We all get stressed–run down; upset. We all get angry–we get annoyed at others easily and we can’t sleep well.

But there are a few that realise the positive powers of meditation; of what practicing the methods can do to help us in our mind, body and spirit.

Mediation is not just for the spiritual- it’s for people who want balance, want clarity. It’s for people who need time, for those that can succeed under pressure.

Mediation is a personal growth, within and out. And the people that practice this (daily) are the ones who are composed, the ones that can think straight and the ones that are relaxed.

The following are just and a few benefits of meditation:

Spiritual- During meditation you are in touch with a holistic aspect of your life. You become a spiritual being- relaxed and confident within your surroundings. You give thanks to deities, gods and goddesses (whom ever they maybe). To be in this state enables a peace within you, and one that grounds your soul and elevates your understanding to a higher level.

Stress reduction- Mediation can clear away all your worries in the day, just by giving yourself a few minutes a day to practice it. The rhythmic breathing will slow things down within you- and around you. You will feel a heaviness lift of your shoulders and this will clear your state of mind drastically.

Clarity- Sometimes we are faced with hard days and they seem very long. A few minutes a day of “quiet me time” will change your perspective and will give you the edge in prioritising what needs to be completed first.

Personal growth and inner confidence- This pretty much combines the top 3 points- Spiritual, Stress Reduction and Clarity. The combination of all three results in your own person growth and your own realization of personal worth. This therefor gives you the inner confidence to get through the hur/day/week/year knowing you have the mentality and strength to achieve anything.

Use of “The Laws of Attraction” in business and success- The “smart” entrepreneurs use this new found inner confidence and personal growth to their advantage. Combining both Meditation and Visualisation can become a powerful tool for any individual. Used in conjunction, the energetic powers of both combine to give off a natural high and new found focus. It also results in manifestation. It’s no wonder the top entrepreneurs use this powerful combination to their advantage.

Tarot reading is used for the purpose of individual alteration of one’s self.  Today the use of tarot is far the most popular divination tool for spiritual introspection in the western world.

Tarot cards have been around since the 15th century and were originally used by the mystics of their time.  During the rise of religions such as Anglicanism, and Catholicism, mystics needed to hide their use of divination due to persecution.  To do so they formulated divination by using normal playing cards and hid their work by calling it “games”.

Thus the tarots suits correspond with the suits of the conservative playing cards.

The first known tarot cards were created in Milan Italy, where individualised illustrations were added to the pack.  The earliest known Tarot decks were hand painted thus the number of produced decks were limited.  It was only after the invention of the printing press that the massive manufactured cards became probable.

In 1910 the use of Tarot boomed with the production and publication of one of the most sought out decks, the Rider Waite Smith Tarot.  The decks popularity was due to the fact that it included figurative images related to the divinatory significance of the numeric cards.

Because of this development, various adaptations of the tarot have been created throughout history and now we have a variety of tarot decks to choose from.

Tarot cards are usually read by a tarot reader but these days anyone can readily buy a deck at your local bookstore or mystical shop as they are mass printed with an instruction booklet provided.

Interestingly what people don’t realise is that tarot reads your current path based on your thoughts.  So a reading one day can change direction if you have made a decision from the last reading you had to the current read.

One tarot reader’s way of reading may differ from another tarot reader- as each individual tarot reader will interpret a card based on what they see within it.  This is why it is best (if you are choosing a tarot reading) to stick with one tarot reader instead of roaming around to various readers.  This essentially will confuse you and play with your emotions and thus hinder the prediction” that was stated initially.

Essentially at its core, tarot empowers and guides you to your fullest potential, leading you to discover your inner self.  It is a roadmap of our life, from the past; the present and the possible future, changing are revealing its course once we make vital decisions in this often baffling world.

Recently in its ever increasing evolution the tarot has inspired a new wave of decks called oracle cards.  Influenced by the tarot, they do not follow a traditions structure as tarot does but rather has their own individualised divinatory meanings within each deck.

Whether you use traditional decks (such as the Rider Waite Smith Deck) or modern decks (such as Doreen Virtues Angel Cards) Tarot can help you understand yourself better and will guide you to your desires with assurance.

You can find Aileen on www.livepsyche.com/expert/aileen

This practice is so easy and widely used because it utilises few ceremonial tools but still turns around the same amount of magic that is needed. Also the fact that you can literally create candle magic anywhere- from your bedroom, the backyard or the beach makes it desirable and mobile.

Because of this candle magic has seen a major increase in popularity if practice within modern witchcraft.

Candle magic can be used to manifest or dispel, attract or protect, increase or decrease needed or wanted things in your life. Examples are health, healing, prosperity, wealth, development of knowledge, protection of self.

The wish and ritual can be as simple or as complicated as you desire- there is no right or wrong way about things. Because of this, candle magic offers us a chance to interact and participate with the universal energy and divine power in our lives.

Anyone can practice this as there is no set beliefs to practice this primordial art.

In order to manifest or dispel the right energy the use of candle colours come into play as there are certain colours which are used for the right purposes. The premeditated use of colours serves to fasten the intent behind doing candle magic and makes it easier to focus on the result.

Any type of candle can be used as long as it has been cleansed and consecrated prior to use as vibrations and energies given by the candle needs to be pure and new. Consecration of candles is created through the use of specific oils or herbs for specific purposes.

The general colour correspondence for candle magic is as follows:

Red- courage, love, health, lust

Pink- friendship, sweet love

Orange- attraction, encouragement

Gold- financial gain, abundance, fertility

Silver- reflection, intuition, lunar connections

Light blue- health, patience, understanding, communication

Dark blue- depression, vulnerability,

Purple- ambition, power, psychics’ ability, divination use

Brown- earth related, animal related

Black- negativity, banishment, grounding

White- purity, truth, (overall generic candle colour used for any situation)

If you are considering using candle magic here are some handy tips:

· It is best to leave a candle burning continuously until the candle burns itself out completely as it gives the magic time to grow in strength as time goes by without disruptions.

· If you do need to extinguish the candle, wet your fingers and extinguish the candle that way instead of blowing it out. Blowing the candle expels the concentrated magic and energy lowers in strength.

· Some rituals need to be repeated over a period of days to gain in strength.

· With acquired knowledge magic can be even more powerful with the use of corresponding days.

· Concentration and meditation are important as it sets the mood and balances the universal energy for a neutral and honest start to the candle magic ritual.