Did I Set Up A Difficult Time As A Test Of Faith?
This post answers questions for The Council from a reader named, Anonymous Number 3.
Anon 3: Your posts lately have been incredible. Thank you so much. To keep the conversation going I have a question that ties in with your post, Coming From Your Heart, Connecting To Your Higher Self, And Feeling Good, and your post, What Are The Limits To Positive Thinking?
Council: Oh, there are no limits to positive thinking.
Anon 3: I had a huge leap in my spiritual awareness around 2013 when I found Abraham’s Law of Attraction.
Council: Oh, wonderful. Yes, it’s so helpful, and it’s leading many people to see things differently.
Anon 3: I had this incredible experience of seemingly pulling things out of thin air. It was exhilarating. Some years later disaster struck and my entire life crashed around me. Within a couple months I found myself homeless, unwell, and without my beloved partner.
Council: Look how you created the other side of the coin. And so you created it to learn from it, experience it, and change whatever you wish to change.
Anon 3: The Abraham System didn’t work for me then. I don’t think I’ve understood why that happened yet. I usually learned the lesson from an experience, but this one has consistently evaded me, and I think I’m still scarred by it even though it was six years ago.
Council: You’ve created this experience, (we’ll use Abraham’s words) you’ve created this contrast in your life to see how it was wonderful, and now experiencing the other side of the coin. And it’s your wish at this point to change it back. And you feel the Abraham material isn’t working for you because now what your higher self is showing you is you must find another way. Abraham took you so far, you see it works, and if you stop doubting it would work again.
But now you seem to be looking for something else. And many of the souls right now, what they’re looking for is a way to connect with their higher selves and to get the answer themselves. And what we’ve all agreed on before coming into this reality is that at a certain stage of your life, you’d get your answers by the way you feel, and that’s by connecting with the Heart Chakra.
So whatever it is that you want – success, more money, a new lover – go into your heart chakra and see the beautiful green or pink light, and picture what you want. And then sit and ask your higher self, how do I get there? You’ll be surprised how you will get ideas and how things will automatically come to you because every day you’ll say: “I want to come from my heart. I want to connect with my higher self. I want that guidance in my life.” And so when you do that, you’ll begin to see how in control you are to put yourself on the path you want, and have a life of joy, which we all planned for when we came into this life.
And so we experience the opposites and then we find a way to change it. And we bring in the good, and sometimes we go back into what Abraham describes as contrast, and then we change it again. Life goes up and down, up and down. And that’s what we all want because we figure: Coming here, this will be a lot of fun. Let’s see what I create. Let’s see who comes in to help me in this life. And so that is where you are right now.
You are to rely on yourself by taking the time every day to tell your higher self you want to connect with it because you are your higher self. But you want to find a way to create things beautifully and easily in your life. So when you have to make a decision, ask your higher self, and sit and wait. And don’t wait for the words. Think of which way you want it to go. Then how do you feel? How does it feel in your chest? in your stomach? How does your body feel? And that is what we all, at this time, are learning. How to make decisions and create a better life by what we feel. Not logically, not with words, but by what we feel. That’s what we mean to get across: How we feel. And that’s why you are now on a new way of learning.
Anon 3: Since my life fell apart six years ago I’ve felt it almost impossible to align to my highest timeline or do the Abraham work because when I do, I remember what happened to me and I think there’s no point.
Council: And so, right there, that belief, that thought, will never make it work.
Anon 3: Did I set this catastrophic time up as a test of faith?
Council: Of course. You set it up for a lot of reasons, but mostly so that you would grow, and you will learn how to guide yourself.
Anon 3: Around then I started asking my higher self for guidance, but I’m not sure whether I can trust it.
Council: Of course you can trust it, but you must learn to work with the feelings. Go into the heart chakra, picture what you want in there and ask the question. Ask your higher self: Show me, and then forget about the doubt. And of course, when you do doubt, just acknowledge it and say: “No, No. I will wait. I am my higher self. I am connecting to me. I am connecting to what I have planned and what I want to go through in this life.” And you will see the difference.
Anon 3: At the time, I asked for and thought I saw signs that my partner was returning, but they never did. Since then I’ve asked for guidance about several other things and it was spot on.
Most recently I have finally, after all these years, felt ready to be in another relationship and really want to be married.
Council: And if that is what you really want, and you work with your higher self, and you work with being in joy and happiness, and aligning with that higher vibration, you will bring that in.
Anon 3: I’ve asked my higher self if this new person in my life is the one, and it’s continually and consistently sent me signs saying: Yes, yes, yes.
Council: Okay, so then when you sit down and you meditate, thank your higher self and ask to be shown more signs that this person is for you. It’s that simple. The doubts are what changes the outcome. And so with faith in your intuition, in your higher self, ask for the signs and wait until you see them.
Anon 3: But because I thought I saw these same signs about my ex-partner, I’m doubting them.
Council: Of course, but now you have another way to do it. Now you have another way to ask. And you have another way to find the answers, and that is with your feelings.
Anon 3: I also did this thing where for a long time I followed angel numbers and synchronicities thinking they must be my path.
Council: Oh, it helps many, many people. And then again after a while that doesn’t seem to work because you want more. Your higher self wants you to learn you can do it easily. You can do it from your own knowledge, and the answers will come from you.
Anon 3: But most of the time I just landed in hot water by following the angel numbers and synchronicities…
Council: Ah, there’s a sign.
Anon 3: …where they were indicative that something bad was going to happen, which adds to the mistrust I now feel of the signs I receive. I’d love to know what happened there.
Council: You don’t need the angel numbers and synchronicities anymore. That’s why you created it not to work the way it did before. It’s only your way of finding a way to get guidance for yourself, a way to grow and learn how powerful it is when you can ask your higher self and get the answer from your higher self, not from anywhere else.
Anon 3: How do I know if and when I can trust the signs I’m being sent by my higher self?
Council: Because your higher self will only send you positive answers, and it will always feel good. And the outcome – whatever it’s showing you to do, or say, or the direction to go in – will always bring you experiences that are positive, that make you feel good, and help you grow more in a positive direction.
And so we send you all blessings, and thoughts of happiness, and thoughts of love and joy. And seeing the energy around you growing and becoming more beautiful. And you feel lighter than you have ever felt before because you are light. Let it shine.
Listen to the entire 12-minute audio recording of our session with The Council (below) to hear all their guidance for Anonymous Number 3 and the rest of us, and let us know what you feel about it. You can also ask The Council your own question by typing it into one of the Comment boxes that appear at the bottom of most of our blog pages. We’ll answer it as soon as we are able.
If you like this post, please click the LIKE button in the section following the recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks.
Tell others about this post:
Is The Man I Met My Romantic Soulmate?
This post answers questions for The Council from a reader named, Adrian.
Adrian: I’ve met a man and there are all these signs he may be someone very special to me. During our first kiss, two dragonflies flew into his house.
Council: Isn’t that magical and lovely?
Adrian: I’ve known him about a week and hate to prematurely jump in before really knowing him, but there are all these strange signs and they are almost bizarre in nature.
Council: And we do want to say here, you do realize you are creating these signs. You’re creating them to give you comfort, to show you what direction to go in, and to make you feel that you have support from another reality. You have the idea that this is the person, but you’ll create the relationship you want whether you had these signs or not. It’s wonderful and very playful and very creative the way you’re bringing this relationship in. Isn’t it fun?
Adrian: For example, I programmed his name into my phone. At first I only had his first name, Bobby. Then once I put in his last name, the phone decided to call him, The Abraham Group all on its own. And my phone also decided to program his email address as your email address for this blog. We had a good laugh about that.
Council: Do you see how wonderful and creative you are to bring joy in such a funny way, and of bringing closeness to the two of you at this stage of the relationship?
Adrian: Today I got curious and looked up your email address on the internet, found your website, and I couldn’t believe you talk about Abraham and Esther Hicks, whose work I’m familiar with, and that your site is connected to a galactic council.
Council: This is another connection that you’ve created.
Adrian: I’m dumbfounded and awestruck all at the same time.
Council: Pat yourself on the back for this.
Adrian: Is this man as special to me as I think he may be based on all these signs?
Council: Well we’d certainly think that you have gone through all this creativity to give you the signs that, yes, you can have a wonderful relationship. It’s still always up to you.
Adrian: Can I really trust this?
Council: Ahh, can you really trust yourself? Can you trust what you focus on and remove the doubts? Then you’ll see what you can create.
Adrian: What does all of this mean?
Council: It means you’re having a wonderful time, that you’re so connected to your higher self, that you’re enjoying this relationship, and that it’s something you wanted to do, and you’ve done it. Look at the immense things that you’ve had happen within that short period of time. That should take away all of your doubt.
And so we say keep creating. Have fun with this relationship. And you’ll both feel closer to your higher self. You’ll both be able to stay in that vibration of joy. And when you’re in that vibration of joy, put on your seatbelts. There’s nothing you can’t create. And we say again, nothing. So have fun.
Adrian: I’m getting divorced and I’ve asked for my romantic soulmate to come in at the right time. I only recently decided to date, thinking that while I’m not really ready (my divorce is still in its early stages), it felt like time to meet someone nice for this moment. But I honestly didn’t expect to meet my soulmate now. Is this man my romantic soulmate that I’ve been calling in?
Council: Well it looks that way to us. We see this beautiful future that you have in mind that you would like with this person, but we can’t make that happen. You have to decide if this person is for you. No one can tell you if this is your soulmate because there are many souls that are around saying, “Well we’ll jump in if you don’t want this one or that one.”
So you decide. Do you want this person? Do you want this relationship? Do you want to go forward with this? And you will create it. Look at the power of what you’ve created already.
So there’s nothing, as we say, written in stone. If this is what you want, and if you stay in the vibration of joy and you create it in your mind, you will have it.
Adrian: Can I trust this?
Council: Can you trust yourself? There’s no one else that’s going to make it happen. There’s no magic from somewhere else that you need to tap into. You are the magic. You are the focus. You are the creator. And when you doubt, just look at what you’ve told us you’ve created already.
Adrian: I will say, after three great dates now, that I feel really good around him. He feels really familiar and comfortable to me – like home. Any guidance would be so greatly appreciated. I guess I’m having a hard time believing the unbelievable at the moment.
Council: And that is where the problem is, having a hard time believing.
So you’ll work on this. You’ll focus on visualizing exactly what you want. And if it doesn’t go in the direction you want, ask yourself, what have I been thinking? What have I been feeling? Because your thoughts will create what you feel. How you feel goes out and creates what you want. So if you start having anxiety that maybe this isn’t the person, that anxiety will go out there and interfere.
So we suggest you go into the thoughts of: This is wonderful. Yes, this is what I want. I feel great. That feeling great will help you create what you desire.
Listen to the entire 8-minute audio recording of our session with The Council (below) to hear all their guidance for Adrian and the rest of us, and let us know what you feel about it. You can also ask The Council your own question by typing it into one of the Comment boxes that appear at the bottom of most of our blog pages.
If you like this post, please click the LIKE button in the section following the recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks.
Tell others about this post:
Requesting Guidance for a Never-Ending Divorce
This post answers questions for The Council from a reader named, Amy. She says it’s a full year since I asked The Council about my divorce and it’s as if time has stood still. My divorce is no further along than it was then. I’ve tried everything to move the divorce forward, but my husband is intent on going to trial, and he has so much to lose. The challenges he’s faced with emotional abuse and substance abuse will now play out publicly in court and it’s possible he might lose custody of our children.
The Council says this is the way your husband wants the divorce to go. How would you like the divorce to go? If you put the thought in your mind that your husband is intent on going in the direction of court, does it bring up fear? Does it bring up frustration? Or are you satisfied with this and think we’ll go to trial, but I know his behavior and abuse will come out and the trial will go in my favor?
Find thoughts that bring you satisfaction and joy. The timing of when your divorce is finalized doesn’t matter. What will make the divorce move forward is if you take your thoughts away from frustration and appreciate your life. Go about your business and do what you want with your children and know that this divorce will eventually happen when you accept the way it’s going and know for sure, without a doubt in your mind, that everything will come out okay for you and your children.
Your husband has his lessons to go through. At this point your lesson is to accept what’s going on. Don’t think of the divorce as a battle and you’re going to war. Your husband is bringing on this challenge. You can accept it with peace in your mind and things will turn out in your favor.
Amy says, Losing custody of our children isn’t what I wanted for my husband, but he watches TV all day long and on TV you don’t see reasonable people gracefully dismantling their lives with their children at the center. I feel I’ve been fair and I’ve tried to settle this divorce fairly and quietly for the sake of our children, but there’s something blocking this divorce. The Council says the block is what you and your husband have come together to do and the lesson to be learned in it. You may not realize that spiritually your husband may have decided he wants to lose his children and learn what that’s about. You don’t have to know the reason, or what your husband is creating. This will show itself to you.
Amy says, We still live together, I still support him, and he refuses to work. The Council asks Amy why her husband should work if she lets him live with her and supports him? This doesn’t seem sensible. If you want to keep him living in your home and supporting him, that’s fine, but know you’re agreeing to this. You’re allowing this to happen. If you want something different you’d handle the situation differently.
Amy says, I can see so clearly what my life looks like with my children when I get to the other side of this divorce. I’ve deepened my relationship with myself over the last year and I’m anxiously awaiting the change and the experience it will bring to my family overall. The Council reminds Amy to do the inner work, keep seeing the pages of a calendar flying by, and the time has passed and your divorce is happening.
Amy says, I’ve been getting ready to get ready, as Abraham-Hicks teaches, and I feel good. It’s surprising to most people that I feel no animosity toward my husband. The Council says this is wonderful because animosity isn’t necessary and that in spirit you both created this situation.
Amy says, Our life is far more peaceful than it ever was before, living without the emotion and intensity our marriage held. We’re co-parents living in the same house and it feels a little like a dress rehearsal. The Council says without saying too much about your husband, some of what he’s created is to go through life easily and have things done for him. What he’s creating and will continue to create is to have people come into his life and make it easier.
Amy says, I’ve recently come to the point where I stopped trying to control the outcome and I’ve even given up on the timeline for the divorce. Right now I get to be with my children every day while the divorce works itself out and I’m grateful for every minute with them in the same house. Having said that, it’s time for me to move on. I feel a strong pull towards something else and I have no idea what that is. This is exciting – nervous excitement. There’s not another love interest or even a thought of one, or a friend or a family member pulling me along so I know this is a different calling.
The Council says it’s wonderful that you’ve stopped trying to control the outcome. This is the way to make the divorce happen. Stay in that feeling of excitement. Stay in the feeling of being pulled toward something new and wonderful. Even if you don’t know what you’re excited about, stay in that excited, happy feeling.
Amy says the universe takes care of my husband. Life just happens for him. He just seems to walk through life carelessly without consequences. No matter how badly he treats people or screws up, someone picks up the slack. It’s as if you can see him being carried. I know we all have a higher power watching over us. It’s just easy to see with my husband that he’s always taken care of no matter how bad his behavior is or how much he alienates friends and family. The Council says this isn’t any part of what you need to experience. He’ll go through all the emotions and all the experience he needs on his path.
Amy says, I can’t be the person I’ve been for my husband anymore. I need to move on, but I feel a block and I can’t seem to clear it. The Council says there isn’t any block. Think of the divorce moving forward. You’re on the correct path. All that you wish, if you continue to focus on it, will come to you. Let go of the time factor. It’s not necessary. Stay in a vibration of happiness and love and you’ll see your divorce come quickly.
The Council says you’re all so much more than you think you are. You’re all on this wonderful path of growth, and understanding, and realizing there are many lives you’ve experienced and many more you’ll create when you’re ready. Focus on being the creator. Focus on bringing joy and laughter into your life and everything will come to you. When you’re happy, you’ll see the connections that are being made. There will be more understanding. Stay in that feeling of joy.
Listen to the entire 10-minute audio recording of our session with The Council (below) to hear all their guidance for Amy and the rest of us and let us know what you feel about it. Or you can ask The Council a question by typing it into one of the Comment boxes that appear at the bottom of most of our blog pages.
If you like this post please consider clicking the LIKE button in the section following the audio recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks.
Tell others about this post:
My Life Seems Like A Never-Ending Bad Trip
This post answers questions for The Council from a reader named, Pedro, who says he’s twenty-one years old and passing through a strange time in his life. He says, Sometimes I feel a strong loneliness, but I don’t feel comfortable with anyone else. I don’t want anyone to touch me, but I’m touch-starved. I get irritated very easily and I also feel tired of living.
The Council says what you’re explaining here – the loneliness, being starved for touch, and the irritability – is because you’re not connected to who you really are, and that’s the first thing you really want when you come into this physical realm. We want to connect with who we really are so whatever challenges we manifest in this lifetime, we can learn to handle it differently.
It’s important for you to read the Emmanuel books by Pat Rodegast. There are three of them. That will begin to connect you. And learn to meditate. If that’s not possible for you we suggest you do the chakra breathing. As you change the energy within and around you, your feelings will change. The vibration within you will change and you’ll start to feel better.
Because you’re starved for touch, but don’t want to be touched, it’s not because you want the physical touch of someone. You wish the touch of energy. Sometimes when you’re sitting in a chair, imagine there’s this beautiful white energy that’s entering the top of your head. Picture it going through your head, down into your neck, down into your arms, your chest, and your stomach, down your legs into your feet. Imagine seeing and feeling this energy. Picture it around you, as if you were in a cocoon. Feel this as you do it. It’s the feeling of this white energy that’ll help you feel connected to who you really are as a spiritual being.
This is what you need at this moment: to connect with the feeling of who you are, to read the Emmanuel books, and to read the books by Jerry and Esther Hicks on manifesting so your mind has something to do. Start slowly. Create little things at first. When you see you can do this, the feeling of loneliness will definitely go away because you’ll have connected to who you really are.
Pedro says, I feel far away from home even when I’m in my house. The Council says it’s the realm of spirit that you miss. Pedro says, I’m always looking at the past with a sense of longing to get there, but I know it’s impossible. The Council says it’s going forward that you need to focus on. The way you want to go forward and manifest the future you wish for is by thinking of how you wish your future to be.
Pedro says, As if that isn’t enough, I’m feeling a heavy mixture of emotion that’s tearing me up and bringing on an identity crisis. The worst thing is that I don’t have any planning or expectations for the future. The Council says we’ve given you some plans and some direction now. When you do the meditation or the chakra breathing and read the Emmanuel books and books on manifesting by Jerry and Esther Hicks, you’ll begin to get ideas. They’ll come when you do the inner work.
Pedro says, I don’t have any friends, I don’t like my family, and I don’t know what to do. My whole life seems like a bad trip that never ends. The Council says when you find you don’t like your family or others and you don’t want friends, it’s because you haven’t gotten the understanding from your spiritual self that these people are all here with what you’d call their baggage, their challenges, and their situations. Look at these people differently and try to think of them as spirits in physical bodies. They’re here with their wishes for this lifetime. See if you can get an idea of what’s going on for these people.
Listen to the entire 6-minute audio recording of our session with The Council (below) to hear all their guidance for Pedro and the rest of us and let us know what you feel about it. Or you can ask The Council your own question by typing it into the Comment box that appears at the bottom of most of our blog pages.
If you like this post please consider clicking the LIKE button in the section following the recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks.
Tell others about this post:
Comparing the Ideas of Abraham-Hicks and Brian Weiss
Feeling conflicted about the message of Brian Weiss’s masters compared to the message of Abraham-Hicks
This post answers some very interesting questions from a reader named, Caroline, who’s been a long-time listener and lover of Abraham-Hicks. Caroline says, There’s really never been a message from Abraham I haven’t greatly resonated with. Recently I’ve become fascinated with the topic of reincarnation and read the book, Many Lives, Many Masters, by Brian Weiss. I feel very conflicted and confused after reading this because the messages of these masters seem to conflict with Abraham’s message in many ways. From Abraham I learned reincarnation exists, but its purpose isn’t to fix your past life mistakes or karma. Abraham says karma doesn’t accumulate and isn’t passed on from lifetime to lifetime.
We come into this reality to experience different beliefs
The Council says, first let’s begin with the two souls who are giving these messages. There’s Brian Weiss, who came into this reality to share this message about karma. This message is perceived as totally different from Abraham’s message. This is because we all come to this reality to learn different things and experience different beliefs. Brian Weiss chose to learn what he did about past lives and to share it. He shares this information for people who need to believe what he’s teaching. Abraham has come through Esther Hicks to share what you’d call a different message for other people who need to learn the way Esther is teaching, and function within those beliefs.
There’s no right and no wrong
It’s not that one of these people is right and the other is wrong. With your beliefs (what you choose to believe) you create in your reality. The people who hear about karma and how you bring it from one life to another, they need this teaching and they’ll experience lessons and learning through this teaching. Abraham says there is no karma and we’re here to have a wonderful time and create. Other souls who are on another level need to learn from that message. There’s no right and no wrong.
Choose the belief that makes sense to you
Learn about these two beliefs and then choose what makes the most sense to you. That’s how this reality is made. It’s made that we come here and have choices for every little thing we do. We have the choice what to believe. We have the choice what path we’ll follow. Many people can be raised one way and they have certain beliefs. As they get older they no longer vibrate with their earlier beliefs and so they change their beliefs. That’s the law of this universe. If Caroline disagrees with Brian Weiss’s message, she can play in her mind with the idea that there are other people who need that belief and she can allow these people to have these beliefs.
Caroline’s Beliefs
Caroline says she learned that the sole purpose of coming to Earth as a human is to have fun creating and sorting through desires and contrast. The Council says this is a wonderful belief for many people.
Freedom of choice is there for you
Caroline says she learned nothing is ever imposed on us, nothing is happening to us, everything is attracted to us through our thoughts and vibration. The Council says everything that happens to us and everything we experience is from our thoughts, our beliefs, and what we planned to experience in this life. No one else comes in and creates for you or tells you, this must be done this way and this must be done that way. The freedom of choice is there for you.
Caroline says, I learned from Abraham we can be, do, or have anything we desire. The Council responds, Of course. And if we want to go without and experience poverty, you have the freedom to do that.
It’s wonderful to be in alignment with your higher self
Caroline says, I learned from Abraham the best and only way you can help someone is to be in alignment with your inner being. I learned you can let yourself off the hook regarding thinking that you need to be helping people because everyone has their own inner guidance system and the best and only way you can help is to be in alignment with your own source. The Council says it’s wonderful to be in alignment with your own source, with your higher self. It’s also wonderful to have positive intentions.
We’re here to help others
You’re not here for the sole purpose of helping yourself. We come here from spirit, which is full of love. We come here bringing that love here and wanting to spread that love in this reality. You can’t do that by only taking care of yourself. You take care of yourself, but you look for others to help, to show compassion, to help them if they’re stuck on some part of their path. We don’t say this is something you have to do, but we’re here to spread the love. We are here to help others, not by forgetting ourselves, but by being in alignment and loving ourselves and sharing that love, compassion, and helpfulness with others.
Being selfish is NOT necessary
Caroline says, I learned from Abraham that being selfish is necessary. The Council emphatically states that being selfish is not necessary. Being selfish isn’t something you think of when you’re in spirit. You didn’t think you’ll come to Earth and only create for yourself. You didn’t think you will come to Earth and be selfish and you will come first and then everyone else will come. This isn’t how we share love.
Quotes from Brian Weiss’s Masters
Caroline says, Here are some quotes from the masters in Brian Weiss’s book. In my opinion, every one of these quotes conflicts with one or all of the statements I made above.
It’s just another path
“People of the religious orders have come closer than any of us to learning the lessons of life because they’ve taken these vows of chastity and obedience. They’ve given up so much without asking for anything in return.” The Council says this is something that people who follow certain religions need to believe. They aren’t closer to being enlightened. They aren’t higher on the rung of learning and moving forward because they’ve given up so much. It’s just another path and that’s the path they’re taking.
It’s not your higher intention to help someone so you can have a reward
Caroline says, “The rest of us continue to ask for rewards, rewards and justifications for our behavior when there are no rewards, rewards that we want. The reward is in doing, but doing without expecting anything, doing unselfishly.” The Council says it’s wonderful to ask for rewards. We believe Abraham called it putting your desires in your vortex. You have every right to want to enhance your life and have rewards. But it’s not your higher self’s intention to help someone so you can have a reward. Your reward will come naturally. The universe will help your reward happen. You’ll help others and you’ll be rewarded. That’s how the universe works. As you’re helpful to others the universe will say, How wonderful. We’ll now help this soul. We’ll show this soul what it feels like to be helped so they’ll continue to help others. We’ll give this person rewards. Whatever they’re thinking they’d like, whatever they’re imagining they can have, the universe will supply that for you.
Caroline says I feel like Abraham would say what I just quoted from Brian Weiss’s masters is such old news. The Council laughs and says it’s just another page in the newspaper.
You don’t come here carrying karma from other lifetimes unless there’s something you desire to experience
Brian Weiss’s masters say you should check your vices before you come to this point. If you don’t, you carry them over with you to another life. Only we can rid ourselves of the bad habits we accumulate when we’re in a physical state. The masters can’t do that for us. If you choose to fight and not to rid yourself, then you’ll carry them over to another life. The Council says this is another belief that many people need. It helps them through fear to learn how to be another person so they don’t carry what they believe they’ve done in other lives. It’s just a belief. You don’t come here carrying karma from other lifetimes unless you want to experience something, as we’d say, the other side of the coin.
It’s your choice
But it’s your choice to experience something you handled one way in one life and you wish to handle another way in your current life. It’s not a punishment. It’s something you choose to bring in and see how the other side feels, or how to do it differently. It’s your choice to go through that. It’s your choice to say: I did it this way. Let me see what would happen if, say, I didn’t turn my back on this person. Let’s see what that would look like. In spirit, very calmly, you plan some of the things you wish to experience. It’s all your choice.
It’s wonderful to ask for more
Caroline says the masters say we must accept what comes to us at a given time and not ask for more. Abraham says asking for more and accumulating desires in your vortex and bringing desires into physical reality is the purpose of life as a human. The Council says when you come here it’s to have a lot of fun, even if it’s stressful or challenging. The fun part is working it out, turning the situation around, and finding another way to experience it. As you’re going through your daily life it’s wonderful to ask for more. It’s wonderful to have desires.
Purpose of a child’s death was not to satisfy anyone’s debt
Caroline says, When speaking about the premature death of Brian Weiss’s infant son the masters say: “Your son’s heart was also important for it was backward, like a chicken’s. He made a great sacrifice for you out of his love. His soul is very advanced. His death satisfied his parents’ debts”. The Council emphatically states that this death did not satisfy anyone’s debt. The parents, the child, everyone agreed to that. It was an experience that was wanted. The purpose of Brian Weiss’s son’s death was to see how, through love, they’d get through it. The child isn’t suffering. The child didn’t have this horrible thing happen to him. The parents aren’t being punished for some karma or something they did in another lifetime. It was an experience of the souls loving each other so much that they’d help each other go through this death.
Many people need to believe there’s karma and debts you have to pay
Bob comments he’s not sure the previous quote is accurate, but he asks The Council if they can explain why the masters may have said what they said. The Council says it’s because there are many people that need to believe there’s karma and debts you have to pay. And usually there’s the belief you have to pay these debts by something horrible happening to you. It’s necessary for those people who need to grow by learning this particular way.
Caroline says: Abraham says over and over that nothing is ever imposed on us, especially something from your previous lives. The Council agrees.
You’ll automatically have people come into your life that match your vibration…
Caroline quotes Brian Weiss’s masters again: “We also must learn not to just go to those people whose vibrations are the same as ours. The Council says we normally will just radiate to each other. You won’t have people in your life for a long time that don’t radiate where you are. If some people are growing more slowly, if they have more difficulties, their vibrations can’t reach yours and stay with you for a long time. You’ll automatically have people come into your life that match your vibration, that will help you with something, or that will push your buttons and make you crazy because you asked for this in spirit. The vibration of love is within all of us.
The vibration is just different
Caroline continues with the same quote: “It is normal to feel drawn to somebody who is on the same level that you are, but this is wrong. You must also go to those people whose vibrations are wrong with yours. This is the importance in helping these people.” The Council says it’s not that the vibration of these people is wrong because they don’t agree with you. Their vibration is just different and it’s in your life for you to decide how to deal with it.
Make choices that bring love into your life
Caroline asks, What’s the deal? Do we have to successfully do certain things in our lifetime? The Council says, No. It’s successful if you planned a certain life and you went through the list and did everything you wanted, which never happens because there’s always more and more you want. You’re just here to have fun and experience things. The #1 thing you’re here to do is to make choices that bring love into your life and this reality. When you can experience this love it grows and grows and everyone in your reality, whether you know them or not, feels this love and it will help them on their path.
There’s no unwanted karma that follows you from lifetime to lifetime
Caroline asks if karma is passed down through lifetimes? The Council says there isn’t any karma. If you believe there is, you’ll come up with a story and create something. If you don’t understand why something is happening, you think you must have done something in another life, and so you believe this is passed down. It’s not passed down. There is no karma that says you must pay for something or settle a debt. And yet there are many people who believe in karma because they need to believe it for how they planned to experience their current life. There is no karma that needs to be settled, cleaned out, or cleared before you can go on, or it will follow you from lifetime to lifetime.
It’s not karma if you choose, in spirit, to experience it
Caroline asks if bad things like the death of a child happen because of your karma. The Council says it doesn’t happen because of your karma. It happens because you’ve all chosen in spirit to experience this.
You can be, do, or have anything you desire
Caroline asks if asking for more in life is bad? The Council says never. We’re supposed to be here to ask for more and more and more, and to experience everything we can in this reality. We’re here to create as much as you want. We believe Abraham said you can be anything and have anything, and that’s why you’re here.
Lastly, Caroline asks if people who give up things like sex and choices get closer to source? The Council has a big laugh at this question and says, No, we don’t agree with that.
Caroline says I feel like all the answers to these questions is, no. The Council laughs again and tells Caroline she has all her answers.
We feel the information in this post will be helpful to many people. Listen to the entire 20-minute audio recording of our session with The Council (below) to hear all their guidance for Caroline and the rest of us and let us know what you feel about it. Or you can ask your own question by typing it into a Comment box that appears at the bottom of most of our blog pages.
If you like this post please consider clicking the LIKE button in the section following the recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks.
Tell others about this post:
Why Would I Choose This Life and How Can I Have Hope?
This post answers questions for The Council from a reader named, Mari, who wonders why she’d choose the life she’s living and how she can have hope? Mari says, I had a very unhappy childhood. I’ve been depressed all my life and I discovered I wasn’t able to practice a profession I prepared for because of a cognitive impairment, which could be due to the long-lasting depression. I’m currently working in an unfulfilling job. I’m on medication that isn’t working after trying many. I’m unhappy and feel trapped in my marriage. I don’t have many friends or much support except for mental health professionals. Sometimes life seems like it’s too much. Can you advise what to do? It just seems so hopeless.
The Council says for you, because of your depression and hopeless feeling, we’d suggest reading the three Emmanuel books by Pat Rodegast and Ask And It Is Given, by Esther and Jerry Hicks. This will lighten your vibration a little.
We feel the depression you’re going through can be changed if you learn to do the chakra breathing we recommend in other posts, learn to meditate, and start reading more spiritual books. Do these every day. We feel that in time when you start to understand who you truly are as a spiritual being and what you can create, your depression will lessen and in time you won’t need the medication you’ve been taking. But you must take the step of working on yourself first.
Find thoughts that make you happy, even if you make these thoughts up and they haven’t really happened, but they are thoughts of things you want to happen. This will lighten your vibration and you’ll see, as you feel lighter and lighter, your life will begin to change for the better.
We see what you’ve created is finding another form of employment that would ideally be outside and more with nature, either working on a farm or in a nursery. If that isn’t possible, maybe working in a plant store. Be around nature. For you, walking barefoot in water would help. All of this will change how you feel. It will help your career and your marriage.
What keeps you down is the looking outward. You think the marriage and the job isn’t what you want, but it is what you want. And it will be more of what you want if you work on yourself with your good thoughts, meditation, chakra breathing, and reading the spiritual books. This will begin to turn your life around and turn it into more of what you want.
Listen to the entire 4-minute audio recording of our session with The Council (below) to hear all their guidance for Mari and the rest of us and let us know what you feel about it. Unfortunately the the quality of this recording and the recording in the next post isn’t up to our usual standards. We apologize for this and we hope to avoid this situation in the future.
If you’d like to ask The Council your own question you can type it into one of the Comment boxes that appear at the bottom of most blog pages.
If you like this post please consider clicking the LIKE button in the section following the recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks.
Tell others about this post:
How Can I Heal My Relationship With My Mother?
This post answers a question for The Council from a reader who goes by the initials, PE, who asks about their relationship with their mother. PE says a while back they asked The Council why they were so afraid of their mother and they were given a thought-provoking response about their past lives together.
The Council asks PE if they’ve done the inner work on this relationship? Have you read up on past lives and why you go through these challenging situations so you can learn from certain experiences that can bring on emotional healing. It’s important you learn more about past lives.
The Council doesn’t think PE has done enough research into past lives. Being terrorized by your mother is very traumatic. It’s normal to want to heal this trauma quickly, but you wanted to go through this experience to learn more about terror, fear, past lives, and more about healing these situations.
The way you heal this is to learn who you truly are. You do this by learning to meditate. You do this by learning how your spirit comes back lifetime after lifetime and that there isn’t any ending. This is just an experience you wish to have. The purpose of feeling terrorized by your mother was to push you into learning more about past lives. You’re going through this experience to learn from it and to let the fear go.
The Council recommends reading the Emmanuel books by Pat Rodegast to get used to how spirit explains things in a simple way. When you get the feeling the things you’re going through aren’t so serious and your life isn’t a place where fear can win, you can understand how to let go of the fear. But you have to learn who you are as a spiritual being. Also read books by the spirit, Bartholomew, the Abraham material, and books by Brian Weiss, MD.
You have set up this experience with your mother. You wanted to feel this fear and this terror and it’s here for you now to understand it, to heal it, and to learn who you are as a spiritual being.
Listen to the entire 6-minute audio recording of our session with The Council (below) to hear all their guidance for PE and the rest of us and let us know what you think, or ask your own question.
If you like this post please consider clicking the LIKE button in the section following the recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks.
Tell others about this post:
How Can I Allow More Well-Being into My Life After Cancer and Weight Gain?
This post answers a question for The Council from a woman named, Susan, in response to our post, Healing Ovarian Cancer. She says I was diagnosed with somethig similar to ovarian cancer two years ago. I haven’t been given chemotherapy, but instead I’m taking new drugs with mild side effects.
The Council says because you are the creator of your life according to what you believe (whether your afraid of chemotherapy or you knew there could be an easier drug to take), you have created this easier way. It’s your belief.
Susan says she was filled with fear at first, but I’ve learned about the Law of Attraction from Abraham’s teachings and because of these teachings I actually live a joyful life.
Recently I was feeling unhappy about gaining weight, which I thought was caused by hormone tablets I take. Now I know this has just been my belief. The Council says what you’ve created is, coming through your cancer and now you put the challenge of gaining weight on top of the cancer. Instead of loosing hope and being depressed, how does it feel to have this weight gain? What are you learning from it?
Your weight gain doesn’t have to remain this way. Repeatedly ask yourself in quiet time or meditation, why did I create this weight gain? Why do I want to go through this and what can I learn from it? Once you see what you’re learning from the weight gain and you’ve learned enough, your weight won’t be a problem anymore.
Susan says she thinks she’s doing all she knows to allow her well-being and she asks The Council if they have any additional advice. The Council suggests Susan surround herself in love everyday. Visualizing yourself in a pink bubble does wonders for how you feel and works on all levels of healing. Pay attention to your chakras and do the chakra breathing we recomment in another post.
The Council says there aren’t any particular past life considerations for Susan’s cancer and her weight gain. It was your wish in spirit to be focused on these challenges. What you wanted was to have an experience you could learn from.
You’ll be very surprised how quickly your dis-ease all changes when you pay attention to what you’ve learned through cancer, weight gain, your belief systems, and the people around you.
Listen to the entire 4-minute audio recording of our session with The Council (below) to hear all their guidance for Susan and the the rest of us and let us know what you feel about it, or ask your own question.
If you like this post please consider clicking the LIKE button in the section following the recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks.
Tell others about this post:
Do Channelers Channel the Same or Different Spirit Guides?
This post answers questions for The Council from a reader named, Susan, who began listening to the guidance of Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks) about 8 months ago. Recently I’ve been listening to The Council channeled by Sara Landon, and then I also found The Council on this website channeled by Cynthia. I would like to know if the people who channel are just channeling the same non-physical beings and translating the messages a little differently in each case. Or is each channel channeling different spiritual beings? And if this is the case, can spiritual beings that are part of Abraham also be part of The Council?
The Council says all the people who channel spirits are not channeling the same spirit. Different spirits connect with different individuals in your reality. Each person is channeling information that’s being translated by that individual and is a product of the knowledge that individual possesses. In time the connection between spirit and the channel becomes stronger and the channel’s ability to understand spirit’s messages becomes stronger.
Regarding Susan’s question about whether spirits can channel to more than one individual, The Council says this is possible if they choose to do this, but it’s not usually the case. When the person that channels transitions from human life back into spirit, the spirits that were connecting with this channel can move on to another channeler, or they can choose to do something else and not channel at that time.
Susan says some of the terminology used by different channels is the same and she asks if teachers like The Council go to school to train. The Council says the only school we train in is the school of experience. At times the terminology may seem the same, but there’s no formal school that we in spirit go to that tells us this is how you do it and this is what you say.
Listen to the 4-minute audio recording of our session with The Council (below) to hear all their guidance for Susan and the rest of us and let us know what you feel about it, or ask your own question.
If you like this post, please consider clicking the LIKE button in the section following the recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks.
Tell others about this post:
Comparing Ideas of Abraham and Robert Schwartz on Learning
This post answers questions from a reader named, Lindsay, who’s reading Your Soul’s Gift, by Robert Schwartz and really enjoying it. Before reading this book she was reading Abraham as channeled by Esther Hicks, and was having difficulty reconciling these two points of view. Abraham says you can be, do, or have anything you desire, and Rob talks about a spiritual pre-life plan that includes suffering to help you learn and grow.
The Council begins by saying you don’t pre-plan every minute of your life while you’re in spirit. You plan some lessons you want to learn, and some of these are very pleasant and some are challenging. If you’ve chosen a lesson that causes a lot of pain and suffering, you have the free will to change this spiritual plan while you’re in human form.
Abraham says you can be, do, or have anything you want in this life and The Council agrees. They also say this can sometimes take a lot of work and focus. Many people have problems doing this because they figure if they focus for a day or a week that’s enough to change things. Sometimes it takes a lot more focus and time. During this time you’d be learning patience, researching what you want, and getting into it in more detail.
When you’re in spirit and planning to come into a physical body the challenges you wish to go through as a human are difficult, but in the spirit world you think you can handle this. You think, let me see how I can turn this situation around and bring more love into it. And we in spirit, guide you any way we can to help you get through whatever it is you want to learn. In your human form things can be challenging, but in your spiritual form you are learning and growing. When you return to spirit you’ll be able to bring what you’ve learned back with you and all spirits will learn from it.
Robert Schwartz’s books deal with why we pick challenging experiences, what we can learn from them, and how these experiences will affect the people around us. Abraham is lighter. He says you’re in control and you can change your life. Just imagine what you want, see it, feel it, and you can create it. Both of these points of view work, but they are coming from different directions.
Not everyone plans to suffer through their life and not everyone plans to be happy all the time. Life is about experiences. Everything you go through, whether it’s a happy life or a challenging life, is experience to learn and grow from.
When you choose an experience that’s difficult and you’re in pain, you can change this by meditating and remembering who you truly are as a spiritual being. You have all the tools you need to get through this life and change it. If you want a difficult experience there’s a way to get through it. Meditate on this and see your situation the way you want it to be.
The purpose of Robert Schwartz’s books are to demonstrate more understanding of why people suffer. People who are suffering want answers. They ask why they’re suffering and why are they going through what they’re going through. Robert Schwartz sheds light on this. His information is very important to the people who need to understand why life is so difficult for them when they think they would never chose to create these difficulties.
When you read some of Robert’s stories you begin to realize they make sense. At one time or another, in one of your many lifetimes, you will have challenges. It will be difficult for you, but it’s because you wished to experience these challenges.
Listen to the entire audio recording of our session with The Council to hear all their guidance for Lindsay and the rest of us and let us know what you feel about it, or ask your own question.
If you like this post please consider clicking the LIKE button in the section following the recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks.
Tell others about this post:
Am I Doing Something to Block the Allowing My Abundance?
This post answers questions for The Council from a reader named, T, who says the last time she spoke with The Council her career was on the upswing, but shortly afterwards it steadily went down hill. T says she knows she attracts everything that comes to her and she’s trying to softly focus on the career and compensation that’s in her vortex of creation (a phrase coined by Abraham, a spirit guide channeled by Esther Hicks), which is basically all the things she’s thinking about and hoping for. T asks for The Council’s advice and if she’s doing something that’s blocking her from receiving abundance.
The Council feels T should plan more and write more material about what she wants to accomplish step by step. While T wants her career to be successful, she’s focusing on not having as much money as she would like. So instead of creating what you want in your career, you’re focusing on the money and there’s some fear in that. There’s also the fear of success. If you get what you desire, where will it take you and what will it be like?
The Council advises T to take her vision further. How does it begin? Do you have material ready to backup your plans? Picture with your imagination what success would be like. The Council feels what’s holding T back is her fear of succeeding rather than failing. When you focus on creation and feel positive and happy about what you’re creating, the universe will bring you more of that and easily take you to the next step.
T says the reality that she needs money to pay bills really has her attention. The Council points out that her focus on the money she needs is her reality rather than her creativity. Use more creative visualization and write down what you visualize step by step. What happens first? How do you create it? What do you want to create? Be clearer on that. How are you going about getting what you want? Do you need help with it? Do you need to meet the right people to help you on your path? What do you want to put out into the universe? Do you want to teach? Do you want to show people things? Do you want to make things? Have no limits on your thoughts and go with it.
You fear succeeding because you don’t know how your career will develop. Create any way you want in your imagination and the universe will step in and make it happen. Let go of your fear and focus on making what you want happen.
Listen to the entire 5-minute audio recording of our session with The Council to hear all their guidance for T and the rest of us and let us know what you feel about it, or ask your own question.
If you like this post, please consider clicking the LIKE button in the section following the recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks.
Tell others about this post:
Is Our Material Life Preordained By Our Pre-Birth Spiritual Choices?
This post answers questions for The Council from a reader named, Juan, who says that according to his understanding of the information presented on this website, our existence in this material life is preordained by our choices before we are born into this lifetime.
The Council says some of the lessons you wish to experience are pre-planned while you’re still in spirit before you incarnate into your current lifetime, but not all your lessons in this lifetime are pre-planned this way. You leave your current life open so you can experience it and pick any road you wish to travel.
When you go back into spirit after you finish this lifetime you observe how you handled each situation and whether you liked the way you handled them. Do you need to go through that same lesson again in a new lifetime, or was your experience in this lifetime good enough? What did you learn? You have freedom in your current life that comes with many surprises, and you also have pre-planned lessons.
Juan asks if pre-planning your life in spirit is what’s meant by the phrase, “You create your own reality?” The Council says we create with every thought we have. It is not all created before you incarnate into your current life. You may pre-plan the parents you want in your upcoming life. You may create the wife, husband, or relationship you want to have. But what happens in these relationships depends on the spirits you’re interacting with.
Your life has the freedom to go in any direction, and that’s what’s fun about creating your reality. This is the reason The Council advises us to come from love. If you look at all your experiences from the point of view of love, your life will go in the direction of love.
Juan asks, “Once we’re in this material existence and we believe in the spiritual life, is there a way to remodel an existence of hanging on by our fingernails very close to poverty?”
The Council answers that there is a way for you to change the circumstances in your current life. Look at your life and ask the question, “Why is my life the way it is? What is my life meant to teach me?” And then begin to believe you can live your life an easier way and you don’t need to continue experiencing your life the way you’ve been experiencing it.
In your mind imagine how you’d like your life to be and how you’d like it to change. Go into great detail and think of it as often as you can. Then practice feeling as if these changes are already happening. That’s the way you change something you have pre-planned in spirit that you no longer feel you need in your life.
The reason you keep experiencing something you don’t want in your life is your higher self is trying to show you that you don’t understand the lesson this experience is trying to teach you. Keep asking why you’re creating this aspect of your life that you no longer want? What is it I could be trying to learn from having this experience? Am I helping the people around me learn from having this experience?
Juan says he’s heard that in order to change your reality you have to raise your vibration and he asks what it means to raise your vibration?
The Council says thinking good thoughts will raise your vibration. Thinking how to make your life and the life of the people around you better will raise your vibration. These good thoughts will put you in the vibration of love, and that raises your vibration.
Juan asks what’s the effect of having a positive attitude on raising your vibration and improving your life? The Council says when you have a positive thought about everything, it not only lightens how you feel, it lightens your thoughts and every experience you have going forward. The reason for this is that a positive thought can only attract positive experiences into your life.
When you’re in the vibration of love, being grateful, and being positive, you can’t attract to yourself a horrible experience. Think loving thoughts. Send love to yourself and the people around you. Be helpful. Find things to appreciate, even if it’s a flower. This appreciation will raise your vibration. It’s the law of attraction: what you feel and what you think will attract into your life what you experience.
Listen to the entire 6-minute audio recording of our session with The Council (below) to hear all their guidance for Juan and the rest of us, and let us know what you feel about it.
If you like this post, please consider clicking the LIKE button in the section following the recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks.
Tell others about this post:
Recommendations for Improving a Difficult Life After Divorce
This post answers questions for The Council from a reader named, Laurie, who left a 25 year marriage a couple of years ago to a man she believes is a narcissistic sociopath. She investigated her ex-husband’s finances in preparation for the divorce, but the mediator wouldn’t hear details. She broke down and settled on the divorce terms and later realized it was at a large financial cost to her. The Council asks Laurie, when she realized the divorce wasn’t fair to her, was she able to let go of this because she’d made the decision? Or did you feel anger and loss, and that you were taken advantage of, and now feel the divorce was wrong?
The Council points out that the decision you made was to accept the divorce settlement, and it’s very difficult for some people to see where their decisions bring about what’s happening. Do you want to put yourself in a place of fear and anger and fight the settlement you accepted. Or has this taught you a valuable lesson and now you wish to move forward in peace and begin to create the life you wish to have?
Laurie says she feels lost, financially scared, and despite all the horrible things her ex-husband has done to her, she misses him because she’s afraid of living alone, unloved, and unable to do things that may have been possible in the marriage. The Council says because of finances and the fear of being on your own are you willing to put yourself back in a situation that was unbearable? The Council asks Laurie to question herself about this decision. Why would you put yourself in a situation where you’d have to go through the difficulty again, and it would be the same. What’s the reason for going back to this man? Is it worth hanging onto this relationship that will prevent you from moving forward and creating a new life because you’re in the middle of this traumatizing experience?
You and your ex-husband have both agreed in spirit to create your marriage. What have you learned? If one person is beating up the other person, why would you consider going back to that? Isn’t there an easier way to learn? Or have you forgotten you came into this lifetime to bring love into your life? That’s the bottom line why you’re here.
The Council says Laurie isn’t alone. There’s always spirits around you that are willing to help you if you give them a chance. If you have the littlest bit of faith, signs will come to you through dreams, through readings, and through talking with people. Opportunities will open up for you when you simply say I want to experience love. I want to experience a life where I’m happy and feel safe. Put this out there on a daily basis. Visualize the kind of life you’d like to have and create this with your thoughts. You’ll begin to build what you desire so that it shows up in your reality.
Laurie says she’s 57 years old and believes stress is taking a toll on her previously healthy body. She’s confused why she’s suffered from her divorce rather than having gotten to a better place. The Council says the marriage was an experience she wished to have and then move forward. Do you sit and think over and over all the uncomfortable things you went through? Or do you say to yourself it’s a new beginning. I’ll begin to create from a place of love.
Many people who go through a divorce are very sad and they get stuck in that sadness and don’t move forward. The Council says they can see that happening in Laurie’s case. They say not only are you not moving forward, but you’re thinking about going backward.
Find joy in things you like to do. Appreciate you’re not in an uncomfortable relationship with a partner like your ex-husband. When your thoughts change the situation must change and your body must change. You’re a spirit in a human body and you’ve created your life every step of the way. Can you wish your ex-husband happiness in the lessons he needs to learn? What were the signs your relationship was detrimental to you? What do you see that you’d handle differently? How would you bring more joy into a relationship?
You’re at a place where you can begin to move forward and change everything. There’s no need to go back. There are many new friends available to you. There are some old friends from other lifetimes that will come into your life. No matter what you’ve gone through, no matter how horrible you think it may have been, you agreed in spirit to experience it and you’ve come through it. Now ask yourself where can you go from here? What do you want?
Laurie says she’s been given the lesson that life isn’t fair, but still wants to believe light triumphs over dark. The Council says of course life is fair. It’s exactly what you wanted to experience. It may not look like wonderful experiences, but it’s what you called in to your life.
The Council recommends Laurie read books about changing her life, like Emmanuel’s Book, by Pat Rodegast and books from Abraham, by Esther and Jerry Hicks. Fill your mind with the words of spirit. And try the exercises that are explained in the Abraham books.
Laurie says she still thinks about going back to her ex-husband despite all the horrible things he’s done to her. She’s empathetic to the hurt little boy inside him rather than focusing on the horrible things he’s done. The Council says it’s wonderful you can feel for the little boy inside him. The Council says that’s a plus, not a minus. Perhaps you can send that little boy some love with your thoughts. Perhaps you can send beautiful pink energy to the adult to help him move forward with their lessons.
By not blaming your ex-husband and understanding he also had lessons he wanted to learn from your marriage, and that you both agreed in spirit to everything that happened in your relationship, the love within you expands and you will grow. Whether you wish yourself love or you wish other people love, just thinking about love changes your vibration.
The Council advises Laurie to do simple steps first. Be grateful. Send love. Be interested in what other people say when they come along to help you. Give other people compliments and be kind. You’ll see yourself beginning to feel better.
Listen to the 15-minute audio recording of our session with The Council (below) to hear all their guidance for Laurie and the rest of us, and let us know what you feel about it.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider clicking the LIKE button in the section after the recording to let us and other readers know. Thanks
Tell others about this post:
Boyfriend Talking in His Sleep About Other Realities
This is an interesting post inspired by a reader named Audrey who has some questions for The Council about her boyfriend Joe’s talking in his sleep. Audrey says she started a conversation with Joe as he slept one night and asked what he was talking about. He replied, Dog Star, and said it’s where all dogs are, and people go there to get their dogs. The Council says it’s wonderful that Joe has created this Dog Star in his reality and that part of Joe’s spirit was willing to share this with Audrey.
Audrey then asks Joe who she’s talking to and he replied, Joe, not Joe-person. Audrey asks what’s the difference between the two and The Council replied, there is Joe the personality in the reality Joe and Audrey share; there are Joes with personalities from other realities because there are many realities being lived by different parts of Joe at the same time; and there is a part of Joe connecting to his spiritual higher self.
The Council comments that it was very loving of Joe that he was willing to share this experience with Audrey, even if it wasn’t conscious. They advise Audrey to hold onto this memory, talk to Joe about it, and see what she’s able to learn about different realities and about creating them. And they recommend reading books by Jerry and Esther Hicks on what their spirit guide, Abraham, says about how we create.
The Council says many people believe if you are alive now in your current reality, that’s all there is. But they say you are living in many, many realities. You send different pieces of yourself into realities you wish to create.
We like Audrey’s question because we’re not often asked about our ability in spirit to create other realities at the same time we are experiencing our reality here on Earth. We think there’s much to be learned about this.
Listen to our entire 5-minute session with The Council (below) to hear everything they have to say about our ability to create other realities, and let us know what you think.
Tell others about this post:
Follow-up Questions on Leaving an Abusive Relationship
Recently we published a post titled, Whether to Leave an Abusive Relationship, answering Jolanda’s questions about her relationship with her husband. After reading that post Jolanda had some follow-up questions and the current post answers those questions.
Jolanda begins by saying she was inspired to ask her questions by listening to the teachings of Abraham and that prior to hearing these teachings she felt leaving her husband was her only option. But she’s heard Abraham repeatedly say something like the following:
“Don’t get out of a relationship until you can be strong and happy within yourself, no matter what is going on around you. If someone makes you go out of the Vortex, just get back in. Don’t let someone upset your ability to be happy and be in the Vortex.”
Jolanda says she resonates to this and realized her problem was really her difficulty being happy when her husband was unhappy. She adds:
“Abraham cautions that if we don’t get ourselves right before leaving a relationship, we’ll just get into the same type of relationship again and again, until we learn our lesson.”
Jolanda asks The Council’s opinion on this, considering their answers in the earlier post seemed to suggest it was her intention she find the strength to protect herself and her children by leaving her husband. She says:
“I know I haven’t learned how to be happy while others are unhappy, which is why I feel that my husband is the absolute best partner I could possibly have at this time, because he’s in my face every day, being unhappy with me, and pushing my buttons. What better way to learn to get happy no matter what is going on around me?”
The Council has a lot to say to Jolanda about her situation, but it boils down to the following quote:
“When you realize something is not bringing you joy (because that is what you are wishing to experience) then you have the ability to start making another choice, to start making a plan on how you would do this if you’re not ready to do this right now. But there is nowhere/anywhere where Abraham or any other spirit would say stay there if you are miserable. It’s like, stay there if you have to till you get the strength to make another choice.”
When the session was finished we did a Google search on “Abraham Hicks abusive relationship” to get Abraham’s views on this subject instead of Jolanda’s view of what Abraham was saying. What we came up with was a 7-minute YouTube video titled, “Is it time to leave?”, which we reproduce below. The woman speaking with Abraham is in a situation similar to Jolanda.
And while Abraham does emphasize the importance of working on yourself to improve your vibration before leaving a relationship so you don’t attract a similar relationship into your life, they add that doesn’t mean it’s wrong to take action. They say:
“The story we like best is: You’re sitting on a park bench and you’re feeling fear, and you don’t really know if there’s a monster in the bushes or if you just think there’s a monster in the bushes. And we say, in any event, move away from the monster.”
The Council appears to understand that Jolanda chose to be in this abusive relationship with her husband for the specific purpose of developing the strength in this lifetime to leave him and protect herself and her children. The Council adds more than once it’s Jolanda’s choice whether she actually leaves her husband on not, and they are merely reminding her of her pre-birth intention.
Listen to our entire 22-minute session with The Council (below) to hear Jolanda’s follow-up questions and The Council’s answers for her and anyone in a similar situation.
Tell others about this post:
Loving Feelings with a Married Co-worker
This post is inspired by a question from a reader named T. who asks The Council the purpose of a beautiful soul in her life who happens to be a co-worker and married to another woman.
T. says she’s never felt so free and content just knowing he exists and feels unconditional love for him. She’s unable to see any unhappiness in his marriage, and while she knows he feels something for her, T. has no idea what this is. She asks for signs of his feelings, but finds them confusing.
T. wonders if she shouldn’t give energy to the idea of being with him one day, or sit back and wait for the right time to be with him. She asks The Council why they have come together, if they’ve lived past lives together, and what is his purpose in her life?
The Council asks T. why she would want to give up this unconditionally loving relationship and they add this is the reason we have come to this physical reality. She has created this relationship in her life and she needs it.
The Council asks if T. must have more, or if she’s able to appreciate the relationship she’s having right now? Does she want to come between this man and his wife?
The Council feels confident T. will create whatever she wants. Perhaps she’ll create an affair with this man – whether it ends well or not will depend on how she creates it.
The Council says T. is able to create a situation where this man leaves his wife. Or is T. able to enjoy this relationship, taking what she finds there, and create her very own partner without separating this married couple? The Council says there isn’t any judgement of her whichever she chooses. What feels better to her?
The Council says T. and the co-worker have lived past lives together and he’s in her life now to help her get in touch with loving feelings that will help her create what she desires. Will T. take the love she’s created in this relationship and create a new relationship where she’s able to share these feelings with someone else, and still remain friends with this co-worker? Or does T. want to create what she desires with this man she works with?
The Council says it’s very important for T. to focus on the feelings and emotions that are uplifting for her and then choose whether she’d like to share this love with her co-worker, or create someone new in her life to share this love with.
This is a choice The Council says wants to be made (presumably in spirit). As they see it, this choice was discussed before coming into this physical reality when T. was in spirit, and it was her wish to see how she could create loving feelings wherever she goes, whether it be in an intimate relationship or with family, friends, co-workers, etc.
The Council says this situation is not about creating the right partner for T. It’s about creating loving feelings in all her relationships.
Listen to the entire 13-minute session with The Council to get the benefit of all their guidance for T.
Tell others about this post:
How True is the Bible?
This post is inspired by a question from Wendy who’s a fan of the channels Abraham and Bashar, and she also feels a deep connection to Jesus. Recently she’s begun reading the bible with the goal of reading it cover to cover. Wendy is an avid reader of all things spiritual and feels an understanding of the bible is important, but she’s curious about differences she finds between what the bible says and what Abraham and Bashar have been saying. So she’s decided to ask The Council how true are the writings and stories in the bible to get their opinion.
Ordinarily we like to write a synopsis of what The Council says so you can decide whether to listen to the session’s audio recording below. For this session we’ve decided to limit our remarks because it appears difficult to summarize.
The Council does say in a past life Wendy was a child at the time Christ was born and she was a witness to this. The Council suggests Wendy meditate on this and ask to feel and see this again. And they say reading the bible is a good exercise for her.
We suggest you listen to the entire 18-minute session with The Council (below) to hear all their guidance on understanding the bible.
Tell others about this post:
Connecting with Your Higher Self to Manifest the Realities You Desire
This post is inspired by a question from Irina, and her question was inspired by our following thought for the day post:
“It is the spirit’s job to create the perfect life you want to live and to provide you with all the challenges and joy you want to experience. Spirit knows exactly what you want.”
–The Council
Irina comments that she’s pretty good at manifesting, but it’s much easier for her to help other people manifest what they want than it is for her to know what she wants and set an intention to manifest it in her own life. Irina wants to know how she can connect with her higher self and get the information The Council says her spirit knows about what she wants.
Audio recording
The black bar below plays a 6½ minute recording of the segment of a session with The Council to answer Irina’s question.
Play: Click triangle (►). Pause: Click icon (||) that replaces the triangle while the recording plays. Fast Forward/Rewind: Click to the right/left of the play bar during play. Mute on/off: Click speaker icon. Volume: Click bar to the right of the speaker icon.
Highlights of The Council’s comments
The Council says they see that Irina is able to help others manifest their desires, and they encourage her to take a good look at beliefs she may have that prevent setting her intentions on manifesting her own heart’s desires.
Here are some highlights of The Council’s answer to Irina’s question. You can hear their comments in the context of the session by playing the audio recording (available at the beginning of this post when viewed in a web browser).
Tell others about this post:
A Question about Portals – an Answer About Creating Your Reality
During a recent session with The Council, at the end of a discussion on ancient historical records that were predicted will be found near the Sphinx in Egypt, I (Bob) asked why people who’ve been looking for these records for a century or more have not been able to find them. The Council gave 2 interesting reasons. First:
“Because much of what will be discovered will be powerful information that, at this time in history, we are not ready for; it would be misused.
“And so as spirit evolves and brings what it has planned – more love – and peace begins to be more present, and [there is] more understanding and more unity between all of the peoples, all of the nations that are here, then the documents will be released.”
–The Council
(The formatting above throughout this post represents The Council’s comments during our session. Text [in brackets] in these quotations has been added to improve readability and clarity when this seems useful.)
When I asked for clarification about the process of releasing these documents, and how something that doesn’t appear findable can be found, The Council gave the second reason.
“We believe our friend, Esther [Hicks], that channels Abraham, has explained it very nicely when she lost her gold pen, and yet it was there all the time.
“So when the belief that it is not lost, and that this information is there and it is ready to be discovered… when someone feels they will make this great discovery and work towards it, it will be discovered. It is all there.”
Powerful Information
In a session a few years ago, The Council suggested Atlantis was destroyed by the misuse of power (this seems consistent with other sources of information on Atlantis), and I asked if the potential for misuse of the power in the undiscovered records is anything like what contributed to the destruction of Atlantis.
“Yes. It was suggested because that also needs to be recognized.
“When the information [is discovered] on how to utilize this power, and how the power is not just in these crystals or in this form of vibration that is conjured up, the truth will come forward that the power comes from within, in each person.
“And so that is, as what would be said in your time, very heavy information.”
The Council imitated the way people sometimes exaggerate their voice in a low tone when they refer to heavy information, which I found very humorous. Ordinarily I’d be probably be interested in asking for more information about the power of the information in the undiscovered records, about the crystals, and about conjured vibration, but the thought that came to me was a conversation with Cynthia earlier in the day about a client of hers who had lived in a house he described as seriously haunted.
What is a Portal?
Cynthia mentioned she received guidance for her client that the house was some sort of portal for disturbing energies that were coming into his physical reality from other dimensions. But neither of us understood this very well, and I found myself asking The Council what they can tell us about portals. The rest of this post describes a highly informative discussion that touches on the subjects of multiple realities, evil, rituals for protection, love, Satan, and most importantly, how your vibration brings what you experience into your reality.
Tell others about this post:
Discovery of Records from Ancient Civilizations
During a recent session to answer a reader’s question about spirit’s intention for the roles of men and women, The Council casually made the following comments about historical records that will be discovered and bring to light many things not currently known about gender roles in earlier times.
“In Jesus’ time many many of the great healers and great teachers…were women, and so many records from that time will come forward, where many women were great leaders, where the women were the rule makers.”
…
Regarding the current perception of male dominance throughout most of history:
“With the knowledge that has been accepted, with the documents that have been found, and yet there is more that will be found, where we will learn more of the interchangeable roles of men and women.”
…
“In the times where Jesus walked the Earth, one of his greatest teachers was a woman named Judith, and so much of what he learned as a child came from her. And yet very little is known of this at this time, but there is much to be discovered.”
…
“Judith was also a teacher and friend of his mother, Mary. And she taught many of the women in that time to be great healers. The men at that particular time in history were not the healers until Jesus came to the forefront, and so that will be discovered also.”
–The Council
Continue reading
Tell others about this post:
The Human-Spirit Relationship and Free Will
Overview
This post is inspired by a question from a reader named Jose, who has read in some of our blog posts (links at the end of this post) that humans are spiritual beings in a physical body, and that spirit sometimes chooses to have human experiences that we (as humans) find undesirable. Jose wants to know how it’s possible for humans to have free will to choose our human desires, if who we are as spirit is choosing human experiences that feel unwanted from our human point of view.
Lots of people have become interested in the spiritual teaching that you are the creator of what you experience, which has been around a while and has become more popular through the teachings of Abraham and other spiritual teachers. Jose’s question suggests he’s aware of lots of things in his human experience he doesn’t want, and after reading in our posts that who you are as spirit sometimes creates human experiences that feel unwanted from your human point of view, he came to the troubling conclusion that spirit is preventing him from having more of the human experiences he desires.
Topics Covered in this Post
Even if you don’t believe spirit is keeping you from manifesting more of what you desire in your life, and you’re not particularly interested in the subject of free will, if you’re interested in ideas to help you feel an increased level of well-being in your human experience, we’re finding the information and guidance from The Council in response to Jose’s question has been a big step for us in that direction. Topics covered in our sessions on Jose’s question and in this post include:
- The relationship between who you are as a spiritual being and who you are as a human being.
- Why the spiritual part of you might desire to have human experiences in a physical reality.
- Why the spiritual part of you might desire to have human experiences that feel undesirable to you as a human being.
- The validity of your human free will to choose your human desires, even if who you are as spirit is choosing to have different human experiences.
- Why you may be having difficulty manifesting your human desires in your physical experience.
Nothing Going On That Spirit Hasn’t Planned For
The Council began our first session on Jose’s questions by emphasizing there isn’t any separation between spirit and human.
“The spirit works through the body it [spirit] has created.
“So there is nothing that is going on that the body wants, that the spirit hasn’t planned for.
“Is that understood? It is all one – the mind, the body, and the spirit – it is all one.”
–The Council
Continue reading
Tell others about this post:
Is it Possible to Change Your Life Just by Changing Your Thoughts? + Helping Others
This post is inspired by the following simply stated questions from a reader named Freddy:
- How do better-feeling thoughts affect your life?
- Is it really possible to change your day-to-day life and your future with just a change in your thoughts?
On Thursday, June 14, 2012 we did a session with The Council to answer Freddy’s questions. During this session The Council surprised us with some related guidance about a question on Cynthia’s mind.
They observed that many of us who follow spiritual guidance related to the law of attraction and better-feeling thoughts, are limiting ourselves when we focus primarily on satisfying desires that aren’t also helping others.
The Council reminds us we are spiritual beings and that we planned with other spiritual beings to help each other bring the love we are as spirit into this physical dimension.
When we expand the focus of our attention to include these plans we made in spirit to help each other, these better-feeling thoughts allow us to experience the kind of spiritual expansion we came here for in the first place. The guidance on helping others begins under the heading: Cynthia’s Question about Helping Other People.
Recorded Audio Content
Images like this one 
in the post represent an audio player that can play a sound recording of a portion of our session with The Council. Typically the segment is related to the text that follows the player.
The quotation text in the post is an abridged and slightly edited version of the recorded session and is intended to provide a good sense of what we consider the most relevant aspects of the conversation. The posted audio segments often include additional session content that is edited out of the written post. It’s our hope these sound recordings help you connect more easily with the feeling of what The Council is talking about during the session.
To play an audio recording, left-click on the triangle on the right side of the audio player. The segment name displays in the player along with the time left in the recording. To pause the audio player, left-click on the icon that looks like this: 
. You are also able to left-click along the length of the recorder to skip forward or move backward in the recording. The volume can be adjusted by left-clicking on this icon: 
; click on the right side to increase volume and the left side to lower volume. Copyright ℗ 2014 Bob & Cynthia Dukes
You Sort Of Light Up
“First of all, better-feeling thoughts affect the whole body…your whole mood…your whole vibration.
“You can tell the difference between a thought [like]: ‘I hate this job…I have to get up and go there…’ [or:] ‘Oh, my legs hurt…my back hurts…my head hurts…I have to go to the doctor.’
“And then you have a thought: ‘Oh, I’m so looking forward to this vacation we planned in the Berkshires. Oh, I remember the first time I went to the beach…I was 5 years old…I can still remember the sand castle we built.’
“Each thought has a different vibration. The better-feeling thought is what we call a quickening vibration. It’s like you become more alive; you begin to sparkle. When we look at you…you sort of light up.
“The better-feeling thought also affects your body. When you have the better-feeling thoughts, every cell in your body reacts to it.
“Now is it true that it changes your life? Yes.”
“When you really focus over and over again on better feeling thoughts, your thought…your feeling, is a vibration that goes out into the Universe. And as you are all learning now [about] the law of attraction, you must get back the same vibration that you are putting out. So what will return to you is a vibration that will bring to you more and more of things that will help you feel better.”
—The Council
Similarly formatted text throughout the post represents The Council’s comments during the session. Text [in brackets] was not spoken by The Council, but has been added (where appropriate) to help you follow the conversation.
Click here to read the full post→
Tell others about this post:
The Influence Our Thoughts & Feelings Have on Other People’s Experience
This post is a response to a question from a reader named Bari who wants to believe her better-feeling thoughts about her boyfriend will create better-feeling experiences of the two of them together, as taught by the spirit guides Abraham. But when her boyfriend repeats behaviors that contrast her better-feeling thoughts, Bari wonders how much of an impact her thoughts and feelings are really able to have on the experience of her boyfriend, or anyone else, and she asks The Council’s opinion on this.
This post is the third in a series based on comments from The Council during a single session on Sunday, April 15, 2012 to answer three thought-provoking questions from Bari and Rachael. Reincarnation and past lives were the subjects of the first post, and the second post, in this series.
Helping Others with Our Thoughts
Part way through reading Bari’s second question, The Council offered the following initial comments:
“In the non-physical it is sometimes planned: ‘At some point in my life I will meet you on Earth in the physical. And if I am going through something difficult and I can’t remember who I really am, will you remind me by your thoughts? By your thoughts I will feel that energetic change. I will feel the positive vibration that you are thinking.’ And then, of course, it is up to the [other] person to tune into it and expand with it.
“And so your thoughts go out, whether positive or negative. And the soul you are working with or you are in partnership with feels that vibration.
“And so if they are depressed or they are not accomplishing what they want to accomplish, your positive thought vibration is there and it sort of kick-starts them, but you can not control what they do.
“It’s [as if] you hold the light; you hold the remembrance of who they really are for them. And then, if they allow it, they will feel that and they will move forward.
“But when you have positive thoughts or negative [thoughts] about someone, in your experience that’s how you will experience them. Is that clear?”
–The Council (similarly formatted text throughout this post indicates quotations from The Council
Click here to read the full post→
Tell others about this post:
Reincarnation, Part 1 – All Past Lives are Present Lives
This post is the first part of a response to two thought-provoking questions on reincarnation and past lives, one from Bari and one from Rachael, and an inspired second question from Bari about the impact our thoughts and feelings can have on other people’s lives.
Bari’s Question
Bari has heard the popular spirit guide, Abraham, say that past lives don’t impact our current life. Bari finds this unexpected and asks The Council’s views on this subject.
“We like that she believes in reincarnation because that at least let’s us know that you [Bari] know that you are not just here one time and your life is over, as many people do believe.”
“When you understand that you are truly spirit in a physical body that continues to take many different forms and there is no end to what you call life, then you are open to learning many new thoughts [and] many new beliefs about these many, many lives, and that you truly do never die.”
–The Council (similarly formatted text below indicates quotations from The Council)
I asked The Council if they think that people who believe in reincarnation and past lives will automatically also believe they are spirit in a physical body.
“We believe that they know that they are more than this body because: what is coming back in each additional life? And so when you know that this shell, this body, this vehicle that you travel around in – when that expires there is still you – and that is the part of you that we urge you to get in touch with.”
All of Your Lives are Present Lives
“All of your lives are present lives. They are all going on at the same time. And you may wonder: how is this possible?
Tell others about this post:
Welcome
Bob & Cynthia
Welcome to Ask The Council, a blog where you can ask a group of loving and wise spirit guides a question and get an answer, for free. You can also contact us for a paid private phone session with The Council, and you can read the questions other readers have asked and the answers they’ve received. Other posts contain quotations from The Council that we hope you find inspiring, uplifting, and educational.
Ask The Council a Question
If there’s a question you’ve been thinking about and you’re curious how The Council might answer it, we encourage you to either use the blog’s Comments feature to ask your question, or contact us for a private phone session. You can click here to go to the ‘Let us know what you think about this post, or ask The Council a question’ section of this Welcome post and type your question there or you can type your question in the same section at the bottom of any post that inspires you to ask a question or leave a comment.
Since the blog is currently a project we do in our spare time it can take a while for us to do a session with The Council on a question and then publish a post on the session. Depending on the question and the session it can sometimes take weeks after a question is asked to publish a post with The Council’s answer. Please be patient.
The Council
Cynthia is able to communicate with a group of five non-physical spirit guides in a manner similar to the way Esther Hicks communicates with and speaks for the spirit guides, Abraham, and Jane Roberts communicated and spoke for the spirit guide, Seth. I (Bob) basically interview The Council as they speak through Cynthia during what we refer to as a session. Sessions generally last 5-15 minutes and are usually audio recorded. During the session Cynthia is aware of what The Council is saying and she also receives visual impressions and other types of telepathic communication from them.
The Council’s Basic Guidance
Since we began these sessions with The Council around 2009 they consistently emphasize a few basic ideas that we attempt to summarize here:
1) You are an eternal spiritual being in a physical body.
You are the energy and vibration of continuously expanding love, intelligence, and joy.
Your physical experience in your physical body and your psychological experience of your personality is a small part of the totality of who you truly are.
Let yourself imagine from time to time what it might feel like to experience more of the wondrous totality of who you really are, and don’t be surprised if you are able to experience this more often.
2) You are the creator of all that you experience.
As you open to the possibility your true nature is greater than you ordinarily perceive, it becomes easier to consider the possibility that this expanded you is truly the creator of everything that you experience.
If you’re used to thinking of yourself in a more limited sense, the idea that you are the creator of your experience may be difficult to understand. Our post, What About This Idea That We Create Whatever We Desire, offers insights into this idea.
3) You are here to expand the love you are into physical reality.
You chose, as a spiritual being, to come into this physical reality to experience the joy of expanding the love you are as a spiritual being, into this physical reality. This is your purpose for being here.
Finding Your Way Around the Blog
Home Page
The left-hand column on the Home page contain a long chronological series of posts with the most recent on top. Each post begins with a title. Clicking on a post title will take you to a blog page dedicated to that particular post. Following each post is a Like button where you can indicate to us and other readers if you like the post.
The footer section of each post identifies the date the post was published, the Categories the post has been assigned to, the keyword/keyphrase Tags assigned to the post, and a Comment link. If readers comments on a post, the Comments link will indicate the number of comments. If a post has no comments yet, the Comment link text appears as “Leave a Comment”.
Clicking on the Comments link takes you to a Comment text box on a post page dedicated to that post. Here you can type a comment in the text box and click the Post Comment button to have your comment displayed just below the text box. If you are replying to someone else’s comment, your comment will appear indented underneath the comment you are replying to.
At the bottom of the left column on the Home page is a ‘Previous Entries’ link that will take you to a page with a list of earlier posts.
Blog Features
The right-hand column of most blog pages contains this Welcome message. Below the Welcome message in the right-hand column are some useful features:
Email Subscription: Use this to subscribe to blog posts. You will receive an email notification with a link back to the blog each time a new post is published.
Search: Type a keyword or phrase and click the Search button to get a list of posts in the left column that contain the keyword or phrase.
Archives: The Archives list indicates the number of posts for each month listed. Clicking on the link for a month will display in the left column of the page a list of the posts published that month.
Categories: This is a list of keywords used to categorize posts. Posts can be included in more than one category, if applicable. Clicking on a category link will display in the left column a list of posts assigned to the category you selected.
Navigation Bar
The Navigation Bar at the top of each page contains a link to the blog Home page and links to the following additional pages:
Welcome: A link that displays this Welcome message in the left column (and the right column). At the bottom of the Welcome message is a Comment box where you can post a general comment about the blog or ask The Council a question.
Questions & Answers: Use this link to display a list of introductions to our longer posts, most of which are responses to reader questions. This is an easy way to check out these more in-depth posts. They are listed in chronological order with the most recent post on top. Clicking on the post title will take you to the page where you can read the complete post.
Contact Us: The Contact Us page contains a contact form similar to the Comment form mentioned above. The difference between the Contact Us form and the Comment forms is that the Contact Us form is a private message to us (Cynthia and Bob). It is not posted on the blog. Comments appear on the post page where the comment is posted. The Contact Us form can be used for communicating with us about private sessions or other private matters you think aren’t appropriate for posting in a public Comment.
Bob & Cynthia
Ask The Council 