The Spirituality of a Young Gifted Artist, Akiane

“I define spirituality as a search for love, beauty, happiness and wisdom. Spirituality is a journey that we never finish.” ~Akiane Kramarik, 16 Year-old, Artist, Poet, Mystic


You may have seen Akiane and her incredible art work before when she has appeared on various TV shows. Her talent, which began at a very young age, is quite amazing and inspirational. She considers her talent to be directed by God. Obviously her inspiration not only in her art but in her writings has a strong spiritual essence and message. Her paintings evoke an energy that is pure and loving.

And by the way, I added the word Mystic to her description in the quote above, because from what I have read and heard about Akiane, I would consider her a mystic as she is a visionary and has a connection to the spiritual world.

See what you think after reading her words and seeing her artwork and video. I think you may agree.

(and my thanks to Nancy at Life In the Second Half and her blog article on Special Children for again bringing Akiane to my attention.)

From Akiane's Blog:

Posted on August 16, 2010 by Akiane
187 Comments
a Response to Bloggers’ questions regarding alternative lifestyles.

I define spirituality as a search for love, beauty, happiness and wisdom. Spirituality is a journey that we never finish. It has nothing to do with our levels of development, achievement, awareness or intention.

Both a two year-old and a centenarian might not be wise, happy or altruistic yet highly spiritual. Young children might not be fully aware how spiritual they are, however, without childlike sincerity and purity we cannot even imagine certain touch of holiness.

Hitler, too, tried to create his own version of perfect, healthy and stable society. For many he was an epitome of farsightedness and spirituality. The Pope even blessed Hitler’s army. Was Hitler spiritual? Yes. In his own diabolic and hideous way.

How do we weigh levels of spirituality? Are alternative lifestyles less spiritual than traditional ones? Some people abstain from all intimate relationships, because they believe they have to devote their time to love all mankind in a childlike genuineness. Others form monogamous heterosexual relationships. While others create bonds outside all traditional rules.

From the standpoint of eternity each level of maturity is relative. We are all spiritual, and we are all different. Neither higher, nor lower. Neither farther, nor closer. Neither deeper, nor more shallow. Just uniquely different. Looking at a blossom from a different direction one will see it completely foreign, special, beautiful or revolting depending on where we stand. If the close-up is of a spider attached to the stem, then for those who don’t like spiders the sight will look distasteful. If the image is of a butterfly on a petal the view may appear peaceful to us, but not for a bird hungrily watching the scene.

From the standpoint of our present world we all assign our measurements of preference. Given the choice we will join families and groups based on our interests. We attract those with similar values and ideals. People crave belonging. So whether it is a national, racial, religious, political, educational, vocational or biological identification we try to connect to something familiar and within our comfort zone.

Clear messages of diverse feelings experienced by other people were part of my visionary and extrasensory perception since I was five years of age. I do not condemn any personal choices for intimate relationships. Love is love. I detest only the violence and trauma that any self-centered conduct can cause to others.

[copyright by Akiane Kramarik, 2010]





Akiane’s Website Gallery



~Linda

Science and Spirituality

Nancy at Life in the Second Half Blog has an interesting post today (actually all her posts are interesting and inspirational if you do not already know that) Her post is on Greg Braden and his video series The Science of Miracles.

Although I've never read any of Greg Braden's books, I have heard him interviewed often on Coast to Coast AM Radio and have watched videos. He marries science and spirituality in an inspirational and enlightening way.

As Nancy writes: "Greg Braden takes complex material related to science and spirituality and puts into an easy-to-understand format. Reiterating the importance of prayer and positive, peaceful thoughts, this series has much to offer. There are seven parts, between five and ten minutes each. If you choose to watch some or all of it, please let me know what you think."

So go to her blog post, and then watch the interesting videos, and then back to her blog to share your comments with her.

Earlier this year I posted a blog "The New Norm" about Greg Braden and Doreen Virtue.

~Linda

The New Norm

“All of us are here creating our future every minute.” ~Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., Angel clairvoyant

Best selling author Gregg Braden, internationally renowned as a pioneer in bridging science and spirituality, and Doreen Virtue discuss our future and where we are in the evolution of our planet (and ourselves).

I’ve never gone along with the apocalyptic view of 2012, and any other event for that matter, but instead, have believed our planet is in constant change as we are as a civilization.
More about Change Here and Here in previous blogs.

I especially like Gregg Braden’s comment which I very much identify with. Maybe you will too, if you are here reading, listening, and enjoying it. He commented, also, if you were listening to this you were “probably the kind of person that other people have always looked at as being a little odd, in some ways.” And it is because we are “odd” that we are “willing to look at the world a little differently, beyond the edges of our comfort zone.”

And I join them in being a “professional odd,” as Doreen Virtue said. How about you?

and thanks, Edith, for bringing this video to my attention :-)

~Linda

Don Pendleton Essays

This is an excerpt from the soon to be published book, The Cosmic Breath: Metaphysical Essays of Don Pendleton. The publication date for the new book should be October 15th, and will be available at Amazon. Don considered himself to be a metaphysical scholar and although most of his writings over the years were fiction, he loved sharing his metaphysical beliefs. I love this quote by Albert Einstein and wanted to share it.

This excerpt is from Don’s Essay, The Basic Question, which is about just that—Is there a reason for the existence of the world?

All the great systems of human thought have conceded that all of science and all of philosophy and, yes, even all of religion cannot answer the unanswerable question of existence—yet we have done so, and we have done so negatively.

Okay, back to metaphysics. Why? Why is there not a reason for the existence of the world? Because you cannot see a creator, a God? Albert Einstein has seen him. If science is your religion, then listen to the testimony of one of the scientific greats of all time. “My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.” Is that science? No, that is metaphysics. It is also religion, and Einstein had something to say about that also: “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” And that, also, is metaphysics.

Indeed, all that admits or examines or even questions the great primordial mysteries of existence is metaphysics. Metaphysics is religion, and science, and philosophy—without the self-imposed chains of those inquiries. Metaphysics is ESP, it is mysticism, it is magic, it is spirituality—and it is the human mind pondering the imponderable.

~Linda

Angels Are With Us.

"Listen for the flutter of an angel's wing

as it softly touches you with love.

Embrace it and join in the dance."

~Linda Pendleton

Each of us is a miracle. You are the greatest miracle ever produced by this universe. You are. You exist. And you know that you exist. That is the greatest miracle of all.

More and more people everywhere are searching for a richer understanding of themselves and their world. Many are turning from organized religion and finding satisfaction in a broader spiritual understanding.

One of the most troubling fears of every day is that we are alone and sometimes even isolated within ourselves. It can help to have a sense of spiritual connection within the self when these troubling thoughts surface and disturb us.

The awareness of an overshadowing presence which accompanies our every movement through life can profoundly influence our perceptions of who we are, where we are, and what we are. The entire universe is whispering into our souls and inviting an echo which confirms that the message has been received, understood and acknowledged. The entire whispering universe is at our beck and call. Respond to it, interact with it, and you shall never, ever feel alone again.

~Linda

Contact With Spirit and Mystical Peak Experiences

“There is another reality enfolding ours—as close as our breath!”
~Don Pendleton (1927-1995)

I believe many spiritual experiences can be labeled peak or mystical. And that includes contact with spirit, whether spontaneous or by choice. Any contact or communication can be awe-inspiring, confirming, healing, unifying. Realizing that one is not alone and that there is a connection to the Divine is empowering. Accepting that we are all spiritual beings, whether in the physical body as a spiritual being, or on the Other Side as a spiritual being – we are all one and the same.

When we begin to acknowledge that we are connected to one another, to the Divine, we have laid the groundwork to sharpen our higher spiritual sense. We are powerful transmitters and receivers. If we learn to think of spirit communication as an exchange of energy, a radio signal, or an open telephone line, it becomes a normal event, and there is nothing paranormal about it. I personally like Joseph Campbell’s explanation of a peak experience as the moments in our lives when we experience our “relationship to the harmony of being.”

~ Linda

There is a River: the Life of Edgar Cayce, A Life Changing Book

Today my friend Ricky Kendall emailed me about seeing the book, There is a River: the Life of Edgar Cayce, by Thomas Sugrue, on my Favorites Book list. There Is A River, was developed during Sugrue's intimate association with Cayce and was first published by Henry Holt and Company in 1942, still regarded as the most definitive study of Cayce's life and his extraordinary psychic gift.

And Ricky told me what that book meant to him. His story is so familiar. I have heard over and over again from friends, acquaintances, and from fan mail, how they had read There is a River, usually in years past, and how the book was a catalyst for their spiritual search and understandings.

I’m not sure what year I first read it, maybe late 1950’s. It is very possible my father had it in his paperback collection when I was in Junior High or High School. I do know we had discussions about Cayce. If I had not read it then, it would have been not long after.

Ricky had this to say today:

I noticed on your "Population Unknown" blog you have Thomas Sugrue's "There is a River". Did that ever bring back memories. We used to have weekly gatherings, back home in ….Wyoming, of family and friends to hold séances. I monitored the séances because I had taken a short tutorial on hypnosis and everyone felt I could best make them feel at ease and help any medium come through [with spirit]. It worked!

My uncle was a medium until his wife put an end to it. She did not approve. We learned a lot from him. A friend of the family who was Wiccan, Bonnie ... came through as a medium later on during one of our session. She has since passed away but I have many of her letters. I couldn't bear to throw them out because of the beautiful signs and art on them. She was a member of the Scottish Wicca. She was amazing.

Our little gatherings would last about 3 hours and we'd always have some sort of treat afterward while we discussed UFO's, psychic phenomenon, ghosts, lost treasures and anything fun. I usually made chocolate chip date cake which everyone loved. It was easy to hold and no frosting. The meetings actually got out of control at one point because people in town heard about it and wanted to attend. You wouldn't believe the unfamiliar faces that would be knocking at our door before the meetings, wanting to attend.

When my uncle was a medium, he actually solved a murder case in our town before the police even knew who the murderer was. He explained the entire event from start to finish. It was a local high school student who had stabbed two girls after the annual Christmas tree bon fire at the city park. It actually scared us all half to death but it also added more interest for us and it had to become more secret. What my uncle had told us had to be kept hush, hush. How on earth would we even begin to explain to a small town police department that the information came through a séance. The murderer was finally caught about a year later and the entire series of events were a perfect match to what he had told us. It was an amazing time for me. I was a sophomore in high school.

The reason I wanted to tell you this story is that "There is a River" was a huge part of our weekly discussions. We read it together, talked about it, added our own philosophies and spiritual accents and just enjoyed the hell out of it. Sometimes I wonder if this isn't what religion is really all about. Getting together and sharing spiritual knowledge from every possible source. I hope you enjoyed that book as much as we did. I love Edgar Cayce's writings.

* * * * * * *

I think Ricky is correct; if this is not what religion is about, then it should be. A sharing of spiritual knowledge and spiritual experiences. Stepping out of the BOX, and exploring other ideas, because after all, we are all spiritual beings.

I can also relate to the situation with the uncle knowing facts about the murders. About twenty years ago, a reputable and credible psychic from Southern California received information from beyond regarding the death of a missing young boy. He headed up a very small group of sensitives who often worked discreetly with the police department on security issues and other matters. So he went to them with the information that had come to him. And the cops were very suspicious of him, suspicious enough that he become very concerned. He spoke with us about it. As it turned out, sadly, the young boy was murdered, and the details matched what he had “known.” I believe he was a little uneasy until the suspect was arrested and charged with the kidnap and murder of the boy. So I understand the uneasiness that Ricky’s family and friends felt over the information that came to his uncle.

I had mentioned to Ricky that I was surprised by an interest in the paranormal during those earlier years and in a small town in Wyoming.

And he told me, “these people have more time, slower paced and quite possibly bored. The idea of séances and the supernatural was like a new blockbuster movie to them. What is even more fascinating is the intelligent input by many of them. Deep down they had a real thirst for knowing what was around them, in this life and the afterlife. I have to say that very few of them had a religious affiliation that peaked their interest enough to go to church to find the answers. They were all looking for another [spiritual] source and they were full of questions and many had very plausible and interesting answers.”

Heck, maybe that is what it is all about. An innate thirst for knowing--a search for answers.

And for many that thirst led them to reading There is a River and within the pages of that book the American public was first widely exposed to mediumship and reincarnationist thought through the work of Edger Cayce.

Edger Cayce had a psychic gift beyond compare, but Thomas Sugru also had a gift he shared, his talent for writing an extraordinary book about the life of Edger Cayce and his psychic work.

And they both gave us inspiration.

Read Part Two: Edgar Cayce, The Mystical Odyssey


~Linda

Edger Cayce, The Mystical Odyssey

The American public was first widely exposed to reincarnationist thought through the work of Edger Cayce and the many books that were spawned by his extraordinary psychic gift. The first such book, There Is A River, by Thomas Sugrue, was developed during Sugrue's intimate association with Cayce and was first published by Henry Holt and Company in 1942, still regarded as the most definitive study of Cayce's life.

Below is an excerpt from my book, Whispers From the Soul: The Divine Dance of Consciousness by Don and Linda Pendleton.

Born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky in 1877, Edger Cayce was but twelve years old when the first awakening of his mystical nature became manifest. A Biblical scholar with an innate religious sense, he had very early on resolved to read the Holy Bible from cover to cover at least once for every year of his life. By the age of twelve, he had read the entire Bible twelve times. His favorite reading spot was in a playhouse which he had built for himself beside a creek in the woods where he went every afternoon to study the Bible.

While so engrossed one day, reading the story of Manoah in the Book of Judges, in which the conception of Samson by his barren mother was revealed to her and her husband, Manoah, by an angel who later ascended into heaven, the young Cayce looked up to see a woman standing before him. "I thought it was my mother, come to fetch me home for the chores. Then I saw that she was not my mother, and that she had wings on her back. She said to me, 'Your prayers have been answered, little boy. Tell me what it is you want most of all, so that I may give it to you.' I was very frightened, but after a minute I managed to say, 'Most of all I would like to be helpful to other people, especially children.' Then she disappeared...the next day in school I couldn't spell a word, and was kept after school...that night I slept on my spelling book and knew everything in the book when I woke up."

Cayce had a rather routine and uneventful life during his early adulthood but the event that was to profoundly change his life occurred when he was twenty-three. He became ill and lost his voice, unable to speak for nearly a year except in a whisper, and sought the help of a hypnotist after all medical remedies had failed.

While under hypnosis, he spoke without difficulty in a clear and natural voice. But then something incredible was also going on. As his speech began, his first words were, "Yes, we can see the body." This was soon to become recognized as a standard "opening statement" from his deep hypnotic trance state, the signal that he was in contact with another reality–and this first "reading" was to provide the diagnosis, treatment and cure of his own affliction.

The message through Cayce's voice continued, "In the normal state, this body is unable to speak, due to a partial paralysis of the inferior muscles of the vocal chords, produced by nerve strain. This is a psychological condition producing a physical effect. This may be removed by increasing the circulation to the affected parts by suggestion while in this unconscious condition."

This was but the beginning of the most astounding Odyssey of psychic experiences ever documented during modern times. While in deep trance, Cayce was able to diagnose illness and prescribe treatment for others even at long distance and with no physical contact between Cayce and his patients.

One of Cayce's earliest consultations was for a five year old girl who had been ill for three years and was suspected of some degree of mental retardation, suffering from convulsive seizures following an attack of grippe [influenza] at age two. She had been seen by many medical specialist without relief and the seizure episodes were intensifying, then experiencing up to twenty per day at the time Cayce was asked to help her. Through his trance state, it was determined that the child had suffered an injury to her lower spine as a result of a fall from her carriage days before the onset of flu symptoms. Cayce's diagnosis showed that the grippe germs had settled in the injured spine area which produced the convulsions and subsequent lack of mental development. He recommended specific, gentle osteopathic adjustments of the spine. The first adjustment was not dramatically effective and a subsequent reading told the doctor that the adjustment was not quite right. The following adjustment was properly done according to a "check-reading" and instructions were given to continue the spinal adjustments every day for the next three weeks. Within a week, the child was responding dramatically. At the end of the third week, Cayce, in trance, reported that the condition had been corrected and that the child was developing normally and would continue to do so without further treatments. By the time three months had passed, the child was normal in all respects and regaining the mental growth lost during those three years.

His medical readings assisted thousands of men, women and children around the world for the next twenty-two years before he entered a new phase in 1923, the "life readings" for the mind and soul, which produced the first reincarnation/past-lives and prophetic studies, the centerpiece of Cayce's work from that point forward until shortly before his death twenty-one years later.

Cayce, a devout Christian, was deeply concerned by the past-life readings, plunging him into a concerted study of the scriptures before he was able to reconcile these apparent conflicts with his Christian beliefs.

The A.R.E., Association for Research and Enlightenment, was founded by Cayce and supporters in 1931 at Virginia Beach, Virginia. Cayce died in 1945 at the age of sixty-seven but the A.R.E. foundation remains highly active to this day. More than thirty thousand stenographic records of his diagnoses, life readings and case studies, containing affidavits and reports by physicians and patients, are still being categorized, researched and published by the foundation.

Cayce was characterized as a clairvoyant and, indeed, he seemed more comfortable with that idea and preferred to think that he was merely somehow able to tap into the "Akashic Record," which is the concept that every thought, every movement, every sound since the beginning of creation is indelibly impressed into the fundamental etheric substance of the universe. One might say, impressed into the memory of God. Carl Jung's collective unconscious would seem to suggest something of this nature.

However, by Cayce's own records, it did seem that from time to time he was communicating directly with the consciousness of individual souls on the other side and sometimes engaged in dialogues with them. He did not appear to be "taken over" in any physical sense by another entity during his trance state though on occasion an entity would speak through him. It could be noted that Cayce consciously had no memory whatever of the sessions until he read them from the transcripts.

Apparently, also, Cayce was able to see auras and to diagnose medical conditions while in a complete waking state, thus it is obvious that he did possess a superior psychic sense in or out of trance.

From our own personal direct association with other trance-mediums, the entities who come through these mediums exhibit definite and memorable personality traits which could not be ascribed to some impersonal source such as the "Akashic Record." These spirits are usually highly personal, even engaging in quite detailed discussions with their clients, are often very humorous, displaying strongly identifiable mannerisms and figures of speech.

Whatever the source of Edgar Cayce's spectacular gifts, they have provided new windows through which ordinary people may perceive reality and often transform their lives.

We all are richer because of Edgar Cayce.



© Copyright 2003 by Linda Pendleton. All Rights Reserved.

Read Part One: There is a River: Edger Cayce, A Life Changing Book

~Linda

Marilyn Ferguson and her Aquarian Conspiracy Book

Author, Marilyn Ferguson and her best-selling book, The Aquarian Conspiracy opened new doors, new ideals, and enforced and inspired a movement that was taking place, and her book sort of brought it together and made it acceptable, and promising on a massive and global scale.

I just discovered today that Marilyn Ferguson passed away recently. Her 1980 best-selling book, The Aquarian Conspiracy, blended ideas in medicine, psychology, polictics, environment, spirituality and such, into what many considered New Age. Although all of those ideas were not new, Marilyn's book gave millions much more to think about the world we were living in and what could be done to make it a better, more peaceful place.

A November 2, 2008 Los Angeles Times article by Elaine Woo, Titled, Marilyn Ferguson, 1938-2008, Writer was pivotal figure in New Age movement, is correct. It was really about a revolution in consciousness, a swinging of the pendulum from a darker place into a place of light, hope, and love. The book resulted in Marilyn traveling world wide for lectures, in addition to lecturing to members of Congress. And rather interestingly Al Gore was a fan of the book and invited Marilyn Ferguson to the White House, according to Marilyn's son, Eric.

I'm not surprised by that as I've considered Al Gore and Bill Clinton to be visionaries, and spiritual minded and, of course, for many, many, years former Vice President Gore has giving the environment his utmost attention; and Bill Clinton dedicates his attention to humanitarian efforts, HIV/AIDS with his Clinton Foundation.

I was rather surprised by a beautiful comment in the L.A. Times article by publisher, Jeremy Tarcher. Tarcher says he remembers clearly how he reacted when she showed him her writing and information she had collected for a book idea: "he began to cry." He said, "I had one of those moments of epiphany when you feel you are hearing or reading something that is going to be a guide for a significant part of your life. That doesn't happen to publishers every day."

Jeremy Tarcher has published a lot of excellent books over the years, books about health, philosophy, consciousness, and human potential, and other transformational subjects.

I'm sure her work will live on.....she leaves a remarkable and inspirational legacy....

I found this posting by Dr. Deepak Chopra very nice in regards to Marilyn Ferguson and her work:


"Marilyn Ferguson: An Appreciation- posted: Friday, November 7th, 2008-->
From: Deepak Chopra Posted: Friday, November 7th, 2008

Reagan was on the rise, the anti-war movement had sunk to a low ebb, and the New Age was barely christened when The Aquarian Conspiracy appeared in 1980. Overnight Marilyn Ferguson's book became famous and sold in the millions. I was a young doctor who had just learned to meditate when I picked up a dog-eared paperback copy at a Catskill spiritual retreat. Ferguson's message shot through me like electricity: a "benign conspiracy" was bringing about the greatest shift in consciousness in the twentieth century. In one stroke Ferguson unified a movement that seemed like small, isolated outposts on the fringes of respectable society.

Ferguson was a uniter and a futurist. By showing feminists what they shared with environmentalists, New Age spiritual seekers with peace activists, her book inspired a movement that didn't define the future in terms of technology. Cell phones and computers were incidental. The real future lay in consciousness-raising on a global scale. Ferguson's "BrainMind Bulletin" made sure that her message kept up to date with scientific breakthroughs, and she joined forced with former astronaut Edgar Mitchell and his influential Institute of Noetic Sciences in California.

When she died this October at age 70, Ferguson could take satisfaction that a watershed had been crossed. For all the multitudes of people for whom Dick Cheney is more familiar than the I Ching, George Bush than the Bhagavad-Gita, her "leaderless revolution" has grown steadily around the world. Ferguson helped make possible a new style of politician like Barack Obama and ecological activists like Al Gore. She was a one-woman movement for hope. She promised every voice in the wilderness that there were a thousand other voices like theirs."
~Deepak Chopra, posted at http://www.intent.com/