Julie A Carda

Portal to Peace Foreword

2008-07-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

I had wanted to put a significant quote as a foreword to Portal to Peace but lost this detail as life got busy. As a writer, I never know how inspiration will hit. In the past, when I've received a download of information for a story, I've found the work affirmed by visual art, music, or profound words of wisdom in oral or written context. During the crafting process, I keep these pearls nearby. While I wrote Portal to Peace, the following excerpt was thumb tacked to my bulletin board. Now I'll copy it below for visitors to contemplate.

It is only by going down into the abyss
that we recover the treasures of life.
Where you stumble
there lies your treasure.
The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.
--Joseph Campbell

E-marketing a free book

2008-04-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

A measure of success--or not.

According to textbooks, the effectiveness of E-marketing depends on creativity, distribution, promotion, and pricing. After spending months surfing sites and examining the effectiveness of the above list, I formulated a massive e-marketing plan. My projected goal--name recognition in the published author marketplace.

First, I selected to give something away free-something I own exclusively. Why not a manuscript? Two, I elected to give the manuscript away free without a hitch—the hitch being signing up for a list of some sort or taking a survey. I added a donation button at the end of the manuscript for those people who believe an artist should be rewarded for a creation. Remember, I want website traffic and name recognition above all else. Generally, I want people talking about me and what I’m doing and writing.

Three, I utilized the free world-wide web with things like Myspace, iVillage, Facebook, Filefront, Blogs and links, personal website, Amazon profiles, my private address book, my professional organizations, Romance Writers of America, Heartland Writers Group, Kiss of Death, From The Heart Romance Writers, Nebraska Writers, contest judging, online critiquing, and anything from RWR. Fourth and last, I have a Youtube video in the making.

So all said and done, what is the expected timeline for the ripple effect to take place--the ripple effect being thousands of free downloads of my Pdf book and name recognition because all the people I’ve approached directly about the promotion have taken advantage of the offer and passed on the news to friends? Since most of these connections are writers themselves and by nature also readers, I’d think the traffic and downloads would zip through cyberspace at incredible speed. If not because the other writers read my type of work, but because they have first hand knowledge of what it takes to get any recognition.

I’ve stated my agenda and tried to eradicate anything murky in this promotion. I’ve attempted to create a situation which is based purely on electing to support me. No cost. Incredible ease by providing one click access. http://www.julieacarda.com/books.html
Minimal time investment--less than sixty seconds.

This being the case, why after nearly four weeks isn’t the counter on my book spinning into the thousands? If getting a free e-book isn’t tempting, I wonder how the sudden explosion of e-publishing is going to survive. I’m curious to hear what others believe might be the reasons for the lack of appeal and interest and how to solve them.

Free Book: Portal to Peace

2008-03-01T06:40:00.000-08:00

Just click or copy and paste the link below to read the free Pdf. of this book.

http://www.julieacarda.com/books.html

Free Book Deal Made Even Easier

2008-03-01T06:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've made this very simple. Just click the link below and bingo-the Pdf. book Portal to Peace loads for your reading pleasure. Yes, it's in manuscript format--pretend you're an editor. If you prefer lighter paranormal storylines, sweet metaphysical romance, sexy men, a bit of adventure and danger, and a "happily ever after" ending, give this a try.

http://www.julieacarda.com/books.html

My goal is to see how many people will read something new, by an unfamiliar author, if it's given away free. You get a free read, I get your help in the expansive market place with name recognition. Thanks for your support, and happy reading!

Free Book: Portal to Peace, a brief description.

2008-02-18T13:43:00.000-08:00

If you didn't read the excerpt on my website here is a brief description of the free Pdf. book I'm offering.

Portal to Peace. A traditionally trained Navajo shaman and a Swedish Special Air Services officer must physically and spiritually stretch beyond the self-imposed perimeters of their life choices while racing against the clock to rescue a missing test pilot. Conflicts abound as the heroine awakens to the realities of intimate love and physical desire for a man while the hero strives to overcome his aversion to all things spiritual and irrational.
The powerful, alluring characters encounter visions of spirits, move through other dimensions, evade a naagloshii (an evil medicine worker in the Navajo culture) and enter the Scandinavian Seidr (an ancient shamanic practice based in Norse mythology).

For a free Pdf. computer copy see the February 18 post here on my blog or click the link below.

http://www.julieacarda.com/books.html

Or come back in a few days and you can get it directly from my website. Happy reading! Feel free to leave a comment.

Free Book Offer on MySpace

2008-02-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

I finally made the big jump and started a my space site. I'm using this space to promote a free book, Portal to Peace. If you like paranormal romance, click over and check out the bulletin for how to get your copy or just click on the easy link below.

http://www.julieacarda.com/books.html

Just imagine a free 550 page Pdf. computer book in your favorite genre!

http://www.myspace.com/julieacarda

Free Book Offer: Portal to Peace

2008-02-18T13:01:00.000-08:00

Here you'll find a genuine, unpirated book available to the general public. Why? I'm a good writer who wants readers to become familiar with my name and work. My writer friends think this is crazy--me giving away my hard work for free. What good is hard work if nobody in the industry knows your name? Okay, I'm not completely crazy. If you like what you read, you can make a donation/contribution. (Paypal doesn't let you call something a contribution.) But really it's free. You never have to donate/contribute a cent!

Download a FREE 550 page Pdf. version for your computer.

It's easy. You'll need to click or copy and paste the address below.

http://www.julieacarda.com/books.html

Feel free to use and share with proper credit.

Calendula Ointment

2007-09-13T07:51:00.000-07:00

This plant has spirit enough for everyone--from babies to elderly. Safe internal and external. The yellow-gold flower reminds me of the energy of the sun and the sticky resin reminds me of the healing properties of honey.

Calendula Ointment

Ingredients:
2 oz calendula infused oil (olive oil or coconut oil base)
2 oz extra virgin coconut oil
½ oz beeswax
1 tsp. lanolin

Combine the above ingredients in a Pyrex measuring cup. Place cup in a shallow pan of water and gently heat. When ingredients have assimilated, pour into a 4 oz container with a tight lid. Long shelf life if kept away from heat and light.

Favorite Herbal Recipes

2007-09-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

As an herbalist I often get asked what kinds of skin care products I recommend. My answer is to make your own. By making your own you needn’t compromise on ingredients. You can have exactly what you want in the proportions you want. I recommend starting with simple products and working into the more complex. For the next few blogs, I’ll share some of my recipes. These have been time tested . In the days when I grew and produced products this was one of my top sellers.

Lip Balm

Ingredients:

2 oz of beeswax (real chunks or refined pellets okay)
6 oz of coconut oil
8 ml of calendula flower oil (olive oil base)
6 ml of St John’s Wort Flowering Top oil (olive oil base) optional
10 drops of vitamin E (oil)
¼ tsp of raw honey
8 drops of tangerine oil (optional)

In a two cup glass measuring container add the first two ingredients. Set the glass container inside a shallow pan of water and melt the oil and beeswax together. When liquefied, stir in the remaining ingredients. Immediately dispense into appropriate containers.

The small round tins are nice, although I have filled individual tubes also. The recipe makes about sixteen small round tins or twenty-plus tubes. Since I no longer sell these, what I do is I fill a few containers, and then let the rest solidify in the glass container and refill the same tins later in the season. In a shallow pan of water, you can gently reheat the glass container with the leftover product. I purchased a Pyrex cup just for making lip balm, so that I could save my extra in the same container. Kept away from heat and light, this has a really long shelf life.

Ideas For Using Home Shrines.

2007-09-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

Now when a blockage or undesirable pattern is identified, an individual can sit in meditation at each shrine. One of the shrines will connect and give clarity to the blockage or undesirable pattern. If it’s a pattern which needs to change, determine in your mind what the change looks like. Give the mental image of change, shape, color, depth, and details. Go to the shrine and say, “this is how my change looks. This is what I want in my life.” Now express this new image using one of the shrines. Cleaning and arranging a shrine to revive the energy and to give a fresh look is important.

By visiting the shrine of change, it can assist with the blockage or pattern reminding the individual to do the work given to him/her by the guides in the Akashic realm. The shrine becomes the concrete form of the metaphysical experience.

Naturally there is great depth to the use and application of indigenous ritual. The ritual here is in a very relaxed and simple form. Sometimes in the Western world people hold the belief that if something is too easy than it isn’t going to stick. In the case of ritual, it has to do with frequency not with complexity. Simple ritual is easily performed and easily maintained.

Home Fire Shrine

2007-08-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

Home Earth Shrine

2007-08-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

Home Nature Shrine

2007-08-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

Home Mineral Shrine

2007-08-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

Home Water Shrine

2007-08-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

Building Shrines within the home.

2007-08-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

A Fire shrine would have a red cloth (or all of the colors close to red from orange to pink). Perhaps a statue of a woman carrying a basket of chili peppers is in the center. Think hot—fire and get creative. In each cardinal direction is a bright red candle. On the periphery are pictures of ancestors or small token reminders (jewelry, small accessory, etc.) This shrine would reside in a southern location in the home, the place of the ancestors.

A Water shrine would have a blue cloth (or all of the colors of blue from black to pale purple) and be placed in a northern location. Perhaps the center piece is a lovely fountain or perhaps a bowel of water. Around or in the water might be a circle of water stones-stones found on a beach or shells. In the water perhaps a floating blue candle.

An Earth shrine would have a yellow cloth (brown-gold to pale yellow) and be situated somewhere in the center of the home. The center piece might be an earthen pottery container. Perhaps dirt fills the container. Each direction might have a symbol of Gaia the earth mother or womb shaped items. A photo of the home might take one of the cardinal directions, likewise a photo of the family. Planted in the earthen container might be a yellow candle.

The Nature shrine would have an eastern direction with a green cloth (forest green to bright lime). A bonsai tree might be the center surrounded by small plants, leaves or flowers in each cardinal direction. Maybe fairy statues or paper butterflies want to hide among the plants. Something symbolic of magic could also be placed among the plants. Maybe some flickering green twinkle lights or feathers.

A Mineral shrine would have a westerly direction and a white cloth. Stones and crystals of all shapes, colors and sizes are placed in patterns over the cloth. Some stones might touch while others might remain separate. Salt in a marble dish might sit in the center. A book of stories might set to the side. Animal skulls, bone fragments or even minerals taken in the form of a daily supplement might be placed in the cardinal directions.

Dagara medicine

2007-08-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

The African Medicine Wheel: Numerology Explained

Those whose years of birth end with 2 or 7 are the fire keepers, the keepers of the fire, the link between the village and the ancestors’ world. His/Her role or task, what he/she does for the village has to do with something pertaining to helping people link up to something about ancestors, about Spirit, and so forth. Fire is the first element in the order. It is called the primal energy and is associated with the emotional self, the intuitive self, the dream self, and the instinct. Fire people walk on a thin line between the ancestors’ world and this world. They must pay careful attention to dreams and visions.

Birth years which end in 1 and 6 are about water. Water is the peacemaker and reconciler. Water is the second element, and water is essentially about reconciling within the self and with other individuals. It’s about making bridges—between two cultures for instance, or between two people. It’s about bringing out wisdom. It is also about focusing somebody so that they can see beyond their turmoil. For the sake of the community, water people need to be together and work together as one entity.

Born into a 0 or 5 are earth elements. They are the care-takers and the home providers. As the third element, earth is about nurturing, grounding, taking care of one another and unconditional love. It is also about empowerment, providing a sense of home and identity.

Years ending in 3 or 8 are Nature. In Dagara medicine they are referred to as the witches and wizards. Nature is about magic. It is about major changes—life, death, rebirth. It is about dropping the masks and coming into the true self. It is also about joy and laughter.

Last of the elements are those born with 4 or 9. They are mineral. Mineral is about communicating, the ability to translate things, the ability to converse. It has a lot to do with social connections. In the indigenous world they are the storytellers, the great communicators. They remind individuals of all the memory stored in the bones and the importance of minerals to the human body. Mineral people are also recognized as stone people—not that they are stone but because the stone is seen as the one that stores information.

With that brief introduction to the Akashic and the medicine wheel, here are five basic ritual ideas which can be used in the home. For each of the five elements create a shrine. A shrine makes an elusive concept concrete. When the Akashic identifies a blockage or pattern in an individual’s life, the shrine can be referenced for clarity on the process necessary for removal or change.

Indigenous meets metaphysical: Elements of Ritual

2007-08-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

Indigenous medicine helps humans relate to the spirit world by using a point of entry into time. This point of entry maintains the spiritual connection to source. One point of entry used by indigenous communities is the medicine wheel. A medicine wheel is a sacred space which simultaneously references the physical and spiritual realm. A wheel connects to an energy grid which connects to everything, everywhere concurrently.

Medicine wheels support the practice of both metaphysics and Akashic record divination. Below are brief explanations of Akashic records and an African medicine wheel followed by ideas for their ritual application.

“The Akashic Records are the individual records of a soul from the time it leaves its point of origin until its return. At the time we make the decision to experience life as an independent entity, there is a field of energy created to record every thought, word, emotion, and action generated by that experience. That field of energy is the Akashic Records. Akashic, because it is composed of Akasha (the energetic substance from which all life is formed) and Records, because its objective is to record all life experience. The information in the Akashic Records helps us bring our past and our future, present in the “now”. By accessing the Akashic records, we can identify and release anything that we have created, that has become a block to our present realization of our oneness with God/source.”

(For more information: http://arc-akashicrecords.org/)

A diviner of the records can open someone’s records and channel his/her information. As these are his/her records, he/she can engage the energy at will. There is no right or wrong question as long as the question belongs to his/her energy alone. For example a wife cannot ask about her husband’s healing work, instead she must ask about her own and perhaps how she can best support someone else.

The Dagara Medicine Wheel, from Burkina Faso, West Africa is used to understand certain shamanic practices. Like many medicine wheels around the world, the Dagara wheel is divided into five elements, Fire, Water, Earth, Mineral, and Nature. Each element on the wheel is assigned attributes. The element you are born into indicates the role you will have in the present life of the community. Each role provides support to an individual to enable him/her to fulfill contracts made prior to birth.

The dominate element is based on a person’s birth. The system uses the last number of an individual’s birth year. For example, if someone were born in 1957, he/she would look at the element that connects to seven.

Earth year ends in 0 or 5
Water year ends in 1 or 6
Fire year ends in 2 or 7
Nature year ends in 3 or 8
Mineral year ends in 4 or 9

Here is a brief explanation of the meaning of each element. (For more detail visit the following site.
www.schoolofwisdom.com/Malidoma/africanwheel.html)

Conclusion of an Akashic divination experience

2007-08-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

While doing the divining for a client, the sense of time slips away. Often I close a session because the records will tell me or I’ll have symptoms of fatigue swirl about me. As I bring a divination to a close, I will ask mentally if there is anything else the guide or guides want to impart to the client, then I verbally give gratitude, praise, and thanks as I close the doorway of light to the realm.

Most divinations take about an hour to an hour and a half. If a reading is too long, as I mentioned above, I become physically drained. When I finish, I’ll have a great need to eat protein and drink lots of water. If I do several divinations in a day, I plan for half hour rests between clients. A little known and quite fascinating part of this work is that I always receive a personal message from the Akashic realm. As the translator, the guides bestow me with blessings.

There are many Akashic Record Diviners in the world. Each has their unique experience as to the access point. I have experienced divine information from dreamers and visionaries who walk into the realm through various portals very different from my portal. The common thread to know someone has accessed the Akashic is the sublime infusion of love inherent in the information. The messages have never dumped negativity or fear. Hearing a person is on the road to ruin, is not going to show up in the Akashic realm or divination. After all, the records are recording a journey, not judging it.

Without this love connection, the information simply is not from the Akashic realm. There are all kinds of psychic information. Human beings are complex. The human mind and body can host multiple energetic forms simultaneously. We are a mass of electrical circuitry, constantly rewiring for better connections to life in all dimensions. By setting intention, any person can begin to distinguish these connections and the multiple forms of energy. Being sensitive and having the ability to divine is not relegated to a select few, all humans have the capacity and potential to raise their level of consciousness.

Akashic divination experience continued.

2007-08-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

What happens? Are there physical responses to divination work? In the transition, my heart beats faster and my fingers tingle. I’ve found transition easier when I clench my Herkimer diamond in my left hand and allow for the physical changes in my body. When the light is present, I state this to the client. Images appear and I describe as vividly as possible everything I sense, hear, see, or feel. Often, at this point, I will let the client ask aloud a question. If the client doesn’t have prepared questions, he/she may simply ask to know whatever is in his/her highest good at the moment. The questions are limited to his/her records. The guides of the Akashic do not permit questions which require accessing another person’s records. For instance, the client couldn’t ask about what is happening to brother, sister, spouse, friend, etc. He/She could ask how they might best interact with a given situation around these people.

Over the years, I’ve learned to identify deep and troubled unspoken problems. Certain situations like drug and alcohol use, physical and sexual abuse show up in various forms—actual forms with color, substance, and an energetic feel. Before a "reading", it’s extremely important the client refrain from pleasure drugs and alcohol. If the client has not complied, then these show up as blockages in the reading making it difficult to move around in the energy and engage the guides. The energetic field becomes a game, like hide and seek, to evade the diviner. People would be amazed at the controls within the subconscious.

Akashic Record Divination continued

2007-07-24T16:05:00.000-07:00

More on the previous blog...

On the prescribed date and time, the person arrives becoming my client and I usher them into a pre-set room. While I settle them, I remain humbled that this person would want to hear what the ancient ones have to say. The mystery of the process still eludes me. As I prepare for the divination, I ask God that the divine words come in a form I am able to impart and my heart be continually infused with love. Intent is extremely important.

I begin by opening the link to my records using silent prayer. In this way, I am sensing my own energy with clarity and can easily recognize the energy of the client. I can also ask for guidance from my higher-self in detaching from something I do not understand and allow the client’s message to flow regardless of my knowledge. When I finish my prayers and before I open someone’s records, I ask the client several questions. The most important being, do they want to be fully present and allow for this exchange? Resistance makes the divination a powerful drain on me. If they fight me on a subconscious level, I will struggle to hear any messages. Their job is to remain open to receiving and being fully present.

Lighted candles have been placed about the room as an invitation to welcome spirit. My feet are planted on the floor and my hands are open to receive. The posture allows the energy to move through unobstructed. I ask that the client resume the same posture. At this time I pray. I pray for the light of God, the Source of all that is to shield us so that nothing but the divine can enter into the space. Using this prayer, creates a protective tube of white light around us. When this tube of light is engaged, the energy enters from above and brings me immediately into the realm of the Akashic. This is the place where information about a soul since its inception is held in its entirety. Always a guide or comes forward. I have learned over the years not to expect a guide to necessarily contain human form or essence. Rather to expect a divine energy being.

Akashic Record Divination

2007-07-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

I’ve reserved this blog as a place to expand the eclectic, esoteric side of myself. I lack the gift of small talk and struggle against the envy I feel when I see others do such a fine job. It’s not that I don’t talk. When there is information, I’m quite capable of delivering the message. (More on that later.) I’m intense and according to my mother, family, friends, husband, and children, I’ve always been this way. I'm known for applying this intensity to everything I take on-writing, tutoring, spiritual coaching. Perhaps some of the most frequently asked questions I get have to do with my work around spiritual coaching. Why is that? Because I’m an Akashic Record Diviner. Which is what? Keep reading and find out.

“The Akashic Records are the individual records of a soul from the time it leaves its point of origin until its return. At the time we make the decision to experience life as an independent entity, there is a field of energy created to record every thought, word, emotion, and action generated by that experience. That field of energy is the Akashic Records. Akashic, because it is composed of Akasha (the energetic substance from which all life is formed) and Records, because its objective is to record all life experience. The information in the Akashic Records helps us bring our past and our future, present in the “now”. By accessing the Akashic records, we can identify and release anything that we have created, that has become a block to our present realization of our oneness with God/source.”

(For more information: http://arc-akashicrecords.org/)

A diviner of the records can open someone’s records and channel his/her information. As these are his/her records, he/she can engage the energy at will. There is no right or wrong question as long as the question belongs to his/her energy alone. For example a wife cannot ask about her husband’s healing work, instead she must ask about her own and perhaps how she can best support someone else.

Over the years, people have asked me if I remember the readings I’ve completed for clients. The answer is yes--immediately after. However, the reading fades as the hours creep by until I might have but a glimmer of what actually transpired. Edgar Cayce, an early American diviner, was famous for going into trance and then into the Akashic Realm. His wife took copious notes while he spoke. Without the notes, he had no memory of the interactive event. As with every diviner, my experience is unique to me. What is that experience?

It begins when someone (a client) contacts me. I’m only available through word of mouth, so since the client has already spoken to an advocate of the process, I know the client is ready for the experience. I set up a mutually agreed upon date and time and explain the preparation process. During the conversation, my fees are clearly defined. I take only cash, a dollar a minute. Why that specific amount? Because even here the intent has significance. Numerology casts a design upon that which transpires within the divine order. Check the meaning of one, ten, one hundred and the energetic vibration behind the digits.

In our world, the Western World, cash is pure energy. It’s continually moving and flowing. If I am not clear that my work with the Akashic is an energy exchange, I experience an unpleasant physical reaction during the process. Think of the geometrical image a circle. Now apply that image to the flow of energy. We even have a very old saying in our world, what goes round comes round. Therefore, my client, through the physical action of handling money, will be grounded in the moment, fully present, fully agreeable to receive, and fully wanting the moment to be real. Believe as you will, but this is what comes of handling cash in all things versus bank checks or plastic which are too removed from the cycle. But I digress, the day is waning and I’m wanting for time. More later...