we should aim high, be the best we can. At this moment we may not have the skills or ability to reach the stars but with a little learning, persistence, and enthusiasm we can become an astronaut on our way to the stars.

Other articles from the blog
Check these articles for more ideas on bringing happiness to life.
Can we be happy now? and How to go with the flow of life.

Subscribe to this blog
If you subscribe to this blog you’ll get a weekly email with the Thought for the Week, an Inspirational Quote, and News. It may be a good way to start the week with a positive thought and hopefully it’ll add a little happiness to your life.

Best wishes for the New year and the rest of your life.

*Ed P

News:

You Tube Video
I have eventually put on You Tube, the radio interview with David O’Rielly of Irish Tarot, on his radio show, The Psychic Connection, on Country Mix 106.8 FM, in Dublin, Ireland.
As You Tube will only allow a maximum of 10 minutes per video, the interview has been broken into 4 parts All four videos make a total of half an hour. I’ve basically added visuals to the interview, they relate to the picture we are discussing. Hope you like them.

Part 1
David introduces Ed who gives an overview of his work. He tells a story of a child’s fascination with death and how the pictures, New Horizons and Life Continues Within, helped his understanding of what happens at death.


Part 2
Ed explains Family Tapestry, the picture David picked out. Spirals is also discussed which illustrates Soul’s journey in one image.


Part 3
In this part of the interview Ed discusses his picture Contemplation, giving insights into how he contemplates using the HU song. Path of Lives, which illustrates how we learn as we go through life, is also discussed .


Part 4
Ed discusses his picture Soul’s Journey Begins and David O’Rielly wraps up the interview.

Inspirational Quote:

“Love sought is good, but given unsought is better.”

William Shakespeare